Journal – November-December 2004

Here’s another instalment of entries from my journal, bringing us to the end of 2004. I’ve been doing a work experience placement at my local council, and I’ve continued to enjoy my music and DVD purchases as usual.

Unfortunately, however, I don’t have any entries for December as they were accidentally deleted! So I’ve just briefly mentioned the key points from the month, and added another top 100 list to make up for it. That anomaly aside, however, I hope you find these entries interesting!

Monday November 1, 2004

Work experience is much the same as ever, nothing new to report there at the moment. However, I was interested to read that a pilot spin-off of Only Fools And Horses is being filmed. It’s called The Green, Green Grass, and is about Boycie and Marlene. They’re played by the same actors, but no other OFAH regulars will be in it. If the pilot is a success, it will be made into a series. Only Fools should have stopped when the Trotters became millionaires, so perhaps spin-offs are the best idea, as there’s plenty of good characters to use. I wonder what’s happened to the other spin-off that was planned, about a young Del Boy. Perhaps it’s on the back burner for now.

As for music, I haven’t got Queen’s new DVD yet. But a lot of old artists are bringing music out as it’s nearly Christmas, so lots of Greatest Hits compilations are out as usual. Cliff Richard, Elton John and Rod Stewart all have new albums out, although I’m not interested in buying them. There was a Rod Stewart concert on TV the other night though, and it was good.

Wednesday November 3, 2004

I managed to create an invoice template in the forms software on Tuesday. I had to use trial and error to get it to fit on the page when it was printed, but it didn’t take too long. I only have to make a few adjustments to it, as I didn’t have all the necessary details available to put on it to start with. I’ve also done some more spreadsheet work, as well as putting some more information into the new IT system.

Thursday November 4, 2004

A man from Action For Blind People came with Louise today. As I found out from their website, they are based at my old school, although they’ve only been there for about a year, which is why I’ve never heard of them until now. The monitor was no good after all – it was 17″, but so is the monitor I have at work, so it didn’t make any difference. However, he has got a 19″ monitor on loan to someone else, and they’ve had it for 6 months already, so he reckons it’s about time he called it in. I might hear from him soon about that. And the meeting with Louise went fine as usual. She told me a bit about the New Deal scheme, which I’ll go back on to after this placement. It’s amazing what’s available to you, they’re very helpful people.

Friday November 5, 2004

As usual for Fridays, I spent the day up in the accountancy department. I’ve finished a spreadsheet I was working on, and nearly finished doing an analysis of some income and expenditure figures. And now I’m halfway through my placement already! Fireworks have been going off for the past few days now, and there are plenty going on this evening, of course.

Monday November 8, 2004

I went out shopping with Mum and Dad on Saturday morning to help them find some birthday cards and other bits and pieces. And I also bought some stuff for myself too:

• Queen On Fire – Live At The Bowl (CD & DVD) – It’s a great live show, Freddie and the others are all on top form.
• Status Quo – XS All Areas (CD & DVD) – A new greatest hits compilation, but my old one was getting a bit worn anyway. The DVD has promo videos, live performances and other stuff. The only extra is a commentary, and that’s not for all the songs. But it’s still a good DVD. It’s the Quo, after all, how could it not be?
• Def Leppard – The Best Of (CD) – This is pretty good. There is also a DVD, but I didn’t get it on this occasion.

Friday November 12, 2004

Nothing special to report on the work front this week, as things are still much the same as ever. I haven’t done a lot of work with the forms software, because I need the full version of Adobe Acrobat to preview things (rather than print loads of pages out and waste paper), but it hasn’t arrived yet. We were supposed to have some training on designing menus and things on the IT system as well, but we didn’t in the end. I don’t think I’ll be using it anyway now, to be honest, as I’ve got enough other stuff to do. This week’s gone very quickly all in all. It certainly seems to have gone quicker than the other weeks, for some strange reason.

Saturday November 13, 2004

This past week seems to have gone very quickly indeed. The last 3 weeks of my placement will probably fly by just as quick too. I input some more information into the new IT system for the accounts team on Friday, but there’s nothing else special to report on the work front.

As for the news, John Peel’s funeral has now been held, following his death last month. And, talking of music, the new entrants have been decided for the UK Hall Of Fame, as voted for by Channel 4 viewers. Some artists already had automatic entry (Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Bob Marley, Madonna & U2), but the ones voted for by the public were:

• 1950s: Cliff Richard & The Shadows
• 1960s: The Rolling Stones
• 1970s: Queen (Woohoo!)
• 1980s: Michael Jackson
• 1990s: Robbie Williams

Monday November 15, 2004

Today was fairly quiet at work, but importantly I learned that my boss has been asking around if there is a position open anywhere, as it looks like they want me to stay on for a few months while the new system goes live. And I’d be paid, although I’d have to compare that against my benefits. It would only be a short contract – 3 months or so – but it’s a great start! And who knows what that could lead to?

I also placed an Amazon order for DVDs this past weekend:

• Red Dwarf – Series 5
• The Thin Blue Line – Complete Series 1 & 2
• The Sweeney – Series 4 (the last series)
• The Good Life – The Specials (3 episodes which aren’t in the series releases, so it completes my collection)
• Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban

Saturday November 20, 2004

Louise was thrilled to hear that I could be getting a job at the council. The details haven’t expanded on what I was told before yet, but as an employee I’d have access to training and other stuff that I can’t do now, so it’ll be a good opportunity to get more skills under my belt. Mum, Dad and Nan were also very pleased when I told them.

As well as the good news about my job, I’ve also been invited to the office’s Christmas dinner on Friday 10th December (in the afternoon), which is very kind of them. And I’ve accepted, of course!

Children In Need‘s 25th telethon raised a whopping £17.1 million last night, a record for the charity. This total tends to double for the year’s final total. Since the telethon began 25 years ago, they’ve raised over £350 million (so nearly £370m including last night’s total). The show had something for everyone and was very musical.

I really enjoyed the cast of the new Mary Poppins musical performing some of their songs. It hasn’t opened in the West End yet, but it’s already so popular that it’s very hard to book tickets apparently. It was fun to see the cast of Coronation Street doing Oliver! as well. And the annual performance by the newsreaders was a strange tribute to Bananarama and Duran Duran.

So congratulations to everyone who worked so hard, as all the money’s going to a good cause. And at work, some people did come around the council from the Social Services division with strange wigs on (including flashing ears!) to collect donations from us.

Friday November 26, 2004

Another week at work has gone by, and I’ve definitely got a paid job with the project team for another 2 months! It’s the month with the Printing team that’s the issue now. That’s the only position that’s open in the council at the moment, and there is someone else also on work experience who would probably go for the job too, so I would have to go for an interview.

As for the work itself, I’ve been concentrating on the forms software, now I’ve got Adobe Acrobat to go with it. Only one week of the placement to go, and then I won’t be seeing Louise every week. A bit of a shame, as it was good to see her each week, just in case there were any problems. But they won’t just be leaving me alone – her colleagues Trevor and Janet will be keeping in touch with me after this for a while. So I’m glad about that. It’s always good to have some sort of support available, even if you find you don’t need to use it much.

As for home, our builder’s back doing some work. We’ve had the front garden dug out, to bring it down to ground level – we don’t use the garden, so it may as well be brought down and made into a flat area. It could then be converted into a driveway by the subsequent owners, simply by sloping the pavement (which the council need to do, as it’s their property). It’ll greatly help us sell the house in the future though – the people next door haven’t got anywhere to put a driveway. They did try and sell their house, but that might have been why it never appeared to be sold.

We had a bit of trouble with the digging out, as the people concerned could only come on Thursday, and not Monday as promised. But they did do a great job. I was at work, of course, but I’m told that they did everything professionally and correctly. We also had a bit of trouble when our builder tried to have some materials delivered (cement and stuff like that). They also didn’t come at the promised time, and when they eventually did after he tried phoning them for ages, the woman driving the lorry crashed it into somebody’s wall on the way to us, when trying to turn a narrow corner. So she had to wait with the householders for her manager, who then managed to drive it up our road. Still, at least our builder can get stuff done outside now, as he’s got everything he needs.

I’ve also got my Amazon stuff this week – The Sweeney, Red Dwarf, The Thin Blue Line, The Good Life and Harry Potter (which I’ll watch this weekend). So it’s been a good week all in all.

In the news, Dixons has decided to stop selling VCRs once its current stock runs out, because DVD players outsell them by about 40 to 1 in the UK. It makes sense, really – DVDs are better quality, often have bonus features, and take up less space on the shelf. It was rather inevitable, and it’ll be interesting to see if other retailers make the same decision soon.

December 2004

Due to an oversight on my part, I accidentally deleted the journal entries I’d written for this month! So I’ll just have to do a brief overview instead:

• I’ve started a 3-month job at the council, working down in Printing doing more of the forms production work. It’s not always busy, as it’s often a case of waiting for other people to do stuff for us. It’s still interesting though. And it’s interesting talking to my colleagues who have had lots of experience over the years, not just in printing. I was also invited to the Christmas lunch with the JT team I was working with during my placement, and they paid for me!
• Nan came down for Christmas, and we had a great Christmas dinner, discovering that it’s better to make your own pigs in blankets (sausages wrapped in bacon) than buying them already made. I got a shirt and tie set, some handkerchiefs, and money for my presents.
• I’ve bought more DVDs – Live Aid, Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King, and Lynyrd Skynyrd: Lyve From Steel Town – none of which I’ve got around to watching yet!
• Kelly Holmes rightly became the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year, and has been made a Dame in the New Year Honours List. Most of our Olympic stars have also been honoured, with Tanni Grey-Thompson also being made a Dame. Eric Sykes, Geoffrey Palmer, and Roger Daltrey are some of the entertainment stars to be recognised in the list.
• Band Aid 20 is the Christmas #1. It’s nowhere near as good as the original.
• Channel 4’s The Ultimate Film, listing movies watched by the most cinema-goers in history, is Gone With The Wind.
• Channel 4’s Greatest Christmas Moment is the original Band Aid single.
• Channel 4’s Greatest TV Treat of 2004 is the finale of Friends.

And finally, listeners to Planet Rock voted for their favourite classic rock songs of all time this month, so these are the results:

1. Led Zeppelin – Stairway To Heaven
2. Lynyrd Skynyrd – Free Bird
3. Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody
4. Deep Purple – Smoke On The Water
5. Black Sabbath – Paranoid
6. Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta Love
7. Eagles – Hotel California
8. Led Zeppelin – Rock And Roll
9. AC/DC – Highway To Hell
10. The Jimi Hendrix Experience – All Along The Watchtower
11. Derek & The Dominos – Layla
12. Lynyrd Skynyrd – Sweet Home Alabama
13. Pink Floyd – Comfortably Numb
14. Guns N’ Roses – Sweet Child O’ Mine
15. The Doors – Riders On The Storm
16. Cream – White Room
17. Pink Floyd – Money
18. AC/DC – You Shook Me All Night Long
19. The Doors – Break On Through (To The Other Side)
20. Dire Straits – Sultans Of Swing
21. Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
22. Led Zeppelin – Ramble On
23. AC/DC – Hells Bells
24. The Who – Won’t Get Fooled Again
25. Rainbow – Since You’ve Been Gone
26. AC/DC – Back In Black
27. ZZ Top – Gimme All Your Lovin’
28. Hawkwind – Silver Machine
29. Bad Company – Can’t Get Enough
30. Free – Wishing Well
31. Cream – Badge
32. Bad Company – Feel Like Makin’ Love
33. Deep Purple – Strange Kind Of Woman
34. Meatloaf – Bat Out Of Hell
35. Boston – More Than A Feeling
36. Deep Purple – Woman From Tokyo
37. Thin Lizzy – Waiting For An Alibi
38. AC/DC – Rock And Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution
39. ZZ Top – Sharp Dressed Man
40. The Rolling Stones – Sympathy For The Devil
41. Whitesnake – Here I Go Again
42. Focus – Hocus Pocus
43. Cream – Sunshine Of Your Love
44. Pink Floyd – High Hopes
45. Golden Earring – Radar Love
46. Cream – I Feel Free
47. Blue Oyster Cult – (Don’t Fear) The Reaper
48. AC/DC – Thunderstruck
49. Queen – We Will Rock You
50. Bachman Turner Overdrive – You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet
51. Guns N’ Roses – Paradise City
52. The Who – Pinball Wizard
53. Bon Jovi – Livin’ On A Prayer
54. Alice Cooper – School’s Out
55. Argent – Hold Your Head Up
56. Queen – Killer Queen
57. The Who – You Better, You Bet
58. David Bowie – Starman
59. The Rolling Stones – Brown Sugar
60. The Who – Substitute
61. Van Halen – Jump
62. T. Rex – Get It On
63. Guns N’ Roses – Welcome To The Jungle
64. The Who – Who Are You?
65. ZZ Top – Legs
66. Rainbow – I Surrender
67. David Bowie – Rebel Rebel
68. Joe Walsh – Rocky Mountain Way
69. The Beatles – Get Back
70. The Rolling Stones – It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (But I Like It)
71. Bryan Adams – Summer Of ’69
72. Yes – Owner Of A Lonely Heart
73. Status Quo – Down Down
74. Uriah Heep – Easy Livin’
75. David Bowie – Jean Genie
76. Aerosmith – Love In An Elevator
77. The Rolling Stones – Let’s Spend The Night Together
78. Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run
79. Queen – One Vision
80. Def Leppard – Let’s Get Rocked
81. David Bowie – Heroes
82. Queen – Now I’m Here
83. Alice Cooper – Poison
84. Ram Jam – Black Betty
85. Genesis – Mama
86. Eagles – Life In The Fast Lane
87. Status Quo – Rockin’ All Over The World
88. The Yardbirds – Heart Full Of Soul
89. Buffalo Springfield – For What It’s Worth
90. Bon Jovi – Keep The Faith
91. R.E.M. – The One I Love
92. Bruce Springsteen – Born In The USA
93. Queen & David Bowie – Under Pressure
94. Rush – The Spirit Of Radio
95. Europe – The Final Countdown
96. Pink Floyd – Another Brick In The Wall
97. Led Zeppelin – Communication Breakdown
98. U2 – Pride (In The Name Of Love)
99. Aerosmith – Walk This Way
100. Queen – Don’t Stop Me Now