By George it sure is HOT out there today. Spent the last 6 hours out and about doing deliveries and some roadside publicity for that service previously moaned about. Only got lost once (but that did lead to an encounter with a nice Traction Engine in full steam, so it was a worthwhile diversion). But bloody hell am I glad to be going home for a shower soon.
Last night ended up being a tv and Galaxians fest rather than a film. Tonight is the Big Brother final so that will be required viewing then next week back to some sort of normality. Speaking of BB, Graham Norton had Dustin Hoffman on his show last night (not literally!) and they did a short BB sketch. Dustin as Jonny even going as far as to do a bit of a Geordie accent. Absolutely superb. And he was really funny as himself in the interview part too.
That's it for now. Just too hot to think straight.
Friday, July 26, 2002
Thursday, July 25, 2002
Been sunny all day, so I took the chance to get out twice. First off at lunchtime when I wandered up to the bank to pay that cheque in and then look at the shops. I'd been thinking for ages that I really ought to get a copy of Alice In Wonderland and read it again sometime and that popped back into my brain whilst I was passing The Works. So in I went and not only did they have a copy for £1, but for an extra 99p I could get an omnibus of everything Lewis Carroll ever wrote. So I took that option instead. Ok, so its a flimsy book that probably won't last me until my dotage, but it will do for the opurpose. Or indeed porpoise!
And now I have just got back from going out again. After a couple of requests for Park & Ride photos that didn't really match up to what we have on file I thought I'd go and take some more. So have been up to Bury Road and tried to get a bit interesting and also "arty". We shall see what comes out when I get them back. That also seems to be the nearest thing I've done to any real work today. Have mainly been reading through an avalanche of magazines and journals that have been building up in other people's in trays and not getting passed on to me.
Joan is having her back cracked tonight so I am meeting her there to do a bit of post-cracking shopping. Then it'll be healthy grilled food for tea and hopefully tonight we really will get round to watching a film. Last night we caught up on old episodes of Holby (although we missed two while we were up north). That is of course if the phone will stay silent. I used to get frustrated that whenever we started watching something it would ring, then that stopped but we still had to take a break around 9 every night for Joan to phone her Dad. Obviously that is no longer a problem, but since last week's events there always seems to be someone calling to check if we are OK. I am getting close to answering back with "we'd be better if you'd all leave us alone for a couple of nights" or unplugging them all!
And now I have just got back from going out again. After a couple of requests for Park & Ride photos that didn't really match up to what we have on file I thought I'd go and take some more. So have been up to Bury Road and tried to get a bit interesting and also "arty". We shall see what comes out when I get them back. That also seems to be the nearest thing I've done to any real work today. Have mainly been reading through an avalanche of magazines and journals that have been building up in other people's in trays and not getting passed on to me.
Joan is having her back cracked tonight so I am meeting her there to do a bit of post-cracking shopping. Then it'll be healthy grilled food for tea and hopefully tonight we really will get round to watching a film. Last night we caught up on old episodes of Holby (although we missed two while we were up north). That is of course if the phone will stay silent. I used to get frustrated that whenever we started watching something it would ring, then that stopped but we still had to take a break around 9 every night for Joan to phone her Dad. Obviously that is no longer a problem, but since last week's events there always seems to be someone calling to check if we are OK. I am getting close to answering back with "we'd be better if you'd all leave us alone for a couple of nights" or unplugging them all!
Didn't think to mention that last night was also pretty stressful for another reason. The estate settlement cheque came. And while it is obviously nice to get some money, the reason for it isn't and it was all a bit upsetting for Joan. I have brought it with me to pay in to save her the possible embarrassment of bursting into tears in the bank if she were to do it.
On a lighter note, I just found this in the BBC site and have to stick it in:
Thursday, 25 July, 2002, 02:46 GMT 03:46 UK
Barbie loses battle over bimbo image
Barbie must accept that being parodied is part of the job, a US judge has ruled after the manufacturer of the famous leggy blonde took legal action against a pop song which mocked her.
Danish pop act Aqua stormed the charts in 1997 with the song Barbie Girl, in which a female singer portraying Barbie refers to herself as a "blonde bimbo". She is also enticed to "go party" by a male singer representing Ken, Barbie's steady boyfriend.
Barbie's maker Mattel, in a lawsuit against MCA Records, contended that the song infringed copyright and sullied Barbie's image. But Judge Alex Kozinski said that the song was protected by the right to free speech in the US constitution because it was a parody and a social commentary. "With Barbie, Mattel created not just a toy but a cultural icon," he said. "With fame often comes unwanted attention."
He also noted that Barbie had heard much worse since her conception in the 1950s.
Tall, slim - yet curvaceous - Barbie has been the bane of feminists who want society to move away from conceptions of the female figure that do not correspond with reality. "Barbie has been labelled both the ideal woman and a bimbo," said Judge Kozinski. His court also upheld a lower court decision to throw out a defamation suit brought against Mattel by MCA over comments allegedly made about the record company. "The parties are advised to chill," said the judge.
However the news still comes as a blow to Mattel, being the second case it has lost over the Barbie mark in less than two years. In February last year, a court ruled that an American artist was within his rights to use Barbie dolls in his work. Some of Tom Forsythe's photographs depicted the blonde in sexually compromising positions.
A court had ruled on that occasion too that parody of Barbie was an acceptable activity.
What can you say about that?
On a lighter note, I just found this in the BBC site and have to stick it in:
Thursday, 25 July, 2002, 02:46 GMT 03:46 UK
Barbie loses battle over bimbo image
Barbie must accept that being parodied is part of the job, a US judge has ruled after the manufacturer of the famous leggy blonde took legal action against a pop song which mocked her.
Danish pop act Aqua stormed the charts in 1997 with the song Barbie Girl, in which a female singer portraying Barbie refers to herself as a "blonde bimbo". She is also enticed to "go party" by a male singer representing Ken, Barbie's steady boyfriend.
Barbie's maker Mattel, in a lawsuit against MCA Records, contended that the song infringed copyright and sullied Barbie's image. But Judge Alex Kozinski said that the song was protected by the right to free speech in the US constitution because it was a parody and a social commentary. "With Barbie, Mattel created not just a toy but a cultural icon," he said. "With fame often comes unwanted attention."
He also noted that Barbie had heard much worse since her conception in the 1950s.
Tall, slim - yet curvaceous - Barbie has been the bane of feminists who want society to move away from conceptions of the female figure that do not correspond with reality. "Barbie has been labelled both the ideal woman and a bimbo," said Judge Kozinski. His court also upheld a lower court decision to throw out a defamation suit brought against Mattel by MCA over comments allegedly made about the record company. "The parties are advised to chill," said the judge.
However the news still comes as a blow to Mattel, being the second case it has lost over the Barbie mark in less than two years. In February last year, a court ruled that an American artist was within his rights to use Barbie dolls in his work. Some of Tom Forsythe's photographs depicted the blonde in sexually compromising positions.
A court had ruled on that occasion too that parody of Barbie was an acceptable activity.
What can you say about that?
Big yawn time - feel absolutely washed out this morning and like I could drop off at any minute for no apparent reason. Went to bed same time as normal, slept all through (although with the obligatory strange and confusing dreams - seems I was moving into a house in Derby that kept changing street and also buying a mini at the same time that was then in need of major repairs) and woke up as required when the alarm did its stuff. Oh well, I'll just have to get some matchsticks from somewhere to keep my eyes open.
Until everyone else goes off for meetings, then I might be able to snooze under the desk a bit!
Slight changes of plan last night saw us getting our heads trimmed at Faith's place rather than ours for a change. I don't mind going there as she has a couple of nice dogs. And I don't normally like dogs, so that says something. Collie sheepdog things. Both mad as hatters and utterly cute. I think they could almost be used to persuade me to get a mutt myself sometime, apart from the walking and clearing up shite business of course. And I'm still not sure about the generall doggy smell they all seem to have - it seems to waft throughout a doggy household and I can't get used to it.
That meant we were not home until 7ish and decided a chinese was called for as we couldn't be bothered cooking by the time we'd showered. The Magic Wok was unexpectedly closed so I went up to the one in town we had been treated to food from at the weekend. They have a few different choices on the menu so I ended up with (and sorry to any Llamasofties reading this) Mongolian crispy lamb. It was lovely!
OK, time to see what the working day can do to keep me awake.
Until everyone else goes off for meetings, then I might be able to snooze under the desk a bit!
Slight changes of plan last night saw us getting our heads trimmed at Faith's place rather than ours for a change. I don't mind going there as she has a couple of nice dogs. And I don't normally like dogs, so that says something. Collie sheepdog things. Both mad as hatters and utterly cute. I think they could almost be used to persuade me to get a mutt myself sometime, apart from the walking and clearing up shite business of course. And I'm still not sure about the generall doggy smell they all seem to have - it seems to waft throughout a doggy household and I can't get used to it.
That meant we were not home until 7ish and decided a chinese was called for as we couldn't be bothered cooking by the time we'd showered. The Magic Wok was unexpectedly closed so I went up to the one in town we had been treated to food from at the weekend. They have a few different choices on the menu so I ended up with (and sorry to any Llamasofties reading this) Mongolian crispy lamb. It was lovely!
OK, time to see what the working day can do to keep me awake.
Wednesday, July 24, 2002
Stayed awake until we went to bed last night, which was nice. And we did do the toasted sandwich thing for tea too. Dunno what we will have tonight though.
Today has been in equal parts rewarding and frustrating. I finally got all the timetable changes from the last two weeks in and off ot the printers when, Kazam!, another one turned up. Ordinarily this would just be a cause for me to shake my head wearily and say something like "just when I thought it was safe" or "here we go again" but this one took the biscuit and finally spurred me into writing a stroppy email. It was for a service that started on Monday. Now, that would be bad enough, not hearing about it until after it changed but this is one we are sponsoring. Yup, not only had the information been in the office before today, we designed it. Accompanying the registration was a letter of support for the change dated the 19th. But did they tell us then? No. And knowing how the system works it will have taken them a couple of weeks to pull the whole thing together. It is actually a replacement for a commercial service that has been cancelled. Did they tell us they were going to look to replace it? No. Did they tell us when the tenders went out? No. Or when they were returned? You guessed it.
So that was just one step too far for me. I have sent this to their stand in manager (names not changed cos they ain't innocent and don't deserve protecting!):
I've been trying to get communications from your team about what goes on for 4½ years now so would welcome your input on the matter. The main issue is on letting us know what they are doing when it comes to sponsored services. I am continually finding out about things we are paying for from the final registration rather than in advance from the people doing it. This is made worse when it comes to supporting short notice changes.
I think the final straw has just come - I have received a registration in the last ten minutes for a service that started on MONDAY accompanied by a support letter from Ian dated the 19th. Now I know I was off for two weeks, but your people must have known they were doing this before the 19th and could at least have told someone something about what was going on. It would have been nice to get the roadside publicity done before it started, whereas now it won't be until Friday of this week.
Frankly, I've had enough of being left out of the loop like this. And after all, who's going to ride a bus if we can't tell anyone it is running?
There is also this email I sent to Mike, Chris and Charles before going off up North:
Chaps,
As I seem to have been lumbered with producing a leaflet to tell the plebs all about ticket interavailability between sponsored and commercial services, can one of you provide me a definitive list of what we do, where it is valid etc etc etc.
Ta,
Again, I have heard nothing. Not even a "we're busy but will get back to you". I can see I will be getting chased for news on the leaflet soon and will have to say that people are letting me down.
Any chance you can take them off somewhere and knock some sense into them? All the re-org stuff implies we should work together more but that's only what the publicity/marketing team has been asking for since before I started here.
All help gratefully appreciated...
He agrees the situation is not a good one, so has agreed to join us at our next team meeting to see what we actually need then sort them out. Hopefully the results will prove positive. After all, we are supposed to be getting closer to each other under the re-org stuff so there are some pretty huge walls to break through.
Better news is that we think we have decided on the holiday we want to take. Prague. Will see now how much money we end up with and if there are spaces for us.
Also wnet to the library at lunchtime so have four cds to listen to soon: Underworld - Beacoup Fish AND Live - Everything, Everything, Jimi Hendrix - Axis: Bold As Love and Blink 182 - The Buddah Album. The latter will fit on the same MD as another album of theirs I've got but the live Underworld will need some clever editing to fit on an MD unless I can find somewhere selling 80 minute ones locally.
Nearly time to get out of here for the day. Yay! Getting hairs cut tonight as they should have been done last week but we were on the A1 at the time.
Today has been in equal parts rewarding and frustrating. I finally got all the timetable changes from the last two weeks in and off ot the printers when, Kazam!, another one turned up. Ordinarily this would just be a cause for me to shake my head wearily and say something like "just when I thought it was safe" or "here we go again" but this one took the biscuit and finally spurred me into writing a stroppy email. It was for a service that started on Monday. Now, that would be bad enough, not hearing about it until after it changed but this is one we are sponsoring. Yup, not only had the information been in the office before today, we designed it. Accompanying the registration was a letter of support for the change dated the 19th. But did they tell us then? No. And knowing how the system works it will have taken them a couple of weeks to pull the whole thing together. It is actually a replacement for a commercial service that has been cancelled. Did they tell us they were going to look to replace it? No. Did they tell us when the tenders went out? No. Or when they were returned? You guessed it.
So that was just one step too far for me. I have sent this to their stand in manager (names not changed cos they ain't innocent and don't deserve protecting!):
I've been trying to get communications from your team about what goes on for 4½ years now so would welcome your input on the matter. The main issue is on letting us know what they are doing when it comes to sponsored services. I am continually finding out about things we are paying for from the final registration rather than in advance from the people doing it. This is made worse when it comes to supporting short notice changes.
I think the final straw has just come - I have received a registration in the last ten minutes for a service that started on MONDAY accompanied by a support letter from Ian dated the 19th. Now I know I was off for two weeks, but your people must have known they were doing this before the 19th and could at least have told someone something about what was going on. It would have been nice to get the roadside publicity done before it started, whereas now it won't be until Friday of this week.
Frankly, I've had enough of being left out of the loop like this. And after all, who's going to ride a bus if we can't tell anyone it is running?
There is also this email I sent to Mike, Chris and Charles before going off up North:
Chaps,
As I seem to have been lumbered with producing a leaflet to tell the plebs all about ticket interavailability between sponsored and commercial services, can one of you provide me a definitive list of what we do, where it is valid etc etc etc.
Ta,
Again, I have heard nothing. Not even a "we're busy but will get back to you". I can see I will be getting chased for news on the leaflet soon and will have to say that people are letting me down.
Any chance you can take them off somewhere and knock some sense into them? All the re-org stuff implies we should work together more but that's only what the publicity/marketing team has been asking for since before I started here.
All help gratefully appreciated...
He agrees the situation is not a good one, so has agreed to join us at our next team meeting to see what we actually need then sort them out. Hopefully the results will prove positive. After all, we are supposed to be getting closer to each other under the re-org stuff so there are some pretty huge walls to break through.
Better news is that we think we have decided on the holiday we want to take. Prague. Will see now how much money we end up with and if there are spaces for us.
Also wnet to the library at lunchtime so have four cds to listen to soon: Underworld - Beacoup Fish AND Live - Everything, Everything, Jimi Hendrix - Axis: Bold As Love and Blink 182 - The Buddah Album. The latter will fit on the same MD as another album of theirs I've got but the live Underworld will need some clever editing to fit on an MD unless I can find somewhere selling 80 minute ones locally.
Nearly time to get out of here for the day. Yay! Getting hairs cut tonight as they should have been done last week but we were on the A1 at the time.
Tuesday, July 23, 2002
Despite feeling like a complete Zombie by the time I got home (and falling asleep on the sofa for an hour) I am not too bad today and even made it in to work before 830 for a change. Only by 2 minutes mind, but that's all that you need!
We finally got the grill wotsit up and running last night, and the results were very tasty indeed. Might just have to use it again tonight. Or possibly it will be a toasted sandwich kind of feel to the food. More news on that when it happens!
Another good bit from yesterday was that in the 269 messages was one letting me off any financial implications of car scraping. That was a big load off the mind I can confirm. Having had run ins with the neighbours over car issues I certainly didn't want to get embroilled with a stranger on that issue. Why do cars create such hassle?
Am now halfway down the stack of bus registrations so might have all the details off to the printers by the time I go home tonight. I will of course drive carefully and make sure I avoid any pigs that might be flying past. Still plenty of other things in the in-tray to deal with, but nothing that can't wait a couple more days. And have got a van booked for a day out of the office on Friday, so hopefully today's rain will only be a blip in the nice weather we've been having.
Being back at work has also meant a return to in car music. Yesterday was By Your Side by The Black Crowes and today has seen a Chumbawamba B-sides and rarities compilation I knocked up myself with (would ya believe) Geri Haliwell (Scream If You Wanna Go Faster) to get me home again. Never say I don't have a wide taste.
I have even managed to get up the town today - where I realised what it was that was nagging at me after getting in to work with no traffic for two days in a row. The bloody kids are off school for the summer now. The place was full fo the little horrors. Still, I got what I went out for - Iron Maiden's Rock In Rio DVD and also an unexoected bonus of The Big Blue which is a film about divers and dolphins and stuff that was recommended on the Llamasoft forums this morning. Well, it was only £8 on the market so I thought I'd take the chance. Joan even agrees with me there so we will hopefully not be disappointed. Back to timetables now...
We finally got the grill wotsit up and running last night, and the results were very tasty indeed. Might just have to use it again tonight. Or possibly it will be a toasted sandwich kind of feel to the food. More news on that when it happens!
Another good bit from yesterday was that in the 269 messages was one letting me off any financial implications of car scraping. That was a big load off the mind I can confirm. Having had run ins with the neighbours over car issues I certainly didn't want to get embroilled with a stranger on that issue. Why do cars create such hassle?
Am now halfway down the stack of bus registrations so might have all the details off to the printers by the time I go home tonight. I will of course drive carefully and make sure I avoid any pigs that might be flying past. Still plenty of other things in the in-tray to deal with, but nothing that can't wait a couple more days. And have got a van booked for a day out of the office on Friday, so hopefully today's rain will only be a blip in the nice weather we've been having.
Being back at work has also meant a return to in car music. Yesterday was By Your Side by The Black Crowes and today has seen a Chumbawamba B-sides and rarities compilation I knocked up myself with (would ya believe) Geri Haliwell (Scream If You Wanna Go Faster) to get me home again. Never say I don't have a wide taste.
I have even managed to get up the town today - where I realised what it was that was nagging at me after getting in to work with no traffic for two days in a row. The bloody kids are off school for the summer now. The place was full fo the little horrors. Still, I got what I went out for - Iron Maiden's Rock In Rio DVD and also an unexoected bonus of The Big Blue which is a film about divers and dolphins and stuff that was recommended on the Llamasoft forums this morning. Well, it was only £8 on the market so I thought I'd take the chance. Joan even agrees with me there so we will hopefully not be disappointed. Back to timetables now...
Monday, July 22, 2002
So here I am back at work. Oh joy and rapture. Be still my beating heart. And other such crap.
Only 269 emails waiting for me when I logged in this morning. Might get through them all by the end of the day, but somehow doubt it. Ended up having to take 4 days of holiday and one flexi-day for last week, after getting compassionate leave for the first 5 days. Better than Bhupen I guess as he had to take it all as holiday, but not what I really wanted. Still got enough left for another three weeks between now and April plus whatever flexi I can build up so we will get away at some point. We have even picked up some brochures so might look at them later.
Also a whole stack of bus service changes that have come in during the last fortnight. Weren't any for ages before we went off!
The re-organization thing is still going on as before. No chance it would seem of stopping the two of us having to fight for senior status. Part of me is just totally pissed off with the whole situation while the rest just wants it all to go away. Whatever happens I'll still have a job of some description and no less money coming in (more even, if the union ever decides to accept an offer - I'm not a member but have to wait for my pay rise anyway). In the end it is only a job and recent events just re-inforce the feeling that it doesn't really matter what I do at work, so long as I make the most of the time at home. So once I've made up the 2½ hours I'm down on time at the moment I think I will concentrate on building up a few days by working longer hours just so I can do some of the things I want to do rather than have to do.
Hmm, just had a phone call asking for timetable books in Bury. Think I will book a car and have a day out later in the week. I probably need one!
I think the worst part of today was looking at my diary - the first half of this week has "Keep Free - Trip to visit Ernie?" written in large letters all over it. There's something I'll never write again. Also realised I forgot to put in the bit above about all the hassle over treating him - one of the doctors was even proposing moving him to another hospital for kidney dialysis. What planet are these people from? He probably wouldn't even have made the trip and it wouldn't have done a darn thing to solve the underlying problem. Just prolonged the agony a bit longer.
Oh well, nothing more I can say will change things.
On a lighter note, am now reading my way through an omnibus edition of The Dilbert Principle, The Dilbert Future and The Joy Of Work, all by Scott Adams. Just funny enough to keep me sane (but not too far gone to seem in bad taste at the moment) and also horribly true about what is going on around me here at the moment.
Only another hour or so to go!
Only 269 emails waiting for me when I logged in this morning. Might get through them all by the end of the day, but somehow doubt it. Ended up having to take 4 days of holiday and one flexi-day for last week, after getting compassionate leave for the first 5 days. Better than Bhupen I guess as he had to take it all as holiday, but not what I really wanted. Still got enough left for another three weeks between now and April plus whatever flexi I can build up so we will get away at some point. We have even picked up some brochures so might look at them later.
Also a whole stack of bus service changes that have come in during the last fortnight. Weren't any for ages before we went off!
The re-organization thing is still going on as before. No chance it would seem of stopping the two of us having to fight for senior status. Part of me is just totally pissed off with the whole situation while the rest just wants it all to go away. Whatever happens I'll still have a job of some description and no less money coming in (more even, if the union ever decides to accept an offer - I'm not a member but have to wait for my pay rise anyway). In the end it is only a job and recent events just re-inforce the feeling that it doesn't really matter what I do at work, so long as I make the most of the time at home. So once I've made up the 2½ hours I'm down on time at the moment I think I will concentrate on building up a few days by working longer hours just so I can do some of the things I want to do rather than have to do.
Hmm, just had a phone call asking for timetable books in Bury. Think I will book a car and have a day out later in the week. I probably need one!
I think the worst part of today was looking at my diary - the first half of this week has "Keep Free - Trip to visit Ernie?" written in large letters all over it. There's something I'll never write again. Also realised I forgot to put in the bit above about all the hassle over treating him - one of the doctors was even proposing moving him to another hospital for kidney dialysis. What planet are these people from? He probably wouldn't even have made the trip and it wouldn't have done a darn thing to solve the underlying problem. Just prolonged the agony a bit longer.
Oh well, nothing more I can say will change things.
On a lighter note, am now reading my way through an omnibus edition of The Dilbert Principle, The Dilbert Future and The Joy Of Work, all by Scott Adams. Just funny enough to keep me sane (but not too far gone to seem in bad taste at the moment) and also horribly true about what is going on around me here at the moment.
Only another hour or so to go!
Sunday, July 21, 2002
And finally I get the chance to write a bit more.
Thursday we did some more shopping and sorting out of stuff during the day. Also Joan went to the doctor and we had everyone around for dinner in the evening - a sort of mopping up of the whole process plus farewell to Sheila. It also allowed Bhupen to help her pack her cases - obviously I'm not capable of such a complicated task!
Friday we got up early and I took Sheila to Heathrow for her flight home. I was expecting a long and stressful run complete with lots of traffic and hold-ups as is normal on both the A12 and M25, especially with it being the last day of term so no doubt some families would have removed their sprogs from school a day early and be heading off on their holidays. We left here with a good 3½-4 hours to spare before the last minute she could check in, and got there in a little over 2. I have never seen those roads so empty. There was just a little bit of stop-starting around the M40 interchange. Uncanny. It was also a doddle to find a parking space and there were no queues at the check-in desks either. Most strange. Anyway, she got checked in OK and from all subsequent accounts the flight went on time and she got home fine (for about 5 minutes before heading off to see her daughter's new home now they have finally moved in after months of waiting for it to be built - and I just realised that today is their first wedding anniversary).
My trip back to Felixstowe was almost as uneventful as the journey down. I did make one stop to fill me up with an egg & sausage sandwich (at South Mimms services, where Joan and I had our first holiday - a couple of nights in the Travelodge with easy access to London!) and had to queue between the M11 and A12, but otherwise again free flowing all the way home. I seem to recall dozing through much of the afternoon and then we had a relaxing evening watching tv - BB now down to the final 4/final week and we are actually quite keen to see Jonny win - and not just because he's from County Durham.
Yesterday we thought would be simple. We have been after something new for the lounge to store the DVDs and stuff in. So, off we trotted in the morning into Felixstowe. Nothing available to suit. So we then went up to Ipswich. Not the town centre but all the little retail parks dotted around the outskirts. Again, nothing doing. We did manage to have a very nice lunch at Fatty Arbuckle's American Diner (mmm, pancakes with Maple Syrup, almost as good as being back in Canada again) and look at lots of cars though. We are begining to think that it might be time to replace the Escort and are just looking at options for what is available and how much we want to pay. We are thinking of going smaller again though as there are only the two of us and we don't buy a lot of big stuff. And when we do there is always the delivery or borrow Dad's Volvo option. Perhaps a Ford Fiesta or Ka. We shall see.
When we got home Joan was zonked so I did a bit of ironing (with a soundtrack from Kingmaker - Sleepwalking and The Human League - Romantic?) while she slept. Then we went round to Ma & Pa's for a big Chinese meal. That was very nice and from one in town rather than our usual haunt of the Magic Wok (well, that one is on the corner of our street, it would seem rude to go elsewhere).
Today we have again been in to Felixstowe. Joan wanted to check on how things had been going at work while she was away so I had a wander about for a while until I ran out of magazines to read in Smiths and thought I ought to go find her before I started buying DVDs instead. In the end we had lunch at Wimpy and came home with another 6 foot bookcase for the dining room (to be used for shiny discs not books in the main instead of something for the lounge) and also a USB hub for the PC. Been after one of those since Christmas and now no longer have to reach round the back of the PC when wanting to swap between playing games and printing.
So that's us up to date again. Not sure what we will do tonight, but not a lot sounds good to me!
I have been thinking a bit more about the events of the 9th. I know Ernie was fairly aware of what was going on until a few hours after they withdrew treatment and just let the morphine do its stuff, but I don't recall anyone ever actually talking to him about what was going to happen. He did ask Helen a couple of times when it was all going to end, but never said anything specific about what he wanted to do and if he was ready for that really. I can't decide what I would want to do if it was me lying there wired up with no hope. Would I go for the option of letting everyone else make decisions and not know the end was near or would I want the chance to be involved in the choice? I think I would like to know I was on my way out in the next couple of hours just so I could say some proper goodbyes before drifting off on the drugs. It just seemed a bit odd to me that nobody wanted to give him that chance, but were rather keen to let him go on thinking things would be OK until he wasn't awake any more.
Well, it wasn't my choice so I will just have to live with how it happened. I hope I get my own way when the time comes though.
Back to work tomorrow so should be able to keep this more up to date again.
Thursday we did some more shopping and sorting out of stuff during the day. Also Joan went to the doctor and we had everyone around for dinner in the evening - a sort of mopping up of the whole process plus farewell to Sheila. It also allowed Bhupen to help her pack her cases - obviously I'm not capable of such a complicated task!
Friday we got up early and I took Sheila to Heathrow for her flight home. I was expecting a long and stressful run complete with lots of traffic and hold-ups as is normal on both the A12 and M25, especially with it being the last day of term so no doubt some families would have removed their sprogs from school a day early and be heading off on their holidays. We left here with a good 3½-4 hours to spare before the last minute she could check in, and got there in a little over 2. I have never seen those roads so empty. There was just a little bit of stop-starting around the M40 interchange. Uncanny. It was also a doddle to find a parking space and there were no queues at the check-in desks either. Most strange. Anyway, she got checked in OK and from all subsequent accounts the flight went on time and she got home fine (for about 5 minutes before heading off to see her daughter's new home now they have finally moved in after months of waiting for it to be built - and I just realised that today is their first wedding anniversary).
My trip back to Felixstowe was almost as uneventful as the journey down. I did make one stop to fill me up with an egg & sausage sandwich (at South Mimms services, where Joan and I had our first holiday - a couple of nights in the Travelodge with easy access to London!) and had to queue between the M11 and A12, but otherwise again free flowing all the way home. I seem to recall dozing through much of the afternoon and then we had a relaxing evening watching tv - BB now down to the final 4/final week and we are actually quite keen to see Jonny win - and not just because he's from County Durham.
Yesterday we thought would be simple. We have been after something new for the lounge to store the DVDs and stuff in. So, off we trotted in the morning into Felixstowe. Nothing available to suit. So we then went up to Ipswich. Not the town centre but all the little retail parks dotted around the outskirts. Again, nothing doing. We did manage to have a very nice lunch at Fatty Arbuckle's American Diner (mmm, pancakes with Maple Syrup, almost as good as being back in Canada again) and look at lots of cars though. We are begining to think that it might be time to replace the Escort and are just looking at options for what is available and how much we want to pay. We are thinking of going smaller again though as there are only the two of us and we don't buy a lot of big stuff. And when we do there is always the delivery or borrow Dad's Volvo option. Perhaps a Ford Fiesta or Ka. We shall see.
When we got home Joan was zonked so I did a bit of ironing (with a soundtrack from Kingmaker - Sleepwalking and The Human League - Romantic?) while she slept. Then we went round to Ma & Pa's for a big Chinese meal. That was very nice and from one in town rather than our usual haunt of the Magic Wok (well, that one is on the corner of our street, it would seem rude to go elsewhere).
Today we have again been in to Felixstowe. Joan wanted to check on how things had been going at work while she was away so I had a wander about for a while until I ran out of magazines to read in Smiths and thought I ought to go find her before I started buying DVDs instead. In the end we had lunch at Wimpy and came home with another 6 foot bookcase for the dining room (to be used for shiny discs not books in the main instead of something for the lounge) and also a USB hub for the PC. Been after one of those since Christmas and now no longer have to reach round the back of the PC when wanting to swap between playing games and printing.
So that's us up to date again. Not sure what we will do tonight, but not a lot sounds good to me!
I have been thinking a bit more about the events of the 9th. I know Ernie was fairly aware of what was going on until a few hours after they withdrew treatment and just let the morphine do its stuff, but I don't recall anyone ever actually talking to him about what was going to happen. He did ask Helen a couple of times when it was all going to end, but never said anything specific about what he wanted to do and if he was ready for that really. I can't decide what I would want to do if it was me lying there wired up with no hope. Would I go for the option of letting everyone else make decisions and not know the end was near or would I want the chance to be involved in the choice? I think I would like to know I was on my way out in the next couple of hours just so I could say some proper goodbyes before drifting off on the drugs. It just seemed a bit odd to me that nobody wanted to give him that chance, but were rather keen to let him go on thinking things would be OK until he wasn't awake any more.
Well, it wasn't my choice so I will just have to live with how it happened. I hope I get my own way when the time comes though.
Back to work tomorrow so should be able to keep this more up to date again.
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