Excellent - good to have all that behind you. 

I'm quite Happy now, as I've managed to do something in a couple of hours that I thought it would take days to do.  Trying to structure a hideously complicated piece of cross-team training that could rather do with 4 dimensional spreadsheets to work out. Or possibly 5.  Now to send it round the team and let them hack it to sheds. 

Hope you've a garden large enough to fit them all in


I'm happy because my SAD seems to be taking a vacation. Silly boy, don't tempt fate!

Good news about the teenager. Is he still contemplating enlisting?

For some reason that makes me think of Debbie Harry ...

Edit: Oh, no, that's 'rip'. I knew I was going wrong somewhere.

Thank you.  I don't think he is.  He hasn't mentioned it for a long while.  I think it was a last resort for him, being homeless and without any sort of focus. He would never have got in anyway, because he'd have failed the medical.  He's not as fit yet as I'd like him to be but we're getting there.  He was totally run-down, malnourished and his immune system was kaput.

The job he has fallen into suits him down to the ground.  He is not academic at all and failed all his GCSEs, but he's very practical.  He is now a self-employed sub-contractor and works with one person.  They're never without work.  He's getting all sorts of work experience - decorating, building, property maintenance, gardening and he loves it!  Something different every week.  The way things are going, I think he might continue in this vein.  He may after a while strike out on his own.  There's plenty of work around here for people like that because we have a huge elderly population.  It's a very popular retirement area and there's a big demand for odd-jobbers and maintenance men.  I think we may have cracked it with him now.  His health is sorted, his teeth are sorted and I'm building him up.  All he needed was a bit of care, nurturing and a lift up and he's done the rest all by himself.  I'm very proud of him.

I don't take rent from him, but I make him give me £50 per week to put away as savings.  It's mounting up already!  That way, when he's ready to leave he'll have rent in advance and a bond etc.  

I suspect there's hardly anyone of whom that could not be said (then again I wouldn't know...) but actually having the prerequisites to do what one can is a darn sight rarer than it should be, so giving them to someone is an absolutely enormous gift. He sounds like a very fortunate person, Milly.

(Er, be careful where you put those fifty poundses though, won't you? )

I am enjoying staying in, in the warm, and reading books