Falling down on the job

We met at 4.45 pm for the first of the many events which I have lined up for the weekend -- a viewing on DVD of Berlioz's opera The Trojans, in the 2003 production from the Châtelet in Paris. I'd seen the first act on TV at the time, but this was the first time for all of us to see the opera in its entirety (though Dermot, who hosted the showing, was actually in the audience at the time). It was a great evening, and we were wined and dined in great style. I didn't get home until 12.30 am, so it was a longish experience. I was full of the best intentions to clean and tidy the house in preparation for tomorrow's Music group invasion, but I've thought better of that since and will get up early and tackle it then instead.

Dermot's place is in a reasonably quiet side street off the main road from the city centre out to Dún Laoghaire, but it's still subject to the most ridiculous parking restrictions along one side, while the great cynical money-making pay-and-display racket is in operation on the other. This warning sign seemed to have been attacked by a rightly disgruntled motorist who'd managed to bend its supporting pole back almost flat. More power to you sir! Enough of this don't-do-this/don't-do-that/don't-go-here/don't-go-there nanny-state nonsense, say I. Down with all such signs. Long live the downtrodden motorist!