So it rained all night, has been wet on and off so far this morning and still looks grey and threatening now. All of which can only mean one thing. Yes, today is the start of Wimbledon fortnight. Not sure if I will get to see any of the tennis again this year (work and Big Brother will no doubt take precedence) but I will have a stab. And of course it also rained a fair bit yesterday which totally changed our plans to get out and about for the day, but I'm getting ahead of myself here.

Saturday we did the mundane shopping for food and stuff in the morning. And also popped in to Smiths to NOT buy the Harry Potter book. Yes, Joan had pre-ordered me a copy but I persuaded here not to go through with the actual purchase (and indeed we got her deposit back) as (a) they were selling the book a couple of quid cheaper elsewhere and (b) as I said at the time I'm quite happy to wait until next year for the paperback. After all, I have plenty of other books sitting unread on the shelves to keep me going until then. In fact the biggest decision will be whether to re-read the first four, or perhaps just the ones not turned in to films as yet, before diving in. I used to do a lot of that with some series when there was a gap between volumes appearing but haven't over the last couple of years - mainly due to the vast numbers of books craving my attention. Whatever, it is a stonkingly huge book which will no doubt last me a day or two when I do get round to it!

In the afternoon we both crashed out in the Garden to catch up on a bit of lost sleep and some sun as well - it was wonderful weather with just enough of a breeze to keep us cool while still getting some colour from the sun (but not enough to burn). Quite amazing that we did manage to sleep so well really under the circumstances - not only was Steve up to his usual Saturday sawing, hammering and drilling (it must be two years now since their extension was finished. What can there be left to do?) butthe chap next door to Jerry was out in the Garden. With a mechanical digger. Not too sure how he managed to get it in to the garden, but he must have had fun using it as the thing could be heard working away all day (and also yesterday) and they have filled a skip up with junk and soil. I know the place was in a bit of a state before they moved in so it will no doubt be interesting to see the finished article, but I just wish they could be a bit quieter when working there.

Saturday night we were round to Ma & Pa for a summer solstice dinner. First time they've ever done anything to mark the longest day that I can remember, and very tasty it was too. Their next door neighbours were also there and a splendid time was had by all.

Yesterday, as mentioned, the rain stopped our picnic plans so we stayed home and blitzed the house instead. Which now looks pretty tidy in most rooms. I wonder how long we will manage to keep it that way. Joan always gets upset that "museum perfect" conditions don't seem to last very long, but we do live in the place rather than just visit from time to time so a little bit of putting things down and not picking them up is inevitable. Plus we do seem to accumulate junk without trying - especially pens. Where do they all come from? In between working we found the time to watch the last in the series of Casualty (and once more a gruesome cliff-hanger for us to ponder) and do some general sitting around and reading.

Now have only a few pages of the whole Otherland saga left to read. In fact I am past the end of the "plot" so to speak and in to the winding down tying up of loose ends de-briefing phase. I will reserve the passing of judgement until tomorrow though as I want to be sure of it all before commenting fully. All I will say for now is that although I was keen to know how it all winds up, I don't particularly want to say goodbye to most of the characters yet. But can't think of any excuse for a plot that would bring them all together again sometime.

Also fitted in a play of the last Chumbawamba album Readymades over lunch yesterday. Not sure if I've mentioned it before, but what a superb album that is. So far removed from their spiky punky origins but still very politically motivated. The musicianship is just sublime, to the point that I am sure if I were to listen to the whole disc under the right circumstances (i.e. focussed and with no distractions rather than in the car or while eating) then the moment in the last track when the guitar kicks in would probably move me to tears. It really is that good. Go and get a copy.

And so we are back to work for the week. Plenty going on to stop me going nuts with tedium this week so details of those when they happen. Fort now I have some timetables back from Pindar to be going along with.

Unkk. Can't believe I've got another 2½ months of this to come (just spread around the mouth). Apart from the pain of the moment the whole upper left where he has worked feels sunken in at the moment - like my whole cheek is being attracted to my teeth all the time. It is very disconcerting and begining to get on my nerves.

So, we have two people being chucked out of the Big Brother house tonight in a break from tradition. Could be interesting - I wonder what that will mean for the rest of the series. Perhaps the speculation will be right and they are planning to add someone new to the house. I expect we will watch with matchsticks at the ready to keep the eyes open as the second eviction is quite late (although Joan did suggest we go out again after it if Smiths in Felixstowe are doing midnight opening for the new Harry Potter book!). Still, no need to get up for anything any time in particular tomorrow or Sunday. Woo.

I think if weather and mouth permit I am going to just load Joan and a picnic in to the car on Sunday and head off into the scenic Suffolk countryside for the day. I quite fancy that. dontchaknow.

Oh, and here's a quote nicked from someone else's blog that made me laugh in a Matrix meets Lord of the Rings way:

Nothing to do with Games...
...but inspired by the fact that actor Hugo Weaving plays both Elrond and Agent Smith.

"You seem to live two lives, Mr. Baggins. In one, you are a peaceful and productive resident of the Shire. In the other, you flit about the world in the company of wizards, dwarves, and other low lives, apparently attempting to hurl a magic ring into a volcano.


"One of these paths has a future, Mr. Baggins."

Spoken to the dentist and it seems the sensitivity is normal and should go away again in a couple of days, which is good news. If a little disheartening to know it will probably be something I have to put up with for the other three events as well, and if it does happen for the last one it will probably be while we are on our holiday. Great. I just wish I could switch off from thinking about the whole thing for a couple of days, but every time I even consider eating or drinking the whole enormity of what is still to come thuds down on me. I'll try to be a brave little soldier!

We were both too knackered to even think about cooking last night so went round to the White Horse for our dinner. Don't seem to have been for ages but it was just as tasty as normal.

Joan starting her weekend off today, and should be coming in to Ipswich with Mum for a spot of shopping this afternoon. I don't expect I will be able to pop out and see them, but it will at least give me an excuse to leave early. And hopefully we will then get a good couple of days off together with sun and fun.

Time for a spot of lunch now.

Hmm. Teeth gone all sensitive this afternoon. Wonder what has caused that. I hope it will not be a permanant thingy as a result of the work - all very well having teeth that don't fall out and a dazzling smile but not much use if I can't actually eat anything hot or cold without going through the roof.

And now we have just seen off the director. By which I mean he has retired not that we chased him out of the building. Good presentation but plenty of waffle.

Time to go home.

Wooo! I can eat again! Or in other words, I went to Colchester this morning and he took the stitches out/gunge off and there was no blood and my jaw didn't fall apart. Which gives me even greater confidence for the rest of the treatment now. OK, so I still can't brush that quarter of the mouth with anything other than a really ultra-soft brush for another four weeks (by which point I should be getting the stitches out from part two) but after that it should be back to normal there (so total normality by October then). And of course being back to normal feels particularly strange - amazing how quickly you can get used to having a load of junk in the mouth. Now I need to get used to it not being there again!

So, I was done with him by ten past nine and decided to come in to the office after all (despite having the day booked as Special Leave). And have managed to get some useful stuff done so it was woth the effort I think. Especially as one of those was the final, final, completely and utterly final check on the book covers and approval so they should be here next Thursday at last. Hooray. Had a few moments of feeling a bit funny, mainly when I let my tongue wander up to that corner of my mouth and notice the slight dent where I guess he did some of the work which doesn't feel quite the same as before but I expect I'll be OK if I finish early. I am taking it fairly easy whatever.

Yesterday was quite good if tiring (didn't get home until 7 pm after leaving at 6.15 am). Some interesting speakers and I think Mitchell's talk (with my maps and photos) went down well. Also had a bit of a chat with him and Sonic on the train so although no real insider information was released I reckon I picked up one or two hints as to where the group might be headed. The building we were in (the Institute of Electrical Engineers) was suitably impressive too - and strange to think that I've never been there before despite Dad having been a member since before I was born. Only real problem on the day was the heat in the horribly crowded trains but that's old rolling stock for you. Hopefully they will be able to introduce the new stuff they have sitting in sidings waiting for approval soon. It looks very swish.

Today they have announced a full England football match at Portman Road in August so we are going to try to get them to recommend Park & Ride as a way of travel and open up specially for the event. Should be an actual money-spinner for us if we do it right. We shall see.

Me and my big mouth - some timetable changes have turned up today! Still at least it has given me something to do. A plague on all bus companies though.

Stinkingly hot and sticky here today. I did go out for a wander in the sun at lunchtime but it was just too much to be out in for long. And the shops were all roasting as well so not even any decent air conditioning to lurk in.

Nothing much else to say actually. Seems we are getting the 0657 train to London tomorrow, which I am not looking forward to but there you go. Just think of the flexi hours boost!

And so another week rolls past. Here I am once again on my own at home while Joan is slaving away in a hot shop (and I know from bitter experience just how hot in can get in that shop too). And once again there were people wanting to get in and but stuff before we arrived with the keys. Now, I know that we do sometimes shop for non-food things on a Sunday when it is the only chance we get to go out together, but really. It must be at least two years now that they have been regularly open on Sundays and the hours haven't changed from 10 to 4 in all that time. Surely people should have worked that out by now. Or am I just being overly optomistic about the mental stat of the general populace? So, I've washed the car (the only trouble with having the driveway is that part of the car always seems to end up under the tv aerial where the birds perch...) and will shortly be getting back to the ironing.

Friday night was pretty good - I managed to eat the Chinese tolerably well, Alexander was pleased with his presents and things generally went well. Yesterday I was on my own again so some ironing, some shopping, a bit of snoozing and some Richard visiting. Then last night we killed some time watching Miss Congeniality which had a few good moments.

Have finished rummaging in ...Capt. Flint's Trunk and definitely enjoyed it for the nth time. I wonder how many times I have actually read it. Three or four I guess but I can't put a definite figure on it. I know I haven't read it since June 1997 as since then I have been sticking the date I finish each book in the front of it as I was wondering that very question of how often I get through some books then. Probably a very sad thing to do (and worse to reveal!) but what the heck. There are some books (indeed whole series) sat on the shelves that I have been through many times over the years to the point that I can sit and recall huge chunks of them at will. So I thought it would be interesting to see how often I did go back there. Not much is the answer in the last six years though - always so many new things to read makes time to squeeze in old favourites that little bit rarer. Anyway, have now dived in to the last part of the Otherland saga from Tad Williams - Sea Of Silver Light which is by far the largest chunk of the series. But already some of the loose ends are starting to come together along with explanations for things I've been puzzling over the first three books. All told I can highly recomend what I've read so far.

Not particularly looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. In some ways less so than I was this time last week after having had the whole week off, not just a couple of days. At least then I was fairly confident of having something to get on with when I was there, but the last few days have been a real drag. I know I've spent most of the last five years wishing for some sort of stability in the bus service network of Suffolk so I didn't have to keep changing the timetables, but at least that meant I had something to do. At the moment it just seems as if I have nothing to be getting on with (there are a few things I could do but can't seem to get motivated for them). And of course I'm still annoyed with all the dealys to getting the books finished. Still, they will be with us soon and I can spend a couple of weeks out and about trying to foist them on people. And I'm only in for three days this week anyway - Tuesday is a Park & Ride conference in London which if nothing else will add a few hours to the flexi-time total and Wednesday I'm back to Colchester to get these stitches out. No appointment time for that - just turn up and he'll fit me in between other patients. So that could be a long or short visit, I really don't know hence the whole day off.

But, it pays the bills so I have to get myself going again and do the best I can. Saying that, I do have an application form to fill in this week as well - for a personnel post with the Police which looks interesting. We shall see how it goes.

Right, time to do something useful.

Grrrrrr. Cross with lady luck today. Joan and Helen went to the Bingo with a load of Helen's colleagues last night. Won nothing. Lady two tables away scooped up £96,000 on the national link up game. Not fair at all.

Otherwise today going as normal for me - finally got the covers signed off (again). Hopefully there will be nothing else that can go wrong between now and delivery. Fingers, toes and legs crossed. Given that one of my targets for next year is to be getting an outlet for books in every parish (all 496 of them across Suffolk!) it would be nice to actually have something to deliver.

Not normal for Joan - she woke up with a bit of a headache and has apparently been ill twice this morning but feelign a bit better now. Which is good as she is planning to pop up to the cemetary with some flowers later (in advance of Father's Day on Sunday).

That's something I can't get my head around. Not Joan putting some flowers near her Dad's memorial plaque but the number that turn up at the sites of accidents. There were a couple of school kids killed in a car accident last week just down the road from the office here. Going past last night on the way home I had a look, and would estimate that around £2,000 worth of flowers, soft toys etc have been piled up along the wall where it happened. I can't believe they are all from people who knew the kids in question. And if they didn't know them, why do people do it? It just doesn't make sense to me. You could say it is a tribute or a way of sharing feelings or something but I just don't get it. Personally I'd rather stick a few quid in a fund that would buy something tangible for their school or something. Then there would be some sort of lasting memorial rather than a pile of slowly wilting blooms that will cost the council a tidy sum to clear up in the next few days (and of course they have to judge when to clear up very carefully - too soon and they would no doubt be branded as unfeeling).

Anyhow, still thoroughly enjoying the Ransome book. Had a vivid recollection of buying it this morning as I was driving in. I knew of the book's existence from a review in a magazine I'd been passed (as a known Ransome fan) by my Grandparents way back in about 1987 or 8 but never seen it in the shops. Fast forward to 1992 and a college field trip to the Lake District (Setting for 5 of the 12 Swallows And Amazons tales). On the last morning we called in at some visitor centre or other and there it was sitting in the gift shop's book section. So, while everyone else was stocking up on Kendal mint cake I knew what I had to have. Didn't care about any damage to my image caused by buying a book about a children's author either (well, by then it was our final year so I guess people had made their minds up about me by then). I didn't even manage to resist starting it there and then on the minibus home - certainly made the journey better for me. Must get back up there sometime. And of course I have since added a biography, Ransome's autobiography and a book about his boats to the collection. Must get more of the other stuff available (in fact have procured about 100 pages worth of articles and comments off the web already this morning, with some more to come when I've processed this lot).

Alexander's 17th Birthday tomorrow - if all goes well we will be going up there for dinner. Hope I can manage to eat some of it (htis one-sided chewing is begining to drive me insane).

Wooo. Now I'm feeling happy. Mainly cos a bit earlier I booked our holiday. Yes, after much debate and should we, shouldn't we stuff we are going to Switzerland. OK, so it is coach not flying so we spend a long time travelling but we do actually enjoy all that stuff - looking out the wondows, seeing the world go by etc. Plus we have a couple of Harry Potter books on Mini Disc so that will help!

Anyway, we are going with local firm Supreme, who we have been to the West Country and also Paris with before so we know it should be OK. The brochure says:


Your Holiday Centre

Seelisberg: Situated on a mountain plateau some 2,500 feet above sea level, a stay in Seelisberg gives one a feeling of perfect peace. Below lies Lake Lucerne glimmering in the sun whilst all about you are snow-capped mountains, bracing air and the sound of cowbells ringing to welcome the morning of a new day. Just opposite Seelisberg across the lake lies the bustling town of Brunnen. Easily reached by steamer from Treib, which lies at the bottom of a rack railway running from near your hotel, this makes a superb excursion during the summer months.


Your Hotel

Hotel Bellevue: Set in a magnificent position overlooking the whole of Lake Lucerne and the snow-capped Swiss Alps, the Hotel Bellevue offers modern and luxurious facilities in traditional Swiss style. There is a panoramic restaurant and bar and a party night with Swiss Folklore every week. All rooms are beautifully furnished and have private bathroom, wc, TV and telephone. Lift to most floors.


Your Itinerary

Day 1 - Sat - Depart UK: Step aboard our luxury coach for the morning run to Dover and the lunchtime ferry to Calais. From here, we drive across northern France to spend our first night with bed & breakfast in the Cathedral city of Reims or nearby.

Day 2 - Sun - Arrive Seelisberg: Continuing our journey south, we travel through the picturesque Vosges mountains to enter Switzerland at Basle. Arriving in Seelisberg early this evening, we spend the next five nights at the beautiful Hotel Bellevue.
-----
Day 7 - Fri - Depart Seelisberg: The following Friday, we bid farewell to Switzerland and make our way back to Paris to enjoy a leisurely last night at our selected three star hotel.

Day 8 - Sat - Arrive UK: Departing from Paris we return to Calais for our ferry to Dover with arrival home later this evening.

Included Excursions:

Lucerne: A full day excursion to the ancient City of Lucerne. Explore the maze of quaysides and alleyways in the Old Town and take a stroll across the Chapel Bridge. This afternoon, we continue our drive along the north side of the lake and return on the lake steamer from Gersau to Beckenried (steamer tickets at own expense).

Interlaken & Brienz: Our first stop today is the woodcarving centre of Brienz followed by an afternoon visit to the bustling resort of Interlaken in the Bernese Oberland. Don't miss the exceptional views towards the Eiger and Jungfrau.



–Includes–
° Air-conditioned Supreme Supercoach or similar
° Cross Channel Ferries
° bed & breakfast in Reims area
° 5 nights dinner, bed & breakfast in Seelisberg
° Bed & breakfast in Paris
° All rooms with private bath or shower & wc
° 2 included excursions
° Courier escorted
° Full ABTA Bonding

Roll on September because I just can't wait. Not to mention the fact that my teeth will be all done by then so I can really pig out on swiss chocolate!

Well, for the first time ever as far as I can remember I actually had to get up in the night to knock back a hayfever tablet. Woke up at about 1.15 with nose absolutely streaming, sneezing like it was going out of fashion etc. Still feel a bit groggy this morning from it so have taken another one. Not the best way to start the day. And then after we were delayed leaving due to having to put the rubbish out (and there was an awful lot of garden stuff after last week's exploits!) I ended up sitting in traffic for ages on the way in. My own fault really - there are two routes for part of the journey I make and I thought I'd try the one I normally avoid for a change as it should bring me a fraction closer to the car park when they converge again. Wrong choice and it reminded me why I tend to avoid it. Just serious amounts of slow moving cars. Still, I am here in the end, only really a couple of minutes after normal but it feels like hours.

Mouth feeling a bit more normal again though, which is some consolation. Only another week now before the string can come out.

Sonic brought his pictures from Bob's retirement do in today which served mainly to convince me I was right not to invest in an APS camera when I was considering it a couple of years ago. I guess it could just be that he has one from the cheaper end of the range or the developer was not particularly good, but to me the prints looked really blocky. Like they came from a very low resolution digital. No smooth curves and patchyness in the areas of solid colour. I think I will stick with the digital for everyday snapping and dig out the old Olympus compact (that I was more than happy with) if I want a print of something.

Going off to a presentation about how to market public services now. Might be interesting but I'm not holding my breath.

Bored, bored, ever so bored today. There were only two of us up this end of the office this morning and now Chris has gone off to a meeting in Haverhill I'm sat here on my own. There are only a couple of other people in down the corridor end too, which makes the whole place very calm. Once again waiting for stuff to come through from Pindar for me to look at (the latest set of changes holding up the books). Even the phone is hardly ringing to provide a distraction from time to time. To make matters even worse they have turned on the air "circulation" system (I don't think I could go as far as to call it air conditioning) and the racket is really getting on my wick. Add that lot to a lack of anything pressing needing my attention and we have quite a recipe for dullness.

Mouth is a bit uncomfortable today - no pain or anything from the stitches being uncovered, just a sort of tightness and pulling sensation from where the flesh is obviously welding itself back together. I can't believe I've got three more goes at this to endure. I do hope it all turns out to be worthwhile in the end.

Nothing else to add really. So I won't try.

I did make contact with the dentist and it seems it only needed to stay on for 24 hours so I guess I will be OK. Just need to be a bit more careful not to rip the threads out. Does feel a bit strange though - being able to actually feel the teeth and gum again. And it has only been 4 and a bit days! Definitely a cause for going home early today though I think.

Though even that is trickier at the moment as we have been booted off our normal car park (owned by the College) while they do some building work, and instead now have to park down at the waterfront. Only a few more metres to walk and an extra (but very busy) road to cross, but it feels like a lot more and is not as convenient. It should only be for three months, so that will be during the summer and hopefully dry most days at least. Will try harder to remember to bring the brolly in though.

Oh yuck, the inner coating of gungey stuff to stop me eating the stitches just fell out while I was having my lunch. No pain or anything (and no sudden rush of blood or gums falling apart), just a bit strange at the moment. And of course the dentist is not answerng the phone over their lunch so I don't know if this is OK or I ought to whizz straight down to Colchester to get it sorted. All I do know is that I feel a bit sick right now at the thought of either option! Really ought to go stick my head out the door for some fresh air I think.

Anyway, the final few days of our week off went nicely. We did get to the cinema and both thoroughly enjoyed The Matrix Reloaded - the fight scenes were fantastic and we had no problems with the plot. Can't wait for the last part when that comes out - presumably around Christmas time. Especially having sat through the full end credits to catch the preview of part three.

Joan finished the fence painting as my mouth was too painful when it came to bending down for the first couple of days - that seems to have passed now at least even if I have got the other issues still to deal with. The garden now looks wonderful and I am very happy with it all.

Finished reading Salmon... and it proved to be the exact bittersweet experience I had anticipated. Really enjoyable stuff but ineveitably cut short and clouded by the knowledge that there won't be any more. Have now started a re-read of Arthur Ransome And Capt. Flint's Trunk by Christina Hardyment which is a very good romp around the real life locations Ransome used verbatim and disguised in the Swallows and Amazons books, which were my absolute favourites as a child and still have a prime spot on the bookshelves today. They inspired me to try sailing in primary school which I loved (although a few years later we went sailing as a family and I was absolutely scared out of my wits - to the point that I made them go back to the dock and drop me off where I then sat in the car on my own for a couple of hours while the rest of them went off again - could have just been a one-off but I've not plucked up the nerve to try it again since).

Now for a meeting to decide who gets to run Martlesham Park & Ride.

Hmmm. Still hurting quite a bit here. Plus hungry cos eating is not a fun experience right now. Oh well, perseverance will pay off I'm sure and maybe by September I'll be able to smile again and eat steaks and stuff.

Didn't go to the cinema in the end yesterday as I didn't feel up to it after all. Maybe today. However, we did watch The Wedding Planner on Sky which was a lot funnier than I was expecting.

Well, that was a fun hour in Colchester this morning with the dentist from hell. OK, so actually it wasn't too bad (lots of pain killers and other drugs) and I now have a gob full of plasticine keeping the stitches free from roving tongues, teeth or other implements but I'm getting a bit ahead of things there. Let us rewind back to Saturday afternoon when I was last in a verbose state.

After a spot of shopping we called in at Helen's for a while then ended up going back there in the evening to play cards. Not my first choice of a fun time as I've never been a cardplayer but I surprised myself by enjoying it thoroughly. Still not 100% sure I see the point of card games, and definitely not sure I understood the rules of the one we were playing but there you go.

Sunday we woke up to nice weather so started off out in the garden. I managed to get the final (fourth!) coat of paint on the gate and a few fence panels done before the rain kicked in for the afternoon. Not to mention the thunder, lightning etc. So that was the end of that! In the evening we went along to Ma & Pa's for an early birthday dinner for the Mother. Her birthday is not actually until this Saturday but they are going out and we don't know what I'll be up to eating this weekend so all agreed it was better to go early. And very nice food and a good evening it turned out to be.

Monday was the complete opposite - woken up early by thunder and rain lashing against the windows. So after a lazy morning we watched The Others. Very good if a little slow moving film. Nicole Kidman was excellent and we were also pleased to be surprised and impressed by Eric Sykes playing it almost straight. A very good twist at the end too. If you don't want the film spoiled go ahead to the next paragraph now, otherwise read on as it bugged me slightly despite being good. As with The Sixth Sense what we seem to be dealing with here are ghosts who have little or no problem interacting with the physical world. I know the "they don't evem know they are dead" premise wouldn't work if they kept walking through doors and not being able to pick things up but it does strike me as being a bit odd. I guess I am just used to the idea of ghosts haunting people, rather than trying to carry on as if nothing had happened.

Anyway, after that the weather picked up again so I was able to colour in a few more panels while Joan did some serious weeding and pruning and even planting before exhaustion got the better of us.

Tuesday we went out for the day on the train. Walked up to the station here and with the iad of the Anglia Plus day ticket ended up in Ely. Had a nice walk up to and then around the cathedral (but nearly £5 each to get in - a bit steep really). I may have said before on here - I don't really know what I believe in religion-wise but the buildings that go with Christianity really are wonderful things. And not just the detail or vast scale of them, things like the simple smell of old stone or the knowledge of hundreds of years of history concentrated into the space really make me happy. After an hour or so we wandered on in to the town centre where we had a very nice lunch from a fish & chip shop while sheltering from the rain, looked round a few other shops and then headed back to the Cathedral for another look (well, we had to get our money's worth). Then, with no aim in mind wandered back to the station. As luck (bad) would have it we just missed a train to Norwich where we had thought of going on to and had an hour to wait for the next one. As there was one back to Ipswich a lot sooner we took that instead, but got off at Bury St. Edmunds for a further dose of wandering. Just stuck to the shops this time rather than going down to the Abbey (well, one ecclesiastical masterpiece a day is usually sufficient!). Of course that meant we ended up paying a visit to the Thorntons Cafe where seriously gooey cakes were consumed but you can't have everything. Then it was back on the train to Ipswich and on to home - which was the only train to have a real problem all day as we were stuck behind a freight train for the docks which was moving very slowly. Ended up getting home about half an hour late but worth it for the great time.

Yesterday we again started in the garden - more painting and pruning - before once again the rain drove us inside. So we watched The Matrix in order to remind ourselves of what was going on before we go to see part two - probably tonight.

Which brings us back to today. And now one quarter of my mouth has been sliced open, cleaned to within an inch of its life, re-built with artificial bone and sewn up again. I admit I had a few doubts and nearly just got up and walked out while I was waiting for him to start but persevered and went through with it. Hopefully I will be able to eat again fairly normally within a day or so though as I didn't do very well for lunch.

Rather than coming straight home we went to Colchester Zoo. Great fun, loads of fluffy things to go "Aaaah" at and indeed not so fluffy things too. Well, the baby elephant was definitely cute but in no way could you describe it as fluffy without problems from the trades description people. I think we saw pretty much everything, even had a ride on a little land train wotsit getting closer to some of the beasties. I definitely want a monkey or two, some red pandas and a tiger now though.

Oh, and started a new book too. As I don't want to wait too long before getting in to the final part of Otherland I have sneakily condensed the intervening first non-fiction and the fiction choice into one with The Samoln Of Doubt by Douglas Adams which collates the last few bits of Dirk Gently story he was working on with a whole bunch of other articles, essays and general stuff found on his hard disc after he died. All fascinating so far.

Hooray, I'm on holiday!

Had a really good evening last night with Lesley and Mick. Joan cooked up a wonderful meal and we all got on just fine. Well, we knew we would but there you go.

No plans to speak of now, just a nice empty week stretching out before us. Might pop in to Ipswich this afternoon to get a birthday present for Mum if Joan feels up to it. She fell asleep in the garden yesterday and got a bit burned. Not nice.

Finished Mountain... this morning and now deciding what to read next. Watch this space.

OK, here's what I intended to say yesterday when the thing refused to work:

Well, the filler changes are now OK so hopefully we can finally get these blasted books signed off. Looking at a delivery date of 13th June so I will have to make sure our storage area gets a final clear out before then. Not helped by stuff turning up unexpectedly of course - today we have received 10,000 Traveline information cards (and 50 holders!) which I will disperse around the town this afternoon.

Had a very relaxed evening yesterday after the foot woman cancelled. Got a Chinese meal in to save cooking and collapsed on the sofa while watching Baz Luhrman's updated Romeo + Juliet. Most excellent. I studied the play for O level English Language and despite 18 years having passed since then without looking at it again I was surprised by how much I recalled. And also by how many references to it there are in everyday life - songs, tv shows, other films or books or plays - it seemed like every couple of minutes someone said a libe that has been reused as a title or whatever. So add a familiar topic to the modern setting with superb camera work and other visuals I was just enthralled. My only complaint was that we had borrowed the dvd so I won't be able to watch it again easily. But I think I will obtain a copy if I see it cheap anywhere - especially now it has been re-released with a bunch of extras and a commentary.

Today all is going quietly here. Sonic is out at a meeting in Bawdsey so we are able to proceed at our own pace. Of course my pace is being dictated by Pindar as I wait for the final versions of the books to approve. I have even started sorting out the junk on my desk in advance of not being here next week. Must be desperate!

Several hours later....

Hmmm, Blogger doesn't seem to be working today so I can't do anything with this other than add to it. Had another nice walk in the sunshine at lunchtime. Managed to restrain myself and not buy anything with my last few pennies before payday tomorrow. Not even an Ice Cream today. Still, we are going shopping when I pick Joan up tonight so will probably end up with a couple of tubs of the stuff. And nothing arrived from Pindar yet either.

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So that was yesterday in a nutshell. We did indeed go shopping but by the time we got home I had such a splitting headache that I went straight to bed with some drugs. Got up for an hour or so at 9 then slept through until today. A totally wasted evening when I wanted to help Joan get the house in shape for tonight when we have friends for dinner.

Hey ho. Today I have so far managed to pull a muscle in my neck when putting my toothbrush away so am in a bit of nagging pain fromthat. The insides of the books finally arrived over night so I have checked and approved them but only one cover has made it so far. Back to the waiting then. Hopefully they will all be here and sorted by 3.30 as I want to leave then.

OK, so I did manage to get out after thinking I wouldn't after yet another PC lock-down crash thing. I just gave up on it eventually and hit the town. A spot of air, a chat with Joan, a look at Kerrang (interview with Iron Maiden and review of the new Metallica album) and had an ice cream. Feel much better now!

Well, I have now reached that stage in the week before a holiday where Friday cannot come soon enough. I am all poised to sign off the first couple of books to finally get this production underway when lo and behold more changes are produced. One to a timetable for Monday and one to a bit of filler text. I could cry, I really could. And then to add to the confusion there are some other changes coming sometime in early July which we don't have full details for but I need to add something in about. What did I do? I'm sure I would remember offending the Gods of timetable production wouldn't I? Quite how I am going to relax next week now with all this lot hanging over me I just don't know. Mind you, surely they can't halt production again while I am off. Can't they? Please?

I'm sure things would be better if the rain was coming down in buckets. But instead it is an absolutely glorious day out there in the world. The Suffolk Show is on and I would much rather be there getting chilled with the sheepies and stuff than sat here trying to translate Mike's timetables for public consumption. Or at home in the garden. Or on a beach. Or anything other than this really. But I am just too damn conscientious and will get these books sorted if it kills me (or I kill someone else!). It wouldn't be so bad if we hadn't just spent all that time tinkering with the names of timing points and such like - I am now having to go through any new file to make sure all the changes are there. Consistency after all these years is nice, but a right royal pain in the arse. It would be even nicer if my PC didn't decide to lock up and take 15 - 20 minutes to come back up two or three times a day at the moment as well. Fingers crossed we do actually get new kit and hurrah for deciding to bring my book with me every day now.

Now for some sun and fresher air than can be found in here...

Calmed down a bit now. At least there have been no unexpected urgent timetable changes this morning that need to be squeezed in to the books. A couple have turned up but they are not desperate enough for me to hold production up any longer. Heck, they haven't even chosen their own start dates and will be waiting for the Traffic Comissioner to do that for them, so I can hardly put stuff in I don't have full information on.

Finally got my P&R newsletter approved (after I've made a copule of changes) so that can go out shortly. Woo hoo. Another job done and dusted. I will of course make sure that gets saved for a day or two as the diary is very empty for this week and I don't want to leave myself with nothing to do later on. Mind you, I'm sure I could be more productive if Charles wasn't chairman of the social club bar. He is sitting here at the moment ringing around people to cover shifts while he is on holiday and I am getting a bit fed up of hearing the same thing over and over again.

Haven't mentioned it up to now, but yes we have started watching Big Brother again. Right from the start this time. A reasonable bunch of people it would seem with nothing standing out as far as any of them are concerned to make us want to get rid of anyone as yet. We will have to see how the weeks progress. Still not quite sure what makes the show such compelling viewing but there you go.

Still not got any definitive plans for what we will be doing next week on our holiday. Never managed to book any form of break away from home but we will still manage to relax I hope. It would be just our luck to have booked up to get to Paris though as it seems that most of France is about to go on strike.

Instead of the usual driving to pick Joan up last night (well, yesterday afternoon really as the shop did shut at 3) I walked in for a change. This enabled us to walk home along the beach rogether with an ice cream. All very nice but I won't be doing it again unless Joan specifically asks me to as even after a short day she was rather tired by the time we got in. So was I (!) and we ended up snoozing for nearly two hours before dinner. Add to that a full nights sleep and you would think we would be feeling chipper and dandy this morning, but no. We were both wandering about like zombies.

I was brought to life and then annoyed by the radio though. Not the radio itself you understand just what they were saying on it. Today is of course theoretically the first day of construction at Martlesham P&R so they did a little piece on it. First interviewing a Labour councillor who although supportive of the scheme was very woolly in the things he was saying. Not a very good defender of some of the more "touchy" issues we have had to overcome to get the thing going. And then a few minutes later one of the Conservatives phoned up to basically slag the whole thing off, to the point of claiming the existing sites weren't succesful etc. Fair got my blood boiling. Luckily Mark Murphy lived up to the award he just won for news presenter of the year and was able to turn most of it around - after all it was only last week they asked people to phone in and say what they thought of buses in Suffolk. Nearly all the calls they had praised P&R to the skies and they were so surprised by this that they called here for collaboration. I ended up going on air to confirm we do our best and the praise was justified (how did I forget to write that on here before? Simon Barnett, radio star!). I do sometimes wish we could get the politicians out of the loop, but then I guess we wouldn't be a council!

And already this morning the Police have been on in a tizzy that we might be blocking roads this week when the Suffolk Show is on. As if we would be that stupid!

So, another bank holiday monday. Another day where Simon is sat at the keyboard instead of being out in the sun shine. Not my fault this time though as the garden is currently full of thick and very smelly smoke rising from next door but one where they seem to be burning old socks or something. So I can't sit out on one of our nice chairs that I've just extracted from the shed and cleaned the winter off of. Can't even hang the washing out. So I will sit here and waffle, have a bit of lunch and hopefully by then he will have run out of things to incinerate so I can have at least half an hour before it is time to get Joan. Heck, I have even got my shorts on for the first time this year so he'd better stop at some point.

Friday turned out to not be the relaxing afternoon easing into the long weekend I planned. Just as I was begining to think all was finally sorted with the area books and I could maybe scoot off early the phone rang. Charles had been up to Norwich with Sonic and they had called in to see First Eastern Counties before leaving. Who had given them copies of some more changes they are making. So naturally Chaz phoned to let me know. Luckily we already had copies in the office that had been posted so I was able to do some frantic work to get them sorted out. So at least when Sonic did come wandering in (why is he still so keen? Anyone else would have taken the chance for an early finish) I had the satisfaction of being able to tell him the stuff was already with Pindar and would be in the books. But that is it for changes now. No more. Or we'll never get the damn things delivered (after all, the cover date was meant to be today!).

Anyway, not much excitement for me this weekend what with Joan being at work and all. Saturday I had a walk in to town in the morning which was nice for the exercise and then had a lazy afternoon. We did watch the Eurovision Song Contest though in the evening and I can't say I'm surprised that our entry scored nothing. Some are saying it is a response to Tony Blair throwing us into the USA's war on Iraq but I think a lot of it must also come down to the song itself being pretty dire and the girl not being able to sing.

Yesterday I did some thrilling ironing while Richard recorded some stuff off the computer. I thought I would be free of that now he has his own but it seems not. Turns out his hard drive can actually be heard on the recordings which does not bode well for me getting peaceful weekends. OK, so partly I bring it on myself by feeling a bit sorry for him and lonely some days when Joan is working but...

Feeling generally OK with things these days now I am clear of the tablets. At least I presume they are all gone from the system now. I do tend to get a bit emotional at times - I can often feel myself about to go when watching tv and sad stuff happens - but I can live with that. Just means I'm human after all.

Oh well, time for a bite to eat, a quick look at the forums then hopefully some reading in the sun.

So today I've come in to find the PC I happily switched off last night turned on again but frozen up with a mass of empty windows and logged in as someone called Andy from IT. Didn't even have the common courtesy to speak to Gary who was still here at the time or turn it off when he'd finished. I ask you! I bet half the problems and crashes I have come from things like that.

As I write I'm waiting on approval of the p&r newsletter from the commuincations manager and then that will be me happy for the week. Just a few last bits of timetables to check and we should be done on the books too at last. Whatever happens I will be glad to be out of here tonight for a nice restful long weekend. Only pity being Joan working all three days of it. Grrrr.

Bloody computers and those who maintain them! They got my colours back fine yesterday but lost my connection to the outside world to make up for it. Hopefully today everything is back to normal and working. Of course, that implies that "working" is the normal state of affairs in here, which is unlikely. And actually, I now have 32bit colour rather then the 24 I had before so actually in the end I've come out better off. Fingers crossed that it all lasts for a while or until we get our new kit. If we get our new kit. Still not sure if that will actually happen as all purchases and things like that are supposed to be on hold until it is known who is moving to Endeavour House, what they will get new, what they will take with them and so forth. It seems likely that we will be one of the teams to move as we fit most of the categories for selection that have been published so far but nothing has been confirmed as yet. And the clock is ticking. I assume the workers are back in finishing off the building, but no-one has let us know about that either.

Anyway, Tuesday night went really well. A bit of concern to start with - while Joan and I were waiting outside the Magic Wok for the bus a couple of Police Cars and an Ambulance went tearing past. Turned out a car had wrapped itself around the telephone pole at the bottom of Ma & Pa's garden so when we went past there was much activity, flashing lights etc. And of course a top quote from Barry - "Oh look, they've stopped an Ambulance for speeding". He really is from another planet. Still, no damage done to the garden - they are just concerned about the car still being there and hope it will be towed away before some idiot sets light to it.

So, we all ended up at Felixstowe Ferry in the Ferry Boat Inn. Plenty of old faces as well as the crew from in here so good chat as well as superb food. A bit expensive (the price Bob had originally anticipated turned out to be a special deal, and they didn't repeat it for us despite there being a crowd of 30 all buying drinks as well) but very tasty fish & chips. We really ought to get down there more often ourselves just for the odd meal, it being so close and all. Perhaps with summer coming. Followed the meal with a walk around the boatyard and on the beach (others went to the Victoria for another pint) and then the bus brought us home again. I think of all the people who have come and gone while I've been working here Bob will be one of the most missed along with Colin. Even Joan says she is going to miss him.

Yesterday was spent footling around here on the latest Park & Ride newsletter. I just need to run it past Sonic now before getting them copied and up to the sites.

Joan is off again today and has just been up to the doctors for blood tests. She is still getting odd lumps and stuff from the rash hanging around so they are going to do a full work up on her and get the results rushed back. I hope there will be nothing serious wrong but better to find out now.

Now well in to Mountain... and it is proving just as good as parts 1 and 2. The only "problems" being the sheer number of characters to keep up with meaning we haven't seen them all again yet and that the book itself is so damn heavy to lug about with me! I think I can put up with that though.

OK, so yesterday ended on a good note for the IT department. Today, I'm not so happy. Partly my fault cos I was tinkering with resolutions on the monitor yesterday (with no results apparent at the time) - today I have come in to find the PC refusing to show more than 8bit colour. Meaning everything looks fairly horrible. And of course the bits I need to get at to fix it are locked off and only accessible to the IT dept. So that's been reported to the helpdesk, but according to Richard could take anything up to 5 days to sort out. Not good enough if you ask me. Things were so much simpler when we had our own IT group (i.e. before they all got merged in to one corporate muddle) and they were only up the corridor and we knew who they all were, and it was all fields around here and you could leave your door unlocked, the kids could walk to school on their own... Stop it Simon, you seem to be turning in to an old git!

So I have been muddling along with a restricted pallette and strange combination of font sizes on screen, confining myself to jobs that don't need me to play with pictures. But I won't be able to put them off for ever.

We had Bob's presentation this morning. We got him a very nice framed 1807 map of the county which I find myself seriously coveting. And then had the usual run-down of career highlights and stuff. Bob was also very forthcoming about the stuff they ask about in the exit interview which was quite interesting. I don't suppose what he said will make any difference though. Roll on tonight and the celebrations.

Last night was a bit odd as we spent most of it in different rooms while Joan watched TV I didn't fancy. So I tiddled about on the computer a bit then sat and read. Finished off Mercator and can say I thoroughly enjoyed it. The only issue I would have with the book is that for the biography of a cartographer (among many other talents it turns out) there weren't enough examples of his maps included in the illustrations. OK, so I wouldn't have wanted the book to be too much bigger and thus more expensive but none the less, a few more would have been nice. So now I have turned back to Tad Williams and Otherland book three - Mountain Of Black Glass. Not exactly advanced the plot as yet (well, I have only read 20 pages) but so far it is living up to the standard set by the others. And to cap it all I saw in Waterstones yesterday that he has a new book out after spending the last couple of years working on a web-based project that I wasn't prepared to subscribe to.

Well, I only got slightly rained on at lunchtime today, which was lucky as it is absolutely throwing it down now. I thought we were supposed to get good weather at this time of year? And I was a good little Simon and only did what I went out to do (pay some bills) and didn't get side-tracked into spending more money on stuff. I was very tempted, but resisted in case of needing the money tomorrow. For tomorrow is Bob's retirement bash along the sea front at Felixstowe featuring an old bus, food and drink.

Anyway, not too much hassle from himself as yet today. Perhaps I will be left to get on with things.

Actually managed to remember part of last night's dream for long enough to mention it for the first time in ages. Mainly because for the first time I can recall I found myself actually questioning the dreamed events as they happened. Usually you just accept them at the time but when waking up think they were a bit odd. This time though, the dream featured me being rescued from drowning in a swimming pool by a Mermaid and I actually thought at the time this was a bit odd, there being no food and how would she cope with all the chlorine and stuff.

Also in the unusual category - the post came before we left for work this morning. And with it came a CD from Monica in Seattle. A Johnny Cash tribute album that looks pretty good to me. Will have to give that a spin tonight, some artists I have heard of before and a bunch of new names.

Not much else to add now. Some girl from IT came round earlier checking out what kit we had in preparation for a brace of new PCs coming in the next couple of weeks. That'll be nice. Another new person has started on the group but not talked to him yet so no information to relate...

And another weekend has been and nearly gone. Time sure does seem to fly past at an alarming rate some days. I'm sure there are deep learned treatises out there in the world that can explain why some days seem to go in a flash while others drag, maybe I'll seek some of them out one day. If I ever have the time!

So, Friday. Had a car park meeting in the morning, which was about as thrilling as normal. All useful information to find out what the "competition" for Park & Ride is doing (especially if they are planning to put prices up) but some of the people involved just make my skin crawl/are soooo boooooooring. Talk about stretching points over seven sentences where a couple of words would do. (Yes, I know that is usually my trick). Still, always good to get out of the office for an hour or so. And I can always do shopping on the way back rather than at lunchtime thus saving a few more minutes towards another flexi-day off. Even more handy given that the weather kept me in all week anyway. Plus they also keep my name in the minds of the upper echelons of the Ipswich Partnership rather than anyone else's and that may well come in handy some day.

The rest of the day was spent mopping up and checking the returned timetable pages. I think we are pretty much all sorted now and hopefully Sonic will be happy for us to go to print when he has a look tomorrow. That is assuming he does come back from his holiday and hasn't realised how much he winds us all up and does the decent thing and not return. No, I'm sure he will be there in the morning as full of energy as ever. We will have to find some way of bringing him down to earth a bit though. Oh well, there's a bank holiday coming up so only 9 working days until our week off to put up with him.

Yesterday Joan was at work so I had a semi-relaxed day. Got a stack of ironing cleared up, a look at the Llamasoft forums and some Cube stuff. Pretty close to being what the Doctor ordered really. Plus we allowed ourselves a Chinese for tea which was bloody lovely.

Today we have been out and about in Felixstowe. Took the old gate down to the tip then when we were down that end of town drove up to the dock viewing area for a walk on the beach there. Then we decided to have a look around Landguard Fort as it was open. I went there many years ago (while I was still at College, and more to see if I could use it as a good vantage point to get some pictures of the docks to use on my dissertation) but Joan had never been before. They have spent a lot of money lately and it really has become an interesting place to visit now. We even managed to get a guided tour just for the two of us, which was nice. Much work still needs doing, and most of the rooms are just bare shells at the moment with no real clues as to what they were used for over the different stages of the place's development but then that lets the imagination fill in the gaps. There have been a number of different forts on the site over the years since the 11th or 12th Century and what is left dates from 1744, 1860ish and some World War Two additions so plenty of history there - in fact it is the site of the last attempted invasion of British shores - by the Dutch in the 1600s.

Part of the site also houses Felixstowe Museum so we had a look around that as well. Again some interesting stuff. Not as much as I would have liked on the growth of the town itself, the architecture of some of the buildings and so forth but still pretty interesting. And again much expanded since I last took a trip round. It is so easy to forget things that have happened in the town over the years and always nice to be reminded. Just as an example where Landguard Terminal stands at the docks now used to be a Seaplane research station - it must have been wonderful to have them buzzing overhead, all new shapes and types cropping up. That was one of the things I used to like back in Welwyn Garden City when the British Aerospace factory was still producing planes down the road in Hatfield.

Then it was back to the here and now when we got home. Put another coat on the gate to hide the marks and scuffs it received in the hanging (it was looking lovely when I gave the bits to Jerry, what on earth did he do to it?). Then also slapped a coat on a bit of the fence that will need another coat when we re-paint the whole lot while we are off. Nice to spend so much of the day out in the sun (and only a teensy bit of rain) and I feel quite virtuous after it. Joan has now gone off to play Bingo with Helen so I will tinker about on here a bit more and hope they don't come home empty-handed.

Well, the weather did not permit (in fact we had hail, lightning and the loudest clap of thunder I can ever recall hearing just when I was thinking of going out). Which didn't exactly leave me in the best of spirits, and what with stupid phone calls and emails coming in I got progressively more gloomy all afternoon to the point that I left at 4 rather than my normal 5ish. And then feeling down was not the best place for me to be when I got to track 10 on the CD that was in the car - Bruce Springsteen - The River (and indeed, the title track). Gets me going at the best of times that one so I was almost on tears when I got home. Still, an hour of piece and quiet did the job and I was almost perked back up again by the time I picked Joan up.

There was nowt of note on the telly so we watched Spider-Man from DVD as borrowed off Richard. Enjoyed it loads, even if they did go for the cop-out kill off the bad guy ending that comic based films seem to favour. OK, so some of the effects were a bit dubious in places and it naturally suffered from having to be an origin story rather than throwing us straight in to the action, but on the whole a good, entertaining couple of hours. Which is all a film needs to be really.

Today I have been showing a couple of people from Bedford how to do Park & Ride properly. Another lunch at Pals, but they weren't able to pay for me this time. Boo.

The word from Joan at home is that Jerry has finally managed to get the gate up today. Huzzah. It should look nice as well so I'm quite looking forward to getting home and seeing it. And should keep the neighbours from sticking their noses in a bit more, which is always welcome. Especially as we do seem to have a fairly nosey lot down our way.

Oh well, a bit more work to squeeze in now then I'll be off.

If all goes to plan, the gate should be up by the time we get home tonight. I got to see it assembled last night but Jerry has had to alter it slightly so it will need another coat of paint or two after all. There's something for me to look forward to!

Otherwise life ticks on as usual. So far this morning I have produced another two maps and sorted out 50 or so photos from the batch I took yesterday. I hope this presentation goes down well after all the effort I've put in for it! Next up is sorting out some thrilling P&R facts and figures to give to the posse from Bedford who are coming to see how to do things tomorrow. And also a similar lot for a local school who want to do P&R as a project. I have a horrible feeling I might end up talking to 100+ kids at some point.

And of course at lunchtime I hope to get out and book a couple of days away. Weather permitting.

I'll take that as a no then.

Er, have I just broken this again?

Where on earth has the day gone? OK so I can answer that really - I spent nearly all morning at the two Park & Ride sites taking photos for Mitchell to use in a presentation next month but it still seems to have flown past since I got back to the office. And most of that time was spent doing the maps for said presentation too. I hope it goes all right (especially as I will be in the audience!).

Having started it on Sunday we finished watching Runaway Bride last night. Quite a good if lightweight comedy, and of course by the same people as Pretty Woman so it was bound to be reasonable. I still don't see what the fuss is over Julia Roberts but she does fit the parts well. Also watched the end of this year's series of I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here which we had followed from day one but I hadn't mentioned before purely because I couldn't be bothered typing that title all the time! Again, a fairly entertaining series with a good mix of people we liked and couldn't stand. Plus it is always nice to see people plucked from their matural environment and left struggling with new stuff. I'm not sure how they will be able to change it up for a third series though unless they send them somewhere else. And then next week Big Brother starts again so that could end up sucking us in over the summer. Not sure why a house full of people sitting around chatting gets so addictive but despite not paying attention to the first two we were thoroughly hooked last year.

Bit of a let down earlier - last night we decided we would do something nice at the start of our week off in June (before tooth torture commences) and hit upon a weekend to Paris. When I called up to book though it seems they aren't runing a trip then. Marvellous. Will now dedicate tomorrow lunchtime to finding a suitable alternative (even if it means staying in this country).

Right, onwards with a spot of work.

Busy weekend. And still a bit of pain from the mouth today (just thought I'd throw that in - hoping for a sympathy vote or something!).

Anyway, Friday night we went along to see Helen as she was all alone and bored. Main entertainment came from the Police helicopter hanging around the next street and using its PA system to try and shout at people to come out from the bushes they were hiding in. Nothing appeared in the news relating to it though so I guess it wasn't a major international elephant smuggling ring being aprehended or anything thrilling like that.

Sat and Sun can sort of be rolled in together here as we spent the major part of both days working around the house and garden. Grass cut; new gate bought and painted (Jerry is allegedly going to assemble and erect it for us today, but as the rain has been fairly constant since mid-morning I won't be at all surprised to see it still in pieces tonight); loads more weeds removed and proper plants put in instead, dodgy bit of wall finally repainted nearly 2 years after next door had their extension and messed it up, general tidying in the house, washing, ironing and stuff like that. Let's just say we both slept well both nights. Saturday also saw a trip to the Lions Club boot sale (Joan bought a few plants, I replaced a Jean Michel Jarre tape (Oxygene) with a CD). Oh, and today Joan has had to buy us a new duvet due to Tawny being rather ill on the old one.

Still reading Mercator (in fits and starts - just not had time to turn more than a couple of pages over the last few days). Next time Joan is off for the weekend I plan to make sure we spend some more time relaxing or doing stuff away from the house rather than just working. It shouldn't be too much of a problem to arrange as we start a week's holiday then too. Not likely to get away for more than day trips though as the Thursday is the first trip to Colchester for major mouth work. Happy Days.

Aaargh, must stop going out at lunch times. Just bought two Springsteen CDs to replace a bit more vinyl. Bad Simon, no pudding for you tonight!

Seems like it just goes to show - you don't get something for nothing. This last tooth may have been the easiest to come out with the least trauma at the time, but I'm still suffering in pain terms here. Mainly the rawness of the gaping hole but also a bit of residual jaw throb. Am going to attempt to get through today without resorting to pain kilers but am not too proud to give in if I have to. And from all the horror stories people were wafting around when I mentioned what was going to happen I still think I've had a better deal by getting it done at the dentist than by going the hospital route. No stitches, no bruising, able to eat again almost straight away... I'd just rather have not had them done in the first place because that would mean I wouldn't need what is still to come either.

Busy day yesterday sorting out book changes, book changes and book changes. Did manage to get out at Lunchtime though, and made the mistake of wandering in to Game. Where I ended up wandering out again with a copy of Beach Spikers. They had it new for £19.99 and second hand for £19.97 (!) but a bit of haggling got me another £5 off the second hand copy which was about what I was prepared to pay (after all, it was selling at £39.99 a few weeks ago and there was no way I was going to pay that much). Pretty good beach volleyball game that I look forward to getting the hang of. I also had to leave early to pick up a stock transfer from Argos. A bit of a pain so I tend to only do it if the customer is being a right pain or it is something that will get Joan in someone's good books. However, in this case the customer was me so I did it anyway. So I now also have a Wavebird wireless controller for the Cube. Only one, but at least if I'm using it on my own there is no more need for trailling cables across the lounge. And exhaustive play testing last night has proved it ti be in tip top working order.

Joan was out for dinner with friends so Richard came along. We whipped off a couple more two player levels on Timesplitters then had another go at sorting out some of the problems he's been having with his PC. To which end I have lent him my Zip drive for a few days as his seems to be causing crashes. Now he can at least see if mine will do the same through a different interface.

Got the news this morning that the purchase of land for Martlesham Park & Ride has finally gone through. So we can get cracking on building the thing now. Hoorah. Might still manage to be open for Christmas after all.

Feeling a tad unhealthy right now. Face is throbbing gently and I can feel a bit of a headache coming along. Great.

Met a man about re-painting the white lines at London Road Park & Ride this morning and now just waiting for his prices to come through. I think we will be able to aford him whatever though as they need doing desperately.

OK, so once again I was injected with enough stuff for him to rip my tongue out with no pain never mind a tooth, but this one seems to have been the easiest of the lot. Certainly the quickest and no pain in the pulling part. So now my mouth is symmetrical again and I've managed a spot of soup for lunch. Just the dull throb from the needle impact craters to contend with at the moment. Having an hour or so snoozing earlier probably helped.

It has occurred to me that I forgot to mention that on Sunday night, care of the BBC, we did the national IQ test. I came out at 130 and Joan at 98. What that means is still to be decided - probably just that I read a bit more than she does and I didn't have to leave school and get a job so early.

Have also neglected to mention in the past that I have got my record player up and running again. So am now in the midst of transferring selected albums on to Mini Disc (and also just listening to them for the first time in years). Have been quite surprised by how few albums there are waiting to be done. OK, so I have replaced quite a number with CDs over the years, but there still don't seem to be very many in comparisson with the number of other formats kicking around the house. And yet all my friends at school were astounded by how many records I had. Must prove something or other but I can't think what. Anyway, am definitely enjoying getting re-acquainted with some of the stuff I've not been able to track down on CD. The Thompson Twins at this very moment in time.

Bookwise I settled on Mercator: The Man Who Mapped The Planet by Nicholas Crane. Obviously I can't comment much on the subject as yet due to only being a chapter or so in and him only being about 6, but the books so far is excellent. Wonderfully written with some great language in use.

Oh goat, feeling all nervous and uptight just at the moment due to the impending final tooth extraction in just under two hours time. I'm sure it will go just as easily as theother two, but of course it is a lower rather than upper tooth and thus the brain reckons it will be different and a problem. So to try and distract myself here's a run down on the weekend.

Friday night was Chinese at Helen's and very nice it was too. A good evening withmuch hilarity and jolity.

Saturday Joan was at work and I was left to my own devices again. Spent most of the morning tidying and generally pottering about the house before Richard came along after lunch. Did a bit of Cubeing before he went home again then it was me getting the dinner ready and picking Joan up before a nice relaxed evening. Not very thrilling!

On Sunday Joan was also at work. Again I had a relaxed morning (well, I did some Ironing) before Richard came round for lunch. We then adjourned to the corner of the street as it was time for the Ipswich to Felixstowe historic vehicle run. Lots of old cars, vans, buses, bikes and the like making their way down to the beach for the afternoon. Including Ma & Pa in the Opel of course. The weather was lovely (I have the sunburn to prove that!) and I managed to get some good pictures. Which also finally let me prove the power of the camera on moving targets - now all I need to do is work out the delay between pressing the buton and the picture being taken properly to get better results. It isn't as quick as a normal camera in that aspect, but also isn't as slow as I was expecting resulting in a few pictures with the subject a bit further away than I was aiming for. And then there were thousands of people lining the route and down on the beach all afternoon so a good time was had by all and sundry.

Yesterday Joan was finally allowed a day off so we had a great day together. Went to the new shop in Ipswich - The Range. Sort of general cheap shop with some good stuff thrown in as well and a big garden centre. A kind of B&Q meets QD for those in the know. Can't say I'll be rushing back there on a regular basis but it might prove handy for the odd bargain (although whether they are still bargains after making the trip to Ipswich if you weren't going anyway is another matter). Then after a quick trip to Wickes to look at gates, and laughing at the cost of delivery, it was off to the Beagle for lunch. We decided we deserved a treat after Joan's recent suffering and my impending soft food. And very nice it was too. As always. Finished the afternoon off by planting the plants we'd bought earlier and then general lazing about for the rest of the evening.

So here I am again back in the here and now trying not to think about teeth too much. Finished Feet of Clay earlier having once again enjoyed the ending. Not sure what to read next so will report back on that later. Now I shall post this and find some other form of distraction.

Well, I was right about one thing - the name book was indeed finished on Wednesday night. Very interesting and one that will no doubt be dipped into again in association with other London Books. Am now re-reading Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett. I seem to have managed to forget the majority of the plot so it is proving just as enjoyable as when I first read it a few years back.

Yesterday was very busy sorting out nit-pickedy changes, surprising the purchaser of the millionth Park & Ride ticket and a New Routes meeting. Today is more book changes and more book changes and yet more book changes. I'll be glad to get home tonight for a long weekend I think, even if it does feature the last tooth out on Tuesday. And of course we aren't going straight home either. Instead we are having dinner at Helen & Bhupen's to make up for not doing it on her birthday due to Joan being so ill.

OK, film review time (finally, scream the millions). Stuff we have watched and (mostly) enjoyed of late:

The Fast And The Furious - A bit different from what I was expecting but very enjoyable anyway. I admit I am a bit of a sucker for fast cars, but also got gripped by the plot too.

Legally Blonde - Much better than I was expecting. Have seen so many American College comedies that it was nice to be surprised by a bit of difference in the plot and intelligence in the script.

Saving Private Ryan - Been putting this one off for years after hearing about the grisly first half hour or so, and yes it is pretty gruesome at times but glad we gave it a chance at last. Very well played piece of drama and not too sentimental in the end for Mr Spielberg.

The Parole Officer - Steve Coogan not playing up as much as most of his charachters and actually being watchable as a result. I saw this a while back with Gary and have been meaning to watch it again with Joan ever since, so it turning up on Sky Widescreen was great.

Bridget Jones's Diary - Had avoided this like the plague after all the hype surrounding it and the book inthe first place but finally caved in and found it pretty good. Not as good as all the hype but better than a slap in the face with a wet haddock.

Star Wars Episode II - Attack Of The Clones - I'm turning away from this even more. Not even sure if it's better than Episode I now. Too many things that mess up the continuity of the rest of the series (and indeed internally in the film it self), the plot os just appalling and there are just too many CGi stupidities. So glad I resisted buying it and just borrowed Richard's copy.

And probably some more I can't remember now.

My mouth hurts again. Yup, another tooth out yesterday - that in itself is fine, it's the spot where he stuck the needle in to numb me up that hurts (as usual). The tooth actually came out easier than the first one and I didn't even have to stop him for a rest half way through the pulling process this time. I was about to when he stopped himself to change pliers or something and two seconds later it was out. And less blood than the other one too.

Otherwise yesterday is nothing much to write about. Having got up early ish for breakfast I then went back to sleep until nearly 11! And the afternoon was spent lazing about reading as well. So now I am at work again, clear in my head what to do with the area books (full scale delay, major checking and poking to ensure as good as we can get accuracy) and possibly even ready to do some of the work on them this afternoon.

OK, so as I type this I am waiting for 100 or so pages of book 5 to print out and if the speed doesn't pick up on the printer that's about all I will get done today! Mind you, I had a pretty good meeting this morning with a chap from the Ipswich hotels association about doing more to promote Park & Ride through them so I will still have managed something constructive today. And during that sentence my eagerly awaited reports on whether it is possible to change the layouts at the existing P&R sites has been delivered, so a little light reading there for me.

Speaking of light reading, I guess I should update that section of my musings while I am at it today. Finished off The Riddle And The Knight and enjoyed it thoroughly. Looking forward to reading the other two books I have by Giles Milton over the coming months. I have also started and finished volume two of the Otherland series by Tad Williams - River of Blue Fire. That was absolutely superb, moved the plot of the saga along nicely, introduced a whole load more in the way of subplots, motivations, group dynamics and the like. Really building nicely and I'm so glad I have parts 3 and 4 ready for when I want to read them rather than having to wait for them to be published. That got to be so frustrating a few years back I decided to just buy each book in sets from Authors I liked but wait for the whole lot to be owned before starting to read them. Am now reading What's In A Name? by Cyril M. Harris which is basically a descriptor of where all the names of the stations on the London Underground come from, what they mean etc. So more another book about London than one about trains as such, and again very interesting but also very short so I don't see it still being in active service at the end of the week.

I think that's all I'm going to say today. But still plan to add films watched over the last month at some point.

OK, long time no waffle. I apologise if anyone has been waiting for some! Partly too busy, partly Blogger not publishing what I was writing (hopefully fixed now via a change of template) and partly cos I've been off work and thus additionally busy. Why is it that being at home when you would expect to have all the free time you want actually means no time to think at all?

Anyway, where was I?

Friday 4th April was the day after I'd been ill on the way to work. Woke up still feeling fairly bad but not as bad as Joan. I stayed at home late in order to take her to the Doctor as she really was not well. Some sort of sinus/chest infection jobby that had also produced a nasty looking rash on her legs. Not fun. I won't go into all the gory details and stuff on here but suffice it to say another three visits and four different types of tablet later (including some that stopped her from going out in sunlight and couldn't be taken with milk) she is finally back at work today. Suffering is not quite the word for what she has been through so it is quite nice to finally see her up and about again. I was a bit worried for a while.

I can't recall much of what was done on what day after that as I was just busy working when at work and looking after Joan when at home. But basically that pattern continued until the 15th which also happened to be Richard's 30th Birthday. Joan was fit enough by that point for them all to come round for an hour or so in order for him to have presents. The 16th was Helen's birthday and also my last day at work for a while.

She popped along to see Joan in the afternoon while I got taken out to lunch along with the rest of the group as a "thank you" for all the work we had put in getting the revised rural bus services in and publicised. The plan was to go for a pizza but it seems Pizza Hut refuse to take bookings during the school holidays and when we got there the place was full up to busting. So we went to the pub instead. Had smothered chicken which was fairly nice but not up to Garfunkels standard, and not what I will have should I ever eat there again.

Anyway, getting home that night was pure bliss as I am also back at work today for the first time since then.

OK, so Thursday the 17th was not a particularly fun day for me as I had the first of my Wisdom Teeth out. Only the one as the lower one on the right never developed in the first place. As I'd never had any teeth pulled out before I wasn't sure what to expect. And apart from all the hanging around due to Mr Norfolk running late, waiting for the drugs to kick in etc it wasn't actually too bad. OK, so him pulling felt like pushing and I am still not keen for tomorrow to come but I survived. No major bleeding or anything, just a bit of discomfort for the next few days and a couple of meals worth of soft, squidgy food. Hopefully it will be the same tomorrow despite it being 2 this time. Must remember to buy some pain killers just in case though.

After that though it was time for relaxing, eating Easter eggs and so forth. Or so I thought. Wrong!

Despite the solemn vow last year after all the painting and stuff that we were not going to do any decorating during 2003, I still seem to have spent large chunks of the last week up to my elbows in paint. OK, so I knew I would have to do four doors as they were newly hung (probably mentioned above) and in need of a top coat, but I didn't anticipate doing the kitchen as well. And not just the door! Still, it looks much better blue than it did in green. We even replaced the roller blinds with vertical venetian ones with no real fuss or bother. I do have to confess to being happy with ther result even if I didn't want to do it. Definitely nothing else getting painted in our house this year. The garden of course is another matter, as we bought a load of paint for the fence yesterday. Does it ever stop?

We did manage a whole day of relaxy stuff sort of by virtue of coming in to Ipswich on Thursday last. Did a spot of shopping (woo, new pedal bin for kitchen, new trousers for me) and had a reasonable lunch at The Rep. Joan's was wonderful, mine a bit bland. We had planned to eat in Pals, but just as we had made our minds up the fire alarms for the whole Buttermarket centre went off so we were forced to relocate. Also went round to Ma & Pa's for dinner that night as Grandma was up for a few days. Good time had by all.

Despite not having taken a tablet for a couple of weeks now, I am still having the odd dodgy dizzy moment with increasingly fewer electric shock zappy feelings. Still feel a bit sick of a morning and indeed there have been a couple more throwing up incidents, although fortunately not while in the car. Very odd, but no way I'm going back ont he damn things now.

So now I am back at work and find once again that while I've been off the book production has gone all to pot and back again. Sonic nit-picking basically meaning something needs changing on nearly every page, but of course he isn't in today or tomorrow to clarify what he means by some of them so nothing is going to get done until Wednesday at the very least. I sometimes wonder why I even bother.

Oh, and we have managed to find the time to watch a shedload of films since I last posted but I haven't got the energy to mention them all now. Perhaps next time...

Seems it is. Full update to come.

Is this working again now? I've had to change the template and stuff.

Testing. 1 - 2 - 3.

Well, although still not 100% I am feeling about a zillion times better than I was this morning. Which is nice. Went for a walk in the sun at lunchtime (it then proceeded to rain as I was on my way back) which blew a few cobwebs away and it is continuing to stream in through the windows on and off helping to keep me warm and toasty.

And had a few more files back and got the west area booklet back from printing already so they are in the post and being distributed already. Huzzah for finally getting something done.

0900

Good News - Not only did Joan & Helen win a tidy little sum at the bingo last night, but Joan actuall one some of it herself rather than Helen all the time.

Bad News - I feel like total death today. Dizzy, shivering and even had to stop the car on the way in to work so I could get out and throw up on the roadside. Not a pleasant experience. I don't really know why I continued my journey instead of doing the sensible thing and turning round and going home to bed. If I don't perk up soon I'm probably going to do just that anyway. I am sure it is all connected with the tablet withdrawal and am frankly sick to the back teeth of it (no pun intended). If only we weren't so damn busy here with all the service changes for Monday I would have gone home without a thought, but I'm just too damn conscientious.

Bad News - Still no timetables arrived from Pindar. I have just sent them a note suggesting that they might be advised to get their act together if they want to keep the printing contract when it comes to renewal time. I know they are doing their best but they are holding us up now. OK, so people here have been twiddling about with things up to the last minute but I did warn them in February that we would be having all these changes now so they have had plenty of time to get people ready to work on our stuff.

Bad News - Being grotty earlier meant I made no lunch. But if I do feel like eating anything later I will have to go out and buy it, and it is raining. Quite heavily. In defiance of the forecast.

Dream News - It was a busy night in my head again. First off some sort of extended travelogue through woods near Welwyn Garden City. Not that I recognised them of course, but you know how it is in dreams. You just know where you are even if the location bears no relation to anywhere you have ever been or seen. Then there was a long and involved plot involving hospitals and Llamasoft. Not sure why the two got connected but there you go. The main plot had a huge gathering of forum members at Yak's house, parts of which were accessed via ladders and trapdoors rather than simple staircases. But then I was also having to go off to hospital to (a) visit Ernie and (b) keep appointments of my own that were going to mean surgery and all sorts of other goings on. At that point I woke up feeling fine, dandy and ready to go to work. Then realised it was only 4am and decided a bit more sleep was called for.

That produced yet another "Back to Argos" dream. Newmarket again, and totally realistic this time, with no strange extra stockrooms or expanded loading bays or other improvements that have featured in previous dreams on the subject. With the current Jacqui/Claire management team in place. But it was very much an "on loan" from Suffolk CC situation where I was giving them a few weeks help to sort out a bad mess rather than going back permanently and they were paying dearly for it. Of course waking up from that one with the alarm found me feeling as crappy as I still am - see above!

1000

Good News - I knew if I waited long enough before posting this there would be some. A couple of files arrived at last and we have at least been able to get one of the two update books up to Design & Print. Who have since complained about spots on the copies. Can't bloody win here. So now for some more...

Bad News - Although for Joan this time. Seems that although Gill is going next week and Marion from Ipswich is coming in (should really be good news that bit but...) they are also getting Peter back and Lee has to go to Bishops Stortford instead. This is definitely bad as Lee had got the stockroom looking the best I have seen it since I worked there while Peter is generally a pain in the posterior.

1100

Good News (I think) - I'm still sat here and haven't had to go home ill. I feel pretty ill but am still grimly clinging on in the hope that I can at least get these damn timetables sorted before I give up.

D'oh! Forgot to mention earlier. Had another slightly surreal experience on the way to work this morning. Saw my old car hurtling round the A12/A14 roundabout at Nacton. It's lost a wheel trim but otherwise looked OK (and was going faster than I would ever have gone round there!). I guess it was bound to happen eventually, when I'd been through enough cars or whatever but still slightly odd to see someone else behind the wheel.

And the quest for John Mandeville's book has been as easy as predicted. Not seen it in the shops yet but did find it on the interweb and have downloaded and printed it for later consumption.

Still waiting for files of course. Have had a few in but the whole process is just dragging today. Even the age-old method of going out for a walk in town failed to produce any new arrivals. In fact, all that did was to leave me feeling a bit gloomy at seeing lots of nice things in the shops but having no spare money due to the forthcoming (and much moaned about) teeth stuff. Oh well, only six months and all that will be over and done with.

Hmm, must have been major congestion on the interweb yesterday - the files I was waiting for (well, some of them) turned up at ten to three. Having been emailed at ten to eleven and twelve-ish. It's not even as if they were particularly large files either. Very annoying and by the time I'd finished sorting them out it was too late for me to get back to Felixstowe to pick Joan up. Grrrr.

There then followed a slightly strange and surreal evening - we made our Wills. Something we've been thinking about doing since we first got a mortgage and hastened by the experiences last year with June next door and then Ernie shuffling off this mortal coil. Having to actually think about what we'd want to do if we were in need of serious medical intervention or lost our marbles was quite sobering. Not to mention deciding what to do with the old corpse when the time comes. Plus there was then stuff like making sure neither of us would have to sell the house to pay for care and a few other twiddles. All of which pushed the bill up to nearly £500. Which was a bit more than we bargained for but was all stuff that needed to be done. Joan listed out a few individual bits & bobs she wanted to go to specific relatives but frankly I haven't got anything I'm attached to in that sort of way. Oh well, I can at least snuff it in peace now!

Today we have more waiting to be done followed by frantic proof checking and (I hope and pray) assembly of update booklets to get printed so we can start giving them out tomorrow. Even I'm begining to get a little cheesed off with the speed of things now.

Playing the waiting game with Pindar again. Stuff they've had for a couple of weeks is still not here, stuff I sent yesterday is back already. Does my head in, and gets everyone else moaning at me. Hey ho.

Picked up Joan's tablets fine last night then watched the '60s film of Batman with my tea. Made me laugh all over again which was nice. Better than feeling down and anxious waiting for the Mrs to come home. Must watch it with the commentary soon.

Then just as it finished came the call from Joan to say she was at Bury, which was my cue to head for Ipswich. Coach arrived safely about 10 minutes after I did and we were home by about nine thirty. She had a pretty good time overall and even managed to obtain a freebie t-shirt and coffee cup thing (one of those posh stainless steel efforts).

And now I'm stuck in the office with the rain falling. Great.

Urgh. Feel all grotty again this morning. Having felt pretty grotty for much of yesterday too. I think it must be related to dropping the dose on the old anti-depressants again but don't quote me on that. Seems logical though.

Anyway, Joan arrived safe and sound (despite the suspension going on the coach) and by all accounts had a good evening chatting before turning in. Spoke to her again this morning and she didn't sleep all that well, but then I never do when I'm away either. In fact I even woke up and had to get a drink at 4 this morning - can't remember the last time that happened (but I think it is due to being dehydrated after the effects of yesterday and last night). Tawny wasn't best pleased either.

So, The Black Hole was actually a lot better than I remembered. I know I must have seen it on TV at least once before but otherwise we are back to the original 1979 cinema release (when my teacher was also in the cinema - I jokingly said I should go sit with him and his girlfriend and it has been recycled as me intending to ever since. Bloody families. Mind you, I can also recall the supporting feature was something about rodeos). Some of the effects were really rather good - especially the weightlessness bits. Still not sure about the ending though - it appears that Reinhart ends up in hell merged with Maximillian but quite where the survivng heroes end up I'm not too sure.

Some pretty vivid dreams again last night too. The first one started off in a fairly sane manner - Started off at a big theatre accompanied by people I used to go to chool with talking computer games before mutating in to a new scene where I was working somewhere that was a sort of cross between here and a post office and was showing the brother Richard around before he got stuck in to whatever his job was supposed to be. That then shifted again to me helping BBC newsreader Fiona Bruce to escape from this strange office as it was under attack (this bit I can understand as I did watch her reading the news which was mainly about the war in Iraq just before I went to sleep). We had to do a whole bunch of climbing walls and scrambling down slopes before ending up on the edge of London. Never knew my office was so big! Anyway, from there we had to get down to the west country somewhere which involved "borrowing" abandoned cars and driving through largely deserted streets (the Embankment was a bit eerie) picking up further refugees on the way. Quite exhausting.

After the interruption for a drink there was another action-packed widescreen adventure. That one started with me cycling around some strange version of Welwyn Garden City with Mum before going through a shop (!) and ending up in a dispute between various members of the Eastenders and Casualty casts over a baby with much violence and running around car parks going on.

I think I need to get my brain more exhausted before sleep.

Today I have already called in at the doctors to sort out Joan's prescriptions that she forgot to update before she went away. Which meant I was late arriving but luckily managed to grab the last space in the car park. I can pick it up tonight so that means an early finish will also be required. Shame. Will be popping out over lunch too as (a) I have a credit card bill to pay and (b) I was too lazy to make any bread to enable me to make sandwiches.

Why can't people make their bloody minds up? About ten minutes after I posted yesterday Joan phoned to say it was all on again after all. So I am just back from dropping her off at the bus. And naturally missing her like crazy already - especially after finding a note from her in the fridge when I went to get a drink! Oh well, I know at least 4 of the people she is travelling with so I am sure they will have a good time.

Went around to Ma & Pa for lunch earlier - well, it is Mother's Day after all. Very nice and she liked her present.

Finished the Adventures of Dougal while I was sat outside Argos waiting for Joan to come out last night. Very good stuff, especially as most of it was actually written as book rather than tv scripts so worked wonderfully. Three more to read which I think are all tv transcripts but should still be just as enjoyable. Have now started The Riddle And The Knight by Giles Milton. Story of his search to prove or disprove the validity of a book written in the 1350s by Sir John Mandeville claiming to have travelled far and wide and proving the globular nature of the planet. Fascinating stuff so far and has prompted me to go searching for the original after only 20 pages (it is allegedly available as a penguin classic so should be fairly easy to track down).

Right, time to check the Llamasoft forum for a bit, watch The Black Hole on telly, have some dinner and then chill out for the evening playing games or something to stop me missing Joan too much.