Must stop asking where the time has gone. Seriously lazy that's all I can say. Anyway, been an up and down kind of a week. Managed to get loads done at work, but at the same time don't feel like I've managed anything. Nothing really to write home about - just finishing off little jobs and tinkering with the details. Small mindless stuff that gets things done.

Mind you, better than doing nothing I suppose. And it helps bring the money in, which is always useful as I've had to go out for a new exhaust this morning. Bloody cars...

Finished with the Conan-Doyle book while I was waiting for the thing to be fitted. I enjoyed The Lost World and its sort of sequel The Poison Belt despite the over the top Victorian stuffiness and overt racism. But gave up on the collection of "medical" tales at the end of the book as they seem to be largely plotless and not actually all that interesting. Oh well, on to something new...

Well the snow all went by bed time Thursday and now we are back to rain again. I'm fairly sure it has sent down a drop or two every damn day so far this year and now we are into month two there is no sign of it letting up. I'm getting pretty fed up of driving in the rain and trudging from the bus stop in the rain and not going out at lunchtimes because of the rain... Who do I go to for a refund on 2004 so far? To make matters worse the drains in our street seem to be clogged at the moment and we are developing a nice lake all along our side of the road - especially bad for us as it is flowing neatly up our dropped kerb and approaching the drive. Must have a snout around here to see who is to blame (or at least if anyone can get it sorted out before we need a boat to get the milk in).

Friday's training course on Construction and Design regulations was so enthralling that we left at lunchtime. Basically it was more related to the bigger projects we get involved in as a council (new brodges and bypasses, that sort of thing) and didn't really have much relevance to us humble bus people. Plus they'd squeezed far too many people into the room it was being taught in so I reckon everyone else would have been pleased to see the back of us as well. So we gained an extra afternoon of real work and missed out on the chance to fall asleep across the road. And then it was the weekend...

Joan was off so we had the chance to do lots of exciting and adventurous things for a change. Except of course there was much rain falling from above. So we ended up pottering about the house and going as far as in to town (thrills galore, I got some new shoes). And up to Helen's to deliver Bhupen's birthday present (a couple of days late but (a) he didn't want a fuss on the actual day as his Mum was in hospital and (b) it only arrived in the post on Saturday). And round to Ma & Pa's for dinner on Saturday night. So nothing startling occurring it has to be said. But the house and garden are both a bit tidier, the ironing pile is lower and we had some nice sleep.

Still working my way through The Lost World, am finding it enjoyable but a struggle to maintain the motivation at times due to the heavy victorian style. I knew there was a reason I tned to read modern stuff most of the time!

Have also been continuing to find joy in having a cd player in the car - currently listening in chronological order to all my Gong and Daevid Allen stuff (well, all the bits I've got on shiny discs anyway) and loving every minute of it. Also had the fortuitous delivery of the cd I'd ordered at the same time as Bhupen's birthday. DA + Kramer - Who's Afraid which cunningly enough slots in exactly right in time order and is in the car today. I hadn't realised it would fit into sequence quite so well when I ordered it - I was just attempting to plug a gap in the list! And obviously it is great to hear some new stuff. Although of course being 12 years old it doesn't really qualify as new, and some of it isn't actually new to me at all being different versions of tracks I'd encountered on Gong Appreciation Society tapes in the past. Which reminds me I really must re-join that too.

Right, off to an Endeavour House technological partnership briefing now...