I read in a UK newspaper today that ‘Women designers have sounded the death knell for thongs and mottled midriffs’. I wonder if this is connected with the onset of cooler weather.

A new email scam today – Warner Bros’ casting agency advised me I’d been given a part in some performance related to a Harry Potter book. I just have to send all my personal details, etc. As with the Nigerian messages, the grasp of English syntax is unimpressive.

Talking of strange English, I saw an ad today for a new Lexus car with the headline “Top of Mind”. Does anyone have any idea what this means?

Similarly, can anyone English or Spanish acquaint me with the difference between ‘a nation’ and ‘a nationality’? According to the Spanish government, Catalunia can only be the latter as the former is reserved for the Spanish state.

Another clash today between my concept of speed/efficiency and Spain’s. In a supermarket in Vigo, I joined the 10 items or less queue and then waited 5 minutes while the woman ahead of me went through the laborious form-filling process required for home-delivery of her 5 items. My daughters frequently tell me I should follow my own advice, accept the rough along with the smooth of life in Spain and refrain from complaining. But where would this blog be without the occasional gratuitous bitch?