Its cold outside, there's no kind of atmosphere......
It's snowing. been snowing for ages. About 2 inches I reckon. And I slept through my doctors appointment. The fact it was warm under my two duvets (one 13.5 tog, one 10.5 tog) and very cold outside it of course, was a coincidence.
Hovel Sweet Hovel, as I deem my new home. is looking slightly more....homelike. I've unpacked a considerable amount of stuff. the new bookshelves arrived, and they were a bargain. mainly because they are ex-catalogue rejects, and they cost me £80 for four of them. However, in the catalague they are an ex-from (thats Argos, the greek god of catalog shopping, by the way), they are £70 EACH. This means I saved myself a whopping £50 on each shelf. Or, in total, £200. Bingo. The fact they came fully assembled was another bonus. And there's two other bookcases yet to assembled tho, and those will be for books. At last count, about 1000 of them.
The DVDs are unpacked. There's more than I realised. This may have been because they were strewn across a variety of places. However, I'm very glad we didn't just chuck the old black ash shelving thats' 10 years old and held together with gaffa tape because...I'd be stuck wiuthout them. There's so much stuff you dont realise you have until you havent seen it in over a year and then suddenly unpack it. No, really.
Saw Becca the other day. Bottlefed for the first time.beautiful small little thing. She's gonna be great when she grows up. Well, I hope so anyway.
I still can't face the freezer. I mean, cleaning it. There's mould gone bad in the bottom from months of being switched off and not being used, and Im not looking forward to that at all.
Saturday was a busy day - went to the ex-library chuck out sale. Not much worth picking up, unless you count the ridiculously funny 'what is scientology' book that retails at £100 that I spent 50p on - not bad for a 822 page hardback book filled with colour illustrations. And it has an interesting couple of bits and pieces in it, if only for enemies of scientology like myself to peruse over the lies and bullshit inside. Rather Amusingly, I appear to have deprived its real owner of it, because the "this book belongs to" plaque on the inside has got 'J.travolta' written on it. Who'da thunk he goes to Birmingham Public Libraries? Not me, I wager.
Still more to unpack. The place is a bloody mess, but nowhere near as bad as it was a few days ago. And yes, the things that have gone missing appear to be getting more numerous. I'm cataloging them, and will not let that issue go quietly into the night....
Bloody hell it's cold!
nanowrimo won;t be finished. On november 7th, the word count was 21,000. I wrote 2,000 words on the 10th. Unless I get 27,000 done between now and wednesday, it won't be done, bu I haven't seen my pc in a week...and I must have spent maybe two hours with it burning cd's since the 7th, not a second more. i will finish it though, but perhaps when I'm little less franctically busy.
off now, bye.
Friday, November 25, 2005
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
The feeling of waking up next to someone, feeling their arms wrap around your body and knowing you wouldn't want to spend a minute without them.
What is your greatest fear?
drowning. And being Buried alive.
What is the trait you most deplore in myself?
Sloth.
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
I thought of a really good one, but then forgot about it. not an obvious one though - Eugene Debs,m I think.
What is your greatest extravagance?
*blushes*
What is your favourite journey?
The one from the bus stop to home. About 100 yards walk.
What do you like most about your appearance?
I suppose this could be put as 'What do i dislike least about my appearance'. nothing.
Which living person do you most despise?
hate is too strong a word. But there's a couple of people i dont like.
What is your greatest regret?
feb 16, 2002.
When and where are you happiest?
On the beach, somewhere in devon.
What is your current state of mind?
Fractious, stressed, and hungry.
If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?
My sloth.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Well, my degree I guess.
What is your most treasured possession?
My interllect -
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Knowing youve hurt someone, and you never wanted to ....
Where would you like to live?
In a hollowed out volcano, guarded by sharks with lasers in the eyes. Or failing that, a big underground bunker.
What is your most marked characteristic?
You Tell me
What is the quality you like most in a man?
I dont really like men.
What is the quality you like most in a woman?
Too many.
Who are your favourite writers?
Palahunik, Burroughs, Herbert, etc.
Who are your heroes in real life?
Those who don't compromise themselves for teh sake of an easy life.
.
What is your motto?
Stolen from Bob Ballard, Aerospace engineer and father of Russ, who discovbered the Titanic.
'Own Your Own life'
The feeling of waking up next to someone, feeling their arms wrap around your body and knowing you wouldn't want to spend a minute without them.
What is your greatest fear?
drowning. And being Buried alive.
What is the trait you most deplore in myself?
Sloth.
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
I thought of a really good one, but then forgot about it. not an obvious one though - Eugene Debs,m I think.
What is your greatest extravagance?
*blushes*
What is your favourite journey?
The one from the bus stop to home. About 100 yards walk.
What do you like most about your appearance?
I suppose this could be put as 'What do i dislike least about my appearance'. nothing.
Which living person do you most despise?
hate is too strong a word. But there's a couple of people i dont like.
What is your greatest regret?
feb 16, 2002.
When and where are you happiest?
On the beach, somewhere in devon.
What is your current state of mind?
Fractious, stressed, and hungry.
If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?
My sloth.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Well, my degree I guess.
What is your most treasured possession?
My interllect -
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Knowing youve hurt someone, and you never wanted to ....
Where would you like to live?
In a hollowed out volcano, guarded by sharks with lasers in the eyes. Or failing that, a big underground bunker.
What is your most marked characteristic?
You Tell me
What is the quality you like most in a man?
I dont really like men.
What is the quality you like most in a woman?
Too many.
Who are your favourite writers?
Palahunik, Burroughs, Herbert, etc.
Who are your heroes in real life?
Those who don't compromise themselves for teh sake of an easy life.
.
What is your motto?
Stolen from Bob Ballard, Aerospace engineer and father of Russ, who discovbered the Titanic.
'Own Your Own life'
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
I've moved.
i promised not to do a huge blog post, but I've moved. Now I can't move in the flat, Im covered in paint and dust and looking a bit rough,my (ex-)wife who i picked up some items from from said "god, you've lost a lot of hair" (stress related maybe?), as well as an assessment that I am in fact, subhject to a victim complex, notto mention also being a paranoid.
In other news, It staretd at 10am when the carpet was fitted, then giles turned up, then we moved around lots of furniture, and then we collected even more furniture, and then went to a storage unit and started to empty it (2 full van loads!), and weren't done until 8am.So a solid 12-14 hour shift of moving heavy bulky items. Then, after 4 hours sleep, got up again and continued....
I think My back doesn't like me very much at the moment, and I can't blame it. On the other hand, I'm 85% moved, just a couple more trips to go, and I can't tell you how I feel. Stressed, anxious, on the verge of tears last night, filled with emotion...but kinda hopeful.And now I;ve had 10 horus sleep in 48, and I can;t remember the last time i had a proper meal.
Seeings the (ex) wife was ...emotional. But not in a bad way. Or a good way. in a clearing the air kind of way.Well, to a little extent. I think thats better for the soul than paranoia and hatred.
Seeing my daughter again tomorrow. I miss her. God, I sound like such a new parent :-)
i promised not to do a huge blog post, but I've moved. Now I can't move in the flat, Im covered in paint and dust and looking a bit rough,my (ex-)wife who i picked up some items from from said "god, you've lost a lot of hair" (stress related maybe?), as well as an assessment that I am in fact, subhject to a victim complex, notto mention also being a paranoid.
In other news, It staretd at 10am when the carpet was fitted, then giles turned up, then we moved around lots of furniture, and then we collected even more furniture, and then went to a storage unit and started to empty it (2 full van loads!), and weren't done until 8am.So a solid 12-14 hour shift of moving heavy bulky items. Then, after 4 hours sleep, got up again and continued....
I think My back doesn't like me very much at the moment, and I can't blame it. On the other hand, I'm 85% moved, just a couple more trips to go, and I can't tell you how I feel. Stressed, anxious, on the verge of tears last night, filled with emotion...but kinda hopeful.And now I;ve had 10 horus sleep in 48, and I can;t remember the last time i had a proper meal.
Seeings the (ex) wife was ...emotional. But not in a bad way. Or a good way. in a clearing the air kind of way.Well, to a little extent. I think thats better for the soul than paranoia and hatred.
Seeing my daughter again tomorrow. I miss her. God, I sound like such a new parent :-)
Monday, November 21, 2005
Oh the cryptic interesting news?
well...When it turned out I was moving, I was fortunate enough to have some furniture made available from the good folks of the local freecycle group which is something i never would have known about if it hadn't been for Di, and without which I would have been utterly lost. Similarly, from the house clearance in the family. However, at that point, i didn't have a clue what was happening.
So not knowing what I would need, or how to afford it, I went along to the local DSS office and I explained my situation and they explained that what I needed was a Budgeting loan. What they didn't explain to me was I could apply for a Community care Grant to help me move.
So, I applied for the grant, and the interesting news was when i discovered I had been awarded some money to help. Sofas and cookers and carpets do not buy themselves, and as when she and I split she kept everything and pretty much lost everything in terms of domestic items, I have had to rebuild everything from scracth. My home. my life.
The upshot of this however, is the amount they gave me is less - much less to the tune of a fraction of the amount - that they paid her in compensation when she was moved because the block she was living in was scheduled for demolition. in that case, 99% of the items in her fully furnished flat she could transfer to the new flat, and well, it was basically just frittered away on crap and nice meals in expensive restaurants.
Now lets put this in perspective. When I met (ex-)wife, she was on the verge of losing her council home because of her own stupidity. She had got a job and not bothered to pay the rent for months and months, accruing a debt to the point whereby the council applied to the courts to regain posession of it. In doing so, she would have been classified as voluntarily homeless. I have no sympathy with people who end up in this situation, which seem oddl, but let me explain it this way.
You have a job.You live in subsidised council housing at below the market rent (in the private sector, a flat like mine would cost at least DOUBLE what I will be paying in rent, an extra £200 or so a month - or £100 a week just in rent). And If you choose to make a deliberate and concious decision not to pay the bills, but instead just to go to the pub every night, then I have no sympathy with you at all. its foolish. its stupid. Its self-inflicted, and in a very very real and immediate manner. The old adage about being two paychecks away from the street is true for everyone, but not taking care of the home you have by deliberately not paying the rent out of neglect and avarice, I have no sympathy with you. It's a self induced situation.
When I met my wife this is exactly what she had done - rather than keep a roof over her head, she had gone out drinking five days a week and waiting for reposession orders. She didn't lose the place, but only after incurring legal costs and I had spent two evenings pouring over legal paperwork and legal advice trying to get it sorted, which I did successfully.
So, forgive me If I appear harsh, but to willingly lose your own home by deliberate neglect is something I have no sympathy with. But this has impacted on me now, because to me, I now appreciate it more than i ever did, ever could, before. because I know what its like to lose your home (or to not have anywhere to live, though no choice of your own, might be a better description). Thats why I never, ever will let things become as they once were, why I will pay the bills and keep the roofover my head - why I will be able to sit down one day and say "i made this" and think of this as my home.
yes, it will be a home made of other peopls cast off, chuckouts, sloppy seconds and hand-me-downs, all unco-ordinated and colour clashing, but to me, it will more to me than anything you can just buy off the shelf. because of what it means. because i built it myself and made my life, if you like.
Now, the budgeting loan has helped, but there was also something they didnt tell me about (and a couple of kind people on freecyle did), called the COmmunity care Grant. Which I also applied for, and I have been granetd some money to help me move, and furnish the place. They didnt tell me about it, other people did, and I just picked up the leaflet at random, really. I certainly didn't expect to get anything, but if i am entitled to it, I may well aplly. And I did get some money, which will pay for carpets and sofas and cookers..All impoirtant stuff. unlike most, I was able to offload some crap on ebay and raise a small amount of money, but whta if you are starting with nothing, just the bare walls and no curtains? I started with nothing, in that context, and for this i realise I have been incredibly lucky and been helped by a lot of incredibly kind people; its too easy to take it all for granted, until it is taken away, and i will never take my home for granted again. once youve had to build* (well, internally) your own home, it becomes more than walls and bricks and mortar. it becomes something you have an investment in, emotionally. Something you've made. Your home. Thats what I mean. And I'll never let it slip away.
Which brings me to this -
Some films I wouldnt have understoof ten or five years ago - not enough spaceships or explosions - but I cant reccomend House of Sand And Fog high enough. In one way, its just a drama, and in another, its an analogy for how the american dream of avarice and greed corrupts the world - about how a single man makes profit on the back of a misery of another despite his pure intentions, and ignores the cost of human misery and injustice as he is blinded by a poursuit to make money, until that veyr same misery comes back to haunt him. Brilliant, powerful... and I wouldnt never have resonated with the film until now.
Because I'll never knowingly or willing let my home I've fought for ever slip away. its been so long, I just don't want to live the unsettled life i once had. I tell you, when you've walked into a brothel by mistake whilst trying to find a homeless hostel, thats when you start to apprecciate just how fragile our lives are.
In other, nicer news, becca loves classical music and is smiling all the time. For some reason i reminded of elvis, who hate sthe noise of the pixies but loves pink floyd...well, becca is only 2 months old, so its a little early to start with the Slayer records.don;t worry though. I used to joke about being the kind of dad who'd sit there with my kind of my knee, listening to the first four Sabbath albums whilst my kid is distraught in aural agony pleading for no more whilst i say "Now, listen my child, bow down and listen to the might SABBATH and rock!" whilst they paracitcally beg to do homework. no, I won;t be like that. It'll be Maiden instead....
Anyway, off to see Becca tonight, you take care ok?
well...When it turned out I was moving, I was fortunate enough to have some furniture made available from the good folks of the local freecycle group which is something i never would have known about if it hadn't been for Di, and without which I would have been utterly lost. Similarly, from the house clearance in the family. However, at that point, i didn't have a clue what was happening.
So not knowing what I would need, or how to afford it, I went along to the local DSS office and I explained my situation and they explained that what I needed was a Budgeting loan. What they didn't explain to me was I could apply for a Community care Grant to help me move.
So, I applied for the grant, and the interesting news was when i discovered I had been awarded some money to help. Sofas and cookers and carpets do not buy themselves, and as when she and I split she kept everything and pretty much lost everything in terms of domestic items, I have had to rebuild everything from scracth. My home. my life.
The upshot of this however, is the amount they gave me is less - much less to the tune of a fraction of the amount - that they paid her in compensation when she was moved because the block she was living in was scheduled for demolition. in that case, 99% of the items in her fully furnished flat she could transfer to the new flat, and well, it was basically just frittered away on crap and nice meals in expensive restaurants.
Now lets put this in perspective. When I met (ex-)wife, she was on the verge of losing her council home because of her own stupidity. She had got a job and not bothered to pay the rent for months and months, accruing a debt to the point whereby the council applied to the courts to regain posession of it. In doing so, she would have been classified as voluntarily homeless. I have no sympathy with people who end up in this situation, which seem oddl, but let me explain it this way.
You have a job.You live in subsidised council housing at below the market rent (in the private sector, a flat like mine would cost at least DOUBLE what I will be paying in rent, an extra £200 or so a month - or £100 a week just in rent). And If you choose to make a deliberate and concious decision not to pay the bills, but instead just to go to the pub every night, then I have no sympathy with you at all. its foolish. its stupid. Its self-inflicted, and in a very very real and immediate manner. The old adage about being two paychecks away from the street is true for everyone, but not taking care of the home you have by deliberately not paying the rent out of neglect and avarice, I have no sympathy with you. It's a self induced situation.
When I met my wife this is exactly what she had done - rather than keep a roof over her head, she had gone out drinking five days a week and waiting for reposession orders. She didn't lose the place, but only after incurring legal costs and I had spent two evenings pouring over legal paperwork and legal advice trying to get it sorted, which I did successfully.
So, forgive me If I appear harsh, but to willingly lose your own home by deliberate neglect is something I have no sympathy with. But this has impacted on me now, because to me, I now appreciate it more than i ever did, ever could, before. because I know what its like to lose your home (or to not have anywhere to live, though no choice of your own, might be a better description). Thats why I never, ever will let things become as they once were, why I will pay the bills and keep the roofover my head - why I will be able to sit down one day and say "i made this" and think of this as my home.
yes, it will be a home made of other peopls cast off, chuckouts, sloppy seconds and hand-me-downs, all unco-ordinated and colour clashing, but to me, it will more to me than anything you can just buy off the shelf. because of what it means. because i built it myself and made my life, if you like.
Now, the budgeting loan has helped, but there was also something they didnt tell me about (and a couple of kind people on freecyle did), called the COmmunity care Grant. Which I also applied for, and I have been granetd some money to help me move, and furnish the place. They didnt tell me about it, other people did, and I just picked up the leaflet at random, really. I certainly didn't expect to get anything, but if i am entitled to it, I may well aplly. And I did get some money, which will pay for carpets and sofas and cookers..All impoirtant stuff. unlike most, I was able to offload some crap on ebay and raise a small amount of money, but whta if you are starting with nothing, just the bare walls and no curtains? I started with nothing, in that context, and for this i realise I have been incredibly lucky and been helped by a lot of incredibly kind people; its too easy to take it all for granted, until it is taken away, and i will never take my home for granted again. once youve had to build* (well, internally) your own home, it becomes more than walls and bricks and mortar. it becomes something you have an investment in, emotionally. Something you've made. Your home. Thats what I mean. And I'll never let it slip away.
Which brings me to this -
Some films I wouldnt have understoof ten or five years ago - not enough spaceships or explosions - but I cant reccomend House of Sand And Fog high enough. In one way, its just a drama, and in another, its an analogy for how the american dream of avarice and greed corrupts the world - about how a single man makes profit on the back of a misery of another despite his pure intentions, and ignores the cost of human misery and injustice as he is blinded by a poursuit to make money, until that veyr same misery comes back to haunt him. Brilliant, powerful... and I wouldnt never have resonated with the film until now.
Because I'll never knowingly or willing let my home I've fought for ever slip away. its been so long, I just don't want to live the unsettled life i once had. I tell you, when you've walked into a brothel by mistake whilst trying to find a homeless hostel, thats when you start to apprecciate just how fragile our lives are.
In other, nicer news, becca loves classical music and is smiling all the time. For some reason i reminded of elvis, who hate sthe noise of the pixies but loves pink floyd...well, becca is only 2 months old, so its a little early to start with the Slayer records.don;t worry though. I used to joke about being the kind of dad who'd sit there with my kind of my knee, listening to the first four Sabbath albums whilst my kid is distraught in aural agony pleading for no more whilst i say "Now, listen my child, bow down and listen to the might SABBATH and rock!" whilst they paracitcally beg to do homework. no, I won;t be like that. It'll be Maiden instead....
Anyway, off to see Becca tonight, you take care ok?
Well last night was interesting. Indeed, so much so, I appear to be living with the curse of chinese proverbs - may you live in interesting times.....
Giles came over, about 7Pm,and we went to the chip shop. On the way back, i pointed out the aban#doned car currently residing under my bedroom window - wheels missing, doors smashed in, and so forth. Looks like the kind of state it would be left in if someone had stolen it, gone joyriding, and left in a quiet suburban cul-de-sac so it couldnt be easily found. I've already reported it to the police though, because it#s a little unsightly, not to mention, a little unsettling.
And then we started painting and steaming off wallpaper until stupid o'clock in the morning.
So when a van turns up at about half ten on a quiet sunday night, and parks outside my bedroom window, and then someone gets out of the van and starts to strip the stolen abandonded car, that does strike me as a little... unusual should i say? Ok if you've got a car I guess, that you're doing up but when this white van has a company logo on the side, I do have to ask myself - what sort of legitimate, above board company, would either i) store its vehicles in public roads in a state of falling apart, or ii) Strip a stolen abandoned vehicle for parts to sell on and use, presumably for profit?
Hmmm
Now, thinking about it like that, it seems very very fucking dodgy indeed. So I go out to the phone box, and on the way back, the guy lugging engine blocks and seats out of the stripped out car shouts at me , "mate!"
(Hint:If a stranger calls you mate - especially when they are doing something dodgy - then its not a good sign, I reckon. beware the over-friendly stranger - its insincere. They are caling you 'mate' so you dont be hostile,pre-emptively trying to disarm your defences. Its either that or they want to instigate a mating ritual, and Im pretty sure the ICQ1 male in tracky bottoms wasn't interested in me for that purpose. He Looked like his main sexual interest was a girlfriend - yours, his, someone else's, anybodys )
Im stood at the stairs as he says "I'll only be a couple of minutes, alright? Just taking some bits and pieces from the car".
"No Worries", I respond.
So lets see - a specialist vehicle company turns up in a rural cul-de-sac at half ten on a sunday night, and starts stripping out an abandoned vehicle for parts? All very kosher and above board, I dont think. its not like they can afford a bodyshop as a legitimate business expense, eh? Especially as its not the first time there's been a vehicle abandoned there.
yes, very odd.And then, 15 minutes later, he comes back and strips something else off the vehicle. Two items. The only things he takes on the second visit are the number plates.
Like, hello?
Legitimate company removing number plates from abandoned , elapidated, vehicles? Why? Why would they? Which mad eme think one fo two things - either they own the vehicle and have no problem with this, in which case, you'd expect them to do it in a specialist body repair shop or...... and i suspect this is more the case....
I have to ask myself why they are removing identifiable parts of the car. The engine block is already gone. The only solution it appears to be is that my forecourt is being used as part of an organized crime ring. An Allegedly 'legitimate' company( have vehicles stolen possibly to order), abandoned in public places(this is the second time it's happened in 6 weeks) so as to keep them off premises and more difficult to trace , which they then strip and sell on parts from stolen vehicles either to unsuspecting customers or to use in their own rental vehicles. (Yes, the sticker on the back of the van was a small vehicle hire company)
Why else would they turn up at half ten on a sunday night? Why else would he go away and then come back and remove the number plates, the only means of identifying the stolen vehicle? If the guy doing it was the boss, he would have done it straightaway to cover his tracks, but this lackey presumably isnt as smart as that, so he talked to the boss, and the boss told him to go back and cover his tracks and take off the plates? Especially as it transpires that the van in question is registered to a different company, has already been nopticed acting suspisciously and had an 'identification mark' according to the police, and has now been placed under observation?
Well, what I think is happening appears to be the only thing that makes sense on basis of the facts given...and I dont know about you, but the phrase Dodgy as fuck sprung to mind....
Giles came over, about 7Pm,and we went to the chip shop. On the way back, i pointed out the aban#doned car currently residing under my bedroom window - wheels missing, doors smashed in, and so forth. Looks like the kind of state it would be left in if someone had stolen it, gone joyriding, and left in a quiet suburban cul-de-sac so it couldnt be easily found. I've already reported it to the police though, because it#s a little unsightly, not to mention, a little unsettling.
And then we started painting and steaming off wallpaper until stupid o'clock in the morning.
So when a van turns up at about half ten on a quiet sunday night, and parks outside my bedroom window, and then someone gets out of the van and starts to strip the stolen abandonded car, that does strike me as a little... unusual should i say? Ok if you've got a car I guess, that you're doing up but when this white van has a company logo on the side, I do have to ask myself - what sort of legitimate, above board company, would either i) store its vehicles in public roads in a state of falling apart, or ii) Strip a stolen abandoned vehicle for parts to sell on and use, presumably for profit?
Hmmm
Now, thinking about it like that, it seems very very fucking dodgy indeed. So I go out to the phone box, and on the way back, the guy lugging engine blocks and seats out of the stripped out car shouts at me , "mate!"
(Hint:If a stranger calls you mate - especially when they are doing something dodgy - then its not a good sign, I reckon. beware the over-friendly stranger - its insincere. They are caling you 'mate' so you dont be hostile,pre-emptively trying to disarm your defences. Its either that or they want to instigate a mating ritual, and Im pretty sure the ICQ1 male in tracky bottoms wasn't interested in me for that purpose. He Looked like his main sexual interest was a girlfriend - yours, his, someone else's, anybodys )
Im stood at the stairs as he says "I'll only be a couple of minutes, alright? Just taking some bits and pieces from the car".
"No Worries", I respond.
So lets see - a specialist vehicle company turns up in a rural cul-de-sac at half ten on a sunday night, and starts stripping out an abandoned vehicle for parts? All very kosher and above board, I dont think. its not like they can afford a bodyshop as a legitimate business expense, eh? Especially as its not the first time there's been a vehicle abandoned there.
yes, very odd.And then, 15 minutes later, he comes back and strips something else off the vehicle. Two items. The only things he takes on the second visit are the number plates.
Like, hello?
Legitimate company removing number plates from abandoned , elapidated, vehicles? Why? Why would they? Which mad eme think one fo two things - either they own the vehicle and have no problem with this, in which case, you'd expect them to do it in a specialist body repair shop or...... and i suspect this is more the case....
I have to ask myself why they are removing identifiable parts of the car. The engine block is already gone. The only solution it appears to be is that my forecourt is being used as part of an organized crime ring. An Allegedly 'legitimate' company( have vehicles stolen possibly to order), abandoned in public places(this is the second time it's happened in 6 weeks) so as to keep them off premises and more difficult to trace , which they then strip and sell on parts from stolen vehicles either to unsuspecting customers or to use in their own rental vehicles. (Yes, the sticker on the back of the van was a small vehicle hire company)
Why else would they turn up at half ten on a sunday night? Why else would he go away and then come back and remove the number plates, the only means of identifying the stolen vehicle? If the guy doing it was the boss, he would have done it straightaway to cover his tracks, but this lackey presumably isnt as smart as that, so he talked to the boss, and the boss told him to go back and cover his tracks and take off the plates? Especially as it transpires that the van in question is registered to a different company, has already been nopticed acting suspisciously and had an 'identification mark' according to the police, and has now been placed under observation?
Well, what I think is happening appears to be the only thing that makes sense on basis of the facts given...and I dont know about you, but the phrase Dodgy as fuck sprung to mind....
Saturday, November 19, 2005
I was supposed to be up early, attend an anti-war stall, buy curtain rail, go to the post office, and start painting. So bearing that in mind, I had an early night. (well, half midnight)
The eerie green glow of the phone buzzing at 2.04am woke me up, the buzz resonating through the empty wooden cabinet it was on top of. I don't know who would be ringing me at 2.04am, but it woke me up. And I picked up the phone, and It was someone I hadn't spoken to in a very long time. But it was a good conversation, and well worth it. And made me very happy to hear from them.
However, when I couldn't get to sleep afterwards, I missed most of what I had wanted to do. By not hearing the alarm and just sleeping through it. whoops.
But it was an interesting day. Had to go to the post office, got that one done (needed to be done - my account card had somehow lost the magnetic signature on the strip and i couldnt get anywhere with it, so I had to pick up a new one), had a spot of erm..interesting news... and that was about it.
So off to the library I went...
The eerie green glow of the phone buzzing at 2.04am woke me up, the buzz resonating through the empty wooden cabinet it was on top of. I don't know who would be ringing me at 2.04am, but it woke me up. And I picked up the phone, and It was someone I hadn't spoken to in a very long time. But it was a good conversation, and well worth it. And made me very happy to hear from them.
However, when I couldn't get to sleep afterwards, I missed most of what I had wanted to do. By not hearing the alarm and just sleeping through it. whoops.
But it was an interesting day. Had to go to the post office, got that one done (needed to be done - my account card had somehow lost the magnetic signature on the strip and i couldnt get anywhere with it, so I had to pick up a new one), had a spot of erm..interesting news... and that was about it.
So off to the library I went...
Friday, November 18, 2005
By the way, this is a demographic I'm not so sure I want my favourite supermarket getting into. I'm sure they could have chosen a slightly better turn of phrase than this....
Hello Hello (ola!)
Just a quick blog whilst I am currently in the midst of painting, decorating, and so forth. (On monday, there will be carpet! woo yay maximo kittens!)
Anyway, I've decided to have a combination housewarming and christmas party on Saturday 17th December (the saturday before christmas - christmas eve is a BIT silly to hold a party if you ask me). My orignal intention was hold it earlier but seems like some people were busy and couldn't make it. Well, instead I moved the date. Hopefully the place won't be too shabby by then, and I might even have curtains and wallpaper. Shocking eh? (very)
Parking will be limited, as will sleeping space (probably on a cheap and far from ideal but Okish blue carpet I bought the other day).But if you'd like to go, just email me.You've probably got the address (grahambreed_uk@yahoo.com).
I gather there will be at least two bloggers going. (possibly three if you include me).
The music will be , of course, rubbish AND Brilliant at the same time. I know no other way.
Sadly, because the decorating will (or should be) finished it will not be a bring your own brush and paint party. It will be a bring your own booze party, though I will have some but not large amounts of alchohol, and there's always a chippy round the corner if we run out of chocolate.
Right - off to do change of address notifications and I'm gonna GET steaming (wallpaper that is)
In other news, there was something else I was going to tell you, but I'll be buggered if i can remember what it is.Oh yes...with NanoWriMo, i don't think im going to get finished in time. Moving house and painting and deocrating and all that stuff, along with living in the place and not having the PC to hand, had kind of impeded my progress. If I do restart, I expect it to be at the end of next week, which will be a squeeze. And I'm having to write a sex scene too (not gratitious, and it does actually advance the plot forward), and its laborious to say the least...
Just a quick blog whilst I am currently in the midst of painting, decorating, and so forth. (On monday, there will be carpet! woo yay maximo kittens!)
Anyway, I've decided to have a combination housewarming and christmas party on Saturday 17th December (the saturday before christmas - christmas eve is a BIT silly to hold a party if you ask me). My orignal intention was hold it earlier but seems like some people were busy and couldn't make it. Well, instead I moved the date. Hopefully the place won't be too shabby by then, and I might even have curtains and wallpaper. Shocking eh? (very)
Parking will be limited, as will sleeping space (probably on a cheap and far from ideal but Okish blue carpet I bought the other day).But if you'd like to go, just email me.You've probably got the address (grahambreed_uk@yahoo.com).
I gather there will be at least two bloggers going. (possibly three if you include me).
The music will be , of course, rubbish AND Brilliant at the same time. I know no other way.
Sadly, because the decorating will (or should be) finished it will not be a bring your own brush and paint party. It will be a bring your own booze party, though I will have some but not large amounts of alchohol, and there's always a chippy round the corner if we run out of chocolate.
Right - off to do change of address notifications and I'm gonna GET steaming (wallpaper that is)
In other news, there was something else I was going to tell you, but I'll be buggered if i can remember what it is.Oh yes...with NanoWriMo, i don't think im going to get finished in time. Moving house and painting and deocrating and all that stuff, along with living in the place and not having the PC to hand, had kind of impeded my progress. If I do restart, I expect it to be at the end of next week, which will be a squeeze. And I'm having to write a sex scene too (not gratitious, and it does actually advance the plot forward), and its laborious to say the least...
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Wow!
Somebody commented on my nanowrimo thingy blog. I wonder who was inspired by my heartfelt writing and ....
"Farah Says
Find out how to buy and sell anything, like things related to quality assurance highway construction on interest free credit and pay back whenever you want! Exchange FREE ads on any topic, like quality assurance highway construction! "
Jeez, nice to see my soul-baring efforts weren't in vain then.
(Well, farah, courtesy of the " The Interim Monetary System of Heaven on Earth" and the "Credon Barter Dollars" interest free credit line you've extended me, I'd like to do two things
i)Hunt down a digital assasin to kill all spammers stone cold dead and
ii)Not be nothing more than be a tool for a spambot. Where's barry Scot of Cillit band eh?
It Makes me sick that my first and incredibly personal, incredibly difficult blog-novel effort has been hijacked to sell Bullshit and spam.
"Here's the deal folks: You do a commercial you are off the artistic roll-call forever. End of story. Ok?! You're 'nother corporate fucking shill, another whore at the capitalist gang bang. And if you do a commercial there is a price on your head. Everything you say is suspect and every word that comes out of your mouth is like a turd falling into my drink --- " Bill Hicks
Somebody commented on my nanowrimo thingy blog. I wonder who was inspired by my heartfelt writing and ....
"Farah Says
Find out how to buy and sell anything, like things related to quality assurance highway construction on interest free credit and pay back whenever you want! Exchange FREE ads on any topic, like quality assurance highway construction! "
Jeez, nice to see my soul-baring efforts weren't in vain then.
(Well, farah, courtesy of the " The Interim Monetary System of Heaven on Earth" and the "Credon Barter Dollars" interest free credit line you've extended me, I'd like to do two things
i)Hunt down a digital assasin to kill all spammers stone cold dead and
ii)Not be nothing more than be a tool for a spambot. Where's barry Scot of Cillit band eh?
It Makes me sick that my first and incredibly personal, incredibly difficult blog-novel effort has been hijacked to sell Bullshit and spam.
"Here's the deal folks: You do a commercial you are off the artistic roll-call forever. End of story. Ok?! You're 'nother corporate fucking shill, another whore at the capitalist gang bang. And if you do a commercial there is a price on your head. Everything you say is suspect and every word that comes out of your mouth is like a turd falling into my drink --- " Bill Hicks
Monday, November 14, 2005
Ok donna...you sent this to me, so im gonna do it.
1. What is your full name: Graham
2. What colour pants are you wearing now: Like Im gonna look in the library! beige combats i think.
3. What are you listening to right now: Karl bartos, u2, various mix cd's, and stuff.
4. When is your birthday: July 3
5. What was the last thing you ate: Chicken and Mushroom Slices from tescos. £1.21 for 330g.
7. How is the weather right now? Brrrr.
8. Last person you talked to on the phone: Mark
9. The first thing you notice about a guy/girl: A pulse?
10. Do you like the person who sent this to you?: Yep. good friend.
11. How are you today: slightly stubbly and frazzled.
12. Favourite hot drink:I dont do hot drinks
13. Favourite alcoholic drink: add vodka.
14. Favourite Sport: Sunday?
15. Hair colour: brownish
16. Eye Colour: green and grey
17. Do you wear contacts: no
18. Siblings: brother (1)
19. Favourite month: April.
20. Favourite foods: hot, Italian.
22. Favourite day of the year: Any where I can get sleep.
23. Are you too shy to ask someone out: yes. All the time. Even *you* x x x
24. Summer or winter: summer
25. Hugs or Kisses: kisses and lets see what happens after that ;-)
26. Chocolate or Vanilla: Both.
28. Who is most likely to respond: me?
29: Who is least likely to respond: him, captain chaos.
30. What's under your bed: the floor
31. What books are you reading: Bill hicks "love all the people" and "Moore & us" by jesse larner
32. What's on your mouse pad? nothing.
33. Favourite board game? Strip Snap. (I suspect this doesnt count)
34. What did you do last night: watch karl bartos
35. Favourite Smells: toast
36. Can you touch your nose with your tongue: No, But I can touch your nose with my tongue tho. just come a little closer....
37. What was the last thing to make you cry?:
Being locked outside my home for 40 minutes by a knackered temperemental lock
38. What would you do with a free £50 now: Smile and buy furniture
39. What inspires you today: the usual. Sleep.
40. Where are questions 6 and 21? hiding, because of no. 7. And why is 6 scared of 7? Because 6 & 7 8 9!
1. What is your full name: Graham
2. What colour pants are you wearing now: Like Im gonna look in the library! beige combats i think.
3. What are you listening to right now: Karl bartos, u2, various mix cd's, and stuff.
4. When is your birthday: July 3
5. What was the last thing you ate: Chicken and Mushroom Slices from tescos. £1.21 for 330g.
7. How is the weather right now? Brrrr.
8. Last person you talked to on the phone: Mark
9. The first thing you notice about a guy/girl: A pulse?
10. Do you like the person who sent this to you?: Yep. good friend.
11. How are you today: slightly stubbly and frazzled.
12. Favourite hot drink:I dont do hot drinks
13. Favourite alcoholic drink: add vodka.
14. Favourite Sport: Sunday?
15. Hair colour: brownish
16. Eye Colour: green and grey
17. Do you wear contacts: no
18. Siblings: brother (1)
19. Favourite month: April.
20. Favourite foods: hot, Italian.
22. Favourite day of the year: Any where I can get sleep.
23. Are you too shy to ask someone out: yes. All the time. Even *you* x x x
24. Summer or winter: summer
25. Hugs or Kisses: kisses and lets see what happens after that ;-)
26. Chocolate or Vanilla: Both.
28. Who is most likely to respond: me?
29: Who is least likely to respond: him, captain chaos.
30. What's under your bed: the floor
31. What books are you reading: Bill hicks "love all the people" and "Moore & us" by jesse larner
32. What's on your mouse pad? nothing.
33. Favourite board game? Strip Snap. (I suspect this doesnt count)
34. What did you do last night: watch karl bartos
35. Favourite Smells: toast
36. Can you touch your nose with your tongue: No, But I can touch your nose with my tongue tho. just come a little closer....
37. What was the last thing to make you cry?:
Being locked outside my home for 40 minutes by a knackered temperemental lock
38. What would you do with a free £50 now: Smile and buy furniture
39. What inspires you today: the usual. Sleep.
40. Where are questions 6 and 21? hiding, because of no. 7. And why is 6 scared of 7? Because 6 & 7 8 9!
Right, lets see if this works....
If it works you should get to see abig Red X in a square the cover art for the new pink floyd DVD ....
By the way, karl bartos was great fun. And And awful lot of Kraftwerk songs too ; here's what he played .
Numbers - Computerworld - Camera Obscura - The Message - Home Computer - It's More Fun to Compute - Reality - The Telephone Call - Life - Computer Love - The Model - 15 Minutes Of fame - Trans Europe Express - The Robots -
Encore#1: Pocket Calculator - Ultraviolet - Electronic Apeman - Neon Lights
Encore#2: 15 Minutes Of Fame (reprise)
Pretty damn good. If not so much Kraftwerk as kraft-lite. Like the cheese. but not cheesy. Erm...though the idea struck me that if he were to just get it over and done with and release an album of his own re-recordings of old Kraftwerk songs, It'd make a lot of people happy, sell quite a few copies, and could be done really simply - just an hour playing live in the studio with his two other bods on stage. Or something. It'd certainly be interesting, because even though the first few Kraftwerk songs were sped up to the point of mangling the melodies in a frantic rush (think the stuff from the 1981 KW tour, ie The tokyo performance off radio), it'd be fascinating and brilliant fun. of course, all he needs to do now is tie up with Wolfgang Flur and go out as a 'supergroup' called the Robots...*
Should be seeing HIM later. You Know, HIM. Captain Chaos!
He's not in here, he's out there, somewhere, helping people!
Right, off to price up carpets, look at prices of wallpaper, go to banks and that sort of stuff, followed by yet more stripping and yet more steaming and yet more painting and decorating, but when its done, it'll be done for years....
(*not likely. Well, about as likely as Jason Orange and Howard going out on tour as 'Take That 2')
If it works you should get to see a
By the way, karl bartos was great fun. And And awful lot of Kraftwerk songs too ; here's what he played .
Numbers - Computerworld - Camera Obscura - The Message - Home Computer - It's More Fun to Compute - Reality - The Telephone Call - Life - Computer Love - The Model - 15 Minutes Of fame - Trans Europe Express - The Robots -
Encore#1: Pocket Calculator - Ultraviolet - Electronic Apeman - Neon Lights
Encore#2: 15 Minutes Of Fame (reprise)
Pretty damn good. If not so much Kraftwerk as kraft-lite. Like the cheese. but not cheesy. Erm...though the idea struck me that if he were to just get it over and done with and release an album of his own re-recordings of old Kraftwerk songs, It'd make a lot of people happy, sell quite a few copies, and could be done really simply - just an hour playing live in the studio with his two other bods on stage. Or something. It'd certainly be interesting, because even though the first few Kraftwerk songs were sped up to the point of mangling the melodies in a frantic rush (think the stuff from the 1981 KW tour, ie The tokyo performance off radio), it'd be fascinating and brilliant fun. of course, all he needs to do now is tie up with Wolfgang Flur and go out as a 'supergroup' called the Robots...*
Should be seeing HIM later. You Know, HIM. Captain Chaos!
He's not in here, he's out there, somewhere, helping people!
Right, off to price up carpets, look at prices of wallpaper, go to banks and that sort of stuff, followed by yet more stripping and yet more steaming and yet more painting and decorating, but when its done, it'll be done for years....
(*not likely. Well, about as likely as Jason Orange and Howard going out on tour as 'Take That 2')
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Had a very busy couple of days. I'm over at the library sorting out my emails though; there's been so much help from people at freakishly, I'll be eternally grateful for the help.
The flat is a mess. What I had was essentially renting is the bricks and mortar, nothing else.Its completely barren, and its a bloody mess.Nothing but the walls, a toilet, a bath, a sink, and 2 kitchen cupboards.No carpets. no curtains. No furniture, no gas or electric turned on, and a motley selection of five or six wallpapers one on top of the other in the bedroom, ripped off one over the other.
So, The first thing to do is to decorate, whilst the place is empty. Its always much more difficult to decorate after you've put carpets and stuff in. And once I've decorated, It'll stay that way for the next few years. So Wednesday was frantically busy collecting various items from freecycle - a telephone that's a lifesaver for example, paint rollers and so forth.
Thursday, after 2 hours sleep, I got there awaiting lots and lots of people. workmen doing a 'turn on and test' of the electric, and the gas, and the water. People returning keys other workmen had had. Gas engineers performing checks on the meter and resetting it and starting it up. Electricity engineers turning up. Ultimately though, I've spent four days without gas OR electric or any utility supply at all, and Thursday was the day of the big switch on.
Or not.
The electric meter wasn't accepting the tokens I'd bought, and I'd spent £20 on two lots of tokens from two different shop.That's on top of spending about an hour minutes in a phonebox on Monday night trying to organise these supplies, pumping a seemingly endless amount of coins into the phonebox to listen to muzak renditions of coldplay and travis songs interrupted every 20 seconds with an anoydyne voice proclaiming "your call is important to us, please wait and an advisor will be with you as soon as possible".
Really? Doesn't feel like when you've heard it thehundredthh time. Especially not when , as I calculated , it was costing me 11p a minute just to dial the bloody number to hold. Think of it this way - Imagine a shop where before the shop assistant will even serve you, you have to wait an hour and pay them £6 before you can even get to ask them if they have what you want. Well, that shop would go out of business real quick. Anywhere that charges £6 just to commence the transaction for the purpose of what I have gone there for is either called ticketbastard, or ought to have loud music, disco lights and a beer licence. (Muzak versions of coldplay don't count as loud music, and the intermittent flickering light of the phone box isn't disco by any reckoning, unless you're on very very strong acid).
Anyway, the electric still wasn't on after that £6 in a freezing phone box on monday.So, On thursday morning I call them again, and spent "the average wait is three minutes" turned into 40 minutes and I still hadn't spoken to a human being I phoned back a different number and got through.
40 minutes. Jeezus. And British gas wonder why people are flocking to other suppliers in Droves eh? Npower might charge more, but at least I dont spend an hour on the bloody phone simply waiting for people.I tell you what, I dont care if your electric is 0.2p/kwh cheaper becuase If I don't have any it doesn't make any difference if its cheaper or not. And IF i end up paying out more because you can't be bothered to hire sufficient staff for your callcentre to mean I might actually bloody have the electric.Mind you, im told listening to me ranting on the phone is bloody funny - because I have to do it without being sweary, otherwise they can terminate the call immeadiately. Hence the use of substiting 'fucking' for 'preposterous' when speaking to jobsworth supervisors.
Ultimatkly, in a manner beyond parody, I was told a meter reset would take 48 hours to do. Right, so thats Saturday afternoon? No, its tuesday. Eh? thats five days. Well, I rang just after two PM, so thats taking me into the next working day, and they don't work Saturday and Sundays. God, what is this, the winter of discontent under LAbour, 1977? Three days weeks of electricity or something? Yes, we in England just don't need electricity at weekends anymore do we - we just stick the frozen food ina coolbox, have a barbecue outdoors by the light of the burning out cars, and huddle around furniture I've had to set on fire to keep warm.
Bloody idiots.
And this was after I've spent £20 on tokens after senidng £6 in a phone box getting an accoutn number sorted so I could have electric. i've spent £26 and the elctric is still off. I phoned up about a faulty meter and no engineer had turned up yet So thursday was spent organising electric and gas supplies - as I had neither, in a manner beyond parody. Before being told that despite having spent £20 on tokens for an electric meter that the meter was rejecting at me, I wasn't goign to have any electricity for another five days....
Five minutes after they told me I couldn't have any electricity for another five days, two engineers from British gas arrived. I explained the situation, and they switched the meter over to a different meter (part of a moderisnation process, it had to be done anyway).
And the elctric went on. halleujah. Despite British gas's best efforts at ensuring their customers go without electricty for as long as possible, I had the electric on. Thank god, because without that I can't do anything -it gets light at 7.30am at the moment, and gets dark from about 4.15 pm at the moment, and that only gives me about 9 hours a day in which to paint and decorate by natural light otherwise. And steamers to remove wallpaper don't work without electric.
And in amongst all this, were deliveries of many an item of furniture, heavy lifting and shifting items upstairs and painting.
I know it sounds like Im moaning, but Im only moaning because It feels like I have to go through hoops with utilities companies and basically kiss their bloody arse to even get a basic supply sorted.
The flat isn't fully equipped, not by a long shot - its going to take an additional week or so of work before it is habitable, but once it is, It's not going to need a damn thing doing to it for years. This is the set up period you get with any new home. As for the furniture and so forth, in a couple of weeks time with carpets down and curtains up, It's going to pretty good I reckon. I'm incredibly lucky to have had this come along when it did, but with my situation, I was in no position not to accept it. I mean, on the monday morning I was being turned away from homeless hostels, and on the wednesday the council offered me this place. So it all came together at the right time, and the months delay before I could move in was annoying, but it meant there was little point getting anything else sorted.No point at all.At the moment its being incredibly hectic, with a couple of hours sleep per night for days on end, then a day of recovery, mixed in with periods of being in pain with my back because of lifting beds and stuff. When i stayed at a friends recently, after moving furniture, apart from being told off by their four year daughter 'oi! get out of my house' in the cutest voice possible far too early in the morning, I woke them up with my involuntary sighs of pain when moving in bed tryign to get comfortable.
The thing with the house clearance is fortunate in its timing because I can put it to good use, but its dreadful it had to come to that because of their circumstances, and because otherwise everything was simply going to be trashed by the council. Similarly there's been a lot of people on freecycle who have been helpful - and for that Im incredibly incredibly lucky and grateful.
I cant wait to get sorted and be in there and say "i made this", * about my new home, and get back to work and get back on track. Christmas is a notorious slump or new jobs though, so I dont hold out much hope til jan 1st.Until now, I just feel like mylife has been 'on hold' and im getting myself sorted. With the new year, a new home (of my own, rather than couches and sofa's), and hopefully a new job, I'll be following the words of the immortal President Ringo (even if I do hate to quote Kevin Costner movies)
"Stuff's getting better"
And then, to make sure stuff's getting better, Blair gets his ass whipped inparliament. I cannot say how pleased I was to see Emperor Tony not getting his own way -but its not the fualt of Charles Clarke, no matter how much pundits try to blameshift it. It's not the fault of the tainted associations with the one man sperm and greed factory (tm) and disaster area that is blunkett either; its the fact is that the MP's feel these laws , establishing imprisonment without trial in some kafka-esque nightmare, are wrong. And personally, i can't think of any english politician who has reached the end of a third term successfully - they normally quit in a vote of no confidence. Like 15 years ago with Thatcher....
thanks to Chig,I have to wonder How did I miss this piece of news eh?
Take care you lot x
*EDIT: Well, not just me. Without the help of close friends without whom I would have been utterly utterly stuck, Its wouldnt be anywhere near as well done as it is now. The thanks list will look like a bad hip hop album, with thousands of names and at the end, Most of all, thanks to God. (actually, nic, Giles, Donna and my dad)
The flat is a mess. What I had was essentially renting is the bricks and mortar, nothing else.Its completely barren, and its a bloody mess.Nothing but the walls, a toilet, a bath, a sink, and 2 kitchen cupboards.No carpets. no curtains. No furniture, no gas or electric turned on, and a motley selection of five or six wallpapers one on top of the other in the bedroom, ripped off one over the other.
So, The first thing to do is to decorate, whilst the place is empty. Its always much more difficult to decorate after you've put carpets and stuff in. And once I've decorated, It'll stay that way for the next few years. So Wednesday was frantically busy collecting various items from freecycle - a telephone that's a lifesaver for example, paint rollers and so forth.
Thursday, after 2 hours sleep, I got there awaiting lots and lots of people. workmen doing a 'turn on and test' of the electric, and the gas, and the water. People returning keys other workmen had had. Gas engineers performing checks on the meter and resetting it and starting it up. Electricity engineers turning up. Ultimately though, I've spent four days without gas OR electric or any utility supply at all, and Thursday was the day of the big switch on.
Or not.
The electric meter wasn't accepting the tokens I'd bought, and I'd spent £20 on two lots of tokens from two different shop.That's on top of spending about an hour minutes in a phonebox on Monday night trying to organise these supplies, pumping a seemingly endless amount of coins into the phonebox to listen to muzak renditions of coldplay and travis songs interrupted every 20 seconds with an anoydyne voice proclaiming "your call is important to us, please wait and an advisor will be with you as soon as possible".
Really? Doesn't feel like when you've heard it thehundredthh time. Especially not when , as I calculated , it was costing me 11p a minute just to dial the bloody number to hold. Think of it this way - Imagine a shop where before the shop assistant will even serve you, you have to wait an hour and pay them £6 before you can even get to ask them if they have what you want. Well, that shop would go out of business real quick. Anywhere that charges £6 just to commence the transaction for the purpose of what I have gone there for is either called ticketbastard, or ought to have loud music, disco lights and a beer licence. (Muzak versions of coldplay don't count as loud music, and the intermittent flickering light of the phone box isn't disco by any reckoning, unless you're on very very strong acid).
Anyway, the electric still wasn't on after that £6 in a freezing phone box on monday.So, On thursday morning I call them again, and spent "the average wait is three minutes" turned into 40 minutes and I still hadn't spoken to a human being I phoned back a different number and got through.
40 minutes. Jeezus. And British gas wonder why people are flocking to other suppliers in Droves eh? Npower might charge more, but at least I dont spend an hour on the bloody phone simply waiting for people.I tell you what, I dont care if your electric is 0.2p/kwh cheaper becuase If I don't have any it doesn't make any difference if its cheaper or not. And IF i end up paying out more because you can't be bothered to hire sufficient staff for your callcentre to mean I might actually bloody have the electric.Mind you, im told listening to me ranting on the phone is bloody funny - because I have to do it without being sweary, otherwise they can terminate the call immeadiately. Hence the use of substiting 'fucking' for 'preposterous' when speaking to jobsworth supervisors.
Ultimatkly, in a manner beyond parody, I was told a meter reset would take 48 hours to do. Right, so thats Saturday afternoon? No, its tuesday. Eh? thats five days. Well, I rang just after two PM, so thats taking me into the next working day, and they don't work Saturday and Sundays. God, what is this, the winter of discontent under LAbour, 1977? Three days weeks of electricity or something? Yes, we in England just don't need electricity at weekends anymore do we - we just stick the frozen food ina coolbox, have a barbecue outdoors by the light of the burning out cars, and huddle around furniture I've had to set on fire to keep warm.
Bloody idiots.
And this was after I've spent £20 on tokens after senidng £6 in a phone box getting an accoutn number sorted so I could have electric. i've spent £26 and the elctric is still off. I phoned up about a faulty meter and no engineer had turned up yet So thursday was spent organising electric and gas supplies - as I had neither, in a manner beyond parody. Before being told that despite having spent £20 on tokens for an electric meter that the meter was rejecting at me, I wasn't goign to have any electricity for another five days....
Five minutes after they told me I couldn't have any electricity for another five days, two engineers from British gas arrived. I explained the situation, and they switched the meter over to a different meter (part of a moderisnation process, it had to be done anyway).
And the elctric went on. halleujah. Despite British gas's best efforts at ensuring their customers go without electricty for as long as possible, I had the electric on. Thank god, because without that I can't do anything -it gets light at 7.30am at the moment, and gets dark from about 4.15 pm at the moment, and that only gives me about 9 hours a day in which to paint and decorate by natural light otherwise. And steamers to remove wallpaper don't work without electric.
And in amongst all this, were deliveries of many an item of furniture, heavy lifting and shifting items upstairs and painting.
I know it sounds like Im moaning, but Im only moaning because It feels like I have to go through hoops with utilities companies and basically kiss their bloody arse to even get a basic supply sorted.
The flat isn't fully equipped, not by a long shot - its going to take an additional week or so of work before it is habitable, but once it is, It's not going to need a damn thing doing to it for years. This is the set up period you get with any new home. As for the furniture and so forth, in a couple of weeks time with carpets down and curtains up, It's going to pretty good I reckon. I'm incredibly lucky to have had this come along when it did, but with my situation, I was in no position not to accept it. I mean, on the monday morning I was being turned away from homeless hostels, and on the wednesday the council offered me this place. So it all came together at the right time, and the months delay before I could move in was annoying, but it meant there was little point getting anything else sorted.No point at all.At the moment its being incredibly hectic, with a couple of hours sleep per night for days on end, then a day of recovery, mixed in with periods of being in pain with my back because of lifting beds and stuff. When i stayed at a friends recently, after moving furniture, apart from being told off by their four year daughter 'oi! get out of my house' in the cutest voice possible far too early in the morning, I woke them up with my involuntary sighs of pain when moving in bed tryign to get comfortable.
The thing with the house clearance is fortunate in its timing because I can put it to good use, but its dreadful it had to come to that because of their circumstances, and because otherwise everything was simply going to be trashed by the council. Similarly there's been a lot of people on freecycle who have been helpful - and for that Im incredibly incredibly lucky and grateful.
I cant wait to get sorted and be in there and say "i made this", * about my new home, and get back to work and get back on track. Christmas is a notorious slump or new jobs though, so I dont hold out much hope til jan 1st.Until now, I just feel like mylife has been 'on hold' and im getting myself sorted. With the new year, a new home (of my own, rather than couches and sofa's), and hopefully a new job, I'll be following the words of the immortal President Ringo (even if I do hate to quote Kevin Costner movies)
"Stuff's getting better"
And then, to make sure stuff's getting better, Blair gets his ass whipped inparliament. I cannot say how pleased I was to see Emperor Tony not getting his own way -but its not the fualt of Charles Clarke, no matter how much pundits try to blameshift it. It's not the fault of the tainted associations with the one man sperm and greed factory (tm) and disaster area that is blunkett either; its the fact is that the MP's feel these laws , establishing imprisonment without trial in some kafka-esque nightmare, are wrong. And personally, i can't think of any english politician who has reached the end of a third term successfully - they normally quit in a vote of no confidence. Like 15 years ago with Thatcher....
thanks to Chig,I have to wonder How did I miss this piece of news eh?
Take care you lot x
*EDIT: Well, not just me. Without the help of close friends without whom I would have been utterly utterly stuck, Its wouldnt be anywhere near as well done as it is now. The thanks list will look like a bad hip hop album, with thousands of names and at the end, Most of all, thanks to God. (actually, nic, Giles, Donna and my dad)
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Well, as I was up until 8AM yesterday with a late night trip buying essential household goods (such as cleaning products, and so forth) and then discovering the number they had given me to buy electricity didnt actually work...the new place is still in total darkness. Woo yay and indeed, maximum suckage.
Instead, knackered as I was, I slept for ages, because I was utterly knackered, and 5 hours sleep in 48 isnt good for a boy like me. Or anyone.
So when I finally awoke for a couple of hours, I went to the library, and then fell asleep agaiin, waking up at ten. Realising there is nothing I can do with the new place at this particular moment; its dark, there's no electrc, i can't strip wallpaper without a steamer, and I can't investigate prices of carpets and so forth, there's only one thing I could do.
nanowrimo.
So That's another 5,000 words in the bag. But Im only a third of the way through the outline, and thats a total of 21,295 done. SO i might go over the word count. And to me, it still feels rushed. Still feels like stuff is progressing faster than it would in real life. Still, its drawn from reali life experiences, as are many of the observations, but I reckon its still about 5% fact and 95% fiction.
The plot? I'll keep you guessing. But the influence of hanesh Kureshi is writ large on this one.
Anyway, this morning I indulged myself to the tune of erm...75p. For the Godfather trilogy on VHS . 75p for all three. Seemed good to me. Then I went to the library, looked at bargain price shelving , went to a homeless drop in centre (which I found oddly wierd, being as I have a home - I was hoping to pick up some advice on carpeting but didn't get anywhere there), then had to rush to an appointment, and then back to where I am crashing having bought some foain unsuccessful od, then to mny dades, then to the new flat, where we lugged a serviceable but slighltly old (and much in need of a dman good cleaning)cooker upstairs, and discussed what to do about paintng and carpets, and then went back to crashpad again, were i had a wash and then left to go to tesco's in search of paint rollers... long long story.
And Im thinking of nanowrimo...it might resonate with a couple of you, I think. Hawklord and ex-blogger Tom. You might get where I am coming from when ( or if) you read it.I'm just wondering hwo the hell i will get it done in time, thats all.The story seems to be a little bigger than the 50,000 words required, and there's no way of knowing yet what will happen. No way at all. it'll just steam on to its inevitable ending.
Either way, I am currently in the library on the way to picking up some stuff from freecycle.freecyele - the last, great hope for blaggards in the universe. And I'm sick of seeing "wanted:laptop" adverts.
Right, off for appointments and stuff.
Instead, knackered as I was, I slept for ages, because I was utterly knackered, and 5 hours sleep in 48 isnt good for a boy like me. Or anyone.
So when I finally awoke for a couple of hours, I went to the library, and then fell asleep agaiin, waking up at ten. Realising there is nothing I can do with the new place at this particular moment; its dark, there's no electrc, i can't strip wallpaper without a steamer, and I can't investigate prices of carpets and so forth, there's only one thing I could do.
nanowrimo.
So That's another 5,000 words in the bag. But Im only a third of the way through the outline, and thats a total of 21,295 done. SO i might go over the word count. And to me, it still feels rushed. Still feels like stuff is progressing faster than it would in real life. Still, its drawn from reali life experiences, as are many of the observations, but I reckon its still about 5% fact and 95% fiction.
The plot? I'll keep you guessing. But the influence of hanesh Kureshi is writ large on this one.
Anyway, this morning I indulged myself to the tune of erm...75p. For the Godfather trilogy on VHS . 75p for all three. Seemed good to me. Then I went to the library, looked at bargain price shelving , went to a homeless drop in centre (which I found oddly wierd, being as I have a home - I was hoping to pick up some advice on carpeting but didn't get anywhere there), then had to rush to an appointment, and then back to where I am crashing having bought some foain unsuccessful od, then to mny dades, then to the new flat, where we lugged a serviceable but slighltly old (and much in need of a dman good cleaning)cooker upstairs, and discussed what to do about paintng and carpets, and then went back to crashpad again, were i had a wash and then left to go to tesco's in search of paint rollers... long long story.
And Im thinking of nanowrimo...it might resonate with a couple of you, I think. Hawklord and ex-blogger Tom. You might get where I am coming from when ( or if) you read it.I'm just wondering hwo the hell i will get it done in time, thats all.The story seems to be a little bigger than the 50,000 words required, and there's no way of knowing yet what will happen. No way at all. it'll just steam on to its inevitable ending.
Either way, I am currently in the library on the way to picking up some stuff from freecycle.freecyele - the last, great hope for blaggards in the universe. And I'm sick of seeing "wanted:laptop" adverts.
Right, off for appointments and stuff.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Another Rubbish MeMe.
1. Were you named after anyone?
Of course. They wouldn't give me a different surname for the hell of it. (Oh, first name>? Apparently, a family friend. )
2. When did you last cry?
Holding my daughter, when she was about a week old.
3. What is your favorite lunch meat?
Chicken. Not longpig.
4. What is your most embarrassing CD?
Erm....can i plead the fifth amendment here
5. Where is your second home?
Well, Ive got two homes at the moment - in the process of moving in and decorating (who wants to help?) Im staying at a friends sofa.
6. Do you trust others too easily?
Sadly, sometimes I do.
7. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Don't Know. But as of the age 11 or so, it was the same as my favourite toy as now....
8. Would you bungee jump?
God No. My back would be fucked.
9. Do you think that you are strong?
Sometimes. Sometimes I can be obstinate and awkward. Physically I've been told I don't know my own strength, but My back injury means quite often, I do know my own strength. There was a reason why I spent most of Saturday and Sunday wimpering in pain.
10. What are your favorite colors?
Black. Must be Black.
11. What is your least favorite thing about yourself?
A slighty rounder middle bit, and my waxshedding ear canal, and ...well, pretty much everything.
12. Who do you miss most?
Deceased?
My mum.
Living?
Someone somewhere in scotland.
13. What was the last thing you ate?
Discounted Pasta and Bacon Salad from the co-op, and less than half price.
14. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Tsk. Another one of those whats your favourite colour questions? This is like having an interview with smash hits. Yes, We love our fans, they are the best. Wow, im zany. And yes, I am single. I just havent found the right girl yet, but shes out there somewhere...is she you?(So that Teenage non-threatening boyfriend magazine can stick me as their dreamboy*).Oh, crayons.Blunt, I guess.
* = nightmare.
15. What is the weather like right now?
Overcast. Cloudy. Dark.
16. Last person you talked to on the phone?
Giles, probably.
17. Do you wear contacts?
I don't like contacts/ do you know why?
Everytime you put one in / you poke yourself in the eye
(Ta to John Hegley for that)
18. Last Movie You Watched?
Revenge of the Sith. Wallace and Gromit.
19. Favorite Day of the Year?
None in particular.
20. Where Would You Want to Go on your Next Vacation?
Saltburn, Scotland or San Andreas. Failing that, Stirchley.
21.Favorite Smells?
Freshly cut grass.
22. What's the furthest you've been away from home?
Canary Islands I think.
And in other news, even though, ive been greatly looking forward to new DVD edition of Titanic, I won't be buying it. There is a reason
The Uk edition has only 2 discs, dropping all the 45 minutes of deleted scenes from disc 3 and the entire disc of extra's, retaining ONLY the 61 brief featurettes rather than anything else. Check the specs on the US edition on www.dvdcompare or the the fourth disc from the Scandanavian Release, and see why we are being bamboozled. And the removal of the feature length documentary on the making of the film - the single most important feature to make it worth buying in my opinion - practically negates any reason to buy it. Even if it does have "titanic in 30 seconds with Bunnies" on it. But the Disc does contain this
from 1:19:19 in the film for one frame only,a completely horrific and totally avoidable digital error, and sadly, shockingly lax quality control. Biggest grossing film of all time, ut still you let this through? 20th Century Fox have a lot to answer foe when a a completely horrendous and easily avoidable error on ALL Copies of the DVD goes through.
Meh, I've still no electricity in the flat, not until Wednesday at earliest, so im very limited in what I can do. More news laters.
1. Were you named after anyone?
Of course. They wouldn't give me a different surname for the hell of it. (Oh, first name>? Apparently, a family friend. )
2. When did you last cry?
Holding my daughter, when she was about a week old.
3. What is your favorite lunch meat?
Chicken. Not longpig.
4. What is your most embarrassing CD?
Erm....can i plead the fifth amendment here
5. Where is your second home?
Well, Ive got two homes at the moment - in the process of moving in and decorating (who wants to help?) Im staying at a friends sofa.
6. Do you trust others too easily?
Sadly, sometimes I do.
7. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Don't Know. But as of the age 11 or so, it was the same as my favourite toy as now....
8. Would you bungee jump?
God No. My back would be fucked.
9. Do you think that you are strong?
Sometimes. Sometimes I can be obstinate and awkward. Physically I've been told I don't know my own strength, but My back injury means quite often, I do know my own strength. There was a reason why I spent most of Saturday and Sunday wimpering in pain.
10. What are your favorite colors?
Black. Must be Black.
11. What is your least favorite thing about yourself?
A slighty rounder middle bit, and my waxshedding ear canal, and ...well, pretty much everything.
12. Who do you miss most?
Deceased?
My mum.
Living?
Someone somewhere in scotland.
13. What was the last thing you ate?
Discounted Pasta and Bacon Salad from the co-op, and less than half price.
14. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Tsk. Another one of those whats your favourite colour questions? This is like having an interview with smash hits. Yes, We love our fans, they are the best. Wow, im zany. And yes, I am single. I just havent found the right girl yet, but shes out there somewhere...is she you?(So that Teenage non-threatening boyfriend magazine can stick me as their dreamboy*).Oh, crayons.Blunt, I guess.
* = nightmare.
15. What is the weather like right now?
Overcast. Cloudy. Dark.
16. Last person you talked to on the phone?
Giles, probably.
17. Do you wear contacts?
I don't like contacts/ do you know why?
Everytime you put one in / you poke yourself in the eye
(Ta to John Hegley for that)
18. Last Movie You Watched?
Revenge of the Sith. Wallace and Gromit.
19. Favorite Day of the Year?
None in particular.
20. Where Would You Want to Go on your Next Vacation?
Saltburn, Scotland or San Andreas. Failing that, Stirchley.
21.Favorite Smells?
Freshly cut grass.
22. What's the furthest you've been away from home?
Canary Islands I think.
And in other news, even though, ive been greatly looking forward to new DVD edition of Titanic, I won't be buying it. There is a reason
The Uk edition has only 2 discs, dropping all the 45 minutes of deleted scenes from disc 3 and the entire disc of extra's, retaining ONLY the 61 brief featurettes rather than anything else. Check the specs on the US edition on www.dvdcompare or the the fourth disc from the Scandanavian Release, and see why we are being bamboozled. And the removal of the feature length documentary on the making of the film - the single most important feature to make it worth buying in my opinion - practically negates any reason to buy it. Even if it does have "titanic in 30 seconds with Bunnies" on it. But the Disc does contain this
from 1:19:19 in the film for one frame only,a completely horrific and totally avoidable digital error, and sadly, shockingly lax quality control. Biggest grossing film of all time, ut still you let this through? 20th Century Fox have a lot to answer foe when a a completely horrendous and easily avoidable error on ALL Copies of the DVD goes through.
Meh, I've still no electricity in the flat, not until Wednesday at earliest, so im very limited in what I can do. More news laters.
Monday, November 07, 2005
I have the keys. (The Magic House Fairy did deliver, as i can attest).
Lots of work to do yet in terms of moving in - there's no electric, or gas, or anything, but it will all work out in a bit.
Just to make somethign clear - apparently in the toher post, it might be seen as me gloating. I'm not. They've wasted 45k on drugs and ruined two childrens lives, and abandoned everything, left it all behind. EVERYTHING. The council are reposessing the house, and they will clear it. Completely.
What the council will do is leave the house as barren and empty as the day they moved in eight years ago. Remove the curtains. Remove the fixtures, the fittings, the railings. Remove everythign that they deem "non standard". Remove the carpets. Remove all the furniture. Remove everything, from top to bottom.
They will take everything out of the house and throw it away and destroy it all.
In the meantime, I have to start from scratch with everything. If any of it can be put to a good use, there's no sense in let all this go to waste. It will only be destroyed otherwise.
Thats why I'm doing that. its not like being a herd of locusts swarming over the land devouring -its like rescuing perfectly usuable goods for my own use rather than having them destroyed , and me doing without.
Anyway, Im hugry, so im gonna go in a minute.
And , judging by the lack of comments here, does anyone read this? really? Is it worth me continuing my effort for Nanowrimo? Has anyone read any of it yet....and What do you think?
Lots of work to do yet in terms of moving in - there's no electric, or gas, or anything, but it will all work out in a bit.
Just to make somethign clear - apparently in the toher post, it might be seen as me gloating. I'm not. They've wasted 45k on drugs and ruined two childrens lives, and abandoned everything, left it all behind. EVERYTHING. The council are reposessing the house, and they will clear it. Completely.
What the council will do is leave the house as barren and empty as the day they moved in eight years ago. Remove the curtains. Remove the fixtures, the fittings, the railings. Remove everythign that they deem "non standard". Remove the carpets. Remove all the furniture. Remove everything, from top to bottom.
They will take everything out of the house and throw it away and destroy it all.
In the meantime, I have to start from scratch with everything. If any of it can be put to a good use, there's no sense in let all this go to waste. It will only be destroyed otherwise.
Thats why I'm doing that. its not like being a herd of locusts swarming over the land devouring -its like rescuing perfectly usuable goods for my own use rather than having them destroyed , and me doing without.
Anyway, Im hugry, so im gonna go in a minute.
And , judging by the lack of comments here, does anyone read this? really? Is it worth me continuing my effort for Nanowrimo? Has anyone read any of it yet....and What do you think?
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Well, I did view the flat. And I will be accepting it. this time next week, I should be sleeping there. In the meantime, there's been an awful lot going on. And an awful lot of work.
Firday was busy. Somewhere in the extended family, someone is no longer living there. Well, if you think my life is fucked up, try this: Marry someone 19 years older than you, who is a habitual and chronic drug user (lets face it, only two types of people buy Rizla's- those who can't afford cigarettes, and those who make their own with a special ingredient). Then Run up £45,000 worth of debts, change your name by deed poll, discover thats not working in keeping the wolf from the door, and then doublecross a bunch of bikers for £15,00 by running off to spain with their money they have paid you for something. Leaving the person you are married to behind in England, with the 2 children.
The first the other half heard about it was a phone call 2 days later. I'm abroad, they say, and I'm not coming back. If you want to see me or have a life with me, come here to be with me.
So the other half does. Ups sticks and leaves, abandoning everything. The arrest warrants are issued for unpaid fines, the housing benefit stopped, the repossession orders granted and by Wednesday, they'll be a bloody big padlock on the door. Then the local authority will go in and remove everything from the interior, destroy the entire house apart from the bare walls, chuck everything in the skip. Sofa, Beds, furniture, the kitchen, the fridge freezer, the cooker, the light fittings, everything, all to be destroyed. And the kids will suffer the most, displaced to a foreign country and left everything behind for what? The love of a bad person who had ruined their own and their entire families lives. They've left everyone else to deal with the mess.
So In the meantime, i should be getting the keys for the new place on Monday and then anything that is usuable best be transferred straight away, lest it be lost forever. At the moment, I expect it just to be a double bed, and some carpet maybe, if that. In a way it is a godsend, but its a senseless and heartbreaking way in which it has come about, and the uman cost of misery and displacement is incalcuable. it'll fuck up those innocent kids and psychologically scar them and change their lives.
What happens if they come back to England? They'll live in a hostel, and won't be housed by the council as they defaulted on payments for housing and thus made themselves intentionally homeless. And that is the height of irresponsibility - punishing kids of 3 and 5 who depend on you for everything because ot total selfishness and irresponsibility.
Good god, its heartless.
Anyway, Im over a friends and should be asleep, but I can't sleep.
And I can't wait to move. he next couple of weeks will be hellishly busy, so I dont expect to get much Nanowrimo done, but with 16,208 words done Im slightly ahead of schedule - roughly a week. i havent written anything since the 3rd, and If I can carry on at that rate once I start up again, it'd be great. And then I expect to have my blog added back to side=bars, out of embargo. And has anyone read any of it yet?
I'm still anxious and nervous about the impending move, but its for the good. And the best. And I can't wait. I know one day soon, I'll be able to shut that door behind me and be the happiest I've ever been. With a roof over my head and a beautiful daughter, I'll feel like the past 18 months of unemployment, seperation, rough sleeping, behind turend away from homeless hostels and a nervous breakdown will be behind me, and it'll be time to begin again, from scracth, a little older, a little wiser, and lot less likely to make the same mistakes again.
Take care x
Firday was busy. Somewhere in the extended family, someone is no longer living there. Well, if you think my life is fucked up, try this: Marry someone 19 years older than you, who is a habitual and chronic drug user (lets face it, only two types of people buy Rizla's- those who can't afford cigarettes, and those who make their own with a special ingredient). Then Run up £45,000 worth of debts, change your name by deed poll, discover thats not working in keeping the wolf from the door, and then doublecross a bunch of bikers for £15,00 by running off to spain with their money they have paid you for something. Leaving the person you are married to behind in England, with the 2 children.
The first the other half heard about it was a phone call 2 days later. I'm abroad, they say, and I'm not coming back. If you want to see me or have a life with me, come here to be with me.
So the other half does. Ups sticks and leaves, abandoning everything. The arrest warrants are issued for unpaid fines, the housing benefit stopped, the repossession orders granted and by Wednesday, they'll be a bloody big padlock on the door. Then the local authority will go in and remove everything from the interior, destroy the entire house apart from the bare walls, chuck everything in the skip. Sofa, Beds, furniture, the kitchen, the fridge freezer, the cooker, the light fittings, everything, all to be destroyed. And the kids will suffer the most, displaced to a foreign country and left everything behind for what? The love of a bad person who had ruined their own and their entire families lives. They've left everyone else to deal with the mess.
So In the meantime, i should be getting the keys for the new place on Monday and then anything that is usuable best be transferred straight away, lest it be lost forever. At the moment, I expect it just to be a double bed, and some carpet maybe, if that. In a way it is a godsend, but its a senseless and heartbreaking way in which it has come about, and the uman cost of misery and displacement is incalcuable. it'll fuck up those innocent kids and psychologically scar them and change their lives.
What happens if they come back to England? They'll live in a hostel, and won't be housed by the council as they defaulted on payments for housing and thus made themselves intentionally homeless. And that is the height of irresponsibility - punishing kids of 3 and 5 who depend on you for everything because ot total selfishness and irresponsibility.
Good god, its heartless.
Anyway, Im over a friends and should be asleep, but I can't sleep.
And I can't wait to move. he next couple of weeks will be hellishly busy, so I dont expect to get much Nanowrimo done, but with 16,208 words done Im slightly ahead of schedule - roughly a week. i havent written anything since the 3rd, and If I can carry on at that rate once I start up again, it'd be great. And then I expect to have my blog added back to side=bars, out of embargo. And has anyone read any of it yet?
I'm still anxious and nervous about the impending move, but its for the good. And the best. And I can't wait. I know one day soon, I'll be able to shut that door behind me and be the happiest I've ever been. With a roof over my head and a beautiful daughter, I'll feel like the past 18 months of unemployment, seperation, rough sleeping, behind turend away from homeless hostels and a nervous breakdown will be behind me, and it'll be time to begin again, from scracth, a little older, a little wiser, and lot less likely to make the same mistakes again.
Take care x
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Well, the council have got the keys back and this time tomorrow, I might have a new home. might have. Thank god.
What awaits me however, is a week of stripping wallpaper, painting, getting furniture, curtains, phoning up utility companies and so forth! Joy joy joy. It won;t be much, but it will be mine. And It will be worth it. As Virgina Wolfe once said, " A Room of One's Own"
fingers crossed. Thank god this is coming to an end and some good is happening.
x
What awaits me however, is a week of stripping wallpaper, painting, getting furniture, curtains, phoning up utility companies and so forth! Joy joy joy. It won;t be much, but it will be mine. And It will be worth it. As Virgina Wolfe once said, " A Room of One's Own"
fingers crossed. Thank god this is coming to an end and some good is happening.
x
Name someone with the same birthday as you
Oh, erm...hello Mark!
Where was your first kiss?
In an alleyway in the school playground.She was tall, thin and brunette. I was 9, and terrible.
Have you ever seriously vandalized someone else's property?
No.
Have you ever hit someone of the opposite sex?
Only when asked to during sex. Some people,like a bit of slap and tickle. Not really my bag, mind you. Wouldn't do it again.Also as part of foreplay, but we'll gloss over that one ahem...
Have you ever sang in front of a large group of people?
Yes. Its...unlike anything else yuou can ever imagine. nervwracking, exhilariating, and embarrasing as hell.
What's the first thing you notice about the preferred sex?
*BLUSHES* a pulse?
What really turns you on?
*BLUSHES* its rude.
What do you order at Starbucks?
The door. The only thing I do is starbucks is run in and use their toilets without being a paying customer.
What is your biggest mistake?
Taking months off sick and consequently Leaving home in 2000.
Have you ever hurt yourself on purpose?
Yes.
Say something totally random about yourself
Air guitar cures smog.
Has anyone ever said you look like a celebrity?
Yep. Miles Hunt. Tom Chemical. Steve lawson, but hes not a celebrity.
Do you still watch kiddy movies or tv shows?
Only if its Pixar, or has "lilo and stitch" in the title.
Did you have braces?
Yes. Still didnt cure my english teeth though.
Are you comfortable with your height?
Yep. Not too big, not too smalland I still get an ok view at gigs.
What is the most romantic thing someone has ever done for you?
(insert your own joke comedy answer here). Oh, Ok then. Rimming.
When do you know it's love?
When you wke up in the morning next to someone, all glowing and radiant , and its not because of the ready brek.
Do you speak any other languages?
Fluent bullshit and legalese.
Have you ever been to a tanning salon?
No. I'd rather go trepanning with a blunt rusty nail.
What magazines do you read?
Nexus, the hotbed of all conspiracy theories. the occasional copy of Q, Empire and so forth. And The Metro. Not forgetting the genius of London's best film magazine, take 1.
Have you ever ridden in a Limo?
Yes. A surprisingly underwhelming experience.
Has anyone you were really close to passed away?
Only last night, making movies in my head that never will be seen, holding oscars in my hand and kissing beauty queens...I was wondering who I would thank for thatinevitable Oscar awards ceremony where I would hold that gold statuette. And I seem to remember finishing it by saying "Dear mum, I wish you could see me now"
Do you watch MTV?
God, no. Not since it stopped being about music and started being about bling and bullshit. Not my thang.
What's something that really annoys you?
Bullshit. and Lies.
What's something you really like?
Sleep. Bed is my friend.
Do you like Michael Jackson?
Talented. Infantile. Insane. No.
Can you dance?
You've seen me dance haven't you? its shocking. i dance like my dad at staus quo concerts - badly, very very badly.
What's the latest you have ever stayed up?
All around the clock and then some.My record for going without sleep currently is 42 hours. By that point the wall was talking to me in the voice of Phil Oakey from the Human league, and I think that was a sign. Not a good one, neither.
Have you ever been rushed by an ambulance to the emergency room?
Yes.I don't reccommend it. Suspected heart attack, chest pains at 27? Erm..not good.
Do you read these when someone fills them out?
Yep. Dont you?
Oh, erm...hello Mark!
Where was your first kiss?
In an alleyway in the school playground.She was tall, thin and brunette. I was 9, and terrible.
Have you ever seriously vandalized someone else's property?
No.
Have you ever hit someone of the opposite sex?
Only when asked to during sex. Some people,like a bit of slap and tickle. Not really my bag, mind you. Wouldn't do it again.Also as part of foreplay, but we'll gloss over that one ahem...
Have you ever sang in front of a large group of people?
Yes. Its...unlike anything else yuou can ever imagine. nervwracking, exhilariating, and embarrasing as hell.
What's the first thing you notice about the preferred sex?
*BLUSHES* a pulse?
What really turns you on?
*BLUSHES* its rude.
What do you order at Starbucks?
The door. The only thing I do is starbucks is run in and use their toilets without being a paying customer.
What is your biggest mistake?
Taking months off sick and consequently Leaving home in 2000.
Have you ever hurt yourself on purpose?
Yes.
Say something totally random about yourself
Air guitar cures smog.
Has anyone ever said you look like a celebrity?
Yep. Miles Hunt. Tom Chemical. Steve lawson, but hes not a celebrity.
Do you still watch kiddy movies or tv shows?
Only if its Pixar, or has "lilo and stitch" in the title.
Did you have braces?
Yes. Still didnt cure my english teeth though.
Are you comfortable with your height?
Yep. Not too big, not too smalland I still get an ok view at gigs.
What is the most romantic thing someone has ever done for you?
(insert your own joke comedy answer here). Oh, Ok then. Rimming.
When do you know it's love?
When you wke up in the morning next to someone, all glowing and radiant , and its not because of the ready brek.
Do you speak any other languages?
Fluent bullshit and legalese.
Have you ever been to a tanning salon?
No. I'd rather go trepanning with a blunt rusty nail.
What magazines do you read?
Nexus, the hotbed of all conspiracy theories. the occasional copy of Q, Empire and so forth. And The Metro. Not forgetting the genius of London's best film magazine, take 1.
Have you ever ridden in a Limo?
Yes. A surprisingly underwhelming experience.
Has anyone you were really close to passed away?
Only last night, making movies in my head that never will be seen, holding oscars in my hand and kissing beauty queens...I was wondering who I would thank for thatinevitable Oscar awards ceremony where I would hold that gold statuette. And I seem to remember finishing it by saying "Dear mum, I wish you could see me now"
Do you watch MTV?
God, no. Not since it stopped being about music and started being about bling and bullshit. Not my thang.
What's something that really annoys you?
Bullshit. and Lies.
What's something you really like?
Sleep. Bed is my friend.
Do you like Michael Jackson?
Talented. Infantile. Insane. No.
Can you dance?
You've seen me dance haven't you? its shocking. i dance like my dad at staus quo concerts - badly, very very badly.
What's the latest you have ever stayed up?
All around the clock and then some.My record for going without sleep currently is 42 hours. By that point the wall was talking to me in the voice of Phil Oakey from the Human league, and I think that was a sign. Not a good one, neither.
Have you ever been rushed by an ambulance to the emergency room?
Yes.I don't reccommend it. Suspected heart attack, chest pains at 27? Erm..not good.
Do you read these when someone fills them out?
Yep. Dont you?
16,208. sometimes I feel I could leave it to write itself, except that I actually have to be there. I reckon Im about a third of the way through, and maybe I'm just top loading it so I get as much done before the move as possible, but who knows?
At this rate, I expect to be finished by the weekend. Just which weekend, I don't know.
Aside from the first chapter (which is up sort of as a flavour so you know what to expect and whetehr you want to read the rest) I don't expect to see it uploaded until its finished and at least revised, rather than just a first draft. But it doesn't feel much like a first draft to me.
Anyway, gotta dash
G
At this rate, I expect to be finished by the weekend. Just which weekend, I don't know.
Aside from the first chapter (which is up sort of as a flavour so you know what to expect and whetehr you want to read the rest) I don't expect to see it uploaded until its finished and at least revised, rather than just a first draft. But it doesn't feel much like a first draft to me.
Anyway, gotta dash
G
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Well,i started the thing for NanoWriMo.
It's Called "The Sleepwalker" at the moment, And Already ive got myself in a pickle.
Becuase Ive written 11, 208 words. hey that was fast. Took me Eight hours at a brisk rate of four hours per day. I'm most productive at night it seems - between midnight and Four AM I reckon. Anyway, the first bit is up now.
Im surprised so far how easy it has been to get it started and to write. Ive foundlittle things happening I never expected- referencing within the story,people doing stuff I hadnt anticipated but still in character, things like that.And Once I get in the headspace, it just all comes together.
But whoops,have i got enough story to go around to hit 50,000? maybe if I add a few more bits and pieces here and there.I know Im ahead of schedule but Im worried about simply running out of plot.I'll just have to make sure I don't rush it,keep the pace measured and realistic.
Surprisngly, i dont have a big plan for it.Just a series of events that have to happen in order for the story to work out as i intend to be. In order for Y to happen , it has to logically follow on from X, and so forth. Though I have disappointed myself by completely ignoring chapter four, because I had the sudden urge to write Chapter five instead. I have to go back and finish it- well, start it.
And anyone who knows my taste in films will be surprised to know that there's no spaceships, murders, death rays, aliens, or car chases. Honest.
And yes, i do expect tears before the end from me. Some of itwill be ...difficult to write.This is because, even though it is not autobiographical (not by anymeans), some of what happens in the story has happened to me too.Well, they do tell you to write about what you know.
Oh, and I havent even told you about the mattress, the ASBO dodging chavs on the train station, the residents meetings, the babylon 5 videos, and the truck crash......
It's Called "The Sleepwalker" at the moment, And Already ive got myself in a pickle.
Becuase Ive written 11, 208 words. hey that was fast. Took me Eight hours at a brisk rate of four hours per day. I'm most productive at night it seems - between midnight and Four AM I reckon. Anyway, the first bit is up now.
Im surprised so far how easy it has been to get it started and to write. Ive foundlittle things happening I never expected- referencing within the story,people doing stuff I hadnt anticipated but still in character, things like that.And Once I get in the headspace, it just all comes together.
But whoops,have i got enough story to go around to hit 50,000? maybe if I add a few more bits and pieces here and there.I know Im ahead of schedule but Im worried about simply running out of plot.I'll just have to make sure I don't rush it,keep the pace measured and realistic.
Surprisngly, i dont have a big plan for it.Just a series of events that have to happen in order for the story to work out as i intend to be. In order for Y to happen , it has to logically follow on from X, and so forth. Though I have disappointed myself by completely ignoring chapter four, because I had the sudden urge to write Chapter five instead. I have to go back and finish it- well, start it.
And anyone who knows my taste in films will be surprised to know that there's no spaceships, murders, death rays, aliens, or car chases. Honest.
And yes, i do expect tears before the end from me. Some of itwill be ...difficult to write.This is because, even though it is not autobiographical (not by anymeans), some of what happens in the story has happened to me too.Well, they do tell you to write about what you know.
Oh, and I havent even told you about the mattress, the ASBO dodging chavs on the train station, the residents meetings, the babylon 5 videos, and the truck crash......
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