WebLogs

Is now the 15th of August! And I am neither tallking about the Welsh guy nor my other never better half- the nearest he would come to sainthood would be being canonised and I would light the fuse! Nah he’s not bad but not at all a saint

Anyway I’ll come back to that

I made work Monday (and the skirt fitted ) and was pleasantly surprised to find that apart from a few bits the other secretaries had covered me so I didn’t really have much to do to catch up indeed by the end of the day I was back to staring at the ceiling.

In fact my main work on Monday was related to my new job- they emailed me a copy of my provisional offer letter and I had a couple of questions about my staff transfer form like it looked like I was supposed to give it to where I am now but it had things on it like my leaving date, which none of  us know yet and the first part of the form suggested it had to be filled in when I start the job! Anyway this led to a lively email correspondence with lovely Lisa from Hackney in which I found out that my second reference hadn’t got back to them yet (Bev told me she did hers on Friday) and no-one can find my occupational health form- explained they had to send it back to me but I handed it in last Tuesday

 Anyway they’re dead keen (Read- paying a temp) for me to start ASAP. At the moment if my second reference hasn’t got to them by the end of this week I shall have to produce another one but once that second reference is in and occupational health clear me to start then they are not going to wait for my CRB check to clear- sensible- are they working for the right organisation?! Then they’ll make me a final offer…it is starting to look as if my cunning plan to hang on at St Mary’s until October may not happen..what to do then? Point out I am about to cross a band and see if they’ll cross it for me? I mean we could be talking 10 days difference but that means it’ll take me 11 months and 21 days to get back to where I would be if I stay an extra 10 days at St Mary’s and that’s a loss of about £35.00 a month for almost a year and I will always be one point lower than I should be for my service length…one suggestion is tell them I have things to do which mean I can’t possibly start until mid October- I mean apart from anything else if they make me a final offer next week then my leaving do clashes with the next “Space Ritual” gig and I very much doubt inviting everyone from Jefferiss Wing to that as my leaving do will go down  well (I was standing outside “Tesco’s” today waiting for my cab and the guy who runs the patient’s forum saw me, he’s staying the weekend with friends and he said it was very odd to see someone from work doing something as ordinary as their weekly shop I did feel like asking if he thought they locked us in a cupboard after work or something….I didn’t through that is not the sort of idea to mention to someone who might just have access to a service manager….they’d probably think it a good idea and start working out how to implement it!)

Oh well on that we’ll see

Thursday I was very brave, Chico said he needed the synopsis for my games day game if I was running but I didn’t have to and I hesitated because believe me I am nervous then  had a chat to Arakor and Wintermute and had the skeleton of an idea so the next day I roughed out a synopsis and dared to send it….Wintermute called me yesteday and said it was fine and it;s being submitted.

 Well I have rough drafted the scenario this weekend twice and so far I have one version that could be over in an hour and one that could not be over by the end of the World! Back to drawing board methinks

Also Thursday Arakor’s dear lady wife tortured me….she sorted my shoulder out and I am sure she will be pleased to know that the next morning it was an endurance test to put my bra on but after that passed over the day my shoulder is now completely pain free

Anyway St David’ day- well the original was almost Dave he called me on Thursday to annouce Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are playing the Troxy- new venue at Limehouse looks nice- if any of you know the area for as long as I can recall it’s been the rehearsal space for the Royal National Ballet and inside it’s this amazing art deco building and after my 3+ years at the former Royal Masonic I do so love art deco- in November and tickets were going on sale the next day at 9am- I forgot about it and he dragged himself out of bed to be poised at 9am with credit card ready…next thing I get an email saying its selling out fast but a pair of good seats is £80! To his credit when I pointed out I really didn’t think good seats would be much cheaper for anything and obstructed views were £50 a pair he struck and we have a reserved VIP table in row 2 in the VIP area on the 30th of November- best view going as we’ll be overlooking the stage but as a bottle of Beck’s is £4.00 it will be a sober evening I find something dearer than the Royal Albert Hall!!!! Anyway that’s my birthday present covered even through he’s a bigger Nick Cave fan than I am!

But it was Friday morning and my early warning system kicked in as Davy G had emailed people- he’s not supposed to be back from leave until Monday but this is a big improvement on last year when he came back the Wednesday before!

He brought me back this plush black and white kitten toy then tells me that the place he stayed dd the most fanstastic home made cakes and he has brought me back a huge apple cake but I have to wait until Monday as it was a bit much with everything else to carry in

 I just sat there and wondered whether leaving this brilliant guy was the wisest decision…at some time I have to tell him I am on my way through of course I am not saying a word officially until I get the final offer

Then St David excelled beyond belief I don;t know if with a surname like Goldmeier he is allowed to be a saint but he was a saint for me!

My bad tooth started to play up on Thursday and by Friday whilst it wasn’t too bad it was still tender. I know this has to be sorted out but there is nothing any dentist would do with an active infection and my dentist just wants me to have it out and won’t even refer me to someone who might attempt root canal work- I am an ideal subject- had it done twice- one tooth saved one lost so I know it doesn’t always work out- prepared to pay for the attempt. Truth is whilst if I go to a dentist and it becomes obvious I need a tooth out there and then I can cope with it but I would sooner get into a lift (and you know how I feel about them!) than make an appointment knowing I was having a tooth out

 So Friday I was sitting there and Dr David G came in and I moaned…gonna have to take a half day to go to my dentist who after having a go at me will write me a prescription for Amoxycillin 5 days tds

 And St David G wrote me  a private prescription for the same…and I have to tell this saint that I will be leaving in the next few months?

 As you can guess I am having a lot of 2nd thoughts

First of all I could not get into this part of the site- had to call Arakor who, of course, took 3 seconds to amend my password so I could get in and change it to something a little more easy to remember- thanks for that!

Something odd is happening in this house..I don’t for once mean Dave’s being strange (Does that count as odd? This is the man who tells me off for snoring when I am not asleep then says “Well you’re breathing funny- stop doing it”! Odd is normal in our flat). Last night when I went to greet my saviour for the evening i.e. the guy from the “May Moon” (Our local Chinese/Thai takeaway and one that loves us - we do contribuite quite a bit to their profits- if they ever quote on the stock exchange I shall buy shares) there were 8 plastic chairs in the hallway- all in a row like our hallway had become a waiting room. I assumed it was downstairs- we’ve long had suspicions they are running a business in the basement, which were somewhat confirmed when after a fire a few years back one of the things the fire guys brought out was an industrial sewing machine- perhaps they were having interviews for a post ? This morning the chairs had been piled up as if waiting for collection then later on when I popped out to the shops- there are now about 20-30 bin liners and recyling bags filled with clothes..but these are in the hallway, on our landing and up the stairs from us so it’s to do with Esther and Reg upstairs- when Dave saw it he and me at the same time said “I hope they’re not moving out” but Esther would have told us- they’ve been good neighbours for 23 years and we would hate to lose them- they even visited Dave when he was in hospital..Downstairs could move out tomorrow and we’d have a party and cheer but I just hope Esther and Reg aren’t on the move!

Anyway at this moment in time I am feeling so low Marvin the Paranoid Android is brimming with good cheer by comparison….

I just had a week off work …Everyone here will understand that horrible feeling when the long awaited holiday is drawing to a close and after a week of getting up when I damn well want to and going to bed in the wee small hours of the morning I now have to get up at 6.45 tomorrow and go back and see what hasn’t been done while I have been away then do it all!

And what have I done with my week off? Well I had a lot of plans but…….

Sod all really

Monday I had to get some dry cat food- my two regard “Go Cat” as a treat but like any concerned slave am not happy with the carbs (cats don’t need them) and the food dyes- a white carpet is never a good thing to have with cats (Not that I do) but apparently it’s worse when Tiddles hoiks up a load of that stuff on it. It’s like kids and MacDonald’s, they love the junk food while I do my best to make sure they have a nutrious diet

Anyway that was a short trip to the shops then locking myself in the “Bells” when I got back Nathan had PM’d me for some details of my game (he’s playing) haven;t heard from him since- well it was a bit of a long reply

Tuesday was judgement day for Dave- the situation with the district nurses turning up when it suited them and not working to any plan had led him to ask for a review from the TVN (tissue viability nurse- it’s amazing how TLA’s become natural to you- a bit like being a webmaster I suppose)

The result was 50-50. The TVN had a huge go at the dreaded Cecilia for not doing a thing she’d been told to and for persistently vanishing for weeks at a stretch and not ordering stuff etc. etc then again Dave now has both legs dressed as despite him telling the district nurses he was a bit worried about the other one they’d paid no attention but the TVN is worried about that breaking down as well. Also Dave is now going to get Cecilia every Tuesday for the next couple of months- she’s been told he has to let him know when she is coming round. Cecilia is not happy after the TVN left she didn’t say a word but she put things on so tight Dave has been limping since. And it looks like one wheel is about to come off his wheelchair so we having a discussion about since he only uses it because it saves assembling the new office chair (Well when I say new…got it in 2006 and haven’t unpacked it yet…a lot of other matters have claimed our attention since then!) he should send it back or get it fixed.

Also DC (Dreaded Cecilia) had a rotten cold- we’ve both been sniffling all week and I dare not call in sick tomorrow- Bev hasn’t called me once, which surely means the building has burnt to the ground with all the staff inside it!

The main point is tomorrow night Dave gets to use the shower! He’s been told he can’t get his dressings wet so he and I have been managing with the sink but now the TVN has set times for the DC to come round he’s been told it won’t do any harm if he takes it all off the night before and has a shower also they’ve gotten him this thing that looks like a condom to wrap round his leg to keep everything that needs to be dry- dry. I brought him a brand new bath towel in anticipation today

Anyway Dave had his problems and I had mine- I had to go to the HR Department of my potential new owners (Am having a few second thoughts but a morning on the tube should cure me of those!) to hand over my CRB documents. Got off at the wrong stop and had to walk ages then arrived and the receptionist told me there was the lift and I said “Don’t do lifts”

She gasped “You are going to walk to the 4th floor!!!!”

You got the impression she wanted to call a crash team to follow me!

As it was I did 4 floors in less than 5 minutes and still had enough breath to annouce myself when I arrived (through a long meaningful philosophical debate migth have to wait until I had some water!) there’s something to be said for not doing lifts!

Got that sorted then locked myself in the “Bells” again

Dedicated Wednesday to doing nothing at all and am pleased to report that I did sod all

Thursday of course club and my apologies to Fireroot for starting late it was for a good cause I promise! Not something to talk about but if you want clarification email me or have a word.

Friday- met a very old friend ( at 72 and I have known him since 1979- in both senses of the word) for a curry- if I am meeting Philip a curry will be involved- he’s the man who introduced me to Indian food. Whilst waiting I saw a lovely skirt £14.00 at Asda’s- £5.00 at Whitechapel market- okay it may have fallen off the back of a lorry (or could be end of line) but the fiver was out of my purse and in the market guy’s hand very quick! I like getting a bargain (Of course I haven’t tried it on yet..)

Went to the “Clifton”- Dave and me a few years back were regular patrons of the Brick Lane one but they have now opened one on Whitechapel High Street and….Recommend it! Seriously good food including the best garlic naan I have ever had. Also reasonable (well especially for me as Philip said it was his treat !) I had a chef’s special and a special fried rice with that adorable garlic naan and Philip pigged out on biryani with 2 side vegetable dishes and a chapati. Philip had 3 teas and I had 3 large bottles of Cobra and the whole thing was less then £50! Also maybe because it was quiet they didn’t chase us out- so we sat over a couple more drinks in this cool place and chatted. Sometimes talking to Philip much as I love him almost as much as Pacman makes me feel low…..it’s all “I’m going to be taking on PasTest”- “That’s a bloody good list you should get a lot of sales from that by the way any news of Stephan?” “No he’s not very well but I haven’t heard anything I am seeing Jim Osgerby next week so he might know” “Oh let me know I always liked Stephan” “Saw Guy Simpson the other week” “Guido! How is he? Remember me to him! Is Breffni still following him? They always worked togther!”

Words from another time…a time when my job meant a lot to me…it;s like this new job…I can’t get excited about it..it’s the same old same old ..in the last 2 years I could count on one hand the number of times I have felt challenged and not use my thumb or for that matter now I think of it not my index and ring fingers not even my middle one……Yeah I like earning half decent money, beats living on baked beans the last 2 -4 days of the month, sometimes having to say “Got the electric bill so can only pay 2 weeks rent this month have to make it up next month” but surely there has to be something I can do in the NHS that requires a brain cell from time to time

Bugger

Anyway left Philip locked myself in the “Bells” again and went home

Yesterday did sod all got the photo’s from Jenny from my 50th, had a Chinese and broke a filling on it. It’s that tooth that needs looking at but on the other side and it’s just a chip

Guess soon I’ll go to bed and tomorrow somehow drag myself back to the Jefferiss Wing asylum/detention centre- I just hope the new job is better

Oh and the new “Motorhead” CD is okay but not one of the better one’s

Odd my password got rejected several times but I KNOW what it is so I kept trying and it finally let me in

What a week! Started not long after I wrote last week’s missive (this week’s is more massive than missive- you have been warned!). We were contemplating dinner when Dave announced he fancied going out so we decided to give the “Little Driver” a look since it boasts on Sunday’s it serves “the best roast in Bow”- thinking about how many other pubs in Bow do a Sunday roast- I have a sneaking feeling it can make this claim as at the moment, it has no competition. Anyway we’ve heard it has an amazing beer garden and it does have a resident cat- a HUGE tabby and white male when I say huge-having seen the Beast of Bow close up- Wintermute’s owners Chloe and Tigger are at best on the smaller side of medium by comparison!

It did indeed have an amazing beer garden (They spent a LOT of money £6,000+ I heard only to have the local council declare the smoking shelters were 5% too much enclosed so they had to spend more to fix it) but they stopped serving the best roast in Bow at 4 and they may have had a good beer garden but the actual beer! I don’t expect much from Fosters but we both agreed it was disgusting and left after a mouthful or two and headed to the “Half Moon” where we found the coolest place in the whole of East London! I’m not telling you where it is in case I need it again whilst this heat keeps going (I can be bribed obviously!). bliss! Finally it was cool enough to eat and I hold the World record for demolition of a steak even our dear Marquis would be slow by comparison…

Of course there had to be a problem…Dave announced for the first time since before he was in hospital he would use a bus. So we went to the stop and the first 25 came along. I figured since Dave is on his crutch and might find stepping on the bus a bit hard perhaps the ramp would be the safest thing so I pressed the button…. Twice…. But the driver completely ignored this and just drove off so I said some very rude words, which was silly of me I should have whipped out my notebook and got his number. So much for accessibility!

At this point a friend of ours named Nobby Clarke strolled along. Nobby is a porter at the London and he visited Dave a lot when he was in there so he was well impressed with Dave’s progress so we sat about, smoking and chatting even let a couple of buses go until we were ready to get on…. You tell me what happened, I got on to ask the driver if he could tilt the bus and he was about to when Dave decided he didn’t need it. Next thing I looked behind me to find Dave flat on his back on the pavement. It was a real blessing having Nobby there because, he is trained in all this and had Dave back on his feet in seconds- if he hadn’t been there I suspect we would have had to call an ambulance to get him back up- what really pissed me off is some guy on the bus burst out laughing and I felt like going up and whacking the twat but had to help Dave. The driver to his credit wanted to tilt the bus but Dave felt too shaken to get on just then so off it went with Nobby who had to be somewhere or he wouldn’t get to eat at the end of his shift. In the end we walked to Mile End and got a cab but now Dave isn’t sure about getting on buses ever again- I am going to rant at some point- the physiotherapy team he had made it one of their targets to get him using public transport then stopped coming round just as they were about to tackle that…Dave was left with the instruction if anything came up he should call them and I want him to but whether he will or not he says he will but this is Dave we’re talking about a man whose insistence he would call his GP “Tomorrow” put him in hospital for 4 ½ months and me through merry Hell! Anyway we did get home

Monday was dead at work but by Tuesday since Rohna has once again gone sick- she started at the beginning of May and as far as I can tell between bank holidays/annual leave/sick leave she has done at least 1 full week maybe 2…. I mean she’s been back a week since having 3 weeks off with a bad leg then she went sick, last I heard she was in hospital having tests and won’t be back for at least another week. I don’t think it’s her…I think it’s the (Drum roll)

* The curse of the office manager’s post!”

Bev created this post last year and Rohna’s predecessor, Helena, had 5 weeks off when a cricket ball hit her in the face and she nearly lost the sight in one eye then she’d barely been back from that she had shingles for a month or so- I didn’t apply for it because I thought it was a poisoned chalice of a job (The general feeling is we need another secretary but not someone to be “in charge” and earning better money than the rest of us. Me? Management will do what they do I just work round it and ignore it, Rohna’s upset a couple of the secretaries maybe because she needs to show them who is boss- well as far as I am concerned she is and we get on okay) but I didn’t realise it was cursed!

So Tuesday I had to start working flat out and that was the theme for the rest of the week- I am off this week which is good because I am starting to get RSI!

Tuesday I have to go to the HR department of my potential new owners to hand over the documents to support my CRB form- amazingly in psychiatry have to have this done but in sexual health? Apparently not (believe me there is blackmail potential!) …and the occupational health department just sent my form back to me…. being in a hurry to get to the interview when I was filling it in I managed to miss a page. I would like to claim this is part of my cunning plan to still be in Jefferiss Wing on the 10th of October so I pass my pay band but it was just disorganisation on my part. The odd thing is I am still applying for band 5 posts through I did turn down an interview for another band 4 job. Face it. I have confessed to Bev I have accepted a new job and whilst it’s a bonus in terms of fares it isn’t anything new or interesting so if I get a better promotion then Hackney don’t get me…. Anyway I am on my way and have just started to appreciate where I work now but that could just be because I am currently a week away from going there again!

Yes after a very enjoyable game on Thursday (Noliar deserves a round of applause! Ace game!) I went to work on Friday thinking “I just have to get through today” and I had carefully made sure I had enough to do…. So some so and so piled work on me and it was stuff like laminating- the machine takes an age to warm up and you have to be so delicate and careful -someone like me ruins several copies! So I am sitting there feeding this damn machine for an hour whilst thinking “I have this/that/ the other to do and I hope I can do it all by the end of the day”

I was naughty and sent the last job to Ali at 4.25 when I had finished it 10 minutes before but if I had sent it then she might have asked me to do something with it and I was getting out at 4.30 or someone was doomed! I ran like Hell in case someone suddenly found me something else to do!

My holiday got off to a great start…someone hit a bridge near Bromley-by- Bow and as a result I couldn’t get the tube all the way home- something in my soul (Yes I do have one!) rebelled and I got myself a taxi home- not cheap but well I save on fares this week!

Saturday- oh yes, Stockhausen at the Royal Albert Hall. I had concluded whatever deity you worship was determined to stop me from going (or stop Dave I didn’t need too much urging to avoid the event in question!). After last Sunday: Dave didn’t want to do the bus. The tube wasn’t running and one nice plan, which was to do it by river bus fell apart when the only route wasn’t running due to the “Red Bull flying whatsit” and of course by the time I got Dave moving- the only alternative was a mini cab I would like to think it wasn’t deliberate but who knows?

Anyway our minicab driver found Kensington then couldn’t find the RAH and had to ask about 5 people and took an extra 15 minutes to park outside the wrong door but as he would have had to drive over crowded pavements to get to right one we let him go and made our own way to our private box….Private boxes doesn’t it bring up a mental image of opulence and luxury? In reality the best word to describe them is “poky”- 5 seats but the fifth one is so far back Marc C would get a crick in his neck trying to look at the stage! And its very crowded so much so the other 3 people got so sick of the view one of them jumped into the HSBC box which was next door and empty and I was glad when she did so I could move from the 5th seat and sit in the next row…. You can have drinks delivered to a private box but they can only be soft drinks in plastic bottles and there is an extra charge…Oh yes bar prices- would you believe £3.90 for a bottle of Beck’s? And that’s a half-pint bottle and served warm…For £3.90 for a half-pint I would personally expect it to be delivered in an ice bucket by someone tall, dark and handsome if not actually naked apart from some baby oil…

Anyway the Stockhausen started; there was some noise and a round of applause I was confused as to whether I had just heard the first blessedly short number or whether they were applauding the arrival of the conductors…turned out to be the latter,

First piece not bad bit dull in places but okay- I was starting to think I might enjoy this…Then the lights went down and we were submitted to the British premiere of the 13th hour from “Clang”…let me be positive…. This piece was designed to be played in somewhere with good circular acoustics and when they turned the lights down it was eerie and interesting…. For all of 10 minutes. Alas it was 34 minutes long and I started to lose the will to live at 15 minutes because it wasn’t going anywhere and I started to try to doze off…I mean does anyone here remember those records when they first invented stereo (Hi Wintermute)? You know trains going through tunnels etc it got to be like listening to that

Amazingly Dave broke first, said it was “doing his head in” (Not alone a reviewer online said the same thing this morning, even the radio 3 lady called it “eerie” and Sarrasine was completely freaked out listening to it this morning me? I just got bored maybe I ain’t sensitive as some people) and he had to stand at the back of the box for a bit

The next thing started with some good trumpet playing until Dave said “he’s hitting bum notes” and I pointed out if he was good enough to solo at the RAH then it must be written into the score- Dave suggested he must have some water so we walked down to the bar deciding to get one in before the interval stampede? £3.90 to get away from that? Cheap? Okay not quite.

So we had our beers both trying not to think we are talking £7.80 a pint then bless him Dave said he couldn’t be asked to go back in so we can head off home?

I would have dragged him to Chaz’s do but when I tried my phone the battery was flat and today the phone doesn’t seem to be recharging itself…. I know it’s geriatric being 2 ½ years or so old but I do hope it’s okay I don’t have the patience to get used to another phone

We arrived at the “Bells”- one blessing after RAH Dave won’t moan about the prices at the “Bells” fully intending to have one and go but what I call “the usual suspects” where in so we had a few beers with them

Today an old friend has organised meeting for a curry on Friday but apart from that I dedicate this week to gluttony and sloth

The next person to say to me “Isn’t the weather lovely?” or variants thereof- is dead!

I LOATHE this sort of weather! Yesterday I woke up at 6am (on a Saturday morning no less) threw myself in the shower (how did I survive before last September when they installed this miraculous machine!) dried myself off by dint of a quick rub down with a towel and sitting up for 5 minutes for a cup of cranberry juice (Ace stuff! Okay better with a generous dash of vodka although not at 6AM!) and a quick fag while I got dry enough to not make the sheet wet when I went back to bed….dozed off for a bit woke at 10.15…drank a cup of coffee and some more juice then jumped in the shower again. Had to go to Stratford to pay a bill and also look for a book I wanted and got it (Ben Elton’s “The First Casualty”- very good indeed if anyone’s interested) and I toyed with walking the distance from MacD’s to Wilkinson’s i.e. about 3 minutes slow walk and went “f**k it!”..I mean I just got paid and my mistake was to sit down by the taxi rank….yes the taxi home seemed too attractive for words even through I really ought to have popped to Wilkinson’s and got the bus home and I stopped at the “Bells” for a while..ended up having a few with the ever lovely Jim the Gardener then came home and guess what? Threw myself in the shower again! Then watched one of my all time favourite films “The Shawshank Redemption” and went to bed and considered a shower before going to bed but had one when I got up this morning…luckily skin don’t shrink! I am using this shower gel that claims to be invigorating I wouldn’t like to see what I would be like if I wasn’t invigorated!

Today I am just so glad that there’s enough food in the house so I don’t need to run to the local “Tesco’s”, I did what little shopping I needed to do
early and am currently lazing over a few beers and planning another shower after typing this!

The other thing is I simply can’t eat in this weather-on Friday I had a very dull course at work and when I came out I treated myself to a lasange from “Shakers” (cafe/sandwich bar in Praed Street does the best lasange I have ever had and if you are in the area and hungry I also recommend their all day breakfast or the meatballs with rice and their sandwiches/rolls etc) and ate half of it and that’s the nearest thing I have had to a meal since about Wednesday! Still as long as I make sure I have enough water I think not eating for a few days is hardly likely to do me much harm if the heat lasts long enough (about the next 6 years without a break?) I might finally achieve my ambition to be a skinny supermodel!

Also the cats hate this weather- Sarrasine has been declaring war on the left hand speaker on the hi-fi and frequently being evicted from the living room as a result- it may be just she wanted to hear some sounds right now Dave has put some Zappa on and she’s sitting next to the monitor happily digging sounds- it would be a fantastic photo- Sarsi looking at Zappa on the monitor but my phone camera isn’t that good

And of course the tube has been Hell on Earth! I now just keep thinking not much longer! Yes as most of you know because I told you Thursday and as Wintermute told me he had already read here- I am not entirely sure who reads this apart from Arakor and Wintermute! Oh well if nothing else I am going for quality not quantity..anyway I think I got the Hackney job! As I said before I wasn’t expecting the call until Wednesday so that threw me then I had forgotten the name of the office manager (got it wrong anyway) and what didn’t help was the reception on my mobile was awful I first of all thought she said “Commisserations” and I was about to say “Oh well” when she said “Are you happy?” and I guessed THAT was not a
question to ask someone who had failed so yes, as far as I know I have a new job and one that doesn’t involve route 205…..

Remember last week I got a 205 and witnessed a route 2 reversing into it! (I got a letter from the bus companies claims department on Friday) well on Thursday it was too hot to do the tube and I wasn’t in too much of a hurry because I sneaked out a little early (Yes this week has been as hard work as the last one! On Tuesday I had a deadline and it was could I finish re-reading Keith Simpson’s “Forty Years of Murder” by the end of the day?) so I decided to get a 205 back to Mile End…..

Got on it, settled down, had a quick read of the free papers and dozed off..life felt pretty okay..I was a lot cooler, I just got paid and with a pay rise and I was looking forward to Mike’s “Discworld” and tomorrow is Friday….contentment…

The next thing I know is an almighty bang (and I don’t mean I finally got lucky with Johnnny Depp!)

The 205 has gone round a corner at Moorgate and as a result the left hand side of the bus at the back has got a couple of small dents in it…and a taxi has now had its left rear panel folded….literally….the taxi could move but the left hand side was folded on itself and the left hand back light has been scatttered all over the road

What is it with me and route 205 on Thursdays? This time I didn’t stay round and give my name as a witness after all I didn’t see much being half asleep at the time and anyway if I had I think I may have been banned from route 205 as a safety measure! I mean what are the odds are being in an accident on the same route 2 Thursdays running?

Game was very good- I didn’t do too well in the fight..that’s an understatement but as an Igorina with my own needle and thread I managed to stitch things together then when Gargamel had all his guts out from a nasty wound I shoved them back in and sewed him up but you know…it wasn’t ideal doing it in bad light I might have twisted something or put it in wrong….so I was concerned about this and wanted proof that certain things had gone through all the way shall we see? So I spent a while asked Gargamel “If you haff cwrapped yet”

Well it amused me…

My shower is calling me…And roll on Friday I have next week off and at this rate I am going to be spending it in the shower!

As usual I got it wrong- they weren’t going to call me Wednesday but “by Wednesday”- I knew they were seeing the other candidate Monday morning so when they called me at 11.00 I could almost hear the other candidate letting off champagne bottles in the background. Obviously so excellent they wanted to put me out of my misery and of course, as (1) I had put the damn thing out of my mind until Wednesday and (2) for some reason I kept worrying the manager’s name was either Claudette or Claudine when it’s Charmaine so when Charmaine called I must have come across as a right dork!

Or maybe not as they’ve offered me the job and I’ve accepted!

No cause for major excitement yet- crippled snails on tranquillizers move faster than the average NHS HR Department- I am 50-50 that on the 10th of October I will still be in the Jefferiss Wing Asylum and in fact want to be as I go through a spine point on the pay scale on that date so that would mean not losing a years progress on the scales! Doesn’t matter if I am working out my notice on the 10th of October I will have been in the current asylum for 2 years and therefore I get a payrise, which gets passed on as they can’t pay me any less than I was getting at the time

Only hassle is at some point I have to tell Davy G who admits to having had issues about desertion since his mum left him at the hospital to have his tonsils out when he was 6! I’m afraid he might cry..still he has a fortnight’s holiday coming up so I’ll let him get over that before I say a word..sad through I had just got the news and he came into my office to talk about his son’s wedding, which was at the end of last week and he says when he is on holiday he’ll try to find me something else “kittenish” and that makes me feel sooo bad about not telling him- he’s a serious sweet guy….then again nothing is set in stone yet- I have to clear references, CRB and the dreaded occupational health department so it’s only common sense that I don’t say a word until I get told I can start and that could take so long I am sitting here in July wondering which Xmas party I’ll be going to (work wise of course I am coming to the one after Dragonmeet!)

so it looks like I’m on the move again!

First part of week was okay- Monday was good. I don’t mean my boss gave me a payrise nor did Johnny Depp stand outside the Jefferiss Wing Asylum dressed as a pirate and then ravage me when I came out at the end of the day, which is a lot more likely than my boss giving me a pay rise . It was just one of those days when the Sun shone, the tubes behaved, work had enough to do but not too much, lunch was nice, Dave wasn’t as miserable as usual in the morning, my ruddy stomach had finallly settled down

By Tuesday I started climbing up the wall- most of my consultants are off sick/on leave/didn’t do a clinic for some reason and there wasn’t even any pool typing left so I basically spent the rest of the week wishing I had something else to do than read a book/play FreeCell- it might sound pleasant enough but it isn’t. Still analysing the next few weeks I arranged to take Friday off and then booked a whole week off for a couple of weeks hence- I may need it to get over the Stockhausen!

Got an admirer on Wednesday- this rather comely lad chased me through the Wharfside Clinic shouting “BABY!” at me….alas he must be all of two years old but as I said to John who was on reception “I can wait after all it’ll be another 15 years before I get anything like that happening to me again”

It probably wasn’t the wisest comment to make to a man in the middle of his cuppa…

Wednesday and the commitee meeting…No Gareth so we got through a lot Well there was no-one to start talking technical..Felt sorry for Sekhmet who managed to come off worse in a 3-way fight between a table, a wall and her fingers. She tells me she has broken fingers 13 times! Oh so that’s what clean-ish living does to you. Myself my motto is “My liver is evil and must be punished”, hers seems to be “My fingers are evil and must be punished”

And somehow-call it a moment of weakness okay? my “Vampire” is down for Games Day I know I promised I would but I had half decided not to and then somehow suddenly I am! I suspect I am not going to be constipated until sometime in November! Wintermute! It’s your turn to stand me outside, shove a fag in my face and tell me not to panic! I did it for you the first year you ran at Dragonmeet do it for me at Games Day please! At this moment, I am obsessionally reading the V;tM Storytellers Guide, which has lots of stuff about convention gaming but I still don’t quite see how to do anything- one idea looks a bit slow- the other might take longer than I have got unless I can kill all the characters in the first half hour..anyway I have got the morning session which has the disadvantage of my not being too brilliant first thing but at least means afterwards I can sit and weep at the bar

I was so bored at work on Thursday that I decided to get the 205 back to Mile End, a whole day of staring at the ceiling meant I felt tired and that bus route is good for an hours nap..this would have worked but for a bus on route 2, which had tried to turn off towards Marylebone station and got stuck. The 205 driver after some choice comments concerning the driver of route 2’s parentage or lack thereof started to turn back to let the route 2 driver reverse. Alas, route 2 driver was a bit faster than route 205 driver and I was sitting there and thought “This is just going to happen” as indeed the left wing of route 2’s rear end smacked straight into the front windscreen of the 205 and left bits of it all over the place- the damage even reached the top deck- so I who was dreaming of a lazy ride home had to wait and give my details to a nice police guy as a witness and then had to get the tube anyway

thursday and I got into “Discworld” by dint of a reasonable discussion with Chico Historico…That post was a definate case of thinking before I hit the send button in future! Then again I had forgotten what a little sadist young Noliar is and by the end of the evening the party were in it! We’re having an argument with a wizard called Gargamel O’Malley and I have a horrible feeling at least two of us will be trying to work out the GURPS character generation system again sometime next week

Bad news about the Best Excuse- I think she should take a couple of bullwhips to work and ask her boss to discuss her hours! And if I know anyone likely to have a couple of bullwhips…

Friday..oh yes..the second interview…

Made it with time to spare (Not that impressed by the new 425 route- it goes down a LOT of streets that really aren’t suitable for buses still compared to the tube….) only to find that the guy I needed to see was held up on the ward as demonstrated by the unholy din I could hear from the ground floor while I was on the 2nd..he finally arrived…looks a bit like Jean Luc Picard and had an Ozzy Osborne “Bark at the Moon” action figure stuck to the door….he collects these, on his wall was the Jesus action figure (with moveable hands and gliding action), Pope Innocent the 3rd, Obsessive Compulsive man. Einstein (He told me it started when a friend gave him the Sigmund Freud one and went on from there and the one he’d really like is the Mohammed (pbuh) action figure- mind you he did have Osama Bin Laden!) and several others

Anyway he’s really looking for someone to organise his email- they have this guy who has a bit of a social phobia who comes in 3 mornings a week just to do the typing so all I would get in that area is the odd urgent letters i.e. I would pretty much cease to be a typing skivy, which is what I have been trying not to be ever since I became one!

Anyway he seems very nice I will be happy to get the job but they’re seeing the other equally well qualfied candidate on Monday and I should get a call on Wednesday to let me know one way or the other

So I’ll either be depressed or celebrating on Thursday..or given Noliars form celebrating and then depressed

Once again we’ll see

Well first of all I think I qualify for some sort of “The things we do for love” award! I mean I think I may have gone beyond and above the call of duty for Dave before but this takes some beating.

The background is when Queen Victoria was building memorials to Prince Albert (He did pretty well- this week-a county in California annouced they wanted to name a civic building after Dubya and he may have been touched until he found out they proposed to name a sewage treatment plant after him on the grounds as his politics had been so crap it was only apt) and the biggest of them all the Royal Albert Hall was costing a lot of cash so they sold boxes in perpetuity . One of the purchasers was a surgeon at my place who brought a 5 seater private box and when he passed away kindly left the box for the use of hospital staff so every few weeks we have a list of gigs and you select one’s you’d like to go to and they put you in a draw…so I saw this particular gig and thought “I’ll put in anyway- Dave will want to go” despite the sinking feeling most of the staff would go “Who?” and suspecting I might get them.. since very few people would apply for them

I did….I am now the owner of 2 tickets for a private box at RAH during the Proms…..

For the second night of the Stockhausen prom….6.10 until 9.00 so at least I can get a drink afterwards (The RAH has less pubs in the surrounding area than Milton Keynes!) Dave is over the moon -Me? As I say the things we do for love….Oh well I have never been to the Proms- hope it’s not evening dress!

First part of week was quiet- nothing new on job front- work quiet as well. I thought the committee meeting was on Wednesday but luckily I checked so I didn’t make a big idiot of myself. With the office manager still off I got caught to do a meeting which was stuck on the 5th floor and since I no longer do lifts that counted as my work out of the week

The stomach from Hell hit on Wednesday- don’t know the cause though Dave had something similar but as of today (Sunday) I am still getting into the habit of eating and between Wednesday and Friday lunchtime the only solids to pass my lips were the juicy bits in a carton of Tropicana. I did give serious consideration to A&E but that was 4.35am on Thursday morning after an hours sleep in total and I’d worn a groove in the floor between bedroom and toilet- lover boy managed to sleep through the whole thing! (Why am I not suprised? Many years ago I had such a bad tooth I turned up at a couple of A&E departments begging for painkillers in the wee small hours-when I finally achieved a result and came home he opened one eye and said “You’re f**ing freezing” and when I said maybe that’s because I have been to the London and Guys in the last 5 hours he said he hadn’t even heard me go out!)

Anyway that killed work for the rest of the week- I might have been able to crawl in on Friday but the new rule, which means if I had felt ill and had to go home it would have to counted as an seperate incident of sick leave from the day before made me think it wasn’t worth it and shortly after I made this decision I was proved right not to have gone in because I would have been the person taken ill

(Public enemy number one to commuters- last week I was on a crowded train in hot weather and this sweet sounding old American lady annouced she felt a bit faint- immediately everyone in the vicinity started fanning her with their free papers and if she hadn’t had a seat someone would have given her one- she was so touched and praised all “this British kindness”- nope we were all thinking “If the b**ch doesn’t cool down we could be stuck at Baker Street for ages”)

So a quiet couple of days…

Now Dave may have his faults (I don’t have enough Gb on the server……) but he can with a little prodding give a girl what she wants and he did!

A week back I was bored at work (business as usual) so was looking things up on Wiki and generally killing some time jumping from one link to the next when I found something I hadn’t known about and immediately started to dribble with lust (and no it wasn’t naked Johnny Depp pin up’s I only like him when he is dressed as a pirate!)

About every year I go to my bookcase and take a book a friend brought for 50p in a charity shop so long ago I haven’t seen the friend for 14 years and for various reasons at that point we weren’t friends ….a long and nasty story…… but this book predates my gaming career by a good few years..and I read it because it’s one of the best things I have ever read….Marion Zimmer Bradley’s “The Mists of Avalon” and as a result of this bored at work Wiki browsing I found somewhat to my surprise someone in the States made a mini-series of it.

Quick check on Play.com establishes it is not available on UK formats- I would have brought it sight unseen so that’s my excuse for cosying up to Dave and getting him to get me a copy after all he has to be good for something- took 2 days to get through from whatever the technical term is- torrent or something like that

Anyway since it was an American TV mini-series I wasn’t holding out too much hope through Angelica Houston (Who I would watch cooking an egg- she’s a favourite actress of mine!) was playing Viviane and Julianna Marguiles played Morgaine- apparently she was good in ER but I have never watched it- the rest of the cast seemed to be unknowns at least to me

So on Thursday as I was missing the club due to the fact I might have passed out on the way or disgraced myself (more so than usual) I sat down and watched it…Dave says he hopes there are lots of battle scenes..so I told him unless they used them as padding there wouldn’t be too many and he moaned about watching a “chick flick” but to his credit he didn’t complain at all and even said it wasn’t bad.

Okay it had to cut a lot- the book is a thousand pages long! You’d be more likely to get a mention of the Grail in the “Sun” and Kevin the Harper wasn’t in it at all and the end wasn’t the same and Morgause had a bigger role but to be fair it wasn’t bad. For a start there are things in the book that can be cut without doing huge amounts of damage to the film…Morgaine’s training as a priestess of Avalon, the time she spent in the fairy lands etc. They also sort of left out (well touched on) the issue of Arthur being forced by Gwuenhyfar to not carry to the banners of Avalon into battle because she believed if he ruled a Christian land then they would have a son but not before

The music wasn’t bad and to their credit we were not forced to listen to American accents- they all made a good effort to sound English through I have a sneaking feeling the actor who played Gorlois pissed off the voice coach before the start of filiming-you can imagine the scene

Gorlois “I don’t know if I can do a Cornish accent- I don’t even know what it sounds like!!”

Voice coach: ” It’s okay I have some recordings of authentic Cornish accents- take them along to your dressing room and work on them”

Gorlois” Cheers”

A few days later Gorlois comes back and tries out his Cornish accent and the voice coach says “That’s perfect! You really got that! Go use it!”

And the voice coach didn’t mention the recording was one of the “Wurzels”….

Seriously he’s a second away from “I am a cider drinker” for most of it but as anyone who knows the story, Uther Pendragon blessedly kills him, pretty early on..His last word wasn’t “Ooh arr ohh arhh ey” but it came close

Friday we went for a beer with some geek friends of Dave’s - they will collectively swear in their own blood they are “Nerds” not “Geeks” but can someone tell me the difference?

Chico would spend 20 seconds with Gordon before kneeling and saying “I am not worthy!” he’s a founder of the Dr Who Appreciation society, got his “Blue Peter” badge for appearing on the show with his Tardis (The Fortean Times mailing list wanted when they opened the Tardis at the end of the show for him to be standing naked but he drew the line). he got married last year and the new house he and his wife are buying was chosen because he had to have a big attic to store his Dr Who stuff including a nearly complete collection of Cyberman heads! (It would scare the Hell out of me- my baby brother had a plastic Dalek called “Dilly” he played with in the bath so Daleks didn’t bother me but the Cybermen had me hiding behind the sofa (when I first typed that I left the word “Hiding” out!!! I assure you it was no Freudian slip!))

Anyway they are chatting and one of them mentions an early “Star Trek” episode about two warring aliens one of whom was black on one side and white on the other as was the other one and the twist was they hated each other because each was black/white on the opposte side to the other and one of these (who was kinda ignoring me after all I don’t get into Fortena that much) said “What the F**k was that episode called?”

And before I could stop myself I said “It’s called “Let that be your last battlefield”"

Long silence but I was right so they reckon I must be a nerd as well as a bit of a geek I used to aspire to understanding high culture but on the way I seem to have drifted!

Week coming up is the personality trial with the consultant at Hackney..we shall see…they’ve also re routed 276 so I can get to Newham General from the top of the road so that is in my sights again!

Another dull week until I had an appraisal on Wednesday, will not go into details but something completely unrelated to the fact everyone thinks I do a wonderful job came up and wasn’t pretty I suspect some elements may have it in for me- suffice to say I am now aware I have enemies at work (Don’t know why) but don’t know who they are (I have suspicions that’s all) I haven’t done anything to the people I think are concerned so far as I know and even Bev doesn’t think it’s a problem but she has to be seen to do something so she can go back to the people concerned and say she’s raised it

Am now facing work this week in a state of complete paranoia..worse still St Thomas have re-advertised the post that was mine if I had chosen to take it ( am wondering if I called them and said I changed my mind…..) and St Bart’s haven’t got back to me then again they have re-advertised the post so it wasn’t just me that was awful!

Only one light at the end of the tunnel that isn’t an oncoming train (or some bastard with a torch bringing me more work!) I got back to my office after the bloody appraisal (One blessing- I am finally back in my office! With all my cat things!) and got a call from Hackney- they aplogised and I told them how impressed I was since they had said they would call Wednesday and here they were! First Damn time it’s happened in my many interviews in the NHS someone called back the day they said they would

Anyway she asked me how I thought it had gone and I said I thought I did well on the tests (For someone who can’t type I am amazed at how fast I can’t type!) and okay on the interview and she told me that my tests were amazing (See I can’t type fast but apparently I can if you get my drift) and the panel really liked me but….Braced myself….”but” can mean anything from “but someone else had more experience” (Read: We have a temp we’d like to make permanent and no offence but we have to advertise and shortlist even through we know who the succesful candidate is…been in that position myself once) to “But you’re not purple”

The but was “so was everyone else” and although there were 4 vacancies going (I should have asked about that at the interview come to think of it- it’s not usual for that many vacancies to spring up at once unless 1. The department is expanding or 2. Someone is making work so unpleasant a lot of people are leaving at the same time) she had a consultant she thought I would be perfect for especially as my typing was so good (i.e the job involves the one thing I am trying to avoid audio typing and anyway I keep telling them I can’t type (and believe me if you read the draft of this before I went round and corrected it you would agree) but no-one seems to believe me!!!!

But I have a rival…someone equally excellent who would also be ideal for said consultant so the deal is a week next Friday (was originally Wednesday) I go meet the consultant as does my rival and he decides which one of us he likes best..

Okay it has it’s pro’s and con’s- be awful to be turned down because he doesn’t like me personally then again that should not happen as I am such a lovely person (Dare you disagree? I thought not!) and also it will be nice to meet the person I will be working with because for all I know I might not get on with them! That’s better than getting the job and finding out on day one you’d sooner pull out your teeth with pliers than work with the person for more than a nanosecond!!)

If I win the charm challenge I am taking it- I now have a frantic need to get out of where I am now (but not so frantic I didn’t turn down another interview because when I looked at the travel it will take longer- they can’t sack me where I am however much damage they’ve done to me indeed that could be a visit to the GP and a 3 month certificate for “stress” not that I want to go down that path but whilst I am not prepared to discuss it they have seriously damaged my confidence, which has always had the constitution of Raistlin Majere or lower!!!!!) also the TfL have finally stopped route S2 (No psychopaths left) and replaced it with two routes both of which will get me to work in 15-20 minutes so you could say I have a very good reason for wanting the job! I mean Boris has doubled my access! And I would save a lot in fares

Other than that it was a quiet week. Got back to my office and found half my stuff was missing but thankfully wasnt too far away and I could retrieve it (Haven;t found one thing but I only remembered on Friday night I was missing it) including my £200 make up kit, which I certainly didn’t want to lose! My printer has died so until I get a new one (2-3 weeks) I have to use one in the next office which is a pain given possibly some of the nastiness came from there…..I can’t trust any of them at the moment

Thursday- Sorry to hear about the Best Excuses problems so no game and my original plan was to collect the subs and call it a day especially as Ertai was not about- hope he got the job but of course once I had sat down, got comfy and could amuse myself listening to Scion (I think I shall play that soon) I ended up sitting there until Wintermute turned up and then chatting to him for a bit before going home. Still sometimes it’s good to have a few weeks off gaming- makes me eager for the next one!

“Dr Who” They brought back K9! The one thing that put me so off I then didn’t watch it until the Christopher Ecclestone doctor! Then again they brought back everything- problem is they keep wiping the Dalek’s out of existence and then since they are serious bums on seats time they have to come up with increasingly bizarre explanations as to why they have come back- better surely to drive them away and left them exterminate another day!

I am quite surprised when I was idly looking at my site stats to find  this listed as my web page- really I am still trying to work out how the “Thank you” posts work and if the Benevolent Web Tyrant would care to explain he can email me

 The lovely Bev’s philosophy of not taking time off when she has a cold  had one drawback- she may not but other people will so there’s been an outbreak of sick leave at work including myself. I might have survived but Monday when I felt I might make it if I sat still and did nothing sod’s law decreed I would have to run up and down the stairs about 6 times in as many minutes still I survived to the end of the day somehow but didn’t go in Tuesday….something to do with being unable to lift my head off the pillow until 1pm I was so rough I went to the local shop for something and when they said they didn’t have it, which would neccesitate my walking an extra 5-10 minutes I almost burst into tears and I am eternally grateful in response to customer comments my local branch of Barclays has installed a water fountain! That saved  my life

 Of course rattus domesticus (Dave) has it now has a horribly sore throat and blocked up nose on top of his hay fever so he is less than happy

Tuesday it finally happened and an HR person from Sparkly Unicorn Fan land called me to discuss my starting date. I told a little white lie and said I was sorry but I had been offered something with a bit more cash, the HR person said she’d talk to the office manager maybe get back to me but nothing yet. So I guess I ain’t moving to St Thomas after all- if they’d come back with a better offer I might have done after all they did like me also Bart’s haven’t got back to me yet so I guess I ain’t going to turn them down as well

Wednesday I heard the oddest thing going in the NHS and believe me I have now heard it all! I didn’t feel too grand when I got up but I struggled in, managed to put in some work you know covered the phone, did what was on offer but at 15.40 I started to feel rough and wished to avoid the rush hour (also my stomach was upset as it usually is when I get a cold - it goes one way or the other- this was the way where you check the situation regarding the roll in the bathroom and have almost 2/3rd of a roll so that will do, then you sit down and 20 minutes later you feel 2-3 stone lighter and are just praying you have enough left on that roll! We’ve all been there) so I told Bev I was heading off and she asked if my cold was coming back and when I said yes she told me as I had come in that morning she would have to treat my leaving 50 minutes early as a seperate sickness leave from Tuesday! This would mean I had had 3 sick periods (2 days and 50 minutes- I could have had three weeks off and it would be treated the same!!) in less than 3 months so I could expect an interview from Occupational Health- I gritted my teeth and stayed but next time I won’t struggle to work….I was far from 100% that morning but I got in….next time I’ll just roll over and go back to sleep since it’s probably better!

Stupid or what? The old rule was if you weren’t well and came in if you left after 3 hours it didn’t count and the number of times I went in just to make those 3 hours and ended up staying a bit longer sometimes the whole day…still what do you expect? The secretaries have gotten well and truly up to date so Bev has designed a new audit form about how many letters we type- and what will that prove? There are days when you whack out a lot of letters and days when between sorting out a consultant, the phone not stopping, needing to find notes, having to go to meetings etc you might do 3! Also some tapes are easier than others. dear Nashat I can do in my sleep they’re short and to the point and he is clear on the tape…another consultant takes a lot longer because he doesn’t speak clearly..

Anyway we’re getting used to being rewarded for our hard work by being ever further assessed! And we have a meeting to discuss this on Wednesday..I am going in armour!

Thursday was the Hackney interview  I had a rough idea where it was….then again for once the dreaded SatNav would be useful since I knew the name of the road..and all cabs have SatNav’s right?

So guess who got the one that didn’t have one?! We got to almost there then couldn’t find the street and the driver was getting annoyed so he resorted to the low-tech method of using an A toZ, while I tried to contact the place and only got an answerphone..in the end he dumped me somewhere in Homerton and by some miracle it turned out to be where I needed to go…..just had to find the East Wing….First of all couldn’t get into the building because there was no-one on the desk to let me in- secondly East Wing was a typo there was no East Wing so I walked round until I thought I found what I was looking for only to find where I needed to go was on the second floor and the stairs seemed to only go to the first! Luckily some guy saw me and asked me who I was looking for and when I mentioned her name he told me the stairs did go the second floor and somehow I made it with 5 minutes to spare!

 How did it go? Well after all that they were running late….typing test was a doddle…interview was okay and I should hear next week sometime one way or the other. The S2 stops running next Friday (Not enough psychopaths left to keep it going) and afterwards there will be 2 bus routes to get me to work rather than 1! It’s like its fated for me to take it -got the bus back to the station and my journey would be 15 minutes or so each way if I took it….

I’ll take it if offered but for some unknown reason (instinct?) I really can’t muster enthusiasm..one of those looks good on paper..shorter journey…cheaper fares…but the job could well be same old same old and I am trying to get out of that!

Anyway Thursday night yet another liver punishment session with Ertai as Dragonheart wasn’t coming.. Best Excuse will take care of him- he certainly got lucky when they met! She did tell me  Linnea’s send off went well and there are some photos of Linnea eating a very phallic shaped cake! I bet if there’s one of her biting down on it there are men in the background crossing their legs! 

So me, Ertai and later on Wintermute consumed ales and Friday I just went to work. Saturday watched Dr Who…they left the Cybermen out but otherwise I think everyone else was in that mix!

Now I need to organise a shower, hair washing and food!

That was the week that was  now this is the week that is 

Which should make some of you happy..this is going to be a short post but I am one of those people who if I start thinking “I won’t do it as there’s not a lot to report this week” will end up not bothering next week….or the week after…you get my drift. Apart from anything else by Sunday  I haven’t typed much for 2 days and as I am a secretary who can’t actually type (World’s fastest 3 finger specialist- Oy! Best Excuse I mean on a keyboard!) it’s a good idea to warm my 3 fingers up..oooh arr missus!

No news either from Barts or the Sparkly unicorn fan! Guess I didn’t get Barts not to surprised but sparkly unicorn fan seemed very keen! Still I have an interview next Thursday for a job with Hackney mental health- same money but as I can risk life and limb on the S2 (only bus route driven by psychopaths! It stops outside Tesco’s and you can see the driver looking for the little old lady with tons of shopping - so just when she isn’t holding onto anything he slams on the brakes- I have been knocked cold on that route and the journey comprises a lot of people asking each other if they are alright! To this day I press the button to tell the bus to stop but I refuse to stand up until it’s stopped) so I can leave later (if the job was at Lewisham I would have to leave earlier as route 108 seems to have more than its fair share of dyslexic drivers- when I used to work over that way the number of times we pulled into the Millenium Dome building site- then again as the 108 now stops outside the Dome perhaps they weren’t dyslexic but prescient!) and the saving on fares is like £13.00 plus a week in the pocket- things aren’t getting cheaper after all

Anyway the most annoying thing about this week has been having nothing to do at work! Normally whilst it’s not my idea of making the day pass quickly I can live with it and have the guilty pleasure of reading  a book but I am sharing with Bev (and for an extra week! I saw the dreaded Alice, whose seat I am currently using and said “Haven’t vandalised your office yet” and she said “Good” and kept walking for another minute before turning round and saying “What do you mean….yet?”) so I have to try and look busy even through I did go over and see if there was any pool typing and there wasn’t….Still we both spent Friday morning checking for jobs on the NHS website- her post has just been identified as “at risk” anyway she reckons if you stay in a job for more than a bit over 2 years then you’re a loser…Huh? I was in my last job well over 3 years and wouldn’t have left but they were closing the place down- best job I ever had I was there 10 years-oh well she’s a senior manager and probably has to look dynamic ..ummm…. she saw a job local to her and right up her street and a promotion so she fired off the pre-set application form and then realised the “why do you want this job ” bit (and no you’re not allowed to mention money) started with how she’d like to work for the wrong trust….

Whoops! Oh well she is going for one job and I would certainly like to get a job there even if it is clinging onto her coat tails- as I say whatever it takes…

Thursday was okay- Alas Dragonheart was indisposed so no game but another liver punishing session with Ertai and Wintermute and Linnea who sensibly did not punish her liver….Sad really both she and Pete Ashworth are moving onto pastures new (as a bitch queen of the Abyss manager of mine once said to cover “We sacked him illegally” over the old manager who was a good friend of mine- he got called into an office and out of the blue was told he could sign the resignation and get a month in lieu or be sacked, he was so shocked he felt dizzy and as he almost passed out he heard the boss going ” Get him some water!” and The bitch queen of the Abyss saying “Can you hold the pen in his hand and sign it?”

Sadly as Bev proudly boasts she has never had a day off for a cold…..so she spent the entire week sniffling away and by the end of it..I had it as well!

Wasn’t too bad until today and I am now at the “Don’t know if I can make work” stage- annoying as I don’t like taking sick leave- I save it up for emergencies then again sick is one of them!

Nice day yesterday- had to pop to Stratford for a new cat litter tray (exotic jetset lifestyle isn’t it?) and found a skirt for £5.00- in fact the stall had loads of decent stuff and all £5.00 but most of it too small- the woman on the stall said big sizes always go first so maybe she should stock more of them! I saw several skirts and tops and a dress that if they had had my size would have left me running to the nearest cashpoint- what’s an overdraft for after all?

Got back and spent a couple of hours locked in the “Bells” as I had raided WHS for some latest paperback releases then home and raid the Chinese, which I think we are also going to do tonight! Dr Who was good but next week looks even more fun! Did I see a Dalek eyestalk?

Anyway today I have been sniffing and groaning and eating Lemsip capsules and now I am going to hurl myself into a long hot shower then dinner- yep it’s going to be another raid on the Chinky unless its the Indian- I can’t be asked to cook

Anyway I gather Dragonheart and the Best Excuse are hosting a farewell to Linnea at a place that offers Fairtrade coffee, lovely cakes and kinkiness! I want to see some photos and Best Excuse texted me earlier to suggest Dragonheart would be wearing cling film and baby oil….I stand corrected…I don’t want to see some photos- I HAVE to see some photos-do try not to get arrested and I hope you all had a good time! I told Best Excuse I couldn’t come because of this cold I mean having a  running nose ain’t exactly sexy and she tells me that she knows of people who would (male presumably) spontaneously ejaculate at the sight of a snotty woman..

 Well if anyone knows anyone who would…..it’s her….personally I can’t feel remotely sexy at the moment even a certain Mr Depp dressed as a pirate would be asked to rub my chest….all over..with Vicks!

Anyway I hope Linnea gets the send off she so deserves and that she will stay in touch- gonna miss her and Pete A- okay I know his tenure as board games coordinator wasn’t a success but he’s a good guy and I wish him, his missus and their baby all the best and if he can master internet perhaps he’d like to let us know from time to time how he’s doing

Also wishing luck to Ertrai who has a job interview this week just like me! I will barring disasters be in the “Bells” on Wednesday if you’d like to pop along and tell me all about it