Not 'appy, John! It was all your Volt!

Dear Diary,

Would you please tell your writer (me) to check ALL his equipment (photographic) so that he has some piccies to put on his blog?

Today I went down to the Rocks, the old colonial part of Sydney, to take a few snaps.  I took a few pics of office blocks, then near Cadmans Cottage I decided to take another snap of the Sydney Opera House across the waters of Circular Quay.  What I got was yet another "office block, hotel, or block of flats" masquerading as a ship called the "Something of the Seas".

But most of all, I saw a rare sight today.  A genuine swaggie, a swagman with a real swag on his back, foraging for food in litter bins, and checking that no spare cash had been rejected by the parking machines.  It was weirdly like watching a bee flitting from flower to flower in search of the odd bit of pollen.  I was amazed at how methodical he was and what economy of action he had.  His swag was a life's lesson on how little we really need to go through life.

I lifted my camera, and up came a sign "Battery empty, replace battery" in my camera viewfinder.
So I went to my bag and found .  .  . nothing.  The two spare batteries that I ALWAYS keep in there have escaped.  When I find them I'll put them on a charge.  That's when I find them!  They are AWOL at the moment somewhere under the detritus I call home.  If necessary I'll send in the dogs (I know you can get battery hens, but can you get battery hounds?)

Meanwhile, my arrangements for "Sidebotham - The Final European Tour" go on apace.  The accommodation is booked, as are the flights and the trains.  I know which artgals and museums I want to see; and now I'm working on the Evening stuff.  I like Opera, but it's off season, and I can only find one at the moment.  The Opera Bastille in Paris is doing Rigoletto.  When I was in Paris in 2000 I went to the Opera Bastille and saw . . . yup! . . . Rigoletto, sung in Italian with French surtitles.  Perhaps this time it will be performed by a tribute boy band, sung in Icelandic with Farsi surtitles.  That would be different!

Meanwhile (again), I'm brushing up on my languages.  I'm not paranoid, but I like to know what they are really saying about me.

No probs with French - did that badly at school

No probs with German.  Never did that at school.  Total experience, one month staying with an English speaking German family in Hamburg in 1963

No probs with Italian.  Not done in school but spoke Italian like it was never spoken before for a week and a half five years ago.  I kept sliding into the very similar Spanish, so much so, that I would start the struggle with some Italian and find myself in Spanish by the end of the sentence.  I became known as the old Spaniard with a very little Italian.  (And don't be rude!)

No probs with Dutch.  It's garbled German, I don't speak any, and they all speak English anyway.

Czech has five ACCENTS apparently, some of which have never before been seen by Civilised Man.
I'm going to be blank and dud at Czech.

Now trovare gli pili . . . spero subito.

That surprised you?

That surprised me!