The Builder isn't broken. Hooray! I was beginning to think he might be, though. He woke up on Tuesday morning, went down to get the tea and came back up again very, very gingerly, carrying both mugs in one hand. His left arm wouldn't work! He was very stiff all over. Quite obviously couldn't go to work. So I took him to the Chesterfield hospital on my way back to work after all those days off.

It's a bit of a worry that I know how to get to the Chesterfield Hospital. I still can't drive confidently to the Northern General in Sheffield!

Anyway, after a long, long wait, an xray and general attention, it appears that he is not broken, chipped or even cracked. Just very, very bruised. And stiff.

He went back to work on Wednesday, you will be amazed to learn. A health and safety bod came to inspect the scaffolding (which, it seems, belongs to the electricians). Inside the wheels there are three prongs, which fan out when the wheels are locked shut. Inside the prongs there is supposed to be a widget. There was no widget in the wheel which randomly sprang off. Just some gaffer tape. Gaffer tape does not work!!!!

Anyway. He's more or less all right, though his arm does hurt horribly.

Marlo has a cat flap. The Builder put it in yesterday. Marlo goes in and out through it -- when there are treats on the other side of the flap. Otherwise he seems to sit and look at it. No doubt he will get the hang of it (he may already have got the hang of it; he was inside the cat flap when I came out this morning. If he wanted to go out, that was the only means of egress!)

It's been a beautiful day today. Cold and almost frosty and shiny and bright this morning. Absolutely glorious at lunchtime when I located from Collegiate to Psalter Lane. Fabulously autumnal. Was chilly last evening. I put the heating on! Though I am not sure I have entirely worked it out. It took some time to get all the relevant radiators to warm up properly. There's a heated towel rail in the bathroom!!

Ordinarily, I leave for work around 7, 7:15. It takes half an hour to drive to Collegiate crescent. Yesterday I left at 7:40, today 7:45. It takes an hour. I think leaving between 7 and 7:15 is the way to go. It's quite pleasant sitting in the car listening to Today on Radio 4 -- but it's an awful waste of time and fuel.

I had an email today from Uncle Fred the ex-landlord at the flat. Well, from his wife. She thanked us for leaving the flat in such a clean and tidy state. Must tell the cleaning elves (Ross, who cleaned without ceasing for 24 hours, and Freyja, who cleaned until she had to go home to bed because she was working on Monday). And -- they've got my bond money!!!!!! I had assumed that it would have long disappeared with one of the many previous landlords, some of whom were not as, um, efficient as they might have been! But no. It's there and she's going to send me a cheque. We've also had a cheque back from Spencers, the Mudhut agents. They have convinced Young Mr Ross that he should perhaps pay for some of the clearing out of rubbish at the Mudhut himself (Nearly all of the rubbish was, after all, his!). This time the cheque is for a more sensible amount. I have put it in the bank.

I have had my last ever work lunch with Clarissa. She and I met yesterday with Jane Thompson, who was also in Admissions with us but is now in Faculty Admin. We went to Cafe Azure in the Millennium Gallery. Today is her last day. In fact, given that it's after 4, I assume she's gorn. But I don't suppose that lunch meetings will have entirely stopped. In fact, she's on holiday next week. I think it very likely we will meet one day then for lunch. Just not an At Work one.

Nearly time to go home. It's ever so quiet in here today. At one point I wandered around the library to see if we had any students in at all. We had TWO. One for me and one for the library assistant. Psalter Lane is never absolutely frantic, but it's not normally quite this dead.

I must say, I do enjoy working four day weeks. They seem so very, very short. Hardly seems any time since last weekend at all. Mind you, I'm hoping that this coming weekend might be ever so slightly less manic. Not that it will involve no driving at all. We're going to Whitely, near Portsmouth to visit Jeanette, Matthew and Rebecca. But at least we won't have to drive up and down and up and down and carry lots of things. Or I hope not, anyway. I'm told there might be a food fair.

Had my planning appraisal this morning. Peter says that he couldn't have managed without me this last year. Strange man!