Catching up… I made my trip to London on February 14th, meeting up with my old friend Paul, along with Martin Skidmore. I was a bit stressed for a few reasons (not least of which was some truly intolerable problems with the train I was on), but I relaxed after a while and things were pretty good.
Read More »London Etc
London trip tomorrow. Okay. As long as nothing sinister effs my morale up needlessly, I’ll be making an effort to relax and enjoy myself. I’m… Read More »London Time Again
I’ve been thinking about human interaction a bit. Bad idea. Thinking usually ends up troubling me.
Sometimes, it seems to me that a lot of human interaction is bullshit. You pretend to feel better than you really do whenever possible, pretend to be more interesting than you think you really are, and generally ‘sell’ yourself. I’m absolutely useless at doing this. You’d think, understanding the theory, I might not be quite so pathetic at it—then again, part of the problem is understanding it, because then you start to question its futility or dishonesty and open another massive can of worms. Oboy. Too much time on my hands = too much analysis.
Work situation… a brief rant…
Read More »Too Much Analysis
Since I was droning about Harry Potter earlier… today (er, yesterday), I read the appalling story/rumour that they might use cast-off footage of Richard Harris from the first two movies, combined with his stand-in and computer trickery, to generate an artificial ‘performance’ for the third movie!
I really, really hope this is only a rumour…
Read More »Computer Fakery
Monday was a bit of a drama with our poor, ailing pooch, Fred. He seemed in quite a lot of discomfort and losing more blood than usual (usual being in the context of his illness). So off we went to the vet, completely expecting Fred to not be coming home with us. It was really quite traumatic.
However, the vet would not recommend putting him to sleep. The decision was in our hands. He suggested doubling the dose of Fred’s medication, and advised us to monitor his ‘quality of life’—that if he seemed in constant discomfort, that would be an indication that perhaps the time had come.
Well, as it has turned out, this was just a bad day, and the vet was right to be cautious. He’s seemed reasonably okay since then. We all know he won’t be around for too much longer, but it’s no joke to go through the experience of thinking it’s the end… and when it isn’t, knowing you’re going to go through it all again sometime.
Read More »Pet Problems
What can I say? I’ve been stranded without a computer for a whole month, which is the longest I’ve gone offline/disconnected… for a few centuries. My computer died, poor old thing. And not gracefully. It belched and seethed and just kinda gave up the ghost. Poof! Bye-bye! Etc.
Actually, it was probably the CPU, which had apparently been running without a fan for a few months—so that was what those funny noises were! And odd how they stopped a while back. Erm, yes. Well, I can’t have looks and brains. Ahem. So, seeing as the thing was generally in a crummy old state anyway, I quickly lost interest in getting it patched up… and £250 I can by no means afford later, I now have a decidedly average but adequate refurbished thingy. It’ll do for a while, anyhoo.
Read More »After the Hiatus
Saturday was time to head down London way again. I was planning to go into Ilford while in town, to see my old pal Tim Bateman, but got caught in a rainfall and had to give it a miss. Although I had a nice, long chat with him on the phone, until he started worrying about his bill and rung off! Then I wandered round Waterstone’s for a while and bought a couple of books I couldn’t afford.
The train home was screwed. Surprise! The rail service has become shambolic. I had to get a train into Watford Junction and wait there for almost an hour to get another one into Brum. Then the train at Brum to take me back home was delayed. And since my feet were by then killing me (it was almost midnight), I decided to get a taxi from the station too. Costly, time-consuming and tiring.
Read More »Down in London
Well, trip to London tomorrow and weekend break. And I really do need it. This has been a slightly stressful week—and yesterday, I was almost copped!
It was innocent enough. I went into a local Superdrug to pick up some deodorant and whatever, and when I left a security guard nabbed me and accused me of shoplifting! (No, I hadn’t been!) So he took me back into the store and insisted on checking my bag and receipt, but that wasn’t enough for him. He said, ‘I’ll have to get a female assistant to…’ Suddenly, my mind raced with paranoia! I was thinking, ‘N-n-not a strip search?’ But he went on, ‘…search your pockets.’
Then I got annoyed, and emptied the pockets of my jacket myself, exclaiming the nature of each item aloud as I did so. Apparently, this still didn’t satisfy him. He asked, ‘Whose wallet is that?’ I was about to go apeshit at that point, but another security guard showed up and started apologising for the ‘mistake’ profusely. My accuser beat a hasty retreat, and I screamed, ‘So how do I complain about that asshole?’
Read More »Unfair Cop
I’m going through a period of reflection at the moment. I still feel strange. I can’t turn my feelings on and off at will.
Many thanks to those who have e-mailed me today. Knowing a few people care and understand makes this a little easier—there are always doubts and fears around such a difficult decision. Contact with others makes me feel less alone in this.
Read More »Reflections