fajrdrako | A pleasant surprise.... (Reply)

The first time I went to the fitness club to use the cycling machines, the cross-trainers or the treadmill (which I still haven't touched) I watched the televisions they so thoughtfully provide, with ten live stations to choose among.

Every one of them was a dud. No wonder I don't turn on my TV very often. Even on Saturday mornings, they didn't have the station with the X-Men cartoon. What's the use of that?

So I got into the habit of bringing, and listening to, books on tape. I'm always complaining that I don't have enough time to read - it's been great. I mostly don't even glance at the televisions in the work-out room now.

Except this morning I was on the machine, trudging away and listening to my tape, and suddenly one of the TV screens caught my eye. Horatio and Lt. Bush at the Spanish fort! They were showing Horatio Hornblower: Retribution.

Needless to say, I turned off my book. This is the one of the things I would be watching, if I were exercising in front of my own TV in my own home. I hadn't seen it for a while: I was in heaven. Didn't want to stop exercising. I had to, of course - had to be at work ten minutes later.

So Horatio was brave and ingenious and Pellew was troubled and protective and Bush and Archie were cute (in their respective ways) and all's right with the world.