April 2010
|
April, as Simon and Garfunkel sang, come she will. And she has. Whereas March ended with blizzards and biting winds from the artic, April starts balmy and serene. A perfect day to tootle off to Grimston and discover the gentle ways of country folk. 4 days of Easter and I shall be turning off email and ignoring the world. The Dude abides. Is it ever possible to do enough? Or, feel like you've done enough? Is that what underpins everything we do (and despite Mr Adams' claim to the contrary, trust me, I don't do it all for you)? I shall introspect further. Today the body armour should arrive. It will be so-ooo tempting to slip it under my t-shirt and wrestle a colleague to the ground. But who needs armour. Let's make April 1st Wrestle a Colleague to the Ground Day. But it has to be someone you like or things might get out of hand and the next thing you know there are bruises and legal action. Don't like them too much either. As The Kooks frontman will have discovered this morning, people seem to respond negatively to sex in public. Well, other people having sex, and especially during a performance of Tommy. Fidde about, fiddle about indeed.  
........................................................................................ Armour-wise I am now gripped and pumped. Six-Six-One Vapor Pressure body armour.
Probably pretty handy for paint ball, hopefully enough against falling trees, exploding vultures, and other road perils. It probably will look a little silly under a t-shirt but if you're honest, you probably look pretty silly under a t-shirt too. As far as kit goes we are getting to the vinegar strokes of procurement. All that's left, some cool tunes and a mild buzz from an oat soda (and knee pads, textile rain-proof pants, MotoX helmet, cheese-grate...). .......................................................................................................................... It has all gone a little awry. Easter was 4 days of Atkins dieting, supplemented with chocolate and beer. The 10 pounds that were meant to slide off allowing me to buy trousers from Mothercare didn't happen, instead I am applying for a position as The Beach Ball in an adaptation for stage of The Prisoner. Still, it was good times. Poppadums burn really well and Guinness does taste nicer with Tia Maria in it (a lot of Tia Maria). Chelsea are a better team than Manchester United, horses are quite scary, Jack Russells are not always terrifying killers of all living things, and it is possible to reach the point where you can drink no more. The noise outside the window continues, but is now just a dull roar, presumably because the damage to my ears is permanent. I wonder if it is this noisy in Aberystwyth - I confess that I am tempted to find out. It's on the west coast, like California, the University is by the beach, like UCSD - it will be a bit like regression, only I don't think that I will remember having been a powerful emperor or leader of some mighty army. ......................................................................................................................... I might have said in passing that chess is a) like life and b) clearly not my thing. Take what you like from that. Here's the state of an on-going game, against a person in Canada (so that would be a Canadian). Rather than being any subtle strategy, it has become a war of attrition, just trying to take as many pieces as possible. The end may well be nigh. I am the white player...
Here's one that I did win earlier. Not quite sure how, but there is power in the pawn. There's some useful feedback in that.
...................................................................................................................... Some external appreciation for my efforts. Which is always nice.
.................................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................... The day's been long and the shadows are falling Not quite as poignant as "Rocky Rides into Town", but if you want Matthew Mayfield you would be advised to listen to him. Some similar advice was given to Kate Treadaway outside the Houses of Parliament some years ago, although it wasn't Matthew Mayfield and she never did get what she wanted. It's a funny old world. Telling people, in a supportive way, that they have a crack baby is not, it turns out, the done thing. Let's hope we can all learn from this experience.
I need another week in April and another in May to even be a bit behind. The way things are I will be so far behind that I might be lapped by my responsibilities. Did EMDR today. Hope it worked or else someone who deserves better isn't getting it. That's quite a responsibility and not one I am hugely comfortable with. Any responsibility is a bit itchy. Like sand in speedos. Although responsibility probably doesn't make you scratch your crotch. If it did it would be a handy way to find out who's really in charge when things aren't going too well. ...................................................................................................................... Ok, let's see how far we can go with this... I get this email; My Dear Urgently This is my reply; Dear Mr. Savimbi. What a blessing this is - praise be! It just so happens that I am in the property business, especially manufacturing property (my special area of focus is precious metal reclamation) and this sounds like an interesting proposition. I confess that things at the moment are not quite all champagne and caviar, as they once were in my game, so you've come along at just the right time to give me the injection of capital I need. Times are tight my friend, so, as we say in my country, tight times, fuck 'em. In cool news, this counts; Ps. Thank you for the music – it is now my ring tone on my phone! I've never been a ringtone before. Anyone wanting a ringtone, well, ok, to you, 50p ....................................................................................................................... Hello Dear , It's a little alarming that he won't use my name - makes me feel a bit like I wasn't the only, special one that he sent the email to. Still, I am willing to share for my bit of $18.5 million, I am not a greedy man. It's worth pointing out that the original email came from a ".sk" address and the reply came from a ".fr" address, so he is obviously a cosmopolitan man. I like that. Business, especially good business, should involve many people and many places, and probably smell a little bit like clementines. Other news, apparently Ning are going to start charging people for using Ning, which is a bit of a pain. As no one reads this anyway I am not sure that I want to pay, when I could buy a diary and do the same thing, without the danger of picking up bacteria from my keyboard. .................................................................................................................... Lost another game of chess. However, the sun is shining and the deconstruction gang are smashing things about outside, so all is predictable and hence, well. Also someone is choking in the corridor, which is a bit of a new sound, but as I am not the registered first aider on this floor I don't feel a moral imperative to get out of my comfy chair and start beating them between the shoulder blades. There are people I would happily do that to without the need for choking, but they don't often wander the corridors of work. ........................................................................................................................
I shall need a new wardrobe. Work have taken an interesting, and kindly, approach to the ash cloud situation. I think it means that if you are delayed when you were working then there's no problem, but if you were delayed (for the same unavoidable reason) when you were on holiday then it's almost like you have scammed the University and they want their money back because you have extended your holiday and are having a good time. Staff who are abroad on University business will be supported to return as soon as possible. For those returning from holidays, the University's position is as follows: Where return to work on the planned day is not possible, due to being stranded overseas, any additional days of absence should be taken from annual leave entitlement. Where there is insufficient annual leave entitlement, individuals should discuss with their line manager, upon return to work, how any additional unplanned days of absence are to be treated, for example, unpaid leave or flexibility in working arrangements where a service need exists. Very helpful. ...................................................................................................................... 1) Gain Up to 3+ Inches In Length 128bit processing is of no interest whatsoever, but, a pump-free way to have 3 extra inches and 20% greater width with no side effects! Lucky me I have received the offer many times - which suggests that someone has been telling tales after school, but many places seem to sell it. My favourite is the address, http://oceanblow.com, but I wouldn't suggest visiting it. I haven't. My guess it is one of those scams where they will refund you, but the cheque has some bizarre company name which suggests that you have been trading in something illegal, so many people will be to ashamed to cash it. That's just a guess though. ........................................................................................................................ Journey sounds so much better when they're not competing with a boiler being removed outside. Riding a bike is so much better than a lot of stuff. My advice, check out The Beyman Brothers. Weekends make a lot of sense. Love the skin you're in. I think Tony S. has lost interest in me because I wasn't quite as forthcoming as he might have hoped. I like to be wined and dined before I get scammed. It's just the sort of boy that I am. ............................................................................................. It's all very well to ask me to work as long as you are not asking me to do your work, that you are paid for, and contracted to do. That is taking the micturate. Just when I thought there was no more kit to buy Mike reminds me that I need a hydration pack. And a head torch. And hard knee-protectors. I am going to have to take on some fairly extreme sports, or become a proctologist, to make this all worthwhile afterwards. For the training day next week we have a fabulous looking hotel sorted, the Pole Barn Hotel who may not consider 4 fat and smelly blokes to be high on their list of guests, especially as there are 4 of us and only 2 rooms. I plan to get there early, stretch out a bit, and put lots of shit on Harvey's account. He is a CEO after all. We're celebrating Bassman Alan's birthday today - all down the Ship & Mitre for beers and burgers. That's a real birthday party. Thursday is jazz band rehearsal. Cool. ........................................................................................................................... Sometimes when you listen to things, in the excitement of creation, they sound an awful lot better then at some later date. That's probably also true of reading things, and doing things. Thank goodness some things can be started again. The boys from Scouting For Girls did that with their 2nd album and it looks very much like that would be a good idea for "Some Other Time". Maybe occasionally tuning a guitar would help, both so that the melody fits with the chords and so that you don't have to manually de-tune the keyboard whilst playing. Or are these ridiculous, non-artistic, technical niceties? .......................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................... Sunday 2nd May, Channel 4, 7.30am, watch Harvey spin his car out of control and plough into a stationary object. Beautiful. ...........................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................. |
