God this week’s going slowly again. I’ve been knackered at work for the past couple of days. I’m not sleeping particularly well, although to be honest I’m not really doing myself any favours by not going to bed early. I’ve not been feeling tired on a night though, and then when I have been going to bed it’s been taking me ages to go to sleep. I’m not normally one to have a problem sleeping (and indeed I don’t have a problem at all first thing in the morning when my alarm goes off!) but for the past few months my sleeping has become erratic. I don’t function well on any less than 8 hours of sleep, and yet I’ve been making do with 6 or less lately. Not good. I’ve still not quite got my head around the whole work thing - I keep remembering halfway through the day that I’m not going to be here any more in 3 weeks time. Everyone at work is still telling me I shouldn’t leave. I hope I’m doing the right thing. I’m sure I am though... Charlie’s at Graham’s again so I’ve spent the past couple of nights on my own. The starter motor on his Ka(ck) died on Monday so, ever one to make a mountain out of a molehill, he’s gone to buy a new car! Again! Now most people, when something breaks on a car, would swear a bit, get it fixed, and carry on as normal. Not Charlie of course. He’s convinced he’s got a complete lemon. His theory is “what’s going to go wrong next?”. I tried to explain that it’s quite possible a new car could go wrong really - his counter-argument being that at least it would be warranted and he wouldn’t be forking out for repairs in the event of a problem. I suppose there’s logic in there. Which makes it all the more boggling that he’s bought a Corsa the same age as the Ka, from the same dealer as the Ka, with the same 3 month warranty as the Ka! Go figure... My car’s running a bit better following the oil change, but it seems the valve is still sticking a bit when the engine’s cold. Googling for solutions suggests that the only really permanent fix involves quite major invasive engine surgery - something that I’m not really willing to do for such an old car - and certainly not in January! I can’t afford for it to be off the road for the length of time dismantling the engine would take anyway. So the next best solution is a selection of off-the-shelf additives from Halfords that provide a short term fix. Well if it sorts it out for a few more thousand miles I guess it’s got to be worth it. I filled her with BP Ultimate on the way home as well as a special treat. I was a bit sceptical about the stuff to be honest, but I could feel the performance boost immediately! It’s good stuff - well it wants to be for 80.9p/litre! Popped up to Suzanne’s for a couple of hours after my tea for a beer and a chinwag in front of the TV. Ack it’s ten to one... There goes that early night again.