Speed limits; Gib; Court lingo: El running; & Machine problems.

I live at the stop of a rather steep hill, with a 30kph limit. Or 19mph. No one has ever come up it at this speed. At least not until I did so this morning, against the backcloth of the increased fines for driving this stretch at 31/20 or more. Not surprisingly, I had to stay in 2nd gear. Even 1st gear, when recovering from the laughingly pointless speed bumps. So, I guess I'll be keeping the record.

Spain is planning to add a second control line at her border with Gibraltar. The Andalucian government has queried whether this is necessary, given that the first has already significantly hit the economy of the nearby town of La Línea. I'm betting on the completion of the 2nd line, as this'll play well with the natural supporters of the PP government. Which is far more important than problems in a stronghold of the opposition party.

As Spanish papers overflow with reports of trials - usually for corruption - there's plenty of opportunity to read the words arrestado, imputado, acusado, sentenciado, banquillado and indultado. I may have made one of these up and the only one I'm sure of is the last one, indultado. It's a word applied to politicians and their businessmen friends just after they've been sentenced. It means 'pardoned'.

Spanglish: I don't think I've seen the word el running before. My impression is it's the same thing as el footing and, therefore, means jogging.

Finally . . . A couple of Public Service Announcements:

1. I may have mentioned that I've had problems with my Humax digital recorder, for at least 2 years. On the possibility that it may help you, here's what's turned out to be the only solution:- Stand the machine on one end and attach it to the side of your TV with a few bits of blue tack. Don't bother to contact Humax or to search any site full of complainants offering other other solutions.

2. Switching my wi-fi off and back on every time I use it causes my download speed to soar from 150kpbs to the heights of 800 or even 1,000. Or 1 mega. For which, by the way, I pay 20 quid a month.