Andy78

Happy Birthday Robert. I got you a cake. Blow out the candles and make a wish.

That's a problem that is being faced by so many NHS hospitals here in the UK (my own hospital is now around £80 million in the red). In order to avoid wide scale redundancies, many jobs have been regraded which has lead to a reduction in pay (thankfully my job is funded at a national level so I'm not affected). Many hospitals over here are now cutting external contracts and directly employing the relevant staff themselves. My hospital recently decided to employ its own catering team instead of using the contractor any longer, and we have (allegedly) managed to save a predicted £100k. It really sucks to be in the position of firing people. Of course, when they tell you to fire people, they mean the ordinary workers; God forbid you suggest firing one of the managers, or one of the board members. In my hospital, you could either fire ten ordinary workers or one senior manager - guess which our COO would prefer?

Thanks for the review Wayne. I've had a few really odd dreams when being doped up in the past, so that influenced this little story.

Jason had been caught in a terrible storm on his way back home from what was already being called ‘the party of the century’; and if there was one thing Michael Tayler really knew how to do, it was throw a party. Jason had enjoyed numerous amorous encounters with at least half a dozen different young ladies who attended the same high school he did. He had even been brave enough to approach Sasha, the school’s resident ice queen; though she had told him where to go, how to get there, and to get

167 looks really interesting. The list of words are always fun, and I already have an idea for this one. Hope you have a very happy non-birthday today Trebs

Welcome Yaz. There's a ton of stuff to read here.

A great tip on beta reading Dark. As Cia says, making sure you have the time to commit to deadlines is very important. One of the reasons I've avoided volunteering for anything with tight deadlines; I know I'm just too busy.

I've read a couple other stories by Skylights, but not this one. Maybe tomorrow if I have the time.

These interviews are a great feature for the blog - I don't think there are many other writing sites that allow you to get quite so up close and personal with the authors. I'd like to see more of them happen.

Congrats on the new book Nephy

I'm more the pee-ee as opposed to the pee-er. I wouldn't say no to being pee'd on by Mr Efron.

For me the golden oldies is the 50s and 60s. Anything past 1990 sounds like obscene noise to me. I know, I was born thirty years too late Apart from anything by Abba, my favourites would have to be: Lily the Pink (The Scaffold 1968) Hi Ho Silver Lining (Jeff Beck 1967) Wig Wam Bam (The Sweet 1965) Waterloo Sunset (The Kinks 1967) Pretty Flamingo (Manfred Mann 1966) Message to Martha (Adam Faith 1965) Gilly Gilly Ossenfeffer Katzenellen Bogen By The Sea (Max Bygraves 1954) Kites (Simon Dupree 1967)

Happy anniversary MJ. Yep, time sure does fly here

Hi Stuart, Welcome to GA. I'm from London, and have stories posted here. As NotNoNever said, Nephylim is probably the most prominent UK writer here. But anything written by any of the authors here are more than worth reading. Off the top of my head, I guess there must be about twenty authors on site from the UK who are currently posting stories. There are also UK members who are not authors, but you'll regularly come across in the forums.

Ooh a jail break. How very A-Team of Mia So Mia thinks this solves everything? She now has the gay father of her child and his boyfriend with her. And I'm sure Tib made a pretty girl.

Another great chapter Cassie. Good for Chad for at least trying to protect Tibial. I love the double standard that although homosexuality is illegal, the law is willing to forgive it for those who can still produce offspring.

One of the great things about reading this story now, is I only have a few seconds until I get to read to the next chapter The ending was a bolt out the blue, no build up to it at all. It works really well.

Not sure why my review from Chapter 6 was a blank It continues to be a great story Cassie and I'm really enjoying it. I hope Tib and Chad find a way to be happy together, but then I'm a hopeless romantic. So Tib may get "re-educated" if they are caught? I shudder at the thought if just what those places might be like.

Another great chapter chapter Cassie. Really well written, and I love the way you slowly build the relationship between Tib and Chad. I can't imagine Terrassa standing for Tib competing for Chad's affections if/when she finds out.

I'm not sure who to feel more sorry for, Tib or Mia. If Mia does get pregnant, what kind of a partner and father will Tib make if he doesn't love her, and feels forced to stay with her for the sake of any children. You write the growing attraction between Tib and Chad really well. Part of me wonders if that attraction would even be there if it wasn't for the ritual.

Thanks for reading and reviewing. Glad you liked it.

Thanks for the review. I actually spent a long time trying to get this story just right. This is one I'd love to continue, but it's just finding the time.

I might continue this one, but it won't be for a while. I've got far too much on the go at present

Jackson started at my school last year and we immediately became friends, though our friendship was a challenge in the beginning as he is deaf. Nine years ago, when he was four years old, he contracted mumps, and he was one of the unlucky one in every fifteen thousand who suffer from permanent deafness as a complication. He is a skilled lip reader and, very fortunately, has retained a normal speaking voice, so unless he told you, or if he wasn’t looking at you when you were speaking, you would