It's quite unbelievable but I have been sacked! Sacked for showing too much enthusiasm and sacked because a senile old man and a moronic bigot have taken a dislike to me. It all blew up in the morning. I got up and drove into Belper after breakfast, arriving at just after 9 a.m. H wasn't there but appeared later. I got through quite a lot of copy which was really against the NUJ call to strike. Then at 11 a.m C came in and the three of us had a talk which turned into a slanging match. So C said he didn't think I was the right person for the job. The ignorant bastard I can do that job standing on my head. But that was it and I soon realised I have no future with the Belper News. Fancy being out of work just before Christmas and for no reason. It didn't take long to decide that I will not only take the matter to the NUJ but to law if necessary. I will leave no avenue unexplored in an attempt to squeeze every last penny out of C and the Belper News. That's not being vindictive as I treat people how they treat me and C is nothing more than an ignorant bastard. I insisted he put everything in writing and when I get the letter I shall be looking at it very closely to see if I can use it against him. Just after all that Adrian Evans from the police station phoned to see how I was getting on and I was glad to be able to go across and see him and have a chat and a very necessary cup of tea to bring the blood pressure down. He was astounded as were the advertising staff. Why do the nice people of this world continually have to be badly treated? I'm not quite sure how I stand on the question of pay and whether being on strike counts in my three month trial period. It might be that I will have to go back for six weeks after the strike. After getting back from the police station I decided it was time to leave, although first I had a group of youngsters in from the High School and I sat and told them how wonderful the Belper News is (hypocrite). So I cleared everything on my desk and walked out, making sure not to talk to H. In many ways when the crunch came I was relieved. There's no future for anyone in that place. I didn't come straight home but stopped at Andys for an hour and a half. Really I needed somebody to talk to. He feels I have a good reason to go to arbitration. I left there are 4 p.m and came straight home. Anne was already there, having left work early as she was upset. While there she had phoned up H and had a go at him. So it was a miserable start to the evening. Eventually I got ready and set off for Round Table business meeting at Castle Donnington. Ironically the tablers seemed more friendly than before and it was quite an enjoyable evening. It was probably good to get away from everything for a while. I had a word with Ian the solicitor and unfortunately he doesn't think I have any grounds. I left the meeting at 11 p.m and came home, had a chat with Anne and then went to sleep. Earlier in the evening we had discussed the future. Anne doesn't want to leave the area because of her job and I don't want to stay in the area. We talked about moving back to Norfolk and I am tempted to apply for a job in the UK Press Gazette with Anglia TV. I also might try to rejoin ECN. Oh what a bloody mess. I shall have to take the next few days sorting things out.