Dear Lards, I thought I'd shared Yesterday evening with you as it's nearly
Christmas and my work productivity has accelerated from a nose dive into
a near vertical plummet.

Jacks rang about 4 in the afternoon - Did I want to go and see Phantom of the
Opera in London that evening followed by a meal.  Once I'd established that
she hadn't just won a Lottery 'instant' of 50 000quid she said it was a work
bash, but one of the partners had dropped out - did we want to go?  A quick
'that sounds like 2 expensive show tickets for nought' calculation later
I agreed and we were set.

I procured the rail tickets, as we were travelling up with one of the managers
on train.  1st mistake of the eve - I hadn't bought 1st class tickets!  I
thought, whaat! 1st class - the concept hadn't even entered my mind for a
fleeting instant - how the other half live eh? So we were forced to sit a
1/2 hr train ride through with the 'plebs' in 2nd class!

Arriving at Paddington at 7.25 for a show with curtain-up at 7.45 we hit
the nearest cab and were sitting down in the theatre at 7.44 in true
J&J style!  The 1st half was good - excellent costumes and fx.  At the
interval we decided to get a drink, halfway through fumbling a handful of
coinage in my pocket I noticed the rest of our party at a discrete table in the
corner of the bar with champers chilling for our delictation!  Blimey! So
I find myself sipping some 'Mumm' and standing next to 'Nick' or alternatively
Mr 'I clear 400K a year and don't normally expect to find oiks like you in
my social circle!'  Rather than taking the safe-but-boring 'staring at my
trousers' option I plumped for the 'show smalltalk' and started telling
him how much I had admired the costumes.  3 or 4 seconds of a resounding
'entirely no response' from Nick set me off using an alternative vocabulary
to express the same sentiments, thinking,' perhaps corporate tax would have
been a better subject..'  Anyway, I got a 'yes' and proceded to pursue the
trouser staring option.

It was also around that time that I started to feel pretty self-concious
about my 'look.'  ICL doesn't enforce too strictly the corporate dress
code, so as long as you're wearing a tie, you're in the clear.  So, in
studying my trousers I got that 'if only I'd known I was coming here tonight'
feeling.  Was it just the fact that my trousers were green, and my shirt
red striped, or was it the shabby green 'Jacks wore this jacket last time
she went horse riding, and it smells like it' skiing jacket?  I just didn't
have that same uniform pinstripe look of the others.

So, having nicely pumped up my self-confidence we watched the second half.
A pretty good show, I must say, although 'Joseph' still wins hands down -
there wasn't a sheep in sight in Phantom.

The meal was at a restaurant/hotel somewhere 10minutes from Haymarket.  I
hit a lucky break and sat next to Conrad, who is a keen keep-fitter, so
actually being able to talk about something I was interested in, the meal
went pretty good - although the bloke singing was pretty strange - I think
he was Dutch.

So, like all good things, the evening ended.  2 cabs were booked to arrive
at 12 o'clock to take us (all the way!) back to Reading.  We didn't actually
finish until 1.15, but the partners all had a 'I'm finishing my coffee and
am totally oblivious to a Huge waiting bill adding up on the cab' attitude
which I found quite unnerving.  So one very-long wait later (for the cabbies
) we 
set off back to Reading, and home.  We got to bed at 3, and had to be up
at 6.30!  I'm typing this now only with the aid of a very bright VDU which`
is shining straight through my eyelids and just penetrating my consiousness!
Still, a splendid evening all in all!  Long live Andersens!!

Have a good Christmas, Jonnnnnnnieeeeeeeee.