The Americans are claiming the credit for forcing Iran to release the prisoners. Naturally. And if you don't believe that, the other story is that the British grovelled and let the side down. Of course.I also thought you should know that it's a really, really bad idea to let fire ants get inside your helmet.

Anyway, Stan took me to Stan's last Saturday to return the bearing extraction tool and get the bit you always forget when you order the new bearings. Stan extracted the spindle from the bottom yoke and said we should to get the orientation right when refitting because of the lock, but Stan pointed out that I no longer have a lock due to a road malfunction in Patagonia. Stan expressed surprise that the bearings had only lasted since then, upon which Stan explained the conditions obtaining in that neck of the woods and after that Stan seemed happy enough.

I'm on the RAC's radar, in the person of Paul Gowen who deals with such things, to sort out a new carnet for me, and I'll be calling in at the BMW dealer in Atlanta on my way through to make sure they keep a relatively-undamaged crate for me when I come back; the shipper flies from Atlanta (via JFK) to Cape Town with BA (still almost my favourite airline) so that seems a sensible course of action. Not something for which I'm particularly famous, but I have my moments.

Nine days left and counting; the nearest border is two hard or three reasonable days away. And, of course, it's started snowing around there again. Deep joy.