The nights are very short at this time of year and very ealy this morning the daylight announced its presence through the curtains. Had I not stayed up late last night investigating the possibilities of electronic music, I might have noticed. Still, I did wake earlier than usual, and somewhat bleary eyed wandered down to the supermarket for a few odds and ends. Luckily I was just concious enough to put some clothes on.

So lets see... A loaf of bread (so I won't starve), a bottle of bleech (so I won't need a machete to enter the kitchen), and a local newspaper (so I won't get bored). The lady on the till was very chatty. I guess at that time in the morning the day is fresh, and she hasn't succumbed to the ennui of constantly passing items across a scanner. Not for another hour or two yet anyway.

"Cold isn't it?" She said.

Yes, I answered. It is. (I know, but I can't help it, I'm such a coversationalist....)

After that invigorating discussion on Britains favourite subject it was back home and browse through the articles in my recently purchased newspaper...

Fountains

The beautification of Swindon hasn't been abandoned, even if major developers have pulled out of regeneration schemes. Now they want to build a fountain for the local vandals in the wide space between the Brunel Shopping Centre and a nearby multi-storey car park. I feel better about Swindon already.

We Like It Here

The funny thing about Swindon is whilst it's been the butt of stage comedians jokes for generations and has all the liveliness of a spanish siesta, people who live here say they like it. No really, they do. It must have something to do with that ephemeral sense of isolation and detachment that Swindon has. The real world appears on the huge television screen mounted on the side of the car park and crowds gather daily to stare open jawed at its cinematic grandeur. George Orwell eat your heart out.

Strange really. We've had coaches, canals, railways, and now the open road for the last century, not to mention a direct motorway link for the thirty years, and still the people of Swindon see themselves as living in a detached world. Of course, given the planned eastern development, the spread of urban growth toward Wroughton and Wootton Bassett, our neighbouring communities, you can't help wondering if Swindoners are going to notice that Swindon is rapidly becoming a semi-detached property. City status one day. You mark my words. Now if they can only rebuild the canal they filled in fifty years ago and make Swindon a tourist spot, our lives will be complete. Or at least a little more connected with the outside world than at present.

There is one small point I would like to bring up. If Swindon is such a great place, why do six people a month drink themselves to death here? Ah. We haven't got enough fountains... Got it.