What a week and a half that was. Where on earth do I begin and how to get it all down in words without it sounding too trite in places? Well, I shall just have to press on with it and see how it goes.

Sunday the whatever it was, I had it all planned for a nice quiet evening when Joan got home from work. We were going to try that new grill thing and just generally relax.

We got as far as Joan having a bath before the phone rang and blew everything to pieces. It was Joan's aunt Dahlia (Ernie's Sister) to tell us that she had been to see him in hospital and things had taken a turn for the worst. So basically we dropped everything, threw a few clothes in a case and hit the road along with Helen, Bhupen & Alexander in their car. We arrived at the hospital at about 0130 Monday morning and were immediately confronted with a doctor asking us to agree to a Do Not Ressucitate order. Not the best way to end a 6 hour journey.

It turned out he had actually had a small heart attack under the gas for the operation on thursday and then another, bigger one on Friday. Pity they didn't tell us that over the phone. Anyway, we had a bit of a chat with the doctor, nurses and Ern himself and then Bhupen & Alexander went off to the house to get a bit of rest while the three of us settled down to see what the morning would bring.

I think I caught a couple of hours sleep in a chair somewhere but can't really remember.

On Monday we had him moved to a side room as the rest of the ward was a bit noisy and he couldn't get any rest. Fair enough really as it was the High Dependency Unit and everyone was hooked up to at least three machines. The three of us who had stayed the night went home to get changed then back for more waiting and thinking.

We had a bit of an argument with the surgeon who had done the leg op (which was a success) and one of his juniors over what should be done next. They were adamant that we should do everything to keep Ernie going but we could see how pointless it all was. Basically the rest of his body was shutting down because the heart was too damaged by the attacks to do any real pumping of blood, and as there was no hope for a repair or transplant it just seemed cruel to us to keep him going with more drugs and machines.

The chaps went home again that night and then on Tuesday morning picked up Sheila from Newcastle airport and brought her in. None of us left again until it was over from that point. Monday night had been pretty awful for Ernie as he was begining to throw up blood - in quite large quantities and by Tuesday lunchtime we had all agreed that all the drugs were doing was prolonging the inevitable and the doctors agreed, so at exactly 12 midday they withdrew everything except the pain relief and all we could do then was watch and wait.

There were a couple more hours where he was drifting in and out of conciousness, and obviously getting more confused as the morphine kicked in. His last few sentences were about thinking two thoughts at the same time, dreaming different dreams in each side of his head and wanting to share a sandwich with Joan. It was very heartbreaking and in some ways a relief when around three pm he stopped waking up.

For us watching and waiting it got worse around 5ish when he started to stop breathing. He would go for 3 or 4 minutes with the breathing getting increasingly ragged and then stop for 30 to 40 seconds. We'd all lean forward to see if that was it and then he'd start off again. That went on for nearly 7 hours of stop-start worry for us until the end came at 1245 making his date of death officially the 10th.

The girls had spent a couple of hours debating about whether to get a priest in to help see him off, and finally made their minds up in time for him to arrive at 1230. He came in, laid his hand on Ernie's head and did some prayers etc (I can't remember what) before finally finishing with "...and tonight, Ernie, you will walk in paradise with the Lord" and at that exact moment he stopped breathing for the last time. Which was a bit spooky to say the least. We came to the conclusion that he must have been waiting for permission to die.

So, that was that. The first death I've witnessed and not a pleasant experience.

The staff on the ward were all absolutely marvellous while we were there. Never intrusive, always ready to help and explain things to us, willing to back us against the surgeons and so forth. They all thought Ernie was a great bloke from the time they had spent with him, and I shall certainly back them to the hilt if ever it came to a crisis with the NHS.

We hung around for a while before finally all going back to the house to sleep and see what happened next.

The sleeping arrangements were a bit awkward and the three girls ended up sharing the double bed their parents had used while us lads rotated between, sofa, single matress and floor in the lounge.

After making the arrangements we then divided our time between clearing out the house (over 100 black sacks and counting, not to mention innumerable trips to the charity shops), sorting out the paperwork (which mainly fell on my head although I then got shouted at for taking over - I'll forgive Helen for now, but if she ever tries to use it against me in the future there really will be hell to pay), making the necessary arrangements and just getting on with distracting ourselves to get through it all.

The funeral was on Monday and went very well. The vicar was a lovely bloke (even if he does look a lot like Ronnie Corbet) and got everything we wanted to say into his speech. He also nearly managed to kill himself tripping over a microphone cable at the crematorium (but resisted the "goodnight from me" gag we were all half expecting when the curtains closed on the coffin). We went back to the pub he used to visit afterwards and all went pretty well considering. Then yesterday we had a little ceremony in the church yard to inter the ashes along with those of Joan's Mum which she had kept for the last 10 years waiting for this moment. That was also a nice event in a way as it brought a lot of things to an end and reunited the pair of them. They have also been placed with the view he never wanted to leave, so that was kind of fitting.

As an aside, it scared me half to death when I first discovered Joan had kept her Mum's ashes. It was before I moved in with her int he flat - we were moving the furniture around and she suddenly yelled at me to be careful with the box I was about to pick up as her Mum was in it. Not what you expect on a lazy Sunday afternoon!

We also did a lot of shopping for bits and bobs (the girls all got new outfits and hired hats to make sure they gave their Dad a proper send-off) visiting the Metro Centre and Chester-Le-Street among other places. Ate a lot of takeaways (it was decided as soon as we woke up on Wednesday that this was no time for cooking and all the pans got thrown out first) and did some evening driving (trips up to the Angel of the North, into Newcastle to see the new bridge across the Tyne and also down to the coast at South Shields). There was also a lot of catching up with family up there, sitting around talking and laughing over memories and old photos and stuff like that. Also numerous visits to the Chapel of Rest to put flowers and photos in the coffin with him - my first encounter with a corpse too. He looked a lot better then than during the final hours and helped to put my mind at ease a bit.

In the end though, 82 years of Ernie and 72 of Jessie all distilled into two cars loaded with stuff and people that left the North East for probably the last time (although I hope we will be able to go back at some point, even if just passing through on the way to Scotland) and got back here at 1 this morning.

All in all an eventful series of days.

It was nice to sleep in our own bed last night!

I did manage to find a bit of time for myself during all the hubbub to read as I need that to calm my head at times. Rather than take the classic buses I instead read Distraction by Bruce Sterling which was actually just what I needed. It would be filed as Sci-Fi but is about 90% politics. Very good.

We didn't really watch any TV during the time we were there (and yesterday gave it to the hospital) and no music was consumed either.

So now we have a few more days to get back down to earth before returning to work on Monday. Sheila goes back to Canada on Friday (guess who's got the airport run...) and then we will have the weekend to ourselves.

I think that's about it for today. You can guess where the girls are (I'll give you a clue, starts with B and ends with INGO!) but I did the drop off so Bhupen will bring them home.

D'oh - forget my head if it wasn't screwed on.

Meant to mention in that post about last night's sleeping and dreaming. Didn't sleep very well at all - unless I had several consecutive dreams that featured me looking at the clock and the time slowly progressing!

The main dream, however, was much stranger than that but also if true would explain an awful lot about the way things work. Joan and I got sucked through into another universe that was almost the same as this one, but just ever so slightly different in places. Apparantly this sort of thing was going on all the time with traffic in both directions. So, for instance, all the cheap rip-off merchandising you get around films that isn't quite what the official stuff ought to be (as found in pound shops and on market stalls etc) isn't cheap chinese forgeries but actually the real stuff from this other universe slipped through into ours by mistake. It was also home to all the people who have disappeared over the years etc. Well, it made sense to me at 3 this morning anyway!

Friday night ended well - justice was done and Adele was voted out of the Big Brother house. We slept peacefully after that!

Yesterday was a fairly typical Joan at work and Simon at home kind of day for the majority of it. I ironed in the morning with help from:

Chumbawamba - Swingin' With Raymond AND i - Portraits of Anarchists
Sum 41 - All Killer No Filler
Alien Ant Farm - Anthology
The Orb - Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld

Then had a mosey about on here and lunch. With lunch I decided it was about time I re-watched The Haunting what I got for my birthday last year as it is the main film ripped off in Scary Movie 2 which we will probably watch tonight. I'm not sure if the ending made any more sense second time around but I still enjoyed it. Must watch the extras on there sometime as some of the FX were really quite good.

That was followed by the obligatory (it seems) falling asleep on the couch until it was time to pick Joan up from work. I was a bit annoyed with myself for that but again must have needed some sleep. Really must get around to seeing the Doctor again to find out if there's anything he can do to stop me nodding off all the time.

When Joan got home we made the standard issue calls to the hospital and relatives to see how Ernie was and pass it along. She got a bit of a shock when they said what they were having to help him with - I don't think she realised he would be all tubed and monitored up for a few days after the op. Still, progress appears to be being made - his sense of humour is coming back and so forth. Fingers are begining to relax from the crossed position I think.

After that we went round to Ma & Pa's for dinner, which was nice to be able to switch off a bit. Their extension is coming along well and the food was lovely.

Today Joan is at work again and so far I have cleaned out the bathroom and played a few games on here. The soundtrack to the morning has been Crawl, from The Beyond (who were just starting out in Derby when I was at college there and generally superb the couple of times I saw them - pity they didn't last more than two albums) and Implant from Eat Static. This afternoon the ironing calls again - which should help to keep me awake during the British Grand Prix.

Tonight's tea will feature chicken cooked on the new George Forman health grill thingy Joan bought yesterday. All the reports from other people rate them highly so we shall see.

Mmmmm. All full up now with Burger and Chips and Onion Rings and Coke and Grease. Lovely! Joan has already bought two DVDs today (one with Will Hay and one Jackie Chan) - don't know anything about either of them so that will be a change to watch. Still raining though so I'm a teensy bit damp. Now just have to hang around here until they want to come home.

I know where I'd rather be though.

And so it rains again. Well, a whole dry day was nice anyway.

Ernie was doing much better last night when I phoned to check on him. Breathing and obs back to normal and he was asleep naturally. So, that's something to smile about anyway.

I am also smiling for other reasons today. Firstly I don't feel too tired. Slept fairly well - only woke up once when Joan thought it was a good idea to wake me from a dream. Was dreaming about the parking problems we have been having with next door - he had finally decided he was going to park where he wanted whatever and was somehow getting his car on top of ours. I think I must have gone round to complain as when Joan did the good deed I was thrashing about and shouting "you've got two minutes to move the bloody thing or I'm getting the Police". I wonder what the conclusion would have been. Anyway, I slept well again after that - to the point that although I remember the alsrm going I must have just zonked straight out again and not finally got up until an hour after normal. Luckily I made some time up and only got here half an hour later than I usually do. Praise be to flexi-time though.

Secondly the postman brought me a set of cdroms today containing about 2-3,000 old arcade games ready to use on the PC with MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator). There go any hopes of getting anything useful done this weekend.

Thirdly Joan is off again today and is in Ipswich right now along with Alexander. So, despite the weather I am goingup town in 25 minutes time to meet them for lunch. I feel junk food calling (well, Alexander doesn't really eat anything else).

And I've designed a nice advert this morning too.

Terrible news at lunchtime - Boots have (a) put the price of their meal deals up by 10p and (b) stopped doing the chicken & sweetcorn sarnie I like. Had to settle for a cheese topped Ham and Emmental roll instead, which was quite nice but not in the same league.

Joan's foot rub thing went well enough for her to book another one next month, so that'll do her good.

Ernie has come through the surgery. The actual op went well, but at the moment he is having a bit of trouble breathing so has been moved to a high dependency ward (one step down from intensive care). I guess he was lucky they even agreed to knock him out at 82 and he should be back to normal soon they reckon. We shall see. Probably going up there in a couple of weeks time.

Time to go home now, methinks.

Hmmm, got the details through on whose car it was and have sent them an email, but no response as yet. Then again, I didn't see it when I got in this morning so perhaps I shouldn't expect one as yet.

Gary is just as piddled off as me so we are going to work together and go on strike! Will see what happens.

Nearly lunchtime, and will have to go up the town having brought no food with me. That factor also led to me breaking my resolve to be good and having an Alberts this morning. Very tasty (egg and sausage for a change) and I don't feel guilty about it at all. Even confessed to Joan and she said it had been a good idea!

Ernie should be going under the knife any time now - they are doing a vein transplant or replacement depending upon what they find when they oopen the leg up. Hopefully he will come out of it with better circulation. Fingers are crossed.

Forgot to mention last week - we finally got a new water cooler thingy at last. Actually, we got two - one last week and a replacement for that this week. It has only been 6 months or so since the one on this floor went wrong. So now I can get a decently cold drink with no stairs involved. However, this one doesn't do fizzy water (which is fine by me, I prefer it still) so I won't get the bizarre sight of people getting a glass of half and half. Surely you either want fizzy or still? How can you have half fizzy? Doesn't quite make sense to me.

Will be accompanied by the end of a disc of assorted heavy tracks as recorded from Kerrang telly and then a collection of Honeycrack B sides I put together when I go out. Yesterday's in car entertainment came from Satellite by P.O.D. A bit shouty/rappy and not enough singing in places but very good otherwise and an uplifiting feel to the lyrics for a change. Nice.

Things went kinda downhill after that.

The meeting was just as irritating and dull as predicted, with yet more talking in circles based on the future of the group. Then when we got out we were given the proposed structure. It sucks big time. Not only have they split our team up, but everyone at my level currently gets upped to Senior Officer level except either me or Gary. We have to fight it out between us and the loser stays the same under the other. Like that won't cause any resentment! It took me several hours to come down to a mild simmer rather than full boiled anger last night, and I'm still pissed off this morning. I will be writing a very strongly worded note to someone about it, you can be sure of that. What makes it worse is that all the jobs seem to have been decided and allocated already. What happened to the group I was invited to be part of that was supposed to be doing that? I had enough of this kind of shit with Argos and I don't intend to suffer it here as well.

Joan & Helen didn't win either. Still, I did get to watch a great prog about Llamas on the Discovery Animal Channel which cheered me up quite a lot.

Today it isn't raining (yet!) so I might even get a bit of air at lunchtime. No word on the car either so perhaps it will be OK.

Joan is off today but has to pop in to work - her boss went to a meeting yesterday and phoned on her way home to say she had something to tell Joan. Why she couldn't have called in on her way home, given that the meeting finished at 4 is just one of those unsolved mysteries! When that is done she's going for a pedicure, which should be nice and relaxing for her.

General consensus from the morning meeting people was that it was a complete waste of time and I need to take a pillow/matchsticks/something to do. Oh great. They also overran, which is not my idea of fun as I want an early finish today.

Partly because of the car thing (still no response!) and also because Joan and Helen are having a night at the Bingo here in Ipswich tonite and this time I get to drop them off rather than pick them up. Which will be a rush to start with, but nice overall cos I'll be able to relax and not have to come out again. A big choice between sleeping a bit or shooting some aliens I think. Or, most likely, falling asleep at the keyboard!

Still raining so no visit to the town today. Which does at least mean no DVD purchases! Unless I get to the mail order sites on the web...

Hmm, a Wednesday that feels like a tuesday. Must be because I had Monday at home rather than any deep meaning. Then again, it could just be that I'm once again sat in a mostly empty office feeling a tad bored. Mostly empty because the meeting we thought we were having this afternoon about the future of the group (again) has turned into two meetings about how the group is going to meet the Council's 11 priorities. Only about three of those have any bearing on public transport so I'm not really sure how interesting or useful it will be. They have decided to do us in two halves so I'm down for the afternoon slot. Oh, I can't wait. To make me feel a whole lot better it is raining so I don't reckon I'll be going out at lunchtime, and I scraped someone's car when parking this morning. I don't think it is more than a bit of paint transfer that will polish out, but not a happy event. I have gone the official way to try and find out who it belongs to but had no response yet. I just hope they are a nice person and won't want lots of money from me. Of course, if people could park a bit better and not leave teeny-weeny gaps it would never have happened. :-(

We are also fretting over what to do about Ernie still. It was looking like we would be going up there tomorrow and back Friday just so he would see one or two of us, but Joan has decided it is too much for her to be a passenger for the trip. I don't mind doing the driving, but the decision is hers really. I think we will end up going up nearer the end of the month when her boss gets back from holiday. And for three or four days. It seems now he is not eating properly in the hospital and things are thus a bit more worrying for those of us 300 miles away.

Body Balance was good again last night - did a load of work on backs and abs again and once more I cam quite surprised at being able to stand up and eat today. There were a whole bunch of new people again last night, although I don't think some of those will be coming back from the comments they were making on the way out. I am quite surprised by that too - I would have expected it to settle down to a regular group by now rather than the constant flux in members we seem to have. Wil be interesting to see what happens when the school holidays kick in.

We still didn't sleep very well though. Just the worry I suppose, but if Joan doesn't get some rest soon she'll get ill herself.

Haven't really done any reading for days now either. Which means I'm still on the Classic Bus Tests. It is, however, proving interesting in some other respects as it also highlights how language and attitudes have changed over the last 60 or so years. F'rinstance, the pictures taken on a review carried out on "the hottest day of the year so far" (early June) still show the staff done up in huge coats and hats, whereas now you can bet on shorts and a t-shirt. I do really want to finish the book and move on to some fiction, but can't be bothered to pick it up at the moment. But, I haven't given up on a book in years, and don't intend to do so this time. Or to take a break and come back to it. Hey ho.

OK, so the trip into town turned into a visit to Park & Ride at Bury Road as they needed a display stand I had up there down here for an exhibition. I then had to help a representative of the Zulu Nation (really) find Radio Suffolk's studios to give an interview. They had told her to meet them at P&R then failed to turn up. So I did my good deed for the day, and she apparently gave us a plug on air so that was OK.

Of course, the BBC are at the opposite end of town from the office here, so I had to walk past Smiths. And naturally I got dragged in and came out with Scary Movie 2 on DVD. I really must stop spending money like its going out of fashion like this.

Body Balance tonight, so two BB's to help me to sleep! Time to go home now.

Made it in to work today, but still feeling a bit delicate in the guts department. Also really tired too - neither of us slept very well last night.

Didn't really miss much yesterday other than the arrival in the group of a couple of seconded people. So we are nearly at full strength again, which makes for happier faces all round. Have even managed to get some (boring, essential) work done this morning so that perhaps by tomorrow I can do a bit of the fun stuff I've got lined up.

Up the town for some air now.

Ooof, what a few days this has been since last I graced the keyboard here! Not that I'm at the usual "Here" for writing this stuff, but we'll get to that later. So:

Friday: Having had the meeting I thought was due on Friday morning on Tuesday I was in the office rather than the meeting room at Ipswich Buses. Did pop out for half an hour though to help Gary move a bus stop flag at Great Blakenham. We'd had one of our new shelters installed on Thursday afternoon and someone had phoned up Radio Suffolk in the afternoon to complain about it being in the wrong place because the actual bus stop was a few yards away. That was because there wasn't room for a shelter where the flag was before, so we knew we were going to move it when the shelter went in. But fancy calling the radio station rather than us. Some people are just odd.

Then I just did a teensy bit of work and spent too long hanging about the Llamasoft forums on the web before lunch. That was when I made the mistake (?) of going in to HMV and looking in the sale. OK, so I had actually gone in with the intention of getting the Miles Hunt CD at last, but they'd sold out. Why do I do this to myself? I've got a perfectly good credit card that could stand the occasional impulse CD purchase but instead I make myself wait until payday and when I get there they've sold 'em all. This has happened too many times for it to be palin stupidity. There must be a deeper reason. Anyway, I finally came out with two CDs - SilverGinger 5 Black Leather Mojo complete with Bonus second disc (that makes the two!) and one DVD - The Cannonball Run. That has to be one of my favourite films of all time and I haven't seen it for years. So, we watched that last night (Sunday) and it was just as funny as I remembered. I had forgotten just how many people were in it, and can't quite believe they packed it all into 90 minutes but that's memory for you.

The afternoon was spent showing the Park & Ride manager from Bristol (and his wife!) around our two sites (and also the guided busway) as he was looking for inspiration. They had come up on two wheels - I somehow can't imagine 240 miles as a pillion passenger with no way of having a conversation. Still, it is always nice to have someone else think what we do is the best.

In the evening we just mellowed out, had fish & chips for tea and watched TV. Nothing thrilling, but then who needs an exciting life all the time? To prove it here's a poem I've been meaning to stick on here for ages by Wendy Cope:

Being Boring
"May you live in interesting times" - Chinese Curse.

If you ask me "What's new?", I have nothing to say
Except that the garden is growing.
I had a slight cold but it's better today,
I'm content with the way things are going.
Yes, he's the same as he usually is,
Still eating and sleeping and snoring.
I get on with my work. He gets on with his.
I know this is all very boring.

There was drama enough in my turbulent past:
Tears and passion - I've used up a tankful.
No news is good news, and long may it last,
If nothing much happens, I'm thankful.
A happier cabbage you never did see,
My vegetable spirits are soaring.
If you're after excitement, steer well clear of me,
I want to go on being boring.

I don't go to parties. Well, what are they for,
If you don't need to find a new lover?
You drink and you listen and drink a bit more
And you take the next day to recover.
Someone to stay home with was all my desire
And, now that I've found a safe mooring,
I've just one ambition in life: I aspire
To go on and on being boring.

Which just about sums us up at the moment.

Saturday: Joan was at work and I had a very lazy start to the day - didn't even get up until gone 10. In the past that would have been unthinkable for me, but at the moment I just feel tired most of the time and fall asleep given half a chance. By the time I was finally ready to do anything Richard had turned up. We went out up to the big B&Q by the Bury Road Park & Ride. Joan and I are looking for something new to use for video/DVD storage in the lounge and also a new flashy shower head. Drew a blank on both fronts. We also popped in to Comet where he bought some CDs and Toys R Us where I got another of the remade Llamasoft games for £2.99 which wasn't to be sneezed at. We also had lunch at Tesco (gee, what thrills) then back here to fart about on the PC until it was time to get Joan.

We had a nice Chinese and watched Casualty - the last inthe series and a couple of good cliff-hanging storylines to boot. I can't decide if I like that or not - I know it is intended to help guarantee viewers for the start of the next series, but we would watch it anyway and now I really want to know what will happen. Big Brother then seemed to eat up the rest of the evening.

Yesterday we went up to Sainsburys for a bit of shopping which was made slightly tricky by them re-surfacing the car park so we had a bit of fun getting in. I do like the smell of hot tar though so that made up for it. Homebase failed to provide a shower head or storage unit either but we did at least manage to get loads of bargains on the food.

In the afternoon Mum took Joan round some local gardens that were open for charity while I had a bit of a blowing things up session on here. Then we watched the Cannonball and a bit of BB.

Today I have been at home. Thought I was OK when I first got up but then spent far too much time in the bathroom (you can work the details out for yourselves) and decided I was best not going to work as I probably wouldn't make the trip. In the end I slept until 1230 ish (more sleep, why am I so tired still?) and am only now coming to full sentience. Also had some very strange dreams again while I was snoring through the morning, mixing Greek Myths, archery, Lego and a flooded London. If that sounds weird don't worry, it didn't make much sense while I was dreaming it. Some dreams seem to hold together quite well while they are happening and only seem strange with hindsight, but this one felt odd from the start.

I have managed to find most of the floor and some of the shelves here in the study which is nice. Was helped on the way by the SilverGinger 5 discs and also: Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine - 1992: The Love Album and Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Are You Normal? all of which entertained me. Still feel a bit weak and have had a couple of wobbly weepy moments during the tidying, which is one of the reasons I've stopped now.

Also because it is nearly time to go pick Joan up and I want to post this.

Meeting with East Lancs went well and now I have some new toys to look forward to. And I've written another fab and groovy press release to announce it to the world.

Listened to the end of the disc I started on the way to work on the way there (the Best of Ian Dury & The Blockheads - totally top recomendation) and started on disc one of Sandinista! by The Clash on the way back. That was a bit surreal as there were a couple of buskers in town and their trumpet and violin just merged in with the stuff I was meaning to listen to and worked. Groovy. I also popped in to Smiths and bought Brassed Off on DVD (excellent film combining brass bands with the decline of the mining industry starring Pete Postlethwaite, Ewan McGregor, Tara Fitzgerald and loads of other top British thesps). We had it in video but sent it up to Joan's Dad and I thought we ought to have it again when I sawe it for a fiver. I also bought the Queen Platinum Collection (all three of their greatest hits albums for less then the price of one!). Don't normally buy greatest hits type things as I'd rather have the whole output of the band, but Joan wanted these and I was prepared to make an exception. Also, they are good tracks that work well collected like this as well as in their original contexts.

Then had great joy seeing Daevid Allen from Gong being quoted on the BBC news site about Glastonbury:

'Legendary' Glastonbury remembered

The farmland setting may be the same, but modern Glastonbury Festivals are a world away from the original event that started it all in 1970. The first Glastonbury was "more like a bunch of people sat on the grass in a park" than a festival, according to folk singer Ian Anderson - one of those who performed at that fabled first event.

Nobody had the slightest inkling that it could grow into anything the size it subsequently became

Festival-goers are now used to huge crowds, tents pitched in every available space and 800 acres of stages and stalls. But just 1,500 laid-back music fans were there in 1970 - and they describe a very different atmosphere.

"We decided we'd all pile into one or two vehicles and see what this festival was like," says Anderson, who was joined on stage by fellow folk star Al Stewart. "And it was very thin on the ground."

The first festival was held on a sunny September weekend. Far from experiencing the traffic jams and tight security that are features of the modern festival, Anderson says he drove down a lane, parked at the back of the farmhouse and "just sort of wandered out onto the field".

"It was very pleasant," he says. "Nobody, I'm sure, had the slightest inkling that it could grow into anything the size it subsequently became." It was a sunny weekend, with no mud, he remembers, and there were a lot of "people with large smelly dogs and afghan coats". But Anderson, who now edits music magazine fRoots, has not been back in recent years because "I don't need the hassle".

The festival's reputation was cemented the following year, when organisers expanded and 12,000 people went to see acts including David Bowie, Joan Baez and Fairport Convention.

Arthur Brown - best-known for being the God of Hellfire - was another of the big names on the bill, having had a number one single three years earlier. "It was a pretty good atmosphere," he says. "It had a lot of spirit and a very open feel to it. There were various people prancing around in the nude, and other people gathering around fires."

The spiritual side of it was more important than it is now, he says. And the toilet facilities had yet to gain notoriety. "I seem to remember wandering off into the woods, really," he says.

Brown returned to play the Acoustic Stage in 2000, and describes the modern mega-event as "very bewildering". "It's vast. It struck me somewhat like as if somebody had uprooted a huge city, moved it and plonked it all down," he says. "There were people who were walking around for two and a half hours trying to find my set and arrived after I'd finished. I obviously prefer the older festival because it had more to do with fitting in with nature, it was almost a continuation of the Stonehenge things."


Glastonbury 1971 also hosted the first UK gig for psychedelic group Gong after Australian singer and guitarist Daevid Allen sneaked into the country with a picture of Buddha stuck over his passport photo. "It was a gorgeous time of year, and everyone was very positive," he remembers.

But 10 minutes into their Pyramid Stage set, the power failed, delaying their performance for half an hour. When they came back on, it was in "that magic moment of sunset", Allen says. "The effect of the music brought everybody down from the house, which was in the distance. Suddenly, we saw this pied piper procession dancing down towards us."

"Everybody who had been over there just came down to be with the music. It was a marvellous sight. It really was a special event." But the amount of mind-altering drugs being taken meant that people could not always tell what was real and what was imaginary. "That was also the charm of it, because it meant anything was possible," he says. "Even the most outlandish thing could be possibly real. In retrospect, quite a lot of it probably wasn't."

He too went back in 2000, and describes it as a "much more complicated thing now. I have to say I prefer the first one because it was very personal. Now, it's become very impersonal. It used to be a compact group of people who all had the same view. These days it's as complex as New York City."

He adds: "It's become huge now, and hugely devoured by people who want to make a fast buck. It's also become this huge holiday camp, like a new-age Butlin's. And also, towards the end, it starts to feel like a refugee camp."

He says part of its success is down to its original "high intentions" of altruism and not being materialistic. Back in 1971, the performers and fans did not even know whether there would be another Glastonbury Festival. "But after such a beautiful experience, there was a strong feeling that it should go on," he says.

--------

Splendid to see the old teapot lover making the news still.

Well, a large part of yesterday was spent out and about doing roadside and stuff (including assembling 30 bus stop flags for use) which was slightly hampered by us having to double back twice for things we'd forgotten and left behind. Still, it was nice to be out inthe sun and fresh air. Had a nice lunch at a pub in Stutton and an ice cream by Alton Water reservoir into the bargain.

Have had yet more strange dreams - one featuring a school reunion and wedding taking place at the same time (and I never did find out who it was getting married), one where I left this job and went to work for a printing firm - and my first thing to do was a leaflet I'd ordered the week before and finally one where the office got re-arranged and I ended up going away for Christmas with one of the new people we had to share spac with. All very confusing.

Today I have the other bus-design meeting so I think I'll do a teensy bit of work now before I head off for it.

Crivens, a Tuesday where things have happened. Will wonders never cease?

But first: Ernie was kept in Hospital thanks to some timely intervention on Joan's part. She had a good chat with the people up at the hospital before he got there for his regular appointment and explained recent events. So, he's in there getting looked after proper while we wait for them to decide what they can actually do with his foot. Of course we then got Shiela on the phone from Canada laying down the odds as she'd got them from Helen. Joan put her straight and hopefully things on the family front will begin to calm down a bit now. We spent most of the rest of the evening round at Ma & Pa's going through the saga with them and drawing on dad's experience and knowledge from within the care sector.

Then we came home and watched Big Brother! Slowly getting more and more drawn in to this series. We didn't watch the first one at all, and only caught bits of the second, but we watched the celebrity one avidly and are quite hooked with this lot now. The rich/poor divide has been interesting to see in operation. We now find ourselves sticking the live version from E4 on whenever there's nothing else we want to watch (even the interactive version with 4 feeds at once) and also the re-cap on normal Channel 4. Last night also did what I'm sure a lot of the viewers are tuning in for and showed us Kate in the nuddy. They didn't balance it out with one of the blokes though so I'm sure there will be complaints of bias and stuff. Will see what gets revealed tonight!

I also had another very bizarre dream featuring Genetically Modified talking monkeys who were now carrying out their own research projects on a specially built island laboratory thing. I really must get my head cleared out sometime.

Today I had an unexpected meeting with Bus Builder Optare and Ipswich Buses to sort out the spec for the new ones we are getting for Park & Ride. I thought it would be on Friday so had a surprise when they called me up to ask if I could come a bit later than planned this morning. Still, it all went well and I am now waiting for clearance to spend a bit more money. Meeting with East Lancs coach builders on Thursday for the other new ones.

That and actually getting out at lunchtime for a change meant I was able to get some music listened to on the way there and back, so have enjoyed Pink Floyd - The Division Bell and the first (self-titled) Masters Of Reality album. Top stuff. And called in to the Library as well and now have some other stuff to enjoy - will leave you in suspense until I do actually hear it.

The car has been looked at today as it was leaking something Oily into the driver's footwell. Turns out it was gearbox oil. There is a safety valve on the 'box but when that clogs the only escape is for oil to run up the accelerator cable and drip off the pedal. Nice! But tis now fixed for the princely sum of £38 so once more I don't have the excuse to get a new car or a bus pass.

As a result of that, though, I have had a lift in with Richard and will not be able to go home until he leaves work. Which is not likely to be until nearly six - a bit later than my usual average. Then we have hair cuts and Body Balance to fit in as well as checking on conditions in the North East and a bit of tv and dinner. I suppose I'd complain if there was nothing happening too.

I think that just about covers everything for now.

You've got to laugh, from the BBC:
--------------------------------------
School boy boozers are faking failures

Australian school boys seeking an under-age drink in pubs made a crucial mistake when they forged proof-of-age documents. The photographs used in their faked driving licences showed the boys wearing school uniforms.

The schoolboys from Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, had used a computer and printer to forge the driving licences. These were to be shown as proof that the 16 and 17 year olds were old enough to be drinking in pubs. But the flaw in their plan was uncovered by pub bouncers who spotted that the identity pictures showed them dressed for school.

"With the person's photograph on the document, it is usually a straightforward exercise to identify those involved, particularly if they are helpful enough to wear a school uniform," said Merri Rose, the liquor licensing minister in Queensland.

This lack of attention to detail was said to have undermined what otherwise were considered to be convincing copies of documents.

There were believed to be six teenagers involved in the forged document ring, which had been set up to allow pupils into pubs before reaching the minimum drinking age of 18. A 17 year old pupil faces fines for forging documents of over £250.

School boys in England have also been previously involved in dubious uses of computers and printers.

Three years ago, boys at King Edward VI Community College in Totnes, Devon, were caught using a computer and laser printer to make copies of bank notes.

The forged notes, which had been crumpled up to add to their authenticity, were spent on food in the school's canteen. The forgeries were only discovered when a security firm which collected the cash alerted the headteacher.
--------------------------------------
Not sure what that says for the state of the Ozzie education system.

Oh my goodness, just had a look at Friends Reunited and someone (one of the few names I don't remember) has put up an old primary school class photo with me on it. Yikes. Really must get around to joining that properly as there are a few people I'd like to make contact with again.

Another up and down rollercoaster of a weekend. Not so much in terms of emotions but more of activity and peacefulness.

Friday night Joan came home from work zonked again so had an early night. I watched a bit more tv and then joined her. A dull evening for spectators but it suited us.

Saturday went really well until the evening. Joan was at work so I pottered about a bit. Downloaded some more old games on the PC (and now can't get the music for Sonic 3 out of my head) did some ironing and entertained myself musically with the Savage Garden Superstars and Cannonballs live DVD (and now want to watch it again with the commentary (which seems like a strange option for a musical release) and also to check out the documentary) and also Slayer's God Hates Us All cos I just needed a bit of extremeness.

Richard came round for a couple of hours and then it was time to get Joan from work.

She was again tired so had a few hours sleep before Casualty.

Then the "fun" began!

We tried a couple of times to phone her Dad and got no answer. Just when we were beginning to bet a bit concerned he called back to tell us he'd fallen over and was stuck on the floor not being able to get up. Oh great.

Being 300 miles away we decided the best option was to call his home help and see what she could do. He thought he'd left the door open so it shouldn't have been a problem. Unfortunately the door was locked and the neighbour with a spare key was out.

In the end the home help called the Police to come and break the door in, and then they had to get a joiner up to fix the frame. He finally went home around midnight. So, when we gave Ernie a last call to make sure he was OK did we get "thanks"? He just said he needed to speak to Joan's sister instead. Gratitude, what's that? We sometimes wonder why we bother making all the effort.

Still, he seems OK again now if a little sore from crawling around. He's got a hospital appointment anyway today for his foot, so with any luck they'll just check him over while he's there. It is his 82nd birthday on Sunday so hopefully there will be no more alarma and excursions before then.

Yesterday we had a lazy day. Well, we needed to recover! We were both up at different times in the morning with Joan up first then me getting up when she came back to bed. We finally managed to get ourselves synchronised in time for lunch with the Grand Prix. And at least Rubens was allowed to win this time to make up for the Austrian fiasco.

We both dozed off during it though, which again says something about the state of either modern formula 1 or the perils of aged parents.

A quick trip round the shops then we were back relaxing. Caught up with Holby's off tape then watched a film Joan had been lent by someone from work. Deep Blue Sea (I think, can't recall exactly now!) with Samuel L. Jackson and a load of people I'd never heard of (oh, and LL Cool J) being attacked by enhanced killer sharks. Quite fun in places, and some very good watery effects. I think it could have done with a few more people surviving rather than being eaten, but otherwise worth looking out for.

So now I am back at work for another week. Have got some time out of the office coming up to make it slightly less tedious and with any luck the sun will still be shining when we get home. More later as now I want some lunch.

So now we are out of the World Cup, having been beaten by Brazil. How do I feel about it? Not sure actually. Despite not being a football fan it would have been nice to win for the country, but this way we get to head back to a normal life a bit sooner. Not that we do really, as Wimbledon starts on Monday so there'll be tennis everywhere instead.

Joan slept most of the evening and went to bed early as she was feeling zonked after her course. I feel that way today instead. Not sure if I slept to well last night - had another very strange dream featuring fast cars (except I had a Mini), people arguing and fighting, jumping off tall buildings and stuff. There was also a bit with a small bird being rescued which didn't seem to make any connection with the rest of it. All very peculiar and it must have stopped me sleeping properly without realising it.

I have also found a decent Sega emulator for the PC and started getting hold of some of the classics I bought and the others I never got round to/had the money for. A bit sad, but stops me going loopy.

Time for a spot of lunch now, then I WILL get out in to the sun for the first time this week. Must try harder next week.

Oooh, excitement! Just had to leave the building and cross the road to find out why the glass replacement people were hanging out outside our little storage building. Turns out someone broke one of the windows at 2 o'clock this morning and although the building is not alarmed somehow the hallkeepers found out and got it boarded up.

So, why do we not find out about the potential loss of our stuff until one of us notices the vans when coming back from lunch? Funny old system. Nothing was nicked though, so at least we haven't go to get into insurance forms. Then again, who'd want 200 bus stop flags? Well, OK, who apart from some of the people who work here then?

Our current ongoing problem here (other than bus companies throwing services in and expecting us to pick up the pieces which is an ongoing ongoing problem rather than a curent one) is bus shelters. We have started putting them in after a zillion years of leaving it to the parish councils and now the complaints are coming. One chap has even prepared a 27 page documnet of questions, policy statements, quotes from parish newsletters and all sorts trying to stop us putting one outside his house. He hasn't won though - it went in this morning. Ha.

And now Dave from First Eastern Counties has been in showering us with naff pens and keyrings. Woooh!

Forgot to mention just now. Finished Thief of Time yesterday. Very good ending to go with the very good beginning and middle. Also read all of this month's Classic Rock - yup, I managed to get through a magazine while it is still on the shelves of the newsagents. Amazing.

Next book in line is Classic Bus Tests - a trawl through industry mags of the 20s-50s. Nice to see what people thought at the time of the buses preservationists rave over now. More news when I've got past the front cover. Which might be this afternoon if I get the chance/get bored/everyone else buggers off early.

Back to work after a good day off yesterday. Tawny got the all clear from the Vet, I got a keep on going from my Doctor and we filled up the skipbag thingy with some of the rubbish from the patio construction. Not all of it, cos the bag's not as big as we thought it was. Never mind, Jerry reckons he can use the rest of the soil once the grass in it has died out. We shall see.

We popped in to Argos and bought a new garden parasol and a upgraded the loungers so I also managed a snooze in the sun (but with burnt legged consequences).

BB on Tuesday night was good. Did a few new moves and a lot of yesterday was spent with aching thighs as a result. Really must practice the balancing on one leg bits though as I'm fed up with falling over.

Joan is in Ipswich again on a course today so I had her company on the way in, and will have it again on the way home with any luck. Unless they finish really early.

Not much going on at work today. I have managed to find something to do, but it ain't gonne fill the whole day. Perhpas I'll search for more exciting trivia on the web to stick here later.

Time for something from The Guardian's Notes & Queries section, just for the hell of it:

What happens when you swallow chewing gum? Nic Enright, Vancouver Canada

It wraps itself around your heart and kills you. That's what the wise old woman who lived in our street told us when we were young.
Bill Wilson, Derby England

The wise old woman in our street told us that if we swallowed too much it would form a big chewing gum ball in our stomachs and it would eventually explode and kill us. Bubble gum was OK though.
Stephen, Curitiba Brazil

You turn purple and swell up to 5 times your normal size. Then some little green guys in white dungarees roll you off to be de-juiced.
Martin, Newcastle UK

According to my mum, when I was younger, you blow a bubble out of your bum. Why that was supposed to deter a curious 5 year old is beyond me.
Gareth, Graham UK

Bit boring & probably untrue this but I heard somewhere that it takes around 7 years to digest chewing/bubble gum!
Sam , Brighton UK

Chewing gum has five basic ingredients - sweeteners, corn syrup, softeners, flavors and gum base (the part that puts the "chew" in chewing gum). The first four ingredients are soluble, meaning they dissolve in your mouth as you chew. Gum base doesn't. And although is isn't meant to be swallowed, if it is, it simply passes through your system, just like popcorn or any other form of roughage. This normally takes only a few days.
Rich Waters, Derby UK

I had a primary school teacher who told us that if you chew gum your stomach would explode and you would die.
Caroline Scanlan, Dublin Ireland

Now I really must find some work to do!.

The rain has finally stopped, but it is now too late to make use of dryness at lunchtime for another day. Especially as there is no chance of the seats in the park drying off enough to be sat on comfortably.

I am just really bored today. Nothing much to do, but I can't really admit that.

If I remember right, one of the comics we used to read years ago had a campaign to abolish Tuesdays, and I'm beginning to agree with them. Their reasoning went something like this: Saturday and Sunday are great, the weekend, no worries etc. Monday you can still remember the weekend which makes it OK. Wednesday is half way to the next weekend, so it must be good. Thursday was the day the comic came out, so got away with continued existence and Friday was of course the day before the weekend so you could spend all day looking forward to it. Tuesdays, however, had no redeeming features at all.

In real life we do have Body Balance tonight, but the work part of this particular Tuesday is just crying out for either something to happen or a fast forward button to get it over with. If nothing happens soon I may have to get on with the final part of my massive desk tidying project, which has been keeping me looking busy for some time now. Of course, there are still the in-trays to sort once the desk is done, so all is not total doom and gloom in the procrastination stakes.

Next Tuesday the jubilee baton thingy being carried around the Country before being used to kick-off the Commonwealth Games in Manchester is coming to Ipswich, but I can't see that bringing much interest to the day. Traffic congestion and trouble getting up to the shops if I need to at Lunchtime yes, but not excitement.

And once more it rains like the month's quota has to be used up by teatime. And thunder as well. But it was so nice yesterday when I didn't manage to get out, not fair I say, not fair.

Last night was lovely. Joan had done nice things with the furniture and also worked her little socks off in the garden. So we had a great dinner on the patio and then just sat there for ages watching the birds feeding and frolicking on the lawn. Only a bunch of starlings and sparrows plus one pigeon - nothing exotic but fun and funny all the same. And just adore the way they use the bird bath. I think feeding your babies when they are as big as you is pushing family loyalty a bit amongst birds - although perhaps Mrs Starling had got the same idea as she was trying to shove huge chunks of bread down the poor thing's throat. So a very relaxing evening.

The sleepy bit wasn't quite the same - apparently I woke Joan up by thrashing about. I was dreaming that someone was annoying us in a theatre - after being hugely tall and blocking our view they then tried to push in front of us in a queue. I think I took it a bit personally and started attacking them, which was when I woke Joan up and she thus woke me up to calm me down. Very strange.

Not much going on at work this morning, so will have to think of something to make myself look busy.

Thief of Time proving well up to the usual TP standard - passed the 200 page mark already!

Stinkingly hot day in Ipswich today. So, naturally, I didn't manage to get out at lunchtime. I had planned to go sit in the park with my book (just started Thief Of Time by Terry Pratchett) but had to give it a miss due to the office being deserted but the phones still ringing. Must try to get out before everyone else!

No wobbles today or over the weekend, so perhaps it was just a passing thing rather than being connected with work. I will still mention it when I see the doctor on Wednesday though as I don't particularly like it.

Joan off today so I hope she has taken the chance to relax in the sun a bit. She told me earlier she had been moving the furniture around again, so I'm not sure what I'm going to find when I get home.

Nothing else to add.

Finished the Railway Navvies Friday night. All in all a very good and interesting book. Been working through a couple of magazines since then but will probably choose a new book sometime later today.

Yesterday was a very lazy day. Joan woke up a couple of hours later than we usually manage and surprised me with breakfast in bed, then the next thing we knew we'd dropped off again and it was gone 11. We shopped while the footie was on (well done lads though) and then sat in the garden for a bit. Where we dropped off again. Followed by dinner and a fairly early night.

I still feel half asleep today though. Very strange. Seems like I can't get enough sleep at the moment.

Joan is at work today so I have done a stack of ironing (accompanied by Gongmaison and Sass by Salvation) and looked at the web a bit (with help from Credit To The Nation's Take Dis and EMFs Schubert Dip). Now back to the board I think!

Well, Joan has gone back to work today. Not 100% sure if she should have done, but she didn't really have much choice as she is the only member of management present. She is then off tomorrow, in Sunday, off Monday, in Tuesday, off Wednesday, on a course (here in Ipswich) Thurs before two days together in the shop Fri & Sat. So hopefully none of that will be too tiring for her. She was certainly as bright as a button when I dropped her off this morning, hopefully there will be a bit of energy left come 530.

I had a Car Parks meeting this morning. Nice to not be in the office, but no real knowledge gained or decisions made during the meeting so might not really have been worth going along to. However, I did notice that I was shake-free for all of it, and indeed until I got back in to here. So perhaps there is something in the office environment (by which I mean people and work not the air) that sets me off. Will have to try and make note of anything that may happen tomorrow. And I'm feeling half asleep again today which is a bit distracting too.

While I was out I had to deliver some leaflets to the courts. As a result I went further up the town than I usually venture of a lunchtime and noticed the Ann Summers window display which made me laugh. And they get my prize for top Jubilee promotion too. Whereas some shops are offering special coins or flags and have a bit of bunting up, AS have the Queen reading their new book of Wild Sex. They are also selling the limited edition "Her Majesty's Pleasure" sex toy. I didn't go in to see what that was though. A vibrating Sceptre perhaps?

We had been thinking of coming into Ipswich to have a lazy amble about the shops tomorrow, but I think we will give that a miss now. I had forgotten that England are playing Denmark in the World Cup at lunchtime and the police are expecting disruption whatever the results. Perhaps we will just stay in after all. It will probably rain anyway based on recent weeks.

Finished Revolting People on the way in this morning. A very good little series all told and I kind of hope they make another one as there were a few questions left unanswered. Like will Mary and the Captain get together, and will Ezekiel ever get his end away? Alternatively something by the same cast as roughly the same people set in a different time period like they did with Blackadder would be an interesting experiment.

Have now moved on to a Kevin Ayers disc. From a collection of live recordings made for the BBC, some of which feature a pre-Police Andy Summers on guitar and others a pre-Tubular Bells Mike Oldfield. All very good hippyish stuff. I was aware of KA through some stuff he'd done with Gong, but never encountered anything recorded in his own right before. Will now have to seek out more.

Now to pop up the town again to deliver some posters to Park & Ride.

Joan feeling a lot better today. Was supposed to be off anyway but still taking it very easy. At least I hope she is - can't really see from here! She spent pretty much the whole day in bed yesterday and we also had an early night - which I seem to have benfited from as well by not feeling quite so zonked as normal.

However, I've got the shakes real bad today. When I was first on these tablets I used to get an attack around 1030 every day that would last about half an hour or so, now it seems to be most of the day. Which is a bit irritating. I try to ignore it, but it tends to intrude at strange intervals where I realise I've been wobbling all along. The worst thing about it is that there is no physical manifestation - it just feels like I'm all a tremble. Even the heart rate stays the same, so what the actual cause is remains a mystery to me.

Called in at the post office this morning to pick up something that wouldn't fit through the letterbox yesterday. Another load of articles and stuff from America. Thanks Monica. Been stopping me from going off the wall between bits of work today. Some very interesting stuff as usual, a lot of which makes me feel guilty for not having a plentiful supply of suitable stuff to send back. Tend not to have the time to read a paper or anything though, so that's my excuse.

Could really use an early finish today, but I need to make up some hours. I have a flexi-day booked for next week (when Tawny dear needs to go back to the vet) and am only just on the threshold of hours I'd need to stay positive after it. Although we can carry over a negative amount and make it up later, I prefer not to. Feels better to be ahead I think. If nothing else, I am working extra for me to use then rather than because I need to make it up. I do like the flexi-time system here and certainly wouldn't want to go back to a rigid-hored workplace without serious financial inducements.

On that note, I was dreaming last night that I was being tested for a job back with Argos. I was doing really well despite not having been there for years now, and beating two people from the current workforce. Kept saying to people "I don't know how you got me here, beacause I'm not coming back...". Very strange.

Finally got confirmation of the renewed contracts for Park & Ride today. We will be staying with Ipswich Buses for another 5 years which means we can get on and do some things again. Also can start planning for Christmas (yes, I know it is only June) and the like. Perhaps I'd better do some rather than writing this.

Joan came home from work last night with a bit of an upset stomach so I sent her to bed. She did get up after a couple of hours sleep, but still very fragile. This morning she woke up with a splitting headache and weak legs to go with the iffy tummy and has been sick etc. She now has had the Doctor out to visit and my Mum has gone to pick up a prescription for her. I don't mind admitting that I'm a bit worried for her. Wish I could be at home to look after her rather than sitting around here trying to look busy.

I still went over to BB, and it was just as good as before. We did a lot of floor work this time, and I haven't felt quite so unhealthy in years. Loads of work on the abs - muscles that I guess I've neglected up to now. Not too painful this morning though, which is nice. And who knows, perhaps this week I'll find time to practice.

Revolting People continues to amuse and The Railway Navvies to inform.

Managed to ignore all the hype over the football this morning (and indeed the previous matches) despite the fever apparantly gripping the nation. I really couldn't give a monkeys about the whole World Cup. In fact, I can't wait for the whole analogue/digital tv thing to get sorted out so that all sport of all types can be on a different channel so the rest of the schedules don't have to get messed up whenever something like this comes along. I don't want to deny people the chance to watch it, but at the same time think the rest of us shouldn't have to suffer. It gets even worse from now on as we have alternate schedules to choose from depending upon which teams are playing. Think I will stick to the book.

Had to resort to doing a bit of tidying up this morning. Things must be getting desperate.

Went out for a wander in the sun at lunchtime which did wonders for clearing the mind a bit. Unfortunately, since I've got back I've been feeling really shaky - but no raised pulse or anything.

Body Balance again tonight - wonder if I will be able to balance any better. Still not managed to find time to practice!

Did something very unusual on the way home from work last night. So unusual I can't recall the last time it happened. I turned off some music because I wasn't enjoying it and couldn't be bothered to stick it out in the hope it would get better. The album in question was Trouble Over Bridgewater by Half Man, Half Biscuit. I've heard some of their stuff before and thought it OK, so when I saw it at the library I thought I'd give it a whirl. Kind of wish I hadn't now. Just tedious dirges with none of the humour I'd noticed before. So I stopped it. As I said, a most rare occurrence.

This morning I have started listening to Revolting People - a Radio 4 comedy series the brother recored. Co-written by Andy Hamilton who is seriously funny in everything else I've heard of his. Set in America at the time of the Boston Tea Party and quite amusing so far. 6 episodes so that should last me until the end of the week.

Now to find some work to do.

Another up & down kind of weekend. Saturday spent alternating between the Iron and the PC (and also watch Tomb Raider with Richard over lunch. I know the reviews were crap but I quite like it). Also listened to a few CDs for the first time in ages. Just not felt like music recently, but did enjoy Chumbawamba's Showbusiness! and some Levellers.

I also had the unenviable job of taking Tawny to the vet. It seems she has cystitis again, the poor little darlin'. So now we have to give her tablets twice a day so by the time she has finished the bottle and been back to check they've worked we shall really be in her bad books. It always takes her weeks to trust us again when something like this happens.

Yesterday I got up late to find Joan about to start working in the Garden. I managed to take over cutting the grass from her, but she simply did other stuff like weeding instead. After lunch I fell asleep on the hammock during which time she blitzed the whole house. So of course that left me feeling guilty again. Even though she could have woken me up rather than putting a blanket on me if she'd actually wanted help. After waking up I thought I was doing fine, but shortly realised I was in a nervous and feeling edgy kind of mood, which is still persisting this morning. Nothing seems to be shaking me out of it at the moment, and I can't even try my favourite remedy of a walk in the sun as it is instead raining like crazy.

I seem to be getting a run of, not quite nightmares, but dreams that leave me upset (to the point of crying) or agitated afterwards. The other night I woke up in tears cos I dreamed I'd dropped Tawny's dinner and wasted 60p! What the hell is that all about? I'd give a lot to get this sorted once and for all. I seem to be tired all the time still too.

Ma & Richard came to dinner last night for her birthday, and we started watching Harry Potter with them afterwards. Didn't get it finished so they will be back tonight for that. Still seeing new little bits in there.

Been doing yet more "day after the books come out" timetable changes this morning, with a few more to knock off this afternoon. Blasted operators, and even more blasted Cambridgeshire County Council for supporting the short notice changes. Here we go then.

Forgot to mention - now reading The Railway Navvies by Terry Coleman. Fascinating account of the railway construction period from the point of view of the workers rather than the Brunel/Stephenson type superstar engineers. Its a re-issue of the original 1960s book - not an update as there still isn't anything else to say. Well worth searching out.

Err, I knew there was something I hadn't done yesterday. And this is it.

Not that there was much to report. Half the office still not about - Gary is now back but Dawn on holiday instead and it is even worse today. OK, so some people have the day off to watch the football or go to the Suffolk Show, but it really is deserted in here today. Which is quite nice when there's a lot to do and distractions are not welcome, but I'm at a bit of a loose end at the moment! I'm sure there are one or two things I should be doing, but can't be arsed.

Last night we watched a bit of the Jubilee pop/rock concert. Quite good in places, but some problems with the mikes in others. Will probably finish it this evening as there is bugger all being transmitted worth watching at the moment. Roll on the end of the World Cup.

Still not got anything for Mum for her birthday. Which is today. Delivered the card on the way to work this morning but inspiration for the pressies is very thin on the ground.

Joan getting her back cracked this afternoon so another early finish for me. What a shame! Time for a spot of lunch now.

Back at work today. Not too much in the way of doom, gloom and misery though (apart from the weather) as I've been concentrating on writing up what I actually do with my time before my contribution to the group review later today. Also found out a few more details about when the Queen is coming to Ipswich in July - I think I might stay at home that day, probably the safest option in the long run!

I went round to help empty Richard's room before the builders move in today and very nearly walked out again. I'm there to help with TV and heavy stuff and he's faffing about with mini-discs and "ooh, I haven't decided where to put that yet". Like time was not a problem. I got reasonably sharp with him but he was still doing my head no favours. Oh well, I did what I could then came home again.

Last night was Body Balance session 3. Again very good, but I think we are going to have to start practicing between times now as it is getting quite complex and speeding up a bit on the newer moves. Did a bit of it in groups leaning on each other - which was quite good as the girls Joan & I teamed up with were just as prone to collapsing in gigles as us.

Suffolk Show is on this week after being cancelled last year due to foot & mouth but I don't think we will be getting to it. Joan is on a course on the Thursday and I don't think I can get Friday off so perhaps next year.

Joan and Helen are at Bingo tonite, so I'll have an evening of games with Richards Nintendo 64 wot I've borrowed.

I think I sorted myself out in the end on Friday. The network at work started getting very wobbly and we lost communications with the outside world. I wrote a first draft of a press release then after hanging about for ages for the finished version and not getting it went home. I never know whether I'm saying the right thing for the politicians when I write them, but someone must have liked it as I heard it word for word on the radio this morning!

We went round to the White Horse for dinner, and very nice it was too. Then came back and got all upset again by Greene dying in ER!

Saturday Joan was at work. With a bit of assistance from Jerry I put the trellis up, and then as I was feeling in a garden mood cut the grass as well! That took me up to lunch so while I was eating I downloaded the two new games from Llamasoft. Get them if you can - great fun and value. In the afternoon I wandered in to town. Saw Joan and also got Seven (or, if you must, Se7en) on DVD for a tenner. Looking forward to watching that. And stacks of extras over two discs so it should easily eat up a whole weekend sometime. We had a lazy evening with Chinese food in the garden and then the classical concert from Buck House on the tv, which I have to say was really good. The cello piece in particular stood out for me.

Sunday Joan was off and we spent pretty much all the daylight hours outside. Whipped up to Homebase first thing for gravel, then used that to put the finishing touches to the patio. And that is definitely finished now. Then had Ma, Pa & Richard around for a pre-lunch drink on it to well and truly break it in to use. Then we went next door for lunch as Jerry was having a Barbie. Quite tasty and pretty good company too. Also got to see some cute little baby Wrens as some have nested in the roof of his garden swing seat thingy. I like nature. Only trouble was not realising quite how hot the sun was - my legs are now a lovely shade of pink!

In the evening we went to see Star Wars Episode II. Absolutely superb. Much better than the last one and full of really great standout moments. A couple of little gripes relating to the overall continuity (like, why does R2D2 have so much trouble climbing stairs when he seems to have a built in jet pack?) but nothing too drastic. And now I can look forward to Episode III expecting it to be good rather than merely hoping.

Yesterday we had a lazy start pottering about the house, then after lunch we hit the sea front. As part of the jubilee stuff the BBC had organised a load of bands and things all along the prom. 8 stages and other bits in between. It was really rather good at times. Thousands of people there, the sun shone, most of the music was great and best of all Joan got to have another chat with Mark Murphy from Radio Suffolk.

Aching feet by the end of the day though.

In the evening we went round to Ma & Pa's for a very nice meal and then back down the front for the jubilee fireworks. They were also very impressive - the best display I've seen in Felixstowe with some new types of firework too. And there was also a display going on at Walton On The Naze at the same time which we could see in the distance, which was fun.

Today Joan has to work and I guess I can hear the ironing calling me...

We did indeed go to Homebase and got some trellis which I will try to put in tomorrow. Should be easy, but I seem to be technically useless in the garden. Also did the week's shopping at Sainsburys so should be able to relax on Sunday.

This morning has been annoyingly busy. Also have a visit from Graham our sales rep for printing. It might well be his last as he reckons the management are trying to get rid of him. It will be a shame to see him go as we do get on quite well, and he never pressures us into buying stuff we don't need. Good luck to him anyway.

Hit a major wall of gloom at lunchtime. Was out looking for a birthday present for my Mum - she mentioned wanting some old Ealing comedies or the like on DVD. Wasn't sure if any are available when I went out, and having looked at about a zillion discs in assorted shops am now convinced of it. I couldn't even be bothered to buy anything for myself by the end of it. Just ended up feeling numb and fed up. The fact that the sun is shining while I'm stuck in here and the forecast for mon/tues when I'm off is drab doesn't help either. Really need to shake myself up, but nothing seems to be doing the trick today.

Hoorah, I was right about the buses. I think basically she had lost the plot slightly. There seem to have been a lot of those on the phone over the last couple of days.

The Ipswich tour was good. A very interesting commentary and I certainly learned a few things about the town I'd never have guessed at. Not sure if I'm 100% keen on the City Sightseeing livery on the bus, but that's the price you pay for getting in with a multi-national organisation I suppose. A bit windy going over the Orwell Bridge and there were a couple of trees that still need trimming, but otherwise a good route. Lunch was at the Tolly Cobbold brewery and very nice too. Got a free bottle of City Sightseeing Ale to take away too. The room we were in had an enormous collection of celebratory and special beer bottles all round the walls - and it was nice to see that they weren't all Tolly ones either.

It is another money off everything day tomorrow at Homebase but I think we will go up tonight for the cardholders preview. The crowds last time were just ridiculous and Joan wants a few bits and bobs. We also need to get a trellis pannel to finish off the patio area but I'm not sure if that will fit in the car.

Another morning at work. Took ages to get in to the PC this morning, and some git is drilling holes in the building at regular intervals making an awful lot of noise. To make matters worse, we have just had an email round saying that will be happening tomorrow. I wonder if they are just early or we will be getting it again. I'd probably have been better off staying at home at this rate. Although I am going to the launch of the Ipswich Open Top bus tour complete with free lunch later, so I can put up with a bit of noise until then.

Finished HP3 over breakfast this morning. Very good book all round. I now have the big problem to face - do I go on to The Goblet of Fire fairly soon or put it off to make the wait less for book 5? Oooh, decisions! Not sure what book to open next - watch this space.

Now to do some work - have to phone some woman who wants to know why her bus doesn't seem to appear in our timetable books. I wasn't aware we'd missed any and will be most annoyed if she turns out to be right.

Aah good, we seem to be posting properly again now. And I'm at home at last. Wasn't in for much more than usual, but it felt like a very long day! I think Dawn being boss is beginning to get to me a bit. Probably because she is getting loads dumped on her, but acting the Martyr just annoys me.

Oh well, time for a bit of relaxing. And she is off til the 10th now anyway.

Hmm, Blogger doesn't seem to be publishing properly at the moment. Will this work?

I won't say the dentist was pleasant yesterday, but definitely the easiest of the four visits. And I even had most of my feeling back by teatime which was nice. And on top of that parked in the same place again without a knock on the door. Serves the bugger right. The problem only comes about because they have two cars and there is only room for one outside each house.

Body Balance went better than last week. I think I will have to do some practice on the balancing on one leg bits, but otherwise I think I'm pretty much up to speed. And must remember to wear shorts next week - its amazing how hot you get moving slowly and holding position whilst breathing. The class was fuller than before too, so it was nice not to be fumbling around like a total newcomer.

Today we have decided (higher powers permitting) who will be running Park & Ride for the next 3-5 years. I like being able to make decisions like that. All we have to do now is persuade the politicians that closing it would be a very bad move and to just give us the money to get on with it. I often get the feeling that this job would be a lot easier without the political part of it, but I guess a council without politicians wouldn't exist very long.

Harry P is getting better with every page I turn. JK has been very skillful I've noticed in giving out info on Harry's background as we go along. It has been done in such a way that it feels neither like something has been withheld from us (just learned as he does) or that what we learn is an afterthought shoehorned in to an existing story. The latter has tended to crop up in some series I've read, where by book 10 people are referring to past events/meetings with a character we only met in say book 7 but are supposed to have occurred in the time of book 2. Or suchlike. I know it must be hard for an author to incorporate new ideas without compromising the back story, but it still grates. Of course, later HP books might suffer the same way. We shall see.

Tonight Joan is doing a staff training session at work, based on the work I did for her over the weekend creating a database of comment cards they have had in at the shop. I shall be interested to hear how it goes, having had an input for a change. Pity she has to stay behind late to do it though.

OK, time to write up the minutes of the trip to Cambridge a couple of weeks ago.

A measure of consistency, that's all I'm asking for. Last night all was pretty much fine with me. I read a bit. Well, actually, I read a whole book! Mind The Gap by Simon James. A collection of photos of the termini of the various lines of the London Underground, so not actually all that many words to wade through but lots of wonderful images. Some of them even made me itch to get down to the Metropolis again. I then started Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban which looks as good as the first two so far.

I then coped supremely when Steve from next door (attached house) came to moan about cars and where to park them. Jerry, (not-attached house) on the other side has had the kerb dropped between our two abodes so we now have a nice shared driveway. He parked up there for the first time last night and I naturally parked in the remaining space outside our house. I used to park where the ramp now is which sort of overlapped the two houses, and Steve sat behind me in front of ours so he could keep an eye on the car. Last night he couldn't do this cos I was there and was in a right old tizzy when he came to ask what we were doing now. I think he expected me to immediately bow and scrape and move, but I just said we'd see how it went. Ha ha. We then went out for a walk so he couldn't come back and try again later.

So, basically, no worries problems or other hassles last night.

This morning though I was nearly reduced to a wreck by the simple problem of lunch! Went to make a cheese sandwich and found the unopened packet had turned blue depsite being within its date. Left me totally flabbergasted and upset. I couldn't believe it. Almost back to normal now, but not the best way to begin a day.

Just had the last 2 of my latest set of books arrive. Nice to get out of the office for 20 mins in the fresh air to unload the lorry as I didn't fancy a wander at lunchtime. We seem to have kept up our standards of print and presentation, so that might earn me a brownie point or two.

We have had one of the job-sharing Personnel Managers move in with us this afternoon. She is trying to get a feel of what we all do in order that the review goes smoothly. I hope she gets the picture and we all come out of it better off, with a few extra bodies to share the load.

Seems like things were still catching up with me yesterday. After fiddling on the PC in the morning and planning to iron through the GP, I proceeded to fall asleep during the first ad break and missed the rest of it! Oh well, at least the result was better than the last few. Will try again in 2 weeks.

We have finally caught up on all the ER, Holby and other stuff we taped whilst Shiela was here. Some cracking good episodes in the mix there. And genuinely upsetting in places too. And I don't mind admitting that either.

So, back at work today (although Joan is off - we'll get synchronised one of these days). No major repercussions from Friday, and everything pretty much as normal. We have, naturally, had some timetable changes come in before most people have got hold of our new books which kind of annoys me. I think most of them are minor but still, why can't things stay stable? Why can't I stay stable? Still feel like I could use a few more hours sleep and would rather be somewhere other than here in the office.

Not even had the motivation to listen to much music of late, which just shows I'm feeling down again. Got to pick up soon though.

Feeling a bit more human again today. Probably because apart from a couple of phone calls we were pretty well left to our own devices last night. Watched Harry Potter off DVD at last and enjoyed it just as much as at the cinema and reading the book. Hoping they make as good a job of translating the rest of the series.

Today has been a frenzy of ironing, with a bit of light painting and stuff thrown in. I was of course outside up a ladder about to paint the light when the heavens opened, but that just seems to be the norm lately. Have managed it now though. I also watched the qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix. Haven't watched any of the last two races as I was getting a bit bored of the Schumacher Show, but after all the controversy following the last one I thought I'd give it another go. And a very good session it was too. Am actually looking forward to the race tomorrow. And Joan is at work so I will have to watch it to stop myself getting lonely. Or something!

Time to do a bit more work now.

Never made it home early, people chatting that sort of thing. Still, trip to the airport went off OK, it was when we got home that things went strange.

I'd thought I was going a bit downhill over the last week or so, but hadn't realised how much it had affected Joan. Seems while I was turning in on myself she was also suffering and both her sisters had noticed. They had a big argument about it wednesday night and Sheila got the job of telling her to get me to sort myself out. I was planning to do that anyway, but really wasn't aware of what my problems were doing to Joan. I guess I just turn inwards and lose track of my surroundings to some degree. I do of course feel drastic about not realising I was hurting Joan, which then makes me feel worse about myself but it is better to have it all out in the open to try and work on it.

So today I have seen my doctor and not been in to work. The only appointment I could get was at 9-15, booked just as I got to Ipswich so I had to come straight back again. Still feeling zonked from all the late nights as well as everything else so I phoned in sick and came home. Then proceeded to sleep for 4½ hours so I must have needed it. WIll try to go in on Monday and see how it goes. I know I am better trying to do something rather than sitting around worrying, but I'm not sure I want to be at work either. Oh well, things can only get better, and other such cliches.

Well, there's a turn-up for the books. Not only was the meeting most interesting and productive, but I have probably ended up as the lead person when it comes to maps and stuff. Crikey.

Time to go home early for a half hour nap I think.

Urgh, just got drenched in one of those unexpected downpours. Drip, drip, drip.

Got a fab and groovy (not) meeting about the Ipswich town centre gyratory system this afternoon. Must take pillow. All the traffic will soon be going the other way, and I want to know who's going to pay to move all the bus stops. Then it is the trek to Gatwick to dispose of Shiela. Another late night ahead so tomorrow will be real zombie territory.

Hey, guess what? Yup, no winnings for the ladies last night either. Still, they did at least enjoy themselves.

Oh, I did avoid unloading the lorry yesterday. Snigger. Wonder if I can manage it for part two on monday as well.

Now the pain is kicking in! Well, more of a sort of ache in muscles not used to that sort of work. Joan also noticed it - and we both kicked in around 4pm. Very strange delayed reaction type thingy.

Have watched some of the extras mentioned earlier tonight and noticed a very strange thing about the DVD case for HHGTTG - all the photos are the wrong way round. Odd. Wonder how that slipped through the production process, given the immaculate attention to detail elsewhere on the discs.

The Mrs due back from Bingo any minute, so that's all for tonite.

Monday night was too long! Picked Joan up just after 11, so half past by the time we got home, and nearly 12 when we got to bed. Had a real problem staying awake during the course yesterday. Still, she had a really good time and I think the whole company is going inthe right direction at the moment, so perhaps things will get a bit easier for her. I also watched The Italian Job rather than any DVD stuff - one of my all time favourite films of all time.

Yesterday was the Work/Life course. Not the most useful day I have ever spent. People who have been on it before rated it really well, but we had a different guy running it and he spent half the time telling us about other people he's seen on other courses etc. Not very relevant to us unfortunatley though. His main thrust was that most companies will probably let you work less if you want to. What I was looking for were ways to make the work bit less demanding and for it not to intrude on my home life, not how to earn less money. I shall read the course material over again sometime to see if it makes better sense with a bit of hindsight, but I think this subject may be one for a few hours in the library instead.

In the evening Joan and I went to a new BodyBalance course that was on at the Leisure Centre across the road from us. It is mainly based on Yoga but adds in bits of Tai Chi, Pilates and a whole bunch of other stretchy bendy balancy things. We really enjoyed it and will definitely be back next week. I never thought moving slowly could be so exhausting though. Looking forward to getting a bit more flexible and staying on better shape. Plus being the only chap in a class of 25 has certain advantages too. And I'm not in agony today, which is nice.

This morning has not been so good. They decided Dawn should stay on as acting manager until we get a new one. I'm not too bothered about not having the work and stress involved in it, but I could use the money. As a consolation prize I get to be on the team that will be looking at all the jobs we do in here and deciding who will do what in the end. So, I will try to make myself a nice job at the end of it with more money! Not sure how it will go, though. Watch this space. I shall also keep looking in the papers on a wednesday to see what else is coming up.

Now I have a tedious sounding meeting to go to, which will probably manage to keep me away from unloading the new area books for a change.

Tonight the girls are at the bingo for the final time. Shiela & Helen have been twice without Joan but not made major wins. I shall chill out and enjoy myself.

Several hours later and I'm not really feeling any happier. On top of that I now feel a bit shaky and panicy too. Wish I could just go home, but plenty of other people seem to have done that already and there are only 3 of us left in the office. Popping up to the Park & Ride sites this morning was nice but frustrating as it just made me realise all the more that I'd rather be out in the sun. Plus my arm is killing me from where I landed on it yesterday. Moan, grizzle etc.

I think I will have to divert myself now by attempting to find some desk under all the heaps that have accumulated since I last located it. So long as I don't just find something that should have been done weeks ago.

Tomorrow I am out of the office all day on a Work/Life Balance course. Have been told it is very interesting, and I am looking forward to it. I just hope I can put some of the ideas into practice without negative effects on income! I also hope I can stay awake during it. Joan is not leaving Haydock Park until 1745 tonight so not likely to be back in Ipswich to pick up this side of midnight. Might need to take some matchsticks.

Finished watching Hitch Hikers yesterday. Enjoyed it thoroughly as it has been a long time. A real pity they never made a second series. Hopefully the film will still go ahead and also be decent despite the death of Douglas Adams. I will possibly make a start on all the extra material on disc 2 tonight, or possible wait for the weekend. What an exciting life I lead!

Well, I've made it into work but really don't want to be here today. I just can't seem to get motivated at the moment. I'm not even sure if I want the manager's job anymore - it just seems like a complete load of hassle at the moment. And now the group manager has decided to retire on health grounds the ops manager has been made up to acting boss of the lot of us. He is now sticking his nose into our stuff far more than anyone else ever did and frankly I've had enough. Days like this I could even consider going back to shops.

God, I've only been here an hour and look at me! Might be happier later, but don't hold your breath.

Ended up going round to Ma & Pa's for dinner. V tasty plus had a good old sesh on the Dreamcast with Richard. Thrashed him 20-2 on Dead or Alive 2. Ha! Mind you, in real life I think I lost a teensy bit - slipped on the threshold entering our bedroom when getting changed to go round and hit the deck with a mighty wallop. Arm and leg look like they will have some interesting bruises later.

Joan arrived safe and sound after a pit-stop at Donington (although it seems they got lost at one point) and hopefully is finishing a nice dinner now. Just waiting to hear when she gets back to her room so I can say goodnight. Ah, bless.

Also picked up an Atari ST emulator today and a couple of games to make sure it worked. Will have to get a shedload more now of the good ones. Llamatron with sound again. Wa-hay. Going to have a bath and an early night now I think.

They didn't win!

Nor did Helen & Sheila when they went again last night, but I'm getting ahead of myself there. The BBQ won, so basically all we did was shop and eat yesterday. I know the weather wasn't up to much else, but I'm sure we could have fitted something else in. Oh well.

Today I have taken Joan to Ipswich to catch a coach. The Argos annual conference has been extended to all members of management and supervisors this year spread over two weeks, and they have thrown in transport, hotels etc. So, she is currently on her way to Haydock Park where the event will be tomorrow. Not sure when they are due back tomorrow night, no doubt quite late. She is off tuesday but I will just have to yawn! I am just going to take it easy for the rest of today - play some games, watch a film, that sort of thing. Dull, but good for the brain!

I don't believe this. They've gone to the bingo again. That's four times this week now. I just hope they win.

Bored now and want to be somewhere else. Wouldn't even object to being somewhere else working, so long as it wasn't here at the moment. Half the office is still not around, and half of what's left has either gone home or gone to meetings and all I've got is a couple of letters to write that I just can't be bothered with. No inspiration on how to saythe same thing in a nice way and stop them writing back. And it is so quiet. Normally all the noise and distractions get me down, but right now some of those would be welcome.

Strange old world.

Not sure what we will be doing tomorrow. The original plan was to go to Bury St. Edmunds for the day, but a BBQ at Helen's has also been mentioned for the afternoon. So, which will win? I can't see both happening, that's for sure.

Three sunny days in a row, must have been a mistake made somewhere in the weather planning bureau.

Had the consultation meeting with the assistant directors on the staffing review this morning. I think some new ground was covered rather than the usual circular arguments but I wouldn't like to state exactly what. And we do now have a deadline to try and get a new structure in place, vacancies filled etc. So, roll on September and let us see.

Just been up the town in the sun. Saw Joan & the sisters as they were having lunch before hitting the shops in a big way. Wonder what they will buy. I know I have to wait here until they want to go home though to save them the bus fare! I got the latest Terry Pratchett book to hit paperback (Thief of Time) which I will look forward to reading. Not just yet though, as I think the next fiction in line will be Harry Potter 3.

Watched Billy Elliot again last night. Just as brilliant on the second viewing, although some of the continual bad language does grate after a while. I know it adds to the realism to a point, but it begins to lose the impact when it gets that frequent.

Only a few hours to go until freedom kicks in for the weekend.

Now we have the hottest day of the year so far, I am of course back at work rather than enjoying the sun. I have managed to get out of the office twice though, which doesn't do much to compensate, but is a start.

Tuesday we did Ipswich. Lots of rummaging in the cheap shops and purchasing of cushion and duvet covers to go back to Canada. I do recall seing such products over there at what I thought were reasonable prices, so I'm not sure of the logic. I think perhaps Sheila is stuck in a timewarp taste-wise from when she went over the Atlantic. All I ended up with was a pair of trousers that I took back today as despite claiming to be the same size as all my others, I could only just do them up and certainly couldn't breathe. Hey ho. Then in the evening we went down the seafront to let her play on the fruit machines. Shopping and gambling, what a life! Joan and I tried out a rollercoaster simulator they've just got in. Quite fun, but actually leaves you more queasy than the real thing I think. Probably due to staring at a screen and not getting the actual rush of air.

Yesterday we went to Woodbridge again. Got some trousers that do fit! Also had a very nice lunch at the Bull. Need to go there more often! In the evening they tried the Bingo here in Ipswich (winnings = zero) so I called in to see m'poorly colleague Gary. Watched The Parole Officer, which was a hugely funny film. And I can't normally stand Steve Coogan either. Perhaps it was the character - not quite so naff as some of his others. It won't be an essential purchase, but if I ever see the DVD cheap I will probably grab a copy.

Finished The Shelters of Stone this morning with breakfast. Absolutely top book. Hope the next one doesn't take another 12 years, especially as there are several loose ends dangling now. Pretty much all the other 4 could have been the end of the series fairly satisfactorily but this one definitely needs more. I'm also looking forward to reading it again without being quite so desperate to find out what happens next, but able to savour each bit. Next up will be a non-fiction for sure, but have a stack of magazines to get through first.

Why does time have to pass so quickly? What ever happened to the weekend? Stay tuned for the answers to these questions, and more....!

Friday went in a real rush. I had to meet some people at Park & Ride in the morning, so spent most of the time trying to get stuff done before that, then in the afternoon I was leaving early to go to the dentist, so more rushing to finish things off. Third of the four hygenist visits, so not particularly fun. I did find out why they can't inject lower jaws though - all to do with nerve distribution and bone density. Then Sheila was back in Suffolk so we went along to Helen's for tea.

Saturday Joan was at work so I pottered about here for a while, did some Ironing, that sort of thing before heading up to Ipswich with Richard. Had to replace the joypad he got me for Christmas due to it breaking last week! Helen invited us up for dinner again, and after that the girls went to Bingo so I had a nice quiet evening.

Yesterday we did our own things in the morning - they went to the market, we went to Homebase and bought plants for the garden as well as doing some shopping. Had everyone over here for dinner and Shiela is now staying with us until the end of the week. A fun evening, even if I was feeling a little down for no apparent reason.

Today we have been into town and now they are Bingoing again. So time for me to put my feet up a little I reckon.