Please tell me I am not the only one who sets out to buy Christmas gifts for friends and family and ends up buying more for himself...? Because, dear friends, this is what I did today. Again.

When my work of the day was done, I spent a little time online shopping, which is so much pleasanter than real-space shopping, especially at this time of year when one needs full body armour to get a pint of milk. Several of my pals have requested goats from Oxfam Unwrapped or chickens from FARM-Africa this year (if you're not familiar with the concept of ethical gift giving - which can provide real practical help to many people living in poverty around the world - well, it's damned well time you were!), so they were easily sorted. I've drawn a blank so far on what to get for my partner. What do you get the guy who claims he has everything he most wants? (including me, presumably *looks smug*) At this rate, he might be getting a goat too.

Anyway, I got distracted, as you do. I ended up at Play.com with the idle intention of just checking to see when Babylon AD would be released on DVD. You can guess what happened, I bet. No, I didn't order Babylon AD. But I did order Terminator, Terminator 2 and Priscilla Queen of the Desert (to replace my now unplayable VHS tapes). I also ordered the complete (8-disc) set of the 80s TV series Robin of Sherwood at an irresistably low price. By then I was getting into my stride and decided to investigate the gourmet chocolate section at Mortimer & Bennetts....

Oh, and did I mention I was using my partners's credit card, which I had been entrusted with to send his mum some flowers? Uh, yeah *hides the receipts*