While waiting at the bus stop today after a particularly fiendish test, I found myself staring in fascinating at the succession of fairy lights festooned across the road, along with the myriad decorations lined up alongside the river. I had forgotten about that local tradition, not having exactly ever entrenched myself in local culture, but after having had such a hectic week after the festive break, those lights, which I would have thought of as tacky and cheap at some other more cynical period in my life, brightened up my day immensely. That, along with unexpectedly getting to hear New Order's Bizarre Love Triangle blared out at great volume while on my way back to the office after lunch, were the high points of today.