I've been busy.

The manse needs rewiring and the plumbing has to be fixed. There's no central heating, so I'll have to get that put in too. Lucky I didn't pay much for the house.

This means I have to deal with Neanderthals. The good part is they'll have the run of the house while I'm not in it, so I won't have to look at them.

Saw a wonderful article on a photo of one of those big cat sightings in the UK. Turns out it looks exactly like a toy black panther, which of course it was. Big cats wandering the countryside indeed. What next, a race of giants in the Welsh mountains? There's barely enough in those hills to feed a wild dog.

I'm leaving work at the end of this month. I have plenty of holiday time, and I'm taking all of it. To hell with Grimshaw. If he wants the lab cleared, he can do it. It's his lab now. Though what use he can make of scientific apparatus I can't imagine.

Everyone thinks scientists get ahead because they're good at science. Well, they're wrong. Scientists that get ahead do so because they're useless. They get promoted into managerial positions to keep them out of everybody's way, because they're nothing but a liability in the lab. Then they're surprised when nobody takes any notice of them.

I'm taking the proper route. Head of a very small department, and it'll stay that way. I'm interested in science, not empire building.

Back from Marchway. It's a small town, based around the remains of a monastery. Dates back to the 12th century, but there's not so much as a hooded shadow to report. How can a town that old have no ghost stories at all?

Maybe all of Marchway's ex-residents rest in peace. More likely, the town's so deadly dull even the ghosts don't stay.

It's good news for me anyway. I won't have to worry about ghosts and goblins popping up on my doorstep. I think I'm going to like it there.

I bought the manse, it's a big house, needs some work but it should all be fixed up by the end of September. The estate agent assured me it had no tales of spirits associated with it.

Looks like I'll be doing a lot of travelling though. There's absolutely nothing to investigate in Marchway.

Elaine finally came back this week. She looks miserable as sin. Apparently it was her brother's funeral. Funny, I'd spoken to him the day before she left. He seemed fine to me.

I've been too busy to post here, what with Grimshaw whining at me about the medium I was investigating. He still thinks I'm too intolerant but if I find a fake, I say so.

Next week I'm visiting Marchway to get some accomodation sorted out. With luck I can persuade Elaine to do the same.