Buddy can you spare a dime...?

Meetings, meetings, meetings...I'm just waiting for my 8th meeting of the day at 5.40pm on Friday evening.

Today started with negotiations with staff reps over the NUJ pension scheme, moved on to a meeting with the union's Treasurer, straight in to the Finance Committee, followed by a lunchtime telephone conference with my counterparts in the US, Australia, Belgium, Germany and Sweden and the IFJ, then a meeting with the union's investment advisor, before heading back to back to the Finance Committee for a tough discussion on union finances, then a meeting with a researcher putting together a project on trade union international solidarity issues and finally to a meeting with Guardian Chapel reps.

It's been day dominated by bad news - pension fund deficits, a worse performance of our investments and financial difficulties. Lend us 50p for a cup of tea?

But the past 48 hours have also been dominated by industrial issues - the talks at the BBC on Wednesday which set out a timetable and agenda for continuing negotiations over the coming days, the decision to postpone industrial action in York to enable more talks to take place and the announcement of industrial action at Milton Keynes.

Tomorrow I'm off to Cardiff for the Welsh Executive Council and a discussion on recruitment and organising while on Sunday it's a chance to write my section of the annual report. Then it's Monday again..goody!