Hey there everyone:

Today has been pretty interesting.

For starters I am Blogging from Angel because I only left the Lush Bar up at Highbury Corner about fifteen minutes ago and I decided that since there was no way I would make it to Leytonstone High Road before nine I should blog from here.

I was at the Lush Bar because my trainer Elaine threw a birthday party for herself there and invited everyone from the office, plus some of her other friends. She also kind of invited Chris, but he didn't make it.

Probably the funniest thing that happened was when I was talking to one of the Duty Solicitors and she started telling this English Hindu Solicitor about her friend Farrah who is a Muslim and a Solicitor and because she is 28 years old and unmarried her parents consider her 'On the Shelf', ergo they no longer care if she dates (gasp!) White Men.

I listened especially carefully until the Hindu Solicitor asked 'Is this Farrah X?' and she replied, 'No, it's Farrah Y.'

Still, it felt weird in my gut to have (what I thought was) the girl that I like pimped out by her friend in front of me without her saying, 'Hey! I know that you're both Ango-Celtic and, ahem, a list-caller, but maybe you might like to take her out.'

Heh.

I did find out that the Black Haired Prosecuter that Chris had a Crush on moonlights playing keys and singing in Goth Bands. She showed me her old driving licence photo where she had long hair and a blonde streak.

I didn't tell her about Chris' Crush. She seemed to be less than upset that Chris left.

Nevermind.

Skipping backwards: Today I had the DJ from Hell again, although I have been told that part of her fernicketiness comes from her not being in terribly good health. And credit where credit is due, she is a fair Magistrate who gets a strong grip on the issues, asks the right questions and makes fair pronouncements.

But she does still chew through cases really fucking fast and then shoot daggers when the next case isn't yet ready.

Having said that, today was really smooth compared to yesterday. There were people not where they should have been, but they were usually in the place that they said they would be if they weren't where they were menat to be.

I also managed to get the list in good order, I opened the doors early enough to get people in line and Mark the Duty Clerk managed to buffer me from any bad vibes, both by making up the files before he threw them over and by being a constant source of good vibes in the room.

I'd manage to rule up my case list the night before so that was a few minutes saved that I used to get ahead of the beat and even do some oddjobs before going up and into the courtroom.

I offered to buy Sid a Pint for saving my arse yesterday, but he laughed it off and told me it goes with the territory.

Har.

At lunchtime because I felt so proud of myself and because I had an Hour and a Half instead of Forty minutes to kill I decided to splash out and have a Five Pound Pasta Dish at the Local Italian restaurant, instead of the usual Two Pounds I spend on a chicken sandwich (I tip the staff the change).

And it wasn't bad. It wasn't great, but it was a relaxing way to spend lunch and I still had enough time to take a walk and get back to the office and chill for a bit before the afternoon.

Another great thing was that there were no Overnights for my Court.

No, I lie, there were two.

But all the other overnights went into the next court up.

Yay.

Anways, I have to sign out so that I can tube it home and get some sleep.

Over and out.

J