Strewth but it is hot in here today. Which is nice, don't get me wrong, as things have been a bit chilly over the last couple of days, but nonetheless I could wish for a bit of temperature consistency... Anyway, here's another "squabble" from the weekend I meant to put in before but forgot.

Neighbours over the road came home from holiday and Steve from next door was parked outside their house. Now, it should be noted that there was still room on their side of the road for them to park up complete with trailer tent and only be perhaps 3 extra metres between the car and front door than if they had been directly outside their own abode. And of course we live in a road that has no parking restrictions whatsoever - no lines, no spaces marked, no permits required or anything of that ilk so anyone is perfectly at liberty under the law to leave their car wherever they like so long as it is done in a safe manner. Me, I would have grinned wryly and walked a bit further with the suitcases - done it often enough in the past with shopping before we got the driveway. If we had a real load of stuff I might have politely asked Steve if he'd mind moving up a bit. What did mr over the road do? Sat in the car hooting the horn for about five minutes before going to hammer on Steve's door. And when he did finally come out he proceeded to shout and swear at him for the whole time he was moving. What a harmonious neighbourhood we occupy. It was so nice and quite while they were away. Oh well, only 1 more day until we make our escape.

Work has been one frantic rush since Monday trying to finalise Park & Ride reports and get everything else in a state I can leave it in while I am gone. I think I am just about there now barring any further emergencies. All that remains is a quick trawl through my in-tray to see if anything is outstanding and tidying the desk so if anyone does need anything they might be able to find it. Then if I canmanage to get away at a reasonable time tonight and tomorrow I will be one happy holidymaker.

All the thinking about the upcoming trip has got my mind full of images from previous holidays I have been on - random snatches like:

Riding on a steam train on the North Norfolk Railway when I was about 7.

Being scared out of my mind on a (very) small rollercoaster in Denmark in 1980.

Hearing the new Police album blaring out of a cabin on a ferry to Holland.

The first realisation that the Dutch eat their chips with mayonaise then trying the same and liking it.

Nearly breaking our necks on the treacherous, rain-soaked cobbles of Clovelley.

Sweltering in the heat in Paris in 1999.

Absolutely loving the enormous rollercoasters in Canada two years ago.

And many more besides. I think when time permits I'll have a reflection or two at length on past excursions so watch this space. Perhaps something for the grim winter evenings that are slowly creeping up on us.

Right, better get back to the desk location project. Not sure if I will have time to post tomorrow so next entry probably when we get back from the alps. Woohoo.

I think "Squabble" is a good word to use for an overview of some of what I am now going to relate...

We did pop up to see Helen during Saturday afternoon (Bhupen & Alexander having come home and gone straight to bed) and it seems that a large part of their holiday saw them witnessing family feuding between Sheila & Stewart and Caroline & Chris as well as much sponging off the former by the latter. Once again I am quite glad that in the end we didn't join them - I got enough of that 2 years ago thank you very much. When I go on holiday I want to relax, not listen to others arguing all the time. And that after they had the delays on the way out, the big Blackout to contend with and, to put the icing on the cake, Helen had to give some medical aid to a fellow passenger on the plane home. Oh well, I'm sure our trip to Switzerland will be fine.

Yesterday we took it pretty easy. Lots of tidying up around the house then a trip to Ma & Pa's to give them their wedding anniversary present. 35 years is the Coral anniversary, but rather then buying them a chunk of the great barrier reef we settled for a grilling machine instead. Well, it was what they wanted.

Also over the weekend we watched both Rush Hour and Rush Hour 2 which were both funny. And it was nice to see the start of the first one, and indeed to see it properly - wehn we watched it before it was at Helen & Bhupen's not long after they had got their widescreen tv and thus we got to see the normal aspect picture stretched out making everyone look short and fat. One of my pet hates that is, tv pictures being shown in the wrong ratio but there isn't much you can do to tell people they are seeing things the wrong way. At least more and more stuff is being transmitted in widescreen now so the chances of having to sit through something looking dire are becoming fewer and far between.

Finished the Brunel book yesterday - as I said already, fascinating stuff. There is a prog about his Great Eastern on the BBC this week which should be worth a look. I will have to get something on the Stephensons now to add to the railway buildser knowledge I seem to be accumulating. Not started anything else yet - I am just going to catch up on a bunch of articles I have lying about then embark on a new book as part of the holiday.

Today got off to a bang with a meeting about how we could do some quick & dirty marketing and publicity to try and get more passengers in the short term. Except the first 45 minutes or so degenerated in to one big argument between Sonic and Peter the Marketing manager (down to what the meeting should have been about, never mind anything else). Quite fun to watch if a bit uncomfortable in places. Not the sort of example you expect managers to be setting really. Calmed down in the end when I made a useful suggestion and we got moving from then on. That was followed by a meeting with a firm who should be able to do some distribution for us (if the money can be found) which will help me with my targets if nothing else.

Oh well, now the afternoon is almost over so I think it is time for me to go home. 4 days to go...

Woohoo, one week from now and we will be on our way. I am so looking forward to this holiday it is just not real. Must get up in the loft for the suitcases later today. And of course Helen and Bhupen and Alexander are back today from their Canadian/American trip so I expect we will be seeing them later for loads of catching up.

Yesterday went OK at work - I managed more of what Sonic wanted and unlike most of the rest of the team don't seem to have had an argument with him over anything yet, then a good meal out at the White Horse to round the day off. Tasty as ever. Good to see Grandma again too. Hopefully they are having a safe trip to take her home again as I write. One thing for sure, they probably won't meet too many caravans on the road (there are over 4,000 at the Showground it would seem).

Today I have done another mercy run with keys to Argos! Jacqui from Ipswich (ex Newmarket) is covering today but dippy Marion had managed to not leave her a key for the office. Luckily that was one of Joan's we've not passed on to someone else while she has been off so I was able to save the day again. Then had to disappoint the incoming staff who seeing me expected Joan to be back at work. So as I was out I got us a decadent McBreakfast and now we are off shopping befre visitations start.

Of course what I didn't mention in the waffle about American Beauty was how good the music was. Both the songs chosen for inclusion and the original score (which is being used either on radio or tv a lot at the moment but I can't think what for). Really good stuff and added a whole extra dimension to the experience.

So, yesterday we had an unexpected office bonus as Sonic was on a flexi day but hadn't told us. Always nice to not have him breathing down our necks - I know I got more stuff done than I would have done otherwise. Then in the evening we watched the third Austin Powers film Goldmember. Just as funny as the first two, although the series seems to be moving away from plots and more in to the realm of linked parody sketches of the Bond films. And there are some serious product placement issues that could use sorting out a bit if they decide to make a third.

Today I have been out and about delivering again. I think I have finally got to all the places that should have been delivered to for this edition (about a week before I start proper work on the next one...) and found a few more new ones too. Not as many today as before though. However, I was in the Haverhill area and I am hoping to get a load of pubs round there to take books through an arrangement I am working on with Greene King. I just wish the other two brewer/pub chain people I've written to would respond. I'll give them until we get the next edition then just start going to their pubs without help otherwise. All of which has left me pretty tired tonight. Joan is out getting aromatherapised so I am just going to relax with my book until she calls for her ride home.

Thoroughly enjoying the Brunel book as it is taking a different perspective on his life. Rather than being a straight biography it tackles different topics he worked on (rail, ships, bridges etc) and then does a bit of analysis and commentary on how they fitted in with the spirit of the age etc. Which is a period I have been interested in for a while, depsite having studied it at A level history. And unlike the rest of my class when we were asked to give a biographical presentation on a leading figure from the period we were covering I chose Thomas Telford, man behind many roads and canals, rather than a politician which gained me a few points for originality as well as being more interesting.

The roads today have been swarming with Caravans. The Caravan Club is holding a festival of lanterns (!) at the Suffolk Showground this weekend and people must be coming from all over - there are thousands of little cream sheds on wheels visible from the road. To my mind there are two types of caravaners - those who use it as a cheap way of sleeping somewhere they have control over on holiday, a base to visit new places. And those who are in it for the caravans themselves. I think it is mainly the latter camped on the edge of Ipswich at the moment. All busy queueing for the showers and swapping tales of chemical toilets and awnings. Not my cup of tea at all. The only caravans I've slept in were a static one in Wales on a geology field trip (static caravans, there's a mystery in itself. Why have a mobile home then never move it?) and the one belonging to Ernie's next door neighbours when we all went up for a funeral a couple of years ago and thus made too many to all fit in the house. Neiher of those experiences has made me want to repeat the situation.

Well, the new computer seems to be working pretty much OK. Now I've delved in to the settings, resurrected some bits I cunningly copied across to the network, re-installed all the extra fonts I need to actually do my job and so forth. OK, so I can still only print from Windows to one of the numerous printers I am supposed to be able to access (and yet they have got the DOS printing side of things right without being prompted) but otherwise all seems reasonable - they even managed to keep my Zip drive working. Plus the new keyboard is very nice to use, the mouse is optical and rather swish (and again they managed to provide one with a wheel rather than me having to dig out my old one) and the monitor is a very tasty large flatscreen one. Which I wouldn't mind at home quite frankly. All in all it has made coming back here after four days away almost tolerable. That and the choccy biccies Gary provided after his day trip to France on Saturday and the cream scone related to Danny's birthday a couple of weeks ago (luckily he bought the cakes today - they haven't been hanging around since the actual date...).

Of course it turns out that we have also lost access to one or two programs (including our main public transport database) as they aren't Windows 2000 compatible. Reckon someone screwed up there, but not my problem.

Finished off the weekend last night by watching American Beauty. A very good film. Not 100% sure if I grasped all of it but I did enjoy the majority which I understood. I can certainly see how it ended up winning shedloads of Oscars and BAFTAs and other awards. The I had one of those nights of fragmented dreams (installing a stair lift at Ma & Pa's house, going to a party dressed as one of the girls from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, shopping and other bits) that just leaves you feeling totally flummoxed in the morning.

And another bank holiday weekend flows quickly by. Still not managed to find the time to see what's going on in llamasoft land but have washed the car, watched the end of a crime drama we started on Saturday and read a book. Simpsons Comics Royale - top classy stuff! Have now moved on to another Brunel biography, this time by Angus Buchanan in advance of a programme on tv in a couple of weeks about his Great Eastern. Oh well, Mum and Grandma coming along now so best stop.

Hmm, so after posting that lot Mitchell came round on one of his regular "you've written some good letters taking the initiativem well done" visits, which was nice. But there is no extra money to be had for writing a good letter so I was still looking in the jobs pages Wednesday night! And indeed phoning up for another one with the police - assistant facilities co-ordinator. The form has now arrived and I'm not sure if I will stand a chance of getting an interview, but it might be worth a shot. Currently have the one application in process at Ipswich Borough Council so hoping to hear from them about an interview this week. I know I have pretty much everything they were looking for on that one...

Thursday was one of those days where you think you've acheived nothing despite working your socks off all day. I'm sure when I go back on Tuesday and take a look there will be lots of things I can list as having doen, just can't recall them now. I did get another well done - this time off Sonic for a report I'd written which he liked but Ian and Mitchell want radically changed before it goes to members. Oh well. Then just as I was leaving my new PC turned up. Hopefully it will work by the time I get to it on Tuesday.

Friday I had a course on Microsoft Project. It was taught by the same woman who did our project management course earlier in the year so at least she knew what we knew about projects to start with. Quite interesting and I think I will make use of the software once we get it installed. It was held at one of our more interesting buildings - Belstead House on the edge of Ipswich. An old rambling property, with lots of different rooms tucked away in corners, nice grounds and a resident cat. Pity the food was a bit naff though - just a boring buffet. Last time I was there it was proper cooked meals. But, it was better than being in the office with people wanting stuff done and the phone and stuff. Made a nice introduction to the long weekend.

So, yesterday Joan and I went out for another lunch in the country. This time up the coast to Dunwich where we had a nice picnic in the shadow of the old priory and then got rained on. Not quite sure why the priory ended up in ruins as none of the info boards said, but most of the town is actually under the waves now having been swallowed up gradually since the 13th century. Would probably make a very interesting Dive in some parts I imagine. We then wound our way back through the rather pretty villages and towns down the coast (Aldeburgh, Leiston, Snape, Eyke etc) before both feeling zonked and having a couple of hours sleep to finish off the afternoon.

Today I have shopped while Joan takes it easy, and later we are off to Ma & Pa's for tea as Grandma is up for the week. We have also watched The Patriot with Mel Gibson which was rather good and entertaining (although no doubt historically dubious).

Finished the Engineering book and was once again staggered by thescope of some of the projects covered. Amazing vision thos people had. Now reading London Trolleybus Chronology 1931 to 1962 by Mick Webber which isn't as sad and anorak-y as it sounds! Well, maybe a bit. But despite them stopping in London 9 years before I was born I've always liked Trolleybuses and some of the pics are fascinating for their recording other aspects of the times as well as just the vehicles - the shop fronts, adverts, clothes, cars and things are all interesting to me.

Busy, busy as always.

Friday I managed to stay in the office all day rather than having meetings and stuff so was able to write up the ATCO minutes and do a bit more target preparatory work. Then it was the weekend (hoorah) and I went home early. (Well, I am now over 20 hours up on Flexi time, and we are only supposed to go to a maximum of 16). Friday Night we watched Josie And The Pussycats which was actually quite funny. A very good send up on the ideas of product placement (which did of course enable loads of that within the film) and some good music. Plus Alan Cumming is always reliable as a bad guy.

Saturday we went down to Colchester and got the stitches out then stopped at Flatford on the way up for a nice picnic lunch by the river. Not been there properly before (i.e. Joan had never been and I'd merely delivered books to the tourist information centre!) so that was very interesting to see the real places made famous in the works of one John Constable. I like a nice old building to start with, and I can certainly see how plenty of artists have been inspired by the location. We then took a leisurely drive home through some pretty bits of south Suffolk before doing a nice load of shopping at Tesco.

Sunday was a lazy day mainly spent sitting around with book(s) in hand. Joan did go out to the Felixstowe Fuschia show in the afternoon (and won a nice hanging basket in the raffle) while I popped in to Argos for some shopping we needed. Then watched Shallow Hal which was also gently amusing (but I can't see the appeal of Gwyneth Paltrow).

Monday back to work with a bang and a meeting with the supplier for stop announcement kit on the new Park & Ride buses. They will be shouting out the names of stops as they go past them which could be interesting. We are thinking of having a competition to find the "Voice of Park & Ride". The meeting then involved us walking round town with the guy taking GPS readings at all the stops and then driving up to the site to capture that one. Very hot and sticky by the time we got back here. Still, better than sitting at the desk I suppose (plus we did learn that Ipswich Buses are having trouble with people smashing their buses up overnight at the weekends - and that the security guards have been joining in rather than trying to stop them). In the afternoon I gave my small group New Routes presentation which went quite well with plenty of feedback which we will hopefully be able to act on. Plus we also got the news that Chris Evans is leaving us to go and be an ambulance driver for the special care baby unit at Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge. Good luck to him, no doubt there will be other movements in the coming months of things don't change!

Yesterday was more New Routes in a meeting with the people looking after the Libraries equivalent which was quite informative, although I'm not sure how much we will really be able to share with them. Then another 1 to 1 with Sonic where he seemed pretty pleased with how I'm doing. And today I have been at Martlesham P&R this morning for the second operations group meeting.

SO, in that time also plenty of reading been done. First of I finished Park And Ride and have to say it was very interesting, even if P&R as such wasn't mentioned! I'm obviously just at the right age and from the right background to relate to what Mirandaw Sawyer was going on about. Although I do wonder if the cultural references will make sense if I go back to re-read the book in 10 years or so. Watch this space!

Followed that with The Great Escape by Paul Brickhill. The original true tale on which the film was based, as written by someone who was there. Read this many times over the years as Ma & PA have a copy, but this time I bought my own as it was cheap! OK, so it was missing the photos from the edition I'm used to, but did have a preface and introduction that were new to me so win some, lose some. Still an absolutely staggering tale of courage and acheivement under terrible circumstances. And no idea of how/if I would manage in such a situation.

Then I had a quick (and I do mean quick as I started it with breakfast yesterday and finished before bedtime) fiction interlude with the next Eric Thompson Magic Roundabout book - The Adventures of Ermintrude. Funny.

Have now started Civil Engineering 1839-1889: A Photographic History by Mike Chrimes which looks fascinating and has loads of pictures of bridges and things which I do like. All the more interesting now I've picked up a bit of civil knowledge through buildong the P&R sites - although not enough to provoke a career change!

Well, I'm glad I went withmy instincts and picked the book up yesterday morning as no sooner had I reached the A14 than my phone rang - Dawn not feeling well enough to come with me. She did manage to make it to work though. Grrrr. Still, her loss as I had a pretty good day all told.

Trains there ran perfectly to time - not been out of Victoria before either so that was a nice trip for me. And it turned out the girl who had sat opposite me for the whole hour and a bit of the trip was heading to the same meeting (but she didn't say anything until after we got there when the best she could manage was "I thought you would probably be coming here because of your bookmark" - I have a picture of a bus. How sad am I?). Some serious money been spent by the Bus Company and council down in Brighton & Hove with a pretty modern fleet running all over (inclusing some brand new Scanias that I was very impressed with) and loads of Real Time information on the streets plus a swishy control centre. Plus it was good to meet up with the colleagues from other counties I've not seen for about a year now due to being ill or at the bloody dentist during the last couple of meetings. Brighton itself, however, seemed pretty run down in places and a lot drabber than I remembered from my only previous visit about 10 years ago. Now all I have to do si write the minutes up and circulate them.

Journey back was also pretty punctual, if very hot for the London - Ipswich part. And here's a co-incidence or two for you: Finished the Ransome book somewhere between Chelmsford and Colchester on the way back. (Very enjoyable, and almost has me wanting to get back on a boat again soon). Thought about it for a while whilst looking out of the window then ruminated over the unread books sitting on the shelves at home waiting for me. Decided that the next book would be Park And Ride - Adventures in Suburbia by Miranda Sawyer. Not actually about P&R at all but a good look at what makes those places the way they are (and also fitting neatly in to the right age-frame for me at the moment). Then we left Colchester, I picked up the Evening Standard left behind by a fellow passenger and opened it to... a guest column by Miranda Sawyer talking about Suburbia. Now, the book was published in 1999 so it is not as if she was trying to promote it all of a sudden. Needless to say the article will be cut out and popped in the back of the book for next time I read it! Bizarre twist of fate there. Especially with a feature on Brighton a few pages later.

Finally got back to Ipswich at 7 (after catching the 0711 out in the morning) in time to meet hordes of football fans around the station heading for Portman Road. Glad to avoid them it must be said (Ipswich won 1-0 in the end apparantly).

Today I have been out of the office again - delivevring books (again) this time in the West of the county. Got to everywhere I wanted to that was already on the list and also found some more new outlets. Hurrah.

Joan has been signed off for another month. She turned up for her appointment to be told she had missed it through some cock-up with them writing the wrong time on the card. When she did finally get to see him she said she now had a splitting headache from the confusion, which was enough for him to say "well, you aren't going back to work then". So now she will be off until at least a week after we get back from Switzerland. Hope the weather holds for her!

Right, must go home now or I will get in trouble for building up too many flexi-hours.

Teeth and Travel

Oh how embarrassing - the inner gunge fell out of my mouth this morning just while I was in conversation with Dawn and Ian and Ray about our New Routes stuff. To make matters worse there is a really tight bit of thread exposed now - stretching across the gum which my tongue keeps wandering on to. And the whole jaw is still aching in a most unpleasant fashion. Still, only a few more days until they come out so I guess I will be OK.

Off to Brighton (& Hove) tomorrow for an ATCO publicity meeting. First one I've managed to get to since last year so hopefully all will go smoothly with the trains and so forth. Mind you it has been a scorcher again today so the chances are high for melting rails and sagging power cables to put a damper on things. Dawn is coming too though so at least we will be able to suffer together through any problems (and I will put up with the extra weight to take my book I think!).

Forgot to mention yesterday - after arriving at Gatwick at 1.30 pm for a 4.30 flight on Sunday Helen and co were told their tickets had been printed wrong and they weren't flying until 5.30 - and then other delays kept them on the ground until 8. Not the best way to start a holiday so I hope it doesn't prove to be an omen for us. Certainly there are no rumours of the French going on strike at the moment. Fingers are crossed.

Now that weekend was what we in the trade call a scorcher (I did study Climate during my degree thus allowing me to call myself "the trade"!). OK, so Friady I was at work and not too sweltering. Which was good as the mouth was still quite painful meaning I did the bare minimum needed to get through the day before heading home.

Saturday was carnival day in Felixstowe. We popped in to town for a spot of shopping first thing then walked up again in the afternoon to see the parade. Joan's first as she's always been working in previous years. Once again there were some pretty good floats mixed in with the regular "good effort" ones and the obligatory majorettes. A phenomenon I still can't get to grips with. I can't recall any of the girls I went to school with having been involved with them (unless they managed to keep it very quiet). I still find them slightly sinister though. And it was exceedingly hot where we were stood - but then it was hot everywhere.

In the evening Helen, Bhupen and Alexander came along for a farewell and happy holidays tea. All good fun had by all, and Joan once more proved herself a whizz at rustling things up out of nothing.

Yesterday was hotter still. After a lazy start we went down to the sea front for some chips for lunch. Timed nicely to co-incide with a demonstration by the air-sea rescue team (what a big chopper!) and then a display by a Jaguar Fighter from RAF Coltishall up the road in Norfolk. Very good, and I do like my noisy jet fighters I have to confess. There was also some mild disturbance behind us at one point - it seems that there were a couple of men enjoying each other's company a bit too much in the bushes in the gardens and some daytrippers stumbled in to them. Glad it wasn't us. After an hour or so we had to head home due to being just too hot - there was a major haze on but the sun was still baking.

After cooling off we spent the evening watching Three Kings which was a good film. I won't say I enjoyed it, as the subject matter was a bit close to the knuckle - especially now George Junior has repeated his Daddy's work in Iraq. But it was enjoyable, if you catch the difference. Very well made and yet another film I look forward to the commentary on.

Now finished the Julian May expedition with the last page of Magnificat again this morning. Very enjoyable all over even if the end did seem a little rushed - OK so the gist of it is told as history in the Exile books, but it would have been nice to have a little more detail in the "contemporary" tale. There is also the 6 million year gap between the two series that I'd love to see filled in at some point. I now really must get her Rampart World's series under my belt. I have now finally gone back to non-fiction with Nancy Blackett - Under Sail with Arthur Ransome by Roger Wardale which, as the title suggests, is all about Ransome's real life boats. Again, I have read it before but after the last Ransome book felt the urge to re-read this one before anything new went under the eyes.

Woken up by a cracking thunder storm today which was nice - at least it made the drive in to work coole (and the rain and thunder started again just as I got there which made the walk up from the car park interesting). Of course the heat was back by lunchtime and the car was stifling on the way home again. Plus Gary & Charles back from Switzerland today full of life so I am looking forward to our trip there even more.

Hey ho, another long gap between entries. Looks like this will be the way of things for the time being. If nothing else, I am finally able to say I am busy enough at work to not have the time there to meander on anyway. Almost too busy in fact - to the point that when I got another two reports dumped on me to write on Tuesday I was in a fine state come the evening and ready to tell Sonic where to stick it. Of course yesterday morning we arrived in the car park at the same time and I had to walk in with him - and was only able to ascribe my being unhappy to pre-dental nerves. Because today has seen treatment the third to the lower right, which is throbbing gently as I sit and type this. I could really feel him digging around today and am not sure how he can see what he is doing, what with nurse Zoe waving two suction tubes in and around the area plus retractors holding the lips out of the way. Oh well, ¾ of the way done now although part 4 not now happening until the end of September (which does at least mean not having stitches out a couple of days before we go away).

So, what have I been up to then?

Basically, work and more work. Lots of thinking on targets with a few speculative letters sent and so forth plus designing stuff for Park & Ride and the usual dishing out of books. Last Thursday I did a run up to Lowestoft and then attempted to find new outlets on the way back south to Ipswich again. After getting stuck in traffic for the Lowestoft Air Show (how did I manage to end up there on that day?) and ending up at the wrong Post Office once (Oulton Broad rather than Oulton Village) I was a bit frazzled and frustrated by lunch time. Which only got worse as I drove back south through parish after parish with no suitable outlet to be found - by about 3.30 I was ready to call it a day and give up on any hope of meeting the target on outlets. But then things picked up, I had some good finds and all was well again. Fickle brain of mine going from lows to highs so quickly. I'm not sure how much more of the day out delivering I can sustain though - it is a majorly slow process even if it does seem to work. The being out of the office and feeling free to explore is wonderful, but it leaves me feeling I am doing too much on one target and not enough on the others. We shall just have to see how things develop.

Joan is doing much better now and will probably go back to work when this current certificate runs out. Although I hope she will hang on to the Monday rather than going on the Friday when she will be free to, as these mouth stitches are due to come out on the intervening Saturday and I would like to take her for a nice lunch on the way back from Colchester. Being able to relax in the sun has been a real blessing for her, and I have not felt as bad about having to leave her alone every day as I would if she was stuck in the house.

We have also watched a few more films that all turned out to be better than I was anticipating. Namely 102 Dalmations, America's Sweethearts and Muriel's Wedding. I think I must have go the last one there confused with something else as it wasn't at all what I was expecting, but it turned out fine!

Am still reading my way through Julian May having progressed from the Pliocene Companion through middle-ground Intervention and on the the Galactic Mileu books Jack The Bodiless and now am in to Diamond Mask. Everything up to an including Intervention I had read several times before, but for the Mileu trilogy I have not been back to them since I first got them. Which is serving to make them all the more enjoyable.

They are also books I can remember peripheral things about in the main. Like the Companion I recall buying in Oxford when staying with my old friend Stephen back in the mid-80s and intending to take it on holiday with us the week after I went home from there, but finishing it before we went away. Intervention reminds me very sharply of the wedding of my A-Level geography teacher Bob Barker, which means I must have first read it in November 1988. With Jack I have a very clear image of the book falling out of my backpack in the car park at Argos here in Felixstowe and being rescued by a delivery driver, and while Diamond Mask hasn't brought anything back like that I do remember buying the final book in the series (Magnificat) in Hardback in Ipswich with Joan for less than the price of the paper bound version. Strange thing memory like that.

So of course while I was lying there with what felt like a small military operation going on in my mouth this morning I was thinking about other books and what I associate them with - so here are some examples. I read Sun Tzu's The Art Of War on the train to an interview with Argos in Market Harborough and then on to College friends Carolyn & Keith's wedding in Stafford back in 1994 after reading about it in David Wingrove's Chung Kuo series. The Pern series from Anne MacCaffrey came in to my life from a secondary school suggested reading list which recommended book 3 in the series and thus lead me to track down books 1 and 2 first. Discworld book Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett was one I read on our honeymoon. I am sure there are others which will pop back in to my head when I next read them - so I will endeavour to remember to mention them.

And finally for today can anyone explain this dream? Having to choose between other college friends Cara and Deborah on the basis of how they would go about clearing up a pile of spilt chips in McDonalds. And no, I can't recall what I would have been choosing between them for. Bizarre!

Payday for Joan today, hooray. I'm sure life is supposed to get easier as you get older, but we still seem to be lurching from one payday to the next rather than being on a sound footing which does rather get me down some days. We shall survive as always, but it is getting a bit tedious always having money on the mind. Still, perhaps I will get lucky with a form one of these days.

Ended up blitzing the spare bedroom and study yesterday with much moving of furniture, disposal of rubbish (including one of the old wardrobes) and so forth. So pretty exhausted by the end of the day. But still managed a mundane existence dream - this time I was putting up shelves in Ma & Pa's garage to house an unexpected windfall of CDs. Very odd, and once again surely a sign that I need to get a more exciting life.

Had a meeting at the Station in advance of them closing the tunnel NEXT summer this morning to start the process of sorting where all the coaches and buses will go for the duration and up to Marltesham Park & Ride this afternoon. Hey ho.

Well, I'd like to have loads of stuff to waffle on about here but truth be told there hasn't been all that much going on worthy of mention. Joan is doing a lot better, but not yet feeling up to going back to work on Friday when her sick note runs out. I've just generally been getting on with stuff at my desk most days, attempting to get some sort of order for approaching my targets together. I think I am nearly there, but need Sonic to actually approve some items rather than just letting them build up in the big heap of crap dominating his in-tray. Gary has decided not to go and work for Chambers and now he and Charles have gone off to Switzerland for a couple of weeks. Very cosy I'm sure.

I did spend most of Thursday out and about in the south of the county trying to find new book outlets. Quite successful and lots of pretty scenery that I must take Joan around some day.

Still not received the council job application forms we requested over a week ago, and not been able to make a start on the other one yet. Maybe this afternoon. Also not been online at all so no idea what is going on in Llamaland, but am about to rectify that.

Book-wise I went straight from The Non-Born King to The Adversary and finished that off yesterday. Totally enjoyed the whole saga once again an now determined not to leave it quite so many years before I next peruse the pages. Been catching up on this month's magazines since then before deciding what to go for next. I reckon it will be the companion to the above then into the Mileu strand of the tale as I'm sure that will only take a couple more weeks. I don't want to be on the last book when it comes to our holiday as that's a hardback but there is just over a month still before we depart.

Big Brother has finally come to an end (well done to winner Cameron) and now we have to wean ourselves back on to other things I guess. Although there is the American version now available for watching...

Filmwise we've not seen many because of BB but did laugh a bit at Evolution and go through the usual rollercoaster of emotions with Apollo 13 last night despite having seen it several times before (and indeed knowing how it would end in the first place). I've also watched some of the extras on Tron which were pretty interesting.

Well, it went pretty much OK in the end yesterday. Sonic annoyed with himself and slightly shocked at my reaction and then pleased with some work I had done so I guess we are back on an even keel again. I drove in today at any rate.

Still don't know how the heck I'm going to get everything done but once again assured that proof of trial followed by failure will count...

Joan a bit better herself again today - I think just being able to relax is helping her immensely. Just wish I could do a bit more to make that a more permanent option. But as we didn't win the lottery again I'll just have to keep scouring the job ads and filling in the forms.

Off to London Road P&R in a bit for secured car park status renewal visit. Can't see any problems as we are still crime free and running a tight ship as far as I can tell.

Oh bloody hell. Idiocy strikes back and I end up suffering again for a stupid, stupid mistake. Or in other words, on Wednesday afternoon I declined going up to Martlesham P&R for a photo shoot as Joan's meeting in Ipswich was due to finish before the shoot did. Turned out it didn't and those who went were back in the office before I left. Plus to make matters worse stupid Simon did a bit of web surfage that was spotted by Mitchell. He said nothing to me about it but did tell Sonic.

And of course on Thursday morning when I couldn't stay asleep any longer because of the heat and ended up at work early what was I doing again when Sonic arrived. Yup, browsing the Llamasoft forums. So of course he had a word. Nothing too drastic (hell, he even said I could keep browsing at lunchtimes and all that like before just not to get too carried away again) but I ended up feeling like shit. All day.

It didn't help that he wanted a meeting which didn't happen until nearly lunch time and I had planned to be out of the office all day delivering books. I spent most of the morning shaking with self-recrimination and feeling as sick as a dog before having the meeting (lots of which went over my head) not eating much of my lunch and heading out to try and catch up on the deliveries. I did manage to get some done in the afternoon but not as many as I'd hoped for, no new locations found to help with my targets and stuff like that. So when I got home I was not in much of a good and happy state. And of course neither was Joan after she'd had another counselling session which confirmed she needs to take more time for herself and didn't really need me phoning her in a panic of "what the fuck have I done this time" proportions. So we spent a good chunk of the evening looking for jobs on the internet and hopefully there will be some application forms with me soon (in fact one is here already but looks a right evil sod, with some of the old "how would you cope with X", "tell us how you have prioritised Y" and "give an example of dealing with Z" type of questions which are going to require a lot of thought.

Friday I was planning to go to work in the morning before heading off to Colchester for stitches out in the afternon (with deliveries on the way). Instead I woke up in a totally depressed state, tears and all and ended up taking Joan for her doctor's appointment (pre-booked but handily times as she ended up being signed off for two weeks so hopefully she can start sorting through the counselling stuff and get back to an even-keel without all the crap from work she is having to cope with) and then having one myself.

Not exactly back on the anti-depressants yet, but have got some nice other pills to calm me down (which are kind of working as I seem to have spent most of the time since then asleep!). I stil feel shaky as hell and nauseous when I think about what I'm going to have to face tomorrow but hopefully I will get through. I think it will be better after this week's one-to one as I have got the first draft of an action plan to meet my targets sorted out and we can use that to hopefully determine if they are realistic or not. I think Sonic will be understanding of the situation (he certainly was with the teeth issue) and I'm sure he doesn't want us all to fail as that would then look bad on him but if the worst comes I will just go straight to personnel for further guidance and help. Hell, I'll even go back for more counselling myself if that's what it takes - it helped before and I have no qualms in asking for more help again. And if I can get through this week there are then two weeks where Gary and Charles will be away and not spreading their own negativity which I really don't find helpful either. One way or another I plan to be either back on track with the current job or at the very least planning for an interview for something else by the time they get back to work.

After a lie in, shopping trip to town and sleeping most of the afternoon yesterday we had H, B & A along for a nice Chinese meal. Sat in the garden all evening and it went well - I even managed to stay calm for most of it, just needing a quick break to sort my racing heart out again at one point. Today has been more relaxing (I slept most of the morning after getting up for breakfast then going back to bed with another outpouring of tears for no valid reason) with a fair deal of sitting in the garden reading. Finished ...Nutmeg on Friday after the stitches did come out (no fuss there at all, again a quick in and out which cured a bit of the worry but glad Ma was free to drive me as I'm not sure if I'd have been up for that - even managed to stay awake on the A12 this time (Although I had just had 1½ hours before lunch of snoozing)). Overall a very interesting read, and almost impossible to imagine the hardships and deprevations the people suffered trying to import spices. Went on to Exile 2 - The Golden Torc which I finished this morning and indeed am now straight in to number 3 The Non-Born King. Both as good as I remembered them and indeed so gripped by getting re-acquainted with the story that I couldn't make myself take a non-fiction pause. So the next one of those will be after the Exile section of the whole saga I reckon.

So, I shall see how it goes tomorrow. One thing is for certain, I'm going to cut back on work webbing totally (other than for actual work stuff!) so entries here will be more sporadic, but probably longer when they do come along. Fingers crossed for a good outcome.

Hot as an oven again today. We both really struggled to sleep last night - I think I must have woken up on the hour and half from 2 onwards, so a bit dozy now!

Had a stinkingly hot wander around town for two hours this morning checking car park prices so we can decide what to charge for Park & Ride in the future. It needed to be done and it was good to be out of the office, but I could have used a bit of shade at times. Now all I have to do is turn a list of figures into some sort of sensible recommendation.

Afternoon has fairly flown so now it is time I was heading off to pick Joan up.

Remembered a dream I had while dozing on the sofa on Sunday - that Joan came in to ask me what had happened in big brother after I had been watching it without her (they had been getting naked and frisky in the pool in the dream). I dunno, dreaming about watching TV. Time I got a more interesting life I think.

All the minty gunge (I'm sure it has some proper name like dental surgical putty or something, but I'll stick with gunge) had come loose from the mouth by Friday lunch time and now I am left with the loose ends of the stitches flapping in the breeze (so to speak). I'll never take my tongue for granted again after this business is all over. I can see the threads in the mirror (a nice bright shade of blue) and they are no larger than you would imagine really, just about the same as normal floss, but to the tongue they feel like ropes. Very distracting/annoying but at least I haven't managed to pull any of them loose. Also don't appear to have experienced the same level of discomfort as before which is either good or means something isn't healing properly - but as no blood etc is hanging around in the mouth I guess the former.

Anyhow, had a very cliched, suburban weekend all told. Saturday after a late start we wandered in to town with the express aim of getting me some new shoes for the holiday. Much to my amazement we managed it, normally buying shoes is a real struggle for me as I have small feet and the shops just don't keep my size in stock. However, in place of my usual getting grumpy and flouncing off we ended up spending money for a change. Also bumped in to Mitchell and his wife (also buying shoes), got some shorts and had a nice lunch at Puccino's. After that Joan went to visit Lesley, now home from hospital with new hip while I tootled about the house doing ironing, computing and stuff. Then an evening meal at Ma & Pa's which was very nice.

Yesterday Joan did loads more housework while I cut the grass, washed the car, topped the oil and water up and stuff like that. We also cut some designer shapes in the lawn around some of the shrubs planted there and infilled with decorative stones. I think they look pretty good (and indeed cut down the mowing slightly in the future). Then after lunch fatigue hit and after sleeping for an hour or so outside I moved inside for another 2! I didn't think I had worked that hard, but it just goes to show something or other.

About of a third of the way in to Nathaniel's Nutmeg now and enjoying the tales of adventure, piracy and general high jinks on the high seas. Although slightly concerned that the man himself has not made much of an appearance as yet. This time Milton is just relaying a straight forward narrative of the events rather than trying to re-trace the journey's involved so it is a different type of book in many regards. Just as fascinating though.

Um, well, apologies for leaving a gap in days of entry... To recap:

Tuesday - Joan at add-on sales review meeting in Bury St Edmunds store so we got a bit of extra sleep before we had to head out there. It was a warm but dull day, drive up and parking went fine and we arrived with a good half hour to kill before her 12 noon session with the Area Manager and people from head office. Had a bit of a wander then dropped her off at the shop.

I then went for further wandering in search of distractions (found plenty, mainly in Ottakers book shop where I had to seriously restrain my urges to spend lots and lots and lots of money on multi-paged delights) and new shoes (didn't find any due to me having annoyingly small feet). Then at about 1230 when Joan should have been halfway through I found she'd sent me a message to say they were running 40 mins or so late, so she hadn't even gone in yet. Great news that was. In the end I found a semi-comfy bench fairly near the shop and settled in to wait with my book (glad I decided to take that).

They caught up a bit and she finally emerged about half past one. It all went very well, as they had done a load of preparatory work and they are actually up or at least on course on a lot of their targets and have had three managers in six months to muddy the waters. All told a good result I think. So we went off to a nice little cafe for lunch (which I managed to eat most of) then headed home. Joan went in to work to talk it over and I went home to do some preparation of my own for my review on Wednesday. The rest of the evening was nice and relaxed with a bit of telly and some mooching about.

Wednesday - in the morning we had a full group meeting. Nobody was 100% sure what we were going to be discussing as we'd been given no agenda. Basically it turned out to be a chance for us to throw in ideas for how we could get more people on the buses. These we then ranked and expanded on the top 15. All quite interesting stuff that hopefully will be used to steer where we go for the next couple of years. Plus I got to be all evangelical about Smartcards, which I am in favour of to replace more traditional bus tickets. And in keeping with tradition of big meetings in the room we were using, lunch failed to arrive. So we all went over to the staff canteen and had a lot of nice hot food rather than the anticipated drab buffet.

The afternoon was my performance review. I think it went OK, but I still have some targets I'm not too sure of. Still, they all have interim review dates so presumably we can tinker with them if it seems they will be totally unlikely.

Thursday - was of course the first anniversary of Ernie's death. Joan off but I had to come to work for the morning. Had the afternoon at home, however, to write up the review stuff so was able to give her a bit of support. We called in at the cemetary later on and had a moment or two of contemplation there. Then Joan had her back cracked back in while I did a spot of shopping and we called in to see Helen etc on the way home before getting scalped. A mellow day in all.

I can't quite believe that the year has passed already. Obviously things like Father's Day and his birthday were big reminders that yesterday was approaching, but it still doesn't seem like it was twelve whole months. As far as I could tell Joan coped OK with it all and is seeing her counselly woman again today. Hopefully things can only get better from now on.

Not much to report on today so far - have given Sonic my write up to see if there is anything else we need to add, and also my first draft of a letter to try and get books in to pubs. This afternon we have a New Routes meeting to try and take that onwards again as it seems to have stalled somewhere.

Finished The Many-Coloured Land last night and enjoyed it just as much as previously. But am indeed going with the intervening non-fiction routine so am now reading the second book by Giles Milton - Nathaniel's Nutmeg which is the one that brought him properly in to the public eye. It relates the history of the spice trade and obviously the one chap Nathaniel Courthope and is proving interesting thus far. More news when I'm a bit further in.

No beating about the bush here - by 2 o'clock yesterday I was feeling like death again so ended up sleeping for an hour and a half before (luckily) Joan phoned and woke me up. I think it did the job as I then lasted until bed time. I don't remember the first lot being this draining - I am still feeling a bit groggy today but I think curling up under the desk for 40 winks would be frowned upon. The main jaw throb has subsided now and all I can feel is a general stinging pain from the area of the cuts/stitches instead. Plus almost able to touch my cheek without wincing (which made shaving possible again).

Still, am off work again tomorrow for a flexi-day. Joan has a meeting in Bury so I have volunteered to take her. Very good of me I think. So we can have a bit of a lay in and I can relax when we get back (she has to go in to work). Of ocurse while relaxing I have to prepare some stuff for the appraisal that I didn't manage to do over the weekend through being asleep.

And another year has passed without Wimbledon-watching. The most I managed was 10 minutes on Friday while I was waiting for my jaw to go numb (these posh private dentists with tvs in their rooms). Can't say I'm surprised to see Henman not win again though. I wonder if we will ever have champions at half the sports we invented in this country again. And from the race reports it is just possible that Formula 1 is beginning to get interesting again so I might give a stab at watching the next race. Which I think will be the British GP so worth a look in any event.

In lucid moments I managed to finish the engineering history book yesterday. Not really what I was expecting but interesting anyway, if a bit technical. I shall have to look elsewhere though for a more in-depth study of how they built some of the grand structures of antiquity. Have now embarked on a mammoth re-read in the fiction department - Julian May's Exile/Galactic Milieu saga (9 books in all if you count the companion to the first four, 10 if you are reading the US versions) with book one: The Many-Coloured Land. I originally came across these in the mid-eighties and re-read the first 6 several times while waiting for the last three to turn up, but not read those since they did finally appear in the early '90s so it will be a mix of the very and slightly familiar. Definitely enjoying getting re-acquainted with the concepts and characters after at least 8 years absence. I think I will still slip in the non-fiction titles between each book though. Got to keep the brain ticking over.