'Shall I stay on the phone with you while you do it?'

I never, never want to be on the phone to someone from BT for 45 minutes again in my life. The other week, Ian got a wireless Hub delivered from them and all was well for, oh, about twenty minutes. We turned it on, it went green, we connected to the internet through my laptop and looked at websites just for the sake of it. Bedtime came and we turned the Hub off. A mistake, it turns out. When we turned it on again, it just flashed red (which is never a good thing) and refused to do anything else. We'd clearly upset it, but neither of us knew what to do, so Ian called them up and was told, 'Just put the CD into the computer.' So, we did that, no joy. So, on Sunday, I was given the task of calling them up since we both decided I was probably slightly more technicallu savvy. NEVER AGAIN! Ugh, it was horrible, like some kind of pennance for a sin I've forgotten. We went through everything.

'Have you turned it on and off again?'
'Have you put the CD into the machine?'
'Have you right-clicked this, that, the other?'

The most painful part though was when he told me 'keep pressing the resest button for thirty seconds', (which meant jamming it down with a pencil. It took ages to work out if he meant keep pressing it or keep it pressed. Anyway, neither worked but I had him breathing in my ear for the whole time before asking, 'What colour is it now?' 'Flashing red.'

We tried three more buttons. None worked. 45 minutes and nothing had happened. Then he said, 'Have you connected the Hub with the computer using the yellow cable.'

Realisation hit me like a kipper round the face.

'No,' I said, 'I'll try that now.'

'Shall I stay on the phone with you while you do it?'

NO! I couldn't think of anything worse, so told him I thought I would be okay now. It took another three hours last night to get it all working though. Horrible. I'd rather knock my teeth out with a hammer than go through that again.

Anyway, though it feels like I have been crouched down in front of the desktop for three weeks, that's not true. Since my last post, I have had two interviews for publishing jobs and was offered one job I didn't want and turned down for the one I wanted. Handing an application in for another tomorrow, so hopefully that will work out.

Things got from bad to worse at the temp place I was working in and I woke up on Monday thinking, 'I can't bear another week here.' Hurrah, then, that my old job rang and asked me back. Much nicer place, nicer people, wine. All good, and they know I am looking for something else so I won't have to pretend I want to stay forever.

Oh, I think my misery of Monday morning was also influenced by the fact that on Sunday night Ian and I went to see Into The Wild. It's a film based on a true story about a 23 year old, Chris McCandless, who gave his savings to charity before disappearing into the wild and ending up in Alaska. Everything about the film was amazing (apart from his watch being in so many shots, but that's a minor thing) and the ending was so moving that I was choked until we got back to the car. I bought us a Flake and a Ripple to cheer us up on the way home.

Anwyay, so, I need to get going. Meeting old itchy feet Bollive for a meal before she disappears off travelling again.

xx

It's a game of chance. Russian roulette.

So, it's been a while and I feel wracked with guilt. That sounds sarcastic, but it's actually the truth. There are a couple of reasons for my blogging absence, mainly that I have been staying at Ian's where I'm in a black hole when it comes to internet access. It's like being back in 1994. But without a homework diary or tipp-exed pencil tin.

Right, since my last posting I've been tackling my novel with (very) mixed results. At some points I wanted to just scrap the whole of what I'd written so far. I compromised and got rid of half. Ugh. I'm now working on a scene by scene plot breakdown because I've come to realise I'm the kind of person that needs to have a clear idea of what's happening next. So that's good. A decision has been made.

Aside from the novel, I've been job-hunting and working in the temp position I've been in since December. All okay and now working on a new campaign with a few of the hardcore crew I started with at the beginning. Better the devil(s) you know.

I'm looking forward to this weekend. My friend, Jo, is back from Canada and I'm catching up with her and some other friends in London. The big smoke, if you will. Should be good. I'm actually looking forward just to the coach journey. I bought a few good books the other week and so quite excited to have an excuse just to sit there and read for a couple of hours. I was moaning to Shakira at work the other day that I don't seem to have any time to myself at the moment. It will be nice to have some solitude forced upon me. Saying that, I'll probably end up on the coach beside someone whose legs are akimbo for the entire journey and I'll be putting most of my attentions simply into staying on the seat. Ah, public transport. It's a game of chance. Russian roulette.

xx