Well, after all the stress last year of getting a new job then having to write out a job description for it within a couple of months, work have decided that they don't want to pay all the secretaries so are seeing who they can axe. We've had to make a big list of all the clinics we type and the extra stuff... problem is, I have a clinic secretary for all my clinic stuff, so according to the form I only work about 1-2 hours a week!

However, when I did my final list I found I spent at least one working day on the phone (wow, I do talk!) and that's not including the "sweet old lady" calls - you know, the old dears who don't have anyone to talk to, so call me and tell me about their childhoods until I remind them about 10 times that their call had a purpose and did they want to ask me something about their medication/appointment? - I can be on the phone for about an hour with one of those people!

My job should be safe, as if they sack me in the next year and a half I can say it's pregnancy discrimination and they have to provide a job for me to come back to, but even so it's a right pain to have to do!

Just wondered if anyone else got so much hassle from managers with nothing to do about what their job entails and, when you look at it, how much time do you all spend chatting to clients, relatives of clients, people asking advice and chasing stuff, and also people demanding stuff rudely! I get at a couple of rude ones every week, which is very demoralising.

Also who is your favourite person to talk to? I do love my little old ladies, I admit - it's so nice to hear about Ireland in the 1920s or what someone's grandchild is doing that could be related to grandma's problem (it invariably isn't).