Yes, we have had the dust over from Egypt again, I don't like that at all, as I have to stay mostly inside, and even then the dust seems to come through closed windows. I only went out to swim, buy newspapers and cold drinks, and briefly on Saturday to Zara Home, that trap where I always see something I have to have - in this case, a crochet cushion, some pink beaded coasters, a cherub candle and a basket that is perfect for my knitting yarn.

I suppose the weather could be worse, I could be in New Orleans or thereabouts, it sounds horrible, and they seem to have these hurricanes so often. Actually I'd be frightened to live there, I think. In Australia, one bushfire on the Mornington Peninsula was enough for me to move to St Kilda Road. I have to say that calling a hurricane Gustav seems weird to me, I think of Gustav as a rather frail, elderly great-uncle! But I guess that's just my family....

Hopefully this week will go ok, and not be too horribly tiring, I am starting to get so fatigued with the heat and everything. Yehiel is coming tomorrow for the day, so I will probably collect lots of extra work to do. I hope I will also get a new work permit, I do have a current application! The new lawyer is a marvel, we should have known him three years ago. He collected the client letter from me on Thursday, took it straight to the Labour Ministry and got them to stamp it as authorised straight away and took it to the Migration Office the same day. Got a call from him at 8pm, he was still with them, checking my file, and pointing out all the relevant information. He came to bring my passport back to me on Friday and told me that it should only be a matter of days. Quite apart from this, he is a nice guy, the sort of person you would be perfectly happy to chat with or invite for dinner, whatever. This is a great contrast to the incredible laziness and rudeness of the two previous lawyers. who both had the most inappropriately high self-esteem that it has ever been my misfortune to see.