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

Hello!

Well, the wedding is all over, as is the washing and ironing and everything else I've had to catch up on, and finally I feel like I've got time to sit down and do some serious hootooing .

It sounds like you had a great week off . I've never been to Cambridge, and it sounds (and looks - had a nosy at your blog ) lovely. They have similar open-top tour buses in Oxford - in fact, there were about two or three competing companies - and I remember them always being reasonably full, even in winter.

The wedding went well - thankfully! Me and Dave got up to Rotherham Thursday afternoon, for Heather to tell me we were in at the hairdressers at 10.30am and then had all day to get ready for 3.30pm, when the limo arrived. She was incredibly nervous - she hadn't slept well, she couldn't eat, and she was all trembling, bless her.

We both had our hair put up, and I was extremely impressed that my hair (which usually refuses to do what it's told) stayed up all day and evening without any problems at all. Although I'm sure I had a good few lbs of hairgrips holding it all up!

We got ready at the dressmakers - she's a family friend of Heather, apparently. My dress had been finished (yay!) and so was Heather's, so it was just the little touches like ribbons that needed trimming and finishing off. The trouble was, the dressmaker and Heather had decided that to avoid bloating, we'd just nibble on fruit... which meant I ate hardly anything substantial between my breakfast at 8.30am, and the reception at 6pm .

The wedding itself went off very smoothly, and was a lovely small ceremony, although the room itself was very hot (even I was sweaty). The hotel where they got married then served some delicious hot canapes and wine, and then we made our way across town to where the evening reception and buffet was being held. I have to admit, I was one of the first to fill a plate at the buffet - I was utterly starving by that point, and daren't drink any alcohol as it would've gone straight to my head.

There was s disco, which was good fun - and the best man (who got very drunk) and his wife were on the dancefloor all night. Ian, the groom, got very very drunk and was practically asleep in a corner by the time we left - but he looked very happily drunk.

It was a tiring day, but it all went well, and that was the main thing. Heather and Ian have gone on honeymoon camping in Skegness, so I hope they've had good weather for it - given I haven't heard from them, I guess they're having a good time.

I haven't seen the pictures yet, but as soon as some arrive I'll post a link to them .

I think bad/annoying things happen on the weekend purely to annoy people and make them feel like their weekend's been taken up with something. Dave says that with our house, even the most simple job seems to turn into something far more complicated thanks to the people who lived her before having bodged it - the floor being a case in point. If the weather's dry this weekend - our first free weekend in ages - he's considering having another go.

I'm in a bit of a dilemma at the moment. Chris mentioned to Dave there was a temporary job going as a technical writer at the engineering firm where he works, and did I fancy applying? I thought about it, thought it might be fun, and sent in my CV.

They asked me to an interview on Tuesday, by which time I still wasn't entirely sure exactly what job I was applying for or even if I really wanted a job. The money would come in handy, but we're surviving just fine on Dave's income - and I've got used to having time to do the boring houseworky things during the week.

Anyway, I had the interview, and walked out with the feeling that I didn't have enough technical knowledge of what I'd be writing about to make a good go of it... But they only rang up yesterday to say they would like to discuss this job with me a bit further as they're thinking of offering it me .

I'm really stunned, as I'd convinced myself I hadn't got it, and I was OK with that. But now, I really don't know what to do . It would be full time, and I'd be working 9-5 5-days a week (very different hours to what I was used to at Land Rover), and even though it would only be 6 months, I'm still not sure I want to go back to full time work! I'm also not sure that my technical brain is still in ther after so long off . I'm supposed to be talking to the man who would be my manager sometime today, so I'm hoping that by then I might have made my mind up!

Cor, I've written a huge essay, so I shall finish here . Hope you have a good weekend, and chat soon.

Lins

Hiya Lins,

Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored at work today, hence I'm on here. This is very much the calm before the storm - two weeks from now we will be in the midst of enrolment week and my life will be hell on toast.

I'm not really sure how my interview went on Monday - I chatted along alright with the two people and it seemed like a nice enough place. However, as I haven't heard anything from them two days later, I am pretty sure I didn't get it. Ho-hum. I really need to make more effort to find something else; the prospect of another autumn at the college makes me want to scream and jump out of the window - I MUST get something else before next summer otherwise I really will go mad.

So, have you made up your mind about the interview that you had?

I did enjoy my week off and I did enjoy Cambridge. Most of the touristy places have an open top bus ride available. There only seems to be the one operator in Cambridge, but I've been to Bath and there are at least three companies running tours there (and the one I went on in Bath was a lot cheaper than the one in Cambridge).

I'm spending most of this coming weekend at my friend Sharon's. She bought me a ticket for V on Sunday as a birthday present, so I will be staying at her's on Saturday and Sunday as she lives slightly nearer to Chelmsford than I do. It was a VERY generous thing for her to buy me as a gift, but I'm not at all keen to go. Hanging around in a field with thousands of people just isn't my idea of fun. I feel guilty because I'm dreading the weekend and she's probably really looking forward to it. Still, at least the weather forecast is looking a bit better.

The wedding sounds nice, although I'm not sure about the honeymoon. Camping isn't the most romantic thing I can think of and particularly not at 'bracing' Skegness. It's some years since I visited Skeggy, so perhaps it has improved since then.

I came in late to work this morning as I had to wait in for a man to come and insulate my loft (so that's another domestic job out of the way). It only took him an hour. He arrived late and I spent time hoovering up after he had gone but I still managed to get to work before 10am. I was having a very jolly time on my PC and would have happily sat there for a lot longer. I can't access any blogs from work, so that is one less thing I can use to fill my time on slow days like today.

My CCH is back from her summer break today, so I suppose I had better saunter along to her office and see if there is anything in her out tray that might help to stave off the boredom for a few minutes.

Take care
Liz
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Hiya!

I suppose at work, you can only enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts . Bit of a pain about your interview - it really bugs me when people don't let you know how you've done!

I've decided to take the job . I will technically be a Document Engineer. I'm still not sure about it, however they seemed really, really keen; plus if I decide I don't like it, or if they decide I'm not hacking it, we both have a one week notice period, which seems pretty good. They admitted they've hired contractors with the technical knowledge who've been crap, so effectively, they feel like they can take a risk with me!

The scariest thing of all is I start on Monday - and I get to sit next to Chris (the one who lived with us, and the one who told me about the job in the first place). I'm not sure how I'll get on working with him, but from what he says about their office, it could be good fun. Also, my new boss is actually out on holiday for the first two weeks, and according to the HR woman I've been speaking to, effectively I'll just be going round the company and finding out what they do.

The weirdest part will be leaving for work after Dave and getting home about an hour afterwards . He has said he'll do housework while he's waiting for me to come home, which is nice of him, but we'll see .

Hopefully, it'll be dry for you at the V festival. I know what you mean, as that sort of thing has never really appealed to me, either, for much the same reason . I've no idea what bands are on (I think Amy Winehouse was supposed to be on, but I don't think she actually is now, given what seems to be going on with her), but I hope you have a good time with Sharon and enjoy the festival. . And I hope it stays dry, too.

Heather and Ian are back off holiday, but as yet I haven't found out how they enjoyed it! I must admit I wouldn't choose to camp at Skegness. Oddly, mum and dad are off on holiday to one of the nearby villages in a few weeks, so I'm sure they'll tell me if it's changed any in the few years since they've been. I think traditional coastal resorts like Skeggy are struggling in this era of cheap flights abroad, really.

Hope you found something to do at work, and next time I'll probably be able to report back on my first days at work (scary thought!).

Take care and chat soon,

Lins

Hiya Lins,

I hope being back at work is going OK. Document Engineer is an odd title but more impressive than Curriculum Centre Administrator, which is what I am. It's started to get busier for me and next week is enrolment week so that will be really hellish. A couple of weeks ago I was entertaining the hope of being able to hand my notice in - how much easier to bear enrolment would be if I could see a light at the end of the tunnel. I still haven't heard from the company who interviewed me. I wouldn't mind so much, but they did say "we'll be in touch" as I was leaving and I think the fact that two weeks have gone by and still no letter is down right rude! They were a bit half-arsed and disorganised, so it's probably just as well I'm not going to work there. There might actually be places that are more disorganised than Suffolk College. Or rather, Suffolk New College as we are now called (I don't even want to think about how much that rebranding cost).

I enjoyed some of the acts I saw at V, but I can't say that I enjoyed the day overall - it's just too tiring. And too busy, and don't get me started on the cigarette smoke - yuk! We did get lucky with the weather though; it was showery when we first arrived, but not a bit cold and the proper rain didn't start until about 9pm. It could have been so much worse. My favourite act was KT Tunstall, and I also enjoyed The Manic Street Preachers and Lily Allen, who I was very pleasantly surprised by.

Well, I haven't got much to report today so I shall b***** off now. I look forward to hearing about your new job.

Take care
Liz
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