The Black Boy

The day started bright, but deteriorated as it moved into the afternoon. We had a good lunch with 'the gang' (we're a group of friends going way back who meet up on a fairly regular basis for meals, birthdays etc.) at The Black Boy on the Warwick Road. It's nestled next to the canal, hence the blip shot.

I didn't know 'Black Boy' was a term of endearment used by Charles II's mother towards him, mainly due to his very dark hair apparently. Hence the number of pubs called The Black Boy (you can possible see his picture on the canal-side pub sign).

On return we had tortious telephone calls with Npower (who had sent Emma an electricity Bill for £1846, mainly for the period she was in South East Asia and Australia and the flat was empty). Her normal bill is around £200. They've promised a revised bill based on our meter readings. The second call was to The Student Finance people who had merrily deleted Tom's application for finance because he had submitted his details under my account rather than his own, as was allowable on the web site. They hadn't bothered letting us know - no email, letter, phone call. Presumably they think we're psychic; it's just as well I checked for progress on the application.

Bureaucracy - it's us against them!