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Nov. 8th, 2006 09:32 pmOn one of the front tables at the office this morning there was a picnic blanket covering up a load of food, with a sign saying 'Buffet for Children In Need, £1 a plate, after 11 am'. On the stroke of 11, while I was interviewing a four adult family, all the girls stampeded towards the food table.
I came off my call 14 minutes later, by which time everyone was sitting with full plates of grub filling their faces. Sarah #1 asked whether I was getting any food; I explained that I didn't have a quid on me. Sarah offered to lend me £1, but I said I'd wait till tomorrow. Sarah #4 said all the food'd be finished by the end of today, Sarah #1 again urged me to borrow a pound from her, then Vanessa came over and said "You can have some food now and pay tomorrow, Carol says it's OK."
I loped over to the picnic table and loaded my plate with cheese straws, mini sausages, Walkers Sensations Gently Infused Lime and Thai Spices crisps (mmmm), a couple of little tomatoes (see - getting a portion of fruit there), fruit and nut mix, Carol's home made flapjack (delicious), a chocolate roll, a chocolate biscuit and a couple of mini chocolate corn crisp cakes. 10 minutes later, my plate clear, it was back to work, checking my internal e-mails.
Back home, when I checked my personal e-mails there was a bombshell there from Hayley. She'd had to postpone her wedding two weeks because the venue had been double-booked. Bless her, she wrote "If you want me to speak to the airline please let me know". I turned away from the PC screen stunned and wandered round the patio in a daze for a few minutes, fearing that my trip had been kyboshed and that I'd done £584 on a now useless air ticket, but I rang Alitalia's call centre and they happily changed my flight dates.
For a £50 fee.
Portsmouth fireworks this evening. We walked into the park and looked around for the VIP bit - we soon spotted the back of Fred, with his Lord Mayor's chain shining bright, and headed for him. Fred and Annette were delighted we'd come, and we all had a good chat in the hospitality hut over coffee, crisps and Jammie Dodgers - "good healthy snacks," as one of the Portsmouth councillors put it. Looking around, it was a spectacular family event, with a roadshow from a local radio station, a fun fair and loads of food stalls. We joined the Portsmouth civic party in following Fred through to the fenced-off area in the middle of the field, and watched as he lit the fuse that, setting off a bit of sparkle en route, ran down to the massive bonfire and set it ablaze.
From there we walked back to the hospitality hut, and stood talking and watching the bonfire burn. At 7.30 many of the lights went out and for 15 minutes there was a spectacular firework show, loads of magical colour, swirling silvery brightness and bangs. Beautiful.
And then that was it - everyone applauded, we talked to Fred and Annette a bit more, my mother did the obligatory bit of touting for her medieval night, then we all said our goodbyes and wended our way home.
I came off my call 14 minutes later, by which time everyone was sitting with full plates of grub filling their faces. Sarah #1 asked whether I was getting any food; I explained that I didn't have a quid on me. Sarah offered to lend me £1, but I said I'd wait till tomorrow. Sarah #4 said all the food'd be finished by the end of today, Sarah #1 again urged me to borrow a pound from her, then Vanessa came over and said "You can have some food now and pay tomorrow, Carol says it's OK."
I loped over to the picnic table and loaded my plate with cheese straws, mini sausages, Walkers Sensations Gently Infused Lime and Thai Spices crisps (mmmm), a couple of little tomatoes (see - getting a portion of fruit there), fruit and nut mix, Carol's home made flapjack (delicious), a chocolate roll, a chocolate biscuit and a couple of mini chocolate corn crisp cakes. 10 minutes later, my plate clear, it was back to work, checking my internal e-mails.
Back home, when I checked my personal e-mails there was a bombshell there from Hayley. She'd had to postpone her wedding two weeks because the venue had been double-booked. Bless her, she wrote "If you want me to speak to the airline please let me know". I turned away from the PC screen stunned and wandered round the patio in a daze for a few minutes, fearing that my trip had been kyboshed and that I'd done £584 on a now useless air ticket, but I rang Alitalia's call centre and they happily changed my flight dates.
For a £50 fee.
Portsmouth fireworks this evening. We walked into the park and looked around for the VIP bit - we soon spotted the back of Fred, with his Lord Mayor's chain shining bright, and headed for him. Fred and Annette were delighted we'd come, and we all had a good chat in the hospitality hut over coffee, crisps and Jammie Dodgers - "good healthy snacks," as one of the Portsmouth councillors put it. Looking around, it was a spectacular family event, with a roadshow from a local radio station, a fun fair and loads of food stalls. We joined the Portsmouth civic party in following Fred through to the fenced-off area in the middle of the field, and watched as he lit the fuse that, setting off a bit of sparkle en route, ran down to the massive bonfire and set it ablaze.
From there we walked back to the hospitality hut, and stood talking and watching the bonfire burn. At 7.30 many of the lights went out and for 15 minutes there was a spectacular firework show, loads of magical colour, swirling silvery brightness and bangs. Beautiful.
And then that was it - everyone applauded, we talked to Fred and Annette a bit more, my mother did the obligatory bit of touting for her medieval night, then we all said our goodbyes and wended our way home.
