Dullsville UK

Sasha Day Welcome to the world of high finance as I finalise the dosh for the button badges. It involves a trip to Woolton where I enter the the office of the Postmaster General and apply for a postal order. This comes into play on Sunday - but more of that later. While there I also retrieve food for the day from Sainsbury's. The plan is to marinade some chicken to manufacture some chicken tikka.

Home, chop the chicken, fling it into a delicate blend of yoghurt and spices and introduce it to the fridge. All in time to take Monst to the No Mercy where I escape to Smiths and grab 'The Damned United'.

Then fall asleep in front of the cup final. Chelski and Manure were that dull. Drag Monst to work and sleep.

Sunday Polly

Bicycles, news, sleep. Helen comes round. Post badge dosh. Avoid the BAFTAs.

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.

Love is an Enigma

Cruise through 'A dysfunctional success' in a day. A cracking little read. Also cruise my way through the excellent sounds sent from home.

Chat to the folks in Norway via Skype. Weird webcam action going on with them. Spacey psychedelic lighting swooshes as the cam was whirled around and the family sitting down in a manner that had me looking for Perry Como in some dodgy cardigan. I don't plug in a web cam here, just as well I don't make a pretty picture. Spooky Cobra action.

Much needed sleep comes my way in the afternoon, post food. of course I'm regretting it now because I am awake, when sleep is the sensible option. Still less hassles with Boxing Day so can chill tomorrow on what will unoubtedly be a Brookmyre day.

Hello Hefner

So Chrimble hits, I lack sleep, Cal has his Christmas party at school and we play bizarre games that he has been given one of which is fine.

Cook a shite meal from Marks and Spencers which is deemed to be nice by me, at least in its box.

Monst wraps. Cal steals my bath.

Trains, Boxes and Wickets

Thursday

Budget meeting with Emma our new finance person, tutored by Eilleen our old finance person. Apparently we're quite simple to deal with. This is good it means over a companionable cup of char I flog the library to Emma. Usual story, didn't realise we are here and what we can do for the young studying finance person. Of course it ain't the first time we've told them and probably won't be the last. Marketing, eh! It's like banging your head against a brick wall but without the sense that you can get relief by stopping it!

Lunch is taken at the Marina in celebration of Christmas, Solstice take yer pick. OK devastating confession time, I'm missing the ability to be grumpy about Christmas, there hasn't been a Christmas outbreak at work yet. Is this lack of Sally and Christina providing Christmas critical mass for me to be grumpy about. Anyway the meal was pleasant, good comapny apart from me helps. Gonna nick the idea of the beetroot and feta tartlet at some point because it was good.

Home and Monst is suffering in tems of not feeling well, the result is two meals to cook. I then promptly fall asleep in the living room and when I wake get told I've been snoring like a pig and head upstairs at about 8.30 'ish, there are fringe benefits to this.

Friday

The benefits prove to be a rediculously early rise which lets me get the news done, sort out the blog that feeds Talkr to generate the podcast which I haven't talked about here yet. Finally found a service that automates the creation of podcasts that will work at work as well as home. The notion is that busy NHS managers might like to have our news current awareness service read at them. So a robotic American voice now does this. Don't know if anyone'll use it but what the hell it's a couple of rigid digits waved as usual! The automation is critical, my read it yourself experiment was too time consuming for repetition, this is at least simple to cope with. Anyway the feed address for it is http://www.talkr.com/app/cast_pods.app?feed_id=24421 so bung that in yer aggregator if you dare!

A more dubious benefit is the ability to listen to the cricket. Yesterday England had a good day, a reason for jubilation all round, today it is a bad day, the whole thing is fairly typical and only to be expected. Right now miss Dave being about the place to grumble about this state of affiars with. Cricket over Christmas won't be the same in the library without him about too.

A return to the Blackhole of Gateway House, which I discover from one of the boxes I'm listing is also alarmingly referred to as the Dead Room. Not found any stiffs yet... but still looking. Fondly hoping it'll turn into an episode of Inspector Moose! Getting used to the commute to the Land of Manc, train, coffee, scrabbling around on gruby floors recording records that nobody cares about (or so I think but I witness some being used today!) The Good news is I'll be almost sorted by the end of today apart form the odd box and the loose files. Ask Tracy to book me tickets for next week where I have the luxury of an empty diary (a reason to be thankful for Soltice season?)

Recharge time comes and I hit the web cafe at the Merchants Hotel for the purposes of this posting. Machines are empty, requires a buzz to get in and I'm not certain I'd want to spend the night here but for web access at £150 an hour it'll do.

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Dreams of Boxes

Friday

Back in the black hole of gateway house. Nuthin' better than a day recording and shifting boxes of crap - apart from doing absolutely anything else. Start reusing the discarded boxes from previous visits. Faced with lots of tiny boxes. Still do a rack of the fuckers - they get their revenge by visiting me in a dream while I was meant to be enjoying a peaceful sleep last night. Not the best nights kip!

Boxcar Willies

I'm up before dawn,Cal and I have an early start and need to be at South Parkway for 6.00 or so the train timetable tells me. It lies, shoulda been 6.27, lucky for us because in the haste to get Cal dressed I forgot his specs, we have time to return home, disturb poor Monst's kip, fetch the glasses and get back in time to catch the train. Unfortunaately the train due to be at Lime Street isn't, it has left (stopping no doubt at South Parkway as it head Brum bound - curse you Network Rail!). We get drinks, a mag for Cal which comes complete with grab arm pistol (my how we laugh as he uses it to grab my nose - fingers etc.)

Due to change at Stafford we get a top tip from our lovely conductress, stay on till Wolverhampton and change there onto the Reading train. Straight to Didcot, no need to change at Oxford. Cool advise that we are currently following. Nearly in Wolverhampton now......

The Switch

A day in which I want to turn over and kip following as bad a nights kip as I predicted. Instead I wake and muttering dark things head into work after Cal leaves for school. Catch up on a few things, order train tickets to head home on Saturday. I'm kinda pissed off with the motorway network so look forward to stretching out and relaxing with a book as we travel. Fail to pick up the tickets from the Fast Ticket machine because I've obviously written the code down wrong. Try again tomorrow.

Home via the Ying Wah because Monst is away to work tonight. Agree that they will sort themselves out with food tomorrow for Beaver night tomorrow.

Interesting work comes in about Stakeholder Management, seems like the people doing it for their course are breaking the back of a problem elsewhere in the PCT. Good folk they are too.

Asleep in the Deep

Sunday and Monst calls and wakes me beyond the time I'd intended to sleep to which then meant it was a case of out of bed and straight to Faz. The boy is far from impressed at being woken from his slumbers too! Still we do our job and pic Monst up. Feed on porridge, wait for an hour and head for a swim at Garston. Cal don't muck about, straight up the slide they have. He gets a little bored after a while and joins me swimming. His swimming is getting stronger and he does two lengths, the first time I've seen him venture into the deep end of the pool. I'm impressed.

Lunch and chill for the afternoon having added some of the missing link pieces fetched from Morrisons to the marinade for the Moroccan Lamb I am cooking for tonights dinner. Monst wakes and drags Cal off to see Megan and I roast peppers and listen to 6 Music at a volume that I wouldn't if anyone else was in the house. The lamb works well as I slow down the grilling but the cous cous I mess up. Still you live and learn.....

Catch Up

Friday

Get pissed off, get it off my chest, get more pissed off as a result of the response to my response to being pissed off and don't sleep. Not good and stoopidity on my part. Printout the stuff that Jo sends me for Monday.

Saturday

Sleep, wake, eat, sleep, get pissed off. By now I'm knackered and stoopid. Begin reading the Runner

Sunday

Aaaargh! Oversleep as a result of being awake on Satuday when I should have been asleep, asleep when I should have been awake. Run round the house tidying, split the pair of trousers I'm wearing, get a replacement pair sorted and then run around tidying up. Shove on food and clock watch, head to the airport. Fetch 'Ice Age 2' and a 'Scooby Doo' for the boy as requested by phone from London.

Arrive at the airport ten minutes before landing time and whaddya know the flight is delayed, grab a nice coffee. Pick up the folks, who I miss as they come through the departure gate because my nose is in a book. What do you expect, I'm a Librarian! Poor Monst is shattered , bring her up to speed on Margaret and agree she'll head Norf on Tuesday, she then repairs to bed pretty fast and Cal watches the Scooby Doo.

I'm now getting scared because I'm facilitating tomorrow. Read through my stuff, kindly provided by Jo.

Monday

This is the big one, proper. All prepared last night, things that needed flattening are flattened, head into Reggie early, do a warm up search. Head to Lace and it's the Big Health Debate. Fetch me a coffee, sort out my table, mill around enjoying light gossip and psych myself up. Its an event I've been looking forward too because I've not seen deliberative research in action and its high on the involvement of real people as opposed to time served folks looking to have a crack at the local NHS.

My table is made up of NHS and Stakeholder folk. Nice bunch, the conversation flows. Jo sees me right for coffee. The day flies, in addition to taking notes on the laptop, keeping the debate going when times are flagging we're bootlegging the event too so there are tapes to change. Lunch is a nice break, the afternnon I dunno where that went (do know Tracy contacts me with Liberty problems). End of the day I'm shattered. A bunch of us head to the Brookhouse to unwind with a drink. Very staid and controlled, single pint, chat, unwind. Then the orders from home come for a halloween costume for the boy and a meal from the Ying Wah.

Werewolf or Vampire are the only choices left, these are deemed too scary by the boy. Home, feed the family. Bed!

Tuesday

OK I'm convinced that Tuesday is Monday, because Monday is out of sync. Plan on working from home but my switch everything off and start again strategy for Liberty didn't work. Try sorting it from home and it don't work. Need to be in to have access to phone numbers etc. Also need to drop Monst at the station for her dash up Norf. Also need to nip into Sainsbury's because Cal needs a costume now for Beavers and has selected the vampire option.

Call Stevie P., prime him about what the score is. Contact Softlink and between Steve, Tracy, Chas and myself we kind of begin to get to the bottom of things. Fit in a meeting I've forgotten for C&M Librarians We've corrupted our borrowers (not as fun as it could have been I'm afraid). The worst is I have to leave at chinese dentist in order to be home to meet Cal from school. Then dash him to the opticians for 4.30.

Eat, somebody calls to cancel Beavers so the vampire kit is not required. We feed trick or treaters but as its raining things aren't too bad. Cal is good and helps himself to a relaxing bath and heads to bed. I meanwhile have hassles with my web connection and end up resorting to vegging in front of the TV and chatting to Monst on the phone.

Wednesday

Up early, still no web connection which is a pain in the arse. Can't sleep (this is 4.30) catch up with some reading and stuff.

The boy wakes, feed him, get him ready for school and packed off, into work. Borrowers get sorted - we lose lots of records. Still suffer from slow net connections. Chat to various people including Stevie P., Chas, Ingrid (who tells me the Wirral is a county as far as NHS Athens is concerned!) Sort bits, fail to sort other bits, bag a job explaining FoI risk for an external body on the basis of people we know as a favour to Pauline. Its a fair call though and not a problem.

Reach for the Fredo's, chocolate frogs for the masses. Tracy's sorted the non-Eric the milk. Starts a bit of a run of good news, so positive vibes Nicola's way.

A dashed summary I'm off to watch the footie. Allez les rouges!

Bleah!

Phone Nicola last night as I head for the train, night (it was nigh on four'sh having run out of battery again I gave up for the day having listed a fifth of the current archive I'm on, thrown out two wheelie bins of records and reached a stage of general grubiness). I call less because I have to, more because I need to speak to one of the good guys. Highlight of my day was a visit from Jean and Peter who were in the building. Rest of the day was crap, cramped and dirty and I get to repeat it again today - lucky me! The advantage of me doing it is it gets done:

• Strictly by the retention schedules laid out in the code of practice
• It gets it done

The disadvantages

• I don't know the organisations concerned so might be flinging valuable stuff without realising it
• I don't know if I'm only listing the organisation I'm dealing with's stuff, I could be listing material belonging to other organisations and flinging their stuff away!

All of this is in Gateway House a place that makes Hammy House at its worst look positively palatial! A 60s office block at Picadilly it is filled with endless manky stud walls and little and large offices. A return to mid-80s NHS land!

Get home last night, manufacture a chilli and watch a couple of recorded episodes of Scrubs before bath, wine, bed. Fail to blog hence the early morning entry this morning before I head off to the train. Yesterday decided to leave from the new Liverpool South Parkway (Tracy they've given me open tickets from all Liverpool Stations and no invoice btw), very plush, good parking (I figure I won't want to be trogging through rain on return to Liverpool - how right that was!). Very bizarre topiary golf thing going on which I presume was there from the Open's visit to the Wirral .

Contact Monst about the Margaret scene and begin the process of working out travel for her up to Scotland. Not good but has to be done.

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Big Smash!

Wreckless Eric plays to me as I try and work out if sleep is gonna visit me soon or not (I just love the pop art cover). Usual Sunday night then, view Laurence on 'I'm With Stupid', sup Riggwelter and enjoy a desultory read of 'Blitzkrieg' and I'm relaxed. Nice.....

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Film of the Bungy Jump

Through the wonders of You Tube here comes the film of the Auckland Bungy Jump

Right now my head is still marginally wrecked by the dreaded jetlag as I try and sort the technorati tags for the posts wile I've been away. On the jetlag front we got back on what I was convinced was Wednesday (turns out it was Wednesday, Friday therefore was naturally Thursday it was only the marginal increase in crap sitcoms on TV that alerted me to the fact it was in fact Friday). Slept most of yesterday afternoon and again from about 8.00. Woke at 3.00 this morning, frantically trying to stay awake today to try and reach some level of normality. Meanwhile poor Monst returns to work tonight

Yesterday we ordered prints from a CD we'd burnt at Boots at the No Mercy, followed that with a lunch of Pizza at the Pizza Hut and I went to the Ying Wah when I surfaced from my afternoons kip. Other than that Flickr photo's, just Monsts to go. Returned to the No Mercy to fetch photies and in search of this years Arsenal kit for the boy for PE purposes. Success on the former not on the latter. Monst will sort in the week.

Technorati Tags: Bungy Jump, You Tube, Auckland Harbour Bridge, Jetlag, Tagging, No Mercy Retail Park, Sleep, Blogging

No Sleep 'Til Halewood

No Mercy and the trip round the furniture stores. Results in a new dining table and chairs being ordered from a geezer called Wayne who seems to me to be a bit like Swiss Toni. However this happens in Harvey's in the interim we've waled the perimiter, been into every furniture/clothes store. My rewards are trips to Smiths and Borders, lucky me! In both I conspicuously try not to buy anything and immerse myself in Charlie George's autobiography the cunningly titled 'My Story'. I can see me buying it eventually. It reads easily and I enjoy the few chapters I get through. Pizza for food at Cal's request, makes my life easier then home. Wrestle with some RSS stuff for this training session. Then want sleep. Blog first, catch up with Ken and laugh at the Rabbit based antics. Find myself wondering how Sally got on in the smoke. Technorati Tags: No Mercy Retail Park, Furnture, Dining Table, Charlie George, Pizza, Rabbit, Sleep

Knackered

Knackered. Thanks to Sally for the help with the ILM people. Thanks to Jim for the support and thanks to the bed that I'm gonna collapse in. Good to see Mo, share some woes. FoI still driving me nuts. Brief Jim on latest events. Apologies for telegraphic post I need kip. Technorati Tags: Insane Lack of Sleep; Work; FoI

Pouring Over You Is The News of the Day

MP3s are tamed. Job tomorrow is to transfer them to the Notpod. Now to attempt to sleep. Closing song for the night is a Robyn Hitchcock cover of the Furs' 'The Ghost In You'. Technorati Tags: Insane Lack of Sleep; MP3s; Righteous Sounds

It's never over, it's a simple mistake that anyone could have made

The hazards of IP phones, whole system crash and not only can we not communicate because the network links and e-mail are dead but the phone's are too. The catalogue is out of reach etc. Sods law plays out as Nicola and Sally call it a day because we've run out of non-PC related things to do and virtually as soon as they are out the door things come back to life. For me less of an issue because I'm still stuck in the land of redaction and I have offline copies of all I need to redact. I have though about reached the end of my tether with the stuff.....

4.46 Finished. Burnt a rough version of it all for Ray and need to tidy it tomorrow but it's done. Relief, blessed relief.

Place my head in some Goldrush and peace decends on my soul.

Other news, the Post Room aka dumping ground is really becoming a post room which buggers my plans for annexing it.

Home and it's tidy up for the tutor night. Deep Joy. Tomorrow the FoI tidy up begins....

Technorati Tags: Goldrush; FoI; Music ; SEP

Crying Wolf

No not Wolf from the Prime Movers and Solarflares but child screaming for attention. Cal fell asleep before I took Monst to work, woke up on return from Faz and as a result he is well grumpy now. He's been woken up mid-sleep and he's letting me know it. As ever he wants the parent who ain't about at the time. If I'm at work he wants me, if Monst is at work I just get screams for Mummy. The advantage of being a father though is I can be nasty about all this and let him get on with it. Terry Jones at the moment running through the hidden history of Rome. Now I don't usually do ancient history, but Terry Jones as a python is funny and having seen his stuff on the Crusades on UK History recently, he don't do a bad job on history. Poverty and the Roman Empire, sounds like they need a decent bit of public health and a dose of equity. Nice bit of keeping up with the Jones' knocking about in Rome too.

Sleep?

Can't sleep, sorted out a shirt just waiting for a reasonable time before going to work. Will do a dermatology web primer before I go.