No screwing around this time. The goals need attention. It's been a mini-week since the recap last Thursday. At the time I thought I was sticking to pre-Monday night stuff but in fact most of my trip happened after that, so let's just call this a mini-week.
The 2008 Manifesto
1. I will stick to my weekday food and drink ethic as set out previously plus consider the portion size of every meal, cutting back where necessary. Why? Long term I want to be in good health, and short to long term I want to weigh at best less, but certainly not more than I do now.
Last Week: The days spent at home I have largely stuck to the above. I seem to have fallen backwards a little in using the weekend as an excuse. I've decided to stop eating before nights out, something which I last did in 2002. At some point my stomach problems seemed to ease to the point where I decided not to do this anymore, but It's just go much easier. Very hard for my stomach to go wild when it's nearly empty. This has led to late night snacks after the night out though. Not ideal stuff. Might look into having something quick to prepare at home for such occasions.
Mini-Goal: No takeaway this week, at all, any day, anywhere. No exceptions for the weekend.
2. I will stick to wasting less weekday time playing fake poker. Why? Because time is precious and as much value as I place in entertainment, too much of one type of entertainment should be avoided.
Last Week: After returning home I started to build my chips up again to about 40k. I now have about 2000. Just before this I lost a game that was clearly against me. First hand flopped me aces over fives, but ended up splitting the on board wheel with Miss K9 off suit, who contributed nothing to her hand. Two hands later flopped a set of sixes, unfortunately an all-diamond flop which led to me being forced out. After that I lost hope, half stacked not having even seen showdown. Clung to life through two sets of blinds and finished - yep - fourth. Hate it.
3. I will take my camera with me whenever I go, or feel i'm likely to go, somewhere i've never been before but only on a night out if there are more than two people involved. Why? So I have some kind of record of where I've been and the people I've known, liked and loved.
Last Week: Nothing since I got home. No problem.
4. I will stay in touch with my friends weekly and start trying to initiate some weeknight activities. Why? Because spending any extended period of time alone is a terrible idea, and the more you initiate, the less likely that is to happen.
Last Week: Decent time on Saturday night. Chatting to others, setting stuff up. Maybe letting this slip a little.
5. I will spend a minimum of two hours every week actively working on my music, and my recording abilities. The exact nature of this is less important, but I will describe how I put the time in here to show it's happening. Why? Because some of the best times I've had in the last few years were band/music related, and lack of natural talent doesn't mean I have no ability. What I have, I want to keep using, at very least so as not to lose it.
Last Week: Best progress so far. A clear and definite +2 hours spent finally figuring out just how Live actually works flicking between session and arrangement. Great piece of kit.
6. I will continue to work towards my set work goals. Why? Because all career uncertainty aside, if I'm doing something, I'd rather be doing it well, plus it's the only way I will continue to advance in my current career.
Last Week: Next week?
7. I will continue to rethink my career inside and outside my current role weekly. Why? Because in the last year or two I have enjoyed my work less, feel I should be doing something more meaningful to me and others, and don't want to find myself still doing exactly the same thing in five years time.
Last Week: Watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall last night. Not for the most part about vocation but is in a small part. The guy essentially hates his job and is in a funk. Girl leaves him, so he goes to Hawaii, meets my new schoolboy style crush, Mila Kunis. She shows him his life can be better, even though she's not really doing what she wants either (apparantly she must go back to school to tie up loose ends because her existing awesomeness which the hero's fate feeds on isn't enough), and (as I think I just got ahead of myself in saying) he sorts himself out to the point where he actually does what he really wants to do. Did I just review a film in the middle of my goals? Damn straight, cos it left me with a good feeling and got me thinking. This guy was sick of providing backing music for a TV show. I would quite possibly kill for that job. Greener grass? A little but I think I'd enjoy it more than what I do now. It's probably a union thing. teehee.
8. I will find the time to manage a 3 times a week exercise schedule. Why? Much like the eating, it's about long term health gains and short term physical gain. Lose a little weight. Tone up a bit.
Last Week: This could have been a dead loss but I ended up doing reasonably well. I went for a long walk on Saturday, which is a good start. Somewhere along the way I dropped my phone. This is not the sort of thing I do and I'm still amazed it happened. I proceeded to walk the rest of the way home a little faster, changed into shorts (did you not notice how humid this place is right now) and went in search of a 6x2x0.7 inch brick on my bike. This in itself was barely exercise as it was slow, however I also took an inferior phone with me and dialled the lost phone frequently. After about 10 attempts somebody finally picked up. They were in Subway by Mosh. I was at this point somewhere near Braunstone Lane East on the canal towpath. I underestimated how far this was and said ten minutes. I think I made it, but I haven't put myself through that kind of vigorous exercise in a long time. Makes me think I need to be doing more of that. Also, how cool is it that I lose a phone on a 3-4 mile stretch of grassy canal bank and actually manage to get it back? Shit just works out sometimes. On Sunday I went the other way down the towpath and found places I didn't know existed in Charnwood. So, a sweaty walk, and two sweaty bikes rides. I might swim tomorrow. I'm not sure. I might be done with that for now. Have to see how I feel. I don't think It's doing me much good and going has become a drag. I'm increasingly convinced that cycling is the way to go, cos my feet sure as hell won't be able to handle running.. I'll tell you about my feet some time.
This was detailed.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
A BEEP from the bedroom...
Fuck XP. I'm quite sure also fuck Vista. Fuck Microsoft. Fuck the stupidity. Fuck defaults. Fuck all of it.
I'm not an anti-Microsoft guy by nature. I use both of their last two OS's and I make a living coding for their spreadsheet offering...
But why??.. Why is it not intuitive to these fucktards, that if a computer is left unattended mid-session, there is a big cream cake with a cherry on top motherfucking chance that I don't want the OS to indiscriminately kill all processes and reboot in the name of updating XP whilst I sit in another room browsing Facebook on my laptop before later going back in there to finish sequencing drums for my little acoustic number.
True, I don't use this OS much anymore. It's probably a good 4-5 patch Tuesdays behind. Don't care. I sit behind a router and use Firefox. Most crap you claim to protect me against won't befall me. I don't even give a shit if the thing wants to download and install the updates without consulting me. Not in the slightest, but to then forcefully reboot without asking me, whilst i'm not even there, with no regard whatsoever for what might be running and what may or may not be saved??
I just got through recommending a friend of mine buys a Mac. I don't know nearly enough about them to really be in a position to do that, but I have to assume and am sure I assume rightly that never in a million years will Leopard EVER reboot in my absence. Go on. Tell me i'm wrong.
There may be a way to stop this from happening, but, people, a newsflash - people don't reconfigure their machines. Most people don't go near the control panel. Which group of people would be perhaps the least likely to do this? I'd say musicians. Maybe because it fits what just happened to me perfectly, but if there was ever an example of a group of people that just need the computer to do a few things really well rather than thousands of things in a mediocre fashion with constant time sinking, productivity killing and art destroying, this is it.
I am not happy.
I now return to shut down Ubuntu, boot back into XP and see if Ableton Live has any good recovery mechanism.
Microsoft and Windows take note - this is the worst thing you have done to me in quite some time, and it will not be quickly forgotten. Your marketshare along with the hardware manufacturers you tie yourselves to IS SHIFTING and it's caused by situations exactly like this one. Fix your fucking user experience, Microsoft.
The Aftermath
What happened next? Mostly good things.
- Live has the most incredible recovery I've ever seen. The most recent edit to my pattern was restored without more than having to click "Yes". This means in fact I didn't lose anything at all.
- I realised that I vaguely recall being forced to turn auto update on due to the questionable (please note I said questioinable) legality of my XP installation. This move was Microsoft's way to facilitate full control over pirate copies. Forcing auto update means the "Windows Genuine Advantage" application is installed and updated as mandatory, so on whatever whim of the week they can decide to lock up illegal XP or let it roll. From what I hear they do pretty much let it roll, which I've never quite understood. I have no real excuse or complaint here, other than I still don't see the necessity of a forced (when unattended) reboot after such updates. This would similarly effect legal users who decided to do the MS recommended thing, and turn auto update on.
- I've getting caught out not saving my work a lot recently and this was no exception. I have lost hours of work at my real job and whilst in that arena the redo is always quicker than the original that gets lost, it's still frustrating. What stops me from hitting Ctrl-S every now and then? Simple. Lack of versioning. To a normal person saving means saving. To me it means overwriting the last working/good version. I will work for hours safe in the knowledge that I can restore my previous version. At some point the new version becomes the new working/good version, and then I will save it. It's the bad things that happen somewhere in the middle that cause the problems. In real development scenarios there are large systems to take care of this, but in my adhoc environments, be they music or VBA code, I just don't think they're out there. Am I wrong? The easiest solution is to use Save As and increment, but that can get messy, and in audio, it can get expensive on disk space and time consuming having to rewrite large waves. At work it's annoying because writing a fresh file with Save As takes a lot longer than updating the existing one, particularly over a less than stellar network. These aren't big problems, but problems nonetheless.
I'm not an anti-Microsoft guy by nature. I use both of their last two OS's and I make a living coding for their spreadsheet offering...
But why??.. Why is it not intuitive to these fucktards, that if a computer is left unattended mid-session, there is a big cream cake with a cherry on top motherfucking chance that I don't want the OS to indiscriminately kill all processes and reboot in the name of updating XP whilst I sit in another room browsing Facebook on my laptop before later going back in there to finish sequencing drums for my little acoustic number.
True, I don't use this OS much anymore. It's probably a good 4-5 patch Tuesdays behind. Don't care. I sit behind a router and use Firefox. Most crap you claim to protect me against won't befall me. I don't even give a shit if the thing wants to download and install the updates without consulting me. Not in the slightest, but to then forcefully reboot without asking me, whilst i'm not even there, with no regard whatsoever for what might be running and what may or may not be saved??
I just got through recommending a friend of mine buys a Mac. I don't know nearly enough about them to really be in a position to do that, but I have to assume and am sure I assume rightly that never in a million years will Leopard EVER reboot in my absence. Go on. Tell me i'm wrong.
There may be a way to stop this from happening, but, people, a newsflash - people don't reconfigure their machines. Most people don't go near the control panel. Which group of people would be perhaps the least likely to do this? I'd say musicians. Maybe because it fits what just happened to me perfectly, but if there was ever an example of a group of people that just need the computer to do a few things really well rather than thousands of things in a mediocre fashion with constant time sinking, productivity killing and art destroying, this is it.
I am not happy.
I now return to shut down Ubuntu, boot back into XP and see if Ableton Live has any good recovery mechanism.
Microsoft and Windows take note - this is the worst thing you have done to me in quite some time, and it will not be quickly forgotten. Your marketshare along with the hardware manufacturers you tie yourselves to IS SHIFTING and it's caused by situations exactly like this one. Fix your fucking user experience, Microsoft.
The Aftermath
What happened next? Mostly good things.
- Live has the most incredible recovery I've ever seen. The most recent edit to my pattern was restored without more than having to click "Yes". This means in fact I didn't lose anything at all.
- I realised that I vaguely recall being forced to turn auto update on due to the questionable (please note I said questioinable) legality of my XP installation. This move was Microsoft's way to facilitate full control over pirate copies. Forcing auto update means the "Windows Genuine Advantage" application is installed and updated as mandatory, so on whatever whim of the week they can decide to lock up illegal XP or let it roll. From what I hear they do pretty much let it roll, which I've never quite understood. I have no real excuse or complaint here, other than I still don't see the necessity of a forced (when unattended) reboot after such updates. This would similarly effect legal users who decided to do the MS recommended thing, and turn auto update on.
- I've getting caught out not saving my work a lot recently and this was no exception. I have lost hours of work at my real job and whilst in that arena the redo is always quicker than the original that gets lost, it's still frustrating. What stops me from hitting Ctrl-S every now and then? Simple. Lack of versioning. To a normal person saving means saving. To me it means overwriting the last working/good version. I will work for hours safe in the knowledge that I can restore my previous version. At some point the new version becomes the new working/good version, and then I will save it. It's the bad things that happen somewhere in the middle that cause the problems. In real development scenarios there are large systems to take care of this, but in my adhoc environments, be they music or VBA code, I just don't think they're out there. Am I wrong? The easiest solution is to use Save As and increment, but that can get messy, and in audio, it can get expensive on disk space and time consuming having to rewrite large waves. At work it's annoying because writing a fresh file with Save As takes a lot longer than updating the existing one, particularly over a less than stellar network. These aren't big problems, but problems nonetheless.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
2008 #30 - Three Zero.
30 looms. Dreaded by men and women alike. Can't say I really think about it. 27 seems to have lasted ages. Time seems to move more slowly, age-wise. My twenties are not yet 4/5ths gone, but I have a hard time recalling much before being 20. I won't even be 28 for another four months.
30 27 twenties 4 5 20 28 four... Weird how sometimes people are more inclined to include numbers in a sentence and other times a numeric word. Technically it's supposed to be the words, but really in this modern age the numbers accentuate points and break up sentences. Probably best not to mix them.
So, it's Thursday afternoon and I'm very late posting my weekly "me" post because, as I mentioned, I went away for a few days. Good time although a bit too similar to last time. Next time I think the time has come to branch out to different destinations. Screw convenience.
Travel throws off all best intentions no doubt. Let's see...
1. I ate a lot on the road, but a lot of that was fruit, which is fine. I ate two takeaways, which was one more than intended. I ate different lunches so it didn't just feel like a work day. All in all not a strong week for healthy eating.
2. Very little poker for obvious reasons. Facebook's upgrade to their new interface over the past 24 hours or so seems to have killed the application, at least temporarily, so I can't even play now I'm back. Itching for a game in honesty. I'm sure I've said before, it seems much better to want to expend time playing poker than playing first person shooters.
3. Camera came to Cornwall and shot some very nice scenery. As usual the photos are less impressive once blown up on a screen, but I managed to get a new desktop backdrop out of one of them.
4. Went out prior to leaving on Saturday night. Good night with a few unknowns. I took a once expected but now unusual move of leaving the group and heading to a different club alone. Mainly because it's a club night I've become quite attached to and it was a big night, and I had tried and failed to steer the group in that direction. Up side, I really enjoyed it. Down side, pretty anti-social to have the option of being with friends and not taking it. Not too worrying - this was a one time thing. Didn't really get talking to many people in Cornwall even in a hostel. I always find myself faced with free wheeling travelling types that I wish I was more like, and realise I have nothing much of interest to say to them. Obligatory conversations about the local area were about as far as I got. Interestingly on the last night a band were staying in the hostel and decided to play covers in the landing outside about six dorm rooms between before 2am to some time after 3am. It was impossible to sleep but I couldn't help but enjoy it - they were good musicians. Hard to tell how many. I can't imagine it went down that well with everyone trying to sleep. Unfortunately the hostel owner asked me what I thought was a leading question in the morning and I ended up unintentionally complaining anyway. Too bad - much as I enjoyed it, if you're going to park yourself right beside potentially tens of sleeping people in the middle of the night and make noise, you can't expect everyone to be cool with it. It would though be ironic if they ended up being banned and I was the only person that said anything. I'll never know.
5. I made some progress with my two acoustic numbers before leaving for Cornwall, and I'll be picking them up this week. I think I probably managed to put in between one and two hours.
6. Work goals coming in a few weeks, allegedly.
7. However I cut it I come back to the same reality. I'm addicted to my wages, which make increasingly less sense due to the now enforced 80 mile commute and the diesel price. I find my bank balance looking a little low, but it's hard to tell if it's my recent spending (which has been unquestionably immense - laptop, TV, Dublin, Service, Bike Carrier, Cornwall, amongst others) causing this or whether the overall economic drag is hitting me. I haven't been in financial trouble since late 2005, and for me that means passing zero, not actually building any debt, so many people would likely tell me to go fuck myself... Less sensible people who don't live within their means, that is. I watch people buy shit constantly and wonder how the hell everyone gets so much money together when it comes time to really use it. I have never in my life got the sum total of my bank accounts to top £6000. I had £3500 of savings before I had to replace my car early last year and about 18 months on I only have £2000 saved. I did get my student loan statement yesterday which informs me I have £6200 to go. This is now dropping by about £1200 a year and gaining about £250 in interest. Weird to think that in about 6 years I automatically get an effective raise when I kill that off. Annual progression and RPI stuff means that come August I'll be earning just over £29k. But, it didn't feel like £27k, so I doubt that will feel like £29k. The people that were earning £30k when I looked on it as a long term target now earn much closer to £40k. No wonder the public at large can't figure this stuff out. Too many variables. What's the point of this, to come back around..? I can't find jobs that will pay me anywhere near what I now earn. I feel I need to keep this job but I STILL need to be doing something useful with the rest of my time, which perhaps, maybe one day will let me move on. Then again, maybe eventually they'll force me. I feel a little less invincible than perhaps I once did. Short answer, yes, I've been thinking.
8. Great week for exercise. This is the great thing about an activity based trip. Unintentional exercise. Fighting waves when bodyboarding is definitely exercise. My muscles know it. Coughing currently hurts my stomach. Walking up and down cliffs looking for the best views is exercise. My legs know it. Taking a bike to Cornwall was a good idea that didn't really work out, but I did use it once. It was extremely hard. I biked on the road for what Google now tells me was a depressing 3 miles only, then walked my bike back along the coast path after recovering for about half an hour. The three miles probably took about half an hour. This was definitely good exercise, but I didn't enjoy it. I took the bike as an alternative way to get around. Feeling like death was not part of the plan. I will stick to cycling around the flats of the Midlands, thanks.
Did the trip accomplish anything? Yes. Recharged, if not motivated then at least less demotivated. Due to some luck on landing certain work just before taking off last Friday, which really wasn't that long ago, I don't even dread the next few weeks of work, which might be quite enjoyable. Whenever I have work that allows me to be creative I enjoy it more. Jonathan Coulton slams this in "Code Monkey" - "This job fulfilling in creative way. Such a load of crap", but I don't think it's entirely true. However, constantly having to recode what amounts to the same thing - that gets soul destroying, and that I *have* identified as the main problem with my job just recently.
All in all feeling pretty good. Even caught some sun.
30 27 twenties 4 5 20 28 four... Weird how sometimes people are more inclined to include numbers in a sentence and other times a numeric word. Technically it's supposed to be the words, but really in this modern age the numbers accentuate points and break up sentences. Probably best not to mix them.
So, it's Thursday afternoon and I'm very late posting my weekly "me" post because, as I mentioned, I went away for a few days. Good time although a bit too similar to last time. Next time I think the time has come to branch out to different destinations. Screw convenience.
Travel throws off all best intentions no doubt. Let's see...
1. I ate a lot on the road, but a lot of that was fruit, which is fine. I ate two takeaways, which was one more than intended. I ate different lunches so it didn't just feel like a work day. All in all not a strong week for healthy eating.
2. Very little poker for obvious reasons. Facebook's upgrade to their new interface over the past 24 hours or so seems to have killed the application, at least temporarily, so I can't even play now I'm back. Itching for a game in honesty. I'm sure I've said before, it seems much better to want to expend time playing poker than playing first person shooters.
3. Camera came to Cornwall and shot some very nice scenery. As usual the photos are less impressive once blown up on a screen, but I managed to get a new desktop backdrop out of one of them.
4. Went out prior to leaving on Saturday night. Good night with a few unknowns. I took a once expected but now unusual move of leaving the group and heading to a different club alone. Mainly because it's a club night I've become quite attached to and it was a big night, and I had tried and failed to steer the group in that direction. Up side, I really enjoyed it. Down side, pretty anti-social to have the option of being with friends and not taking it. Not too worrying - this was a one time thing. Didn't really get talking to many people in Cornwall even in a hostel. I always find myself faced with free wheeling travelling types that I wish I was more like, and realise I have nothing much of interest to say to them. Obligatory conversations about the local area were about as far as I got. Interestingly on the last night a band were staying in the hostel and decided to play covers in the landing outside about six dorm rooms between before 2am to some time after 3am. It was impossible to sleep but I couldn't help but enjoy it - they were good musicians. Hard to tell how many. I can't imagine it went down that well with everyone trying to sleep. Unfortunately the hostel owner asked me what I thought was a leading question in the morning and I ended up unintentionally complaining anyway. Too bad - much as I enjoyed it, if you're going to park yourself right beside potentially tens of sleeping people in the middle of the night and make noise, you can't expect everyone to be cool with it. It would though be ironic if they ended up being banned and I was the only person that said anything. I'll never know.
5. I made some progress with my two acoustic numbers before leaving for Cornwall, and I'll be picking them up this week. I think I probably managed to put in between one and two hours.
6. Work goals coming in a few weeks, allegedly.
7. However I cut it I come back to the same reality. I'm addicted to my wages, which make increasingly less sense due to the now enforced 80 mile commute and the diesel price. I find my bank balance looking a little low, but it's hard to tell if it's my recent spending (which has been unquestionably immense - laptop, TV, Dublin, Service, Bike Carrier, Cornwall, amongst others) causing this or whether the overall economic drag is hitting me. I haven't been in financial trouble since late 2005, and for me that means passing zero, not actually building any debt, so many people would likely tell me to go fuck myself... Less sensible people who don't live within their means, that is. I watch people buy shit constantly and wonder how the hell everyone gets so much money together when it comes time to really use it. I have never in my life got the sum total of my bank accounts to top £6000. I had £3500 of savings before I had to replace my car early last year and about 18 months on I only have £2000 saved. I did get my student loan statement yesterday which informs me I have £6200 to go. This is now dropping by about £1200 a year and gaining about £250 in interest. Weird to think that in about 6 years I automatically get an effective raise when I kill that off. Annual progression and RPI stuff means that come August I'll be earning just over £29k. But, it didn't feel like £27k, so I doubt that will feel like £29k. The people that were earning £30k when I looked on it as a long term target now earn much closer to £40k. No wonder the public at large can't figure this stuff out. Too many variables. What's the point of this, to come back around..? I can't find jobs that will pay me anywhere near what I now earn. I feel I need to keep this job but I STILL need to be doing something useful with the rest of my time, which perhaps, maybe one day will let me move on. Then again, maybe eventually they'll force me. I feel a little less invincible than perhaps I once did. Short answer, yes, I've been thinking.
8. Great week for exercise. This is the great thing about an activity based trip. Unintentional exercise. Fighting waves when bodyboarding is definitely exercise. My muscles know it. Coughing currently hurts my stomach. Walking up and down cliffs looking for the best views is exercise. My legs know it. Taking a bike to Cornwall was a good idea that didn't really work out, but I did use it once. It was extremely hard. I biked on the road for what Google now tells me was a depressing 3 miles only, then walked my bike back along the coast path after recovering for about half an hour. The three miles probably took about half an hour. This was definitely good exercise, but I didn't enjoy it. I took the bike as an alternative way to get around. Feeling like death was not part of the plan. I will stick to cycling around the flats of the Midlands, thanks.
Did the trip accomplish anything? Yes. Recharged, if not motivated then at least less demotivated. Due to some luck on landing certain work just before taking off last Friday, which really wasn't that long ago, I don't even dread the next few weeks of work, which might be quite enjoyable. Whenever I have work that allows me to be creative I enjoy it more. Jonathan Coulton slams this in "Code Monkey" - "This job fulfilling in creative way. Such a load of crap", but I don't think it's entirely true. However, constantly having to recode what amounts to the same thing - that gets soul destroying, and that I *have* identified as the main problem with my job just recently.
All in all feeling pretty good. Even caught some sun.
Monday, July 14, 2008
2008 #29 - What Happened to eBay? Come to think of it, what happened to Royal Mail?
Many people had a love affair with eBay at some point in the last decade. Most of these people at one time or another managed to buy something they really wanted or needed at a price that seemed too good to be true.
Back in 2005, eBay was my first port of call for so many new purchases. The nest of three tables that have the pleasure of being handily spread out around my flat were purchased for about a fiver and picked up 20 miles south of my then workplace.
In 2008 I rarely visit eBay. The experience has changed. First, buyers and sellers alike got tired of the auction element. It's a ball-ache to spend days watching a listing when really only the final two minutes determine the winner, and it's a ball-ache to have to think so hard about setting up the auction in such a way that the item actually sells for a decent price rather than not at all, costing listing fees for no return. The initial entertainment wears off, and buy it now becomes the method of choice, again for both the buyer and the seller.
Problem is, buy it now prices aren't all that competitive. Unless i'm looking for some mass-produced cheap version of a gadget from China i'm going to find it very hard to find what I'm looking for at a price much below Amazon or their marketplace, and if that is what I'm looking for, I'll still have to sift through 5-10 ploys on raising shipping costs that land the price of the item from each seller at about the same level anyway. It's tiresome.
I've needed new strings for both of my guitars for over a month now. I have nothing in reverse if I break a string right now. I used to swear by buying strings online, as music shops mark them up to a ridiculous extent, but it seems like such a hassle. eBay for some reason makes it very hard to single out the guy that gave you a good experience more than a year ago, in my experience at least.
Royal Mail don't help matters. If a package didn't fit my letterbox and they left a card, three years ago i'd pop into the Swan Street depot just by the M1 junction at 7am on the way to work the next morning. Now they open at 8am, don't close any later, and it's hardly ever worth risking showing up the next day, because it's just not going to be "back yet". Their attitude stinks also. They show no remorse for making me wait in line for 15 minutes before telling me there was in fact no point waiting in the line at all. They've heard the complaints. They even have a sign which may as well say "don't bother complaining to us, call this number to be fobbed off".
That said, the Royal Mail point applies equally to Amazon in particular, who insist on sticking with a mail service that for some reason can't come close to the standards of 10 years ago. We've exchanged next day first class delivered at 7am for occasionally next day first class delivered at 11am.
eBay is making moves in attempt to regain popularity that it has to be losing, such as appeasing buyers by giving sellers no ability to react to a negative experience. It's tradition for eBay to continually shit on sellers with moves such as this, and of course raising fees, and most of the time I don't mind. I have yet to converse with a so called power seller that can string a sentence together, and I *wish* I was exaggerating. They constantly complain about changes to the platform that they now feel entitled to make their living. Where did eBay promise it's sellers lifelong use of their platform?
Okay I accept it I'm all over the place tonight. Let's just get on with it.
1. Still not great. Portions are fine, but dumb supermarket buying means that again I did find myself again indulging in unhealthy lunchtime snacks. It's so very easy to rationalise a snack because the healthy beans were too badly burnt. Long story, but if you cook Borlotti beans, keep an eye on them, and don't think just because only the ones at the bottom were burnt, the rest won't taste burnt. They do, and they're going in the bin.
2. Up and down like a yoyo. Still sticking to the rules.
3. I did go somewhere with the camera, but the nature of the event meant I didn't in fact use it. This still counts though.
4. Good weekend. Went to "Taste of Birmingham" festival and ate some small samples of some very good food. Really good lamb is reeeeaally good lamb. Also went out saw some not so recently present friends on Friday night which was good (it was, really, the post served a purpose - it wasn't some drunken outpouring as it may have seemed).
5. No progress musically this week. No excuse either. Been listening to more music, but not making any. Rectify!
6. STILL no work goals. When I finally get these i'm gonna post em up!
7. I've been thinking. No conclusions.
8. I did go for a swim. My ear started to ache in the pool under pressure of shallow water. That is very painful, but thankfully stopped. For the first time back after a 2-gap, didn't really feel anything was lost, which is progress. Not done much else exercise-wise this week.
I think it must be becoming apparent that I'm low on motivation right now. I'm enjoying myself more, thinking less, but also making less progress. In the back of my mind, although I never wrote it down, I had hoped that the exercise and diet goals would drive me to a point where i'd feel better about my body when going for a swim in Cornwall this summer. Now, there's no fucking summer, thats the first point, but i'm still going next week. Unfortunately, I am the same weight now as I was at Christmas. I am largely the same weight I have been for the last three years. The efforts have only had a minor effect. It's also hard to believe that I must have achieved my exercise goal at least 10-15 times, because it doesn't seem like that many. Having said that, I was slow starting on that one. The early summer made it enjoyable to be out on my bike, but since that disappeared I haven't felt the push to do it. I still should though, and why I don't lift those weights I really can't figure. I mean, I just need to actually fucking do it, but I don't. Sad to say, I seem to be lazy. Didn't realise it until just recently. Need to fix that.
Here's to a better week. This time next week I'll be somewhere in Cornwall. I might post up from the N800 if I get time, otherwise It'll be a much later catch up. Peaceout.
Back in 2005, eBay was my first port of call for so many new purchases. The nest of three tables that have the pleasure of being handily spread out around my flat were purchased for about a fiver and picked up 20 miles south of my then workplace.
In 2008 I rarely visit eBay. The experience has changed. First, buyers and sellers alike got tired of the auction element. It's a ball-ache to spend days watching a listing when really only the final two minutes determine the winner, and it's a ball-ache to have to think so hard about setting up the auction in such a way that the item actually sells for a decent price rather than not at all, costing listing fees for no return. The initial entertainment wears off, and buy it now becomes the method of choice, again for both the buyer and the seller.
Problem is, buy it now prices aren't all that competitive. Unless i'm looking for some mass-produced cheap version of a gadget from China i'm going to find it very hard to find what I'm looking for at a price much below Amazon or their marketplace, and if that is what I'm looking for, I'll still have to sift through 5-10 ploys on raising shipping costs that land the price of the item from each seller at about the same level anyway. It's tiresome.
I've needed new strings for both of my guitars for over a month now. I have nothing in reverse if I break a string right now. I used to swear by buying strings online, as music shops mark them up to a ridiculous extent, but it seems like such a hassle. eBay for some reason makes it very hard to single out the guy that gave you a good experience more than a year ago, in my experience at least.
Royal Mail don't help matters. If a package didn't fit my letterbox and they left a card, three years ago i'd pop into the Swan Street depot just by the M1 junction at 7am on the way to work the next morning. Now they open at 8am, don't close any later, and it's hardly ever worth risking showing up the next day, because it's just not going to be "back yet". Their attitude stinks also. They show no remorse for making me wait in line for 15 minutes before telling me there was in fact no point waiting in the line at all. They've heard the complaints. They even have a sign which may as well say "don't bother complaining to us, call this number to be fobbed off".
That said, the Royal Mail point applies equally to Amazon in particular, who insist on sticking with a mail service that for some reason can't come close to the standards of 10 years ago. We've exchanged next day first class delivered at 7am for occasionally next day first class delivered at 11am.
eBay is making moves in attempt to regain popularity that it has to be losing, such as appeasing buyers by giving sellers no ability to react to a negative experience. It's tradition for eBay to continually shit on sellers with moves such as this, and of course raising fees, and most of the time I don't mind. I have yet to converse with a so called power seller that can string a sentence together, and I *wish* I was exaggerating. They constantly complain about changes to the platform that they now feel entitled to make their living. Where did eBay promise it's sellers lifelong use of their platform?
Okay I accept it I'm all over the place tonight. Let's just get on with it.
1. Still not great. Portions are fine, but dumb supermarket buying means that again I did find myself again indulging in unhealthy lunchtime snacks. It's so very easy to rationalise a snack because the healthy beans were too badly burnt. Long story, but if you cook Borlotti beans, keep an eye on them, and don't think just because only the ones at the bottom were burnt, the rest won't taste burnt. They do, and they're going in the bin.
2. Up and down like a yoyo. Still sticking to the rules.
3. I did go somewhere with the camera, but the nature of the event meant I didn't in fact use it. This still counts though.
4. Good weekend. Went to "Taste of Birmingham" festival and ate some small samples of some very good food. Really good lamb is reeeeaally good lamb. Also went out saw some not so recently present friends on Friday night which was good (it was, really, the post served a purpose - it wasn't some drunken outpouring as it may have seemed).
5. No progress musically this week. No excuse either. Been listening to more music, but not making any. Rectify!
6. STILL no work goals. When I finally get these i'm gonna post em up!
7. I've been thinking. No conclusions.
8. I did go for a swim. My ear started to ache in the pool under pressure of shallow water. That is very painful, but thankfully stopped. For the first time back after a 2-gap, didn't really feel anything was lost, which is progress. Not done much else exercise-wise this week.
I think it must be becoming apparent that I'm low on motivation right now. I'm enjoying myself more, thinking less, but also making less progress. In the back of my mind, although I never wrote it down, I had hoped that the exercise and diet goals would drive me to a point where i'd feel better about my body when going for a swim in Cornwall this summer. Now, there's no fucking summer, thats the first point, but i'm still going next week. Unfortunately, I am the same weight now as I was at Christmas. I am largely the same weight I have been for the last three years. The efforts have only had a minor effect. It's also hard to believe that I must have achieved my exercise goal at least 10-15 times, because it doesn't seem like that many. Having said that, I was slow starting on that one. The early summer made it enjoyable to be out on my bike, but since that disappeared I haven't felt the push to do it. I still should though, and why I don't lift those weights I really can't figure. I mean, I just need to actually fucking do it, but I don't. Sad to say, I seem to be lazy. Didn't realise it until just recently. Need to fix that.
Here's to a better week. This time next week I'll be somewhere in Cornwall. I might post up from the N800 if I get time, otherwise It'll be a much later catch up. Peaceout.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Light Hearted post to bump the previous one a little
Why the insistence that I print your order confirmation, or your payment confirmation. I didn't ask to use web based billing and management so I could start wasting my paper rather than yours. gemoney, amongst others - take note.
Friend ranking seems to be becoming more prevalent in the Facebook application space, or maybe its just more of my friends have started adding the applications. I've even noticed "Friend of the Month". This is all abhorrent to me. What purpose does any of this serve? It's myspaceification.
I'm going to a food festival later on. I'm told it is an amazing event. As yet unexcited, but open minded.
My dragon tree looks like it's becoming top heavy. I think this is because the top two feet are at window level and getting all the light. It's almost impossible to meet the label requirements of house plants. If there is a area of bright light out of direct sunlight in my living room, that's where I'M sitting.
I tried to lift the 2 seater of my 3 piece suite into my bedroom this morning. I have a new idea along the lines of having a proper seat in there, and having a small dining table in the living room. The problem is, these damn seats just don't go through doors. It was an incredible ordeal getting them into the house in the first place, and I cringe when I think of the day I finally have to move out of here. It gets me to thinking.. How do most people get couches into their house? Mine really aren't that big, but they're what you might call solid state. No moving or removable parts. Most houses in areas like mine are pretty much the same layout - a long narrow passageway beyond the front door.
Enough rambles.
Friend ranking seems to be becoming more prevalent in the Facebook application space, or maybe its just more of my friends have started adding the applications. I've even noticed "Friend of the Month". This is all abhorrent to me. What purpose does any of this serve? It's myspaceification.
I'm going to a food festival later on. I'm told it is an amazing event. As yet unexcited, but open minded.
My dragon tree looks like it's becoming top heavy. I think this is because the top two feet are at window level and getting all the light. It's almost impossible to meet the label requirements of house plants. If there is a area of bright light out of direct sunlight in my living room, that's where I'M sitting.
I tried to lift the 2 seater of my 3 piece suite into my bedroom this morning. I have a new idea along the lines of having a proper seat in there, and having a small dining table in the living room. The problem is, these damn seats just don't go through doors. It was an incredible ordeal getting them into the house in the first place, and I cringe when I think of the day I finally have to move out of here. It gets me to thinking.. How do most people get couches into their house? Mine really aren't that big, but they're what you might call solid state. No moving or removable parts. Most houses in areas like mine are pretty much the same layout - a long narrow passageway beyond the front door.
Enough rambles.
Friday, July 11, 2008
The 1/100 post that I feel uncomfortable about, but post anyway.
It's this girl. At 27 it feels stupid saying girl, and it's not as if I don't see this girl as a woman, it's just that.. fuck it, I like the word girl better than the word woman. Some analyst would probably read something into that and I say let them.
Why am I writing this here? Because this is where I decided to write stuff, and after spending the evening in her company, all of this is fresh in my memory. Not clear as such, but perhaps informative enough that on rereading when feeling more awake I may potentially draw some useful conclusions. That's a big "may" though.
I cannot figure out my feelings for this girl. On the surface it looks like a classic unrequited piece of bullshit, and I've certainly been there before, but this is so much harder to understand. There is little question I should move past it, but this is a weird one. It's not persistent. I'll often not see this girl for several months and not think about her that much, but once I do see her again, it all floods back.
We don't really click. This is what hurts me. Why the hell can't I be bright breezy and comfortable with someone i'm supposedly into? Conversation isn't easy. When it's good it's good, but there is no shortage of difficult silences. I have often got on best with girls that want to talk and talk, and this girl isn't that type. She's like me, at least from the outside, but probably from the inside too, which is to say she's comfortable saying nothing if she doesn't feel anything needs to be said. She has no interest in the filler, and neither do I, given I frequently find myself drifting off in the face of boring conversations with all kinds of people day in and day out which simply don't interest me. Unfortunately, much as I hate it, the filler is comforting. It puts me at ease. Around this girl I rarely feel at ease. Bad sign.
I feel more comfortable around just her when it's just her and nobody else. I kid myself that it then becomes easy, when in fact it's still awkward, just a bit less so than when others are around. This is mainly because others will hijack conversations. The two of us usually end up minor players in conversations with big talkers. When it's just the two of us, silences aside, I am capable of keeping a conversation moving. If I can write this much here I can sure as shit do it verbally too.
We have a lot of similarities, but most are borne out of circumstance and I overplay that to mean something it probably doesn't. We are both, it's fair to say, unsure of our lifes paths, in jobs we do but don't love, and when asked what we do with the rest of our time, we both don't quite know what to say. I fucking LOVE that I have those things in common with this girl. That shouldn't go unnoted, because this is a big part of the attraction. This makes her a kindred spirit, and fuck me I need that in my life. On these matters, which unlike most of this post I do get into quite frequently, are feelings shared by so few people I meet and know.
Based on this, I feel myself wanting to have certain types of conversation with her, but they just don't seem to be possible. She is guarded, unlike me. I profess to wish to hide weakness when thinking to myself, but once faced with another person I have an overwhelming urge to be honest about the very same thing I was sure I wanted to hide a few minutes earlier. This is why I find myself talking about shit that will never help my cause, whatever it is i'm trying to achieve. I almost literally mean shit. I have what most people seem to think is IBS, and for some reason i've discussed this at length with her. This is clearly stupid, but then when meeting someone showing sympathy or empathy (in this case empathy, and surprise surprise, this wasn't even offputing from my side), it's hard to hold back.
Next there's the nature of communication. I have a character trait that I've never discussed here, of instigating arguments. I don't know how it comes about but enough people have zeroed in on it that I can't pretend it's not there. With this girl, it's almost automatic, but it's not taken the way it's intended, which is light heartedly. Every time I realise I have annoyed her by taking a tone or a stance it angers me, because i'm unintentionality doing the opposite of my intention. The difference is, and I may be deluded here, is that I enjoy arguing about almost anything at a superficial level, and speak in such a way to start an argument, whilst she claims not to enjoy arguing, but I feel speaks in a similar way which of course leads me to respond in an argumentative fashion. This sounds more sinister than it really is.. When I say argument what I strive for is more debate. I find it exciting, particularly when the person i'm debating with is somebody i'm attracted to...
And i'm certainly attracted. Physically and otherwise. No question there. My unfortunate pussy demeanour means that I pretty much keep this to myself just well enough that I almost kid myself that she has no idea what i'm thinking, when in fact, like every girl in this position, i'm quite sure knows exactly what i'm thinking, and probably always has. I'm in the well known zone. As I get older I feel less and less in good company in this position. Last time it happened to me I was in university and there was another guy right next door having the same problem.
Bottom line. I told a friend that in many ways this girl is my perfect woman. In reality, she's probably not. What bugs me is that she might still actually be, but in true blocking my own shot fashion I always come back to writing it off because it's safer.. easier. Of course it could also be common sense given the lack of reciprocation.
Because of the stupid way I play these games (or my mind does. to say i'm in control would be bullshit), they can take a lot longer and ultimately go unnoticed or largely ignored by the girl.
Am I in love with this girl? No. That's not what this is about. Could I be? Yes. Is the best girl in my life right now? Yeah. Definitely. I had to edit that once I realised it to be true. It originally said "possibly". There simply isn't anyone else anything like her.
What happens now? Nothing much. It continues as it is, but i'll read this again, and it will be useful to me. If it's useful to you, then great. If you find it boring or a little too lame, please do me the service of ignoring it. In the very unlikely event that she ever sees this, then I hope she can see that the positives are with her, and the negatives are caused by me. I'm well aware that i'm the problem here.
G'nite y'all. Note to future self - you shouldn't delete this no matter how much you want to. It's just honesty.
Normal blog resume next.
Why am I writing this here? Because this is where I decided to write stuff, and after spending the evening in her company, all of this is fresh in my memory. Not clear as such, but perhaps informative enough that on rereading when feeling more awake I may potentially draw some useful conclusions. That's a big "may" though.
I cannot figure out my feelings for this girl. On the surface it looks like a classic unrequited piece of bullshit, and I've certainly been there before, but this is so much harder to understand. There is little question I should move past it, but this is a weird one. It's not persistent. I'll often not see this girl for several months and not think about her that much, but once I do see her again, it all floods back.
We don't really click. This is what hurts me. Why the hell can't I be bright breezy and comfortable with someone i'm supposedly into? Conversation isn't easy. When it's good it's good, but there is no shortage of difficult silences. I have often got on best with girls that want to talk and talk, and this girl isn't that type. She's like me, at least from the outside, but probably from the inside too, which is to say she's comfortable saying nothing if she doesn't feel anything needs to be said. She has no interest in the filler, and neither do I, given I frequently find myself drifting off in the face of boring conversations with all kinds of people day in and day out which simply don't interest me. Unfortunately, much as I hate it, the filler is comforting. It puts me at ease. Around this girl I rarely feel at ease. Bad sign.
I feel more comfortable around just her when it's just her and nobody else. I kid myself that it then becomes easy, when in fact it's still awkward, just a bit less so than when others are around. This is mainly because others will hijack conversations. The two of us usually end up minor players in conversations with big talkers. When it's just the two of us, silences aside, I am capable of keeping a conversation moving. If I can write this much here I can sure as shit do it verbally too.
We have a lot of similarities, but most are borne out of circumstance and I overplay that to mean something it probably doesn't. We are both, it's fair to say, unsure of our lifes paths, in jobs we do but don't love, and when asked what we do with the rest of our time, we both don't quite know what to say. I fucking LOVE that I have those things in common with this girl. That shouldn't go unnoted, because this is a big part of the attraction. This makes her a kindred spirit, and fuck me I need that in my life. On these matters, which unlike most of this post I do get into quite frequently, are feelings shared by so few people I meet and know.
Based on this, I feel myself wanting to have certain types of conversation with her, but they just don't seem to be possible. She is guarded, unlike me. I profess to wish to hide weakness when thinking to myself, but once faced with another person I have an overwhelming urge to be honest about the very same thing I was sure I wanted to hide a few minutes earlier. This is why I find myself talking about shit that will never help my cause, whatever it is i'm trying to achieve. I almost literally mean shit. I have what most people seem to think is IBS, and for some reason i've discussed this at length with her. This is clearly stupid, but then when meeting someone showing sympathy or empathy (in this case empathy, and surprise surprise, this wasn't even offputing from my side), it's hard to hold back.
Next there's the nature of communication. I have a character trait that I've never discussed here, of instigating arguments. I don't know how it comes about but enough people have zeroed in on it that I can't pretend it's not there. With this girl, it's almost automatic, but it's not taken the way it's intended, which is light heartedly. Every time I realise I have annoyed her by taking a tone or a stance it angers me, because i'm unintentionality doing the opposite of my intention. The difference is, and I may be deluded here, is that I enjoy arguing about almost anything at a superficial level, and speak in such a way to start an argument, whilst she claims not to enjoy arguing, but I feel speaks in a similar way which of course leads me to respond in an argumentative fashion. This sounds more sinister than it really is.. When I say argument what I strive for is more debate. I find it exciting, particularly when the person i'm debating with is somebody i'm attracted to...
And i'm certainly attracted. Physically and otherwise. No question there. My unfortunate pussy demeanour means that I pretty much keep this to myself just well enough that I almost kid myself that she has no idea what i'm thinking, when in fact, like every girl in this position, i'm quite sure knows exactly what i'm thinking, and probably always has. I'm in the well known zone. As I get older I feel less and less in good company in this position. Last time it happened to me I was in university and there was another guy right next door having the same problem.
Bottom line. I told a friend that in many ways this girl is my perfect woman. In reality, she's probably not. What bugs me is that she might still actually be, but in true blocking my own shot fashion I always come back to writing it off because it's safer.. easier. Of course it could also be common sense given the lack of reciprocation.
Because of the stupid way I play these games (or my mind does. to say i'm in control would be bullshit), they can take a lot longer and ultimately go unnoticed or largely ignored by the girl.
Am I in love with this girl? No. That's not what this is about. Could I be? Yes. Is the best girl in my life right now? Yeah. Definitely. I had to edit that once I realised it to be true. It originally said "possibly". There simply isn't anyone else anything like her.
What happens now? Nothing much. It continues as it is, but i'll read this again, and it will be useful to me. If it's useful to you, then great. If you find it boring or a little too lame, please do me the service of ignoring it. In the very unlikely event that she ever sees this, then I hope she can see that the positives are with her, and the negatives are caused by me. I'm well aware that i'm the problem here.
G'nite y'all. Note to future self - you shouldn't delete this no matter how much you want to. It's just honesty.
Normal blog resume next.
Monday, July 07, 2008
2008 #28 - The Week that Wasn't
When you arrive home from a break late on a Monday, catch up on sleep on Tuesday, return to work Wednesday through Friday, Saturday night is fine, but Sunday feels a little subdued. It's easy to feel a week has passed without much progress in anything. Is this true though?
1. Not a stellar performance regarding food and drink, but not bad either. Will try a bit harder this week. I am supplementing my hunger now with beans. They don't taste great yet, but I'm hopeful they might eventually, and they're a good protein source and filler. They are, i'm sure, preferable to to slice of toast with Pate that I was previously using to kick off my meals, and had grown very sick of. Oh, why not so good.. 1 bag of Aero bubbles at work and a huge bag of Doritos at the weekend. That said, skipped a meal on Saturday which evens that out a little.
2. Playing fake poker again and doing slightly better. I think I do succeed when I play more and hone skills. Nonetheless, my rules remain.
3. Nothing to report, but no foul.
4. Had a decent enough Saturday night out, though was a bit disappointed not to see at least one other person expected. Still, went to a few places less visited, which is always fun. I need to write/text a few people this week to touch base.
5. Progress on music feels painfully slow, but actually is going quite well, and I have spent plenty of time this week. Most of it has been preparation rather than playing, but both elements are important.
6. Still no work goals. It's been recognised as a problem, so no doubt nothing will change.
7. I'm now getting weird ideas about running hotels and bars. I dunno where the hell my mind is going with some of this stuff. I think it appeals to me to build something my way that others will enjoy. Seeing a newly refurbished club in Leicester this weekend spurred this feeling on a bit. Something to think a bit about.
8. I have done no exercise since I got back from my holiday, and barely noticed it. The weather has been crappy enough to make cycling no fun, and there was no realistic chance of me swimming on the day after my return. I need to, and will get this back on track this week, starting with a swim tomorrow, which no doubt after a 2-gap will be hard and painful. I also need to finally pick up these weights again. I can't figure out why I'm so ill inclined to touch them.
Last week looked better than I had expected. This week looks about as bad as expected. I do feel slightly less fit after two weeks of little more than walking for exercise, in particular. Must try harder!
Still feeling positive!
1. Not a stellar performance regarding food and drink, but not bad either. Will try a bit harder this week. I am supplementing my hunger now with beans. They don't taste great yet, but I'm hopeful they might eventually, and they're a good protein source and filler. They are, i'm sure, preferable to to slice of toast with Pate that I was previously using to kick off my meals, and had grown very sick of. Oh, why not so good.. 1 bag of Aero bubbles at work and a huge bag of Doritos at the weekend. That said, skipped a meal on Saturday which evens that out a little.
2. Playing fake poker again and doing slightly better. I think I do succeed when I play more and hone skills. Nonetheless, my rules remain.
3. Nothing to report, but no foul.
4. Had a decent enough Saturday night out, though was a bit disappointed not to see at least one other person expected. Still, went to a few places less visited, which is always fun. I need to write/text a few people this week to touch base.
5. Progress on music feels painfully slow, but actually is going quite well, and I have spent plenty of time this week. Most of it has been preparation rather than playing, but both elements are important.
6. Still no work goals. It's been recognised as a problem, so no doubt nothing will change.
7. I'm now getting weird ideas about running hotels and bars. I dunno where the hell my mind is going with some of this stuff. I think it appeals to me to build something my way that others will enjoy. Seeing a newly refurbished club in Leicester this weekend spurred this feeling on a bit. Something to think a bit about.
8. I have done no exercise since I got back from my holiday, and barely noticed it. The weather has been crappy enough to make cycling no fun, and there was no realistic chance of me swimming on the day after my return. I need to, and will get this back on track this week, starting with a swim tomorrow, which no doubt after a 2-gap will be hard and painful. I also need to finally pick up these weights again. I can't figure out why I'm so ill inclined to touch them.
Last week looked better than I had expected. This week looks about as bad as expected. I do feel slightly less fit after two weeks of little more than walking for exercise, in particular. Must try harder!
Still feeling positive!
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Futurama: Beast with a Billion Backs
I'm a little late with this given it came out June 30th, but i'd like to note down my opinion on the second Futurama DVD feature, "Beast with a Billion Backs". There is a definite inbuilt warm and fuzzy feeling to getting a DVD of fresh Futurama in the mail, knowing it will last well over an hour, and that as a glass half full type of guy, there isn't a single episode of the show that I dislike, so odds are good i'll enjoy this too.
Unlike the first feature, "Bender's Big Score" which I may or may not have pilfered prior to it's release because the lying studio made out there may not have been a region 2 release in the pipeline, I paid for this one straight away. I also finally paid for the first one, as I always intended to. It's good to see what I assume is Fox better understanding the importance of region 2 for this type of thing, releasing it only a week after region 1, a far cry from the 4+ month wait for the last one.
I didn't actually enjoy this as much as "Bender's Big Score", and I'm very much in a minority on this, it seems. Thing is, that feature was far more geared to exploring the ever developing Futurama universe. Yes, it changed some things that had previously been established, perhaps lessening their impact, but the premise was solid, and as I always say, time travel clinched it. On top of that, it furthered the Fry/Leela relationship angle leaps and bounds.
It's almost as if Cohen and the gang took a decision to make this one a stand alone story of little consequence in furthering the overall story. Not a problem, as this was certainly the way the original show worked the majority of the time, and I loved it. It's just a little disappointing for a fan that enjoyed the first feature so much, and hoped for more of the same.
The only element carried forward is the consequence of Bender's Big Score (literally), which paves the way for the multi-tentacled monster on which the second story focuses. There doesn't appear to be anything whatsoever between Fry and Leela, with just a little narrative by Bender on the matter, which didn't really explain anything. In feature one, the Nibbolnians return and expose their true selves again. Nibbler didn't even appear in this feature. That said, he did "exit" the universe at the end of the first, so perhaps this will be picked up later.
Putting it more simply, I'd compare Bender's Big Score to almost everybody's favourite episode, "Luck of the Fryrish" in tone (based on reviews I guess some won't like that). That was an exceptional episode amongst many great ones. "Beast with a Billion Backs" is more of a normal great episode of greater length. I'll be watching and enjoying it again and again, i'm quite sure.
This was a badly written review. I just reread it and it doesn't read well. I'm still publishing it.
Unlike the first feature, "Bender's Big Score" which I may or may not have pilfered prior to it's release because the lying studio made out there may not have been a region 2 release in the pipeline, I paid for this one straight away. I also finally paid for the first one, as I always intended to. It's good to see what I assume is Fox better understanding the importance of region 2 for this type of thing, releasing it only a week after region 1, a far cry from the 4+ month wait for the last one.
I didn't actually enjoy this as much as "Bender's Big Score", and I'm very much in a minority on this, it seems. Thing is, that feature was far more geared to exploring the ever developing Futurama universe. Yes, it changed some things that had previously been established, perhaps lessening their impact, but the premise was solid, and as I always say, time travel clinched it. On top of that, it furthered the Fry/Leela relationship angle leaps and bounds.
It's almost as if Cohen and the gang took a decision to make this one a stand alone story of little consequence in furthering the overall story. Not a problem, as this was certainly the way the original show worked the majority of the time, and I loved it. It's just a little disappointing for a fan that enjoyed the first feature so much, and hoped for more of the same.
The only element carried forward is the consequence of Bender's Big Score (literally), which paves the way for the multi-tentacled monster on which the second story focuses. There doesn't appear to be anything whatsoever between Fry and Leela, with just a little narrative by Bender on the matter, which didn't really explain anything. In feature one, the Nibbolnians return and expose their true selves again. Nibbler didn't even appear in this feature. That said, he did "exit" the universe at the end of the first, so perhaps this will be picked up later.
Putting it more simply, I'd compare Bender's Big Score to almost everybody's favourite episode, "Luck of the Fryrish" in tone (based on reviews I guess some won't like that). That was an exceptional episode amongst many great ones. "Beast with a Billion Backs" is more of a normal great episode of greater length. I'll be watching and enjoying it again and again, i'm quite sure.
This was a badly written review. I just reread it and it doesn't read well. I'm still publishing it.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
2008 #27 -- Ireland
Back from Ireland. As predicted didn't manage to write this yesterday. It would have been today anyway technically as I didn't hit Leicester until 3am after determination that I would sleep in my own bed, not on a couch, and have a full day off before returning to work. Woke up after only 6 hours of sleep feeling absolutely shattered, but fairly pleased with the last five days.
The details of the trip aren't that interesting to an outsider. To others a holiday like this would probably appear very dull, but all I can respond with would be; it worked for me.
It also got my mind back on to the track I want it on. The more time I spend away from my job the harder it feels to keep going back. If I think I'm still in any way enjoying my job, I'm flat out kidding myself. I'm not. It has become a drudge through sludge.
I need to separate the harsh realities that stop me in my tracks with finding alternatives to my current path from the pleasant realities of actually pursuing some of those alternatives. Step one absolutely MUST be to focus my free time on doing such a thing. This is not me promising not to relax and watch TV completely. It's more me saying that I absolutely MUST figure out what I want to spend the next part of my life doing. There is a point where sitting and thinking stops being useful, and that point is a dot in the rear view mirror.
Right now the sound engineering stuff is rattling around my conciousness more than anything else. If the idea is to "do", then this is what I shall do. I have material developing that I'd like to record, and old material I'd like to rerecord. I do need to spend a little more money to get the recording setup back into a useful state after effectively stripping out the speakers for my living room. They were about the worst type of speaker for mixing anyway. Active monitors will hopefully improve things.
Enough rambling about Ireland and dreams. Roll on Cornwall in a few weeks time (hopefully). Time to review the goals that I have largely ignored for a week and see how bad it can look:
1. I have eaten a lot of food. Very little of it was takeaway, but some of it was, and almost all of it was plus size portioned. Perhaps not unavoidable, but hard to get away from when on holiday with other people. I'll do better this week.
2. I have been largely offline all week, so poker hasn't factored. Goal met.
3. I took a couple of rolls (old terminology) in Dublin, which means I met this goal too.
4. I went away with three of my closest friends. Even met some new people over the course of more than one evening. What's going on here?
5. Strangely I even feel that I met the musical goal, as I spent time listening to the rough cuts, learning from them, and also discussed some guitar technicalities. Two hours may be a stretch, but the week wasn't a dead loss, and the time away always inspires a return to music. This is perhaps why I feel this is the direction to pursue.
6. Maybe there are work goals now. How would I know? I wasn't there most of the week. At the time of leaving, there were still none.
7. A very thoughtful five or six days with some ideas as discussed above. Goal met.
8. I didn't manage any of my normal exercise routine. I rationalised myself out of swimming worried I was going to make myself ill before going away. Bad. There wasn't really time to get to anything else. That said, I did a fair bit of walking around in Ireland, so it's not all bad.
All in all this looks better than I had expected.
What else did I get out of my trip? A desire to meet people. New friends, women. It seemed easier in a strange town, although I did have a guy around to push me, which I don't normally any more, which is a shame. I mentioned to him that I need to find a new wingman, but we agreed there weren't any obvious choices in my circle at the moment. Another problem to solve.
If you want to know about Dublin from my perspective, here are the headlines:
- You will be hit once by the value of the euro, and again by the London like price gouging throughout your time there. It's quite expensive, escpecially to eat and drink.
- The castle isn't worth looking at any more than the cathedral.
- It's a great place to just wander around and soak up.
- Nearby coastal areas are all largely the same. The sea barely moves on this coast.
- If you want a touristy trip, visit the tourist office. We didn't, and perhaps we should have. I'm just fortunate that I prefer disorder and disarray.
- If you think you don't get travel sick, you might be taken by surprise this time, but the good news is that the pills to counter travel sickness actually work!
Ok thats quite enough of me for today.
The details of the trip aren't that interesting to an outsider. To others a holiday like this would probably appear very dull, but all I can respond with would be; it worked for me.
It also got my mind back on to the track I want it on. The more time I spend away from my job the harder it feels to keep going back. If I think I'm still in any way enjoying my job, I'm flat out kidding myself. I'm not. It has become a drudge through sludge.
I need to separate the harsh realities that stop me in my tracks with finding alternatives to my current path from the pleasant realities of actually pursuing some of those alternatives. Step one absolutely MUST be to focus my free time on doing such a thing. This is not me promising not to relax and watch TV completely. It's more me saying that I absolutely MUST figure out what I want to spend the next part of my life doing. There is a point where sitting and thinking stops being useful, and that point is a dot in the rear view mirror.
Right now the sound engineering stuff is rattling around my conciousness more than anything else. If the idea is to "do", then this is what I shall do. I have material developing that I'd like to record, and old material I'd like to rerecord. I do need to spend a little more money to get the recording setup back into a useful state after effectively stripping out the speakers for my living room. They were about the worst type of speaker for mixing anyway. Active monitors will hopefully improve things.
Enough rambling about Ireland and dreams. Roll on Cornwall in a few weeks time (hopefully). Time to review the goals that I have largely ignored for a week and see how bad it can look:
1. I have eaten a lot of food. Very little of it was takeaway, but some of it was, and almost all of it was plus size portioned. Perhaps not unavoidable, but hard to get away from when on holiday with other people. I'll do better this week.
2. I have been largely offline all week, so poker hasn't factored. Goal met.
3. I took a couple of rolls (old terminology) in Dublin, which means I met this goal too.
4. I went away with three of my closest friends. Even met some new people over the course of more than one evening. What's going on here?
5. Strangely I even feel that I met the musical goal, as I spent time listening to the rough cuts, learning from them, and also discussed some guitar technicalities. Two hours may be a stretch, but the week wasn't a dead loss, and the time away always inspires a return to music. This is perhaps why I feel this is the direction to pursue.
6. Maybe there are work goals now. How would I know? I wasn't there most of the week. At the time of leaving, there were still none.
7. A very thoughtful five or six days with some ideas as discussed above. Goal met.
8. I didn't manage any of my normal exercise routine. I rationalised myself out of swimming worried I was going to make myself ill before going away. Bad. There wasn't really time to get to anything else. That said, I did a fair bit of walking around in Ireland, so it's not all bad.
All in all this looks better than I had expected.
What else did I get out of my trip? A desire to meet people. New friends, women. It seemed easier in a strange town, although I did have a guy around to push me, which I don't normally any more, which is a shame. I mentioned to him that I need to find a new wingman, but we agreed there weren't any obvious choices in my circle at the moment. Another problem to solve.
If you want to know about Dublin from my perspective, here are the headlines:
- You will be hit once by the value of the euro, and again by the London like price gouging throughout your time there. It's quite expensive, escpecially to eat and drink.
- The castle isn't worth looking at any more than the cathedral.
- It's a great place to just wander around and soak up.
- Nearby coastal areas are all largely the same. The sea barely moves on this coast.
- If you want a touristy trip, visit the tourist office. We didn't, and perhaps we should have. I'm just fortunate that I prefer disorder and disarray.
- If you think you don't get travel sick, you might be taken by surprise this time, but the good news is that the pills to counter travel sickness actually work!
Ok thats quite enough of me for today.
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