Sunshine!

Wow! It is sunny and warm in BS5 today - warm enough to stroll out shortly without a coat on for the first time this year. I think I will enjoy it while I can as the rain and cold of winter 2008 will probably start by Monday.

My friend Suburbia had the same positive thoughts for the summer too. That's British Summer Time for you.

This pic' for this post is a dhow on the Feeder Canal just near me, plying its trade as generations have done for centuries. Honest.

Max Data Parfum

This is the little bag with my purchase from Selfridges yesterday. It's a little bit camp and I felt a bit like Lionel Blair prancing down the street with it. Anyhow, the buying experience was quite a laugh; the counter was staffed by the gayest man in England but he knew his stuff and was faultlessly polite and helpful, sensing (correctly) that I knew Feck all about parfum and some lass called Max Mara. I'd quite like to keep the bag as I like its yellowiness but in the post it goes...(won't send the CHiPs mouse mat though!)

Top building stuff

On one of three dog walks today (see post below) I had a gander at this top new bridge in the field behind my folks' house. You can't go wrong with a bridge. I crossed it both ways to check it out.

I am late back today having been at the folks' house until 9. As a consequence I will hit Stupid Hour in Sainsbury's when all the eeeeeeejits and aisle-hoggers fuck about doing their groceries with brains, manners and common sense in neutral. It is far more efficient and civilised at half past eight.

Pheasant Plucker

Well then, I had my jolly Friday afternoon in The Bullring and as posted, I traipsed around all 4 floors of Selfridges as well as Zara, the Apple store (cool) several jewellers, book stores and clothing stores. Much inspiration for work. Also bought some perfume (not for me, clearly). There were masses of Chinese people about the place including a chick called Woong who I met in Starbucks.

Spent Friday night at the folks' house and went for a pint - as ever when I am in a three piece suit someone in the pub asked me if I was a barrister. This developed into a pleasant enough chat and 4 Guinesses all told. My folks' local is chocca with late thirty-something middle class tottie.

Spent my mornig walking two dogs three times - and very happy little hooligans they were too, though the black dog bagged a pheasant yesterday which we had to subsequently see off with a spade - poor little bugger.

Greg (who owns both dogs) is back from Jamaica soon - and into Terminal 5. Oh dear!

Nishy

I have to use my initiative today! I am off into the Bullring in Birmingham (021 country) later to have a gander at other retailers and the way they price china and glassware on tables and shelves. My friend Gigi called this morning (from Galway) to say she was okay for Clarins stuff but I could surprise her with a small gift of something else (I had offered). I am a bloke; this is a tricky task. I don't think she would appreciate a cool new maglite torch or new gadget of some sort.

No complaints here, this is a nice task for a Friday. And I don't need to go anywhere near the chaos of Terminal 5!

Declared at 93

Wow, I thought Richard Widmark had checked out and left the lobby ages ago but he was still about and clocked up a 93. Cool. If you haven't seen this man on screen, you didn't watch TV in the 20th century! I think he played so many different people there will be confusion and cross checking of lists when he gets to the gates. Looks cool enough in big specs too.

French lessons.

Although your man Sarkozy has bagged a top bit of French tottie, the French State visit to Britain would have been far more entertaining had Segolene Royal won the race for President. Political depth aside, she's a bit of a fox. Segolene and Sam are making for a political catwalk here in the posts of BS5. I am so glad I spent three years working hard for my degree in politics.

China Station

My brother in China (not Jamaica) sent me this pic a few days ago and I meant to write about it the. This is a train that he saw in Shanghai where he lives (I am not sure if it was the train he caught or one that he happened to snap, knowing I would like it).

This train is apparently called The Noodle Express but I think my brother maybe having me on about that.

Safe in the arms of...

I have just had the best night's sleep in aaaaaaaaaaaaages! I went to bed at about ten and noticed my alarm clock was a little slow so I set the one in my head which is faultless and worked; I woke at half five and dozed another 30 mins. Anyhow - top kip and feel good today. I was on my jack, alas but it was a great snooze nevertheless!

Off to work now to do some recrutiment support for two of our stores and to measure some floor space and staff costs for another one.

I wonder what Greg and his gang are up to in Jamaica today?

Friday Shopping trip.

Back to work today and not the most productive day but some good stuff done. I was rather flattered that Suburbia took a mo’ to comment on my Blog during a rushed hour home from her work at lunchtime. Cool! My friend Walshy pointed out that using the phrase ‘back to school’ in a post will make readers think I am about 12; that will certainly vex them when they read about pints of Guinness in The Rhubarb in earlier posts and chatting up a married woman (unknowingly, I have to say). Catching up with Walshy was a very good part of my day.

Plans: this Friday I am spending a few hours on my jack at The Bullring in Birmingham. Our company is not particularly special at pricing items on tables and glass shelves so I am wandering about looking at retailers whom I know to be very good at that sort of thing. I thought there was a John Lewis at the Bullring but it is in fact a Selfridges. I looked at the list of brands they have and I had heard of about three. I thought Cath Kidson was a country and western singer with a hat. Anyhow, I have a few hours to wander about on my own and without having to talk to anyone or consider anyone's time, and looking at pricing, adjacencies, SELs and merchandising in Selfridges, Zara, Hobbs, Debenhams, The Apple Store and H&M. I will do this with complete concentration and focus – every woman in the office wanted to come along and help out! My Ops Director (a nice woman) said I was not to do any sneaky shopping. As if! Well, I might sneak a gander at an I-phone.

Back to School.

I had a blast of a 4 day weekend but ho hum it's back to school today. It is a short week, though, and that's okay by me.

This week I have one brother in Shanghai and one in Jamaica. Their little brother (me) will get as far as Birmingham. That's a poor deal.

Bright and sunny here and Clarke (my shark) is beaming and looking out of the window. He is not looking out of the window you can see here, that's a shot from last July when I took him along on holiday.

Sundance smoker.

The BBC is using the attached pic' to illustrate the current news item encouraging the removal of smokes from shelving in convenience stores; out of sight out of mind, I suppose.

No particular view either way from BS5 but what did catch my attention is the fact that Robert Redford is the dude behind the counter. Maybe he has lucked out on films, or maybe no one signed up for his Sundance festival?

20 Lammie Bammies, please Bob.

HBTY (II)

March is a month for brotherly birthdays.

Dave is 38 today. Old indeed but at least it still starts with a thirty unlike poor old Greg!

We are all two years apart so Greg is now 40, Dave 38 and I get in to Platform 36 in about 6 weeks.

Dave: HBTY and thanks for the recipe tips - gree worms worked a treat and I also lobbed in extra shells.

Reporting in...

Easter day - Church fine and happy

The Swan - All fine and delightful - Guinness unbelievable!

Jambalaya - On the money, easy and successful; none left to post to Suburbia!

Over and out.

New Orleans, Miami . L.A and BS5

I am going to have a go at cooking Jambalaya, or a near equivalent. I have most of the things in the fridge and it will be an enjoyable hoovering up of bits and pieces. I can't really get my head around putting rice right into the main pan, rather than cooking it in a separate pot in the conventional way. We shall see! Rick Stein made it look dead easy the other week so I will have a try.

Decent Sunday so far but the F1 was a bit of a bummer for Lewis H; still worth hopping out of bed at 7 to catch it, though.

Easter Sunday today so church will be quite jolly, I suspect. Looked in last night and was (happily) press ganged into changing a load of light bulbs.

Oh yes, I bought and watched 'Bobby' a film about the various goings on of different sets of people in the hotel (and the scene of) Bobby Kennedy's assassination on the evening it happened in 1968. Cool to see Martin Sheen not being Presidential in a movie about a potential President.

My brother flies to Miami today and from there to Jamaica!

Did you make her?

Whilst my brother's dogs spend a week with our folks, this is where my bro' is going on holiday with 4 of his school friends (they are all 40 this year) and their wives.

Top Caribbean loafing!

Bogof Dogof.

What a fabulously idle day! I have stayed in bed until a quarter to nine - that's a three hour lie in. And the best thing is, it's only Saturday after a top day off yesterday and a few more yet to come. A weekend of potential!

Now then, yesterday I was up in Goodrich (near Ross on Wye) to see the folks for a few hours and to meet my brother and his new dog which he has had for a week. He has acquired the dog having taken him in after his owner passed on. His owner was a chap my brother used to meet often on dog walks, and taking the hound on seemed the right thing to do.The two dogs are with my folks for a week.

Really cold here in BS5 today with a biting wind so I think I will get back into bed and have a cup of tea.

Tall Order

You can't go wrong getting up early on a day off to actively not go to work and do something else with the morning instead!

I bounced out of bed at 6.15 after a curious evening in The Rhubarb. It was a Thursday with no school to follow but it was different from a Friday. The pub was of two camps, firstly a large gathering of folks who had been to a funeral, and secondly a gang of de-mob happy folk who had finished work. The two merged, the juke box came on at a respectful volume and a good evening was had. A very light couple of pints and off home for me after a good natter with Trev' and Cas. I felt very tall because there were quite a lot of shorter folk about the place. This was confirmed when some bloke said 'Ark at Ee, ee's gert masive, mind' Indeed.

I am really looking forward to seeing my brother later today and I am excited about meeting his new dog, a very bouncy black Labrador. I think Greg will be bouncier and more excited than the dog as he is off to the Caribbean on Sunday.

Eh?

Hurrah! I am back on line after 24 hours with my home connection being out!

Now then, I am a great deal more confused than usual tonight and I am a bit like the bloke on the pic' (but not a see you next Tuesday)

Today in my noggin it is Tuesday because this is my second day of the week, having had a very long weekend last weekend and only having done two days at work thus far. Of course it is really Thursday but in reality that means Friday because I have no school tomorrow thanks to Easter. And then tomorrow I am going to look in at Church for Good Friday larks but that will make it feel like Sunday, when in my head it will in fact only be Wednesday.

I think I will just forget about it until after the weekend - whenever that is.

Strange fish action

I had a really strange dream last night. My brother and I (David this time, not Greg who was 40 yesterday) had to charter a boat and sail over to Ireland and back in time to the 1580s to catch a Coeclacanth. Said beast is a very, very, very ancient fish (been around for 340m years) and in our case it had disappeared from the 21st C and messed up a whole load of time lines so we had to go back to retrieve one but had to do so three times until we came back on the last occasion and everything was straight again. One of the consequences on the second journey was that mobile phones all stopped working and Eisenhower remained US President until the end of the Vietnam War, which Dave and I were involved in politically in the background. And there was something odd about trains not running in Scotland. I have no idea what sort of messed up wiring in my noggin made this dream unfold but it was a bit scary and vivid.

New business direction

This morning before work I have been reading about Frank Lucas who seemed to shift more drugs in America in the late 60s than Glaxo Smithkline. I read about him having watched the film American Gangster last night. It was a top movie and quite stylish too. I wonder if I could make $300,000 inflation-adjusted dollars a day selling illicit products in BS5? I suspect I couldn't really hack it as a drug-lord; Daphne over the road would suss me out and give me a bollocking and that would be it. And drug-lords probably don't listen to Radio 4 all day long.

Anyhow - if you haven't seen the movie it's worth a look at.

Back to work today after two days off, so I have had my 4 day weekend which most people will have this weekend coming. I will take Good Friday off but will work on Monday, I think.

My friend Lummox has left the country and is now on his way back to Malaysia; it was quite a whirlwind for the few days he stayed in BS5.

Sunny as you like here in BS5 this morning and nice and bright.

HBTY!

This is a shout out to my brother Greg who is forty today! Forty? Wow! That's not even thirty something! Irritatingly I have more grey hair than he does and I am but a youthful 35. Anyhow, happy birthday to my brother.

The pic for this post was taken on holiday last July. Greg is the one without the floppy ears.

Here's to the Suburbs.

This is a quick shout to my new blog friend in Suburbia! Her day seems to involve a bucket for some curios reason. Anyhow BS5 wishes her a speedy recovery from a bug she seems to have picked up at the weekend.

Go and have a read at 'Moments From Suburbia'

:-)

St Luke's, St Judes and St Patrick. And Guinness.

A totally top smart Sunday had by all and I actually managed to put some chat into an attractive woman once I had sussed out that having asked me if I was married (no) or had a girlfriend (no), there might be some interest. She was tall and slim and kinda' foxy (and had a chap, which fogged my outlook). I am a complete train-wreck at this sort of caper and have a finely honed skill at missing the signs; a very attractive South African woman once asked me 'what are you doing tonight?' at a St Patrick's do at the Irish Embassy on Grosvenor Place in London - didn't even suss it until two hours later, when I had got home. Eejit.

Anyhow, some chatter and a couple of turns around the floor at The Swan With Two Necks in St Judes. This is our usual Sunday haunt but as no one has school today, we walked down and stayed longer than we usually do, to 7.30 in fact whereupon we headed back home to The Rhubarb. This post makes me sound like a complete Guinness-dependent but other stuff did happen too. Took in an hour or so at church (St Luke's) and took part in a reading with three or four other people. Had the usual weekly conversation with yet another person who thinks I am a vicar in training. We have two trainee vicars in the gang and people assume I am at college with them. Quick chatter with D the V and back home for about 12.

And so today - well, it is St Patrick's day so I am sure the day will involve some beer somewhere down the line, especially as a gang of us have the day off. I also have a chicken to roast and I am going to have it with leeks, broccoli, roast potatoes, sweetcorn and a red wine gravy which I have now perfected after some advice from Trev'. Going to have some Cotes du Rhone too.

The pic' for this post is Trev, Steve and Cas deliberating on a round at the S with two N's yesterday.

Google Blog!

Samantha P has a Google based blog just like me! This is clearly a sign of destiny that foretells of imminent dating action in BS5 (she does keep on asking me out)! Sam Power is 2 years older than me - I do like the older woman!

Right, a quick cup of tea and some crumpets and I am off to Church. I am supposed to be standing in to do a reading but I don't know what it is because the person who was sending it to me has not done so, so if I am still on duty it will be on the hoof more than somewhat (no pun intended given colts/donkeys and the day).

Top no school action!

No School tomorrow! I cannot emphasise how exciting this is! It just makes that slightly guilty pint one has on a Sunday afternoon free from such associations! Is it wrong to be giddy with such excitement at 35 years old? Well, if it is, so be it! This pic' is in fact my school, or at least where it used to be on Stow Hill in Newport, South Wales. This is a set of flats now but I spent many a daft time larking about in this playground playing silly buggers (well, British Bulldogs actually).

Trevor and Cas also have tomorrow off school too.

Rhubarb but no Custard

What a great Saturday afternoon! After morning larks in Clifton, we assembled at The Rhubarb (note to Suburbia: The Rhubarb Tavern is our local pub here in BS5, and the scene of many a tale on this Blog). Lots of rugby and lots of the gang in place - me, Steve, Cas, Trevor, Lummox, Jeff, Scorch, Andy and Katie. The Guinness was on form and the rugby likewise. England won so Gigi owes me dinner though I cut through the bet because I owe her dinner anyway. After the rugby, it was time for fish and chips which I ate with Steve at his house. We drank some wine and Steve kinda had an air guitar moment listening to Jimmy Hendrix.

The pic for this post is the sixth round of eight or nine.

I see my tyre advice to Lewis netted him a fine win.

Oh it's Palm Sunday today and my Vicar gave me a call yesterday to ask if I would assist in a little piece to the congregation. She always asks if it is not too much trouble which it can't really be if one enjoys such stuff - and my Vicar is really rather attractive too!

Someone's buying dinner...

I have wagered dinner out on the outcome of England Ireland this afternoon. Called Gigi and asked - loser buys dinner next time we hook up in Galway or Bristol.

Come on England! I think Greg is watching it at CA's house, but I don't think CA really knows a lot about sport.

Went out for breakfast in Clifton with Lummox and Cas - raining like nobody's business but blart everywhere! There was a particularly annoying girl eating in the gaff and we rather took the piss as she was leaving - much to the shared delight of all the other punters!

Okay - Rhubarb calling!

Fixing stuff

Some time today or tomorrow my mate Spence is going to have a look at my alternator and battery - one of them is a bit dicky. Whilst my trusty Merc' can do the business when given a bit of stick (rarely in my case; I drive like an old woman), Spence and I are going to swap the engine out for the one you can see here. We bought this engine from a bloke in the pub last night. It was a right palaver getting it home but a bargain at ten pounds.

Lewistralian

Lewis rang me from Oz at an unGodly hour to ask me about tyre strategy and to see if I would be good enough to give him a shout here on BlogBS5 (always a pleasure, Lewis). I told him not to mix cross ply and regular tread, and whaddayaknow he aced Pole in Australia. Go on, my son!

This morning I have found a top new House Music page called djnicalvardo.com and it has some pretty bostin' mixes to download. Amazingly for the internet (these days) it does what it says and you can download stuff easily, for free and without being directed to a million other sites. I am downloading a deep and dirty mix as I type. Meanwhile my brother will be excited about Podcasting Jonathon Ross later on and Larging it with Radio 2.

I think my other brother is in Hong Kong this morning, excited about buying crumpets from M&S (a product not available in Shangers, where he lives)

A day of foolishness presents itself with good rugby and that general weekend freedom! I am off for a bath, what with it being wash day.

Ningbo exports...

A couple of weeks ago it was a game of fuel light bingo on the way home as I headed for Bristol sucking vac'.

Today, a fierce red warning light came on advising me of battery issues in my car. My good friend Spence (who looks like Heston Blooming-heck) is a mechanic and assuming I get home tonight, he is going to test my alternator and battery. I wonder what he will ask them. It's pretty fair that my trusty Mercedes seems to have notched up nearly 85,000 miles on one battery. I wonder if it came from Ningbo, that well known Chinese city that manufactures a stack of such things.

Friday morning as I write and I have the pleasant prospect of the weekend ahead with Monday and Tuesday off as well. Much spreadsheet work to do today to prep' for a meeting on my return to work on Wednesday.

It is raining and grey but pleasant nonetheless.

Lummox has arrived in BS5 (and my house). We all went for apint last night - I was home for 10.00, I think the Big Fella came in at about 4.

A very fine evening.

I have not resigned as New York Governor today and nor have I presented a Budget. That aside it has been quite an eventful day. I left for work at 6.00 this morning and drove to Birmingham (ish) which was chocca with 021s all saying 'Ooooooooorrrrrrooooite?' to each other. I had a gander at the Fort Retail Park and it was a bit grey, really.

I worked in our own store just a sneak off the M42 and I put in a decent day's effort.

Welcomingly back to Bristol 12 hours after I left and out for dinner tonight with 59 other people, one of whom was a bit pissed and worrying some of the others, but he was just a bit stumbly really and nothing else and his mate kept him in check anyhow. I contributed some effort for what was in essence a free gig by doing a stack of washing up and dismantling and putting away a dozen tables after the event (and delighting a small person in being "reeeeeeeeeeeeally tall!").
Several women took it upon themselves to express surprise at a bloke volunteering to wash up but it seemed only a common courtesy to me, rather than just sloping off. Back home now and having one a-beers before bed.

Dinner this evening was a Lenten Agape which I had to Google prior to the event, my schoolboy Latin/Greek not running to a guess at the second word. It was a good deal more ordinary and sociable than Google has it to be, and far less serious and I am happy I went along.

Lummox is here tomorrow - Cork arrives in BS5 via Malaysia!

Late News: I have decided to have one more a-beers and watch 1960's Spiderman cartoons - I have the '67 collection on DVD which I bought in Los Angeles and haven't watched for yonks! I can have a bath in the morning instead.

Tuesday - it must be chutney.

I worked in stores today and spent a good deal of time counting pots of chutney, jam, marmalade and other preserves across loads of shelving like this (sold some too!) This might seem fantastically dull but within these fixtures many, many hours are taken up that could be better utilised, and it is this productivity that I am trying to measure, to articulate to others, and to liberate. It might just be my ticket into a longer stint in my current contract, due to end reasonably soon. If you are an alert retailer you will see the potential. If you are a chutney expert, you might have issues with the merchandising. If you have a grip on sanity, you may not be bothered at all!

A decent building.

A long day at work today with many miles covered and much of Devon and Cornwall rather pleasantly driven through. I had early meetings in Yeovil which is a bugger to get to from BS5, and then drove on to our store near Ivybridge for a day of top retail action at the end of Devon. On the way to the store I stopped in for a look at Dean Priory Church, which a report on Google rather sniffily dismisses as disappointing. One may not care for Churches, I can see that but this one is pretty smart and I've driven past it loads and loads of times, always meaning to stop. It always flies the flag of St George, proof indeed that God is an Englishman. Anyhow, here is a pic of the interior as at lunchtime today, and a view of it from the Devon Expressway (not taken by me). It has two Amercian flags on the inside donated by a couple of Admirals from the United States Navy whose far back family were married in the place before moving in the 1660s to the British colony of Massachusetts.

Home now and a bit of Tuesday ironing to follow.

Shoes? Yeah right.

Whilst Googling The Mobius Strip just now (as advised by a wise post on this Blog just a few moments ago) I happened upon this fine picture in Google.

Apparently it's from an ad' for Mobius Strip shoes, whatever the feck they might be - and we are none the wiser to that as no shoes appear in the pic'. Anyhow the point of this post is to refute any connection to shoes what so ever in this advertising effort.

We all know what that's about and it isn't shoes! I am sure I am missing the point and it's all terribly subtle, darling. That said I think it's a cool and evocative pic'!

The planet Zanussi

Something kind of weird happened in my washing machine tonight. I found a hair scrunchie in it - a bit like this one but it was black. These are the sorts of things worn by women wanting to keep their hair neat or by soap dodging guardian reading blokes who haven't seen the scissors in a while and are all destined to become neat haired accountants sooner or later anyway.

Anyhow, I put socks and darks in the machine before dinner tonight and then a scrunchie appeared 72 minutes later. Most odd. There have been precious few women in the house of late and I am as sure as double fuck there have been no soap dodging right on deviant blokes either. Maybe there is some long haired blog writing woman who is equally puzzled tonight at the appearance of a knee length sock in amongst her delicates and darks.

That's machines to and fro' the planet Zanussi for you; every once in a while there's a formation of a Mobius strip (Google it) and the exchange of random articles of laundry. Who'd have thought it here in BS5?

Dating Americans (nearly)

Blog post commenter GH suggests I should put up an image of myself so that Blog BS5 readers can see what I look like, just the way they can see what Samantha Power looks like (see previous post) and that way, they can post comments on my chances of securing a date with said American lovely.

Well this is me, and I reckon Samantha P could do a good deal worse than a night in the Rhubarb and pint and a chat about that bloody awful Hillary C and the rather better Barack O, for whom she used to work until The Scotsman failed to play fair.

GH and I also had a chat about board restructures at M&S and his new hound, a 10 month old black Labrador, recently adopted.

A small glass of Cotes Du Rhone on the go here and off to bed in a bit, thankful that my roof is still on after a very stormy day all over the south west.

Over to you, Samantha Power...I'm free Thursday if you are.

Date

This week sees my cunning plan to bag a date with Samantha Power. Now that she has resigned from helping Barack O, maybe she'll have a window in her schedule for a date with me and a hot night of gangly Edwardian manners here in BS5. We shall see.

Lummox!

There is indeed a storm coming in, but also a whirlwind from Thursday too when Lummox hits BS5, staying with me for a few days, and across St Patrick's day too. Most of the gang have taken days off, faced with the inevitable blast on the beer scooter!

Storm on Sunday

You know that bit at the end of The Terminator when Sarah Connor says she knows the storm is coming? That's how it is in BS5 this morning.

Apparently a gert massive storm is on the way from the West coast of Ireland where it is sitting right about now (it is off Galway,so more rain for Gigi) and it will get here over the next day or so with bucketfuls of rain and a blowy old gale and a half. In response to this I have spent an hour and a bit cleaning my car, a duty I have skipped for two long weeks. The car is shiny and smart now and it was time well spent at half past seven on a Sunday morning.

I woke at 6 and listened to the radio a bit and have had a pottery old morning. Just before six in the week, Prayer for the Day is on the radio, but they don't do it on a Sunday which seems kinda' odd so instead they play dudes ringing bells somewhere in the land. It was Cardiff today (well, Roth, actually)and a steadman triple which is a phrase now locked in my head, taking up space where something smarter could probably reside.

And on we go into the usual Sunday - breakfast shortly, Church thereafter (D the V wrote and asked if I would up my game from helping with the tea and coffee to do doing a speaky bit in front of the Congregation, something I am well up for) and The Swan with Two Necks a little later.

The pic for this post is Galway Cathedral where, no doubt it is raining. I have driven past this building with Gigs but we didn't go in.

Arsenal Vs. Texas

A great night for the mighty Arsene Wenger and his lads but not such a blinder for Barack. I wonder what sort of spin and analysis today will bring in America? Let's hope Barack's current momentum isn't pipped by Hillary's new momentum.

I have had a totally idle morning here and slept in until a quarter to seven. I have meetings all day today at a Law firm near Queen's Square here in Bristol. It kicks off with a 9.30 start so I can walk to work at a respectable hour and pace! There is a morning session on employment law for all our store managers and then I have a slot in the afternoon to update the group on my various supply chain projects. If we finish on time I might just even make circuit training too, and I haven't been to that for far too long.

Dating Professors and work wobbles.

Just a small little wobble about work longevity these last 24 hours. Although there is much going on and I am into good and challenging work, I sensed an impression from my boss when we met yesterday that she has a date in mind to close the affair. I am presenting to her, my director of Finance and the MD tomorrow as well as all store managers. I can see that there is enough to carve a role and when the time is right I will present that opportunity on their behalf, but it is certainly one to watch and I am glad I have worked up some decent relationships with Recruiters as part of my work to date. All that said I am looking forward to the day ahead and to crafting a presentation for tomorrow. it is not as taut as it should be and I will see to that in the office today.

My friend Sue in Devon has been writing saying I should ask out one of Barack Obama's team, a certain Samantha Power of an Irish extraction. She was on Start the Week yesterday, I think and was certainly very articulate and confident about Mr O. Maybe I will drop her a line, she is tall and fair, it has to be said. And as you can see from the pic' she likes a glass now and again so no fear in asking her out for a beer in The Rhubarb (when she's not advising Presidential candidates).

Top stuff going on in the 1900s.

Here's a few things that are going on that I am excited about! They are in no particular order but I am thankful for them all:

1 Upstairs Downstairs a specialist subject on Mastermind shortly. Top stiff Edwardian social drama (I love it, especially that Lady Marjorie (pictured: Rachel Gurney in another role) - you know there's a RIGHT DBITS under that steely exterior, but I don't suppose there will be many Q's on that)

2 Cold beef and chips with piccalilli and a glass of wine for dinner - simple, fine fare!

3 Hilary/Obama make or break tomorrow - a good day of analysis on Wednesday

4 A fine and chatty email from my brother who is in Bangkok tonight

5 A presentation to store managers bought forward by 24 hours so a pressured day for me on Tuesday to complete my piece and ensure it is fluent and to the point

6 An early night to come (must be gettin' old)

7 Walshy's and Caz's total delight at their new son! That really rocks.

Choooooooooooooon!

Now I am not one for trying to be down with the kids or anything like that, but I really like the tune that is currently No 1! It's trying to be a bit sixties with the vid', I reckon but the tune is a right belter and I have to say I had a little boogie to it in the kitchen last night whilst carving my joint of roast beef, knife aloft and busting a few really bad moves! :-)

Have a listen to Mercy by Duffy if you can.

Le Rosbif and a Lily.

A fine and bright morning in BS5, full of potential!

I woke at half six and listened to the radio a little bit and then ironed a shirt for today and all those for work next week. After that I put the washing on and prepped a fabulous joint of topside beef. A la Jamie Oliver, I sealed it first in the frying pan and it is now roasting with some garlic added, some roughly cut onions and a little wine. This will all be done by about 10 a.m and will rest to perfection by twenty past. It will be nice to have a Sunday roast ready to go later on in the afternoon, with beef to warm up and top roast potato action plus the trimmings. Time you were cooking it for someone else too', my Dad would no doubt say!

Mothering Sunday and I left a 'Kafir Lily' hidden at Ma and Pa's yesterday morning which I am confident my mother will find later on.

I suspect the day will unfold in the usual Sunday fashion; Church, The Swan with Two Necks and an idle evening thereafter (with a bit of shoe cleaning thrown in).

Glasses, teeth and glue

Not long home from a day away in Cambridgeshire and an evening spent with Ma and Pa near Ross on Wye.

I had spent Friday in the east of England working at our store and I got lots achieved. Back down to earth from a Sat Nav Mercedes when driving to Birmingham in the week, I had a hire car - a Vauxhall Zafira. Don't believe the adverts; it drives like a bloody pallet, and a fuel-inefficient one at that. So I got home last night(eventually) and had dinner with the folks. This morning I woke at 7.00 and went for a run and then I washed their car, did a little work in the garden and did a run to the tip with a load of heavy things they were getting shot of. Back to good old Bristol and bought a table with me that had been destined for the skip but will do nicely for my loft room. I went to see Cas to ask him about fixing the top back on. Cas is a very good carpenter and had some wood adhesive. He let me borrow this but was in a two and eight when I got there because he had mislaid his teeth and his specs, both of which are now about his person instead of being under his bed.

A picture of the restored table follows.

And it's Saturday! Thank feck for that