Talisman

It's a brilliant book that tackles many subjects - you'll love it !

I have just finished my 44th book of the year. There are five of these that I would give five stars to, all of them quite different: Gavin Extence; The Universe versus Alex Woods The Beach: Alex Garland I Remember You: Yrsa Sigurdardottir The Buddha of Suburbia: Hanif Kureshi Do They Hear You When They Cry: Layli Miller Bashir/Fauziya Kassinga

I don't think there are any independent book sellers where I live - unless you count the children's book shop in Reigate, but I don't have kids so that's no use to me. The meeting with my sisters care team went well yesterday. Coran and I have agreed to tentatively re-start contact with her. To begin with it will be supervised by the care team, for an hour every three months. There will be though very strict ground rules - that if she decides not to be there, she will have to wait another three months to see us, that we of course must be there though regardless, and that if she decides to leave and then come back into the room, she will not get extra time. This will over time help to build consistency and teach her responsibility - something that has been all too lacking in her life. It has been a difficult few years with all that she has put us through, but she is still my sister, and I owe it to her to at least try. I am sure though that it will not be easy - for either of us. Later on today I have an appointment at the eye clinic at Dorking hospital to get some tests done on my right eye. It has been watering on and of since about November last year. Even though it stopped as soon as I made the appointment (typical) I still need to go, to make sure all is okay, as you can't be too careful with eyes. I can't say I am looking forward to it though. Still, 2 weeks from now I shall be sitting on board MS Oldenburg at Bideford Quay waiting to sail off to Lundy for a fortnight. I hope the weather gets a bit better !

I won't be taking part in the next one unfortunately, as that's my weekend to work.

sunshine

Indeed pontalba - a very good and funny dark comedy. Thankfully though it has now all been resolved and we have kissed and made up (hugged rather than kissed, but the main thing is that all is now ok). As it turns out, I was right all along, and there were a lot of things that I should have given when I started here five months ago - like details of the mobile phone policy for example, and the grievance procedure. I now have all of that. They said that I had a perfect right to send that letter and raise this as a concern, and actually they are glad that I did, for now they know what not to do when the next new starter comes along. All then is now well and I now have a three day weekend to look forward to. It will be a busy one as tomorrow morning we have a meeting with my sisters new care team - they want us to consider re-starting contact with her. I am really keen on this idea, but we can at least meet and talk to them and see what they have to say. They have made it clear that no one is going to force us to do anything that we are not happy with. Then on Saturday I have an appointment in the outpatients clinic at the local hospital to have some tests done on my eye, which has been watering intermittently for about 6 months now. I can't say I am really looking forward to that, but it has to be done to make sure all is okay. On Sunday then I intend to have a long lie in and so as little as possible, except of course some

And of course what it costs to produce and write. A guide to self publishing that I have states that the cover price of a book should be at least twice what it costs to actually produce - probably more than that. Writers and publishers like everyone else after all have to live and pay the bills. Bear in mind as I say this that book stores and online retailers always ask for a minimum 40 percent discount off the cover price before they will even consider stocking a book. Some demand as high as 60 percent.

I know exactly what you mean Athena - I often experience the same thing, in fact I am probably experiencing it right now. Things for me have been a little better at work. Within 2 hours of me handing in that letter on Monday I was presented with a huge folder full of various policies and procedures for me to read. The boss kept coming upstairs trying to hassle me and make me get through them quickly, but I wasn't having it - I took my time. Although was some interesting stuff in there (including 20 pages of cleaning guidelines that even the Head Housekeeper didn't know about), most of it wasn't that relevant to me. I asked them to make me copies of the ones though that were relevant and then went and finished cleaning my unit. After lunch I then went and started the E-learning - including a welcome to the company module (I should have done this in the first week, not after 5 months). I also spent a bit of time looking at the other more relevant policies that were on there - the one on mobile phones, disciplinary procedures and so on. None of these were in the folder they had given me, but these are the ones that I really do need copies of. That same day our new uniforms arrived - none though for me - they had forgotten to ask for my measurements, or what items I wanted - typical ! Then when I finished for the day, I found the folder full of policies left by the visitors signing in book - with a copy of the complaint that I made and a list of all the stuff I had asked them to print. It had obviously then been ignored. I was not happy, as this was a clear breach of the data protection guidelines that I had just been reading about which state that sensitive information (and a staff complaint is in my book sensitive) has to be locked away. As usual then, they are adhering to the rules only when it suits them ... The receptionist had indicated earlier that she would be willing to print some stuff out for me if I gave her a list, so yesterday morning that's what I did - I am still waiting ... When it came to the e-learning in the afternoon, I had been on there for half an hour when they told me to log off, as they needed the room for a training course. I had spent the morning running round like a tit in a trance trying to get my work done, when I needn't have, had they informed me of this. Today there was still no copies, but I did manage 1 1/2 hours of learning. I was called downstairs for a meeting with my own Line Manager and the Home Manager at 3pm, no doubt about all of this stuff, but the HM was on the phone talking to someone higher up. By the time she finished it was my home time, so whatever they wanted to see me about will have to wait. At least I got paid for sitting on my bum for half an hour waiting for her - that doesn't happen very often. I am though coming to the conclusion that all of this would make one hell of a good comedy sketch ...

Of course it's really all a storm in a B cup !

Thanks Athena - although I was to begin with, actually I now think it's quite funny - and so does everyone else, as it is getting round the home. It prompted an interesting discussion on what knickers everyone was wearing this afternoon. Knickers to them I say.

You haven't heard the half of it Athena. The day after all this happened, I spoke to the Regional Manager who agreed with what they said, and went on to say more or less that the company can dictate what underwear we wear. What she actually said was our underwear "must be appropriate". This though is where it gets really silly, as the dress code states that "underwear must not be visible". How then do they know you are wearing any if they can't see it ! I asked her the question as to whether they would ask a man with moobs (man boobs) to wear a bra, and she just laughed and said I was being stupid. But, the question is not as daft as it sounds, as I went on to explain. My partner you see is transgendered and currently going through the process of male to female. He then is growing breasts, which are if anything bigger than mine. Would they then ask him (bearing in mind that he is still legally a man) to wear one - the answer was "probably" yes. When I thought about this after the event, I think there is only one way that they could have known about this, bearing in mind that I have been doing this on hot days ever since I started with this company five months ago, and that no one has mentioned it up until this time. That particular day I had left a bin bag full of rubbish outside the staff room door, intending to take it out to the bins on my way out to the car. When I went into the staff room I changed into a sleeveless vest (my uniform is a very large - it's a size too big for me, polo shirt). I can only surmise that the 2 people who were chatting outside the staff room (both Managers themselves, one of whom I have seen breaking the dress code herself on several occasions) both when I went in and came out, must have seen down my cleavage when I bent over to pick up that bag. I hope they had a good look, as they were probably both jealous because mine are better than theirs ! I have to though draw a line under this, stupid and unpleasant as it has been, and move on, and it seems that I have to abide by their decision. But a large part of why this happened is because they did not make me aware of these rules (and many others - they have policies for everything) to begin with. All of these rules are on the company Intranet site. I have been asking for access to this since more or less the day I started, but it still has not been granted. It is though my Manager's duty to make sure that I know what these rules are, this is part of their duty of care. By not doing this, they then have failed in their duty of care. Tomorrow morning then, the two Managers who spoke to me re this, will both receive a letter from myself detailing all of this and stating that unless access is granted by my finish time on Thursday (I have Fridays off), together with the opportunity to read, digest and print out copies of all of these rules, I will launch a grievance process against them. Furthermore, until these conditions are met, I do not consider myself to be subject to any rules of which I have not been made aware. That will put the wind up them ! After that, I intend to join the union ...

You can adjust the contrast up or down to suit the light conditions, just like a computer screen. I don't have one (a Paperwhite that is), but have played about with them in various shops.

Yesterday morning when I got to work, my boss came and spoke to me about the fact that, according to an anonymous source, I had been seen committing the heinous crime of entering the staff room to get changed at 3.29pm instead of my finish time of 3.30pm. It was the second time that this has been mentioned, and both times I denied the charge strenuously, more so this time because of the way in which it was handled. What they said was basically that because we do not finish work until 3.30 we should not leave our units (the home where I work is split into several self contained units, all within the same building) until that time. That is the time when we should also hand in our keys, which have to be signed in and out. So what they are saying is that I cannot go the staff room before 3.30 but I can be expected to hand in my keys at this time, even though this is part of my work, and I finish work at that time. I personally feel that we should do all this before 3.30 so that we can go to the staff room at that time and get out on time, as otherwise we are effectively doing overtime. Anyway, I was not happy with this accusation and so went and spoke to the Home Manager, which resulted in a lengthy 20 minute discussion. The problem is that all the clocks in the house say different things. I know that the one in reception is wrong for a start, as it is different from the BBC News in my car radio, and the BBC aren't wrong ! But I have though been told that this is the clock I have to go by. Because I work upstairs, and the clocks there are different to the one in reception, I would effectively have to go downstairs to check the time before going back upstairs to get my keys, and then go back upstairs again to get changed. Quite apart from the absurdity of this situation, by the time I have done all of this, they would be owing me overtime ! Anyway, after 20 minutes of going backwards and forwards, illustrating all the time just how stupid they were being over less than one lousy minute that didn't exist anyway, the Manager passed the buck back on to us housekeepers (basically because she couldn't be bothered to do her own job by dealing with it) and told us that we had to all four of us get together and agree our own procedures for leaving the building. I have never heard such a load of tosh in my life ! As if that wasn't bad enough, they also had a go at me for not wearing a bra on Wednesday, when the temperature in the home reached almost 90 degrees. Don't ask me how they knew, as I am not well endowed (34B, so smaller than average), and my uniform which is a size too big, resembles a tent more than a Madonna style bodice ! My response was to ask when they were going to start checking the colour of our knickers ! I am not sure what they thought of that one, although it did amuse me to see everything being written down ... Personally as long as you can't see anything (which you can't), I don't see that what I wear (or not) under my uniform is any of their business. They presented me with a copy of the dress code which only mentions mini skirts and strappy tops, but also says that your underwear should not be visible. But if they can't see it, then how do they know if you are wearing any ? It's another circular argument. I reluctantly though went and put one on. They seem though to be introducing so many new and petty rules that I wonder whether I really want to work here. I have suggested that the clocks be set by Tim the speaking clock, but they have refused to do that, stating that I am the one with the problem, but they don't seem to realise is that they created the problem in the first place by telling me off something that I didn't even do !

Like Kushy, I am also a vegetarian cook - and a wheat free one too. It is surprising what you can come up even with these apparent limitations - you can get wheat and gluten free (most people still don't understand the difference) versions of most things, like pasta and so on.

I have that one on my wish list too - I will probably download a copy, even though I have already done Malaysia.

I have looked at a couple of his books, but wasn't sure which one to get. The one I really want - A Tale of Love and Darkness is sadly not available on Kindle - although I do keep asking ! I do though usually enjoy books from this part of the world.

No lazy Saturday for us either - it's Corans birthday (60th) on Monday and our 16th anniversary, so as it's a work day and I needed to go into Guildford anyway to collect a T shirt and visit Lush (of course), we went for a meal in our favourite vegetarian restaurant. We had a very nice red lentil and mango bake with carrots, beetroot and pineapple coleslaw, followed by lemon roulade for me and a mixed fruit crumble with cream (all wheat free) for Coran for just over £10 a head, which is excellent value considering all the food is freshly made. Of course we also went to Waterstones and added a few more books to our wish lists.

Since starting my new job (not so new now, as I have been here for five months) my weight has slowly crept back up to nearly 10 stone, which is a lot for someone of my height (5 feet and half an inch), so knowing that my holiday is fast approaching, 2 weeks ago I went back to the "Fit for Life" regime which seems to suit me so well. The idea is basically that the body has three cycles - elimination, appropriation and assimilation, the elimination cycle lasting from around 4am to midday. In order not to interfere with that cycle and enable the body to get rid of all waste from the day before, you need to eat nothing but fruit during this time, fruit containing all the essential nutrients that we need in a form that can be quickly converted to glucose which is the fuel that the body needs. I have lost 2 1/2 lbs already during this time. This is not really a diet though, but a way of eating that needs for me at least to be adopted permanently. The only problem is that my employer does not like us eating other than when on our breaks, so I have had to devise some very sneaky ways of hiding the fruit in an empty glove box on my cleaning trolley !

As from today my book Genesis of Man is unofficially out of print. It is now 8 years since it was first published and sales have dwindled to the extent that it no longer viable to pay the bi-annual print fee. As from tomorrow then it will no longer be available via book stores and Amazon - anyone who wants a paper copy will have to either order it direct from me, or from the publisher. It is better this way, as I can control the price and earn more money - those annoying discounters will no longer be able to offer imaginary "used" copies for ridiculous prices which earn me virtually nothing, despite the fact that I did all the hard work of writing and trying to promote it. The Kindle version will of course still be available, which is also better for me, since I earn more (70 percent of the selling price as opposed to about 10 percent for the paper version), and I can make as many changes to the text as I want without incurring extra fees. It is for me then the end of an era. When I think back to how I felt the first time I held a printed copy (I cried for about 10 minutes), it is strange that I feel very little at all.

All in my Mind - Pete Belasco

You Take my Breath Away - Minnie Ripperton

My tastes have also changed a lot over the years. As a child and young adult I used to read mostly mass market paperbacks and historical fiction, but as I got older and into my late 20's and 30's I read more non fiction - predominantly revisionist history and religion and so on - I did though spend 5 years writing a book on those subjects and so had to read a lot of that stuff in order to do my own writing and back up my own theories. After I finished writing though I turned back to reading more fiction. Since I got my Kindle 2 years ago now, my reading has literally exploded, to the point where it takes me now an average of just 3 days to read a book (it used to take sometimes 2 weeks). I find I am reading more and more international fiction, which I love as it teaches me so much about the world around me and how different people see and experience things.

Red lentil and cauliflower curry with brown rice and whatever salad vegetables are left in the fridge.

Finished yet another country last night - this time the island of Grenada in the Caribbean. Pynter Bender by Jacob Ross (the author was I believe born in Grenada). It was a bit of a strange book, kind of like a coming of age novel, but with the backdrop of Grenadian independence, which was quite difficult to read. This was partly because of the language (much of it is written in what I can only describe as pidgin), but mostly because of all the different characters, which got a bit confusing. I am now reading a South American travelogue set in Patagonia (Chile and Argentina, 2 countries which I have already covered).

I have - lots of them Never have I ever owned a dog