Thursday

The week's hefty proofing done, I'm free to actually look up at my screen again for a while. It's not a particularly pleasant move, however, as the bosses are back and checking their emails and seemingly forwarding all their nastiest ones on to me. No matter - it's manageable and, I suppose, what they bloody pay me for.

We're at the beginning of another hot spell and as the day heats up to 22 degrees my plan to walk home via Ally Pally is abandoned in favour of Alex's invitation to the Tollgate for a quick half on the way back. It's at times like this you have to love Wetherspoon's - not only do they have Weston's Organic on tap for £2.10 (a full £1.50 cheaper than at the admittedly lovelier Green Man in town), but there is always some live drama to witness. Today it's an ambulance arriving to remove an old man who presumably reasoned that it'd be cheaper than a taxi. There is also a younger but similarly afflicted-looking man lying in the doorway. The paramedics choose to ignore him and he soon gets up again.

Back at home K and I get some home-made potato wedges on the go and settle down to watch Up in the Air with wine and ice-cream. It's a nice film with a good performance from George Clooney; and while at times it drifts into mundane chick flick territory it is full of ideas and kind of makes me want to be an American Airlines frequent flyer. It is also the first film I've seen to engage with the recent global economic crisis and in particular the huge numbers of people in America losing their jobs. It's clear where the Oscar nominations came from - America loves patting itself on the back for dealing with its own hardships, just like everyone else does - but it falls on the right side of sentimentality.