http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/home.aspJohn Ball's Diary & latest updates | Bedfordshire on Sundayen-gbWed, 10 Mar 2010 00:20:59 GMTLocal Sunday Newspapers Ltd 200760Work experience girl Angela Biondillo is keen to impress so when an ambulance pulls up just outside of Bedfordshire on Sunday offices she flies straight out the door to find out what is going on. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=482241Fri, 5 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMTA colleague receives a text message from a cheeky friend today prodding fun at a sporting star going through the tabloids at the minute. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=482240Fri, 5 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMTA member of staff pops out of the office in Mill Street, Bedford for a spot of lunch. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=482238Fri, 5 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMTArthur Smith, from BBC’S One Show, is in town, soliciting views from a variety of people ...http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=480539Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMTMany people would see leaving your Christmas decorations up after twelfth night as being a touch unlucky but that doesn’t appear to bother Bedford Borough Council one bit as the ...http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=480537Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMTTwo friends have just returned from a week in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt but they were far from glowing about the Gardenia Plaza Resort where they briefly stayed. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=480536Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMTWeb Editor James Cunliffe gets an email from his car insurer telling him his premium is due for renewal next month. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=478881Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMTGreat joy at the East of England newspaper awards at Stansted where our colleague Lui Straccia picks up a journalist of the year accolade. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=478880Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMTLocal snapper Tony Margiocchi is doing a tour of Bedford when he spots something a little unnerving ...http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=478879Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMTA woman calls the office to find out if there are any local celebrities who would be willing to open a village fete. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=478878Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMTThere was the predictable uproar when some of the chain supermarkets put Easter eggs on sale just into the New Year. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=477239Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMTReporter Lawrence John, who works on our sister paper the Northampton Herald and Post, tells the office about three DVDs that Santa Claus brought him. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=477238Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMTTwo friends have been away for a weekend break in Lisbon. Full of good cheer, they return to third world UK where their spirits soon evaporate ...http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=477237Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMTI arrive home to find Balls major and minor laying on the sofas watching Family Guy, still not dressed. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=475586Fri, 8 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMTReporter Lawrence John, who works on our sister paper the Northampton Herald and Post, spies an unusually apt sign. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=475585Fri, 8 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMTI catch up with a former councillor whose Christmas party I had previously attended. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=475584Fri, 8 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMTYou can take the girl out of Bedford, but not Bedford out of the girl ...http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=475583Fri, 8 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMTI offer to take Mrs Ball and the little Balls out for something to eat this evening, so long as it is cheap and cheerful. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=473064Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMTA friend from Putnoe assures me her Christmas spirit would definitely last longer than the tree she bought from Homebase in Bedford ...http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=473063Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMTI am walking into work this morning, having decided not to trust my driving on the snowy roads. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=472077Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMTI arrive home tonight to find Mrs Ball chuckling to herself while reading a letter. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=472075Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMTI bump into Bedford Blues’ forwards coach Martin Hynes after the game against Plymouth and he is looking very well compared to the last time I saw him. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=472074Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMTOur intrepid reviewer and editor of Living Locally, Judy Riley, gets some stick today. A letter arrives saying that her review of a north Beds pub restaurant, the Cock Inn at Pavenham, was unfair. Judy may be many things but is never unfair or unbalanced in her reviews. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=469061Fri, 4 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMTIt may not always be a good idea to post early for Christmas ...http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=469059Fri, 4 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMTI get a press release from the East Midlands rural watchdog, the Country Land and Business Association (CLA). It is urging people to think carefully before they buy a horse. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=469058Fri, 4 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMTOutside our window it looks as though the world is about to end, with rain lashing against the panes, spurred on by a force 10 gale. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=469057Fri, 4 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMTI nip home lunchtime as Ball junior is not very well and I want to check on him. I get home to find the kitchen windows wide open and the radiators pouring out heat. I ask if he is all right and why the windows are open. He says not too bad and that he was feeling hot. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=467327Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMTMP Patrick Hall’s wife Claudia couldn’t have picked a better time to call her husband. She stopped outside Marks and Spencer in the centre of Bedford to phone Mr Hall. As she was leaving a message for her busy husband, the street light just yards in front of her crashed down, almost hitting an elderly couple as detailed in our story last week. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=467326Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMTA reader refers us to Three Counties Radio section on the BBC website where there is a list of 21 local papers and links. Interestingly, there is at least one particular title that they have chosen to ignore. Oh well, no point plugging the real opposition http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=467325Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMTFriends return from a long haul holiday. All goes well until they arrive at Gatwick North where the plane exit ramp is stuck and they and 300 others are trapped on the aircraft for 45 minutes as attempts are made to fix it. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=467322Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMTI walk out of the back office to find a borough council manager emptying our bins ...http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=465600Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMTMiss Ball gets a letter from her doctor, in the Lansdowne Road, Bedford practice. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=465599Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMTI hear today that the new Bedford borough mayor Dave Hodgson is getting out and about meeting some of the council workers who do the dirty jobs, such as street cleaning and emptying our dustbins. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=465598Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMTGroup editor Lowe is at the Society of Editors conference. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=465597Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMTReporter Simon Hutchinson is supporting Movember by growing a tash of his own but he has become surprisingly conscious of how his Zapata looks. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=463650Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMTA colleague provides a hysterical insight into his wider family’s affairs. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=463649Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMTThe following note is sent out to all members of Bedford BID, which includes the borough mayor, and several leading businessmen and councillors: ‘Just a reminder that there will be a special Board meeting on Wednesday 11 November, 10am -11am , Bedford Swan Hotel. This is a special meeting to discuss the proposal for the High Street including the submission for a Townscape Heritage Grant. http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=463647Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMTThe mayor’s limo on double yellows? (see picture right) Surely not one law for us and another for our rulers? ...http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=463646Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMTThose with bad heads (see Wednesday’s Ball) wondered exactly what date it was when they staggered into the office to read a rival publication belting out ‘Day of Destiny’ on its front page, relating to the Mayoral vote. Don’t panic lads – and girl – it wasn’t that much of a bender, the vote is this Thursdayhttp://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=455248Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMTBOS editorial staff like to support local initiatives which is why they turn out in numbers on day one of the annual Bedford Beer festival – minus editor Chris Gill, ...http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=455247Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMTCouncillor and rowing club regular John Mingay nips into the office today to drop off some information about Sunday’s regatta and have a little natter about the mayoral elections ...http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-columns-johnballs/displayarticle.asp?id=455246Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT