Week of 24th May, 2004

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Monday, 24th May

Night shifts start today - ugh!

Given the horrendous excess on Jane's car insurance if Katy is driving, we've decided to settle Sunday's shunt without referring to the insurance companies.

And parts cost for Hopalong is in excess of UKP600 - the front bumper comes in 2 pieces (which they don't tell you if you ask for the price of the bumper alone), then we need a new front spoiler, and new light clusters. And Hopalong is probably only just worth that.

We've seen an advert in Exchange and Mart for a somewhat newer Peugeot 505 - 2 years, and the next model down - for UKP875 or so. I've spoken to the vendor, and will go to view the vehicle later this week, when he returns from a trip.

And overnight, both Sarah's and my Skodas were broken into while parked. Nothing of significance stolen as far as I can see, but I'll have to replace rear quarter-light glass on both cars to secure them again. Later: the glass replacement people will attend tomorrow afternoon.

Somebody up there really doesn't like me. What have I done to deserve this?

I spent an hour queueing at the police station to report the break-ins - but the queue didn't shrink noticeably in that time. There's an answerphone number you can ring for such things - non-urgent - so I made a note of it and went off to enquire about bits for Hopalong, with the results I reported above.

And so to work.

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Tuesday, 25th May

Jane's Mum is going into hospital to have surgery to attempt to repair a problem with her shoulder. She needs to be there (Guy's Hospital in Central London) at 11 a.m. and I'm doing chauffeur duty. It's an easy enough run, if you know the roads, but Southwark council, where the hospital is, have changed some of the one-way  streets, so it's more difficult to get to the particular building than it was before. But I now have a slightly different route, which takes account of that. Sorted.

Jane's Dad came with us, and returned with me - he's almost childishly dependent on Mum now, which is depressing to see. He was an intelligent man before the Alzheimer's struck - now he's incapable of taking care of himself, and needs constant babysitting. Le mot juste, again.

The man from the glass replacement company came, and worked his magic, so BLC and Ally are both now secure again, which is good. Also expensive - UKP86 and change per each car.

And so to work, once more. Where it turns out that the pop concert is happening again this year, but different. Less coverage, and no fast repeat, so the pressure is off. That said, I gather that there may be a limited, partial repeat. I have said, with the shift manager's agreement, that I'll set up entire original segments for the repeat, but clipping from within a segment will require client involvement.

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Wednesday, 26th May

I made some enquiries about second-hand parts for Hopalong, from a couple of car breakers. One of them has a scrapped 505 and may be able to provide the bumper, cheaper. I'll know tomorrow, when he 'phones back. And we've settled with the third party in Hopalong's (minor) shunt. His bill came to UKP350, which seems high, given the description Jane gave me of the damage. Still no sign of the light clusters we'll need for Hopalong - the parts department at the main dealer is remarkably inefficient at 'phoning back with info, even after being asked.

Dad's care arrangements while Mum is in hospital are working well - the entire period is fully mapped out, and I'm providing overnight babysitting for Dad tonight and tomorrow night, while also fitting in an overtime shift tomorrow. I'm typing this at Mum and Dad's house.

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Thursday, 27th May

The overtime shift went well - quite a lot of material loaded, but I didn't empty the shelves. Caching from ingest to transmission was a little flaky at first, but restarting the transfer control computer sorted that.

Now I'm back at Mum and Dad's house. Dad has gone to bed, where I hope he stays until the morning. It's characteristic of Dad's particular version of Alzheimer's that he loses track of time, to the extent that he sometimes arises from bed at 0-dark-30 (which currently isn't particularly dark) and tries to do things. This morning, for instance, he was up at 6, ready for a mini-bus pickup at 8.

And we had news today that Mum's surgery isn't healing as well as was hoped, and the hospital want to keep her until next week! By that time, we'll all be basket cases, but if Mum's shoulder settles down properly, it'll be worth it.

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Friday, 28th May

And BLC was burgled again last night, parked on the street just round the corner from Mum and Dad's.

I found out as I was taking him to the day-centre. We walked around the corner and I noticed that the driver's door was only half-shut. Sure enough, the rear quarter-light had been smashed to gain entry. Only a couple of CD singles pinched, but I'll have to spring another UKP80+ for a new quarter-light glass.

And my tame glass replacement firm can do it tomorrow, after I get back from work and sleep.

That's the bad news. Now for the good news - my insurers called. The other party has admitted responsibilty for Katy's accident (not that there was much doubt) and the (large) excess has been waived. So I'll get full settlement.

Ally has been making creaking and banging noises of late - since the shunt, in fact. Today, Katy expressed worry about it (and from what she said, I was worried too) so I drove off to my tame garage to have it checked. And of course, the noises didn't manifest until I was nearly home. Never mind, I've booked him in for the service and roadworthiness test - 2 weeks time, the garage is busy.

Our half-yearly bonus has been announced - and despite the debacle in January, we've managed to meet service level for 5 of the 6 months. Which is good. The only fly in the ointment is that it won't be paid until next month, due to an "administrative error."

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Saturday, 29th May

And the idiot glass company haven't got the replacement quarter-light glass, despite saying they would have it in stock. I'll have to return on Tuesday to get it finished, which will be after I've collected Mum from the hospital in Central London - if so be as the hospital let her go.

This is the first time I (or at least one of the family) have seen an e-mail worm. Jenny received an e-mail from someone (who? we don't know - the sender's name is unfamiliar) with an attached "important" zip file, named just that. I was instantly suspicious (paranoid, moi?) Turnpike wouldn't allow me to open it in situ - I had to save first. Then I virus checked - and it was a copy of NetSky/R, the mass-mailing worm. So that went into the bit-bucket. Then we sent e-mail to advise of a virus infection. No point about that, though, NetSky spoofs sender address.

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Sunday, 30th May

I took Dad in to the hospital to visit Mum this afternoon - an easy trip, especially since there's no congestion charge at the weekend and the parking restrictions are off, as well, so I could park right outside the building. Much easier for Dad, who shuffles slowly, rather than walking. And then off to work for the last night this weekend - just 2 more in this fortnight, thank $DEITY.

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