Wednesday.

A rather nondescript day! No, a somewhat disappointing day! It didn't begin badly. I was very strong and got up and ran to Uppermill - maybe three miles - to go to the market and buy fish, among other things. It even managed to stay mostly fine and rain free although the wind was bitter. My timing was perfect, however. All the shopping done in time to catch the bus home and have a late breakfast. 

After that the weather went downhill. Drizzly rain turned to heavy rain turned to a very steady downpour. This did not prevent me from sallying forth to go and buy Euros from Thomas Cook before the values change, as is predicted to happen after tomorrow's election, and suddenly we don't get such a good deal. Thomas Cook even gave me free insurance, not for my holiday but for my cash. "If anything happens to your money", the Thomas Cook lady told me, "follow the instructions on this document." Does this include my spending it? Can I claim that it mysteriously slipped through my fingers? Does frittering it away count as "something happening to my money"? Curious! 

If the rain continues tomorrow it might have an adverse effect on the elections. People don't like to go out and vote in the rain. I read somewhere that bad weather favours the Conservatives, who have more cars available to go and ferry people to the polling stations. Perhaps we should have obligatory voting as I believe that do in Australia. I do wonder, though, how they enforce it. Are you fined if you fail to turn up at the polling station? 

In some countries, all canvassing has to stop in the week before the election. Here the party leaders are still rushing around from place to place, drumming up support and urging people to vote for them and keep out the other horrible parties! We have been advised by the Labour Party candidate that even if we don't vote for him we should not vote for the Independent candidate as that party has done a deal with the Conservatives, making it sound like a pact with the devil, which indeed it might as well be! Then we had what was made to look like a hand-written letter from the Liberal Democrats, thanking us for our support over the years. What makes them think they have had our support? I am amazed. At the bottom, also looking as if it were handwritten, was an acknowledgement for their printer. So, clever printing to try to win us round! Otherwise their poor candidate would not be able to shake hands with anyone as his hand would be too tired! 

Tomorrow we will go out and vote. Maybe by Friday we will have a result but probably not; all the pundits are predicting several days of negotiations before a government can be formed. 

Such is modern life!