Sorry, this is (again) last nigh't post, published early Monday morning.

If it’s apocalypsism you want, click here for Ambrose’s latest forebodings. In truth, there do seem to be some rather nationalistic attitudes being struck around the Old World – the very thing we sceptics felt was the seed of destruction of a political project that got ahead of itself. Where is the cavalry, one wonders. And should I move my euros to a bank in Berlin? Before exchange controls hit us.

I mentioned the other day that one is forced to waste time because – here in Pontevedra at least – people show a marked tendency to insist on face-to-face discussion, rather than sending you documents by either snailmail or email. Well, the almost inevitable corollary of this is that you run the risk of wasting even more time when either the person you’re dealing with has “just popped out for a coffee” or asks you to come back in half an hour. Both of which happened to me yesterday. I wonder if this helps to explain low Spanish productivity.

My friend Alfie has dropped me a note about the problem I’m having in getting the fence behind my house fixed:-
Dear Colin,
Oh dear, that mother-kissing FENCE of yours!!! You've been in the Reino for a decade! Do you still not know how to do things here? Get a can of spray paint. Then, in the depth of night, go to the bloody fence. Write in big red letters onto it: ¡¡¡Habla el Idioma del Imperio!!! Within 24 hours it will have been replaced.
Yours, Affable - and Efficient - Alfie.
Unfortunately, Alfie seems not to have realised that, as this picture shows, the problem is one of a missing board, not one that needs to be replaced and on which I could write his message.

But, anyway, it’s now late on Sunday night and the fence was not done today either. The Spanish use “8 days” to say “a week” and “15 days” to say “ a fortnight”. So perhaps a weekend lasts 3 days here. Vamos a ver.

But it’s not all bad news. Firstly, the Contact Me button is now installed top right of this blog. Secondly, my Franklin electronic dictionary has developed a screen fault. Which should allow me to return it and get my money back tomorrow.