The wandering organist

To update on the HMRC side, I have completed their self-employment assessor programme and it clearly says Self-Employed. I have spoken to three different HMRC people, one a specialist, who all say I am self-employed. It would seem that the Diocese is the originator of this, but I haven't been well enough (damn cold and now a cough which has revealed yes, I do have a diaphragm and that's there I'm breathing from) to ring him and ask for his source of knowledge on this point. Anyway, playing at one church today where, in the past, I used to turn up and there was a cheque ready and waiting every time. Now I turn up and I'm lucky to be paid two or three weeks later. I just think of the cost of the stamps and envelopes and think "this could be better organised". I am the last person to criticise others on their organisational skills. But late payment can cause overdrafts. More anon.

Back again to St John, Findon this morning, and a Fambly Service which, with voluntaries (Bach, von Paradis arr Macdonald, and Charpentier) thrown in free, worked out at £12.50 per hymn. To dark and wet to take a picture of a splendid pine tree with all its cones on, so will try to pop back soon and get it before they get blown/rained off their branches. Lovely to look at whilst I sat in the car, listening to A Point of View, with Howard Jacobson on Difficulty . Update on the Revenue situation: Despite having called them twice, and been promised a 72-hour (3-day, to you and me) callback twice, I'm still waiting for them. Apparently they don't have enough Technical Experts any more. Bearing in mind my own experience of DWP Voluntary Release schemes, this doesn't surprise me. Recently they offfered VR to all the computer experts whilst advertising for more. We now have no-one actually closer than 20 miles away to sort out any server problems. Oh well. Only 21 months to go.