Butler's obsession with publicity. The cheeky MP rang The Royal Gazette yesterday to remark on our photo showing the storm-hit remnants of Mickey's Bistro at Elbow Beach. He pointed out that Cafe Lido, for whom he works, was still working after being only slightly hit.

"It's just above Mickey's. How about doing a positive news story on that? Can you send a photographer this afternoon?'' he quite seriously inquired. It was then that The Gazette had to point out that if we were to start printing pictures of all the buildings still standing after Hurricane Gert, then we'd require rather more pages than we have now. So sorry Dale, no picture -- but you've made it into Hester's esteemed column yet again, so keep those flowers coming! Politicians could take a few pointers from the UBP's sparky new backbencher Alan Marshall . Hester hears that on the eve of Gert, the kindly MP with a conscience telephoned virtually every single senior citizen in his Smith's Parish constituency to check if they needed anything and had a safe place to ride out the storm. One grandmother was so touched she telephoned a local talk show to sing Marshall's praises: "No MP has ever done anything like this before, and it's not even time to look for votes!,'' she sang.

Hester wonders whether any of Bermuda's anti-litter crusaders might be secretly happy their annual marine clean-up was the weekend just before the hurricane brushed us rather than just after as Gert's high seas tossed tons of debris and trash onto our beaches.

"We would sure have had a lot to clear up,'' Keep Bermuda Beautiful official Scott Kitson conceded, quickly adding, "On the positive side, at least we got a good deal of debris off the shores last Saturday before these waters took it all back to sea where it could do great damage to turtles and other marine life.'' Meantime, Keep Bermuda Beautiful is appealing to folk to do their part in helping clean up the storm-ravaged beaches.

Speaking of bad timing, poor Trimingham's had to postpone its annual bed & bath "sale'' scheduled for this past Saturday. It appears locals were far too busy stocking up on storm supplies down at Gorham's and elsewhere to think about fluffy towels and new sheets.

Literally hundreds of people, including a cheerful Dr. Ewart Brown , crammed Gorham's on Saturday with their shopping carts filled to overflowing with batteries, gas stoves, torches, nails, tape, you name it. Hester hears from sources it was one of the best sales weekends Gorham's has ratched up in a long time.

Looks like the US Government offloaded Chelston to that American financial whiz just in time. Braving the storm for a stroll on Grape Bay, Hester noticed that the very long expensive stone wall guarding the beachfront entrance to the $15-million mansion -- from the local riffraff -- had been completely knocked down and flattened by ferocious seas, which were rolling right up to the fancy beach hut! Hester's British pals are slightly puzzled by the UBP's keenness to attend the Conservative Party conference. Two of the UBP's numbers (it was originally three) are heading to Blighty for the Tory chin wag while the solitary Maxwell Burgess will be meeting the ruling Labour party at their annual gathering. The Conservatives were decimated at the last election and out of the running for the next so they can't be going to pick up election-winning tips. Still I'm sure the Conservatives will be glad to see Cole Simons and Mark Pettingill -- they may be the only friends they have in the world.

Positive spin: MP and Little Venice Group spokesman Dale Butler returns to Hester's diary for his effort to get a story on how Cafe Lido, rear right, survived Gert, while Mickey's left, took a beating. In a way, he succeeded.