How stupid am I? I have been waiting all day for a phone call or an email message from one of my clients in Portugal about some work I did for them yesterday. Normally I wouldn't bother too much. I often leave my email unattended for days on end, and I usually let voicemail take control of my telephone. (I know, I can't be much of a businessman! That probably explains why I don't have a Merc in the drive and a yacht in the marina!) So, anyway, I was waiting for this contact so badly that I actually answered the telephone and told the pleasant sounding young lady in Calcutta that I really didn't want a new mobile phone; I even checked my email. More than once. By five o'clock I had all but given up, and tended to my simmering elderberries instead. When Linda came home from work she told me that today was Thursday, and I swore blind that it was Wednesday. I knew it was Wednesday because I bought a paper, and I could prove it. The paper was duly produced as evidence that today is Thursday 5 October 2006. Which also explains why I received no communications from Lisbon. You see, today is the 96th anniversary of the foundation of the Portuguese Republic, and as such is a national holiday. I think I might just be losing my mind!