Well, I'd like to have loads of stuff to waffle on about here but truth be told there hasn't been all that much going on worthy of mention. Joan is doing a lot better, but not yet feeling up to going back to work on Friday when her sick note runs out. I've just generally been getting on with stuff at my desk most days, attempting to get some sort of order for approaching my targets together. I think I am nearly there, but need Sonic to actually approve some items rather than just letting them build up in the big heap of crap dominating his in-tray. Gary has decided not to go and work for Chambers and now he and Charles have gone off to Switzerland for a couple of weeks. Very cosy I'm sure.

I did spend most of Thursday out and about in the south of the county trying to find new book outlets. Quite successful and lots of pretty scenery that I must take Joan around some day.

Still not received the council job application forms we requested over a week ago, and not been able to make a start on the other one yet. Maybe this afternoon. Also not been online at all so no idea what is going on in Llamaland, but am about to rectify that.

Book-wise I went straight from The Non-Born King to The Adversary and finished that off yesterday. Totally enjoyed the whole saga once again an now determined not to leave it quite so many years before I next peruse the pages. Been catching up on this month's magazines since then before deciding what to go for next. I reckon it will be the companion to the above then into the Mileu strand of the tale as I'm sure that will only take a couple more weeks. I don't want to be on the last book when it comes to our holiday as that's a hardback but there is just over a month still before we depart.

Big Brother has finally come to an end (well done to winner Cameron) and now we have to wean ourselves back on to other things I guess. Although there is the American version now available for watching...

Filmwise we've not seen many because of BB but did laugh a bit at Evolution and go through the usual rollercoaster of emotions with Apollo 13 last night despite having seen it several times before (and indeed knowing how it would end in the first place). I've also watched some of the extras on Tron which were pretty interesting.

Well, it went pretty much OK in the end yesterday. Sonic annoyed with himself and slightly shocked at my reaction and then pleased with some work I had done so I guess we are back on an even keel again. I drove in today at any rate.

Still don't know how the heck I'm going to get everything done but once again assured that proof of trial followed by failure will count...

Joan a bit better herself again today - I think just being able to relax is helping her immensely. Just wish I could do a bit more to make that a more permanent option. But as we didn't win the lottery again I'll just have to keep scouring the job ads and filling in the forms.

Off to London Road P&R in a bit for secured car park status renewal visit. Can't see any problems as we are still crime free and running a tight ship as far as I can tell.

Oh bloody hell. Idiocy strikes back and I end up suffering again for a stupid, stupid mistake. Or in other words, on Wednesday afternoon I declined going up to Martlesham P&R for a photo shoot as Joan's meeting in Ipswich was due to finish before the shoot did. Turned out it didn't and those who went were back in the office before I left. Plus to make matters worse stupid Simon did a bit of web surfage that was spotted by Mitchell. He said nothing to me about it but did tell Sonic.

And of course on Thursday morning when I couldn't stay asleep any longer because of the heat and ended up at work early what was I doing again when Sonic arrived. Yup, browsing the Llamasoft forums. So of course he had a word. Nothing too drastic (hell, he even said I could keep browsing at lunchtimes and all that like before just not to get too carried away again) but I ended up feeling like shit. All day.

It didn't help that he wanted a meeting which didn't happen until nearly lunch time and I had planned to be out of the office all day delivering books. I spent most of the morning shaking with self-recrimination and feeling as sick as a dog before having the meeting (lots of which went over my head) not eating much of my lunch and heading out to try and catch up on the deliveries. I did manage to get some done in the afternoon but not as many as I'd hoped for, no new locations found to help with my targets and stuff like that. So when I got home I was not in much of a good and happy state. And of course neither was Joan after she'd had another counselling session which confirmed she needs to take more time for herself and didn't really need me phoning her in a panic of "what the fuck have I done this time" proportions. So we spent a good chunk of the evening looking for jobs on the internet and hopefully there will be some application forms with me soon (in fact one is here already but looks a right evil sod, with some of the old "how would you cope with X", "tell us how you have prioritised Y" and "give an example of dealing with Z" type of questions which are going to require a lot of thought.

Friday I was planning to go to work in the morning before heading off to Colchester for stitches out in the afternon (with deliveries on the way). Instead I woke up in a totally depressed state, tears and all and ended up taking Joan for her doctor's appointment (pre-booked but handily times as she ended up being signed off for two weeks so hopefully she can start sorting through the counselling stuff and get back to an even-keel without all the crap from work she is having to cope with) and then having one myself.

Not exactly back on the anti-depressants yet, but have got some nice other pills to calm me down (which are kind of working as I seem to have spent most of the time since then asleep!). I stil feel shaky as hell and nauseous when I think about what I'm going to have to face tomorrow but hopefully I will get through. I think it will be better after this week's one-to one as I have got the first draft of an action plan to meet my targets sorted out and we can use that to hopefully determine if they are realistic or not. I think Sonic will be understanding of the situation (he certainly was with the teeth issue) and I'm sure he doesn't want us all to fail as that would then look bad on him but if the worst comes I will just go straight to personnel for further guidance and help. Hell, I'll even go back for more counselling myself if that's what it takes - it helped before and I have no qualms in asking for more help again. And if I can get through this week there are then two weeks where Gary and Charles will be away and not spreading their own negativity which I really don't find helpful either. One way or another I plan to be either back on track with the current job or at the very least planning for an interview for something else by the time they get back to work.

After a lie in, shopping trip to town and sleeping most of the afternoon yesterday we had H, B & A along for a nice Chinese meal. Sat in the garden all evening and it went well - I even managed to stay calm for most of it, just needing a quick break to sort my racing heart out again at one point. Today has been more relaxing (I slept most of the morning after getting up for breakfast then going back to bed with another outpouring of tears for no valid reason) with a fair deal of sitting in the garden reading. Finished ...Nutmeg on Friday after the stitches did come out (no fuss there at all, again a quick in and out which cured a bit of the worry but glad Ma was free to drive me as I'm not sure if I'd have been up for that - even managed to stay awake on the A12 this time (Although I had just had 1½ hours before lunch of snoozing)). Overall a very interesting read, and almost impossible to imagine the hardships and deprevations the people suffered trying to import spices. Went on to Exile 2 - The Golden Torc which I finished this morning and indeed am now straight in to number 3 The Non-Born King. Both as good as I remembered them and indeed so gripped by getting re-acquainted with the story that I couldn't make myself take a non-fiction pause. So the next one of those will be after the Exile section of the whole saga I reckon.

So, I shall see how it goes tomorrow. One thing is for certain, I'm going to cut back on work webbing totally (other than for actual work stuff!) so entries here will be more sporadic, but probably longer when they do come along. Fingers crossed for a good outcome.

Hot as an oven again today. We both really struggled to sleep last night - I think I must have woken up on the hour and half from 2 onwards, so a bit dozy now!

Had a stinkingly hot wander around town for two hours this morning checking car park prices so we can decide what to charge for Park & Ride in the future. It needed to be done and it was good to be out of the office, but I could have used a bit of shade at times. Now all I have to do is turn a list of figures into some sort of sensible recommendation.

Afternoon has fairly flown so now it is time I was heading off to pick Joan up.

Remembered a dream I had while dozing on the sofa on Sunday - that Joan came in to ask me what had happened in big brother after I had been watching it without her (they had been getting naked and frisky in the pool in the dream). I dunno, dreaming about watching TV. Time I got a more interesting life I think.

All the minty gunge (I'm sure it has some proper name like dental surgical putty or something, but I'll stick with gunge) had come loose from the mouth by Friday lunch time and now I am left with the loose ends of the stitches flapping in the breeze (so to speak). I'll never take my tongue for granted again after this business is all over. I can see the threads in the mirror (a nice bright shade of blue) and they are no larger than you would imagine really, just about the same as normal floss, but to the tongue they feel like ropes. Very distracting/annoying but at least I haven't managed to pull any of them loose. Also don't appear to have experienced the same level of discomfort as before which is either good or means something isn't healing properly - but as no blood etc is hanging around in the mouth I guess the former.

Anyhow, had a very cliched, suburban weekend all told. Saturday after a late start we wandered in to town with the express aim of getting me some new shoes for the holiday. Much to my amazement we managed it, normally buying shoes is a real struggle for me as I have small feet and the shops just don't keep my size in stock. However, in place of my usual getting grumpy and flouncing off we ended up spending money for a change. Also bumped in to Mitchell and his wife (also buying shoes), got some shorts and had a nice lunch at Puccino's. After that Joan went to visit Lesley, now home from hospital with new hip while I tootled about the house doing ironing, computing and stuff. Then an evening meal at Ma & Pa's which was very nice.

Yesterday Joan did loads more housework while I cut the grass, washed the car, topped the oil and water up and stuff like that. We also cut some designer shapes in the lawn around some of the shrubs planted there and infilled with decorative stones. I think they look pretty good (and indeed cut down the mowing slightly in the future). Then after lunch fatigue hit and after sleeping for an hour or so outside I moved inside for another 2! I didn't think I had worked that hard, but it just goes to show something or other.

About of a third of the way in to Nathaniel's Nutmeg now and enjoying the tales of adventure, piracy and general high jinks on the high seas. Although slightly concerned that the man himself has not made much of an appearance as yet. This time Milton is just relaying a straight forward narrative of the events rather than trying to re-trace the journey's involved so it is a different type of book in many regards. Just as fascinating though.

Um, well, apologies for leaving a gap in days of entry... To recap:

Tuesday - Joan at add-on sales review meeting in Bury St Edmunds store so we got a bit of extra sleep before we had to head out there. It was a warm but dull day, drive up and parking went fine and we arrived with a good half hour to kill before her 12 noon session with the Area Manager and people from head office. Had a bit of a wander then dropped her off at the shop.

I then went for further wandering in search of distractions (found plenty, mainly in Ottakers book shop where I had to seriously restrain my urges to spend lots and lots and lots of money on multi-paged delights) and new shoes (didn't find any due to me having annoyingly small feet). Then at about 1230 when Joan should have been halfway through I found she'd sent me a message to say they were running 40 mins or so late, so she hadn't even gone in yet. Great news that was. In the end I found a semi-comfy bench fairly near the shop and settled in to wait with my book (glad I decided to take that).

They caught up a bit and she finally emerged about half past one. It all went very well, as they had done a load of preparatory work and they are actually up or at least on course on a lot of their targets and have had three managers in six months to muddy the waters. All told a good result I think. So we went off to a nice little cafe for lunch (which I managed to eat most of) then headed home. Joan went in to work to talk it over and I went home to do some preparation of my own for my review on Wednesday. The rest of the evening was nice and relaxed with a bit of telly and some mooching about.

Wednesday - in the morning we had a full group meeting. Nobody was 100% sure what we were going to be discussing as we'd been given no agenda. Basically it turned out to be a chance for us to throw in ideas for how we could get more people on the buses. These we then ranked and expanded on the top 15. All quite interesting stuff that hopefully will be used to steer where we go for the next couple of years. Plus I got to be all evangelical about Smartcards, which I am in favour of to replace more traditional bus tickets. And in keeping with tradition of big meetings in the room we were using, lunch failed to arrive. So we all went over to the staff canteen and had a lot of nice hot food rather than the anticipated drab buffet.

The afternoon was my performance review. I think it went OK, but I still have some targets I'm not too sure of. Still, they all have interim review dates so presumably we can tinker with them if it seems they will be totally unlikely.

Thursday - was of course the first anniversary of Ernie's death. Joan off but I had to come to work for the morning. Had the afternoon at home, however, to write up the review stuff so was able to give her a bit of support. We called in at the cemetary later on and had a moment or two of contemplation there. Then Joan had her back cracked back in while I did a spot of shopping and we called in to see Helen etc on the way home before getting scalped. A mellow day in all.

I can't quite believe that the year has passed already. Obviously things like Father's Day and his birthday were big reminders that yesterday was approaching, but it still doesn't seem like it was twelve whole months. As far as I could tell Joan coped OK with it all and is seeing her counselly woman again today. Hopefully things can only get better from now on.

Not much to report on today so far - have given Sonic my write up to see if there is anything else we need to add, and also my first draft of a letter to try and get books in to pubs. This afternon we have a New Routes meeting to try and take that onwards again as it seems to have stalled somewhere.

Finished The Many-Coloured Land last night and enjoyed it just as much as previously. But am indeed going with the intervening non-fiction routine so am now reading the second book by Giles Milton - Nathaniel's Nutmeg which is the one that brought him properly in to the public eye. It relates the history of the spice trade and obviously the one chap Nathaniel Courthope and is proving interesting thus far. More news when I'm a bit further in.

No beating about the bush here - by 2 o'clock yesterday I was feeling like death again so ended up sleeping for an hour and a half before (luckily) Joan phoned and woke me up. I think it did the job as I then lasted until bed time. I don't remember the first lot being this draining - I am still feeling a bit groggy today but I think curling up under the desk for 40 winks would be frowned upon. The main jaw throb has subsided now and all I can feel is a general stinging pain from the area of the cuts/stitches instead. Plus almost able to touch my cheek without wincing (which made shaving possible again).

Still, am off work again tomorrow for a flexi-day. Joan has a meeting in Bury so I have volunteered to take her. Very good of me I think. So we can have a bit of a lay in and I can relax when we get back (she has to go in to work). Of ocurse while relaxing I have to prepare some stuff for the appraisal that I didn't manage to do over the weekend through being asleep.

And another year has passed without Wimbledon-watching. The most I managed was 10 minutes on Friday while I was waiting for my jaw to go numb (these posh private dentists with tvs in their rooms). Can't say I'm surprised to see Henman not win again though. I wonder if we will ever have champions at half the sports we invented in this country again. And from the race reports it is just possible that Formula 1 is beginning to get interesting again so I might give a stab at watching the next race. Which I think will be the British GP so worth a look in any event.

In lucid moments I managed to finish the engineering history book yesterday. Not really what I was expecting but interesting anyway, if a bit technical. I shall have to look elsewhere though for a more in-depth study of how they built some of the grand structures of antiquity. Have now embarked on a mammoth re-read in the fiction department - Julian May's Exile/Galactic Milieu saga (9 books in all if you count the companion to the first four, 10 if you are reading the US versions) with book one: The Many-Coloured Land. I originally came across these in the mid-eighties and re-read the first 6 several times while waiting for the last three to turn up, but not read those since they did finally appear in the early '90s so it will be a mix of the very and slightly familiar. Definitely enjoying getting re-acquainted with the concepts and characters after at least 8 years absence. I think I will still slip in the non-fiction titles between each book though. Got to keep the brain ticking over.

OK, so I could have written stuff on Thursday at work, and have had two days at home since then too but haven't. Blame extreme laziness or something on my part. Anyway, not actually much to say until we get to Friday afternoon. Basically on Thursday I wrote a few letters and crossed a few things off my to-do list so I could get away with having Friday off. Then on Friday morning I just pottered around the house doing thrilling ironing and stuff to take my mind off what was to come.

Didn't really work in that respect as by the time I walked in to town to meet Joan for lunch I was totally wound up with nerves and feeling more than a little tense. Still, it had to be done so when Mum turned up to drive me down to Colchester I managed to force myself in to the car. And promptly fell asleep on the A12. One day I will find out why that road does that to me.

Not sure why knowing what was to happen and having survived it pretty much OK should be more worrying than the unknown but there you have it. I got in the chair, got numbed up and he got on with it. Lower left this time and I can now see why he wanted the wisdom teeth out of the way. Man, there was some serious rummaging around going on in there. And today my face is still swollen like a balloon and tender to the touch. Thank heavens for soft food.

So yesterday I really wasn't up for much activity. In fact after getting up for some breakfast when Joan left for work I went back to bed again and swiftly slept through until 1130 which was nice. In fact I'm sure I could do the same again today if I let myself. Maybe after lunch. Then Richard came round for some Cubing in the afternoon before I collected Joan for a nice relaxed evening.

Which brings us up to date again. Joan once more at work, rain once more falling and I've been shopping and will now do a spot of ironing, lunch, web, more ironing etc until the time comes to pick her up...

And today's quote from a WH Smith carrier bag is:

"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them withour eyes open." Jawaharlal Nehru (Indian Statesman 1889-1964).

I wonder how I could get the job choosing these.

Woke up full of nervous anticipation today. Not really sure what for though - could be Friday and the dental work or it could be to do with having my performance review/appraisal thing next week. Can't say I'm particularly looking forward to either of those but neither can really be avoided.

Nice to be back in the office again today though as once more the rain is coming down every now and then in huge bucketfuls.

Not mentioned dreams for a while because I've not been remembering much about them, but a couple have stuck out. One was the first anticipatory Switzerland dream. If the hotel turns out to be halfway as nice as the one my brain assembled it will be a very nice week. Although I don't think we want the snow that also arrived with it!

The other one that sticks out was Monday night. While waiting for Charles on Monday while he was at a meeting in Lowestoft I went to one of the arcades at the pier to have a nose about for old games. i.e. ones that use proper joysticks rather than all the light gun, driving and dancing stuff that clutters up most arcades now. We are trying to locate as many classics as possible and list them on a Llamasoft web site offshoot so that was in my mind when I went to sleep. So I ended up dreaming of heading off to a meeting in Cambridgeshire with Charles and Chris which proceeded to over run. In the end we were forced to spend the night in the staff canteen at the place the meeting was held and that was absolutely crammed with old machines. Strange.

Well, I am absolutely bloody knackered. 778 boxes of books were delivered here on Thursday and I have now shifted over 400 of them to their final destinations. Been to all four corners of Suffolk and beyond. Thursday afternoon we blatted around Ipswich.

Friday was all around the coastal area. Saturday central and north west. Monday north (and in to Norfolk) and today I have mopped up the south. OK, so there are still a few holes to plug but basically all the major outlets are now done and people can get hold of the things. I've also finally got the hang of big vans I think. So now I just want to go home and sleep for a couple of days. So that will be nice to do on Friday before I hit the dentist. Well, not literally hit him. Unless he causes me pain of course.

Sunday was a nice relaxing day. After a lazy start we went down to the Cemetary with flowers and stuff to meet Helen etc as Monday would have been Ernie's 83rd birthday. Not much in the way of tears which I think can only be a good thing.

Then we met up with Jacqui who I used to work with at Argos in Newmarket and is now running Ipswich and her husband David for a wander along the sea front, lunch, ice creams and a turn around the market before going back to ours for a cup of tea. Very pleasant way to spend the afternoon and something we ought to do more often. And the weather was still glorious enough for me to cut the grass after they had gone too.

Joan had her first meeting with the woman from Cruse yesterday and it seems to have gone pretty well. She is seeing her again next week so hopefully this will be the start of a proper healing process for her. I know after all the trauma of last year it will be good for her to get back on an even keel again. And having been through a lot of the same effects and symptoms (but from completely different causes) I do have a lot of sympathy for her. I just wish there was something more I could do to help.

Started dull but today is turning out hot again. I do so resent being stuck at work on days like this but not really much we can do to avoid it - the bills won't pay themselves after all.

Still, I have been out in the sun already today having wandered down to Ipswich Buses to sort out the specification for the Martlesham P&R buses. I think they will be rather nice and I can now start thinking about livery designs and do some playing. All I need to know is if I need to make room for adverts or not this time. I do hope not as I have a few ideas to make them look a bit better than the other current fleet. And as they are adjacent to where our new office is I timed the walk back from there to town and the vitally importatnt threshold of out, shopping and back withing 30 mins still seems possible. Certainly it only took me 10 minutes to get to Smiths! Of course who knows where we will end up withing the building and how convoluted it will be to get in and out?

Will get some more semi-fresh air later when the books finally arrive - they are due at 2 and hopefully we will be able to get some around town before going home. Then tomorrow, sat, mon and tues at least out and about across Suffolk in the van.

Seems I was wrong about the flowers at the roadside being from both funerals as the second one isn't being held until today. So I guess there will be even more bloomage when I head home tonight. Still can't say I understand it though.

Other than that we are plodding on as usual. Joan is having to go to Bury St. Edmunds on the 8th of July for a meeting about why the shop is not meeting targets for Argos cards, insurances etc. Not really much more they can do I would have thought - its not like you can force people to take them up. All sales managers are having one so she shouldn't feel picked on or anything. I have booked the day off to take her and I guess we can claim the mileage!

Still hooked on Big Brother - especially since the double eviction last week and housemate swap with Africa this week. Not sure what it is that makes the show such compelling viewing, but I tend to find myself with a big smile for the duration of the show, which is worth a lot in my book.

Turns out that today is the Centenary of George Orwell. Born Eric Arthur Blair up the road from here in Southwold. And he seemingly hated Southwold but was obviously enamoured enough of Suffolk in general to take the name of the river flowing through Ipswich here when it came to choosing a pen name. One of those authors I've never really dug into very much. I had to read both Animal Farm and 1984 at school but not touched anything else since. Very well regarded but too bleak for my normal taste, plus I'm not really much of a fan of hidden meanings and deep political criticism dressed up as fiction - I like my stories to be just that and if I want the other I'll find it elsewhere. Maybe I'll give him another go in the future.

So the one to one went pretty well. No unexpected big jobs as a result of it and a bit of a clearer idea of what my targets for the next year are going to be. Plus yet another teensy insight in to how his mind works which may be of value later...

Still, must get round to sorting that Police Application form before the end of the week. You never know after all.

In order to speed the distribution effort we are going to do some on Saturday (well it was cheaper to book the van for the whole week rather than a few days!) in return for another day off in the week sometime. I guess I will take that on a day Joan is off so as to spend some time with her. She is working Saturday anyway so it won't make much difference me being out and about rather than in the house.

Today's quote from a WH Smith carrier bag is this: Read the best books first, or you may not have time to read them all. As related by American Author David Thoreau (1817-1862) which makes a kind of sense. But how do you know which are the best books without reading them first? After all, reviews are only a subjective view from the reviewer who may see things very differently from you. And even if half a dozen reviews all agree on the worthiness of a certain tome, what happens when number seven disagrees violently? As is likely to be the case if the original are in the specialist press and the pther in the mainstream (or, indeed, vice versa). I think I shall continue to stick with my own opinions but take note of what people recommend.

Unbelievable. I thought that perhaps now the two funerals had taken place for the lads who were knocked down over the road from here that the council would start to clear away the flowers. Wrong. They have in fact been added to - all the ones from the funerals themselves. Including the wreaths, floral names etc. Now that I really can't understand and smacks to me a bit of publicity seeking on the part of the families. I could be wrong and they may just find it a good way to let go, but the mere thought of making something as heart rending as losing a child so public just strikes me as very odd.

But then, grief is a funny thing. Joan has had to go back to the Doctor and is now in the process of sorting out some formal grief counselling now the anniversary of her Dad is approaching. I am trying to be as supportive as possible but I think this is a lot deeper than I can comprehend. Whatever, I'll be there for her.

------------------

So, final thoughts on the whole Tad Williams Otherland experience. Overall, a very good read. Quite deep in places with much to think about at the end. I can see how he must have had the same sort of fun as I mentioned back whenever for the Clarke/Baxter collaboration (The Light Of Other Days) in deciding which bits of history and other literature to use in the numerous virtual worlds encountered by the protagonists. Some of the settings were just brilliant, and very well described to really get a feeling of being there in the thick of the action. Some of the ending seemed a bit rushed/compacted as the myriad of story lines were all woven together again and I think perhaps we could have done with following a smaller number of people so as to get a better understanding of each, but then that would have lost the enormous scope of the plot. I dunno. Let me just say I enjoyed it and will no doubt enjoy it again in 5 or 6 years time.

New book to be started later today is: A History Of Engineering In Classical And Medieval Times by Donald Hill which looks fascinating and might just explain lots of old monuments and stuff.

Stone me, Thrash from The Orb/Fortran 5 has joined the Llamasoft forums. Another person who inspired me joins the fun! And he has stuck up a whole album's worth of stuff based on the files Madonna "leaked" to the internet in advance of her latest album coming out to try and pre-empt the pirates. Some of it is quite good and also funny so I think it will end up on mini-disc for further listening. Heck, he even provided cover artwork which is always nice.

It was only a week or so ago I was sorting out copies of a Fortran 5 track for Mr Minter himself then this happens. I wonder if I can "arrange" for any other musicians to sign up.

And stone me again, while I couldn't be bothered to go out this lunch time, Richard did and bought three second hand games for the Cube which obviously are sitting with me for the time being. So I think I will be exercising my thumbs tonight with Super Monkey Ball 2 if not the other two as well. Hopefully he will keep putting off getting his own system for a few months longer.

Sonic has gone off to a meeting in Lowestoft this afternoon and half the rest of the office has vanished too so once again all is quiet here. So I am sorting out some bits that should impress him (and keep him off my back for a day or two) in advance of tomorrow morning's 1 to 1 session.

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.