The joys of being a member of the online world...

So. I have been so slack about my correspondence lately that it's even starting to annoy me, let alone any of the people who have been patiently - or not so patiently, in some cases - waiting to hear back from me about what has been happening over here in sunny London. And yes, it was sunny. For two days. Then the rain came back. And today winter made its long awaited return. So I thought I would as well. Because there have been many things happening in the world of Killi. One or two of them were even good.

I entered the world of facebook way back at the start of the year. I'm quite proud of the fact that I got involved before it REALLY took off as a global phenomenon, and was on there before the race for the most friends began. I was on it so long ago that I was over it before people started having pets, before someone started a group with the goal of getting enough members to persuade his wife to name their possible future child 'Spiderpig'. I was on it when it was still impossible to get onto it from my workplace, in the days before pressure from office pets persuaded our usually grumpy IT manager to let us have free access to the wonders, and therefore before the need for another group - 'Facebook is going to get my arse FIRED!' And now I can lay claim to another early first. I'm the first of my group of friends to be rejected as a result of what has been posted about them on Facebook. Yes, that's right. Someone pulled out of a date. His last words to me (by text message) were 'I've requested you as a friend'. He hasn't been heard from since. I'm not too hurt by this - although it does sting a little that someone seeing you in some truly appalling photos can decide to severe all ties. And given that he's still one of my friends and I get regular updates on the new girls he adds to his friends I've noticed that they are all girls), I'm kind of glad that my doubts about him proved right. But you still have to wonder...what has it about what he saw there that made him change his mind? He'd certainly been keen enough in the days before that!

Facebook has caused a greater closeness between me and several colleagues, though. People I never would have put as firends have requested access to my profile in the race to see who can add the most people to their lists. It creates something of a dilemma. What do you do when someone you really don't like, and don't want to grant access to, requests you? When this happened with one co-worker, it was a good thing that I could give him only limited access, even though I really wanted to simply ignore him. Another I was saved from having to do even that much be her "voluntary" departure from the company.

In fact, that particular colleague's departure was celebrated for more than getting rid of a potential online annoyance. She was painful to be around on many levels, kind of like a caar crash that repeats itself daily before your eyes. She was someone with serious problems that she brought with her into the office, if only in the tremors of her hands when she was sober and the reek of alcohol when she wasn't. Now the guys I work with can safely leave their beers uncovered without worrying that she will slip something into it. Directors can meet clients without being regaled with stories of her exploits with them in the back of taxis. Wives can let husbands head to work without worrying that they will be seduced. And my team can get through a day without hearing our name screeched from the door of the office. Yes, some good things have happened this month.

But, London being London, there is always something else in the offing to distract from the things that have happened the day before. Within hours of the leaving party for the nutbag we'd dubbed Screechy, I was off to Cambridge to enjoy a race meeting at nearby Newmarket, and planning a punting expedition on the Cam. A great weekend? Yes, it was. Even if there was no Facebook to get the group of actual friends through it, and we didn't discuss who had the most 'friends'. In fact, it was a great weekend even though it bucketed down in true English style all day Sunday and washed away our punting plan. For great rainy day entertainment, don't worry about firing up the computer. Go and see Jason Bourne in the Bourne Ultimatum, then figure out just how on earth he was still alive at the end of the film...talk about a superhero...