2010 — 13 October: Wednesday
Rather a dull, grey start, but little or no condensation on the car windows. It's 08:50 and the first cuppa is working its magic.1 And I've just discovered what the deputy DG of the BBC was good at doing for his nearly £500,000 salary as a BBC "lifer": "He could spot the flying omelettes coming over the horizon," said Ron Neil, the former managing director of BBC news and BBC TV. (Source.)
Some wonderful logic on display here, too:
Large pay bonuses cannot be taken away from doctors, even if their performance deteriorates, because of a loophole in the system... But doctors defended the system, saying it ensured excellence was rewarded... To apply for an award, consultants nominate themselves...
I don't remember IBM operating such a system, though who knows what went on in the upper layers of management?
A hasty supplies run...
... and I can now await my lunchtime visitors. It's rather chilly out there. I shall have to dig out an extra layer (or find out how to work the daytime heating). I think some more artwork scanning will help fill the shining hour. I've nearly filled folder "P" and I've even managed to find the sticky labels I need to index each set of four pockets. This is goodness. It's 10:15.
Some considerable time later
Last time I lunched with Gill and my birthday twin Chris (exactly two years ago) I got, erm, well "wasted" would probably be the word. So today I stayed on cold fizzy water at "The Bridge" in Shawford where we lunched and then toddled gently along a part of the river. I got back to find one of those irritating "while you were out" cards from Mr Postie, so (after a trip to the depot) I now also have all the Staples packing bags for my broken bits of bookcases (though one of the envelopes was actually mis-addressed to a neighbour so he popped it round mere minutes ago). I now also have some further entertainment options:
I've played and enjoyed the Neil Young CD, and I love the reversible font used for this new edition of "The Princess Bride" — long a favourite film in this household. As it happens, one of our lunch stroll topics was the complete impossibility of fitting fewer than 100 film titles into any given "Top 10" list. My visitors thought, however, that my little audio system has too much bass having been subjected to "Private Investigations" (Dire Straits, 1982) at quite a reasonable volume. Since I don't have any tone controls, there's not much I can do about that. I haven't had, and certainly haven't felt any pressing need for, bass or treble "controls" for the past three decades.
I was obscurely pleased they also liked the various changes I've made in the house (the book "warehouse" upstairs, the new carpets and vinyl, the new heating system, the relocation of the four PC systems down to the back end of my "living" room) and they approved, too, of the quality of the plasma screen on which I showed them snippets from yesterday's Tim Burton "Alice in Wonderland" Blu-ray delivery. I waved them off with "Mad Men, series #1" and the fascinating DVDs of "extras" from my West Wing boxed set. We are all three great fans of Aaron Sorkin's writing. Nice pre-birthday treat.
Tomorrow, of course, I shall host my Winchester chums to an evening meal at which it's just possible I may drink a small glass of wine. It's 18:28 and distinctly autumnal out there. Earlier, I picked the last six pears off my tree and snipped away a few brambles, as advised. Nasty plants. Time for my next meal, methinks.
Later still
I've just re-watched "Princess Bride" and the goodly set of extras. Excellent. It's 22:26 and time for a fresh cuppa.