Yesyterday when I came to work and logged on, there was a huge shock - we have been sold to another company, in fact to one of the world's largest software companies! This is something that we heard one rumour about, only a few days earlier, so it has been a fairly closely guarded secret. There is nothing hostile about it, they don't want to put us out of business or anything, we will be integrated as a business unit in their company. They are buying us because we have intellectual property that they need, and we are being bought because being in a bigger company will bring some advantages - our main competitor is also a very large company, many times larger than us, and there have been some difficult battles with them. Now supposedly these will be easier.

For us personally, it could be interesting. In Europe, they must take on the existing employees, that is the law - but I'd be interested to know what their views on people over 50 are. No kidding, we would all like to know, I am the baby of this project at 50, Cyprus is known as the "EMEA retirement home". I'm certainly not going to tolerate being put out to grass because of my age.

We also get integrated into their system of job titles and grades, so that will be interesting as well. And of course some other things may change, although I think in France, we are fairly well protected against anything actually becoming worse.

Of course I was bowled over by all of this, and naturally we also had to listen to about two hours of conference call plus webex, with people from the new company and our MD. So I ended up going home very early yesterday, and sleeping for about four hours, which played havoc with last night's sleep. I did manage in between the two lots of sleep to do some more of QOTN, I am on track to finishing the inside as planned.

Today I had breakfast - it was a fried egg day, they alternate scrambled and fried - then went to the post office to post a cheque for my housing tax, 224 euros. The post office here is open from 7:30 am to 1:30 pm, then again 3pm to 6pm and on Saturday mornings from 8:30 to 10:30. Don't even try to understand it, this is Cyprus.

Then I took a taxi to the Hilton, to buy books and magazines, as I often do at the weekend. Their newstand is also the best English language bookshop here, I find. Then another taxi to the wool shop I found in Kyriacou Matsi - they don't sell Rowan, as I thought, but Noro, Louisa Harding and Debbie Bliss. I bought stitch holders, three skeins of Noro for a bag, a Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton pattern book, some buttons for a biscornu I am about to make and some proper batting i.e. natural, as I have quite a bit of making up to do that will require this. Then I walked down to Aerosoles and bought two pairs of shoes and to Marina Rinaldi and bought a cardigan. The weather has not been great - this has been the wettest week since 1901, or something like that - and I have only sandals and summer stuff with me.

I'm about to go home again, first detouring for some food, I've really had enough this week...