Camera woes

Getting a new digital camera is one of the things on my list. The old one is no longer working, so I was pointed to an auction on eBay. It was for a used camera of the same variety that I've been using for the past four years. I lost it in the last 7 seconds after someone put in a rather higher bid. Never mind, better a new machine than a used one that you don't know anything about. And have no warranty over either. Fortunately, I do have the use of someone else's camera, so I'm not completely stuck.

Wednesday 13 January

Quite a bright day to start with, although the southeasterly breeze detracts a bit. The ice that has been plaguing us for 3 weeks is slowly melting away. Heavy snow is once more causing disruption across parts of England, with airports closed and some motorists finding themselves in their cars overnight. In Yorkshire, gritter lorries are reported as having slid off roads.

Haiti has suffered an earthquake of magnitude 7.3 on the Richter scale, which was centered near the capital Port-au-Prince. It struck at 21.53 GMT last night and the US Geological Survey has reported more than a dozen aftershocks of magnitude 5.0 or higher since. Devastation is reported widespread, and hundreds if not thousands are feared dead, or buried under rubble. Aid agencies are scrambling to get assets to the scene of one of the poorest countries in the world.

When you're on the run from the law, don't go and update your Facebook account, taunting the police. They may come and find you.