My personal highligh of the day is going to the cinema with my Mum, to see the new Wallace and Gromit film. Very very very good indeed! Mum hasn't been to the cinema for some years so a new experience for her

Good news. I sent an email to one of the most senior civil servants in Jersey asking if he will act as a referee - we have come in contact quite a lot over the years. He says he will do so willingly. That is excellent news. When you have only worked for one employer inthe past 30 years it is difficult to know who to ask - he is ideal.

That's great news Sue.
Jane I saw that movie a few weeks ago - it's very funny.

Oh yes Jane, my girls and I liked Gromit, too. I'm not a big clay -mation fan, generally, but this was a totally watchable effort!

Everyone cross your fingers and keep them crossed! I might, and I only say might, have found a new job, a job which would use my skills and is as near as it is possible to get to my present job!

My daughter spoke to a person who was her mentor in HR and she told him about my problems and asked for advice. One thing he said was to immediately volunteer for something, it would show a prospective employer that I am eager to not sit on my backside.

My 'boss' is really p'd off with a particular woman who is determined to set up a website and advice centre for disabled people. She has obtained funding and premises (from about February/March). He wanted her to throw her lot in with our organisation and to bring the additional funds to them - she was determined not to do this and I know he was miffed. I have to agree with him, it was a duplication of our efforts in many ways

I phoned her to ask if I could be of any assistance while I am looking for a new job, told her I will be looking very soon but would help them in any way that I could.

Anyway, she wants me to attend a meeting on Friday with her, the meeting is with a person I know well. The funding will be from someone I know well.

She says they will need a paid member of staff to be the manager, someone who is IT literate, can research, get on with people with disabilities, have an interest in medical matters, can develop a website - all this is ME, it could be a job made for me!

I must not count chickens but I will keep my fingers crossed. Oh, and it turned out that I know her husband, he used to be a neighbour of mine!

That would be great, Sue! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you on Friday.

Absolutely Sue, that sounds brilliant! I usually try to tell myself in situations like this: "Expect the best, prepare for the worst." Trouble is I often seem to get them mixed up... I'll have everything crossed for you too.

I haven't seen the new Wallace and Gromit, but we do have a fluffy ware-rabbit. My husband brought him home one day and announced that his name is Arnie, which I love but don't quite understand, as he doesn't look Austrian...

Oh and skunkee I keep meaning to thank you for the tip on the link between chlorine (in the water) and reflux. We fitted a water filter a few weeks ago and it's helped enormously. So thank you!

Sue I have my fingers and my toes crossed. Please keep us posted!

ing, I'm delighted that it has helped reduce the incidences of reflux - that is one nasty experience, especially in the middle of the night!

Yesterday saw the election of our new Connetable, mayor to you I should think. We have one for each parish - so twelve in total. I am delighted to say that my choice was elected. He also happens to be my friend's brother and my former employer from a short time when I mended sails and sewed stretchers to fill my day! Ah that was great fun.

A somewhat "low" for me. I thought I had all my lines right, and misread a line, and someone lost a perfect score on a tipping comp.

yeah.. it's all dave's fault It's because he's from Texas... yeah.. that's the ticket!

Ouch. I'm not originally from Texas, just lived here 16 1/2 years.

Hey, I'm from New Jersey.

And to keep this on topic...

Had a real nasty couple of days. I had to comp about $300 in catering yesterday because my assistant manager is a moron.

And on the good side, I handled a catering today that went off perfectly. Go me.

Good for you, SMS. Catering is a touch and go gig, sometimes, specially if you're trying to please a nervous bride who doesn't really know what she wants! [ my sister is a caterer in Dallas] Do you cater all occasions, or just specific ones?

Well, I run a restaurant that does catering. The bulk of our catering business is through pharmaceutical reps who are lunching prospective clients/doctors/hospitals/etc. We also do catering for CASL (it's a huge soccer tournament they hold here). I would be willing to do catering for any event if I had enough notice though. I've done some private parties, where the lady had used us for business, and enjoyed it, so used us for her housewarming as well.

That sounds a bit less stressful..even though running a restaurant can't be easy.
But I 'll bet pharmaceutical reps are a little less picky than rich [ possibly spoiled] socialites planning a wedding.

Came across this on another site I visit, thought it would be helpful to those of us who are negotiating their way through some of those lows of the day -
Commandments for calm living:

Thou shalt not worry, for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities.

Thou shalt not be fearful, for most of the things we fear never come to pass.

Thou shalt not cross bridges before you get to them, for no one yet has succeeded in accomplishing this.

Thou shalt not take problems to bed with you for they make very poor bed fellows.

Thou shalt not borrow other people's problems. They can take better care of them than you can.

Thou shalt not try to relieve yesterday for good or ill ~ it is gone. Concentrate on what is happening in your life today.

Thou shalt count thy blessings, never overlooking the small ones, for a lot of small blessings add up to a big one.

Thout shalt be a good listener, for only when you listen do you hear ideas different from your own. It's very hard to learn something new when you're talking.

Thou shalt not become bogged down by frustration, for 90 percent of it is rooted in self-pity and it will only interfere with positive action.

Excellent.

High, high, high. My daughter has arrived to stay for a few days.

Aggers can you send a copy of that to my mother please?!?!

Yay Sue, you don't need me to tell you to have a great time with your daughter.

Meanwhile I'm still trying to wake up...

I have crammed all my little jobs into an afternoon today, and now have two mounted paintings to take to the gallery, cleared the little dining room I was painting them in so it looks twice as big for the first time in ages, and then got cracking on painting the front windows till it got dark.
It's nice when you have a free day with no obvious plans which gets filled usefully, and then you can look back and see the results.

Woohoo!! I bowled a 171 tonight! Definitely a high!

Who knows SM, we may see you on TV for the WPBA. Great job on that. I'm not a bowler, but I did hit 100...once.

Give me another year or two.. I'd LOVE to do that! I need to consistently hit that 200 mark before even thinking of doing the tournaments. Our league is sanctioned, so we have all the benefits of the USBC. They have men's and women's tournaments every year. Give me another year or two and I'll be heading for those. Who knows from there.. maybe WPBA.. *heh*

Oh.. and one thing about our league... we play in probably the oldest bowling alley in Raleigh. They still have wooden lanes. I would probably bowl better if they had synthetic... I really need to try that soon. See how well I do.

Can you have a high and low all in one? I think I did today. I was at a Wal-Mart where the price of gas was $1.999 (been awhile since I saw that). I was in line to get some gas, and there was a black Ford Explorer filling up. A Nissan pulled in behind her, but as I have a smaller car, she couldn't see me. The driver of the Explorer saw me pull up to come after her (our cars were nose to nose as the gas tanks are on opposite sides). I stayed back enough to let cars go in between us. As she starts to leave (after motioning me to come after she leaves), the driver of the Nissan comes in behind her. There was an older Cadillac behind me, and the passenger of the car gets out to tell this lady in the Nissan that I was before her and she should wait her turn. I got there about 4:55pm in the first place, and couldn't find a spot until 5:05pm. The girl in the Explorer also gets out and talks to this lady in the Nissan. The lady in the Nissan pulled in between 5pm and 5:05pm. I think the fuel desk associate was who I talked to, but she asked me how long I had been there, and I told her about 10-15 minutes. The lady in the Nissan fueled first anyway, even though there were three different people who saw me there first. The girl in the Explorer said, "Hope you have a good day sweetie," trying to make my day a little better (she was cute). I'm used to waiting as it sometimes takes me close to an hour to get to work. Just before the Nissan left, a girl in a red car at the pump next to me says something to the driver of the car about this lady going before me (I couldn't hear her but she pointed at me). The Nissan took about $36 to fill, and mine was only $15. The lady driving the Nissan had an aura about her that she was "better" than everyone else. I just sat back as these three ladies tried to get me in line as I should have been.

After I filled up, I looked for the Cadillac to tell the passenger "thank you for trying," but she was already gone. I did thank the girl driving the Explorer for trying.

Sorry this post is so long, but it's hard to condense a story like that.

It is SO infuriating when people queue-jump.