Sun, Aug 31st

The last day of the month was spent like we spend most Sundays. A little housework, a little cooking, a little laundry and a little ironing. Best of all was that I was able to watch Spurs pick up their first points of the season in a 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sky Sports. To some this may sound a little sad. But, to a life long Spurs fan, it was a lot better than losing to them and starting the season with an 0-3 record. If only we could learn to score first and stop the other team from scoring then we just might make a season of it.

Sat, Aug 30th

Another weekend where we got up early so we could do our grocery shopping before 9am and run into town to pick up a few odds and sods. Little did we know that by popping into the local furniture store that we would be ordering a new TV stand, corner unit and small dresser for the spare room upstairs. At least we know that they will last a while. They are made from quality wood and hold up more than the packed furniture that we have bought in the past.

Then it was back home to a couple of hours weeding the yards. Dawn and I tackled the front yard before I pitched in and did a little out the back. By the time we'd finished, both of us had aching bodies and a few odd blisters to prove that a little hard work can hurt. You just need to do it more frequently if you don't want to feel the aches and pains. It may not look like much, but it was a forest before we got stuck in.....

Fri, Aug 29th

With the database manager on holiday this week, it was left to me to accompany the Quality Director in a meeting with our database developer this morning. Sitting in the meeting, it crossed my mind that our chairman and leader had wanted EMP Manager in place for the start of our current financial year. Here we are at the end of August with just over a month to go to the end of the financial year he had in mind and we're still not where we need to be. Adrian is still working on mods and we are still a little off linking it to EMP. More important is that meetings like this remind me exactly why I don't like working in systems. This is close enough for my liking, and even this is too close.

Thur, Aug 28th

Although nothing out of the ordinary happened at work for either of us (in other words, it was the usual slog of commuting back and forth from Hertford and London, and enduring a multitude of problems and dealing with just as many people we would rather choose not to), the day did end on a kind of high note. When we got home Dawn received a card in the mail from Dad congratulating her on passing her driving test, and three emails from friends and family oversees. One was from Dawn's sister Kelly, while the other two were from Judy (who replaced Dawn at Clearwater Housing Authority), and Lee and Barbara (friends of Dawn's family that go back way before she was even born). It's nice when people remember.

Tues, Aug 26th

Our long weekend lasted one more day, thanks to Dawn's driving test. Shortly before mid-day Dawn's instructor, Stefan, arrived in his BSM logo car and the two departed for Stevenage so Dawn could take her practical driving test. Once she was gone, I then drove into town and picked up a card and bunch of flowers for her return.

Dawn arrived back at 2pm with a smile as big as a Cheshire cat, and a pass certificate tucked in her folder. The big red 'L' plates will be relegated to the trash, and no Dawn will not be donning the big green 'P' plates to tell everyone she has just passed. Needless to say, I never had any doubts that Dawn would pass. In fact, she did so well that the examiner only marked down two minor incidents; otherwise it was perfect.

Mon, Aug 25th

It was a bank holiday here in England today, and I had planned to finally paint the spare room. However, we really needed a new vacuum cleaner, so I suggested that we pop into Welwyn and pick one up. Dawn didn't object. Especially when I suggested that we use the tax refund that good old George Bush had given us. We also picked up a couple of other odds and ends while we were at John Lewis. Best of all was that it never cost us a penny. We covered the cost of all our expenditures with the money Uncle Sam had sent.

Back home, Dawn continued to swat on her driving test stuff before watching the successful British Olympians arrive home from Beijing in a jumbo jet donned with a gold-coloured nose especially for Team GB.

Sun, Aug 24th

With us enjoying a long weekend, the two of us decided that we would do little or nothing for a change. Dawn did a couple of loads of laundry, and I made some hummus, some crab cakes for lunch, and coconut chicken for dinner. But the rest of the day was spent taking it easy. Dawn had her Sunday video call with Brady while I watched the European Formula 1 Grand Prix.

We then enjoyed watching the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics with Tiny. I can't help but admit and acknowledge that once again I felt a little sentimental to be British. Again I told Dawn how pleased I am to be home, and how my 7 years in America have shown me just how privileged I am to have been born and bred here. We may not be able to complete on the same level as America, China or even Russia. However, Brits the world over should be thankful for what we have.

Sat, Aug 23rd

As usual we started our Saturday with a trip to the grocery store to do our weekly shopping. Now, though, we go to Tesco in Hertford instead of Morrisons in Welwyn so we are home by around 9am. We then popped into town to run a few errands before catching a train to Finsbury Park to see Dad. As we hadn't taken him out in a while, Dawn suggested we take him out for lunch this week. We ended up at The Landseer opposite what used to be Peter Pan Park. Although Dawn liked the look of North Nineteen, which (to anyone who is familiar with my old neck of the woods) used to be called The Enterprise. Nothing to do with Star Trek, I hasten to add.

We enjoyed a good couple of hours with Dad at the flat and down the road. George bought the drinks, which were appreciated.

This evening we watched The Matrix in high definition. An interesting film, to say the least, but I don't think we'll be watching any sequels........

Fri, Aug 22th

As we have done for the last two weeks, we woke up for work around 4:30am and within half an hour had the television on and were watching live coverage of the Beijing Olympics before our morning shower and breakfast. I'll certainly miss it next week once it's over.

Then it was off to work. We now catch an earlier train than we had been so that I can catch a bus from Enfield bus station, getting me into work by 7:20am. It certainly helps me having the office to myself for a good hour to hour and a half. It gives me the chance to do the daily bank reconciliation, review the invoices SF has posted to EMP Manager, and review my workload for the day before anyone else turns up. It also enables me to leave the office between 4:00pm and 4:15pm, which really makes it worth getting in early.

On arriving home I received the Olympic handover stamps first day cover. I've received every one since we moved to Oldhill Street at the end of the summer of 1997, so have probably got around somewhere between 150 and 200. Thanks Dad. Just one of the habits I picked up from him over the years.

Tues, Aug 19th

Two days into the week and we are really looking forward to the long weekend. A nice bank holiday followed by a day off work seems a long way off at the moment. We even had our usual evening routine messed up after Dawn had received a text from her driving instructor yesterday asking her if she would be interested in going out on a lesson this evening. After a little thought she agreed. We would get home around 5:30, down our dinner, and then Dawn would be ready for her two hour lesson. However, her instructor was already waiting for us when we got home, so dinner had to wait until around 7:30pm. For most that may not seem a major hassle. But for us, that was a huge change to our normal routine. We only had less than 60 minutes to let the meal go down before it was off to bed.

Sun, Aug 17th

As we have done the last week, we put the TV on early to see how Team GB was doing in the Olympics. By mid afternoon we were third in the medal table as we had our best weekend in nearly 100 years. We were both pleased and proud of Becky Adlington yesterday, winning her second gold medal in the swimming, and were both pleased that Michael Phelps had eclipsed Mark Spinx's record with his 8th gold medal at Beijing.

We, on the other hand, took things a little easier than our Olympians. I ran out to take the recycling up to Ware and picked up Dawn's rail ticket while Dawn did the ironing. Then after lunch Dawn had her weekly video call with Brady while I watched Ghost Whisperer that I had recorded.

And Tiny was in heaven, too. She hasn't been sick since we took her to the vet. That will be four weeks this coming Tuesday. She's also getting back to her old ways, too. She is laying with me on the couch, sleeping with us on the bed, and racing around the house playing, and purring like a powered motor when we come home from work.

Sat, Aug 16th

With Hayley expected down today, and us both needing to pop into town for a haircut, Dawn stayed at home and tided the house a little while I did the weekly grocery shopping at Tesco on my own. We then popped into town to get our hair cut, got some books at the local library, bought some more odds and ends and had a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

Hayley arrived at Hertford East around noon and we collected her on the way home. The three of us then enjoyed a couple of hours catching up on things and enjoyed some lunch in the process. Hayley had store bought pizza, while Dawn and I had a home made quesadillas. It was good to see Hayley and when I dropped her back at the station she said that she would try and not leave it so long next time before coming to see us again.

After dinner we relaxed by watching a recording of Atonement. We'd both read the book a few months ago and were looking forward to seeing how the film compared.

Fri, Aug 15th

We recently received an email asking us how we have been doing on our diet. Well our weight has hardly moved the last few weeks. However, I am not complaining at the moment. I'll just stop eating wholemeal pita bread that I snack on while I am making our dinner in the evening and I should lose another pound of two without any difficulty.

Tonight I received a text message from Hayley enquiring whether we were busy on Saturday as she would like to pop down and see us. We let her know that we had our hair cut scheduled for the morning, but she was welcome to come down later in the day.

Thur, Aug 14th

We are finally able to relax and forget about our mortgage and home insurance for a little while now. I called Nationwide and was told that our reservation fee refund had been processed on Tuesday, so it was just a matter of time before we received it. We also received notification from the Chelsea Building Society that our new rate would be effective from next month. Sadly it's still 1.4% higher than we've been paying the last two years, but at least it is over one third of 1% lower than it would have been had we gone through and moved to Nationwide. We also received confirmation of our new buildings and contents insurance, too. It only took Nationwide 6 weeks to deal with it.

Wed, Aug 13th

Dawn took a day off from the the grindstone to enjoy a two hour long driving lesson. She was even happier to hear that her instructor was pretty optimistic that she should pass her test with flying colours. She still needs to iron out one or two things, but he sees no reason why she shouldn't be celebrating throwing away the dreaded red L plates she has to affix to the car every time we go out.

I, on the other hand, travelled to work on my own and made it in earlier than usual arriving at 7am. I left a little early too and sneaked in the front door a little after 5pm to surprise both Dawn and Tiny who came running down the stairs to welcome me.

Tues, Aug 12th

Yesterday the heavens opened and it rained off and on all day. Thankfully I can get a bus to and from work if needed. Appreciatively, I did not need to this evening and was able to walk back to Enfield Chase during a nice sunny break in the rainfall. Ironically I had received Dawn's new dome or birdcage umbrella which I had to carry with me with my own under my arm all the way. Dawn (as you can see from the photo) could not wait to try it out. However, I hasten to add, it was not raining at the time.

Sun, Aug 10th

No painting today. I went and got a couple of Sunday papers for Dawn and then watched this week's episode of Ghost Whisperer that I had recorded. After a shower I then drove back to Hertford North to pick up my rail card and weekly rail ticket.

Back home we both did some vacuuming in between watching Nicole Cooke win GB's first gold in the Olympics in the cycling and us miss out on the bronze in the archery. Dawn then did more laundry and ironing. I made another saucepan of black bean soup before marinating some lamb for an Indian dinner that we saw done on television earlier this week.

After lunch I caught up with our blog that we hadn't updated in nearly two weeks (apologies to our friends from afar that keep in touch with us this way), coded some invoices for work (because I have more work that I can deal with at present), and watched some television. After dinner, while I was making our dessert, Brady called and had a nice chat with Dawn.

Sat, Aug 9th

Again an early visit to Tesco for our grocery shopping, then a brief visit to town to do run some more errands. Following the week I'd had, I should have expected that today would throw up even more headaches.

The first occurred when we stopped at the pharmacy to collect the blood pressure pills that I had ordered the week before last. We were told that we would have to wait until next weekend as the pharmacist was not in and they could not release the drugs.

After a quick lunch we decided to head out to Hertford North early so that I could get my new railcard and a weekly rail pass. This time we were welcomed with a sign telling us that the desk was closed for 20 minutes. Unfortunately, we could not wait 20 minutes as it would mean we would miss our train to Finsbury Park so we could visit Dad. Just to make our day, the desk was closed when we got back so I couldn't pick up my tickets, etc later either.

When we got back from Dad's, Dawn called Brady to wish her many happy returns of the day on her birthday. I won't mention how old she is. All I'll say is thank God we don't have rings like trees for every year. Just kidding. I couldn't resist.

Fri, Aug 8th

I ended the week by catching a bus to work and walking back to the station in the rain. In between I had another crap day. However, I was still feeling pretty good because we were able to release 80% of the cheques that I had had drawn to our suppliers. Over the last two weeks I had promised countless suppliers that we would have a cheque out to them this week and up until this morning it didn't look like it was going to happen.

Dawn ended the week in her new office just off Goswell Road. Her department are being temporarily relocated to facilitate the school of journalism. In October they will be relocated to their permanent location. In the meantime she has to work in an open plan office with no partitions between the desks and shoulder to shoulder with one of her bosses. Worst of all is that they have no air conditioning. So if the temperatures get as hot as they have recently then there are going to be a lot of unhappy people there.

For dinner I made some home made fish and chips with a difference. The fish was made with soya flour and the chips with sweet potato instead of regular white. The deep fried chips came out good. But the soya flour seemed to burn too quickly. Next time I'll try with wholewheat flour instead.

A late night for us tonight as we watched a recording of the opening of the Beijing Olympics. The two thoughts that crossed our minds as we watched the games unfold were what an incredible job the Chinese had done with their ceremony, and how the hell is London going to be able to create an opening ceremony worthy of the Olympics?

Wed, Aug 6th

Today I called Countrywide to cancel our property and contents insurance polices. While I was on the phone I found out that we had made all our installments so we I could cancel my direct debits, too. That was a bonus because I thought we still had one more month to pay.

The surprise of the day was that the agent from Nationwide called me to ask me what we were doing regarding our life insurance and to inform me that she had heard that we had cancelled our mortgage application. I responded by asking why she had not called Dawn on Monday and was told that her computer system was still down. Needless to say, I told her that we were not interested in using their service if we couldn't complete an application within five days. She seemed a little puzzled with our decision.

On the way home I picked up some return tickets for Thursday at Enfield Chase. Dawn's also ran out today and we had decided that we'd get weekly tickets for the next two weeks.

Tues, Aug 5th

Again no phone call from Nationwide for Dawn. To say that we are completely fed up with Nationwide is an understatement. It's as if they aren't interested in our business. Thankfully we received some paperwork in the mail when we got home regarding our property and contents insurance application. It only took six weeks, though. So perhaps we are just expecting too much from them to be able to communicate with us in a timely manner.

Oh yea, I also lost my railcard and monthly season ticket on the way home. I had to buy a single ticket so I could catch the train with Dawn and now I have to get a new railcard and ticket. Luckily I only had one day left on the card otherwise I would have really been upset.

Mon, Aug 4th

Dawn waited all day for a phone call from Nationwide and none came. Instead, I called their head office and cancelled our mortgage application and requested a refund of our reservation fee. Dawn and I were not happy at all with the manner in which they dealt with our application and seemed to get everything wrong. We have no way of guaranteeing that we will get the refund, but there is no way we are going to commit ourselves to a building society with such bad service.

Tonight we relaxed with another bowl of dessert and watched a recording of Renee Zellwegger in Miss Potter.

Sun, Aug 3rd

We just took things easy today. Well as much as we normally do on a Sunday. We both did some vacuuming, Dawn did several loads of washing and the ironing, too. I on the other hand made a meatloaf and black bean soup for this week's dinners, and some crab cakes with pepper sauce for lunch. Before calling Dad after dinner this evening I sat down on the couch and watched Spurs defeat Borussia Dortmund on Sky Sports 3-0. Tonight we both relaxed with a bowl of home made strawberry yogurt desert while we watched a recording of Candles on Bay Street.

Sat, Aug 2nd

Today we popped into Tesco in town to do our weekly grocery shopping around 7:15am instead of running up to Morrisons in Welwyn Garden City. We decided that Tesco provides us with a wide range of choice when it come to produce. As for the time, we had a 9:00am appointment at Nationwide so took the opportunity of Tesco's 24 hour shopping hours.

The visit to Nationwide proved to be another fiasco. In the week we received a letter from the lawyers telling us that they couldn't process our mortgage application because they couldn't contact Nationwide. It was in the same letter that they also told us we were to close on the mortgage asap, and not in October as we arranged. Well, today we spent the best part of an hour discussing this letter and completing a life insurance application for the two of us. Then, as if fated to fail, just as the agent was completing the application the computer had a problem and did not complete the application. The agent said she would call Dawn on Monday after she had called the lawyers and would complete the application over the telephone.

Fri, Aug 1st

Thankfully this week was a shortish one for the two of us as a result of us staying off work on Wednesday. However, it always seems that by the time I board the Hertford North bound train as it arrives at Enfield Chase around 16:54 the two of us are fit to collapse.

This evening, though, I at least had some distraction to take my mind off work when we arrived home. I watched the new-look Spurs beat Celtic 2-0 in the Amsterdam tournament on Sky. We then both watched the film Firewall before calling it a night and reading a little before lights out.