With my running shoes through Old Sydney Town. Or, "Hello, my name is Damian."

[El Gordo]

Thanks MLCM -- excellent update. Sounds like you're having one of those genuinely life-changing experiences. Glad to hear it's going so well.

Branson's Virgin Trains bought one of the franchises that resulted from the sell-off of the nationalised British Rail. I was an early victim, using -- or trying to use -- a Virgin service to take me to Manchester early on a Monday morning, returning me on Friday evenings. I did this for a few weeks, and a thoroughly miserable experience it was. The trains themselves are quite impressive, if plasticky, but they never ran on time, and took far longer to reach their destination than seemed humane and reasonable. This was around 6 years ago though, so perhaps they've improved. Trouble is, as often happens, since that early bad experience, I've shied away from using them again, so I wouldn't know how they're doing. I still think their schedules are painful. If you're not travelling directly from and to a major city, their routes are slow and circuitous. There you are, more than you ever wanted to know about Virgin Trains.

When it goes right though, I agree about the pleasures of train travel. I spent more than a year commuting to London -- about an hour each way -- and was amazed at how much reading I got through. Spending so much time in front of a computer, I seem to have lost the knack of reading, which is very annoying. (Well, this morning I did just finish reading Mark Haddon's brilliant "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time", but it's hardly a taxing read.) I've just signed up for a couple of short Open University courses in readiness for doing an Eng Lit degree from the new year, so I'd better rediscover the art of extended time with a book, or I'll be in trouble. But anyway, train journeys, and travel in general, are great for catching up with books as getting the PC out is just too much hassle.

Talking of which, has anyone come across one of the new electronic reading devices like the Amazon Kindle or Sony Reader? I like the idea of them but I can't help feeling we've not yet arrived at our true destination. They're still expensive, and not flexible enough (no pun intended). The Kindle isn't available in the UK yet but the Sony arrives very soon. I'll still hang on for a while yet though.

Anyway, glad to hear it's going so well in Sydney.

El Gordo

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PS You are being strangely muted about the Olympics

PPS No running to report from over here, but as the stomach spills ever closer to my feet, the loins are beginning to twitch....