Once nice thing I noticed when I went back to work. The sun is still up when I am coming home!. Granted It’s not there by the time I get home, but it’s getting closer!

Look, this is really just for me - so I’ve got one place to go through all the things i might read today (ish).

Guardian [Sat Feb 16th]

Family Section

• Dad, I’m going to thrash you There comes a time in every parent’s life when their children start to outwit, outdo and outclass them. Damnation, says father-of-three Tim Dowling

Weekend Magazine

• There are an infinite number of ways in which I would not like to die
• One million tiny plays about Britain
• American psyche
• This column will change your life
• Dork Talk

Money

• Pop goes the property boom New-build flats sold four years ago at ?180,000 are now fetching just ?130,000. Miles Brignall reports from Manchester, on the frontline of the housing slowdown
• My worst job Stuart Maconie found neither office life nor moustaches suited him

Work

• Space invaders Hotdesking is on the rise in companies who offer flexible working. But could sharing your desk stop you getting the job done, asks Ian Wylie

The Guide

• The hard sell Anti-piracy
• Charlie Brooker’s screen burn

The Times [Sat 16th Feb]

• Once you start, where does the stampede of moralism stop?
• Barack Obama’s secret weapon plots a new course for election victory
• Permission to smoke? That?ll be ?10
• All right class, get out your Times atlases . . . Is it part of a newspaper’s job to educate?
• Dyslexia: spelling it out Dyslexia is at least recognised, even if parents abuse the system

and just some stories from the torygraph and the independent

• Why Tesco is a key part of our freedoms
• Martin Keown: ‘I rang my wife after the game. She’s usually very supportive, but she said: “I think you’ve gone and done it now…”‘

and the biggest and longest counting procedure in the world (the us elections) has got me reading the New York Times, which is quite cool. It’s all a bit to much like the west wing to be true.

• Democrats Look for Way to Avoid Convention Rift
• Unofficial Tallies in City Understated Obama Vote
• Suit Could Shed Light on Actions of Patriots
• and quite an amusing, gosh those British and their sports… set of photos.

Especially if you have spinnyheaditis.

Why are some moviegoers fleeing from Cloverfield?

“Because the monster-trashes-New-York film, produced by Lost creator JJ Abrams, is causing motion sickness and migraine in some viewers.”

“The problem is that the movie is made in the style of an amateur using a handheld camera. No shot holds still for more than a second or two…. the sense of balance, which depends on the inner ear’s vestibular system, is being confused by this technique”

Not to much to report at camp Jump today. With all the illnesses we’re basically running on backup power. Ruth is an easy patient, it’s just Henry with his sore ears that’s causing all the problems - and because Ruth is ill. I’ve got no one to really share the load. It’s just taken the best part of 45 minutes to convince him to sleep and I am expecting him to wake up in about an hour or two when the drugs wear off.

Last night we woke up at 3:00, went to sleep at 3:52 woke at 4:30 and didn’t go back to sleep until 7:00 by which time Daisy was up. Like I said backup power.

Still everyone is on medication now, so it should all get better soon.

Illness abounds the Jump household. Ruth Still has spinnyhead-itits. Henry has sore ears and is on Antibiotics, and Daisy has Daddy germs apparently “You had a cold, but now I’ve gotten it haven’t i?”. I did think that was her way of getting in on the act, but she did have quite a cough this morning.

I’ve got a slightly sore ea, which lead Ruth to say “you do know ear infections aren’t contagious, don’t you?” which I do know, but that doesn’t alter the fact that my ear is sore.

Yesterday saw a trip to the doctors but only for Henry, because Ruth was ‘better’, Daisy didn’t have Daddy germs then, and I didn’t have a sore ear. Today is going to see another trip to the doctors because Ruth isn’t ‘better’ and I have a sore ear (Daisy just has a cough, we can handle that one ourselves).

We like our Skoda, It’s much much better than?that?Rover we had, It’s reliable it doesn’t feel dangerous over 30 miles an hour and the doors close.

however… it does have a problem with it’s electrics, not a major problem just an annoying one. It goes through brake lights at quite a rate, so much so, that we have packs of spare bulbs in the boot.

On the one occasion when both brake lights went, the glow plug light came on. it wasn’t until the police stopped us we noticed, and when we fixed the brake lights, the glow plug light went out.

About 3 weeks ago, the door open light came on. even when all the doors where closed, we stopped the car, opened and closed every door, and then realised over the course of a few days that the boot had somehow become disconnected from the central locking of the car. opening the car, opened the boot, but locking the boot didn’t lock the car.

Well when we were out on Saturday, It all fixed itself. for no reason what so ever the door now locks the car, and the light has gone out.?It’s amazing what fixes itself if you ignore it.?

I don’t know how much longer I can continue with the jokes, but Ruth is very ill and I have to make light of it when I can.

Since about Wednesday Ruth has been getting increasingly dizzy, so much so that I was called home on Friday - most of Saturday was spent in bed, and it’s looking like next week is a daddy looking after the family week.

We did venture out yesterday to the local Medical Drop in centre; which on reflection was a waste of two hours, because we just got a nurse to guess the problem and then pass us on to the local out of hours phone line when they realised Ruth is brest feeding.

The general conclusion of the medical profession (noting how we haven’t actually manged to break through all the layers to a doctor yet) is that it’s some sort of flu like thing in your ear. the extreme diagnosis from one nurse being the rather fabulously named Labyrinthitis, which can apparently last for ever if your unlucky.

I’ve read up so I know how to care for someone with this; So I keep telling Ruth she’s not abnormal and praising her for things like drinking fluids. This as I have already said is starting to ware a bit thin.

Any medical assistance that you can have apparently relates to decongestants which is the stumbling block with breast feeding, so at the moment, a treatment of lemon curd butties, and lots of water - maybe tomorrow we will visit a real doctor who may know of a drug Ruth can take.

Ruth has told me she doesn’t want to hear about people who are dizzy for years, and needs to know about people who had it for a couple of days and it all cleared up. So if you have a “I was dizzy but I’m alright now” story, please do tell