Well, it’s been a long time. To be honest, not much has happened, well not much of any interest that is.

   Eldest lad went back to flat yesterday. He has been with us since the week before his play, so the house seemed a little empty yesterday evening. i must add, the youngest is on respite this weekend too. Mrs H said she did not sleep so well, but then again, she never does when he has been here for more than a couple of night. On a good note, the nights at the pub will slow down a bit. It got the stage, where me and him were going out 4 even 5 nights a week. this was not good for the pocket, and the waistline !!!

   He will be back up at the end of the month for Leeds Festival 2010. I’ve bought the tent, and a couple of other bits and pieces, as we intend to camp at least 2 nights. Just need to buy a few disposable BBQ’s and food and drink, and we will be all set. I still have a few doubts about the whole thing, but I suppose I must ‘go with the flow’ as I keep being told. I don’t have to do it again, and there will be some people of the same age as me there, as I understand.

   Work is holding it’s own at the moment. The CE has created a forum, whereby staff can suggest how money can be saved. It is a good idea, but some of the comments and suggestions coming from the staff are a little controversial to say the least. In fact one idea, that staff work only 4 days a week instead of 5 days is totally bizarre. That would be equivalent to a 20% cut in pay !!!!! I cannot see that working. I have to say, that suggestion came from a woman, working part-time at two days a week. I hope she was including herself in that 20% pay cut.

   Many of the suggestions seem to around the area of better use of resources. Things such as reusing old envelopes for internal mail, not printing emails and my suggestion, to use video conferencing instead of travelling to meetings. All small things, but ones that would be useful into the future.

   I am in a bit of a quandary at the moment. Through work, I am able to purchase Microsoft Office 2010 at a bargain price through Microsoft Home User Program. The problem is, whether is would be worth it, given the age of my PC (about 7 years old now). It is still running Windows XP, and I’m quite happy for it to do so. Office 2007 runs on my PC, but it is slow to start and I’m worried that Office 2010 would be even slower. I shall decide over the next few weeks. Watch this space !