>>>>>Killing Time<<<<<

My, how I love mechanics. Especially when they take a large amount of money off me for replacing a part the name of which I coulde never even dream of pronouncing, never mind ever knowing what it does. They presented the old part. "That's your trouble," said the dirty man, passing a clump of old metal to me. Quite what it was I shall never know, nor do I care. I felt the need for an MOT was too pressing, given that I've been sans that essential document for a couple of months. If I were shelling out over £200 for anything else, I'd want to know what I was getting for my money. But mechanics are scary people whose ability to baffle with jargon is second only to IT help desk automatons. So I left it there, accepted my lot and resigned myself to the thought that, despite my decent degree and the fine position in society that being a journalist lends me, I can't square up to a mechanic intellectually lest I be bombarded with nonsense about cam shafts, track rod ends and the viscosity of my engine oil. Anyway, I got back in my car and, despite the added bonus of an oil and filter change, a piece of official-looking A5 paper and the aforementioned mysterious new part, the thing drove exactly as it did before over 200 quid had been invested in it. Money well spent there, then.*

Tonight, to make amends for that dreadful evening of comedy we endured last week, we're off to watch an American singer-songwriter that goes by the name of Josh Rouse. If this gig goes down like the proverbial lead flying machine, there's a terrible chance that we might have to go and see Glenn Tillbrook and his pub rockers the Fluffers to make up for it, such are the efforts of the venue to please us. So let's hope Mr Rouse is cool for ca-a-a-a-ats. Or good, even, because I'm not sure where 'cool for ca-a-a-a-ats' sits on this peculiar, miaowing sliding scale of quality that I find myself using. I imagine it's adequate but not great. Maybe another scale of measurement should be introduced that doesn't involve felines. But not on this blog, oh no, think of your own methods.

*Killing Time does not recommend driving a vehicle without an MOT certificate.