Old News - Newletter August 2001

It seems I am becoming as bad as everyone else when it comes to regular email!

I'm working very hard, as we are fast approaching our live rollout date! Very very scary, as it is not nearly finished! Same old story... every IT project seems to be the same. My project is now in beta testing – which means lots of unhappy users are making it crash a lot! I am enjoying working here though, as I get left alone to do my own thing, which is nice. I think I'll stay for another year at least. Mountain Man is quite settled in at his place too, although it is a wrench getting used to permanent after contracting for so long. Every now and then he starts getting very restless!

Mountain Man and I are meant to be going to Paris for the weekend, as it's a long weekend. He hasn't organised his visa yet though, and we fly on Friday morning! So I'm getting very stressed about it... if he doesn't manage I'm going to take my Mom instead - still fun but not quite the same!

I lied when trying to get Friday off, and said Mountain Man had sprung the weekend on me as a surprise (other way round actually). A few weeks ago another girl in the office got proposed to in Paris, so there is a lot of teasing going on about my weekend break, and everyone will be looking at my hands when I get back! I keep telling them I'd drop dead of shock if it happened, but they don't believe me!

Tonight we're off to see U2 in concert - should be good.

Mmmm, what else? We haven't been up to all that much, just work and gym etc. My Mom has been staying with us off and on for the last month or two (long story, tell you another time) so we've had a live-in housekeeper - very nice indeed!

Mountain Man is off to Peru to do the Inca trail in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately it falls right between 2 of my deadlines, so I can't go. Rather upset about that, really. ho hum, he'll have to go again sometime with me! So things are revolving around his trip at the moment, with trekking gear accumulating all over the flat!

Things are quiet otherwise. T is studying for doctor exams, so we haven't seen her in ages. And at the weekend I'm a bit weary after a frantic week, so I rarely make it down to Wimbledon where the rest of the gang stay. I'm also a little low on cash (although I've finally balanced the books after 6 months!) so the odd dinner and movie are the extent of my social life!

I will not be going to SA in the foreseeable future. I have already earmarked all this years’ leave, and I don't see me going to SA next year either. So much to see, so little leave! We have booked a trip to Egypt in Oct/Nov for a week, and that's the last of my leave for this year. Sigh - another Christmas and New Year in London, ugh. Mountain Man will be in CT for 2 weeks arriving on Boxing Day (!) so I'll be on my own for New Years too. mmmph. It'll make a difference not to have the usual drunken row on New Years Eve I suppose!

Cheers for another couple of months!