Shopping - hate it

I went shopping this morning because it's nephew's birthday and I want to get him a present. His parents are giving him a mobile phone because he's moving on to the secondary school in September, so I thought I'd get him something to go with that, an eco friendly charger. I was able to buy one a couple of years ago. You wind it up and it charges your phone. But I couldn't get hold of one. I tried the Eco shop in Wendover, but they only do the expensive Freeloader photovoltaic chargers. I tried the Car Phone Warehouse, but they suggested an in-car charger. How many eleven-year-olds do you know who have a car! Eventually, I thought of the camping shop. They didn't have exactly what I wanted. The wind up version that I have is great. I put husband's grand children in the back of our car with the charger and they wind and they wind and they wind. My mobile is charged, and so is the wind-up torch that goes with the winder. Their grand father is also wound up because he gets fed up with noise, but that's a minor disadvantage.

But they did have something: a pull-string charger, so it fits in with the eco approach, and the lack of access to a power socket. So my shopping expedition almost ended well.

I thought I'd celebrate by going into the Coffee Tree and ordering a decaf espresso with a glass of water. I made my order, received the cup and saucer and the glass, and stepped back with them to find a table. The glass wobbled. As I tried to steady it, the hot coffee wobbled, splashed my hand, so I wobbled more, then the whole lot went over, every single drop, over the counter, down the counter, over the floor and over my clothes. I saved only the excellent piece of Venezuelan chocolate that Barry had just given me to try.

Barry was very nice and got me another espresso (I don't think it was decaf by then). The Coffee Tree in Aylesbury is worth a visit.

Proud of step son

Step son is away on a tour of the states to promote his new book, The Logic of Life. He gave a copy to his father for Christmas (it's not published in the UK until February), and to my somewhat biased mind, it's good. My initial reaction was from the experience of having read an awful lot of research literature in the last year, so I thought I could see that he had researched his field (economics) and could provide the academic proof and references if required. It is a solid piece of work, written for the serious but inexpert reader. It is easy to read, fun to read, enjoyable even on holiday. I've ordered a couple of copies for people I thought would enjoy it too.

The critics are already at work, here for example, commenting on son's remark about Adam Smith never visiting a pin factory. But the comments just make me realise how interesting it is and how it's worth reading to see what the critics are commenting about.