Wednesday 29 April 2009

iPhone update

Yes, I know it's only been a couple of days, but here's a brief summary of how it's going.

Battery life: Not too bad - I haven't been hammering it, but I've only had to charge it twice (and one of those was only because I plugged it into my laptop)

iTunes: SUCKS. I have never liked it. I have LOADS of songs I've paid for on my MP3 player. And do you think I can get them into iTunes easily? Can I bollocks. Unless I'm being dense (and there is a good possibility of that, granted) I can't seen an easy way of getting the albums I want onto iTunes so I can select a few to put onto my phone. My good friend and techie Mr. P is coming round tonight, so I'm sure he'll be able to slap me upside the head and educate me.
However, I did download my first iTunes album last night, "Dear Science" by TV On The Radio. And it scared me how easy it was to do... this is dangerous for a music fan like me, if I can be out and about and just order a new album.

Apps: Not really installed many yet... a Twitter client, Facebook, a couple of others... but then I don't know a) what's out there and b) what I'd actually use, but then there's no rush is there.

Using it as a phone: I know, it's its main function isn't it? But because these things take time, I can use it to text / phone until tomorrow at some point. Email is good though.

So there you go, I would have to say at the moment I DON'T regret buying it, and the sooner I can use it properly as opposed to carrying to phones around, the better.

Soundtrack of the day: "Dear Science" by TV On The Radio (you could have guessed that couldn't you?)

Tuesday 28 April 2009

Phone update

You're right Phil, I didn't update.
No post today, so on the phone to Orange I went.
"Hello, it's been 48 hours and I have not received my PAC code - I'd like it now please".
"Yes *shitty pause* sir, if it's on my screen I can give it to you." *tapitty tapitty on the keyboard*
"Here it is..." *code recited*
Normally there is then a "Is there anything else I can help you with?" but not this time. Thank you for the call *click*.

Laugh? I poo'd a little bit.

Anyway, code received (and understood) and sent to my shiny new provider O2.
(Warning O2: DON'T CROSS ME LIKE ORANGE DID OR WOE BETIDE YOU!)
Apparently now my number will be switched on Thursday, so there's lovely.

woohoo!

I never thought I'd see the day

You know you're current body is getting old when you start getting hair growing in your ears... man, that's the sort of shit that happens to old men who snort and fart and groan whenever they need to get up off a chair. Hair in my ears? Sheesh.

And while we're on the subject - it's harder to get up in the mornings (up and out of bed - get your minds out of the gutter), I'm even less tolerant of stupid /annoying / rude people (especially when they are a lot younger than you and think they know better than you) and the weight is harder to keep off. AND I'M NOT EVEN 40 YET! Good grief...

(It's a quiet day at work today, so it's giving me too much time to think).

Is it just me or...

... when you see a man jogging just after the marathon, you feel like you wanna make a joke about "still going then?" or "it's finished mate!" - and then realize that would not be funny and tell yourself to shut up?

... do you get annoyed when someone from work gets hold of your mobile number and keeps ringing it when they want to get hold of you and you're not answering your office phone?

...do you hope that someone is actually ill when you get into the office, because then they won't come in and annoy the tits off you?

...do you feel powerless against big companies, even though you know you're in the right and they are in the wrong and there's nothing you can do about it?

...do you find there is too many cool sites you like keeping up to date with (blogs, tech sites, comic sites etc.) and there is not enough time in the day?

...do you wish those people who read your blog but have never commented, comment just once to let the world know they are there?!

...is an empty office and a nice cup of tea the perfect start to the working day?

Do you have any "is it just me or..."? send them in, share with the world...

Monday 27 April 2009

I have to rant again about this...

Orange SUCK. I phoned again today chasing my PAC code, after being told by two independent people that they DIDN'T have to wait for their PAC code to be sent by post, and was told "No, sorry, it has to come in the post and then if you DON'T receive it within 7 days you can get it sent to you by text". So I told them that these two people DIDN'T have to wait for theirs by post, they got it straight away, why can't I? And was told "I don't know, but you can't, its OFCOM rules". WHAT A LOAD OF BOLLOCKS! I am SO SO SO SO SO glad I'm leaving this network - after all the money I've paid them over the years, I'm being treated like a shmuck and it's winding me the fuck up. Bastards. A pox on them, and all their kin. A POX I SAY!

Update: Thanks to CareerWorkshops advice, I checked the OFCOM website and found a phone number for them. I phoned them up, spoke to a nice bloke who said "No, there is no stipulation that you get your PAC code by post - it HAS to be within 48 hours of you requesting it but it doesn't have to be by post". So I got back on the phone to Orange, and do you think they would believe me?? Did they bollocks. "No, we stick to the OFCOM regulation of sending it out by post sir." "You're not listening - I just spoke to OFCOM and there IS no regulation about sending it out by post". She wouldn't have it! She just point blank stuck to the same line. I was SO fuckin' angry, I mean, fuming, but I have to keep my tempter because its not this dappy birds fault its the company's. So she said "It was sent out on the 25th so you should receive it today / tomorrow". So, if it's NOT arrived by tomorrow, OFCOM said they would chase Orange for me. Which is nice. Orange? They ain't worth dick. DO NOT USE THEM!

It's been a few days

Apologies for not posting for a little while (yeah, like you care!)

Bad bloody start to the day - I was carrying a bottle of milk through to the kitchen at work to make my normal cup of tea... and I dropped it. Luckily it was onto carpet so the bottle didn't break, but I now know what it felt like to be in one of those dirty movies as the top of the bottle just came off a little and a spray of white liquid showered my face and shirt... fuckit. Talk about pop-shot. Happy Monday, eh?

Anyway, whats been going on:

Jake had his first 11-a-side friendly on Sunday... they drew 3 - 3 and he scored one, and played well, so that was good. City won away from home on Saturday for the first time since August(!) so that was good too.

You'll all be pleased to hear I finally made a decision on which phone to get... and on Friday I went out and got it.

the iPhone! (ta da!)

I know there is a lot of anti-iPhone people out there, and for a while I was one of them, but there were too many good things that out-weighed the bad so I had to get one. Also, Orange (my current provider) were pissing me around too much, and I lost patience with them.
I decided on the white 16GB one. And so far, (although I've only been using it as an iTouch really, I'm waiting for my number to transferred across), I do really like it. It's such a swish bit of kit... and when I'm actually using it to text and make/receive calls I'll really get to see what it can do. So far, I've been browsing the web, checking emails playing with some of the apps. and it's all good. Rest assured that this blog will be updated regularly with my thoughts on it and whether or not I've dropped a massive bollock in getting one. I've yet to try posting to my blog from the phone, but I will be trying it soon.

This week: No plans at the moment, apart from training with Jake on Tuesday. I haven't got the chance to play golf really (apart from maybe on Friday) and I won't be playing football tonight, so a sport-free week for me. I must be careful with my calorie intake!

Anyway, I'll let you get on - have a great Monday, more updates soon.

Wednesday 22 April 2009

What I've been doing

The other day I introduced Jake to the delights of "Wayne's World" - he loved it. I saw it was on TV, and as nothing else was on I sat and watched it. Jake came in half way through and thought it was hilarious, and when we saw it was on Sky Anytime he watched it from the beginning and thought it was brilliant. There are so many classic bits in that film.
"... Not today my good man, I'm feeling saucy... do you accept CASH? Chi-ching!"
"...Chah, and monkies might fly out of my butt!"
And of course the Bohemian Rhapsody skitt. It brings to mind feelings of innocense and naivity and when life was less complicated... *sigh*.

Also, I've been re-reading (for about the 6th time!) Douglas Coupland's book "Microserfs".
I'll read you the blurb...

"At computer giant Microsoft, Dan, Susan, Abe, Todd and Bug are struggling to get a life in a high-speed high-tech environment. The job may be super cool, the pay may be astronomical, but they're heading nowhere, and however hard they work, however many shares they earn, they're never going to be as rich as Bill. And besides, with all the hours they're putting in, their best relationships are on e-mail. Something's got to give..."

Now I know some of the language is quite quaint, but it's set in the early 1990's, before widespread broadband, Google, wikipedia etc. when Microsoft was massive and controlling and these sorts of jobs were seen as the height of geek cool. They use modems to get online, they work on Microsoft Works... again, a more innocent and naive time. But I really enjoy reading it. If you're into technology in any way, I recommend it. Also, if you've never read any Douglas Coupland, give him a go. Other titles you might enjoy - "Generation X", "Shampoo Planet" (and his most recent one) "JPod".

Soundtrack of the day: "Death Magnetic" by Metallica (again). I know, I listened to this the other day, but I'm so bored with all my music at the moment and there are only two or three albums on constant rotation at the moment... this, "Fake Sound Of Progress" by Lost Prophets, "Kingdom Of Rust" by The Doves, and "Meds" by Placebo.

Anyway, have a lovely day (doesn't it look nice out?) and more nonsense soon. Schwing!

Tuesday 21 April 2009

Curse my indecision

I'm now leaning back toward an iPhone... gggrrrr

Monday 20 April 2009

I'll bet anyone in a relationship has experienced this...

And if you haven't you're lying.

Check it out.

A quick post

I'm very busy this morning, so this is just a quick one.
What I've been doing
Bought new headphones for my MP3 player
Had a very quiet, relaxing weekend
Made a fantastic potato, chickpea and spinach curry
Not shaved
Played a good game of golf
Looking for something new to read

What I'll be doing
Not playing football
Hopefully playing golf
Getting annoyed with the amount of work I've got
Mowing the lawn (aarrghhh!)

That's all I can think of right now, can't get past this MASSIVE lump of work I have to do this morning - I normally come in, and take my time getting started... ease into the day, you know? But today I was in at my desk at 06.50 and working by 06.55... sake.

Anyway - more stuff soon.

Soundtrack of the day: LOUD LOUD LOUD LOUD LOUD LOUD LOUD LOUD LOUD LOUD

Wednesday 15 April 2009

Using my blog as a sales tool

Yes, I'm using this 'ere blog to sell something. My laptop actually.
I have a Dell Inspiron 6400 with 1GB of memory, 1.6Ghz Intel Dual Core processor, and a 80GB hard drive which dual boots Windows XP or Kubuntu.
If anyone who reads this knows of someone who might be interested, get them to get in touch... make me an offer.

Thanks!

Warning: contains explosives.

I was asked this morning "did you watch the match last night?" (For those that don't know, Liverpool played Chelsea in a UEFA Champions League Quarter Final second leg last night). Now to be fair, I know it was one of the best European games ever - the final score in the match was 4 - 4 and the Aggregate score was 7 - 5 to Chelsea, so you can imagine last night was exciting... but I was greeted with open mouthed shock when I said "No, I didn't see it, I went out." Allow me to elaborate. Some associates and I went out for dinner last night, and it was one of the best nights out I've had in a long time. It wasn't a late one, it was just five of us (one of which I haven't seen in AGES and one of us who I haven't seen in a few weeks) meeting for a pint then going for a curry. (well, I rented mine for only a few hours... can you say "ring of fire"?)
We laughed (alot) we cried (well I did, in the middle of the night and this morning... it felt like the world literally fell out of my bottom) and we still managed to catch the last 20 minutes of the match. I really enjoyed myself. (Well, up until the whole exploding colon incident).

Bill Shankly once said "Football is not a matter of life and death - it's more important than that". But what does that make friendship then? Because in my mind, after a night like last night, that is one of the most important things in the world.

So a heartfelt thanks to R for coming all the way back to civilization, thanks to C for coming out so soon after his new BIG purchase (and thanks to his understand wife for letting him) and thanks as always to N & G for being the sort of friends someone like me is lucky to have.

Here's to Cornwall!

Update: I had to share this.
You need sound. Just click anywhere in the screen, you'll see. But be warned... it is hyper-addictive.
Soundtrack of the day: "Kingdom Of Rust" by The Doves. Very good album. Life affirming, even...

Tuesday 14 April 2009

So I wasn't gonna rant about this but...

I was all excited about getting my new mobile handset this week. On Good Friday I happened to find myself in Manchester town center, outside the Orange shop. "Hey", thinks me, "I can go get my new handset from the shop, saves waiting for it to be delivered!". So off I toddle like the good little shopper, all bouncy and grinning in expectation.
After standing around for about 5 minutes (while someone who came in AFTER me gets served BEFORE me... don't get me started...) the sales monkey comes and says "Can I help you?"
"Yes", says I, "I am eligible for a free upgrade and I'd like to do that now please".
"Certainly sir, lets take a look. Mobile number? Address? And which handset were you after?".
...
"Ah, yes that will be £78.00 please."
"Pardon?" says I. "No, I said I was eligible for a free upgrade".
"No, the handset you want will set you back £78.00"
So out of the shop I seethe and straight onto the phone to Orange
"I was just told I have to pay £78.00 for my upgrade when I was told it would be free".
"No sir, your monthly average usage blah blah blah you have to pay £78.00".
"Forget that". hangup.
I was really pissed off. Really. I mean, I was SO looking forward to getting my new handset (for what seems like weeks actually) and to be then told I'd have to pay that much for it... talk about a kick in the nuts. I know, I know, in the great scheme of things it's not that important, but sake, I was full of expectation and anticipation.
So anyway... I now have to decide, do I cancel my current contract in a huff and go get an iPhone, or do I wait and be patient and see if the price comes down / vanishes altogether in a few weeks... bastards.

Oh, and a greenfly landed on my desk this morning, between my keyboard and my screen. It's still there. I just blew on it, while typing this, and it's alive. Its just sitting there. Watching me. It's a little unnerving.

Unexpected windfall

Isn't it nice when that happens?
Long story short, I have received a refund on some loan PPI (insurance) that I was apparently 'mis-sold'. They contacted me to find out if I thought I had been mis-sold it, and I said I thought I had, and so they'll be refunding me. Sweet!

I had a good weekend over Easter (we were 'oop North') with great weather. It was my nephew's seventh birthday and he had a great time. The only bad thing was the journey home - about four hours... sheesh. Too much traffic, bank holiday madness etc.

This week: Out for cocktails and dinner this evening with some associates, but apart from that no real concrete plans.

Soundtrack of the day: "Death Magnetic" by Metallica and other loud albums because there's too much feckin noise from stupid feckin chatty giggly women in the feckin office.
Grrrrrr....

Tuesday 7 April 2009

Too busy to post a proper post

Sorry listeners, busy busy this week. Here's a brief summary:

Things that have pissed me off
Slow drivers
Obnoxiously loud co-workers
Orange (the phone company, not the color)
Noisy kids at the driving range

Things I have been doing
Working my balls off on a new, quick project (which I like, better than being quiet)
Being alone in the house (family gone away)
Playing guitar & singing again (see above)
Drinking too many White Russians (see above)

Things I will be doing
Going up north on Thursday
Going to the driving range again
Maybe playing golf after work on Wednesday
Ordering my new phone on Thursday (I've made a decision!)

That is all. Stay tuned for more later in the week

Thursday 2 April 2009

Yes, another mobile phone related post

Does anyone use voice dialing? I was just walking back from Tesco's with a dozen Krispy Kremes, when I got to thinking about my potential new phone. It has a QWERTY keyboard, so I thought "How do I dial a number?" and then that got me thinking about voice dialing. I remember when it first came out - everyone was so impressed that we would be able to tell our phones who to dial. But now I don't know anyone who uses it, although I'm tempted to start using it myself. Would I look a tit if I was walking down the street shouting at my phone "Call Emma!" "CALL EMMA!!"?
Do you have to push a button first to initiate voice dialing? Or if you just say "Call" or something before a name, does it start? Can it pick up background conversations by mistake and dial someone when you didn't want them to? ("If you don't stop that I'm gonna CALL the POLICE"... ring-ring, ring-ring, "Emergency services, can I help you?" - see what I'm getting at?)

Anyway, just my thought for the day (yes, I'm allowed one a day.)

Soundtrack of the day - "The Age Of The Understatement" by Last Shadow Puppets

Wednesday 1 April 2009

Mobile phone companies can always find ways to screw you

So I went to the O2 store today, to check out the possibility of getting an iPhone. I know that in May O2 are going to offer the 8GB phone for free on their £35.00 tariff (which is the one I'd want) but at the moment you have to pay £99. So, if I'm going to leave Orange then I would wait until May to get my free phone. So I popped in there to check the details and found out that if I want a free iPhone I'd have to sign up for a 2 year contract! Man, that sucks. I don't like being tied in for 18 months as it is... but 2 years? I don't think so.
So unless something comes up that disuades me from the Blackberry Bold, I think that'll be the puppy. I'll let you all know... (yeah, and you're all on tenderhooks waiting aren't you...)

April Fool's Day

The day when you can't believe anything on the internet. Can you believe this post? Am I writing it? Is it a lie?
See how tiresome today is? And there is the added annoyance that it seems as though the old rule of "If it's after midday you're the fool" doesn't count any more. Especially seeing as we are now such a worldwide community you could easily be pranked (is that a word?) for the whole 24 hours of the 1st of April.
Yes, you've got the message, I don't really get into the spirit of this day. I just tend to keep my head down and ignore everything I'm told. This can present problems if there's a fire alarm drill or something, but I'd rather risk being burnt to a crisp than have loads of people screaming "APRIL FOOL!" at me with slightly crossed eyes and dribble round their lips. *sigh*

In other news - I have a bastard cold coming (again!). I have been feeling run down for a couple of days, and with my lowered defenses some nasty little bug has snuck in and infected me. I've been fighting it off with lemsip and whiskey (which is hard to do in the office without people smelling it on your breath... I just tell them it's a new mouth wash) so hopefully it won't hit me hard.

Soundtrack of the day: I've hit RANDOM again... so far I've had some Hendrix and some Nine Inch Nails...
Update: See, I just saw a post on Reddit - someone has said this:
"My mom is planning on telling my dad she's leaving him later today (Not a joke - seriously) - should I tell her to postpone?"
Now is this true? Or is it an April Fool? And if it IS true, what would you say if you were the dad in the scenario? See how this day fecks with your head? Sake.