This week I'll be mostly exhibiting stresslessness

Hypericum perforatum.

You might find it suspicious to find that this is the second "...mostly..." in a row with a picture of me holding a herbal remedy of some kind. You might also find it suspicious to note that it has been three months since I last wrote a "...mostly...".

You're wondering where I've been? I was so totally stressed out for a while back there that I wasn't capable of turning up here and telling you about it. I went to some entirely other level of stress that I've never been to before. Much as I've considered making light of it and turning the whole episode into a witty aside, I realise you can't make light of that kinda thing.

But here's the thing. Our resident homeopathic expert (Sarah) had a stroke of genius just before Christmas. Long story short, we popped into a health food shop in town, and came out with a variety of herbal remedies.

Are they working? You bet. I've gotta tell you, there is still stressful stuff out there, but I kinda don't care about it. It's difficult to explain. I'm just not as stressed out as I should be.

However, I now feel like the judge from What's Up Doc. "You see this yellow pill? You know what it's for? It's to remind me to take this blue pill. I don't know what the blue one's for. They're afraid to tell me."

This week I'll be mostly getting a good night's sleep

Night all.

I get paid to think about work between the hours of nine and five on Monday to Friday, so why would I want to think about it while I'm asleep? My head has decided - all on it's own - that night time is the best time to get some thinking done. I have decided - all on my own - that my head has got it wrong. There really is no point in thinking about stuff while you sleep. Particularly not work.

This is not strictly true. I've done some of my best bits of work while I've been asleep. Like Mary Shelley, I once stitched together a right monster of an application in my sleep. I even got to the point where I would get half hour's kip on the 17:35 Harlow to Liverpool Street, and wake up at Brimsdown with an RPG source debugger window cobbled together in my head.

But we digress. Nowadays I'd rather not think about work if I can help it. So it's been getting on my wick a bit to find I'm waking up at 3am composing an email, then again at 4 reconfiguring the change control system.

So I've taken to taking a herbal remedy to get some sleep. It's working. And I'm not working. Not tonight anyway.