iSimon

Really angry

2011-04-01T17:56:00.001+01:00

Right, I was all ready to record some stuff tonight. I've been to the pub and had a couple of drinks to get me mellow and relax my voice. I'd been inspired by reading Q magazine and I thought I could produce some good stuff tonight. And then I got home, set the laptop up with the recording software on it, poured myself a glass of wine, got the mike stand out - and it's knackered. Cue trying to fix the mike stand, getting more angry and annoyed, and now I'm several steps past mellow with a headache and feeling really hacked off.
So no - no recording tonight. Instead I have an evening of shite tv and bubbling rage to contend with. FML.

I don't want my soul stolen

2011-03-26T08:20:00.001Z

So this is nothing like what I had planned to blog about but it's what I've been thinking about last night and this morning. My aversion to being photographed.
Now I know a lot of people feel similar to me in that they don't think they are very photogenic and would rather avoid appearing in a picture but I don't know anyone who has such a fear and loathing of it. Most people when push comes to shove will appear in a photo (not the "just pop your clothes on the chair" sort) even if they do complain a little. Whereas I will do anything to avoid it. One of the things that Jakes mum levelled at me during our break up was that she was disappointed she didn't have more pictures of us as a family to look back on and I must admit that I also wish I had more pictures of us together or of with me Jake - but this is not some conscious decision I made to think "I will not appear in pictures". It's just a fundamental part of my character that I cannot change.
I don't know where this started - I mean as a kid there are lots of pictures of me but in later life something changed in me and to this day I feel like a member of one of those Aboriginal tribes who think that every photograph taken takes a bit of your soul. Now obviously I know this isn't true but to try and make you understand, if someone wanted to do something to you that made you feel like it was stealing part of your soul wouldn't you want to avoid it? (Again, I KNOW photography doesn't steal part of your soul, so please don't focus on that part!)
I suppose all you amateur head doctors out there will point to a lack of self confidence, low self esteem, and a belief that I am not attractive and maybe that's part of it - however I know people who feel similar things but are still comfortable in front of a camera so that can't be the whole reason can it?
All I know is that I have taken some extreme measures to avoid being photographed in the past - every time a camera was pointed at me I would stick two fingers up in front of my face. People around me soon learned that if they didn't want a ruined picture they wouldn't include me.
I've timed group photos in such a way that I'm always either in the loo, in a different part of the house, or the one behind the camera.
Most recently someone was taking photos around the office before I left my last job and as soon as I saw the camera pointed towards out teams desks I hid under my desk! I shit you not.
Oh, but taking photos? No problems. I've helped strangers who wanted a group shot, things like that, and I actually compose quite good shots. But me in front of a camera? I want my (albeit tarnished) soul kept where it's supposed to be thank you.
Have a nice weekend all.

Mid-life crisis

2011-03-16T09:48:00.002Z

I was thinking as I was drifting off last night and I have started to understand why men enter a mid-life crisis and now easy it would be to succumb to one.
My body is not how it used to be - it's done some hard miles in these 38 years and bits are growing that I don't want to grow, going missing when I want to keep them, and generally changing in a most unpleasant way.
I can understand now how men (and probably some women) approach a point in their lives when they think "enough is enough". They realise that they will never be as slim, as fit, as attractive & young looking as they used to be and they react against it.
With men it's usually different clothes, expensive toys or letching after younger women. With women it's too much makeup, tummy tucks & boob jobs, and lusting after toy boys. (I know, there are some MASSIVE generalizations there but you get the picture...).
I'm starting to accept these home truths about myself now and I'm fighting against them with every fibre of my being. Don't worry - I'm not gonna start growing a comb over or buying a motorbike or chasing 21 year old girls because a) I don't have enough hair for a comb over b) I can't afford a motorbike and c) I'm not attractive to younger women in the slightest.
But my body is obviously telling me things when my achilles are killing me after playing football, my stomach will not shrink no matter what I do or don't eat, my body takes longer each morning to get started... its almost as if it's saying "accept who you are - you're NOT 25 any more no matter what you might think".
There is still some pride left in me that I don't want to be seen as a chunky, balding, flabby embarrasment of a dad to Jake. I still want to look good for my LGF. I want to still play football next season and walk a round of golf without needing oxygen and mouth-to-mouth by the 15th green. But maybe it's time I stop being so hard on myself and start accepting the shape my body is drifting into. I will never be a fat bastard - I'd chop off my hands to stop me eating before I'd let that happen - but punishing my body unnecessarily seems like a waste of the years I have left on this rock.

So there. A little insight into what I was thinking last night. No real point to the post.

Three days left to go before I leave here and I can't wait. Have a nice Wednesday.

Tuesday

2011-03-15T11:01:00.004Z

So the countdown has begun - nearly half way through my fourth-to-last day here.
As it is with a lot of jobs I'm guessing, it's proving very hard to stay motivated. I really don't need to be here anymore, I've done all I can work-wise and I'm not being given anything of substance to get on with and pass the time (understandable of course).
Once I leave here I have a total of 16 working days off (woohoo!) before starting my new career - so it's even harder to keep on getting up and coming in here this week.

I had an unexpected by nonetheless very enjoyable evening with my LGF last night which helped lift my somewhat somber mood that I have been in of late - but we stayed up too late for a school night and drank too much wine so this morning I was a little bit 'bleaurgh'.

Tonight I have another golf lesson and then I'll be collecting Jake and having him tonight.
The rest of the week cannot pass quickly enough - and I'm trying to work out how early I can get away with leaving on Friday afternoon!

Finally, although I will be posting my latest blog post on Twitter & Facebook, I am still not taking part for the forseeable future. But I do need to get my blogs out there and Twitter & Facebook are good for that.

Have a good Tuesday.

Friday

2011-03-11T09:17:00.003Z

I would so like to be in what is generally known as a 'Friday mood' today but alas I'm really not in that frame of mind.
I have a very big appointment later this afternoon - when I say big I mean it could be literally life changing. So my mind is full of "what if's", my stomach is churning and my ring is going from 5p to 50p and back again quicker than a humming birds wings.
I have been visited by the insomnia fairy again (I picture her as a great big fat lass with bad breath and steel toed boots that kicks me in the head in the dead of night and then bounces around on my bed so I can't get back to sleep). This week I think I've totalled about 15 hours sleep with a few hours light dozing. As you can imagine my mind is a little fuzzy round the edges (well more so than usual) which isn't great preparation for later today. So - leaving the office at around 12.30 today and then by tea time tonight I may have some news. Stay tuned.

Later...

So they must have seen enough because they offered me the job. I've tentatively accepted - not going to sign anything until I've had a proper think about it - but I'm pretty sure my new career will start in about 4 weeks.
I would be more happy and excited but I'm really not with it at the moment. Lack of sleep is a bitch. And I've had an extremely shitty week.
Jake here for the weekend (yay) and all we really have planned is hair cuts tomorrow and then he has Stagecoach on Sunday.
Have a nice weekend everyone.

An explanation

2011-03-10T09:33:00.002Z

Last night I sent my last tweet & facebook status update.
Although at the time I had every intention of them being my last (full stop. The end. No more.) I will add a caveat that they are my last "for now".
Without wanting to go into a massive explanation ("but what about the title of the post?") I have had my fingers burned twice now because of social networking applications. I feel that for the forseeable future my sanity, emotional well being and stress levels will be best served by avoiding the whole mess of it.

I'd like to thank the people on Twitter for following me, #FF'ing me, and making me laugh and think alot. And I'd like to thank the people on Facebook for the same (apart from the #FF bit obviously).

I wish you all the very best for whatever your future holds. I will continue to blog (hopefully) so if you feel so inclined please feel free to drop by and catch up.

Thanks.

Rant!

2011-03-08T20:18:00.001Z

I know I've already posted today and I know I have posted about this before in the past (I think) but I had to have another blast about the parking outside my house. People can only park on one side of the street (my side) and that's fair enough but what pisses me off more than grit in my undercrackers is when people don't park in a way to allow room for other cars. Some people (like those stuck up shit boxes opposite me) purposely park just so they can be right opposite their front door without any consideration for anyone else. If it's a nice evening and I have had an ok day at work then I don't mind so much parking a little way away and walking but when I've had a shite day and a shite journey home and I have stuff to carry I want to park outside my own bloody house. And when I can't I want to break things. Preferably those inconsiderate bastards who have taken up two spaces.
And...... Relax. Rant over :-)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tuesday

2011-03-08T09:48:00.002Z

Hello.
A quick catch up - I've been tasked with creating a new application (a small one) to show my potential new employer that I am up to the job. The actual application is quite straight forward but I'm stuggling with certain parts of it. It's REALLY frustrating because what I am trying to achieve I could do in my current technologies reasonably quickly, but the fact I am trying to learn this new language as I go is proving a bit of a pig. It doesn't help that I can only do it after work which means I am getting home at around 6.30, dealing with Jake and making dinner (if he's with me) spending time with him and THEN starting the work... by which time I've done a full days work and an evenings parenting which means I'm shattered. If I didn't want this job so much I wouldn't be so stressed about it but I really want this job!
I have three more evenings to try and make some more progress and then this Friday is D-Day *bom bom baaaaah*.
I think I am going to get as much done as I can, and if it's not complete to the standard I would want it to be I will just try and talk my way through it and see what the owners think. I just know that as Friday approaches my stress level will slowly rise...

I've not been on twitter or facebook much over the weekend... I tend to pay more attention to it during the week. There are a lot of funny people on twitter that I would recommend you follow.
If you're already on twitter you can follow me here - if you're NOT on twitter yet get yourself to the Homepage and create an account. It's easy. It takes some getting used to at first, as my LGF found out, but now she's more addicted to it than me!

Have a good day today and keep coming back here - more posts every day. And if you like my blog, please pass it onto others and leave lots of lovely comments!

Friday

2011-03-04T08:58:00.003Z

First of all, sorry I've missed a couple of days. Things went a bit quiet so there wasn't much worth blogging about. However, I do have something to talk about today.

I haven't said this to my LGF because she'd worry / reassure etc. but I've been feeling rather unattractive and frumpy lately. (OK I just read that back and it makes me sound like a middle aged housewife, but bear with me). Now I'm no Max Branning but we all go through life, especially if we're involved with someone, have a small amount of confidence in our looks - "if x fancies / wants me then I can't be too hideous". But recently I've lost that little bit of confidence. I think there are a couple of reasons for this... I haven't spent any quality time with my LGF for a few days, and I've put on a little weight. (I can now hear you all going "aawwww" - but please there's no need). Something happened on the way home last night that perked me up a little though.
There was a lot of traffic on the M60 coming home, so we were all crawling along going nowhere fast. I was singing along and sit-down-dancing to Absolute Radio 90's (an awesome station - check it out here) and I looked to my left and there was this young studenty looking girl. Couldn't have been any more than 24. And she was smiling at me. "Shit" thinks I, "she just saw me singing & dancing - what a tool". So blushing, I kind of gave a half smile and told myself to stop acting like a mental patient when stuck in traffic.
We inched forward a little more and I heard a horn go... looked over to my left again and this girl was still smiling and now she waved. "OK, you're obviously mental to be smiling at me" thinks our hero. So I kind of gave a small wave and a smile back to be polite and then... she blew a kiss at me! I shit you not. Now the list of things that went through my head were:
"She's mental"
"She's taking the piss"
"She's blind" (a clever trick if seeing as she's driving)
"She's winning a bet"
"She thinks I'm famous" (I refer you to the Max Branning picture above)
"She's drunk"
"She's having a laugh at my expense"
But then I did myself a favour and thought... maybe she's genuinely attracted to me. Maybe I'm just her type and she's spotted me and I do strange things to her lady garden.
Anyway the traffic eased and we moved off and I sped on home. But I arrived with a new sense of feeling a bit better about myself - so thank you mysterious (possibly mental) girl on the M60.
Have a nice weekend all - and stay tuned. More posts tomorrow and Sunday.

Tuesday (but on Wednesday)

2011-03-02T08:14:00.002Z

I had a golf lesson last night. I've booked a block of three and plus an hour assesment of my game using video cameras. Last night was the hour video assesment. I've not been in front of a camera since that night with those nice young ladies from Vietnam... but I digress.
The purpose of the lessons is to get more consistency in my game. I can hit through the bag (which means I'm OK with every club) but I can't do it every time which is where I need to improve.
Last night the pro who was teaching me (the last time I said that "pro" it was short for "prostitute" and she was teaching me... well, that's another story). Anyway, his name was Adrian and he was a really nice guy and obviously knows his stuff. He has made two quite fundemental changes to my setup and swing which I know I'm going to stuggle with but I do understand why he has made these changes and I know that they will benefit my game. I just found it quite frustrating last night because I knew what he wanted me to do but getting my body to do it was hard. It was only near the end of the lesson that I started to bully my body into behaving. The important part now is to practice between lessons which I aim to start doing on Saturday morning.

There aren't many nice feelings of anticipation than looking forward to a nice meal out. I have booked a table for my LGF and I this Friday at Damson in Heaton Moor. You've heard me speak of this place before and it's our favourite restaurant but it's a tad expensive so it's not somewhere we go very often but now it's booked up I honestly can't wait.
The rest of this week is made up of having Jake tonight and tomorrow night which of course is awesome. Oh, and I have things to do with regards to my potential new job... more on that at a later date.

Monday (evening)

2011-02-28T21:29:00.001Z

Hello my spitters and swallowers.
So I've worked from home today. Jakes mum wasn't around so I had to be here to send him off to school and for when he came home. Although it's still work it is nice not having to commute.
Which brings me onto some news. I have successfully passed the first stage interview for my new job. This means that if I pass the second stage - a technical test - I will hopefully get an offer.
The technical test is to create a small application in the new language I will be using to show I can pick things up and cross train. I've looked at the spec. and although I don't want to tempt fate I think it'll be quite straightforward so I've allowed myself to get a little excited.
I even bought a new laptop (my current one is about 4 years old now) so I have a proper work one for whe... if I get the job. And I've been looking at office chairs in Ikea. The problem is I want to work on this technical test all the time rather than my current job but that would be completely unprofessional and as I've said before I may be a lot of things but unprofessional isn't one of them. I'm just going to restrict myself to after-hours coding on this and see how I get on. But I do want to finish it asap so I can get cracking on my new career. I'll let you all know how I get on.
In other news, I downloaded Beady Eye's new album today - first listen seemed quite good but I'll be more into it at work tomorrow. No other plans this week apart from dinner with my LGF at Damson in Heaton Moor - absolutely superb restaurant and if you live fairly locally should check it out.
That's all for tonight. Have a nice evening and a good day tomorrow.
Peace.

Friday

2011-02-25T19:31:00.001Z

So, what was so secret today that I didn't want to share it with you, dear listeners?
I had a job interview today. Not too special on it's own granted, but this job is a bit different. It's still in I.T and still a development role but it's using different technologies to Java, which means cross training. Which I love. It's for a small up and coming company which means I have a massive impact on the business, which I value as important. But the big thing for me is it is home based. Yes, working from home every day.

I didn't want to spill the beans until after the actual event - I'm not suspicious as a rule but jinx's DO exist and I didn't want to risk anything. I really want this job and throughout my life when I really want something, there is usually an event or person that f*cks things up for me and I lose out. Jinx's can also do this, so hence my reluctance to spill the beans too soon.

How did it go? Well I haven't heard anything today (too soon for feedback) and I'm normally not a cocky or over-confident person but I think it went well. Getting this job would change my life so much for the better... It's not the money it's my quality of life that I value.

So I'll be keeping my fingers crossed over the weekend and we'll see what next week bring.

Have an awesome weekend all. I'll be tweeting over the weekend so if you don't follow me yet I can be found at @SimonMolloy.
Peace.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Thursday

2011-02-24T18:52:00.001Z

So my mum arrived safe & sound today. She doesn't drive so she gets the train everywhere which she doesn't mind but it's a son's worry that she gets here ok.
Managed to convince the office I needed to leave at lunchtime to collect her from the station which was good. She's quite capable of making her own way here but you know, a son's duty etc.
She'll be looking after Jake tomorrow as he's on half term while I'm at work.
I have... something... on tomorrow afternoon so will be leaving at lunchtime again. I don't want to say what yet. (I have my reasons). But I will fill you all in soon, promise.

Finally just a quick plug for a new blog. It's done by someone I follow on twitter, it's his first blog and if his funny tweets are anything to go by it'll be a good read.
Check it out at RichNanks Ramblings. Peace out.

Wednesday

2011-02-23T13:47:00.002Z

There are things afoot with regards to my working career. I want to tell you all but it's not quite the right time yet.

This week, I have drinks planned with my LGF tonight and then my mum is coming up to stay for a few days. I haven't seen Jake since last Thursday and he's coming back to me tomorrow evening and I can't wait to see him.

What with one thing and another, I'm only working tomorrow until lunchtime, and then Friday until lunchtime, and then I am working from home on Monday. Awesome.

I must do something about my weight. You know you're overweight when you're sitting at your desk and your stomach feels uncomfortably tight... and not in a good, slim, six-pack way. Curse my injuries and the lack of ability to exerise at the moment. Suggestions of diet food please, but NOT salads as I honestly can't eat them.

Monday

2011-02-21T09:02:00.002Z

Saturday was spent with my LGF. Unfortunately her hair appointment was delayed so we didn't actually get out until later than we hoped but we still had a nice trip into the shops and stuff.
Thing is, she was a little under the weather and tired and I was a little snippy too and so we had to be careful around each other because we both recognised things could have kicked off big time if someone said the wrong thing! We still managed to have a nice steak at a local restaraunt and a pleasant evening arguing (good naturedly) over Million Pound Drop Live.

Sunday I played football again for the first time in a couple of weeks. My fitness held up OK but my achilles tendons... by Thor's Hammer they were sore. We came from 1 - 0 down to win 2 - 1 so that's obviously a good thing but by the end of it and later that evening I could barely walk. Unfortunately there is nothing I can do about it unless I rest properly - which would mean not playing football for the rest of the season. I honestly don't know if I can do that or not.

This week I am hoping to hear back on a really exciting career opportunity. I don't wanna say anything just yet (the ol' jinx again) but I am quite excited about it.

Thursday

2011-02-17T10:16:00.004Z

A good journey to work this morning - Thursdays always seem to be quieter on the roads in the morning than the rest of the week, although I have no idea why this should be the case.
After dropping Jake of with his mum until next Thursday :-( I put the radio no (Radio 2 - Chris Evans) and the first thing I heard was Prince's "Kiss" - which instantly put me in a bopping dancing mood. A good start to the journey.
There is a problem thought - I have that 'up' feeling again this morning so I'm waiting to see what hits the fan and splatters me with excrement.

I have an idea for a story / short story. Well, it's a title really, but it's been rattling around in my head for ages and I can't work out what to do with it.
The title is "The Man Who Forgot How To Walk Down Stairs".
I have a very rough idea of what the story will be about but nothing concrete. The sort of stories I like are those where something happens to someone out of their control and it turns into some sort of nasty, scary situation. The quickest example I can give is that film "127 Hours" (or is it 172? Whatever...). For those who don't know what it's about *SPOILER ALERT* it's about a man who falls and gets trapped by rocks on his arm and has to cut his own arm off. It's not the self-mutilation I find interesting (I ain't a freak!) but its the fact that a simple fall whilst out walking can turn into something that hiddeous. So this story idea I have wants to be something like that.... but where do I go with it?

(Later) Every Friday we have 'Friday Chill' here in the office. Basically everyone turns up in the big meeting room, there's food, and if any announcements need announcing then it happens there. The problem is that each 'team' within the company (i.e each dept.) is expected to take it in turns to buy the food (using company cash of course) for everyone. And I just remembered tomorrow is our turn. And as the last time this dept. did it I managed to avoid getting involved it is actually MY turn to go to the shops and buy the stuff. Shit. Really don't wanna do it. *sigh*

Wednesday

2011-02-16T19:42:00.001Z

It seems I'm being inundated with job opportunities. Now this in itself is no bad thing as I do want to move on from my current role but the annoying thing is, why couldn't I get these calls a few months ago?!
I was out of work for about five months and was desperate for this kind of attention. I just hope something positive comes from them.

Jake is performing at the Palace theatre tonight and I have to go collect him at 10 o'clock tonight. Obviously pleased that Jake is doing something he loves but going out at that time of night is something young people do(!)

Speaking of Jake, tonight / tomorrow morning is the last time I'll see him until next Thursday. What with half term etc. he's going to be spending the time with his mum. I'm gonna miss him.

I want a new pair of boots. Like doc martins but not as 'brutal'. Suggestions?

Have a nice rest of Wednesday / Thursday listeners.

Daily journal type post

2011-02-15T08:38:00.011Z

Lying awake at about 5:00 this morning (curses) I got to thinking about a How To guide for myself... as in, How To Be Simon Molloy. Wired Magazine do a monthly segment on a few How To... guides varying from "How To Win At Guitar Hero" to "How To Market Yourself Successfully".
I then realized that to do it for myself would be a massive article so boycotted the idea.

Drove to work in a really positive frame of mind this morning which is usually a bad sign... something will cock up today but I can't predict what yet.

iTunes really does rock, doesn't it? Today I downloaded three new albums... Bright Eyes new one, PJ Harvey's new one and a classic - John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band. It's things like this that make me wish I was Jake's age again - imagine just becoming a teenager and having all this technology & everything available to you. Brilliant.

(Later) I didn't get the job I went for. Great big dangly bollocks. Told you something would cock up as I was in a positive mood, didn't I?

(Even Later) I don't learn do I - but I have to tell you that I've just been told about another possibility job wise that sounds awesome... fingers crossed.

Can I do daily posts?

2011-02-14T09:35:00.002Z

I'm (re)reading "Microserfs" by Douglas Coupland at the moment. For the uninitiated its a fictional journal by someone who starts out working for Microsoft circa 1992 and then leaves with some of his work colleagues to form their own company. I can understand those of you that are now thinking "how boring" but the way it's written (Douglas Coupland is a very good writer) and the subject matter make this a really good read. Anyway, that fact that it's written as a journal has inspired me to really put more effort into blogging daily.
Some of the 'posts' in this book are quite small or inconsequential and some are big and important with something major happening... so why don't I try doing that with this blog?
So first of all a catch up of what's happened over the past few days:
Had an interview for a new job on Friday - more details will follow but not before the 'jinxing' window has passed!
Spent Saturday with my LGF which was awesome and Sunday was spent doing 'me' stuff until the evening when my LGF and I went out for dinner (La Casona in Heaton Moor - a tapas place. Superb). So from tomorrow (or maybe tonight when I get home) there WILL be a daily post of either events, thoughts, ideas or opinions. Promise.
Oh, Happy Valentines day too everyone x

Something needs to happen

2011-02-08T10:01:00.002Z

See, this is why I haven't posted for ages - there's bog all going on in my life that's actually worth posting about. Yes number one son continues to be a source of strength, inspiration and frustration(!) and yes my LGF continues to make me smile and spend quality time with me.
There are one or two things going on with my working life at the moment that I can't really comment on yet for fear of shooting myself in the foot or pissing off the wrong people (if they read this) but that really is as far as it goes - getting by day to day.
This week for example I have no plans apart from having Jake tonight and Thursday night. That's it. I'm not training at the moment until my achilles tendonitis clears up and there is no match at the weekend.
The only long(ish) term plan I have is to start looking around to see what properties are available to move in to. This isn't a reflection on my neighbours (!) or anything else other than the house I am in is too old and I want somewhere a bit more modern. Unfortunately, I can't afford to buy just yet (and my financial / employment status is still in a state of minor flux) so I will be looking to rent again but it will be another 2 bed house in the same local area, so Jake can still see his friends etc. Nothing definite yet, just putting out feelers and seeing whats out there.
If there is anyone still out there reading this and they have any ideas about what they'd like me to write about then please let me know - your idea could be my inspiration!
Peace.

Weekend update

2011-01-29T19:34:00.001Z

Hello children.
So it's been a good weekend so far. On Friday I actually got that 'Friday feeling' that people talk about - I was in a really good mood and really looking forward to the weekend. I've spent today with my LGF where I splurged and treated myself to a new iPod. The reason being my old iPhone is being donated to no. 1 son but I still want to have a portable music source for when I walk anywhere and when I'm at work. But rather than spend hundreds of pounds on a iPod Touch I bought 160GB iPod Classic. And it's awesome.
This evening I'll be chilling with said no. 1 son and relaxing. Tomorrow I'm playing football and then taking it easy before work on Monday... maybe uploading some more CDs up to iTunes for loading to the new iPod.
So that's about it so far. I hope you've all had a good one so far.
Peace.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Lamenting my aging body

2011-01-27T15:04:00.002Z

OK, so I'm not a coffin dodger or a decrepit bag of skin and bones. However this pasty, booze soaked, stressed, knackered carcass has been on the 3rd rock from the sun for nearly 40 years now, and like a well oiled machine left without the life giving oil it is starting to wear and break down.
I have decided to catalogue all my body's current ailments from toes up...should be fun.

Feet. For some reason they have started to smell a LOT more than they used to. I know, not a pretty thought to read but honesty in all things etc. I haven't changed the sorts of shoes or socks I wear and I haven't changed any habits - for some reason they have just started to hum quite a bit more than they used to. Like aging cheese I suppose...
Achilles Tendons. I currently have what has been diagnosed as achilles tenonditis and it just won't shift. They hurt alot in the mornings, ease off during the day unless I try doing anything silly like running, and then start hurting again in the evenings after all the walking done during the day.
Knees. I used to be quite agile and limber and I have always had good legs (quite well muscled and toned) but now my knees really ache when I squat down and try and stand up too quickly. This does not bode well for my football career.
Belly. No matter what I try and do I can't shift this extra weight. I've stopped drinking during the week... (well, cut down to almost none during the week...) I don't drink tea during the day any more, I eat fairly healthily and drink at least 2 litres of water every day. Alright, because of injury I haven't been as active on the football pitch as I have been in the past but still it's depressing to think my body has now "found it's shape" and I will stay looking like this 'til I fill a pine box.
Chest. Moobs. Small but there. Enough said.
Hands. Persistent skin problem that manifests as eczma and will. Not. Bloody. Shift.
Head Hair receding and going grey / white, brain seemingly more and more frazzled and confused each day.

So there you have it. Not looking good is it?? I honestly can't remember the last time I felt completely comfortable and well and healthy in my skin. If I'm like this now what am I going to be like at nearly 50?? *sigh*.

In the words of Elton John

2011-01-24T21:26:00.001Z

Hello campers.
I had to work from home today. What with the car being off the road I couldn't get to work. And I can't lie, it's been blissful. I didn't even bother getting dressed I just spent all day in PJs sat at my laptop coding.
I had the chance to cook something properly for the first time in ages so I made a fresh tomato and garlic sauce to have with some spaghetti for lunch and it was awesome.
Elton John was once asked what the weirdest thing he had ever put in his mouth was, and he responded "a clitoris". Now what I had today was probably one of the weirdest things I've put in my mouth but not with the same comic effect as Mr. Eltons experience. Yesterday I watched one of Jamie Olivers "30 minute meals" programs (I have the book - it's brilliant). In this episode he was making tapas and one of the dishes was a meat and cheese board as a starter. During the show he was preparing the cheese and said "right, if you've not tried this you have to do it THIS MINUTE. This is an unbelievable taste". He cut a small piece of cheese (manchego I think) and then poured a little honey on it and then sprinkled a little bit of instant coffee granules on top... I know, right?? Wtf?!
Anyway I was discussing it with my LGF and I said "I'm gonna try that".
So today, I did. I used some good quality cheddar, some honey and some coffee granules. I cut a little piece of cheese, poured on the honey and then sprinkled the coffee.
"I can't believe I'm doing this" thinks I. 1, 2, 3...
Well I won't lie to you all. It was... Weird. But the taste, although not 'unbelievable' as per Mr. Oliver, was really very good. Unusual but in a really really good way. I will be having it again. And I recommend it.
Cut a chunk of cheese about 1" by 0.5" square, pour on enough honey to cover the top (not too much but not too little either) and then sprinkle on some coffee. Again, just a little not too much. Then put it all in your mouth, chew, savour and swallow. Trust me.
Night folks.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday. What a day.

2011-01-22T11:38:00.001Z

So it was supposed to be a team meeting off site, combined with clay pigeon shooting & possible quad biking and lunch and drinks and everything.
It was taking place at a farm owned by the family of one of the members of staff (they have a converted barn used for meetings etc.)
The farm (by it's nature) is out in the rural countryside and so after Jake left for school off I trundled for the 45 minutes or so journey.
All was fine up until literally 2 miles from the farm. Driving down a narrow, twisty, icy road at no more then 20 mph I went round a sharp bend when something ran out across the road in front of me. I think it was a hare or rabbit or cat or something. All I know is it caused me to hit the brakes and slide gracefully toward the side of the road and a big ditch. Luckily my front left wheel took the brunt of the impact into a curb and this caused me to slow down enough to get some grip on the mud on the side of the road and turn away from the ditch. But my front left wheel was f*cked. I managed to nurse the car to the farm where I had to call for a recovery lorry. All I was worried about was getting home because Jake was coming back to me straight from school and if I wasn't there... Well it didn't bare thinking about.
So I arrived at the farm at about 9.30 and was in the recovery lorry back toward Manchester at about 10.30. The car was taken straight to a garage for assessment and this meant a cab ride home to finally get back here at about 14.00. I am now without a car until some point early next week PLUS I can look forward to a hike in my insurance premiums. Awesome.
So that was my Friday. Not a good start to the weekend. Hopefully the rest of it will be peaceful and without incident(!).
Have a nice one all...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Slack in posting again

2011-01-19T09:44:00.002Z

Goodness I'm sorry - I've been intending to update you all daily but what with one thing and another (tiredness, bad moods, lack of anything remotely interesting) it's been hard finding things to post about. So this post is a little bit of this and a little bit of that just to tide you over.

First of all, I know it's SO dull when people talk about their dreams but I had to tell you briefly about the one I had last night. It was set in an underground theatre of some sort and I was taking part in what can only be described as a "visual representation, using mime, of the Vagina monologues". I know!! How insane does that sound? And then after the performance I was critically acclaimed by Peter Ustinov(!) I shit you not! He said my performance was "comedy genius" even though it wasn't a comedy. I have no idea what I ate / drank / inhaled last night but that was a weird one.

In other news, I haven't had Jake this week so far as he is with his mum - I'm having him tomorrow night and then all the rest of the week until Sunday evening. On Friday I have an offsite team meeting which will involve shot guns. I'll fill you in about that tomorrow. And Saturday I have a doctors appointment. That's about it so far.

So another short and sweet post, I'll do more tomorrow. Over 'n' out.

And relax...

2011-01-14T20:20:00.001Z

Yes, you can relax now, it's the weekend.
Unfortunately due to some 'indiscretions' from number one son I won't be doing much tomorrow as he's on punishment. I won't go into details but he's grounded and he's not allowed to do anything fun. Which is a bit of a pisser for me because we had planned to go to the City game on Saturday but now that's gone for a burton!
I do need to shop and do various mundane stuff so he'll be accompanying me doing that and no doubt being bored but that can't be helped.
He has got Stagecoach on Sunday and although I would quite happily keep him away from there it's too much money to waste on missing a week.
Seems like its been a long slog of a week this week - so looking forward to not having to do much. I hope you all have a nice weekend. Stay tuned.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

It's here and it's awesome

2011-01-12T20:53:00.001Z

So I've gone from the iPhone to...
The HTC Desire.
Let me explain why first. I still love Apple products and I am still in love with my iPad. Of the reasons for swapping to the Desire, having enough of Apple isn't one of them. The main reason I suppose is boredom. I'm the same with cars, and music, and books - I get bored easily. The chance to upgrade with relative ease and limited financial penalty was too good to miss and after discussing with my trusted technical guru (Mr. P Snr) the Desire was the phone for me. After some initial worry with getting contacts across everything now is up and running (there is a minor niggle that my facebook news feed isn't updating but that's minor and sortable I'm sure).
So far - I'm very impressed. Smooth, quick, easily customisable and lovely to use. I will really enjoy getting to grips with it over the next few days.
Oh, and the saga of actually getting it delivered? They still delivered it to the wrong address. I had a card from the courier through my letter box when I got home tonight and after swearing, kicking the wall and cursing all things courier related I read the card... "your item has been left with your neighbour". A woo hoo!! So as I now have my phone I have no reason to phone O2 again and shout at them. I'll do a more in depth review when I've used it some more.

Cocking arse biscuits

2011-01-11T10:08:00.007Z

I knew, KNEW, I shouldn't have got excited about my new phone today. Something will always come up that screws things up and more often than not it's someone elses incompetence.
I was supposed to have my new shiny sexy handset delivered today to my work address so I could sign for it and be happy. But no. The handset has actually been delivered to my old address down in London. And because I'm not there (obviously) it was actually delivered to my old next door neighbour.
When I ordered the phone on Friday I found out that the address on my account was still my old London address - OK, my fault for not updating it. However, the person I spoke to on the phone said this would not be a problem, they would update my account address with my new address and this would all be sorted. "Hold on", says I, "I won't be at my home address I will be at work, can you deliver it there?". "Yes of course" says idiot number one "I can arrange that with no problem - it will be delivered on Tuesday. Enjoy your new phone".
So a weekend of anticipation passes and I arrive in the office this morning bouncing around with excitment (I'm a sucker for new technology) and sit waiting patiently for the courier to turn up.
Come around 9.30 I thought I'd check on the courier website and see where my parcel was in the system and what do I see? "Delivered 10/01/2011"... to my old next door neighbour. So all the "Don't worry I'll sort it" bollocks was just that. Bollocks. Hairy dangly ones.
So as you can imagine I was on the phone pretty sharpish and tried to remedy the situation. And the kicker? After 15 minutes of a call I was told "I'll just sort this out please hold" and then I was met with the cutoff signal. I was cut off. F*CKING ARSE HATS.
So now, at the time of writing, I am expecting a very apologetic call back - but as yet after waiting 20 minutes (I was told it would be more or less straight away) still no call back. So guess who's getting back on the phone again now... stay tuned.

UPDATE: After talking to a smashing bloke called Steven, my phone should now be delivered on Thursday (f*ckin' Thursday... a patient man I am not!). However I am not taking that word as gospel until the handset is in my grubby little mitts as this is what the last person said would happen and where did it end up? F*ckin' London. Sake. So we'll see what happens now.

I'm going away now to perform some voodoo .....

Wednesday Morning Update: I just checked on the courier website - it says my new handset is "out for delivery" - I am making a prediction now, they will attempt to deliver it to my home address rather than my work address as I asked. Anyone want to disagree with me?

Something nice in the post

2011-01-10T13:40:00.002Z

It's been a while since I received anything in the post that's made me go "Yes! Awesome! Excellent! Fantastic!" etc. and so I aimed to remedy that situation by ordering a shit load of stuff of various websites. Consequently, this week I can look forward to receiving:

3 new Bluetones albums
A new Xbox Kinnect fitness game
Some gel heel inserts for my football boots
3 new books recommended by someone I follow on Twitter
And the thing I'm most excited about... a new mobile phone handset.

I won't say what handset I'm getting just yet, but when I get it I'll be reviewing it on here. Suffice it to say I'm dead excited about it and can't wait for it to arrive.
The Xbox Kinnect fitness game is so help me get in shape. I've read lots of reviews on it etc. and it seems like it really does work. I'm not a 'gym' person, and although I play football as often as I can it's still not doing enough to slim me down. So this new game, if I stick to the regime, will hopefully aid the reduction in my silhouette.

This weekend was nice - it wasn't my weekend with Jake so Saturday was spent chilling out and mincing around the house. Saturday night was spent with my LGF and Sunday we spent the day together shopping and stuff so that was nice.
So that's about it for now... more updates tomorrow. Happy Monday.

Rant!

2011-01-06T21:20:00.003Z

So I've had a delivery of some sort. Well, an attempted delivery. I have no idea what it is - either the CDs I've ordered or the Filipino bride from that catalogue - but either way it needs a signature. The card left says "simply visit our website and arrange to have you parcel delivered at a time to suit YOU!" So tappity tap went my keyboard and up pops the site. Reference number and post code entered and there's my delivery.
"I can only really have it delivered Saturday" thinks our hero so I click on the drop down list of available dates and... Monday to Friday only. Shit it.
I'm at work all day Monday to Friday so that's no good.
Then I noticed a phone number..."maybe I can arrange to have it delivered to work instead" thinks I.
So beep beep goes my phone keypad and the recorded lady says "these calls are charged at 10p per minute from a BT land line..." and some such nonsense. 10p per minute?! And what do I then hear? "Press 1 for blah blah press 2 for blah blah..." so before I even get to speak to anyone it's cost me 20p. And then? "We are experiencing high call volumes..." seriously? At 7 O'clock at night? "...please hold or call back later". So I didn't get to speak to anyone and it's cost me about 50p. ARSE!
So guess which company is gonna get shouted at tomorrow?? Ggrrrr.

07/01/2011 Update - I managed to speak to a voice this morning. Here's a rough transcript of that awesome conversation...
"I work Monday to Friday is there any chance you can deliver it on Saturday..."
"Nope." Right. Thanks.
"Can you maybe deliver it to my work address so I can sign for it?"
"Let me see, what's your work post code?"
"PR5 8AR"
"..... No, sorry, we can't do that as it's in the wrong depot." Shit. Arse. Wank.
"So what can I do?"
"You can either go and collect it yourself..." from fcukin' Warrington?!? Piss off "...or can you maybe have a neighbour sign for it?"
Luckily my LGF lives next door (I know, convenient right??) so I said to deliver it to her house as long as it was after 15.00.
"Oh they probably won't deliver until after 16.00 anyway..." she says
"Perfect" says I.
So who wants to bet my LGF will get a card through her door saying they attempted to deliver etc.? I get the feelings I may never get this delivery!

If...

2011-01-05T19:56:00.001Z

If you could look through my eyes and see into my world, what would you see? Would you see the beauty and grace that my eyes have become used to, and so no longer see? Would you see the darkness and bleak surroundings that I have lived with so long that I am numb to?
Would you think I am blessed with everything I have? Would you think me strong for surviving the hardship that I have been through? Would you think me poor in spirit or in emotion? Would you not understand what has made me the person I am or would you see the circumstances and conditions that have shaped my life?
If you were me would you have done things differently or would you have enjoyed the same successes and failures?

Something to think about - and something to ask the people YOU know.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

A couple of recommendations

2011-01-04T20:17:00.001Z

I know I've touted this band before but those of you who've not sampled them yet don't know what you're missing. The Bluetones.
To me, they are one of those bands that I can keep going back to and get immense pleasure from. Some people say their more recent albums aren't as strong as the earlier ones (some say they stopped being truly brilliant after Expecting To Fly) but I think all their albums have a lot of strong tracks (I will admit, however, that Expecting To Fly is their best). There is something about the lead singers voice that just hits the right note for me (to listen to and sing along to) and some of the lyrics are fantastic. There are even a couple of songs that can bring a tear to my eye which to me says that what the songs are saying touches me somewhere below my conscious mind.
Sorry. Embarrassing gush over.
The other recommendation? A travel mug. Yes, a travel mug.
Although one of my more simple minded friends chastised me and called me "middle aged as I now have a flask" that's not what it is. It's such a simple thing but I drove to work sipping a piping hot tea this morning. The whole journey was made pleasurable.
Someone commented on my facebook status update on this, saying "simple things please simple minds" and maybe there is some truth in that. It IS such a simple thing and we all know I have a simple(ish) mind so... Who am I to argue?
Anyway. Thats two little suggestions that could improve your lives in some small way. Enjoy.

Four days and still no booze

2011-01-03T16:21:00.001Z

Yes ok it's ONLY been four days - but it's quite hard to not drink when you are, for example, sat in front of the darts with no child care responsibilities for a couple of days and nowhere that you have to drive to. A nice cold pint of Guinness or an ice cold bottle of Bud would be awesome right now. But thats the point isn't it? To be able to abstain from something you like for the greater good - the greater good in this case being the reduction of my waist line - makes us better people. Doesn't it?! Please say it does!
Anyway - back to work tomorrow which does something that I thought physically impossible. It both sucks and blows. I need some sort of tonic or potion I can take that when I wake up I'm full of motivation and desire to be the best darn developer I can be. As it is I will probably wake up, groan, swear, and grumble my way up the M61.
I hope you all have had a nice break and enjoyed any time off you've had. January is a horrible month but I will try and do my little part in keeping you entertained. Enjoy the rest of the bank holiday.

My achilles tendons are on fire

2011-01-02T16:24:00.001Z

I've had no luck with injuries recently. Considering I've been playing football in one form or another for about 30 years I've been extremely fortunate in that I've never had a serious injury. And now, as I approach the 'winter' of my playing career I've been hit first with a bad hamstring pull and now something evil that makes my achilles tendons really sore after a little bit of playing. I don't know what's causing it - maybe witchcraft - but I'm serious when I say it is agony. When I walk it feels like knives digging into the back of my legs and heels. "Old age" I hear you cry. "Shit off" I'll reply. It isn't age. Apart from this current problem I'm actually reasonably fit - I must be if the gaffer insists on playing me in centre midfield.
Ho hum. Luckily there's no game now until 16th January so I can have two weeks proper rest and see what happens.
And here's a depressing thought - 38 hours from now I'll be getting up to go to work. Awesome, eh?
Keep reading folks - I really will be trying for an update a day.

New year, new post

2011-01-01T10:00:00.001Z

As I've already mentioned on my Facebook & twitter status updates, 2010 kicked my arse. It changed my life beyond recognition, it changed me as a person, and it changed the way I think and feel about a load of things. It kinda sucked, you know?
As with every new years day, you never know what the year will bring. I mean this time last year I was (I thought) happily married and secure in my life. Roll on a few hours in my life's show reel and a massive bomb explodes (metaphorically) in my life and everything changes.
Anyway. New year, new start etc. I have made no new years resolutions - not because I think I'm perfect but let's be honest who actually sticks to them? And why should it take a new year to want to change something about yourself? I WILL be giving up alcohol for a month, for two reasons:
- to help lose weight
- because I've been drinking far too much recently and it's not been healthy

And I will be blogging more. At the time of writing this (cup of tea on the go and still in PJ's) I have no idea what I'll be blogging about but more effort will be made. I have been told by at least one person that I write well so why not keep doing it?
Ooh, and I just remembered - I need a new toaster and I'm actually excited about buying one. Awesome. Middle age here I come!
So there we go. Welcome to 2011. I hope it finds you well and continues peacefully for you.

Wednesday update

2010-12-29T17:35:00.001Z

Hello children.
So far it's been a quiet / restful Xmas and I'm really enjoying my time off.
Today for example I didn't get dressed until 17:15 - which was awesome.
I have watched Scott Pilgrim vs The World which was brilliant.
I've had delivery of three t-shirts from Last Exit To Nowhere which is a superb site.
Tomorrow night I am having a drink with my LGF and then on Friday we're spending the day together.
So far so funky.

Hope you've all had a peaceful and pleasant time. More updates soon.

Peace x.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

An apology

2010-12-22T09:11:00.002Z

Sorry I haven't posted for ages - not that anyone apart from 'Anonymous' missed me.
Not much been going on really with the run up to Christmas.
Jake has been performing in Peter Pan at the Lowry, loving it and doing really well.
I've been trying to keep the football training going and its been alright but my Christmas belly seems to have turned up early.
I've been reminded that even new relationships are hard work.
I've been dealing with all the emotions involved in my son being around another man (my ex's boyfriend) and this time of year it makes all those sorts of things even harder.
I will be spending Xmas day alone and not seeing Jake until Boxing day.
Now I'm not saying that for any kind of sympathy or anything - actually a small part of me is looking forward to a day of 'me' time - but these are the sorts of things I've been dealing with hence the lack of enthusiasm for posting.
If I don't post before I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Peace.

A thought provoking post

2010-11-23T13:26:00.002Z

Well, it got me thinking, I don't know if it will do the same for you unwashed, unenlightened lot. (hhmmm... I suspect lesson one in "How To Increase Your Blog Readership" is probably don't insult your readers... but hey ho).
Anyway. I was sitting at home last night thinking about this and that as you do, when my mind wandered onto the subject of uniqueness. Now bear with me on this. Imagine we start off at the highest level and we are going to 'drill down' into more and more detail to try and work out how unique we are. I started off by thinking about all the 38 year old males in the world.
Millions, right? So we drill down deeper. How many 38 year old males have red hair? (No jokes please). Remember, this is out of the whole planet's population. Let's go deeper - how many 38 year old males with red hair are separated? How many are separated and have a son? How many are separated with a son and work in I.T?
You get where I'm going with this? I was trying to work out to which level of detail I would have to go to to get to the point where I was completely unique? Oh yes I know everyone is unique in their own way, we're all special and wonderful and no one is like us and we are the bestest in the world blah blah blah but would I be surprised if I could find out that there were 6534 people who were 38, male, with red hair, separated, with a son, working in I.T?
So what would make us even more unique?

As I said, it got me thinking before it gave me a combination of a headache and vertigo... but I don't know what YOU lot think. So why not tell me?

Comments to the usual place....

Nearly a week...

2010-11-22T16:36:00.003Z

... since my last post - I do apologise.
The fact is I'm getting back into the same routine as all you lot out there (probably).
Getting up, feeling knackered, going to work, feeling grumpy, racing home, feeling frantic, sorting out tea, feeling rushed, having a drink, feeling tired, going to bed.
So that's really been my life since my last post. A couple of notable events...

My bestest friend Mr. P. Senior popped over to see me on Sunday. He was in Buxton with his family and could spare a few hours to come say hello. He hasn't seen me up here since the whole break up thing so it was awesome he could come say hello. I had Jake this weekend so the three of us went and played basketball in the park (Jake's idea) then went to the pub for a pint and a Sunday lunch. So that was a really nice day.
Sunday evening Jake went back to his mums so I spent the evening ironing and watching House.
This Saturday is number one son's 12th birthday. So this week I need to sort something out as a present. I'm actually paying for a paintball party for him and some friends, but that's not until 11th of December so I need to get something for him to open on Saturday. I feel an online shop coming methinks....

Anyway - I hope you had a nice weekend. I'll update more often, promise.

A sucker for technology

2010-11-16T09:22:00.003Z

Saturday was a day of housework and football, so not worth blogging about really.
Sunday however was a really good day.
It started with my LGF and I going to The Chill Factore so I could buy her a new jacket. She has used my winter / snow jacket recently and really liked it so we went to get her a similar one.
We also stopped for lunch at Chiquitos, a chain tex-mex type of place. I had the enchiladas. They were filled with slow cooked cajun beef and were awesome.
We then decided with nothing else to do til the evening we would go to the local and sit with some magazines and cold Corona beer. It was a really, really nice afternoon with some of her friends coming in and hanging out. It was a proper 'couples' kind of afternoon and something I haven't done for ages.
Sunday evening was a time of jumping up and down, flapping my arms, crouching down and lots of side stepping. No, my LGF and I hadn't confused our copy of the Karma Sutra with an exercise manual, I actually took delivery of an Xbox Kinect on Saturday night.
For those that don't know it turns the normally mild mannered Xbox into a vindictive fitness machine.
Basically it removes all need for a controller when playing (Kinect enabled) games. There is a camera that tracks your movement so whatever you do in the privacy of your living room gets shown on the screen (like my friend Mr. P. Junior's video camera - dirty boy).
If you know about the Nintento piss... or squirt... or wee or whatever it's called it's like that but without having told hold the little white plastic dildo.
Anyway - after much moving around of furniture in my (small) living room and moving around in front of the camera to set it up I played some of the games. Goodness. I thought I was fit. But it gets you jumping and swaying and side stepping and crouching and sweating and swearing... but the kicker, the thing that actually cracked me up, is that during a game it takes photos of you at random points and then displays them to you on the screen. It. Is. Hilarious. I hate my photo being taken at the best of times but seeing myself displayed in various poses of indignity and minciness really was funny. (I look quite camp when jumping up and down on the spot - who knew?)
I'll post a more in depth review when I have taken delivery of Kinect Sports (which should be turning up this weekend) but so far I think it's going to prove quite a laugh.
Have a nice Tuesday.

Friday

2010-11-15T13:09:00.003Z

So Thursday night I had number one son staying with me. This is obviously a good thing but the downside is that I then get to work late the next day (usually by about 20 minutes) and then I have to make that time up aftwards. I had dinner plans with my LGF Friday night so was fretting a little bit about getting back in time to clean myself and be ready for our date. It got to just before four in the afternoon in the office when there was a click and a whirr and everything went black. Well, dark. The power had gone. Now I haven't been any office for a while where there has been a power cut like that. The last time was about four years ago and the power went off for like fifteen minutes and then came back on. This didn't happen on Friday. I showed my level of professionalism by wandering around the office asking aloud "so should we go home then?" while my collegues carried on trying to work on laptops with the battery power.
And of course my bladder decided this was the perfect time to alert me to the fact it needed emptying. Our convenience is basically a cupboard with no windows. So no windows plus no power equals pitch black toileting. NOT a fun time. I used my phone to light the way but it goes back into standby every 5 seconds so it was like trying to hit the target in a slow motion strobe light.
Anyway, eventually at about half four the announcement was made that the power wouldn't be available again until at least half past seven that evening so we were free to go home. As I was looking forward to a) the weekend 2) seeing my LGF that night and d) a lovely curry I was out the door and on the motorway before my working pals could finish the sentence "have a nice weekend Simon".
We had decided to try a local curry house called "Masterchef" which is in walking distance and that neither of us had tried. So stomachs rumbling and mouths salivating (well mine was - my LGF is far too ladylike to have the same sort of bodily malfunctions as me) we arrived and ordered. Now I'm not a massive fan of spice (be it spicey food, Old Spice, or the Spice girls) so I usually order things that are flavoursome as opposed to raw magma. This is what I did this particular evening but unfortunately the chef seemed to have some kind of vendetta as he overdid the chilli on everything. Even the usually tasty but heatless mushroom bhaji was like eating hot, soggy coals. My LGF can handle more spice than I and even she said it was too hot to really enjoy. So we left unsatisfied and annoyed but educated in the fact that Masterchef is shite.
Finally, we adjourned to the local for a few drinks and that helped the mood somewhat.
Bells = awesome.

Saturday's post to follow....

Preview post

2010-11-15T08:40:00.003Z

I started to write a post about my weekend but realised that too much had happened for one post. Here's a preview of what will be coming up in the next couple of posts:

An early exit from work due to a power cut...
gasp as I fumble around and try and pee in the dark!

Masterchef fails to deliver a nice curry...
laugh as my mouth gets as hot as Satan's own kitchen!

A suprise delivery on Saturday night ...
coo as you try and work out what that means!

A wonderful Sunday with my LGF filled with coat buying, enchiladas eating, flying children watching, pub visiting...
sigh as I tell you how wonderful the day was!

A Sunday evening of furniture moving, jumping and flapping around, and seeing myself on TV looking like a tit...
scream "what the what!" as you wonder what the hell I'm talking about!

Stay tuned folks...

Radio 1 and groundhog day

2010-11-11T14:52:00.004Z

This new company I work for has some very relaxed attitudes to how the office works.
For example I have come to work today in a pair of tracksuit trousers, trainers, and a (free) sports shirt from my employer. It looks like I'm dressed for housework! (No, I'm not a cleaner here, shut up). As part of that relaxed attitude we have the radio on in the office and the station of choice (not mine I hasten to add) is Radio 1 - and it's starting to drive me mad.
I'm not a massive fan of the more modern dance / R&B / pop stuff in the charts (do they still call it 'the charts'?) and it's really starting to grate on my nerves. You can pretty much write a playlist of all the current modern stuff and by the end of the day you will have heard those songs at least twice.
I understand Radio 1 is for the more modern gentleman and it wants to play the popular stuff but do they really have to play it over and over and over again? It really does make you feel like Bill Murray when he wakes up in the same bed to the same song every day.
It had one redeeming day last Friday. Because of the journalism strike (I assume) they left the whole days music to the listening audience. They do something called "You Take Control" or something where every day at a certain time, for ten minutes, everyone can text in any song they want to hear and it gets played. Well last Friday they did that for the whole day and it was awesome. There were classic tracks from the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and whatever the current decade is to be called. Not once did I hear some one-hit-wonder screaming over beeps and screeches about being drunk like a G6 (whatever the fcuk that means) or raising a drink to the douchbags (seriously, a song celebrating douche bags? Jebus...)
So. Radio 1. Not for me.

Oh, and that stupid Firework song... cr@p

Blog reading and difficult relationships

2010-11-09T20:17:00.001Z

This is just a quick post while I'm running my sons bath (that's bath pronounced 'barth' not 'bath' even if I am up north).
As I'm back at work now I can catch up on the blog reading that I have been so remiss on. One of my favourites is Well Done Fillet written by Manuel The Waiter (someone who, even though he's a dirty red :-) I still consider a friend). If you've not checked out his blog before I highly recommend it. But there's others too like Stephen Fry's blog (which I actually read using his snazzy iPad app.) and my lovely girlfriends Thoughts
I would say mine too, but as you're here you already know how awesome it is.
It's been a difficult couple of days. Jakes mum and I had a conversation about Christmas and it got a little heated. I won't go into details but it is hard for me... No, I'll be fair, it's hard for us to remain civil for Jakes sake. There are still so many emotions involved that they can come to the surface very easily and last night was one of those times.
I think after a further text conversation today we have regained our equilibrium and we're back to being polite and factual. It helps if we don't actually talk to each other and keep all communication to email or text - it keeps us at one remove from each other and saves the rawness of the emotion. No real point to this little ramble, just thought I'd share a little of the difficulties separated parents go through. Have a nice evening. More soon.
Update - a friend of my lovely girlfriend (from now on to be known as my LGF) has created a new blog so I will happily recommend it here. Have a read of My Weird Yet Wonderful Life

A proper post-working week weekend

2010-11-08T08:55:00.004Z

Yes that was a mouthful wasn't it, sorry.
As I've not had Jake all week I was looking forward to seeing him this weekend. On Saturday we had a lazy morning, then went to play basketball at a nearby park with a hoop. It's his latest 'thing' and apparantly he's captain of his class / house / college team. So we went and played some one on one before lunch. After lunch he just wanted to hang out with his friends so I didn't see him for a few hours.
Sunday was nice, we had a lazy morning again, then more basketball, then a walk to the shops and back then he had Stagecoach (his performing arts school). After that I decided to take him to Pizza Hut for tea for a change which was nice. One thing I learnt however - DON'T use the salad bit where you can buy an eat-as-much-as-you-like bowl and gorge on green stuff. Kids are given free reign by their parents to go get their own salad and you can guess what happens when 5, 6, and 7 year olds are let loose to fling salad around, try bits and spit it out etc. Not a pretty sight.
Now I'm back at work I remember how quick weekends go past. It only feels like half an hour ago I was sat at this desk. I have a feeling I will get on OK here, if I can sort out the journey home. It took me 35 minutes this morning which is more than bearable, but on Friday it took me an hour and a half again to get home. That sucks. I'm going to try a slightly different route tonight so fingers crossed.
This week - Manchester derby on Wednesday night, Jake's parents evening on Thursday (I can't go - I can't get back from here in time so his mum will go and let me know how he's got on) and that's about it. More nonsense soon.

Update: I've re-discovered the small joy of live web cams (no, not those sort). When using these things before the network response hasn't been brilliant and so there was a lot of lag, kept on freezing / buffering etc. but just now I went to the BBC Radio 1 live web cam to watch the character "Chloe" from 24. Very quickly it becomes strangely addictive - knowing you're watching someone do something live. I know this is the sort of attraction that things like Big Brother played on and even though I couldn't stand it, I do get the appeal for some people.
So there we go... when I'm on lunch or on a quiet period I'll be investigating some more live web cams... (no, not those sort!)

So that's the first week done

2010-11-05T11:55:00.005Z

Its been a long hard week. It's not just the fact that I've gone back to work after 4 months out, it's also the way this job is. The journey is a bit of a nightmare in the evenings, the hours are long, and it's always stressful settling into a new place.
Because I wanted to take this week to settle in properly, I haven't had Jake with me all week and I've missed him too. I know (I hope!) that in a couple more weeks I'll be properly settled and I'll have got into a good routine especially with Jake. But I can honestly say I'm really looking foward to this weekend!
Not much else going on outside of work - I went to training again last night to test my leg and it's not good. I stayed for the full session to keep the numbers fair, but I was only jogging round and not working very hard. As hard as it is I really think I'm going to have to have another two weeks of doing nothing to rest it properly. One thing that did make me feel good was after the session, the few of us that were there were talking and the manager was discussing how the past couple of games have gone (they've lost them both). Someone said "We've really missed you in the middle Simon" (meaning in the centre of midfield) and everyone there agreed and the manager himself said "God yeah, that's obvious, there's a big whole in the middle of the park at the moment". This was good for me because while I'm out injured I am so worried about my place being taken by someone else but hearing that makes me think I'll be OK. Still really frustrated though.
Finally a note on my hands - I suffer from some sort of ezcema and the skin on my hands is very sore, sensitive, and (excuse the stomach churning image) peels away easily. I have not idea what brings it on and although I think stress makes it worse I'm not 100% certain. I've tried different creams and some Chinese herb remedy but nothing seems to work and at the moment they are bad. So I'm asking my listeners... do you have any ideas??
Have a nice weekend everyone.

First day done...

2010-11-01T20:07:00.001Z

...and it was a long one.
My hours are 8.30 - 5.30 which even if I hadn't been out of work for ages would still be a shock to the system. Still, it's better than being out of work permanently so I will be making the best of it. There will be some adjustment needed and I can quite happily accept that but it's going to be harder seeing as much of Jake AND my lovely girlfriend as I'm used to and to be honest dear listeners that sucks.
So today was all about company inductions and meeting people. I lost count of how many people I did meet and I can only remember one name - but seeing as he's the MD that's the one that matters!
My new boss is a nice enough bloke and then other guys in my team seem normal enough (for I.T people!) so I don't doubt I'll settle in ok.
I'm hoping that by the end of this week I'll be used to the journey and be settled in enough to feel relaxed.
No interesting characters to speak of yet, but no doubt they will be coming out of the woodwork soon enough. Stay tuned.

Things to do to amuse yourself

2010-10-30T09:00:00.001+01:00

I was sitting thinking about my new job starting next week and pondering office behaviour. This led me onto thinking about how far I'd go in public with little things designed to confuse / amuse strangers. Nothing rude or aggressive and nothing that involves anyone else. Just little behaviour quirks. So I made a little list and I challenge you all to try and do at least one of them this week. Also please feel free to add your own. So, try these:

- When entering a lift with other people go stand in the corner facing the corner and don't move.
- When sat at your desk at work, or when out and about, pretend you've heard your phone ring and pick it up and answer it, but then look confused when no one is there (this will have a good effect if you do it two or three times over a few minutes)
- Walk with a pronounced limp. But when someone asks what's wrong tell them you're practising for a role as a pirate
- Pretend you've heard a noise and ask the person next to you if they can hear it too.
- Skip somewhere
- When talking to someone keep glancing over their shoulder and when asked why you keep doing it say "doing what?"
- When in your car on your own and you've stopped at traffic lights just sit there and scream (having the window open optional)
- When being served in a shop or pub gently sway from side to side. When asked why you're doing it say "doing what?"
- Act with massive confusion when someone asks you for something very simple and basic (e.g. "Can you pass me that book?" "Book?!? That BOOK?!?!")
- Celebrate any news like an American footballer just scoring a touchdown (whoops, cheers, "Yeah!! Alright!!" - ANY news)

Have fun...

3 days to go...

2010-10-29T16:26:00.001+01:00

...Until I start my new job. Still got weird feelings - I mean I've been moaning about being bored and lonely during the week because I'm off work but now I'm going back to work I feel like I'm going to miss the time to myself. Stupid I know.
And going back to work will present it's own problems - working out the best plan for having Jake overnight, traffic problems, being nice to people in the office... But I know all these are secondary to the fact I will be working again which of course is the best thing.
My mum is here tonight after bringing back Jake from London and then when she's gone tomorrow I'll have a couple of days to gather my thoughts and get on top of housework etc.
Oh, and it's my lovely girlfriends birthday next week so I'll be getting her something nice.
Anyway - if I don't post over the weekend, stay tuned next week as I'm sure I'll have loads to post about.
Have a nice weekend all.

Some good news...

2010-10-23T08:56:00.001+01:00

It was a strange day yesterday. In fact it's been a strange couple of days.
I had an interview on Thursday for a sportswear company. Not one of the big boys, but an exciting company nonetheless.
I thought it went well, I got on with the guy who would have been my boss, and the thought of working for the company was very exciting.
Yesterday was the first anniversary of my dads passing. I was fine for most of the morning but then on the drive to the second interview for the sportswear company (turns out they liked me and thought I was worth seeing again) I did get a little upset. I was thinking about the drink I was going to have with him when I got back to the pub, which got me thinking about the wake...anyway I didn't get to the point of crying but it was close.
So after a quick, perfectly timed phone call from Mr. P. Senior (thanks mate) I went in to the second interview. Oh, at the first interview I was suited and booted as is the custom at interviews but the office is a dress down office and they said to turn up to the second one in clothes I normally wear. Now I knew they didn't mean what I normally wear at weekends (chaps and a pair of swimming goggles) but it still felt strange going to and interview in jeans and a sweatshirt. To cut a long story short (too late!) they offered me the job and I accepted. I start a week on Monday. Of course I'm very happy to be getting the last piece of my life back on track but I'm also nervous and a little scared. I think those feelings are normal though.
Oh and the job is as a software developer - so basically it's the stuff I've been doing anyway which is cool.

**note**
In case you're wondering why I haven't mentioned the name of the company I don't feel it would be very professional for someone to be searching for the company name and come across this blog! It happened at my last job and I don't wanna make that same mistake!

Have a nice weekend everybody.

An anniversary

2010-10-22T07:40:00.001+01:00

Today it is one year since my father passed away. At the time of writing this, I feel ok. I'm obviously more concerned about my mum and sister than myself and to be honest I wasn't too worried about how I would feel today. This might change later when given the chance to reflect but I think I'll be ok. One thing I will definitely be doing later is having a 'club double' - this is the drink my dad used to drink all the time when he was at his bowls club. It's basically a large scotch and coke.
I don't think I've posted this before but I will admit that I'm glad he wasn't around to see the way my marriage ended. It would have broken his heart to see me in so much pain and although he wasn't a person who communicated or showed emotions very well I know he would have been there for me. But to save him those feelings is the one small benefit of what happened.
Anyway. Today I will mostly be feeling anxious & nervous - I'll give more details in my next post.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Childhood games

2010-10-20T13:25:00.001+01:00

I was going to write a post about childhood games, stolen from an idea from my lovely girlfriend... But that would not be fair on her. She'll be posting that on her blog soon enough. I did title the post the way I did just to tease her though.
Anyway - this post is actually about Japan, and my desire to go visit.
I love so much about what I know of Japan. The culture, the history, the etiquette, the food, technology, Manga, the language... Loads. But it's hard for me to ever picture myself there. My friend Mr. P. Junior has been there for the World Cup in 2002 and I know he enjoyed it. But I've never been the sort of person who has the courage to travel like that on my own. At the moment due to no job and my recent house sale I have both time & money enough to take a trip like that - but the thought of me actually doing it just doesn't compute. Organising the flights, hotels, having the courage to go out in a country where the language doesn't even resemble English (as in a lot of European countries)... It's all too much. And this frustrates me as there have been a lot of things in my life that I haven't done for precisely these feelings. It's ok for someone to say "just do it, be brave" etc. but saying and doing are two different things. There are a lot of "life's too short" type quotes out there which should inspire me to take the plunge but again, hearing those things and nodding sagely while thinking " hhmmm you know you're right" doesn't actually make me want to anything about it. Maybe I'm destined to never actually do those big things I really want to do because if this fundamental flaw in my character?
Thoughts to the usual address...

What's been going on

2010-10-18T20:59:00.001+01:00

This post is inspired by two people. First, my friend Mr. P. Junior who asked me today "what happened to your plan to update your blog daily", and my lovely girlfriend who posted a good ol' fashioned rant on her blog today (which you can read here).
My life is pretty much going at a snails pace at the moment hence the reason I haven't been updating. STILL no job, hamstring knackered so I can't exercise and not much else to do. So, I thought I'd just make a little list of what's been happening.
Currently reading Simon Pegg's autobiography "Nerd Do Well" with Chris Evans second part of his life story waiting in the wings.
Kings Of Leon have a new album out today which I will be buying tomorrow.
Putting on weight (see earlier point about knackered leg etc.).
Visiting my mum & friends in London a week today for a few days.

God I just read that back - how bloody dull. I really will try and think up some more interesting posts for the future. If anyone has any suggestions please feel free to send them over.

Oh and a note on the iPad - still loving it. I switch it on when I wake up and I use it all day to browse, Twitter and check facebook. This post was even written on it. So far, no regrets in buying it.

More interesting posts to follow, honestly!

To buy or not to buy...

2010-10-12T17:01:00.001+01:00

Hello. Don't worry this isn't another post about buying the iPad and getting buyers remorse. I'm not THAT boring (shut up Graham).
I'm renting a house at the moment - those of you who have paid attention to past posts will already know that. One of the worst things about it is there is carpet in the kitchen AND then bathroom. Carpet in the bathroom isn't too bad I guess but in the kitchen is unforgivable. So, even though I'm only renting the place I can't really live with it any longer so I have decided to get it changed. So I've just had a guy come round to measure up and the price? £170.00 (ish) fitted. Now the dilemma. I don't plan on being here for more than a few months really - no more than a year maybe - so do I spend that much money on a new floor or not? I've already spent £40 on a small piece of flooring for the bathroom so that's been changed (not a picnic I can fcukin' tell you) but it's done. So what to do about the kitchen?? Decisions decisions... Comments to the usual address.

More about the iPad

2010-10-11T09:00:00.001+01:00

I had told people that I thought the iPad was too expensive for what it is. Also I think the price will come down fairly soon. So why did I buy it!?
Since seeing and playing with my friends (Mr. P. Senior) I have lusted gently after one for a while. And as I have a little spare cash at the moment, and the Apple shop obviously has some kind of air freshener that drugs you into making obscene purchases I thought "why the heck not?".
I've been using Facebook, Twitter, the browser and this blog on it so far and it is very sexy. I've yet to even fully explore all the apps that are available for it yet. And the iBooks thing looks awesome especially for someone like me who reads a lot. Oh, and you can subscribe to magazines like Wired on it which also will be very cool. I know you'll all be bored about it soon but I'll keep you updated as to how it goes.
In other news I spent Saturday morning / early afternoon in Manchester with my girlfriend which was awesome. We did some shopping (iPad etc.) and had a nice lunch.
Mr. P. Junior came up and spent the afternoon / evening / night with me which was brilliant. Good food good drink good company. And yesterday after he had gone home I decided to have a couple of beers and relax. My girlfriend then suggested I pop over to the pub to see her for a little while and then... Well, let's just say I ended up having to go to bed at about 8:00 last night coz I was w@nkered. I am now swearing off alcohol for a month. I know, I know you've heard it all before but I mean it this time.
So all in all a good weekend. Now to get a bloody job...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Buyers remorse

2010-10-09T13:46:00.001+01:00

Just bought an iPad. Good Lord. And now the buyers remorse has kicked in with a vengeance. .
My girlfriend asked "Do you get buyers remorse when buying for other people?" and I have to say I don't. So what does that say about my psyche / self esteem?
My friend Mr. P. Junior is arriving the afternoon for an evening of cocktails and fine conversation - or it could be a night of Pygmy wrestling and illegal granny fights. But no doubt we will have a nice time.
Oh and I bought a t-shirt by the designer / tatooist Lou Molloy (I know!!). I'll post a pic of it.
Take care listeners.

Finally recorded that song

2010-10-05T14:06:00.002+01:00

It's not the best version, but it'll do for now while I try and improve it. Be kind!

Fountainhead on Box.Net

Service Announcement

2010-10-05T08:09:00.002+01:00

I'm sorry people but I have had to return the 'Word Verification' to my comment section as I was starting to get a little inundated with spam comments. Hopefully this will stop what ever worm is out there hitting my blog and we can return to normal.

Thank you for your patience.

I'll try not to do this too often

2010-10-04T20:05:00.003+01:00

I want to keep this blog more upbeat and positive than it has been over the past few months, but today I can't help but feel quite low and fed up so I thought I'd share with you all why. ("Oh great..." I hear you cry).

The thing is it's Monday today and whereas most of you will have got up this morning and thought "Oh Christ, Monday, I hate Mondays" etc. I can honestly say I envy you all. I would love to have woke up this morning and be thinking the same thing because it would mean I have a job to go to.
You can tell from that I still don't. The weekend comes around and it feels normal - Friday night, Saturday & Sunday football, relaxing Sunday evenings... but then when everyone else goes back to normality I remain in limbo.

It didn't help that I had one of the few things I enjoy and look forward to taken away from me yesterday. I went to play football on Sunday and due to an injury picked up two weeks ago my hamstring pulled during the warm up so I couldn't play. Gutted. I will definitely be missing next weeks training game and I am worried that I might not be fit for the following week, so losing my place in the side. *sigh*.

Anyway... I hope you have all had a nice weekend. I know I keep promising a new recording, and I did try earlier today but due to my melancholic mood it wasn't sounding right. I will get it recorded soon because this is actually the first song I think I sing well and I want the opinions of all of you. Stay tuned.

Insert title here...

2010-10-01T19:58:00.004+01:00

Because I couldn't think of one.
A very frustrating couple of days as far as Jake is concerned this week. I won't go into all the gory details but because of the seperation I don't see Jake as often (obviously). The problem is, I want the time we have together to be nice. Chatting about good stuff, chillin' out etc. But the past few days all I've done is tell him off. I hate it.
I've heard / read literature that says it's important not to over compensate during a seperation and that's something I agree with. I want to keep things as normal as possible for Jake during this difficult time for him and that means disciplining him when he deserves it. But when I'm only seeing him for short bursts it gives less time for both discipline AND making-up-having-fun. I can't forgo the whole telling off thing for the sake of a nice time here, as that would send the wrong message and make things harder in the long run.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not complaining as such. I have a wonderful son who I love more than my own life, but when I have days like the past few it's hard to remember that. In fact he's handled this situation a lot better than me. I'm immensely proud.
I have him here tonight and most of the day tomorrow, and then he's back to his mums until Tuesday night. While he's away I will record a cover of "The Fountainhead" by The Bluetones. That's a promise. Have a nice weekend.

It's so hard...

2010-09-29T14:37:00.003+01:00

I know I said I'd post every day, but I meant it when I said nothing exciting is going on right now. Yes there is a new lady in my life - and I will get round to telling you more about her, just not yet...
Oh OK, here's some little facts about her.

She likes bacon on toast, but not bacon sandwiches.
She drinks tea with no milk or sugar.
She feels the cold very easily.
She has bright blue eyes.

If this was a film now I'd say something like "I just feel I'm meant for something more, something important..." and then a whole raft of adventures would befall me and I would end up in some foreign country somewhere sack deep in trouble.
Alas, life isn't like a film. I'm looking out the window and it's peeing down with rain and I'm waiting for Jake to come home. He's with me for the next couple of nights now which is cool but as the days are drawing in and it's getting darker earlier there's not as much time for him to go out with his mates and I know that frustrates him.

So what's been turning me on recently... Heroes Series 2, The Bluetones, Stephen Fry's "Chronicles", "An Idiot Abroad" with Karl Pilkington, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, and beans & sausages on toast.

Soon it's the weekend, but hopefully something more interesting will happen between now and then and I can tell you all about it. Have a nice Wednesday.

The fridge rant

2010-09-27T09:44:00.002+01:00

As promised.
Back on the 8th of September my fridge broke. There is a tiny copy pipe at the back of your fridge that contains the coolant stuff that keeps your beer and cheese cold. It is not very strong and can break when inadvertently struck with something heavy like a hoover *cough* not that I did this of course...
Anyway - I phone the number on the guarantee and was asked what the problem was. I was concerened primarily about the hissing gas that was escaping into my kitchen. I had visions of it causing me to collapse to the floor, struggling for breath all alone as though I was an extra in an episode of 'Casualty'. I was reassured that the gas was harmless and that an engineer would attend as soon as possible - the date given was 16th of September. 16th?! 8 bloody days without a fridge? I wasn't best pleased but sort of accepted that I am not a God and can't command instant attendance of my problems. Luckily, I had some spare cash so I popped off to Currys and bought one of those little bar fridges - just big enough to hold beer and.... I mean some milk, butter, the essentials.
So the 16th arrives as does the engineer (at 14:55 to be precise) which is typical isn't it after being told it could be anytime between 07:00 and 17:00 and waiting in all bloody day. But I digest. In comes the man with the tools, takes one look at the back of the fridge and says "yeah, I'm gonna need parts. I'll be back on the 27th". 27th?!? Are you fcukin' shittin' me?
that will be nearly 3 weeks without a fridge (I know, I know, I had the little bar fridge but that's not the point is it?). And off he toddles at 15:00. Waiting for 8 days and 7 hours for a 5 minute visit. Wank.
So here I sit, waiting in again for the man with the tools to turn up. Believe you me, if he arrives and says he can't fix it today, you'll hear my scream of impotent rage all the way in bloody Cornwall. I've been living off crap because I can't fit anything decent in the tiny little fridge - I want steaks and sausages and nice cheese and Japanese beer and chicken and fresh salads...
Once (if?) the fridge is fixed today tomorrow I will be doing a big shop and getting all manner of pleasurable things.
Have a nice Monday everybody.

Impromptu nights

2010-09-26T13:15:00.002+01:00

Hello children.
So I had a quiet morning yesterday once Jake had gone back to his mums, but then at about 16:00 my new lady and I decided to pop over to the local pub for "just a quick drink". This turned into three or four "quick drinks", which then turned into a curry and some more wine and *cough* some quality time together. It was a really great afternoon, evening and night and it all came from just a simple suggestion of a quick drink. This is why it's often said that all the best nights happen without a plan in place.
Today I am suffering a little, I can't lie. It's not too bad at the time of writing this as I've tried one of my hangover cures - an ice cold Budweiser and a big bowl of crisps - but this morning a drug addled raver could have danced to the thumping beat in my temples.
I have no other plans for today other than slumping on my recliner sofa (a recent acquisition which is utterly superb) and watching some football. I have a fridge engineer coming tomorrow to fix my fridge which has been broken for over three weeks. See I missed a rant there, didn't I, as I've not been updating regularly! I'll post the story of the fridge tomorrow maybe.
Anyway, I hope you are all enjoying your Sunday and it's peaceful and hangover free.
Over 'n' out.

A 'feelings' post...

2010-09-25T11:34:00.002+01:00

Jake has been staying with me thoughout the week for the past three weeks, with just weekend visits to his mum. This is because she had some issues with accomodation but they are now sorted. So, for the past three weeks we've had a nice little routine going and it's been really nice. Today he has gone back to her until Wednesday. This weekend it's her birthday and on Monday it would have been our wedding anniversary. Consequently I'm in a bit of an emotional state today. I haven't mentioned this before, and I'm not going into details, but she has someone else in her life. So knowing he's going to be there as well... I'm not in a good place today.
I know deep down that I am not going to be replaced as Jake's dad but it's still hard to not feel threatened or insecure. Don't get me wrong, I don't go around feeling like this all day every day, but at times like this these kind of feelings surface.
Anyway - City are on TV today at lunchtime, so I can have a couple of beers in front of the match and then maybe walk over to the local pub for a little while. This melancholy mood won't last but I wanted to share it with you anyway. Have a nice Saturday.

A typical day

2010-09-24T15:26:00.002+01:00

See, this is what I was talking about yesterday. Nothing interesting happened to me today. It was a normal, typical day that I've been living through the past few weeks.
Get up. Deal with Jake and get him off to school. Take a walk down to Stockport. Come back. Have lunch. Read / write / watch DVD's. Wait for Jake to come home.
It's now 15.30 and Jake should be back here in about 20 minutes. He'll then do any homework then either play out with his mates or stay in and watch TV. We'll then have something to eat, watch some TV together, then hit the sack. B-O-R-I-N-G!
Don't get me wrong, if I was working at the moment this sort of day would be bliss. But when you have precisely naff all else to do it kinda grates on the nerves somewhat.
I can tell you I've been buying lots of cool music (Skunk Anansie, Black Mountain, Example, Avenged Sevenfold to name but a few) and also reading some good stuff (at the moment I'm in the middle of Stephen Fry's "Chronicles" and a couple of Karl Pilkington books which do make me laugh).
I obviously want another job as soon as possible, and I will be looking back at this downtime wistfully when I do finally get back to work. But it's been so long now since I've done anything productive I can feel my brain turning to cold porridge between my ears.

So I'm sorry, no amusing anecdotes for today's post. But stay tuned as things will get better.

A momentous day

2010-09-23T17:38:00.002+01:00

Mark it in your diaries. Thursday, September the 23rd is the day I re-launch this blog.
It's not a re-branding so everything will look the same, but from now on I will endevour to update it daily.
I have been inspired by people like Stephen Fry, Manuel The Waiter, and Karl Pilkington.
The problem is I am not really doing much on a day to day basis at the moment as I'm still out of work, but on those days where naff all happens I will try and entertain and inform you with whatever has been going through my head.
Let's just recap:
- Separated from my (ex) wife since January 2010. I will share some of my feelings on that.
- Met a new woman who is officially my girlfriend - more on her to follow
- Jake is now a senior school student - I'll let you know how he's doing
- A new season has started with Wilmslow Town Vets FC - match reports will be forthcoming

I will be recording some more songs, attempting to write my own songs (I wanna try blues), and generally babbling away at you all.

I hope you all have not got bored and wandered away from this blog, and if you're still around thank you for your patience and I hope you will feel rewarded.

So... a new dawn etc. Let's go...

Headlines first...

2010-09-09T19:47:00.001+01:00

I've got a new girlfriend. Details later...
Jake has started senior / high school and is doing really well. More to follow...
I'm first choice midfielder for Wilmslow Town Vets FC - updates on the way...

Stay tuned.

A good quote for my frame of mind

2010-09-01T20:30:00.000+01:00

I have of late,—but wherefore I know not,—lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises; and indeed, it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory; this most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave o’erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire,—why, it appears no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculties! in form and moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension, how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?

Slacker

2010-08-30T13:00:00.000+01:00

I know, I know, I said I'd update and I haven't. I'm sorry. However, I do have good and interesting news but I need to wait just a little bit longer before filling you all in. Please be patient. In the meantime, here's some music...

Stay tuned...

2010-08-16T21:18:00.000+01:00

More updates coming soon. Developments have occurred that will be shared.
Peace.

Another chapter comes to an end

2010-08-13T13:46:00.002+01:00

We sold the marital home yesterday. (Well, ex-marital home). So that's another phase in my life come to a close. I'm not as 'sad' as I thought I would be, I think partly because I have moved on so much already. But there was a definite sense of melancholy when the solicitor called me to say the sale had gone through.
I am moving on with my life. Things are changing (for the better) and each day that goes by makes me feel a little better about the future.
Just as an aside - when the solicitor phoned me to say the sale had gone through I checked my bank balance... fcuk me!! It's NEVER been that healthy! But still, I have to be sensible with the money as it's for a deposit on my own house, which I will push on with once I have a job (still waiting...).
More updates soon, promise.

A (small) end of an era

2010-07-30T19:31:00.002+01:00

It was Jake's last day as a junior student today. In September he starts in high / senior school. Scary!

I remember that I loved junior school - I was the first picked from my year to be part of the football team squad, I made some excellent friends who I am still very close to today, I had my first kiss... it was good. But then I went up to senior school and I hated it. I was picked on for the first three years, school went from being carefree and a breeze to being a stressful, merciless place with a lot more hard work. I couldn't wait to leave and that's a fact. (Oh, and I had NO luck with the opposite sex, which didn't help!) **
I know Jake will have a better time of it. He has far more talent on the football field than I did at his age, and he has a natural ability to get on with anyone. And the girls seem to like him which is good! Still... my little boy's growing up.

Take tonight for example - he's going away tomorrow for a week or so with his mum, so tonight I thought we'd have something nice for tea (home made yaki soba - superb even if I say so myself) and then watch a film and spend some time together. I have, however, been banished from the lounge as his mate has just turned up! Typical!

Anyway - those of you with kids older than Jake will know what I'm going through. Those with younger kids, you have it all to come!

Have a nice weekend all. Peace.

** OR the same sex, before some smart arse says that...

Hey

2010-07-25T19:52:00.003+01:00

Still around. Not much changed really, still not working (drag) but day by day I'm feeling a little more positive about things. I can't lie I still have relapses every now and then when everything hits me, but they are becoming less in frequency and weaker in feeling.

I'm toying with the idea of a complete career change. Soon enough the house we had together will be sold and I will have a nice little lump sum coming to me. Now obviously that is supposed to be for a deposit on my own house but I can't get a mortgage if I'm not working. So I'm thinking about using that as a buffer to change careers and maybe do something I really want to do. But I don't know what!

Don't get me wrong if an IT job came up in the next couple of weeks I'd jump at it, but if nothing changes I can't go on like this for ever. We'll see.

Anyway I'm still here and will keep the updates coming. Peace.

Your past self

2010-07-15T19:11:00.003+01:00

So I've got kinda addicted to Life On Mars & Ashes To Ashes recently. When you're out of work you have to find something to fill your days with!
Anyway, in case you don't know what the shows are about, the basic premis is a copper (male in Life On Mars, female in Ashes To Ashes) goes back in time ('73 in LOM and '81 in ATA) to resolve some past issue. In both cases their child selves are around and this got me thinking - if you now could go back to when you were between the ages of say 6 and 12, what would you do? Would you seek yourself out, and your parents? Bear in mind that you'd be a grown up so you could meet your parents and they wouldn't know it was you. If you did go and find yourself, what would you say to yourself? What would you tell yourself?
Obviously, with what I've gone through over the past 10 months or so I think the main piece of advice I'd give myself would be that things do get better. When you're at your lowest point, and you feel that there could not be any more pain in the world, things DO improve.
So how about you lot out there? What would you say?

So I'm out of work

2010-07-12T15:42:00.003+01:00

I don't think I mentioned this in a previous post, but I took voluntary redundancy from my job about 5 weeks ago. At the time, it seemed like the right thing to do and I thought I'd pretty soon be moving into a new role. However, although I've had some interest and a couple of offers there's been nothing that I've really wanted. I made the decision because I couldn't face commuting to Birmingham and back every day and with everything else that was going on in my life I thought it the best thing for my sanity.
The problem now is that the days just draaaag. I'm actively looking for a new role and getting calls from agencies but it's still hard. And obviously I can't go out spending money left right and centre because I don't know when I'm going to be working again.
I've tried to be pro-active, going out for runs, walking to town and back etc. but some days are just hard. Today is one of those days. Very low today. I think I mentioned in a post a long time ago that I wished life were like the movies sometimes. Well it's not. It's so fcukin' not.
And I'm gonna stop there because getting upset while typing a blog is so lame...

A key word - adjustment

2010-07-08T12:38:00.003+01:00

This is one of the words that really has been a big part of my new life.
I was in my relationship for 14 years. That's a long time to be with someone. We shared a home for 13 of those years. With my new life, I have had to adjust to being on my own a lot more of the time. Although while together I did my share of housework, cooking, washing, ironing etc. it's still a bit of a change to have to do it ALL. There is no one else to ask if they don't mind cooking for that night as you're knackered or to do the washing for that day.
Don't get me wrong - I have always liked my own company, and sometimes during my relationship I enjoyed the time alone I got. But having it forced on you is a shock. We share custody (I hate that word) of Jake so I do have company in him for half my week but adjusting to being alone in the evenings has been tough. Is tough. I'm still getting used to things. For a while I felt like I was going slightly strange with the amount of time to myself I was getting, sometimes with no contact with anyone for days at a time (when it wasn't my weekend for Jake for example). This feeling has started to fade (although that may mean because I have turned slightly strange...?)
Anyway - no real point to this post today, just a spouting of things I've been thinking.
Peace.

So have I learned anything?

2010-07-07T19:27:00.004+01:00

See, the thing is, it's only with hindsight that you can spot the mistakes you shouldn't be making.
And by then, it usually too late.

If I had to give any advice to my friends / colleagues / readers of this blog who are in a relationship I would say this: Talk to each other.

So many problems in a relationship can be solved if they are talked out. Yes, I know, it's easy to just say "talk to each other" like it's the most natural thing in the world but sometimes I KNOW it's the last thing in the world you might feel like doing when things are going bad. You look at your partner and think "I do not want to be anywhere near you right now" or "it is utterly pointless to try and talk to you about this" but please... try. One of you, swallow your pride, take a deep breath and just ask to talk. It can save so much pain, confusion, anger, frustration.

I'm not saying that that would have saved our marriage but I do know that there were times when either one of us could have just talked and things may have been different. But we didn't. And so they aren't.

Take care people... it's a scary world out there.

I am now a statistic

2010-07-06T14:13:00.002+01:00

I read somewhere that 76% of all modern marriages fail.
Well, I am now part of that 76%.

My wife and I have been officially separated since Easter this year. Although truth be told things kind of ended in January this year.

I won't go into all the gory details, they will stay between the two of us. All you need to know is now I have embarked on a new life as a single father living on my own. I am staying in the area we moved up to back in August to be near Jake and am looking to get a new job as a kick start to a new life.

Of course, during the breakup I was an emotional mess, and maybe in a later post I will try and offer some advice / insight as to what I went through in case it helps someone else who is going through the same thing. But for now, it's onwards and upwards for me. Enough time has passed of me avoiding my blog, Twitter, Facebook etc. and I decided to try and get back into it all again.

Thank you all for your patience and I hope those of you who drifted away will come back again.

So... what's been happening?

Patience

2010-05-24T15:53:00.000+01:00

The time is coming - you'll all soon know what's been going on. Bear with me.

Placeholder

2010-05-08T21:43:00.000+01:00

Just another post to keep the blog 'alive' until I know what to say and how to say it.

-- Post From My iPhone

I'm still alive...

2010-04-02T21:13:00.001+01:00

...but everything is different. Updates to follow.

Weather eh? Shocking

2010-01-05T10:11:00.002Z

The view from where I'm sitting today:

Yes I'm sitting at my dining room table looking out the window into my back garden and that's what I can see. Thick, deep snow. The weather has gone potty. Still, it means I can sit here in my slob-out clothes, drinking tea, eating biscuits and staying warm. I have more documentation to do *sigh* but at least I've not gone out and crashed the car or anything daft like that.
I was supposed to be playing football on Sunday, but I doubt the local playing fields where we play will have under-soil heating, so I doubt it's on.
Not much else to report... oh, one of my favorite blogs is back online. Check it out, even though he is a red git. Well Done Fillet (Part II)

Peace.

Happy new year?

2010-01-04T09:45:00.003Z

It bloody better be because the last one was shite.

Yes, it's a fresh and shiny 2010. Written down, doesn't that look like such a futuristic year?
No plans as yet for anything other than getting back into the swing of work. I have a cold trying to start at the moment (cue fighting it off with lemsip and orange juice) and the weather in my part of the world is shocking. It got down to -9.5 degrees c. last night!

So far, I seem to have managed to keep the weight off that disappeared through excess crapping and spewing on boxing day. I hope to keep it off permanently - and less beer should help.

So that's about it for today - it was only supposed to be a quick post to say hello and hope you are all fit and healthy and raring to go this year. Well are you?

More updates soon.

I have a good excuse

2009-12-29T12:57:00.000Z

Yes, I know I said I would be posting over Xmas but I've been ill. Xmas day was nice, if slightly hectic, with a house of 12 people and everyone sat round together. It helped keep my mind off things (well, dad) but it still wasn't quite the same. I was just glad number one son and My Better Half were there. My Better Half's face lit up on Xmas morning when she opened her present... I got her a torch. (boom tish).
I then woke up at 06:00 Boxing day morning and commenced, every 15 minutes, to crap through the eye of a needle and throw up twice. I was a very sick puppy. I spent the entire day laid out on the sofa wrapped in a sleeping bag.
It's now the 29th and I'm still not 100%. I've hardly eaten, I've lost quite a lot of weight ('D' plan diet rocks. 'D' for diahorea), and I have no appetite. I'm down in London at the moment and will be driving back home tomorrow morning. In the afternoon both Mr. P. Senior (and family) and Mr. P. Junior will be popping over to see us so that'll be good.
I hope you all had a nice Xmas and you got all you wanted. I'll hopefully post again before 2010 but if not have a happy new year.
Peace.

-- Post From My iPhone

3 days and counting

2009-12-22T09:10:00.002Z

Presents bought & wrapped. Work (what there was of it) completed. Now the wind down can officially start. I'm in the office today, tomorrow and then half of Thursday (until lunchtime) and then that's me done until January 4th. And I can't wait. No more worrying about anger-inducing emails from the U.S. No more getting up early to get into work. Bliss. Although it's only short lived (the time will fly by) I intend to enjoy it as much as I can.

I will be posting over the break (who said "Oh No!"?) but that really will be the only computer interaction I'll be having!

Have a lovely day.

Danger! Danger! Low motivation detected!

2009-12-17T08:23:00.003Z

Indeed. I can't get going today. I do have two things I need to do. Neither will take me very long. I could probably make them last the day so I'm not sitting here bored but I just can't get going this morning. I'm currently re-reading Douglas Coupland's "The Gum Thief", and all I wanna do is sit here with a cup of tea, put my feet up, and lose myself in the book. *sigh*.

City lost last night. They were well and truly spanked by a very good Spurs side. So football is off the menu today.

I'm working from home tomorrow, and then at last it's the weekend. I have no game on Sunday, Jake might have a game on Saturday if the pitch is OK. So this weekend is going to be a quiet one, gearing up for Christmas by cleaning the house and stuff like that. I might even treat myself to a lie in if Jake has no game.

Jebus, what a boring post. Sorry. Have a nice Thursday.

Zombie weather again today

2009-12-16T08:12:00.002Z

For all those who are not my one regular reader, I have often made references to 'zombie' weather. The sort of weather that's misty, damp, a bit chilly. The sort of weather you can imagine a horde of the undead shuffling out of toward your window. My new office is on a trading estate, so driving in this morning it enhanced the feeling of being in a zombie movie. The odd person wandering around on their own, darkness, mist, some building lights on. Dead spooky.

There have been a couple of comments about the Kevin 'Bloody' Wilson post... isn't it amazing how these songs have embedded in our conscience? I put the album on I got and as soon as songs like "Mick The Master Farter" and "Dicktaphone" came on, I was singing along to every word. And I haven't heard these songs for years!

In other news...
BIG game for City tonight. Jake has training, and then I'll be back at home sat in front of the footy with a beer or two screaming at the TV. Nerves nerves nerves.

Have a good Wednesday children.

Face like a nest of ants

2009-12-15T12:32:00.003Z

That's how it feels right now with this beard on the go. I know I said last night that I was going to grow a beard for Christmas (that sounds like it could be a Christmas song) but by Britney's thong it's hard. I do this every time... my stubble starts off very short and prickly and damaging to My Better Half's face. Then it gets longer and softer to the touch, and then it get's to this stage - even longer but for some reason very very itchy. Almost to the point of it stinging. I will give it a couple more days, and if it doesn't improve or gets worse, I will wuss out again and shave it off. I do want to persevere though, as I think it'll be comical to see me with a proper beard. I could then shave it off and just have a manly mustache, like a 70's porn star but ginger.

In other news..
With 10 days left until the holidays, I have all but finished my shopping, which is nice. I have to get something for my mum (I know, what she really wants she can't have and she's not in the mood at all but I have to try and get her something, don't I?) and My Better Half and I need to get a last few bits for number one son, but apart from that I'm done.
I honestly don't know how I am going to feel about Christmas this year. It'll be the first one I have spent away from my parents (I mean ever. Every Christmas day since I've been born I have been with my mum & dad. This year I won't be) and obviously with my dad gone... I don't know. I might be fine and dandy, or I might be a mess.
But hey, let's not bring the mood down eh?

No plans tonight. City on TV tomorrow night (B I G game away against Spurs) and that's about all I've got planned this week.

Have a lovely Tuesday everyone.

Soundtrack of the day: The Bloodhound Gang and The Shins.

An evening post for a change

2009-12-14T20:42:00.003Z

I just received an email from our manager - I was voted Man of the Match by the opposition on Sunday - so I'm really chuffed. I started the game, played in center midfield which is my normal position, worked hard, did a good job - but I didn't expect to be voted MoM. I could name two or three other players I would have voted for, but in this league, you vote for the opposition MoM so... well, there you go!

Number one son had a blast on Saturday evening - he went to something called the Chill Factore in Manchester. He didn't do the snow boarding or skiing, he did the party thing with the tubes and the luge... but he had an absolute blast. It was chuffin' freezin' though - because it's real snow, it's kept at -2.0 degrees celcius, and when you're stood around in it... Good gravy it was cold. I went to the loo and my nuts were like freeze dried peas. (Too much information Simon. I must work on that. My doctor says I need more control. Sorry.)

Anyway... that's about all for the weekend. This week, so far, not much happening. Work continues to be shite. Oh, and I'm growing a beard. I thought I'd see if I could keep it growing until Christmas. I'll keep you up to date. Maybe I'll post a photo of it as it is so far.

Take care everyone.

Ooh, ooh, soundtrack of the day tomorrow: The Bloodhound Gang - "Hefty Fine" (go to a web site and check out the album cover - it's superb). And, a greatest hits type of album by Kevin Bloody Wilson - those of you my age, from the U.K, will remember him ("Santa Claus you ****" and "Mick Me Mate The Master Farter"). So I should be laughing a lot at work tomorrow. Lord knows I have toss all else to do...

Peace.

It's been a while since I've had a good moan...

2009-12-09T07:57:00.002Z

... and today's subject is house alarms.

You can probably guess why I'm having a moan about this - yes, somebody's house alarm was going off all this morning. And the pisser is, I actually saw the person who lives in the house leave for work this morning and THEN his alarm went off. How fcukin' inconsiderate. If you're going to use one of these pointless noise makers, at least make sure your house is locked and all windows and doors closed before you set the bloody thing. This one is quite a new one, so the siren is nice and loud and set at the right tone so that it goes right through you to the point of making a tiny little pin-prick of pain right behind each eye, like someone gently sliding hot, chilli-sauce-soaked kebab skewers through your eye balls.

Come someone tell me the point of these things? OK, OK, I know they are to alert people to a possible break-in at their home, but unless they are linked to the local cop shop, are they really any sort of deterrent? I mean, if someone was breaking into this twunts house (and they weren't) they would know that they had a good few minutes to get away with stuff before anyone showed up. And, if it was one of the more common ones that aren't linked to the local rozzers, they would have even longer as most people simply ignore the alarm thinking "Oh, it's gone off for no reason again".

When I lived down in London, my next door neighbor had one, and more than once it went off at stupid times of the night - usually when they weren't in. This was a little different, as the neighbor had given myself and their other neighbor a set of keys and the alarm code, so if it did go off we could go and investigate and shut it down. However, there are a couple of problems with this. 1 - if someone was breaking in, would I really want to confront them when it's not even my house? Fcuk no. 2 - why did it have to go off at stupid times like 02:30 in the morning? If I couldn't be arsed to get out of bed and investigate, it'd just go on and on and on and make sleep impossible. Which means I'd have to get up, get dressed, get armed (see point 1, above) and then go next door to see what was what.
And you know the really annoying thing? Every time either myself or my neighbor went to investigate the problem was an open door which had moved and disturbed the sensor, or a window left open, or once the loft access door falling open and setting it off. So our sleep is disturbed in a most horrible way for absolutely nothing. The ironic thing is, they actually did have a break in once. And the alarm wasn't set. Stupid, eh?

So anyway - if I get home from work before this ball bag tonight, and his alarm has been going off all day (My Better Half will let me know) I will be having words with him.

No post today

2009-12-07T08:41:00.001Z

Not in the mood. Sorry.

Not much goin' on today

2009-12-03T13:54:00.003Z

But I have finally finished that docu-bloody-mentation. I have to email the final two documents over to the U.S and then I'm done, done, done with it.

My Better Half is away for a couple of days, the dog is staying with my in-laws, so tonight and tomorrow night it's just me and number one son in the house. Tonight he has a doctors appointment (nothing serious) but tomorrow I think we'll go out for dinner somewhere. That should be good. I can get drunk and the faithful son and guide his legless father home.
I kid of course.

As for the weekend... I think I have a match Sunday, I'm going to watch City vs Chelsea on Saturday afternoon and that's about all I have planned so far.

See? Told you there's wasn't much going on.

Soundtrack of the day: The various albums by Disturbed, and also "The XX" by The XX.

In trouble again

2009-12-02T12:42:00.004Z

But to be fair, I couldn't help myself. So now I don't think this particular young lady will be saying hello to me when she comes into our office anymore.

Case for the defense: I went upstairs to see the lady I thought was responsible for providing stationary as I needed a pen. I went to her desk and she wasn't there, but there is a young woman who sits next to her who, justifiably I thought, could work with her. So I stood in front of her desk, waiting for her to finish typing what she was typing so I could speak to her without interrupting. Now normally if someone is stood right by your desk while you are typing something you either finish that particular word / number you're keying and then look up at the person waiting to speak to you, OR you quickly say something like "give me two seconds, I just need to finish this while it's in my head" or something. This dizzy little tart did neither. She just sat there tapping away at her keyboard seemingly ignoring me with malice aforethought. "Fcuk this" thinks I. "*COUGH COUGH* HI THERE." She finally deigns to look up at me and say "Yeah?"
"Hi, sorry to disturb you", says I, "but I need a pen - can you help me?"
"No. You need to speak to Dorris". Now the lady's name I actually need to talk to is Karen, but she is known as Dorris. If I hadn't overheard someone else call her that the other day, I wouldn't know that. But I thought "Fcuk you, I ain't being helpful seeing as it seems this is REALLY putting you out" so I said "Who?"
"Dorris. Karen. She does pens". (Pointing at this Karen's desk).
"Oh" says I. And with that she goes back to her tip-tap-tapping on her keyboard.
Now this is where I should have just said "Right, thanks" and walked away. But no. Not me. I leaned down so she had no mistake I was not done with her (not aggressively so, I mean, I'm not a psycho, but I leaned in enough so it was obvious I had something more to say), and with a big, sarcastic, shit-eating grin on my face I said "Thank you very much, you've been SO helpful". And when she looked up at me with a slightly shocked look on her silly face I dropped the smile to a dead serious face and then walked away. *sigh*. So now when she comes down to our office (which she does with unfortunate regularity) I doubt she'll be smiling and saying good morning to yours truly. People eh? Fcukers.

In other news...

Number one son has training tonight, and then City are on t'telly in the Carling Cup quarter finals. So tonight it's a case of standing in the cold and wet watching my little footballer and then getting home in time to crack open a beer and sit on my arse watching the box.

No plans for the rest of the week.

Soundtrack of the day: All sorts. I've been hitting the random button a lot and normally if I'm not in the mood for a particular album, I'll skip it, but this time I'm letting fate decide my soundtrack.
Peace.
Update: I edited this because I seem to over use commas. I must,control,this.... sorry. I must control this urge.

I wasn't gonna moan about this again but...

2009-12-01T10:32:00.003Z

I hate my fcukin' job at the moment!
I know, I keep going on about it, and I know you're all sick to death of hearing it, but it's my blog and I want another moan.
I am STILL not doing the job I am hired to do - i.e. develop applications. I am still sitting here writing pointless bloody technical documentation that no fcuker will ever read or make use of.
There is still no hint or word of any upcoming work. And one of the worst parts? The job market is dead at the moment and so there is no way out of this current hell. I haven't even got any leave left to take so I can't even take a few days off to escape the drudgery. *sigh*. Moan over.

In other news...
The first frost of the season hit the house this morning - car covered in frost and needing to be de-iced, roads slippery, bundled up in thick coats and gloves... it'd be lovely if it was Christmas morning, but when you have to get to work, it's a bitch.

The only plan I have for this week is taking number one son training on Wednesday night. Apart from that I'll be staying in, and enjoying the fire (which I now know how to light and it's lovely to sit in front of).

So, have a nice Tuesday (those with jobs you actually enjoy!) and I'll post more soon.

Peace.

Update: Forgot, soundtrack(s) of the day: "Behind The Music" by Soundtrack Of Our Lives (recommended by Noel Gallagher) and "Magpie" by Stewart Fretwell. Both exceptional.

Oh Monday's arrival, how I lament thee

2009-11-30T08:03:00.002Z

You know the problem with weekends? They're only two days long and they are over way too quickly. Oh well.

So my mum arrived safe and sound - although the collecting of said parental unit was harrowing for me, as a pigeon decided to take dead aim and crap on my head. I shit you not. I was stood indoors I might add, waiting for my mum to arrive, when I felt a splash on my head. Now, when you feel something like that, your first thought is "oh crap, a raindrop / splash of water". But then when you put your hand to your head, and it's warm... not a pleasant feeling. So I looked up, and perched on the ledge about 6 foot up from me was a pigeons arse (attached to a pigeon no doubt). Bastard. Now I could have gone after him like a cave man hunting prey and killed the little vermin, but I didn't want people noticing what had happened and so I kept calm, stole some napkins from a coffee place, and cleaned myself up as best I could. Lucky it didn't have the Eartha Kitts really.

Apart from that little episode, we've had a nice weekend. Number one son had a very good birthday (he now has a whole armory of Nerf guns and a scary amount of money) and I think it's helped my mum a little being around him this weekend, although she is still very upset (obviously). I played football on Sunday, in an inter-squad match, and did well. Oh, and I didn't get to see City after all :-( but I'm kinda glad as we drew and apparently it was a shite match.

And now we're at Monday again *sigh*. My mum leaves today (My Better Half is taking her to the station for me), and I have to now start getting Christmas presents organized (I refuse to leave it to the last minute as I have done in the past).

So have a good day everyone.

Soundtrack of the day: Whatever albums I have on my MP3 player by Elbow.

Another weekend is upon us

2009-11-27T09:51:00.002Z

A special day today, as it's number one son's 11th birthday. Many happy returns fruit of my loins.

Of course he was up with the sparrows fart this morning, bouncing down the stairs and itching to rip into his birthday presents... but he's old enough now to realize checking the cards first is a good move because some people might be generous enough to put cold, hard (well, paper) cash in them.
His main present from us this year is some great big Nerf machine gun type thing. Jebus, the thing is nearly bigger than him. It takes 6 D-cell batteries (which I need to get for him today) and can fire these little Nerf darts quicker than you can imagine. My mum arrives this afternoon in Stockport station, so I'll be going to pick her up and then tonight we're going out to dinner.

I found out yesterday I may have a chance of getting a ticket for the game tomorrow (City v Hull) so I've got my fingers crossed for that, and then Sunday I have a inter-squad friendly in the afternoon. I like playing these games, as there is no pressure, and you can really measure yourself against your team mates and the manager can see how we're all progressing.

So that's it really. Soundtrack of the day is "Electronic Anthems" from the Ministry Of Sound stable... some classic 80's synth tunes.

Have a nice, safe, and peaceful weekend all.

Just a quickie

2009-11-26T14:31:00.003Z

The light at the end of the tunnel has NOT turned out to be the entrance of the self same tunnel on fire, but in fact the impending end of this documen-bloody-tation I'm stuck on. I have nearly finished another one (will be done tomorrow) and the I have two more to do, before the deadline of 31st December, then that's it. (MASSIVE sighs all round).

Tomorrow, my mum is coming up to spend the weekend with us (it's number one son's birthday tomorrow... he's 11!! Good grief...) so we'll see what the weather is like before deciding what we do & where we go, although the main plan (in Jake's mind) is that my mum will take him shopping into Manchester on Saturday so he obviously can't wait for that.

So that's about all I've got time for today... nearly home time. Have a nice evening everyone. More tomorrow.

Peace.

Guter Tag from Birmingham

2009-11-24T07:58:00.003Z

No idea why I said hello in German, that's just the kind of crazy fun guy I am, right? RIGHT??!

*cough*

Yes, I am in 'lovely' Birmingham today. It was a short notice thing, yesterday afternoon it was decided I come down here for the day (I nearly wrote "up here" then...but I'm not a southerner anymore, am I?). It's only for today, so I can handle that. So, up at stupid o'clock (after a frankly diabolical night's sleep) and here in the office by 07.30. The journey was OK. Very wet, with lots of cars, but I didn't really grind to a halt at all. However, I did have another occasion where I nearly crashed the car due to laughter - this time listening to a Derek & Clive CD. (For those that don't know, Derek & Clive are two characters played by Peter Cook (Clive) and Dudley Moore (Derek).
VERY sweary (the first track is called "Stupid C**t") and very funny. There is one track in particular I know my friend Mr. P Junior will like - its one simply called "Nurse" and it's Dudley Moore making farting noises and calling for a nurse... but each fart and each cry for help becomes more & more desperate. It's not too strong to say it's comic genius.

Anyway. Here today, then home tonight for not much planned... although I will be watching the scousers get knocked out of the Champions League tonight which will be funny.

So have a lovely Tuesday everyone, and play nicely.

Long time no post

2009-11-23T09:33:00.002Z

Yeah, sorry about that.

So what's been going on. Well, I've now seen the new Star Trek movie (on Blu-ray no less) and I have to say it was awesome. A very good action movie, and if you're a bit of a trek fan (which I am) seeing famous characters (from the original series - not the Next Generation toss) in 'younger' form is brilliant. Simon Pegg, for instance, plays Scotty and he does it brilliantly. The young Spock is superb, and the young 'Bones' McCoy is also excellent. I highly, highly recommend it.

I actually had an extra copy of the film delivered to me by mistake. I'm waiting to see if I am going to be charged for it (at the moment, I don't think I am) but if I get away with it, I may offer it up for a prize or something. Obviously, you need a Blu-Ray player (or a PS3) but we'll see what happens. Watch this space.

In other news - Jake is STILL waiting to sign for his new team, so again no football for him at the weekend, and my match was called off due to the torrential rain we've been having. So it was quite a relaxing weekend, apart from trying to light a fire.

We have a real coal fire in the front room. And the weather is now horrid enough that the thought of sitting in front of a real fire with a hot drink (or an alcoholic one) is a very nice thought indeed. So I went out to B&Q on Sunday to get the necessary stuff (poker, coal bucket etc.) and some coal. (Result - the coal bucket we bought came with a free bag of coal!) So, I laid the fire, being careful not to overload it, and used some 'paper sticks' made by my mother-in-law. (These are sheets of newspaper folded in a certain way to ensure they light and burn slowly... kinda like fire lighters). But... do you think I could get the bastard lit?? Could I 'eck as like. I must have used £15 worth of matches trying to light the fcuker. No, I didn't have fire lighters, but I think I will have to go get some this afternoon and see if that makes a difference. *sigh*

Anyhoo... this week, not much planned, although it is number one son's birthday on Friday so he's bouncing off the walls with excitement. And my mum is coming up for the weekend to spend it with him, so that'll be nice. (As a quick aside - she's still really struggling with our recent loss, but hopefully a weekend with us will take her mind off things for a little while).

Have a nice Monday everyone.

Peace.

See, you CAN get away with murder

2009-11-17T14:06:00.001Z

This guy... he's either very unlucky & cursed, or very, very clever...

Man killed wife during a dream