Days of future present

This figure of Marin Kitagawa from "M/D/U/D" arrived today. Girlier and less fantasy/scifi/cheesecake than my usual figs. Preordered her months ago. Must have seemed like a good idea at the time :-)

Our first group of Christmas/New Year visitors fly in tomorrow. I'll be collecting them from the airport. In predicted 42-degree heat. In a car without aircon. (It reached 44 here on Friday!)

The festive "University Challenge" begins Monday. Well, Tuesday for us. Unusually, the teams are all returning from past seasons. Don't bet against Val McDermid's mob. She's a trivia gun.