Saturday

Up early - finished repairing the render at the front of the house. Needs at least week to dry. Next weekend I'll be scraping off any loose paint above the bay window and starting the first bit of painting. I spent part of today up a ladder. I'm not good with heights, I didn't enjoy it.

The quote finally came from the builder - it was a mess. All the wrong thins in the wrong order, jobs mixed up and over priced. Have someone else coming on Monday morning. If I behaved like that - nobody would ever employ me.

Talking work - completed my tax returns already - submitting them tomorrow morning, first possible day. As I expected - my income was down last year, rather more than I thought - about £15k, despite working just as hard as ever - it was a rubbish year. I have already earned 25% of last years income in the last month - however - it was a better than usual month and I doubt that it will carry on like that. Very depressing. I really don't know how I get through life - I have a pile of bills to pay this month already , water, council tax, studio, mobile phone, telephone and broadband - that's over £400, not including my mortgage. Going through the figures reminded me how little money I spend on myself. It was also interesting to compare how things have changed over the years. I spend far less on materials, research and reference now that most things are digital - and for the first time ever - I have put down £0.00 for postal services and couriers.

I have a considerable amount of money owed to me this month already - and loads of work on, but as usual - cash flow rears it's ugly head and I am going to run out of money well before the end of the month again - have not really thought about that one yet.

The Maria Miller thing is a disgrace - her attitude, and the 'back off - it's all over' stance from the PM makes my blood boil.

I just cut the small dogs coat for the warmer weather - took an hour - she hates me now.

Started watching Masterchef - but it's past it's prime and really not worth the effort now. Reminded me why I don't have a TV.

They are putting up LED lighting in all the local streets - I am one of the few roads that has not been changed over yet - hope it comes soon, much better than sodium lighting, and you can see the stars!

I went into the COOP earlier - it was packed to the doors, so I was right about them not having to worry about Tesco. There were even some annoying middle class parents with giant, overpriced buggies - the kind that block the aisle while the parents ignore you and look down their noses. The middle classes have finally discovered Ore.

They have started stripping out the house at the end of the road, the one that is almost falling down - looks like a 'civilian' has bought it rather than a builder - that's quite interesting - another reason for me to get a move on and make the front of the house look better.

My first girlfriend, from when I was about 16 - has found me on facebook. We are now 'friends' but she hasn't spoken to me. To my surprise, she is an occupational therapist - which is exactly what she always wanted to be. She looks really well - considering she is only a year younger than me, she could easily pass for 10. That's a big part of my life I've not thought about in years - and don't really intend to start.