I now feel able to write down my latest encounter with BT. On saturday I received my first bill which included a connection charge of £124.99. I had been assured this would be waived on the basis that the original connection that I had arranged and they cocked up would not have cost me. Anyway I rang BT and got some guy who read out my bill to me. I tried explainig to him that I knew what it said on my bill, but that I had been promissed the connection charge would be waived. After 15 minutes with this idiot I then spoke to his manager - this was a mistake. She was even more useless. She too kept reading out my bill. I pointed out that I was perfectly capable of reading and undestood why they would normally place a charge on the work. Then I went through the whole story I gave her all the account numbers and at the end of it she said 'Yes but we have to charge because the engineer came out' At this point I thought I was going to explode. I have now written a letter to their customer complaints department with copies of all their correspondence. Lets see what that brings - hopefully not a 'Yes but we have to charge because the engineer came out'.

On a happier note the Church PCC agreed two major things last night - one was to rehang the bell (which has upset some people -notably though they do not live in the area nor attend the Church), so I have now got to get some scaffolding quotes and two we are going to look into the possibility of building a conference/retreat centre where our Church Hall is. So busy times ahead.

So only two days to go before the great adventure. I have downloaded a route only hope we can follow it - women and map reading I undersstand is not good. Then there is the shopping to be done - that's tomorrow I think- only trouble is CG is going to her sons music recital - he has a trumpet solo - I know a few men who could do that and they wouldn't need a trumpet.

My thoughts at the moment are filled with Glastonbury and why the hell I said I would go. I can't believe that originally I was going on my own - I would be terrfied by now, but at least me and CG have each other. Our flag is a masterpiece with a number of glow in the dark hearts and some sequins and glittery things on it. It is in the shape and colours of a certain rugby clubs flag, however we are not sure whether they would be approving of our decoration so we are torn between hiding it away forever on our return or insisting that the club use it when the first team play at home.

And finally for now - I now have a vicar for my wedding. He invited himself when he heard about the Krispy Kreme wedding cake. I will start having nightmares about this wedding soon - I wouldn't mind if it was real but honestly the detail that is going into the arrangements for a fantasy wedding. However I am beginning to think that with all those donuts up for grabs I may well need a significant amount of time to diet before the great day and possibly an appearance on Pimp my Bride (oops sorry thats only a fantasy in someones mind as well). Hey ho the ultimate fantasy wedding. Perhaps I could sell the idea to the Simpsons - now theres an idea...............

So this afternoon I have been practising putting up a tent in preparation for the adventure that is Glastonbury. We managed it all on our own - not bad for two women eh. Then we had some really nice dinner which was followed by Belgian waffles, ice cream and chocolate sauce. Then Miss Tearfull and her brother turned up. The conversation quickly degenerated into a conversation about my wedding. I'm not sure what wedding but my friends including Miss T and Commando Girl have it all planned. There will be a 70s theme - groom in white suit, cowboy boots and medallion. Me in a flowy number with big bell sleeves, blue eyeshadow and flowers in my hair. As for the reception the menu will be melon, followed by peppered steak and chips (with a large beef tomato) and pudding will be black forest gateux. But the greatest inspiration was left for the wedding cake - krispy kreme donuts piled in a pyramid - fantastic. Now all that is left to do is get divorced and find a groom.

Last night was my weekly torture session - oh sorry yoga lesson. My sister is a very good yoga teacher but seems to take some perverse pleasure in getting my body into the most peculiar positions. Anyway last night she mentioned she had bumped into the older bro, so I must get in touch otherwise I might end up in his bad books. I am going to suggest that he might like to get a glasto ticket and join me and CG on the trip - obviously he will have to bring his own tent as we only have a 6 berth tent and rather a lot of equipment so there would be no room for him. Talking of Glasto - I still haven't received my car park ticket so need to chase that up today. I cannot believe that this time next week I will be there. I am soooooooo excited.

The tent erection lesson on Wednesday didn't happen so tomorrow its over to CGs for the lesson. I still have my doubts as to whether it will be of any benefit. My memory is very poor -its an age thing - and I intend to open the wine as soon as we get there. So all in all I think we will probably need some help from some unsuspecting souls.

I was with friends last night and we were laughing and joking, mainly at my expense, but the thought crossed my mind how much has happened in the last year. This was brought home to me even more because on Sunday the boy is off to Essex trials again. He has spent the last two years being sorely disappointed and said to me yesterday that if he doesn't get selected this year then he will not pursue his dream to be a professional rugby player. I hope to persuade him otherwise. At the end of the day our dreams are what drive us to achieve. I have given up too many dreams to let my child do the same. So any suggestions on how to inspire him if he doesn't get selected will be gratefully received. As for my dreams many of them have been assigned to the dream dustbin, although some have managed to drag themselves back out - altough perhaps they were never truly put there in the first place.

Finally I have a phone again, sadly however no internet access. I can now write my grumpy old woman letter to BT. I can't wait. The internet was apparently cut off by BT and Virgin now wish to charge £30 to reconnect and it will take 7-10 days, however as this is not in my name I have told the ex to forget it and I will sort out my own internet access when I sort out the telly.

The weekend was somewhat weird. Myself and Commando Girl drove to Basildon to get some bling for the Glastonbury flag, we encountered a traffic jam just outside and ended up going through an estate, although remarkably we did not get lost. We also spent most of the drive down in fits of laughter l, athough for the life of me I cannot remember what we were laughing about.

In Starbucks I was condemned because I asked what drinks my companions, CG and the grumpy one, wanted - they requested a capaccino and a hazelnut latte - and when I came back with a frapaccino for myself they claimed I had misled them. Not my fault if they cannot read the drinks menu. And then CG managed to spit half of hers across the table, narrowly missing the grumpy one. Honestly you can't take some people anywhere.

Back at CGs we had doughnuts and coffee and tea and wine. We also made a number of decorations for the flag and have concluded that we will also add empty crisp packets, chocolate wrappers etc to the flag over the weekend.

Then the grumpy one underwent inspection some more friends and passed. Not that it would have made any difference to me, although it is nice if everyone can get on.

I still have no phone or internet access. I am truly pissed off by the whole affair and BT are in line for a letter, not that it will do any good. I am trying to look on the bright side of things otherwise I am in danger of becoming as grumpy as my friend the grumpy radio reporter who is able to grump and moan for England.

This weekend is looking like fun as me and commando girl get on with our Glastonbury flag. We think it needs a bit of bling so we are going to jazz it up. Once complete a picture will appear on this blog.

Last night I was accused of misinterpreting certain statements. I have to say the person saying them had had a few beers so perhaps I was being a little unfair in taking anything they said as sensible (not that they much sense normally). Even so when someone says they don't do dating, I cannot think of any other interpretation other than that they don't date. As for the comment about long term relationships well what can i say. Luckily I don't tend to listen too much to those who are inebriated - to many years on the Woolwich reception of the Benefits Agency and I also have a very bad memory so by next week I will have forgotten completely what they said.

Today I have had my highlights done for Glastonbury. They are no longer ginger. So no more comments.

Having got up at 4:45 this morning I am amazed that I am still awake and believe it or not still working. I have spent a great day in Caerphilly looking at a Contact Centre. The journey back to London was longer than anticipated with a signalling fault between somewhere and somewhere. What made it worse was the woman that decided to sit opposite me. She pushed my paperwork off the table so that she could put her laptop on it - obviously her work was far more important than mine, because I only had a pen and paper. Then she managed to chew her way through a whole packet of chewing gum - I wouldn't have minded but the constant noise was a bit much and then there was the kicking under the table.

And I still don't have a phone or the internet grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Well my grand nephew was adorable and very well-behaved. The only difficulty was his attachment to a certain radio reporter and grumpy old man. He got quite upset when the grumpy one disappeared and I had to keep playng a video of said grumpy one (video will appear here as soon as I get my phone and internet back) to keep him happy.

Talking of the phone after one week and hours of telephone calls, I still have no phone and no internet at home. Indeed I have been on the phone this morning and despite the assurance of the girl on Saturday they are still trying to charge me a reconnection fee and I still have no date for reconnection. And to think I was going to move my internet provider to them - I will seriously have to consider my options. However there will be a very strongly worded letter going to them, after I am connected of course.

Since my last post a number of things have happened - not least the loss of internet access at home. Which to be frank is bloody inconvenient. Not only can I not update my blog, I cannot feed my puppy on facebook and most importantly the boy cannot be kept occupied talking to his mates on line. This might seem a minor inconvenience but in truth it means that his phone is constantly bleeping with text messages - thank God for unlimited texts.

Secondly I note that an unexploded bomb has been found in Stratford and that a certain good friend of mine has taken it upon himself to want it moved to blow up my Church Tower. He has a cheek! Anyway on the subject of the bell rehanging - the guy from the foundry was very positive and will be sending some quotes through to me in the next couple of weeks. We may very well have a fully ringing bell by the end of the Summer or whenever they can fit us in.

Lastly i went to my yoga class last night. My yoga teacher, who is also my sister, is a sadist. She claims she is getting me back for things long forgotten. Anyway last night during the class I managed during lunges to pull my hamstring and get incredible cramp. However this morning it all feels fine, so I am looking forward to texting her later and telling her that despite all her efforts she has yet to cripple me....

This morning found me at Asda at 6:30 Why you might ask? Well the boy has got his GCSE Catering practical today and needed mince. Unfortunately the mince I bought for said exam was in the freezer and I forgot to take it out last night so a mad dash to Asda to get more mince. I have to say it was very empty and I may choose to do all my shopping at this time. So much nicer not having to fight shopping trolleys down every aisle.

I am now working at home - trying to right out guidance for a number of processes. Not my sort of thing at all but hey I get paid to do a job.

At 11 I am meeting someone from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry to see whether the Church can rehang its bell. Now I know this will come as a blow to a certain friend who thinks that the bell tower should be demolished. I agree that the tower is not attractive, but then neither is the Church from the outside, but it is lovely inside. And anyway we want to wake up the neighbours every Sunday and remind them that we're there.

Last night I spent most of the evening writing answers to questions on sports massage and sports injuries. Can't remember whether I've mentioned this before but I am doing a sports massage and injuries course. So anyone out there wanting a free massage ........

hooray - Still have internet access. The only trouble now is I'm not sure when it will disappear - the suspense will keep me on the edge of my seat!

Honestly you can't ask a friend to do a simple thing. It just dawned on me that because I don't have a live phone line - BT wankers - I also do not have access to the internet which is a problem because on my Facebook lives a virtual puppy. He is quite adorable but does need feeding every day. Is it weird then that I ask a friend to feed him for me. I don't think so - apparently this friend does and has told the world that he thinks its weird- so I will remember not to ask him again. I will ask another friend to feed the puppy with the big belly. Anyway said friend may now find himself in the doghouse!!

Don't ever try and change the name on a BT bill. Last night I spent 2 hours on the phone to BT and this morning another hour trying to change the name on our BT line. The result I now have a new phone number! Good Lord how difficult can it be. I sometimes wonder why companies make things so difficult. They must deal with this type of thing all the time and yet you are thrown backwards and forwards between customer services, the options team and new line rentals. In the end I gave up trying to write down who I was speaking to. And as for the number of times the line went dead - I thought last night it was because it was late but it happened again this morning. Everytime things got a bit complicated then the line goes dead. Oh and I forgot to say although I have a new number it wont be connected until Friday and the old number is cut off today, so I am not sure whether I will have any internet tonight when I get in - that will be a shock for the boy.

I have however sorted out a single persons rebate on my council tax - which I have to say was relatively painless although it was all on line and no doubt there will be some difficulty at some point.

Well back to work.

Back to Work

I really hate work. Wish I was at home doing housework!

The first day back is always a pain, however I am working at home Wednesday so only two days in the office. Yet again I have a busy week ahead but most of it is neither social nor overly enjoyable except Friday when I am going to a good friends for dinner.

Then at the weekend I have agreed to look after my grand nephew who is 11 months old. Will probably need a week to recover from that! Why oh why did I agree?

Well back to work - plenty to do and not much time to do it