Skipper

There didn't seem to be many butterflies around in England, though we did start seeing more tortoiseshells, at least, the last few days I was there. This little thing is a Large Skipper, sitting still -- not something that happens very often -- at Longshaw Park last Tuesday.

Post-travel randomness

I think the gate seating areas of O'Hare's Terminal 3 are overdue for a refit; as far as I can tell they haven't had one in the fifteen years I've been coming through there. The seats are still structurally sound, but they're looking shabby, with bits of rubber trim dangling loose, and the ratio of payphones to laptop-charging stations seems to have been set in the 1990s if not earlier. (The concession areas and bathrooms have been improved, however.)

Tally of things (accidentally) left in Sheffield that I've discovered so far: one pair pink fluffy slippers, three beads, and a rather nice shirt that I might be wanting to wear again in a couple of months.

I was able to get the cable-box reset at 6am on Sunday by pressing buttons on the phone, without bothering a live person at all. This strikes me as progress in one sense, but also presumably means that there are fewer low-level support jobs at the cable company than there used to be.