Tscribble

Derby day today and I'm not to disappointed when the boy refuses to go out. It means I stand a chance of hearing the game. I do however have to head out to fetch some food and some of the materials required for the building of a dragon's nest. We are apparently due to go for a walk tomorrow to get the rest of the materials (sticks and leaves apparently!) Head over to Arseblog and beyond, it' kinda inevitable. Fade Library blog seems to be going OK. We've faded it up with some stuff about ourselves and nice touch from Helen in terms of what we all have as reading at the mo. Much laughter yesterday. Begin to look at FOAF.

Crash.....

Finally get round to structuring the blog that will form my portfolio for PDR purposes, it's the first step towards filling the thing in, not that I've got a scooby who I'll sort my PDR with! The point is Elaine was right the other day when she suggested I've no right to expect other people to have done theirs without sorting mine. If I'm honest I figure it'll do me good to sort the thing and now I have a route that my head is content with rather than the poxy paper from the LDB it should be OK. Tere is a danger it may lead me to getting off my arse about Chartership, that'd be a miracle in its own right. Not that any of this stops me muttering dark words about things being a pile of kak.

Sort some server space for next year and save the library £1100 along the way, not bad for a marginally grouchy e-mail and bit of chat. Just need to sort the mechanics with Stevie P now. Happy to pay the same amount as a Trust because that means I can shout as loud as them if things go wrong!

DPA calms down and my thinking seems to concur with upstairs, need to drop them an email because it reassures them as much as it does me! Also means that I'm sure that we're gonna do the right thing regardless of the hens on acid situation.

The afternoon brings with it freakiness that quite frankly spooks me. The acrobat files created in Dialog when we send a search to people have weird properties. For ages we've giggled at the number that come back ticked next to e-docs rather than a click to get the doc, what none of us realised is that the library holdings links are live too and lead to an e-mail Inter-library loan request from Dialog not in the name of the person requesting the document. I maintain vigourously that this can't happen but it does, repeatedly. Anyway this is a freaky prelude to a mighty fine lit search training sesh. Secon one I've done recently emphasising PICO and ECLIPS and they've both gone well. Mind you this is one to one stuff. Be interested to give it a go in a group setting.

So Arsenal leave the Champions League. Shame, but they're still learning their trade this season and there is a lot of promise there. I listen to it, live in hope after the own goal only for it to go horribly wrong. Next season'll be better.

Arthur is Invisible

Monday

How I hate the fact that Nonsense on a Monday doesn't let me near my Google Spreadsheets defining them as "Personal Network Storage and Backup". I'd contact the Grand Imperial Wizard of Websense to say enough is enough but I know tomorrow when Nonsense has had a day of being stern and evil, all will be well with it. I also know that the response will be do the thing I want to do using excel, and I know that kinda makessense but I want it to be as open and transparent as possible and not sat on my machine (it's a bid by the way!).

I admit it I'm temporally challenged, we had an information cadet in today, very pleasant young man. Came as a suprise to me, not because I didn't know he was coming but because I have it logged for this day next month. Throw into that a meeting I attended the other day was in the diary for next month too and it's clear I need to talk to Dr. Who.

Where are the missing HSJs? Not where they should be and this leads me to an FoI request, easily dealt with though. Bit of a boob job that leads me to chat to commissioners locally to solve a regional mystery. Amazing what people want to know these days.

Home, catch up with 'Life on Mars' listen to 'Rite', 'Kilimanjaro' and generally relax with a phone call to the folks.

Sunday

Carling Cup Final day and apart from a bit of shopping involving a chase for a pesky book on Mexico that sees an unforseen trip to town because it wasn't on the shelf at Borders I devote most of the day to the Cup Final. If they'd have had 'It's a Carling Cup Final Sandwich Spread' I'd have been listening to it on the radio. No TV for me, we don't pay for the sport channels! Why the interest? I like Wenger's team selection, I admire the way they played and the handbags at the end was a pity but has been blown out of all proportion. The thing that confused me was the celery. What was that all about?

Monst to work and catch up on the weekend news.

Saturday

Wish the old fella a happy birthday. Rest of it involved being told my lentern task of being off the beer equals being off the booze. Not keen on that, it makes me want to drink, better to leave things where I don't drink simply because I don't fancy it and use the cider alternative as required. Evil Monst!

Friday

A bit of a blur, can't remember much of the morning but headed into 'Injun' Territory' to deliver some training up near Chorley. A bit of above and beyod but an interesting experience and the value of PICO shown loud and proud. Downside was getting back home, feeding the family and getting out of the door to drop Monst at work.

Sleep My Friend

Brum, TDAG, knackered on return, lose my wallet, cancel my card. More about it tomorrow in the great non-electronic blog experiment type thingy! I've a semi-final to listen to so be warned events may bring me back.

PS anyone near Reggie tomorrow should check if my pants are on fire, when Callum claimed the curry I'm currently cooking was Mexican food because he likes Mexican food I assured him it was a spicy Mexican stew.... I'm gonna burn in a pit I don't believe in.... [off blog] the sound of maniacal laughter.

Lordy, That'll Be Sunday Night!

Begin the exploitation of Label's in the new version of blogger as I begin to pull together an RSS directory of the Tags that the News Service we do that usually gets dumped here. The notion being that people will be able to use the service for their own ends and with more precision than the total news post allows. Use the excellent button maker from Adam Kalsey to create the range of buttons for the thing. Suspect it'll take me all week to populate the things. Suspect this might be a librarian concept though that the Tags will allow people to see subjects related to their interests.

This all begins before the match with Bolton but also through it. Fling in the smell of curry cooking in the kitchen in which I'm sat and you'll be close to picturing the scene.

Middle of the day is spent with a trip to drop Monst's sick note into Faz (Aintree Hospitals Foundation NHS Trust) where I witness and indulge in the infection control measures which are presumably part of the efforts to reduce MRSA locally (alcohol rub for the hands on arrival and departure). Also drop some cables off at Sue's for Joseph to download his photos from China (he borrowed a couple of cameras from us). Home via Sainsbury's and the centre of town. It's a windy day and the urban tumble weed is very much in evidence, loads of pyjama girls about today (seems to be a local phenomena, the wearing of pyjamas out on the street, in my more extravagent moments I have arrived at the hypothesis that there is a 'Pyjama Girl Deprivation Index' as a result of the empirical observation that pyjama girls are thicker on the ground in the more deprived areas of the city - this is of course probably complete bollocks). Do windy days bring more out onto the streets, blown from their beds (or maybe they like the feel of the wind whistling round the Khyber!)

Home and feed the family and begin cooking the curry for tonight.

Curses, Bolton have scored. Then Arsenal drag one back, replay on Valentine's day and I'm away. Curses, curses, curses.

The Square Dealers

I tend to listen to the footie, DAB is kind to me in that way, no hiss, crackle etc. How can I resist today's 'Back to Square One'. It works OK too. The hardest thing is to hear the square numbers called out, its in no way as obtrusive as I imagined it would be. No mock twenties Harry Enfield BBC accents and Bob Wilson is in the commentary box which is cool with me. Not certain about the presence of David Gray. Couldn't they find someone from the Mancs who wasn't working for Sky? (Yes, I know Primrose was there as a trainee, but that hardly counts). Manure start well which is not good. Don't appreciate it, but then I wouldn't. Luckily Arsenal warm up as I type and prepare to slice the veg for tonight's dinner.

Monst's back continues to be a concern, she's really hurt the thing, she's not in work quite sensibly this weekend. Most of the day seems to involve sleep, she ain't got a great appetite, I'm kinda worried.

Cal and I go swimming in the morning, not as big a success as it has been recently. Cal cops well with swimming lengths, sure he likes the reassurance of being close to the edge and the occasional grasp of the wall when he's swimming on his front but he copes and his confidence improves over time. It wasn't helped today when he was told by a lifeguard to swim in the shallow end only. Blew his confidence completely and consigned us to swimming in the congested end of the pool. Still he did the sort of distance he's been swimming recently and received full praise as was his due.

The Stoopid Thing is I Can't Get the Bloody Queen Song Out My Head

Cal has a birthday looming, he has been promised a bike if he learns to ride the old one. Consequently we take him to the path that runs close to our house and run around, hand clasping the back of his saddle only to release him and see him cope with cycling until he realises what he's doing. All this to a mental Feddie Mercury soundtrack. Anyway the boy shows enough form to convince us that while not quite at the total solo stage he's close enough to warrant a purchase. So off we go to Halfords at the No Mercy. There we encounter Mr. Disinterested and his colleagues Mr. Bugger Off and the Saturday Boy. Still eventually in a purchase that involved all three in the space of half an hour at various points but with a universal lack of commitment to flogging bikes we buy Cal the thing. Hope them boys ain't on commission because it'll be lean times at Halfords if they are!

The rest of the day has been a mix of sleep, cooking and sleep. I wake up by evening and begin the washing (not that there is much of it, Monst's been busy with it through the week), but there is an incentive, fresh clean sheets tonight!

Listen to the footie along the way, Robbie Savage, shame on you, no wonder Gilberto fancied kicking you! Very pleasing win.

Nine Million Bicycles? Don't Ask Me... It's the Olds

Begin to play with Zookoda, looks a handy marketing tool to me. Useful right now as we begin the process of ramping up marketing for the BMJ journals etc.

Meanwhile the kids tonk Liverpool. More smiles from me at work tomorrow, really miss Christina at times like this.

Also make another attempt to get my shit together about being a bit more organised. Slim Timer is an option worth a punt, feel like I'm losing track a bit right now, not helped by N3 probs today.

Talk the old fella through I-Tunes at some point tonight too......

Decs Down

Many thanks to Julie for ensuring I got the decs down on time! Still some disbelief at the scoreline from yesterday, not that I'm knocking it! Much jubilation in the car once we'd dropped Monst at work.

Wake up knackered and grumpy, fall asleep having fetched Monst and surface around 11'ish. Take Cal swimming at Garston. Cal puts in more effort than I do and swims twelve lengths, we bump into some Albanian asylum seekers who encourage him which is both generous and kind of them. Nice fellas.

Return home via Sainsbury's where we fetch not enough food for the night's meal (have to dash to Somerfield's for spuds) and replace the bit of meat that the cat stole earlier in the day! Result is a fine hotpot. News, bottle of Newcy Brown and sleep have all been on today's agenda.

He'll starch my shirts and collars but he'll never touch my waistcoat

Visit to see Dave B. was a qualified success. Good folk he's working with, fun time had by all but suspect that his crew suspect what I suspect, I've been given a lemon to do. Still it'll be a learning experience.

Home and it's time to unplumb the washing machine and deposit on the doorstep in preparation for the delivery of the new machine the following day. All goes well until I remoe the cold water pipe and discover the cold water tap don't want to switch off. There's a 'little Dutch Boy, finger in the dyke moment', followed by a reattaching of the offending pipe with the other end shoved in a bucket to cope with the dribble of water that comes out. Not perfect but it does the job and this morning I empty a full bucket of water.

The new machine arrives around lunchtime and has been on since along with the dyer as we catch up with the washing of the week. News is sorted for the day. Footie is listened to as is the Captain Sensible 'Live at the Milky Way' and is mighty fine too. Now just waiting on Arsenal's visit to Anfield in the Cup.... Julie I'm not hopeful!

Turkey Basters and Bicycle Kids

On the positive side of things today, Helen began at the library. Cool, Hello Helen. Tracy sorts the post issues (top job). Nicola giggles as she watches me during a discussion on breastfeeding (she reckons can see the invisible fingers in my ears and the internal la-la-la going on - what else you gonna get when you get two mothers in the same room who have young kids - meanwhile I'm mid-cataloguing and marginally oblivious to everything - at least that's what I'm telling myself). Mind you I'm lucky to be able to catalogue, the web element of N3 is up and down like a whores knickers today. No consistency at all. Luckily I'm able to download Marc records to work on in MarcEdit in the periods the thing is up, which means I can function when it's flaky. Take advantage of an up moment and I'm laughing. A box of books down.

Home via the bagwash to sort the Harry Houdini clothing from the washing machine. Nip the shop for cereal and batteries. The batteries power the combo from the toy electric guitar and mic that Cal had delivered for Crimble yesterday. By the time I'm home Monst and the boy have eaten. We get a performance of Karaoke Cal's version of 'Oo-de-lally' complete with Townsend windmills etc.

Cal decides he wants to join me in my dinner and dictate what it should be. Homemade burgers it is then! He watches TV, I do a little work and Bob's your Aunty. Meanwhile Arsenal keep me company as I wash up and they seem to have rediscovered where the net is after their trip to Bramall Lane. 4-0 to shut up the Reading Judas , Pardew.

Aaaaargh! I get home and the neighbourhood Bicycle Kid and his mate yell at me that I'm a 'Fat Bastard', while the former is a statement of fact the latter would require one of the following:

• The date my parents claim for their wedding is a matter of dispute
• My mother was playing away
• My mother suffered a period of gestation longer than that of an elephant, and while I freely acknowledge I can be an awkward bastard and I was breach to boot, I'm not that awkward.

Trouble is I'd hazard a guess that none of the three is in fact the truth. I'm not impressed and because I know where the Bicycle Kid lives, let his folks know. I wouldn't have been bothered if it had been anyone else but this one has history..... also suspect there is some level of responsibility for some cherry knocking that's been going on recently. A neighbour was telling me the other day if he catches the bugger at it he's tempted to slap the little bugger. While I don't see it as a likely scenario, it is reassuring that it ain't just me!

As with Ken I take the opportunity to watch 'This Life +10', it's alright and doesn't piss all over the original series, which to be honest is a relief. Wash it down with a bottle of Young's Special London Ale, which kinda seems appropriate given the TV and footie result.

Quick blink of the late days news and relax with a quick blog.......

Mr Grump Cheers Up

Laurence makes me howl with laughter with his latest Ouch! outing 'And did those wheels...', 'after the previous grumpy rant it's what I need. I'm also trying to avoid checking out the result against Porto lest I jinx the result. Monst has me cleaning the bathrooms which helps with the latter. Tonight I am appearing as Mr Bleach.

Wet, Wild and Glasgae

How do you cheer up a shopping trip to Glasgow? Easy, discover a three - nil win against Spurs. This discovered while waiting outside a heaving Boots cheered Cal and myself up mightily. To be honest though the shopping trip really wasn't that painful. One Denby dinner service later and a fine set of pans and things are sorted. That's before the quest for red coat for Callum. No joy because of the boy's insistence on red, despite Monst finding something that was good in grey. Glasgow was heaving as the big Chrimbo shopathon rumbles into life.

Then we go to see 'Happy Feet'. Cal enjoyed it so that was fine. Not certain it had the biggest plot on the planet but the animation was mightily impressive.

I escape CSI and head to the pub for a pint. Discover it's karaoke night and not wishing to reprise the 'Blockbuster' experience, I flee the pub and return to the dog end of CSI - deep joy!

Catch Up: Again

Friday

I wake at a completely stoopid time, on the plus side I miss 2 hours of the cricket as a result, I also get lots of stuff done. The downside is I'm knackered and the cricket is not good, dunno why I'm suprised. Get into work and move from my desk to Christina's former desk. Involves some moving of PCs and Tracy arrives in time to help with this. The whole 800 innovations thing preys on my mind, the strange things that happen with hardware baffle me only to be sorted after the odd bit of swearing.

Meeting with Frank from the HIS as they aim to flog their web services to the PCT and other NHS organisations locally. We may benefit from it in they may supply bits and pieces that make life easier. Need to chat with Stevie P. Nice to see people at Arthouse.

Saturday

Sleep visits me nicely and I wake around six'ish, early enough to learn that the cricket continues to be bad. Early enough to sort stuff and catch up bits and pieces. Cal and Monst plan on a trip to see the Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, we go via the barbers where Cal and I get scalped. Drop the folks off at Edge Lane following a pleasant lunch. Then back to Sainsbury's via shite traffic that prevents me getting stuff I need to do. Meet Gareth J. the younger, nice to see him, haven't bumped into him in ages and he's one of the PCTs good guys.

Lose my keys again, find them having dropped Monst at work. Once again Arsenal fail at Bolton (expect a call from Jean about it at some point).

Still behind on the 800 innovations thing.

Reasons to Be Cheerful!

No time, early start tomorrow means early bed tonight. Request comes in for 800 Medical and Social Care firsts from Liverpool from Public Health, so 800 Liverpool Innovations in Health and Social Care is born! Call on some fave people for help! Only another 795 to find still!

Meanwhile it was nervy for a fair while but 3-1 to the Arsenal - them boys have reminded themselves where the net is!

Jacobite at Heart

Start closing in on the ton of e-books catalogued. Easiest way to look at them is with the quick clicks in Liberty. Not perhaps the best way to spend your wedding anniversary but I get a perverse sense of achievement out of it. Poor Monst is still hobbled by bad knee. We fetch a variety of store catalogues for her to plan her Chrimbo assault on the shops, but other than that do very little.

The Wintersmith is good. Read it, cookfor the folks and later find myself pissed in charge of a Library Management System! The White Horse Bitter, Wychcraft and the fact I'm knackered are to blame. Ears listen to Nikki Sudden. Tis good stuff, that'll be him on the left there by the way!

Arsenal draw Liverpool in the Carling Cup, hmm... methinks a ticket may be required. Need to check the date.

Quick blimp

Quick blimp about events last night. Bizarre red card. Reminds me that it is not only the referee that needs his eyes testing, a ball bounces vaguely near the chest and everyone is baying for a handball decision. Cal enjoyed it, was a bit worried by the noise but generally cool.

A young side last night playing, the movement and passing was crisp but they did lack a cutting edge. Key thing for me was they faced a virtually full strength Everton and coped well with it. Traore was impressive at the back and I hadn't realised he was so young. The future's bright and last night was in yellow!

Ooops, Beer of the Pathway!

Friday

Say a fond farewell to Dave who comes in to produce another issue of Vanity Project on the Photocopier. Good to see him, good to hear the new job begins in the smoke on Monday. Positive vibes that direction. Helen comes into see us. Strangest event is writing an appendix for an independent inquiry that I wasn't expecting to write. Other news is FUBAR NHS strikes again as late in the day I get a visit from someone wanting to brush their skills up in anticipation of the need to look for gainful employment elsewhere. Fine and dandy but the person concerned will be a loss to the Trust, again we lose good people as a result of reform and not because we should lose them but because they are being frustrated and their talents aren't being utilised.

Home and I get sent out for ginger and come across some bottles of White Horse Bitter from the White Horse Brewery. Grab a couple of bottles of a taste from home. How times have advanced when you can find real beer from home up Norf!

Saturday

Dates to me are things that appear magically on a page, or I read but don't pay a huge amount of attention to when I dust off the history books but not today. Today is the 4th November and I'm on a mission. Today is the day to buy the tickets for Cal's first foray into footie. A quick online sesh shows me I'm up too early for Everton but later in the morning (about one coffee into the day with thoughts of brewing another rattling round my head) and the site is ready to do business. Result we have tickets for the Everton v Arsenal Carling Cup game on Wednesday. Callum is suitably excited!

News from Scotland is that Margaret has unfortunately died this morning. Although not unexpected it ain't exactly good news.

Other than this the day just cruises by with a shop at Sainsury's the viewing of various bits of recorded programs, some light reading and Monst drafting a letter to a school on behalf of the boy. I just tidy it up a little but the content is Monst's.

Mental Images

I've never been to the Madejski Stadium (I have been past it though) so in my head as I listened to the 4-0 drubbing of Reading today, I see Elm Park (the place I saw my fist pro match, back in the days when Reading weren't Royals but were Biscuitmen). I know this is stoopid but there you have it I am. Some time I'll have to go inside the Madejski but I'm quite content with my current mental image, OK the ground was far from posh but it lives in my head. Mind you I have the same problem with the Emirates right now, my mental image remains Highbury, daft or what!

Day has been dull, scoot Cal's duffle coat to the cleaners. Cook - the advantage of being on my tod is I cook properly, have time to cook so I'm eating small portions of meat and large portions of veg. Good stuff, baked spuds for lunch with prawns, pork pad thai for dinner. I even reach for the 'Two Fat Ladies' cookbook and bake their evil choc cake for a weeks worth of nice pud (it's incredibly rich and needs to be eaten in small portions).

News comes from India. They've celebrated Diwali with fireworks, Cal has been riding a camel by himself (Monst got off hers apparently having hit the panic button). A rug has been bought along with some silver jewellry. They had a vegetarian meal (I'd loved to have been a fly on the wall for that one) but by and large the food has been good. A good train journy by the sound of it too.

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Life Through One Speaker

Young & Sexy's 'Life Through One Speaker' provides a soundtrack to the afternoon session of I've been a lazy bastard and forgotten my best source of international health news and very sweet it is too. Spend bits of afternoon chasing Jimmy the Hoover as Monst drags Cal off to see Megan and then post a quick meal of beans on toast away to see Aaron.

Washing is hung, Arsenal are 2-0 up playing the Hornets of Watford, poor old Elton must be depressed - good! Just kickback and relax for a bit.

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