Term deposit matures tomorrow

I'll admit, I didn't invest as much as they recommended in the original policy documents. By the end of my four years active participation in the scheme, I must have disappointed the fund manager a little. However, tomorrow an old term deposit matures.

I'm not talking finances here, lest you be confused. It was a mental investment that was made, back 1988 to 1991. The currency of this investment? German language and culture. The fund? My brain. The fund manager? Primarily my long-suffering and in hindsight actually quite good-natured secondary school German teacher, Herr Ehrler. So, what then the maturing of this term deposit? Tomorrow, we fly to Berlin.

Some time ago we booked the next few days off for a holiday. As a teacher, Bronwyn has no flexibility with her time off, which I suppose at least simplifies planning. I'd had the entire week approved for leave, and we'd thought to go away for about four days. I was going to have a few days to “sort my life out” afterwards, as I am wont to do. Our plan had been to take a break from the London winter and go somewhere warm or at least warmer... we were looking at the Mediterranean, at the Greek Islands, the Canary Islands, and latterly Morocco. Our intention had been to book something at the last minute, most probably through lastminute.com. Problem is, turns out tomorrow is Valentine's Day. What with it being half term as well, we found there was something of a premium on short holiday breaks in warm, romantic destinations. Funny that.

Last night, at 10.10pm, I changed tack. It hasn't been so cold here, and with central heating we're still using a summer-weight duvet on our bed and I'm even still sleeping in summer nightwear. So what if we just went somewhere interesting, but not warm? Sure enough, Berlin's rather cheaper at this time of year. It's forecast to be a couple of degrees colder there than it was in London a week or two ago: about 4 degrees. We can hack the cold. We fly out of Heathrow, 7:30pm tomorrow, returning Wednesday. I am quite excited.