why it's a mistake for men to run the economy

john mentioned today he'd bought a boxed cd set of the velvet underground - all their studio albums, outtakes, unreleased tracks etc. so i told deb and asked how come i can't buy any cd's.

well, she said, we need to buy matthew a high chair. boxed cd sets of the velvet underground are not even monitoring on our priority list.

i asked her how much a high chair would cost. she replied about $150.

well, i said, john bought the boxed cd set for $100. it's a lot cheaper than the high chair. i could buy the cd set, and then put the $50 we've just saved towards the high chair. so, in fact, we'd be better off than we are right now, cos we'd have $50 - that we've just saved - put towards the high chair.

i won't say what deb said next, but we ain't actually gonna buy the cd boxed set of the velvet underground in the near future.

but, the other day, in the cd shop, i saw a boxed cd set by bruce springsteen, and it's cheaper than the velvet underground one, so, i figure, if we get that instead, we'll save ...........

It's been hot today. It's still hot now at 10.30pm. It's been a day for sweating as I've carried armfuls of bushes and boxes and bric-a-brac down to the big rubbish bin we've hired. We live up a path from the road, so it's a trek down to the bin.

Round the house, down the path, down the steps, look out for traffic, across the road, dump what I'm carrying into the bin, climb in and stomp on it, back across the road, up the steps, up the path, around the house, start again. And again and again.

My friend John came round and helped, so that made it a lot quicker. Debbie kinda helped, but Matthew picked today to not sleep, and cry if no one was with him. I want to believe that it wasn't a ploy by Deb to get out of work. I really do.

deb: "psssst matthew, i'll slip you some extra milk today if you start crying every time i go out to help daddy"

But, we got things finished. Two bins, 12 cubic metres, full this week. The back garden trimmed back and the garden shed cleaned out. And as a little side bonus, I've got a slight tan and I feel a little fitter after some physical activity.

There's still a bit to do. Tidying up and stuff. Trimming a few stray plants. It feels really good to have done this though. Deb said she thought it was the old Mike back, the one who took an interest in the house and got out and did stuff.

Let's just say it was the new Mike. I still checked my e-mail about a zillion times today!

This holiday has been a great break for us. It really has. We've relaxed and talked and laughed and played with Matthew and drunk wine and cooked. Well, except today. We had meatloaf sandwiches for lunch and meatloaf sandwiches for dinner. I'm kinda meatloafed out right now.

It's a good start to a new year.