Weather: Cloudy, the odd spot of rain. 9.

Travel: Scheduled leave day.

Dirty tactics and name-calling ensured the political landscape would change little after the federal election in Canada, won for a third time by the Liberals.

Steve Tomblin of Memorial University said few of the important matters saw the light of day. “Hardly any issues were discussed in depth, and so very little was accomplished. The election doesn’t change very much.”

The Tories held their traditional ridings in St John’s, while other seats were returned to the Liberals throughout Atlantic Canada after a significant protest vote in 1997. No one person gets credit for that Liberal resurgence. The national media saw Brian "Weenie" Tobin leading the tide out of the province and throughout the region. They don’t understand the nature of politics in Newfoundland - each riding is individual and the Liberal success is just a return to the norm."

A high voter turnout is due to uncertainty with other parties. It was more an anti-Canadian Alliance signal. There was a general fear of the Alliance and the unknown in Newfoundland.

In the biggest surprise of the night, the Liberals won a strong showing of Quebec’s 75 seats, making inroads with French voters as they won their third consecutive majority government. After a touch-and-go count for Edmonton’s Anne McLellan, the Liberals ended up with 173 seats, up from the 155 they won in 1997. Canada remains a country deeply divided, with the Liberals winning fewer than a dozen seats west of Ontario. The Canadian Reform Alliance Party dominated Western Canada, winning three-quarters of the 88 seats.

Weather: Amazingly hot and humid, with rain never far away. 14.

Travel: Settles into a pattern - the 0635 arrives a few minutes late, then is delayed just outside Wolverhampton by Failtrack incompetence and pathed behind the London train, and behind something from Walsall causing a pause at Soho. It'll be the same each morning except Wednesday, when we path ahead of the London train.
Back tonight on the 1657 to Glasgow, running 31 late, then the 1742 running about 20 late.

Allan
I have just been charged £22 VAT on a parcel from America, It contained a few second hand parts for my car worth £30 WHAT A RIP OFF!!!!!
Don't just complain to us, write your MP. Point out the utterly ludicrous state of the regulations, and ask what (s)he will do to facilitate cross- border commerce. Be prepare to throw letters at Gordon Brown-nose (Finance minister) and Saint Tony.

shimelle:
And please, while you're at it, complain about how they carelessly rip open boxes and leave you with damaged goods.
In which case, I reckon you have a case against the Post Office in the local small claims court. Breach of an implicit duty to take reasonable care in the execution of the contract. In other words, negligence.

we know we have to pay tons of VAT and duty and everything, but I really don't think we should have to pay duty for the full value when more than half of the boxes have damaged product due to the fact that customs are so clumsy.
If the boxes are damaged, sue the ass off them. Your contract is with the Post Office, and they're the g*ts who are actually doing the damage.

Of course, you may also wish to campaign with Gordon's Pears (have you seen the size of his chest?) to get his massive imperial butt out of private commercial transactions, and allow the free market to have its free reign, as promised in The Party's manifesto last time round. Another breach of contract case, anyone?

their response is 'it's just paper'
Ballcocks. It's artistic supplies, you're paying duty at that rate, it's been packed as such, and interference is not on.

And *then* people wonder why I get so ruddy annoyed with this country. It's run by morons, for morons.

Weather: Still humid, though merely cloudy. 13.

Travel: Morning synopsis is yesterday. Back on the 1652 London-Wolverhampton (39 down) and 1804 Walsall-Wellington (on time)

Jaeda:
Since Randi asked, and various others of you have inquired, here's the update on Heather (Emmy, you know all of this...Emmy even talked to her on messenger you guys!)
Emmy! Long time no hear! How the blazes are you?

So ok saturday she came out, we got a hotel room, and went to meet two of her gay friends for dinner.
Ah, such exquisite torture. Being at a dinner for four, when you only know one other person, and the rest know at least two. It's *so* nasty.

then we went to he party, it too was great and Daryl didn't show up
It was great. Daryl didn't show. Don't these sentences, like, go together? Besides, he probably thought that if he went to a party Saturday he'd be marching up the aisle no later than Tuesday afternoon.

he just sent his roommate out to check her out...she kicked his ass at >pool so that was cool...
Well, yeah. Seeing men lose at pool is good. Seeing men *who think they are good* lose at pool is better. I have fallen into the first category often enough. Never the second (:

we get into some stupid argument and end up deciding to break up.
Noooooooo. We don't wanna give you *that*.

I told her that it was all on her from this point and to call me when she wanted to hear my voice. An hour after I got to work, she called. Four times yesterday, and all day today. And she got a computer and got onto messenger and we've been talking all night.
Call me over-optimistic, but this is not a bad thing to see. The channels of communication are remaining open. Even if nothing seems to be coming down them, they're open.

1)things are better and 2) for all intents and purposes, we are together.
Better. Together. Better together. Yippee!

She told me she loved me tonight. That is a HUGE deal for her.
Then that is a huge deal, full stop. A small acknowledgement of the other's feelings, just to, like, admit that she's there.

I'm happy, which is an odd sensation for me...I keep waiting for disaster to strike. But I'm starting to think it won't....
I *so* hope it doesn't. I fear that there may be downward moments, when things are a little rocky, but these are not necessarily disasters. You'll come through, sooner than you might think.

Weather: Some sun, and a little less heat. 10.

Travel: Back tonight on the 1710 stopper Coventry - Wvn (19 down) and 1742 (straight behind the stopper, about 10 late)

Was it supposed to be cancelled? No-one managed to tell me in time for that I didn't catch the train, so off I jolly well toddled. Winding up, 7 hours later, in deepest Marks Tey. Where Toby and Gopher were playing with a wooden train set. How very thoughtful. Sara, it transpired, was upstairs in bed with the flu, and Alternate Plans were in place.

Alternate Plans resulted in the gents leaving the house, to take a look at Colchester's many and varied sights. There's a road, a roundabout, a statue of Dusty Bin (or was it Bouddicca? Never quite sure) and a lot of rain. Enough to soak me to the skin within minutes.

For no adequately explored reason, we sloped off up the hill to explore Colchester Castle for free. Sadly, the museum curator had other ideas, and shooed us away. Seeking refuge in a sandwich store, where there are Milky Way bars from Poland, again for no adequately explored reason.

Never trust Ross' sense of timing; he thought it was a smart move to drive past Layer Road minutes before the final whistle. There were 3646 fans in the ground, many from Wycombe to see a "dull as ditchwater" (Sport First) goalless draw. I'm surprised we didn't hit more congestion.

Arriving back at chez Macdonald, any excuse to get dry was a good excuse. Pizza Hut pizza was on the menu, as opposed to Pizza Hut hut. A brief game of Millionaire followed, with Gopher embarrassing himself on a £4000 question, though Ross redeemed himself by taking £32,000. Not as good as the *third* half-millionaire in the UK, the one who finally gave the frighteningly frightening Million Pound Music time to air on Monday. Thence to the benefits or otherwise of digital television, and that's quite enough for one night.

Though Sara didn't put in an appearance all night, she did make her presence felt, and not just by switching the television on. More of that will become apparent shortly. As will the strange case of the Eagle that rose from the dead (and I'm not talking Philadelphia, either.)

Thanks, as ever, to Ross and Mrs Invisible for their hospitality. Must do it again sometime.

Weather: Humid again this morning, with some very sharp showers. 11.

Travel: Tonight's return is the 1718 Bristol - Edinburgh (14 late) and 1804 from Walsall (3 late)

The Netherlands legalises voluntary euthanasia. The new regulations require a doctor to a) determine that the patient's suffering is "unbearable"; b) have that determination seconded by a separate doctor; and c) get parental consent if the patient is between 12 and 16 years old. The doctor cannot suggest suicide; the patient must first request it. Although the practice is tolerated in Switzerland, Colombia, and Belgium, the Netherlands is the first country to legalize it.

"It is time to throw in the towel," claimed George Shrub at 2:30 last Monday morning. A few hours earlier, Florida's vote had been certified by the certified returning officer. 100 people, the majority of the state's Bush supporters, were in a basement hall in Talahassee to watch Katherine Harris declare the Texas governor the winner. However, the bandwagon rolls through courts in various parts of Florida, with the national court hearing arguments. It's expected to rule that this is a state matter in which it has no locus, and the national court's ruling will have no significant effect either way.

A Chilean judge has charged Augusto Pinochet with dozens of deaths and disappearances that occurred during his 17-year dictatorship and ordered him be placed under house arrest, moving the ailing former general a step closer to trial. Judge Juan Guzman says he is moving to prosecute Pinochet for 55 deaths and 18 disappearances that came after his September 1973 coup. No trial date has been set and appeals over the fitness of the 85-year-old to stand trial could drag on for years. The indictment arises from the so-called "Caravan of Death" in which a military death squad scoured the country in the months after the coup against Socialist President Salvador Allende, pulling leftist prisoners from jails to be executed.

Papers throw a wobbly after British schoolchildren are told to use "internationally standardised" spellings of scientific terms - for example, sulfate and fetus rather than the British "sulphate" and "foetus." An enraged teacher said, "It's more to do with cultural imperialism by America than wanting to standardise. If America cared about consistency it wouldn't use feet and inches and gallons. Next thing they'll be telling us to drop the 'i' in aluminium because Americans can't pronounce it." The same teacher claimed the presence of "sulfur" in a pupil's homework is a clue that it has been downloaded from the Internet. Are we really going to take lessons in language from the land whose president came up with 'It depends what the meaning of "is" is.' Hell, no!

Weather: Cloudy. 12.

Football: Rio Ferdinand had a disastrous debut as the world's most expensive defender as Leeds United lost 3-1 at Leicester. David O'Leary's team went three goals down inside the first 29 minutes at Filbert Street as Ferdinand, an 18-million-pound signing from West Ham and his defensive colleagues were torn apart by the Foxes.
Defending champion Manchester United remained eight points clear of its rivals by downing Tottenham 2-0 with strikes by Paul Scholes and substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for its eighth Premier League win in a row.
Second-place Arsenal needed a goal five minutes from the end by Patrick Vieira to earn a 1-0 win over Southampton at Highbury, the result ending a run of five league and cup games without a win for Arsene Wenger's team.
Ipswich gave up third place to Leicester after losing 1-0 at home to Derby.
Liverpool moved up to fourth after a 3-0 beating of promoted Charlton.
West Ham, the club that sold Ferdinand, moved up to sixth after Paolo Di Canio's strike in a 1-0 victory over struggling Middlesbrough at Upton Park. Boro lost the eighth game in nine and stays in the relegation zone.
Stan Collymore and Peter Beagrie scored in the last seven minutes for last-place Bradford to edge Coventry 2-1. Bradford remains in last place on goal difference while Coventry has now slipped into the relegation slots.
Former England captain Alan Shearer was missing from the Newcastle lineup at Villa Park because of injury but Bobby Robson's team hit back to gain a 1-1 tie.
Chelsea beats Man City 2-1 on Sunday, Sunderland downs Everton 2-0 Monday.

The Points: MUN 39 ANL 31 LEI 29 (+1) LIV 27 (+1) IPS 27 (-2) ... BRA 11 MID 11 COV 12 DER 13
The Prizes: MUN 1185 ARS 1091 SUN 1068 (+2) LEI 1055 (+3) WHM 1041 (+3) ... MCY 879 (-1) COV 881 (-1) BRA 881 (+2) MID 892

Weather: Frosty and sunny early, 10.

The Charts

#1 #1 Destiny's Child - independent woman [week 2]
#2 ne S Club 7 - never had a dream come true
#3 #2 Leann Rimes - can't fight the moonlight
#4 #3 Baha Men - who let the dogs out?
#5 79 Madonna - don't tell me

also new
10 Sonique - i put a spell on you
14 Warp Brothers - fat bass
29 Melanie C - if that were me
32 Da Mutts - wassup
33 Bon Jovi - thank you for loving me

climbs
13 18 Public Domain - operation blade
18 25 N'Sync - this i promise you
38 42 Creed - with arms wide open
40 48 Lenny Kravitz - again