So, the hordes are at the gates screaming at the top of their lungs... "How did the interview go then?" Frankly I wasn't sure when I came out. I knew I had given pretty good answers (and some of them were even my own rather than from Chris's assistance) and they made loads of notes (in fact I've never seen anyone in an interview write as much as Chris did) but can never tell how well I have come across. I guess I felt more confident than last time (the interview where I competed with Gary for our own jobs) but not really had enough interviews to tell how I did. However, I did get to learn what Matt thought of the other chap they called in and then had to escort him out of the building myself (!) and decided I probably had a better chance than he did.

I wasn't expecting to hear anything until after the final interview on the 20th but later in the afternoon Chris pulled me to one side and said that providing Mitchell agrees when Ian speaks to him on Tuesday I've got the job. It seems he is a bit dubious after my performance before, but Chris thought I did really well and Ian said it was like interviewing a different person. Which is nice. So, fingers are definitely crossed for a positive outcome from the big boss and then I shall have to see if I can actually do the job.

There will of course be all the transitional stuff where I have to learn the new and leave the old in a state convenient to pass it over. Chris wants Matt to get my job after covering it in the interim and he will need a fair bit of training up, but I think he should manage it. Of course I'm still nervous as hell over what I'll have to do, but just keep thinking that I need a change and the extra money will be very nice. So I'm very keen to get the personnel side of the matter cleared up straight away and start seeing the benefits. And while I'll miss Park & Ride I am totaly fed up with farting around with timetables and trying to get them printed in time. It will be interesting to see it from the other side.

We are seemingly going to take on a third of the county each, and I have got the middle/southern chunk. Glad to avoid Haverhill and Brandon and will no doubt get to know some of our prettier villages rather well.

There you have it. A couple more days of nail-biting and then hopefully I can crack on with lots of new challenges.

Not much else to add really. The rest of Thursday was mostly a blur and despite it being Good Friday Joan was at work yesterday. So I just pottered around and tidied and stuff. So far today the tumble dryer has finally been fixed and I've ironed until running out of the poncy water stuff we put in it for steaming. OK, so I could pop over to Spar and pick up another bottle but I've already been out twice today (three times if you count taking Joan to work) and am off into town again later.

Time for a few games of Pengo now (I've become hooked over the last couple of days, hurrah for MAME).

Interview rapidly approaching (10 tomorrow) and the nerves are really starting to kick in now. Working at home today as we had an appointment with the bank to see if we would be able to reduce some payments should Joan have to cut back on her work and while I am getting shedloads of work done with no distractions, the peace is also letting my mind wander and get paranoid again. Am I doing the right thing in applying, do I have what it takes, will I actually get the job, can I do it, why am I doing it and all that sort of stuff. I think it helped that I spent a good 2½ to 3 hours talking over bits of the interview and testing process with Chris yesterday afternoon. Certainly gave me a few things to think about over how I present myself and what I need to be saying. Had to do a 200+ "psychometric" multiple choice test as part of the procedure and he says the results told him what he already knows about me, so that proces either the test is very well designed and perceptive or that I have done similar things before and no the right answers to give!

I won't deny I'm very apprehensive about the whole thing, but then I do need a change as I am getting a bit stuck in a rut with publicity. I wish I could drop that side of the job and keep Park & Ride but that will never happen. And now Martlesham is open there is no further development planned for the forseeable future so I really could be in danger of stagnating. I think this whole situation has given me the impetus to look elsewhere if I don't get this one though (perhaps even if I do if I don't get on with it!). Shall just have to see what happens.

I just wish all three interviews were tomorrow as I don't really want to have to wait for the third chap to be seen on the 20th before finding out how it went. OK, I'm sure Chris will give me some indication but he won't be able to tell me I've got one of the two posts before they have seen everyone.

Aaargh, the tension!

Oh and while I'm on... Finished Dragon book 2. Again, enjoyable to re-live the experiences and had forgotten enough to be flicking ahead to make sure things would come out alright for some characters (I hate the way authors sometimes put people I really care about in grotty situations when I just want them to be the happy background and others I don't care for can have the nasty stuff happen to them).

Am now reading The Island Of Lost Maps by Miles Harvey which relates the tale of a modern day map thief along with giving details on the history of maps and mapping, a bit of exploration, a bit of library design and so forth. Thus nicely linking a lot of the other stuff I've read in the last year or so into one neat package. Interesting stuff so far.

Well, much as I would love to be writing today about how well Joan's interview went and that we are now preparing for her to start in Ipswich I can't. In the end she didn't actually go for it. I got to work, logged in, did about 5 minutes worth of data entry and got a message saying she was stressed to hell and not feeling good. So I came home and took her to see the doctor. Not her usual one, but a nice fellow all the same. After what he said she decided that the stress of the journey every day would not be good (she is not a good car passenger anyway so doing the A14 twice a day was never an appealling prospect) and she doesn't want to leave Felixstowe. Leave Argos, yes, but not the town. So she has decided to bide her time at Argos here, put up with Marion and look for something in town that pays enough and won't be as stressful.

Part of me wishes that wasn't the case as I do think the Ipswich job would have been good for her, but mostly I am in agreement. There is no point her travelling if she won't enjoy it and there are ways she can put up with the situation for now without going mad. We shall just have to hope mine goes OK on Thursday.

Not a lot else to say now. Listened to Acid Motherhood this morning and while I don't think it will become my favourite Gong album it is pretty good. Recorded in collaboration with the Japanese Acid Mother's Temple who I am now tempted to check out to see what they are like without Mr Allen along.

Have also watched the qualifying for the first Bahrain grand prix. Nice looking track (and all the desert views are much appreciated while I'm reading the Melanie Rawn books as they are largely set in sandy parts) and it could be a good race. Schumacher on pole of course, so no surprises there, but I will give them a chance tomorrow.

Joan at work so I will have to get on with some more ironing now.

Day four, natives restless but providing superb cuisine. Strange wingless bird seen in sky and mighty thunder-lizard spotted across the wasteland. Water plentiful and morale good despite defections.

Or in tranlsation, we are still enjoying the settling in process, except for Charles who seems to have found something new to complain about every hour on the hour since he got here on Monday morning. The catering facilities are up and running very nicely, with an exquisite range of sausage baguettes that we thought we ought to try this morning. 25p more expensive than Alberts, but about £2.50 better tasting. I finally got something slightly more exciting than the side of the football stadium to look at this morning when an army helicopter flew in, landed on the pitch and then departed. Ans we didn't hear a thing which proves the double glazing to be eefective at any rate. Then at lunch time a large percentage of the office (but not me) wandered over to the station to see the first train in the new "One" livery arrive. As of today our rail services come under a new operating franchise, but it seems they have chosen a truly dreadful colour scheme to go with the daft name.

Yesterday was Mike's last official day working for us (he was back at his desk this morning, but in his new guise as a temporary contract/consultant type person). We all went up to PJ McGinty's Irish bar in town for a Thai meal (in their cunningly named McGinThai restaurant) to wish him on his way. And very tasty it was too. Although I only opted for the stir-fry in Oyster sauce which tasted just like it had come from the Magic Wok at the end of our street rather than the spicier choices at least I didn't go for the burger and chips option followed by several of the party. It was a good meal in good company and naturally the talk turned to all the other people who have been through the team in the last 14+ years he had worked here. Scary how many people have been and gone just in the last 6 since I started. We then dragged him back here for his formal presentation and gift giving (we gave him a load of plants, he gave all the management team something suitable including a can of shit for Peter the marketing manager and a spinning top for Mitchell, king of the corporate spin). He also then declaimed a bit about the move here being a bad one and the structure changes taking us all downhill. Not the best way to leave you remembered favourably it has to be said.

Otherwise it has been the usual round of fiddling with timetables, spending money on adverts and repairs and generally getting to know this place. I also now know who I am up against for my interview (1 external, 1 from education transport - but his interview is not until the 20th rather than next week). I guess with two vacancies and only three candidates I have a pretty good chance! And it could be interesting either way with the education guy as they will be sharing this end of the office with us by then so he will then spend the next couple of years either resenting us or being resented by them for deserting. Still not 100% sure I want to do the job, or that I have enough skills to get me it in the first place (especially now we apparently have to be competency based in everything we do) but I feel it is time for a change and the extra money would be nice.

After turning down the interview offer with the dentist because the pay was far too low, Joan has her interview for the job at Ipswich tomorrow. I have the afternoon off to take her as they have decided to hold them in Sudbury of all places. Still, the meeting I was supposed to be at in the morning has been cancelled so I will at least be able to leave this week with many loose ends tied rather than flapping.

So here we are in our lovely new home. Obviously I use the word lovely with caution. Certainly it is going to take a bit of getting used to - for instance nearly all the internal doors are protected and need a button pressing or id card swipe to open. and there is a lot of noise floating across from down the way. Although not as much as previously feared (but then Education Transport don't move in for another couple of weeks yet and they will be our other close neighbours). There is a definite sense of feeling a bit hemmed in and crowded once sat in position as everyone is so close, and it will be ages before we can find anything despite trying to be fairly methodical when unpacking.

It took me an hour or so to get logged in to the system for PC and phone this morning, but it all appears to be going pretty smoothly now. Got both printers up and running from Windows, but not yet from DOS, and generally settling in. Charles and Gary were annoyed by the limited lunch availability but that should be up to full speed soon as well. I think I have even managed to come to a desk layout I like already. So now all I need to do is find the time for a wander about to take a few more pictures...

Going back in time, on the whole we had a pretty damn good weekend. Went round to Ma & Pa's for dinner Friday night as Grandma was up (having paid a flying visit on Thursday night to deliver her Birthday card) and departed seriously stuffed with tasty nosh. Then Saturday it was down to London for a spot of shopping along Oxford Street (finally got hold of the new Gong album Acid Motherhood but not listened to it yet so can't pass comment as yet), another tasty Garfunkels lunch and the theatre for We Will Rock You. Which was absolutley superb. Now I've been a Queen fan for as long as I can remember but hearing the songs performed live, even by someone else was rather special. I don't mind admitting that there were more than a few tears being shed. All the singers were excellent, and as themselves rather than trying to replicate the originals. Plus the story was pretty good and the scripting by Ben Elton absolutley brilliant with just the right mix of comedy and drama. It was also most impressive in the scenery and use of screens and computer graphics to set the scene too. Top stuff. The only real problem was that Joan and I were placed either side of an aisle by the ticketing arrangements. Not best pleased by that but nothing we could do about it as the place was full.

Otherwise highly recommended as a total audio-visual experience.

Plus Joan had a good reunion with Briony who used to work with her at Argos and was along for the trip with her Mum who works
here. Lots of gossip and things to catch up on.

Yesterday was fairly relaxed - shopping, ironing, rounding up the dog to deliver back to Helen & Bhupen and catching up on a few bits with them. I think they are still in shock over the whole affair but that will pass in time I guess. And I was right about the design book not lasting all that long. By bedtime Friday I was in to Star Scroll, second of the Melanie Rawn series.

Right time to get on with some work then...

Well, all around is chaos and crates as the packing progresses. Everything I want to take with me is now safely stowed and it is only just after 11. All I have left to do is to disconnect the Zip Drive from my PC as I'm moving that myself. OK, so I have overflowed from my permitted three crates into one of Matt's but there you go, such is life. And he only needed one anyway. Nothing else to do now except sit and wait it out.

Finished Dragon Prince last night and was suprised by how much of what I can remember from the series as a whole actually
happened in the first book. But I have resisted temptation to dive straight in to book 2. Instead I have picked up British Modern -
Graphic Design Between The Wars by Steven Heller and Louise Fili which won't take all that long to read as it is mostly
reproductions of posters and products but very interesting all the same. And if I ever get round to it likely to be liberally scanned for
wallpaper use...

Yoiks, another week and a bit passed with no spare time to say a few words. So here are the edited highlihghts (complete with
slow-motion action replays and learned commentary from the pundits back in the studio).

Monday and Thursday last week I did a bit of surreptitious bus surveying. We have been getting rumours that one of the bus companies who works for us under contract is "on the fiddle" so to speak and I was dispatched in pursuit of evidence. Which meant getting the bus from Felixstowe as far as Martlesham then walking on to the Park & Ride site to finish the trip in to the office. Arriving a bit later than usual but being able to claim the travelling time as worked hours for a change. Two trips each way (plus another two on Monday when Joan and I took the same service to Woodbridge for lunch) and nothing suspicious noted. One slight potential for fraud with a "regular" customer having her ticket issued as soon as the driver saw her at the stop rather than when she boarded (and confusion when she wanted a single rather than return on one of the days and thus the pre-issued ticket had to be cancelled and a new one sold) but nothing I could book them for. Although I have booked one of the drivers for using a handheld mobile phone, which is illegal these days never mind against our contract conditions. On the whole, not much learned. If I get the job as applied for I may well end up doing a bit more surveying, but that would be on an announced basis rather than making furtive notes.

I did quite enjoy the extra bus trips (damn, I'm NOT going to get an anorak) and it was nice to try the option as another alternative for getting to work if everything else went pear-shaped one day, but I'm still glad we can afford a car.

Tuesday saw my induction tour of Endeavour House. Even less impressed with the personal space available now I've seen it in the flesh but we don't really have a choice. Also not impressed with the design of desk - they have separate side table/return things which are nicely shaped to be reversible and thus fit at either end of a desk. But that has left them with a nice notch you can trap fingers in.

Most of the rest of the building we looked at seemed OK, but there was a hell of a lot still to do considering people started to move in yesterday. I am prepared to be pleasantly surprised next week, but am not expecting to be. Yes, the place is nice and airy (at the moment with no people moving around) but the cabinets are all grey steel and look really drab and it all seems a bit "wrong" somehow. Plus none of the furniture in the breakout areas or meeting rooms was in place yet so we still don't know what that will be like (And they reckon the only source of cold water will be the taps, rather than water coolers which I am not best pleased with). And having sat at my desk all I can see if I look out of the window (without turning round and making it rather obvious) is the black corrugated steel of the Ipswich Town west stand. Absolutely marvellous. In theory if I get this job I might have to move desk, but neither of the two spots allocated to the vacancies are any better in terms of view. I shall just have to start memorising nice images and close my eyes for a rest from the screen instead. We also managed to have an argument with the project manager about putting in the bus stop for the shuttle bus and Park & Ride that started yesterday. I think they managed to get it sorted in time but he was dead set against it for a while.

Wednesday I was off for the day with Joan. Went to see Kirstie to get my teeth scraped then spent the afternoon sorting out the floor in the bathroom. The floorboards had been showing through and marking/ridging up the carpet so I stuck down hardboard on top (but under the carpet) to smooth it all out. Feels much better under foot now.

Friday started horribly early when Helen phoned at 2.15 ish to tell us Bhupen's Mum had died. Not sure why that couldn't wait for a more realistic time but there you go, that's Sisters for you. Neither of us really slept for the rest of the night which left me feeling a bit zombie-like when I arrived here. And that was not too helpful as we had a full day of project management training. Yes, more of it. With the same trainer who did the two (or was it three?) day course last year and the MS Project course I've been on as well. So at least she had a rough idea of what we already knew, or ought to know. Again it was more useful information on a highly complex topic that left us all feeling dazed. In fact when I got home the first thing Joan said was that I looked exhausted. But we still found the energy to go along to see Bhupen so I could offer my condolences (Joan had been down there with them most of the day). Not a good situation really, and further complicated by the dog who - frankly - is on his last legs.

So Saturday after they left for Northampton and Sunday until a friend came to take the dog for the rest of the week we basically spent at Helen's, dog sitting. Took him out for a few walks (between the rain showers) but otherwise just lazed around their house feeling vaguely uncomfortable about being there without them. I popped home at regular intervals to feed Tawny but otherwise we were pretty inactive. Having finished and thoroughly enjoyed The Piranha Club I decided I would watch the race again (especially as we had little else to do) and I also watched the qualifying on Saturday. They've tinkered with the rules again and I'm not sure if the latest qualifying system makes it any fairer. I will have to go look at some dedicated F1 websites to get a fuller understanding of the intricacies I think. Needless to say Schumacher started first and stayed there to the end other than during the pit stop business but I did at least stay awake the whole time.

All told it was quiet a relief when the friend did turn up at 4.30 (she'd been away for the weekend) and we could go home to collapse. Except of course we had to go out again to see Mum as it was Mother's Day.

So I was quiet glad to be off again on Monday to catch up on a bit more of the rest we hadn't had over the weekend. We had a nice ride up to Woodbridge and a very tasty lunch as well as doing a bit of shopping, getting very cold having been fooled by the sun in Felixstowe but avoiding the pretty heavy downpours that still keep coming.

And now back at work catching up, tidying up and almost ready to start packing up for the move. The new Park & Ride leaflets finally turned up today, three days after the route changed but pretty good considering the time they were given to turn them around. Looking at the building closely on the way in has not made me any keener to get down there next week - and also I notice they still have loads of work to do. So it looks like we will be working on a building site for a good couple of weeks at least. As soon as my phone rings I will be heading up to Martlesham P&R to have another go at sorting out the stop announcement timings. Fun galore.

Have followed the F1 book with a re-read of Melanie Rawn's Dragon Prince. First of a series of 6 which I initially encountered during my first year at College and have re-read once (I think) in the interim. During the revision phase for the end of
year one exams I got through a huge number of books as I was keeping my brain going by alternating between text books, lecture notes and fiction. It must have worked as I passed, but I seemed to be heading in to town every couple of days to buy something else to read. And this one was being pushed in one of the two independent bookshops I used to visit (one called Clulows, the other I can't recall the name of any more) so I thought I'd give it a go. More in-depth on the charachters than some Fantasy I've read in the past (I'm sure I've seen the series described as mixing fantasy with soap-opera) and I'm enjoying re-discovering it all. Books 2 and 3 followed at the right time to be used as revision aids for the second and third years at College, and number 4 was also published in annual sequence. Then something odd happened over here and 5 and 6 were delayed. And delayed. And I ended up buying them on American import from Red Lion books in Colchester after not being able to wait any longer. Similarly book 3 of her latest series has also been delayed for a few years now, but this is because she hasn't written it yet - according to her website she was in a car accident and doesn't feel like finishing the story yet. So I have books 1 & 2 sat on the shelf unread waiting for the final chapter to arrive before I make a start on them...

What a week (well, OK 5 days) this has been. Saddened but not at all surprised by the trains being blown up in Madrid. I was wondering if something like this was due to come along soon, and looks like I was right. I know I shouldn't be relieved that it happened in Spain rather than over here, but can't help feeling it. Of course the natural result was for people to start demanding airport-style luggage checks on all rail passengers. Like that will ever happen, we have maybe 15 to 20 international airports in the UK, and over 2,000 railway stations. Many of which are unstaffed and with no building more substantial than a shelter on a platform. So even if the will was found the money would never be available to resolve the issue. Such a mixed up and depressing world we live in some days.

I've been just as busy as ever at work, meeting sales reps, sorting out timetables and the usual. Sonic back on Thursday after another week off. Turns out the baby has some gland or other not functioning properly, but they know how to manage the situation now. Good news, even if it does mean she'll be on one tablet or another for life.

Charles had a meeting at the new place and took a camera with him. So now we have all had a better look at Endeavour House the feelings of dread and foreboding are closing in more and more. It really does look cramped and industrially drab (lots of grey steel cabinets all over the place), and there are several flaws in the layout as well. Still, the decision has been made and we are moving whether we like it or not. I am down there on Tuesday morning for a proper induction so will take my own camera as well as trying to get a proper feel for the place.

Finished Science of Discworld II today. Enjoyed it thoroughly and think I grasped all the science bits. Will probably need to be read again to make proper sense of it though. Have now started The Piranha Club by Timothy Collings which is all about the power struggles at the top in Formula One over the last few years (but also looking back to the '60s). Looking good so far. Oh, and we watched Finding Nemo today which was brilliant, although the disc is faulty so that will have to go back tomorrow.

And Joan is now off at the bingo so I will have another few minutes on the exercise bike she just bought...

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.