Day 807

Taped The Masterson Inheritance, went into town, got a careers book from the library. Spent the day writing an analogue clock display program in C, with complete success.

Got a rather confusing letter from ABC, the import of which was that I'd get paid for 2 days' leave (£40 extra) as well as the notice etc. The final analysis, with my estimation of tax etc, is 23 days @ £19.50 = £448.50, which isn't at all bad. Plus I should be able to reclaim £60 in tax, but probably not till next April.

I've been thinking about what to spend it on: it isn't enough to buy a new computer, and as I should have access to mum's 486 until I move out of town, and I won't be doing that till I get a proper job and the first thing I buy then will probably be a new computer, I'll abandon that idea and instead perhaps get a Psion Organiser like M's, which has a good programming language and can exchange data with a PC.

The chief advantage of the 486, apart from the fact that it whips through C compilation and linking like lightning and eats Windows graphics processing for breakfast, is its portability, and with a Psion you could work anywhere. I could set aside £300 for an older one or perhaps get the new model (of course the serial link is vital and costs more cash). And that will be the positive result of the recent disaster.