Returning to duty with Mid Suffolk Liberal Democrats...

Having sat the exam, pruned my portfolio of activities somewhat, and recovered from the jetlag that followed our fabulous holiday - and no, I didn't wish that most of you were there - I can finally settle down to catching up with the stuff that needs catching up with.

First on my list is my Treasurer work, in part nailing down the 2013 accounts for Bury St Edmunds Local Party, but also setting things up for its successors, Mid Suffolk and St Edmundsbury/Forest Heath. And it is now that you realise just how unhelpful some people can be - failing to provide critical information, failing to forward documents that you really should have had a year ago or, in the case of Party HQ, not replying at all.

So, why bother? Well, despite my increasing disenchantment with Liberal Democrats 'over there', my respect and admiration for my local colleagues remains undimmed. And, regardless of how I feel otherwise, they deserve my support, so I carry on regardless.

There is an advantage to the relative anonymity of bureaucracy, I suppose, in that if I decide to give something up, hardly anyone notices. Alright, perhaps people notice if the things you were doing aren't being done any more, or have to be done by them instead, but generally, you can slip off quietly. But, when it's your friends, who you see frequently, and who campaign for values you share, it's so much harder to walk away.

So, with cheque book in hand, bank statements filed and bookkeeping training to the forefront, I'd better get on...