The download (247Mb) took longer than I'd expected, so I went to bed. At 3am, having visited the bathroom, I stopped at the desktop, found the download complete, and triggered the update, then went back to bed. At 3:40, unable to sleep, I checked on the phone to find that it hadn't charged during the previous five hours (some weird USB conflict or problem) and the battery had expired halfway through the update. So, charge the phone (and install iTunes 9.0) then try again.

 Two more failed update attempts, and I'm getting a little testy. At about 4:20 I restarted the PC and, at last, the update went through. Back to bed.

 At 6:30, on my way to work, I stopped to collect the phone expecting to find it fully synced and ready to go. Instead, nothing was synced except the basic system settings (so I could get email and contacts) and after fifteen minutes of fiddling I gave up and left for work without Apps, music, movies or podcasts. Not ideal.

 Now, as I sit on the train, 3.1 definitely feels snappier than 3.0, but I can't really be sure without testing a few apps. It's surprising just how much additional functionality the third-party apps add, and how far the iPhone experience is degraded when they're suddenly unavailable; I really miss them.

So for me, the big news from Apple's Rock and Roll event today is the release of OS 3.1 for the iPhone. The release notes in full:

• Improved syncing for music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and photos
• iTunes U content organization
• Redeem iTunes Gift Cards, codes, and certificates in the App Store
• Display available iTunes account credits in the App Store and iTunes Store
• Save video from Mail and MMS into Camera Roll
• Option to Save as new clip when trimming a video on iPhone 3GS
• Better iPhone 3G Wi-Fi performance when Bluetooth is turned on
• Remotely lock iPhone with passcode via MobileMe
• Use Voice COntrol on iPhone 3GS with Bluetooth headsets
• Paste phone numbers into the keypad
• Option to use Home button to turn on accessibility features on iPhone 3GS
• Warn when visiting fraudulent websites in Safari (anti-phishing)
• Improved Exchange calendar syncing and invitation handling
• Fixes issue that cause some app icons to display incorrectly

I've just logged on and opened iTunes, and what should I find but iTunes 9.0 and an iPhone Configuration Utility:

iPhone Configuration Utility lets you easily create, maintain, encrypt, and install configuration profiles, track and install provisioning profiles and authorized applications, and capture device information including console logs.

Downloading now.

 Replacing it ought to be easy. Turn off at the water meter, remove the faulty stop cock, replace with a new one, turn the water back on. Very simple, very quick, no problem. Reality, of course, has other ideas and this allegedly easy job has now joined the list of "I'll do it next weekend" tasks that remain incomplete for a marriage-damaging amount of time.

 The problem is that I can't find a replacement part that fits the existing pipework and I'm now thinking that I'll have to get a plumber in to do it for me. That's a bit annoying, but sooner or later the wife will want the cupboard back and the water-catching bowl will have to move. Anyone know a decent tradesman?

 Last weekend we decided that we really didn't want to live with the basin taps in our en-suite shower room any longer so we picked up a replacement pair at B&Q for me to fit, thus breaking my second DIY rule (thou shalt not plumb).

 It's a fiddly job, replacing taps, because everything happens in the restricted space behind the basin where you can't really see what's going on and there isn't enough space for either tools or hands. Wrapping PTFE tape around the threads of a pipe you can barely see without going barking mad through frustration is quite an achievement (although there is doubtless some super-easy method known only to plumbers and not passed beyond their elite ranks) although it seems to cost quite a lot in terms of knuckle skin. Having the right tools definitely makes life easier; being able to get the right tools into position behind the basin would have been even better.

 Anyway. It took a while, but it's done and the en-suite is now free of the tyranny of rubber tap washers forever. Tap-turning bliss.

 Just need to replace two pairs in the bathroom and the mixer tap in the kitchen for total washer-free operation.

The creationist "museum" in Portsmouth isn't new (they've been going at least a couple of years) but I've ignored them, partly because I don't want to fund their faith by visiting their "museum", and partly because I think they're a bit strange. Nothing has really changed, except that I followed a link to their website from a blog I was reading and I couldn't help sniggering on the train. 

There site includes a few strange things, like:

Greeting the visitors in the entrance hall is "Boris", a giant 20 ft. long model of a dinosaur. 

"Boris", to judge from the photos, is a weird-looking dinosaur, reminiscent of Barney, the purple children's TV character; I think this is deliberate and says a lot about the curator's knowledge of paleontology.

One of the topics covered by the "museum's" displays is:

The impossibility of life forming from chemicals.

I imagine this relates to the origins of life, but it's hard to see what they might contribute to the debate, especially given their initial assumptions. I wonder if they know that water is a chemical? I'm tempted to drop in next time I'm in Portsmouth, but I know it would just make me angry.

 Happily, BB seems to be pretty good and, five months after opening, seems to have established itself as one of, if not the, best restaurant in Portsmouth. We ate there on Sunday evening with friends, taking a window seat overlooking one of the larger pedestrian entrances to the Gunwharf complex. The food was tasty and imaginative (see photo below of fillet steak) without being extortionately expensive or weird, and we'll be going back at some point. Repeat business; can any restaurant ask for more?

 Don't get me wrong; 3.0 is definitely better than 2.x, but I seem to remember that 2.0 suffered some performance issues (they were rather more serious) that were fixed, I think, in 2.2; I'm hoping that 3.1 will deliver similar snap and crackle.

 And when do we now expect to see 3.1? There hasn't been a new beta for a while, so I think it will appear either this week ahead of Apple's iPod event on September 9th, or shortly after, possibly because an earlier release would scoop new features yet to be announced.