May 1, 2004

A bank holiday weekend begins today so three days off work! Following my note of concern about my job in my last entry, things have not been as bad as anticipated - I have some good projects on the go on the web site. So hopefully that's a sign of things to come.

I'll be spending some time with Graham this weekend. Things are going so well there it's sort of unbelievable! Love 'im... We spent time together last weekend too - including a long walk around Regents Park. It was lovely weather last weekend too - although it's been utterly miserable since.

Caught up with the family last weekend, which was great in the sunshine. Aunty Jan and Uncle Dave were down from Yorkshire so there was plenty of gossip to catch up on. Great to see the nieces as well. Andrew is still looking as thin as a rake but at least they know it's Crohn's disease and can start taking action to help him avoid the worst of it.

Other than that I helped Ginger Stu celebrate his 26th birthday this week and have been going to the gym to try to lose some more flab!

April 19, 2004

Well, since my last entry I've been to Madrid! My mate Toby called me up to see what I was doing over Easter and as the family was away and Graham was back with his folks, I jumped at the chance. It was quite a bargain too for three nights. Perhaps a lot of people had been scared off by the dreadful railway bombings there, but we saw little sign of a tormented city and plenty of tourists were out too.

Madrid is gorgeous - a compact, architecturally attractive place with some great boulevards, fountains and squares. In face, there are squares all over the place of varying types. The best is undoubtedly Plaza Mayor. We enjoyed a bit of sunshine there before traipsing round the royal palace. In fact, we did a lot of walking and an incredible amount of art - Madrid has some fine galleries. Toby is something of a fan although I'm more of a quick browser so by the time we'd done the top three galleries I was feeling the need to do something else!

Madrilenos certainly know how to enjoy themselves - the nightlife is amazing although it doesn't really start kicking off until about 10pm. We ate well and did many of the gay bars around the Chueca district. And with the early starts every day to cram in what we wanted to do, I came back to London thoroughly exhausted. Still, it was a great time and I'm glad I went.

I went in to work afterwards to find a reorganisation had happened, which means my job could be much less challenging than it is currently. I was quite pissed off that a lot of what I do is being taken away and the new stuff I'll be doing will be nowhere near as good. We'll have to see how it pans out.

You can see photos of Madrid (and other pix) at See my Berlin photographs.

March 29, 2004

Spring is beckoning, thank goodness. At last a glimpse of sunshine and some warmth to enjoy. Barcelona isn't too far away either!

I've not been up to that much. Work has been quite punishing and I feel the need to have a few days off just to recharge my batteries - but it's difficult to find the days when the deadlines are building up.

I've been meeting up with a few friends, including the old school gang. And it was good to see Toby and Stu again after some time. But most of my weekends are spent with the lovely Graham. Hurrah!

I've also been making more of an effort to get to the gym again. After all, the winter flab has been building up and I'm heavier now than I have been for ages. I've also been feeling a bit mortal of late - perhaps a delayed reaction to my 40th birthday and the realisation that it's all downhill from now on. Meanwhile, I've had the flat to myself. Michael and Marcello have been in Thailand for a few weeks.

See my Berlin photographs.

March 7, 2004

It's that drab time of the year when the weather is grim, there's no sign of summer and you have little to look forward to but work. Having said that, I've booked a holiday to Barcelona with Graham. We're going for four nights but not until the middle of May - but at least there is something on the horizon!

I've also got my bonus coming later this month - and I badly need it. It's not as good as I'd hoped but it's better than nothing and will help knock down the credit card bills.

The other day I went off to Paris on the Eurostar with work for a night and day as a bonus for us exceeding our targets in 2003. We had a meal and then spent the day wandering around the shops and supping a few drinks in a cocktail bar - which made a pleasant change to spending a day in the office.

I've been spending a lot of free time with the lovely Graham, going out to bars, walking round town and spending evenings in. Very nice too! Also got to see Nev, CJ and the rest of the old school crowd last week, which was fun.

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