Woke at midnight. Couldn't sleep. So what do I do? Come out to the lounge and run a complete anti-virus scan. Then post about it here. Yes, a certfiable moment of madness. I'll go back to bed and sleep in about 15 minutes. I promise.

I know I haven't mentioned it lately but my son Andrew is a gem. A rare and genuine, precious and scintillating diamond of a person. It simply comes down to that. The kid is terrific.

Tomorrow, well this morning really at this point, we leave for Oxford by train. The organizers, officers and speakers at the annual ACCU conference are arriving the day before the program starts. We'll be getting to gether with a bunch of old friends and collegues for drinks and a meal later. I'm realy looking forward to this, marvelous people. Take a look at the ACCU web site at www.accu.org - you can even click on the link to the program. Whats more, if you know me or Alan, if you're in the area stop by and have a drink with us. If you're a programer or gamer you'll find some of the conference of great interest. Alan will be talking about game design and development on Saturday. I think he may drag me along to speak on the panel about game management designs related to code.

We had a lovely Thai dinner tonight with some very drinkable SE Australian wine. Moderately priced Australian wine has really improved recently to the point where I refuse to be ripped off by most French wines.

For once the posted time is correct. I'm back in London for the holidays. (Have I mentioned how much I hate Citibank and their arrogance which supasseth all understanding - and they lie, too!)

My flight was delayed because the moron cargodroids were slobby loading on the cargo pods and managed to puncture a fireproof compartment wall. That had to be repaired and tested before we could take off. Reasonable and sensible proceedure but not how I like to start transatlantic flights. Arrived safely enough, tho to find Alan waiting for me a Heathrow. That's a very endearing habit of Alan's, always meeting me at the airport.

So it's now Easter morning and I've had a realy good night's sleep and morning coffee. Outside it's a bit grey but still birds and chirping and trees are flowering. I'm going out to walk in a short while; down to Isleworth Dock to see the Concord beached by the low tide on its barge. We went out for a curry with Ron and Hilary last night (quelle surprise, eh?) and they're coming around a bit later to pick us up for a Easter Sunday drive in the country.

What a strange feeling it is to be here on Easter. Not being a christian myself, I don't go to Easter servies. But here in this nation of christians that habit is almost completely missing. In NYC attending Easter Sunday services is serious business and even more so very serious spring fashion business. Today of all days, anywhere you look in Manhattan you'll see well dressed families strolling about, especially dressed up little girls wearing traditional frilly dresses and hats and even little white gloves.

NYC still does the traditional Easter Parade up Fifth Ave and in the good spirit of the event the strolling dowagers in their finery can usually be seen nodding and returning the greetings of their fellow Easter paraders, the outragous queens in their usually sensational millinary.