Well, that was an interesting visit to the Dentist. Regular viewers will know I've got troublesome deep pockets which they have attacked with various methods up to and including a series of root planing treatments. This time they have come to the conclusion that there is nothing more they can do for me as general dentists - my mouth is as clean as any they have ever seen but bone loss is still happening. This is not good as sooner or later my teeth will have nothing to root into and just fall out. Which is not something I particularly relish.

As a result I am being referred to a gum specialist to see if there is anything he can do for me. They think a chap in Colchester is one of the best around so I could be in for some serious A12 mileage in the future. Unfortunately it will all have to be done privately rather than through the NHS so could well end up costing a fortune. I'm not sure I'm happy with the expensive option either but I guess it has to be better than false teeth.

Just so long as the pain is kept to a minimum I guess I will cope.

So, on leaving the Dentist I went and paid in that cheque and headed down to Argos for some sympathetic understanding from Joan. She greated my arrival with a rather unexpected question: "Were you serious about getting a digital camera with some of that money"? Was I ever! They are doing a series of one week promotions in the build-up to Christmas and this week's included a rather superb Minolta digicam reduced from £599 to £299. Well, that was what I was thinking of spending on a much lower spec one (well, obviously!) so after a good look at the one they had in stock and its manual I bought it. And in doing so qualified for a half price additional memory card, a free leather case (designed by Lamborghini of all people) and some free binoculars. Not bad at all. Not installed the software to transfer stuff to the PC yet but the results so far just on the built in LCD screen look absolutely stunning. Plus it has a whole shedload of features and stuff. Whooopppeeeeeee! With that and the Cube Christmas really has come early for me. I think I will be spending much of tonight in the study experimenting. Just need to find a mains adaptor/battery charger thingy for it now to save on expense in the future.

On top of all that the Carpet people got it right at the second try and the room looks great. It was their fault not mine - someone had cut some off the roll and not marked it or something. Seems a bit odd to me - surely they should measure when they cut each time? Anyway, they did a great job and we are going to get some mats made from the kitchen-sized off-cut to put down by the windows and doors (or possibly in the kitchen).

Ma & Richard came round to help put the room back together and move the shelves from the lounge in, so the whole thing now looks superb. Just need to bring all the books down again, and put the new CD racks up in the lounge. That will have to wait though as they need staining first to match the rest of the furniture and I might as well wait until after we redecorate in there if we are definitely going to do it this side of Christmas.

I don't believe this - I can overhear Mike on the phone to one of our sponsored service operators whose drivers don't want to go out after dark. What a bunch of idiots!

Had another stroke of luck this morning. I had planned to bring Joan in to Ipswich on Saturday for a spot of indulgence-shopping as she deserves it and was luckiy enough to have a Saturday off this week, but that will now have to wait as we are going to the Theatre instead. Yup, on arrival at work there was an email offering tickets and travel to see Les Miserables in London and I snapped them up like a shot. It is the matinee performance so we will be back home at a reasonable hour (she is working on Sunday) and I am really looking forward to it. Neither of us have ever been to any of the big London shows so this will be a real treat. And I can take the camera to get some fab London pics with any luck. Fingers crossed for the coach being unaffected - it is also the Lord Mayor's show on Saturday morning which may cause us a few problems but may also provide some nice piccies.

I think that's all for now. Only a few developments to report! Now for some fun timetable changes to look at.

Hmm, I seem to be in a doing as little real work as possible but being at my desk all the time kind of mode this week. This entry does of course help in that score! All I have done relating to my contract today is meet a man about a possible future park & ride site at the Wherstead interchange to Ipswich (which could be pretty good as they are proposing it as part of a development including some kind of entertainments arena - if that brings big bands to within 15 minutes of our house then it gets my backing) and sign a couple of letters I wrote on Monday. And I am leaving around 1ish to go to the Dentist so today could be my least productive ever.

Got all the furniture out of the Dining Room OK last night - which makes the rest of the house unfeasibly crowded at the present. And it seems they brought the wrong length of carpet. Richard says they cut it wrong but I hope it is their mistake and not mine on the initial measuring or it could turn out to be very expensive. Urk.

Oh well, an insurance policy matured yesterday and paid out more than double what we were anticipating so it looks like we will have a stonking Christmas and a cracking holiday next year after all. Yeeha.

The weekend can be summed up with a couple of words really. Paint and Cube.

To expand on that somewhat, on Saturday I put two coats of creamy emulsion on two walls in the Dining Room. We now have a nice two-colour room and all the wood panelling is hidden. Well, it is still there but the paint went on to it really well and has totally transformed the look of the place. Wish we had done it when we first moved in, but that's experience for you. On Sunday we took the old carpet up and glossed all the remaining woodwork and trim. It really does look rather tasty now. Roll on tomorrow when the carpet man comes.

When not painting I put in some quality time with the Gamecube and am once again very happy. I can see that I am going to get totally addicted to all 3 games I have so far. Of course it helped that Joan went out to Bingo with Helen on Sunday night so I was able to get properly stuck in...

Yesterday was our Seventh wedding anniversary. So up yours to all who said it wouldn't last! Pity we both had to work but there you go. Helen & Bhupen bought us a lovely unicorn statuette thingy which will go in the Dining room as it matches the new colours perfectly. Ma, Pa & Richard came round in the evening with more goodies including fluffy sheepie stuff as 7 is allegedly the Wool Anniversary. We also had a very nice tea and a relaxed evening.

Tonight we have to get all the furniture we've been working around out of the dining room for the carpet to go down. Not sure how we will move in the morning but hey, that's the fun of home ownership.

Better do some work now (or just read the latest stack of bus and rail magazines that have ended up in my in-tray).

Oh crikey, where does the time go? Been a bit busy hence the lack of entries for a week, so time to dig out yer old time travelling socks once more, slip them on and slide back to last week for an update.

On Friday I had no sooner got in to the office than I was whisked out again by Gary to help with the big roadside extravaganza we'd been preparing all week. Our target area was sort of up the coast a bit and then inland but never straying west of Ipswich. I thin kwe got done everywhere we needed to and also found a new lunch location. Jets Cafe on the old RAF Bentwaters site. It is a bit creepy seing the remains of the US Airforce occupation sitting in some corners, buildings with old signs on etc mixed in with those that have been re-developed and have new businesses lurking within their walls. The food was excellent and very reasonably priced so we will no doubt be back in their in the future. Our route did also include Charsfield, but we got their far too late for it to have been worth hanging back on lunch to visit the Three Horseshoes. Never mind.

In the evening we were round at Ma & Pa again as Grandma was up for the weekend. Another nice meal and good chat etc.

As previously hinted at, Saturday was the day of the Llamasoft forum meet up in London. Things started OK but then went drstically pear-shaped to say the least. I got down to Waterloo by 10 as expected and found the hotel we were meeting at empty, they were already queueing for the Eye. I thus hoofed it up there as fast as my little legs would carry me and arrived in time to see them in the second pod up. Aaaaargh, missed my flight!

Having hung around for half an hour while the group rotated I finally got to say hello when they got down again. At which point it was decided I should go up after all (they still had my ticket) while they had a coffee and we would meet at the Science Museum in about an hour. That was the last I saw of them!

The trip on the Eye was as good as I had been lead to believe by a number of different people and I can highly recommend it. Hopefully my pictures will come out OK as it was a fairly nice day and I coud see quite a distance. I was also a bit surprised to find London not as dominated by high-rise development as I had thought. There has been a lot of bad press over recent years about new buildings spoiling the city but in all honesty I didn't see many big lumps sticking up. And as I actually like modern architechture it looked fine to me. The Eye itself is also a fantastic piece of kit although parts of it look like they could do with a re-spray already.

So, I then made my way down to South Kensington and up to the Science Museum. Nobody there. (Well, nobody I was expecting, there were plenty of other people but they don't count). A quick burst of text messages confirmed the group had heard the queue was enormous (it wasn't) so they had decided to head in to central London instead. I asked them for a place to meet and went off in the same direction, arriving at Leicester Square to get a mesaage saying they were now on their way to South Ken. I gave up at that point feeling hungry, tired and a little peed off. So had some food, did a bit of shopping and went home early. Not really the day I had planned and lessons will be learned before the next attempt.

On Sunday Joan and I stayed in the house to avoid the horrendous winds that were sweeping the country. Seems we made the right decision as a little lad from up the street was killed by a falling branch. Tragic all round and his parents are apparently in a right state.

I also spent the morning in bed with a splitting migraine, but managed to stir myself by lunchtime. Didn't really get anthing else done that day though.

Then it was Monday and back to work again. It was intended that I would stay in the office and look after things here while everyone else went out doing more roadside and deliveries. However, I ended up doing a run out to Bury St. Edmunds with a delivery. Not of books though, but of our modern apprentice Ray. He had managed to slash his head open on the lock at the back of the van he was loading and after glueing and stitching up at hospital needed to be taken home. It was nice to get out of the office and I have put in a claim for the mileage, but it did kind of interrupt my plans for the day somewhat.

Monday was also the day that the town centre gyratory system came in to operation. As far as we can tell it has all gone very well - it now being Friday we have received no complaints and only good mentions in the press. This must surely be a first of some kind. From my perspective both Park & Ride sites are running at least as smoothly if not better than before so I really have no worries.

Tuesday was another out and about day. This time just doing deliveries in the west of the county and with Charles for a change. We got loads done and had a nice dinner at Newmarket too. It was a long day though, which helps in my quest for a couple of flexi-days off between now and Christmas which I will hopefully be able to tie in with times Joan is off too so we can do the big present shopping thing.

That then leads us into the two days off I had this week. Wednesday was our trip to London to do the Eye and a river cruise. It all went OK to start with and then down hill (sound familiar?). We had a lucky escape at Ipswich station when it became obvious that Barry from work was going to be on our train. Fortune smiled though and he didn't spot us which did at least allow us to get to London in peace and quiet. I'm sure he doesn't mean it, but the man is just so tedious and irritating.

Anyway, all went well with the trains and tube and we got to Waterloo with no problems. A swift walk up (well, I knew the way this time) brought us to the Eye in good time but also a slight drizzle. That was not what we wanted, but unfortunately the weather was not to be on our side and we suffered from showers (and downpours) all day. Being early was deliberate as we decided to make the Eye the focus of the day and explore the area around it a bit rather than risk getting caught up in crowds elsewhere and miss our flight or cruise. So we went for a snack at the aquarium in the old County Hall building but decided not to actually go in to look at the fish for an hour as it was £8.75 a head. Which price also applied to the Dali exhibition which again I would like to look at, but will want to take a decent amount of time to get my money's worth.

Instead we went to the Royal Festival Hall for a mooch about and so forth. It is a wonderful building and we really must get to see some music being performed their sometime. We even managed to buy a couple of small Christmas presents whilst inside, which was nice.

Then it was up up and away again. I enjoyed it just as much as on Saturday despite the poor weather meaning reduced visibility and Joan thought it was great. The only downer was that our pod contained the obligatory screaming kid, who I think was lucky they don't have opening windows. I'm sure I wasn't that noisy when I was little so why should I have to suffer them now?

From the wheel we went straight on to the boat. That was also brilliant. Only went as far as the Tower and back again but lasted a good 45 minutes and enabled us to see many new things. Again, some brilliant buildings in a good mix of old and new. And the new City Hall opposite the tower is just fantastic. Must go back on a sunny day to get some pictures of it. I don't think I've done a boat on the Thames before (certainly have no memory of one) and am now itching to get water-borne again on different stretches of river.

Having nibbled a bit on the boat we skipped a proper lunch and headed off to South Kensington - to the Natural History Museum. Somewhere else Joan had never been and I'd not been for years. The dinosaurs were as good as ever (if a little dusty) and there have been some great changes since last time. And the mionerals gallery is as fascinating as ever. I still can't get over the fact that the crystals and things in there are actual natural occurences and not some sort of mad experiments with things. Such wonderful shapes and colours. And of course the building itself is also a work of art. I was sorely tempted by a book on the history of the museum but at £30 decided it was just too expensive.

By the time we got out of the museum it was 5.30 so we decided to get a meal before heading home. On arrival at South Ken underground station we discovered the District and Circle lines closed due to some fool throwing themselves under a train at Victoria. That meant everyone crushing down to the Piccadilly line platform leading to them then deciding to evacuate the station due to overcrowding. Well, hello! What exactly did they expect people to do? So there we were turfed out into the rain with no idea of what to do next. Fortunately I know how to read bus maps and we were soon on a 14 heading towards Tottenham Court Road where we know a good branch of Garfunkels. Naturally the bus terminated itself short at Piccadilly Circus leaving us out in the wet again. Still, a quick walk took us through Leicester Square to the Garfunlels on Charing Cross Road instead where we duly warmed up, dried off and stuffed our faces.

By the time we had eaten all seemed to be back to normal on the underground and we were able to get to Liverpool Street with no hitches. Of course that meant the rest of the final journey had to be awkward instead! We thought that arriving at 1948 left us too late for the 1945 train but it was also late, arriving in time to leave again at 2000. It was painfully slow most of the way, stopped at extra places and then they threw us all off at Colchester. We finally got back to Ipswich at 2200. Only an hour late! However, despite the transport and weather hassles it was a great day overall. Once again London has tried to put us off going back and failed.

Yesterday was a much calmer and lazier day in many respects. To start with we didn't go out of Felixstowe. We went in to town in the morning and came back with paint for the dining room, full stomachs after lunch at Puccinos, a bit of other shopping and... a Nintendo Gamecube. Yup, I finally got round to buying it, and all seems lovely and shiny and top fun (and managed to get second controller and memory card free)! Only spent half an hour or so with Pikmin so far but it looks very good indeed. Also picked up Super Monkey Ball and Zoocube dirt cheap today so that should last me a while.

We also cleared all the bookcases in preparation for the painting tomorrow (of the walls they rest on, fool!) and did a bit of general tidying and stuff.

Today started with a meeting of the town centre car parks group. At Bury Road P&R where it all seemed to go well and athen a visit from the man from Britvic. He wants me to change from Coke to him for vending machines at the P&R sites. Might well give him a try and see what happens.

And now it is piddling down with rain again and I need to go and catch my bus back to the site soon. Fingers crossed for a dry spell.

Busy day so far for a change. Finished off all the roadside preparation this morning and waved all those heading out off before settling in for a few minutes of quality internet-based skiving. Then headed out to Bury Road Park & Ride to be photographed with the new buses. That went OK but while I was there one of the buses they were using while we had the real ones broke down and chaos ensued. Glad I was on site to see how well they coped really.

Called in at Radio Suffolk on the way back to buy one of their new CDs produced to raise money for Children In Need. Full of jokes and stuff so should be a good laugh. And it was only a fiver. Took the opportunity presented by being up that end of town to pop in to the shop where I got another Lynx game a couple of weeks back, but they didn't have anything else in. Some cheap second hand Gamecube stuff though so I expect I'll go back there after I get mine next week.

Now things have gone a bit wrong at London Road Park & Ride. Some idiot car owner has driven into the exit blocker and had their petrol tank ripped open in the process. Splendid. They have had to get the fire brigade in to mop up and now the water company need to find where all the drains go to make sure none gets where it shouldn't. Fab.

Add to that people asking me to chase up complaints and answer questions that are nothing to do with me and things seem gloomy. Then throw in the fact that my phone number seems to have been used to replace the TraveLine for enquiries now that has closed and you can see that I'd much rather be at home today. Especially as Joan is off. If it wasn't for the availability of quality Egyptian Dance Music on the internet I'm sure I'd go mad.

OK, so it is technically American music, but by a chap of Egyptian descent who has lived there for a while in the past (and also Italy) but we don't need to get that specific do we? MP3.com sure is proving to be a wonderful place now I've started digging deeply into it. And I have always had a soft spot for some of the stranger sounds that come out of Arabia so adding them to a modern idiom works wonders for me. All I need now is time to get them on to Mini Disc for regular listening.

Also lookingon the brighter side, I have now obtained a blank CD to take with me to the Llamasoft joly thing in London on Saturday. The plan is to record a whole bunch of us shouting obscenities on Yak's laptop then work those in to a special customised version of Gridrunner available only to those in attendance. Should be a laugh. We are also going on the London Eye (and I'm going again on Wednesday with Joan!) and shopping for fluffy sheepies etc. Really looking forward to meeting some of the people in the flesh I communicate with daily. Pity some of the foreign correspondents can't get over, but that would be asking a lot really.

Hmm, just had another complaint in - seems one of our sponsored operators is refusing to accept notes as payment for any fare under £3. Surely that's not cricket! Better get the sponsored team on that one.

My books have arrived. And maps. All look lovely thank God after all the hassle. We even had a helpful driver to getthem off the lorry for a change. Weeeeee. Now just have hurty arms to worry about.

Tried the new fried chicken take-away in town last night. Tasted exactly like KFC. Not so much of a secret blend of herbs and spices eh, colonel?

Managed not to spend any money at lunchtime again, but the potential for spending has increased again. Especially as our payslips arrived today and we have had both raise and back pay. Most woo and yay worthy.

Less in the way of strange dreams last night I'm pleased to say.

Oooh, look at the time. Better go now to pick Joan up.

More rain. Getting a bit sick of it, and winter hasn't kicked in yet.

One of those regular back at Argos dreams last night. Ipswich this time, and they had once again called me in to sort out a serious mess in the stockroom. I did of course, and then refused the job when they offered it to me on a regular basis. But is this case the manager was my old Primary School headmaster Mr Thomas and the person I trained up for the job instead of me was Dr Carter from ER. All very odd.

Today we are mostly stciking timetables together in advance of the big roadside push later this week.

Another drab day waiting for other people to do things for me.

Weekend had its moments though. Joan off Saturday so we did lots of tidying and ordered a new carpet for the dining room. Not sure when I'll get time to paint it but that's another matter. We then had Alexander staying the night which was fun.

Sunday Joan back to work so I did loads of ironing (of course) complete with commentaries on Independence Day and Charlies Angels. Both quite interesting. Then last night round to Ma & Pa's dinner. Very tasty.

Wahay, nearly the weekend. Nothing else to say!

Drat, and double drat. Beaten again by the curse of intermittent posting. Still, I do have a work-related excuse for a change. We had a Business Plan away day at the Novotel in town. Not the most scintillating place to be, but the food was superb. Hot bacon rolls and cheesey croissants in the morning break, a 3 course lunch with choice of 4 main dishes (I had char-grilled prok with cinamon and apple) and cream scones in the afternoon. I was quite good and had no starter or dessert at lunch and avoided the scones entirely (well, they weren't done with proper cream!).

However, other than fat stomachs I'm not really sure what we acheived. Lots of discussion and buzzwords flying about, but how much of it will make the final cut I couldn't say. Will be interesting to read it though, and I have also volunteered for the working group to pull it together and try to get stuff implemented. Sucker for punishment, that's me.

Then haircuts and a relaxing evening.

Today it is all Park & Ride Christmas leaflets and calenders to keep me busy.

Another miserable rainy day. Although rain is not a strong enough word for some of the precipitation we have been witnessing.

Only real bit of excitement was that they shut the college across the road after a bomb scare, but didn't think about telling us. Surely if that goes bang then we would suffer? I could have used an afternoon off!

Oooh, and now we have thunder and lightning too.

Joan didn't get in to work until nearly eleven today due to another shutter failure. Hope they get it fixed at some point.

Oh, alright then. Maybe this week I'll get something written every day on the day. Don't go holding your breath though. So, back through the old time machine again to Thursday last week.

A day about which the work related part of my mind seems to be completely empty. Hmm. I must have done something constructive, but I'm blowed if I can recall what. I know they found the problem with the shutter at Argos though - instead of wiring it up properly on its own circuit, the fitter took a spur from the shop lighting rig. That operates on a timeswitch hence them not being able to open it until the lights came on at 0855. This has now been sorted and hopefully our days of late night visits to the shop will be over. Especially as Peter who lived closest has now moved up to Trimley which theoretically means we ought to be first on the list.

At home we had a bloke in as well. After 6 years in the house of thinking about it we now have individual thermostats fitted to all the radiators which should save us a bit of dosh on the heating bills. Plus we can finally use the fire properly in the lounge without the rest of the house going cold. Whoopee.

Friday was a Park & Ride themed day mainly. Some work on the accounts, some hanging around on street corners waiting for the buses to deliver them some posters and some wandering down to the post office to send cromalins off by Special Delivery. Our post people not being able to handle that sort of technical detail. I'm quite keen on any excuse to get out of the office, but it could have been a bit warmer.

Saturday Joan was at work again (she's off this Sat though, hoorah) so I did the usual music (lots of Wonder Stuff as I am doing some minidiscs for DTJ) and film (American Pie 2 plus one of the 4 commentaries) whilst ironing in the main. Also went round to Ma & Pa's as cousin Christian was up with his brood. Nice to see them again. Also loads more done on the extension since I was last there. I also surprised Joan by turning down an X-box even though the price has come down again. I'm just hoping that will lead to a cut for the cube as well soon.

Yesterday was another looking around at things to do in the house day. Went up to the big (OK, enormous) B&Q up by Bury Road Park & Ride and have now almost definitely decided we will be attempting laminate flooring in the lounge. I'm just not sure (a) what we will do with all the wires currently hidden under the carpet and (b) how to get around skirting boards. But as the answer to (a) may be to replace the skirting boards with hollow ones to run the wires through it might not be an issue. Also managed to squeeze in KFC for lunch. We know it ain't good for us but it does taste so nice.

In the evening Joan & Helen did the Bingo thing again (and lost again). There was also the watching of Panorama which was about the anti-depressant I'm taking at the moment. Seems likely it can actually cause some of the symptoms it is meant to be treating, which could explain a lot of the crap I went through last year when the dose was upped. Also the fact that when I tried to come off them earlier this year I had to go back on again. Am seeing the doctor on Friday to see what's what.

Today it is more P&R but no excuses to hang about on street corners. Did take a wander over to the Council Chamber at lunchtime as this week is stress-busting week and they were offering some sort of relaxation and information event. Turned out to be a waste of a walk really - just a few leaflets with nothing new in them and a couple of people doing Indian Head Massage with big queues. So I didn't bother sticking about.

Huzzah, shops in town have started reducing Gamecube software prices. Makes my imminent purchase all the more groovy.

Can't rely on technology can you? Argos finally gave in to the staff's requests in Felixstowe and Yesterday the men came to fit a proper security shutter at the entrance to stop people walking up to the door after hours, piddling through the letter box and setting the alarm off at stupid hours of the night. It looks very nice and seemed to be working fine when I picked Joan up last night. Today she had a doctor's appointment so wasn't rushing when the phone rang. Tracey couldn't get in and was coming up for our remote control. That didn't want to work either until nearly 9. Ha diddy ha ha.

Have also just had a thrilling meeting sorting out security aspects for the new Park & Ride at Martlesham. Should be as good as the other two.

Blinkin' 'orrible rainy wet gloomy miserable day. On the brighter side we have now seen every timetable and almost got the books finished. About bloody time too.

Picked up my Pix and also seen the ones taken digitally last friday. No good ones of me but I will stick a few up somewhere for people to look at sometime. Some surprises on my film too - I'd forgotten how long it has been in the camera. And Jessops did a pretty good job so I will use them for a while (they give a free film with every one they develop too).

Have also put a subscription form in the post for F1 Racing. They finally have a freebie worth getting - Murray Walker's new autobiography rather than a baseball cap or T shirt. Hopefully they won't have run out before mine is processed. Will work out cheaper for the magazine too even if I will miss out on the WH Smiths points.

Time to go now and sit outside Argos waiting for Joan.

OK, new week, new attempt to at least register my continued existence on here every single day. So, what has gone on since last time?

Thursday: Was generally dull and uninteresting. Just checking timetables and so forth. Managed not to buy anything at lunchtime followed by a quiet evening and all that.

Friday: Good and bad kind of day. Bad bit was that Joan woke up with a stinking bad head, feeling and being sick and generally not very well at all. Packed her off back to bed sharpish and then had to deliver some keys to Argos so they could carry on without her. All of which meant I got in to Ipswich with about 2 minutes to spare before leaving for Red Lodge and our way out day out thing.

Gary had obtained a small coach from Beestons to drive us all over in and it was very comfortable indeed. I lived up to expectations of all and sundry by sleeping for most of the trip there (a feat I repeated on the way home) - I even missed stopping to pick Ray up in Bury St. Edmunds so I must have needed a rest. After signing our lives away (well, some form of disclaimer anyway) and coffee for those who wanted it we were split into teams and sent off to our first task. My team also featured Ray, Christine and Barry. Yup, we had to suffer the Walrus from hell messing with our team's scores by being absolutely crap and useless at pretty much everything.

Anyway, our first thing to drive was the "not quite a tank" armoured personnel carrier with caterpillar tracks and stuff. Only a very short course for that one and very bumpy as the lack of rain meant the ground was solid as a rock. Despite the chap telling us it would be tricky, it was actually very simple and easy to drive. One pedal to make it go forwards and two levers controlling the brakes on the left and right side tracks, both of which were expected to need a lot of pulling but were actually quite "light". A bit of gentle but persistent and controlled pulling required to turn smoothly rather than in jerks and it was also incredibly noisy. I have now put tank or similar tracked vehicle on my Christmas list. That would really annoy the neighbours, but I'd have no trouble parking it.

After a swift break event two was the reverse steer Ereppi. A pick up thingy nobbled so that turning the wheel to the left made you go right and vice versa. Oh, and just to make life more interesting the driver was also blindfolded and relied on directions from a partner. That was therefore the only part of the day that was anything like a team-building exercise - which was the original intention behind having a day out. Ray and Barry went first and made a complete arse of it. Going round in circles, stopping for ages to try and work out what to do next, knocking over and missing out the gates and cones. Loads of time and loads of penalties added. Christine and I did a lot better - very quick and only a copule of knocked cones between us. Unfortunately our speed and efficiency didn't help us make up the defecit the other two had created in our scores.

That led us in to lunch and for some a go on the swings as well.

For the afternoon we started with the bit I had been looking forward to the least - the Quad Bikes. Again that was done in pairs so Ray & Barry went first. And returned within about 5 minutes as Baz was scared to go above a crawl. Christine and I therefore donned the helmets and gloves and mounted up. It took me about 5 seconds to decide they weren't as scary as I expected and another 5 to decide they were actually a lot of fun. Damn fast too. I ended up being out for about 45 of our 60 minutes as when we headed back to see if Barry was going to try again he wasn't, so I went out with Ray. I did make the mistake of sticking my foot out from time to time when cornering at speed (thinking I was on some sort of normal bike that might tip over) thus knocking it on the floor painfully and also ended up in a fence at one point leaving me with some hurty bruises and the bike with a cracked fairing. However, once I got the hang of steering by turning the handlebars rather than leaning over I had a damn good time. Got up to a lot of speed, got some air underneath me after some of the bumps, humps and jumps and got very dusty. I have now added quad bike to my Christmas List.

The final session was Range Rovers. As with the other 3 events, I've never experieced 4x4 off-roading before either. Luckily they had two so I was able to share one with Christine and avoid Bazza once more. This was also good fun - the "not falling over when driving along a very steep bank" and "going up hills you wouldn't want to walk up without a rope" abilities were just incredible. Trusting the vehicle to do things you would normally try to control yourself was quite a novel experience too. I have now put some sort of Jeepy thing on my Christmas List.

In all a very good time was had, even if our team did manage to come last overall thanks to Baz and his general prat-ness.

Home in time to find Joan up, but ready to go back to bed again. Which was where I sent her and had a fairly quiet evening followed by an early night.

Saturday: Ouch, aches in places I didn't even know I had places. Probably what comes from hanging on for dear life but with a big grin on yer face whilst trying to control the hot throbbing monster between your legs. Oooer Mrs.

Joan well enough to go back to work so I spent most of the day tidying in the study and ironing. Richard came along for lunch - we finished the Iron Maiden DVD - and study of job websites but found nothing. Then in the evening we went shopping and settled down for a nice (you guessed it) Chinese with Casualty and Silent Witness.

Sunday: another good day overall. Joan off so we started lazy then went out. The main aim was to try and locate some form of raised bed kit for the garden as we both fancy the idea of some. Nothing was forthcoming though so I guess I will end up getting some wood and building our own. Should be fun. We also managed a nice lunch at Fatty Arbuckles and looked at lots of carpets and furniture and got a stick-on shelf to use in the shower. I think we are looking at re-decorating the lounge sometime soon but having seen the cost of floor coverings this may well get put back a tad.

On the way home called in at the open day park & ride/remote display site for the Ipswich Transport Museum (didn't have time to go to the museum itself) to find Gary as achy as I was. Then home for a snooze before a light tea and part two of SW.

Today: at last!

More timetable checking and so forth. Have also put my film in to be developed (and had to find a new outlet for processing as the one I'm used to in Felixstowe has shut). Will see how the pix come out tomorrow and scan and post any good ones.

Stillreading the London book (well, it is very thick) and over the weekend listening has included:

Little Angels - Don't Prey For Me and Young Gods.
Apes, Pigs & Spacemen - Snapshot.
The Prodigy - The Fat Of The Land.
Trancient Dreams - Some MP3 Stuff.
Gong - You - Remix album (disc one).
The Levellers - Green Blade Rising. (Again).
Various - A free Disney CD that came with a paper yesterday (the only reason I bought the paper, so you could say it was free with the CD).

Right, time to go home now I think. Hopefully for a nice evening.

How strange, no furniture has been moved today. Not so strange was me getting sucked in to Out Of Time 2nd hand cd shop at lunchtime and getting some more Thunder. The first album Backstreet Symphony to replace my tape and also The Thrill Of It All which I've never had before. Bet you are glad you read that then!

Concluded last night that either Joan and I watch too much tv, or their aren't enough actors going around at the moment. We seemed to spend all evening saying - "wasn't she in Holby" or "He was in Casualty" or whatever. Very confusing when you are trying to appreciate them as someone else.

Joan is in Ipswich for a meeting today. Tracey brought her in but she will probably come home with me. Might stop for dinner on the way home if she finishes late enough.

Um, err, whoops. Maybe next week I'll manage to post every day again. Anyway, back in time we go. Weeeeeep, bleeeep, whooooosh, spong! There, through the time tunnel and out in the murky past of last Friday night.

Dinner at the White Horse was as tasty as ever. OK so I had the cottage pie which I've had before and Joan had the Chicken & Mushroom pie that she's had before but the menu isn't that varied so repetition is unavoidable. Mum & Richard then came back to our place for a game of very competetive Trivial Pursuit. I won! However, the stress and mental effort involved must have been too much for me as after getting up for a spot of breakfast on Saturday I decided to go back to bed for ½ an hour or so and ended up sleeping on until 12ish. Quite ridiculous and most unheard of for me. Still, I still feel refreshed today so it probably did me some good.

After a spot of tidying up and stuff we went out again in the evening. To Joan's boss and her bloke's house-warming bash. Very unexpected for it to happen and even more so for us to get an invite. He must be doing something right with her! Very nice house all told, if a bit bland in the decor and in need of major plumbing repairs in the bathroom. Still, those are the legacy of the former owners so we won't blame Tracey for them. They are sort of on the border between the villages of Kirton and Falkenham, just outside of Felixstowe. Not sure I'd want to live in the middle of nowhere like that myself (well, not within walking distance of the shops at least) but the peace and quiet must be nice sometimes. Mind you, compared to our old flat our house is vey quiet too. Nearly had to leave early as Tracey got an alarm call while we were there but in the end Peter dealt with it which saved everyone a lot of hassle. When we did finally wend our way home not only was it very foggy but the police were pretty active. We saw the helicopter hovering over various points between Felixstowe and Ipswich and saw several cars and a van on the move. Haven't seen anything in the news though.

Sunday saw Joan at work again so I once more confined myself to the study and ironed whilst coralling numerous internet-sourced tunes and herding them on to mini discs. Mainly some more Bassic but also some other stuff that was just floating rootless on my hard drive. I also got some reading in. Finished ...Shimmerism while I was waiting for Joan to come out of work on Friday night and can say I thoroughly enjoyed it. And not just because I'm in regular communication with the author either. Hopefully he will be able to get a sequel up and in print soon. Am now working my way through Peter Akroyd's Biography Of London (which sharp-brained readers may recall me mentioning when I bought it). I say working my way through, but it is not work at all being a wonderfully informative and easy read. Not the first book on our capital I have read but I've come across new things already. Just wish i had more spare time to spend wandering round London looking up some of the places and features mentioned.

The evening was occupied by the US Grand Prix. ITV have tapped in to Bernie Ecclestone's digital broadcasts so although we still have to suffer adverts and no widescreen the overall quality of the show was much better. Focus on the right moments of action, stacks more vantage points and cameras (some cracking on-car shots) and useful graphics too. Much better than what we were having to deal with. Of course if this becomes a permanent fixture I'm even less likely to pay £12 for the priviledge of the full package on Sky as this version was more than good enough. The most interested I've been in the middle of a race for years. And the end result was superb poetic justice too - Schumacher slowing down for a formation Ferrari finish and getting it a bit wrong so that Barrichello ended up taking the win. Classic cock-up! Makes up for the result in Austria though.

And so it was back to work for another week yesterday. Am now finishing up loose ends with the books to make sure they turn up on time and doing much the same with Park & Ride stuff for the gyratory. I guess that should keep me busy until November when I will have to find a new project of some description to keep me happy and busy. Of course I could always become a furniture mover as there seems to be a lot of that going on at the moment. 4 people have already shifted around this week and more will no doubt follow. We are supposed to be recruiting 4 new people soon and will have to squeeze them in as well as a possibel whole group move to make that possible around Christmas. I know we need a good clear out, but there must be an easier way!

Helping me start the week was one of those forgotten classics or "cd's I don't seem to have played for years that turn out to be much more superb than I remember them from before" to be more complicated than necessary. In other words, in the car has been Laughing On Judgement Day from Thunder which had me singing all the way in and out yesterday and in again today. What a damn classic that is. Good job I have no passengers really.

Oh, and I did pay the anticipated visit to the HMV sale yesterday too. As well as the superb new Wildhearts single I got the two System Of A Down albums (Toxicity is in the car now following the Thunder) and two more from Underworld - Dubnoheadwithmybassman and Second toughest in the Infants which I have on good authority are well worth the £2.99 and £4.99 I paid for them.

The sun was still shining come the time I'd finished scoffing my lunch so I went out for a wander. Made a fairly major decision while I was in Smiths and didn't buy Buses magazine. I will be giving that a miss from now on as a regular purchase as, quite frankly, I've lost interest and can't be bothered with it any more. I guess I will keep an eye on it for local articles but otherwise am happy to be reduced in my public transport consumption. Followed that up by resisting temptation in the HMV sale. But I'm going to have to go back there on Monday after we get paid. Hur, hur, hur.

Where did the last two days go? Oh yes, now I remember, working for a change! Big timetable changes happening on Monday and we have all been a bit heads down producing the material to go in 105 or so cases. We even had members of management cutting and pasting bits of paper on to card, which was a bit of a turnip for the books. And today I have got the job of staying in the office answering the phone while lots of other people are out doing the sticking stuff in cases bit. Much as I would have liked a day out of the office I can't say I'm too disappointed. With that many stops to visit it won't be much fun even though the sun is shining in defiance of normal roadside rules.

I have managed to get my Park & Ride leaflets and bus graphics ordered as well, but not much else. OK, perhaps a bit of MP3 downloading and listening to, but that's all. Today I recomend Dreamtime 909 to one and all. Roll on tomorrow when I can get some more comitted to minidisc.

Joan is doing a lot better now. Stil wearing the collar (although not as much) and taking the painkillers, but in better spirits if nothing else. Her back woman gave her a bit of acupuncture last night which seems to have helped. There's something else I've never experienced. I'll be prepared to give it a try sometime though as the thought of the needles doesn't scare me.

Other than being totally zonked out most nights, we did manage to give Charlie's Angels a spin on the DVD player. Much funnier than I remember it being the first time we watched it and we also took a quick look at some of the extras this time too. But mainly we've not been doing much this week. Tonight we are going round to the White Horse for dinner with Ma & Richard (Dad is away working) which should be nice. Always reliable for tasty food if nothing else.

In Car Entertainment over the last few days has been:

Renegade Soundwave - Howyoudoin?
Chumbawamba - Readymades
Papa Brittle - Obey, Consume, Marry, Reproduce
Eat Static - Abduction

Let's just say I am enjoying having the cd player in the car fully.

The what to listen to after Iron Maiden ends decision turned out to be extremely easy to make. After writing that lot I went in to town and got the new Levellers album - Green Blade Rising. What I've heard of it so far is superb and brought me in to the office with a big smile on my face rather than the usual resigned expression of mild boredom and disinterest. It also has the video for Come On and a screensaver on the disc so I think that will pay a visit to the PC at home before long. The only thing wrong with it so far is that the total running time is only a fraction over 37 minutes. Boo, want more! Which means I did need to choose another cd after all to help get me home so that ended up being Xentrix - Dilute To Taste a mix of studio and live tracks put out as a stop-gap between their second and third albums.

Last night was both fun and frustrating in equal measure. Joan survived the return to work physically, but was still freaked out as her boss was on the warpath. No, welcome back, hope you are feeling better, don't do too much lifting. Just straight into moans and complaints. Not a great way to start a week. Luckily she is off today and has also been able to speak to Jacqui at Ipswich and get a better perspective on things. She's going to a meeting with her on Thursday which should also help.

I was also frustrated after once again the BBC pulled off a program I wanted to watch, presumably because someone somewhere would object to it being broadcast at the moment due to it reflecting events in the news. Even though it was filmed months ago with no idea of what would happen in the real world. That was Waking The Dead of course. They still showed an old one though which was probably just as grizzly and likely to offend, just not linked to the news of the day. I wonder when we will get to see it.

Luckily, the new series of Never Mind The Buzzcocks started. Still the funniest music-related quiz show in the history of music-related quiz shows. And likely to get better and better now Bill Bailey has replaced Sean Hughes as a team captain.

Today has been slow so far - just waiting for corrections back from Pindar. I never got to the vinyl people last night so will definitely do that today. What I can do is give today's MP3.com recommendation - Trancient Dreams. Listening to their stuff now, very mellow and atmospheric.

Well, hey, since 0555 this morning it has been officially autumn. And naturally it is raining. Not that I can use that as an excuse for not putting anything up here over the weekend, but I guess it was worth a try. So, where was I?

Thursday night. That was it. We had nice haircuts mainly. And I also spoke to my old boss Colin on the phone for the first time since they moved back up north. And some things never change - when he was here you could guarantee that as soon as he left his desk his phone would ring, and wouldn't you know it - when I called him he was out. He did call back though, and thinks I should appeal against the senior/non-senior thing. Trouble is, who do I appeal too? The higher management and personnel made the decisions that we needed this structure and Gary should get the job, and the union argued against it in the consultation period and were overruled. So who is there left to turn to? Not that I'm a member of the union anyway but the point remains that they were no help.

Still, they are settling in pretty well and he sounds a lot more cheerful than he did down here. I expect we will go up to see them in the new year. It is just a pity that they are no longer a good stopping off point on the way to Newcastle for us.

Friday was the big day of getting rid of Geof stuff. Or rather, taking him out to lunch and then having his official leaving presentation. In the morning I was meant to be going to a car parks meeting but found a whole load of other stuff that needed sorting out and, err, I forgot all about it. Only remembered it yesterday! Oh well, probably wasn't vital that I attended.

Lunch happened at the Lord Nelson pub just down the road from here. We went there for our Christmas Dinner last year and I have been again since, so at least there were no food-related worries. And what I had was very tasty indeed. Geof was looking much better than when we saw him last. Amazing what removal of stress and a heart-bypass operation can do for you. His presentation was a bit odd though. Considering he has been here 24 years there was a very small turn-out. I know that he irritated a lot of people over the years, particularly with his timekeeping, but you'd think a few more might have made the effort. The assistant directors trotted out the usual platitudes and "humourous extracts" from his file. Can't recall any of them now so they can't have been that good. One of the councillors also said a bit and then that was that. The Director kept his trap shut, which again was a bit of an insult really but a relief in other ways for the rest of us. So now we really are embarking upon new, uncharted waters and other such cliched claptrap.

And then it was the weekend. On Saturday Joan was feeling almost human again so we went out for the day. Woodbridge was the first call where we did a bit of shopping and had a nice lunch. Not at the Bull for a change, but a cafe type place on the high street. Good food and good prices so we may well go there again some time. That was followed by a trip to Sainsburys to stock the house up. And then a relaxed evening.

I was a bit frustrated at not being in Oxford for the Retrovision Yakfest event, and am looking forward to reading reports of it on the Llamasoft forums later on today. Not sure I would have lasted the course for an all-night event anyway but it would have been nice to try. One day I will get to a meet-up.

Yesterday was also pretty busy. After scything the lawn it was round to Ma & Pa's for their "open morning" of the extension now it is nearly finished. Not that many people turned up but that wasn't our problem. And now they have the carpet down in one of the rooms and started putting stuff back in there it has made a real difference to the rest of the house. I bet they are pleased to be able to move a bit again now but I still think they would have been better encouraging Richard to move out. Not that he will I'm sure.

The afternon was filled with ironing and a cracking proggy on National Geographic tv about Koko the talking Gorilla. I've been reading about her for years so it was good to see a bit more. It even prompted us to sign up for her regular email newsletters too.

So back to today. The rain has stopped and I've been to a thrilling team meeting so far. Just waiting for timetables to come through then I will be leaving fairly early to sort out P&R liveries and stuff on the way home.

Music for pleasure: As well as reaching the Blaze Bayley years with Iron Maiden (The X Factor, Virtual XI) which means I will be on to the last album and return of Bruce Dickinson (Brave New World) on my way home tonight and then have to think about what to listen to tomorrow, I have been doing more pc - md type stuff. Another disc of Diffusion and also the latest MP3.com find - AnalogX. More good electronic stuff. Might have to look for some more later.

More timetable checking, leaflet designing (people like it!) and funky music really. Bentley Rhythm Ace to be precise, both their albums. Also been to the post office to post a map and that's all I have to say about today.

Spent large chunks of last night playing Shadows of the Empire and Mario 64 on the N64 so nothing much to say there either.

Got to go to a meeting in a minute about the Ipswich Nightbus. Something I have no knowledge or interest in, but that's life.

Hey hey, managed to get approval on my revised livery for the new P&R buses so if I can get this poxy computer to stay on for more than 20 minutes at a time without crashing I will get a bunch more printouts of the design and shop for quotes. Actually, now I think about it quotes aren't needed as I'm going to have to put up with adverts on the buses through the sponsorship deal, so will just get whoever does the adverts to do them to save multi-visits and cock-ups.

And we have also had the first batch of files back from Pindar for all the new services to check. Which means that apart from sitting around restarting this piece of junk I have actually been able to do some useful work today. I feel quite refreshed by that.

Joan much improved today but still staying off until next week. I had to take a message from her to the acting manager at Ipswich store today. Who also happens to be one of my old staff from Newmarket. Good to see her getting on I guess, but rather her than me. At some point every day I still find time to thank fate that I don't work for Argos any more. Mind you, she is probably earning more than me now as Ipswich is a big store in Argos terms. Plus she is claiming mileage from Newmarket and back every day while here.

Another vegging in front of the telly evening last night. Well, it was Holby and Waking The Dead so I guess we have an excuse. Still, hopefully Joan will be up to a resumption of our evening walks at some point if not the full bodybalance experience. Although that would be a complete restart from scratch if we did go back. Not much on tonight though.

We have finally got round to watching The Osbournes too. Been meaning to since they started showing it but events have conspired against us. Top quality "reality" tv (well, how real is the life of Ozzy for cripes sake??). I do enjoy his bewilderment.

Apart from the in-car Maiden (now on to A Real Live One but will be missing A Real Dead One as I only have it on minidisc) I have mainly been listening to stuff from the internet today. First two minidiscs full of Bassic which I found and recorded last year sometime. Really good ambient floaty trippy stuff that assisted my passage through proof checking and lunchtime. Now some bits by a chap calling himself Cruel Brittania. A bit like Diffusion - a mix of original dance stuff and unofficial remixes/cut 'n' paste jobbies. I do like the web some days, it provides me with sanity-preserving entertainment, wise words and some good games to play. What more could I ask for?

Oooh, just bit into a Kit Kat Chunky to find no biscuit in it, just lots of loverly choccie. Haven't had that happen for years. Mmmmmmm.

Another day of waiting for things to happen really. Well, a morning of that so far anyway! To pass the time I have finished re-jigging my Park & Ride leaflets and not until after printing them for others to look at found the most glaring error - on both of them. A stop on the wrong side of the road now they are all moving. How could I forget to move one? That's why I'm re-doing them for pity's sake. Oh well, if that's the only error I'll be happy. Now if only some timetables would come back for checking we would all be happy.

Had a quiet afternoon yesterday doing much the same as this morning which lead nicely into a quiet ish evening too. Of course there was a bit of shouting in Waking The Dead but then there always is. Looking forward to part 2 tonight!

Am getting nicely in to ...Shimmerism and wish I could just blatantly pull it out of my bag to read now while waiting for stuff to arrive. I haven't had the courage yet to sit at my desk in a busy office with a book and claim to be on a smoke break (well, if the smokers can stop working for 10 minutes in every hour why can't I?) but I have been known to browse in quieter periods when every other slave is out. Of course when I was at Argos (especially in Newmarket) I generally managed to get everything for the week done early so I could spend most of Friday afternoon turning pages in the stockroom between sending things down the conveyor belt. But then I was in charge of the stockroom and able to decide if I needed extra help or not. And I didn't have the internet there for proper time-wasting.

Joan is feeling a bit better again today - less pain and less swelling - but has been to see the Doctor anyway. And now I can't get hold of her by mobile or normal phone so I don't know what he said. I'm sure there is nothing sinster to worry about and she will probably be OK to go back to work next week - if she will refrain from lifting the heavy stuff - but I'd still feel better if I could speak to her. EDIT - she's called now and is doing OK.

Update the Irons!: to mangle a phrase from their sleeves. Anyway, since coming back to work last week the car has been full of the sounds of Somewhere In Time, Maiden England (live video which I have a CD of the soundtrack for - this stood in for Seventh Son... having only just listened to that), No Prayer For The Dying (which I seem not to have listened to for years and had forgotten just how good parts of it were) and now we are on to Fear Of The Dark which was Bruce Dickinson's last album with the band before he re-joined a couple of years ago. Again, I seem to have neglected this one too. Naughty Simon! Probably due to having obtained these on CD in the first place rather than vinyl that has since been replaced - and the replacements have got played more to make up for not having a proper record player available. Or something.

Time for lunch now...

The weekend worked out not too bad in the end. OK so we couldn't go out anywhere as Joan was still in reasonable amounts of pain half the time (and is also now sacred of being "spotted" now she is on sick leave) but we were together and that's what counts in my book.

Saturday was a very relaxed day. I popped in to town in the morning to deliver her Sicknote and pick up some shopping etc. They all seemed to be genuinely concerend in Argos and not just annoyed because they are 1 pair (v capable) hands down but I could be mis-reading the signs there. And I was very good and didn't buy any DVDs!

In the afternoon we had a bit of a games session. Joan tried to teach me some card games (and perhaps with a few more years practice I might get the hang of them) while I recorded some music off the PC and then it was time for a few more levels of Tomb Raiding. Not sure about the method they used for number two of making it harder by including lots more people to shoot as that can just get frustrating when you keep dying, but all the other improvments over the first one are doing their magic on us. Especially the way the background music has been tweaked to fit the locations more. Very atmospheric it has to be said.

And then Casualty was back for a new series. And yes, they did live slightly up to my expectations by glossing over one of the two cliff-hanger endings to the last series, but overall a thumbs-up experience.

Yesterday was more of the same really - relaxing, music and ironing. The music I have been recording has been stuff obtained from the internet. Legally mind you, only tracks that the artists in question have put up themselves for public consumption. In this case the artists are Machinae Supremacy who do pretty good Heavy Metal with a twist (as well as guitars and so forth they also have a Commodore 64 in use) and Diffusion who does lots of dancey stuff and also remixes TV theme tunes to comic effect. Two Minidiscs full with another Diffusion one to do soon and two MS tracks leftover - hopefully they will release some more in the coming months to allow a second disc too. OK, so I cheat slightly by downloading the MP3 files from work which is strictly speaking against the rules, but no bugger has complained yet and it is so much quicker than the modem at home. Also got up to level 34 on Gridrunner++ so perhaps I will get to see the end one day.

And today I am back in the office with Joan at home. The day started very well though. I finished reading The Light Of Other Days over breakfast (absolutely superb book overall, they must have had some real fun writing it and deciding which bits of history to play with) and as I was debating what to start next the postman provided me with the answer via a package from America. So the next book will be The Rise And Fall Of Shimmerism by James Kracht, who is also known as dtj on the Llamasoft forum. DTJ stands for Distance To Jupiter, under which name he has also recorded 153 tracks over 8 cds, which were also included in the package (as MP3 files on 1 disc, before you start thinking about postage costs). The book is Sci-Fi and deals with religions among other topics - looks very interesting and a thumping good read (even if it will put the fiction/non-fiction sequence out!), while the music seems to be mainly ambient electronic stuff. I like what I've listened to so far. Will put it all on minidisc eventually to make listening easier.

Workwise things are building up to a frenzy about all the gyratory stuff. We are waiting mainly for timetables still to get the books finished, but I also need to sort out my Park & Ride leaflets. So that is what I shall have a crack at now.

Hey, the Levellers single was absolute top notch. I have high hopes for the album now after the slightly disappointing last one (Hello Pig). Roll on the end of the month and payday and it being released (the same day as the new WiLDHEARTS single). Mind you, there is still no news as to whether we will actually get our pay rise this month or not.

Joan has now been signed off work for at least 10 days by the doctor. I think she is doing a bit better in terms of pain now, but still not good. Hopefully the nice sunshine flooding down at the moment will be helping.

Watched Groundhog Day last night. One of my all time favourite films of all time that one. Bill Murray is just superb in conveying the different emotions as the day repeats again and again. Also got me thinking about things I'd do if I were in that situation, but nothing they don't mention in the film comes to mind. OK, so it would be useful to catch up on the backlog of books and films I want to go through - but only if they had them in the town.

I think of all thew fictional devices like that (including things like mind reading, time cameras, being able to change shape etc) the most useful would be that from The Fermata by Nicholson Baker. In that the lead character has the ability to stop time. He mainly uses it to take women's clothes off and gawp at them, but I think I can find some more constructive uses for it. Just to be able to stop everything to get my head straight or to take a nap at times would be quite nice. And again the chance to do stuff for myself would be welcome. Oh well, reality is all we've got so I'll just have to stick with it.

This morning has been fairly average. Had Maria from Pindar pay us a visit and I am now a bit clearer on what went on during my absence. No happier about how it was handled but still glad it wasn't me who had to make the fatal decision.

The last two mornings have also made me realise just how long I've been in this job - the longest I've done in any one location now. Part of the routine has been checking where other people are when I travel in as a test on whether I'm on time or running late. And since the schools went back while I was off it has been odd seeing another new load of small brats waiting for buses. But more freaky was the realisation that some I've been seeing since I started here weren't there because they've left school. Well, I thought it was odd anyway.

Not sure how the weekend will work out. All depends upon how Joan is feeling I guess. Hopefully we will at least be able to get out in the sun if it shines. But I don't feel we'll be travelling far from home.

Oh my goodness, could this be the longest gap between posts since I started this? Many humble apologies if anyone as actually been tuning in in hope of news from Felixstowe.

Feeling kind of dazed and confused today now I'm back at work again. I thought things must be running smoothly here as (a) when we used Park & Ride on Saturday (see below!) someone had managed to do some posters for them and (b) for the first time in 4 years I hadn't had a single phone call from the office while I was off asking how to do things or where certain files were. Coming in today it seems that all the hard work I put in to the area books has been sort of thrown out as the production has been cancelled (at a cost to us of something in the region of £25,000) and we are now doing them at the end of October. Loads of changes came in and Gary and Charles have been working their socks off to get it all covered. Glad I was out of it all really, and if I can get away with it I plan to stay away from this revised schedule. What would probably have been best was to have stayed at home until next week totally, but I can't afford the holiday days!

Where was I then? Oh yes, Thursday last week......

The big posh Chinese meal was indeed very tasty. Lots of things on the menu unlike any offerings from the takeaway places we usually eat food from, so there was a lot of hard choosing to be done. In the end though it all went very well with several new flavours discovered and a commitment to re-visit the Golden Panda with Joan alone sometime.

What else have we been up to since?

Friday we pretty much hung about the house doing ironing and tidying up and stuff like that. I think Joan overdid it a bit though as since then her recurring dodgy neck pain thing has been excrutiatingly painful requiring visits back to the osteopath and also the doctor and some serious pain killers. This naturally put the brakes on many of the plans we had and left others flapping idly in the breeze.

On Saturday we went in to Ipswich and got a great Chagall print to hang on the stairs instead of the signed (by Radio Suffolk) t-shirt we had there. It took ages to find somewhere selling stuff big enough to do the frame justice, and then when we did had loads to choose from. Isn't that always the way?! We also had a wander about, some food and stuff and managed not to buy any DVDs from the assorted offers available. On Sunday however...

...we popped in to the re-opened Blockbusters and bought 2. Armageddon and Gone In 60 Seconds. We also hired Gosford Park - which was the reason we went in in the first place. Quite a good little film, with about a zillion people we recognised popping up left right and centre. I think I worked out the majority of the surprises and clues before the answers were revealed, but it's always easy to say that with hindsight.

Monday we were supposed to go to London. Had tickets booked for the eye and a river cruise and were going to travel most of the way with Mum as she was visiting Grandma. Unfortunately Joan's agony put a stop to that so we settled for staying at home instead. The weather was foul anyway, and we managed to get a postponment on the tickets so that wasn't bad. To keep ourselves amused we watched Armageddon and despite the America rules gung-ho ness of it all we still had stirred up emotions. In fact for me more than the first time I saw it a couple of years ago. Also started playing Tomb Raider two. Gorgeous graphic enhancements over the first one (and yes, I know there are much prettier games available now but my OC ain't butch enough to handle them) and a good sense of being there.

Tuesday was the trip to France. Dad came instead of Joan and in the end we had a good time. There were one or two hiccups along the way (such as the gearbox on the coach failing when we hit the M25 forcing an unexpected break to wait for a spare) but we got through the Tunnel OK and in to Cite Europe. There we had a nice lunch (at a place called Flunch - recommended) and hit the shops. Neither of us bought very much (but then that was never my intention) - just some little treats and suchlike you can't get over here plus a few bottles of cheap wine. Good stuff, but cheap!

Wednesday was another lazy one before I returned to work today. We took a stroll out in the morning and sat on the beach for a while in the sun - it was lovely. Then when we came home the sun went in so timing was perfect again.

Yesterday was of course the anniversary of last year's terrorist attacks in America. Feels a bit odd still to think about it and am also still a bit guilty about feeling glad it wasn't here and that it was about time America took some crap like that. I still can't comprehend how anyone could want to do such a thing but I guess that just makes me a normal person. I heard today that something like 46% of NYC residents knew someone who was killed or injured which is kind of staggering in itself. Given the numbers in the towers that must mean the theory that people in cities are increasingly isolated and have no social contact with each other is kind of wrong.

There was of course loads about it on the tv (as indeed there has been for a week or so now) and it all got a bit overloadish. The reading of the names was a nice touch, but some of the documentaries were just so much spectacle and speculation that we gave up and watched Gone In 60 Seconds instead. OK, so that's mainly spectacle too but at least it wasn't all too real. Not quite sure if I approve of blonde hair on Angelina Jolie but otherwise a fun diversion. Even if technically its about the bad guys getting away with it (although not as bad as the really bad guys...).

All the time away from here also left me able to get some pages turned. As well as getting totally up to date with all the magazines I have also been through:

Stephen Poole - Trigger Happy. An exploration of what makes a good computer/video game and why we play them. Very interesting in many ways (and glad to find myself agreeing with him too, or should that be him agreeing with me as I had the opinions before reading the book?) and better than a straight history of the games - although I'd like a decent one of those too.

Terry Pratchett - The Last Hero. Cohen the Barbarian attempts to take fire back to the Gods and Rincewind gets sent to stop him. Another good Discworld read in my opinion and nicely illustrated by Paul Kidby too. I still prefer the pics as done by the late Josh Kirby but I'm getting used to Mr K the second's style now. Annoyingly this is one of those books I picked up on special offer in Hardback and now wish I hadn't as the paperback has been enhanced with another 16 pages of pics. This is now the third TP book I have where expanded versions are now on offer. I refuse to buy them twice though. Been down that route with CDs more than once.

Donald S. Johnson - Phantom Islands Of The Atlantic. This one was an impulse buy after I saw it in the window of a Charity Bookshop a couple of months back. Basically details a whole bunch of Islands that appeared on early maps but never actually existed such as Frisland, Buss Island and the Isle of Demons. Johnson makes a pretty good case about explaining how so many people were misled by the poor navigation techniques available at the time into thinking they were in places other than the reality. There is also quite a lot in there about how Islands from legend such as Hy-Brasil and those visited by St. Brendan came to be mapped even though there were no records of people reaching them. Absolutely fascinating for someone like me who likes nothing better than to look at old maps.

And now I have progressed to Arthur C. Clarke & Stephen Baxter's - The Light Of Other Days which is also proving to be a gripping read. The idea (science enabling virtual cameras that can see any place or time) has been done more than once before, but they have managed to add a new twist to it. Well, I say they, it reads a lot more like Baxter solo than as a collaborative effort (other than some of the explanatory speeches made by the characters).

So that's pretty much everything since last time covered. I am now going to do a bit more work whilst listening to the new Levellers single (Come On) that I got whilst out at lunchtime. See ya.

Joan came back all clear from her appointment, and I have also had a similar response from my blood tests, so I guess we are just tired and in need of a break. Which we are now having, so that should do the trick.

Anyway, yesterday was more notable for the non-work than the work stuff. In the morning I had a meeting with my former colleague Richard at Ipswich Borough to sort out joint publicity for car parks/park & ride from now to Christmas which went OK. My main aim from it though was to be at his end of town come lunch time for a change. I wanted to check out a couple of second hand cd/dvd/game shops that are just too far to walk in normal circumstances. One of them proved to be a total waste of time, but the other did have 1 Lynx game so I snapped up Hydra for £3. Still in the original shrink-wrap. I also picked up Tomb Raider 2 and got number 3 thrown in free to boot.

After lunch was another town centre gyratory meeting where we finally managed to get the facts right on the leaflets and adverts. Which was good as they go to press tomorrow.

Then it was home early to start being off!

Joan went to Bingo in Ipswich (and won nothing) so I had a fiddle around on here and played some games on the N64.

Today we have been taking things easy to a degree. Done some ironing. Taken the car in for a service and am now annoyed with them as they phoned to say the front brake pads needed replacing. Now it was only pre-sales checked and MOTd 2 weeks ago so I find it a bit hard to believe that they passed it with brake pads that were only good for another 300 miles or so. Can't decide whether to make a fuss when I pick it up or write a stroppy letter and try to get money refunded.

Joan is getting her back cracked at the moment and I ought to be doing some more ironing.

Tonight we are taking Ma & Pa out for a Chinese meal in town as it was their wedding anniversary at the weekend. Will report on that next time. We are also making a few plans for things to do while we are off. On Tuesday we are going to France for the day. A horribly early start (got to be in Ipswich for 6) but it will be a laugh all the same. Only shopping rather than seeing any sights but at least it is abroad. We also plan to go to London either on Saturday or Monday depending on other circumstances.

Aaah, that's better.

Got the day off today to be with Joan and also take her to an appointment later. Then back at work tomorrow followed by more holiday until Thursday next week. We plan on a few days out - London, Norwich, Cambridge - that sort of thing.

Updates as we do them/when I get the chance!

Hmm, tried to post this last night, but Blogger didn't want to play:

Oops, knew I hadn't been doing something over the weekend. And updating here was that something. Anyway, Friday was the usual boredom-fest at work. All I really did was fart about with graphics for the new Park & Ride buses and surf the internet. Not very productive but I really don't feel that way inclined at the moment with all the change and stuff happening.

Anyway, Saturday was better. Joan was at work (but for the last time for a fortnight) so I did a bit of internetting, played a bunch of Gridrunner and went in to town to tax the car. Another £88 gone, and that only lasts 6 months, but I thought I'd rather do it that way than have to pay out for the tax at the same time as the MOT in future years. Not that I expect any work to have to be done to get through the MOT for the next couple of years anyway, but better to keep the bank manager happy!

Richard came round in the afternoon and we watched half the Iron Maiden Rock In Rio DVD (as a break from my in-car cd run - now on Live After Death by the way) and played some more games. I have now picked up a Commodore 64 emulator plus a cd with 3,000 or so games on so we are looking for some decent ones there.

In the evening we had the fairly usual for a Saturday Chinese and watched The Shawshank Redemption. What a brilliant film. Why has it taken me this long to get round to watching it? Another DVD that will get multiple plays over the years I think, unless repeated viewings aren't as good due to the surprise being lost.

Sunday we had a relaxed day. In the morning I washed & waxed the car (and found out that that scratch was old as it now shows evidence of being inexpertly touched up) while Joan cut the grass, then we had a nice lunch in the garden. After lunch we walked in to town, had an ice cream and walked home again. I then indulged in more Gridrunner before dinner when we watched Tomb Raider again. Which inspired me to finish playing it tonight in readiness for starting number 2 sometime soon. OK, so I'll have to buy it first...

Today was also fairly tedious at work. It was determined to be the official start of the new structure, so we had a meeting for the first hour to discuss that. I said almost nothing as I couldn't give a monkeys about it all. They are also trying to organise a team building exercise again (we tried a year or so ago but it all got lost in the Geof-zone when he went off sick and never re-surfaced). I think the consensus is for something involving driving tanks or 4x4s or something. If it looks interesting I shall go along, but if we end up with something where we all have to dress up stupid, carry each other around or make bridges and stuff I shall give it a miss. Either through throwing a sickie or just blatantly not going. I can't see how one day out in the woods or something is likely to change the habits of everybody that I've seen over the last 5 years. No amount of "fun" or life saving will make Ian and Mike give me timetables early enough to get the publicity out on the buses in time. That will need major re-training and cultural changes. So I'm not pinning my hopes on anything useful under the new structure.

Oh well, Joan is out getting aromatherapy right now so I shall post this then go to see how Richard survived his first day of unemployment.

Feeling a bit apathetic today. Not sure why, probably the continued talk in the office about who will be doing what in the new order and me feeling disgruntled by it again. Plus neither of us thought to buy a paper yesterday so no jobs to look through. Oh, and feeling tired too which never helps. Perhaps I should sneak over to our store room for a snooze later on. If it wasn't so dirty and smelly over there I would give that serious consideration.

Am also feeling very annoyed as some bugger has scratched the car already. From the size and position it has to be deliberate vandalism too rather than from an accidental nudge. Will have to get some paint filling stuff as they've gone pretty deep and it looks to be more than a polish job.

Have decided not to go and see Chris bloke again as I just don't feel fully comfortable with him. Now all I need to do is phone him and tell him that, which I don't feel all that comfortable with either. I just think I'd rather find my own way around things at the moment and maybe get someone again on a more physical relaxy basis in the future. Plus while I thought that I'd be fine with it, I didn't feel OK with having a bloke rubbing me.

I got the driving role this morning so the Maiden campaign has been put on hold for a day. We had the Springsteen instead. Really is a top album that grows on me every listen. As Joan was late home from work yesterday due to staff training I took the opportunity for a spin of the Gorillaz album to go with my dinner. Only listened to it once before and had forgotten how dang good it is. And not really like anything else I play on a regular basis.

Not been out in the fresh air today. Just can't be bothered to go outside really even though the sun is shining. I would probably end up spending money as well so should hold off until tomorrow when pay day comes around. Only another month until we get our pay rise now too. Unless the union cops another strop of course. I hope they don't as I have plans for the back pay!

Oh well, back to work for now.

Excitement has worn off a bit today. Still fairly happy, but also a teensy bit bored again. Am back to waiting for stuff to come in from Pindar rather than having anything specific to do. Or at least anything I fancy doing. Anyway, at least the sun is shining and I was able to get out for a walk at lunch time. Have also booked some days off while Joan is off so we can do some relaxing and fun things and stuff. And the kidlets will be back at school.

Maiden-watch: With waiting outside Argos I got to the end of the Paul Di'Anno era (Iron Maiden, Killers) last night and am now in to Bruce Dickinson territory. Have started The Number Of The Beast and will no doubt get on to Piece Of Mind on the way home. Might not get much further before Friday though as not picking Joan up tonight (she has to work late and will get a lift home) and she is on a course in Ipswich tomorrow along with a colleague of hers, so if I give them lifts the music will not be playing. Of course if she goes in with him it will be a further guitar frenzy.

Wow, what a great weekend that was. Started in top form when I left here on Friday to pick the car up and never looked back. Mmm, nice shiny car now they've cleaned it and it smells lovely inside - all fruity. It drives very well, all the toys seem to work and even better than all of that, it doesn't seem to have the invisibility option switched on - unlike so many other cars I have driven. Yup, no-one has seen fit to drive out in front of me or anything as if I wasn't there yet. I'm sure it won't last though. Obviously we had to show it off to everyone on Friday night so we didn't actually get home until nearly 8, but it was worth the effort to save the rest of the weekend for more fun stuff.

Saturday Joan was at work (boo, hiss, but it was the only day she had to go) so I pottered about the house during the morning doing general tidying up and stuff like that. Then in the afternoon it was round to Ma & Pa followed by a sit on the beach as my Cousin Anna and family were up for a visit. Very pleasant, especially as the sun had deigned to shine upon us. Three great (if mad) kids who were thrilled to get on the beach and in the sea. The only down point of the day followed that when I went to pick Joan up from work and ended up sitting outside the shop for nearly an hour. Not fun, but it has made sure I will now always carry something to read with me whenever I have to collect her. Not Joan's fault - incompetent staff messing up the tills mainly.

In the evening we had Alexander over to stay and have a big fat Chinese meal. We watched Unbreakable which is one of the top 10 DVDs we have bought - combining a top film and a good transfer with superb packaging as well. I really must get around to watching the feature about comics on disc 2 sometime as it should be interesting. Poor chap was nodding off by the end though as it was also his first day at work for Tesco, and they put him on the 0630-1530 shift. Wouldn't have been my idea of fun either.

On Sunday we took him out with us to break in the new car. First stop was the Anglo Saxon burial ground at Sutton Hoo (just over the river from us really). They have opened a proper visitor centre there this year so we were treated to a short film along with lots of exhibits (including some of the actual treasures found there on loan from the British museum), reconstructions etc. Then a good walk out to and around the mounds themselves. They were doing proper guided tours as well as the look for yourself option we took, but wanted and extra £2 a head (on top of the £3.50 entrance fee) so we thought we'd save that for a possible future visit should we ever join the National Trust as you do actually get to walk on the mounds themselves.

Despite the inevitable crowds of people I really got a good feeling of the history and significance of the place when we were looking around. Plus being able to walk around places knowing people were doing the same hundreds or thousands of years ago always sends a chill down my spine. The views down to the river and across to Woodbridge were also tremendous, and make it even more alive when you can see the route they must have taken to drag the ships up for burial. Plus they have sheep grazing all over the site to preserve the landscape by natural means, which is always a bonus. I do like a nice sheepie.

As the coffee shop on site had nothing Alexander fancied for lunch (which was a bit of a pity in my view as I really fancied the local free range sausages, but don't plan on paying a second entry fee for those either) we went off to the Three Horseshoes at Charsfield instead. Of all the places we have tried for food when out doing Roadside this has to be the best, and I have taken Joan there before as it is just so damn good. Sunday was no exception and I stuffed myself silly. We were also joined by Basil, one of their cats who sat on the bench seat with us and generally made himself available for any spare morsels we may have had to pass his way. A real friendly moggy even after the plates had been cleared away, so it wasn't all begging!

Then we came back via Ipswich to shop at Sainsburys, took Alexander home and generally collapsed for the evening. Watched American Pie 2 again (still funny) and mellowed out nicely.

Yesterday was also good. After a lazy start we did a bit of tidying up in the front garden then went in to town. There we obtained a big "dinosaur egg" thingy and some gravel for the front garden - when we had it paved last year we left a gap for a feature plant, but as two have now died in the space we decied to give up and get something permanent instead. I cemented it in when we got back and it seems to have set nicely.

We also finally managed to get lunch at Puccino's. My second attempt and Joan's third! This time we were given a menu within 3 minutes of sitting down, our order was taken very promptly after that and arrived pretty quickly too. And they held off bringing the drinks until the food was ready, unlike many places where you can finish the drink before you get to eat. Very nice Ciabattas too.

Then a relaxed afternoon (oh and some ironing) before dinner and What Women Want on DVD. Another brilliant film, and very funny. Not what you would normally expect from either Mel Gibson or Helen Hunt, but all the better for that I think. Can't decide if I'd want that "gift" or not really. I get distracted enough at the best of times.

Today has been back to work, but not too onerous to ease in to. Plus I managed to get out at Lunchtime and came back with the new Queens Of The Stone Age cd - Songs For The Deaf. Listened to it this afternoon while processing concessionary fare payments and most excellent it was too. It also comes with a free DVD but no indication of what is on it, so I'm looking forward to taking that home and plugging it in.

In the car this week will be Iron Maiden. All the albums in order, with the exception of Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son as we listened to that on Sunday. Right time to go home now I think.

Up and down kind of a day so far. Stayed at home finishing off a few bits and bobs first thing which was good as I was able to listen to the Springsteen again and play a bit of Gridrunner. Then off to the doctors for a nurse to suck some blood out of me. Only ever had blood tests once before and that was at hospital. I was having chest pains and the doc decided I needed an Xray. That proved nothing so they did some tests then - couldn't get any blood out of either elbow and eventually took it from one wrist after failing at the other. V. painful and also proved nothing. It was probably the beginings of all the Argos related stress coming out in a hurty way as all the tests proved was that I was in pretty good shape. Today they took 4 phials of blood so I hope they get some sort of conclusion from them. I lived up to expectations by feeling a bit wobbly afterwards and having to lie down for 5 mins. I guess I'm not likely to become a regular blood donor just yet!

Finally made it in to the office at 1130 and was out again almost straight afterwards. Had to take a disc up to Ipswich Buses, which was nice to get back in the sun. Trouble was, after I'd been in to Boots for a sandwich the rain decided to fall. To say I got wet on the way back to the office would be a pretty accurate description. Drip, drip, drip goes the Simon (to paraphrase Chumbawamba).

Now I am stuck on the TraveLine for the afternoon (well, until 430 anyway) as the agency person hasn't shown up and there is no-one else free. Not my favourite job in the office, but probably the last time I'll have to do it as the line closes soon. We could really have got away without me here as well given the number of calls I've taken but never mind. I've been able to catch up with some web stuff I wanted to look at instead!

Finally got round to watching The Big Blue last night. Quite a slow moving film and concentration needed to make sense of some of it, but very enjoyable nonetheless. Some fantastic underwater photography and loads of Dolphins. My only real issue with it is one that occurs with a lot of DVDs - the chapter titles listed on the inlay. I know they have to call them something, but I wish they'd choose names that don't give the plot away. Same with Soundtracks - when they come out before the film and a casual glance reveals a funeral march or wedding song that does kind of spoil things.

Oh well, only an hour to go and then I get the car. Wahay!

Am feeling pretty good and happy with things today, and am trying not to let stuff get to me. Of course it does help that I got some good news in the post before coming to work - an insurance policy thing I thought had another two years to run actually expires in November. The letter was of course trying to get me to re-invest the profits with them, but it was nice to know there is some more money coming this side of Christmas. Even just the amount I've put in coming back will be nice, so the profits too could be really nice!

Gary is back at work today, but has spent the whole time talking about looking for other jobs elsewhere so even his presence has not been a downer.

Got through all the area books now so waiting for the corrections to come back. In fact, even having to re-punch in a load of details I've already given people isn't bringing me down too much. Mainly cos I've got some top tunes to keep me going. The MD player had now been relegated to lunchtime and at-desk entertainment as I have let Dad have his car stereo back before getting rid of the car. This week's choice of discs has been: Orbital - The Altogether, The Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole and Fuzz Townsend - Far In. All on a dance/techno trip to keep me happy. And right now some downloaded stuff from Yak's Tempest 3000 Nuon game are doing the same. Of course from tomorrow at 5 there will be in-car CDs to mention. Oooh, the anticipation.

Still no firm decisions made on getting away from it all. Joan spent another hour or so on the internet last night looking for stuff but with little joy. We were quite tickled by one page though - it had a load of cruise offers from around £600 to £2,000 a head. Then halfway down was one for £8,500. That made us look twice, thinking it must be a mistake but no. Seems you join the ship in January and after going round the world get home in April. Somehow I don't think we'll be doing that - even if we could afford it we'd never get the time off work. I have now picked up some brochures for UK hotels just so we do get away somewhere for a couple of nights.

Not having made my own lunch today, I was going to pick something up at Subway as they have just opened a branch in Ipswich. Saw them all over the place in Canada last year but never got around to trying them as there were so many other things to scoff. Looks quite good but was absolutely heaving so I resorted to good old Alberts instead. OK, back to work.

Went back up to Aldeburgh after that lot to retrieve the temporary bus stops. Both still there but one of them had been stripped of all the information stuck on it. In Aldeburgh of all places. Vandalism in Haverhill I can understand, but there! Very obscure. On the way back (sad confession alert) I called in at Jewel. I can kind of justify it by wanting to check the finance had gone through OK and wondering when they would want the first payment but I could have done that over the phone. Yup, I just wanted to look at my car again. Backfired though as they had it off site getting serviced and MOTd. Foiled!

In the evening we had a bit of a relaxed vegging out with the TV session. Great new series started with a bunch of historians etc trying to recreate part of Cook's voyage around Australia in a replica of Endeavour. called The Ship and recommended.

Today has been pretty frustrating as this damn PC keeps locking up and dying for no apparant reason. If I wasn't trying to build up the hours I'd just go home early. Didn't even go out at lunch as I was trying to get the thing sorted out. OK so that helps the hours as I only take 30 mins off rather than what I would have been out for but that ain't the point.

Have started on the proof checking of the next load of area books and really wish I wasn't. One of the most tedious things I have to do in this job but also pretty damn essential. Still, although there have been lots of changes since the last edition they have all been in the areas I haven't looked at yet so it hasn't been too arduous. That comes tomorrow! I have also whipped off a couple of Park & Ride posters and if they have been printed am off to deliver them now.