15th February

My cold is making me miserable but I try and put a brave face on it. Poor Marian is also suffering and the dog has to put up with the two of us!

We've run out of milk for some reason so I breakfast on lychees and a tangerine. Quite nice actually.

On the railway platform I see the shitbag neighbours who cut down our hedge. I've been seeing them a lot recently (they catch the earlier train which invariably runs late so i end up seeing them). Its a bit different today: they have moved from the place they normally stand and are now close to the part of the train I usually board. I ignore them as I usually do but I wonder if there is some other shit going on with them.

Again, improving weather and train journeys. I love the sunrises and that the mornings are brighter. Sometimes I just sit and stare at the countryside on the journey into the office.

The walk from the Braintree train station to the office incorporates a couple of gentle slopes which cause me real problems with my lungs clogged with fluid as they are. I wheeze up the slopes and work my way into the office.

A Bitty morning in the office: a new person from the new IT company to settle in, the Chief Exec PA's having a problem playing a DVD sent over from Essex CC. Turns out that we need to load QuickTime to view it. Couple of issues hanging over from the British Gas meeting from yesterday (they want payment in advance and need sign off of their panel installation plan). Hierarchical chart for the organisation is out of date and wrong.

I meet John Breen for a bite and a beer. Alex and I used to work with him in Chelmsford. He's still there but he lives in Braintree. His wife is a teacher and he always takes the half term off. She has gone into the school so we meet up. He treats me as his mentor and I genuinely like his company. Smart, funny, switched on and well-meaning. I just wish that he hadn't married the girl he's with - selfish, self-centred and cold. They see to be such opposites. Still, he seems happy enough.

We gossip and catch up on what's happening with each other.  He also tells me about what's happening in Chelmsford. Sounds quite an unpleasant place to work now but I suspect that it is because Braintree isn't as bad as yet.

Finish off the financial breakdown of the refurbishment programme. I now know which pieces I need our finance team to help me track down.

I exchange a couple of bb messages with Meech during the afternoon. She says that the documents and the bank draft relating to Dad's property in Guyana has now been posted and should be with us on Friday.