The Scream

News goes at last. Still having a few problems on that score. Begins a day of bitching around with computers, screaming at screens that go unexpectedly blank. Have trouble exporting a MARC file that I want to import to save me some sort of effort. On the plus side I deal with a few ILL related queries.

Payroll call, they wanna sort Helen's post on the ESR which 'is the World Class, national, integrated Human Resources (HR) and Payroll system which will be used by all 600+ NHS organisations throughout England and Wales' apparently and is the successor to Delphi, a system we can live happily without. Naturally though, we are doing our very best to fuck it up of course. Not all posts that existed on Delphi have been transfered to ESR, so if a post was vacant at the time of transfer it has been lost. Not that they told us this. So it means that the post that Helen is due to start in on the 2nd currently doesn't exist and will need to be created. Is the person that can send me the correct forms in today, no, have they rolled out effective ESR training, no so when I get the form they will have to talk me through filling it in. This is important because without she won't get paid.

Chomp the last of the Goose soup for lunch. Good stuff.

New Blogger marginally irritates me with a 200 character limit on its labels. Suspect though that is because I'm turning into a sad old cataloguer.

Kitchen Bondage Part III

The food is under control, I've threatened some sausages with bacon, manufactured chestnut stuffing and pork and sage and onion. The carrots and sprouts have met Mack the Knife and I'm now waiting on the timer to tell me it's time to shove them on. Unspeakable acts of desecration have also been performed on the backside of the goose to ensure the thing comes out moist and good. At least I hope it will.

The plus side of all of this is that I have time, I tune into 6 Music (which as ever offers an eclectic mix of sounds which is all to the good), grab a bath, read a goodly portion of 'A dysfunctional success' and raise a couple of glasses of pre-dinner sherry in the memory of my maybe Fanny Craddock piss-taking Grandfather. It all has to be done. It's the rules. Also sup a bottle of Waggle Dance.

Monst meanwhile takes a well earned kip having witnessed the boy open his presents. He meanwhile soothes his inner dragon with Spyro on the playstation. Me though, I wanna kip but need to keep going at least until after we eat.

Farewell James Brown, really don't know how I've resisted some mash-up of Sex Machine and 'The Fear of Fanny' from last night as a title..... be grateful I have though!

Kitchen Bondage Part II

Remains of Crimble Eve

OK so after Alan and Nikki (Nicci? Nicky?) head off to their Crimble retreat to Kendal and after Cal heads to bed I begin the big wrap. It actually goes better than expected helped along by the delights of Fanny Craddock preparing for Christmas (it has kitsch irony value and I'm sure that I have memories of dodgy innuendo from my Grandfather about Fanny and Johnnie) followed by the excellent 'Fear of Fanny'. I also kinda enjoy the incongruity of watching the 'World at War' as I do the last of the wrapping I'm doing for the day. By 11:30 I'm knackered and can't face any more and head to bed.

Things to remember, the Moseley book I'm reading has more irony in it than it knows.

Crimble Day

Still have Monst's pressies to wrap and the last of Cal's. Rise at 5.00 to complete it before the boy is up. Build the Scalextric rather than wrap it. Impressed that it goes together simply. Ring Monst and let her know all is ready (I lie, I haven't given the cooking schedule a thought) and begin to look forward to the rest of the day. Beer is cold for later, wine is chilled so all is fine. Just need to make a coffee, keep Cal upstairs when he wakes until Monst arrives home from work. The plus side is that the hospital are providing taxis so I don't need to dash up there.

So I now work out that the goose will take 4 hours to cook and I prepare to shove things up it's backside and use the Cradock advice to pretend it's someone I dislike as I prick it. See yesterday's wrapping viewing has come in useful! So all I need now is an eating time from Monst to work with.

To look forward to later, 'A Dysfunctional Success' and 'A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil' a book advertised with the quote from Time Out as 'The kind of thing Agatha Christie might have written if she'd have been off her tits on manky crack' - a good enough recommendation for me! Some music (Simple Kid II and Ole Tarantula) and the surprises from Monst.