Sarah's Transition Diary .. weeks 365 - 368

.... is for those who might want to contact me about my diary.

Day 2549. Thursday 1st December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

06.45 .. The alarm ..

08.55 .. Get a last minute breakfast ticket .. only to find the staff already clearing it all away .. they have to stop and return some items .. 5 minutes later a Chinese woman with 3 kids turn up wanting cooked breakfasts ..

18.15 .. ish .. Dorothy orders Chicken noodles again .. tonight I’m having the $2 version unlike yesterday’s $5 version .. to be honest, as she says, there is no difference, anyway it’s really nice and spicy !!

20.00 .. ish .. A quick chat with Aey at the clinic .. she’s going to replace my missing paperwork from he clinic and scan and email to me .. phew.

Martin sends me version 5 of the config for the desk .. hopefully this will correct all the little bits and it’ll work for Steve at 6am ..

00.10 .. I finally leave the office ..

00.25 .. Back in my hotel room .. 402 .. ankles like balloons.  

More to come ...

Day 2550. Friday 2nd December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

I didn’t sleep well at all worrying about my angles and the flight home ..

06.10 .. The alarm ..

08.45 .. I head down to have breakfast ..

09.02 .. Back in my room, I need to pack ..

10.15 .. I’m finally in the office .. Steve’s not happy.

I reload the working good configuration from Wednesday night and do some more testing, with the infamous “CAM bus” disconnected totally and with a new temporary cable run across the floor through 2 door ways between Studio 1 and CTA .. there’s still no difference at all.

12.00 .. Steve and Dorothy have to leave for a meeting, leaving me on my own except for the on air Gurkha  crew .. I tidy a few things up and redo my nails with clear varnish .. which I realise later I’ve left in the office.

A type chat with Melanie from work on Facebook .. it’s 5.15 am in UK, she woke up and can’t sleep.

14.44 ..There’s a knock at the office door .. my taxi has arrived .. it’s a different driver and car this time, the chap is quite chatty and he asks if it’s OK to play UB40 as he’s into reggae .. fine with me !!

16.08 .. At the airport .. Again I’m charged by a female employee of  Royal Brunei for the excess .. $50 for 5 kg. I decline  having my luggage sent straight through to LHR because she was going to add a charge on behalf of Singapore Airlines too .. I need the exercise and lose some time in Singapore .. and hopefully save the company some money.

I have to go pay the excess at another booth .. and there’s nobody there for about 10 minutes. Gosh I hate this airport.

Through emigration I head for the loo’s .. down the flight of stairs with my cases to the most disgusting airport toilets I’ve encountered.

Back up the stairs I go to the Coffee Garden for refreshment, spending my last $ cash. A chunk of chocolate fudge cake and a drink of hot chocolate hits the spot. In fact, the upside of this airport is they do make an excellent hot chocolate .. almost to St Vaast yacht club standard .. that is an accolade. I use the free Coffee Garden wi-fi to log into works emails and Facebook.

17.15 .. A call to go to the gate, but it’s been changed .. odd. Security this time is more grief as they want to look into my case and it’s contents .. to big burly chaps ( for Bruneians ) step forward. I open my case, it’s “the box” they want to look into .. “medical” I tell them, they want to look .. I slide a dilator half out of it’s tissue sleeve “medical” I repeat .. “ok mam”. The two bottles of hibi scrub get close attention .. “what is this” .. “hibi scrub, medical cleaner for that lot” as I tap “the box” .. “ok mam, you can go”.

I find a spot with eye line site of the Coffee Garden 3 gates away .. reboot the company laptop and it just manages to log in .. I do some more Facebook updates and Dawn pops up for a type chat on Skype.   

Security getting into the terminal ( scanning all my cases the first time was a doddle .. no hassle.

18.15 .. We finally start to board the aircraft .. the change of gate from 5 to 3 was significant .. I think the Airbus A318 must me broken, we are hearded onto a Boeing 777-200 .. luxury. Loads of leg room and seats with lumber support. I assume there is more leg room on Boeings to allow for the natives of that manufacturers country who are unvariably from the large arsed breed of human.

18.40 .. Lift off from Brunei airport .. It’s allegedly a 1hr 55 min flight, and we are going to get fed .. I opt for the beef dish again as I did the last flight here.

20.38 .. Touch down in a rather damp Singapore .. get off the plane and they want to check your luggage again .. and yes the bells rung and questions asked, thought I didn’t open my case  I just said medical and the guy was happy ..

Through immigration and luggage claim in T1, I head for the sky train to T3 and my flight home ..

21.20 .. I’m at Singapore Airlines check in at Changi T1. My hold case goes on the scales while I’m chatting and smiling at this nice guy from Singapore Airlines .. it works .. he doesn’t charge me an excess at all << smiles >> .. is it because it’s a bloke and I’m a woman.

Through emigration I head for the shops .. a couple of things to get on my list .. a neck cushion and maybe a spare battery for my Pentax K10GP .. several “Pentax” shops tried but failed. In one he wants to see the camera and battery “Wow .. K10GP, this vely lai .. only 2000 made” .. “yes I know, but battery is standard K10" .. they don’t have one .. but he’s smiling a lot at my camera.

I can’t find a purple neck cushion .. just a pink flowery one in the “female” colour scheme of things .. so I buy one on my Visa card to see if it bounces .. it doesn’t. Before heading for the gate I nip into a loo to “freshen up” .. clean nicks and accessory then try and get my long leg compression stockings on for the flight. Gosh they look horrible after I’ve struggled to get them on .. but it’s not about fashion. I should have done this in the office maybe before leaving Brunei, my ankles are bad already.     

22.45 .. I’m at the gate A10 to head for London. My luggage goes through the scanner .. and yes it’s the inquisition into what’s in my case.

By this time one might wonder why I still carry my kit in my carry on luggage. I’m getting blase about security wanting to look, and those who really want to look deep getting a lot more embarrassed  than  I do .. there’s nothing embarrassing to me about my kit .. it’s what I need to do.

More to come ...

Day 2551. Saturday 3rd December  2011.

Memory Joggers ...

00.35 .. Lift off from Changi airport ..

01.45 .. Supper is served, once cleared away ..

I settle down with my new neck cushion and my Bose noise cancelling headphones. Seat 52G isn’t too bad at all and I discover I do have more leg room than I did on the flight out .. another advantage I discover later is that there’s a little gap behind my seat between the bulkhead where I can slide my laptop when I need to go to the loo.

I believe I slept for about 4 hours solid in one hit .. amazing really, the headphones certainly do the business.

11.00 .. We are woken up .. for breakfast .. I’m cold, really cold so I get my cardi out of my case, and my laptop .. I’ll spend a while doing some diary  .. << smiles >>.

There’s quite a strong head wind, and with our late departure we are going to arrive late eta currently 06.09 .. so 15 minutes late.

13.30 ( 05.30 UK time ) we fly over Rotterdam and there’s only 40 mins to go .. so I decide to shut the laptop down .. use the loo etc ..

It’s the Saturday morning weigh in .. 14st 1lb ...

More to come ...

Day 2552. Sunday 4th December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

09.30 .. Karen wakes me with a cup of tea ..

10.11 .. Up and at it ..

11.50 .. Time to shower .. 

It’s the “Saturday morning weigh in”, OK it’s a day late and it’s after breakfast .. 14st 11 3/4 lb .. not as bad as I thought it might be.

12.50 .. We head for Waitrose .. Karen drives as I’m a little spaced out.

19.30 .. Dinner .. Lamb shank with roast potatoes and carrots .. lovely .. dessert was a couple of flaky pastry mince pies and ice cream.

22.15 .. I’m in bed ..

More to come ...                                   

Day 2553. Monday 5th December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

Aided by a Valium I slept really well ..

06.10 .. The alarm ..

08.00 .. I call the doctors .. it connects to the premium rate line, I get a the start of the long winded ( let’s maximise the cost / income ) then drops my call. I call again .. I’m 20th in queue ..

08.14 .. The doctors get to answer me .. 10.20 appointment.

I do a phot session down below using my little USB microscope .. looks like 9 stitches in the labia and  I think another 8 around the urethra and pelvic floor ..

10.10 .. Off to the doctors ..  

10.22 .. I’m called into the doctors .. I get a very strange feeling .. things aren’t right ..

11.45 .. I’m in work ..

16.00 .. I’m starting to feel cold, I’m sneezing .. this isn’t looking good ..

17.35 .. I head for home ..

20.33 .. oh the joys of being home in a cold climate .. nose now in full flood and splitting headache .. a dose of Lemsip and off to bed .. nightie night..

More to come ...

Day 2554. Tuesday 6th December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

03.00 .. I’m awake ..

It’s a rough night ..

06.10 .. The alarm .. I feel like death warmed up .. I think I’ve got the flu ..

Been off work today, wiped out by what ever has got me, flue I suspect from my raging temperature and splitting head ache, now a Lemsip addict .. just got up to eat with Karen, then going back to bed .. it's great being home !!

21.40 .. I’m in bed ..

More to come ...

Day 2555. Wednesday 7th December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

A sleepless night ..

Was awake at 3am again .. DOH !!

06.10 .. The alarm ..

Karen bought me a hot water bottle and a Lemsip about 07.40 ..

12.15 .. I woke up to find the cold Lemsip, still got the headache and temperature but at least the nose is showing signs of drying up a little, staggered I got through nearly a whole kitchen roll yesterday / overnight

00.15 .. Wanting to break the jet lag .. I’ve stayed up late ..

It takes ages to get to sleep ..

More to come ...

Day 2556. Thursday 8th December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

I slept better ..
           
06.10 .. The alarm ..

7.47 .. is heading into work today, feeling somewhat better .. odd thing is I seem to have flipped the jet lag somewhere unknown, such that last night, having stayed up deliberately through the yarning till midnight, once I laid down I was wide awake .. could I sleep .. no .. not sure I got a wink of sleep

16.00 .. ish .. Geoff, our bosses boss calls me into his office. We chat for about 15 minutes about various things .. he’d been reading my Facebook accounts of working in Brunei and being in Thailand .. wants to be sure I’m recovering from that. He brings up the fact I mentioned on Facebook that I felt a colleague was showing a little transphobia towards me before I went away .. he wants to know who it is if it starts to stress me. He owns up to telling all the team about me before I started and all said they were fine with it .. they have to be now that there are two of us. ( With another job about to be advertised to replace Mark, who knows .. Mel and I + 1 could become a majority in the department !! )

17.53 .. I head for home via my mum’s to drop her shopping off ..

19.23 .. I’m home ..

23.20 .. I’m in bed ..

More to come ...

Day 2557. Friday 9th December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

06.10 .. The alarm ..

09.04 .. I’m in the office ..

17.08 .. Jon comes and sees me .. he’s going home and suggests I do the same .. fair enough ..

17.25 .. I’m just leaving when Tom’s phone starts to ring .. I do a group pickup and answer .. an outside caller is asking for James .. ( the old owner of Tom’s number ) .. I don’t know it, so I have to reboot my laptop and sort it .. but James hasn’t updated telephone numbers .. DOH !!!

17.37 .. I finally leave the office ..

17.40 .. I finally drive away ..

18.28 .. I’m home ..

18.33 .. Karen heads off .. having been left home alone by Karen with a M&S Chicken Risotto to microwave .. I decided I needed something to lubricate it with, so opened a bottle of Chateau du Vieux Rolland 2007 .. a rather excellent Bordeaux Superieur Controlee vin .. a light weight wine to suit the risotto .. shame I've got nobody here to share it with .. it's going to disappear rather quickly !!

22.30 .. Still no Karen .. I head for bed ..

More to come ...

Day 2558. Saturday 10th December  2011.

Memory Joggers ...

07.10 .. The alarm ..

07.33 .. Up and at it ..

It’s the Saturday morning weigh in .. 14st 10 1/4 lb .. it’s going the correct way !!.

09.23 .. Out to the car .. brrrrrr .. it’s freezing. Sparkle and Red parked in the road in the shadow of the houses across the street, are so frosted up it almost looks like snow on them. Violet in the drive has caught some sun and has partially defrosted ..

09.26 .. Karen drives Violet out of the drive .. the temperature indicator says 2c .. hmmm.

09.45 .. We join the M25 ..

10.07 .. We are on the M1 .. all going very smoothly ..

10.57 .. We arrive at Northampton services to find a very happy Claire .. gosh we hope this lasts .. she gives me a hug as she gets out of the homes car ..

11.00 .. Transfer completed .. back on the road for home .. but the M1 heading south isn’t so good, sun in our faces doesn’t help. Claire asks for a barbecue .. well in her mind with the sun blasting in it’s probably BBQ weather.

11.48 .. Back on the M25 ..

12.07 .. We leave the M25 at J13 and head up the A30 for home .. Claire is rabbit, rabbit, rabbit .. mainly about food .. but she sounds happy at least ..

12.25 .. We are home ..

14.35 .. We head off to my mum’s, via Boot’s in Lightwater and then Waitrose before heading to Egham ..

15.45 .. We arrive outside my mum’s .. Claire’s now saying she doesn’t want to go in .. it’s been 9 months or more since she’s been in .. but we persuade her that granny really does want to see her.

Once inside mothers flat, after a few tense minutes Claire relaxes so we can too ..

16.12 .. Claire wants to go .. the relief is at least we’ve broken the last 9 months pattern.

16.33 .. We are home .. phew ..

17.10 .. ish .. Robert arrives ..

17.25 .. Robert has gone ..

18.20 .. I’m back with the pizzas ..

20.55 .. Claire’s in bed ..  

21.16 .. Claire is up again .. wanting the loo no doubt ..

23.10 .. After some bathroom pampering .. I finally climb into bed ..

More to come ...

Day 2559. Sunday 11th December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

I slept pretty well, waking often to sip water but always snoozing quickly after, apparently Karen was up 3 times with Claire, I didn’t stir .. sorry.

08.35 .. Claire’s up .. and now I’m awake .. up and at it ..

09.55 .. Heads for the shower and a hair wash ..

10.50 .. I'm done and back down stairs .. though I decided againstb the hair wash ..

11.45 .. Claire is bathed, and delivered down to me to dry her hair while Karen showers ..

13.15 .. Lunch over, I go out into the garden to do some leaf collecting . .it’s our brown bin collecting day this week .. might as well make sure it’s full to go ..

14.00 .. Karen calls me in ..

14.20 .. We load the car ( Sparkle ) up ready to go .. but the washer bottle is empty .. so I have to fill it. As I’m doing so, Graham the new neighbour from number 14 at the bottom introduces himself, a visitor to another house has parked a car across his drive so he can’t escape. I introduce Karen whose in the driving seat as “my partner”, seems a real nice guy.

14.25 .. We are off .. the TomTom is saying we have 9 minutes to spare .. it’s drizzling by the time we reach Sunningdale .. lovely.

14.41 .. We are on a quite busy M25 ..

15.05 .. We join the M1 .. Claire is really quiet, sleeping on and off .. as Magic FM fizzles out in goes the Enigma CD for Claire .. I like it too, something she’s caught from me.

15.50 .. We arrive at a wet, windy and miserable Northampton services .. as Claire gets out of our car she offers me a hug without prompting .. a nice end to a really nice weekend with her .. we can only hope for the future. 

15.55 .. Back on the road ..

16.20 .. We join the back of what the TomTom says is a 34 minute queue ..

Chats with Martha and Gaynor on Yahoo while sitting in the jam .. and beyond ..

17.20 .. We finally leave the M1 .. and join a busy but moving M25 ..

17.43 .. We leave the M25 @ J13 and head up the A30 for home ..

17.59 .. We are home ..

19.25 .. I order a Chinese ..

20.15 .. The meal is over .. my fortune cookies .. “YOU WILL HELP MOST BEING THERE WHEN YOUR PRESENCE IS NEEDED” .. followed by .. “SOMEONE WILL TURN THE CHARM ON YOU NEXT WEEK” .. hmmmmm.

A chat with Dawn, and then Katherine on Skype, but typed .. Katherine seemed unduly narked, thinking she’s been rejected by GRSinThailand group .. wrong .. she’d been getting the daily digests she’d signed up for, so she had to be a member !! .. but I suspect she’d been using the wrong email address to write to the group .. ho hum ..

22.15 .. I’m heading for bed.

More to come ...                           

Day 2560. Monday 12th December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

06.10 .. The alarm ..

09.15 .. I’m in the office .. what a horrible trip in ..

19.57 .. I’m at Sunningdale station, to collect Martha.

20.05 .. Martha and I enter the restaurant ..

23.15 .. ish .. We are the last to leave .. the weather is terrible .. I drive Martha all the way home to NW1 !!

01.45 .. I finally climb into bed ..

More to come ...

Day 2561. Tuesday 13th December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

06.10 .. The alarm ..

16.09 .. A Facebook post of mine:

I’m trying to get my head around a studio system fault with a 2 year paper trail history .. with a splitting ear ache like a bad tooth ache in my right ear .. looks like I've cracked it .. can't prove till I can get some more studio timer .. Christmas run up means everyone is trying to pre record Christmas shows .. hopefully nailed on Friday !!!

17.00 .. I go to studio 1 and investigate the wiring there .. I’m shocked to find +24V on a black commoning block, and Ov ( ground / earth ) on a red one !!!

17.45 .. I need to go .. so I pack up and head for home .. 

20.03 .. A Facebook post of mine:

A question for my broadcast engineering buddies .. if you went under a sound desk checking things on Krones, as you do, and you saw commoning blocks, one red, and one black .. what do you think the blocks might carry in the "I've seen / done this so many times it should be ruddy obvious" .. ????

More to come ...

Day 2562. Wednesday 14th December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

06.10 .. The alarm ..

07.45 .. I log into Facebook as I’m finishing breakfast .. and find an invite to an app that annoys me ..

08.02 .. I’m through to the doctors .. I get a 09.20 appointment.

08.03 .. A Facebook post of mine ..

Friends .. I will not accept any invites from intrusive Facebook Apps like "My Calendar -Birthdays" that insist non having access to all my info, especially my friends list, so they get spammed too .. I always disallow .. had 3 "My F'ing Calendar" requests this morning, all disallowed .. grrrrrrrrrr.

09.20 .. I’m at the doctors .. my right ear is infected, it’s a course of antibiotics and the doctor wants my ear seen again on Friday, so he books me a 09.00 appointment.

More to come ...

Day 2563. Thursday 15th December 2011. !!!

Memory Joggers ...

06.10 .. The alarm ..

07.50 .. I log into Facebook .. another invite to another intrusive app .. a Facebook app request which I declined .. just look at what she's signed up for and what I won't .. the most alarming is to allow "Friend Pix" to :

"Friend Pix may post status messages, notes, photos and videos on my behalf"

Marleena, and other "friends" do you never read what your signing up for .. Facebook is a serious threat to your / our privacy if unchecked !!!

Friend Pix is requesting permission to do the following:

Access my basic information
Includes name, profile picture, gender, networks, user ID, list of friends, and any other information I've made public
Access my photos
Access information people share with me
Photos
Send me email
Friend Pix may email me directly at sarah.heleneuk@gmail.com ·
Post to Facebook as me
Friend Pix may post status messages, notes, photos and videos on my behalf
Access posts in my News Feed
Access my data any time
Friend Pix may access my data when I'm not using the application
Publish games and app activity
Friend Pix may publish scores, achievements and other activity to Facebook.

17.50 .. I head for home ..

18.40 .. I arrive back at work .. and reinstate the modification I’d tested with Mark earlier .. it’s really only a temporary solution to the fault that has existed for 2 years, which I’ve been chasing for the last few weeks when ever I could get studio time .. 

More to come ...

Day 2564. Friday 16th December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

06.10 .. The alarm ..

08.58 .. I’m at the doctors, only to find my appointment made by Dr Wilcox doesn’t exist .. I’m told to come back at 11.50 !!

10.01 .. I’m in Chiswick Honda to swap loan car for Violet .. they’ve made a mistake on my bill for the tyres .. only charges £75 each instead of the £113 I was quoted .. I did point it out but the girl just smiled and proceeded to take the lower amount on the invoice .. Happy Christmas to Violet !!

10.43 .. I’m home ..

Out with the company laptop .. I send an email to the presenter team about my fix in studio 3 last night .. may only be a temporary fix at the moment, but a fix it is, many of the engineers on the team past and present have tried to sort this over the last 2 years .. and I put some hours in too .. but I’ve fixed it .. << smiles >>. 

11.50 .. I book in to see the doctor and get sent upstairs to a temporary room in what is now a building site ..

12.10 .. I’m called in to see the doctor .. shoulder, sinuses and right ear.

12.25 .. I drop my prescription into the chemist and run .. I’ll collect it tomorrow ..

13.20 .. I finally arrive at in the office ..

19.00 .. ish .. Mark and I head for the Christmas party ..

Well the party was something else .. especially the disco that was too loud and too distorted .. at least the nibbles were nice if you could catch them as they came past ..

23.30 .. ish .. I head for home ..

01.10 .. I’m finally in bed ..

More to come ...

Day 2565. Saturday 17th December  2011.

Memory Joggers ...

07.35 .. I wake with a start .. up and at it ..

It’s the Saturday morning weigh in .. except I forgot in my rush to get out !!

09.10 .. I’m in the chemists .. prescription still not ready ..

09.30 .. I’m in RoadWheel at Frimley .. the place is empty and Red gets her new Michelin Alpin 4 front boots, put onto the spare wheels I bought earlier in the year .. the nearly new original fronts get put into the boot.

10.05 .. Back at the Chemists .. still not ready, so I nip across to Budgen’s to get some bread and other things ..

10.20 .. My prescription is ready ..

10.25 .. I’m home ..

13.30 .. I’m in the hairdressers ..

14.00 .. Karen arrives to have her hair done ..

14.55 .. I’m home ..

16.35 .. We head for my mums ..

19.15 .. I’m inside the Chinese awaiting our food ..

19.33 .. Finally heading home with our food .. 

00.15 .. I’m in bed ..

More to come ...

Day 2566. Sunday 18th December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

08.55 .. Karen wakes me with a cup of tea .. time for a cuddle ..

09.40 .. Up and at it .. Karen ends our cuddle, she needs to get up and get out to meet a friend at 11.00

10.50 .. Karen heads off ..

11.20 .. I head up to try a gentle dilation .. the first since Wednesday 9th November .. just a short drudgery this morning after a 5 week break, following seeing Dr Suporn. I followed his advice .. was planning to go to once a week now again, but after 20 mins with the smallest dilator I felt something give .. just don't know what the future for that part of my anatomy now holds .. ruddy NHS gynae has a lot to answer for << sighs >>.

14.15 .. To Waitrose .. I maybe going to work tomorrow with a bruise close to my right eye after being a victim of public domestic violence attack. Karen bought a yard of Jaffa Cakes to take to work and then smacked me in the face with them at the check out .. accidentally she says .. the woman on the check out thought it was amusing ..

15.30 .. ish .. We are home .. time to light up the tree ..

19.10 .. Dinner is served .. a stuffed pork roast with roast potatoes. carrots, parsnip and beetroot .. lovely .. dessert is a baby Christmas pudding with a hidden orange inside .. it’s really nice with a little  Cornish ice cream ..

22.05 .. I head off to bed, nightie night ..

More to come ...

Day 2567. Monday 19th December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

06.10 .. The alarm ..

More to come ...

Day 2568. Tuesday 20th December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

06.10 .. The alarm ..

16.10 .. Finally, after a few too many battles with Audionics switcher panels in last the year, only to find out that the "modified" ( undocumented mod ) panel I'd seen while trying to fix my first had the wrong mod .. today I discovered the correct values for the mod .. Happy TC's ( Transmission Controllers Dept) panel works as new now .. !!! .. I’m going home happy and relieved !!

19.40 .. Dinner is served, a Gressingham Duck Breast Fillet "with sea salt and four pepper seasoning" .. OMG .. that was simply divine with potatoes roasted in the juices !

More to come ...

Day 2569. Wednesday 21st December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

06.10 .. The alarm ..

08.22 .. I’m on the road in Violet ..

13.30 .. I head out to do a quick bit of shopping at Tesco’s in Gerrards Cross and to nip into the local Chemist to try and get a something for Karen for Christmas .. in the chemist I also treat myself to something new too .. Tesco’s wasn’t as bad as I imagined, and I got a couple of Epoisses cheeses, one for home and one for an office treat tomorrow.

17.38 .. I’m on the road for home ..

More to come ...

Day 2570. Thursday 22nd December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

06.10 .. The alarm ..

08.26 .. I’m on the road in Red .. but the traffic is terrible .. why ??

09.23 .. I’m finally in the office ..

The Epoisses cheese I bought in yesterday which I left out of the fridge is nicely gooey and begging to be eaten.

I open it, the smell before had already raised comment. As the morning passes many colleagues pass through our tea / coffee making facility. A few won’t try the cheese cause of the smell, but those who take courage and try a little on the water biscuits I also bought in are very complimentary .. even if this is a pasteurised milk “Tesco’s Finest” range version. A ripe proper unpasteurised milk version from France or Teddington Cheese is far stronger on all fronts.

12.30 .. ish .. I head across to the canteen to eat lunch with Melanie .. I was going to just have a jacket potato but the belly of pork looks wonderful .. and to confirm, it really tasted good too.  

17.43 .. I head for home ..

18.25 .. I’m home ..

More to come ...

Day 2571. Friday 23rd December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

06.10 .. The alarm ..

07.38 .. Oop’s .. up and at it, I need to do my hair too ..

08.31 .. I’m finally on the road ..

09.15 .. I’m in the office .. I set my phone to active on the On Call rerouting .. the buck stops here for the next 3 days ..

12.30 .. ish .. Boss Jon comes into our office and says we can go home as soon as we are ready .. I’m still checking the scheduler PC to make sure there aren’t any unexpected holes in the 64 sources for the next 3 days ..  

13.45 .. I finally leave the office ..

14.33 .. I’m home ..

More to come ...

Day 2572. Saturday 24th December  2011.

Memory Joggers ...

07.39 .. I wake with a start, my company mobile is ringing .. my new home made ring tone works ..

08.10 .. I’m in the kitchen, do a weight check .. 14st 11 ½ lb .. and have my breakfast and meds. I make  tea for us both and rejoin Karen in bed ..

09.05 .. Up and at it ..

12.10 .. I head off to Waitrose with a short list ..

12.58 .. I’m home ..

14.25 .. I head off ..

17.50 .. Karen’s home ..

18.28 .. I phone the Chinese and order our food .. “30 minutes please Sarah” .. hmmm .. that’ll be a Chinese 30 minutes ..

19.00 .. I head for the Chinese ..

19.08 .. I’m in the Chinese with several others, all collecting large quantities of food .. but ours still isn’t ready ..

19.18 .. I finally head for home with our food.

Home with the food, Karen tries to open a vintage ( 1996 ) bottle of Chardonnay .. it’s a disaster, the cork has failed, so it’s a 2008 Pouilly Fume to the rescue.

My fortune cookies .. the first one “LUCK WILL BE ON YOUR SIDE THIS WEEK” .. oo .. will my lottery tickets come up trumps ?!? .. the second “TOMORROW WILL BE A GOOD DAY FOR GETTING THINGS DONE” .. oh nooo .. I’m on call what does this mean !?!

23.15 .. Heading for bed ..

More to come ...

Day 2573. Sunday 25th December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

10.54 .. Robert arrives and I head up for a shower ..

13.20 .. Christmas dinner is served ..

15.30 .. We head for my mum’s .. Robert drives us in his car ..

17.10 .. We are home .. Robert heads off to his girl friends ..

18.00 .. ish .. Karen’s dad arrives ..

Ray would like a cognac to drink .. I break out my bottle of 1970 vintage Bas Armagnac, I’ll allow myself a very small one as I’m on call. Sadly it’s  down to the last 1/4 of a bottle, gosh its amazing still, once warmed in the crystal mini globes it’s so wonderfully mellow it’s stunning. At 395€ when I bought it 10 years or so ago, it was the most expensive bottle I’d ever bought .. but it’s pure nectar.

We break out the cheese and biscuits .. the Epoisses gets opened .. it’s lovely ..

22.05 .. Karen’s dad heads home ..

More to come ...

Day 2574. Monday 26th December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

07.10 .. The alarm ..

07.33 .. Up and at it ..

08.58 .. My company phone is ringing .. it’s Karim .. one of our web streams is off .. I ask him to do  ticket as Melanie will be in the office shortly. I call Melanie and let her know what’s what, as a sort of a hand over. I’m going to be her phone a friend for the next couple of days.

09.29 .. We are on the road to get Claire in Sparkle .. as we exit the village they are starting to close the road ready for the pram race .. fun for our return ..

09.45 .. We join a fairly quiet M25 .. in the other carriageway between J15 and J14 they’ve closed a  few lanes and the traffic is backing up, hopefully that will be cleared before our return.

10.04 .. We’ve joined a fairly busy M1, but it keeps rolling.

10.48 .. Karen’s phone rings, I answer .. it’s Robert wanting to know our ETA back home with Claire ..

10.53 .. We arrive at the services .. Claire’s waiting .. but she doesn’t look very happy, we soon find out why .. she’s had a water infection, with only a 3 day course of Antibiotics which hasn’t cleared it .. and she’s had an accident in the car.

10.58 .. We are back on the road .. but it’s not good news .. the Tomtom is saying 73 minutes delays .. the faster route looks like a trip along the M40 and cut down from J2 through Slough .. Claire wants her favourite Enigma CD on .. sobeit.

11.27 .. Karen’s desperate for the loo, so we make a stop at the Toddington Services on the pretext that Karen’s getting something for lunch ..

11.42 .. Back on the road .. Claire is cheered up with a chocolate lolly .. :-)

12.08 .. We join the North Circular .. this is allegedly the fastest route ..

12.23 .. We are on the A40 heading West .. only as far as the A312 to cut across to the M4 .. a mile before the M4 we join a queue .. ho hum.

12.40 .. We join the M4 at J3 .. all is sweet till we join the M25 .. time for an up and over at J14.

12.51 .. We leave the M25 .. phew ..

13.09 .. We are home ..  

13.27 .. Lunch is served ..

16.15 .. Robert arrives to see Claire ..

Skype call with Jamie ..

17.35 .. ish .. Karen’s dad arrives to see Claire ..

18.10 .. Karen orders the Pizza’s .. she puts the phone down and heads for the kitchen, and the phone rings .. it’s the Pizza shop enquiring if the order was collect or deliver .. doh .. Karen had clearly stated collect .. still a 30 minute wait though.

18.26 .. I go and get the Pizza’s ..

18.45 .. I’m home with the food .. it’s not overly hot so I suspect the Pizza shop really messed up.

19.45 .. Karen makes a cup of tea, it washes down some popcorn .. a part of Claire’s routine.

20.30 .. We take Claire up to bed ..

20.50 .. Claire is tucked up .. for how long .. we don’t know ..

More to come ...

Day 2575. Tuesday 27th December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

06.10 .. The alarm ..

More to come ...

Day 2576. Wednesday 28th December 2011.

Memory Joggers ...

06.10 .. The alarm ..

More to come ...