Spain are through to the World Cup semifinals, having put out Belgium two to one. The tournament is thinning to its serious contenders now, and it is a strange pleasure to watch it unfold with no stake of my own in this particular match. Closer to home, I finally had the car’s air conditioning seen to, and the new mechanic did honest work at a fair price. I will go back, which is not a small thing to be able to say about a mechanic. In the evening I watched Obsession, and it unsettled me more than I expected. A good scare, well earned.