I woke up early enough to make breakfast again this morning - half an hour after the alarm went off, just like yesterday. Assuming things continue like this until the Christmas break I should be OK. I’ve got loads on at the moment, and a meeting every morning and afternoon from now until the end of the year, apart from Friday, when we’re all out for our Christmas lunch and afternoon in the pub.

I was just bagging them up when my mobile rang, but as I ran to catch it, it went to voicemail. It was LBC, so I called them back and they booked me in for a lunchtime interview about the Goner virus. I didn’t know anything about it at the time. It only broke this morning and it hadn’t really been top of the new bulletins, so the call was the first I’d heard of it. Fortunately the virus companies were falling over themselves to get into print when I got to my email so they’d already sent me everything I needed.

I think it went quite well. They called at just after noon and I for five or ten minutes (I always lose track). I tried to explain everything slowly and clearly, and when I’d finished Laura turned around in her seat and said I ‘could be a teacher with a tone like that’. Success, then.

The afternoon was taken up sorting out my notes the the appraisals. Should have half of them done by the end of the week, which will be a relief. I’ve never been a fan of appraisals, whether the appraisor (?) or the appraisee. So much form filling. I brought some of them home to carry on with while I listened to the archive of last week’s show. I don’t think it went bad (the show, not the forms). I quite enjoyed it and found myself pausing a lot to hear specific bits. You could tell I was having more fun with Gordon there, back from his travels.

This week’s show seems to be shaping up quite nicely. We’re doing a half hour special on where to get the best bargains online for the run-up to Christmas. Next week is our special looking into the future, and the week after, the last show before Christmas, it’s our end-of-term quiz. It look a whole day to write the questions for last week’s quiz, so I guess we’d better start thinking about it soon.

1. Gordon returns
   The breakfast show trail went well. A bit of fun, a few laughs, no difficult questions. I was in the middle of doing the washing...
   
   
2. Lunchtime fun
   Thursday. Always an exciting day, but this week doubly so. It was kind of my first day of holiday but also my last day of...
   
   
3. Desk warming
   I am very chuffed with my new desk. I have a window, sunlight, reception on my phone, which resolutely refused to see the network at...