Short post

Its only a quick post today, Im feeling very low. Its a combination of things really, which I can't be arsed to go into. I had one little ray of sunshine, the latest Q magazine is out. And Im hopefully playing golf later if the weather behaves, and that will hopefully make me feel better. Apart from that, the world can go take a running f*ck and a moving doughnut today for all I care.

Now its getting serious

OK, first of all, wardrobe up with no problems. Put the stereo on, grabbed a beer and got to it. Job done.
Whats getting serious...? My litigation claim against Barclays. I am still waiting for my case to be transferred to my local court, and to receive a court date. But after reading this article and after getting some advice from the Consumer Action Group website, I decided to phone the litigation department and see if they will settle. I got a name and number from the CAG website, and have left a voicemail this morning... *gulp*... so we'll see what happens!
I'll update here later with how I get on.
STILL not much work to do today (well, I've been given a crappy admin type job - checking out all existing applications on our domino servers and seeing if they're still needed... yuck) so another day of clock watching I think. :-(
More updates later...
Update on the chocolate M&M conspiracy... There're LOADS of places that sell them! Im gonna go back to that newsagent and punch the lying hag in the throat for lying to me. (Bit harsh maybe... perhaps I'll just wee on their shop door late at night and run away...)
Update: So, as I expected, I haven't heard from Barclays all day... I am going to email a list of contacts that the CAG has tomorrow morning to see what sort of response I get.

Wired

I've discovered a new magazine that I like reading - Wired. Its American, yes, but its still a good read. That makes the list of magazines I read more or less every month:
Q Magazine
Mojo
Uncut
Wired
Todays Golfer

With occasional appearances by:
Top Gear
FourFourTwo
Golf Punk

Badminton was good last night. Jake did really well for his first time, we had some good rallies going. It re-enforces the idea that people who are naturally sporty (as Jake is, and as I am) can pick up more or less any sport. I think we'll be going again next week.
He's also started to get into one of those fantasy battle role play games - Warhammer 40,000. It brings back memories for me as, geeky as it was, I was quite heavily into those games when I was younger (as were a few of my friends... should I name them here?!) So I have to go buy some paint, brushes, glue etc. for him to construct his first set of figures.
Finally, two pieces of bad / annoying news: No sign of my new MP3 player yet (ggrrrr) and no news on my court date against Barclays. I hate waiting around for things.
Rest of this week - Nothing planned for tonight, possibly football Thursday night, golf on Friday, no plans as yet for the weekend. Facebook is really being used alot, its good fun, if you haven't been there or signed up, I recommend it.
Peace all.

Facebook

This is quite a fun site - I've been using it over the past couple of days, and watching updates etc. and its helped pass an otherwise boring couple of days at work.
Check it out here
Im taking Jake to play badminton tonight, for the first time. He's been desperate to go and play it, and Im taking him as a surprise, so it should be good to see his reaction later when we turn up at the gym. I'll have to spend today clearing down my old laptop before giving it back to the IT Dept. which means getting rid of all the incriminating evidence thats on there. Apart from that I have naff all to do! I've just been confirmed on a training course from the 9th of July (C#) so that should be interesting...
Played golf last night. Front nine was shocking, so as we had the course pretty much to ourselves (seriously - it was empty!) we played the front nine a second time, and I did a lot better.
Hopefully going to be playing again this Friday at about 4.30 (weather permitting).
Soundtrack of the day: "An Other Cup" by Yusuf (formally Cat Stevens, I think).
Have a good day listeners, more spouting later / tomorrow (depending on how bored I am)

I found chocolate M&M's

I was told a while ago that chocolate M&M's weren't made anymore... bullplop. I found some in Sainsburys near me, so bought two big bags of them. I now have a big bowl of them on my desk at work, which is lovely.
Sorry for no posts for a while, but had a few things on the go. Jake had his annual presentation / tournament day on Saturday. Its not a serious, competitive day so it was nice just watching Jake play without worrying too much about the result. He did OK, his team missed out on the final on goal difference I think.
Sunday we moved Em from her current office to the new one I've decorated for her, so thats another job done. I now need to finish Jakes room (new wardrobe to assemble).
This week, probably try and finish Jake's room tonight while he's at Watford training. Playing golf on Tuesday (hopefully), might be playing another day during the week with my boss at work, but apart from that no plans.
Soundtrack of the day: "Icky Thump" by The White Stripes (bluesy rock - cool).
Update: *sigh* I've just ordered a new MP3 player. I know, I know, more expense, but my justification is that I KEEP running out of space on my current one, there are always more albums I want on there, and there always will be, so I thought "Sod it" and bought one of double the capacity. It was a good deal too. I'll update when it turns up...
Update II: Someone called Rodrigo has posted a comment. Unfortunately, its not in English. I will allow it to be published, but be aware I do not know what the comment is saying, so take no responsibility for it. If someone can translate it for me, and I find out it is offensive, I will of course remove it. Peace.

Summer Solstice

So its the longest day today. I'd imagine a load of hippies were up at Stonehenge dancing round this morning. All I know is its hot, sticky, and my hayfever is STILL acting up. Bastard.
Ive been feeling quite tired this week... not too sure why, I've not been doing anything unusual, but each day this week I've been woken up by the alarm, as opposed to waking up three or four times before the alarm, which is very unusual for me. And that was a long sentence with lots of commas in it.
I have decided to try and learn more Spanish. I know a very little (the usual "Hello", "How are you", "Please", "Thank you") but as we're going to Spain in August I'd like to know a bit more. There is someone here in my office who is fluent, so I can practice what I pick up on him.
Its one of those situations where your parents are right, but you can't see it until later in life, similar to the musical instrument thing. They tell you when you're young and in school that "you should keep going with your languages, you'll appreciate it in later life" and "you should keep playing that instrument, you'll really appreciate it when you get older" but at that age you just dont listen and think "sod it, I can't be arsed" and now what happens... Im struggling with the guitar, and wish I had kept playing musical instruments when I was younger (I used to play the violin) and I really wish I could speak another language or two (Spanish, Italian, French...). So listen to your parents kids... they KNOW what they're talking about. And don't do drugs, or something.
Soundtrack of the day: "We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank" by Modest Mouse. (It rocks). Peace.
Update: See, I was right...
Update II: Pidgeon Score - 1 shot 1 clean kill.

Im a little nervous now

Ba$tard Barclays have submitted a defence against my claim. This now means that it will be transferred to a 'local' court and I will receive a court date of when to attend. I now need to collate my 'court bundle' (a pack of supporting documents I will be using) and be prepared to actually go to court. So far, only one person has gone as far as court out of the thousands who have claimed, and that wasn't a Barclays customer. Whats the betting, with my rotten luck, that I will be the one they decide to take all the way and really punish?? Getting a little nervous now, but nothing ventured nothing gained...Oh, and I also have yet to send off my letter to BarclayCard for the same thing... I might try and do that today.
Playing golf later today and really looking forward to it. I can feel my game slowly coming along, which is nice.
Oh and some news, we've booked a holiday! We're going to Spain for a week in August... I can't remember the name of the place though, although its in Southern Spain near Gibraltar apparantly...

NO work to do again today, so Im gonna have to find ways to amuse myself. I hope the rest of you have a nice Tuesday...

Update: Signed up for a Twitter account today, see how that goes... I'll always try something new. check it out by clicking HERE