THE RISE AND FALL OF THE FIRST ARGUMENT

Well, Peter is back, and he did the very British thing, you know, walking up to me, realizing that he needed to talk to me sometime, but not wanting to ever mention the argument again. I told him very politely that we didn't need to have any bad feelings, but that he really does have a different set of rules for himself than he does for other people. I said that if he wanted to stay up late and being inconsiderate of the neighbors regarding the noise level, then he couldn't complain when they did the same. But if he wants to complain about the neighbors, that is also all right, as long as he is also quiet. I told him it was his choice, but he couldn't have it both ways.

Firm and yet kind.

Anyway, he's going to be quiet in the future.

I decided today to try riding a bus into the city, since there's one that stops about a block from my house, and I want to start learning the bus system, since I have the train and underground pretty well down.

The bus in question is the Most Unreliable Bus in London that I was referring to earlier. One is supposed to come by every 12 minutes on Sundays. As I was waiting, I saw four in a row go by in the other direction. One finally arrived after I had been waiting for over 45. Of course. "Once every 12 minutes" is obviously an average. You wait fifty minutes, and then four buses come, right? Right.

Anyway, I guess they're more reliable in the city, so I think I'll wait until I actually have an opportunity to move out of Gipsy Sodding Hill.

Hm.

In other news, one of my sisters is in the hospital. She is trying to outdo herself in the "Always sick over the holidays" department. I'm serious, Leslie is sick every time a holiday arrives. I think it's because she works herself so hard all of the time, that when she takes time off, her body says, "Whew! Time to break down and recuperate!" and it all falls to heck.

Anyway, they're trying to figure out whether to do kidney surgery in Spokane, where she's visiting my other sister, or whether to wait until she gets back to Boston. I say she should check out the hospital cafeteria menus, and base her decision on that. Who cares what the doctors have to say about it?

I actually think I'm too tired and out of it to type much today, so I'm going to sign off now.

Cheers.