Xmas shopping begins

And man, am I glad I was wearing my new shoes! After hours of trudging around the Bluewater shopping mall, I usually expect my feet to be killing. Instead, there was barely a twinge. I'm impressed.

Just as well, as my shopping success was. . . underwhelming. My mother is now completely sorted out. That just leaves my father & gf and my sister-in-law.

Ho-hum.

We collected my parent's dog on the way back - they're in France overnight, so we're dog-sitting. He's a bit subdued - he was recently diagnosed with throat cancer, and has just had his first blast of chemotherapy, plus his throat is still sore from where they hacked a large lump of it out, plus he's never too happy about being away from home, altho he does quite like out flat in many ways - it's small & cosy, and he's a clingy sort of a dog. Which can be awkward, given that he's an alsatian-collie cross, and so very large.

I saw something in Bluewater that I must add to my Xmas list now, as well (People are always asking me what I want ofr Christmas, so I've gotten into the habit of putting a list online) - there's a Python Cookbook from O'Reilly that looks pretty good.

I've made a start on getting into my Python book again, by the way - I'm several chapters in, and have two pages of notes so far. With any luck, I'll get a good bit further in during my week off.