Monday arrived, and the system was not entirely back in place. This evening I decided that I could not put off the Inland Revenue any longer - if I don't pay by the end of January, I get fined...

I decided to use an online tax calculator, and register with the e-government version of the IR. Go the whole hog. Still, at least it's pay day tomorrow, although this month the money is gone before it arrives. Only that damned cheque from my online tutor job stands between me and oblivion....and I have been waiting a month.

Ho Hum - I do have a little bit of a credit rating, now [steady job], so it's not like 4 years ago, when penniless really was PENNILESS, and I finally gave up on the show biz dream after all those years. When it's November, you have no money or credit, no work coming up, and the welfare are not interested in helping [because they said I had a 'notional income' of £118 per week!] it gets rough, especially if you've turned 50. That's how I ended up in the library.

I thought, "if I am not going to perform, then I have to either work with books or fruit and vegetables." Not being a gardener, nor wanting to get up at the crack of dawn to go to the market - it had to be books. Then it was just commercial books [shops] or non-commercial [libraries].

It was an OK decision in the circumstances. Especially as they started getting modern, and introducing other services like CD-Roms, videos, Internet access, etc. It's just so badly paid for the number of hours we do - but then, Wales is a poor relation in the UK and in Europe....and the Library Service [being non-profit making] is the poor relation in political circles. So that side of my life has remained the same....