We are at the butt end of the summer holidays, with kids returning for the new school year and most people already back at work. The weather has been very hot and sometimes very humid, not unlike the tropics. Sticky skin and sweaty sleep are the order of the day.

Ann and I have had a busy time of it. We have two cars and I wanted to downsize to one, so we ended up buying a new car. Base model but still expensive for us. Adding to the woes of a shrinking bank balance was the need to buy a small caravan for Tom to sleep in, because Ann's daughter JJ is coming to live with us in May. So we bought one and it arrived yesterday, much to the consternation of our crazy neighbour, who feels that she entitled to tell us how to run our lives and our property. I prefer not to linger on that vexatious topic.

I have started a new shift on 2RPH, reading the Newcastle Herald on Friday fortnights. It is quite a change from reading The Australian, which is a long-winded and almost indigestible slab of newsprint. The Newcastle Herald has a more tabloid feel, with shorter sentences and paragraphs and a far less fustian tone. I enjoy reading both, of course, as the differences are the very spice itself.

The January Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo turned up many surprises with the retirement and or withdrawal of yokozuna, the less than stellar performances of ozeki and a surprise winner in veteran Mongolian Tamawashi, who is a sekiwake. Lest you are confused by these rankings I so freely bandy about, here is pyramid that sets out the various divisions. The top tiers (Makuuchi) are the focus of most of my commentary.