Puncture repair

Tiny piece of glass in the back tire. But I'm impressed in that I got it down to 30 mins to remove the wheel (argh nuts too tight, and hard to get the cogs out past the derailleur), get the tire off (damn, 3 tire levers would be easier than 2) find the sharp bit and remove it (less than 1mm sticking out inside tire, scratched me when I finally got it out), insert the new tube and put the tire back on the wheel (this bit went like a dream actually) and get the wheel back on (chain went back straight away, but was an arse getting the wheel back in the two slots it goes into far enough that it seemed OK and getting the wheel to stay straight as I tightened the nuts).

Definitely a vast improvement on the last fiasco though. But I still wouldn't want to do it anywhere other than my own garage.

Trees

I like trees, and in general I think they're a good thing to have around in our city. I do think they should be planted appropriately though, and this is why I've just written to the Council's planning dept about the sycamore in the school grounds behind our house. They grow into very big trees and we're worried that in a few years time it's likely to be doing serious damage to our foundations, especially since we have such a small garden so it's really quite close to the house. And it's already soaking up all the moisture from the soil and killing our lawn. I feel a bit mean asking them to cut it down, but I just don't think it's a sensible place. Sycamores should be planted in the middle of big patches of open ground, not less than 20 feet from someone's back door.