So we have had cloud, bright sunshine, rain (at near horizontal angles) and even a few flakes of snow so far today. And it is absolutely perishingly cold outside to add further insult to injury. Typical Suffolk spring really. I don't know why I still get surprised by things like that after all these years.

Joan having to put up with Marion today for the first time in ages, and it seems she is in a bad mood already. Great. I wish I could sort the situation out for her.

Things are fairly quiet in here today. I think the reality of the upcoming move has finally reached everybody and those who are not keen have at least now become resigned to the change, rather than complaining about it all the time. For my part I am still mostly looking forward to it, even if I have the same concerns as most over lack of space (personal and for storage) and just the general change situation. We had another big stack of information come round yesterday telling us all about various aspects of life in the new building and it will definitely be a culture change for most of us. I'm not sure how well the new rules will be enforced though, or indeed how long it will take for people to start demanding changes. I think the biggest change for us will be the mixing up of how we sit at the moment and the further integration around us of the education transport team. Who are currently in a different building. But it turns out they are moving in a few weeks after us so we will have time to ease in to the first change before the second. Of course there is still the possibility that I will be changing jobs at the same time anyway. If I ever get round to looking at the information properly and making my mind up about applying.

At the end of the day, so long as I still have a job I'm not too fussed right now over what it is. Over in the rest of the transportation part of the division/directorate/whatever we are called this week they are going through a re-organisation and some of them are (once again) having to re-apply for their own jobs. Another fun County Council hobby that one.

In more interesting news, I finished the inventions book last night. Fascinating stuff some of it. And because they were presented in strict chronological order I spent a fair amount of time thinking "oooh, did that only get invented then?" and "I thought they were older than that" and so forth. Plus despite never having thought of myself as being particularly patriotic, I did feel quite good at times realising which bits were British ideas writ large. Or indeed Suffolk ones, if you want to go to that level of detail.

Have now started The Science of Discworld II: The Globe by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart & Jack Cohen. Like the first one it mixes a Discworld short story with explanations of how the real world works. Fun and informative all at once. Of course it will probably leave me wanting to read up more on the topics covered, but then that's no bad thing really.

While out this lunch time I managed to convince myself to buy the second Legends fantasy anothology as edited by Robert Silverberg for only a fiver in hardback. I was going to wait for the paperback as with the first one, although slightly concerned that they might not do it as well the second time around. Mainly because of the tales collected I only wanted to read some (which fit in with series I've read in the past or want to try) and not the whole lot. Last time they split the paperback edition over two books, and luckily all the bits I wanted ended up in the same one. Here there is more I want so decided not to take the risk. That's my excuseand I'm sticking with it. So, new bits from Otherland, Pern and stuff for me to enjoy sometime later in the year (might only be next week, might be several months. I have far too many books still sitting on the shelves begging to be read). Of course having just had hardbacks for the last few books I've read I'm enjoying the lightness of a paperback just now!

And finally, I have also finally got round to sticking the collected works of The Police in the car, having meant to since reading Sting's book. It has served to remind me just what a damn fine band they were. Also the first band I can remember actively wanting an album by. Not exactly sure when I first got my own music playing equipment in the bedroom. I remember an old valve radio which was fixed underneath the bench I had under the windows, and this was superseeded by some form of amplifier (can't recall what though) plus cassette deck and a Garrard turntable some time in the mid to late '70s (and let's face it, probably late as I was still only 8 come 1979). Although certainly I was well versed in the art of keeping records clean before moving up to secondary school in September 1982- we used to be played in to assembly at primary school by two "lucky" pupils drawn from the oldest class manning a creaky old record player with a very carefully chosen selection of vinyl. And sometimes younger kids were allowed to do the honours as a treat, which I was at least once in pre final year days so that will have been in 1980/81 time. During which shift I was so appalled by the state of the records available I obtained a spare "EMItex" cleaning cloth from home to sort the mess out.

Anyway, the kit was probably classed as a birthday present - I know the three albums that accompanied it were as I can recall unwrapping them. A K-Tel compilation called Music Explosion (two tracks on which I can recall were Seasons In The Sun from Terry Jacks and Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas), David Essex - Rock On and a classical compilation Rock Gently With Beethoven, Bach & Brahms. Must have made a big impression given that I can stil recall them despite no longer having them (although I have a sneaky feeling they are all round at Ma & Pa's somewhere). So from that point on I started building up my music collection. Slowly. And mainly with unofficial soundtrack albums as re-worked by king of the disco remake Geoff Love. But "real" music intruded as well and I have a vivid recollection of first seeing the sleeve of third Police album Zenyatta Mondatta and knowing I wanted it on a trip to London. We were at a street market somewhere (possibly Camden, but I'm not sure) and it was hanging up on a record stall. The bright orange with blue triangle on screamed at me from across a couple of intervening stalls and the image has kept in my head ever since. I don't know if I had the other two albums by then or if they entered my life later. I knew the singles from them as we always listened to the charts on a Sunday afternoon and there were a couple of documentaries about them shown on the telly that I would kill to see again, but...

Suffice it to say that The Police were the first proper band I listened to properly and knew stuff about. And still in my top ten.

I think that's all for today.

Just when I thought Suffolk was a nice sleepy place to live where nothing ever happened, this occurred (from the BBC news):

Armed robbers hit late night bus

A bus driver has been robbed at gunpoint near Ipswich.

Two men wearing balaclavas stopped the First Eastern Counties bus at a bus stop in The Street, Martlesham, just before 2300 GMT on Sunday. They threatened the driver with a gun before stealing a quantity of cash and other items.

Suffolk Police are appealing for witnesses who may have seen the men escape in a dark-coloured estate vehicle which headed towards Ipswich. The male bus driver was uninjured, but shaken by the incident.

In a blinding twist of stupidity though, they managed to hold up the only bus route in Suffolk where all the vehicles are fitted with cctv cameras recording, assault screens for the drivers and other security measures. Plus they chose Sunday night when they are half-empty and have hardly any cash on board. Just can't help some people can you!

So, I hear thousands screaming, how was the weekend? The answer is - pretty quiet. Joan working both Saturday and Sunday so I was pretty much left to my own devices and the ironing. Did spend Saturday afternoon round at Richard's for a change, but mostly installing, trying, rejecting and uninstalling games on his new PC so not actually all that much in the way of fun.

Yesterday I thought I would give Formula One another try with the start of the new season. I really wanted to be gripped and enthralled by it all like I used to be, but sadly it was not to be. The latest set of rule changes has left some of the cars looking pretty wild compared to when I last looked at them, but I was still asleep by the end of the tenth lap. And I really do mean asleep, not just bored. Whatever happened to proper racing? All that seems to happen now is a fight for position at the start then trawling round the laps in order with the only real position changes coming from pit stops. Not what I want to see. Plus they are still not showing the action in widescreen yet. Dull, dull, dull and tedious.

Been to a meeting with Anglia Railways this morning concerning bus movements during the forthcoming Ipswich rail tunnel closure. Time sure has moved on quickly since I first got involved last year. I think we are now sorted on what will be running when from where and by whom. (Could I have got another W in that last sentence?) Nothing particularly exciting from that other than having been in another building in Ipswich for the first time. Thrills galore.

Called in at Argos on the way back to pick up some Stotties and pease pudding - Jacqui has been up home to the North East for the weekend and brought them back for us. Joan will be overjoyed. Mind you, she has Weight Watchers tonight so better not scoff the lot as soon as we get home...

Still feeling annoyed by the marketing team. And not actually helped by the Manager coming along trying to butter me up for another project. And now my PC has been playing up again and refusing to print without 27 re-starts and so forth. Grrrrrr. Oh well, I'm sure I'll be happier tomorrow (and no, a big dose of chocolate didn't improve my mood either).

Joan has been to the dentist, again, and still has infection problems with her tooth. He has drilled up and released a load of nastiness then packed the hole with antiseptic stuff. Lovely. Will have to remember not to breathe when kissing her tonight.

Finished Holy Fire on the bus home last night. Good stuff. Not sure if I understood it all, but I definitely enjoyed it. Mind you
I'm not sure I want to have understood some of the medical stuff. A bit gruesome in places. Have now started Inventing the 20th Century - 100 Inventions that shaped the modern world by Stephen van Dulken which does exactly what it says on the
tin...

Funny how it only takes one small thing to get one's back up. Today started off fine, Joan off and I managed to get out of the house early enough to make using Martlesham Park & Ride practical (in fact got my earliest arrival time at the office so far this week out of it), no complaining emails to find on arrival and all well in the world. Then Ian comes along and asks if I can add the new shuttle bus stops to my P&R leaflets (we are funding a town centre shuttle thingy as part of the move to Endeavour House as councillors don't think people can walk the 200 metres or so to the current nearest bus routes). He then shows me the draft shuttle map. Which is blatantly derived from my P&R publicity. It would have been nice to be asked if they could use it, or at least to be told that they were using it. I'm not normally a bitter person, but this has just wound me up.

Today's word from the forgotten English calendar is "Niggle" which I use all the time. But of course these days it means small, irritation or suchlike whereas the 1895 definition quoted is "Small, fine or cramped handwriting; a scribble, a scrawl" so I guess I can see how the meaning has mutated over the last 100 years.

Today's odd thing - we have just had a new member of staff turn up. Didn't even know we were looking for one. I think he is actually from a consultant here to help with database wrangling, rather than a direct employee, but we shall see.

This is bizarre. Or totally expected. I have sneakily installed the BBC radio player software to the work PC and am typing this listening to a repeat of last Sunday's "Freak Zone" from BBC Radio 6. One of the stations only available through digital radio/satellite/the web. I would listen to it at home through the dish if I ever remembered to. We are not in a digital coverage zone yet in Felixstowe so not worth buying a proper digital radio (ideally I'd like a pocket one that could travel around with me, and indeed use at work as the quality via the web is pretty appalling). Anyway, the show in question is usually hosted by Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden but as he is off on tour at the moment Paul Morley of Words And Music fame. And he is talking just like the book was written. Which is, as stated, either bizarre or expected. However, I am prepared to put up with that and the low quality as he played some of the stuff mentioned in the book I'd not encountered before. Which is great.

So we are both back at work. Not too bad for me. Yesterday mainly spent catching up on loads of emails and sorting out staff discount and new stops for Park & Ride linked to the office move. Not so good for Joan but she is plodding on and only has to get to the end of next week before she is off again anyway. She did speak to someone high up in personnel about the whole situation which hopefully will help in the long term, but left her feeling sick when having to do it.

Oh, and we watched the film version of Chicago on Sunday night. Very glossy and fun.

I think if we ever get to the stage of winning big on the lottery (yeah, like that's ever going to happen) and can give up work we will have to change a few things about how we spend all the free time compared to a holiday from work spent at home. Like giving me some time to get on here to start with. I'll be honest, I didn't want this blog to be just the simple record of what we've been up to it seems to have become. I was hoping to get a bit more in depth on some topics, writing about books and music and films in much the way I do about the computer experience over at Way Of The Rodent, trying my hand at bits of short fiction and stuff, then sticking them up here for all to see. As it stands I never seem to have the time, and when you think there ought to be a chance - on holiday - there is even less to play around with. So, should we ever get to the state of "permanent holiday" I think we'll have to be more regimented in doing a bit of everything.

So, what did I do with a week then?

Monday was of course the Charter Mark seminar. Got there in time despite the train's brakes being stuck on for a while just into London. I think we stand a pretty good chance of keeping the award if I am given the time and backing to do the work that will be required. I know the previous director was dead keen on all the gongs and plaques on the wall etc, we shall have to see where our priorities lie under the new system. They have combined a lot of the old criteria into fewer sections now, but added a new one about impacting on the wider community. Like I say, I think we should be OK but we shall have to wait and see.

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent in a big spring clean of the house. OK, it needed doing and the place looks lovely again (although the dustmen were probably less than happy with the amount of junk we threw out) but I could have used a few minutes of fun in there...

Thursday Joan had to go to the dentist in the morning for a filling. Not fun. Especially as a bit of x-ray investigation turned up an infection up in her jaw as well. So she is now on anti-biotics for that to add to the excitement. We then had lunch with Mum & Dad round at the White Horse and finished off by taking Tawny to the vet for her annual booster injection. She enjoyed that about as much as Joan had liked the morning. And they have decided her teeth are in a state so we have to take her back in a couple of weeks to be knocked out and cleaned up. Which will no doubt cost an absolute fortune. She is worth it, but we could use not having the expense.

Friday we went into Ipswich, did a bit of shopping (even finding some top notch Old Navy gear in one of the cheap shops, which was a welcome surprise) and met Jacqui from Ipswich Argos for lunch. A good day really. Then yesterday we spent food shopping, doing final tidying and cooking for Mum, Dad and Richard coming along for dinner. That went very well too (and another 15 out of 10 to Joan for her culinary wizardry).

The only film we have managed to watch all week is the second Tomb Raider - The Cradle Of Life. As with the first, not much of a plot more a stringing together of action sequences in exotic locations, but fun all the same. I treat them more as extensions of the games rather than "proper" films and just enjoy the ride. Never have been one who needed deep plots and motivations from every piece of entertainment.

Have now finished Words And Music and enjoyed it in the main. Still not sure what he was banging on about half the time, and yes it is a tad pretentious in places, but I am more fired up to go listening to lots of music after reading it than I ave been for a while. Am now in to Holy Fire by Bruce Sterling. Set about 100 years from now when politics has turned largely in to a way of keeping old people alive longer and full of lots of medical details. Enjoying it so far.

So now Joan has gone back to work today (but only for 2 weeks, then she is off for another 2) and I have to go back tomorrow. Not particularly looking forward to it - I always hate not knowing what might have occurred while I've been off. All I know is that Sonic probably won't be around much - their baby has finally come along but is not in the best of health. They know what isn't wrong with her yet, but not what is and how long it will take to sort out, so he is expecting the first of many trips down to Great Ormond Street childrens hospital sometime in the week.

Mind you, we only have four weeks now to the move to Endeavour House, so I expect more clearing out and packing to start soon...

OK, time has done the flying thing again. Tuesday was good and bad together. For me it was pretty good as mr dentist fella was happy with my teeth and just wants to see me again this time next year. Woo. OK, so I will still have to keep seeing Kirstie every three months or so at £20 a shot but that's still better than losing the damn things. For Joan it was not so good - she went in to the Doctor raring to go back to work and he said no. So she won't be back until after our holidays now. The way Marion took the news (i.e. a total lack of concern and being a bit rude about it all) didn't help matters either and that made Joan feel worse again. Things have eased over the last couple of days, but she is still fretting over it. One day things will go well in one attempt.

So, what else has happened for me? The timetable books did indeed turn up on Wednesday (early in the day for a change, and with a ramp and pallet truck to help with the unloading) and I did spend Thursday and Friday out in the van with Matt delivering them. We made really good time and managed to do some of run 2 on Thursday. Which made for an early finish on Friday to start my holiday. Nice.

And then yesterday I turned 33. Don't feel any different, to borrow an old cliche. Everyone spent far too much on me, but there you go. We also did some shopping, watched a film (American Pie 3 - The Wedding which was just as funny as the first two despite lacking some of the original cast) and went to Mum & Dad's for dinner. Another good evening including playing games of the wooden block stacking thing (a generic Jenga) they bought me for a laugh. And we did indeed laugh.

Today we have visited the market and now Joan is off to Bingo. Hopefully with the success she had last time. Tomorrow I have a hideously early start for a Charter Mark seminar in Hammersmith before a jaunt around London then real hols for the rest of the week...

Well, Joan is appearing a lot better from the outside and claims to be feeling that way too. Unless the Doctor has other ideas tomorrow she is planning to go back to work for the rest of the week. Certainly she has got rid of the headache that made her go to see him in the first place and is much better rested again.

I've been busy as always at work with the usual stuff, but also pondering over a quandry as to what to do career-wise. Basically Sonic has mentioned that there is just no way he will be able to get my post upgraded to Senior status and suggested I go for one of the network planning vacancies instead. Still not sure if I want to do that job per se, but I do want the seniorness and the money would be nice. If nothing else it would relieve some of the pressure on Joan to stay with Argos just because we need her salary as well as mine to keep the house and stuff. I shall see what it entails and at the very least throw my hat into the arena.

So, what else have we been up to? Lots of relaxing and reading and watching films. Films first - The Recruit which I'd not heard of before (well, I had, but not for the usual reasons). Turned out to be a really rather good CIA spy thriller starring Al Pacino, Colin Farrel and very visible as extras Sheila, Stuart, Caroline and Chris. We heard all about their day of filming in Niagara on the Lake when it happened and it sounded like the usual hanging around in the cold and boredom you read about in the magazines punctuated with a few minutes of work. And the sequence they appear in gets repeated a couple of times in the accompanying documentaries as well. Which was nice. Helen & Bhupen brought the dvd back when they were over there last summer and this is the first chance we've had to watch it.

We also watched XXX (or is it xXx?) which was rather an over the top spy thriller. Anything Bond can do they can do bigger, louder and faster. But just the sort of switch-off entertainment we needed. And one of those films where they look like they had fun making it too.

Books have also eaten up some of the time. Finished Big Chief ELizabeth and really enjoyed it. Was good to have some of the mysteries that had been bugging me over the Pocahontas issue cleared up in a concise form too. Then did the entirity of another of the Eric Thompson Magic Roundabout books - The Adventures of Dylan which was just as nostalgically silly as the other two (and still one more to go).

Now I am in the middle of the latest Q magazine special edition - they are doing a multi part series on the history of rock so I'm in the '60s at the moment. Haven't bought Q on a regular basis for years, but they have started doing these specials recently which have been worth buying and keeping.

But as I am only reading that one at home (I tend to only read magazines at home because they get too big to browse on the bus without getting in the way of whoever you end up sat next to) I also have another book on the go. Words And Music by Paul Morley. It purports to be a history of pop music but is proving to be a bit pretentious to say the least. Interesting so far certainly but I can't decide if it is brilliant or simply so far up it's own arse that it has come out the other end again. It is making me want to go and listen to lots of new and familiar stuff in equal measure so that has to be a plus point. Maybe more on that as I get further in.

Tomorrow is the last (oh please let it be the last) trip to Colchester to see if the tooth stuff all worked then in to the office late. Today I was at a meeting about possible things that might happen if we get the money in Sudbury (so a bit vague!) and then went up to Martlesham and for a look at a village that needs a bus service with Sonic instead of my usual 1 to 1 fare. Tomorrow as soon as I get to work I have a meeting about cross-operator ticketing followed by one on marketing for P&R. Then Wednesday the books will finally arrive and I get to spend the rest of the week out in the van before holiday time and birthday...

Well bloody hell, Joan went to the Doctor yesterday and he signed her off again. Only for a week this time, but that's not really the point. I wonder when someone at Argos will get the message and sort the situation out? I had the fun job of letting her area manager know but once again got no answer so left a message. Wonder if he will actually call back. I wish I could wave a magic wand of some sort to solve all her problems I really do. Its the same old reasons - Marion just doesn't do stuff leaving it all to Joan and Matt follows Marion's lead. Not a good situation to be stuck in.

Drives me up the wall but I don't know what else I can do.

Anyway, been a busy few days. Sunday we had a good expedition up to ASDA to shop for a change. I wonder what that says about us that we can spend all day wandering round DIY, Electrical and Food shops and enjoy it. Must be getting old finally. It was worth the extra driving over a normal supermarket trip though as we got stacks of bargains!

Monday I was in London for an ATCO meeting. Much better turn-out than the last one in Norwich. Not quite as interesting though as it was more presentations than discussion. Now all I have to do is get the minutes written up without my notebook wandering off. Worst part of the day was definitely the train travel (which is annoying as I usually enjoy letting someone else do the driving). On the way in we were sat with Barry the rail officer who filled the trip with his usual inane banter and "fascinating" facts about the world we were passing. Not too bad, but irritating. On the way home the heating wasn't working and I felt quite ill by the time we reached Ipswich. So much that I was a dead loss for the rest of the night, not really tahwing out until we went to bed.

Yesterday was another day in the office with nothing to commend it, but today did at least start off differently. Coca Cola are launching a new brand of water and were doing some promotional give-aways up at London Road Park & Ride. They had led me to expect a reasonable amount of action, branded vans, girls in short skirts etc but all we got was a chap and a lass in fleeces giving bottles away. Oh well, it was something unusual if not spectacular.

Bookwise have now started Big Chief Elizabeth by Giles Milton which relates the very early colonial attempts at America. Fascinating stuff and very well written again.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Still snowy... There was an extra load came fluttering down out of the sky during the evening and that was still wafting when we went to bed. Must have stopped sometime after that though and I've not seen any falling at all today. Which is nice. But the gritters have been working overtime - they've done five priority one runs in the last 48 hours at £15,000 a run according to my spies. Hopefully things will start warming up again from tomorrow - Joan has the weekend off so it would be nice to be able to get out of the house.

Oooooh, snow's come again. No more than we had back in December down this end of the county but quite a bit more the further west and north you go apparently. My only disruption was choosing to come in via Martlesham Park & Ride rather than London Road because I wanted to see what it looked like in the snow! So I took a few pictures and will get them up on the web sometime. But the journey in from there was grindingly slow, so I didn't arrive here until 9-07 instead of the usual 8-40 ish from the same time departure at London Road. Oh well, I'm several hours up on my Flexi-time so I guess one day won't kill me.

Yesterday's course on Influencing People/Non-Verbal Communication ws interesting, but I'm not sure how much of it will end up being useful. The big problem being it only really giving an overview and generalities. I guess I could look up some more in depth stuff if I find the need later in the year. We shall just have to see how it goes.

Not much else going on. Have now finished all the short stories in the Conan Doyle book and am about to embark on the first novella - The Lost World. Should be interesting to spot the differences made by the BBC when they dramatised it for Christmas a couple of years ago.

Oh crivens, where does the time go to? Things have just been really busy and hectic with lots going an and stuff. Plus when I might have had time spare to waffle on here I've been lazy or done something else instead. So I'm not going to attempt a day by day reconstruction of the time since last entry, merely list a few selected highlights and lowlights...

Return Of The King was magnificent. Although obviously condensed to fit a cinema-friendly running time (but still clocking in at 3 hrs 20 mins) so roll on the extended DVD. Mind you, Richard and I are still watching our way through the extra features from the first one, so there's plenty to keep LOTR fresh in my mind between now and then even without re-reading the books.

Workwise things have been plodding along pretty much as normal. We now know where we will be sitting in Endeavour House for definite. Can't say I'm overly thrilled with the layout - cramped desks, rows of four opposite another row of four rather than nice clusters, me in themiddle of a row so nowhere near a window - especially now I've seen the furniture samples. But there isn't actually anything we can do about it, so will just have to grit the teeth and get on with the new regime. Still busy throwing stuff away left right and centre. Every day sees another sackload carted off, but the piles around the office don't seem to be getting any smaller. Really not sure how we will squeeze everything in. But then as I'm sharing my space with Matt the trainee who only has about three folders so far I might be able to get away with sneaking in a bit more than my proper share.

Have also been on basic risk assessment training which was frustrating in the extreme. It didn't really clarify if SCC has a consistent policy or anything. This week I have another two courses - influencing people tomorrow and construction guidelines on Friday. Both a better option than sitting at the desk I'm sure!

Have also managed to polish off two books and start a third since I last wrote on here.

First the latest Discworld book from Terry Pratchett to hit paperback - Night Watch - which was up to the usual standard. Hard to find anything new to say about TP's stuff as it is so consistenly brilliant. I guess the main thing this one did was to set a time-reference for some of the earlier books in the series, as they now have a 30 year window in which they have to have taken place. Somedays I wish I could justify buying the hardbacks when they come out, as I do hate having to wait for the latest tales, but at least if he dropped dead tomorrow I would still have two more to read...

Next came The Book On The Book Shelf by Henry Petroski which was possibly the most interesting book I have ever read. Details both the history of how books developed from scrolls and how book shelves and library stacks came about. Absolutely fascinating stuff and makes me want to spend the week re-arranging all the shelves at home again. It has also reinforced the decision I made back in 1997 to stick a slip of paper with the date I finish it in the front of every book I read (well, of those I own anyway, not much point with loans!) so I would know how often I re-read things. The frequency of reads for a given book will of course always get longer and longer as the number of alternatives grows, but it still surprises me when I do re-read something to find how much time has elapsed. I wish I'd started it years before. And I am now in the process (which will take all year, for obvious reasons) of replacing all the old scraps in the books with the pages from this year's "page-a-day" calender. Which is on the subject of forgotten English so has loads more fascinating reading that I didn't want to end up just throwing away.

So now I am wading through a collection of short stories and novellas by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle entitled Tales of Mystery and Terror. Can't say I've noticed much of the latter as yet. Not properly read any of his stuff before so I thought it was time I gave it a go. Interesting, but I'm not sure I'm enjoying the Victorian style all that much. Might take a break before I reach the end
and return to them later.

And that's another week nearly over and done then. Still very quiet in the office (in fact possibly more so than over Christmas as they have turned the air blowers off again, so as well as not having cold currents blasting over us we can actually hear ourselves think once
more). Wednesday I was out in the van looking for new timetable outlets again, however not alone for a change. I took Matt the trainee with me as (a) we had to take down the Park & Ride christmas signs and (b) he needs to see a bit more about what we do around the county, where places are etc. Quite a good trip out all told, although we had a couple of places refuse to stock the books which annoyed me rather. Yesterday and today just general in the office stuff for the main - checking timetable proofs, writing letters - although this morning I managed to escape to a Car Parks meeting. About as fun as it sounds really!

We have re-watched the first two Lord Of The Rings films this week in readiness for seeing part three tomorrow. Cracking stuff, and am so pleased with the extended dvd versions, they really flesh the story out properly. Not sure now how much longer I can out off re-reading the whole thing...

And speaking of reading, I have just finished the Sting book. Again, very interesting (it must seem like I praise everything with the same selection of words, but really I can't recall the last book I didn't enjoy!) and good to get an insight into some of the stuff that went on pre-Police. I will be more than happy to read it again in the future and also a second volume should he choose to write one. It has also reminded me of his links with the extended Gong family and I really must listen to the music again now. Fiction next...

Here's what I wrote yesterday and then couldn't get to post:

Five days in to the New Year and finally I get round to talking about it. Why the wait? Well, because I wasn't sure whether I could be bothered to keep this going now that we have reached the heady times of 2004 (where are my personal jetpac, food pills and shimmery togas then? Still waiting...). But I think I will have a go at continuing the chronicle of me and the mrs and see where it takes us. Whether I'll be able to get online very often is still to be seen (especially when we move to Endeavour House sometime in the spring) but I'll do my best. Just need to not be so lazy at weekends/in the evenings... Of course the real reason for continuing is that I enjoy waffling, and haven't mentioned www.wayoftherodent.com yet where I waffle on about videogames in the company of a bunch of likeminded individuals. Go see for yourself sometime.

So, New Year celebrations. Went with something between a bang and a whimper - neither extreme but cosily in the middle. Mum cooked a variation on a Belgian dish we've seen on many a menu but never actually tried before - Waterzooi. Basically a rather tasty sauce with stips of vegetables and the meat on top. Very nice, will have to try the real thing when we next head over the water. Then we chatted, played a couple of games of Upwords (Joan and I generally thrashing the pants off Mum & Richard) before having a wee drinkie of Champagne when the bells struck 12. Didn't stay very long after that as yawns were creeping up on us all. Thinking back on it, I can't remember being away from home on New Year before with Joan other than 2001 when we were up north with Ernie. So that was a new experience for us anyway.

New Year's Day we took things pretty easy. Got up late and generally pottered about in the morning. Then Richard came along for the afternoon and we watched another Christmas DVD - Pirates Of The Carribean - The Curse Of The Black Pearl which was superb. An absolutely genius turn by Johnny Depp coupled with some real spectacle. And of course, pirates. Yarrrrrrr. In the evening Helen, Bhupen & Alexander came along for another sip of champers and then that was the end of the festivities proper.

Friday was back to work again, and nothing of note to report really. Finished off a few more loose ends, cleared out another bunch of old crap. That sort of stuff. And then the weekend...

Joan was working both days so I was pretty much on my own. Had a lazy morning on Saturday then with a bit of help from Richard put up a new hanging pan/utensil rack thing in the kitchen. Wasn't sure at first but it is growing on me now. Also spent a frustrating couple of hours trying to get through to vodafone as we both got new Mobiles and wanted our numbers transfered, loyalty bonuses etc. I think we are all sorted now, but if I ever have to deal with a call centre again I may well go mad. Press 1 for this, 2 for that etc. Fair does the brain in. Yesterday much of the same, but without the frustration, and now back to work for another week. Life just plods onwards.

Have also finally started a new book - Broken Music by Sting. Autobiographical effort taking him as far as the Police getting huge. Good so far, if a little high-faluting considering the background he is describing...

And now Blogger is down so I can't post this after all. Oh well, maybe tomorrow...

Tuesday for real now:

Feeling absolutely wiped out this morning. Joan couldn't sleep and was up and down as well as fidgeting when she was back in bed which meant I didn't sleep either. Add to that a touch of earache (seems to have lifted now) and I was not the best person to be around at 7am today. Oh well, made it in to work and getting on with stuff...

Hoorah, the rain has finally stopped and the sun has come out to play instead. Which meant I went for a wander over lunch for the last time this year. And came back with the Gamecube title half of Llamaland is raving about - Billy Hatcher And The Giant Egg. Seems daft enough for me so I reckon that I might just dedicate some of New Year's Day to playing it.

We've been invited round to Ma & Pa's for dinner tonight and also to stay to see 2004 in if we choose. Hopefully we will all be able to stay awake until then...

Oh bottoms, have forgotten to bring a cup with me today so I'm going to have to either overdose on fizzy stuff or just go thirsty. I should have known something would get left behind - everything else went nicely ahead of schedule this morning when getting ready to leave the house. Grrrr. Mind you, today is looking like being just as grey and dismal and rainy as yesterday was (although a fraction warmer) so I shouldn't be expecting everything to go just fine now. And still fairly bloomin' freezing here in the office, although not as bad as yesterday.

Watched Charlie's Angels - Full Throttle last night. Even more of a switch the brain off film than the last two mentioned, but thoroughly enjoyably daft anyway. And more a case of listing who wasn't in the film somewhere than who was. I think there was a plot in there somewhere between all the action set pieces and costume changes... I think I will also have to take the time one of these days to watch all the extra features from both CA films. Purely for research purposes and to gain a fuller understanding of the nuances of the film-making process you understand.

Have managed to get a bit further in the "Park & Ride as transport hub" report thanks to the lack of distractions here but still can't say I'm gripped by the material. I think I will at least manage a finished first draft for people to look at by the end of play this week but am not promising that it will be gripping reading.

Oooh, well we had a very good Christmas and I was just far too busy to be waffling on here. That's my excuse and I'm darn tootin' well sticking with it. A few highlights rather than a full blow-by-blow account I think (mainly because I'm lazy, I freely admit that one...).

23rd Dec - last working day - no management in the building. As a consequence most of the group spent most of the day doing very little indeed. Lots of chocolates were eaten in the morning and lots of alcohol was consumed from lunchtime onwards. I did go over to the bar for an hour or so after work, but not until I'd got some stuff sorted out and clocked out. Unlike some people I could mention. Also failed once again to win anything in the Christmas draw. So no surprises. It seems things also got a bit hairy after I left with broken glass flying about and people generally getting up each other's noses. I need some more details but no-one else who was there is in today... Then home finally for the break.

Christmas Eve - Joan still working. I popped in to to town for the last bits of food shopping and to pick up the stuff we had ordered which once again reminded me how lucky I am to have got a way from the retail trade. Also luckily Argos finished early for a change so we were able to get round to Ma & Pa's at quite a reasonable time for once, which was nice. V. tasty Goose etc to eat and far too many presents leaving us spoilt rotten once again. Same thing every year, we all spend far too much money on each other, but there you go.

Might be different next year as Dad has stopped working again (don't think I mentioned it before - after his 6 month probationary period was over his boss apparantly turned in to something resembling a monster, so he decided that she wasn't worth putting up with
at his time of life). We shall see. In fact Dad was a bit quite, and spent most of the rest of Christmas in bed not very well at all. Poor chap.

Christmas Day say Helen, Bhupen and Alexander come to us for Christmas dinner. All went very well, lots more presents (Joan and I were especially good to each other, again!) although Helen also a bit ill. Some really evil bugs going round at the moment it would seem. So we ate lots more, played games, watched some festive tv and generally had a good time. We also watched the first Christmas DVD - A Man Apart - which was pretty good.

Boxing Day was more relaxed, but Ma, Pa & Richard came along for their tea - although Dad didn't exactly eat very much!

Saturday Joan was back at work and I avoided town altogether. Which seems to have been the best plan as there were people everywhere fighting for the bargains and complaining about and returning stuff. And yesterday was not much better from what we saw - although most of that was from the other side of the fence as customers for a change. We only went in to town because Joan had to do some stuff on the computer at work to ensure everyone got paid.

Yesterday was also Joan's birthday and she got further spoilt.

So today I am one of the few back in the office. It is bitterly cold in here as the heating has been off for 5 days and now doesn't seem to want to start up again. It has also been raining nearly all day so I've not ventured out. Might dash to the post office on my way home to send something off to a friend in America, but otherwise I think I will be off home soon.

Other entertainment - finished the re-read of Redemtion... and enjoyed it a lot. Had forgotten nearly all the plot twists although not all of them made much sense it has to be said. Still, fun and non-taxing. Not started anything else as yet - catching up with magazines and the like. Also switched our brains off and watched The Scorpion King and the Scooby Doo film. Not sure quite which was the daftest!

Aaaaah, pretty. Someone's been out with the icing sugar all over the place. Alternatively it could have been snowing somewhat overnight. Whatever the explanation some of the roads in to work looked very festive and nice and stuff. Of course there is no chance it will last for Christmas Day, in fact it will probably be gone before I get home tonight, but never mind. We can still say we had some snow in Christmas week for a change...

Pretty good weekend all told. House now pretty much ready for the hordes (well, the families anyway). Most of the shopping done and ready to cook (we pick the ordered bits up on Christmas Eve). All the presents wrapped (apart from the ones still not yet bought).

Grrrrr. Left office at 5pm. Finally got home at ten past seven. Was all going fine until I got up to Park & Ride where I made the mistake of popping in to the office for a quick chat. Turned to the cctv moitor just in time to see someone drive into the exit blocker. So that was another hour and a half of work claimed while I helped in the sorting out - directing traffic and stuff. Double checked the tape before going home and she definitely went through while the light was red and the blocker was rising. So no liability for us - all her own fault. Got to feel sorry for the woman as it can't be nice, but how hard is it really to look for green before driving on?

Finished the customs book - very good. And the next I decided to go for is another re-read. The Redemption Of Althalus from David & Leigh Eddings. Only been three years since I first read that one, but still not remembering more than the basic details. A good untaxing read, which is just what I need at this time of year.

nudge

Work Christmas dinner yesterday went very well. Down to the Lord Nelson for the third year running and once again superb food and good service. Sonic had organised certificates for assorted end of year awards which went down OK apart from a few grumpy sods who refused to play ball. Management paid for the drinks and virtually instructed us not to go back to work for the rest of the afternoon. OK, so I did along with most of the rest of us, but the thought was definitely there.

Been pretty quiet again today and expecting more of the same tomorrow. Although it seems Joan has bought a new fish tank so we will no doubt spend most of this evening sorting that out. Oooh, the thrills.

Didn't mention the recent entertainment highlights last time so here they are now. As well as buying a new VCR we have watched A Knight's Tale which was fun and suitably daft for spending a couple of hours with. Not exactly much in the way of historical accuracy but then we weren't expecting any. And I quite liked having a totally inapropriate (by normal standards) rock soundtrack rather than the usual orchestral stuff. Had the feet tapping.

Also over the weekend I re-read Terry Pratchett's Hogfather as I needed a lighter bit of fiction than the Gap stuff and wanted something Christmassy. Or at least the Discworld version of. Enjoyed it much more than the first time I read it, but then that was when I was off work with depression for the first time back in 1998. Am now nearly finished with The Duty Men by Peter Gillman & Paul Hamman which is actually the book of a late '80s BBC series about Customs & Excise. Fascinating stuff - mainly a bit of history tied in with a number of detailled case studies that would have been the episodes on TV. I'd love to see an updated version (like, how have the figures for drug seizures changed etc) so might just look out for stuff on the subject in the New Year. Expect to finish that one on the bus home tonight or later this evening but not sure what to go for next...

Oooh, where was I? Oh yes, on the way to Bury St Edmunds with Joan. It was very foggy in places but we got there and back safe and sound. Her review went OK - and then Chris told her he wanted her to cut her hours back again as he could see she was getting stressed out once more. So wile we are still waiting for confirmation of what she will actually be doing, we think she will be going down to four days a week for a while. Hopefully this will also co-incide with some help when she is off so that she doesn't have the work to do on the days she is there and also the sorting out of Marion. Matt is also less than happy with her at the moment and made that clear to Chris too.

Then Weds night was the Mexican meal with Sonic & team. Which also went well. Our first meetings with Mrs Sonic and Miss Matt, a very convivial atmosphere and I enjoyed the food too. Although I didn't go for anything particularly spicy and there was far too much of it. No-one finished their meal. I think if we go there again we will not bother with starters.

Thursday was my guest appearance in the office. Stayed in plodding away at P&R stuff rather than going out in the van I had booked. Then again, it was absolutely chucking it down most of the day which I felt was a good enough excuse to stay in.

Friday at home again. Went to see Kirstie the hygenist in the afternoon and she seemed reasonably pleased with the results of all the trips to Colchester. Still managed to find a few things to moan about, but then a trip to the dentist wouldn't be right without getting complained at. And I know I should probably do a bit more teeth cleaning than I manage some days - especially after all the effort, pain and expense - but it does get a bit tedious some nights. Also did some more Christmas shopping while I was in town, so Joan should be getting some nice surprises next week. And got further soaked in the continuing rain.

Sat & Sun were both days of work for Joan and pottering about the house for me. Got some of the decorations up (Outside and window lights, the tree, some other fripperies) and also wrapped all the presents I've got for Joan so far as we don't know what she's working between now and Christmas/her birthday so I thought I ought to take the chance when she was out. Also finally got round to tidying up some of the numerous cables trailling across the lounge.

Saturday night we went along to Ma & Pa's for dinner as Grandma was up. Very nice meal and also very nice and unexpected Christmas present from Grandma. Which has gone straight in the bank towards a holiday. Although saying that we have had to buy a new video recorder as the old one just died in the sound department. Why do these things always pack up at Christmas time?

So now I'm back at work for a whole week before a two day one next week. Nothing else to add for now.

In, out, in, out (shake it all about!) - much as I like having time off work I think next time I'll try to have it in one lump rather than splitting the days. All very strange.

So, Bruges. A really good day if a bit bloody cold at times. Drive down was OK, tunnel crossing as boring as ever then a quick trip up the coast and we were there. I did of course sleep through most of the travelling, cars having this effect on me if I'm not the one behind the wheel. Bruges was just as pretty as ever (and not spoilled by the temporary ice rink in the market square) and we had a nice meal before hitting the markets. Another time we will just get some chips or something as the meal took up a big chunk of the shopping time but you live and learn.

Still, fortified with lots of food and mulled wine we prepared to shop until we dropped. Unfortunately some of the stalls turned out to be a bit disappointing - not many were particularly Christmassy which was partly why we were there after all, to get some foreign festive festoonery. Lots of clothes stalls and quite a few selling crystlas and aromatherapy stuff. Still, we did get a few more presents sorted and generally enjoyed ourselves. We were also a bit surprised to find most of the shops closed despite the thousands of people milling around town. Still, their loss. I think we will just have to go back for a longer day in the summer.

Monday we both were off but stayed local. Popped in to town for lunch (mmm, Puccinos) and some more shopping. Still got one or two presents to get but nearly there now.

Then yesterday I was back at work. But at a meeting in Norwich with Norfolk and Cambridgeshire which lasted nearly all day so I never got in to the office at all. Quite interesting at times, but I'm not sure what will come of most of what we covered - we were all sitting there talking about things we'd like to do jointly to promote public transport but at the same time all complaining about having no money to spare to do so. We shall see. Went up with the marketing manager but he decided to have a look around town before coming home. So I regretted not having brought any reading material with me for the train home.

Today I am off again as Joan has to go to Bury this afternoon for a meeting and I am taking her. Although if the fog doesn't start lifting soon I think we will have to take the train instead of driving. I don't actually mind driving in the fog, but Joan doesn't like car travel at the best of times. We will just have to see if things improve... Then tonight we have a mexican meal with my team from work. Hopefully that will be a good one.

Looks like three days was the best I could manage on the advent calendar!

Thursday I was out and about again looking for new timetable outlets. A succesful jaunt once more, although there was one place refused to stock them for a change - grumpy sods. In the evening we started a long weekend (well, long for me, interrupted for Joan as she has had to go to work today) by watching Still Crazy - cracking film in the Spinal Tap vein but more British. And Jimmy Nail, Bill Nighy and Billy Connolly are a lot more watchable. And the music's damn good too.

Yesterday we had a lazy start then went shopping for more Christmas stuff. Nearly all sorted now. And not really much else to say about the day! Oh, yes, finished the Darwin Awards book - more funny lessons to learn there. Not started anything else yet though.

Today Joan was not at all well to start with, but finally went to work around 1030. Hope she makes it through OK as tomorrow we are off to Belgium and the Brugges Christmas market. Which should be a great if long day. More news on that after the event.

Foggy today and I didn't fance driving over the Orwell Bridge. So used Martlesham instead of London Road. Not actually much slower either (OK, so it didn't help that I saw the bus I was aiming for leave while I was parking the car, but then we did leave home late).

Right then, what's under today's window? Ooooh, a nice hippo. Can you guess the theme of the calendar yet?

Today I am supposed to be doing some testing of our on-street timetable/journey planning kiosks. But the test rig upstairs that should have been updated earlier is still not working. Great. Really fills me with confidence this place some days.

OK, time to see what's under today's flap of advent calender. Fumble, rip, open... Aaah, fluffy sheepie! I wonder how many days I will manage to keep this going for.

Here's a strange conincidence I heard on the radio this morning. A farmer in Scotland once saved the son of a local Lord from drowning in a bog. When the Lord went round the next day to thank the farmer he also offered a reward. The farmer refused, but the Lord persisted and offered to pay for the farmer's son to have the same education as his own. The farmer's son was Alexander Fleming who went on to discover Penicillin and the Lord was Randolph Churchill, with his son being Winston. So if the farmer hadn't pulled the boy from the bog we might never have had the wonder drug or the inspirational leader. Funny how things interconnect.

Mind you I have also seen the latest in a long line of jokes scrawled in the dirt on the back of vans today. Following from the original "wash me" and later variations "don't wash - seeds planted" and "I wish my wife was this dirty" we now have "Driven well? Call 999 it must be stolen".

Crikey, its December already. Better open up the first window on the advent calender. Hmm, rustle, tear of perforations, oooooh. A picture of a kitten. How nice. Wonder what will be under tomorrow's flap...

Anyway, another good few days from my point of view since last post. Friday I was out in the van looking for new timetable outlets. Did the Felixstowe and Bawdsey peninsulas (well, I had to do them some time, couldn't keep putting them off just because I live there) and got a whole load of successful hits. Plus lunch at home with Tawny. And once again reminded of what a lovely part of the world it is that we live in.

Saturday I basically stayed home tidying and stuff. Joan had her works Christmas dinner in the evening and brought Marion home to get changed. Which turned out to be quite a noble gesture as she had really upset her earlier in the day. Just general insensitivity I think - saying other stores were doing better because of who was at them and thus running Joan down by implication. I thin they are sorted a bit better now but it isn't the best working atmosphere at the moment. I just wish there was something other than listening I could do to help. Still, they had apretty good evening as far as I've been told.

While they were out enjoying themselves I watched Rat Race which had a funny moment or two. Not the best comedy film I've ever seen but a passable way to kill a couple of hours. Also finished the Gap books. Overall a superb series with just about the right amount of resolution and finality to the ending. That's not to say there is no room for a second series following on some time, but only in the sense of it being a big old universe out there and things have changed over the course of these five books. So that it would be nice to see how those changes pan out over a longer period. Bit of a breathless read as well due to the style of writing with
precious little in the way of description of the locations etc - just action and conversation. But still enjoyable. Am now about to start the second collection of Darwin Awards as compiled by Wendy Northcutt.

Then yesterday Joan and I had our big Christmas shopping day. Used Martlesham Park & Ride and spent several hours and a lot of money in Ipswich. We certainly broke the back of it, but still quite a few bits and bobs needed due to shops being out of stock etc. Mind you, the town centre was absolutely heaving so it was inevitable we wouldn't be able to get everything. I'll just have to keep wandering up to the shops of a lunch time.

OK, so these people want to turn London Road in to some sort of glorified car lot. But without the middleman. So a place where you can take your car along if you want to sell it, and people will know (presumably having seen adverts somewhere) that cars are for sale there every Sunday. Better than a sign in the window at the side of the road, cheaper than an advert in the paper and potentially more profit than trading it in with a dealer. And of course we should get either a share of the profits or a fixed fee every week to help top up the budget.

Probably won't end up happening as we have never done anything like it in the past, but with a new Director and new Chief Exec recently they may be looking for ways to supplement the budget. We shall see what comes about...

And that was another evening of laughter and inane grinning with mirth that we all enjoyed rather a lot. So here's one from her ouvre to tickle the tastebuds:

OH NO, I GOT A COLD
by Pam Ayres


I am sitting on the sofa.
By the fire and staying in.
Me head is free of comfort
And me nose is free of skin
Me friends have run for cover,
They have left me pale and sick
With me pockets full of tissues
And me nostrils full of Vick

That bloke in the telly adverts,
He's supposed to have a cold.
He has a swig of whatnot
And he drops off, good as gold,
His face like snowing harvest
Slips into sweet repose.
Well I bet this tortured breathing
Never whistled down his nose.

I burnt me bit of dinner
Cause I've lost me sense of smell,
But then, I couldn't taste it,
So that worked out very well,
I'd buy some, down the cafe,
But I know that at the till,
A voice from work will softly say
"I thought that you were ill".

So I'm wrapped up in a blanket
With me feet up on a stool,
I've watched the telly programmes
And the kids come home from school,
But what I haven't watched for
Is any sympathy,
Cause all you ever get is:
"Oh no, keep away from me!"

Medicinal discovery,
It moves in mighty leaps,
It leapt straight past the common cold
And gave it us for keeps.
Now I'm not a fussy woman,
There's no malice in me eye
But I wish that they could cure
the common cold. That's all. Goodbye.

So there you go. Not that she performed that one last night (in fact I've never encountered it before) it was just the first one I found transcrbed on to the internet just now.

Also had a particularly bizarre dream I can remember for a change so here's the gen on that: Walking along the sea front with Joan, Ma & Pa (well, OK, the Spa is on the sea front so that could have triggered it) to find a whole load of new amusements. Including a big observation tower ride thingy whereby you entered a capsule a bit like on the London Eye. This then rose to give a good view of the sea and town, then descended slowly before heading sideways on to a sort of rollercoaster type track. This rose up higher than the tower had before, well above the top of the cliffs doing various loops and twirls along the way. Sensibly we decided against this as a form of entertainment but found there was a new set of steps running up the cliff face in to town. So we took those. Only for them to get steeper and steeper as they rose (over a railway that must also have been new!) eventually turning in to a metal ladder with extremely skinny rungs. Not sure how we would have coped if someone had wanted to come down while we were going up. Anyway, I woke up before reaching the top to find it was exactly 2 minutes before my alarm was due to go off.

And what did we find upon rising? The first frost of the year, that's what. So much scraping of windscreens along the street and further reasons for us to thank Jerry for putting that driveway in. Mmmm, the delights of a sheltered car on a frosty morning!

Today we seem to be pretty much devoid of management again in here. Some of them are out at a "Management Action Conference" while the others are interviewing for a post in the Community Transport team. So naturally Gary hasn't arrived yet (0929) and Charles has turned up but then disappeared straight away. I'm sure they will be around to do some work at some point. Just not sure when. For my part I have a visitor due at 10 who wants to try and persuade me to let him use a P&R site on a Sunday for some purpose he has refused to explain on the phone. So we will almost definitely say no. Certainly not used them for non-P&R purposes up to now - don't want to sully the image after all. Oh, and in thrilling technical news I've popped up to a higher resolution on my sexy flatscreen monitor and it is looking even better than before. Which is nice.

I'm devastated. Right now I should be on the way to Stowmarket to bring a mini-bus back to Ipswich, but they've changed the schedules so I don't have to go. Such a shame, would have been my first go at actually driving something officially used to carry passengers... And a proper purpose-built one at that, not just a converted van. Hey ho, one of these days. As it stands I have just been interviewed for the Department's attempt to get re-accredited for Investors in People status along with a couple of others from the New Routes team. So I think we gave a good account of what we do, why we do it etc. I get the feeling that if we don't get the plaque on the wall it won't be our fault at least.

The review yesterday went OK - literally just a five minute check I was roughly where I ought to be target-wise then in to a normal 1 to 1 session. And being pretty much on target hadn't stopped me being paranoid about the whole thing though. Wonder if I will ever just be able to relax and enjoy the job. Which today has seen me finishing off some advert designs to go in a cinema magazine and starting the wheels in motion for production of some alternative publicity formats. All of which might just help pull in a few more passengers across the county. And also spend some of the extra money we've been told to spend quickly. Which is of course for revenue purposes only, and not something we can use to rebuild the low bridge at London Road Park & Ride so we can use bigger buses. Harumph. Also had Secured car park status at Bury Road re-awarded for another year. Which was nice.

Had the first "Back at Argos" dream in ages last night. Definitely meant to be Stowmarket, but moved to an attractive riverside location and seriously expanded. If the place had really been like that I might have stayed.

Back to the Spa again tonight to see Pam Ayres. I was wondering whether really I'm too young to be enjoying people like her and Richard Digance, but frankly we laughed so much last week that I've given up caring. Never exactly been deliberatelty fashionable in my tastes. I just go with what I like.

And another reasonably good weekend has passed. So where was I?

Oh yes, Richard Digance. Very obviously a bit under the weather with a cold, but still gave a very good show. Quite a few songs and jokes we'd not heard before (or at least not for 10+ years) mixed in with the more familiar stuff. Plus he is actually rather good when it comes to playing the guitar. A very enjoyable evening's entertainment. Then as we were
driving home it started to rain. And basically it didn't stop again until sometime between us going to bed last night and getting up again this morning. So a wet weekend all told.

Friday was mainly Park & Ride stuff for me again - in the morning meeting with the engineers to see if some modifications we want to the older sites are possible and affordable, and in the afternoon seeing about a new stop for Martlesham. The latter of which meant a trip up the road in the rain.

Saturday Joan was working so I just pottered about, ironed and stuff. Then yesterday was Ma & Pa's annual "Its nearly Christmas" party so we went along to that. Good food, drink and chat as usual.

So, nothing startling but nothing bad either.

Am now on to the final Gap book - The Gap In To Ruin - This Day All Gods Die and beginning to see things coming to the end. Defnitely enjoyed the whole series but I don't think it will get re-read as often as some others. Not sure what I will go for next either, something a bit lighter I expect.

And now I'd better start putting together the evidence of where I am with my targets in advance of my interim review meeting tomorrow.

test:

And another big post-gap. Seems this is becoming a habit.

Anyway, had a pretty good weekend all told. Last two days of Joan's week off so we were able to spend some quality time together getting stuff sorted and done and so forth. Saturday night we went out with Ma, Pa & Richard to the Beagle for dinner in advance of Dad's birthday on the Sunday. Very nice it was too. Especially as the last time we went
there was before the mouth treatment started, and going there again proved it was over (well, almost over - see below).

Then Sunday we got Christmas underway in earnest. No, really. Sat down and printed off the majority of the address labels for cards, started looking at what presents we already had and what we might buy for people, sorted out our finances to make sure we can pay for it all and watched Scrooge. Joan's favourite film and one she probably watches 3 or 4 times a year, but especially in November and December. Mind you, Sunday was also the Christmas lights switch-on in Ipswich but even though we were running Park & Ride free we stayed away. Probably a good thing we did too after hearing the reports after the event. Despite encouraging people to take it easy and go for a coffee after the magic moment they all decided to go home instead. So all the buses were packed, people had to wait and tempers flared. Glad I wasn't caught up in it all.

Monday it was back to the Dentist in Colchester. I thought this was the review to see how it all went, but instead it was a clean-up and quick check things were OK with me. Now I can go back to normal cleaning and seeing my own hygenist before the actual review in February. So another three months of slight uncertainty over what's going on in my mouth. But they do want the rest of the money now not then so I guess he must be fairly confident it worked.

Tuesday was just a normal day in here, with no alarms or excursions to mention. Then yesterday I was up to Norwich for an ATCO meeting. Should have been down to Crawley to look at their new busways but they cried off and we ended up staying local (for me). Which was nice as I was able to take Joan to work and pick her up as normal. Low turnout (only 6 counties!) but we got through loads of stuff and actually got opinions out of everyone who was there, rather than the usual blank looks from most representatives. Plus bits of it will be useful as the basis for a report I have to write here.

Tonight we are off to the Spa to see Richard Digance, which should be amusing.

Testing...

Hoorah, Martlesham is finally open, the punters are coming in and I can get back to some semblance of normality again...

The launch event on Tuesday went pretty well in the end. It was, of course, dominated by the councillors etc who have never been on site before and probably never will again but at least a couple of the speeches managed to give some credit to some of the people who'd actually done the work. And the doves all flew without encouragement when they got released, which was a step up from events at the Bury Road launch in 2000. OK, so we were pleased it was all over before darkness fell as the lights in the terminal building didn't get fitted until yesterday, but otherwise good stuff. I even managed to get on telly for a few seconds that night. They even managed to make a cake in the shape of one of the buses that was surprisingly edible. Mind you, it was a grey and cold day (again). We really must get the hang of launching things in the summer from now on. Would be nice to have some scantily clad models around or something. Just to add a touch of colour to events you understand...

So Wednesday was the real test of all our hard work when we opened to the public. I got there at 0645 in time for the first bus to roll at 0700. And the first passenger finally rolled up at 0750 or thereabouts. Which was nice as we were beginning to think we'd be stood there all day waiting. So we did the ceremonial handing over of a 20 trip smartcard, bottle of wine and P&R umbrella. There were press around as well so I also ended up in the Evening Star that day. Fame! I'm gonna live forever, etc. Ahem. It all went pretty well from then on with a steady stream of people running through including several who bought smartcards before even trying the route (and thus committed themselves to coming back), a few who bought them on their way home again and also Joan and Mum (who I met on my bus back to the site, which was nice). Hoorah! It was of course another grey and rainy day so that may have put a few people off from trying us out, but in the end we must have had at least 60 cars through. Which compares well with the other two when they opened. But it was a long day and I was more than glad to get home. Despite ending up spending the evening on my own as Joan went out to Bingo with Helen. Total winnings £2.50 each. Whooppee, life of luxury for us from now on.

Then yesterday and we had hoped to get back to regular stuff. In fact I had hoped not to go near Martlesham, but that was not to be. The plan was simple enough - go out first thing and put up the "open for christmas shopping" signs at London Road (the one at Bury Road got removed last year and we haven't got ant for Martlesham yet) then pelt off to Bury St Edmunds to deliver some timetables to Greene King brewery. But while we were putting the signs up the phone rang. Martlesham. One of the new buses wasn't working properly so had been replaced by a spare. Which was a couple of inches taller. So naturally the driver had smacked into the overhanging roof of the terminal building, ripping a gutter off and twisting some of the planks. Marvellous.

Gary and I thus went over to see the damage and have a chat with the on-site engineer and project managers about stopping it happen again. After much arguing and stomping about we finally got them to agree to extend the kerb line away from the building. After all, we might end up running bigger buses still in the future (including double deckers) so need to be able to cope with those too. Not sure when it will happen, bu the sooner the better in my book.

All of which meant we didn't even leave here towards Bury until after lunch. Then on the way back Gary's phone rang - some furniture he'd ordered had arrived. As we had the van we picked that up and I did my good deed for the day by helping him get it up to his flat. Those little things that make me remember some of the reasons I was pleased not to be working at Argos any more. Flat-pack wardrobes are just so heavy!

And now the weekend is approaching rapidly. I think I will devote the rest of today to clearing the clutter that has accumulated on and around my desk during all the launch build-up, then next week back to the cut and thrust of trying to meet targets.

Only another day to go now before Martlesham Park & Ride opens, so hopefully with that out of the way I will be able to calm down my life a fraction and get back on with normal stuff like the rest of my job and things. Certainly had precious little time to keep up with it last week. So, what did I manage to do?

Tuesday was a training day - how to write better English. Not sure how much I learned really, and how much was just reminding me of how I ought to be doing things. Some of it was interesting but I think I could probably have got by without it. Still, we are supposed to be an organisation committed to continuous improvement so I shouldn't grumble. Going on the odd "not so useful" course keeps my name up there as someone willing to go on these things when something worth doing turns up. Plus it was a day out of the office, which normally would be welcome but this time of course was merely one in five days out in the week.

Wednesday and Thursday saw me do Martlesham, Woodbridge, Felixstowe and Lowestoft on P&R promotional duties. Both days went pretty well. The only complaints were related to the roundabout at the site entrance which is nothing to do with me and generally people were looking forward to us opening. In fact we were welcomed almost with open arms by some. My fears about the price compared to the other two sites may prove justified come the opening, but nobody raised them as a significant issue. Mind you, the number of people who never go to Ipswich (or at least say they never go) was staggering. I know they say Suffolk folk are an insular lot but I wasn't sure I believed it until now. The most extreme was a girl who confessed to having lived in Lowestoft 23 years and only been to Norwich once in that time and Ipswich never. I think I'd go stark raving bonkers (again!) if I didn't see different places regularly.

It was good to spend the three days out with some of the drivers and get to know them a bit better. There was a time when I knew all the P&R drivers quite well, but what with other jobs and them changing a lot I've sort of lost touch. So I will be making an effort with the other two sites as well to make sure people know I'm Mr P&R!

The trips also gave me the chance to confirm that the buses are comfortable for the longer journey in to town from Martlesham. OK, so I stayed awake and reading but other spare drivers managed to snooze their way around the county. We did also have a spot of excitement in Lowestoft at one retail park. First the manager of one of the units tried to make a scene about us being there and taking his trade away. But we had got permission from the site management to be there so that was easily resolved. Then we had a car catch fire in the car park which was quite spectacular. And the fire brigade were very quick to arrive so we got to see them at work before making our retreat - after all, a bus is no competition with men in uniform when it comes to getting attention.

Friday was a delivery day for me after we ran out of other people to do them instead. A slight mix-up with the van (mainly relating to the person doing deliveries for me on Wednesday smashing a mirror on it) meant we did 167 miles in a very nice Rover 75 estate. Which meant coming back in to town half way through for a re-fill but we were prepared to put up with that. After all, we did have a lovely leather interior and more toys to play with than you could shake a stick at. Down to individual climate control for each side of the car! Plus there was a nice lunch in Laxfield, another pub I will have to take Joan along to one day. Roll on next summer and us starting to have days out again.

So that was the working week over with finally. I was fairly knackered by the time I got home on Friday night and looking forward to relaxing a bit. Of course Joan was at work both Saturday and Sunday so I was still up around normal time to take her in. But then I spent two days doing a bit of tidying and ironing, a bit of reading and a bit of playing games on this here PC. OK, so I also did a lot of struggling with stupidly designed spring clips while trying to change a headlamp bulb (I think I wasted over an hour trying to undo the blasted thing before giving up, getting help from Dad and watching him solve it in 5 seconds flat). Went on a bit of a downwrd spiral for a while after that - mainly frustration over being either beaten by something so stupid or at being so stupid myself. Didn't really pick up until Joan came home again - she is my living anti-depressant.

On the book front I am now on to number 4 - The Gap into Madness: Chaos And Order and still we are meeting new characters and situations. Which is good in the stopping boredom setting in stakes but adds more twists and turns to the plot that will need resolving at some point. Am definitely enjoying the series but at the same time wish I could get to the end quicker.

Last night we squeezed in watching Bend It Like Beckham which managed to be a lot funnier than I had expected from the reviews. Could be that some of the jokes made more sense to us through knowing Bhupen and his family than perhaps they would to others.

So now we are almost up to date again. This morning was the final on-site snagging run through for Martlesham before the launch ceremony tomorrow. Found a few minor things that give cause for slight worry (like the building lights haven't arrived yet!) but I think we should be OK in the end. I'll be glad when the first punter turns up on Wednesday morning though. Then this afternoon I have been working here after yet another trip to the dentist. Just the normal one in Felixstowe today for a check up and filling. Face still a bit sore but then I did need extra anaesthetic again as I was a tad sensitive when he started drilling. Right, that will do for today.

Grrrrrrrrrr. Another two hours at Argos last night waiting for alarm engineers (and again we attracted a security guard and three police people). That was after a pretty good day when we had been lazy in the morning then visited Makro for some stocking up on boring but useful stuff (cat food, loo roll, you know the score). Kind of left a grim taste in the mouth after the enjoyment we'd had earlier.

Today has been pretty good too apart from the early start. My bus was in Framlingham and after we finally got there (long story involving forgotten leaflets and diversions to Martlesham site) we had a welcome response level. People knew we were going to be there and wanted to know about the site. I hope they translate into users. Course tomorrow then more bussing weds and thurs before deliveries on fri.

Tomorrow is also our 8th wedding anniversary. Where does the time go so fast?

Full report on all the week's activities when I have the energy to write it...

What happened to October then? Don't seem to have had a minute to sit and think, much less stick stuff up on here. Anyway, Argos refit is nearly finished now. Joan has had a hectic time of it trying to keep everything going while the shop has been turned inside out and back again. I must say it is looking very nice in there now, but not sure if all the effort has been totally worth it. She hasn't had a day off this week (and funnily enough Marion has been on holiday for the whole process) and is getting a bit tired. I think all the staff are looking forward to the end now.

I've been frantically trying to get everything done for Martlesham opening. I think we are just about there now, which is good as I'm basically not in the office again until the day of the opening ceremony. This week I will be out doing promotional bus trips three days, on a course one day and delivering the new area books the last. They came this week and are looking particularly good, if I do say so myself. But too much lifting as the quantities ordered seem to get more each time. And with a bit of arm-twisting and calling in of favours I have managed to get help with the distribution so nearly all the books will be out to the right places by the end of the week as well. That will help my quest for new outlets to resume as I won't spend half of it playing catch-up.

The big thrill for me was last Sunday when we had a visit from College friends Cara & Phil, who I've not seen for something like 9 years. Joan had to work unfortunately, but we called in to see her and a good time was had by all I think. They haven't changed a bit (apart from the two girls of course) and I just felt totally relaxed with them here. Great stuff. We also went out to Ma & Pa's for tea that night which was not so relaxing - Dad hit us with the news that he has a dodgy ear, a dodgy eye and during the stress that made him quit the Abbeyfield job suffered a minor lacuna stroke which may have affected his memory a bit. It hit me quite a bit and I had a few funny moments myself. You don't expect it to happen to your own parents after all. Still, all seems to be either treatable or not worth major worry and he is getting on with life the same.

Catching up on entertaining things, I am now on to book 3 The Gap into Power - A Dark & Hungry God Arises and totally gripped. No chance of anything getting between the books now, I will be going all out to the end of the series. We also watched Enigma which was very good. And nice to see the British perspective on code breaking after the travesty of U-571. Time for lunch now (I think I can manage it after the shock of buying new tyres earlier)...

Gave in to temptation earlier and had my first hot Bacon & Sausage roll from Alberts since before the tooth work started today. Absolutely wonderful and a bit nice too. Made up for the annoyances on the way in this morning. We had a bit of a clear out from the loft on Sunday which resulted in me sticking out for the dustmen this morning: 10 black sacks, a couple of old suitcases (full), some old boxes of junk, a mysterious short ladder found up there and our old headboard which for some reason we had kept - all of which took a while to pile up. Then driving along I managed to turn off the A14 and was halfway along the Nacton Road before I realised it, so had to divert back to the A14 to get to Park & Ride. All of which meant I missed the bus I was aiming for and arrived later than planned. Worries me a bit that. I know I'm awake when I'm driving but I quite often find myself at a place without remembering the stretch of road since I last noticed it. I must have been paying attention because I've never ploughed into another car or wound up dead in a ditch, but it is a tad scary.

Oh well, here now and all the management for the whole division, never mind just the group, are out on some away day brainstorm session so at least it is peaceful here and we can get on with stuff.

Yesterday was another Library P&R plugging day. Woodbridge this time. A bit busier than Aldeburgh but still not really worth sending two of us out for the day. Still, another nice lunch on expenses. Monday just the usual desk work stuff. Nothing startling.

Still not feeling particularly enthralled by much of this at the moment and would rather be somewhere else. Although possibly not at Argos with Joan - they have finally started on the re-fit the shop has been needing for a good five years so things area bit chaotic there to say the least. Still, at least she will be getting her own office out of it for the cash stuff so with any luck her life will be much better.

I guess it must just be the approach of winter - had to get the big coat out for the first time today, clocks go back on Saturday night, half term next week. Stuff like that really. I dunno. I'm sure I'll be over it in a few days.

Well, Tuesday was pretty much a complete waste of time. OK, so Aldeburgh may not be the busiest town on a windy autumn day, but during the 4 hours or so we managed to put up with sitting around in the Library we only gave out 4 P&R leaflets and spoke to about 6 people. Hopeless. I don't think they actually told anyone we were going to be there, which didn't help of course. Still, got a nice lunch out of it.

Wednesday we had the secured car park inspection for Martlesham and passed, then another operations meeting in the afternoon which went well.

Thursday I had the day off to relax with Joan. Partly because I was simply knackered and needed a day off and partly to use up some hours. Only been back from holiday three weeks and already managed to build up two days worth of flexi time. And no prospect of that letting up until after Martlesham opens now so I thought I'd better have a day when I still could. So we did some shopping and washed the car but otherwise took it easy.

Yesterday it was back into the thick of launch planning and working out distribution for the books when they get here. And now today I have ironed a bit and will be off to pick Joan up when she finishes at 3 for a lazy rest of the day.

I wish this building would make its mind up about what temperature it wants to be. Luckily I decided to bring an extra layer today as its been OK, too hot and now too cold. Most peculiar. Mind you, I was here at just after 7 today following the dropping off of Jerry at the hospital. He might well be under the knife or even out of theatre by now. If it all goes according to plan he should be allowed home again tomorrow but I think someone else will be picking him up.

So, we had a pretty good weekend all told.

Apart from Friday night – in celebration of having my teeth back we decided some nice crusty bread was in order. So naturally I sliced my left thumb open with the bread knife. Still painful and bruised now although the cut seems to be healing nicely. Putting a real cramp on my joypad skills!

Saturday Joan worked in the morning then when I went to pick her up I got notified of a change to the plans. Instead of going home we went to Puccinos for lunch with Lesley. Which was particularly tasty as always in there. I really must get round to trying something else rather than having the same filling all the time, but it is just so nice… We then managed to sleep through most of the afternoon, which was also nice. I think we are now finally caught up with the missing sleep caused by the alarm.

Yesterday we spent the morning wandering around the market – even managed to spend some money for a change. Although mainly what we came home with was fruit, veg and bird seed. Then while I did exciting grass cutting stuff Joan went mad in the kitchen. So we had a fabulous dinner with homemade pumpkin soup and wonderful turkey with lots of different roast veggies. Lip smacking stuff. Plus we re-watched Mission Impossible 2 which was pretty good too.

Today I have of course achieved loads through being here so early (and especially before the distractions of phones and other people arrived on the scene). I could almost bring myself to do it again if the situation arose. Tomorrow I am in Aldeburgh at the library it would seem, doing an exhibition for the P&R publicity plan. So definitely an early finish for me today is warranted. Which will be arranged by simply slipping off after lunch to re-distribute all the new P&R leaflets which have all been delivered to London Road.

Well it’s finally decided and official. We, the public transport group, are confirmed as being one of the teams that will move to our new home in Endeavour House sometime next year. Still can’t decide if this is good or bad news, but they do say a change is as good as a rest…

Stitches came out fine this morning. It sure is nice to be free of them. I was able to use both sides of my mouth again when I had my lunch. Whoopeeee. Hopefully the sensitive stuff that happened with the other top jaw but not the lower won’t repeat itself, but we shall have to wait and see. I have to go back in November for a review and polish up thing, then that’s it. Back to normal dentistry again.

Tomorrow is the day of the Park & Ride price increase. And naturally it has all gone tits-up at the last minute. The leaflets won’t arrive and the livery changes on the buses won’t be happening until Monday now, and the software changes for the ticket machines until the 18th. Oh well, we will just have to muddle through as best we can.

Finished the first Gap book last night and have gone straight on to number two – The Gap in to Vision – Forbidden Knowledge which is proving just as good so far. Books 2 – 5 are all a lot thinker than 1 though. The style is still taking a bit of getting used to – nearly all thoughts and action with a tiny bit of conversation and even less description. So my images of how the locations and people look etc is coming more from memories of a zillion other sci-fi books and films etc.

Now we have Norfolk coming for a chat.

Oh me and my big mouth! Did I mention not much going on in our lives? Thought I might have done. Anyway, we had a nice dinner whilst re-watching the first Mission Impossible film and had just started mellowing out for the rest of the night when the phone rang. It was, of course, an alarm call for Argos. First one since Joan’s been back at work (there were a few calls while she was off but we passed them on to other people) and it seems the procedures have been changed in that time. Now we have a security company on board as well to come and go in with us as the Police were getting fed up with the time it was taking other keyholders to arrive from Braintree (Marion) or wherever Matt lives and weren’t prepared to wait.

So, we went gaily trotting along there and met up with the guard chap, went in and could find absolutely no reason for an activation. Other than perhaps the heating over the door having been left on, which has been known to cause problems in the past by blowing hanging cards around. Of course they have no cards these days so all we could assume was that perhaps the heat had been picked up by the infra-red sensor doobry that was showing on the panel as being the cause of the alarm. One remote re-set later and we were on our way home again. Only to be called out again after about 20 minutes had passed. Back we trotted then, to meet the guard again. Except this time the Police were there to have a nose around (they said they’d been along for the first one as well but we saw no sign of them).

Second time of activation in a short period with no obvious break-in means they can’t or won’t reset over the phone and we had to wait for an engineer. So, we pulled over a sofa from display, put the telly on and settled down to wait. He eventually turned up at about 1230 by which point we were all a bit tired and frustrated. Diagnosis was a fault in the sensor (which he didn’t have a spare for with him) and he ended up simply disconnecting that one so we could go home. Finally got to bed about 1.15 this morning. So I had an extra hour over when the alarm normally goes before I got up and came to work feeling a little bit sleepy.

Kind of wish I hadn’t – we had the second part of the big group meeting where we talked about ways and means for us to meet our ridiculously huge targets. Some of the ideas put forward are just crazy so there was much argue-ifying and shouting back and forth. A great way to spend a totally unproductive morning.

Oh well, Joan is out with Jacqui from Ipswich so she’s having a good time at least.

Another busy day for me. Finally saw the last few pages of the timetable books and got them approved for printing, wrote a 3,000 odd word guide to using Park & Ride and checked through the web site and changed half of that. So for the second day in a row I didn't get out at lunchtime, but never mind. I did manage an early finish instead.

Joan still doing OK and going to increase her hours again next week.

Nothing else to say!

Slightly annoyed with myself today - I wrote a bit for here last night then managed not to save it. Probably wasn't particularly earth-shattering but irritating to have lost it nonetheless.

Anyway, after two hours of fretting over what had happened to her, messages left on our answerphone, texts sent and even a call to work to find out if she really had left I finally got hold of Joan around 3.30 yesterday. Lots of worrying over nothing on my part as the morning had seemingly gone quite well and things are looking back on track for her. But I hate not knowing what's going on, not being able to talk to her etc. Don't know what I'd do if we were forced into a no-contact situation for an extended period of time.

Last night saw the end of the current run of Waking The Dead, which is a shame as once again the series has been pretty gripping. I know they don't come cheap, but I do wish they could manage more than four two-part stories at a time. Still we do at least get Silent Witness back this weekend in compensation. Not sure what it is about slightly gruesome police-oriented tales that draws us in. Of course I'd also love to see the BBC put the same care, attention and budget in to a decent Sci-Fi series...

Am finding the daily use of Park & Ride to get to work not too bad so far. And it is much better than sitting in the car stuck in traffic down some of the roads around here thinking about whether there would still be a space left in the car park when I arrived. OK, so door to door takes a bit longer, but I'm prepared to put up with that for a bit less hassle and stress of a morning.

Here's a few words I wrote yesterday then completely forgot to post after getting distracted, plus commentary from today in brackets!


Spent some time working in the garden today while the sun was out - which was nice actually. I know I normally avoid digging if I can the last rays of summer were more than welcome. (Today my side aches like I've shifted half a ton of earth. Funnily enough, I seem to have shifted some earth yesterday).

Anyway, the call Joan was expecting finally happened and she is a lot happier now. She will be working part-time this week to properly get back in to routine and then hopefully everything else will be sorted. (She should be home any minute and hopefully not had any hassle off Marion today. I'm waiting for the call).

Not much else to write really - Richard came along yesterday so that aspect of Saturdays is also back to normal! Tonight H, B & A are coming along for a meal and this morning we finally go our wills and stuff signed so I can take those in tomorrow. Gripping stuff this life we live! (Meal was top stuff with lots of laughter all round doing Joan the world of good. Wills all handed in to the will people at last so that's another job done).