Hands-on

T.Aldous is put out, and quite rightly: he's spent all afternoon ringing round invitees to next week's official re-opening of Catty Library to find out how many of them are coming, so as to make sure that there's enough food for the buffet. He's also been ringing round the people who should have been invited and weren't and making 'Oh dear, you haven't received the invitation? I'll get another one sent to you just in case the first one doesn't turn up in time for you to get the details" noises.

"I know I'm not very good at time management but I'd planned for a more productive afternoon than that," he complains.

"Just out of curiosity, why are you doing it?" I ask.

"I asked Julia if she'd confirmed which guests were going to come and she said: 'I thought you were doing that.' I'm trying to be better at delegating things to people but there are times when you still end up having to sort things out yourself."

There are times when I could shake T.Aldous until his eyes pop out of his head. Having said that, he's a bloody good excuse for other members of staff to hide behind when the mood suits.