Friday 30 March 2007

Bleugh

I'm ill, it's no fun at all.

It is only a cold, but i'm a man so I am allowed to call it Man-flu and milk it for all I can.

You know what, I can't think of anything even slightly interesting to write about right now, I'm too pre-occupied with snot and phlegm and exciting things like that.

I really should stop starting posts with no idea what I am going to write in them, gah.

Tuesday 27 March 2007

I'm going to New York!

Oh yes, yes indeed, I am actually going to have a holiday.
An actual real holiday that doesn't involve just taking a week off work and getting up at 2pm every day and then sitting around in my pants doing nothing productive.

Quite the contrary my dears, I am going to be very productive indeed, for I am going to the city that never sleeps, ( I assume this is done by some clever shift patterns, sleep deprivation is very bad for you) the Big Apple, (explain please) the, um, really interesting place with lots to do and see, I'm going to New York!

Rach booked the tickets today, so it's all confirmed and everything, hurrah! (Yes, obviously I am going with Rach, and no, she isn't paying for me to go, working for actual real wages means I can afford these things myself, how novel!)

I know it's going to be great, and we are going to do all sorts of touristy stuff, like the Empire State Building, Central Park, buying a hot dog from a guy on the, ahem, 'sidewalk' (check me out) standing over a steaming manhole cover, getting yellow cabs, that sort of thing.
That's all going to be cool but I wondered if anybody has any suggestions for anything we could do while there that is not necessarily on the tourist trail? Are there any little-known gems we should try and find?
All suggestions would be greatly received and investigated.
Well, considered at least.
Ok, I will read them but I can't promise anything.

I'm not going until May, so no rush, and I'm sure I will mention it again because I'm already very excited about it, but feel free to let me know of anything I simply have to see, dahling.

Pointless blatherings about random subjects will resume shortly. Thank you for your patience.

Machine cut perspex is sharp

Ow, ow ow ow ow, owee owee ow ow ow.

That'll learn me not to wear gloves. (it won't you know)

Sunday 25 March 2007

Yiffy

I'll be totally honest, I haven't researched this or anything, but I think I know basically what a yiffy is, it's somebody who likes fur.

Someone who likes fur, er, quite a lot.

I think my girlfriend may be a yiffy, and when I say 'think', I obviously mean 'know'.

We went out on Friday night for a friends birthday, and he wanted everyone to dress up as something furry, or failing that, as a cowboy, pirate or ninja.
Me and Rach both went as bears, well, Rach's costume never fitted quite right so she just wore the hat in the end, and I was wearing bear hands, feet and a head, all tucked into a proper smart suit. (my bear 'suit', get it? a-ha ha ha ha.)
Nothing wrong with that so far, I hear you say, (not literally, i'm not sat behind you as you read this or anything, don't be alarmed) but it was what happened the next day that got me thinking.

We had the most shamefully lazy day, spent almost entirely in bed, apart from trips out to get incredibly indulgent food, which was brilliant.
Around early evening time though, my bear hat made an appearance, and settled itself very firmly on Rach's head. (it's only a half-head type thing with ears on, it doesnt cover the face at all)
I think that all I want to say is that the bear hat did not leave her head until some time the next morning, and we sure as hell didn't spend the whole time having polite conversation.

So yes, I have done, er, stuff with someone in a bear hat, but it wasn't a problem, I found it funny at first, and then got used to it worringly quickly.
Oh and don't tell anyone but the bear hat may have found it's way on to my head in the morning too.

Erm.

Who's the Yiffy now, huh?

Wednesday 21 March 2007

Not-so-extreme

Well what a turn up for the books, I'm still alive.

(And late with my post as usual, but I'm bored of saying sorry about that now so- damn.)

Yes, you'll all probably be glad to know the kite didn't cause my unfortunate and grisly (though probably locally newsworthy) death, and nor did it cause the untimely expiry of my friend Rich, which surprised me.

"Blimey, that's surprising" said I, when, after handing the controls (strings) to Rich, he managed to stay both upright and in contact with Terra firma at all times, "that's not supposed to happen" I said, after recovering from the surprise.

You see, I was kind of disappointed that the kite didn't send Rich hurtling off towards the nearest tree, cliff-face or 4 lane motorway, just to prove how brave and talented I was to fly it all the time. But it didn't, and although he admitted it was hard to hang on to, and it did manage to pull him a few feet in the air a few times, he reckons it was a huge amount of fun.

Fun?!

My 'extreme' sportsman facade is crumbling around my ears, these things aren't supposed to be fun, they are supposed to be EXTREME!

I might have to introduce some broken glass or live power lines into the equation, I can't be having this.


Oh yeah, and I didn't really want Rich to die, probably best I add that, for legal reasons.

Saturday 17 March 2007

Let's go fly a kite

I'm off in a minute to help a friend rebuild his car.
I do this partly out of a genuine interest in tinkering with greasy bits of metal, but mostly out of a sense of duty.

I did take the car apart for him in the first place and then convince him to spend several gazillion squid on shiny (soon to be greasy, keeps my interest up) new parts to put back in, so I feel like I really should help him get it running again.

That sounds like I am confident that it will ever run again.

I'm not, but don't tell him.

I'm also going to sling my power kite in the boot, and we may well go and fly it if we get bored of staring at bits of metal in various stages of the shiny/greasy metamorphosis and saying to each other "where the fuck does that go?"
I'm telling you this, because it is a 7.2 square metre kite, (think parachute but with longer strings) and it is only a matter of time before it is the chief cause of my gruesome and unfortunate death.
I've only ever flown it in light winds and I have been pulled a good 6 feet off the floor many times, and been dragged horizontally across the floor at shoe-burning speeds more often than I care to admit.

It looks like the breeze is picking up, it was nice knowing you all.

Wednesday 14 March 2007

Customer Service

Me, "Hi there."

Yoof in the skate shop, "(Grunt.)"

"Erm, I'm after some wheels for my inline skates, I have an old pair of Majestic 12's and-"

"Yeah, they're well old" His expression could well be described as 'sneery' at this point.

"Yes, I know, thanks. So I was after some new wheels just so I can use them agai-"

"They were old even when I started skating" 'Sneerier'.

"Right, ok. So I've not skated for ages, I don't know which wheels I should be going fo-"

"anyfing really." Sell it, my friend.

"I'll mostly be doing park skating, so what size should I-"

"anyfing really." Go on, make that sale!

"Okayyy, could you recommend anything that would be half-decent?"

"anyfing really. There's these *Bobby Davro spin tastics* (Accuracy of brand names may vary), they're alright. Or the *ding dang doodle roly-polies*, they're alright. Or the-"

"Yes, I think I get it, i'll er, take those please."
I pointed randomly, ensuring a barely thought out purchase decision that I could have made on the internet by a series of random clicks, and probably saved some money at the same time.

Yoof rolls his eyes and sighs like the oppressed, over-burdened slave-worker that he obviously is. "I'll have to get the keys to open the cupboard."

"er, yes. ok."

Yoof sighs again, possibly hoping that this explanation of the great task I am asking of him will cause me to reconsider. I'm a nice person, but I need those wheels. Go get the keys, slave-boy.

After waiting for him to drag his carcass across the shop floor and back at *almost* trudging speed to get the keys, I am handed four wheels off the display shelf with no box. I think asking for a box may have been pushing it, the yoof was obviously under a lot of work related strain, and in all honesty I will only throw it in the bin anyway, i'll say I did it in the spirit of environmental awareness.

"Um, I'll need some bearings to go with these." Ooh, careful dandan, everyone has their breaking point.

Sigh, roll eyes, "there's these *spinny spin-spins*, they're alright. Ther-"

Ah, I see where this is going.

"Yes, I'll take those. Yes, that's fine."

"(Grunt.)"

At this point I was able to pay for my randomly chosen goods at a till staffed by someone who actually understood the basic principles of the retailer-customer relationship, this was a relief, I don't think I could have actually brought myself to hand real money the yoof.

I'm getting old aren't I?

Tuesday 13 March 2007

Catch up

Hi.

Yeah, er sorry again. Every time I write on here I apologise for being so infrequent with my posts, I should really stop doing that.

Time for a blatantly plagiarised mantra:

Never Apologise and Never Explain Yourself.
(What I mean by that is you shouldn't feel the need to justify your actions, I didn't make that clear, sorry.)

Fact is, life is good, and contrary to what I would have thought six months ago, this is directly related to the fact that life is also very busy. (seriously, you could draw a graph and everything)
So I have less time to write, but more to write about, in theory. I'm still having trouble thinking up a single topic for each post to flex my wit muscle over though, but that may just be me being a bit woolly-headed.

I don't really want to just write "I did this, then I did that, then so-and-so did this which was hilarious and we all went here and got drunk, then end" as my life may be fun for me but it can't be that great to just read about my life, verbatim style.

I think it's time for some hilariously brief bullet points to sum up the last few days, just to keep everyone up to speed. Perhaps I can do this once a week or something in future...

*Got haircut. Ears are cold.

*Went to gymnastics again and damaged some muscles on the side of my ankles. Good to be back in my weekly injury pattern, I was getting worried for a while there.

*Had Birthday, got great presents from Rach, and a cheque from the parents, how thoughtful. (They will each be getting a cheque for half the value of my cheque on their respective birthdays, I bet they don't smile falsely and go 'ooh, thanks' like I did.)

*Got incredibly drunk on Friday, I'm getting quite good at it now, more practice still required I feel though.

*Had great indulgent weekend in general, spent it all with Rach which was awesome. (not even slightly humorous but very true)

*Played Frisbee for the first time this year, I love my Frisbee. Still not warm enough to avoid getting cold ears.

*Got a lead on a possible graphic design job at a place where a mate of mine works, I desperately want it. This is very good news.

*Bench pressed 70 kilos, more on this later.

There is more I'm sure but seeing as my brain shares many more common features with a badly rusted sieve than it does with, say, a filing cabinet, I am bound to miss a few minor things. Several major things too I dare say. It'll come to me, don't push it.

Ah yes, can I just take this moment to say lots of nice things about Rachel, because she really deserves it, more so than usual right now. (bitter hate-filled cynics may want to skip a paragraph.)
For my birthday, Rach is getting me something amazing and most probably expensive, which she hasn't sorted out yet, so she got me a couple of things on Friday so I had something to open. The amazing thing was, each item she bought was something that she remembered I particularly liked. Not just, 'oh yes, that's nice, thanks' (hi mum and dad) but properly 'wow, I love that!' she bought me, er 5 things, all of which were perfectly chosen for me.
I think that is brilliant.
I don't think I could think of 5 things I could buy that she really loved, I was so impressed with the effort and the thought involved, she really is incredible.
Not only that, but she mentioned some ideas for the 'big' present, and she wanted me to choose so she didn't get it wrong. Unsuprisingly, every idea she had turned out to be something I would love, so I told her she will have to choose something, and I know she will get it right.
I hope I can do as well on her birthday, blimey.
It doesn't stop there, she literally just called me to say she has changed plans tonight and is going to the pub with one of her ex-boyfriends instead of a mate. I don't mind this at all, (well, no more than any male would, we all have basic instincts after all) but she rang to tell me in case I found out from someone else and thought she was hiding it from me. Now that is thoughtful. It constantly amazes me when she proves just how much she cares for me, it's great! I love her a huge amount.

Welcome back bitter hate-filled cynics, time for a tale of personal triumph, go me.
At my new place of work, there is a weights bench sitting in the back yard.
Long story slightly short, I got challenged to bench press about 70 kilos after claiming I could do it, and lo and behold, I managed it! Comfortably!
I only weigh 10 stone (64 kilos) now and used to weigh nearly 2 stone more when I used to go to the gym, (2 years ago) I was really pleased! Seems the general high level of physical stuff that I do has kept me in good shape, even the muscles I don't specifically use.
That was self indulgent I know but I was really pleased.

I wonder if I could have lifted more if I hadn't had a Chinese, an Indian, two bottles of champagne, chocolate cake, toblerone, lots of beer and lots of J.D in the preceding 3 days, hmm.

So much else to write, I've still not given a lot of subjects their fair share of attention, but I'm sure this is enough blathering for one post. I'll try and get some more up this week.
Stay safe kids.
Me sporting my new hair with my friend Miaowcat.

I keep getting older

It was my birthday on Friday just gone, and damn if I didn't get a year older again, happens to me every time, it would be nice to get a year younger some time. It may be time to start lying about my age, I still look under 18 (even with a beard) so I'm sure everyone will beleive me...

So I'm 25 now, I can actually measure my existence in an appreciably large fraction of a century, that's kind of scary.
And people say life moves faster as you get older, bloody hell, it's moving fast enough as it is, this does not bode well.

I'm at work at the moment, and I've somehow found five minutes to write this, but I really can't concentrate properly (the amateur rapping you tube videos being played on the PC next to me may have a lot to do with it, argh) so I will post again today when I get home, promise.

I feel a Rachel based post has been a long time in coming so you may need to go find a suitable receptacle to vomit into, if you are easily soppied-out, sorry.

I'll be back (not like aArnie, I'm much less threatening)

Monday 5 March 2007

I might...

Write a book.

Well, a novel, erm, a story, you know, fiction.

Please don't say 'ooh yes, do, as your blog is simply fab' (ok, you can say that if you like) because obviously it won't be anything like my blog, but I suppose it will carry my style along with it.

I thought I might post it on here, or perhaps make a new blog to post it on, kind of chapter by chapter or something. It would be a comedy fantasy type thing, think a pale shadow of Terry Pratchett meets a bad impersonation of Tom Holt, somthing like that only a bit worse.

I think I might you know. Even though I have absolutely no time in which to do it.

Looking forward to gymnastics already, and it's only monday, I fear this enthusiasm is but a precursor to some unwanted medical attention, probably of the spinal surgery variety. It goes like this: "hmm, gynmastics isn't until Thursday, I know, i'll practice that back somersault here, on this concrete floor instead, 'cos I just can't wait."

Still, the lay up in hospital may give me time to start my book....

Sunday 4 March 2007

I'm getting paid again!

So I obviously went and did the smart thing, and spent most of it at the weekend.

Go me.

I'm now officially in 'Saving' mode, most likely so that I can go live in Australia as soon as possible, I can get out there on a year visa as soon as my finances are in order, and it could be quite a task.
Rachel would ideally like to go and live out there as soon as the end of this year, so I am going to try as hard as I can to put myself in a position where I can go with her.
The short version of my situation is that I owe over £10,000 to various financial institutions and I really want to try and work my ass off and get it all paid up and sorted. (donations gratefully received by the way)

Going out at the weekend and pissing most of it up against the wall is not going to help me do this, naughty Dandan. Still, a slight stutter to celebrate my new earning status should be allowed I reckon, oh and another stutter this coming weekend because it is my birthday, erm, and somebody else's birthday in 3 weeks time, ah crap.

I'm still on the lookout for a proper graphic designer position, which should pay a fair bit more than what I am getting as a temp signmaker at the moment, that way I could spend more- I mean save more to sort out my yawning chasm of debt faster.

That's all for now really, sorry for the lack of sparkle and comedy compared to normal (a matter of opinion I suppose) but I felt so guilty about now writing for over a week that I had to throw something down.

Ooh yeah, and I went to the gymnastics thing this week and managed to completely not injure myself in any way whatsoever, quite a major achievement I feel. Go me again.