Is it a bird? Is it a bee?

No, it's PW37 playing tennis.
Valentina's husband Branco took a few pictures last Friday, so I could study my own mistakes. Being the borderline narcissist I am, I'm posting two of them.



Due to the perspective, they actually make me look as if I had longer legs than I really have. Gotta love perspective.

As almost always, well, let's say as very often, my instincts re. not participating in today's seminar were right: not only did Irene get a call from the security company at some ungodly hour, so she had to go to the embassy in the middle of the night (something with the alarm, but nothing was wrong -- maybe power failure) and needs to sleep longer this morning, boss also needs information re. Macedonia's probable vote (against? abstention?) re. Serbia's Kosovo resolution. So I had to be here in order to open the embassy, and I'll need to make a few phone calls as well, i.e. being absent wouldn't have been possible. I'm going to reward myself, however, by skiving off the reception tonight at the parliament, which is crowded, hot and boring.

Since I have an appointment at 10 in the centre, I'll also go looking for shoes. Not that I don't have enough, but the problem is that they get wider if you wear them without tights, and when the time comes again for wearing tights, you don't have shoes which don't fall off your feet. So new shoes it is; hopefully the autumn/winter stuff has already arrived, because I have no intention of buying summer shoes. I also need to get the first part of Janine's birthday present, and maybe I'll have a look round one or two shops for a light jacket/coat. Something in the middle between elegant and sportive. It's still early days, though, so I might have to look again later. If, however, the forecast for the weekend is correct, the weather ought to be ideal for doing just that, preferably in a mall, because they say it's going to rain.

I don't think anybody is in doubt re. my love for animals, but those friendly sentiments are really being put to the test by the dog drama that occurs almost every night just below my bedroom balcony. Obviously -- as far as I'm able to deduct from the noise and different "voices" -- some canine stranger persisitently returns to molest the resident strays, among whom there is a mother with three cubs, and believe me, the ensuing fight-cum-mad-barking is enough to wake even me. This night, it happened around 2 a.m., which was the second time I woke up. The first being when the boss sent two text messages around 0.30. *yawns* Resident doggies are unhurt, though, and that's what's important. Go them!

Vesna came to work today looking like death warmed over -- apparently there's an intestinal virus making the rounds. I sent her home post haste, and since she refused to take a taxi (no surprises there, for her it's expensive) I asked Lidija, one of the visa girls, to take her home by car. Keep your fingers crossed for nobody else having caught the virus, because it seems rather nasty, with fever, vomiting and diarrhea. Not exactly the way I'd pictured myself spending the next few days...