I suppose it could have been much worse ...

Whiffler's barking hauled me from my bed shortly before seven this morning. I wandered down and let him out for a pee before making coffee. Normally I would wander in to the Office and read the headlines on the BBC News Website but that would not happen this morning …

… the reason for this disruption to my routine was an electrical issue in the Study. 30% had 'phoned yesterday to say that a light bulb had blown, the power had tripped off and, having reset the trip switch, she now had no power in the study. Ever the pessimist* I tried a straightforward reset of the individual fuses and master trip switch as my first action with a clear expectation of failure. After a couple of attempts I heard the Mac boot up in the office. It appears that the fuses hadn't reset properly and I relaxed knowing that I was not going to have to spend my morning determining the cause of an electrical fault.

This was a good thing as I needed to spend a good few hours in front of the laptop today reviewing RFP documentation. I breakfasted and decided that, after the trials of the past week, there was no way that I as going to sit straight down and start work on a Saturday morning.

I grabbed the leads and headed out around the Three Miler with T&M.

Back home an hour later I finally settled at my desk and spent a couple of hours reviewing documentation. Lunch followed and the 30% and I took Whiffler out for his first walk. Our destination was the local Green on the edge of the village. We walked him down there on the lead alongside T&M. Once we had wandered through the Kissing Gate we were able to let him off the lead safe in the knowledge that he would return whenever T&M were called back. After twenty minutes it was apparent that this excursion had tired him and we headed back home.

A further couple of hours work followed and there was then time for a short spell on the sofa before I needed to shave in preparation for an evening out … tonight was another Lobster Evening at the The Oak at Upton Snodsbury and we had invited 30%'s Mum and Dad along as a belated thank you for dog sitting and electrical work earlier in the year. The food was beautiful, we had a great table and we all enjoyed an lovely meal. It certainly wasn't a late night as I have more work tomorrow and need to reserve what little energy and enthusiasm I have for this clusterfuck of a deal.

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* I much prefer the term Realist. After fifty plus years on the planet I have developed a reasonable sense of foresight. Predicting failure isn't pessimism it is just the realisation that you are dealing with a bunch of Fuckwits, a very bad plan or a poorly made piece of equipment.