Network problems...

Last night I typed up two days' blog entries only for the network to fail causing them to be lost in the digital never never land. We've had at least three days of poor connectivity so perhaps we should get some money back.

On Thursday I went to the car auctions. There were around a thousand cars through two simultaneous auctions and it was a very smooth operation. Each auction would have taken no more than a minute I think, so you had to have your wits about you. I didn't, so I didn't bid on any cars. What became clearer was by how much we had been ripped off on our dead one. There's a guy in London who must have laughed all the way to the bank. Next time we're in we'll key his Audi. Anyway, there were around half a dozen cars that would have suited us and given change from L500. The complication is that some don't have MoT, tax or both. Some don't even have the V5 which is the proof of ownership! All this has to be factored in to the price, and with them going through so quickly you have to be careful. J and I will wander down to view the next lot if it's open.

We finished the day with a beer across the river, watching all the people (and the short-short skirts). I can't understand why J slaps me when I mention these.

Friday morning started disastrously. My agent had mentioned going to Wyvern School but in several e-mails since had not confirmed it. He assumed it was firm and I waited for confirmation (especially since I'd said I no longer had a car.) At 8:45 I got a call asking if I was on my way! Shit. They confirmed I was needed and I jumped on the earliest train. I missed the first two periods and had nothing for P3 anyway. I shouldn't have bothered - the rest of the day was full of little shits. The culture in the school with supply teachers is extremely poor (this is the school where the teachers jumped the queue in front of me) and it really is a waste of time trying to teach. I resolved never to go back but crumbled and now have to go Monday and Wednesday. Look out for the blogs then! L100 less tax, L100 less tax, L100 less tax...

On the up side, I have two days back at John Cabot where I had a very nice day last week. (Unfortunately they are both on the auction days so we'll not have a car for another week unless we can bid online.)

We wandered in to town for a cheap meal (there are often 2 for 1 deals) and decided on Latin American which was very nice. Service was excellent as well so we'll definitely head back some time. J looked lovely in a new summer dress, although she refused to show off her legs for some reason - something about "People can see what I had for breakfast" - and hid them in pants. Still there were lots more legs to be looking at. Why did she slap me again?

We called in at the Walkabout Pub but the only thing Aussie about this is the stuffed Crocodile on the wall. I think we were the only Australasians in the joint on either side of the bar. I had hoped to hear another down-under accent but it wan't to be.

We'd just got to bed when a big fire-works display went off across the river, begun by three big bangs which we thought were bombs going off. J got dressed and ran down stairs for a better view but only caught the last fountain.

The filming has finished and there is no sign that anything unusual had happened. The (inefffectual) no parking cones have gone, the streets have been swept clean (OK, so that's different)and the warehouse is boarded up again.

See ya