Log
Tuesday 1st February 2005
I've been working so much i can hardly think of anything even remotely interesting to write here. Had a good night tonight with an old friend, a couple of drinks and a chat. We hadn't seen each other for ages so it was really good to catch up, i think we'll try and see a bit more of each other now.
I was going to write something about a subject that came up on Yay Hooray! earlier, but i've lost interest now, so no one will really care about that at all.
I've been playing the World Of Warcraft beta a bit over the last few days, I've never played any MMORPGs before but this one seemed like it might be good. I used to play the old Warcrafts, obviously this is completely different, but still... I haven't spent too long in it, but what i've played so far is very cool.
Thursday 3rd February 2005
I know all i seem to be talking about is work lately, but i'm still going to go on about it a bit more now. I was planning on working late all this week to get some extra things done. I worked late monday, then i ended up having plans tuesday (which i can say was much better than working), then worked late again wednesday. Today i drove in again but by the end of the day i was so knackered i just couldn't stay any longer. It wouldn't be so bad if i didn't know i had a 40 minute drive home.
I used to work 9-10 hour days a lot when i worked on a helpdesk, sometimes even 11 hour days. But i lived 5 minutes from work. Same thing goes for saturdays, i never used to mind going to work saturday morning, it was just an extra bit of cash and only a few minutes from home. Now i have over an hour of driving there and back. It's not a huge deal, i love my job, and wouldn't actually mind doing more hours - it's just too tiring.
I'm trying to arrange to go see Meet the Fockers over the weekend, it looks like it should be funny (i can't remember if i've already mentioned this on here now??). Meet the Parents is a brilliant movie, and the title of this one is just inspired. I heard somewhere that the producers actually had to find someone with the surname Focker to be able to use it for the title of the movie, i remember them saying they found some in Canada. Ha, Pamela Martha Focker, haahaha!
Saturday 5th February 2005
Right, i'm at work again, on a saturday, again. It's not all bad, i've just managed to get a few bugs fixed - kind of things i don't get round to doing during the week. That is, i managed to do that once we actually got into the building. Yeah.
I got here about 10 to 9 and the gate was still locked, that's cool, no one starts till 9. One of the support guys turns up, but he isn't a keyholder either so we wait. The keyholder turns up and i get out to give him a hand with opening the gate. He gets the chain off, but WTF. The pins that go into the ground are bent at the bottom and are pushed into the concrete. As far as we can tell, it looks like someone has rammed the gate, but it must have been pretty big, maybe a truck turning (it is only a small driveway infront of the gate and is on a small country lane). Anyway, we couldn't open it so we had to leave our cars outside the gate and climb over the wall. Oh yes, it's all go here!!
We should see what happened monday, there is a camera pointing straight at the gate. Watch this space.
Sunday 6th February 2005
So yesterday i left my car outside the gates at work, because we couldn't open them. When i got back to it after work i found a leaflet on my windscreen titled 'Why You Can Trust The Bible'. Are you kidding me? My car was left on a driveway on a country road and it gets this crap put on it? I know they say God works in mysterious ways, but come on.
Today i went to see Meet The Fockers, it was very good. I was expecting it to be good which normally makes it end up being a dissapointment. I'd usually go in with low expectations and that would make the movie better, but it was really funny. Also managed to go shopping, but i'm so useless that i only got a couple of things.
Back to work again tomorrow, these weekends fly by when i work on saturday as well
Monday 7th February 2005
Holy hell, i just re-read my entry from yesterday and it doesn't really make much sense at all. I did it just before i went to bed and it was getting late. Oh well, better than if i write a drunken one and have to delete it the next day. I never do that, by the way. ever.
No surprise i'm kind of tired today. Did quite a bit yesterday with shopping, the cinema and cooking for someone - i actually enjoy cooking now, look at me, i'm growing! Then i stayed up to watch Conair. I love that movie! Shame i missed like the whole first hour... I should get that on dvd some time.
Freezing this morning. Although i still didn't have to de-ice my car, it's weird, i've only done that 2 or 3 times this winter?! Last year i spent longer defrosting the car than driving the thing. Must be that global warming.
Monday 7th February 2005
I didn't say about the gate at work earlier. The gate was open when we got in this morning, but it had just been pushed open - hard - and just made big ruts in the driveway. nice.
Something funny happened at work, well, it was funny to me. The cleaner - they call them cleaners, but they don't really do much - was cleaning the desk behind me. Now, the ceiling is slanted as we're in the attic just where she was and she was spraying some of the crap that she sprays on EVERYTHING. Suddenly the fire bell right by her head went off, and she practically jumped out of her tabard (argh, ugly thought) and you could tell she thought she set it off from the spraying. Ha! Turns out it was someone downstairs sparking up a cigarette near a fire alarm.
There's nothing on tv tonight.
Tuesday 8th February 2005
Bloody work, i swear it's all i talk about! It was mental today, that's all i'm going to say.
I had someone come round and actually cook me dinner tonight! I didn't pay for it or anything like that... She was just returning the favour for when i cooked the other night. It was very nice, but she did leave me with the washing up.
And i completely forgot it was pancake day today when i went shopping yesterday, so i had no pancakes tonight. I used to make pancakes all the time, and i wasn't too bad at it. I even had some maple syrup... i'm going to buy some pancake stuff when i go shopping next, just to make up for it.
Wednesday 9th February 2005
I finally got my car booked in for it's service on saturday. It's been crying out for one for about 3,000 miles! And i thought i'd better get it done before i drive up to Nottingham to see Barry at the weekend. Now all i need is a new set of shocks and springs, and a new pair of front tyres.
That's it.
Thursday 10th February 2005
I got my hair cut today in the hairdressers downstairs, i really should make my mind up and ask one of the girls out - problem is there's too many to choose from! I've narrowed it down to 2 (yes, this is what i think about when i'm sat in the chair). The first one is the girl that cut my hair the other time, she has a little girl but i'm not sure how old she is, i'm also not sure if she is already taken. But, she is really cool, funny and we didn't stop talking the other night at their anniversary do. The other girl is younger, i'm guessing 18/19, i didn't get to speak to her too much the other night but she did make an effort to talk to me as i was saying my goodbyes. She is also hot and i'm fairly sure she is available.
Man, this is one boring subject, i bet nobody reads this far, i'm just writing my thoughts - i find it's always easier to think about things if you write (type) them down.
One last thought before i get to sleep. Don't eat toast in bed.
Friday 11th February 2005
Today was quite eventful. I took my Gran to the hospital for a checkup, we sat in the waiting room for a good hour and a half. Luckily there was this one hot, blonde nurse that kept walking through the waiting area, that kept me entertained throughout. I had started to think that all nurses were now old and ugly, today has restored my faith in the NHS. Gran is all OK, by the way. All clear. Got to go back in 4 months.
Earlier in the week an email was sent around work to say that all smoking had been banned in the building - mainly due to the fire alarm earlier in the week and the fire brigage coming out again. I read the email and thought "YES!" finally i won't go home smelling like i smoke 40 a day. I read further to find out that it was all areas except the smoking room in the Internet department, that's right, the room that is 4 feet to the left of my desk. I decided it was time to make a stand and exercise my right to work in a smoke free environment. And today it happened! The building is now a smoke free building. I'll probably be the most unpopular person at work for a bit, but i'll stand my ground, there's no argument. It was going to happen eventually anyway, it also means that it might help some people quit smoking if they have to go outside in the cold and wet. Who knows.
Next week i really need to catch up on some private work, problem is recently with the amount of work i'm doing the last thing i want to do when i get home is sit down and stare at some more code. It's got to be done.
I got through £60 worth of iTunes vouchers today! I won them in a competition and i've got all of £12 left now. It's in the process of downloading about 6 hours worth of music, comes down pretty fast. Then i'll have to see if i can transfer it to my laptop.
My copy of World of Warcraft didn't arrive today, play.com says it was posted wednesday, so might arrive tomorrow before i head up to Nottingham. If it does i'll take it up, Barry is gagging to play it again and his copy hasn't arrived yet either. I'll have to ration my time on that game though, it could be dangerous. I was looking at their website earlier, looks like they're having major problems with creating new accounts, so even if i did have my copy doesn't look like i could start playing.
And lastly for you people that have arrived here from msn search looking for "how to make pancakes" - i just buy pancake mix and follow the instructions, use some initiative people!!
Sunday 13th February 2005
Got my car serviced yesterday, no problems and it's running much better now. The garage also said that they've no problem putting on shocks if i get them myself. So i'll be doing that soon, it's getting desperate.
It was really windy driving up to Nottingham yesterday, people were getting blown all over the place on the M1. I actually thought that the service hadn't made much of a difference, but on the drive back down today there was no wind and my car was performing a lot better. I made it back down in record time.
I helped Barry put up his new fireplace, and we only had one screw left over! I'm certain they messed up though, in one part of the instructions it actually looked like they just cut and pasted a bit from before so it had the wrong number of screws. I drilled some holes in his wall, we put up the marble, hung the mantel and stuck the heater in - job done. And it looks very nice, i'm jealous i don't have anywhere for a fireplace.
Monday 14th February 2005
Valentines Day today. But i don't have anyone to give any card or present to - bring out the violins. I'm not that bothered though, most of the people i've spoken to aren't that bothered this year. It's just turning out to be more and more about money.
Not a lot happened today.
Happy Valentines Day anyway.
Wednesday 16th February 2005
Every now and then i actually read something someone has written on the web which sticks with me. It's not always something very exciting. Actually, it's rarely exciting, it's just true. Take this entry from mariaria's blog on YH. She mentions about how the image that we display of ourselves on the internet rarely gives anything real away. Anybody who comes here that doesn't know me in real life doesn't get to know me by reading my log and following other links to my profiles elsewhere and posts that i've made to forums. What they do get is an image of the what i have portrayed almost purposefully. However, i think i have given a lot away here in the, what, 6 months i've really been writing here.
Last night i had invited the same girl round that was round last tuesday (pancake day). This time i was actually well prepared. She cooked lasagna, which was lovely, and i made dessert - pancakes and icecream!! I hadn't made pancakes for years, i think i did alright. I didn't have any complaints, but then what girl would complain when she's given pancakes and icecream?
I bet this means i come back up as number 1 on msn when people search for "how to make pancakes".
Thursday 17th February 2005
Last night i decided i'd use the last of my eggs that i had from making pancakes to have a go at making an omelette. I'd never made on before, i knew it was easy, just never bothered to. Wasn't too bad, i almost burnt it though. Today i made another one - practice makes perfect, eh? - and i added cheese and ham, it was really nice! My cooking skills are really coming on.
Friday again already tomorrow. The weeks are just flying by this year, it'll be march soon! I'll be working again saturday, i've got loads to do before monday when we hopefully go live with our new system.
I've got a bit of headache now, i'm going to bed.
Friday 18th February 2005
That bit of a headache i had last night got worse, a lot worse. I woke up very early this morning and it was banging, i tried to just sleep it off but ended up dropping a couple of strong painkillers. The painkillers are still working now. As anyone who gets regular headaches knows, you can still feel it there when you're drugged up on painkillers. I don't get them that often any more, they've become a lot less frequent over the last year or so.
I can't believe it's friday, i've a got a few plans for the weekend. I'll be at work tomorrow morning, and should be having a drink with a friend in the afternoon that i haven't seen for a while. We've both been really busy this year and haven't had a chance to catch up.
As i'm trying to save as much money as possible i'll probably just stay in most of the weekend and get on with WoW. And maybe catch up on some of the sleep that that game has made me lose this week.
Sunday 20th February 2005
Not a bad weekend. Worked yesterday morning again, got a lot done - hopefully enough so that we can go live tuesday!
I met up for lunch with a friend after work, it was only quick though because she had an appointment to get her hair cut. We're going to see about doing something next weekend when we'll have more time. Still nice pub that we went to, it was near Tring, and i remember the first time i saw that pub was when i was about 10 or 11. My year at school walked from Bridgewater School Berkhamsted to a hostel in Ivinghoe and walking a long the canel i vividly remember that pub. They wouldn't let us in, i remember that too. That was also the trip that i frist asked a girl out! Ha, i just remembered that!! I wonder if Tanya would ever read this, i bet she'd laugh about it. She said no, and continued to say no until i finished school - it's funny now i look back, but i was pretty torn up about it!
As i'm really short of any cash for going out and stuff i spent the rest of the weekend play WoW. I think i'm getting RSI from it. But what else is there that can bring me and my brother together to kill things for fun? exactly. nothing.
This week's going to be BUSY. yes that's with a capitol B, U, S and Y.
Tuesday 22nd February 2005
So it snowed today, not tons but a quite a bit. Luckily it didn't settle, i don't fancy a 3 and a half hour trip to work this year. Not at all. But at least it's starting to get lighter on the way home, it'll be nice to drive home in the daylight once summer gets here!
Absolutely mental day at work today - all this work talk will stop soon, i hope - tomorrow is the big day.
Didn't get up to a lot tonight, just watching CSI before i get off to bed.
So, i think i wrote about the door downstairs, the one in the shop that slams when it shuts and shakes the building? Yeah, i'm sure i did. Anyway, i went down there to get some eggs (actually turned out they didn't have eggs so went to the co-op anyway) and i asked the guy if he'd spoken to the manager. Seriously, this guy hardly speaks any english, i'm not being a git or anything, he just doesn't speak very good english at all. I managed to get it through to him and he said that he will speak to the manager again tomorrow, apparantly the manager is only there between 8.30 and 5 or something, and i'm very rarely here around that sort of time. They want to get it sorted or i'll be writing a letter to either the manager or the lease holders - i'm sure they wouldn't be happy about the door shaking the whole structure and disturbing the residents.
Thursday 24th February 2005
Did i miss something? Is smoking cool again?
I went over to the shop to get some stuff for dinner and on the square there were a few kids, probably about 11 or 12 years old, and as i walk past the smallest of them asks "could you by us 10 fags?". I haven't heard that for years! and i was so shocked that i couldn't even think of anything witty to say, i just said something like "i don't think so". I've never smoked, not even been tempted. I couldn't tell you why but i just don't see the temptation at all, some of my friends at school smoked, they'd offer it up, i'd say no and they were cool about it. I think it's just crazy that kids growing up nowadays knowing what we know about cigarettes are still after a cool smoke. Stupid or crazy, i'm not sure.
I watched the Jamie Oliver program last night, where he's spending time in a school trying to get them to eat "real" food. From what it showed the kids were living off pizza and chips. I'm sure i remember at school eating veg everyday when i had school dinners.
Friday already tomorrow, i'm looking forward to the weekend - it's been a real hectic week.
Saturday 26th February 2005
Finally got paid yesterday, and all the overtime last month seemed to pay off. I think without it I would probably struggle pretty bad this month. This'll sound weird, but this month i'm going to put some effort in to not going out, for 2 reasons. Firstly, to save money and secondly because i have got private work that i need to get done at home which i haven't had time for. I haven't even been able to check my personal email for 2 weeks!
I quite like working on a saturday morning, it gets me out of bed so i don't waste the day, i get to sit in the office with keyboard on lap, feet on desk and radio on. And somehow i always seem to get more done in the 4 hours or so that i'm here saturday morning then i would in the same period during the week. Probably not, just seems it. I've already finished one site and fixed a few bugs - or features as they're sometimes called.
