I told you we were doing the caterpillar today...

She's putting out feelers to see who'll take her for a walk.

Anyhoo, as of this afternoon, the three of us are back in Brighton. Which means my diet starts tomorrow. I've got until midnight to steal Lisa's chocolate from the fridge.

But the good news is that I now have a working car stereo, thanks to Chelmer Car Sound, who were willing to fit it for me at short notice this morning in return for large amounts of money. It turned out that the cowboy person who'd installed my last stereo had removed a vital connector, which is why I wasn't able to fit the new one myself. That, and the fact that I'm essentially clueless when it comes to cars, stereos, and anything with instructions.

My parents move to St Leonards in January, so barring some kind of miracle (like me offering to help them pack), it means I've visited Chelmsford for the last time. So to celebrate, Lisa and I abandoned Amelie in her Moses basket, and went out last night to the White Hart. We chose it partly because it's two minutes' drive from my parents' house, partly because we've been there before, but mostly because their main courses are buy-one-get-one-free. So I thought I could eat twice as much.


Unfortunately, the board at the bar which lists everything they've run out of, was longer than the actual menu. I think we had a choice of about three dishes in the end. So I confidently ordered a chicken burger, only to be told that although they had lots of chicken, they'd run out of the crispy coating it's cooked in. I asked if I could have some free onion rings as compensation, and was told no, because the chicken's exactly the same as usual... apart from the crispy coating. I tried to point out that the words 'apart from' might indicate that it's not exactly the same, but the barman just looked at me blankly. And then added that it no longer comes with salad & chips because they've run out of salad.

I wouldn't mind, but the White Hart's directly opposite a Sainsbury's superstore. They could have popped out and bought me a three course meal before I'd finished arguing about the onion rings. And they'd have got Nectar points. They must be kicking themselves.