Today was the the day that hurricane Gordon took revenge. My boiler ceased to work; my water pump gave up the ghost; and my internet connection went AWOL. So I am writing this in a cyber cafe. !Que dia fatal! And now I can't even find out how to type accents on this computer.

Which reminds me - a couple of Spanish readers have been kind enough to point out that my example of the double negative in Spanish was based on an error in the Spanish text. Fair enough. But I stick to my point that the double negative is not an uncommon feature of Spanish.

And that was a good example of its rare use in English. I hope.

As I type this at midnight in the cyber cafe, I am the only person here apart from the young lady who is manning the place. She is moving from machine to machine, her high heels clacking distractingly on the wooden floor as she goes, typing a few words and then moving swiftly on. I guess this is a good a job as any for someone with an obsessive compulsive disorder. Or should that be compulsive obsessive disorder? As if it matters.