OK, so they found someone with a live Hand Grenade at Gatwick yesterday so perhaps I was being a bit matter of fact about it all. They caught him though, not "a grenade went off" all over the papers today. Which is good. Anyway, the bread was wonderful and that's all that I really care about out in my own little world. Crispy crust and a smooth textured tasty middle. Perfection in a yeasty way.

And I got through the evening without feeling like I was due to hurl, so I can safely blame the thing on tv about eye surgery rather than the non-taking of tablet for that one. Which is also good.

I did have a very odd and in some ways nasty dream though. It started off in the usual just plain bizarre way - I was on tv as a guest on Never Mind The Buzzcocks along with Ely from the Llamasoft forums (who I have yet to meet in Real Life) and we were both wearing frocks, which no-one thought strange at all. We were such a success that they offered us a long term contract to appear all the time. Upon arriving home to tell Joan of this news I was rather surprised to find a letter from her Dad in the post. Then when she said she had been speaking to him on the phone whenever I was out I was more than a little concerned for her well-being. What with him having died last year and all that. Turned out it was her sister Helen impersonating him to try and make Joan feel better, even going as far as to send stuff to friends in Newcastle to make sure it had the right postmark on when we got it. I woke myself up at that point when I was shouting at her on the phone to make her stop. Very unsettling.

Today I have given in to Coke rather than going with my original plan to get Pepsi in at Bury Road P&R. Perhaps they'll get a shot at Martlesham later in the year. Oh well, so long as the punters are happy...

Only a couple more hours now and I can get out of here for a week. Not that I'm keen to be on holiday you understand. More like desperate! I just want to relax and enjoy my shoes.

Of course one consequence of getting up late and rushing in was not taking/having the time to make lunch. Luckily Albert provided (all the while grumbling about losing trade and considering retiring when we move buildings). Trouble is, I am now having serious problems resisting the purchase of a second creme egg for the day. I am doing my best, but don't expect to be able to hold out much after three o'clock.

The situation is not helped by the fact that Joan is off today and trying out our new breadmaker at this very moment. OK, so the finished loaf won't actually be ready until I get home from work but the thought of it is making my taste buds tingle. Why do I let my stomach rule me this way?

I wonder if any one would miss me if I went over to Dove Street for a nap.

And I was right, of course. It all went very well last night. And because we recruited through surveying rather than people who had filled in comment cards we had a more varied bunch of interests rather than the one-topic obsessives of the past. Which also meant they were more willing to accept explanations of what was and was not possible in the real world and that Park & Ride is not the only factor that gets taken in to account when planning traffic flows and bus stops and the like.

As I type I am supposed to be in a meeting designed to address some of the issues on a more permanent basis but the person I am meeting has vanished. Must have been called off to something more urgent. I am hoping to get a shed load of building and re-shaping work done to smooth passage of cars and buses at the two sites and have got the money to do it. Very frustrating to be delayed like this though. Oh well.

Mind you, I wasn't certain of making it myself earlier. Not getting home until nearly 9pm was OK but for some reason I managed to stay in bed an extra hour this morning. I remember the alarm going off, but then must have coma-d out straight after. Bit of a mad dash and ended up with pretty much the last space in the car park, but made it in the end. Only one more wake up to the holidays! Yay!

Still no real plans for next week. Monday is the gum guy in Colchester and Friday we are considering London for my Birthday but nothing else firm. But one thing we are sure of is that we aren't going to let any possible terrorist threats stop us doing what we want. After all, fear of something is usually worse than the something itself. And a heck of a lot more likely. I do think some of the scenes from America we were seeing on the news last night are a bit over the top though. I know we have had the looming threat of things like the IRA for decades and they are just getting used to the idea of being attacked at home, but somehow I can't see anything being as bad as they are painting it. Let's hope I'm not the one to be proved wrong.

Now today I am tired. After a normal amount of sleep. Work that one out! Mind you, I did have a funny turn in the evening. We were just eating tea and watching tv when I came over all peculiar and thought I was going to throw up. Could be because they were talking about eye surgery at the time which does freak me out somewhat but could also be due to not taking a tablet. Will have to see what happens tomorrow. And of course hope that thinking about the possibility doesn't then make it happen. I love psychosomatic stuff!

Got the prices in for printing from Clowes today. They knock the curent amounts we are paying well off the scale so I think something will change in the not too distant future. Hopefully in a couple of weeks we will get the chance to all sit down and sort out what we want to do for publicity for the next couple of years. It would be nice to have a plan to work to rather than flapping in the wind and being hit by surprises from the outside all the time.

We now have confirmation that we will be moving office to the other side of town by Christmas or thereabouts. The moaning from some quarters (well, Charles anyway) has reached annoying levels already. I'm quite looking forward to it in many ways as it will be nice to have a change of view but it might also mean major traffic problems or having to use Park & Ride every day as there are not likely to be enough parking spaces. It will also be further from the shops, which will probably be a good thing in the long run.

Park & Ride user group tonight. I think I am fully briefed and prepared and ready to go but there will no doubt be one or two issues that throw me. Oh well, at least one of the users will be nice - somehow my Mum has been invited along. Could be interesting. Hopefully it won't drag on too late as I could use an early night.

Had a bit of a later night than usual last night, but don't feel at all tired today which is nice. Plus not taken a tablet today as the first step in the weaning off process and no ill effects from that so far either. Mind you, I wasn't really expecting any on the first day, but you never know.

The reason for the late night was the return to the screens of In Deep but shown all in one night rather than across two as usual. A very good episode though despite the late finish. Been thinking about why this series appeals, and I think it is due to the focus on crimes other than murder all the time. So many of the police shows on at the moment concentrate on people getting chopped to bits or other such grisly ends. OK, these are still good drama but they do get a bit samey. Now all I wonder is if any tv company would have the guts to do a vice squad show. I know most American cop shows feature at least one visit to a strip club as part of every investigation, but one that concentrated on the seedier side of things could be quite fascinating.

Not much else going on today though.

Yes! Dr P agreed with me that the time has come to start coming off the tablets so here we jolly well go. At least six weeks of one every other day then spacing them out more and more after that until none at all. Fingers crossed for it all going right and no funny turns this time.

OK, so the ferry meeting was delayed by half an hour, but went alright in the end. It was just with Essex Council rather than the ferry operator so no worries about boat related timekeeping! And Chris the boss was suitably impressed with P&R so all went well there too.

Don't know what Charles was up to over the weekend, but he is in foul humour this morning. I could seriously use an excuse to get out of here for a couple of hours just to get away from him slamming things around and stuff like that. Plus there are still furniture moves going on which I could happily stay away from. Still, I am leaving early as I've finally managed to get in to see the Doctor this afternoon so perhaps the time will have come to get the tablet habit kicked.

Our weekend was much better than Chaz obviously had. Saturday Joan was at work but I managed to get a load more music sorted on to Mini Disc. Which I will no doubt start listening to properly again soon. Also cracked ahead with the ironing and got the house ready for the evening. When Helen, Bhupen & Alexander came round and we had another big chinese meal. Which was very nice. Managed to insert a bit of variety into the usual order we place when they are involved and it went down ok.

Yesterday we had a lazy start then braved the weather to come shopping here in Ipswich. The main aim was to get Joan a new jacket for work, but the shop I'd seen them in turned out to be shut. In fact, large numbers of shops were very much closed. Which puts another nail in the coffin for those who keep asking me why Park & Ride doesn't open on Sundays all year round. There was just not enough to bring punters in. In the end we just bought some bits and bobs for my Birthday. OK, so I won't have a surprise to unwrap but at least enjoyment of the end product will be guaranteed.

Later on we wandered around to Ma & Pa via the exciting (OK, perhaps I exaggerate a bit there) Lion Dance to welcome in Chinese new year (of the sheep!) outside the Magic Wok. Some pictures can be found on my fab new photo web site here: http://album4086.fotopic.net where you will have to excuse the illuminated rain drops in some shots.

Rounded the day off watching Basic Instinct from DVD. Only seen it once before, and that was about 6 years ago. I did remember who the villain was but none of the motives and whyfores etc so that side of it was still good. And yes, Ms Stone's bottom did look even more wonderful in digital colour. Not that I pay any attention to that sort fo thing, oh no. It dis also make me realise that despite him being such a huge star and all that, I can only think of two other Michael Douglas films I've actually seen - Black Rain and Falling Down. Both of which I have enjoyed but not led me to seek out his other roles.

Hey ho, only a week to go to our holidays now.