I am absolutely exhausted from this weekend - it being the celebrations of the 850th anniversary of the town I live in.

Friday was the raft race, which actually turned out to be good fun. The Thames wasn't quite as freezing as I was expecting but I've never got into cold water quite as fast before - I had to go up to my knees just to get on our raft. We didn't fall in, out raft didn't capsize, fall apart or sink (as some others did) and I only got wet below the waist. The rowing part was really hard though. It was quite a long way downstream, turn around then row back upstream, pick up a balloon and back to the start. After we turned round we were rowing but not moving at all.

So I was aching Saturday morning when I depressed myself by going food shopping. The only bright spot was finding a Monster Cracking stand, so now I have some chocolate orange stuff (Monster Cracking is Ice Magic, essentially). Then in the afternoon I was helping with the bouncy castle and jousting game. Which sounded simple until I found out that the jousting game involved kids going down a long ramp on a horse, spearing hoops. I wasn't strong/tall enough to get the horse all the way back the ramp. First Aid training Monday and Tuesday set off the RSI in my knee, so I'd been bending over instead of bending down this week, so my back's not happy either. So picking up the hoops wasn't fun.

Saturday it also rained. Three times, quite heavily. And all between the hours of 2 and 4.30pm I mention this because I was on from 2 till 4 (but stayed later) so got soaking wet. And, of course, it didn't rain at any other point in the day. Each time the rain stopped I had pretty much dried out before it started again. I was aching by the time we gave up at 4.30 (we were stopping at 5pm anyway), so I got to go home and recover for a couple of hours before stewarding a pop concert in the evening.

This was essentially a competition for local amateur bands. I was so tired I was constantly yawning by 10pm and had to sit down several times because my legs ached so much. The event was aimed at about 14 year olds, judging from the age of the audience, so all sounded a bit terrible. Specially after three hours of it.

This morning, of course, I ached even more. I had to stop halfway into town for a rest (it's a 15min walk) and took a pill because my muscles just hurt so much. Some of them hurt when I touch the relevant bit of me, never mind when using them. I spent most of 11am till 3pm on the jousting game. It was a bit less busy, so we did get breaks, which was so useful. And I got to have a go - I got 3 out of the 8 hoops the second time (although I did that so we could have a photo for the album).

This evening I at least got to watch Stargate - in which there was very definitely Jack/Daniel slash in there - I've obviously been subverted (if that's a word, I'm having enough trouble typing at the moment).

An update to yesterday's post. Just before I went to bed I thought I'd try the Orange website again and managed to get a battery for my new phone. I couldn't find one for the old one though, so I thought I'd wait and see whether the new battery for the new phone worked first before ringing them up to find out where they've hidden this battery on the site.

On another subject, does anyone want to go and see A Few Good Men in London? I discovered this one through my BBC news email, but it's written by Aaron Sorkin and has Rob Lowe and John Barrowman in it. It's on from mid-August until mid-December and the cheapest seats are £13 + booking fee (and definitely require binoculars!).

My mobile is doing my head in. Whenever someone rings me, I have just enough time to establish who they are, then it turns itself off. No idea why. Nor do I know if it does it when I call someone because I do it so rarely. Since I could really do with a working mobile I thought I'd try technical support.

For some reason, this involves giving them my password, passcode and address. Now, I first got a phone Christmas 1999. I don't remember giving them anything of the sort, never mind what it was. Admittedly, I did get all confused and didn't realise there was a password as well as a 4-digit number but the woman on the other end really wasn't happy when I couldn't give them the first two and it took me two goes to get my address (I never quite know who I've told I've moved and who I haven't bothered with). In the end I got her to change all those. So when I ring the useless buggers again in five years time I'll have forgotten the new ones too.

Their technical support was basically running through a list of questions and then telling me to clean the battery contacts with a rubber and 'monitoring'. As much as it might make them laugh, when you have a have a conversation in 30 second bits it's not funny. Apparently, if it's still doing it the next thing they'll do is tell me to try another battery. Er, yes, so I'll just magic one out of thin air, shall I? This phone was my sister's and she raved about how good the battery life is, and it's only started doing this recently, so I think it needs a new battery.

So, I go on the Orange website (I can't buy over the phone) and I thought I'd get a new battery for my old phone as well, so if this one's still doing my head in I can just go back to the old one, which is far more reliable despite being older. As long as you buy it a new battery every year, but then they're not that expensive. The relevant part of the website is not working. Apparently, the only other place I can get a new battery is an Orange shop. There's not one I can get to anytime soon, and anyway, if your phone's older than 2 minutes they don't want to know.

I think perhaps I'll bang my head against a wall next time, it'll be cheaper and more productive.

Ah, Ewan McGregor. But he was Saturday night, so first I should talk about Saturday in the day when I went to see the Hitchhiker's exhibition in the Science Museum. It was handily free last weekend. I was quite impressed by the exhibits and they way they were arranged. Although the Vogons are still not green. Although I noticed some of the drawings of the Vogon ships were yellow.

Anyway, most of the information boards in there either printed bits of the Guide, which I know anyway, or the real science involved, which I also know. What was good, though, was seeing the little things they'd put in there that are in the book or radio series but not in the film.

The best part was that you come out near a different set of stairs to the way you go in and they had the clock there. Which is the only thing I remember from the first time I ever went to London - we went to the Science Museum for an hour before there was a bomb scare (of the IRA variety). The clock tells the time using a pendulum with a very long string and is just very cool.

Guys and Dolls actually turned out to be a good play, once it got going. One of the leads was played by an understudy that evening, one of the others was Ewan McGregor, one of the others was in Ally McBeal, and the other I'm sure I recognise from somewhere but can't work out where. I did remember to take my binoculars so I could spend time studying Ewan McGregor (and some of the other cast as well). Although there were times I couldn't because you really needed to see what was going on on the rest of the stage.

The part where we were cringing and dying of embarrassment on behalf of the cast was when Ewan McGregor first came on stage and a few people clapped. Which I just thought was uncalled for and rude to the rest of the cast. Apart from that I really enjoyed it. I'd like to go to the theatre more often, but it's quite expensive.

Tonight I was watching a Doctor Who quite happily and one of the cast was really bugging me because he looked familiar. I had just about convinced myself this was because the science lab looked like it was straight out of Blakes 7 then I realised I'd noticed some time before that this was the episode with Simon Rouse and Jeff Stewart in. I know it was first aired in 1982 but Simon Rouse looks so young! (No sign of Jeff Stewart as yet) There was a bit at the end, though, where he shouted and that was definitely Jack. I know Graham Cole was a Cyberman but I must found out how many other Bill cast have been in it, it could be interested to see them looking younger. Incidentally, the episode I'm watching now is Kinda, and I'm looking forward to the other three episodes now.

The advantage of getting up early this morning is that I now have half an hour to remember what I've forgotten, and write this.

Wednesday I went to see Art in Oxford, which had Simon Shepherd (Will in Peak Practice), Michael Garner (Geoff 'Poison' Pearce in London's Burning) and Russell Boulter (DS Boulton in The Bill) in it. I knew nothing about the play beforehand but I really enjoyed it. Russell Boulter hasn't changed since he left The Bill. And I got a free upgrade, so was in about the eighth row, so didn't even need to use my binoculars (I thought about it but thought it might look a bit conspicuous). The best thing was that because it's a short play there was no interval so I had no opportunity to get jealous about everyone else being able to eat ice cream either.

Thursday I was in a pub that contained a chicken. It belonged to one of the owners and liked to wander in to sleep on the back of one of the chairs. At lunchtime I'd been reading in the G2 about the emergency services people who had been on the scene two weeks previously, which was really intense (and interesting). They ended it with pointing out that the law of averages doesn't mean there can't be another one. Then after lunch I found out this was perfectly true.

Friday was the (now-)annual work barbecue where I managed not to eat anything I couldn't. The annoying thing was I really wanted the potatoes but they were covered in something that looked creamy. I really wanted to just be normal so I didn't ask and just didn't eat them.

Today I'm up early because I'm off to the Science Museum to the Hitchhiker's exhibition and to see Ewan McGregor in Guys and Dolls, then going to stay at a friends in Guildford, as it's a bit of a bugger to get back here at that time of night. Which should be good, although negotiating the tube line closures is a bit of a pain but not that much different from when they do engineering works. But I can stop off at Reading on the way to go to Shakeaways...

I've also been watching some Peter Davison Doctor Who. I've seen two stories (so eight episodes) and I'm just getting it into my head that he's the Doctor and not just Peter Davison. Once I looked up Nyssa, Tegan and Adric on the wikipedia they became a bit more interesting. We had a Doctor Who fan at work a while back so when I hear the names Nyssa and Tegan I think about that awful project to do with interviewing people in pubs in Sweden and bread, respectively.

Nyssa hasn't really done a great deal so far (although I suspect she's about to), but she looks interesting. I'm quite liking the Doctor. I've heard Adric is pretty much universally hated but he's not really done enough to make me like or dislike him yet. Tegan I like though. Her accent annoyed me at first because it was a really annoying Neighbours-type of Aussie accent. But she's been interesting and I really like her so far. She's kind of the Doctor Who Vila because she's wandered into something she knows nothing about and is understandably scared - just like we would be (but would like to think we wouldn't).

My landlady's gone to Cornwall for a few days and it's so nice and quiet here. I almost don't want to do anything that will make a noise - play music or watch TV - for fear of disturbing the peace.

It almost feels like I'm the only person in the world. I love that feeling. It's like when you're home on a workday and there's no-one about. Or get up early on a Saturday. It almost makes getting up early worth it.

The quiet might get annoying after a while but for now it makes a nice change. I've written a page and a third. Still not anything I should be writing, and worse it's a scene from a whole new story but given that I'm supposed to be doing some post-tinshake Rotaract stuff I'm not going to worry about it.

Now I'm going to read The Science of Hitchhiker's, which is quite easy going. Or perhaps that's because I've just read the chapter on time travel, which is always interesting.

Well, I've finished Harry Potter. I wasn't that impressed though, it seemed like 600 pages of very well spread out plot. Mind you, I really like the ordinary school-type stuff and there wasn't that much of that. But I am really looking forward to the next one, after reading this one.

My landlady and next door neighbour bought a paddling pool for reasons best known to themselves. While I was reading they were having issues with getting it level, filling it up, and coping with the coldness of the water. I went in later, though, and soon it was them laughing at me for complaining about the cold. It was quite nice though.

And it was useful! My blow-up chair definitely has a hole. So we had three of us playing with it in the paddling pool (which included me falling off it at one point) and we couldn't find the hole. In the end I admitted defeat and used my landlady's electric pump to blow it up (a whole lot quicker and required much less effort than a foot pump). I'd forgotten how much they smell though.

It's a complete pain to think about having to go back to work tomorrow, and I have Rotaract stuff to do, being as I did nothing today (and enjoyed it).

First a link: Word Perhect - it's a word processor along the lines of Windows RG.

The week started off so well, then I accidentally ate some bread with milk in at the Rotaract barbecue, so spent the rest of the week trying to catch up on my sleep. And reading the last Doctor and Ace BBC book. Pity the ending was so crap.

Today was our tinshake, so I got to sit in a nice garden for five hours and spend one hour standing in the sun in a fairly empty town collecting. I managed to spend most of my time with my left side in the sun (or towards it) so I now have one brown arm and one white one. I will have to spend tomorrow the other way round so I have a matching pair. I also got to count money and we made just under £400 for the local toy library, which is pretty good going. For some reason it seems that any collection in the town gets between £300 and £500 no matter the time of year and the weather.

I enjoyed sitting around with nothing urgent to do so much I made plans to do the same tomorrow. Although finding shade in my landlady's garden is sometimes a bit tricky. After the tinshake I went to Tescos, mainly for some pink grapefruit which they couldn't manage to provide anyway, and got Harry Potter. To read tomorrow (although I read an hours worth this evening in the garden). I did tell myself in advance I wouldn't buy it if it was more than �8 and it wasn't, so I felt vindicated. Sort of. After all, I get the Discworld books in hardback when they come out for �8 or �9.

I have to say that as soon as I started it I felt like I was being talked down to. I've got more used to it now but it does serve to remind that it's a children's book. And I certainly have the children's cover - it's prettier and more colourful. And I certainly didn't re-read the others in preparation - I've read them all twice (or more, I haven't been counting) so I remember them now. I only usually need twice through anything to fix it in my memory for a good few years.

I also discovered Atlantis was on Channel 5 yesterday. It's just as well dad wasn't waiting for it to be on terrestrial to see it - otherwise I'd have been taping it for him because they don't have Sky and no intention of getting it. Sometimes mum asks me if they're missing anything by not being able to get Channel 5 and I can reassure her they're not. That's when I remember to read that column in the TV guide - I got so used to ignoring it before I went to uni I often forget it's there entirely.

Anyway, I enjoyed Atlantis. I had forgotten that Major Sheppard knew nothing about the whole Stargate thing before it started. And I can definitely see a Sheppard/Weir thing going on.

Annmarwalk and Avon did this one:

The One-sentence Meme

If you happen to be working on some new writing project, fanfiction or what have you, post exactly one sentence from each of your current work(s) in progress in your journal. It should probably be your favourite or most intriguing sentence so far, but what you choose is entirely your discretion. Mention the title (and genre) if you like, but don't mention anything else -- this is merely to whet the general appetite for your forthcoming work(s).

So I had a look through my wip folder and found all sorts of things I'd entirely forgotten about, some of which may even be finished one day in the distant future. Don't hold your breath though, some of these were last modified in 2001.

* Unfortunately the ship was running smoothly and Trip temporarily run out of things to take his mind off the situation. (untitled, Enterprise)

* "You don't see me eating pecan pie off just anyone's plate." (untitled, Enterprise)

* "Aeryn can we please have a sensible conversation that doesn't involve talking in riddles and going round in circles." (Lost Without You, Farscape)

* "If you are referring to our destination of Place A then it is still 5 days away. We are only 2 arns from Place B, however." (untitled, Farscape)

* If he had been thinking clearly he might have noticed that not only was Aeryn not breathing, but there was also a bullet wound in her stomach, accompanied by a fair amount of blood distributed between Aeryn, the floor and the guards. (untitled Farscape)

* It has been said that hell is being stuck in a room forever with your friends, and we've certainly proved that. (Trapped, Stargate)

* Elrond made to get up and get some bandages but from the corner of his eye he saw Celebri�an's eyelids flutter and her breath falter. (Abduction, Lord of the Rings)

* He momentarily wondered if he shouldn't have cleaved to Arwen so early, in which case he'd now understand women a little better. (working title Adjustments, Lord of the Rings)

* Elrond did not easily express his emotions and Arwen was glad he had at least felt something. (untitled, Lord of the Rings)

* "I'm trying to seduce you and that's all you can think about?" (untitled, Lord of the Rings)

* There was always one or other of the Northern Rangers injured or dying and Elrond couldn't help worrying that one day one of the dead would be his son. (Choices, Lord of the Rings)

* He could taste the lembas that had been the last meal for both of them; he could smell metal and earth; he could feel the handle of his bow pressing against his palms and digging into the skin. (Last Alliance, Lord of the Rings)

* It was always dark these days and my mother had only found one candle to light the room we were in. (working title Servants 2, Lord of the Rings)

* They had an unspoken agreement not to reveal to anyone else the truth of their marriage but still his actions surprised her. (The Tale of Arathorn and Gilraen, Lord of the Rings)

* He could imagine what would happen if it got round that the king and steward were moonlighting as seamstresses. (untitled, Lord of the Rings)

* The Doctor, on the other hand, had clearly decided Paris was at its best during the French Revolution, when half of the population was trying to kill the other half (untitled, Doctor Who)

* Instead, I am scared of the future - it stretches before me, long and empty without you in it (My Angel, original)

Saz and Nic did this one (which I must reply to):

Why not take this opportunity to tell me a little something about yourself? Any old thing at all. Just so the next time I see your name I can say: "Ah, there's so and so...she/he wears mismatched socks." I'd love it if every single person who friended me would do this. Yes, even you people who I know really well. Then post this in your own journal.

Why is it that my mobile randomly dies - but only when I'm using it? It's my sister's old one so I will have to get onto her about it, see if she had the same problems. If it keeps doing it I'll be buying a new battery and going back to the old one - which is five and a half years old and works perfectly fine, except for needing a new battery once a year. The only thing it doesn't do, is if someone rings me it doesn't tell me what time it was. But then if I answer I don't need to know and if I don't answer and they don't leave a message Orange tell me. And the old phone fits into my rabbit, which is a distinct advantage as far as I'm concerned.

I also managed to write something! Something fictional, rather reports and news items and other stuff for Rotaract. It's three sides of A5 and is of course not what I'm supposed to be writing. I've stopped looking at the Birthday Cards forum on HASA because there are still some from March I haven't got round to yet... I told myself that any writing is good though, so that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. Which is good because i was almost cringing as I wrote some of it, it was so bad. But then my first drafts generally are - afterwards I go back, fill in the gaps, add some description (because, believe me, there's none at all in those three sides and I can already tell it needs it). My first drafts are more like summaries with conversations and thoughts in.

My blog entries are usually first drafts...

I was watching the DVD commentary on The Curse of Fenric this morning, which I was trying to tidy a bit. But I had to stop when they mentioned they were filming at Lulworth Cove. I went and investigated some photos but they always took care to shoot from such an angle so that you can't see the two sides at the time. Which is the bit of it I really remember - I haven't been there in years. I had a look at some photos on Google Images but the images in my head are at a funny angle.

While I was looking, though, I found a picture of Stair Hole. When I was on the Great Ocean Road and saw The Grotto it reminded me of a cross between Stair Hole and Durdle Door, I just couldn't remember the name of the former. I particularly liked this site, not least because most of the pictures look like the Great Ocean Road.

I also discovered they had filmed some Doctor Who near Durdle Door as well. I remember going on a school trip there and nearly getting cut off by the tide. Not that I've been to any of these places for ages - they were all school trip sort of places - but I still felt really homesick. For the pretty scenery, the sea close by, and being able to sit out in the garden, in the shade, in a nice deckchair. Which I know dad has been doing today, although he's probably had his toy out there with him. Back in 1995 when it was too hot to do anything else we didn't have any of this wireless network business. So I got through a lot of books.

I must go and listen to this weeks ISIHAC though, see what they've cut out. Which will sort me out.

I've had a good weekend though, which is good after a crap week. Friday night I got quite drunk on a cocktail crawl round Oxford. The first place we went to I liked because it was non-smoking. And I discovered I really like steak after years of thinking I didn't. I have a feeling I've been confusing it with lamb chop, which I can't stand. The second place we went to had comfy seats (which were empty that early in the evening, and because it was a student bar and it's uni holidays). We got to watch the good-looking barman mix the cocktails as well. And certain male members of the group displayed their skills in the hitherto unknown of art of cocktail arranging, so I could take a picture for the website.

It was all a bit downhill after that because the next bar had music so loud we couldn't talk, so ended up drinking more quickly. Which was probably my downfall. BY 11pm there was nowhere left to go that was free to get into and we admitted defeat.

Saturday I got up early to go to the Beeblebear's Picnic. I even had time to stop off in Reading at ShakeAway and had a bourbon biscuit milkshake that only had a hint of soya in the taste. I did completely fail to find Regent's Park tube station (it looked a lot closer to Oxford Street on the map, where I stopped off at Borders to use the toilet). But handily met other people on the way to the park. So all was not completely lost.

I did spend quite a bit of time playing frisbee. Which was fun, although today I ache and have rather a lot fewer fingernails than I did yesterday. Including one that's still on and has stopped bleeding but is really painful. I'm trying not to think about how much it's going to hurt when I accidentally rip it off - it's breaking rather a long way down. I'm wondering if it's because I'm not getting enough calcium but then surely that would make them bend, not break?

I also played Space Munchkin, which I vaguely managed to work out what was going on by the time we finished. But on the whole it was fun. Next weekend is our tinshake, and I'm trying not to think about how fast it's coming up. People counting down to Harry Potter is not helping. As far as I'm concerned 16th July is next month and can stay there, at least until Tuesday.

It's definitely been a full week (apart from work, in which I have done very little). So far this week I:

• Have been abused for doing my (voluntary) job
• Had my first friend get engaged
• Another friend has got her dream job
• Discovered I am intolerant to something but I don't know what, by being really ill Monday night and so tired since I can barely stay awake until it gets dark
• Actually seen the last episode of Blakes 7 I had missed (which taking my mind off the fact that I might throw up)
• Not this week, but possibly managed to improve my job (not to mention pay)
• Also not all this week, spent too much money on ebay and banned myself from buying any non-food items

I have every intention of going to the Beeblebear's picnic on Saturday, assuming the tube is back to normal. I don't intend to stop eating anything, even though I really have no desire to experience Monday night again, I also don't intend to be intimidated by terrorists. (Although keeping a food diary doesn't half make you think twice about that sneaky iced bun). The way people drive round here I'm far more likely to be killed crossing the street.

I was really impressed by the way livejournal became so useful. Although I know people who work/live in London it wasn't well enough to ring them (not least because I don't have any mobile numbers) but I found out they were all okay at lunchtime by checking LJ.

I also have links:
Three Way Switch - a funny Blakes 7 story (Sel, this is the one I've been talking about)
End of the Circle - A long Seventh Doctor & Ace (unfinished) fic that is a whole lot better than most of the stuff I've found
History Lessons III - Elrond + angst + Nilmandra + lots of chapters = perfection
Overheard in New York - Just proving there's nowt as queer as folk

I'm still not entirely awake so that's as coherent as you're going to get.

This weekend's been good and bad. I was in a bad mood on Saturday for no real reason I can find. I think the Sainsburys in Didcot has a device in the trolley to stop you taking it beyond the car park. Which would explain why I had to turn round and pull it to the bus stop and why it didn't roll back down the hill once I got there. But Tescos and Sainsburys have pissed me off. Tescos for not putting ingredients on their website and not caring, and not telling you what they've substituted/failed to deliver any more. Sainsburys for putting milk in their products and not putting it on the ingredients list (if it's below a certain percent it's entirely legal - doesn't stop it from making me ill though).

This morning I woke up five minutes before Futurama was on, which probably helped. It's a nice short, no need for brain thing to watch at 9am on a Sunday morning. A Saturday too if I ever remember it's on when I don't have to be somewhere else early on a Saturday.

The Ladies Singles final was the longest, ever, I think. But the Mens was still more interesting. I'd prefer them to make the courts fast again because serve volleying is far more interesting than watching two players hit it back to each other all the time. It's more interesting when it's us lot playing because there's no telling where it might go

I'm definitely in a better mood now though because I spoke to my dad on the phone. I was stuck on the crossword and it got to the point where he had to get Friday's paper out to find out the answers (I was doing the crossword from Thursdays paper). So I felt vindicated on not being able to finish it. Specially given that I need a thesaurus, a dictionary, google and a crossword completer to do it, when this is the one that dad used to take to the park to do when I was little, on the basis it didn't need any books.

I also just watched the last in the series of Murder in Suburbia, which was quite funny. It's an ordinary whodunnit on the surface, except for the two main characters are so funny. They do talk about men a lot (which is fair enough for two girls, really) but also because one of them really fancies the boss. But she always manages to embarrass herself in front of him. But now that it's finished my weekly viewing has been reduced to The Dead Zone, which is American and on after midnight, so I have to tape it. But then it is summer. Mind you, we get to September and there's still nothing on.

I haven't watched The Bill since Wimbledon started. I haven't missed it. I had got to the stage where I was tempted not to watch it when I was in, and tempted not to bother watching it when I was out and taped it. And given that the current storyline involves Gabriel and [censored] (where censored could be anyone, frankly, I don't care) that's a very good reason not to watch it. That, and people who I know are obsessive about watching soaps have started watching it.

I thought I'd mention about tags while I'm here. They're a new thing livejournal has brought in to organise your entries, so people can search through them for a particular thing. Blogger doesn't have them because all you need to do is google search. And since that involves far less work on my part, it sounds like a much better idea to me. Also, if I show that toolbar in Semagic it means I can't type the subject then tab to the main entry (which you think would be logical).

Edit: Of course, as soon as I post this there's an update to Semagic that means you can set your own tab order.