Customer Service My A**e!

Nipped into Sainsers on the way to work and bought a few Christmas gifts in there 3 for 2 offer and a 60th Birthday card for friend who I will be seeing next week. Also took a book in for a re-fund which the customer service guy (when located) said they couldn't process until 9.00am - eh? so why do they open the shop at 7.00am then? - letter of complaint on it's way!

Found myself on my own at work again today - the two bosses were away at a
conference and my colleague had volunteered to go and take notes. So me holding the fort once again but hey I should be used to it by now and at least I got lots done in the peace and quiet.

Went back to Sainsbury's on the way home and yes got a refund despite the woman customer service rep being sarcastic and speaking to me like I was about 12.

I heard an interesting article on Radio 4 at the weekend about a woman who dared to say that she loved winter - hoorah, there is someone else in the world besides me who likes it! After the article finished apparently the emails flooded in from other listeners who said they felt the same. The lady who was in the article said that admitting that you like winter is very unfashionable and she's right.....

p.s I certainly don't hate the other seasons, I just think winter is under valued.

This evening the telly landscape is barren so I'm going to try and finish Bird Song so I can return it to my friend next week. In fact I'll be returning a replacement new copy as I have managed to stain this version with coffee and it is generally looking battered by being taken on holiday and being read in the car etc. Oh well, at least that means I get to own it myself.

Frustration and Hibernation

First day at work after our week's break - very very hard to get up this morning. Although, due to the clocks going back at least we both left in semi light, although Peter returned in darkness.

Work was surprisingly ok, I had 113 emails to come back to but a lot of them were spam so managed to work my way through them pretty quickly and the rest of my corner of the office were over at a meeting in Andover this morning so I had peace and quiet to adjust the working week again.

The roof saga continues - the good news is that the Building Inspector has approved the drawings that the surveyor has drawn up. However, the bad news is that our roofer has now seen the drawings but doesn't understand them - arhhh! It's amazing how quickly my post holiday calmness has evaporated - how much longer is this going to go on for I wonder - if I had the skills I'd get up in the roof and put the new supports in myself. So now I've asked our roofer to ring our surveyor to discuss and meet at our house if necessary to actually see what is needed - so the ball is in someone elses court again and our roofer can't start for another 2 weeks anyway as he's 'on another job' so no chance of getting our surplus stuff in the roof for a while yet.

This evening I've just been watching 'Half Broken Things' with Penelope Wilton in it which is proving to be excellent. Just nipped into the garden to feed our hedgehogs (if they haven't hibernated) and it is freezing out there so who knows, tonight might be the night they go to sleep for the winter!

Fun Quiz

Here's a fun quiz I got from another blogger:

Four jobs I’ve done
Check Out Operator in Tesco's
Chamber Maid
Chef working in Switzerland
Personal Assistant

Four films I’ve watched more than once
Gone with the Wind
The Shawshank Redemption
Truly Madly Deeply
It's a Wonderful Life

Four places I’ve lived
Andover
Winchester
Zurich Switzerland
Eastleigh

Four programmes I watch
Have I got News for You
Coronation Street
Who do you think you are?
The Sopranos

Four places I’ve travelled to
Tunisia
Switzerland
France
Holland

Four people who e-mail me regularly
Peter
Wendy
Carol
Amazon.co.uk !

Four of my favourite foods
Cheese - Especially ripe brie and stilton
Homous
Galaxy Chocolate
Carrot Cake

Four places I’d rather be right now
Norfolk - I'm missing it already after our holiday
America - travelling Route 66
Scotland - in any remote area
Any rented National Trust Cottage, sitting in front of a roaring fire with Peter

Four things I’m looking forward to
Going to the Bridgwater Carnival - it's supposed to be spectacular
Christmas - two weeks off work - bliss!
Next trip to Norfolk in the summer
Going to see the War of the Worlds in November

Wonderful Norfolk

Well, we are back from our all too short jaunt to Norfolk and boy did I enjoy it - didn't think about work once! A sign of a truly good break. This is what we got up to.

Monday
Waited for the bin men to arrive at home so that we wouldn't have to leave it out and set off. Had a good drive up to Baldock, our stopping off point, and had lunch in a cafe (sadly under new ownership and not the same) and then wandered around the charity shops in the town and then into the mega Tesco's to stock up on food to smuggle into the Travelodge. Then set off for the second part of our journey and arrived at our Travelodge in good time. The receptionist was great and gave us loads of discount vouchers for Little Chef (which we've saved for another trip), told us about a good local pub and saw we had loads of heavy bags and kindly put us in a downstairs room.

Tuesday
Today we went to Oxburgh Hall http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-oxburghhall/w-oxburghhall-gettingthere.htm and a great day. The weather was sunny and dry and we had lunch in what must have been the old scullery and then queued up to get into the house. It was a mistake to go into the house just as it had opened at 1 O'clock as this made the rooms congested and rather than having time to stop and stare the crowd sort of moved you along. At the bottom of the staircase to the next floor there was a very interesting video being shown which we, and others, gathered to watch but then a very officious NT employee said "this video is for disabled visitors only - you are the lucky ones who can walk to the next floor" we all felt like naughty children as we slunk up the stairs. How stupid though, the video was genuinely of interest to all and it was not clear at all that we shouldn't have watched it! Anyway, we went round the rest of the house - Peter went up to the top turrets but I chickened out when I saw the scary spiral staircase. The tour of the house was just right in length to keep it interesting. Afterwards we went on a surprisingly long nature walk next to the grounds. Then it was a dash back to the house to catch the second hand bookshop before it shut, to wander around the gift shop (why are they always so small I wonder - never any room to move) and then to grab a second cup of tea. Afterwards we visited the church next door and saw an interesting grave with fresh flowers and wreaths on it - including a very elaborate wreath of a chicken - we came up with various reasons; the person had been a farmer, he had worked for Kelloggs or KFC (sorry for our black humour!)

Wednesday
Today we went Birdwatching - the first reserve we went to wasn't as expected at all -just a patch of land shared with Anglers really and we had been expecting the full RSPB deal of Visitors Centre, Loos, Gift Shop, Tea Shop and Hides. We soon departed that one and after some searching found another one along the Coast which was split into two partly owned by the NOA and the NWT. We feel they must have fallen out at some point as their separate car parks were full of severe warning signs not to park in there if you belonged to the 'other' organisation and you certainly couldn't go into each others hides - on dear no! Anyway, we opted for the NWT and after an amazingly long drive down an unmade up road we parked and bought a day ticket. We headed for the hides and saw Heron, Swans, Teal, Canada Geese, Shoveller etc. We only met one person in the hides so luxuriated in having them to ourselves. Headed off at about 3.30pm and saw a Weasel on the track on our way out (wonderful) and then headed over to Peter's sisters and we went out for a very nice meal at 'The Cock' up the road (no jokes please!) and then back to Denise's afterwards. Everyone is well apart from the usual colds (we have never visited without a least one family member having a cold). We had a good old natter and re-watched Kevin on 'Dirty Rotten Cheater' which Denise had missed the end of originally. We left at a reasonable time as Denise has to get up at 4.00am to go to work at Asda (yikes, I thought we got up early!)

Thursday
Today was Beer Festival Day. We made it into Norwich in good time and parked at the park and ride and caught the bus into town. We sat upstairs, right at the front, to get the best views and marvelled at the beautiful large houses on the avenue on the way into the City. Arrived outside St Andrews Hall at 11 O'clock and were virtually the first ones there. I grabbed a take out coffee from a shop next to the Hall and sat on a bench next to the Hall whilst Peter joined the queue. Denise, Brian and Hannah arrived at 11.30am and Peter and Brian dived into the Festival and myself Denise and Hannah went to Yates for a very long lunch. The place is huge but never busy and we managed to have a meal and to make it last for 2.5 hours. We added a half hour when I got a text from Peter saying the Beer Festival went on for longer than they thought! We walked over to the Hall and sat outside waiting for 'our men' and out they came just after 2.30pm looking decidedly happy - see pic above. We decided it would be a good plan to get some soak up beer food for the chaps and headed to the market for bacon rolls and hot dogs. Then we went into a lovely department Store, Jarrods, to mooch around their book department. I thought I'd lost Peter at one point when he disappeared but he'd gone on a loo hunt - I was worried for a bit as he wasn't entirely with it! Peter dropped some 'I'd like this for Christmas/Birthday' hints in the book shop so I made a mental note there. Then Peter and I went for a Starbucks and Denise and Co went clothes shopping for Denise's birthday. Had another trip back on the top deck of the bus and checked in to our second Travelodge of the trip which is right next door to the park and ride and yes I still insisted on driving the car from one car park to the next - you never know! Tea was a Burger King smuggled into the room ............

Friday
Going home day - boo! Set off around 9.30am and travelled back to Baldock for another stop over at Tesco to buy some food for the weekend. Then it was off to Luton Airport so Peter could do a spot of plane watching whilst I read in the car. The rest of the journey was not good as the M25 was, as they say, a car park! We'd travel about a quarter of a mile at 20mph and then everything would come to a stop for several minutes, this was repeated time and time again - no accident just sheer volumes of traffic - how to people commute every day? It's sole destroying. Made it home around 8.30pm and flaked out.

Films and Drama Queens

Got up early and set off to Tesco's to fill the car up for tomorrow. Whilst I was there I put it through the car wash and checked the car tyre pressure - good job I did, one of them was well under pressure.

Peter's cold has really come out in force today so he's been alternating between the sofa and the bed and looking really rough - hopefully today's rest will do him good and he'll be a bit better tomorrow.

Anyway, it's given me plenty of time to clean the house and in between we've so far watched two films 'Mr and Mrs Smith' with Brad and Angelina - very far fetched but quite fun - like the film 'War of the Rose's' brought up to date really. The second film was a much more somber affair called 'United 93' about the plane that didn't make it's target during the 911 attacks - very well made film, made with pretty much unknown actors and not over dramatised or 'Hollywooded'.

Didn't catch the results of the X-Factor last night so watched them today. Sharon Osbourne stormed off the show because the two acts threatened with going this week both happened to be hers. Get over yourself Sharon - it's their futures on the line not yours so stop being so melodramatic and trying to steal the limelight for yourself - you should be supporting your acts rather than acting like a drama queen and deflecting attention from them. That's that off my chest!

Tonight might do a bit of packing but could leave it until tomorrow, we'll see.

Book Bargains & Freebies

Went to Andover area today as we had a free bookcase to pick up from a chap who advertised on Freecycle. Found his house easily and we had the bookcase in our boot within 30 seconds - brill!

Then it was off to a local village to visit the second hand book sale. We ended up with two carrier bags each full. Amongst other things I bought Possession by A S Byatt, The Woods by Harlan Coban as I want to see if I like him and A Widow for One Year by John Irving. Rather annoying I saw a mint condition book 'Relentless' for 70p that I had purchased in Sainsburys only the day before. As I still have the receipt I'm going to take it back and try and get a refund - so bought the 70p version.

Whilst Peter carried on browsing I bought us a cup of tea and a bacon roll and sat outside in the hall garden. Introduced myself to a lady at the next table who my mum knew from her childhood and that was it - Beryll rabbited on to me for about half an hour. Very nice lady though and impressively excentric. She and her son go to the sale every month and buy loads of books to flog on Ebay....... like us they are real bargain hunters and we swapped strories on charity shops we have rumaged through!

After the sale it was over to the charity shop and Enham for a quick browse and then over to mum and dads for lunch. They have leant us their N.T. cards to use whilst we are away as ours have lapsed. We will rejoin when we can honest!

Got back home mid afternoon and made the bed up with fresh bedding and Peter has gone up for a sleep. He has a streaming cold poor thing - not good for our trip up to Norfolk, but hopefully he will feel ok soon.

No Ant and Dec tonight as their series has finished - boo! so will watch the X Factor and then retire with my book whilst Peter tunes into the rugby.

We need to talk about Kevin

Nipped into Sainsers first thing for items of food as we are scrapping the food barrel at the moment. All the lovely Christmassy stuff is in so I had a quick browse at that too.

Work was manic today and, as per usual, just as I thought I had got everything sewn up, my boss started to pile more stuff on. Did a bit of overtime and then told myself that working non stop without a break from 7.30am to 5 O'clock was enough for anyone.....

When Peter got home we settled down with spicy chicken and rice and switched on 'Dirty Rotten Cheater' starring Kevin Olding. I won't spoil the ending for those relies who may not have watched it yet but he was VERY entertaining, quite a comedian in fact, and he gave Brian Connolly a run for his money on the wise crack front. Brainy too as the Olding clan tend to be ..........

We have a busy day tomorrow so going to chill out with some comedy shows tonight on the box.

Brand New Toy

My new digital camera arrived - it's blue, light, tiny and shiny and I love it - managed to get almost 50% off so it only cost just over £100 so it was a bargain and the pictures are amazing. Luckily my old battered camera used the same memory cards so I can just transfer those over - when I put the cards in my new camera up came loads of pictures I'd taken in 2002/2003 - so then I was on a nostalgia trip and treated myself to a slide show on the laptop - it brought back some lovely memories as lots of the pics are of places Peter and I went together when we were first getting to know each other - arhhh.

Watching 'Who Do You Think You Are' tonight which is proving very interesting and features Winchester in part so it's good to see a local area featured.

Jack Frost Cometh

I'm just watching a programme about buttock implants! Can you imagine any woman actually wanting a bigger one! That's Channel 5 for you.

Work was fine today and I'm well on top of things so far this week so hopefully I can have a few days off with a clear conscience.

As our mower is broken I strimmed the front lawn when I got home, there is a huge chunk of it that seems to have been taken over by moss which is choking the grass. Not that I care cos that bit didn't need mowing - hoorah.

It's really cold tonight, Peter left the door open whilst he was loading his drum kit into the car and I froze. The first frost of the autumn is forecast for tonight. Brhhh

Been a few phone calls tonight - first dad who managed to upset me a bit as I feel I have this roof thing under control and in his capacity as an ex builder he keeps giving me advise on how to handle the Roofer, the Structural Engineer and Building Control - so just as I had done what I could today by sending off the drawings to Building Control he rang and started going on about it all again which then made me worried about it all over again. His parting comment that he thought that the beams that we need to have put in wouldn't fit through our loft hatch and tiles might have to come off the roof,and the beam lifted through, was the final straw really and I my mood went from happy when I picked up the phone to annoyed and stressed by the time I hung up the phone.

Second call was from Peter's sister who we are seeing next week, just checking on arrangements. That phone call was fine and we had a laugh (mostly poking fun at Brian who was in the background). Poor Brian......

Channel 5 is now on about contouring pants - time to dig my book out I think......

Roof and Rain

Murky old day today - drove to work in the dark for the first time this autumn.

Work was busy but managed to get most of what I wanted to get through done and only left a few minutes late. When I got home we had one item of post on the mat which is ridiculous as we had none on Saturday and none on Monday and we are expecting loads of things - I suppose one day this week we will get a deluge.......

Phoned our structural engineer to chase up his drawing and he said he would come round tonight with it, which he duly did, at 6pm so we had to delay tea a bit. Now the drawing has to go off to the Council's Building Inspector for approval and then we can get our roofer to come and do the work required and THEN we call the Building Inspector back to approve the work by which time we should get our certificate - what a palaver!

Watched an hilarious (unintentional) episode of Emmerdale tonight - even Peter watched it with me and laughed his socks off at the bad acting and farcical house fire and explosion scenes.

Pouring down at the moment - must go and feed our little hedgehogs who are out there in the cold and rain - bless them........

Headaches and Being Looked After

Rubbish day at work today, I was on my own for the morning so it dragged and in the afternoon I had a blinding headache - the sort that gives me nausea as well as a headache. Limped through the day and rushed to my car at 4.00pm only to find that some pillock had parked so close to me that I could hardly get the drivers door open -I just about managed to squeeze in but was cursing the selfish git who parked next to me!

When I got home I cooked tea and waiting for Peter to get home. After tea I crawled into bed and Peter came up and kept me company for a bit which was nice and he offered me drinks during the evening so I felt looked after - arhhhh. I know when I feel like this I just need to keep warm, lie still and let it pass.

Christmas Lights & Book Delights

Got up early today as we were off to Popham Arifield for the last fly-in of the season and hoped to earn some money. It was a gorgeous October day but I did get a bit cold later in the day and had to wrap a rug over my legs and a scarf around my neck as I sat outside watching the stall - I'm sure I looked very old but who cares! Peter took pity and bought me a hot chocolate (it was a bit of self preservation too as I kept grabbing his hands to suck up some of his heat - as he's like a radiator - but he doesn't enjoy my frozen mits).

We had a bit of a slow day and only made £20.00 but we sold some items that we didn't think we'd shift so that was good.

We got home around 5pm and watched, what I considered to be a really crap film, 'Waterboy' with Adam Sandler in it. It was billed as a comedy and I think I cracked a watery smile once. I kept myself amused by delving into my book, Birdsong, which I am now loving - it's getting onto the war section now which is supposed to be harrowing and one of the best descriptions of the World War 1 trenches ever written - can't wait to see if that's true.

Forgot to mention that Eastleigh has had it's Christmas lights up for about a week now - not lit of course - but they've been erected across the high street!


.

Day with Friends & Sad Goings On.......

Wow what a day!

Left the house at about 9.30am, leaving Peter at home for the day, and went over to mum and dads for a coffee. Left them at about 11.00am to go over to friend Wendy's as arranged (we planned to go out to lunch with friend Julie).

First snag was that Wendy was not yet back from town with hubbie so had a chat with daughter number 2, Sophie, and her friend Charlotte who were full of talk about their upcoming trip to France next week and hoping that France win the Rugby so that the final is going on whilst they are there (the traitors!). Wendy got back about twenty minutes later with hubbie in tow and one of her brothers.

Brother has left his wife of 6 weeks because of her drinking and possessiveness - he therefore has no home, no money (as they are deep in dept) and no job. Very very sad but the family has always felt that she wasn't right for him. It remains to be seen if he goes back to her or not.........

Wendy and I did still get to go to lunch and we had lots to talk about as Wendy's husband has just resigned from his job and has no job to go to so she is obviously worried about surviving on just her wages. I do so hope he finds something else quickly as money could become very tight for them.

We had a nice lunch in Wetherspoons (me chicken Caesar salad and a drink of Koppaberg which I adore). We stayed at our table for a couple of hours nursing our drinks which I think pissed off the waiting staff but who cares! After lunch we had a quick mooch around the shops and picked up a few Christmas catalogues from Woolies (yes only 10 weeks folks).

After lunch dropped Julie off as she was going to see her mum and Wendy and I headed over to Wendy's mum's and stayed there for a few hours and were then joined by Wendy's eldest daughter, Laura, who is home from Uni for the weekend and had been working a shift in the Co-Op on the estate. Wendy's mum had had the wife of Wendy's brother hammering on her door at 3.00am in the morning looking for him so she was obviously rather upset about the situation.

Then it was back to Wendy's place for more coffee (I think I've drunk a gallon today!) and a nice long chat with all the family. Laura was on a natural high about her new university career and showed me loads of pictures on her digi camera of friends she has already made there (so nice to see). Also heard about the sad news that a mum who Wendy knows who might be forced to put her youngest daughter into foster care as she has gone totally off the rails and had under age sex, stolen and hit a teacher (what age is she - 12 years old!!!).

Before I knew it, it was just before six and I remembered I'd asked Peter to put some chicken in the oven at 5 O'clock - whoops! Gave him a quick ring to say I'd be back later than I thought and he turned the over down.

Got home and told Peter all about my eventful day and he has had a quiet one by comparison - the only event being the mower blew up! I can't help feeling, after today, that I do indeed lead a very quiet life compared to some folk and I am very glad of it...............

Peter is just starting to watch the Rugby and I'm going to hit the shower and then make up some sandwiches for tomorrow as we're selling stuff at Popham Airfield tomorrow (weather permitting).

Dentists, Family News and Bearing Bad News

Posted our two application forms for a new dentist through the Practice door at quarter to seven this morning - felt creepy walking through their car park with it being pitch dark. Let's hope they get us registered quickly so that Peter can get his toothache sorted.

Work was busy today - a big meeting of top dog bods from Colleges around the area was taking place downstairs in the Committee room. About an hour in, an official from Hampshire County Council came in to my office and asked me to take an urgent note into the meeting which I agreed to do. I always hate doing this as you have to go through the door and walk the whole length of the room watched by about 30 people to get the note to the Chair. My passage was hindered by an arrogant sod sitting on one corner of the table who decided to be a git and not move his chair in so I had to squeeze past on my way in and on my way out - I bumped him on my way back but didn't apologise - serve him right! Anyway, Sue who was minuting, told me later that the message had contained very bad news that someone had died who worked with a lot of the people around the table - she said quite a few of the women burst into tears -very sad.

The rest of the day was busy and the boss was getting on my nerves by doing his trick of giving me work and then interrupting me by asking if I'd done it yet - grhhhh he should know by now that if I'm given a deadline I WILL meet it and he has no need to chase me up and slow me down by doing so - it drives me mad! He even rang me from our other college to interupt me - I guess it was because email was down that end and he wanted something to fill his time - double grhhhhh

This evening watched a bit of telly and then went upstairs to watch Enders as Peter wanted to watch some gardening shows. I lapsed into a coma at around 9 O'clock and only slightly came around when Peter came to bed - I wasn't coherent at all.

Looking foward to tomorrow as I'm going to Andover to meet my girlfriends for lunch in Witherspoons (whoo hoo I know how to live!). Seriously though, just before our holiday I try not to spend much so it's cheapness all the way at the moment.

Oh, almost forgot, I rang Peter's sister Denise on Thursday as we will call in on them when we go to Norfolk. The news is (this bit is particularly for Keith and Anne) as follows:-

Brian's dads house has been sold in Southampton but they are waiting for probate to be able to receive the money.

Once they've gone through probate they will look for a new house in the Spring,in the same area.

Denise has given up her paper round and working at the School but is still doing her Asda job.

Hannah's 9th birthday is on 16 October and she wants 'money' or DVD's for her computer.

When we go up shortly, Peter and Brian are going to go to the Beer Festival as usual and I'm going to meet Denise and Hannah and wander around Norwich and have lunch whilst they are in there. I do miss going to the festival but since my 'funny turn' in the hall a few years back I'm too nervous about going in there again - I think it was a combination of heat, crowds and having to stand for so long that made me feel so faint and I don't want to repeat that really ......

Bills

As I'm writing this two days after Thursday happened I can't really remember what happened! Other than we had something resembling 'normal' post as home which consisted of 7 bills - nice!

I have lost some of my sympathy for the postman now as I've learnt some of the perks they have been getting away with. Take this scenario - a postman finishes his round at 11.00am but he is actually paid until 1.pm as that is how long the Royal Mail reckons it should take him to get it done. He arrives back at the depot and decides to help with the sorting of mail - however as this is a 'different job' he not only gets paid up to 1.00pm for his round but also 'overtime' (apparently none as 'ghosting') for doing the sorting job. Nice work if you can get it isn't it? No wonder Royal Mail are in trouble. I do however sympathise on the pensions issue as I believe if they joined a 'final salary' scheme that is the deal and they should remain in it - by all means new employees can be sold a different package but it's very unfair for those in the current scheme to suddenly have the goal posts moved.

Mooching

Got up early today so that I could nip into Sainsburys on my way to work. Was pretty much on my own at work this morning so nice and peaceful and plenty of thinking time.

This afternoon was more hectic and it was a job to get away on time. I made a mad dash back to Eastliegh as Peter wanted a registration form picked up from a dental practice near to us. Unfortunately the directions I had were incorrect so I ended up in the wrong part of town so didn't make it. Still, I know where they are now so I will try again tomorrow (they shut at 4.30pm which is exactly the time I usually get home so it's going to be tight making it there).

My best friends husband phoned me this evening to ask me to type a letter for him to resign from his job. I have known that he has hated it for ages but I didn't expect him to resign without anything to go to - things must have got really bad. I shall hear all about it on Saturday when I go and see them on Saturday I'd expect.

Currently watching a programme about bin collections (always a good one to get my blood boiling!)

Have just had an email that a book I'm after 'One good turn' by Kate Atkinson is available on www.bookmooch.com. I hope I am successful in getting it! I replied pretty quickly so I hope I beat the other moochers.

Nice Plans

A thoroughly rainy day today which I don't actually mind at all on a work day.

I have been finding some nature reserves to visit whilst we are in Norfolk and I also arranged to meet my ex. work colleague, Carol, in early November. I have booked the day off work and the plan is that we are going to meet at a local posh garden centre, have lunch, and have a mooch about the lovely shop that is attached to it - I'm really looking forward to it.

This evening we watched Michael Palin, as recorded from the weekend, and I almost finished the very long scarf I have been making. Peter is suffering from toothache, poor thing, and he urgently needs to see a dentist as with all things tooth related, they may subside for a bit, but then flare up again at the most inconvenient times as I know to my cost when I had wisdom tooth problems.

Read a bit more of Birdsong this evening which I'm really enjoying.

The Buddha of Suburbia

A nice day today really, a steady pace at work which was good.

Called into Matalan on my way home and picked up two very large boucle type cushions, n blue, for my friend’s daughter Laura as a sort of ‘Happy moving in to student accommodation present’ (I don’t think they do cards for that – yet!!). I also bought two beige ones for home (well they were on buy one get one free!). Plus I purchased a Buddha. It took Peter a while to notice him sitting quietly on our hearth as he’s soot black and sort of blends in with the fire surround – but I think he’s lovely and I keep rubbing his shiny head for luck (not sure why). Peter pointed out that I’m not a Buddhist but hey if I was religious I think I might go for one of the more calm and spiritual religions! I remember my gran and granddad had a beautiful brass Buddha in their back ‘parlour’ when I was small which I always rather admired so I guess that’s where my like of the image stems from.

Had a rather nice tea of curry and rice and then settled down to watch the box. Nigella was as irritating as ever but I still like watching what she makes as it’s all so yummy.

A day of nothing much happening

Had a disrupted nights sleep as someone was letting off fireworks in the middle of the night - isn't illegal to let them off after 11.00pm?

Despite the noise during the night I woke up early and went to get the papers. I let Peter lay in undisturbed whilst I had some muesli and listened to the radio for a bit. Had to chase off the one of the neighbourhood cats as it was threatening my beloved squirrels.

We had a quiet morning of papers and watching Countryfile and, post lunch, got on with some chores - me in the house and Peter outside reinstalling one of our water butts that had to be removed when we were sorting out our plumbing recently.

Phoned my best pal to arrange to see her and the family next Saturday as it is her and hubbies anniversary next Sunday.

The rest of the day I am planning to chill and get stuck into my latest book Birdsong which I'm enjoying very much so far.

Birding with Mum & Dad

Today mum and dad came over at around 9.00am and we took them to Pulborough Brooks RSPB nature reserve as none of us had ever been before.

It was a perfect autumn day and we forwent our look around the gift shop at the start as they were having a power cut and we couldn't see the goods. Mum ventured into the loos and reported that a torch had thoughtfully been placed in there which was much needed as it was like being in the black hole of Calcutta. We spent about an hour in each hide and had a nice walk round the whole reserve. A highlight for us was seeing lots of deer at very close range - they didn't seem spooked by people at all. By the time we got back to the Visitor Centre the power was back on and dad treated us to a hot chocolate, which we enjoyed outside on benches overlooking a field of cattle with scary looking horns. I enjoyed the place and so did Peter but I think he prefers Titchfield Haven as the hides are closer to the birds (ie right up next to the lakes etc).

We got back home again at about 5.00pm and mum and dad stayed for a cup of tea and a biscuit. I felt a bit guilty about not offering them any tea but we didn't really have four of anything in the freezer us being a 'twosome' household, I hope they didn't go home starving (we had consumed a large picnic during the day so I think not).

This evening we are slobbing out watching telly and eating pizza. A nice lazy end to the day after all that fresh air.

A very very very nice man

Got up at the ungodly hour of 5.30am this morning as I had things to get through before going to work i.e. get petrol ready for the weekend and nip into Sainsburys to get a birthday present for my sister in law. Best laid plans as they say !

As I was ready so early, I offered to give Peter a lift to the station so we were in the car on the drive at about 6.30am ready to role and then it happened. I went to unlock one of our two car locks, the one on the steering wheel, and it wouldn't unlock. We both twisted and turned it but it wasn't budging, 15 minutes later we were still trying and Peter had by then missed his early train. I decided to call the AA whilst Peter continued to fiddle; the idea being that I could always cancel the call if a miracle happened and we got the thing off. The super efficient AA were with us within about 15 minutes of my call and the chap tried to hack saw it off, when this didn't work it was attack it with a screwdriver time and that did the trick. One ruined lock but who cares - at least we could get on our way. Peter had to get a later train to work and I had to go straight to work rather than doing the other things I wanted to.

Work was quite quiet and I broke up the day by having lunch in the canteen with a workmate which was nice. I hardly ever venture in there but it was a education seeing all the brightly coloured students ...........

Nothing much to report for the rest of the day, I watched The Tudors on BBC2 this evening which i'm not sure about - it seems too aimed at the younger audience who the Beeb seem to think want a glammed up Henry V111 and loads of bodice ripping at the expense of historical fact and good acting. However, the jurys still out and I'll probably tune in next week just to solidify my opinion.

Short Catch Up

Whoops! I thought I'd done my blog from yesterday but obviously not.

Good day at work really and nice drive home in the autumn sunshine. As soon as I got home I tackled the mowing and strimming in the garden - took about an hour and I was pooped afterwards, so decided we were having an easy tea of pizza.

Had a nice cosy evening in with Peter watching the box and surfing the net, plus the scarf I'm making is coming along nicely now and is about half done (will be ready just in time for winter I hope). Half way through the evening the power died on the computer and we played 'hunt the lead' for about half an hour which was fun (not!). It is was finally found where I usually put my make up, hair dryer and straighteners - could I really have mistaken a computer power lead for a hairdryer - it's possible I guess!!!

Hibernation

Dropped Peter off at the Station this morning as he has footie tonight. Got into work at around quarter to eight and logged into my shiny new computer which logged on in record time(the old one was so slow you could make yourself a cup of coffee and go to the loo before it woke up for the day). My new colleague, Sue, is making it in early too and is getting in by about 8.15am which is a bit of a change for me - I think she is super keen at the moment which is understandable - learning the ropes is a long learning curve.

This morning we held one of the IT guys hostage for the whole morning until he had fixed all our IT issus (diary sharing, being able to view each others emails etc). That's the problem with a new system you lose or the lovely little short cuts you have created over the years in one fell swoop).

This week the working day is going like a shot and it was 4.00pm before I knew it. Had a very unhealthy tea of left over apple pie when I got home as Peter isn't here and I hate cooking for one.

We believe our hedgehogs may have hibernated already as they haven't touched any peanuts for a few nights now. I'm sure it was later last year though and it's not like we've had any really cold nights yet so we are going to carry on leaving food out until we are sure. I can imagine them pressing their little snouts up to the patio window looking hungry and I couldn't bear that.

I have to develop strategies to keep me awake this evening as I have to get Peter from the station at a very late hour and I'm yawning already and it's not even 7 O'clock yet. I'll probably try and start a new book - the next on my list is Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks which a friend's husband has leant me. Apart from that it's the usual 'light' TV for me.

Shiny New PC

My new colleague, Sue, started today and she seems really nice. I think we should get on well. We worked out today that there are at least 7 Sue or Susans on our floor alone. We joked that it really dates a woman as Susan was the most popular girls name around the early to mid 1960's - cripes!

As part of the transitional budget provided by the LSC (as part of the merger costs) the College is getting all new computers and I got my lovely shiny new black one today, together with flat screen monitor and lovely quiet touch keyboard. My old key board was so dirty and caked in crumbs a small mammal could probably survive for a week in it!

Kept busy all today doing lots of audio typing which my boss had left me - he's away all week on an Inspection at another College. Didn't quite get to the end of the second tape so more tomorrow.

Posted a couple of books off to customers on Book Mooch www.bookmooch.com today and a good luck to my God Daughter Laura for her new life at University.

It has been very dull and rainy all day today - autumn has definitely arrived. I couldn't wait to get home and stick the fire on.

Actually had nice post this evening, two magazines - hoorah - so much nicer than bills.

Going to watch the last episode of Torn this evening which I'm really enjoying.