Result!!!!

So, I bit the bullet and bought the guitar - the lovely Simon & Patrick guitar - from the shop down the road. Not only did I save myself a couple of hundred quid, but I also supported my local economy - so I feel doubly good.

I've now done nearly everything I wanted to do with my sabbatical - and I need a rest!

Next week I'm hoping to record some songs on Clifford's set-up so I can see what they sound like.

I will also be revising my book outline for the publisher - a promising first meeting has led to a second meeting where some revisions in what I'm proposing and some fleshing out of things is required. I think it's looking good but it'll be a month before I know for sure.

I'll also be thinking about going back to work. Curiously, I am looking forward to this!

O how I love shopping....!

I'm trying to buy a guitar at the moment. Not a difficult thing to do, you'd have thought - given the ubiquitous nature of the rock and roll industry. And in one sense it isn't.

I want to buy a Simon & Patrick Flame Maple electro-accoustic - lovely tone, hard-wearing and excellent electronics (so everyone tells me). I duly pitched at the guitar dealer nearest to me who had half a dozen in stock. The prices were not too eye-watering and the tone was sublime, the action a little high (though the dealer said he'll sort that out for me free of charge) and the electrics - ie when it was plugged in to an amp - were indeed excellent.

So I could have bought it. But I felt I ought to shop around, so I went off to Tin Pan Alley just off London's Charing Cross Road to trawl the guitar shops and see what was on offer. Well, you'd never guess there was a recession on. Despite being the only customer in most of the shops, no one offered to sell me a guitar. When I did speak to a member of staff, I was told that either they did not stock S&P guitars but the ones they did stock were better or that I could play anything I wanted. no one offered to assess what my guitar needs were or to set instruments up for me to try out.

Not surprisingly, I left empty-handed.

So, I went back on line. I've already trawled a number of websites checking out S&P - reviews mainly (universally positive except for one guy who lived in Arizona and found his S&P fell apart in the dry heat). But this time I looked for offers, deals, even prices and was surprised at the number of sites that don't post prices but invite you to enquire by email - what's that about?!

I finally found a Belgian site with a good range of S&P guitars only to find that the one my local retailer had in stock was available at over £200 more than he was selling it for - and I'd have to entrust it to the vaguaries of a courier.

So, looks like I'll be driving down the road and buying locally after all. What do I learn from this?

the trials of car buying

Well, we've just bought ourselves a (nearly)new car! It happened quicker than I expected but it's good to get it over and done with.

Having agonised about what type of car to go for - Focus C-max, Citroen C4 Picasso, Volkswagen golf - we decided this morning that we really wanted a more comfortable version of the car we've got - a Renault scenic.

So, off we went to the dealer, having checked websites for used car values, talked to him about what we wanted, test drove a vehicle that's only six months old and done just under 9,000 miles and was on their books at a very competitive price. And we decided to buy it! Well, it's something we only do once every six or seven years, so why not?

Apart from having everything we were looking for - a wheel at each corner, low C02 emissions, power steering, central locking, you know the kind of thing... - this one has a six CD changer located under the front passenger seat and a good beefy sound system (how sad am I to think these things matter)

We get it next week...

Now we're having a cup of tea wondering what we've done!

Choosing a coat and missing the shower

We went for a walk yesterday with Lina - a tutor in applied theology here at IBTS - who is a mine of fascinating information on Prague's cubist heritage among other things. Anyway it was pretty wet and I discovered that my waterproof jacket was anything but - I was aware of rivulets of water running down my back after about half an hour of being out in the deluge.

So today, as we were out and about in Prague with Steve and Val, we went looking for a replacement waterproof. The forecast was for light rain on and off for most of the day. In between pausing for coffee at our favourite Kaficko and at the very acceptable Bellavista (named we reckon for the view as it's a coffee terrace overlooking the city above the castle and cathedral), we looked for shops that sold waterproof garments.

In fact in brilliant and warm sunshine we spent the morning walking and keeping our eyes open for such an emporium. Eventually at about three in the afternoon we came upon a sport and mountaining shop that had a wealth of waterproof coats - some with eye-watering price tags!

Steve found one quite quickly but I couldn't make up my mind, trying this one and that before settling on one that fits like a dream, is very light and - according to the manufacturer - fabulously waterproof (it would need to be given what it cost - still you only buy these once in a blue moon!)

Suffice it to say that I took so long to decide on which of the many lovely coats I would buy that we missed the one heavy shower of the day. Indeed in the time we were in the shop, it chucked it down outside during half an hour of near apocalyptic darkness. By the time I emerged from the store, many crowns poorer, the sun was shining, the pavements were almost dry and Bethlehem chapel - just round the corner - was beckoning.

Needless to say that was the only significant rain we had today and my lovely new coat remained pristine and dry in the shop's paper carrier bag until we got home. Ah well, maybe tomorrow...!

I'll tell you more about Lina, Steve, Val and Bethlehem chapel in the next day or so.