Monday headaches

Technically, today went without a hitch.

My team is back to being three designers, with our 'floater' helping out on next Monday's editorial because, despite all her protestations, I don't think that magazine's designer could finish all the editorial in six days without staying late every night.

She's very good... just slow.

And, it would seem, extremely possessive.

She looked so despondant when I told her to set aside some of the simpler, more templated pages for the 'floater' that I almost wanted to let her try to do it all herself.

But, frankly, I'm a little fed up of her trying and not getting it all finished till after 5.30 on press day. She's really given me no option by taking two weeks holiday right when she should have been working on her magazine. She only does one a month now - though it does editionalise three ways - but two weeks holiday still manages to take a chunk out of her design time.

It would almost be easier if she did still have two deadlines a month because a two week holiday would guarantee she has to be covered for one deadline. Now, she can either get most of it done early (heavily dependant on the editor in question), or accept help.

I think, by the end of the day, she was happier accepting help (having complained bitterly at spending a whole half hour teaching the 'floater' her style and way of working), hopefully realising that there were now fewer pages she has to really work on now the grunt work is out of the way.

And, hell, if this means we're finished by Friday, and only have ads to worry about on Monday, so much the better.

On the downside, I started feeling quite unwell today. Possibly a cold on the way, judging by the way my nose is feeling right now. My temperature went a bit wonky after lunch and, by the time I got home, I had a rather nasty headache brewing. Only brewing, mind, and it seemed far better once I'd had a nap after dinner. Shame I wasted half my evening on that nap.

As far as my windows go, I'm assuming no news is good news... No panicked or angry phonecalls from glaziers or neighbours. And MFI are delivering a whole new drawer set to replace the faulty one... but that's arriving right at the end of the month.