Most of the theatre work I've done has been completed on time. Once you radio front of house to give them clearance to open the doors then it's finished. Whatever state the stage is in, that's how the show is happening!

Was I the only one who thought "You sad gits!" when I saw that BBC story?

So people took a few minutes out of their working day to enjoy a bit of escapist nostalgia, so what? Would they really have been working productively for all those minutes rather than, say, making a cuppa, going to the loo, or any of the other things that people do when they need a break from whatever they're doing just to clear their heads?

The "sick days cost" annoys me too. If you employ humans some of them will get ill. Now I agree that if people milk the system then it needs to be dealt with, but an atmosphere where anyone calling in sick is given the third degree and more or less bullied into coming back ASAP helps nobody - the entire office will now catch whatever they had and your chances of completing a project on time will disappear! Let them isolate themselves until they're better, you're protecting the rest of your staff that way.

I'm looking at a cheap but working early K1000 (has serial stamped on top plate and the little lump to the right of the rewind crank, I suspect that makes it one of the original Japanese-made ones?). The light meter doesn't work but I'd bet that's down to corroded contacts.

What I can't fathom is why. See, I have a very tidy K1000 already (one of the Hong Kong examples, still all metal and with AOCo lettering stamped on the pentaprism) that I never use now as it just can't match the MX or even the KM.

The lure of adding an early example of such a classic to my collection is very strong though!

I bought a new Lubitel 166U in the mid 1990s - paid £30 for it. Got some decent photos but I wasn't particularly discerning then so I dread to think what I'd make of them now!

I have been tempted by one of those (relatively) cheap Bronicas on ebay, only snags are that my daylight dev tank doesn't take 120 film and neither does my film scanner...

I have a couple of working 110 bodies, 24mm and 18mm lenses, and the smaller of the two flashes they offered with its original case. I did run a roll of film through one of them years ago and the results were surprisingly good, although as it's now very difficult to get it processed I'm keeping them as museum pieces.

I've just bought a KX (the 35mm sort, not the digital one)...

Well, it looks very tidy, came with the original strap, and is apparently in full working order. Felt £44 to be a fair price and snapped it up!

I find the following pretty handy for testing sharpness:

Wooden panels/cupboard doors (see how far you can crop before the grain looks rough)
Brick walls (same approach, works best with rough bricks)
Lettering (providing that it's sharp to the naked eye - the lens won't help if the printing is fuzzy to begin with!)

You should be able to find at least one of those within range of the shop, even if you have to ask if they mind coming outside with you while you take a couple of shots of the brickwork on the building opposite to test it.

Used lens prices have already gone nuts. I was trying to explain to a Sony owner recently that the only Pentax prime lens you stand any chance of finding for under £150 is a manual focus one!

We currently have a builder in fitting a new shower. As part of the work he had to remove some skirting board, behind which were pages from a copy of Paris Match.

Why is this interesting? Well one of them has a French advert for the Spotmatic and Super Takumar 50mm f1.4! It's in three pieces and has bits missing but I'm sorely tempted to tape it together, scan it, and see if I can repair the damage digitally to get a copy of the advert.

I forgot to bid on a Dial Data ME (databack). It went for £5.50!

I'd rather one for my MX but I have a near-mint ME Super with ME II winder that it would have been perfect for.