User-serviceable parts inside

Continuing the series of household objects ... Today I replaced the hard disk in my MacBook with a larger, faster one. I'm pleased to report that despite the reputation of Macs for not being user-serviceable, it was an easy 10-minute job using two screwdrivers and a 5-centime coin. Followed by two hours to copy the contents of the old disk over to the new one, during which time I did a load of laundry, the supermarket shop, and washed the car. A highly effective morning -- the computer is so much faster that it's like having a new one.

This evening we went to see the newly restored Les Parapluies de Cherbourg at the Colisée in Carcassonne. Glorious! I must have seen it at least four times, and I could never tire of it -- it's one of my favourite films. Kitsch and naivety combined ... every frame a sheer delight for the eyes. The colours! The clothes! The wallpaper! Catherine Deneuve! (in her first major role). The restored sound is fantastic too. Despite the sentimental plot, it doesn't have a happy ending -- yet when the lights went up, every person in the audience was smiling with joy. Proof that it's a masterpiece.