The fan of my computer seemed to become fed up of its employment this morning and started pretending to be a jet engine - the high-pitched buzzing sound it was making wasn't the most confidence-inspiring noises to come from a computer. Fortunately it seemed that something had got in to it, and just blowing sharply in to the case seemed to dislodge it. I'm not sure how common this form of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is on a computer, but it's not exactly new to me - the 486 that I keep right next to this one has a problem starting up when it's cold, as the switch behind the power button is chipped. When the weather is cold it won't turn on, so to remedy this I used to have to get a hair-dryer to warm the machine up to a temperature it found acceptable.

I've successfully shifted my sleeping pattern four hours behind normal, which is handy for getting the phone line to myself. What slightly worries me is that I'm going to have to put them back again very soon indeed, as my first exam is nine days from now.

A friend of the family has had cancer for a while, and she died early this morning even though it looked like she was improving up until then. I didn't really know her that well, but it did made me think... I need to appreciate those around me while I have the chance. Or something like that... I'm not really sure.