February is nearly done and a little progress has been made on the three principal fronts. Derby County Show is 'booked' for 'Win a Mini'. I am resolved to carboot weekly at Radford even if it means working solo. My early efforts were at Ravenshead where shoppers were few and my knowledge and skills derisory. 'Mugging up' on utility facts is also part of the daily routine.

A new focus, or rather, a pair of foci, for PD is taking shape. The absurdity of the concept of sacred texts is one. The other will point out the horrors that can ensue when the concrete and available present world is dismissed in favour of a mythical other.

The 'Tango Mango' break was superb, for all that it may have cost me a day or two's Bilborough work. I certainly felt the direct benefit at last night's Njaal and Cidinha class. It was lovely being able to meet Olly over tea and scones in Dartmouth and to hear of his plans. If he can organise a supply convoy in Afghanistan he should become yet more capable at running his own band.

Having spent so many years with no family contact outside the immediate circle whilst at Owthorpe and Colston it is most gratifying that John and I, despite our vastly different pasts, find plenty of mutual interests to share in the present.

Time now to 'blog off' and assault the day's 'to do' list.

2008 is the year I get to grips with UWDC. I will be not only of the tiny percentage who actually finishes a book and publishes it compared with those who imagine they might write one; I will also be of the minority of UWDC Distributors who actually makes money.

To that end I have been discovering how little I know securely as yet on telecoms techie matters. To talk to householders, never mind small businesses, I will have to continue , everyday, to clue myself in. I will be 'Win a Miniing' as many days as poss. this year. I know several locals who are now able and keen enough. I no longer have between me and Tony so am plugged into the circuit of someone who knows what he is doing.

Yesterday's UWDC4B course brought alot home to me. The trainer Mark Adams remarked how some distributors, having trained for 4 solid years or more for their 'proper job' assume that UWDC knowhow can be absorbed with one brief read and one brief session.

Last night's tango showed how much is now coming together, though I am mentally prepared for a reconstruction and deconstruction workout in Devon next week.

Olly 'phoned. I look forward to seeing him next week.

'Sailing By' is playing on the radio. It will forever remind me of returning from a gig, with a wad of notes in my pocket, and a feeling of tired relief; a complete contrast to the tension when travelling to a venue, especially a new one.

Tonight's milonga was superb, if for no other reason than that dancing improves with practice. No, do not be demure; dancing in close embrace with Claire was an uncommon thrill. Roll on the Faze cafe on Monday.

It was lovely to see Marek and Sabina today in such great spirits. Fitting out their country house, they cannot be short of cash, but they both work very hard in a range of projects; translation, time and motion, insurance, company law and computer maintenance, as well as Olly's music and publicity. I look forward to visits to their retreat come summertime when they are established.

'Paradise' revision is now, like guitar practice and UWDC promotion, built into the daily routine. Like with tango and salsa there can only be all round progress. I will visit Calverton Car Boot tomorrow and see how Fred and Mark are getting on and distribute some cards.

The programme for the mango is in the diary. To reach QE before departure is not impossible, but will require considerable application. As there is no Bilborough next week, and writing, music and dance are in easily defined boxes, I should have a spread of time to secure that objective. I will also be armed with a copious revision of tariffs, terms and conditions, a complete read of 'My First Year in Network Marketing' a TelecomPlus Business COurse in Northampton and a reply from Tony Griffiths to my multiple queries.

When distributing business cards willy nilly, most people accept with a smile. Yesterday was sunny, and the stallholders at Hyson Green Market seemed enthusiastic about the DVDs. I have noted their names and shall visit them next Wednesday. On Tuesday of next week, fresh from the course, I shall visit a range of stallholders and shops in Arnold and attempt to secure some meetings.

Marek and Sabina are calling in on Saturday to fetch the wash stand; there's a milonga at West Bridgford on Saturday evening and dancing on Monday and Wednesday this week was divine, both at the Faze Cafe and at the Up and Down Under Bar. Life is good.

If Lorna has irrational anxieties it is not a problem for me; I doubt that it's much of a problem for her. Whatever the case I must neither fall out with nor upset her without reason.

Onward with marketing ideas, 'Paradise Delayed' revsion, guitar practice, salsa prep.
and the Olly Christmas book.

Tagliatelle with creamy chicken and mushroom sauce for tea.

Less than two weeks before the tango mango. I will reach a target of becoming a QE before setting off for Devon. The journey should follow a pleasantly full day after two services at Southwell, sherry at the Dean's Residence and lunch at the Bramley Apple. The music, however, could be the principal feast; it is almost entirely 'Renaissance' with Tallis, Morley, Tomkins, Lassus and Palestrina. There is a gorgeous Bach anthem, though, in Evensong.

Dominic Sandbrook is a wonderful writer. Thanks, Marek and Sabina for introducing me. Half an hour ago I finished 'White Heat'. It is such a revealing view of the sixties. Strange how a man born in the 70s can tell me more than I ever knew about the decade through which I lived and he did not. Such is the historian's art. Even his football descriptions were gripping, for me who never reads the football pages and has only once attended a league match.

Before I depart for Devon I shall have had at least three days visiting local small shops with Tony's questionnaire on energy and telecoms use; even if I make no sales I should at least have increased my knowhow and practised my presentation.

I chose a Carlos class last Wednesday. It was most revealing, in two principal respects. My salsa vocabulary, though not, I hope, my fluidity, had stalled. Last time I went to a lesson by Carlos , c. 2 years ago, there seemed precious few new moves even in the advanced class. On Wednesday I felt quite lost, struggling with a mass of unfamiliar material. Regular attendance must be resumed; I shall go again tomorrow, after Colwick Car Boot, and before the 'Up and Down Under' bar. With Bilborough classes resumed I must have something to offer the more able dancers as well as the time to attend to those who struggle. Keeping up with Anna however, in either vocabulary or style, is a vain hope. She will, though, always remain an inspiration.

It was notable on Friday, covering for a General Studies class on religion, how little any formal religious practice touches the lives of so many. My Junior School experience of being drenched in daily Bible stories, and that not even at a Church school, seems ever more antique. It was gratifying, in covering Spanish, to discover that the students' reading matter is easily accessible to me, even without the aid of dictionary. I quite look forward to an all Spanish day on Monday, standing in for Raquel during her absence in Caceres.

Am now too tired to face 'The Book', but shall manage some guitar exercises. I shall make a more determined effort tomorrow at Colwick Car Boot. I discovered, at Thursday's COP, that my painfully slow progress is not untypical, even for salespeople from other areas.