As of St David’s Day I now work in my firm’s Bristol office. I must say that I am, after the first week, less tired, less stressed and more relaxed. As I said to my first manager, I actually feel that I want to come to work every day now. Let’s hope it lasts.

A fortnight before saw the demise of Kat, our Cougar. She finally gave up the ghost and died on the way to work one morning. Thankfully she has not been scrapped but donated to a young trainee mechanic who needed a car to practise on.

So we now have a new addition to the family. I’ll say more soon. Just to say that we had to go to South Devon to get her.

I’m also reunited with a colleague I first worked with when I started in the shipping/transportation industry 20 years ago. As he lives in Newport we now carshare to work. This is great as it helps me to satisfy my environmental desire.

It is not feasible to get to work by public transport, as it would involve walking the 2 miles to the railway station and 2 changes each way on the train. Then an uphill walk on the way home. If you’d seen our hill you’d know why that is a problem.

Out goes the Electronic 80’s 3CD set. In comes:

The Ting Tings
Upon This Rock by Larry Norman – the father of Christian Rock
The Best of: Dr Feelgood

For those who don’t know them, Dr Feelgood are the best thing ever to come out of Canvey Island in Essex, apart from petroleum products. Canvey is famous for being next to the River Thames but below sealevel.

Their lead singer was Lee Brilleaux, their original lead guitarist was Wilko Johnson and they were the renowned for being the best RnB band in Britain. By that I mean real RnB and not this pathetic trash that we have today. Their only real hits were Roxette and Milk & Alcohol, which appeared just as punk started. A great future looked certain but they never made the break into the real big time. They continued touring and releasing great albums but will always be a footnote in Britain’s musical landscape.

However this could change as a documentary is released about them this month. Oil City Confidential tells the story from beginning to the present. This is a little odd as Lee Brilleaux has passed away, way to soon, and their are no original band members left. But, like many other groups, the legend keeps going.

To answer a comment:

Our Mazda has a facility to link in the MP3 player but the car is currently in need of repair. Personally I’d never by an over-priced and inferior Apple product though

Friday’s All Request Friday was a treat as they played some really good rock music. They opened with Won’t Get Fooled Again by The Who, one of my all time favourites.

However I still prefer listening to CD’s on the 6 disc multiplayer. The only problem is that I sometimes don’t get round to rotating the music enough. I think I need to remove the Electronic 80’s and insert some AC/DC or Led Zep to vary the tunes. I also think it’s time to rotate The Doors albums as well – maybe Morrison Hotel and Waiting For The Sun.

Then I told her that things would get worse for us with global warming. FW couldn’t understand the connection or understand how rising sea levels, temperatures and CO2 emissions could make a difference.

I then pointed out that there would be greater movement in the Tectonic Plates as they moved around the world more frequently following the changes in weather patterns. This would be down to the fact that the UK would be a much more pleasing place to visit with the temperature and weather changes.

FW pointed out that I didn’t mean Tectonic Plates but Tutonic Morons…..

The New Year will start as i don’t intend it to go on. Tomorrow I have to go to work. The reason is that I was snowed in for 2 days this week and have a mountain of work to catch up on. My colleague has been off since the 15th and work has, inevitably piled up.

We went to see FW’s family on Boxing Day for a few days. My sister in law’s birthday is on that day, the day after mine. Therefore it is almost compulsory for us to attend – especially as it was an important milestone this year. So we asked the neighbours to look after the cats while we were away.

The first tme they did this was when FW and I went to London in November. On that occasion Mrs Next Door came over to feed the cats for the first tome and went into the kitchen. She felt a presence behind her and saw a shape and ran out of the door. She ran to get her husband who, being a brave man, stood outside our door while she went back in – only to find Dr Who standing in our entrance hall.

The remarkable thing is that every time she has been in since she has felt that his eyes follow her around…

This time she came in to hear a voice saying “Hello? Hello?” Only to be surprised as I appeared from the dark living room to greet her. She was surprised as she’d forgotten that I was home on the Monday.

Last night I went into te little boy’s room to do what little boys do. I was most unnerved to find that I was being watched. On the windowsill was a Stig watching me. Even though his visor is dark you wouldn’t think that his eyes could follow you around but they do…..

I already had to get FW to move the starfish and lobster on the cistern as their eyes did the same!

On the Tuesday, after we arrived, we had a meal at Wong Kei. This is my favourite Chinese restaurant. You get really good food and it is very reasonably priced. You also get to share tables with complete strangers and, if you’re lucky, rude service.

However I was depressed to find that the most famous Chinese in Soho is no more. The restaurant made famous by Warren Zevon’s Werewolves of London has disappeared. Yes, Lee Ho Fook’s has closed its doors To dull the pain we had desert in the Haagen Daz store – mmmmm!!!!

Wednesday, being FW’s birthday, we went to visit the Natural History Museum. FW got the chance to meet a certain Sir David Attenborough. He was their to sign books, DVD’s etc. To put the icing on the cake he told FW that she was a picture – Sir David Attenborough hit on my wife

In addition FW was able to ride a horse before going in. Photo to follow.

That night we ate at a Polish restaurant, Folvark, near our hotel in Hounslow. It had only been open for a month but was a great place. The food was absolutely superb. I’d recommend it to everyone.

The Thursday saw us visit Southend, where I’d lived for 6 months. I couldn’t believe how much the seafront had changed. It now has a pebble beach, the Kursaal is open and my old flat, next door, is still there.

Friday we went to Hampstead shopping. The weather was awful but we spent a few hours in Cafe Rouge having a great lunch. Then FW was able to spend some dosh in the local Oxfam shop. I did “not” buy any second hand books whatsoever

On the way to Paddington on the Saturday we managed to find time to visit the Bagel Bake shop in Brick Lane. These are proper bagels from a Jewish bakery and they are not just great but cheap. No visit to London is complete without a visit. I also have to buy bagels for my sister and her family and my mum whenever I visit – they are that good.

My new colleague is away this week and I have been given no help. When I go away the week after next they will have someone from Bristol over to cover. Mmmmm!!!

To pile things up, I had a half day on Tuesday for a Plot meeting. As I approached the motorway junction for work I had a blow out. So from Tuesday to this morning I have had to commute via train, as my tyres had to be ordered in. Doesn’t sound arduous does it? But it costs twice as much as using the car and takes longer; is overcrowded – but not by London standards – and has been very noisy.

This morning the train was late. This may not sound unusual, or very inconvenient, but our station is only served by one, or maybe two trains an hour, so there is no alternative.

I’m looking forward to our mini break in London in 2 weeks. I’ll not have to worry about keeping up with work and don’t want to. Then I know that Christmas is just around the corner, a few more days off then.

What I have come to realise is that my bosses have no idea how much work I do, or the effort I put in. Maybe they’ll listen when I shout at them when I get back from London.

For those unaware. The series, of which this is the fourth, is set in late 1530’s and early 1540’s during the reign of Henry VIII and the reformation of the church in England. He manages to bring Tudor England and the religious turmoil very well.

What sets this book apart is that it deals with a serial killer who is following Revelation’s story of the angel with the 7 vials. This is a pre-cursor to the end of the Whore of Babylon and Armageddon. Thus the beginning of the Second Coming.

The other thing that this deals with is the way people at the time were struggling to come to terms with the change in the uprising of Protestant belief and the downfall of the primacy of the Catholic church. The people are divided between past forms of belief, the new form that is beginning to spring forth and a king who let the genie out of the bottle, and struggles to put the lid partially back on.

We also encounter people who were former reformers but are no longer certain of their faith. The writer sees the good and bad in Christianity and shows that they are uncomfortable with present fundamentalism.

Christianity was changing in ways that people have still not come to terms with. The Christianity of the Catholic church was ordered and had a basis of theology that was regimented and known to all. Then came the Protestant form. Here anyone can claim their own theology and interpretation of scripture. They also have a get out of jail free card, in the form of the Holy Spirit.

Any fool can claim that they can interpret scripture, wihout any theological training, just by claiming that the Spirit spoke to them; for example, the Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses etc. There is no way that you can disprove their claims totally so Christianity is weakened and divided.

One of the things highlighted is that many fundamentalists believe that they are the elect of God – the chosen who are predestined to be saved. This is a Calvinist trait that I’ve always had problems with. If God created with free will then we choose to belief or not. Equally, Christ’s sacrifice is belittled because God has already chosen who will and will not be saved. So why did he sacrifice Himself on the cross, the deed was unnecessary?

Neither am I saying that the Catholic church is right in all its teachings. Neither am I saying that Protestant belief is any more accurate or wrong. In addition we do not have the right to reinterpret the scriptures and bend their teachings to fit our own time and place in history.

I think that Christians need to discuss their beliefs, to see where there is common ground and also where there is poor, and non scriptual, theology. We should be working together to unify our faith but seem to be happy to remain entrenched in our own particular denominational ghettoes.

Then again, if we did this then people may actually become more interested in Christianity. Then where would the world be? Better to muddy the waters, and argue over obscure theological points, than actually do the work that Christians are here for.

So imagine my surprise when I got an e-mail saying that we were all going to contribute £5 for his leaving present. After all he has spent on people, over the 10 years that he has been with the company, and all they give is £5 each.

My guilt got the better of me and I contributed a little more than the others. After all, I owe him the most as he got me the job.

This week has seen the Liberal Democrats, or as I like to call them a JOKE, have been having their annual conference. For those not acquainted with British a party conference, this is where people with no lives, or in touch with reality, descend on a British holiday “resort” – for “fashionable” city – to discuss politics, get p****d and have sex with other morons.

As a result many politicians lose touch with reality even more and say really silly things. Today the Liberal Democrat leader – Mr Nick “Who the **** is he” Clegg (a complete non-entity) – has been telling everyone that he has the “strength” and “resolve” to make the “savage” cuts necessary to save us from the Labour induced budget deficit.

Can someone explain how a crisis, that was caused by over extended borrowing and irresponsible lending, can be solved by over extended borrowing and irresponsible lending?

Today we were brought the declaration that Mr Negg expects to be “the next Prime Minister”. This follows that great declaration from David Steele – “Go home and prepare for government”.

It is always good to find politicians who have a sense of humour and the surreal.

I know expect a certain “young” lady in Durham to be rude and objectionable in response