The 5th Horseman by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

A desperate airport thriller. Really, don't bother reading this.

Going on hols

I cannot wait for this time Wednesday evening, because then it will be the longest possible time before I have to go back to work. That's right, I'm going on holidays. Yeay!!
I'm off to Adelboden (near Interlaken, near Bern) in Switzerland with a group of Girl Guides - 18 aged 11 to 15, 8 aged 16 to 21 and 7 of us golden oldies. (I'm so depressed that I get counted with the golden oldies. I'm too young for that!) We'll be staying in a chalet that's tucked into a side-valley, half-way up the Alps.
There's loads of stuff planned, like abseiling and whitewater rafting but due to the fact that I'm infanticipating, I'll be restricting myself to the hikes and (hopefully!) a daily swim. There's plenty of walking to be done, seeing as the coach can't actually get to the chalet (the road is too narrow and steep!), so I'll be trekking up and down the gorge on a daily basis - with full kit and rucksack on at least two occasions. Hence, I am packing more lightly than I have ever done in my entire life!
We'll be going to a Cheese Maker (blessed are!) and a Wood Carver and Our Chalet, (which is one of the Guiding World Centres for those of you who don't know and are interested). I'm hoping to bring home some decent cheese for Conor, some wood carvings for me and if I can find it in one of the tourist shops, a pair of mini-lederhosen, preferably complete with a little hat with a feather in it, for David. If I'm really lucky, there'll be a grown-up sized pair and I'll bring them home for Conor! Imagine that photo on the Internet. Cute, not creepy...
I may not get a chance to blog again before I go away (mad busy in work, will actually have to do stuff before I leave) and I'm not sure whether it will be possible to get on-line while I'm away. Anyway, I'll post pics and news when I get back.

Yodel-ay-he-hooo!

His Dark Materials: The Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman

Wow. Nothing is as it seemed at the start of this trilogy. The characters are so ambiguous, the themes are so much more than you'd expect from books that are marketed towards children. I won't go into any details about this for fear of giving anything away.

These books, and particularly this last one, blew me away. Highly recommended.

I am so pissed off with work right now...

... so I've decided that I'm not going to do anything today.

I'm pissed off today because I had a conversation with one of the senior managers this morning about being able to apply for personal promotion this year. The rule is that you've got to be 3 years at the top of your scale in order to be eligible for promotion. I was off-scale from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2005 and I haven't had a pay review since 1 January 2003. On-scale increments are applied in October of each year, but because of how my contract was set up, my pay reviews were conducted in January. On 1 January this year, I was put on the top of the SEA scale and told that my years at the top of my off-scale range would count for promotion purposes. Then when they were looking for the list of eligible staff, they asked for people who were 3 years on top of scale since 1 October 2002. So they're trying to argue that I'm not eligible.

Bastards.

I'm saying that the rule states 3 years at top of scale, which I have. People who are on-scale will still only be showing up if they've been on the top point since 2002. I think the manager dude is trying to come up with a work around so that I'll be able to go for it.

Still, I'm so angry about it that I haven't really done any work at all today and I don't think I'm going to either.

Fuck'em

Time for a change

So I finally got my act together this morning and selected the new CDs that are (currently) being ripped onto my mp3 player.
It's "Adieu and Farewell", but not "Goodbye" to Snow Patrol's Final Straw and Eyes Open, Bell X1's Flock and Counting Crows' This Desert Life.
I'm going back to some old favourites with (in chronological order) Radiohead's The Bends, Smashing Pumpkins' Adore and Arcade Fire's Funeral. I'll also add some gentle pop-tastic fun with Goo Goo Dolls' Dizzy Up the Girl. If there's room after that little lot, I might stick on the Arcade Fire EP too.

His Dark Materials: The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman

The second book in the series: Will stepped through a window in the air, to find himself in the frightening world of Cittágazze. There he meets Lyra and the two must find Will's father while avoiding the blood-thirsty children and soul-eating Spectres that haunt their new world.