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Well – the weather has been shitty this week – so no fix on the roof. I was up there last night though doing evening work on paint stripping. Louise thinks it would be a good idea if I tried to do a ‘push’ up there for a couple of weeks. I have to agree it would be a good idea. I will not be able to concentrate so much on getting web stuff done although that is already beginning to suffer from a lack of time in general at the moment.
The diary page is in dire need of a tidy up, but minutes to spare are sparse. Noted last night that the site was down. This was due to a power cut initially, but the server that it’s based on has not recovered. Some kind of hard disk failure – so no doubt we will be fielding a lot of call from that problem at work today as well. Bah.
Fortunately I only just did a complete download of the site last week – so I do have a proper backup (phew!)

Did my work in the attic when I got home. The house was empty when I arrived, so I was able to slink off up there without anyone knowing where I was. I left the newspaper on the table as an indication to Louise I was in fact home & not prating about in Manchester buying stuff like what I’m not supposed to. Took my coat & bag up with me so I could perform the pretence of coming home, so that the kids would not think I had been up there. When I say kids, I mean ‘Jack’ as he is the one apt to want to ‘help’ in the attic. Got my bit of work done, & togged up again for the ‘just got home’ pantomime & sneaked downstairs. The kids didn’t see me, but Louise was just opening the door for Jimmy & Jill who had just arrived (They do the roof fixing). Timing or what? So – I got to look like I was arriving with them & took them up to the attic so that they could survey what was going on. Jimmy had to get onto the roof in the rain (it was pouring down again). Not something that I like the thought of too much (from a personal safety point of view). I left them to it – took the ever-inquisitive Jack & following Eve downstairs & out of the way. They followed later & said that, well; it’s going to have to take some thorough investigation, as they cannot see what’s causing it. They have, after all, fixed it up at least twice now, including redoing the lead flashing, putting silicone sealant on the stonework & all sorts of tricks. Weird. If it stops raining they’ll be able to take things up & look proper & trace back. There was some condensation last time they did this, so I guess that might have obscured the diagnosis.

Home train – slept on the morning train (I needed it). I blame audiogalaxy… or should I blame the internet in general? Heh. At least I don’t feel dead in the water now.
Just have a headache, but that’s probably due to busy at work as much as sleep deprivation. ‘Busy’ – responsibility can be landed at BT’s door.
More rain this week. Will they be able to get the roof sorted this week or will the dampness on the plaster in the attic spread the more?
bah
Going to do some more paint stripping when I get home. Pretend that I am not home & sneak into the attic, so that the kids do not get to join in the ‘nasty chemicals’ that are used for such activity.
I really should do more work in the evening, but then I really should do more work on a lot of things.
How many times do I have this discussion with myself…
Oh, I’ve put myself off now.
I am annoyed with typing (pretence?)
I shall read for a bit.
Leisure time on the way home :P

Hmmm – it was a fine week last week (weather was good for roof mending – but no-one came).
Louise was quite content with last week. Jack was off school for half term & she was a little worried that he might play up a bit. He did not. He’s been very good in fact. He slept through the night last night. He woke at about 6:05 this morning, but I was near to hand & went to him (breakfast bowl in hand) & he lay down again & drifted off to sleep. I sneezed, which roused him slightly, so I said I needed to blow my nose & I’d be back. I went back to him & his eyes opened slightly to check I was there & he drifted off to sleep while I sat next to him eating my cereal very (slurp) very quietly.
Louise had shower, Jude stirred, filled his nappy, so I took him downstairs whereupon he contributed more to nappidom. I started changing him but Louise took over as it was one of those poohs that escapes the nappy up the back, so he his clothes changing as well, & I needed to be off to catch my morning train.
A quick weekend as I was working on Saturday. Louise has been entertaining in my absence. On Saturday it was her mum & Auntie Alice, who Louise reports as being in fine confident mood – which is heartening. On Friday while I was at work it was her sister & hubby. They bought along a few pressies for the kids: some of their granddaughter’s baby toys (play arch, rattles, soft toys). Yes, there is a significant gap between Louise & her elder sister & they started a family a long time before we did.
Jack has spent a lot of time with Hamish these last couple of days.
On Saturday he went with them to Hebden Bridge to participate in a ‘Green Weekend’ event that was being hosted there. They did some workshop things & Jack came home with some energy saving light bulbs & a shadow puppet he’d made.

gnnn
Went to sleep with a ‘tired’ headache & woke up with it as well. I’m losing this game of endurance at the moment. I am going to have to give up & go to bed after I’ve got the kids asleep without going downstairs & pissing about on the computer at …um… some point. Tonight would not be a bad option.
Egads! – I think – for the fun of it I will sleep on the train.

Train home

Nice sleep on the train this morning.
Train home & the weather is beautiful. Crisp air, blue skies. The only occlusion is the fact I have to go to work tomorrow.
I stayed on the train home yesterday. The family got on the train as well; a planned trip to New Pudsey (Owlcoats shopping centre) to get Jack a new coat. We could have gone elsewhere – but hey, why not? Problem is I hit my wakefulness trough at about 3:00 to 3:30 at the moment – so I had the kids excited at joining me on the train just at the time my brain was trying to give up on me. Other than that – it all went rather well. We got a coat, but did not get to shop around. Got back home & picked Hamish up from Jessie’s house as Hamish was staying with us overnight. All quite exciting for Jack – but he settled down to sleep eventually. All awake as I left this morning. I’m scant on detail, as I really, really should be getting more sleep at the moment.
Neil (brother) called last night as well to invite me to his stag party. They’re doing paintball & all sorts. I confirmed my status as on old fart by declining due to the travel involved. Was good to hear from him though. I waffled at him a bit & enjoyed the chat. Louise & I were upstairs when he called & Jack answered the phone. Don’t know how long he was chatting, but Hamish came upstairs to tell us that Jack was on the phone.

Just savouring the fact that I am on the way home…
The sky is blue.
I am starting to feel human again. Been traipsing around Manchester town centre a bit in an aimless sort of way for a while.
Been busy at work again. Integration problems for some people from the company we took over the customer base of (Birmingham ISP Cloud9).
We got a bunch of equipment from them yesterday as well. Servers racks & all that sort of thing. Heavy stuff to be moved. There was a desktop machine that has a nice spec & given to us in tech support. As I currently have the most sluggish machine I’ve got it. Nice to have a bit of zip in the step.
We had network problem on our systems today. One of those once in a blue moon moments. I cannot really recall the last time it happened, but routers were being updated/patched & one crucial one did not go to plan & everything went dead in the water for.. well – it was probably less than an hour – but such things always seem to be an eternity.
Still – I feel over tired at the moment.

Poor kid – she must be 4 or under, & her mum is not happy with her. They just got off the train – she’d fallen asleep & her mum got her off her knee &said we’re getting off – “Open your eyes.” Then through gritted teeth “Open. Your. Eyes.” The kid was crying her eyes out when they got on the train & all her mum was doing was threatening her for crying. “I’m gonna paste you in front of all these people if you don’t stop whingeing!” She was obviously tired & more obviously wanting reassurance, but only getting rebuffed. You become much more critical of other parents when they are just being selfish. Especially when your so self critical. A hug would have probably made the kid feel immediately better rather than a torturous 5 mins of wailing & returned threats as we left Manchester.

tired – no more thinking today.

It’s half term holidays for Jack – so no school. He is going to a playgroup with Louise, Jude & Eve today, so I hope he’s well behaved with all the young ones. Of course he may not be the only ‘older’ one there.
Hectic at work yesterday, & being late in, it seemed more so, as I had no chance to get going with mail queries. Constant ketchup. The trains were running again for the journey home. The ran stopped as I was travelling & as I got to Manchester yesterday the dark clouds seemed to be peeling back. The day was apparently delightful & sunny – not that I can see such from work as we don’t have a view of the sky (excepting the view from the toilets).
The kids got to play out yesterday on the back street. It would have been better for them if a neighbours kid (Kirsty – poss 8/9 & plays too rough) wasn’t bothering them. Louise was annoyed by her presence, as it seems she was possibly ‘leading them astray’. Louise shocked her with the acuteness of her hearing. She was whispering to Jack & Eve that they could have some Pringles (crisps) if they came out of the back yard. Louise shouted out that she should not & Kirsty was suitably shocked at being caught. She usually scares Eve, but I think this wanton bribery won her round (annoyingly). Eve was not running away from her. Kirsty still has not grasped the fact that if you run up to a 2 year old – as a stranger you are likely to scare them silly. Eve has never really trusted her before because of this, & I’ve no reason to think that she will not become scary once more (“Scary Kirsty”). Amber also is very wary of her – last time I saw Amber on the back street she was running inside her house (to get away from Kirsty)

9:00 & I’m still not at work. Train just leaving Rochdale.
I’ve had to catch a bus to get here. The Summit tunnel is flooded – no trains do run. Bah.
Still – at least I’m on the comfort of a train now, although I have to type on my lap.
Hope for better running on the way home…
All this rain is of course doing wonders for the attic ceiling – which is still not fixed. It still leaks around the chimney breast & is now worse that ever (basically because it’s been raining so much. Weather permitting (an actually day without rain) they will be back to look at it again. They were sure they got whatever the problem was last time, but it seems not really… It all starts to dry out – but that’s because the weather is dry… then when it rains it’s very difficult to tell if it’s getting any better – whether it’s still drying out. It takes really crap weather – persistent heavy rain for you to realise it’s still not fixed proper. This time it took a little longer to get them back to look at it because we had to get the keys back off Louise’s mum (who had them in case she was needed at short notice when the baby was born). She forgot to actually bring them the day Jude was born anyway. We had left Louise’s set with Andy & she effectively hid those for us by putting them ‘in a safe place’. Hey ho. So – as I say – they will hopefully be back to look at that this week…
How is my progress in the attic going – decorating & such a like? We.e.e.e.lllllll….. I’ve made good progress stripping the skirting boards, but I have not really got as much done as my conscience allows me to.
All this malarkey getting to work makes me feel should have stayed at home today.
A pleasant weekend. We did not go out anywhere, but there was no real antagonism about that. On Friday we all went to get haircuts… well – not Louise & Jude. It was mainly for Eve as her fringe was far too much in her eyes. She didn’t really seem to mind it, but it must have tickled & got in the way rather. We can see her now! She was a little reluctant – so I sat in the chair with her – she standing on my legs – while the barber (lady) cut her fringe & trimmed the back & sides to tidy. I was on the verge of needing a cut – so was good to sort them, & Jack just had a general trim. The kids where a little loud (Eve is just naturally loud – but funny with it – not really annoying) but the barber & clientèle seemed fine about it. Barber kept them engaged & no sour looks from clientèle. All went rather well for such a risky venture.
Both Jack & Eve slept through the night last night. No tears & crying. Louise had to change Jude’s nappy at some point – so perhaps her walking about in the night doing that reassured Jack & Eve. I dunno – they so rarely do that; it’s a treat when they do.
Manchester looms – time to stop.