I’ve been waiting on this book being released for a long time as Margaret George typically takes up to five years to finish a book. Unfortunately, the book’s release proved to be bad timing for me since I lost my grandmother the week before and as a result I found it hard to concentrate on anything. When the book arrived, I thought it would help take me away from my problems for awhile since Ms George is an extremely powerful writer and it’s not hard to lose yourself in her books. However, this book proved to be the exception to the rule and it took me nearly six months to finish it instead of my usual couple of days. I can’t blame the author entirely for that because there was a lot going on in my life and I found it hard making time to read.

However, there is no denying that this book failed to grab me in the same way as Mary, Called Magdalene or The Memoirs of Cleopatra and I found it very hard getting a clear picture of Helen and her motives. Ms George’s research was as stunning as always and she certainly brought the era to life in much the same way as any of her books but Helen never seemed to click for me and I’m not sure the author managed to make her seem like an ordinary person. Most of us know the story of Helen, the daughter conceived by Leda when she was visited by Zeus disguised as a swan, but Ms George tries to throw doubt on the circumstances of her birth and I think it strips the story of some of the magic. I have to admit that I’m a huge fan of Greek mythology and the stories of the Gods and their meddling in the lives of mortals weave such a colourful tapestry, I would’ve preferred a more fantastical approach I suppose.

In conclusion, Helen of Troy is never going to be one of my favourite Margaret George novels but it certainly can’t be considered the worst either. My favourite of her novels is still Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles, so it will be interesting to see how I feel about Ms George’s next novel - Elizabeth I - the woman who executed Mary!

Yes, I am proof that there are women who detest shopping with a passion and only buy clothes when absolutely necessary. Well, that point was reached this week when a faulty zip on my work trousers necessitated a shopping trip for new ones. So, I had to steel my resolve, combat the traumas of the changing room mirrors and actually try on the bloody trousers in the shop to make sure they fit my “real womanly shape” and were long enough in the leg. Naturally, I had to bypass the majority of shops in the high street which cater for girls with “boy figures” and go to trusty old Marks & Spencers who actually have trousers with different leg lengths. Go figure!

Now, M & S used to have this reputation for being an “old lady’s shop” and the fuddy duddy image led to a massive drop in profits over the years, prompting drastic action to save it. New lines were introduced to attract a younger age group, as well as their older clients, and it has been so successful they have become one of the biggest success stories in retail history. I gotta say I absolutely adore the Per Una range and instead of immediately bypassing the store - it has become my first stop! Good old Marks and Sparks to the rescue!

I also decided to get some US dollars, so now I’m looking at just under $1,000 of funny money! The dollar is really high against the pound just now and a lot of people are certainly making the most of it. I’m probably going to exchange the same amount again in a few weeks and leave it at that since it should be enough.

I upgraded to WP 2.1 this afternoon and it was more or less successful but I’m having a few issues with my Flickr plugin but hopefully they will be resolved soon. I love the autosave feature because there have been many occasions in the past when I’ve written a post only to lose for whatever reason. I’ve not noticed any other plus points at the moment but I do so wish they’d get rid of the bloody preview panel in the Write post bit - I hate it!

I had a better week at work since it was a lot calmer and I was less stressed but certain things happened that have left me with a nasty taste in my mouth which I really don’t want to get into on a public forum. Let’s just say certain truths were brought to light; certain people showed their true colours and lost any respect they ever had. I’ve resolved to not let it get on top of me anymore and I guess you could say I’m going to abide by my own “work to rule” method. I’ll continue to do the best job I can because my own self-respect demands it but I’m not going to pick up the slack for others. If there’s any justice in the world, karma will eventually bite them on the ass and I hope I get to witness it.

Yesterday, Britain was battered by some of the strongest storms we’ve seen for 17 years, resulting in millions of pounds worth of damage. Tragically ten people lost their lives, including a two year old boy in London who died when a wall collapsed on top of him. Fortunately, Scotland had a lucky escape and we just had to contend with heavy snow that more or less brought some areas of the country to a standstill.

We’ve had hurricanes in the past, sure, but winds this fierce just aren’t normal and what about all the freaking tornadoes we seem to be getting now? I’ve never heard of such a thing before. So, more winds are on the way although they are promising they won’t be as bad but who knows? Apparently, we’re finally in for a cold snap too with ice and snow this weekend.

Thankfully, the area where I live is protected by the Ochil Hills which really shelter us from the brunt of such storms.

When I started out to work this morning we had some sleet and I thought it was too wet to come to anything but by the time I got to work it started snowing really heavy. Big, fat, fluffy flakes of the stuff! I really wished I could get some decent pictures, especially in the afternoon when the sun was hitting the Ochil Hills - it was really beautiful. Unfortunately, I was stuck at work with only my phone as a camera and it was too late to take any on the way home.

We were discussing our trip to Florida last night and some of the stuff my uncle was telling me about really made me want to quit the UK. Everything is just so ridiculously overpriced here and I feel like the whole country is going to the dogs - nobody seems to care about anything or anyone.

I need to find a secluded island somewhere….
…with internet access of course

…and damned if I didn’t miss it! It started about 10:30 last night when I was in bed and by the time I woke up it was gone! It’s still dark when I get up and I was squinting at this car wondering what the hell was on its window when it struck me that it was snow. It’s been really cold today but we’re still waiting on the next instalment of the dreaded gales. I’m so tired of windy weather!

Actually, I’m just tired - period. I’m finding life so stressful on reception and I keep thinking I’m being such a wuss about it. Each day I come home and say to myself, tomorrow will be better but so far each day is proving to be worse than previous. We were short-staffed again today and I had extra work to fit around the phone calls which were coming in thick and fast. I’ve had a few lightheaded moments and I know it’s stress kicking off my anxiety. Monday night I was so down I just wanted to curl up on my bed and cry myself to sleep.

Okay, Erica tagged me for this meme! The deal is you’re supposed to grab the nearest book to you, flip to page 123, find the fifth sentence on that page, and then blog the following three sentences. Now, as it turns out, I’m reading a book called The Holocaust by Martin Gilbert and this isn’t exactly a happy extract:

Of two thousand young men and women sent from Radom to work in the Zamosc region, ‘almost all of them perished’. Of a thousand young men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five sent from Czestochowa in August 1940, ‘almost none survived’. Thousands more were brought from independent Slovakia, a state delighted to comply with the German request for labour-deportees.

I’m supposed to tag others but I think everyone on my list has done this, if not, feel free!