Thanks to everyone for their support. My back is no better, but I've seen another physio today who diagnosed the problem, so hopefully it can be fixed once the muscle spasm has settled.

Around 18 months ago I submitted a proposal for a conference paper, which was accepted and the conference is mid-December. The subject doesn't interest me passionately (I want to go to the conference for strategic career-related reasons) and I have been vaguely reading things for it but have not yet got down to writing anything. I had intended to start working on it seriously at the beginning of September but work became manic and I haven't had time.

Anyway, I just have an e-mail from the conference organisers asking me to confirm my title by return e-mail and I have discovered that I can't remember what title I originally submitted. And since I can't remember what I called it, I can't find my original proposal on my computer either I have a horrible feeling that it was on a memory stick that stopped working about a year ago. I don't think I can decently ask the conference organisers to remind me of my title (it would rather ruin my reputation for seriousness ) but nor do I want to just say that I am maintaining the original title and wait for the programme because the reading I have been doing might mean that I do want to change it

Have you got the email in which you submitted the original title and abstract? You should be able to get it off the university's back-up system, then you can download the document you sent from the email.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Conference organisers are used to people being temporarily absent-minded and if it's an academic subject, to forgetful academic types. They have much more to worry about - like people not turning up or (worse) not paying. I'd email them and just ask.

This is my first post, by the way! An odd place for a first post!

(At the idea that my university could be organised enough to have a back-up system - it keeps no copy of any sent messages, so I never use it. I could write pages on my university Aaaaaghs, which go from no office and no computer between May and October to the lack of anything to clean blackboards with...).

I am trawling through my sent messages on my home e-mail address in an attempt to find it but I don't seem to have sent it to the main conference organiser (it hasn't turned up when I did a search using his name).

They probably won't notice if you submit a different title.

Probably not - I could just say I'm changing it anyway, but the problem is that I can't really remember what I put in the abstract either. And I think it does have to be vaguely similar to my original proposal.

4 midterm exams + 3 problem sets + = not looking forward to this week at all...

The cat has just finished eating my porridge whilst I was distracted answering the phone.

I didn't have cats down as porridge lovers!...

Reminds me of a time when I made a ham and tuna sandwich and one of the cats, who had watched me from outside add the tuna to the sandwich, came through their flap into the kitchen and tried to take it from the counter and eat it.

I however saw her coming in plenty of time so no harm was done and to show I was a nice guy I added some tuna to both cats evening meals.

It's human food. Therefore the cat will want it. A cat's view of food is "I'll have what you're having".

...especially if it is breakfast. I have to walk around with my bowl of muesli and Greek yogurt in my hand if I want to keep it safe from the cat (after losing the yogurt part a couple of weeks ago).

My cat adored Angel Delight and was very partial to curries. She would use any trick in the book to distract me so she could grab a mouthful. She also demolished a doughnut that I had bought myself as a treat - phone rang, time I came back she was scoffing the doughnut with jam all over her face.

There used to be some advice that if you didn't want cats to go near something to put onions around it as apparently they hate them. So I did, came down next morning to find her munching her way through the onion.

She was a very strange (but much missed) cat.

I misread this as "I have to walk around with my bowl of muesli and Greek yoghurt on my head..."


I can't say I'd much fancy a doughnut that had been swathed in onion.

Anyone like Simon's Cat?

Fried or boiled?

Yes! have been a fan for ages. And I'm using a SC diary this year, and it has worked very well.

Thanks for all your support. Hubs is being a little more sociable. We had a good day Sat. I'm hoping he's realised I'm not going to budge on this one, and is reconsidering everything.

Spanish burocracy sucks. Jobsworth people. Grrr. Sell you insurance policies in English, but when you have a problem there is noone that can help you, and they didn't like my spanish (even though it's not that bad!).

Curveballs keep coming....Daughter has told us she wants to give up singing. I'm in serious shock. We have to go with it. Hoping that she'll get the bug again in a few months. Apparently she's not enjoying it....


What more, eh? Not sure I can cope with much more before I retire to the corner saying WIBBLE alot....

Done that - AND got the T-shirt!

W

Worked?

Have you seen the animated cartoons on YouTube?

I read somewhere that one should avoid feeding cats onions as it is somehow harmful to them (causes some sort of anaemia) - just passing it on, I don't actualy know much about this and am not a vet.

Our Cats will eat things with onions in too. Unfortunately Onions are not very good for their livers so we have to stop them.

Now they are elderly cats they are rather restricted on the ###-bit stakes. However both cats enjoyed a small amount of unadulterated roast lamb last night.

Glad things are a bit better Dawn. My hubby does not always understand why I do what I do either. I put it down to the fact he feels stressed at times too.

I don't think the other-halfs of mean to be obstructive, it is just that the job is often so hard to pin down, and does not fit into regular hours it is difficult for them to make the adjustment. There is always that tension between time with him and music time/working time we just have to continue to work at and with it.

Nice bit of censorship there.

She never got the chance to eat any more onions as I can't stand them but I did get her checked by the vet because of her strange culinary tastes. We lost her when she was 17 and by then her food choices had become much more a la carte.

Dawn - big hugs to you.

Yes to both.

Lots of diaries just don't work for me. Most years I search through the racks, trying to find one with a week to view, and an equal-ish amount of space for each day. So many don't have enough to write in Saturday appointments. This one is ideal, and even manages a 'notes' space at the end of each week. See, I'm almost waxing lyrical! It has worked out so well I think I will get another for the dreaded 2012.

Yes - the cartoons are brilliant.

ps I have a SC cushion and a SC umbrella too (both pressies I hasten to add!).

Why is 2012 dreaded?

My cat also attempts to steal curry every chance she gets- she is an ex-stray and very greedy because she hasn't yet got used to the fact that food is available readily. She will also eat ice cream by dipping first one paw and then another in it and licking it off.

Onions are very good with liver, however.

After using my Edirol at the weekend to record the recital, I needed it again this morning to record my session with Accompanist no. 2

It said the batteries were flat. So I found a new packet of batteries, and put two of them into the machine.

Ran through the first half of the programme. Went to check the Edirol to see how long we'd taken. It had turned off. So I turned it on again - only for it to give the flat battery warning and turn off again

Batteries that last for less than half an hour are not good

Maybe you don't live in London ?

I don't... do you need somewhere to escape?

Just a small aaargh!
Streaming eyes, runny nose, sore throat.
Mosquito bites itching like mad.
General floppy feeling _ no energy.
Garden composter taken over buy Asian hornets.
Wind blown over everything moveable in garden.
Cats asking me to turn wind off and making me feel guilty because I can't.
Feeling that this is half term and I ought to be using it to catch up energetically on all the things I am behind with and I - just want to go to bed and sleep.

Awwwwwwwwwww!!!! My Tiggy used to drink with her paw...oh, so delicately...






Quite.






Ewww. I think you have to go with what your body is telling you, Aquarelle - go to bed and SLEEP - it's clearly what you NEED to do. All the other stuff can wait.

I wouldn't have found it so bad if I'd got tickets. But the powers that be said 'NO, b-c, you will NOT be attending ANY of your choices of events for the Olympics. Bog off.'

Or something like that

I got rejected by the Government ballot thingy as well.

You could go and buy some lovely new music with the money you've saved.

Oh, I have plans for the money, sbhoa...

Have been asked to move from 1st to 2nd violin in one of my orchestras. The big aaaaaaaaaaaaaaggghh is that I have to learn all the 2nd violin parts now having just mastered the 1st violin parts. Did anyone think about this when they made that decision?

I think it may be better to do that than argue with the Music director!

Just think how valuable you will be to the 2nds as you know how your part interacts with the 1sts. The MD wouldn't have moved you if he didn't know you could master the part before the concert.

What I would love to know is why is there a need for me to move at all? We have more 2nds than 1sts.

Perhaps there are some exposed bits that they don't sound confident on? He wouldn't have moved you if he didn't think you could handle it, I'm sure!

Are a large proportion of the usual 2nds unable to do your next gig, VH?

No idea. As the orchestra only formed properly in September we are yet to do our 1st public performance, although we are doing a recording for a music student soon.

Ah : it could be, then, that the conductor is still balancing out the orchestra.

I've frequently had to learn both oboe parts. It might be a pain, but at least you will have the experience of learning all the music. Think of it as good experience. (Oh and as an oboist who doubles cor anglais there is always that joy too!)

Nothing wrong with Take That - Gary Barlow is a good musician and the other lads can sing, but I have never seen the attraction of U2, with The Edge's heavily trivially simple, post-processed guitar riffs, and Bono's annoyingly pained voice.

Aaaaaaagh

Bit of a career disappointment yesterday AND my Mum's in hospital because she's been falling. She's depressed and crying a lot and wanting to go home (dementia and lots of other illness). Dad's depressed because although he's exhausted caring for her he still wants her home, healthy and compos-mentis and that's just not going to happen in a million years!!

It may sound selfish, and I do love my parents, but I'm dreading today's visit to the hospital because it's my 'job' to lift their spirits and short of a magic wand I don't have anything cheerful to offer them in terms of reassurance - life is genuinely horrible for them!

Not an aaarrrgggghhh so much as a damn annoyance.

My car radio has packed up. No FM, no AM, but still plays CDs fine. My car mechanic had a look at it for me (for free!) and declares it dead, i.e. it's not a loose cable or dodgy aerial or anything like that.
Still, at least I can listen to CDs in the car, though I was more accustomed to listening to podcasts on my iPod, via an FM transmitter (which doesn't work, because the radio isn't picking up any FM).

A while ago it was time to renew my car insurance, and one of the websites on getting my car registration number confirmed the make and model, and said that by the book, assuming my car to be in average condition, it is worth a stunning 695 of your English pounds.

So while I was at my mechanic's, and he declared the radio dead, he phoned up his supplier to get the price for a genuine replacement. 400-550, the price variation being because it comes with different coloured faschias to match the rest of the dashboard Both of us had a reaction to this something like A-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha

Mechanic recommended going to Halfords and getting them to sell and fit me something decent, at a much much lower price. Which I suppose I will do. At least I can get something that an iPod can plug directly in to

It seems such a waste of money, given that I only drive on Tuesdays and Thursdays (and Thursdays will soon only be in term time). I'm happy with CDs really. But I suppose when the time comes to sell the car (for tuppance, I know that), it will be even more worthless without a working radio. So I might as well get on with it and get a new one in there and get some use out of it before the car goes on its way (which probably won't be for a while yet - it's a mere 9 years old, and I'll keep it until the time my mechanic says 'rust' or 'welding' to get it through the next MOT).

If my music teacher weren't so far away, I could get away without the car. It'd double my train fare to get to work on Tuesdays but with no petrol, insurance, 'tax' disc, etc it would probably even out. But I can't get to music lessons without a car so I guess I might as well spend the money and use it...

It's just really annoying, that's all.

Are you in the car on your own? Surely it would be cheaper just to use headphones with the ipod?