Gave up writing entries for a few days, then changed my mind. Even though there's every possibility that no-one will ever read this, writing it is therapeutic. It's good for my sanity. I need things that are good for my sanity right now.

The farm is going better than expected. Looks like the tomatoes especially like the lack of gravity. Should have a crop within the next six to eight weeks. Root vegetables aren't doing as well, getting some very odd shapes, just hope they're still edible.

I haven't dared let Arth loose in the farm. He's never trained on plants and I'm worried he might damage them. Food is a precious resource. It's a tempting idea for him to spend hours working in the hydroponic room for me, but I just can't risk it. Anyway, working in the farm is therapeutic for me.

Been planning ahead a little. If I'm going to be here for a while, best to sort out how to make things last. It's against procedures, but I've switched off the lights in the modules I'm not using. Electricity isn't an issue, just worried about using up all the bulbs. Got a store of replacements but I can't exactly order more.

Arth demonstrated that he can dance today. Watching him dance to Queen's Another One Bites the Dust was probably the funniest thing I've ever seen. He really gets into it but somehow it doesn't look like dancing, more like a robot having a funny turn.

What I would give for a proper steak...

Not much to report today. Just keeping up my daily entries in the diary.

Looking at trash levels. The compactor is almost full again. Still plenty of room to store its palettes in the lower storeroom but, if they're not going to be loaded into a supply freighter every couple of months, I need to come up with an alternative plan. I wish it was just a matter of throwing it all out of the airlock. Nothing up here is that simple.

Arth's left hand is making a grinding noise. Tried having a close look but can't work out where the sound is coming from. I reckon I'm going to have to detach it and disassemble it to find out what's going on.

Got Arth to sit and watch a movie with me. He seemed unimpressed, and his left hand still has issues. Looks like I'll have to break out the spare parts. He may not feel pain but he also doesn't heal so the problem isn't going to go away by itself.

Had another scan for radio sources. Still nothing. I'm beginning to wonder if there is anyone left down there at all. Surely even a major catastrophe would not stop someone getting on a transmitter somewhere? God, I want someone to talk to. Arth's speech abilities are pretty good, and he seems to get most of what I say to him, but he's far from human. Sometimes you can kid yourself that you're having a conversation with him then you crash out of his comfort zone and the illusion is ruined.

Spent the whole afternoon disassembling Arth's faulty hand. The main wrist pivot was shot and beyond repair. I replaced it with the spare but if it gets damaged again, I don't have any more spare parts for it. At least he's working again.

The lack of communication from Earth is getting at me. I found myself watching old video-mails just so I could hear some familiar human voices. Going to "raid" the Russian module tonight and borrow one of their vodka flasks.

I'm coming apart at the seams. It's been over a month since I wrote in this diary and I think that was a mistake. It's doubtful that anyone else will ever read this but I think it's worth writing as a way to keep things straight in my head. In a way, my life hasn't altered. If everything had gone as planned then I would still be up here for another two months anyway. The new low-burn trajectory adjustment software is working very well. As long as the gyroscopes continue to function, the station should be able to hold orbit for longer than my food will last. So I get to starve to death rather than burning up on re-entry.

The farm is working better than predicted. Been getting some seriously weird root vegetables but fruit mostly grows well. I've started letting Arth watch me work in there, but he's still under strict instructions not to touch. I had a crazy plan to train him up so that he could maintain the farm after I was gone, but then I realised that Arth doesn't need the food or oxygen. Kind of renders the whole exercise pointless.

What I do need to do is work out how to cook the vegetables. The food warmers don't go anywhere near hot enough. Could be an interesting engineering challenge. Maybe the slow-cooker approach could work?

Arth has been acting strangely for a few days now. Twice I've found him sitting in the cupola, with the shutters open, just staring out at Earth. I don't know why he does that. I asked him last time and he told me it was "good to look". I'd like to think that his learning software is exploring new levels of consciousness but I fear that he's really losing it too. We would usually send a copy of his data core down to Mission Control once a week for analysis, but his mind has been unchecked since the loss of contact. There's always the option of a factory reset, but then all the stuff he has learned from me will be gone. I can't do that to him.

I've given up my daily sweep with the communication system. It's been almost two months since the last proper transmissions from MC. Whatever's gone wrong down there, I don't think they're coming back.

I've had a rethink with rationing. If I cut back a little now food might last a couple of weeks or so longer at the other end. I'll get used to smaller portions much easier than I'll get used to having no food when my food stock is exhausted! I don't like to think about supplies running out, but it's hard to plan anything without thinking about it.

Caught Arth in the cupola again. I'm going to have to start deactivating him at night. I don't want him spending several hours doing weird stuff while I'm sleeping. It makes me wonder what else he might be doing. I've been using him to monitor systems overnight but now I don't know what he's doing.

Seems I've been drinking too much coffee. Limiting myself to four cups per day from now on. Maybe that will help with my sleeping too? It's hard to sleep when there's no-one at the controls and I'm totally reliant on automated monitoring systems. They normally only alert you to things that have already gone wrong. That can be too late.

Arth asked me not to switch him off last night. That spooked me. Usually he responds to my questions and occasionally gives status reports when pertinent, but otherwise, he is very much a passive talker. He went on to warn me that it was unwise to leave the station unmonitored while I slept. He's right, of course, but I don't think that was his motivation. Somehow I feel he doesn't like being deactivated. Should that worry me?