Is that all there is to it?

A very good charter night yesterday: an excellent meal and very pleasant company. The speeches were reasonably short as well, which is always a bonus. This morning, though, everything seems slightly pointless. Probably because I have been wrapped up in preparations for the big day and now it's over, what is there to do? There is, of course, plenty to do, but I just don't seem to be able to summon up much enthusiasm for any of it.

Sports report

I am not, and never have been, a sporting person. I did play rugby, football and cricket at school - badly, in each case - and did a little boxing. I suppose athletics could be considered my strongest suite, but only the sprints and I wasn't good at that. I later took up badminton and enjoyed the game even though I was never much good. Then about 40 years ago I found the one 'sport' at which I became reasonably proficient: rock climbing. I was once in a winning darts team. We won the bank's inter-branch tournament, much to our astonishment.

All this is just a preamble leading up to an exclamation of surprise that I actually knocked down eight of the nine skittles on my first turn at the inter-club skittles tournament the other evening. In the second round I returned to my usual form with a score of five. Brighton ended up in third place out of six teams, a result that we considered highly satisfactory.

It was a pleasant evening with 50+ Lions, Lionesses and 'other halves' at a country pub with a good buffet included.

More Lions matters tonight, and tomorrow (book fair - preparation tonight) followed by our club's charter night tomorrow evening: dinner jackets and posh frocks, although the frocks these days are not quite as posh as they were twenty or so years ago. I had printed off the menu/place cards in good time, only to be told this morning that one of the guests is Janet and not Jeanette. I just hope all the others are correct!

Election day

Voting takes place today to select our Euro MPs and, in most of the country but not here, local councillors. I have exercised my democratic right, what some would call my democratic duty, and voted. I was taken aback to see that I could vote for one of FIFTEEN parties, about ten of which I had never heard of before.

Oh, what a circus!

The show continues, with two Cabinet ministers now having resigned. Only from the Cabinet, mind, they will still serve as MPs - until the next election. Matt's cartoon today is great.

Party invitations

Seems it's arrived. At least, the Prince of Wales has accepted. Maybe the Queen has another engagement.

Liz Hunt, of the Telegraph, sums it all up pretty well.

This is Beachy Head, which is just outside Eastbourne, a 40-45 minutes drive from here, and is the eastern end of the South Downs. The cliffs are several hundred feet high, making this probably the UK's favourite suicide spot.

During the weekend, a couple - believed to be in their 40s - jumped, carrying a rucksack in which was found the body of their 5 year old son. It would seem that the boy was wheelchair-bound and presumably the parents just could not cope with his death.

It certainly makes me count my blessings.

Oh, what a circus!

Here we are on Day 25 and still the revelations come. It was only some time last week that the letters page of the Telegraph carried letters on any other subject. Frankly, while I agree that all the information should be publicly available, I am becoming just a little punch drunk, bored, fed up with it all.