It’s 9am monday morning.

I was woken by the sound of various people rattling the bathroom door handle. And no, I’d not gone to sleep on the floor by the toilet (but I can name others who have). I felt a rising sense of foreboding. It was a bit like deja vue – but no, the bathroom door has previous form. Not at 8am on a Monday morning though.
Somehow, during the night, the bathroom door has locked itself. Last time this happened, it was the day after our flatmate Marco had moved in. For a tense hour or so, Jack & I thought that we might find someone collapsed on the floor.

I share a house with 5 other people. And none of us can shower, clean our teeth or go to the loo till we can get back into the bathroom. Mike is annoyed. Tiago has gone to work. I have a meeting at 11.

Mike has gone up the road to borrow a ladder of some neighbours. He is half asleep, angry, and suffering from hay feaver. He looks like a criminal. No-one is answering the door to him. I wouldn’t either. So I’m forced to go out on the street in my pyjamas – looking for the sympathy vote/ladder. Funnily enough, people open the door to me, and lend me their ladder. Unfortunately, Mike broke a rib after the football a couple of weeks ago, so he’s not able to climb through the window. Our Czech flatmate Martin, volunteers to give it a go. This is not an easy job, and he is wearing shorts. It is a very small window, and presently seems a very long way up. His girlfriend/parents will be very cross if we damage him. I decide to stand underneath so I can attempt to catch him if he falls. I’m quite big, hence not being in charge of going through the window myself, but I’ll make myself useful by providing some cushioning if there’s a fall. Luckily I’m not necessary.

So, mission successful. It’s now 9.50. I have my first meeting at 11 with Enviro-Innovate at TIC. I merely have to get ready, get there and look like a super professional business woman who knows exactly what she’s doing. Easy peasy.

Stupido has just jumped on the computer to remind me I need to feed the cats as well. Right. Better get a wriggle on.

So back from meeting with Ian Bernard at TIC. Apparently Ebop can work with sole traders, which is my current status. I have the paperwork for becoming a company limited by guarantee, however I’m going to sign this when I need to, ie when I have to take on liabilities or have funds start coming in. I’m reluctant to take on any expense at the moment.

Ian Bernard told me about Ebop (environmental business opportunities) and EnviroInnovate and we talked through bog & some aspects of KEEP (he signed a confidentiality agreement about this). It was useful to speak to someone with an engineer background (engineers are from Mars, entrepreneurs are from Venus – but at least I now know that). He had looked at my marcoms materials and couldn’t see exactly how bog would for from these. I need to produce a PID – process instrumentation diagram. Currently bog can be described as ‘black box’ – it’s a mystery what’s going on in there. I’m hoping that the Ian Robertson & the Manufacturing Advisory Service will be able to help me produce a process diagram which will make engineers feel comfortable about the project.

I need to put Ian Bernard in touch with Paul Billinge from Ecological Property Services, as he has provided working models of a reed bed filtration system.

Does anyone out there want to swap some very nice marketing materials for a very accurate process diagram (PID)? I can supply the former.

Still have a list of contacts to inform of my new company name/email address (I’m really pleased with it, so glad it has an obvious meaning & is easy to repeat, Osiris Vision was often met with Uh?). I hope I can get hold of June Campbell & Sharon Smith, who were both on the steering committee of Women In Business, London Chapter with me. Also, I’d like to get hold of the journalist Philip Kleinman.

Spoke to Ian Robertson at MAS – he said he’d look at my spec for the roof system today or tomorrow. If I get a process diagram (PID) started, I’m sure he’ll be more favourable towards the project.

Lunch with Rachel, who was visiting from London. We went to Wagamamas & there were no flies in the soup this time. Bart is back from Australia, I really want to meet up with him before he goes back, need to remind Rachel to pass on a working email address for him.
Tired in evening, probably from the brilliant two rivers folk festival we went to at the weekend – Keith Donnelly was fantastic, I’d love to sing his ‘everybody wants to be a bear’ at summer playscheme. They also had lovely banners on the streets – made by local people from plastic offcuts. Really good idea which again, I’d like to borrow for a summer playscheme, or maybe we could make them for the Moseley Folk festival?

Just time to make some paper and watch a terrible disaster film about locusts before bed.