So now we are out of the World Cup, having been beaten by Brazil. How do I feel about it? Not sure actually. Despite not being a football fan it would have been nice to win for the country, but this way we get to head back to a normal life a bit sooner. Not that we do really, as Wimbledon starts on Monday so there'll be tennis everywhere instead.

Joan slept most of the evening and went to bed early as she was feeling zonked after her course. I feel that way today instead. Not sure if I slept to well last night - had another very strange dream featuring fast cars (except I had a Mini), people arguing and fighting, jumping off tall buildings and stuff. There was also a bit with a small bird being rescued which didn't seem to make any connection with the rest of it. All very peculiar and it must have stopped me sleeping properly without realising it.

I have also found a decent Sega emulator for the PC and started getting hold of some of the classics I bought and the others I never got round to/had the money for. A bit sad, but stops me going loopy.

Time for a spot of lunch now, then I WILL get out in to the sun for the first time this week. Must try harder next week.

Oooh, excitement! Just had to leave the building and cross the road to find out why the glass replacement people were hanging out outside our little storage building. Turns out someone broke one of the windows at 2 o'clock this morning and although the building is not alarmed somehow the hallkeepers found out and got it boarded up.

So, why do we not find out about the potential loss of our stuff until one of us notices the vans when coming back from lunch? Funny old system. Nothing was nicked though, so at least we haven't go to get into insurance forms. Then again, who'd want 200 bus stop flags? Well, OK, who apart from some of the people who work here then?

Our current ongoing problem here (other than bus companies throwing services in and expecting us to pick up the pieces which is an ongoing ongoing problem rather than a curent one) is bus shelters. We have started putting them in after a zillion years of leaving it to the parish councils and now the complaints are coming. One chap has even prepared a 27 page documnet of questions, policy statements, quotes from parish newsletters and all sorts trying to stop us putting one outside his house. He hasn't won though - it went in this morning. Ha.

And now Dave from First Eastern Counties has been in showering us with naff pens and keyrings. Woooh!

Forgot to mention just now. Finished Thief of Time yesterday. Very good ending to go with the very good beginning and middle. Also read all of this month's Classic Rock - yup, I managed to get through a magazine while it is still on the shelves of the newsagents. Amazing.

Next book in line is Classic Bus Tests - a trawl through industry mags of the 20s-50s. Nice to see what people thought at the time of the buses preservationists rave over now. More news when I've got past the front cover. Which might be this afternoon if I get the chance/get bored/everyone else buggers off early.

Back to work after a good day off yesterday. Tawny got the all clear from the Vet, I got a keep on going from my Doctor and we filled up the skipbag thingy with some of the rubbish from the patio construction. Not all of it, cos the bag's not as big as we thought it was. Never mind, Jerry reckons he can use the rest of the soil once the grass in it has died out. We shall see.

We popped in to Argos and bought a new garden parasol and a upgraded the loungers so I also managed a snooze in the sun (but with burnt legged consequences).

BB on Tuesday night was good. Did a few new moves and a lot of yesterday was spent with aching thighs as a result. Really must practice the balancing on one leg bits though as I'm fed up with falling over.

Joan is in Ipswich again on a course today so I had her company on the way in, and will have it again on the way home with any luck. Unless they finish really early.

Not much going on at work today. I have managed to find something to do, but it ain't gonne fill the whole day. Perhpas I'll search for more exciting trivia on the web to stick here later.

Time for something from The Guardian's Notes & Queries section, just for the hell of it:

What happens when you swallow chewing gum? Nic Enright, Vancouver Canada

It wraps itself around your heart and kills you. That's what the wise old woman who lived in our street told us when we were young.
Bill Wilson, Derby England

The wise old woman in our street told us that if we swallowed too much it would form a big chewing gum ball in our stomachs and it would eventually explode and kill us. Bubble gum was OK though.
Stephen, Curitiba Brazil

You turn purple and swell up to 5 times your normal size. Then some little green guys in white dungarees roll you off to be de-juiced.
Martin, Newcastle UK

According to my mum, when I was younger, you blow a bubble out of your bum. Why that was supposed to deter a curious 5 year old is beyond me.
Gareth, Graham UK

Bit boring & probably untrue this but I heard somewhere that it takes around 7 years to digest chewing/bubble gum!
Sam , Brighton UK

Chewing gum has five basic ingredients - sweeteners, corn syrup, softeners, flavors and gum base (the part that puts the "chew" in chewing gum). The first four ingredients are soluble, meaning they dissolve in your mouth as you chew. Gum base doesn't. And although is isn't meant to be swallowed, if it is, it simply passes through your system, just like popcorn or any other form of roughage. This normally takes only a few days.
Rich Waters, Derby UK

I had a primary school teacher who told us that if you chew gum your stomach would explode and you would die.
Caroline Scanlan, Dublin Ireland

Now I really must find some work to do!.

The rain has finally stopped, but it is now too late to make use of dryness at lunchtime for another day. Especially as there is no chance of the seats in the park drying off enough to be sat on comfortably.

I am just really bored today. Nothing much to do, but I can't really admit that.

If I remember right, one of the comics we used to read years ago had a campaign to abolish Tuesdays, and I'm beginning to agree with them. Their reasoning went something like this: Saturday and Sunday are great, the weekend, no worries etc. Monday you can still remember the weekend which makes it OK. Wednesday is half way to the next weekend, so it must be good. Thursday was the day the comic came out, so got away with continued existence and Friday was of course the day before the weekend so you could spend all day looking forward to it. Tuesdays, however, had no redeeming features at all.

In real life we do have Body Balance tonight, but the work part of this particular Tuesday is just crying out for either something to happen or a fast forward button to get it over with. If nothing happens soon I may have to get on with the final part of my massive desk tidying project, which has been keeping me looking busy for some time now. Of course, there are still the in-trays to sort once the desk is done, so all is not total doom and gloom in the procrastination stakes.

Next Tuesday the jubilee baton thingy being carried around the Country before being used to kick-off the Commonwealth Games in Manchester is coming to Ipswich, but I can't see that bringing much interest to the day. Traffic congestion and trouble getting up to the shops if I need to at Lunchtime yes, but not excitement.

And once more it rains like the month's quota has to be used up by teatime. And thunder as well. But it was so nice yesterday when I didn't manage to get out, not fair I say, not fair.

Last night was lovely. Joan had done nice things with the furniture and also worked her little socks off in the garden. So we had a great dinner on the patio and then just sat there for ages watching the birds feeding and frolicking on the lawn. Only a bunch of starlings and sparrows plus one pigeon - nothing exotic but fun and funny all the same. And just adore the way they use the bird bath. I think feeding your babies when they are as big as you is pushing family loyalty a bit amongst birds - although perhaps Mrs Starling had got the same idea as she was trying to shove huge chunks of bread down the poor thing's throat. So a very relaxing evening.

The sleepy bit wasn't quite the same - apparently I woke Joan up by thrashing about. I was dreaming that someone was annoying us in a theatre - after being hugely tall and blocking our view they then tried to push in front of us in a queue. I think I took it a bit personally and started attacking them, which was when I woke Joan up and she thus woke me up to calm me down. Very strange.

Not much going on at work this morning, so will have to think of something to make myself look busy.

Thief of Time proving well up to the usual TP standard - passed the 200 page mark already!

Stinkingly hot day in Ipswich today. So, naturally, I didn't manage to get out at lunchtime. I had planned to go sit in the park with my book (just started Thief Of Time by Terry Pratchett) but had to give it a miss due to the office being deserted but the phones still ringing. Must try to get out before everyone else!

No wobbles today or over the weekend, so perhaps it was just a passing thing rather than being connected with work. I will still mention it when I see the doctor on Wednesday though as I don't particularly like it.

Joan off today so I hope she has taken the chance to relax in the sun a bit. She told me earlier she had been moving the furniture around again, so I'm not sure what I'm going to find when I get home.

Nothing else to add.

Finished the Railway Navvies Friday night. All in all a very good and interesting book. Been working through a couple of magazines since then but will probably choose a new book sometime later today.

Yesterday was a very lazy day. Joan woke up a couple of hours later than we usually manage and surprised me with breakfast in bed, then the next thing we knew we'd dropped off again and it was gone 11. We shopped while the footie was on (well done lads though) and then sat in the garden for a bit. Where we dropped off again. Followed by dinner and a fairly early night.

I still feel half asleep today though. Very strange. Seems like I can't get enough sleep at the moment.

Joan is at work today so I have done a stack of ironing (accompanied by Gongmaison and Sass by Salvation) and looked at the web a bit (with help from Credit To The Nation's Take Dis and EMFs Schubert Dip). Now back to the board I think!