Everything's booked now - train tickets, ferry tickets, interrail tickets, hostel in Calaisfor when we first arrive in France. I've bought everything I could possibly need - clothes, toiletries, First Aid stuff, walking boots - I've even thought to buy a backpack. Yes, that was the fatal flaw in my grand back-packing plan - no backpack. I've earned all the money I aimed to earn to take away with me so I can enjoy myself and do lots of things without worrying about money. I've even had my hair cut in preparation, although the less said about that the better (how SHORT is my fringe?! Aaah!!!).

Yep, just 5 days to go. And I can't wait.

Oh, and another thing - remember this post? While I am not quite down to what I was when I was 17 (and nor do I think I ever really will be again, but I am now resigned to that fact) I have, over the past 2 months, lost a whole stone in weight! And while I have no intention of disclosing my start or finish weights (some ladies never tell their age, I never tell my weight) I can confirm that I now look and feel loads better, and thanks to pulling zillions of pints of bitter, carrying billions of heavy glass trays, and walking up and down the stairs in the castle trillions of times, I now have muscles in places I didn't even know I had. Fabulous!

And finally* -


(borrowed from Bill)

- just because!

*note I am looking at Jake and his chest, not the woman lying at his feet, although if I had my way, that woman would be me.

I'm having a bit of a crap time in work (pub) at the moment. My hours are being messed around, and the manager was all moody with me when I said I was leaving, a mere 2 weeks earlier than I was going to anyway. The busiest nights of the week (Saturday and Sunday) were ridiculously understaffed last week and those of us who were there were made to feel inadequate in our jobs by the manager when it got so (understandably) busy. I have had one night off the whole two months I have been working there, and even then only for a friend's birthday (that's what I told the manager, anyway, otherwise he wouldn't have given it me off) and have since received sarcastic comments about skiving, even though everyone else practically dictates their hours to him, and despite being told 'no more nights off now Laura - I'm not having any more of that', I have been scheduled down for not working two of my usual five nights this week. That would have meant loosing out on two nights of pay when every penny counts at the moment. I've managed to wangle my way back on to the rota for one of those two nights, but I couldn't for the other one, hence why I am now blogging, when usually I am on my way to work right about now. And the tills keep mysteriously being down at the end of the night - on Saturday both tills (there are two) were down by £20 each. The manager's answer to this mysterious and recent development is to take the £40 out of the wages of whoever was working that night - i.e. me included. Now, I'm not being funny, but a £5 missing here and there, while being unfortunate, can easily be done on a busy Saturday night with 4 people working - wrong change of a few pence here and there can add up. But £20 exactly in each till?!? Not that I'm implying anything, but perhaps something funny is going on ... ?

All I can really say at this point, is I am glad I only have two weekends left before I leave. I've really enjoyed working there - the staff are great fun and I've made some great friends amongst them, and some of the regulars are amazing individuals - but 5 nights a week for 2 months and with the world's most unpredictable manager is finally getting a bit stale.

I'm still enjoying it in the castle though! So thats good!

But, I think, in order to cheer me up, I shall post this fabulous picture that I came across earlier -

Its from Mr Phoenix's new film, 'Walk the Line', with Reese Witherspoon, in which he plays Johnny Cash. Joaquin playing a guitar - mmmm!!!

I am breaking this extended period of bloglessness with an important message:

I really, really don't like Jessica Simpson's new song/video.

Not only has it completely destroyed what was an old classic song, in a way that only Jessica can do, but, as usual, the video, rather than being a vehicle for the song, is just a vehicle for Jessica and her ever-decreasing body. Which is possibly the main reason why I hate the video - she looks too damn skinny! Ill, even! Look at that ribcage! Eww!



I could now bore you with the details of how, well, boring things have been for the past 2 weeks - but don't worry. I won't. Just rest-assured that I have been working away solidly in both jobs and earning lots of pennies for my holiday! As yes, you did read right, I will have enough money to go away after all and have booked the tickets last week. 3 weeks round Italy and Croatia! Yay! A holiday funded entirely by me - 15-16 hour days, 5-6 days a week, the selling of lots of unused posessions on ebay and, lets not forget, helped in no way whatsoever by all of your kind Paypal donations - in that none were made. All I can surmise from that is that the begging wasn't blatant enough. Either that, or you all had enough faith in my ability to work hard and felt that to simply give me money would be to undermine that ability. I know, it was the second one, right? ;)