h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hiya Karen,

I'm back at work this week (), but I had such a lovely week off last week that I'm still feeling quite relaxed. I spent most of last Thursday shopping (and I have a deeeply scary credit card bill to prove it) and also met some work friends for lunch. I spent the whole of Friday down at Felixstowe, reading on the beach and wondering about. It really was glorious. Then on Saturday night I went to a party with a friend from work.

My first few days back at work haven't been too bad. Today and tomorrow the college is holding 'taster' days for potantial FE students who may or may not join us next year. This morning I took my turn lurking in the corridor directing lost souls to the relevant class rooms and lecture theatre. I had been dreading it but it was far more entertaining than I had expected. Some of the kids are very articulate and confident and just stride up and ask for directions; I like those ones best. Others just stood about looking terrified and when help was offered, merely showed me the letter they were sent rather than actually speaking! I was stood with an admin bloke from another department so at least I had some company. Some departments sent the ‘taster’ students off around the college on an orientation exercise. As one such group passed by, a girl was overheard saying “It says find out the price of a portion of chips in M Block – where the is that!” Me and my colleague laughed heartily at that little exchange. I have to say that I spoke to some really charming young people this morning, which cheered me up no end.

Anyway, I look forward to getting your news whenever you have time.

Bye for now.
Liz
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Hi Liz

Thanks for your message ... sounds like you had a thoroughly good week off and didn't you pick a goodun for the weather ... good job it wasn't this week eh?? We've had some terrific storms here and I assume as you're in the same kind of area yourself that you've had the same ... still dull and overcast today although not cold at all so I can live with it.

The last couple of weeks have been soooooooooooooooo busy ... haven't know whether I'm coming or going most of the time. Eldest had her Prom Thursday before last ... she looked lovely and so did all her friends - there were some lovely dresses and the boys all looked so smart in their suits ... did feel sorry for them in some ways tho - it was that really really hot day we had and they looked like they might just melt Still - she had a great time and it was a good end to the term although I think most of her friends intend going back into the sixth form in September. Youngest was in disgrace while all that was going on - found the upstairs full of smoke and discovered that she'd been setting fire to some photos in the(plastic) bin in her bedroom - honestly, she has no common sense sometimes and really couldn't understand why I was so exasperated about it!!! The next day was youngest's birthday so we had visits from nanny and grandad and then they went off to their dad's in the evening and the Sunday was eldest's birthday so we did it all in reverse ... spent the day at their dad's and came back here for pressies and cake just after tea

This week I've had some new carpets downstairs and supposedly some new kitchen flooring although when the bloke came to lay it it was completely the wrong pattern. The carpets look great and they were well overdue but I've had to re-order the kitchen flooring and that will be another 10 days or so before it's here. Consequently I've spent most evenings shuffling furniture around and trying to find somewhere to move the fridge to, taking the old carpet up and generally creating havoc so that the rooms would be clear for the carpet fitter when he arrived.

Now everything is back together for the time being and when the kitchen stuff arrives all I will have to do is move the fridge out again and that won't be too bad. All in all - I'm knackered!!! I've decided to have a nice quiet day today to recover a bit ... going round to see my mum and dad for a cuppa in a mo then doing some serious vegging. Tomorrow I'm taking the girlies to Lakeside to spend their birthday money ... hopefully the roads won't be too busy on a Sunday

So - how's work going?? Have things settled down there a bit and are you still looking for something else. What about Chris - you'd just seen him when I heard from you time before last hadn't you - any more liaisons??? I'm glad you 2 seem to be getting on ok now - definitely a shame to lose everything.

It's the London meet soon isn't it - I'm not going to go ... it's just too complicated with the girls here but hope you have a good time if you do ...

Well Liz - I've rambled for sure this week so about that - better now and go and see mum and dad ... hope things are good your end ... let me know what you've been up to when you get time ... take care

Karen

Hi Karen,

Gosh, you have been busy! It’s nice to get stuff done at home, but I hate all the mess and upheaval. I hope your little fire-starter hasn’t struck anymore

What do you think about the Olympics coming to London? I'm surprisingly excited about it (considering it's still 7 years away, that is probably ridiculous)

Work is OK really, if a bit chaotic. Enrolment for part-time courses started this week and has been so disorganised you just wouldn’t credit it. As one of my colleagues said to me on Monday “We have to enrol students every year, how come no one knows how to organise it yet?” Normally, part-time enrolments start earlier in the year than this (early June) but the changes to FE funding meant that the prospectus had to be changed as a lot of courses have either been dropped or the fees have been significantly increased. Some folks got hold of the idea that Monday was the only day they could enrol and were camped outside the college when the cleaners arrived at 5 am!

I’ve been busy enough not to get bored since I got back from holiday, but I am still frustrated by how little new work has been handed over to me nearly two months after my office move. Sometimes I think it would be nice to stick with this for a while, but I really need to earn more money so I am still keeping an eye out for something else. I have an interview on 18 July for an admin job but I’ve actually had a pay rise since I applied, so the salary for the other job is not quite as attractive as it was a month ago. Still, a change would probably do me good and any extra money is better than none at all.

I haven't heard from Chris since I saw him a fortnight ago. It was nice to see him, but I've sort of missed him all over again ever since (especially after my slightly upsetting weekend - more of which later), so I am not in any hurry to have further contact with him.

Did you watch any of Live 8? I was determined to see some of it as I missed the original Live Aid and I particularly wanted to see the start. I saw a fair bit of it, but missed a chunk when I went out on Saturday afternoon. I set the video as per the BBC schedules shown on ceefax, but then the 's went and changed it and I came home to discover I'd taped two hours of chuffing tennis.

I wished I hadn't gone out anyway. I only walked down to the little Sainsbury's in town to buy a few bits of groceries (about a 25 minute walk), but I got followed by a strange man. As I was walking into town, I noticed a bloke on a bicycle on the opposite pavement staring straight at me, which made me feel uneasy. A couple of minutes later I saw him turn around in the middle of the road and head straight for me on the pavement. He stopped and mumbled something at me as I passed him. I gave him my most withering look and kept on walking. He proceeded to follow me all the way into town; cycling ahead of me for a while, then turning around and cycling back past me and then turning around and overtaking me from behind. By the time I got to Sainsbury’s I was shaking. I did my shopping, checking over my shoulder periodically to make sure that he hadn’t come into the shop. I couldn’t see him when I got out, but, despite only having a very small amount of shopping, I was scared to walk home so I had to catch the bus. I had been quite prepared to call the police if he had been waiting for me when I came out, but there was no sign of him, thank goodness. This sort of thing REALLY annoys me - I ought to be able to walk to the damn shops without attracting unwanted male attention - it's not as though I walk around in skimpy clothes or anything!

So, that incident really took the shine off my day. On Sunday I felt too nervous to walk into town so I decided to go to Felixstowe on the train instead. I tried to walk further than I usually do, but I didn’t get very far. I wanted to walk around the headland but the tide was in. En-route to discovering this, I walked over some sea-weed covered concrete and fell over. I had to put up with a wet bottom for some time afterwards.

The weather down at Felixstowe was lovely while the sun was out, but a lot of the time there was cloud cover and it was flippin’ cold in the sea breeze. Sunday was the third day of the ‘Sea Felixstowe’ event, which was sort of linked to the 'Trafalgar 200' thing. I found some details on the internet before I set out and it looked as though there might be enough going on to justify a visit. However, there wasn’t that much happening really. There were a few stalls and a couple of bands playing, but that was it. There was no information and no posters to promote the event that I could see. I think there might have been more happening later in the day, but I got cold and decided to go home.

The weather has been pretty showery this week. I'm going racing at Newmarket with some friends tomorrow (Thursday) and I'm getting a bit concerned about the weather forecast. I'll let you know whether we all get drowned in the rain. I’ve booked Friday as leave as well and I’m starting to doubt the wisdom of that – I shall be really annoyed if the weather is wet as that will seem such a waste of my annual leave.

Chat again soon.
Liz
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Hi Liz

Sounds like you've had a pretty mixed week really ... sympathies with your perv on the way to Sainsburys ... I would have been scared as well - I think it's surprising how vulnerable you can feel even in public places when something like that happens. We have a green outside our house and get gangs of lads playing football out there ... we've had a couple of instances where they start throwing clods of mud at the house and even that makes me nervous - I'm afraid to go out there and tell em to buzz off just in case it turns into some kind of vendetta, so I just let them get on with it Honestly, the male species have a lot to answer for don't they ...

I'm a bit indifferent to the olympics being held here in all honesty ... not a big sport fan so it kinda leaves me a bit cold. The whole thing got overshadowed tho didn't it by the bombings ... hope your friends and family were all safe ... we had a worrying few hours because my ex was up there working and we couldn't get through to him, I think the mobile networks were just in meltdown - but he eventually called me at about 1 pm and said he'd missed the Kings Cross bomb by about 10 mins ... still makes me go cold just thinking about it. We're so close to London here - about 20 mins on the train - that loads of people I know commute but thankfully all were safe I just feel so sad for the families of those who weren't so lucky

Well, my kitchen floor is finally arriving on Monday afternoon and as I only have the fridge to move this time I'm fairly cool about it ... I usually get pretty stressed by those kind of upheavals (stupid I know) but not this time. Other than that, I've got a pretty uneventful week coming up I think. Taking my parents down to Kent to visit a couple of my dad's sisters tomorrow - one's 84 and the other's 92 - so that should be fun Got a friend dropping in for a curry tonight and that's about it The girls are at their dad's and all's well with the world.

Good luck with your impending interview .. you must let me know how you get on and I think you're right about a change ... sometimes it's just what we need. And, of course, the extra money would be grand

Well, I'm off for a bit of a veg now before I start cooking - bought myself a new book in town and I can't wait to get stuck in. A nice murder or 2 I reckon - always good for me

Hope you didn't get drowned at the racing - it was pretty wet here so I can only hope it was better where you were. Still, a good excuse to retire to the bar if the weather's too bad I should think!!
Enjoy your week and let me know how the interview goes

Take care,
Karen x

Hi Karen

I hope you had a nice weekend. Mine was better than the previous week.

I know what you mean about kids outside making you nervous. One of the reasons why I lurk on my PC in the early evening is that it is in the back room and if there is any loitering or revving of scooters going on outside, I can't see or hear it and therefore it does not bother me. However, if I was sat in my front room watching it all go on I would be a nervous wreck. To be fair, it's mostly pretty quiet up my street, but there are a few teenage lads around with those awful noisy scooters and ocassionally there is some street football. I'm not sure why I find balls bouncing across my front paving so stressful, but I do.

I'm still feeling a bit vulnerable when I go out on my own. I've been here before and I dare say I'll get over it, but it has spooked me. I didn't make myself feel any better when I got lost in a park at lunchtime. I was trying to find my way to a side exit before heading back to work but somehow ended up in a maze of leafy lanes that I didn't recognise and everytime I saw a lone bloke within 50 feet of me I practically had a heart attack. I think I'll come home for lunch tomorrow.

I'm not a huge sports fan myself, but I do like the Olympics. Last year we had a portable telly at work (boss was on holiday) and we watched no end of Olympic coverage I got well into the Paralympics too. But yes, the bombs really took the shine off those celebrations. What a mess. And for what?

It was chaos at Ipswich Station on Thursday morning. Two friends and I turned up to catch the train to Newmarket and were a little surprised to find queues a dozen people deep at every ticket window. I had heard on the radio just before leaving home that there had been 'an incident' on the underground, but by the time I reached the railway station, London was closed! There were people on the train I caught who were trying to get to Gatwick Airport and seemed to think that they would be able to get a train to London from Cambridge - they just couldn't comprehend that there were no services at all to London. It wasn't until we were picked up by the courtesy bus from Newmarket Station that we began to understand what had happend - the bus driver had his radio tuned to Five Live and by the time we got to the race course we knew there had been bombs. One of my friends has a brother in London, but she texted him and he rang back to say he was OK.

We had a good time at Newmarket, despite it turning into such an awful day for the real world. I won precisely nothing on the nags (my usual form) and our planned meal out got cancelled because one person didn't want to go and so certain other parties wouldn't go either. Sigh! However, I had a good old gossip with some good friends, some of whom I hadn't seen since Christmas. Unfortunately, one couple hadn't caught up with the news of the demise of my relationship with Chris and cheerfully asked where he was

I had a terrible crisis about what to wear (as did my friend Sharon, who rang me at 9.30 for sartorial advice). However, after much faffing I selected an outfit that wouldn't be too hot if the sun came out but equally would not involve my freezing to death if it didn't. We did have a bit of sun and NO RAIN I think the huge golfing umbrella that I carried around with me all day must have frightend off the wet weather

I spent most of Friday recovering from Thursday (I'm not used to being on my feet all day - plus I'm a wimp). I had a nice domestic sort of day on Saturday and then the summer came back! Yesterday I went into town for an hour or so (via a somewhat circuitous route in order to avoid any possible repeat of the ‘psycho cyclist’ incident) and then spent four, yes four hours reading in the garden. Bliss!

Unfortunately, I had to go back to my real life today My job interview is next Monday, so that is another half day leave to take. I'm still not at all sure I even want to go for the interview. I meant to phone them up when I was at home on Friday (as the interview letter invited me) for an informal chat. I forgot.

It's probably time I got off here really. There is a bowl of strawberrys sat here that I realy should either eat or put back in the fridge. Choices, choices.

Chat soon.
Liz
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Hi Liz

Hope you're ok ... thanks for your last post - sorry this one has been so long in coming, I've badly neglected lots of my internet buddies over the last couple of weeks and I don't really know why other than the time seems to be flying past at the mo

Glad to hear you had a good time at the races even if you didn't win enough to retire on ... I did think of you that day but with everything that was going on in London lots of things got overshadowed. My ex was up there working and the girls were a little concerned that they couldn't get hold of him .... it was just that the networks were so busy calls just weren't getting thru but he eventually managed to ring me just before lunch and he was fine but not looking forward to trying to get home. Also had a friend who's husband works up there and he was in the same boat ... we were just thankful that everyone was ok

Did you go to the meet on Sunday?? I think maybe people were put off by the bombs and the concerts in the park. I'm meeting up with a friend from here on Friday - going to see some Speedway with him in Thurrock .. he's coming all the way up from Southampton for the occassion and I'm really looking forward to seeing him.

I'm loving this hot weather how about you? Got a few days off at the end of this week'/beginning of next as the girls break up from school on Friday so I'm hoping it will keep fine at least until I come back to work. Then the girls are off on holiday with their dad for 2 weeks starting the beginning of August so I'm looking forward to some peace and quiet for a couple of weeks tho I doubt I'll do anything earth-shattering - it's just nice to do my own thing for a while.

Well, that's about it really ... nothing much very exciting there is there how's things your end?? Hope you haven't had any recurrence of the perv following you. Isn't today the day of your interview or have I missed it by a whole week??? Whatever, let me know how you got on

Well, best press on now ... got a shed load of work to do here but I'm b*ggered if I can be bothered today - that's kinda how life is at the mo ... definitely need a holiday

Take care m'dear, chat soon
Karen

Hi Karen,

I didn't go to the meet because I couldn't really aford the travel costs this time and anyway I had been invited somewhere else on the same day. I went to The Memorial Hall in Trimley St Martin for a party-cum-rock concert. There were some awful Dad Rockers who (thankfully) only played about four songs and then b******d off. The main attraction was Kismet, a very loud rock band, two members of whom are the sons of a work colleague (the one whose bloke left her about a month after Chris left me). They were very good and lead singer (my friend's youngest son) is a born performer – boy did he ever play to the crowd! When he was introducing the band towards the end of the gig, as he named himself all the girls at the front screamed he said “Why, thank you”. An ex-work colleague gave me a lift there and back and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Not only were the band remarkably competent musicians (considering three of them are only 15), but the enthusiasm of some of their audience was highly entertaining. A couple of boys were down to boxers and boots by the end of the evening! Kismet endeared themselves to me forever by playing my all time favourite song, ‘Paradise City’. I bellowed along to it with some gusto, although the fact that they played it rather fast made that hard work. A thoroughly entertaining night out.

I've been enjoying the sunshine too - I spent as much time out in my back garden as I could last weekend, mostly reading a book. It's not quite so hot as it was last week now, but it's still pleasant.

This time last year, I was on holiday in the West Country and the weather was great then too. I wish I was there now. I have a fantasy about taking the whole summer off but I think that nothing short of a lottery win will ever make that possible.

My interview was on Monday. It was probably a better interview performance than I have pulled off in a very long time, but that isn't saying much. I couldn't think of an answer at all to some of the questions and as usual, I failed to disguise the fact that I wasn't bothered whether or not I got the job, so it was no surprise when I didn't get it. One of the things they asked me was to give an example of a difficult work situation that I had resolved and two days later I still can't think of one There were a couple of jobs in today's paper that I could probably do, but I don't know whether I can be bothered to apply for them.

Anyway, I think that's all my news for now.

Chat soon
Liz
~

Hi Liz

Well it's raining cats and dogs here today ... so no sitting in the garden ... was that summer or are we still promised that heat wave in August ???

Sorry to hear your interview didn't go well but as you didn't really want the job it's not the end of the world I spose. I'm cr*p at those interview questions as well - whenever they say at the end 'is there anything you'd like to ask' my mind goes a total blank ... probably why I've stayed put when I've found a reasonable job . Good luck with the hunt anyway - there has to be something out there which will suit you, it's just a case of finding it

Well I've had a really nice weekend this weekend - went up to Thurrock to meet one of the guys I chat to on here - he lives right down in Southampton and although we chat most evenings it's the first time we've actually met. Quite a scary few days at the end of the week thinking 'spose he doesn't like me?? Spose I don't like him????' all that kind of stuff but actually we met - we went to watch some speedway which was fun - and it was great, really great . Turns out he's as nice in the flesh as he is on-line and we're planning to get together again in 3 week's time so watch this space!!!!

I've got Monday and Tuesday off work - only because the girls have now broken up for the summer and the arrangement I have at work is that I only do 3 days in the school holidays. It's a hangover from when I first started and the girls were 5 and 8 and in reality I could just as well go in now but it's still kinda nice to be around for them some of the time ... youngest is still only just 13. Then next Saturday I deliver them to their dad's and they're going on holiday with him for 2 whole blissful weeks ... I must sound like the Mother from Hell but being sans girlies for 2 whole weeks is like a holiday for me - I get to go to the gym as much as I want .... ..... and not cook .... yes, not exactly mind-blowingly exciting I admit but you get the gist of it all

Sun's just coming out here now and about bl**dy time too!!!!

Have you seen some of the photos of the Meet on here??? You were right, it does look like a glorified p*ss-up (was it you told me that???) and I think on reflection I'd only go to one if I was meeting someone that I particularly chat with. Still, who knows, maybe the Winter one will be a possibility

Well, m'dear, I'm off to do something useful ... if only I could think of something Hope you're having a good weekend - and had a good week

catch up again soon
Karen

Hi Karen,

I think that reports of a heatwave may turn out to have been exagerated. Given that the Friday night weatherforecast cannot usually say what the weather will do on Saturday, I don't give much credance to long-range forecasts.

It's been raining here too for most of the day. This has at least enabled me to catch up on some of the cleaning I didn't do last weekend. I'm away next weekend, so this was my only real chance for a thorough clean-up.

If I had been offered the job I was interviewed for last week, I would happily have taken it. It seemed like a good job and a nice place to work. Having said that, I couldn't care less that I didn't get it. By about two questions in, I knew that I wouldn't get it anyway, even if I'd been more enthusiastic, because everything was worded in that annoying 'public-servant speak' way that drives me nuts in my exisiting job. I'd really prefer to be interviewed in English! I have decided that I am NOT going to apply for any more public sector jobs - I need to get back to the real world.

I've had eight different full-time permanent jobs, plus about half a dozen temporary and/or part-time ones. I haven't liked any of them and I can't imagine ever finding anything I would like. However, a bit more money is required and so I must once again put myself through job-hunting, which is one of the few things in the world that I like less than actually working

Yeah, the meet is just a glorified p**s up - and pubs are really not my thing. I wouldn't have gone this year anyway, as I got a better offer (to go and watch my mates kids' rock band), but I was wavering anyway because, as I think I said to you before, London is a long way to go just to sit in the pub. Also, I'm nervous about travelling home alone at night, so I can only stay until early evening anyway. I was just 'talking' to B'Elana on another thread and she would be up for the picnic idea next year, so perhaps we might try and re-instate that idea. The meet photos only seem to consist of about two dozen people. Unc tells me that there were roughly the same numbers as last year, but it really doesn't look like that from the photos. I do rather approve of the 'Drinking Against Terrorism' t-shirts though

So, who is the nice man from Southampton then? There are an awful lot of couples on this site who met through hootoo, so you never know where this might lead. There used to be a page that listed them all, but the ones I know about are Unconformity and PSG (who met at last years summer meet and I was there!), Serephina & Ged, ReddyFreddy & Lucky Star and Fords & EV.

Yesterday, I was looking on the internet site that is affiliated to the lonely hearts column in my local paper. Very few of the men in the age bracket I searched on had bothered to put up a photo with their profiles and the few that had were, frankly, revolting. Some of them have clearly either lied about their age or have had a very hard life. There was one bloke claiming to be 38 who looked more like 58 to me. Another fella who was clutching an empty pint glass in his photos, (both of these cropped up more than once – which I don’t think is a good sign) and judging by his dishevelled appearance, it hadn’t been his first drink that evening. And he hadn’t shaved! No wonder he hasn’t got a girl friend! I then had a quick look on Match.com (a dating site that a single chum put me onto) but their location search didn’t work properly. I spotted one very cute looking man, but he turned out to be in the USA. Perhaps I'm not ready to start dating again.

I'm bored now. I haven't got anything to read. I had hoped to pop to the library this afternoon, but by the time I'd finished all my household jobs, the library had already closed. I've nearly caught up with all the backlog on here and, quite honestly, I've been on here so much over the weekend that I think I must be all hootooed out

Chat soon
Liz
~

Hi Liz

I've just re-read your last post and realised that if you're going away for the weekend then I've probably missed you .... but never mind ... hope you had a good time. Where did you go, you never said.

Well, the week's passed in a bit of a blur ... had Monday and Tuesday off work but truthfully didn't do anything mind-blowingly exciting. Popped in on my mum and dad on Monday for a cuppa, then on Tuesday I cleaned the oven and plucked up the courage to phone The Man to come and replace the fan and motor. He came on Wednesday and repaired it while relieving me of £115 for his trouble ... but still, it's done now and I can't realistically manage without it forever. Now it's Friday thank heaven and I have another nice long weekend as I've got Monday off The girls are both going to Portugal with their Dad for 2 weeks starting tomorrow so I am looking forward to a nice quiet day on Monday ... perhaps a trip to the gym and lunch with a girlfriend But before that I've got some chores to do here - I really should cut the grass front and back assuming the rain stays away and I like to have a good tidy up and a clean thru as soon as the girls go then I can enjoy the rest of the fortnight

Work continues to be a drag. Like you, I like it from time to time but am finding it pretty dull at the moment. Trouble is, I don't know if I'd find anything I'd like any better and they are good there about me having time off during the school holidays and suchlike, so I guess I'll stay there for the time being at least.

If you're thinking of looking for a dating site have you tried Friends Re-united Dating?? It's pretty cheap to sign up and you can do it for a month at a time (about £7) - I had a month or 2 on there at the beginning of last year and met up with one guy who I had been chatting to for a while. It fizzled out fairly quickly but it was fun for a bit ... there are some odd people on there tho so be cautious if you do decide to try it. It's always worth £7 for a giggle even if you don't actually was to start dating any of 'em I've had lots more fun on this site ... the nice part is that most people just want to chat which is fine by me most of the time . The guy I met last week is called Chris co-incidentally and we started chatting around Easter time ... just found we got on really well and when there was an opportunity to meet last weekend I jumped at it .. think he did too. Things are just grand, looking forward to seeing him again in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime we chat every night either here or on the phone and that's nice. It's like having a partner ... but also having some of your own space. I'm a bit of an anti-social b*gger in reality and his life is busy busy busy, so that bit of space is a definite plus for both of us.


Well, youngest has just returned from the park and I have to do some alterations to a dress she wants to take on holiday with her so I'd better run for now.

Hope you enjoyed the weekend m'dear - take care, chat again soon

Karen

Hi Karen,

I really must make this the last post on here tonight - I've been trying to catch up with my conversations but I'm really getting rather tired now.

I went to Birmingham for the weekend to stay with my brother. If you've got a spare millenia or two, you could read my journal about it, which I wrote to save myself from keep telling everyone the same story (lazy cow, me). http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brune...14?thread=733230&show=20&skip=0#pi1.

I went for a job interview this afternoon and it went quite well. It was very informal, which is always nice. I suspect my salary expectations might exclude me. The man who interviewed me said that money would be discussed at the second interview (assuming I get one), but I noticed a figure of £14,000 written in red underneath my salary, which is about £2k less than I'm looking for (not to mention more than £1k less than I currently earn). Seems like a nice place though – I could probably see myself working there. When we were out on Saturday evening, T'other Liz’s pretentious brother was expounding theories about rapport and body language. He said that you can tell if the person you are with has a rapport with you because they will mirror your posture. He then went on to repeatedly prove this by noticing out loud every time Jon and I or Jon and Liz were caught in the same posture. Well, what amused me this afternoon at my interview was that I kept catching the interviewer mirroring me! I guess he must have liked me.

I've had a nice day at work and I have been busier than I was last week, but that's probably because I've just had two days off.

I'm not really looking for a dating website - I still can't face the prospect of anything other than plutonic male relationships. Single blokes my age appear to be pretty repellent, but you never know, one day I might feel like venturing that way. I've never been anywhere near Friends Re-united - I hate the possibility of running into someone I knew in the past - I've hung onto all the people I liked. It sounds like things are going well with your new friend Chris. I too am an anti-social b****r and I like my own space far too much. I sometimes wonder if I could ever sucessfully live with anyone else.

Next weekend, my bro and his girlfriend are going to a barbecue-cum-birthday party at some friends of theirs at Bury St Edmunds (only 30 miles from here) on Saturday and then are coming to stay with me on Sunday. They then plan to get up at stupid o'clock on Monday morning to head off to Dover to catch a ferry to France for their holidays. I have rashly offered to cook a Sunday roast, so any sudden heatwaves will not be welcome.

I'm off to get some water now - my throat feels like its desiccated.

Chat soon.
Liz
~

Hi Liz

How did your weekend go? If your weather was anything like ours - no sudden heatwaves to spoil the Sunday roast ... and I guess you probably feel like it's been an awful long day today ....

Did you hear anything about the job yet? No so good news about the expected salary but it would be nice to have a job you liked I guess.

Well, my week has been busy - girlies both on thier holidays so I've spent lots and lots of time at the gym and other than that I've been pleasing myself to a large degree. It kind of backfired on me a bit over the weekend because I was tired from going to the gym every day and actually had very little to do and I ended up yesterday feeling very sorry for myself ... definitely woe is me ... and opened a bottle of which really didn't help matters Consequently, today I have the mother and father of all hangovers and am spending a fair bit of time apologising just in case I said something I shouldn't have said. Honestly I just never learn. I need to keep busy else the old black moods creep back in but unfortunately, I don't always have my sensible head on

This week no doubt there will be more trips to the gym - I'm off to my mum and dad's for dinner tomorrow night so will need to do at least one extra session to try to run off the excess calories then looking forward to Friday when I'm off to Southampton for the weekend to see Chris. He's such a sweetie - he was so patient yesterday when I was full of woe and ... he must be wondering what on earth he's got himself into

Before that tho we're moving buildings on Friday so there are 490 packing crates cluttering up the officesat the mo and I think it's going to be fairly chaotic as the end of the week approaches. I've got 2 weeks off starting Friday so hopefully by the time I get back everything will be nicely sorted

well m'dear, hope you're well ... I'm going to go and read your journal entry now about your trip last weekend ...

chat again soon
take care
Karen

Hi Karen,

I seem to be struggling to find time to come on here at the moment, although I'm not sure why that is. This time last week, I had visitors so that was my excuse for not hootooing last weekend. They arrived late morning on Sunday and I thought we had a really nice time even though we didn’t do much. They insisted on taking me to Sainsbury’s because they wanted to get stuff to make baguettes to take on their journey to France (and boy were they HUGE baguettes!). Then we went for a walk down to Ipswich Waterfront, where we had a drink and a cake outside the a café. We then walked home via a park. I cooked them a huge roast dinner and they were suitably impressed with the Brandy Chocolate Charlotte that I made for dessert (and which I only finished eating five days later – you can have too much of a good thing).

They got up at 5 am to drive to Dover, setting off from my house at about twenty-to-six. It’s always hard to judge journeys around the M25 – if you set off before 7 then the journey can be as little as an hour-and-a-half to the Dartford Bridge from here, but leave after 8 and it could take anything up to three hours. They texted me at 7.21 to say that they were only 40 miles from Dover! (Their ferry wasn’t until 11 am). I have since had a text message from Paris and I have been texting Liz with updates about Big Brother.

Today I have been doing lots of housework because my parents intend to inflict themselves on my next weekend. Deep joy. Not.

Regarding the job interview that went well, I received a letter a few days later to say I had been unsuccessful. Quelle suprise, I don't think. On Thursday I went for an interview for a secretarial job at an Accountants. It seemed a nice place and the job was pretty varied – and once again, I could see myself working there. However, the woman who interviewed me was of the opinion that it might be a bit junior for me and she probably has a point. It really isn’t the sort of job I should be looking at - it isn’t senior enough and quite apart from that, the package is nowhere near good enough. The salary is only £200 a year more than I presently earn, the pension is a stakeholder one (with no employer contributions for the first two years) and I would have to start again with my holiday entitlement. The job does come with very good life cover, but as I have no dependents, life assurance isn’t much of a selling point for me. I was asked me to think about it over the weekend and let her know on Monday whether I am interested. I took a sideways step to take my present job and I can’t afford to do it again so I shall be phoning her with a negative response tomorrow.

In a way, I feel slightly annoyed that they bothered to interview me. I always quote my current salary when I apply for jobs. It is a similar situation to the job that I was interviewed for the previous week – they know they can’t meet my salary requirements, so why do they waste their time (and mine) in interviewing me? My mate Laura has persuaded me to apply for a job at the Port of Felixstowe and I have told them the salary I would like rather than what I currently earn – I think this is the way forward. I probably haven't told them enough though - the Felixstowe job needs to be a lot of money because it would involve travelling expenses and as I've just discovered from looking at the bus companies website, the service to the dock area is not up to much and the salary I've suggested wont be enough to run a car so I'm starting to wish I'd done my research before I applied. Mind you, even if they invite me for an interview, that might be a problem in itself as I cannot take any leave from 26 August to 30 September. I usually try and work job interviews into my lunch hour or leave off early, but I can’t do that if I’ve got to go to Felixstowe. Am I doomed to work at Suffolk College forever?

I'm guessing you will have been to Southampton by the time you read this. I hope you had a nice time (and that you stayed away from the ). My mate who signed up to Match.com has cancelled her membership because the bloke she has met is a bit too keen and she thinks they will all be like that. She has known 'Mr Keen' for three weeks now, and apart from buying her champagne and roses, he has already taken her to Venice for a weekend!

I hope you enjoy your break from work and I look forward to hearing from you again soon.

Liz
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Hi Liz

fancy a bloke taking your friend to Venice after only 3 weeks ... where do they find these men??????? Too keen can be a bit scary tho can't it especially if you're still feeling a bit bruised and bettered from previous relationships so I do understand how she feels. You're right ... I spent last weekend in Southampton with Chris and we had a lovely time. I met most of his family and one of his best buds and they all made me feel very welcome. He's a great bloke and we're getting together in another couple of weeks here this time ... then it's just a case of planning the next meeting, and the next and the next (and I did manage to stay away from the all except for a couple of glasses on the Saturday evening. I'm beginning to think that I seriously have to avoid it altogether as it's the one leading to another and another that is the problem )

Anyway - good luck with the Port job - maybe you can tweek the salary a bit if you get an interview ... nothing ventured nothing gained as they say!! But keep plugging away and you're bound to find what you want eventually. We moved offices just before I finished last week - what chaos!!!!!!!! I popped in yesterday, mainly to make sure my desk was where I thought it would be and there are still boxes with odd fans and things sticking out of them all over the place and random filing cabinets sort of poked into odd corners. It's just like moving house only 100 times worse ... good plan to have a fortnight off I reckon.

Haven't done a huge amount this week - the girls came home on Monday lunchtime from their hols with their Dad and the youngest was gone again for a week away with her mate and family by 4.00 pm. Eldest has spent the week so far catching up with boyfriend so I've been left to my own devices to a fair extent. Deckchair good book gym but tomorrow it's going to rain to I may feel compelled to get the hoover out tomorrow

I'm like you and have got the parents coming this weekend, although mine only live round the corner and so are just coming on Sunday .... for dinner. You have my sympathies having yours there for a whole weekend ... how on earth do you stand all that concentrated nagging???? My mum would drive me completely doolally if I had to put up with her undiluted for that length of time. But that's really the size of it ... next week I'm visiting a friend who retired from work last year - she's only 55 and I think she's finding spending 24/7 with her hubby a bit of a strain so I'm going over for lunch and we may just find a nice quiet pub somewhere so she can let of steam a bit. Then of course there's the farm .... gave the girls the choice of where they'd like to go for a family day out next week (Thorpe Park I thought, or Woburn Safari Park or some serious retail therapy somewhere but no) they chose the local children's Farm where we used to go all the time when they were little so they could feed the chickens and stroke the lambs, that kind of thing. And that's where they want to go next week. My great big hulking teenage girls who will do nothing if it's not Cool want to go to the farm ... fine with me

Well, hope your weekend is .... ok .... have a good time with the parents. Keep your fingers crossed for some nice weather next week for our trip to the farm

Chat again soon,
Karen

Hello,

I'm glad you had a nice time with Chris. I've had a really pleasant weekend with my parents. I had a hairdressers appointment yesterday morning, so I told them to arrive about 12ish and I cooked a really nice lunch (poached salmon with carrotts and spring onions in a cream and mayonnaise sauce with new potatos followed by home made chocolate mousse) and then me and Mum had a good old gossip. She was on top form, despite having a cold. She retires at the end of next week. Dad is a bit better, has started to put a bit of weight back on (he's got a hiatus hernia) and is able to eat a greater variety of food. He is also a lot less stressy than he has been and didn't indulge in any moaning and whinging at all!

The weather was a bit iffy yesterday, so we spent most of the afternoon at home and we watched 'The Ladykillers' on TV. We went out for a walk in the evening, when the weather brightend up a bit. Today we have been to Snape Maltings for a look around the posh shops, a snack in their tea rooms and a walk along the river Alde. Then we went into Aldeburgh and walked on the beach. I made them a light supper and they left to drive home at about a quarter past seven.

We received some exciting news about an hour before they left. My brother and his girlfriend have just got back from their holiday in France and they had been trying to ring all day to tell us that they are engaged! Jon proposed while they were in Paris - how romantic! Me and my Mum did a lot of jumping up and down when we got off the phone

So, it's been a really good day

I'm so pleased for Jon and Liz - they are a great couple. Did I tell you that she has my number stored in her mobile under 'Liz Sister'? She really will be my sister now

I've had an e-mail from a friend today to let me know that her son got the grades he needed and will be starting at Northampton University in September - so that was some more good news.

I hope you enjoy yourselves down on the farm - kids, you just can't predict what they'll do next can you? I saw something at Aldeburgh that would have made your girls coo and fuss. We saw some boys out walking a puppy - I think it was a miniature daschund and it really was the smallest dog I have ever seen. It was adorable!

Anyway, I'm off now. 'Coast' is on telly in ten minutes and as it is my current fav TV show, I don't intend to miss it.

Have a good week.
Liz
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Hi Liz

This is just a really quick whizz in and out ... don't seem to have much time to do anything at the mo which is daft really cos I'm off work for a couple of weeks with no real plans ... ... all this sitting around doing nothing is soooooooooooooo time consuming.

anyway ... glad you had a good weekend and great news about your brother getting engaged - it sounds as if you get on well with his Liz which is good too - my sister-in-law have never really seen eye to eye but it would have been really nice if we had ... I could have done all those girly things with her ... I think you're really lucky cos you sound as if you're going to be the best of friends

This week has been so wet here ... we're all struggling to find things to do - the girls have been hanging out with their friends and I find I'm just lolling round the house finding it difficult to get motivated. I must make a concerted effort to get to the gym tomorrow even if its so I can't constantly snack on biccies and ... it has a double advantage really - exercise and it gets me away from the fridge for an hour or so

Well Liz, hope you're having a good week ... the weekend weather is sposed to be a bit better so get that deckchair handy just in case

catch you soon,
Karen

Hiya Karen,

I've had a bit of a lazy day today (a part from walking to Sainsbury's earlier - about half and hour away on foot). After the wet week, the summer has briefly returned today, so I have been lazing in the garden this afternoon. Couldn't be arsed to mow the lawn though

Yesterday I went out for the day with my friend Sharon. It turned out to be a long (but very pleasant) day and I am still feeling tired. She picked me up around 10:30 and we headed over to Dunwich. We went for two different walks on Dunwich Heath, stopping for a light lunch at the tea shop in between. There are various places around Dunwich Heath that are set aside for ‘nature’, including a bank where burrowing bees and wasps live (and you can see all their little holes) and various little ponds. We stopped by a couple of the ponds, looking for fish and watching damsel flies with their incredible green and blue bodies. By one pond, Sharon spotted a very small lizard sunning itself on a fence. It had spread itself out as flat as it could to soak up the suns rays. I’d never seen a real live wild lizard before, so that was a bit of a highlight.

Later in the afternoon, we drove along to Walberswick, which is a little village further along the coast from Dunwich. We walked around the village (and there was more there than I remembered) and poked around in a couple of gift shops. Then we walked along the beach (really sandy) to the river mouth where you can catch a little row-boat ferry across the river (cost, 60p). Once on the other side, we walked into Southwold. The weather had been dry and warm enough, with sunny spells, but began to cloud over once we reached Southwold. We looked in a gallery and in a rather expensive clothes shop. I was really tired by this time. We thought we would have dinner in Southwold, but at 5.30 in the afternoon, we couldn’t find anywhere that was serving. We had a drink and a bag of crisps outside a little restaurant on the pier, but then it began to spit with rain. Sharon suggested we find a pub and just sit there until they started serving, but her car was still at Walberswick and I was not keen on the prospect of walking back there in the dark. So we headed back and had to take the long way around because the ferry had stopped running. We went to a pub in Walberswick and had a really nice meal. It was dark when we came out and it was so quiet and lovely down there by the sea. When I’m rich and famous, I shall go and live somewhere like that. Sharon dropped me home at about half past nine.

It really was a lovely, lovely day. According to my step counter, we did in excess of 25,000 steps yesterday – no wonder I’m tired today. I’ve a cold at the moment (germs kindly donated by my parents last weekend). After four days of a sore throat, it finally broke out on Thursday evening. I had to spend Friday morning directing people in the main hall at work, which wasn’t good as I felt a bit rough and standing up all morning wasn’t really what I had in mind. I was up at 5.30 yesterday morning, taking anti-inflammatory tablets and drinking hot water so that I would be well enough to go out. I went back to bed and slept again until my alarm went off at ten-past eight. I don’t know I managed to be quite so energetic yesterday when I wasn’t entirely well, but I’m now at the stage where it sounds worse than it is. My voice has faded to a feeble little squeak.

Did you take the girls to the little farm? Are you still off next week? I'm led to understand that it will be manic at work next week, so some sunny weather might help to make work a little less awful. I live in hope. I've got loads of jobs I should be doing around the house on Bank Holiday Monday, but if the weather is nice then I shall be finding jobs to do outside.

Chat soon
Liz
~

Hi Liz

Hope you're feeling better now and the sore throat and cold has cleared up

What a glorious bank holiday weekend for a change . The girls were out and about and I managed to spend a fair chunk of time in a deckchair in the garden and so all in all a nice end the my holiday. But this week it's been back to work ... trying to find all the things I'd gaily dumped into packing crates before I broke up and re-arrange my little corner until I felt reasonably at home. It's getting better day by day but the office is still really hot - we were all hopefull that these new offices would be better in that respect as the old one was all glass - honestly how designers think you're going to survive the extremes of weather in a glass building with no air conditioning and what felt like one very small heater for the whole corridor I really don't know. These new offices are more traditinally built but I guess with the weather we've had this week anywhere would be a bit stuffy.

You sound as if your weekend was great fun - I do love walking and you're really lucky so be so near the coast. Our nearest bit of seaside in terms of time is Southend which takes about 90 minutes but, honestly, who wants to spend time in Southend and the next easiest bit is Walton on the Naze and Frinton which are about 2 hours away but the beaches are lovely and there are some nice walks. Take your pick really. The kids like Southend for the amusements and I like Frinton for the walks and the beach.

I did manage to get the front and back garden tidied up on Saturday, they actually look almost respectable for a little while. Planted a couple of bushy things my mum has grown for me - I'm no Percy Thrower believe me and these bushes have at best a 50/50 chance of survival. Still, I can only try can't I.

Went out for a long run on Sunday before it got too hot - managed 9 miles this week which is 2 miles more than I've done before so I was chuffed with that and my legs weren't nearly as wrecked as I thought they'd be. The goal is a half-marathon but I think it'll probably be next summer now before I get to that level. I don't have enough time or the inclination to train nearly hard enough to improve very quickly but if nothing else I'm persistent. A friend has invited me to join him in a 10k run on the first Sunday in October. If I go it'll be the first race I've ever been in .... but actually I don't know if I really want to race - I do this running for me really - a little personal challenge - he's run marathons, half-marathons and everything else and can't quite see why I bother if I'm not going to compete ... we'll see

Well Chris is coming up for the weekend, arriving tomorrow evening and going home sometime Sunday. Looking forward to seeing him again and I've been springcleaning today in an attempt to pretend I'm not a complete slob The first time I met him we watched some Speedway and it was great fun - a real buzz - so we're off again tomorrow evening up to Peterborough to see some more ... looking forward to that. Then Saturday I'm going to have my second golf lesson ... he's a brave man - I don't think he realises yet how truly cr*ppy I am with anything involving co-ordination and a ball - but I enjoyed it last time so who knows - maybe I'll improve.


Then before I know it I'll be back to work again ... what have you got planned for this weekend?? Something involving a cool drink, a good book and a sunlounger I should think after last weekend You said you'd been to Southwold and couldn't find anywhere serving food which really made me smile ... once, many years ago when I was a teenager, I went to Southwold with my mum and dad one weekend. We went into one of the local pubs Sunday lunchtime to have some dinner and they kept quite pointedly ignoring us and serving the locals. Eventually we got up and left - in some ways it's good to know it hasn't changed

Well, better go and cook the girlies some tea or they'll be down here demanding their rights!!

Hope you have a great weekend - chat again soon

Karen

Hello Karen,

Yes, I seem to have got rid of the last of my cold and my voice has now returned to normal. I was coughing quite badly for a couple of days and finally had to invest in some cough mixture yesterday. It appears to have done the trick as I haven't coughed at all today

I did some lounging in the garden last weekend too - although it was slightly spoiled by someone with rotten taste playing R&B music out side all day on Monday

I don't think I've been to Southend, but I have been to Walton-on-the-Naze a couple of times. I don't mind Walton - it's got the tacky amusement bit down by the pier but you can walk quite a long way in the other direction and it's not quite so cheesy.

It wasn't that nowhere was serving food in Southwold, just that we were too early and as Sharon's car was at Walberswick, I wanted to walk back in daylight. I've eaten in Southwold loads of times - there are plenty of good places. Mind you, the new place on the pier was fully booked! As for only serving locals - I don't think there are many locals living on the Suffolk Coast anymore; places like Southwold and Aldeburgh are at least 50% owned by Londoners. There were certainly no local accents in the pub in Walberswick where we ate our dinner - it was full of second homer types and most of the staff seemed to be Australian!

I do count myself lucky living near the coast. The places I went to last weekend were about an hours drive, but that's not far really and there is coast nearer than that. I went to the seaside again today (15 minutes by train to Felixstowe), but it wasn't a huge success. “Any early mist will clear to leave a largely fine and dry day”, said the weather forecast. My a**e! The low cloud in Ipswich did clear, otherwise I would'nt have gone, but it seemed like a pleasant sunny day here when I set out dressed in shorts and a strappy top. It was a good job I took a fleece with me; otherwise I might have frozen to death. I shivered in a rather stiff sea breeze while a very weak sun attempted to burn through the cloud. Fog horns could be heard out at sea. I stuck it out for three hours and then came home. Still, at least I got some fresh air and exercise.

I hope you have a nice weekend with Chris. I went to speedway once, here in Ipswich. The company I worked for at that time was sponsoring one of the tractors that rakes up the course, so we all got in for free. It was great fun My ex-Chris was a keen golfer (sadly, not always a successful one). I tried to get into it, but couldn't. Quite apart from not even being able to hold the stick, I mean club, properly; I found it deeply boring. My friend Sharon learned to play golf while she was living up in Scotland and she loves it.

My work has been a bit hell-on-toast this week. Several of my colleagues have been busy enrolling their full-time students so I have been manning the phones (which was a laugh on Tuesday and Wednesday when my voice was so croaky). And as for the heat! 1960's tower blocks are not the best places to work when it's hot. A couple of my part-time classes start this week, so I need to sort out registers and I think I will be telephoning people and withdrawing some of them from classes where insufficient numbers have enrolled for the classes to run. I'm glad it's not this manic all the time - I'd never cope. I did allow myself a when I got home last night as I thought I'd earned it.

Anyhoo - I think there might actually be something worth watching on TV at eight o'clock so I'm off.

Have a good week.
Liz
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Hi Liz

I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since we were chatting ... , that's my fault, I just don't know where the time goes at the moment. The girls are back at school and I've really struggled getting back into some kind of routine this time round ... they're fine, it's me that's running around like a headless chicken

So, how've you been?? I've no doubt at all that your cold will have gone by now and hopefully now term is in full swing your new students will also have settled in nicely and be causing you the minimum of grief. Work here is a bit up and down in terms of volume - last week was manic - this week it's so quiet I'm in danger of ending up with nothing to do. The office is also a bit *up and down* ... it's that strange no-mans land between roasting in the summer and freezing in the winter. I'm freezing but then I acknowledge that I am a chilly mortal at the best of times, but one of the ladies in our bay is pregnant and is permanently roasting, so the upshot of it is really that none of us are very comfortable. I freeze, she roasts, and the other 2 put cardigans on, take cardigans off, put 'em back on .. all day long. We'll be better in some ways when the cold weather really kicks in then it's easy - we all freeze

Other than that, nothing much to report. I'm off to Southend again at the weekend to see Chris. We had a good time when he came up here ... the Speedway was good, a real buzz and the golf is coming on sort of ... I haven't quite got the knack yet but I'm ever the optimist. We'll be having a bit of a thrash around when I see him at the weekend, he's letting me loose on a real 9 hole course to play with Other People ... not sure I'm up to this really but what the hell

I'm not enjoying the autumn weather at all, I don't look forward to winter and all the Christmas stuff in the shops already is making my head hurt . I think Christmas should be restricted to December if we really Have to have it at all ... bah humbug

So .. what have you been up to? Have you heard from Chris any more?? Hope you've been having a good time up there.

Well, I'm off to cook some tea now so I'll leave it at that.

take care
Karen