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By mid-afternoon yesterday I was convinced today would be spent in bed. My right ear was sending shooting pains through my head and being the usual hypochondriac that I was I immadiately diagnosed myself the worst possible illness.

Of course, I should have known it wasn’t actually that serious when it disappeared as my mind was taken off it in the noisy cinema, only to reappear in the car park when we came out. As ever, I broke my resolution never to use the Odeon web site again after last time, the time before that or even the time before that, but as it’s one of the only ones close by that does online booking I find it hard to resist.

Of course, it lived up to its usual low standard and took me right through picking a film, a cinema and seats and confirming my credit card details before sitting motionless with a vacant look on its face staring out at me through the browser. Eventually it gave up and threw out an error message asking me to call the helpline.

I did.

They explained the cockup. Whoever was in charge of such things had programmed only one film name into the booking database. Anyone in the country who wanted to see something else would fail, as it did when I tried for Minority Report.

I booked on the phone in the end and renewed my resolution never EVER to use the Odeon again.

The film itself more than made up for it, though, and we came out of it talking over the long and involved plot. The time had absolutely flown by. This film is without question Spielberg’s crowning moment. AI was just a dress-rehearsal.

I faffed around with the dishes and the sink when we got home, then fell into bed until late this morning when I was woken by the radio and an argument in the street. I made tea and browsed online camera stores from the safety of the duvet for an hour, thinking over my snapper dilemma. You see, I want to upgrade my camera before Iceland, which is not only a week and a half away. Trouble is, the camera I really want, the Nikon 5700, won’t be available in time, which leaves me two options. Either save a little money and get the Minolta Dimage 7i, of spent a little more and get the Olympus E-20P. I am sorely tempted by the Olympus, but at the same time think the Nikon would suit me better.

Of course, I’ll have to rule out the Nikon really. If it’s not going to be in the shops before I go it has to be one of the other two. The E-20P is quite expensive, but the Minolta is ugly.

Hmmm…

Scrambled some eggs while I thought about it, then threw my laptop into a bag and headed for Link.

Link FM is the station that first ever let me on air. I remember the day well. It was July 1992, and I was so nervous I don’t think I’d had a single minute’s sleep the night before. The first thing I played was Wild Boys by Duran Duran and from that moment I knew that I wanted to work in radio. It only broadcasts a month a year, but I stayed with it for six or seven years, helping out between the broadcasts and lending a hand in writing the application for a full-time licence, which we subsequently lost.

We were all quite shocked at the time, but I guess it wasn’t an entirely bad thing for me, as it forced me to go out and find another job, which is how I ended up at PCW.

Although I’ve at least been in to say hello every year since, I was shocked at the changes that have taken place between last year and today.

The studios always used to be portable equipment set out on school desks, tucked away into the back corner of a comandeered classroom. This time around, though, the studio is one of the best I have ever been in. The equipment is sparkly and new, and all built into a permanent studio with carpeted walls and a proper studio desk. It looks great, and with everything computerised there’s barely any need for CD or minidisc players.

Kelly called soon after I’d arrived to see how long I’d be sticking around after I left a message on his voicemail to say we should meet and chat about the web site. I agreed to hang around and sip tea until he arrived, so settled down to listen to the end of Lee’s show while I waited.

It was good to hear all the old jingles again, some of which I remember from ten years ago.

Anyhow, we got the site sorted and I pootled home again for an afternoon of working on the book just as Wayne was starting the chart show. We haven’t seen each other in ages, but he was on The Lab not so long ago when he called in with a question about digital radio. As I left I promised to return tomorrow when Jill would be about as we missed each other today.

The book session went well. The first few chapters are well planned and quite tight. There’s still a long way to go, though.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 6th, 2002 at 11:54 pm and is filed under Journal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.