Shadowgate

Making up for yesterday's lethargy, I got out of bed early and knuckled down to work. Got a fair bit done by 12.15, at which point it was tools down to watch the Italian Grand Prix from Monza. I hadn't seen qualifying yesterday, and didn't check to see what the grid positions were, so I was a little bit surprised to find out out that Lewis Hamilton was on pole. Giancarlo Fisichella didn't do too badly, I guess, lining up 14th on his first outing with Ferrari.

I'm not sure that I like that the teams declare their fuel loads in advance now, which leads to the 'fuel-adjusted' graphic business before the start, when the TV commentators blind us with science and forecast who's likeliest to win. This proved especially annoying during today's race when most of the talk was about how far in front of the rest Hamilton needed to be if his fuel and pit-stop strategy were to result in a race win. As it happened this was all a bit moot, since he over-cooked things a bit and crashed out on the final lap. I was delighted to see Rubens Barrichell win again, and it was also only right and proper for the two Brawns to finish 1st and 2nd, returning to form in great style.

Race over, it was time for a bite to eat and a bit of a refreshing nap before fitting in a walk and getting stuck back into work. It had been a glorious day (the last of the recent really nice spell), and it would have been nice to get out to Howth or somewhere like that, but the need to get back to work niggled away at the back of the mind and stepping out only consisted of a bit of a stroll round a couple of local blocks (in the reverse direction compared to yesterday, just for variety). Once again, the late evening sun was casting long shadows, nowhere more dramatically than in this driveway of a house I passed somewhere along the way.