Bloody cost-cutting managers only interested in making more money rather than the welfare of their staff. Or in other words, not only has Joan's visit to the conference thingy planned for Monday been cancelled but they have to cut back on all overtime etc. To the point that should a manager go over their allocation by 1 single solitary hour they get a warning - do it three times and they get the boot. Absolutely marvellous. OK, so I'm pleased she won't be away for the night but it just seems like another kick in the teeth. What can I say? The system sucks somedays.

So, what happened yesterday? Basically I was kinda too busy to scribble stuff for here! Had another 1 to 1 with Sonic in the morning which was fine. We also went through the information strategy proposals for roadside and on-bus information and found them sorely lacking in places. Then it was timetables all the way for the rest of the day.

Went shopping after I picked Joan up and came home with a stinking headache. That was still with me when I woke up this morning so I went back to bed after breakfast and seeing Joan off to work. I never like sending her in a taxi rather than taking her personally but I didn't really have much choice today - not only was the head throbbing but we also managed to drop off again after the alarm went and had about 30 mins to get her out! Hey ho.

Oh yes, forgot to mention the other day - finished the Darwin Awards. Very entertaining. Have now seriously regressed to childhood days and am reading the first of Eric Thompson's Magic Roundabout books - The Adventures of Dougal. Cracking stuff and further proof of why the tv series was so successful with adults and sprogs alike.

Right, time for a spot of lunch I think.

Talk about big cheesy grin time. Spent much of the morning riding around Park & Ride routes on a nice Nottingham City Transport articulated bus Ipswich Buses had borrowed for the day. Now that is what I call fun in a bus and I want them for Martlesham. Probably be defeated on cost, but it has to be tried. Damn thing went like a dream, fitted through all the gaps we thought might prove awkward and would turn on a sixpence. And IBL are desinging their new depot with them in mind as people won't go upstairs on double deckers and they have a couple of low bridges to contend with anyway on certain routes. Got to be a serious consideration really. I think the only issue will be to do with the fact that although they will hold 150 odd people only 50 get to sit down. And the people of Ipswich don't like standing up.

And no Sonic on the office today either so I'm able to get on with what needs doing.

Last night we relaxed and rather than the planning for who gets what in the will we are making next week we instead watched The Italian Job. Wonderful as always and much improved from DVD. I was surprised that Joan had never seen it before though. And almost a year since I last watched it - she is away for this year's Argos conference on Sunday night...

Now I have finished my part on the timetables that are changing on the 7th April I thought I could relax a teensy bit and just check them when they come back from Pindar. But no, Ipswich Buses are now changing the majority of their network in May. Back to the grindstone for me then.

Continued tiredness resulted in an early night last night but we still both feel fairly washed out this morning. Joan especially - probably a good thing she is off tomorrow. So nothing exciting to mention there.

Finally got the last missing timetable confirmed this morning so they are all off at Pindar being processed now. And also had a good number of them back too, so we do actually have one or two that are finished and ready to go to the public. Which is nice. And it is generally nice and peaceful in here this morning - lots of people are out at meetings or just generally having time off. And I'm just feeling happy and cheerful in the main as well. Must be something wrong somewhere!

Oh well, best get on with some work.

Yawn. Is it time for bed yet? Feel ever so slightly tired today and not entirely sure why. Had a good sleep and all last night (with no peculiar dreams to leave me confused on waking) and Tawny didn't come bouncing along until after the alarm either. Where does she get the energy from at such an unearthly time of the day? Must be something in the air.

Had a meeting in Halesworth this morning. Seem to have agreed to help produce (i.e. do most of the work for) a leaflet plugging the attractions accessible by bus between Halesworth and Southwold. These seem to be mainly pubs and churches so I might have my work cut out for me there. Still, it was nice to not be in the office again. I even managed to grab a cancelled pool car (well, the Corsa van) so didn't need to use mine. I wouldn't have minded the mileage claim and some decent music (in fact, any music as the radio was knackered) but I prefer to leave it safe and sound in the car park if I can. Particularly when there is such a slim chance of getting parked again on return. I still get to claim for the lunch I had on the way back but that isn't quite the same.

No more timetables to play with or thrills otherwise though in here. Well, not unless you count the availability of some folding chairs we can use for meetings or general lounging about on the patio area outside the new bit of office the policy team are in. Quite how we will keep that facility after the move across town is to be discussed!

And finally we have enough sunlight after 5.30 that I have started carting a book around with me again. So now when sat outside Argos waiting for Joan to finish up I can do something slightly interesting. And hopefully I will be able to get through the huge epics a bit quicker. Just reaching the end of a book before I forget how it started will be nice. I am sure there used to be more hours in the day when I was younger. Can't be any other explanation for how I used to read all the time and race through books in a couple of days and still get other things done. Either that or books are getting longer. Which is true in some ways but perhaps I am just choosing fatter books. Trouble is I find quality as well as quantity in them so can't even say length just means waffle and go back to slimline tomes.

Blimey. Only eleven hours after starting the process I now have a working Norton Anti Virus 2003. OK, so I took a few hours out in the middle to go to Colchester but even so that was a bit extreme. Must remember to just buy a damn disk or get broadband next time it says I need a whole new version!

Well, that wasn't too bad as hygenist visits go. At least she thought my mouth was in pretty good shape and I don't need to go a few more times before it is safe to do the surgical bits. So that has saved a quid or two. And I've got lots of strange interdental brushes of assorted sizes to be playing with from now on. Groovy teeth a step closer.

Met Joan in town on my way back and we had another monday lunch in Puccinos (and I had another New Yorker!) and then came home to a nice surprise - a cheque from Ma & Pa which will cover about half the cost of the work. Nice. Any other contributions gratefully received.

As I write this the PC is approaching halfway in downloading the latest version of Norton Anti-Virus. Seems the version I have is no longer supported and I need a new one. Which would be OK if it wasn't a 35Meg download. Which is likely to take at least another hour yet. Why didn't I just go to PC world and by the latest edition? Will I ever learn? Still, this way should be cheaper (thank the Lord we don't pay per minute for internet calls) and anything is better than the worry I went through before when we did catch something nasty.

Have now started reading the first Darwin Awards book as compiled and annotated by Wendy Northcutt. Always good for a laugh at the stupidity of others. And it was cheap in the Waterstones sale.

We managed to watch two films last night, both of which made stunning use of computer graphics in their own way. First up was Stuart Little 2. I admit I was sceptical when we watched the first one, but find I can recommend them both highly. The characterisation is superb and the animation even better so you really can believe in the little fellow. And of course the sort of bubble the Little's inhabit just makes it all the more joyous an experience. Not that I want them to keep milking the bandwaggon (is that possible?) but I wouldn't say no to more if they can keep the quality up.

The other was Tron. The graphics there blew me away 20 odd years ago when I first saw them and in many ways still do. OK, so technology has moved on, but they just feel right for the period the film inhabits. And even the plot didn't seem as stupid as memory had painted it to be...

Of course neither of those explains why I then went on to dream about tracing the graves of long lost relatives, visiting a bunch of Libraries and taking photos of trains. But then should I expect them to?

Not much else to say other than I'm glad I'm not at work again. These four day weeks could get to be quite a bargain.

Feeling pretty down today. Several reasons I can think of. The 2 am visit to Argos after an alarm call is probably the most likely cause though, as despite some good sleep before and after I still feel tired. Did have some interesting dreams. One was obviously a re-tread of Jean Auel's Ice Age prehistory but went a bit awry when a jeep turnd up for us to use. The other involved me working on a new tv show with Louis Theroux of weird weekends and obsucre interviews fame. We were inthe process of visiting a bunch of numbered post boxes and using them to post things to people with corresponding house numbers. I'm not sure why we were doing this, but we were travelling in a Ferrari so that was nice. I was also trying to sort out and produce some sort of PArk & Ride publication at the same time.

Then of course Joan is working again today so I'm missing her. And despite the sun shining like anything it is still cold out and not conducive to much.

Went down to the Market after dropping Joan off, and despite almost an hour of wandering around came back empty handed. Just acres of junk and tat on display for the most part. Even the plants looked half dead for a change (other than the ones in tubs of course, which was not what I was looking for). I guess I could have perhaps picked up a couple of enjoyable books if I wasn't so damn fussy when it comes to buying second hand ones but like a Leopard I'm not into changing my spots. So that experience left me jaded too.

I did get as far as unlocking the shed to cut the grass but then decided against it. Despite the nice bright sun half the lawn is still in shadow and soaking. I would really like it to dry out a bit more before I go for the shorter trim. Not that I know anything about looking after a lawn really, just going on some sort of gut reaction.

And I'm not really looking forward to tomorrow's dentist trip to Colchester either. Especially as Joan has another appointment of her own and thus can't come with me.

So I think I will go for a snooze now and try to get cheered up later when Joan is home again.