D'oh - forget my head if it wasn't screwed on.

Meant to mention in that post about last night's sleeping and dreaming. Didn't sleep very well at all - unless I had several consecutive dreams that featured me looking at the clock and the time slowly progressing!

The main dream, however, was much stranger than that but also if true would explain an awful lot about the way things work. Joan and I got sucked through into another universe that was almost the same as this one, but just ever so slightly different in places. Apparantly this sort of thing was going on all the time with traffic in both directions. So, for instance, all the cheap rip-off merchandising you get around films that isn't quite what the official stuff ought to be (as found in pound shops and on market stalls etc) isn't cheap chinese forgeries but actually the real stuff from this other universe slipped through into ours by mistake. It was also home to all the people who have disappeared over the years etc. Well, it made sense to me at 3 this morning anyway!

Friday night ended well - justice was done and Adele was voted out of the Big Brother house. We slept peacefully after that!

Yesterday was a fairly typical Joan at work and Simon at home kind of day for the majority of it. I ironed in the morning with help from:

Chumbawamba - Swingin' With Raymond AND i - Portraits of Anarchists
Sum 41 - All Killer No Filler
Alien Ant Farm - Anthology
The Orb - Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld

Then had a mosey about on here and lunch. With lunch I decided it was about time I re-watched The Haunting what I got for my birthday last year as it is the main film ripped off in Scary Movie 2 which we will probably watch tonight. I'm not sure if the ending made any more sense second time around but I still enjoyed it. Must watch the extras on there sometime as some of the FX were really quite good.

That was followed by the obligatory (it seems) falling asleep on the couch until it was time to pick Joan up from work. I was a bit annoyed with myself for that but again must have needed some sleep. Really must get around to seeing the Doctor again to find out if there's anything he can do to stop me nodding off all the time.

When Joan got home we made the standard issue calls to the hospital and relatives to see how Ernie was and pass it along. She got a bit of a shock when they said what they were having to help him with - I don't think she realised he would be all tubed and monitored up for a few days after the op. Still, progress appears to be being made - his sense of humour is coming back and so forth. Fingers are begining to relax from the crossed position I think.

After that we went round to Ma & Pa's for dinner, which was nice to be able to switch off a bit. Their extension is coming along well and the food was lovely.

Today Joan is at work again and so far I have cleaned out the bathroom and played a few games on here. The soundtrack to the morning has been Crawl, from The Beyond (who were just starting out in Derby when I was at college there and generally superb the couple of times I saw them - pity they didn't last more than two albums) and Implant from Eat Static. This afternoon the ironing calls again - which should help to keep me awake during the British Grand Prix.

Tonight's tea will feature chicken cooked on the new George Forman health grill thingy Joan bought yesterday. All the reports from other people rate them highly so we shall see.

Mmmmm. All full up now with Burger and Chips and Onion Rings and Coke and Grease. Lovely! Joan has already bought two DVDs today (one with Will Hay and one Jackie Chan) - don't know anything about either of them so that will be a change to watch. Still raining though so I'm a teensy bit damp. Now just have to hang around here until they want to come home.

I know where I'd rather be though.

And so it rains again. Well, a whole dry day was nice anyway.

Ernie was doing much better last night when I phoned to check on him. Breathing and obs back to normal and he was asleep naturally. So, that's something to smile about anyway.

I am also smiling for other reasons today. Firstly I don't feel too tired. Slept fairly well - only woke up once when Joan thought it was a good idea to wake me from a dream. Was dreaming about the parking problems we have been having with next door - he had finally decided he was going to park where he wanted whatever and was somehow getting his car on top of ours. I think I must have gone round to complain as when Joan did the good deed I was thrashing about and shouting "you've got two minutes to move the bloody thing or I'm getting the Police". I wonder what the conclusion would have been. Anyway, I slept well again after that - to the point that although I remember the alsrm going I must have just zonked straight out again and not finally got up until an hour after normal. Luckily I made some time up and only got here half an hour later than I usually do. Praise be to flexi-time though.

Secondly the postman brought me a set of cdroms today containing about 2-3,000 old arcade games ready to use on the PC with MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator). There go any hopes of getting anything useful done this weekend.

Thirdly Joan is off again today and is in Ipswich right now along with Alexander. So, despite the weather I am goingup town in 25 minutes time to meet them for lunch. I feel junk food calling (well, Alexander doesn't really eat anything else).

And I've designed a nice advert this morning too.

Terrible news at lunchtime - Boots have (a) put the price of their meal deals up by 10p and (b) stopped doing the chicken & sweetcorn sarnie I like. Had to settle for a cheese topped Ham and Emmental roll instead, which was quite nice but not in the same league.

Joan's foot rub thing went well enough for her to book another one next month, so that'll do her good.

Ernie has come through the surgery. The actual op went well, but at the moment he is having a bit of trouble breathing so has been moved to a high dependency ward (one step down from intensive care). I guess he was lucky they even agreed to knock him out at 82 and he should be back to normal soon they reckon. We shall see. Probably going up there in a couple of weeks time.

Time to go home now, methinks.

Hmmm, got the details through on whose car it was and have sent them an email, but no response as yet. Then again, I didn't see it when I got in this morning so perhaps I shouldn't expect one as yet.

Gary is just as piddled off as me so we are going to work together and go on strike! Will see what happens.

Nearly lunchtime, and will have to go up the town having brought no food with me. That factor also led to me breaking my resolve to be good and having an Alberts this morning. Very tasty (egg and sausage for a change) and I don't feel guilty about it at all. Even confessed to Joan and she said it had been a good idea!

Ernie should be going under the knife any time now - they are doing a vein transplant or replacement depending upon what they find when they oopen the leg up. Hopefully he will come out of it with better circulation. Fingers are crossed.

Forgot to mention last week - we finally got a new water cooler thingy at last. Actually, we got two - one last week and a replacement for that this week. It has only been 6 months or so since the one on this floor went wrong. So now I can get a decently cold drink with no stairs involved. However, this one doesn't do fizzy water (which is fine by me, I prefer it still) so I won't get the bizarre sight of people getting a glass of half and half. Surely you either want fizzy or still? How can you have half fizzy? Doesn't quite make sense to me.

Will be accompanied by the end of a disc of assorted heavy tracks as recorded from Kerrang telly and then a collection of Honeycrack B sides I put together when I go out. Yesterday's in car entertainment came from Satellite by P.O.D. A bit shouty/rappy and not enough singing in places but very good otherwise and an uplifiting feel to the lyrics for a change. Nice.

Things went kinda downhill after that.

The meeting was just as irritating and dull as predicted, with yet more talking in circles based on the future of the group. Then when we got out we were given the proposed structure. It sucks big time. Not only have they split our team up, but everyone at my level currently gets upped to Senior Officer level except either me or Gary. We have to fight it out between us and the loser stays the same under the other. Like that won't cause any resentment! It took me several hours to come down to a mild simmer rather than full boiled anger last night, and I'm still pissed off this morning. I will be writing a very strongly worded note to someone about it, you can be sure of that. What makes it worse is that all the jobs seem to have been decided and allocated already. What happened to the group I was invited to be part of that was supposed to be doing that? I had enough of this kind of shit with Argos and I don't intend to suffer it here as well.

Joan & Helen didn't win either. Still, I did get to watch a great prog about Llamas on the Discovery Animal Channel which cheered me up quite a lot.

Today it isn't raining (yet!) so I might even get a bit of air at lunchtime. No word on the car either so perhaps it will be OK.

Joan is off today but has to pop in to work - her boss went to a meeting yesterday and phoned on her way home to say she had something to tell Joan. Why she couldn't have called in on her way home, given that the meeting finished at 4 is just one of those unsolved mysteries! When that is done she's going for a pedicure, which should be nice and relaxing for her.

General consensus from the morning meeting people was that it was a complete waste of time and I need to take a pillow/matchsticks/something to do. Oh great. They also overran, which is not my idea of fun as I want an early finish today.

Partly because of the car thing (still no response!) and also because Joan and Helen are having a night at the Bingo here in Ipswich tonite and this time I get to drop them off rather than pick them up. Which will be a rush to start with, but nice overall cos I'll be able to relax and not have to come out again. A big choice between sleeping a bit or shooting some aliens I think. Or, most likely, falling asleep at the keyboard!

Still raining so no visit to the town today. Which does at least mean no DVD purchases! Unless I get to the mail order sites on the web...

Hmm, a Wednesday that feels like a tuesday. Must be because I had Monday at home rather than any deep meaning. Then again, it could just be that I'm once again sat in a mostly empty office feeling a tad bored. Mostly empty because the meeting we thought we were having this afternoon about the future of the group (again) has turned into two meetings about how the group is going to meet the Council's 11 priorities. Only about three of those have any bearing on public transport so I'm not really sure how interesting or useful it will be. They have decided to do us in two halves so I'm down for the afternoon slot. Oh, I can't wait. To make me feel a whole lot better it is raining so I don't reckon I'll be going out at lunchtime, and I scraped someone's car when parking this morning. I don't think it is more than a bit of paint transfer that will polish out, but not a happy event. I have gone the official way to try and find out who it belongs to but had no response yet. I just hope they are a nice person and won't want lots of money from me. Of course, if people could park a bit better and not leave teeny-weeny gaps it would never have happened. :-(

We are also fretting over what to do about Ernie still. It was looking like we would be going up there tomorrow and back Friday just so he would see one or two of us, but Joan has decided it is too much for her to be a passenger for the trip. I don't mind doing the driving, but the decision is hers really. I think we will end up going up nearer the end of the month when her boss gets back from holiday. And for three or four days. It seems now he is not eating properly in the hospital and things are thus a bit more worrying for those of us 300 miles away.

Body Balance was good again last night - did a load of work on backs and abs again and once more I cam quite surprised at being able to stand up and eat today. There were a whole bunch of new people again last night, although I don't think some of those will be coming back from the comments they were making on the way out. I am quite surprised by that too - I would have expected it to settle down to a regular group by now rather than the constant flux in members we seem to have. Wil be interesting to see what happens when the school holidays kick in.

We still didn't sleep very well though. Just the worry I suppose, but if Joan doesn't get some rest soon she'll get ill herself.

Haven't really done any reading for days now either. Which means I'm still on the Classic Bus Tests. It is, however, proving interesting in some other respects as it also highlights how language and attitudes have changed over the last 60 or so years. F'rinstance, the pictures taken on a review carried out on "the hottest day of the year so far" (early June) still show the staff done up in huge coats and hats, whereas now you can bet on shorts and a t-shirt. I do really want to finish the book and move on to some fiction, but can't be bothered to pick it up at the moment. But, I haven't given up on a book in years, and don't intend to do so this time. Or to take a break and come back to it. Hey ho.

OK, so the trip into town turned into a visit to Park & Ride at Bury Road as they needed a display stand I had up there down here for an exhibition. I then had to help a representative of the Zulu Nation (really) find Radio Suffolk's studios to give an interview. They had told her to meet them at P&R then failed to turn up. So I did my good deed for the day, and she apparently gave us a plug on air so that was OK.

Of course, the BBC are at the opposite end of town from the office here, so I had to walk past Smiths. And naturally I got dragged in and came out with Scary Movie 2 on DVD. I really must stop spending money like its going out of fashion like this.

Body Balance tonight, so two BB's to help me to sleep! Time to go home now.

Made it in to work today, but still feeling a bit delicate in the guts department. Also really tired too - neither of us slept very well last night.

Didn't really miss much yesterday other than the arrival in the group of a couple of seconded people. So we are nearly at full strength again, which makes for happier faces all round. Have even managed to get some (boring, essential) work done this morning so that perhaps by tomorrow I can do a bit of the fun stuff I've got lined up.

Up the town for some air now.

Ooof, what a few days this has been since last I graced the keyboard here! Not that I'm at the usual "Here" for writing this stuff, but we'll get to that later. So:

Friday: Having had the meeting I thought was due on Friday morning on Tuesday I was in the office rather than the meeting room at Ipswich Buses. Did pop out for half an hour though to help Gary move a bus stop flag at Great Blakenham. We'd had one of our new shelters installed on Thursday afternoon and someone had phoned up Radio Suffolk in the afternoon to complain about it being in the wrong place because the actual bus stop was a few yards away. That was because there wasn't room for a shelter where the flag was before, so we knew we were going to move it when the shelter went in. But fancy calling the radio station rather than us. Some people are just odd.

Then I just did a teensy bit of work and spent too long hanging about the Llamasoft forums on the web before lunch. That was when I made the mistake (?) of going in to HMV and looking in the sale. OK, so I had actually gone in with the intention of getting the Miles Hunt CD at last, but they'd sold out. Why do I do this to myself? I've got a perfectly good credit card that could stand the occasional impulse CD purchase but instead I make myself wait until payday and when I get there they've sold 'em all. This has happened too many times for it to be palin stupidity. There must be a deeper reason. Anyway, I finally came out with two CDs - SilverGinger 5 Black Leather Mojo complete with Bonus second disc (that makes the two!) and one DVD - The Cannonball Run. That has to be one of my favourite films of all time and I haven't seen it for years. So, we watched that last night (Sunday) and it was just as funny as I remembered. I had forgotten just how many people were in it, and can't quite believe they packed it all into 90 minutes but that's memory for you.

The afternoon was spent showing the Park & Ride manager from Bristol (and his wife!) around our two sites (and also the guided busway) as he was looking for inspiration. They had come up on two wheels - I somehow can't imagine 240 miles as a pillion passenger with no way of having a conversation. Still, it is always nice to have someone else think what we do is the best.

In the evening we just mellowed out, had fish & chips for tea and watched TV. Nothing thrilling, but then who needs an exciting life all the time? To prove it here's a poem I've been meaning to stick on here for ages by Wendy Cope:

Being Boring
"May you live in interesting times" - Chinese Curse.

If you ask me "What's new?", I have nothing to say
Except that the garden is growing.
I had a slight cold but it's better today,
I'm content with the way things are going.
Yes, he's the same as he usually is,
Still eating and sleeping and snoring.
I get on with my work. He gets on with his.
I know this is all very boring.

There was drama enough in my turbulent past:
Tears and passion - I've used up a tankful.
No news is good news, and long may it last,
If nothing much happens, I'm thankful.
A happier cabbage you never did see,
My vegetable spirits are soaring.
If you're after excitement, steer well clear of me,
I want to go on being boring.

I don't go to parties. Well, what are they for,
If you don't need to find a new lover?
You drink and you listen and drink a bit more
And you take the next day to recover.
Someone to stay home with was all my desire
And, now that I've found a safe mooring,
I've just one ambition in life: I aspire
To go on and on being boring.

Which just about sums us up at the moment.

Saturday: Joan was at work and I had a very lazy start to the day - didn't even get up until gone 10. In the past that would have been unthinkable for me, but at the moment I just feel tired most of the time and fall asleep given half a chance. By the time I was finally ready to do anything Richard had turned up. We went out up to the big B&Q by the Bury Road Park & Ride. Joan and I are looking for something new to use for video/DVD storage in the lounge and also a new flashy shower head. Drew a blank on both fronts. We also popped in to Comet where he bought some CDs and Toys R Us where I got another of the remade Llamasoft games for £2.99 which wasn't to be sneezed at. We also had lunch at Tesco (gee, what thrills) then back here to fart about on the PC until it was time to get Joan.

We had a nice Chinese and watched Casualty - the last inthe series and a couple of good cliff-hanging storylines to boot. I can't decide if I like that or not - I know it is intended to help guarantee viewers for the start of the next series, but we would watch it anyway and now I really want to know what will happen. Big Brother then seemed to eat up the rest of the evening.

Yesterday we went up to Sainsburys for a bit of shopping which was made slightly tricky by them re-surfacing the car park so we had a bit of fun getting in. I do like the smell of hot tar though so that made up for it. Homebase failed to provide a shower head or storage unit either but we did at least manage to get loads of bargains on the food.

In the afternoon Mum took Joan round some local gardens that were open for charity while I had a bit of a blowing things up session on here. Then we watched the Cannonball and a bit of BB.

Today I have been at home. Thought I was OK when I first got up but then spent far too much time in the bathroom (you can work the details out for yourselves) and decided I was best not going to work as I probably wouldn't make the trip. In the end I slept until 1230 ish (more sleep, why am I so tired still?) and am only now coming to full sentience. Also had some very strange dreams again while I was snoring through the morning, mixing Greek Myths, archery, Lego and a flooded London. If that sounds weird don't worry, it didn't make much sense while I was dreaming it. Some dreams seem to hold together quite well while they are happening and only seem strange with hindsight, but this one felt odd from the start.

I have managed to find most of the floor and some of the shelves here in the study which is nice. Was helped on the way by the SilverGinger 5 discs and also: Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine - 1992: The Love Album and Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Are You Normal? all of which entertained me. Still feel a bit weak and have had a couple of wobbly weepy moments during the tidying, which is one of the reasons I've stopped now.

Also because it is nearly time to go pick Joan up and I want to post this.

Meeting with East Lancs went well and now I have some new toys to look forward to. And I've written another fab and groovy press release to announce it to the world.

Listened to the end of the disc I started on the way to work on the way there (the Best of Ian Dury & The Blockheads - totally top recomendation) and started on disc one of Sandinista! by The Clash on the way back. That was a bit surreal as there were a couple of buskers in town and their trumpet and violin just merged in with the stuff I was meaning to listen to and worked. Groovy. I also popped in to Smiths and bought Brassed Off on DVD (excellent film combining brass bands with the decline of the mining industry starring Pete Postlethwaite, Ewan McGregor, Tara Fitzgerald and loads of other top British thesps). We had it in video but sent it up to Joan's Dad and I thought we ought to have it again when I sawe it for a fiver. I also bought the Queen Platinum Collection (all three of their greatest hits albums for less then the price of one!). Don't normally buy greatest hits type things as I'd rather have the whole output of the band, but Joan wanted these and I was prepared to make an exception. Also, they are good tracks that work well collected like this as well as in their original contexts.

Then had great joy seeing Daevid Allen from Gong being quoted on the BBC news site about Glastonbury:

'Legendary' Glastonbury remembered

The farmland setting may be the same, but modern Glastonbury Festivals are a world away from the original event that started it all in 1970. The first Glastonbury was "more like a bunch of people sat on the grass in a park" than a festival, according to folk singer Ian Anderson - one of those who performed at that fabled first event.

Nobody had the slightest inkling that it could grow into anything the size it subsequently became

Festival-goers are now used to huge crowds, tents pitched in every available space and 800 acres of stages and stalls. But just 1,500 laid-back music fans were there in 1970 - and they describe a very different atmosphere.

"We decided we'd all pile into one or two vehicles and see what this festival was like," says Anderson, who was joined on stage by fellow folk star Al Stewart. "And it was very thin on the ground."

The first festival was held on a sunny September weekend. Far from experiencing the traffic jams and tight security that are features of the modern festival, Anderson says he drove down a lane, parked at the back of the farmhouse and "just sort of wandered out onto the field".

"It was very pleasant," he says. "Nobody, I'm sure, had the slightest inkling that it could grow into anything the size it subsequently became." It was a sunny weekend, with no mud, he remembers, and there were a lot of "people with large smelly dogs and afghan coats". But Anderson, who now edits music magazine fRoots, has not been back in recent years because "I don't need the hassle".

The festival's reputation was cemented the following year, when organisers expanded and 12,000 people went to see acts including David Bowie, Joan Baez and Fairport Convention.

Arthur Brown - best-known for being the God of Hellfire - was another of the big names on the bill, having had a number one single three years earlier. "It was a pretty good atmosphere," he says. "It had a lot of spirit and a very open feel to it. There were various people prancing around in the nude, and other people gathering around fires."

The spiritual side of it was more important than it is now, he says. And the toilet facilities had yet to gain notoriety. "I seem to remember wandering off into the woods, really," he says.

Brown returned to play the Acoustic Stage in 2000, and describes the modern mega-event as "very bewildering". "It's vast. It struck me somewhat like as if somebody had uprooted a huge city, moved it and plonked it all down," he says. "There were people who were walking around for two and a half hours trying to find my set and arrived after I'd finished. I obviously prefer the older festival because it had more to do with fitting in with nature, it was almost a continuation of the Stonehenge things."


Glastonbury 1971 also hosted the first UK gig for psychedelic group Gong after Australian singer and guitarist Daevid Allen sneaked into the country with a picture of Buddha stuck over his passport photo. "It was a gorgeous time of year, and everyone was very positive," he remembers.

But 10 minutes into their Pyramid Stage set, the power failed, delaying their performance for half an hour. When they came back on, it was in "that magic moment of sunset", Allen says. "The effect of the music brought everybody down from the house, which was in the distance. Suddenly, we saw this pied piper procession dancing down towards us."

"Everybody who had been over there just came down to be with the music. It was a marvellous sight. It really was a special event." But the amount of mind-altering drugs being taken meant that people could not always tell what was real and what was imaginary. "That was also the charm of it, because it meant anything was possible," he says. "Even the most outlandish thing could be possibly real. In retrospect, quite a lot of it probably wasn't."

He too went back in 2000, and describes it as a "much more complicated thing now. I have to say I prefer the first one because it was very personal. Now, it's become very impersonal. It used to be a compact group of people who all had the same view. These days it's as complex as New York City."

He adds: "It's become huge now, and hugely devoured by people who want to make a fast buck. It's also become this huge holiday camp, like a new-age Butlin's. And also, towards the end, it starts to feel like a refugee camp."

He says part of its success is down to its original "high intentions" of altruism and not being materialistic. Back in 1971, the performers and fans did not even know whether there would be another Glastonbury Festival. "But after such a beautiful experience, there was a strong feeling that it should go on," he says.

--------

Splendid to see the old teapot lover making the news still.

Well, a large part of yesterday was spent out and about doing roadside and stuff (including assembling 30 bus stop flags for use) which was slightly hampered by us having to double back twice for things we'd forgotten and left behind. Still, it was nice to be out inthe sun and fresh air. Had a nice lunch at a pub in Stutton and an ice cream by Alton Water reservoir into the bargain.

Have had yet more strange dreams - one featuring a school reunion and wedding taking place at the same time (and I never did find out who it was getting married), one where I left this job and went to work for a printing firm - and my first thing to do was a leaflet I'd ordered the week before and finally one where the office got re-arranged and I ended up going away for Christmas with one of the new people we had to share spac with. All very confusing.

Today I have the other bus-design meeting so I think I'll do a teensy bit of work now before I head off for it.

Crivens, a Tuesday where things have happened. Will wonders never cease?

But first: Ernie was kept in Hospital thanks to some timely intervention on Joan's part. She had a good chat with the people up at the hospital before he got there for his regular appointment and explained recent events. So, he's in there getting looked after proper while we wait for them to decide what they can actually do with his foot. Of course we then got Shiela on the phone from Canada laying down the odds as she'd got them from Helen. Joan put her straight and hopefully things on the family front will begin to calm down a bit now. We spent most of the rest of the evening round at Ma & Pa's going through the saga with them and drawing on dad's experience and knowledge from within the care sector.

Then we came home and watched Big Brother! Slowly getting more and more drawn in to this series. We didn't watch the first one at all, and only caught bits of the second, but we watched the celebrity one avidly and are quite hooked with this lot now. The rich/poor divide has been interesting to see in operation. We now find ourselves sticking the live version from E4 on whenever there's nothing else we want to watch (even the interactive version with 4 feeds at once) and also the re-cap on normal Channel 4. Last night also did what I'm sure a lot of the viewers are tuning in for and showed us Kate in the nuddy. They didn't balance it out with one of the blokes though so I'm sure there will be complaints of bias and stuff. Will see what gets revealed tonight!

I also had another very bizarre dream featuring Genetically Modified talking monkeys who were now carrying out their own research projects on a specially built island laboratory thing. I really must get my head cleared out sometime.

Today I had an unexpected meeting with Bus Builder Optare and Ipswich Buses to sort out the spec for the new ones we are getting for Park & Ride. I thought it would be on Friday so had a surprise when they called me up to ask if I could come a bit later than planned this morning. Still, it all went well and I am now waiting for clearance to spend a bit more money. Meeting with East Lancs coach builders on Thursday for the other new ones.

That and actually getting out at lunchtime for a change meant I was able to get some music listened to on the way there and back, so have enjoyed Pink Floyd - The Division Bell and the first (self-titled) Masters Of Reality album. Top stuff. And called in to the Library as well and now have some other stuff to enjoy - will leave you in suspense until I do actually hear it.

The car has been looked at today as it was leaking something Oily into the driver's footwell. Turns out it was gearbox oil. There is a safety valve on the 'box but when that clogs the only escape is for oil to run up the accelerator cable and drip off the pedal. Nice! But tis now fixed for the princely sum of £38 so once more I don't have the excuse to get a new car or a bus pass.

As a result of that, though, I have had a lift in with Richard and will not be able to go home until he leaves work. Which is not likely to be until nearly six - a bit later than my usual average. Then we have hair cuts and Body Balance to fit in as well as checking on conditions in the North East and a bit of tv and dinner. I suppose I'd complain if there was nothing happening too.

I think that just about covers everything for now.

You've got to laugh, from the BBC:
--------------------------------------
School boy boozers are faking failures

Australian school boys seeking an under-age drink in pubs made a crucial mistake when they forged proof-of-age documents. The photographs used in their faked driving licences showed the boys wearing school uniforms.

The schoolboys from Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, had used a computer and printer to forge the driving licences. These were to be shown as proof that the 16 and 17 year olds were old enough to be drinking in pubs. But the flaw in their plan was uncovered by pub bouncers who spotted that the identity pictures showed them dressed for school.

"With the person's photograph on the document, it is usually a straightforward exercise to identify those involved, particularly if they are helpful enough to wear a school uniform," said Merri Rose, the liquor licensing minister in Queensland.

This lack of attention to detail was said to have undermined what otherwise were considered to be convincing copies of documents.

There were believed to be six teenagers involved in the forged document ring, which had been set up to allow pupils into pubs before reaching the minimum drinking age of 18. A 17 year old pupil faces fines for forging documents of over £250.

School boys in England have also been previously involved in dubious uses of computers and printers.

Three years ago, boys at King Edward VI Community College in Totnes, Devon, were caught using a computer and laser printer to make copies of bank notes.

The forged notes, which had been crumpled up to add to their authenticity, were spent on food in the school's canteen. The forgeries were only discovered when a security firm which collected the cash alerted the headteacher.
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Not sure what that says for the state of the Ozzie education system.

Oh my goodness, just had a look at Friends Reunited and someone (one of the few names I don't remember) has put up an old primary school class photo with me on it. Yikes. Really must get around to joining that properly as there are a few people I'd like to make contact with again.

Another up and down rollercoaster of a weekend. Not so much in terms of emotions but more of activity and peacefulness.

Friday night Joan came home from work zonked again so had an early night. I watched a bit more tv and then joined her. A dull evening for spectators but it suited us.

Saturday went really well until the evening. Joan was at work so I pottered about a bit. Downloaded some more old games on the PC (and now can't get the music for Sonic 3 out of my head) did some ironing and entertained myself musically with the Savage Garden Superstars and Cannonballs live DVD (and now want to watch it again with the commentary (which seems like a strange option for a musical release) and also to check out the documentary) and also Slayer's God Hates Us All cos I just needed a bit of extremeness.

Richard came round for a couple of hours and then it was time to get Joan from work.

She was again tired so had a few hours sleep before Casualty.

Then the "fun" began!

We tried a couple of times to phone her Dad and got no answer. Just when we were beginning to bet a bit concerned he called back to tell us he'd fallen over and was stuck on the floor not being able to get up. Oh great.

Being 300 miles away we decided the best option was to call his home help and see what she could do. He thought he'd left the door open so it shouldn't have been a problem. Unfortunately the door was locked and the neighbour with a spare key was out.

In the end the home help called the Police to come and break the door in, and then they had to get a joiner up to fix the frame. He finally went home around midnight. So, when we gave Ernie a last call to make sure he was OK did we get "thanks"? He just said he needed to speak to Joan's sister instead. Gratitude, what's that? We sometimes wonder why we bother making all the effort.

Still, he seems OK again now if a little sore from crawling around. He's got a hospital appointment anyway today for his foot, so with any luck they'll just check him over while he's there. It is his 82nd birthday on Sunday so hopefully there will be no more alarma and excursions before then.

Yesterday we had a lazy day. Well, we needed to recover! We were both up at different times in the morning with Joan up first then me getting up when she came back to bed. We finally managed to get ourselves synchronised in time for lunch with the Grand Prix. And at least Rubens was allowed to win this time to make up for the Austrian fiasco.

We both dozed off during it though, which again says something about the state of either modern formula 1 or the perils of aged parents.

A quick trip round the shops then we were back relaxing. Caught up with Holby's off tape then watched a film Joan had been lent by someone from work. Deep Blue Sea (I think, can't recall exactly now!) with Samuel L. Jackson and a load of people I'd never heard of (oh, and LL Cool J) being attacked by enhanced killer sharks. Quite fun in places, and some very good watery effects. I think it could have done with a few more people surviving rather than being eaten, but otherwise worth looking out for.

So now I am back at work for another week. Have got some time out of the office coming up to make it slightly less tedious and with any luck the sun will still be shining when we get home. More later as now I want some lunch.

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!