Texas

My friend and colleague Lalita has always wanted to live in Texas.

She was going to move last year, but her youngest son flatly refused to do High School - he wanted 'A' levels and so they stayed put. But now, there's been a change of plan and Lalita and her hubby are off to Texas on September 12th.

Cue scenes of great grieving in our office! We are going to miss her like mad, and this week has just been a complete washout, workwise. The man-size box of tissues on my desk is nearly empty, her desk is covered with cards (plus a fluffy pink elephant and a box of Ferrero Rocher - they make great talking points at rodeos).

Lal has been part of the team for 6 years, so everyone is feeling pretty down. She's always been the really sweet one, good at her job and general all-round good sort.

The upside to this has been the Media Centre compilation DVD. It's a bit of a tradition, if you leave the Media Centre then they will produce a DVD full of in-jokes and much piss-taking.

Eddie (Head of Unit) had his Edwardian spoof, which involves the Queen, Michael Palin-style travel and...er...trifle, and previous works included the shameless rip-off 'Little Media' and the Crimewatch spoof ("vegetarian" exposed as meat dealer, pushing Bovril to the students in the editing suites). They had less warning for Lal, and she would have been very embarrassed, so they concentrated on a lovely "Wanted" poster instead.

So now we are all putting on the smiley faces, making the jokes and wondering how we feel when we roll in on Monday and Lal isn't here to greet us.

What's the carbon footprint on a flight to Texas?