Well it's been a manic week for me. My feet haven't touched the ground. I have been out to two of the call centres to meet the managers and go through their 2003 budget with them. Last Thursday I was in Sunderland meeting a manager whose name I would not need to change using the Porn Star name generator . My manager and I have a hard enough time keeping a straight face whenever we talk about him. Yesterday I was in Rotherham meeting managers who do not have porn star names! I am also going to Merthyr Tydfil on Wednesday and Greenock on Friday - it's not quite international jet setting but as it gets me out of the office, it'll do for a start.

At the weekend I finally put down the laminate flooring in my spare room, thanks to lots of help from friend Bonnie Sin. In fact we managed to get in done in only a few hours which I was surprised about as I thought I'd take all weekend. I think it looks really good and in addition to the fact that I am genuinely pleased with it, I also see that it means that my house can start returning to normal when I put all of the junk back into the room. My Daddy and I built the desk on Sunday morning. The instructions said we would need 2 people and 1 hour. I spent an hour just trying to identify the relevant bits before my Dad arrived. It then took the two of us a further 3 hours to complete the desk. This is what you get when you buy cheap furniture, but I never learn.

Luckily we got it finished in time for me to go and meet friends Kinky Malibu, Bonnie Sin, Mary Ellen Thong, Hottie Hunter and Debbie Dicks for lunch. It was good to meet up although as I was so tired I didn't really contribute much to the proceedings. I left early and spent the afternoon being a vegetable in front of the TV. I should really know better than to watch VH1 on Sundays - I always get sucked into whatever chart they are doing that day. Last Sunday it was US one hit wonders which was funny as it was full of very successful UK bands who only ever had one hit in America. However, I guess if there was a UK one hit wonder chart it would be full of successful US bands who only ever had one hit here.

Regular followers of my life will be pleased / moderately interested / couldn't give a toss to hear that the carpet in the spare room has finally succumbed to me. There were injuries in the battle, I had to cut the carpet up into smaller pieces and I have lost the use of both of my thumbs as pulling up the carpet caused blisters. It is impossible for me to hold anything at the minute, but it's made me realise what a blessing opposable thumbs are. My manager lent me her wallpaper steamer which I used on the carpet and that melted the glue really effectively. The only problem now is that you cannot remain stationary in the room for long otherwise you stick to the floor!

I start my world tour of call centres tomorrow as I am going to Newcastle. I am flying up there for a meeting which is only scheduled to last an hour. Given that we did the same meeting yesterday in under 20 minutes, these visits may not be the most effective use of company resources as I will spend the rest of the working day travelling. So much for Finance setting a good example!

It's a horrible wet rainy Monday morning. I don't want to be at work and I especially don't want to be stuck here with no one to talk to and loads of work to do. So as a work avoidance tactic, I'll write about my weekend. Friday night, I acted like the hip young thing I am by staying in and watching telly. Saturday I drove 180 miles north to visit friend Tiffani Holiday who I haven't seen since my birthday. Despite being armed with comprehensive instructions and a very good sense of direction I still managed to get lost twice. Actually, I wasn't lost - I had just taken the wrong turning or missed a turning. When people write instructions they should really leave gaps between each line. It means that you don't read half of the line below and turn right when in fact you should have turned left.

Anyway, so I finally made it to her house and we spent the afternoon catching up in front of the TV. During this time we discovered that music channel TMF play the same videos on a continuous loop - if I ever see the Daniel Beddingfield or Sugababes videos again it'll be too soon. Saturday night we went into town for Jamal Jackme's birthday who is a good friend of Tiffani Holiday and who I have met on a number of occasions. The meal was good, but things started to go downhill when we left the restaurant as it was pouring with rain. We went to a pub, getting soaked on the way there, only to find the pub was standing room only. Standing room is something of a misnomer as there was a distinct lack of room. I am sure at some point my feet weren't touching the ground as I was suspended, squashed between people on all sides of me. It was a good thing my feet weren't touching the ground as by this point my boots had sprung a leak! Tiffani Holiday and I left early to go and catch up with her family (getting even more soaked if that was possible on the walk there) only to find that they weren't at home even after we'd made arrangements to meet them there. We called it a night at that point and went back to watch Ice Age with the cats.

Yesterday we didn't drag ourselves out of bed until late so we went for an early lunch and then onto the cinema to see Chicago. It is an excellent film and I can see why it won 3 Golden Globe awards last night. My only problem was that at the end of each big song and dance number I had to restrain myself from clapping! In the end I was sitting on my hands. It is a bit like seeing a musical live which was not what I was expecting. If nothing else, it's probably the only time you'll see Catherine Zeta Jones look fat (which she blatantly obviously isn't) as Renee Zellweger is so stick thin when they stand together Catherine looks twice the size of Renee.

By the time we got out of the cinema it was time for me to go home, so home I went where I finished my riotous weekend by doing a bit of sewing as the hem on my trousers had come undone. Live fast, die young - that's me!

Well I'm well and truly carried away now, I've been car shopping with a vengeance. I've looked at them all - Mercedes SLK, Audi TT, BMWs, Alfa Romeo Spider, Saab. To cabriolet or not to cabriolet, that is the question....

I've had my quarterly performance review and now feel suitably appriciated by my employers. My manager is really happy with me - all I can say is that I hope she remembers this at my pay review in March.

I need to make some more money as my car looks like it will fall apart soon. The plan was that I was going to buy a new car as a present to myself when I qualify as an accountant. However, to do this I need to keep my car going for at least 6 months if not longer. I am not a mechanic, but I think that the rust patch growing beneath the drivers door is not a good thing. I have no idea what car I want next, but I maybe I'd better start thinking. Part of me wants to get a BMW for the only reason that it would really annoy my Dad because he wants one. Another part of me wants to keep my current car forever, as I like the idea of earning lots of money and driving around in an old banger. The sensible accountant part of me says I should get a nearly-new car which is practical, economical and that I can afford - but where's the fun in that?

I'm off to check out how much a Mercedes SLK will cost....

I have a new found respect for administrators. I have just spent most of my day trying to schedule meetings. The good news is that I have managed to fit everyone I need to see into the next two weeks. The bad news is that my feet are unlikely to hit the ground during that time as I have to go to all our exotic call centre locations - Rotherham, Sunderland, Merthyr Tydfil and Greenock. If nothing else at least it is time out of the office.

It's Monday again and I'm back at work in time for a well deserved rest. After working like a demon all weekend (and with help from the cavalry that arrived on Sunday) I've finished decorating the spare room. Unfortunately, the flat also looks like a hurricane has passed through it. I should really do some serious tidying up but I can't face it as I ache all over. I'm now also back at the carpet problem as there is time to pull it up and lay the new flooring properly. The good news is that it'll just have to wait a bit longer as I still have to paint the door and I am going away this weekend to visit friend Tiffani Holiday!

I got a monstrous visa bill on Friday - I have no idea how I managed to spend so much over Christmas. However, to console me for the fact that I won't be able to afford to have a social life for the next 6 months my Sky viewing card finally arrived. All time not spent decorating I have been glued to the telly enjoying the spectacle of a non snowstorm picture, and channel hopping between the millions of channels (possible exaggeration - I think it's about 70) I now have access to. Even better I could watch what I wanted when I wanted. This has to be the best bit of living alone - sole possession of the remote control. I come from a home where I lived with a remote control commando, who no matter what you were watching would pick up the remote and start channel hopping. So last night I watched VH1's 100 greatest floorfillers. Needless to say the outcome was very predictable (Dancing Queen by Abba) but I enjoyed several hours worth of cheesy music. Even better was the soundbites from people like Holly Valance, Romeo, Justin Timberlake, Miss Dynamite (i.e. people who are barely 20 years old) talking about how they felt when songs like Groove is in the Heart, Love Shack, Billie Jean and Rappers Delight were released! I wasn't old enough to remember some of the songs being released, although I know them well now so I don't know how they managed. Time machines, perhaps?

Another day, news that another friend is getting married. Congratulations to friend Angel Velvet who will be walking up the aisle in September 2004. Weddings appear to be very fashionable at the minute amongst my friends. A few are already married and there are lots on their way. I see this as an opportunity for a lot of new outfits, although I think in future alcohol avoidance would be a good idea so as to avoid a repeat of what happened at the wedding of Pimp Daddy Rothschild and Lydia Hott. If you are unaware of what happened, then I must refer you to my earlier histories...

I had a phone call earlier from Argos Additions. They were trying to deliver the unit I ordered last week. The driver was surprised that there was no one at home to take the delivery. The reason that there was no one at home was because Argos hadn't contacted me to tell me that the unit was ready to be delivered. Add onto this the fact that I specifically asked for both items I ordered to be delivered together and I was told that delivery wouldn't be until the middle of February you will see why I was a little confused. They have taken the unit back to the depot to be delivered next week, but I fully expect it go get lost and never seen again. I could've got the unit delivered elsewhere, but that would mean I would have to carry it up the stairs to my flat! I'm not stupid - that's why I was paying the delivery charge.

I guess I should explain yesterday's entry as I have been inundated* with visitors, phone calls, e mails, text messages, letters, postcards, messengers, carrier pigeons etc etc asking about why I am advertising myself in this manner.

For those of you who are not familiar with what I do for a living, I look after the finances of the Customer Services directorate of my company. Part of my job is to ensure that they meet their cost targets, especially at year end as their annual bonuses are dependent on meeting these targets. We knew that Customer Services was going to come in close to the target so I spent the whole of month end checking the accounts on a hourly basis to ensure that they didn't overspend. There were several dodgy moments and a lot of phone calls between myself and my manager who was on annual leave (this is the price she pays for having a company mobile) I'm surprised I have any hair left as I was pulling it out for most of last week dealing with a new crisis each day. However, I managed to nurse them through with £50k to spare.

Then I happened to look at the accounts yesterday and suddenly CS are £100k over target. Payroll were allowed to put through some late costs which added an extra £150k to the final figure just before the ledgers were closed. I had already included these costs in the accounts and no one bothered to contact me to let me know what happening so I couldn't correct the double count. I'm NOT happy as I worked so hard to ensure that this situation didn't happen. The happy ending for CS is that due to much stroppiness on my side they will get their bonuses. As for me, this whole incident highlights everything I hate about my company, I am the Financial Account Manager for about 20 cost centres, but am still the last person to know anything that might affect one of them. I don't think I will be changing jobs just yet due to being so near qualifying - the posting was just a way of relieving my feelings.

* One request from the newly married friend Pimp Daddy Rothschild

Available for hire

CIMA finalist, several years of accounting experience with a large telecoms company - including cost centre management, revenue and cost forecasting / budgeting and excel modelling. Able to create good working relationships with others as has a tendency to talk to anyone and everyone. Sunny disposition comes as standard if treated well. Very reasonable rates as long as the mortgage is covered. All offers on a postcard to the usual address.

Well there has been very little progress with the spare room carpet. Last night we tried the kicking the carpet up method which works, but again is very slow. I think I'm going to put the carpet back down and lay the boards on top. At least it means I can start painting in order to get the room finished. The rest of the flat looks like a bomb has hit it as there is stuff everywhere. It will be worse by the time I get home as the desk has been delivered today. I have nowhere to put it, but at least at the moment it is flat packed. I looked at when college starts again yesterday on the off chance I passed the exams in November. I could be studying again by 8th February so the room has to be done by then as I will be at college every weekend until May. Obviously when I'm finished at college I will be studying like a demon for the exams at the end of May.

To completely finish me off, I went to the bank at lunchtime to see if they will give me the money for the rest of the flat. Unfortunately, it wasn't just a straightforward yes, it was a probably but we need fifteen different bits of information to do this. I suppose that is a good thing, but it all feels far too much like hard work.

The weekend was a bit of a rollercoaster. I didn't sleep Friday night so I spent most of Saturday morning in bed. I finally dragged myself out of bed and went to visit my parents before heading down to London to meet up with friend Cassie Canyon and colleague Buck Vegas. Cassie Canyon managed to be late but surprisingly Buck Vegas made it on time so I didn't have to hang around like a lemon outside Piccadilly Circus for ages by myself. When Cassie Canyon eventually arrived we wandered down to a bar in Leicester Square where we were able to catch up on all the gossip and ask Buck Vegas some personal questions about his love life. One of Buck Vegas's housemates turned up to join the fun and tried to get us to dish the dirt on him at work. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to dish as he doesn't drink (although ever since I got a text message from him at new year thanking me for being a great mate I have had my doubts about his whole alcohol avoidance thing)

We were really cold and the bar didn't serve hot drinks so we decamped and went to a cafe nearby. I managed to shatter resolution number 1 by having a hot chocolate with cream and a slice of swiss roll. In my defence, I was really cold and the cakes were too tasty to refuse! We all had plans for later in the evening so after Buck Vegas had left, Cassie Canyon and I walked to Covent Garden looking in the shops en route (had to try and get rid of some of the calories) before getting the tube to our respective later evening destinations. In my case I was heading home to meet up with friend Kinky Malibu where I spent another couple of hours catching up on news and sorting everybody else's lives out. Needless to say, neither of us are suitably organised and trouble free in our own lives, but it's always easier sort everyone else out instead of yourself.

On Sunday, my Daddy and I took a trip to a local DIY emporium to get my wooden flooring and shelving for the spare room. Unfortunately, I had the totally embarrassing experience if having my credit card refused as the signature had worn off and I had no other form of id on me. Of course this happened in front of a huge queue of people. It's really annoying, most places don't even look at the signature and the one time I go out without anything else on me the shop assistant starts getting picky. Anyway, my Dad had to pay for it all which will be really good if I can forget to pay him back...! So we drag it up the stairs to my flat and my Dad escapes before I make him do anything else which is too much like hard work. I then start to take up the carpet, except the carpet doesn't come up because some bastard of a builder / decorator has glued it down. Friend Bonnie Sin turns up at lunchtime and tries to help and still nothing happens with both of us pulling. Bonnie Sin called her cousin who suggested using a hairdryer to warm up the glue. So we try this and the carpet begins to come off, but very slowly. In the end we got about a quarter of the carpet up after spending ages pulling at it after blasting it with the hairdryer. It is only a little room so that is not much of an achievement. There were some points when we'd have the hairdryer pointed at the floor and we'd both be pulling as hard as we could and nothing would happen. Had the carpet come up it would have been one of those comedy moments where we would've tumbled backwards as we were putting all of our weight behind it. Personally, I think it's been stuck down with superglue. I had visions of putting wooden flooring in all of the rooms eventually. I think if any of the other carpets ever need replacing I'll move. Tonight I have to make an executive decision whether to continue trying to get the carpet up, or to just lay the flooring on top of the carpet using it as a form of underlay. Considering that I ache all over I think we all know what I will decide...

As part of my ongoing commitment to resolution number 7, I went to Argos last night to order furniture for my spare room - which as soon as the furniture arrives will be known as the study. The desk is arriving next Tuesday which is much sooner than I expected. In fact, as it is unlikely that the room will not be finished then I have no idea what I will do with it in the meantime. However, the unit and chairbed won't be arriving until the end of February, so if anyone wants to stay before then they will be stuck on my sofa. I'm totally into this decorating thing now, especially since I decided that I'm having a wooden floor in the spare room. I think I'll be an interior decorator if I ever grow up...

I was going to start decorating tonight, but will probably wait until Sunday as I have made arrangements to meet up with ex-colleague Cassie Canyon and colleague Buck Vegas in London tomorrow afternoon. I can't remember the last time I saw Cassie Canyon so I am really looking forward to seeing her. I saw Buck Vegas about an hour ago so unfortunately, I can't extend the same enthusiasm to him!

New year was very quiet. In the end it was only me and friend Bonnie Sin. Even more surprisingly we didn't get drunk. I think my body was rebelling after the amount of alcohol I had put into it after the past couple of weeks and the Smirnoff Ice I was drinking just made me feel sick. It was a nice relaxed evening just chatting and watching videos, it wasn't wildly exciting but there are worse ways to celebrate new year.

As for resolutions, they are pretty much the same as any other year but I will record them here for posterity (in no particular order)
1. To get thinner
2. To be more organised
3. To study hard for my exams so I can qualify this year
4. To be a better person
5. To be happy
6. To get more exercise
7. To finish decorating the flat
8. To be nicer to my sister
9. To sort out the disaster that is my love life
10. Erm... totally scraping the proverbial barrel here in order to get 10 resolutions - To promote world peace

Yesterday was a complete write off as I was really tired all day. I went to see my Grandad (resolution number 4) and cleared out the spare room so I can start to decorate it at the weekend (resolution number 7)

Today I'm back at work and while it may be a new year, but I still have to deal with the crap from 2002. As I work in finance, mentally I won't be in 2003 until the end of January anyway. I've already had two calls from people asking for their new budgets - I can't give them any help as Germany still haven't approved the 2003 budget. Having just spoken to colleague Hard Bends he is fully confident that a final approved budget will be available by December and can I stall until then...