Concern and disappointment

Not the British military's version of "shock and awe," but our emotional state these past few days following news from back home. Last Thursday my dad experienced what I suppose might be loosely described as a "funny turn" whilst shopping with my mum in Calais; he collapsed and had to be taken to the hospital. Seeing as this was France, he preceded through the appropriate battery of tests and a consultation with a specialist within hours of arrival (one imagines he'd still be in the waiting room at the Royal Sussex); they couldn't find anything specific wrong with him. He stayed in overnight but has been fine ever since. Everything points to it being a "one-off" - apparently such things aren't uncommon and shouldn't be anything to worry about. On the frustrating side, however, he has been advised not to drive for a year and, in addition, he can't get travel insurance for the same period (that is to say he could, but wouldn't be covered if he had a recurrence) - which means Mum and Dad have had to cancel their trip out to see us in September. It's a real shame because I was really looking forward to showing them what life is like out here... we speak on the phone every week of course, but I'm sure it must seem very abstract until you've actually experienced it. Anyhow, we'll be back at Christmas and fingers crossed for next September instead.

General apologies for the lack of correspondence lately. The usual excuse of too much work has been butressed by fantastic weather (have not seen a cloud for over a month, everyday in the eighties or nineties) and the fact that AMC - the movie channel we get by mistake because Comcast haven't figured out a way to disable it for cheapskates like me who only pay for basic cable - is showing a different Bond film every night at 8 for the whole of August. Just so you know where you fall in the scheme of things...

To all those I owe a long email (Misters Bailey, Frost and Haynes, Ms Fryberger), my apologies, I shall get round to it soon!