200th
Posted: Sun 13 February, 2005 Filed under: General 1 Comment »And a quick congratulations to Pix for leaving the 200th non-spam comment on d4d™ since WP was installed.
Once all that’s been explained, it doesn’t sound overly impressive, does it? Still, other than comment spam the comments seem to have dried up a bit over January – we’ll see how it all progresses from here, I guess.
ER
Posted: Thu 10 February, 2005 Filed under: General 1 Comment »I’m not going to ruin this for the people who won’t see it ’til Monday/Tuesday when it’s on Channel 4, or who’ve recorded it.
All I will say is this – watch the episode “Time of Death” with Ray Liotta. It’s stunning. Oh, and keep some tissues close by. For the geeky, it’s filmed in “real time” – 45 minutes of programme = 45 minutes of time. Prepare to be stunned. I wasn’t.
That’s all.
B&Q – still going
Posted: Thu 10 February, 2005 Filed under: B&Q, Customer Services, General 2 Comments »And in direct contrast I also got an email last night from B&Q’s customer services saying “Thanks for your comments, we’ve forwarded them on to someone who’ll talk to you soon”. Impressive – only three days between sending the email and receiving a response.
I despair.
Driving
Posted: Thu 10 February, 2005 Filed under: General, Resolutions, Thoughts 3 Comments »Bit of a theme developing, but there we go. I’ll try and break it up with some other posts in between too…
So – no, I don’t have a particular problem with driving, and in fact when I’m doing it I actually quite enjoy it. It just never made the top ten on the priority list. People look at me in a combination of shock and horror when I say I don’t drive – and in some ways I can understand that thought process when they’ve been driving ten years or whatever. But all the same, for the most part it’s just not been something that was necessary. I’ve generally lived in towns and cities where I could get around no worries without driving.
Yes, weekends and the amount of travelling I’ve done would have been easier in a car. But at the same time I was able to sit on a train and read, or do work on the laptop, or even sleep. Sure I’d get there quicker in a car (well, most of the time) but I’d not be able to do any of those other things. Maybe I’m just trying to provide excuses to myself – but whatever the reason, it’s not been a matter of urgency.
Over the last year though, it’s become more important. The travelling between Manchester and Reading/Bracknell would’ve been a lot easier, and the move down here would’ve been easier and quicker too, I can’t deny it. And now, living with Herself, I’d rather be able to share the driving work, and make both our lives a lot easier.
So yes, now it’s more important to get it done, which previously it hasn’t. That doesn’t mean I’m going to suddenly transform into a “drive everywhere” type, because bizarre as it may seem, I actually enjoy walking to work, or (when I get it sorted) cycling to places. Because of the way I’ve been over the last decade or so, I don’t see the car as the way to get everywhere – but it definitely has its uses too. Bracknell’s got less of a transport system than the last few places I’ve lived, and as such driving will be useful. Getting around the area will be easier in a car – and yes, so will things like shopping (although home delivery is still a grand idea, and saves a lot of work!) and visiting friends/family.
It’s going to happen – and I’m sure many people, Herself included, will say “About bloody time too!”
Vroom – part 2
Posted: Thu 10 February, 2005 Filed under: General, Resolutions 3 Comments »The lesson actually went really well, I’m pleased to say. There’s an 8-week lead-time for the test itself, and I’ve been told to get it booked. Looks promising, anyway.
This time I’m learning in a Ford Focus. Much much much nicer than the Corsa I was in last time. (And yes, Razorhead, I’d agree, avoid BSM like the plague, they’re toss) For the first time ever, I actually had leg-room – being 6’4″ and the width of the proverbial shithouse, a Vauxhall Corsa is NOT the best thing to be driving. I could definitely get to like the Focus though…
Still, all’s good so far. Oh, and Herself has asked me to point out that she’s been encouraging me to sort out the driving, and NOT nagging…
Getting Old
Posted: Thu 10 February, 2005 Filed under: General Leave a comment »I’ve just plucked out a grey nose hair. God help us all, I’m getting old.
London Thoughts – part 2
Posted: Tue 8 February, 2005 Filed under: General, Thoughts 2 Comments »So – the book launch. It was pretty good fun – the only problem was that the bar it was set in was actually quite small, and so got very warm and crowded very quickly. Other than that though (and a certain lack of cloakroom space) it was a pretty good venue.
It was a busy event, as I’ve said already, but I still got to talk to a few people, including Mik Scarlet, who I’ve known of for years, so it was good to actually meet him.
Unfortunately, the camera threw a wobbly and didn’t like the lighting in the bar at all, so photos were a bit of a no-no. Bummer. I really must start thinking about upgrading to either the Canon 20D or the Fuji S3- although as they’re both over £1000 (and the Fuji’s currently closer to £2K) it’ll be a while yet. It was the first book launch I’d been to, but hopefully won’t be the last – but it was a good event, for sure.
As for the freebies, well, what can I say? Heavy sponsorship by www.sextoys.co.uk and Trojan condoms obviously helped, but there was a whole bundle of stuff that all arrived in its own carrier bag (helpfully emblazoned with “I love www.sextoys.co.uk” – I wonder how many other people shoved it all into another bag? *grin*) it was a pretty good night all round.