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Thou Shalt Always Kill

2008-11-19T23:44:00.002Z

As I came home I heard the De La Soul remix version of Scroobius Pip's Thou Shalt Always Kill, the original is good (see below) but the new version is awesome.

Twisted genius

2008-11-19T23:18:00.002Z

I saw this on thedailywtf.com it literally made my jaw drop, that someone would actually write such a thing for fun amazed and fascinated me greatly, Kudos!

Seven Nation Army

2008-11-19T23:02:00.002Z

I've been making a lot of mistakes recently, both in my personal and professional life. A lot of thing have got on top of me to the point where I am a lonely irritable person nobody wants to be around, not even me.
I went to Yoga tonight and for the first time in ages I just tuned out, no house, no worrying about money or stressing about work, it was relaxing but most of all afterwards I had a chance to just thing about everything, dispassionately

Next Tuesday is my birthday, its actually been getting me down, I have this strong urge that I should be successful by now. I realise though I have been putting too much stress on myself and its hampering things, and worse holding me back.

I am going to try and let go some more, allow myself to be happier and start to mend some of the bridges I have been breaking. I am still young enough to recover from mistakes now isn't the time to give up.

New Kitchen light

2008-11-17T22:17:00.001Z

New Kitchen light
Originally uploaded by j0hncooke

12:44 16 November 2008 16112008266 It is super low energy only 22 watts

In The Dark

2008-11-16T00:21:00.003Z

Last night went for a few drinks with Nick at the John Millington. It was a nice night, we had a good chat. I felt ropey today thought, it was hard to get a move on I didn't make it to my house until after 11. When I finally arrived despite best efforts I achieved very little really. I got a new kitchen light in place along with replacement wiring. I also drained refilled and added inhibitor to the heating system, the light failed arund4.30 so by 5.30I was packed up and away.
I did try and wire up the outside light only to find my drill bit want long enough, that wast after lifting a very tricky floorboard which ran under the partition wall so I wasn't in the bet of moods.
I had a serious lack of fund this evening so I elected ~~Obama~~ to stay in and watch a film, Phil brought round some and after buying beer I ended up watching Dark Night. Despite best efforts (I went to the cinema twice and failed to see it) I was never saw it at the cinema, much to the chagrin of Paul. I really enjoyed it, much more than I imagined. It seemed to be a clever analyse that people frequently choose the path of least resistance rather than stand up for their beliefs. Its very difficult in such a self obsessed world to do anything for the greater good, perhaps it was ever thus.

Back on track

2008-11-12T23:02:00.004Z

My monitor finally got repaired; well actually Dell sent a refurbished unit which they swapped for my broken one. Great to have the net at home again.

Today was another bad bad day at work, the customer I work at made another tranche of people redundant, about 1/3 of the workforce so a lot of unhappy people. I cant help feeling slightly responsible as every time I work on a big project the end result seem to be more automation so less people.

This evening I went to a BCS meeting with Bruce. The topic of tonight's meeting was security, organised by the a quango the Cyber Security Knowledge Transfer Network. I was quiet reviling to hear the governments take on security, there must be a dozen different agencies that before you get to the NGO level. Its no wonder they lose so much god knows how is in charge. Someone form the data protection agency explained the data protection act and then informed us that they basically don't have enough staff (only 3 enforcement officers). At the end of the meeting I felt like I had learned a bit but mostly hat everything is a bit fat mess too many agencies helping not enough people. Bruce got the idea that the remit was too wide.

After the meeting there was a free buffet, and free beer! We chatted to a few people, if I were better a networking I think this was the sort of place to make some contacts. Unfortunately for me I wasn't able to consume all of the free beer as Bruce had been to Gloucester so was tired and as he was giving me a lift back it was time to go. I did manage to get a free 1gb USB memory stick so that was an extra bonus.

I Stand Corrected

2008-11-10T23:31:00.002Z

I woke up this morning and attempted to grab my email, unfortunately my monitor decided to throw a spanner in the works. Pushing the power button did not in fact lead to the normal illumination and display, it did absolutely nothing. After several frustrating minutes I gave up and tried looking on the Dell website to find out if it were under warranty. Everywhere on the site you are asked for a service tag yet none of the numbers on the monitor fitted the bill. My frustration level now boiling over to anger I gave up and asked my dad to ring Dell and see what they would do while I went out to work. He found out two things firstly Dell monitors do not in fact have service tags a fact which annoys both users and the support people alike. The second thing he found fortunately the warranty is four year so a replacement will be sent out in the next few days. i guess I will be using my old laptop until then. This i great news as I really don not have the money to get a replacement right now.

I had a second good piece of news the missing piece for my boiler control arrived, it cost a fortune for a connector but it I fitted it and the weather compensator does in fact work, reading the external temperature which as I left my house at 9 was 5c, pretty cool.

I met up with Phil for a quick fix of Congleton Aikido's website after which we headed to the unicorn for a pint. It was really dead I think there may have been more staff than customers, November is always a quiet time as people save for Christmas even so it looks like the credit crunch is in effect.

How Soon Is Now?

2008-11-09T22:06:00.002Z

I have been working hard on my house. Well I say hard by my level of work not so hard as Nick. I find it difficult to understand where he gets his energy from. I think that it is taking its toll though, he looked very tired on Saturday night.

Saturday, Bruce helped me put in my speaker cable I am inserting it into the walls I an effort to hide cables. Before heading to the house however I went to pick up a car. I am know the registered keeper of a T reg Ford Focus 1.8 LX. It might be 9 years old but its only done 55,000 miles and drives really well, and I can just about afford it! I am galled by the fact that I spent more trying and failing to keep the Saab on the road than it cost I wish I had stuck to my guns and scrapped it the day it first went wrong. Hindsight is 20/20 though and I wasn't to know that a team of mechanics couldn't repair a car, two lessons learned; Find out the value of the object to be fixed before repairing perhaps a replacement is cheaper, make sure the people effecting the repair have some experience and aren't simply going to waste time and money trying their best.

Ian came to visit while Bruce and I were at it, the last time he had seen the place there were a gang of Poles smashing the floor so I think he was impressed at the work. He was telling me about Dans' new place in Altrincham, apparently he is doing a bit of DIY too, I think we all must be getting old!

We arranged to head to the comedy night at the legion after finishing up, Nick and Phil would also be coming. It was pretty much the worst comedy I have ever been to, only one of the three comedians were funny. I felt most sorry for Ian it was the first time he had been, and after all the funny people I have seen there such a shame it was bad. We made the best of a bad job with a few more drinks on Bramhall. Jono and his girlfriend Nona turned up too, he was on good form.

I got really depressed today, first I had to do a pile of paperwork which has a lot of depressing red ink. Next I headed to the house to do some more wiring. I was chiselling out some brickwork because the plaster wasn't deep enough to flush fit a back box, I turned round and looked at my living room. It looks like it has been through a battle missing plaster, channels chiselled out and wires poking out from the new runs, there is still so much to do. On the plus side I dropped the last cable which when its all connected together will form the closing loop of the downstairs ring main, that along with the kitchen is now wired it just needs finishing after the plaster work is finished.

I Never Came

2008-11-06T23:01:00.002Z

Last night was Guy Fawkes night, and in the glorious tradition of celebrating failure Nick and I went to the legion so we could watch the fireworks at Woodford bonfire for free. I usually pay the entrance fee but at the moment I am seriously poor. The display was really fun, I love fireworks they remind me of being a kid and let me turn turn off and watch the pretty colours for a while.

Nick looked tired he has been ill with the flu recently, so he went home early and I met Phil for a couple of drinks in the Rectory after he finished Aikido. We tried to start working out what to sat at Bruce's wedding but have thus far only come up with vague ideas. As he came directly from Aikido class Phil was hungry at closing time he grabbed some take away from the Jamin. There was a really odd guy in there trying to muscle in on our conversation very strange. He caught one offhand comment and I felt like it was easier just to nod and smile than provoke him.

I have a couple of days off to work on my house so today I set about the wiring. Before I headed to my house though I went to Jacksons to look at a car they got in as a part ex. Its a 1999 T reg Focus 1.8 LX, not exactly inspiring but it drives and finances are tight so I have to go for cheap and cherful rather than fun right now. Having to get lifts really does suck, especially in a public transport deprived area like Woodford. In order to finance it I have applied to borrow some money via Zopa
Once I got to my place my dada and I set to work finishing cabling the kitchen. The wiring has proved to be a much bigger job than I expected. Everything just takes so long the hours just seem to melt away. We did quiet a god job today though almost putting all of the cabling in place tomorrow I should be able to let Nick start plastering it up.

This evening I met up with Martina, she was really upset by her uni course, I got the gist that her independent spirit was having difficulty accepting learning handed down by wrote. I know how she feels sometimes it hard to swallow what people are saying however not every battle is worth fighting.

Geraldine

2008-11-02T21:43:00.004Z

With no car I am at the mercy of parents, friends and public transport, not a good place to find oneself. Fortunately Phil offered to help me out

Spending 3 hours waiting in Screwfix is somewhat a frustrating way to waste away a Saturday. Phil offered to help me with the house, I was short some supplies so we took a ride to there. I picked up some smoke alarms, cable back boxes and speaker wire.

By the time we ended up managing to put only one cable in, it took well over an hour and required channelling out part of the wall, and running across the width of the house.

In the evening Phil Nick and I watched 21, a film about playing blackjack in Vegas and beating the system. I quiet enjoyed it, though I felt really weary and was glad to get home.

I have spent over £200 this weekend alone I still can't live in the place yet I still need to sort my kitchen out along with the rest of the electrics flooring and décor still a way to go yet. I am sure I will be happier when its a home not just a place to work on.

Live The Dream

2008-11-02T20:06:00.003Z

I met Paul for lunch, he was up for a long weekend to visit all his northern friends. We had a reasonable lunch at the Swan talking about life the universe and eveyrthing else. It was a good diversion from work for me. Paul seemed in a good mood excited about his new pad and upcoming trip to Australia, I wish I were going.

I left work Friday night with the plan of going to the cinema to see the Freshly released James Bond a Quantum of Solace. I am carless again due to mine once again failing so my dad was supposed to pick me up after work. I say supposed because he didn't in actuality arrive, nor was he answering his phone. I ended up walking home carrying my laptop in the cold, I was in a pretty damn freezing by the time I got home, it took an hour an ten minutes.

I had no idea where my parents were and as I had planned to use their car to get to and from the cinema I was a little stressed out. I think that the trick or treater's were more scared of the angry man at the door who didn't have any sweets.

Against the advice of GMPTE journey planner I decided that the best way to Stockport was to get the 157 bust to Cheadle Hulme then take the train to Stockport. Waiting at the station I was surrounded by people in Halloween costumes. It was quiet surreal to be stood between a witch and thre guys dressed as Droogs.

I got to Stockport early, and was so hungry I broke a 5 year long drought and ate at McDonalds. I really wished at that point I had joined Martina and Annika in Rusholme for curry, but I wouldn't have made it in time to eat. As it was they were on the last minute arriving just before 10 when the film started at 9.40 (officially anyway we missed the trailers big wow).

During the wait for Martina and Annika I sat in the cafe bar of the cinema surrounded by school age children feeling very lonely and slightly out of place.

I was glad to get in the cinema, Bond didn't disappoint, action action action. What a joy it was like being 7 years old again. Directly following on from Casino Royal Bond follows Vespa's killers like a vengeful hound dog killing pretty much everyone in his path. Got to be one of the fewest women bedded, but some of the darkest and most action packed scenes; though nothing to rival the opening Parkour of Casino Royal.

I finally got hold of my parnets after the film, they had taken my grandma out for a trip which they thought was for a few hours and turned out to be a day night affair. I think my dad felt sorry for making me walk home so saved me a taxi fare and collected me from Stockport.

Satellites Lost

2008-10-29T23:33:00.002Z

Today was not a good day, I pulled out of my drive only for my car to cut out 5 meters down the road, it is still sat there now. Work was really difficult, every day I see a little bit more of my hard work go to waste as we are edged out by the competition. I really wish there was something I could do about it, unfortunately no amount of my hard work helps. I feel pretty sad about it all tonight really, like my hard work is unappreciated and I don't have very much to show for my efforts. I know that isn't strictly true, I have a nice house it just needs some work, and I still have a job at a time when lot of people have lost theirs, so I should be thankful, when lots of things go wrong it isn't always easy to see that though.

Bruces stag do

2008-10-26T19:20:00.001Z

Yesterday was Bruces' stag do, in two months he will be married. In the morning we went to Upper Tean for paint balling action. There was myself, Bruce, Phil, Steven, Jo Berger, and Bruces' cousins Benjamin and Nicholas.

The painball was a fun outdoor thing, getting shot hurt a bit, though not too badly unless you get hit in softer areas, like my neck and thighs. There were a number of games, attack and defend, team deathmatch, capture the flag. A bit like quake really only with less gore and more pain. The worse game for Bruce Phil and I was hunt the stag which involved the three of us running and being shot at but everyone, while we were unarmed.

After paintball we went for a meal at the March Hair, I had the swordfish steak it was very tasty. Then caught a taxi into Manchester to the Frog and Bucket for some more drinks and comedy. They levied a £10 behaviour bond on us as we were a groud opf guys. Phil did his best to lose it for us by talking during the act. We managed to collect it at the end though. Really enjoyed the comedy some good acts and a much friendlier place than the comedy store. Nick joined us for the comedy and drinks afterwards.

Benjamin turned out to be somewhat the wheeler dealer, he got on very well with Nick. Apparently he is not only buying a bakery but has managed to secure grants to renovate and offer subsidised Welsh produce (he lives in Anglesey).

After the comedy we went for drinks, for some reason opting to walk across Manchester to Deansgate Locks. It was raining and I was soaked and lost my contacts on the way so once their proceeded to drink myself into a stupor while Bruce was force fed cocktails. Everything was a blur, not just because of the alcohol minus contacts I could barely see more then a few feet in clarity.

The only weird thing I remember was on leaving some unknown girl got into one of the Taxies, apparently Phil was trying to chat her up, he didn't get very far though according to Benj.

I really felt in pain the next day. Waking up to a very terrible hangover, I spent the morning in pain. Even more pain when I found out one of my servers had failed. It took me hours to rectify the problem that should have taken minutes had I been a little more compus mentus.

In the evening Phil and I watched Adulthood, which proved to be a pretty good English film about a guy getting out of Jail of 6 years and finding himself dragged directly back into the shadowy world he had vowed to get away from.

Skiving Aussie fingered on Facebook • The Register

2008-10-23T11:42:00.000+01:00

Reasons not to put every status update on Facebook, Skiving Aussie fingered on Facebook • The Register

Yikes!

2008-10-23T00:19:00.003+01:00

Phil just sent me a very scary link I remember seeing lots of these spiders all over Northern Eastern Australia, in Noosa and on Fraser Island. I did also read recently that the UK is being invaded by foreign spiders, due to the milder winters. I am a terrible arachnophobe so this is al bad news for me.

I just got back from the pub too, after pulling a late one trying to get something's set up for a demo I thought I deserved a drink, so I was glad when Bruce called and we headed to the unicorn. It was amazingly quiet considering it was a quizz night in there. We chatted, bitched about work then came home. I got a reply in my continuing boiler saga, which actually made me laugh out loud. The guy in question sent me some photos to highlight where he thinks I should connect to and I can actually see the part I need in the corner of the photograph :D

Hoppípolla

2008-10-19T22:34:00.005+01:00

It is Sunday evening, tomorrow I am back at work. The weekend has disappeared in a flash, it started straight after work on Friday. Some people from work and I went to try out the new bar in Wilmslow. Revolution have opened up where the old Samuel Finny was. The new bar is ultra modern, mirrors everywhere. It looks great, though it seems very high maintenance not sure how long they will keep it looking good, they will need to work to keep it looking tiptop. Given the prices though I think can do it.

I left for home after a drink, caught up with Phil and Nick headed to the John Millington. It wasn't the right vibe though so we moved to the Governors house. It was more our age though still he wrong side on the male to female ratio.

Saturday, I met Nick to go on a shopping spree of bits for the house. We went to three places to buy cable, plaster board a door frame. Nick was brilliant, one place we went to asked for £26 for a door carcass, he questioned it straight away, they guy swore blind that was the normal price. After a bit of back and forth it transpired that his normal branch sold the same item cheaper, sigh Cheshire taxes I suppose.

While we were out shopping Martina texted me that she fancied coming over. By the time we finished for lunch she waiting at my parents. My dad made use all sandwiches after which we headed to my house. She was really great and stripped upstairs while Nick and I worked, thought I did have to do the clear up afterwards.

I fitted a new timer I bought from ebay to my boiler, it has an external sensor which measures the external temperature and it suppose to moderate the boiler thus making it more energy efficient. I have spent a lot of time making the place energy efficient both in an attempt to save money in the long run and to help reduce the dreaded carbon footprint. Unfortunately it all went a bit pear shaped as there was a connector missing so I put everything in place but I couldn't actually connect it to the boiler, slightly useless.

Saturday evening Nick, Phil Gilly and I went for a few drinks in Bramhall. Starting in what used to be Gray's. It seems very much more an eatery than a place to drink these days. Next we thought we would try out the New Bubble Room. We were all dressed reasonably smartly, shoes not trainers, shirts not T-Shirts, so were slightly surprised to be told we needed a reservation to use the Bar. The place did not exactly look full, so we were incensed at their attitude. We went to Beluga, which has a strikingly better male female ratio. A few gin and tonics and some good conversation later, Nick invited over some girls and the night ebbed out into a drunken but pleasant haze.

I felt rather less than pleasant this morning though, I did managed to get back to the house for yet more rewiring. I have now lifted floorboards in all the bedrooms, I had to demolish the old airing cupboard to get under the floor as helpfully someone in the pas put a floor on top of the floor. Fortunately I still had Bruce's circular saw and Nick lent me his wreaking bar, it is my new favourite toy :)

We finished late and I felt so tired this evening I read a chapter of two of my book and now its time for bed.

It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry

2008-10-17T21:41:00.002+01:00

I spent last weekend lagging my pipes and doing more wiring. I think I have reached the point where I am a little overwhelmed with the task I just have to battle on to try and get it finished.
I also caused a gas leak, at least both I and Bruce thought I had, however when the plumber arrived on Thursday he proved everything was ok by first doing a leak test then using a blow torch to heat up the joints and ignite any leaking gas, there wasn't anything to ignite though. I felt rather stupid indeed, in my defence Bruce and I were both convinced we could smell something.
I have had some pretty dark moments this week in many ways I feel that I am stagnating despite the positive step of finally getting onto the property ladder, the amount of work I worry that my career isn't going anywhere. I suppose in the current climate I should be grateful that I have a career at all.
It has been a strange week for old contacts, firstly there was the incredibly sad news from M&Al. There text messages have left me scarily numb and unable even to form a reply, I cannot even begin to imagine what it would be like for them. I also got a message from an old school mate and a text phone call from Paul's ex Lisa. Lisa made me jealous talking abut Melbourne, I wondered out loud what I am doing sill in the UK?

Not much to believe in

2008-10-11T20:56:00.003+01:00

It seems like weeks whiz past in the blink of an eye. This week certainly disappeared quickly before I realised Friday was upon me.
I was invited to an team meal with the customer which was nice. We ate at a restaurant in Manchester called Bacchanalia. I had at calamaris starter followed by Chicken wrapped in parma ham. It was really enjoyable food, thought watching Gordon tuck into his stake must say I felt a bit envious.
After the meal we went to Norwegian Blue, and underground bar. I drank a couple of beers and started to feel quiet tipsy. Next stop was the Bar and grill, then onto Mojo. A few more drinks and I was feeling very drunk. They went off to the casino, I didn't fancy it so I caught the bus to Parrs Wood and in an effort to save some money decided to walk from there. An hour later I sobered up, my feet hurt and I had only reached Cheadle Hulme, all in it took the best part of two hours to get home.

I cant believe I started writing this post so long ago, I really finding it hard to balance my life at the moment.

Nerver miss a beat

2008-10-06T22:55:00.003+01:00

I just have to say I really like the Kaiser Chiefs song, the title of which I've lifted for today's blog. It reminds me so much of high school, the apathy trying to fit in and thinking people were really cool, to cool for school even.
Today was a bit of a blur at work, I felt tired to start with and after being harassed I felt rather frazzled. My mood wasn't improved when I got to the gym to find I left my shorts at home, oops.
I went home had dinner and headed to my house, spent an while stripping some wall paper. I find stripping so dull and frustrating I can only managed to do small chunks at a time. To be honest I felt pretty frustrated the last few times I have gone to do work, everything take so long and there is still so much to do. I have to keep reminding myself of all the work that has been done on the floor, the heating and wiring. Eventually it will be a home rather than just a drain on my time/money/sanity.

Web cafe

2008-10-05T16:07:00.003+01:00

I just got back from Birmingham where I was assisting Phil setting up an internet cafe at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. It was the third time I have helped out, and it went a log better than last time. There were a few mix ups to start with, for some reason rather than get the laptops together beforehand they were delivered to the site. That meant we had to rely on a windows installation Phil made before hand.
The cafe is funded by one of the stallholders at the event National cancer research. The stalls are all drug companies cancer charities and Universities. This year GlaxosmithKline sponsored so all the laptops had GSK screen savers and backgrounds.

There was also another smaller room of PC for previewing slides unfortunately we couldn't get in until Sunday morning, which meant an early morning call to finish all of the bits off.

We did get treated to a meal and a few drinks at Pizza express Saturday night and I got some cash for helping out which comes in very handy at the moment.

I left around mid day, I then had to drive Jim's Sprinter Van back to Manchester. Its was only the second time I have driven a van of any size the first being on the way down with Phil. It was good on the motorway, not so much fun when I nearly ran out of fuel because I had neglected to pay attention to the fuel gague until the light came on. I don't think trunk driving is for me, I was glad to get in my car and sputter home.

The state I am in

2008-10-03T00:30:00.003+01:00

Sometimes everything is wrong. Lately a heck of a lot of things have been getting the better of me, my job and renovating my house have eaten away all my time and energy. I have put on a few kilo because I haven't had (or made) enough time to get to the gym or sleep. I got the Saab back from the garage but its still not right the only thing I can think to do is trade it in. This causes something of cashflow crisis though. Tomorrow I have to pay the plumbers as they have practically finished installing the central heating system tomorrow they just have a few small bits to finish off. That and the money I owe Nick is practically all of my savings exhausted and I still have a kitchen, flooring and decorating to do. Oh might need some furniture as well :S

I got to the house tonight to find two letters from utility companies. First one from Scottish Power, a final bill using estimated gas usage. They estimate I have used a heck of a lot more Gas than the 1 unit I have so I phoned to report that and to pay. After going through 3 levels of automated services I got a message telling me all of the operators were busy after which it hung up. Sigh, the other letter was from British gas telling me they were now suppling me gas only could I confirm the property they were suppling to was a flat in Milton Keynes, sigh. I spent 20 minutes on hold at the end of which the operator told me their computer system was down so could I call back another time. I was pretty enraged by this point, a phone call from Phil basically telling me he couldn't be bothered to get things organised for Saturday did little to improve my mood.

I went round to Martinas for some food and to watch Nip Tuck, my god its depraved and twisted. A murderous teddy bear making agent, cannibalistic newlyweds and self destruction seem to be the main themes. Her brother arrives tomorrow, he doesn't speak English and is apparently wary of meeting too many people so I may or may not get to meet him.

Banks still suck

2008-10-02T13:17:00.003+01:00

I needed to pay the plumbers tomorrow and after last times fiasco I thought I better ring up first.
I explained the situation to the call centre worker who dutifully informed me that Alliance and Leicester branches do not hold large cash deposites but that he could arrange me to make a withdrawal from a local post office. This dosnt exactly lend me confidence in the bank in fact I pretty much feel that when I sort out my house I will be moving banks.
If anyone actually has a bank they can reccommend please comment or send me an email.

Whos money (Banks Suck)

2008-09-26T12:45:00.004+01:00

I had a pretty hectic day yesterday quiet a few things went a bit pear shaped both at work and personally. I got especially pissed off with Alliance and Leicester. I needed to get a lump of cash (£1000) to Nick to pay for various materials for the house.
I walked into Bramhall branch had to wait for what seemed like an age. It was the usual story only one teller working with several other staff standing around generally ignoring the growing queue. My money is in a savings account linked to my main account so firstly I asked to move the money between my accounts. I was told the only way I could do this was to use the internet or the phone banking. I responded I expected a teller to be able to do this and I needed to withdraw said cash so I didnt see much point leaving the queue only to rejoin it to get the money. She kept on telling me that she couldn't help. She then went on to tell me my account had a £250 daily withdrawal limit. At this point I basically hit the roof and demanded either my money or I would close my account and come back with a baliff to collect it. She offered to make an exception, I thought exception, how is that, this is a bank its my money I am perfectly entitled to withdraw it.

I walked out with my money, paid Nick and drafted a letter of complaint, I'll let you know how it goes.

In Bruges

2008-09-21T23:40:00.003+01:00

Friday night I fixed a PC for the cousin of an ex customer. Her old laptop was so slow it took over an hour to copy her photos to my memory stick (usb 1.0 slow slow slow) and 4 minutes to copy them onto her new laptop! After that amusement I headed to Wilmlsow with Russell. He headed back to university on Saturday so it was the last chance to meet up. Its a little strange going meeting up someone after several years gap, but we had a nice chat he looked around the house. We met Phil in the Rectory he had been for a meal with his parents and was already drunk by the time we arrived. We had a long chat about women, Russell seemed to know half of the girls in there but hadn't capitalised on it. I drove so got to watch thm both get more and more drunk until the conversation headed so far south it was time to leave.

Saturday, I spent the morning getting a new website for work up and running. Well the infrastructure anyway. The web designer needs to do the rest. It went pretty well though I feel a lot more confident about the new strategy, I just hope its successful so I can secure my job. Saturday afternoon Martina cycled round and helped me strip some paper from the living room ceiling. Bruce popped in just as we were finishing up, he and I chatted about how to route cables.

I got home in time to find Jono showing off his new chainsaw, yes Jono bought a chainsaw, not just a little one either a Makita petrol chainsaw, its a beast. I am kind of scared what he will do with it!

I went for dinner at Martina's, she made plum pie and I piked salad leaves from her garden. We ate the plum pie with smarties ice cream, yum! Neither of us have any money so we stayed in and watched TV, Saturday night tv is rubbish, no good films no decent shows boo!

Today has been a good day, after the endless rains of summer today was sunny hot and rain free. I tried to amend some issues with the web server then headed to the house. Nick was repairing the crushed flags so I decided to strip some more paper. I have discovered that stripping wallpaper is a truly thankless task. You scrap and scrap and very slowly clear patches, Nick told me he hates it so much that usually he just smashes off the plaster and starts again from fresh. Unfortunately I can't quiet run to that sort of expense. I managed to clear two walls in the master bedroom though Ill have to go over them again with the steamer. I was getting fed up of stripping and with the good weather I decided to put up my new light.

This evening I went for a jog which made me feel good so I celebrated by eating chocolate and drinking beer while watching In Bruges. In Bruges is a film about two contract killers hiding out in Bruges, set against the beauty of Bruges Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson evaluate their lives as contract killers while meeting prostitutes, Canadians and Dwarfs.

Phil and I drank Stella Artois "Triple filtered smooth lager". It was actually very nice, at 4% not as strong as normal Stella but a lot more tastey and only £3 for 4 cans at Tesco, Bargain.

A secret tour

2008-09-17T21:36:00.002+01:00

I had the day off today kind of, somehow I managed to be roped into going to not one but two meetings which ate up the majority of the day. Both meeting were fruitful so it was a pretty good, even if I should have been working on my house.
Talking of which a kitchen designer arrived this morning, he is going to draw up a plan of the kitchen including thinking about the best place to put the door.
This evening I went with Bruce on a British Computer Society arranged tour of Hack Green. It is amazing to see what Nuclear weapons look like, and what the government had planned for Britain in the event of a Nuclear war.
The guys running the tour let out all sorts of facts including that a number of Russians have visited Hack Green and told the owners that they had planned not to invade the UK but simply bomb it out of existence as we were (are) effectively an aircraft carrier for the US. Also the 4 minute warning plans involved dissolving the government leaving the country to be governed by regional seats (of which Hack Green would be one) and closing supermarkets and petrol stations taking the good into government control, scary stuff. All in all it was a fascinating place to visit for anyone with an interest in defence.