379.
Today was a day of febrile activity in Casa Stu. First, I told Liam that I plan to spend the weekend on the island that was my childhood home, and that I would be contacting his aunt to make the necessary arrangements. After he had digested this news, he toddled off to school, happy as Larry at the thought that he might be able to bring a friend with him (as long as it is okay with his aunt). After that I settled into my normal daily routine of switching on my computer, checking my email and deleting all the spam that the spam blocker doesn't block (that is to say, practically 98% of all the email I receive). I was expecting two things today: a package from the postman containing mounting boards (or mattes, as our north American friends call them); and an email containing an article that has to have its footnotes reformatted to suit the house style of the publisher. Neither arrived. I contacted the article client to tell him that I didn't have the article. He replied saying that he will call me tonight so that we can go over the paper page-by-page. I reminded him that that might be a bit difficult, given that I still don't have a copy of the paper! While I was busy deleting all the junk mail that slipped through the net, I decided that I ought to make good on my threat to travel to Portugal. Being the big brave man who is dedicated to his work and his clients that I am, I will defy medical advice and get on an aircraft and get the job done - or at least let my 'employers' see me complete with gammy leg and crutches. A quick crash course on character acting at the Rep, and I will have them in tears. Who knows, I may even get the airline company to upgrade me from Cattle Class to Business Class! I'd better look out my suit! So, off to Expedia I went and booked my seat for Lisbon on 23 May. I am looking forward to catching a bit of sunshine, and intend to drop in on Pedro and José while I'm there. I may even manage a couple of hours on the beach and in the water - for medical reasons, obviously! Charles (in whose flat I rent a room in Lisbon) is getting the orthopeadic matress out for my arrival! On another note, scanners and printers are so good nowadays that it is hard to tell the real from the counterfeit! Now for the tricky part... breaking the news of my forthcoming business trip to Linda!