On Friday there was more heavy rain and winds were high enough for us to abandon our planned visit to Bristol to see Amanda. We went into town instead and bought a new lighter vacuum cleaner in John Lewis'. As we were unpacking it when we got home we noticed that the specifications on the box were not those advertised on the stand where we bought it. A web trawl and phone call revealed a disparity between the Dyson Animal's 'battery life' (20mins) and the advertised 'cleaning run time' (26 mins) due to new special switching technology. This wasn't described in the display with any measure of understanding of the difference between the two, on a top of range model. We decided to take the machine back and seek an alternative, for which it's clearer that what you see is what you get and what you pay for.
It rained on Saturday too, but not enough to deter us from a return refund visit and a cup of tea in 'The Plan', Morgan Arcade's eternally stylish coffee and tea house, which I used to visit with my parents some sixty years ago, when it was Cardiff's one and only Sarsparilla Bar. The layout and furnishing look much the same as then, although absent from the servery counter is the large glass container for the American (BCC) soft drink (BCC = before Coca Cola) beloved of teetotallers in old Western movies. This was one of the few places known to us in Cardiff where it could be enjoyed in very interesting surroundings. The place is an acclaimed venue for gourmet coffee drinking. I can't go in there without thinking of my Mum and Dad.
Third episode of 'Salamander' tonight on BBC4. I missed the earlier two because of the BBC blackout afflicting Spain's satellite TV consumers, but caught up on them in the hours leading up to the broadcast. It's another bi-lingual drama in Flemish and and that nice clear Belgian French, so easy to follow. Entertaining, but no big twists and turns to surprise the crimmy weary viewer so far.
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