Finally managed to pick up my personal copy of HP5 on Monday morning and finished reading it at 02:00 Tuesday morning!

OK, I'd borrowed my wife's nephew's copy and read about a third of the book, would have read more, but he wanted to read it himself - some people!!

I had to "pull up" in the Borehamwood Half Marathon. Partly because of the heat and partly because my training had tailed off over the past couple of weeks. I'd realised that things were going well when my T-shirt was soaked in sweat after only 2 miles. I survived another 2 miles and then stopped running. Have a look at my running pictures to see that it wasn't meant to be.

Still, this meant that I could enjoy the BBQ afterwards a bit sooner.

Visited Reading on Wednesday, Milton Keynes on Thursday and Welwyn Garden City on Friday. With a few things in the pipeline for next week, things are starting to pick up on the job / interview front.

The final payments from Hemel have arrived and the bank accounts look very healthy, so I�ve identified some few more things around the home that I can get started on. Still want Air Conditioning for the main Bedroom, but this might need to wait until the job front sorts itself out.

Spend the rest of the week trying to get two 15 year old nephews - in Swindon and in Hitchin - to setup their own fotopic.net website. The Hitchin one has created his and even loaded a couple of pictures - see the links section on the right ==>. The Swindon one is still finding excuses!.

Oh, managed to change to font on this website... do you like it?

Enough from me, keep looking.

Oh No!

I ordered my copy of the latest Harry Potter in January from amazon.co.uk and, as usual, selected Hemel as the delivery address... doh!

Only realised this when I got an email telling me that it had been dispatched. Now, the earliest that I can pick up the book will be Monday as the post-room doesn't open over the weekend!

What makes it worse is that I could have changed the delivery address at anytime up until Wednesday... when did I find out, Thursday. Oh well. It means that I can concentrate on the Borehamwood Half Marathon tomorrow (Sunday, the 22nd) and spent all next week reading it.

Attended the Data Warehouse Exhibition at Olympia. This was much smaller than is previous years and so I didn't stay too long.

This was a busiest week, with the fridge being cleaned out & given a good wash, the latch to the attic being sorted, both cars washed, the ivy growing near the shed was glued back and I moved the bedside lights on the new bedroom furniture.

So, you see, there' s still plenty to do.

Finally, have you tried Chicken with 30 cloves of Garlic? We had this dish at a Stinking Rose Restaurant in San Francisco - they motto, "We season a garlic with food!" - it sounds overpowering, but it's just fantastic.

So, turning from the shops with chicken and garlic, I decided to give it a swirl. Stick the cloves of peeled garlic in a pot, top up with pieces of chicken, oil & season (rosemary, thyme, etc) and put in a warm-to-hot oven for 45 minutes. Turn everything over and give it another 45 minutes. Deglaze a pot with some water and pour this over the meat. Serve with veg.

Sheila said she got one or two complaints the next day at work!

Not a dish to offer Kevin K.

Enough from me. Got to build myself up for tomorrow�s run. Keep looking.

Sorry, but I've been so busy that I almost forgot to post to this BLOG!

Last week was the last full week of the 90-day garden leave and also quite warm... so spend a couple of hours in the hammock!

My wife went off for a couple of days and left me "in charge". So, again, the hammock was in use while the sun was shining.

That is, apart from locking myself out of the house. I couldn't get hold of my wife and the neighbour who has a key had gone out for the day. As the door wasn't double locked, It took me about 20 minutes of messing about a piece of wood pushed through the letterbox trying to open the door.

Finally, went to see those wonderful people at the Job Centre. They have different coloured chairs to sit and wait depending on what you know to do. All a bit confusing, so I just kept standing until I was sorted. Booked my appointment and picked up an information pack. And the sum of �50 a week is almost mine!

Attended the launch of BO version 6 on Thursday and had an interesting conversation with someone who works for a small company that uses BO to analyse CRM data. My chance to see if there are any opportunities... No. He was also looking for work as are cutting back!

Did manage to speak to a few people and there is life out there!

On Friday, made my last appearance in Hemel. Really wanted to have loads of beer and cause a bit of mayhem. But, as usual, had a couple of glasses of orange & soda water and drove home.

I�ve also setup a Reject Club BLOG and invited the other rejects to subscribe. Go and have a look and let me know what you think.

Well, that enough from me, keep smiling, keep looking and don�t look down!

After so many busy weeks, last week was quite quiet.

Running on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Doesn't look too good for the Half Marathon in Borehamwood in two weeks time. I'm way behind in my running schedule. I'll probably still run, but my time won't be too good.

I don't know how many people know, but McJobs (aka EarthWorks, the people now developing the new branch system) are advertising for people. Ability to say things like "you got it" and "do you want fries with that" in an american accent a requirement. So, I applied. Strangely, they weren't interested.

Met up with Annette on Wednesday and attended Retail Solutions at the NEC. Not much to see, but a couple of Dixons people were about. Why?. I can't see Dixons investing in any new software / systems / people for some time.

Off to Swindon for a couple of days to see my little sister's new home. Boxes everywhere and plenty of dust!. Pictures in the "the Brant Family" collection.

So glad to come home. Finally, got rid of the ivy that's been growing at the front of the house. Cut by fingers to ribbons in the process.

And off to Kew Gardens today, so nice to see a garden that's neat and tidy.

Next week is the last week of garden leave. So Friday to 13th is planned for a together of the founder members of the Reject Club, a chance to say goodbye and probably hello to the next batch of Reject Club members. Well, at least we won't get made redundant by text message... or will they?

Enough from me. Keep smiling and wish me luck as you wave me good-bye!

Roger...