Charlie boy did finally shut up about the office move. But then went on to moaning about his non-existent love life instead. Hoorah for headphones and MP3s.

I was right about the possibilities of shopping too. As well as a few more Christmas presents for Joan I also picked up the Audioslave album. Chris Cornell from Soundgarden with the majority of Rage Against The Machine. Absolutely superb on first listen this afternoon (those headphones again) and I expect it might get blasted out loud on Sunday to help me when I get to the glossing stage in the lounge.

Choosing paint colour later when we shop after Joan finished work.

And that was yesterday summed up!

Today I am considering manufacturing an excuse, ANY excuse, to get out of the office as I get the feeling I am going to be listening to Charles moaning all day. He has seen the latest draft office layout and hasn't stopped complaining for 15 minutes now. It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't have such a penetrating Brummie accent. The fact is we need to re-arrange ourselves a bit to fit new people in so he is gong to have to lose some space. Oh well, only 2 hours to lunch!

Today seems to be payday so I guess I might not be able to resist spending money this lunchtime. Even if I am still in shock from the cost of these glasses.

Joan is out tonight but I will probably devote myself to stripping the lounge of extraneous junk so I can get painting early tomorrow. Must let myself have some fun soon though.

Oh, but the pair of us do look rather nice in our new face furniture. Lovely.

OK, so the credit card is still bleeding, but at least we have the cash in the bank for when the bill comes. Good old insurance payouts! And we have very sensibly started a new one off to look after us in the future.

Dad got back from Denmark OK and apparantly has some stuff for us next time we see them. Mmmmm, presents.

Better do some work now!

Woooo. The message was indeed as expected. And Joan's are in as well so today will definitely be a leave early one for me. I can't believe I'm actually excited by all of this! OK, so the purchase of the two pairs will set us back just a little bit short of £600 but you do have to look after your eyes and we are both going to look even more gorgeous than before. Mmmm, glasses.

Nothing else startling to report though. Just trying to find some work to be getting on with really.

Forgot to look yesterday, but today the junk has gone. So much for Junkwatch as a feature! I'll have to think of something else to keep track of.

Seemed to spend most of the weekend putting together, taking apart again as they didn't fit, re-assembling to a new design I thought up and then staining the new CD shelves for the lounge. The end result looks a bit dodgy at the moment but I am sure they will be OK when they are up and stuffed with shiny discs. If not then it was £60 down the drain and a new idea will be sought. If only the whole house didn't have to be colour-co-ordinated all the time. Also ordered the carpet for the lounge, which means I will have to paint it this weekend coming and went round to Ma & Pa's for dinner on Sunday. Although it was just with Ma & Richard as Dad is in Denmark visiting his cousin. Swine.

Yesterday was again fairly tedious worky stuff. Much like today really. Although this morning did feature a trip up to Bury Road Park & Ride for the annual Secured Car Park inspection. We passed again so that was OK. And I was able to do a bit of shopping on the way back to the office. Roll on Friday and Payday so I can do a LOT of shopping!

Hopefully when I get home tonight there will be a message on the answerphone telling me that my new glasses have arrived. That will give me the excuse to leave early tomorrow as I really want them now. Not because the current pair are just too weak for me any more but more to do with general lust for face furniture. Designer frames are just so wonderful! And they are of a design which shouldn't grip the head so tightly and thus I may be able to get rid of the dents in my skull.

Having noticed that a bag of rubbish dumped on the roundabout as you leave Felixstowe is still there after three days I think I will keep track of it here on Junkwatch. So, that should be a fascinating addition to the blog.

Very quiet in the office again today. No management at all and almost every one esle is out at meetings or a launch of a new bus route in Shotley.

Nothing else to mention for now. Might slope off early tonight and pay some Super Monkey Ball before picking Joan up.

And indeed a good meal was what ensued. Very tasty minty lamb and stuff.

Today Joan is in ipswich with Sue for a Christmas shopping extravaganza. I just met them for lunch in Tower Ramparts, which was also very nice. Of course I also got to bring all their shopping so far back to the office so they don't have to cart it about but you can't win them all.

Have been up to both Park & Ride sites this morning with the boss of Ipswich Buses and a bloke from Optare to take some pictures. Who knows, I might even end up in the pages of Coach & Bus Weekly.

Not really anything else to add right now so I will do some work instead.

And indeed a good meal was what ensued. Very tasty minty lamb and stuff.

Today Joan is in ipswich with Sue for a Christmas shopping extravaganza. I just met them for lunch in Tower Ramparts, which was also very nice. Of course I also got to bring all their shopping so far back to the office so they don't have to cart it about but you can't win them all.

Have been up to both Park & Ride sites this morning with the boss of Ipswich Buses and a bloke from Optare to take some pictures. Who knows, I might even end up in the pages of Coach & Bus Weekly.

Not really anything else to add right now so I will do some work instead.

Well, I did say I was feeling ill!

Ended up having the rest of last week off work not feeling very good at all. Tuesday was definitely the worst - couldn't stay vertical for more than a few minutes without feeling dizzy. Not a good day and lucky Joan was off to take care of me.

Weds I managed to stagger downstairs for most of the day (and give the Cube some use) and on Thursday I did actually manage to get out with Joan for some fresh air. Friday I saw Dr P and got a note to cover me for whatever strange viral infection it was.

Saturday was another day of recovery and music (and Dad's birthday) then on Sunday it was Ma & Pa's pre-Christmas party. That was a good afternoon in the main with people we only see once a year but as the flu thing had left me feeling very down I also spent a fair chunk of it trying to escape people - not the best way to go to a party but I got through.

This week it has been back to work with lots of catching up to do. Hence taking until now to write on here. There have been a few highlights - lunchtime meeting yesterday as the first follow-up to our business plan day and some town centre roadside but mostly just going through the mail.

Tonight we are taking Helen & Bhupen round to the White Horse for a meal to celebrate their 20th Wedding Anniversary. Should be nice.

Bluuuurgh. Still feeling pretty rough today, but better than I have been so hopefully over the worst now. Mind you, not really had anything cold-like on a serious scale for a couple of years now so I should be counting my blessings and not moaning.

Saturday went brilliantly well. The coach was a double-decker so we had a great view of all the sights etc as we drove in and out (OK, so we also saw some of the grottier parts of the east end but the Thames all lit up at night is still wonderful). There were 3 hours or so to kill between arrival and curtain up so we had a wander down to Covent Garden (finally got hold of a book I was after from the LT museum shop) and another nice Garfunkels lunch. Must try somewhere else next time though. Then it was off to the Theatre to be entertained.

And entertained we truly were. Not knowing anything of the plot of Les Miserables I wasn't sure what we should expect but what came along was very good indeed. Basically, bloke gets freed from chain gang on parole, jumps ship, gets redeemed, becomes mayor of a town and then is forced to reveal himself to the policeman hunting him down in order to free an innocent bloke. Runs again and gets involved with revolutionaries in Paris, one of whom falls in love with adopted daughter. Meets up with copper again then dies of old age. Plot summaries R us! All the performers were superb singers and although minimal in style the stage set and scenery fitted the production perfectly. With very good use made of a revolving stage and things on rails.

So I am now a committed fan (!) of the London Big Production (a phrase which is no doubt (c) Andrew Lloyd-Webber even though I just made it up) and want to see more things on the professional stage. Hopefully now I am on the list we will get the chance a couple of times per year. More than that could end up getting a bit expensive.

And we got back in time for Joan to watch the remembrance thing from the Albert Hall.

Yesterday Joan was back at work so I put what energy I had into getting the house further towards normal again. The shelves in the dining room are now fully stocked with books again and after some further tidying after Joan came home it all looks very nice. Richard cam round and helped a bit too so I let him have a cube session as a reward (well, I wanted to see what 2 player mode on Zoocube was like!).

Today has been pretty dull so far. There was a fire alarm test which livened things up a fraction. And of course, standing out in the cold for 10 minutes while they count us always makes the office seem warmer upon returning.

Right, now to see what else I can do while trying not to fell so grotty.

This has turned out to be a very dismal day weather wise, and I am feeling like I'm coming down with a bad cold or the flu or something which is definitely NOT good, what with tomorrow looming and all. The sense of taste has gone all to pot and I have a stuffed up feeling with aches in the legs. The latter could be from numerous trips up and down the stairs last night bringing books back to the dining room of course, but that won't explain the rest. Hope I feel OK for the theatre trip. WOuld be an absolute bummer to miss it.

Anyway, managed to get the camera all plugged in and installed on the PC and transfer pics off it fine. OK, so it then crashed when I tried to open up the interweb and refused to start up again for so long I thought I'd killed it for good. Had to go via Safe Mode in the end which did the trick but had me feeling sick as a dog for a while. I hate it when expensive things don't work properly as I always fret about what it might cost to get them sorted out. Still, it all seems fine now, with the large memory card and tv-link also proving to be successful. Now all I need to do is work out how to insert pictures here and this can be regularly illustrated.

Not been further than Alberts today due to the torrential rain so no shopping at least.

Will have to get some dosh before tomorrow at some point so hopefully it will stop or ease up soon so I can do it on the way home. Only another hour or so before I leave.

Well, that was an interesting visit to the Dentist. Regular viewers will know I've got troublesome deep pockets which they have attacked with various methods up to and including a series of root planing treatments. This time they have come to the conclusion that there is nothing more they can do for me as general dentists - my mouth is as clean as any they have ever seen but bone loss is still happening. This is not good as sooner or later my teeth will have nothing to root into and just fall out. Which is not something I particularly relish.

As a result I am being referred to a gum specialist to see if there is anything he can do for me. They think a chap in Colchester is one of the best around so I could be in for some serious A12 mileage in the future. Unfortunately it will all have to be done privately rather than through the NHS so could well end up costing a fortune. I'm not sure I'm happy with the expensive option either but I guess it has to be better than false teeth.

Just so long as the pain is kept to a minimum I guess I will cope.

So, on leaving the Dentist I went and paid in that cheque and headed down to Argos for some sympathetic understanding from Joan. She greated my arrival with a rather unexpected question: "Were you serious about getting a digital camera with some of that money"? Was I ever! They are doing a series of one week promotions in the build-up to Christmas and this week's included a rather superb Minolta digicam reduced from £599 to £299. Well, that was what I was thinking of spending on a much lower spec one (well, obviously!) so after a good look at the one they had in stock and its manual I bought it. And in doing so qualified for a half price additional memory card, a free leather case (designed by Lamborghini of all people) and some free binoculars. Not bad at all. Not installed the software to transfer stuff to the PC yet but the results so far just on the built in LCD screen look absolutely stunning. Plus it has a whole shedload of features and stuff. Whooopppeeeeeee! With that and the Cube Christmas really has come early for me. I think I will be spending much of tonight in the study experimenting. Just need to find a mains adaptor/battery charger thingy for it now to save on expense in the future.

On top of all that the Carpet people got it right at the second try and the room looks great. It was their fault not mine - someone had cut some off the roll and not marked it or something. Seems a bit odd to me - surely they should measure when they cut each time? Anyway, they did a great job and we are going to get some mats made from the kitchen-sized off-cut to put down by the windows and doors (or possibly in the kitchen).

Ma & Richard came round to help put the room back together and move the shelves from the lounge in, so the whole thing now looks superb. Just need to bring all the books down again, and put the new CD racks up in the lounge. That will have to wait though as they need staining first to match the rest of the furniture and I might as well wait until after we redecorate in there if we are definitely going to do it this side of Christmas.

I don't believe this - I can overhear Mike on the phone to one of our sponsored service operators whose drivers don't want to go out after dark. What a bunch of idiots!

Had another stroke of luck this morning. I had planned to bring Joan in to Ipswich on Saturday for a spot of indulgence-shopping as she deserves it and was luckiy enough to have a Saturday off this week, but that will now have to wait as we are going to the Theatre instead. Yup, on arrival at work there was an email offering tickets and travel to see Les Miserables in London and I snapped them up like a shot. It is the matinee performance so we will be back home at a reasonable hour (she is working on Sunday) and I am really looking forward to it. Neither of us have ever been to any of the big London shows so this will be a real treat. And I can take the camera to get some fab London pics with any luck. Fingers crossed for the coach being unaffected - it is also the Lord Mayor's show on Saturday morning which may cause us a few problems but may also provide some nice piccies.

I think that's all for now. Only a few developments to report! Now for some fun timetable changes to look at.

Hmm, I seem to be in a doing as little real work as possible but being at my desk all the time kind of mode this week. This entry does of course help in that score! All I have done relating to my contract today is meet a man about a possible future park & ride site at the Wherstead interchange to Ipswich (which could be pretty good as they are proposing it as part of a development including some kind of entertainments arena - if that brings big bands to within 15 minutes of our house then it gets my backing) and sign a couple of letters I wrote on Monday. And I am leaving around 1ish to go to the Dentist so today could be my least productive ever.

Got all the furniture out of the Dining Room OK last night - which makes the rest of the house unfeasibly crowded at the present. And it seems they brought the wrong length of carpet. Richard says they cut it wrong but I hope it is their mistake and not mine on the initial measuring or it could turn out to be very expensive. Urk.

Oh well, an insurance policy matured yesterday and paid out more than double what we were anticipating so it looks like we will have a stonking Christmas and a cracking holiday next year after all. Yeeha.

The weekend can be summed up with a couple of words really. Paint and Cube.

To expand on that somewhat, on Saturday I put two coats of creamy emulsion on two walls in the Dining Room. We now have a nice two-colour room and all the wood panelling is hidden. Well, it is still there but the paint went on to it really well and has totally transformed the look of the place. Wish we had done it when we first moved in, but that's experience for you. On Sunday we took the old carpet up and glossed all the remaining woodwork and trim. It really does look rather tasty now. Roll on tomorrow when the carpet man comes.

When not painting I put in some quality time with the Gamecube and am once again very happy. I can see that I am going to get totally addicted to all 3 games I have so far. Of course it helped that Joan went out to Bingo with Helen on Sunday night so I was able to get properly stuck in...

Yesterday was our Seventh wedding anniversary. So up yours to all who said it wouldn't last! Pity we both had to work but there you go. Helen & Bhupen bought us a lovely unicorn statuette thingy which will go in the Dining room as it matches the new colours perfectly. Ma, Pa & Richard came round in the evening with more goodies including fluffy sheepie stuff as 7 is allegedly the Wool Anniversary. We also had a very nice tea and a relaxed evening.

Tonight we have to get all the furniture we've been working around out of the dining room for the carpet to go down. Not sure how we will move in the morning but hey, that's the fun of home ownership.

Better do some work now (or just read the latest stack of bus and rail magazines that have ended up in my in-tray).

Oh crikey, where does the time go? Been a bit busy hence the lack of entries for a week, so time to dig out yer old time travelling socks once more, slip them on and slide back to last week for an update.

On Friday I had no sooner got in to the office than I was whisked out again by Gary to help with the big roadside extravaganza we'd been preparing all week. Our target area was sort of up the coast a bit and then inland but never straying west of Ipswich. I thin kwe got done everywhere we needed to and also found a new lunch location. Jets Cafe on the old RAF Bentwaters site. It is a bit creepy seing the remains of the US Airforce occupation sitting in some corners, buildings with old signs on etc mixed in with those that have been re-developed and have new businesses lurking within their walls. The food was excellent and very reasonably priced so we will no doubt be back in their in the future. Our route did also include Charsfield, but we got their far too late for it to have been worth hanging back on lunch to visit the Three Horseshoes. Never mind.

In the evening we were round at Ma & Pa again as Grandma was up for the weekend. Another nice meal and good chat etc.

As previously hinted at, Saturday was the day of the Llamasoft forum meet up in London. Things started OK but then went drstically pear-shaped to say the least. I got down to Waterloo by 10 as expected and found the hotel we were meeting at empty, they were already queueing for the Eye. I thus hoofed it up there as fast as my little legs would carry me and arrived in time to see them in the second pod up. Aaaaargh, missed my flight!

Having hung around for half an hour while the group rotated I finally got to say hello when they got down again. At which point it was decided I should go up after all (they still had my ticket) while they had a coffee and we would meet at the Science Museum in about an hour. That was the last I saw of them!

The trip on the Eye was as good as I had been lead to believe by a number of different people and I can highly recommend it. Hopefully my pictures will come out OK as it was a fairly nice day and I coud see quite a distance. I was also a bit surprised to find London not as dominated by high-rise development as I had thought. There has been a lot of bad press over recent years about new buildings spoiling the city but in all honesty I didn't see many big lumps sticking up. And as I actually like modern architechture it looked fine to me. The Eye itself is also a fantastic piece of kit although parts of it look like they could do with a re-spray already.

So, I then made my way down to South Kensington and up to the Science Museum. Nobody there. (Well, nobody I was expecting, there were plenty of other people but they don't count). A quick burst of text messages confirmed the group had heard the queue was enormous (it wasn't) so they had decided to head in to central London instead. I asked them for a place to meet and went off in the same direction, arriving at Leicester Square to get a mesaage saying they were now on their way to South Ken. I gave up at that point feeling hungry, tired and a little peed off. So had some food, did a bit of shopping and went home early. Not really the day I had planned and lessons will be learned before the next attempt.

On Sunday Joan and I stayed in the house to avoid the horrendous winds that were sweeping the country. Seems we made the right decision as a little lad from up the street was killed by a falling branch. Tragic all round and his parents are apparently in a right state.

I also spent the morning in bed with a splitting migraine, but managed to stir myself by lunchtime. Didn't really get anthing else done that day though.

Then it was Monday and back to work again. It was intended that I would stay in the office and look after things here while everyone else went out doing more roadside and deliveries. However, I ended up doing a run out to Bury St. Edmunds with a delivery. Not of books though, but of our modern apprentice Ray. He had managed to slash his head open on the lock at the back of the van he was loading and after glueing and stitching up at hospital needed to be taken home. It was nice to get out of the office and I have put in a claim for the mileage, but it did kind of interrupt my plans for the day somewhat.

Monday was also the day that the town centre gyratory system came in to operation. As far as we can tell it has all gone very well - it now being Friday we have received no complaints and only good mentions in the press. This must surely be a first of some kind. From my perspective both Park & Ride sites are running at least as smoothly if not better than before so I really have no worries.

Tuesday was another out and about day. This time just doing deliveries in the west of the county and with Charles for a change. We got loads done and had a nice dinner at Newmarket too. It was a long day though, which helps in my quest for a couple of flexi-days off between now and Christmas which I will hopefully be able to tie in with times Joan is off too so we can do the big present shopping thing.

That then leads us into the two days off I had this week. Wednesday was our trip to London to do the Eye and a river cruise. It all went OK to start with and then down hill (sound familiar?). We had a lucky escape at Ipswich station when it became obvious that Barry from work was going to be on our train. Fortune smiled though and he didn't spot us which did at least allow us to get to London in peace and quiet. I'm sure he doesn't mean it, but the man is just so tedious and irritating.

Anyway, all went well with the trains and tube and we got to Waterloo with no problems. A swift walk up (well, I knew the way this time) brought us to the Eye in good time but also a slight drizzle. That was not what we wanted, but unfortunately the weather was not to be on our side and we suffered from showers (and downpours) all day. Being early was deliberate as we decided to make the Eye the focus of the day and explore the area around it a bit rather than risk getting caught up in crowds elsewhere and miss our flight or cruise. So we went for a snack at the aquarium in the old County Hall building but decided not to actually go in to look at the fish for an hour as it was £8.75 a head. Which price also applied to the Dali exhibition which again I would like to look at, but will want to take a decent amount of time to get my money's worth.

Instead we went to the Royal Festival Hall for a mooch about and so forth. It is a wonderful building and we really must get to see some music being performed their sometime. We even managed to buy a couple of small Christmas presents whilst inside, which was nice.

Then it was up up and away again. I enjoyed it just as much as on Saturday despite the poor weather meaning reduced visibility and Joan thought it was great. The only downer was that our pod contained the obligatory screaming kid, who I think was lucky they don't have opening windows. I'm sure I wasn't that noisy when I was little so why should I have to suffer them now?

From the wheel we went straight on to the boat. That was also brilliant. Only went as far as the Tower and back again but lasted a good 45 minutes and enabled us to see many new things. Again, some brilliant buildings in a good mix of old and new. And the new City Hall opposite the tower is just fantastic. Must go back on a sunny day to get some pictures of it. I don't think I've done a boat on the Thames before (certainly have no memory of one) and am now itching to get water-borne again on different stretches of river.

Having nibbled a bit on the boat we skipped a proper lunch and headed off to South Kensington - to the Natural History Museum. Somewhere else Joan had never been and I'd not been for years. The dinosaurs were as good as ever (if a little dusty) and there have been some great changes since last time. And the mionerals gallery is as fascinating as ever. I still can't get over the fact that the crystals and things in there are actual natural occurences and not some sort of mad experiments with things. Such wonderful shapes and colours. And of course the building itself is also a work of art. I was sorely tempted by a book on the history of the museum but at £30 decided it was just too expensive.

By the time we got out of the museum it was 5.30 so we decided to get a meal before heading home. On arrival at South Ken underground station we discovered the District and Circle lines closed due to some fool throwing themselves under a train at Victoria. That meant everyone crushing down to the Piccadilly line platform leading to them then deciding to evacuate the station due to overcrowding. Well, hello! What exactly did they expect people to do? So there we were turfed out into the rain with no idea of what to do next. Fortunately I know how to read bus maps and we were soon on a 14 heading towards Tottenham Court Road where we know a good branch of Garfunkels. Naturally the bus terminated itself short at Piccadilly Circus leaving us out in the wet again. Still, a quick walk took us through Leicester Square to the Garfunlels on Charing Cross Road instead where we duly warmed up, dried off and stuffed our faces.

By the time we had eaten all seemed to be back to normal on the underground and we were able to get to Liverpool Street with no hitches. Of course that meant the rest of the final journey had to be awkward instead! We thought that arriving at 1948 left us too late for the 1945 train but it was also late, arriving in time to leave again at 2000. It was painfully slow most of the way, stopped at extra places and then they threw us all off at Colchester. We finally got back to Ipswich at 2200. Only an hour late! However, despite the transport and weather hassles it was a great day overall. Once again London has tried to put us off going back and failed.

Yesterday was a much calmer and lazier day in many respects. To start with we didn't go out of Felixstowe. We went in to town in the morning and came back with paint for the dining room, full stomachs after lunch at Puccinos, a bit of other shopping and... a Nintendo Gamecube. Yup, I finally got round to buying it, and all seems lovely and shiny and top fun (and managed to get second controller and memory card free)! Only spent half an hour or so with Pikmin so far but it looks very good indeed. Also picked up Super Monkey Ball and Zoocube dirt cheap today so that should last me a while.

We also cleared all the bookcases in preparation for the painting tomorrow (of the walls they rest on, fool!) and did a bit of general tidying and stuff.

Today started with a meeting of the town centre car parks group. At Bury Road P&R where it all seemed to go well and athen a visit from the man from Britvic. He wants me to change from Coke to him for vending machines at the P&R sites. Might well give him a try and see what happens.

And now it is piddling down with rain again and I need to go and catch my bus back to the site soon. Fingers crossed for a dry spell.

Busy day so far for a change. Finished off all the roadside preparation this morning and waved all those heading out off before settling in for a few minutes of quality internet-based skiving. Then headed out to Bury Road Park & Ride to be photographed with the new buses. That went OK but while I was there one of the buses they were using while we had the real ones broke down and chaos ensued. Glad I was on site to see how well they coped really.

Called in at Radio Suffolk on the way back to buy one of their new CDs produced to raise money for Children In Need. Full of jokes and stuff so should be a good laugh. And it was only a fiver. Took the opportunity presented by being up that end of town to pop in to the shop where I got another Lynx game a couple of weeks back, but they didn't have anything else in. Some cheap second hand Gamecube stuff though so I expect I'll go back there after I get mine next week.

Now things have gone a bit wrong at London Road Park & Ride. Some idiot car owner has driven into the exit blocker and had their petrol tank ripped open in the process. Splendid. They have had to get the fire brigade in to mop up and now the water company need to find where all the drains go to make sure none gets where it shouldn't. Fab.

Add to that people asking me to chase up complaints and answer questions that are nothing to do with me and things seem gloomy. Then throw in the fact that my phone number seems to have been used to replace the TraveLine for enquiries now that has closed and you can see that I'd much rather be at home today. Especially as Joan is off. If it wasn't for the availability of quality Egyptian Dance Music on the internet I'm sure I'd go mad.

OK, so it is technically American music, but by a chap of Egyptian descent who has lived there for a while in the past (and also Italy) but we don't need to get that specific do we? MP3.com sure is proving to be a wonderful place now I've started digging deeply into it. And I have always had a soft spot for some of the stranger sounds that come out of Arabia so adding them to a modern idiom works wonders for me. All I need now is time to get them on to Mini Disc for regular listening.

Also lookingon the brighter side, I have now obtained a blank CD to take with me to the Llamasoft joly thing in London on Saturday. The plan is to record a whole bunch of us shouting obscenities on Yak's laptop then work those in to a special customised version of Gridrunner available only to those in attendance. Should be a laugh. We are also going on the London Eye (and I'm going again on Wednesday with Joan!) and shopping for fluffy sheepies etc. Really looking forward to meeting some of the people in the flesh I communicate with daily. Pity some of the foreign correspondents can't get over, but that would be asking a lot really.

Hmm, just had another complaint in - seems one of our sponsored operators is refusing to accept notes as payment for any fare under £3. Surely that's not cricket! Better get the sponsored team on that one.

My books have arrived. And maps. All look lovely thank God after all the hassle. We even had a helpful driver to getthem off the lorry for a change. Weeeeee. Now just have hurty arms to worry about.

Tried the new fried chicken take-away in town last night. Tasted exactly like KFC. Not so much of a secret blend of herbs and spices eh, colonel?

Managed not to spend any money at lunchtime again, but the potential for spending has increased again. Especially as our payslips arrived today and we have had both raise and back pay. Most woo and yay worthy.

Less in the way of strange dreams last night I'm pleased to say.

Oooh, look at the time. Better go now to pick Joan up.

More rain. Getting a bit sick of it, and winter hasn't kicked in yet.

One of those regular back at Argos dreams last night. Ipswich this time, and they had once again called me in to sort out a serious mess in the stockroom. I did of course, and then refused the job when they offered it to me on a regular basis. But is this case the manager was my old Primary School headmaster Mr Thomas and the person I trained up for the job instead of me was Dr Carter from ER. All very odd.

Today we are mostly stciking timetables together in advance of the big roadside push later this week.

Another drab day waiting for other people to do things for me.

Weekend had its moments though. Joan off Saturday so we did lots of tidying and ordered a new carpet for the dining room. Not sure when I'll get time to paint it but that's another matter. We then had Alexander staying the night which was fun.

Sunday Joan back to work so I did loads of ironing (of course) complete with commentaries on Independence Day and Charlies Angels. Both quite interesting. Then last night round to Ma & Pa's dinner. Very tasty.

Wahay, nearly the weekend. Nothing else to say!