If you didn’t realise I’d gone, then this post is meaningless, though.
I popped over to America to visit friends. Yes, we filth-peddlers have friends! We shopped. We watched Animal Planet and Attack on Titan (sometimes on the same day). I introduced them to White Collar and Lost Girl, as well as Father Ted. There was much barbecue.
There was also the Shutdown (Shutstorm 2013 if you watch the Daily Show). With my unerring skills I arrived on day 1 and left on the last day, while visiting friends who live on the cusp of the Smoky Mountains. Thankfully mountains are pretty from a distance regardless of whether we could access the National Park. Apparently NC and TN decided to open the park during the shutdown, but this wasn’t reported on any news we got to hear… and it’s a good excuse to go back at a later date 
For now, though, back to writing!