Confusion Reigns Supreme

Sender:

* jama400
* aliyah jama
* female
* 25
* new york

Subject: Hi,

o jama400
o 15:05
Hi,
I am Aliyah,good looking and sexy,i will like to know you better,aliyahjama77 at yahoo dot com
bye from Aliyah

Sorry Aliyah. You may well be good looking and sexy, but let's face it - it ain't gonna happen, right?

I was out drinking with a new friend last night, though maybe I should have resisted his kind offer of "just one last whiskey."

How did I make friends with this guy who has only moved in to the area from Isleworth three weeks ago? Well, he's moved out to the suburbs with his wife, into a nice house where he can look after his dog. Yes, Tim's a fellow dog lover, and he brought his charge into the pub last night.

And this handsome, elegant Greyhound's name is...

...Keith.

Sums life up, really:

Watching La Vuelta España- the cycling tour of Spain on its opening few day's stages which are running through a lovely flat part of Spain.

It's called Holland.

It's a phrase I've used several times recently, as I have probably picked it up from others, but have any of you realised what those baby steps entail?

You stagger forward for a bit before either falling on your nappy-padded arse giggling like a madman on drugs or flat on your face screaming the walls of Jericho down.

Neither seem to be a good choice to me...

Why do fruit flies seem attracted to my breath?

Three of the little ... blighters already this evening have bitten the dust, not that I like doing that, but sometimes you reach tolerance levels and then they go that one step further...

I'm OK with fishing them out of my pint and seeing them stagger about in a drunken manner, but when they start flying around my nose it becomes rather painful to get rid of them...

Yes, it's got me.

Maffia Wars - just started, but the members of my "Family" are... well... just...

Expect me around here less

As there is a power outage due at work today that will last all afternoon, my lunchtime started at 12:30 and will continue until 08:30 on Tuesday!

Gods, I love long weekends!

Or a brief potted and possibly apocryphal history of the town.

Woking and and a large swathe of land in Surrey is or has been owned historically by Lord Onslow. The London Necropolis Company wanted a junction along the London to Portsmouth railway line for a branch line to serve their cemetery at Brookwood. This junction was on or bordering Onslow's land, and as he was keen to have chuff-chuffs at the bottom of his garden, so to speak, he insisted on a station being built at that junction.

He wanted the front to face his land, which, being landed gentry, is quite understandable. So the town of Woking developed at the rear of the station, as Lord Onslow owned the land to the front.

So not only is Woking the back end of beyond, it is also the arse end of its own railway station.

And you wonder why I want to get out of here...

That's how my work goes, and at the moment it's in a very deep trough.

I've not had a single job request since first thing Monday.

Not that I'm complaining, after all I've got all this training to get through. I just wish I could summon the energy to bloody get on with it...

Don't forget, folks. It's quiz night tonight 9PM BST.

Be there or... be somewhere else, I suppose.

I didn't just plan a blogmeet waaaay in advance last night, did I.

Holy Sheet!

Oh well. I've put it out there, and people seem to want to come along, so I'd better get my organising head on.

Blogmeets, that is.

Or more accurately, blogmeets that I will miss.

Time and financial constraints prevent me from going up to Scotland to meet up with trulyfab for what sounds like a truly fab weekend music-wise, and today my parents have booked their trip to Greece for the 12th through to the 27th of next month, so unless I can offload Penny onto my brother I can't see me going to London to meet up with LondonNici and the crew.

I'll have to see if I can twist my brother's arm. I'm sure my niece would love to have our little doggie over for the night...

Very tempting...

This offer hit my Inbox this afternoon.

Now, when can I book some time off work...

So much to say, so little time to say it, and I know I'll have forgotten most of it by the time I get home this evening.

Training's going well - 100% so far! May see if I can sneak a little blog time in this afternoon.

Here I am, in a pub with free wi-fi, with my laptop in front of me not recognizing that there are any wireless networks in range, yet my little iPod touch connects perfectly.

This is the same laptop that connected to my router at home earlier this evening and also to the pub's router all yesterday afternoon.

Weird.

First test: Protecting Information

Result: Pass - 95%

WOOHOO!

ECDL next.

Yup. Things are moving ahead in NotBob Land.

Baby steps, baby steps.

I seem to be getting some very strange emails recently...

Shape any part of your body the way you want it.‏

From: Shannon Burke (fxst[at]boardwalk-porsche[dot]com)

Sent: 24 August 2009 14:48:10
To: nosila423[at]hotmail[dot]com

Do you want to turn back the times when you could wear short skirts?

Yes, sure. So sell me some waxing strips while your reshaping me 'cuz my legs are a bit on the hairy side at the mo'.

And yet again, that's not my email address in the "To:" line, so how did it get to me?

Thankfully not one of mine...

Car:
2009 Lamborghini Murcielago LP-670

Description:
This brand new Murcielago was on the back of a flatbed being delivered to a customer when a guy in a Hyundai Sonata crashed into it.

The Murcielago costs about $750,000 in South Korea. The guy's insurance covered only $100,000 of it. He'll be paying the rest by working for life.

Location:
South Korea

Ouch!

In my *ahem* research, I have come across (pardon the expression) a few "Glamour" models who have changed their name in order to become more noticeable and possibly notable. There is one in particular though that I prefer to know as Jenya. I can't even recall what she calls herself for western European publications.

Enough said about that really, after all I am over 18, male and have a computer... *coughs again*

However, I have just found a rather good looking filly who has chosen as her professional persona to call herself "Sonia Red"

Sonia sounds sort of sexy and Red is a rather racy colour.

But where is my hat?

*Waits until the penny drops*

I'm sorry if my last two PostSecret posts have given anyone the impression that I'm feeling depressed at the moment. It's just that those two cards struck a chord with part of me.

I am actually feeling rather upbeat about life at the moment as I can see a way forward work-wise and my love life may soon be picking up, provided that I haven't misread certain signals from a certain non-blogger who shall, for the time being, remain nameless. This may explain why I really haven't had time to read everybody's most recent posts.

There may be trouble ahead, but while there's moonlight and music...

...

Shame I can't dance, really, innit?

I've just seen why people have been calling me "The Undertaker" for the last few months.

Honestly, I have no interest in American wrestling, be it WWE or WWF (whatever the difference is). I'm certainly not a fan of it, or any of the participants. The last wrestler that I admired was Giant Haystacks, and I'll admit to mourning the loss of Big Daddy in 1997.

The look I have acquired is something that I have been working towards for the last 25 years at least and I am proud of it. To see that it has been hijacked by some muscle-bound, bad acting knucklehead from the Good Ol' US of A has left me with a bad taste in my mouth, and a feeling that that was the main reason for the only animosity I encountered in Berlin.

I present you with the evidence:

In my defence, I will say just this:

My hat's much better than his!

This week this one hit me full square between the eyes (despite the fact that the graph's axes should be the other way round)

Meant to post this last Sunday:

...and I don't think I've ever fully let her go.

I was just Ferreting around for some music when I noticed that I could see absolutely nothing video-wise. What's going on? It was working last night, and the only thing that I've actively done today is my weekly virus check (no viruses - RESULT!).

Something somewhere along the line has knocked out elements of my QuickTime player.
The important ones like the one that actually shows videos and things.

Ho-hum. Repairs have been made and I'm now fully functioning again. Good thing too, otherwise that blog would become defunct without it. Or should that be de-funked?

Today I has been samplin' Gaymers Somerset Medium Dry Cider

5.8%abv, 500ml, £1.70, Waitrose.

It presents itself as a clear amber cider, sparkling rather than fizzy, with a subtle apple aroma. Dry, yet apple-sweet on the palate, this is a good example of what a Somerset cider should be. Would be a fine accompaniment to a nice juicy gammon steak meal.

8.5/10

They also monitor the seas...

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/21aug_mobilebay.htm?list1326919

First I lose my mobile modem, then yesterday I forgot my memory stick and today, worst of all, I've left my wallet at home - a fact that I didn't notice until I went to pay for a packet of ciggies this morning.

Bugger.

I think a quick trip home at lunchtime is called for.

...that I find my mobile modem in the next couple of days?

I bought a new one today, so it's quite likely to show up somewhere now.

Well, if it falls on soil and germinates you could get a few surprises. I know it looks a little sickly and the caterpillars and slugs have got at the leaves, but now we have this handsome chap to admire whilst birdwatching:

I'm saying nothing about the hemp plants that had to be dug out, though. *ahem*

The quiz is ready to hit your screens at 9pm BST precisely over on the OQQ Channel.

*phew*

I took some time to rate the hotel in Hull and filled in their online questionnaire. I stated that I thought the drinks at the bar were extremely poor value for money, and that I was generally underwhelmed by the room, particularly the bathroom. Why even bother calling it a bathroom if there's no friggin' bath, ffs? Though I did rate the staff quite highly.

I got this in response:

Dear ROB MCCARTHY,

Thank you for taking the time to tell us about your stay at the Ibis Hull, but I was very disappointed to hear that your experience did not meet your expectations. Please allow me to express my sincerest apologies.

At Ibis, we strive to provide a superior service experience for every guest and your feedback is very important to us. I would like to confirm that we are taking the appropriate measures to address your concerns and prevent future occurrence.

We appreciate your feedback, and I hope that you will give us the opportunity to welcome you back Ibis Hull and provide you with a genuine hassle-free experience.

Yours sincerely,

Phil Woods

General Manager

Ibis Hull

So does this mean that they'll stop charging £4.80 for a bottle of Bulmers and actually start charging a reasonable price? Let's just say I'm not going to hold my breath...

Today I received this message from the Universe, but I've only just got round to reading it:

The real reason so many have trouble with the baby steps, Rob -- doing all they can, with what they've got, from where they are, no matter how humble or seemingly futile -- is because they haven't yet grasped that the baby steps trigger unseen forces that throw wide the floodgates of unstoppable momentum, infinite abundance, and eternal life.

Just some tiny steps,
The Universe

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thoughts become things... choose the good ones! ®
© www.tut.com ®

Just threw in the eternal life bit, Rob. Everyone gets that anyway, but I think it makes the whole thing sound more prophetic, don't you?

Today I applied for a few training course to stand me in good stead not only for promotion, but also for if I should choose to leave the Civil Service and go for a private sector job.

Go me!

I'm hoping that I've dropped my mobile modem at work or in the car as I can't find it at home anywhere, which is rather annoying as it means that I can't blog during the day now. Fortunately I use it on a PAYG tariff, so I'm not going to lose money on it apart from the week's worth of credit left on it.

If I don't find it by payday, I'll just have to bite the bullet and get a new one. Either that or buy an umbrella so that I can sit outside a bar that's closed until the evening piggybacking on their wi-fi connection

13:26 - Sitting in the pub at lunchtime feeling stupid at having left my mobile modem at home again. D’oh!

Here’s what I learnt today:

The phrase “His/her/my name is mud” can be traced back to Dr Samuel Mudd who had a country practice near Washington. One night in 1865 he was visited by a very agitated patient in his mid-fifties who had suffered a broken shin. He treated the man and thought no more of it until the next day when he learnt of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The killer’s description matched that of his patient, so he contacted the authorities at once. Much to his dismay he was accused of conspiring with the assassin, John Wilkes Booth.

Mudd was imprisoned for life. His pleas of innocence were widely publicised – and ignored – and his name came to symbolise anyone who vigorously denies involvement in a criminal act, whether innocent or otherwise.

I never knew that!

The British athletics team have a new World Champion Triple Jumper in their midst in the form of Phillips Idowu. At the start of the 2009 athletics season, Idowu missed the opportunity to defend his European Indoor title as he was suffering from a knee injury. On Tuesday 18th of August 2009 he finally fulfilled his potential by winning the World Championships in Berlin with a personal best jump of 17.73m.

And all I can think is that maybe he could have jumped just a little further without all that metalwork in his face. *ahem*

Anyway, well done, that man. Well deserved.

The pen from my Wacom tablet was not lost in Hull, after all that.

It was lost between the cushions on the couch at home.

*phew!*

Oh, and for those of you who are still unsure of what I'm talking about, have a piccie of my little Wacom tablet complete with pen thingie:

It's very handy for artwork and games. Best £60 I've spent on laptop related gadgetry.

I have finally succumbed.
I have stated previously that I wouldn't.
I have stated previously that there would have to be rather a chilly spell in Hades before I join.
While I don't know the current weather conditions in the underworld, I have, however, signed up to...

*gulps*

...FaceBook.

I'm going to Hell, aren't I?

Meh! Maybe I can do a bit of skiing while I'm there!

OK, so Hull saw the demise of my sunglasses, my belief that I will always be a loner, my dignity and very nearly my wallet. I have found out that I have also lost the pen from my Wacom tablet. Bugger!

I'll have to find out if Wacom do spares...

(As if shouted into a mobile phone)

HELLO? HELLO? YES, I'M ON THE TRAIN...

*snrk*

Just left Peterborough, next stop Grantham.

Hull in less than three hours.

WOOHOO!

You've no doubt heard of "Chugging" - being caught by charity collectors on the street. The word is derived from charity and mugging.

Now there's a new phenomenon which, for want of a better word, I will label as "Chamming"

It is defined as basically spamming for charity.

A clear example of this new phenomenon is this, which I received in my guestbook some time last night:

in Taiwan, we had a typhoon recently!!

it didn't hurt my city
but hurt many citys in Taiwan

{many many people lost thier home!!}

for people didn't hurt, we really want to do something for them, and I hope you can, too

for you can give some wealths to Taiwan, or something very important but now we just get very few is money!!

hope you can give soemthing to Taiwan!!

really really thank you!!

*link deleted for obvious reasons*

Jordan

Just another way to annoy people, eh?

Throughout history quotations have highlighted the insightfulness of the people who first stated them. However, sometimes a quote becomes memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Here's a few that I'm sure the originators would rather not admit to:

The 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no use to us.

Western Union internal memo, 1876

Everything that can be invented has been invented.

Charles H Duell, Commissioner, US Office of Patents, 1899

The wireless muic box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?

David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s

Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?

Harry M Warner, Warner Bros., 1927

We don't like their sound and guitar music is on the way out

Decca Recording Co. on The Beatles

Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible

Lord Kelvin, President of the Royal Society, 1895

Aeroplanes are interesting toys, but of no military value

Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, École Superieure de Guerre

I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year.

Editor in Charge of business books, Prentice Hall, 1957

Computers in the future may weigh no more than 15 tonnes

Popular Mechanics, 1949

I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.

Thomas Watson, Chairman, IBM, 1943

640K ought to be enough for anybody.

Bill Gates, 1981

There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home

Ken Olsen, President, Chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, 1977

Just goes to show what happens when you make predictions, eh?

I have new boots.

Now to start planning for my overnight stay...

...Sh*t!

I now need a pair of boots. These ones I'm partially wearing have died on me.

Shitshitshitshitshit.

I'm working this afternoon, so I'll have to buy them tomorrow.

Hang on... I'll be on the train up to Hull from 8:45am.

Shitshitshitshitshit.

Soy! Know any decent shoe shops in 'Ull?

And possibly I am one.

I sometimes feel snubbed by people taking themselves off of my friends list without a little goodbye, but it happens.

<rant mode>I have now taken myself out of a group blog without offering any reason in a rather similar fashion.

Now I have the problem that the group owner is harassing me trying to get an explanation for why I should join and then change my mind. She has even descended to the infantile behaviour of calling me stupid for joining and then leaving.

Now excuse me, but I thought I had free will here. It is an open group that I joined, so anyone is free to join, therefore should it not follow that anyone is free to leave as well?

And just as an aside to this, the Group owner invited me to contribute to the blog, which I did at her request, but in order to do so I had to join. She has not asked to join my community, nor I hers.

I had no problem with the initial request as I felt I may have had something more to offer the group. Now, having read more posts in that group, I feel it is not the sort of group that I thought it was.

I do not, however, appreciate being harangued by PM for justification of my leaving by someone who, having read her blog, I would not wish to touch with a ten foot barge-pole.

</rant mode>

I think he's after my nuts!

*ahem*

My boss is on leave, the Director is away on business and I'm the only member of the Support Staff that's in today, so what have I done?

Yup. I've spent all morning trying to catch up with a bit of blogging. *shhh!*

I still can't seem to get off of page 9, though.

I was hoping to catch at least a glimpse of some of the 80 shooting stars per minute that was predicted for tonight. Unfortunately it has been overcast all day and still is right now, as I can tell from the reflected light from the two towns off of the cloudbase.

Maybe I'll catch the tail end of the shower tomorrow...

Is all ready and waiting to hit a screen near you at precisely 9pm BST over on the Official Quick Quiz channel.

Bit of a mixed bag this week. Should be fun.

Those Reggae Reggae chicken chargrills that I mentioned - what can I say?

The sauce is tasty, but I wouldn't say it's worth all the fuss that people make of it. It tastes like a sweet, smoky, spicy barbecue sauce - which is basically what it is. I enjoyed it, but it's nothing to write home about, really.

Yes, I would have it again, but only if there's no peri-peri chicken available.

Tonight I shall be partaking of some Reggae Reggae chicken chargrills!

YES! I've found some! Woohoo!

I filled out a YouGov survey this morning, one section of which was dedicated to politics.

I know these things are supposed to be in confidence, but I thought I'd show you a few of my answers...

Politicians, eh? Would you trust one?

Busy, busy, busy today. So busy that I almost didn't stop for lunch.

ALMOST, I said.

I didn't even have time to whip lappy out in the office. It doesn't help that seemingly the only working printer in the entire two organisations is situated in my office. I may as well install a revolving door.

Still, I'd rather be busy than bored.

Wait for oven to heat up - 20 mins

Cook main ingredient of meal - 25 mins

Prepare plate and bed of salad leaves - 2 mins

Cook microwave chips - 2m 20s

Admire artistry of meal ready to serve:

Ten minutes later all that is left is this:

and a very satisfied NotBob!

It's true, Rob, the early bird gets the worm.

So does the late bird and the bird in-between. Because by design, there are always more than enough worms.

In fact, the only bird that doesn't get a worm, is the bird that doesn't go out to get one.

Oh, to be alive....
The Universe

Couldn't agree more with that.

Yes, I know I'm late for Blog Shades Day, But I was rather preoccupied on Friday. Still, better late than never, eh?

Different days, different shades...

Saturday:

Sunday:

...and I know it's hard to believe it, but I was trying to muster a smile for both of those photos

I'm sitting nicely stewing in drinking a few pints of cider down at the pub, but I think I may well go home as the internet connection still isn't sorted out here. I've had to resort to using my Web'n'Walk modem and everything is just so painfully slow. That's the problem with these things. It's basically a dial-up connection, come to think of it.

Pictures do load, but in very low definition, and as far as checking out what's on YouTube... well you may as well forget it.

Shame, really.

Say no more.

The Brewery of Eggshells

I may be considered impertinent were I to explain what is meant by a changeling. Both Shakespeare and Spencer have already done so, and who is there that is unacquainted with A Midsummer Nights Dream and The Fairy Queen?

Mrs Sullivan fancied that her youngest child had been changed by “fairies' theft,” to use Spenser’s words, and certainly appearances warranted such a conclusion; for in one night her healthy, blue-eyed boy had become shrivelled up into almost nothing, and never ceased squalling and crying. This naturally made poor Mrs Sullivan very unhappy; and all the neighbours, by way of comforting her, said that her own child was, beyond any kind of doubt, with the good people, and that one of theirs had been put in his place.

Mrs Sullivan of course could not disbelieve what everyone told her, but she did not wish to hurt the thing; for although its face was so withered and its body wasted away to a mere skeleton, it still had a strong resemblance to her own boy. She therefore could not find it in her heart to roast it alive on the griddle, or to burn its nose off with red-hot tongs, or to throw it out in the snow on the roadside, notwithstanding these, and several similar acts, were strongly recommended to her for the recovery of her child.

One day, who should Mrs Sullivan meet but a cunning woman, well known about the country by the name of Ellen Leah (or Grey Ellen). She had the gift, however she got it, of telling where the dead were, and what was good for the rest of their souls; and could charm any warts and wens, and do a great many wonderful things of the same nature.

“You’re in grief this morning, Mrs Sullivan,” were the first words Ellen Leah spoke to her.

“You may say that, Ellen,” said Mrs Sullivan, “and good cause I have to be in grief, for there was my own fair child whipped off of me from out of his cradle, without so much as a by your leave, or ask your pardon, and an ugly dony bit of a shrivelled up faerie put in his place; no wonder then that you see me in grief, Ellen.”

“Small blame to you, Mrs Sullivan,” said Ellen, “but are you sure ‘tis a faerie?”

“Sure!” echoed Mrs Sullivan, “sure enough am I to my sorrow, and can I doubt my own two eyes? Every mother’s soul must feel for me!”

“Will you take an old woman’s advice?” Said Ellen Leah, fixing her wild and mysterious gaze upon the unhappy mother, and after a pause she added, “but maybe you’ll call it foolish?”

“Can you get me back my child, - my own child, Ellen?” said Mrs Sullivan with great energy.

“If you do as I bid you,” returned Ellen, “you’ll know.” Mrs Sullivan was silent in expectation, and Ellen continued,” Put down the big pot, full of water, on the fire and make it boil like mad; then get a dozen new laid eggs, break them and keep the shells, but throw away the rest. When that is done, put the shells in the pot and you will soon know whether it is your own boy or a faerie. If you find that it is a faerie in the cradle, take the red hot poker and cram it down his ugly throat, and you will not have much trouble with him after that, I promise you.”

Mrs Sullivan went home and did as Ellen Leah desired. She put the pot on the fire and plenty of turf under it, and set the water boiling at such a rate that if ever water was red hot it surely was.

The child was lying for a wonder quite easy and quiet in the cradle, every now and then cocking his eye that would twinkle as keen as a star on a frosty night, over at the great fire and the big pot upon it; and he looked on with great attention at Mrs Sullivan breaking the eggs and putting the shells down to boil. At last he asked, with the voice of a very old man, “What are you doing, mammy?”

Mrs Sullivan’s heart, as she said herself, was up in her mouth ready to choke her at hearing the child speak, but she contrived to put the poker in the fire, and to answer without making any wonder at the words, “I am brewing, my son,”

“And what are you brewing, mammy?” said the little imp, whose supernatural gift of speech now proved beyond question that he was a faerie substitute.

“I wish the poker was red,” thought Mrs Sullivan, but it was a large one, and took a long time heating. So she determined to keep him in talk until was in a proper state to thrust down his throat, and repeated the question.

“Is it what I’m brewing, my son,” said she, “you want to know?”

“Yes, mammy. What are you brewing?” replied the faerie.

“Egg shells, my son,” Said Mrs Sullivan.

“Oh!” shrieked the imp, starting up from the cradle and clapping his hands in glee, “I’m fifteen hundred years in the world and I’ve never seen a brewery of eggshells before!” The poker was, by this time, quite red, and Mrs Sullivan seized it and ran furiously towards the cradle. Her haste made her lose her footing and she fell flat on the floor and the poker flew out of her hand clear to the other end of the house. However, she got up without much loss of time and went to the cradle intending to pitch the wicked thing that was in it into the pot of boiling water, when there she saw her own child in a sweet sleep, one of his soft round arms rested upon the pillow, his features as placid as if their repose had never been disturbed, save the rosy mouth which moved with the gentleness of his breathing.

Who can tell the feelings of a mother when she looks upon her sleeping child? Why should I, therefore, endeavour to describe those of Mrs Sullivan at again beholding her long lost boy? The fountain of her heart overflowed with the excess of joy, and she wept. Tears trickled silently down her cheeks, nor did she try to check them, for they were tears not of sorrow, but of overwhelming joy.

I've even had at least one visitor from the depths of the Brazilian rain forest. Cool!

Click for the bigger picture

Excellent scientific news just in...

August 6, 2009: NASA's new exoplanet-hunting Kepler space telescope has detected the atmosphere of a known giant gas planet, demonstrating the telescope's extraordinary scientific capabilities. The discovery will be published Friday in the journal Science.

"As NASA's first exoplanets mission, Kepler has made a dramatic entrance on the planet-hunting scene," said Jon Morse, director of the Science Mission Directorate's Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Detecting this planet's atmosphere in just the first 10 days of data is only a taste of things to come. The planet hunt is on!"

From HERE

The things that are common to you, Rob, like windy mornings, starry skies, and old trees; beetles, strawberries, and doorbells; coffee, blue jeans, and summertime... are not common to us.

Enjoy every flippin' moment...
The Universe

I blame the windy mornings on peri-peri chicken, personally. *parp*

That's how I feel at the moment.

A few weeks ago Father criticised me for staying in, using my computer and no longer having a social life.
A few months before that he criticised me for staying down the pub too much.
This evening he criticised me for trying to strike a happy medium by spending some family time at home with a bit of blogging on the side (but not while I had my dinner) followed by some socializing at the pub with some blogging on the side.

Pardon the language, but how the fuck can I be expected to get it right if staying in is wrong and going out is wrong?

You're going to hate me!

No music questions this week.

It's going all scientific. Don't worry, though, it's all fairly elementary stuff.

...if I've been spammed or there is something weird going on with Hotmail today.

First thing this morning I received this:

Don't limit yourself - enjoy this life to maximum measures.‏
From: Ramiro Elliot (tehany[at]bezeqint.net)

Sent: 05 August 2009 07:43:14
To: lisa.ford33[at]hotmail.com

Even in 60 and older you can feel like you are 20.

note who it's addressed to. That's not me. Do I look like a "lisa"?

Then at lunchtime I received this:

A Really Good Gift‏
From: Melody Stein (teenqueen[at]prodigy.net)

Sent: 05 August 2009 13:43:36
To: nellakan[at]hotmail.com

"Received my Rolex Daytona yesterday…best replica I have ever seen.” John Jurkowski Wisconsin, USA

yet again that's not my address in the 'To:' section.

If this is someone else's mail being redirected to me how many of my emails have been redirected elsewhere?

I don't know how it happened, but having to knuckle down at work may have played a part in it.

I'm admitting defeat. I am not going to try to catch up with all your trials and tribulations over the last week or so. I am going to concentrate on the daily stuff.

Basically I'm fed up with being up at this time of night thinking "Just one more blog..."

If I've missed anything important, please tell me. Otherwise I'm starting as if I'm a newbie.

...why I have a bottle of tomato sauce near the bottom of my blog. OK, here's the explanation:

There was an annual sauce race between Billy Brown, William Worcester, Sammy Soy and Timmy Tomato.

Usually Billy Brown won and Sammy and William usually vied for second and third places leaving poor Timmy Tomato to ketchup...

I'll not even bother taking my coat off, shall I?

Yesterday I sort of explained to my new 2RO what it is that I do for a living. Now she won't stop pestering me with graphic design work.

Ah, well. At least it's something I'm fairly good at - I bloody should be, I've been doing it exclusively for the last 9 bloody years! - and also, she'll always be welcome in my office. *semi-swoons* *ahem*

Five minutes before lunchie-time and it has just started raining. Thank you very much. NOT.

Still, at least have a not-too-badly-broken umbrella around here somewhere.

Well, I managed to leave my mobile modem at home today yet again and Square Bar was closed at lunchtime, so no pint and free wifi there, then! Anyways, what's been going on in the Land of NotBob today, then?

Not an awful lot, really. Still no sign of movement on the union side as far as my job is concerned, but I'm still looking for another job as this one definitely won't be going to Andover. My LM asked if I'd consider working with horses as there's a position as a groom available on site. Hmm, well I've put up with 20 years' worth of bullshit, so a change of species may appeal to some, but not to me thankyouverymuch.
There have been a couple of Movements Clerk posts that have caught my eye, but do I really want to jump this quickly? I suppose I should apply on the off chance that I get one or other of them and if I don't at least it'll have been "interview experience" as I haven't been through the interview process since I became an admin assistant 15 years ago.

I was asked by my new second reporting officer - nice young lady - to show her what exactly it is I do. As usual I was stuck for words, but I think I got the main points across. Well, she seemed impressed with my equipment. That's the copier and printers I hasten to add!
She's offered to help me look for a job while my LM is on holiday, so that's nice.

What else?

Hmm...

No. Not a lot else.

I hope you have all had more interesting days. I'm still trying to catch up.

(Click pic for link)

Addressed to mother, but she thought I might be interested so she forwarded to me.

It's a Powerpoint presentation giving some basic astronomy facts. OK, it's very economical with the facts, but there's some interesting pictures in it.

See for yourselves:

Click on the file, open with PowerPoint and when it opens, press F5 to view the slide show.

EDIT: Also works in Open Office, which is a free resource: http://www.openoffice.org/
(Thanks, Such-a-Good-Blog)

And nobody told me!

How cool is this:

TRANQUILITY BASE

OLYMPUS MONS

Fan-bloody-tastic!

If I disappear for days on end, you'll know where to find me!

I've been into town this afternoon looking for some decent jeans, as I appear to be living in my only pair. While I was there I thought I may as well pick up my train tickets for the trip to Hull in a fortnight's time. Scary how quick these blogmeets come round! I had a bit of a shock when I saw the date on the return ticket. I could actually spend a whole month in Hull! I expect Soy will tell me that it's not worth it, though!

~o0o~

I didn't find any jeans to fit me. Why do they only seem to make them for people of a certain size ? Maybe the whole of Woking needs to go on a diet...

I popped in to HMV to see if there was anything to take my fancy so that I could spend the money I was given at Christmas (yes, the gift card has been sitting, unused, in my wallet for that long!) I bought La Roux's eponymous debut album which I'm listening to at the moment - it's not bad, provided you like electro-pop - Florence + The Machine's "Lungs", My Chemical Romance's "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge" and the Scouting for Girls album all for £29.98, so the gift card is now worth tuppence.

~o0o~

I'm now watching the Argentine Open polo match between La Dolfina and Ellestina on Eurosport. I've never seen polo on the telly before but it really should be on more often. It's really rather exciting. Fast paced, with skillful horsemanship displayed by both teams. Really excellent stuff!

I think I'm a convert...

... for remembering that you shouldn't take photos when facing directly into sunlight is that you may get more moon than sun...

*ahem*

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.