The day today

...was a mixed bag really.

The PR people were kind enough to pick up the phone this morning and apologise for bunging me on their mailing list without checking if I was interested. Although they kept insisting that they'd got my email addy from Gorkana. Funny that, as the email address at which they spammed me has never been on Gorkana. Ever.

And then, of course, Gorkana contacted me to say they'd heard I was receiving press releases at the wrong email address... Sighing, I picked up the phone and rang Gorkana to tell them I'd never had any problem receiving emails from them at the wrong address.Hmmm, wonder who told Gorkana, anyway? No prizes for guessing who. But if the PR person had read my website properly in the first place, all this grief could have been avoided. And the PRs wonder why us hacks get so, erm, hacked off with them at times...

So that was half a day gone.

I also lost 30 minutes on a totally pointless IM chat with a foreign client. The person I spoke to is not even my client, but just works for my client. Nevertheless, he engaged me in a conversation about a minor point of grammar where I had changed the original copy. I kept explaining I didn't have time to chat and no, I was not going to explain it by email later in the week either. I just about managed to rein in my rudeness but ended the chat enraged at the waste of time and being questioned over my editorial decisions by someone who only speaks my language as a non-native speaker. Obviously not a good day for keeping my temper.

I got no work done today. The IM chat, the PR nonsense and, oh yeah, the discovery that a Guardian piece of mine had been plagiarised on 2 websites (necessitating the sending of threatening emails demanding removal or compensation for breaching my copyright) ruined my day.

Now I have to produce 1,500 words by teatime tomorrow and I haven't called anyone yet for quotes, I've done no research and I'll be winging it all the way. All I need now is a seizure to really wreck my working week.