I don't really have any news lately. Whenever people ask me if there's anything new I just have to shrug. Right now I just work in the pub, look after anyone who needs stuff from my dad's store, and watch lots of old movies (just finished Andrei Rublev and now cracking into 2001: A Space Odyssey).

I've actually had a good few extra days at the pub this month - nice to have a bit more pocket money. But I am increasingly starting to feel like I've been at home for too long. I'm not sure what the next move is, but I think leaving this town is a goal in itself.

My dad's store is basically a warehouse full of pipe and fittings. Thankfully, it's not kept open - people call and my dad goes down there. He's in the Philippines at the moment so I've taken over; it's mostly fine, but I don't know what anything's actually for because I'm not a plumber, and I don't drive so I've ended up walking out 2 or 3 times some days (30 minute round trip; five minutes in a car). I don't mind doing it but I'm worried this is my dad's way of roping me into helping out at the store. I suppose from his point of view I look like I've given up on life.

I wrote a little bit in the book for the first time in weeks. It's been getting a bit ridiculous. But to be fair, I was extremely busy for the late few months, and only now am I having a few free days. Excuses are easy to find, I guess!

I was planning on quitting smoking recently (yeah, yeah, we've all heard that), but a guy I know just brought back a few pouches of tobacco for me from Spain, and I've never been the "chuck the fags in the bin" type of quitter. What a terrible state of affairs!

I made an absolute hames of repairing my little one-man tent - globs of glue all over it now. Still as long as it's waterproof it doesn't really matter, I'm not exactly trekking to the north pole. Planning to walk across a nearby mountain range soon if the weather permits - it's the largest unoccupied area in Ireland but would only take a couple of days to cross. The question is, do I take the trail in the valley or walk peak to peak and earn myself some views?

An ex-girlfriend of mine recently messaged me out of the blue and we exchanged a couple of up-to-speed messages. She said if I ever happen to be in her city to give her a bell and go for a coffee. Now, I wasn't exactly planning on going down there, but I do have some family I've been meaning to visit for ages, so maybe I will happen to go down sometime in September. Or maybe it's best to let sleeping dogs lie.