�DO YOU HAVE A BIGGER BAG FOR MAPS AND ATLASES... SIR?� Reading about Doc�s antics in NYC has made me itchy to get back there. We may get back to San Francisco before the end of the year but we don�t have any real plans regarding the states. The idea of eventually moving there started cooling as soon as Bush started fucking around with civil liberties. I just heard today that missile launchers have been erected around Washington DC... So I guess we may manage to get across to Amsterdam for a weekend so that we can check out prospective flats and work out the best area to live in. After that Jess will be doing more than enough travelling for the two of us. She�s still sorting out the details of the trip but Mexico seems to be at least one of the places she�ll be hitting. Still no luck with the house. We are going to have a long chat with the estate agents on Friday and maybe bring someone else in to have a shot at selling it. Wandsworthia is slowly sapping us. Can�t wait to be out of this place. There still seems to be a lot of great places for sale around London Bridge but we aren�t going to look at anymore until this place is under offer. The new job at Foyles is making London bearable again. It�s a great place to work. I�ve been in and out of the place countless times over the years but it�s only now that I�ve got to grips with the size of it. There are whole sections I�ve never stumbled into before � in while carrying out the recent refurbishment workmen uncovered a lift that no one knew even existed. Another thing that makes it cool is the piranha tank in the children�s section! Are you reading this Phil? The KIDS want KILLER FISH. So far it�s been very laid back and I�m still finding my feet. It�s very much like the systems I was used to back at Ottakar�s � I get to see Reps, drink a lot of coffee and run the section pro-actively like a real bookseller again. The hours are reasonable, the people friendly and the customers interesting. On my first day I got to tussle with a shoplifter � normally I wouldn�t have got involved but this guy was trying to loosen the security guard�s grip on him by frailing around and knocking stuff flying. By the time the two were rolling around on the floor and freaking the customers out it seemed sensible to step in. The guy was a professional thief and well known in the area so I guess my conscience is clear but it turns out that the actor Richard Burton used to shoplift there too so at least the guy is in good company. Rather less style though. Jess almost persuaded me to go see some crappy American horror movie today but I resisted temptation. Now I can sit back for the DVD release of Dog Soldiers and the upcoming Bangkok Haunted: I�m working tomorrow and Friday but then off to the march on Saturday. America on Star Trek style Orange alert and tanks taking up valuable parking spaces at Heathrow... damn those pesky terrorists. At least things will get back to �normal� when we�ve levelled Baghdad... Mike is blogging to: Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction