A week to end all weeks - read on....

OMG - I am just so ANNOYED with this week - have I got any planning work done? Answer - extremely little.

The reasons for this are:

two conferences to attend (one in Bristol, the other in Swindon where I was doing a workshop for 80 people in total - see later)

The Monday morning 'incident'

This is the main reason for my frustration.

I was almost at the office on Monday morning, in the queue for the roundabout in Devizes, when some CRETINOUS girl drives into the back of me. Quite violently. And shunts me into the car in front (though I had my brakes on so no visible damage to this car).

The excuse: "I was late for work, looked up and saw your car": Rubbish. I now have a cracked rear bumper panel, dented boot, cracked rear number plate and dented bonnet. And for those of you with Swiftcover, I would strongly suggest you switch to someone else. It states on the website that someone will contact me within 4 working hours. Being at a conference all day in Swindon, and running two workshops, I did try and check my phone regularly - no messages. Then, driving back, they call me. When I get home, they have closed for the day. Humph. Finally, through communication via email, and a phone call this morning, my car is now going to be picked up sometime, and I have just collected the hire car.

And, at last, I have managed to report the incident to the police. The reasons for this are: I experienced a tiny amount of neck pain (I did see the Doctor, so no worries), which is reportable, and the CRETINOUS girl said she was driving someone else's car and "might not be insured" - all I need. But my insurers looked her up on the online database and got her details from there - though she flatly refused to give me any details about the car owner or the insurance company. So, I phoned up the police - go and make a statement - Salisbury Police station closes at 4pm. Devizes police station - after my conferences when there was no chance whatsoever to report it - closed on Fridays. So I have only just managed it. Phew.

So, besides from that palaver, yes, my workshops did go very well on Wednesday at the conference we organised about the NERC Biodiversity Duty (for those who don't know - look it up!). There was some moaning that there was not enough time for them to create their sustainable development in the time available, though most people seemed to have lots of fun, which is the main thing - my special thanks to Rachel from NE for letting me nick her idea!

Final point of GREAT interest - found out I'm a semi-finalist in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year (see Facebook and/or Flickr for more info) - though the winners have already been decided, I am well chuffed that at my first attempt with a proper camera I have got this far - who knows how far next year???!!!! Whoohoo!

So a spark of happiness in an otherwise stressful week!