I'm ready to go home now - my feet hurt, my legs hurt, my knee hurts. I'm tired; I want to not have to walk any further than round my flat and to do nothing except lie on the sofa and go to bed in a nice comfy bed.

But, I have seen Sarah Jane's house, Torchwood's invisible lift, a concert in the Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay Barrage, Cardiff Castle and lots of other sundry bits of Cardiff. I can definitely say that I've done Cardiff now. It'll certainly make the next series of Torchwood that bit more interesting, if nothing else.

Amazingly, it's not rained much at all. Although I saw BBC News 24 on the bus (!) - it was a bendy bus, which never gets less exciting - and they said it was going to be raining tomorrow morning though.

The best part is that I've spent les than £20 on entertainment. And since I brought breakfasts, lunches and snacks, I've not spent that much on food either. So it has actually been a cheap holiday. I'd just like to not have to go back to work on Tuesday - I've been away long enough for it all to have gone horribly wrong, I am sure.

Hello from sunny Cardiff. Yes, it is sunny. Or has been, I think it's a bit cloudy now. It will rain at some point this weekend, though, since it always rains when I go to Wales.

So far I've been on an open-top bus tour (which was a bit windy), where I found out more about what to do in the city than the tourist information. I've also walked around all of the city centre (ie where the shops are) and found the internet cafe where it's £1 an hour.

They've just opened a Borders here today and this weekend is 15% off, so my suitcase might be going back heavier than it came - although it was mostly full of food (I am not exaggerating - I brought breakfast, lunch and snacks with me).

The worst part was the train fare: £38 for a 1 hour 20 minute journey! Not being able to use my railcard makes it even worse (it doesn't work this far West).

Now, Edinburgh is the only British capital city I haven't been to - I have plans to go there in the next couple of years, though, and get the sleeper train back.

I went to the I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue stage show last night in Oxford. In order to get there in time and eat, I tried a pot noodle thing from Trufree, on dad's recommendation. I'd never eaten one before, but this was really nice and filling, even if it did seem a bit like eating baby food.

Non-Brits, the rest of this post will not make any sense - ISIHAC being a very British comedy.

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I now have a new 23 inch flatscreen widescreen TV. Or monitor, as it more technically is, since I never watch anything live. It means I now own four digital and four analogue tuners. I was quite happy with three of each, but the TV came with them.

But now I can watch tennis and see the ball. I can watch widescreen in widescreen without black bars. I can watch dodgy quality videos on my computer on a really good monitor.

Setting it up was really quick - I put it on the stand, plugged it in and turned it on. What took far longer was playing with four bits of polystyrene, one box and one TV as I tried to put the old one back in the box. I only moved nine months ago, you'd think I'd remember how it went from then. But now. I tried just about every combination and it's now in there. I'm not convinced it's right at all, though, since two of the pieces of polystyrene seem to be completely redundant.

I've even found space for my tribbles in front of the screen. What I haven't yet worked out is where I'm going to put my speakers. Or the boxes. I'm going to need to rearrange my box cupboard when I next have a free weekend.

I got home from work and watched both parts of Revenge of the Slitheen. I could have done without the CBBC logo in the middle of the screen though. I did switch over to the second episode and fast forwarded only to discover Lis Sladen being interviewed by a bloke and a cactus. Don't ask.

SPOILERS following:
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I'm still really excited about the Davis Cup yesterday. While standing waiting for a tube yesterday with Tanaqui I almost jumped up and down in excitement. However, first there was a signal failure at Earl's Court, which meant we had to get three tubes there. But we got there in the end and followed the crowd to Wimbledon. I actually got hot walking in the sun, which was unexpected after the weather this week.

We were sat in the very back row, which was handy because it meant you can stand up whenever you like (the seats are not designed for comfort). However, we were at the end that meant Tim Henman and Jamie Murray had their backs to us during the warm up and at the end. It also meant that on screen we were just dark shapes, so we weren't on TV.

Before the match started they had what I assume were cheerleaders. They had white towels and short green dresses and looked utterly ridiculous. They weren't even in time with each other.

The match, though, was worth it. I said in advance that I wanted a good match, to 4 sets, but us to win. I got my wish but there were times I wished I hadn't - it's so exhausting on the nerves. And the throat. It's impossible not to shout 'Yes' with the rest of the crowd when we've won a particularly big point. There were times during change of ends that the British and Croatian supporters were trying to outdo each other in loudness. We won, unsurprisingly.

I have to talk about the volume of the crowd. Centre and No 1 Court are surprisingly loud when the crowd gets going during Wimbledon, and Davis Cup more so. Put them together and you couldn't hear yourself talk. During the last game there was so much shouting the Croatians had to wait to serve. I had to wait until I got home to find out what Henman, Murray and John Llloyd said in their interviews - Henman started before I had any idea, it was so noisy. Although the echo didn't help, and Jamie Murray could have been saying anything, due to the echo and his Scottish accent.

Afterwards we had a wander round and I took a picture of Centre Court as you don't see it very often - without a roof. And surrounded by cranes. They had everywhere from Centre Court southwards fenced off due to the building works going on there.

My binoculars picked out Andy Murray in the crowd and Judy Murray. I couldn't find Lucy Henman, although now I've watched it and found out where she was I can see her in the photos. At one point Andy, and then Judy, had a little girl on their laps. Apparently she was Andy's niece, which implies they have an older brother or sister. Who's not mentioned anywhere I can find.

I am still excited at the whole thing - a good match, a win (although we won't last long in the World Group with only two good players again), and being on court to see Tim Henman's last professional match.

Our boys really know how to put us through the mill, so I am exhausted after seeing Great Britain beat Croatia in the Davis Cup 3-0. I'll write up a post tomorrow (assuming my dinner isn't going to make me ill - I had a whole battered fish), but in the meantime you can see the photos.

I am feeling the need to pimp soniclipstick the new SJA newsletter to go with Who Daily and Torchwood Three. Mostly because I did tonight's, which is very exciting. Although it took me a while - I will learn for next time.

From hhertzof

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Entirely out of interest: what are the Firefox extensions you couldn't live without? And ones that you'd rather not live without too.

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I've been testing out the alpha release of Trillian Astra. It's quite exciting because I've never seen an alpha release of anything before. And possibly not even beta. Although I am using a release candidate version of RSS Bandit because it works better than the version I upgraded from and better than the version I could upgrade to.

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I've read a few books recently that I feel the need to talk about.

One of the ones I got cheap when the Friar Street Bookshop closed was a BBC Doctor Who was Three, Jo, Iris Wildthyme and Tom (Verdigris). If it was fanfic it would be described as crack. It is completely mad - and only partly because it has Iris in it. As I was reading it I thought that the summary on the back didn't really describe the plot. But then I realised, I don't think it's possible to adequately describe the plot. But it has killer robot sheep in it.

I read another Three & Jo one yesterday (The Suns of Caresh), which was much more normal. At the start, there wasn't much of the Doctor or Jo, but I got so caught up with two of the other characters, I ended up not caring. It was a good book, although the Doctor introduced a question five pages before the end which was never solved. It bugged me, although obviously not for long because I can't remember what it was any more.

I got Emily of New Moon from the library and have just finished it. It was interestingly, and I think I'll get the other two, but I don't think I like Emily as much as Anne. Although with Anne of Green Gables it helped that I found the relationship between her and Matthew and Marilla really interesting. With Emily, the relationship between her, Aunt Elizabeth and Aunt Laura isn't nearly so interesting.

On a non-book related note, I watched Michael Palin tonight (there is TV on TV again!), which was really interesting. Although at the start he said he'd not really been to Eastern Europe and I think I've been to more of Eastern Europe than West!

I am also testing out the Trillian Astra (codename for 4.0 - the next release, not prizes for knowing where the Astra comes from) but I'll blog about that tomorrow.

The noise is very quiet still. I've occasionally heard it this evening, but you have to be silent to hear it. Hopefully it will continue that way.

It's definitely not the height of summer any more. I was in London today and as it was nice, we sat out in St James Park. But after a while it was a bit cold in the shade. What was nice, though, was that I got on a semi-slow train at 8pm and was home at 9.30. If I'd had to have got the bus from Reading, I wouldn't have got home till 10.30.

I just happened to look at the TV guide and notice that Diana Rigg was on Parkinson. Then I sat down to read and when I looked at the clock I noticed it had already started. I put the telly on anyway, just before she came on. She's 69 but looks amazing. She's changed a bit in the last forty years, obviously, so it was quite strange to hear Emma Peel's voice coming from a stranger - until you looked more closely and it was clearly the same person.

More coherency and replies to comments etc tomorrow when I'm more awake.

Post an excerpt, anything from a sentence to something more substantial, from your current WIP into my comments.

Things I learnt tonight:

Jelly babies, jelly beans, chocolate sauce and cream taste good together.
Jelly babies and cheesecake don't go.

I can't clarify these since I can't eat chocolate sauce, cream or cheesecake and I don't like jelly babies or jelly beans.

You'd never tell but I've been to the Chinese restaurant for buffet night - where I could eat two main courses! Although coconut sauce turned out to be a bit much for a whole main course.

The noise is currently quiet enough that the fan on my laptop drowns it out. The fan's not on all the time, so this is not as useful as it first appears. And since I started writing this it's got a bit louder...

The woman from the council is writing the neighbours a letter. I'm not sure if they're allowed to break in. But even if they can, there's no longer any guarantee that they'll be able to work out what it is.

I've just had the email about autumn recordings of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, which are in Croydon, Manchester and Peterbrough. But, they're recording the Christmas special (Humph in Wonderland) on Sunday 25th November in Shaftesbury Avenue. Which I can get to.

Tickets go on sale 10am Monday. Anyone want to come with me? It's less than £10, even for the expensive tickets.

Today I got home to find my new recycling bin had been delivered - very exciting!

The woman from the council rang to say she spent all of yesterday trying to find out if any of the estate agents manage the flat above. Which they don't. She said she is determined to get it sorted out by the weekend though. The noise is a lot quieter tonight and not on as much, although that's no indication of what it'll be like any other time.

At her suggestion I spoke to the people in the flats upstairs to see if they knew when the neighbours would be back or had a key, but no joy. Well, although the bloke whose parking space is next to mine turned out to be quite nice and Australian. I would have happily talked to him for longer. So that's a good thing that's come out of it at least.

I got some chocolate buttons from Tescos last night - they're very nice. They taste like what I vaguely remember chocolate buttons to taste like. I was less impressed that they couldn't provide me with the milk I like, though, specially as I only have one pot left (a fifth of a litre). So I will end up going to Didcot on Sunday.

According to Mock the Week Didcot is a good place to live in terms of healthy life expectancy - you can expect to live till 86 if you live there! Make of that what you will.

I spoke to someone at Environmental Health at the council who wrote it all down and told me they probably couldn't do anything because they can't get in there. Which is why I have the problem in the first place!

They did ring me back, though, and the person who is on my case had been told nothing, despite it having been written down. She was going to see if the the flat was rented and the estate agent would therefore have a key. I didn't hear anything back, so I assume not.

The noise was unchanged since yesterday, although a few minutes ago it changed in frequency and got louder for short bursts, and is quiet for even shorter bursts. I am desperately hoping that this means that whatever is causing it is burning out and will therefore stop making a noise. I am also hoping that as last night's ear plugs are doing very little to block out the sound, a fresh set will block it out enough for me to sleep.

Fortunately, I have to go out in half an hour, but I am in tomorrow night and have things I need to do so I really need it to stop before I go crazy or have a nervous breakdown.

Do you ever miss the sort of games you played when you were little? Like What's the Time Mr Wolf, Musical Chairs and Wink Murder? Well, miss them no more because Wallingford Rotaract are holding a Retro Birthday Party on 20th October, giving you a chance to be as childish as you want. With the addition of a licensed bar.

Obviously, this offer only extends to people who live near me. If you don't want to have to get home after I have a sofa that more than one person has told me is very comfortable. There's also floor space. (I have space to have people over! It's very exciting!)

It'll cost you £7 to get in, but you do get some party food and there will be opportunities to demonstrate your skills at making paper aeroplanes and pinning the tail on the donkey. And the profits are going to Thames Valley Air Ambulance.