It's frelling annoying, that's why.

Today I was planning on leaving at 4.30 so I could get into town and get all the bits I needed - a card for David, some jewellery from Argos, and some wrapping paper.  As it turned out, I didn't get to leave until about 4.50, because the social workers next door kept summoning me into their office to help them with various computer problems - mostly related to online application forms being annoying when they were printing them.

There was, however, a nice moment when one of the newer Chairs, who's based at Silvermere, called Joan, had turned up to cover a conference for us and needed the Care Plan typing up.  She pretty much dictated it over my shoulder and then I tidied it up and printed it off.  She likes the way I lay things out so much she's going to take a photocopy of it to show the admin at Silvermere - go, go, typist revolution!  :D  She seems very nice, though, very fast-talking and incredibly cheerful, so when Liz H goes we're all really hoping we get Joan.  Probably won't, though.  I wonder if we can request our next PO?

Of course, the way things are going we'll all have left by then.  Cynthia's been doing her application form all morning and Amanda and Sandra are both considering looking elsewhere as well... I'm in two minds about doing the same, especially as there's a pro rata Scale 3, term-time only job going at Martineau Centre that's basically like what the CPAs do here, except for education.  Secretarial/Admin Assistant, basically typing, minuting, diary management, etc, etc... the closing date is Thursday, though, so I'd better make my mind up.  It's, like, half an hour from my house.  I could walk there, fer Chrissakes.

Also, it might mean I didn't have to put up with sentences like ( this. )

So, yes, anyway, didn't leave work til later than I was anticipating, so didn't get to town until 5.15.  I thought, well, Argos is nearest, I'll go there first and work backwards.

And then I remembered why I bloody hate Argos.

The queues weren't too long and the assistants weren't as gormless as usual, but she directed me straight to the jewellery counter (I was buying a set of five body balls, because I keep losing them off all my belly bars and it's annoying), whereupon the trouble started.  There was one woman serving at the jewellery counter, who seemed to be the slowest person in the entire world... and to make matters worse, she happened to be serving the most indecisive, oblivious, annoying customers ever.  Seriously, how long does it take just to buy a bloody watch?  Are you so self-absorbed, annoying couple, that you can't see the queue forming behind you, let alone the teenager you've dragged along with you getting bored out of her blonde little brain?

While I was waiting for someone to serve me (the One Server didn't even look in my direction once), the store tannoy thing announced that it was closing, and the manager started standing near the door threateningly trying to coax people out.  Eventually, after they'd shut the main tills, one of the other servers came over to help out, while Annoying Watch Couple bought their damn watch and then started to ask more bloody questions.  Ye gods.  By the time they'd left, new girl had gone into the back to get the merchandise for me and the other customers waiting, and the original server then decided to ask if we were all okay.

Bloody hell.

Luckily, WHSmith and Clintons were both still open so I managed to get the rest of what I was looking for (£3.70 for a card!  Apparently, it's expensive to have taste these days...), and then headed back to get the bus.  Which, by the way, if it had pulled up to the bloody bus stop it was supposed to, I could've run for rather than only realising it was my bus (from behind) after it had started to pull away.  The bastard drivers have done that on more than one occasion, too.  Once, it stopped to let people off a full two stops before the one it should've done, then proceeded to drive past the large queue of people waiting to get on... except we all chased after it so the driver had to stop.  I swear, it's only on the buses I get...

Anyway, got home, ate food, wrapped present, set video for Bones (we have a lot of those to watch...), wrote this, and will now briefly check my f-list and do some embroidery.  Hopefully after this week I should have enough flex to take a day off.