For the second time in ten years, I found myself commuting into town during rush hour yesterday. You'll recall, perhaps, that I made an unnecessary journey last week in order to attend a Seminar on Self-employment, but turned up a week early.
The trip was fraught, I was running late because bethan decided to wake up just as I was about to leave, but I still managed to get there just before the end of the introductions - not late enough to miss the usual "getting to know you" introductions from everyone. The Seminar started at 9:15, which is the exact time that radio 2's breakfast show does its God Slot, "Pause for thought". Sometimes these can be quite amusing, but mostly they're a dull interruption to Wogan's giggly banter.
Today, however, I was sat on the train, begging it to pull into the station before Pause For Thought started. I was practically bouncing in my seat as the head of the Sally Army was introduced and rambled on about some spiritual implication or other from the London bombings. I was staring frantically out of the window as the song that always follows Pause For Thought ended, jumping out of my seat as the 20 foot high arches that marked the approach to my station flew past the window. Despite agonising gout, I managed to almost leap up the million and a half stairs to street level and shambled up the road looking for all the world like Quasimodo without the back problem.
For half a second, I considered stopping at a rather nice baguette shop for breakfast, but decided on a chewing gum instead and hurried past, not relishing the painful quarter mile, agonising hike ahead of me.
Well, I turned up, not quite dishevelled, but drenched in sweat, almost on the stroke of half-past, praying that things held true to form and the start of the seminar had been delayed. It had. When I finally reached my 7th floor destination, the chap who greeted us said it had only just begun. Phew.
What followed was an exceptionally dull, but vitally important presentation on every aspect of making a success of starting your own business. We broke for biscuits (Oh joyful breakfast of digestives and custard dreams!) and a drink - I don't do coffee or tea, not because of any high minded ideals about caffeine intake, just that my IBS precludes me from drinking milk (the results are not pretty and definitely come under the heading "Too Much Information")- so it was off to the water cooler for me. When I returned, I got into a chat with a couple of other enrepreneurs (Ha! Me, an entrepreneur! As. If.). During the chat, when I determined that I would hand out my email address and phone number to them, I had a few braiwaves as to an angle I could use to promote my business.
You see, dear reader, there are a lot of clueless people on the internet. There's people out there who don't even know how to use Google. There's people who click on each and every link in their emails, and who wouldn't know a phishing email if it jumped up and bit them on the bum.
Most of them tend to use AOL.
Also, there's the vast majority of people who shove their wonderful, expensive, far-more-powerful-than-the-computers-that-sent-Armstrong-to-the-moon PC's stuck in an antisocial corner of the living room and only switch it on to play a game, or book a holiday, or buy a bunch of crap off ebay - naming no names (my sister).
As far as I know, it's just me and a bunch of geeks in bedsits that use their computers to their best potential.
My PC sits next to the sofa - OK, that's not strictly true. The monitor, keyboard and mouse are next to the sofa, connected by five metre extension wires (I've had wireless keyboards and mice and they're crap) to the main box which sits on the opposite side of the fireplace, within easy reach of the TV, which it is connected to from the TV-out socket of my MPEG card. It's draped with an old check blanket - the kind that middle aged people put on the back seat of their cars to stop the dog getting mud all over the seat - acting as a rather effective noise reduction device. The PC is our DVD player, Radio, Hi-Fi, home office, photo gallery, mobile phone charger and organiser, entertainment station, games machine, kids toy, shopping mall, font of all wisdom and communication device. If I gave it a bit more effort, it could also be our phone and video recorder. With a second, very expensive widescreen LCD monitor, it could even replace the TV entirely.
It's also the docking station for our digital cameras, a video editing and production suite and quite a few other things that I can't think of right now.
You see, I like getting the most out of the things I buy. I don't like seeing things going to waste, or not being used for what they're meant to be used for - unless it's washing line offcuts (which, for reasons I'll leave to your imagination, finds its way into the bedroom).
So, my plans have solidified somewhat. I'm going to need a website, and some business cards, and a logo, and a full driving license and ideally a laptop with a mobile internet link. There'll be a grand unveiling soon when I've got everything solidified, but I won't say any more until then.
Now, all this costs money, so where does that come from? Luckily, there's a few local Enterprise schemes who lend money to new businesses, one of which specifically operates in Kings Heath, so i have to build a kickass Business Plan and tailor a presentation just for them, explaining everything I'm going to be doing, everything I'm already doing, advertising and customer retention plans, budgetting breakdowns and break even forecasts, then they'll give me a couple of thousand quid to start me off. The relaxing bit is that all through the seminar, the presenter kept referring to £2-3000 as "not much", so the £3000 I need should be a walk in the park.
Then the fun begins - do I register for VAT? When do I become a registered company? What do I do before passing my test? How much do I siphon off in order to live? How much do I charge? I dunno, whatever!
But what I do know is I'm nearly there. Big sigh of relief.
Who'd work for someone else when being Self-Employed is this much fun? Just don't ask me anything about VAT. They tried to explain it, they really did, but it's just baffling.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
We're watching this at the moment: Supermarket Secrets on Channel 4.
Yeah, OK, it's emotive and edited for shock value, but I don't care. If it's even close, then I'm gonna be saving up and shopping at Farmer's Markets from now on!
Yeah, OK, it's emotive and edited for shock value, but I don't care. If it's even close, then I'm gonna be saving up and shopping at Farmer's Markets from now on!
Kings Heath, ten minutes ago.
A tornado did it. Oh yes.
It cut a swathe from Small Heath, hotbed of terrorist activity, in a straight line to Kings Heath, where it totalled the Iceland store, a Greggs bakers and a cheapo Greetings Card store.
My humble abode is barely three or four miles from Kings Heath. We saw a huge black raincloud, heard some thunder and had a tiny bit of rain. My mum, another couple of miles away got a deluge, with the rain flooding the road and garages and almost flooding her house.
And all the news can concentrate on is the IRA announcing their disbanding. Humph.
Here's some selected comments from the BBC's talkback page:
"This is amazing. Just how many millions worth of improvements to Birmingham did that tornado cause?"
"I was really scared. I thought we were under attack but then realised it was a Twister and just stuck it out out as best I could in the circumstances."
"Me and my fiance Dan were there when the tornado hit looking to buy a wedding dress. The sky went dark, there was a loud crash and one of the windows smashed. I was very frightened and have never had an experience like it."
"We all sat around the window watching it pass by our office, drinking a nice cup of tea. We were drinking the tea, not the tornado."
Bru Miscum
Man, this was a bostin' storm! I was in Greggs havin' a double pasty then b4 I knew it, my missus almost had her earrings blown out - there was sausage rolls flyin down the street and pies hittin the window and everythin. BOSTIN!
Shail Chohan
I'd just cashed my giro and was sitting in the Wetherspoons in Moseley spending it. All of a sudden I saw a woman fly past the window - someone said it was a tornado. I couldn't belive my eyes.
Wilf Skinner
I was having an afternoon nap, when i was awoken by a loud crash. When I looked outside the garden fence had gone, and the willow tree was ripped from the ground. The neighbours chimney stack was completely destroyed. And the local schools roof has collapsed.
richard lucas
it were bad arr
Mr Jolly
It's what's called an 'Act of God'. It's in revenge for the terrorist evil-doers in our midst.
BENNY B
I WAS WERY WERY SCARED I WAS
Mr Hanjit Batweenie
We were looking out the window and big funnel went past, my wife almost wet herself! It went through our backgarden and took the goat!
Ben Waddington
Kings Norton 2pm. I popped over the road for some Quavers, noting the sky had turned purple black. Just managed to get home before heavy rain... no idea Kings Heath was being destroyed down the road.
Jon Gould
My bus goes through all of the affected areas - kings heath, billesley, stratford road. I'm stranded now!
Steve
It was like being in a mad weather film. A tile whistled past my head and hit a dog. The dog thankfully is fine.
jamie
this is Kings Heath, and not small heath, when are you at the BBC going to ever get anything right?
John Sherwood
Locals have already named it 'Hurricane Firkin'
Jake
Since the storm we have a numerous amount of baguettes in our garden !!! Wish they were hot pasties though.
Tobes
Oh my God! I was sitting at my desk as normal and then everyone in the office was crowding at the windows... we could see the tornado moving towards us, people were panicking and then we saw a roof being ripped off of a building. It's like a scene from 'The Day After Tomorrow'. I still can't believe it!
William Thomas-Harman
It became very dark and there were brief violent showers when sudenly strong winds started to blow so i went into a camera shop (near gregs) where i saw a woman being knocked over by a sign and a teenage boy nearly being crushed by a tree by allsaints, the storm stopped abruptly and it became warm and humid again. over all it was a horrible experience
Jake
It's nice and sunny from where i am sitting in Birmingham Central. Am I missing something?
Dorothy
I was having a nap and all of a sudden the house was flying through the air, the wicked witch of the west took my dog toto and now I'm lost. I'm following a yellow brick road now but i don't know where it leads to.... wait there's a scarecrow here who's going to show me the way.
BEN LAMBOURNE
IT WAS REALLY WINDY, THEN I SAW A RAINBOW!
Richard Chavesty
I was walking down to greggs to get my daily steak bake when the wind started to pick up. I could tell something was wrong. The wind got so bad, I ran into an alley, I was so scared. I still haven't had my steak bake!
Steve Spoffman
I saw the clouds converging and the sky was rendered a kind of yellowish colour, rather like a large light bulb in the sky. I tried running towards it to see if I could catch it up and film it close up with my phone, but I suppose that I might have been hurt or maybe injured. Instead, I ran away from it and was too scared to film it in case it got angry, changed direction and came after me! That would have been funny!
Karl
I saw a cow, then another cow. It was the same one ...
steve
i got hit and it hurt like hell.i didnt know what was happening this is so bad. ihope i get a new roof for free though.
mr bruce
I just drove past st andrews - its gone!
john doom
it as awful...all i saw was burberry caps flying everywhere....all the chavs from Kings heath were lifted into the air and swallowed by the huge tornado of death
Majestic wine Hagley road
Flooded road,flooded store,and an old man stranded in road,wet staff,looks like time for a drink
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
To lighten the mood, Charlie doesn't do sarcasm:
When I say to her, in exasperated tones, at 8am on a school day "why don't you have another half hour in bed?" I don't expect to have to be waking her back up at 8:25.
And if I say "Aw to hell with the diet that's seen us both shed pounds like people who live in saunas and jog a lot, let's phone for a pizza" I don't expect her to ask what the number is.
Don't women know when not to take men literally?? Sheesh!
When I say to her, in exasperated tones, at 8am on a school day "why don't you have another half hour in bed?" I don't expect to have to be waking her back up at 8:25.
And if I say "Aw to hell with the diet that's seen us both shed pounds like people who live in saunas and jog a lot, let's phone for a pizza" I don't expect her to ask what the number is.
Don't women know when not to take men literally?? Sheesh!
In reply to comments:
What could have been done to prevent the execution of Jean Charles de Menezes?
If I knew that, I'd be Commissioner of the Met and not an IT nerd.
All I know is that they'd been tailing him and they probably knew who he was, so they knew he was Brazilian - remember he was here on a student visa, so they'd have him on easily accessible picture records. One snapshot of his face to the right department and hey presto.
Now, in Brazil, if a couple of dozen people with guns start challenging you, you run pal. According to the reports, plainclothed armed police don't need to identify themselves. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. His gut reaction would have been to get the fuck outta Dodge. And our brave Bobby's gut reaction was to execute him.
He was a victim of misunderstood culture perhaps, or overzealous policing, or maybe the chap who blew his head off was just following orders, or maybe he and the police just made tragic mistakes. Maybe the policeman who did it is burning in his own hell right now.
I'm not apportioning blame and I'm not proposing an alternative. Before I even knew if this guy was a terrorist or not, I was condemning what happened to him. And I'll keep on condemning it. "Shoot to kill" policies are wrong. They're wrong in America, they're wrong when the killer is employed by Coca Cola or the Metropolitan Police or the LAPD. State sanctioned murder is wrong, end of story.
If we go around popping caps in the asses (or brains) of anyone who we suspect might be a terrorist, or who acts in a way that makes us believe he's a terrorist, or just pisses us off when we happen to have a gun in our hands and twenty friends to back us up, I can't see how that makes us any better than the people we're ostensibly at war with.
Like I said not too long ago, every person our government kills gives our "enemies" another reason to hate us, another justification for their actions, more converts to their cause.
How is this episode different to wading into Afghanistan and killing or imprisoning everyone who we think might be part of Al Qaida? How is it different to invading Iraq and allowing your citizens to believe a lie in order to easily justify the murders you commit?
Because he might have been a bad guy? because he might have been about to blow up a few dozen of our fellow commuters?
Sorry, I need more than "might have been"'s before I pull the trigger.
What could have been done to prevent the execution of Jean Charles de Menezes?
If I knew that, I'd be Commissioner of the Met and not an IT nerd.
All I know is that they'd been tailing him and they probably knew who he was, so they knew he was Brazilian - remember he was here on a student visa, so they'd have him on easily accessible picture records. One snapshot of his face to the right department and hey presto.
Now, in Brazil, if a couple of dozen people with guns start challenging you, you run pal. According to the reports, plainclothed armed police don't need to identify themselves. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. His gut reaction would have been to get the fuck outta Dodge. And our brave Bobby's gut reaction was to execute him.
He was a victim of misunderstood culture perhaps, or overzealous policing, or maybe the chap who blew his head off was just following orders, or maybe he and the police just made tragic mistakes. Maybe the policeman who did it is burning in his own hell right now.
I'm not apportioning blame and I'm not proposing an alternative. Before I even knew if this guy was a terrorist or not, I was condemning what happened to him. And I'll keep on condemning it. "Shoot to kill" policies are wrong. They're wrong in America, they're wrong when the killer is employed by Coca Cola or the Metropolitan Police or the LAPD. State sanctioned murder is wrong, end of story.
If we go around popping caps in the asses (or brains) of anyone who we suspect might be a terrorist, or who acts in a way that makes us believe he's a terrorist, or just pisses us off when we happen to have a gun in our hands and twenty friends to back us up, I can't see how that makes us any better than the people we're ostensibly at war with.
Like I said not too long ago, every person our government kills gives our "enemies" another reason to hate us, another justification for their actions, more converts to their cause.
How is this episode different to wading into Afghanistan and killing or imprisoning everyone who we think might be part of Al Qaida? How is it different to invading Iraq and allowing your citizens to believe a lie in order to easily justify the murders you commit?
Because he might have been a bad guy? because he might have been about to blow up a few dozen of our fellow commuters?
Sorry, I need more than "might have been"'s before I pull the trigger.
Saturday, July 23, 2005
He had nothing to do with it!
Of all the outcomes, of all the results this disgusting episode could have, this has to be the worst possible.
He could turn out to have been planning to travel up to Birmingham and blow me up tomorrow and I'd still defend his right not to die like that.
Innocent till proved guilty? Not anymore.
I went shopping today - with my usual huge, 70 litre rucksack. It was only as I walked from the chippy to the supermarket with it heavy and bulging on my back that I realised that I could feel surreptitious eyes on me. I saw a Sainsbury's security guard do a small double take out of the corner of my eye.
I think I may be doing my shopping in small pieces after today.
Of all the outcomes, of all the results this disgusting episode could have, this has to be the worst possible.
He could turn out to have been planning to travel up to Birmingham and blow me up tomorrow and I'd still defend his right not to die like that.
Innocent till proved guilty? Not anymore.
I went shopping today - with my usual huge, 70 litre rucksack. It was only as I walked from the chippy to the supermarket with it heavy and bulging on my back that I realised that I could feel surreptitious eyes on me. I saw a Sainsbury's security guard do a small double take out of the corner of my eye.
I think I may be doing my shopping in small pieces after today.
According to the horse's mouth, there's a new Seafort novel out soon!
That banging sound is me bouncing up and down and celebrating in a very immature way!
That banging sound is me bouncing up and down and celebrating in a very immature way!
My meeting with the paperpushers didn't go as planned. The commute to Birmingham, only eight miles - ten minutes on the train - but the first time I've done it for over ten years, went like clockwork. I even had half an hour to waste.
When i got there, my name wasn't down at reception, and the hairs on the back of my neck start sticking up. Someone's made a boo-boo and I think it might have been me.
Indeed it was me. I'm actually booked in for next Friday.
Ah crap!
And that clashes with two important things: the deadline for paying the phone bill and my rearranged first driving lesson.
Nothing I can do about the phone bill, but I phoned the Driving school and booked a new lesson. Luckily, I actually managed to get it booked for the day before, so not all was a disaster.
I've also been in touch with the Inland Revenue about signing off from the dole and declaring myself a low-earning self-employed person claiming Working Tax Credit. Their rules say i can earn up to £100 per week and still claim £45 Tax Credit off them, which would mean on the weeks I earn nothing, I get an amount that's eight pounds less than if I was signing on. It's not a particularly huge cut to take and I'm seriously considering it, but I think I might just wait for the outcome of the paperpushing morning next Friday before making a decision.
Also, we've been given a Holiday by my Mum. It's booked for the second week of the new term, but what the hell, it's a break we wouldn't normally have had. Now I have a deadline for passing my test. Seven weeks, I've got. Somehow, barring a miracle and a hitherto undiscovered natural affinity for driving, I don't think I'm going to manage it. Oh well. Trains and Taxis it is again.
Things are moving, things are all on the brink of being achieved. If everything goes well then our lives get so much incredibly easier. Cross your fingers for us, won't you? And keep reading to find out how it all goes.
I really think I should go to sleep now. We're off to the park tomorrow to fly kites and play football. We may even take a trip to a Farmers Market and pick up some Wild Boar sausages, or maybe an Ostrich Burger or two. Ah, the rare joys of family life.
Nytol...
When i got there, my name wasn't down at reception, and the hairs on the back of my neck start sticking up. Someone's made a boo-boo and I think it might have been me.
Indeed it was me. I'm actually booked in for next Friday.
Ah crap!
And that clashes with two important things: the deadline for paying the phone bill and my rearranged first driving lesson.
Nothing I can do about the phone bill, but I phoned the Driving school and booked a new lesson. Luckily, I actually managed to get it booked for the day before, so not all was a disaster.
I've also been in touch with the Inland Revenue about signing off from the dole and declaring myself a low-earning self-employed person claiming Working Tax Credit. Their rules say i can earn up to £100 per week and still claim £45 Tax Credit off them, which would mean on the weeks I earn nothing, I get an amount that's eight pounds less than if I was signing on. It's not a particularly huge cut to take and I'm seriously considering it, but I think I might just wait for the outcome of the paperpushing morning next Friday before making a decision.
Also, we've been given a Holiday by my Mum. It's booked for the second week of the new term, but what the hell, it's a break we wouldn't normally have had. Now I have a deadline for passing my test. Seven weeks, I've got. Somehow, barring a miracle and a hitherto undiscovered natural affinity for driving, I don't think I'm going to manage it. Oh well. Trains and Taxis it is again.
Things are moving, things are all on the brink of being achieved. If everything goes well then our lives get so much incredibly easier. Cross your fingers for us, won't you? And keep reading to find out how it all goes.
I really think I should go to sleep now. We're off to the park tomorrow to fly kites and play football. We may even take a trip to a Farmers Market and pick up some Wild Boar sausages, or maybe an Ostrich Burger or two. Ah, the rare joys of family life.
Nytol...
I'm sorry, I thought I was living in Britain.
I'd love to think that I don't live in a country where armed police chase a bloke onto a train, trip him up then pump bullets into his brain infront of a carriage full of passengers.
I'm wrong, however.
You know, even if the guy was wearing a TNT overcoat, even if he was a bona fide terrorist intent on blowing up as many people as possible, I can't help feeling that this really wasn't the way to stop him, y'know?
I hate guns. I really do. I've shot an air rifle or two in my time and that's all well and dandy, but I was also living in Birmingham City Centre at the time of the G7 conference when Bill Clinton had a pint in a pub not half a mile from my flat. There were policemen with machine guns on the corner of my road. That disturbed me greatly.
British police don't carry guns. It's so out of character that it makes you stare, it makes you scared. You piss off a British bobby and he can pump you full of 20 rounds per second. I mean jeez!
And then this. Executed. Pushed to the floor and shot, shot, shot, shot and shot again. By a British Bobby.
It's just wrong. That's not the country I live in.
It's all very well having websites declaring "We're not scared" but what kind of emotion makes someone do that to a suspect? How scared of what that guy might do were we if we can ratify that kind of death?
I can click a link and see the faces of eight suicide bombers. Four of them are still alive. One of them was not the bloke who got executed yesterday. I'm not comfortable with that. You open the pictures, you watch the CCTV and the home videos of these normal looking people, average joes going about their business, and you try and grasp the intent going through their minds. You try and square up the actions of these normal people and the knowledge that in their heads, they want to kill all the people they meet. They want to die in a blaze of martyred glory in the name of whatever it is they believe.
I understand that one of this Thursday's bombers stood next to a mother and baby. he looked into that baby's face and knew he was going to kill it. It's incomprehensible. I just can't take it in.
And beside all this, life goes on. On the street just next to the Tube station where the guy was executed, everything appeared to be carrying on as normal. The scrolling news ticker on my taskbar keeps on rolling around all the Big Brother and TV news I've set it to show. But we know, we all know that right in our midst are people who the Police believe need to be cornered and shot in the head repeatedly.
I can't look at society in the same way again. I've suggested before that we're living with the enemy. That actually the government who rules us are just as much the bad guys as the terrorists. And although I know that extreme times force good people to do bad things, I can't help thinking that a line has been crossed. Not now, but a while back. we're living in dark times where no-one is right and everyone's a target because the State decided to make it's citizens the enemy too.
I said it a long time ago, and I'm seeing it reiterated over and again: For every extremist you kill, Mr Bush, Mr Blair, you create a family of anti-christian, anti-western extremists. You create another figurehead, another martyr for your enemies to justify their actions in the name of.
There's a scene in one Doctor Who story where the Doctor strides out into the middle of a big gunfight and yells "There will be no more killing here today!". I love that scene. I wish someone would do that, could do that.
Where is it all going to end? Answers on a postcard to the usual address.
I'd love to think that I don't live in a country where armed police chase a bloke onto a train, trip him up then pump bullets into his brain infront of a carriage full of passengers.
I'm wrong, however.
You know, even if the guy was wearing a TNT overcoat, even if he was a bona fide terrorist intent on blowing up as many people as possible, I can't help feeling that this really wasn't the way to stop him, y'know?
I hate guns. I really do. I've shot an air rifle or two in my time and that's all well and dandy, but I was also living in Birmingham City Centre at the time of the G7 conference when Bill Clinton had a pint in a pub not half a mile from my flat. There were policemen with machine guns on the corner of my road. That disturbed me greatly.
British police don't carry guns. It's so out of character that it makes you stare, it makes you scared. You piss off a British bobby and he can pump you full of 20 rounds per second. I mean jeez!
And then this. Executed. Pushed to the floor and shot, shot, shot, shot and shot again. By a British Bobby.
It's just wrong. That's not the country I live in.
It's all very well having websites declaring "We're not scared" but what kind of emotion makes someone do that to a suspect? How scared of what that guy might do were we if we can ratify that kind of death?
I can click a link and see the faces of eight suicide bombers. Four of them are still alive. One of them was not the bloke who got executed yesterday. I'm not comfortable with that. You open the pictures, you watch the CCTV and the home videos of these normal looking people, average joes going about their business, and you try and grasp the intent going through their minds. You try and square up the actions of these normal people and the knowledge that in their heads, they want to kill all the people they meet. They want to die in a blaze of martyred glory in the name of whatever it is they believe.
I understand that one of this Thursday's bombers stood next to a mother and baby. he looked into that baby's face and knew he was going to kill it. It's incomprehensible. I just can't take it in.
And beside all this, life goes on. On the street just next to the Tube station where the guy was executed, everything appeared to be carrying on as normal. The scrolling news ticker on my taskbar keeps on rolling around all the Big Brother and TV news I've set it to show. But we know, we all know that right in our midst are people who the Police believe need to be cornered and shot in the head repeatedly.
I can't look at society in the same way again. I've suggested before that we're living with the enemy. That actually the government who rules us are just as much the bad guys as the terrorists. And although I know that extreme times force good people to do bad things, I can't help thinking that a line has been crossed. Not now, but a while back. we're living in dark times where no-one is right and everyone's a target because the State decided to make it's citizens the enemy too.
I said it a long time ago, and I'm seeing it reiterated over and again: For every extremist you kill, Mr Bush, Mr Blair, you create a family of anti-christian, anti-western extremists. You create another figurehead, another martyr for your enemies to justify their actions in the name of.
There's a scene in one Doctor Who story where the Doctor strides out into the middle of a big gunfight and yells "There will be no more killing here today!". I love that scene. I wish someone would do that, could do that.
Where is it all going to end? Answers on a postcard to the usual address.
Friday, July 22, 2005
In five hours I have to commute into Birmingham in the rush hour, on a train for the first time in over a decade.
I worked in town once for a month, temping for Sun Alliance. Filing in a basement that gave people Asbestos poisoning. My line manager had just come back from three month's sick leave - chest problems.
After two weeks, I found myself running up a hill, dangerously out of breath. I had to take a puff of my girlfriend-of-the-time's asthma inhaler. I scheduled a doctors' appointment and told my boss. He tried to have me sacked. I argued and won. They put me in the mail room instead. After a couple of weeks of that, I'd had enough - especially as the office scuttlebutt did it's usual work and I ended up hearing all the sordid tales the staff could come up with.
But tomorrow it's just a one-off. I'm off to play paperchase with the nice people at the Chamber of Commerce who are going to help me compile a Business Plan for my IT Consultancy and hopefully secure me a startup grant (or loan, I'm not quite sure which).
I'm chuffing my little socks off! This is not just a golden opportunity, but a platinum one. This is the oasis in the middle of the Sahara. My best (and possibly only) chance to really get things flying on my grand plan!
So why aren't I wrapped up in my bed, snoring my little entrepreneurial head off?
Because I'm a bone fide webmaster and the site needs tweaking.
I'm not going to post a link tot he site because I've had to do it under my real name and I value my anonymity. Sorry. Suffice to say it's the church I used to go to a million years ago. My Dad's a Deacon and is being a revelation. Now I remember exactly why I left. The inability to see outside the confines of their little patch of England is quite breathtaking. I've argued on my doorstep with him tonight over whether or not I can use the phrase "in the heart of" - he'd prefer "just on the border with X and Y, a few yards from the train station".
I tried pointing out that someone in Ghana wouldn't give a toss where X, Y or ABC were, but he wouldn't budge. doesn't matter that just one click away from this "heart of X" is a detailed description and a MAP of where they are...Oh no, "If we prefer accuracy over what's right, doesn't that say something about us?" Yes father, it speaks volumes about who they accept as Deacons and it says plenty about the unimaginative anal repressive pedantry that pushed me away from the damn place thirteen years ago, leaving behind some of my best - and most misguided - friends in the process. Rather than argue the case for ones' own point of view, they'd rather keel over and play dead to the percieved might of the council of members. Well crap to that. Let them explain their decisions - and if I think they're right, I'll concede. If not, then it's time for mister diplomacy to play his magic.
Anyway, I'm off to do some decidedly non-christian activities, then I'm off to my cot. I'll let you know how the paper pushing session goes.
And mark my words, I'll not be sitting next to anyone with a smelly, bulging rucksack.
I worked in town once for a month, temping for Sun Alliance. Filing in a basement that gave people Asbestos poisoning. My line manager had just come back from three month's sick leave - chest problems.
After two weeks, I found myself running up a hill, dangerously out of breath. I had to take a puff of my girlfriend-of-the-time's asthma inhaler. I scheduled a doctors' appointment and told my boss. He tried to have me sacked. I argued and won. They put me in the mail room instead. After a couple of weeks of that, I'd had enough - especially as the office scuttlebutt did it's usual work and I ended up hearing all the sordid tales the staff could come up with.
But tomorrow it's just a one-off. I'm off to play paperchase with the nice people at the Chamber of Commerce who are going to help me compile a Business Plan for my IT Consultancy and hopefully secure me a startup grant (or loan, I'm not quite sure which).
I'm chuffing my little socks off! This is not just a golden opportunity, but a platinum one. This is the oasis in the middle of the Sahara. My best (and possibly only) chance to really get things flying on my grand plan!
So why aren't I wrapped up in my bed, snoring my little entrepreneurial head off?
Because I'm a bone fide webmaster and the site needs tweaking.
I'm not going to post a link tot he site because I've had to do it under my real name and I value my anonymity. Sorry. Suffice to say it's the church I used to go to a million years ago. My Dad's a Deacon and is being a revelation. Now I remember exactly why I left. The inability to see outside the confines of their little patch of England is quite breathtaking. I've argued on my doorstep with him tonight over whether or not I can use the phrase "in the heart of" - he'd prefer "just on the border with X and Y, a few yards from the train station".
I tried pointing out that someone in Ghana wouldn't give a toss where X, Y or ABC were, but he wouldn't budge. doesn't matter that just one click away from this "heart of X" is a detailed description and a MAP of where they are...Oh no, "If we prefer accuracy over what's right, doesn't that say something about us?" Yes father, it speaks volumes about who they accept as Deacons and it says plenty about the unimaginative anal repressive pedantry that pushed me away from the damn place thirteen years ago, leaving behind some of my best - and most misguided - friends in the process. Rather than argue the case for ones' own point of view, they'd rather keel over and play dead to the percieved might of the council of members. Well crap to that. Let them explain their decisions - and if I think they're right, I'll concede. If not, then it's time for mister diplomacy to play his magic.
Anyway, I'm off to do some decidedly non-christian activities, then I'm off to my cot. I'll let you know how the paper pushing session goes.
And mark my words, I'll not be sitting next to anyone with a smelly, bulging rucksack.
Thursday, July 21, 2005
On the day Tony Blair meets with his intelligence specialists to ask how the London Bombings might have been avoided, on the first day of the Ashes, someone decides to bomb The Oval tube station. Shame it's at Lords, eh?
Oh yes, two weeks to the day and four more bombs have gone off in London. Again, there were three on the Underground and one on a bus. Only this time they fucked up.
The bombs didn't go off, just the detonators, so only one person's been hurt - that person was allegedly holding one of the bombs at the time.
"This yours mate?" BANG! "...The fuck!"
Now as my regulars will know, I've been supportive of the Security Services in the past, but WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY PLAYING AT?? It's only fourteen days since four bombs REALLY took the piss out of the capitol and the security services, the intelligence services and the police are STILL wandering round like headless chickens going "I dunno" while terrorists set bombs off willy nilly all over London.
Fucking well get a clue then you idiots! Is this going to happen every fortnight? How many people have to die? There need to be answers.
Oh yes, two weeks to the day and four more bombs have gone off in London. Again, there were three on the Underground and one on a bus. Only this time they fucked up.
The bombs didn't go off, just the detonators, so only one person's been hurt - that person was allegedly holding one of the bombs at the time.
"This yours mate?" BANG! "...The fuck!"
Now as my regulars will know, I've been supportive of the Security Services in the past, but WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY PLAYING AT?? It's only fourteen days since four bombs REALLY took the piss out of the capitol and the security services, the intelligence services and the police are STILL wandering round like headless chickens going "I dunno" while terrorists set bombs off willy nilly all over London.
Fucking well get a clue then you idiots! Is this going to happen every fortnight? How many people have to die? There need to be answers.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Allison's school is having a Teddy Bears' Picnic tomorrow - well, in a mere seven hours' time - and the parents are supposed to supply picnic food.
Now where this would strike dread into the hearts of most parents, I've been honing my snack making skills lately, so I knew exactly what to make: Melting Moments and Chocolate Crispie Cakes.
Well, I just finished making 35 Crispies and 24 Melting Moments and let me tell you, I never want another taste of chocolate and I never want to see another cornflake!
She'd better bloody appreciate them. Anyone want a biccie?
Now where this would strike dread into the hearts of most parents, I've been honing my snack making skills lately, so I knew exactly what to make: Melting Moments and Chocolate Crispie Cakes.
Well, I just finished making 35 Crispies and 24 Melting Moments and let me tell you, I never want another taste of chocolate and I never want to see another cornflake!
She'd better bloody appreciate them. Anyone want a biccie?
Monday, July 18, 2005
A while back, I promised a couple of stories I wrote a lifetime ago.
Here they are:
The Salesman and the Brunette and
An Old Friend
Enjoy.
Here they are:
The Salesman and the Brunette and
An Old Friend
Enjoy.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Phew. Finished.
So, what's it like? To be honest, it's a bit sluggish right up until the last 100 pages, then it goes into overdrive.
Saying that, if the book had been called "Harry Potter Gets The Raging Horn" it would have been in overdrive for most of the book.
Did I like it? Oh yes, it's as readable as the others, and it raises as many questions as it answers, and delivers a number of shocks into the bargain.
The final outcome? Hurry up Jo, and write book 7.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Thai prawn salad, pak choi, babycorn, baby courgettes and coconut and lime dressing with southern fried chicken.
Abso-bloody-lutely lovely.
And a good way of saving myself from "oh god not another salad" hell for another night.
I've slated walnuts and toasted sesame seeds with cruncy leafs and balsamin vinegar for tomorrow with a meat that has yet to be agreed upon.
Yep, the diet's doing well.
Abso-bloody-lutely lovely.
And a good way of saving myself from "oh god not another salad" hell for another night.
I've slated walnuts and toasted sesame seeds with cruncy leafs and balsamin vinegar for tomorrow with a meat that has yet to be agreed upon.
Yep, the diet's doing well.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
How's this for scary:
A few weeks ago we put our beat up old portable TV in Bethan's room so she can be like her big sister and watch a video before sleep.
It works a treat and she loves it...to the point where she's not only learned to use the TV and VCR controls, when we pull the plug out the socket in order to stop her sticking yet another video on to watch, she's learned how to put the plug back in and carry right on watching.
Now here's the dilemma: Do we take the TV out of her room and invest in plug socket covers, or do we praise her up for being a clever little madam?
She's three years old by the way.
A few weeks ago we put our beat up old portable TV in Bethan's room so she can be like her big sister and watch a video before sleep.
It works a treat and she loves it...to the point where she's not only learned to use the TV and VCR controls, when we pull the plug out the socket in order to stop her sticking yet another video on to watch, she's learned how to put the plug back in and carry right on watching.
Now here's the dilemma: Do we take the TV out of her room and invest in plug socket covers, or do we praise her up for being a clever little madam?
She's three years old by the way.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
We've been on a diet.
The rules are: Have as big a breakfast as you like, as big a lunch as you like, but have something small for dinner - no carbs, no starch. Stop eating after eight and don't snack. And exercise until you're out of breath at least once a day.
Three weeks of big lunches and little dinners and no food after eight. For three weeks I've steamed all the vegetables.
On the upside, I feel a bit more energetic and I've discovered balsamic vinegar. And Charlie's lost ten pounds. Chuffed!
On the downside, if I have to eat another lettuce leaf I'll scream.
The rules are: Have as big a breakfast as you like, as big a lunch as you like, but have something small for dinner - no carbs, no starch. Stop eating after eight and don't snack. And exercise until you're out of breath at least once a day.
Three weeks of big lunches and little dinners and no food after eight. For three weeks I've steamed all the vegetables.
On the upside, I feel a bit more energetic and I've discovered balsamic vinegar. And Charlie's lost ten pounds. Chuffed!
On the downside, if I have to eat another lettuce leaf I'll scream.
This is something that popped into my head today. It's pretty morbid. If anyone that comes here has missing family due to the London Bombings and takes objection to this, then let me know and I'll take it straight off.
What?
What happened?
What's that? Is that...
No.
Oh god please no.
I...
No, oh god!
I had a life!
I had a life you bastards!
It can't be over, it's not fair. I can't...
Oh god no!
I was gonna do so much.
My mum...my kids...Oh god I can't take it in. I'm...
I can't be, I'm not even thirty yet, I've had no life!
I want my fucking life back you bastards!
Who did that? It wasn't, was it?
It can't have been, I hated us going to war.
I went to a fucking protest, you bastards!
And you fucking blew my bus up!
I WAS ON YOUR SIDE!
I wanna go back!
I've got so much to do!
I can't die now, I'm really busy!
I hope you're here with me you bastard.
Were you the one at the back with the Tesco bag?
I hope so.
I want you here with me
So I can look you in the eye
And fuck you over bigtime for what you did to me.
And if you're not here
I hope you soon will be
Because you don't deserve to live, you cunt.
I HAD A FUCKING LIFE!
Jeremy Vine is spending a couple of days in Lagos, capitol city of Nigeria, the richest country in Africa.
For an informative, entertaining and fascinating insight into what Africans really think of Live8, debt reduction and the brain drain of medical personnel from Africa to the UK, be sure to free up a couple of hours and follow the Tuesday and Wednesday entries on the BBC's Listen Again service from this page sometime before next Tuesday.
For an informative, entertaining and fascinating insight into what Africans really think of Live8, debt reduction and the brain drain of medical personnel from Africa to the UK, be sure to free up a couple of hours and follow the Tuesday and Wednesday entries on the BBC's Listen Again service from this page sometime before next Tuesday.
Monday, July 11, 2005
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Well well well, someone likes me!
I'm 40th out of hundreds at Blograting.com with a rating of 9.49 out of 10.
Blimey. Thanks folks!
I'm 40th out of hundreds at Blograting.com with a rating of 9.49 out of 10.
Blimey. Thanks folks!
Think I might make this a regular thing: More free association from "Unconscious Mutterings"
Oh god, did I really just quote Cher??
- Do-it-yourself:: Oh god
- Pickpocket:: Time to buy a new wallet
- Ballet:: shoes
- Resumé:: CV
- Phenom:: what?
- Love/Hate:: knuckles
- Unusual:: me
- Intense:: camping
- Interruption:: girls
- Not enough:: love and understanding
Oh god, did I really just quote Cher??
Saturday, July 09, 2005
UNIQUE
1. Nervous Habits - I clench my jaw when I'm stressed. First indication that I need to relax is my cheeks aching
2. Are you double jointed - I wish
3. Can you roll your tongue - I think I can but when I show people, they can't tell. Which is annoying
4. Can you raise one eyebrow at a time - Only if I use my fingers to hold the other one down
5. Can you blow spit bubbles - Ack no. The kids can and it's foul
6. Can you cross your eyes - Yeah, I can do that thing that looks like your eyes are newton's balls. Makes babies laugh on the bus.
7. Tattoos - I've got a design in my head for an armband tattoo with a verse of Robert Palmers' "She makes my day" (our song) translated into heiroglyphics with borders containing either the names of the kids or an empowering spell written in ogham. Gonna look great
8. Piercing - Nipple and ear. And that'll do.
9. Do you make your bed daily - Yuppers
CLOTHES
10. Which shoe goes on first - Right. Never thought about it before. Hmm.
11. Speaking of shoes, have you ever thrown one at anyone? - Only in jest
12. On the average, how much money do you carry - Money? Ha, as if!
13. What jewelry do you wear 24/7 - Well if you don't count the bar through my nipple and my solitary earring, none. I've tried necklaces and rings and they just piss me off.
14. Favorite piece of clothing - My green rasta t-shirt. And there's a top of Charlies that doesn't quite come low enough to cover her boobs. I love that one.
FOOD
15. Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it - Oh, I'm a twirler
16. Have you ever eaten Spam - Yep. It's not as nice as Luncheon Meat
17. Do You Use Extra Salt On Your food - I used to, but it started giving me palpitations. Signs like that, you'd be a fool to ignore
18. How many cereals in your cabinet - Cereals are a bugbear in our house. Charlie truly believes that after they've been open a couple of days, they're off. So when we buy the family size boxes of Sugar Puffs or Rice Crispies, 60% of them goes to waste. Me? I have toast.
19. What's your favorite beverage - Alcoholic - Waggledance. Non-alcoholic - Apple Squash
20. What's your favorite fast food restaurant - Benji's or Subway
21. Do you cook - Every frikkin day
GROOMING
22. How often do you brush your teeth - Not often enough. I've recently found these chewable toothbrushes that work better than any handheld one. Great!
23. Hair drying method - Au naturel after a vigorous rub with the towel
24. Have you ever coloured/highlighted your hair - I might have shone a torch at it once. I'd rather chop it all off than colour it.
MANNERS
25. Do you swear - When the kids go to bed, the air turns blue
26. Do you ever spit - I didn't used to, but lately I've been getting these big gobs of crap in my throat that just have to come out. Erm...is that TMI country?
FAVOURITE
27. Animal - Cat
28. Food - Chinese, despite going to the all-you-can-eat buffet at the Big Wok far too often
29. Month - August I think. Holiday month.
30. Day - Friday 13th
31. Cartoon - Can't think of one that stands out. I watch too many thanks to the little ones.
32. Shoe Brand - Divine
33. Subject in school - English
34. Color - Green. Can you tell?
35. Sport - There's a fundamental difference here between what I want to do, what I actually do and what I watch on TV and pretend I could do. In that order: Cycling, fuck all, archery.
36. TV show - MASH, 24, Trek, The Apprentice UK, a few others
37. Thing to do in the spring - Stop her from looking for presents
38. Thing to do in the summer - Convince her it's not quite time to start looking for presents
39. Thing to do in the autumn - Tear my hair out because everything is referred to in terms of how good a present it would make
40. Thing to do in the winter - Rip up lists of presents, go to the shops and buy whatever looks nice. Anyone else notice a recurring theme?
IN AND AROUND
41. In the CD player - An MP3 cd with Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, and some people that don't start with "B". It's basically my summer compilation.
42. Person you talk most on the phone with - Charlie
43. Reading - I just finished "The Da Vinci Code". Now I'm reading "Life, the Universe and Everyhing" for light entertainment before we buy a new book next Saturday. No hints as to what book that is.
44. Do you regularly check yourself out in store windows/mirrors - I tend not to, but not cos I don't like seeing myself, it just doesn't occur to me to look
45. What color is your bedroom - Green. Who knew?
46. Do you use an alarm clock - Kids are the best alarm clock ever - but only if you like getting up an hour early
47. Window seat or aisle - Window. I lie spying on people going about their daily lives as I go past on the bus. And it's pretty hard to not get a window seat in a car.
48. What's your sleeping position - On my right side, preferably cuddling Charlie
49. Even in hot weather do you use a blanket - Nope. When it's too hot, it's just me and a fan
50. Do you snore - No. I stayed up all night to find out
51. Do you sleepwalk - Nope. And after hearing about the girl who had to be rescued from a construction site crane this week while sleepwalking, I'm thanking god for that
52. Do you talk in your sleep - If I do, I probably make more sense than while I'm awake
53. Do you sleep with stuffed animals - My godmother knitted me an Eeyore when i was very little. Slept with it for years, but not for the last 25 years
54. How about with the light on - You're looking at the guy who can fall asleep on nightclub dancefloors. yeah, I can sleep with the light on
55. Do you fall asleep with the TV or radio on - Have to
56. Last interesting person you met - Most people I meet are decidedly average, or behind a till.
Thanks to Katya for this one. Just had to nick it.
1. Nervous Habits - I clench my jaw when I'm stressed. First indication that I need to relax is my cheeks aching
2. Are you double jointed - I wish
3. Can you roll your tongue - I think I can but when I show people, they can't tell. Which is annoying
4. Can you raise one eyebrow at a time - Only if I use my fingers to hold the other one down
5. Can you blow spit bubbles - Ack no. The kids can and it's foul
6. Can you cross your eyes - Yeah, I can do that thing that looks like your eyes are newton's balls. Makes babies laugh on the bus.
7. Tattoos - I've got a design in my head for an armband tattoo with a verse of Robert Palmers' "She makes my day" (our song) translated into heiroglyphics with borders containing either the names of the kids or an empowering spell written in ogham. Gonna look great
8. Piercing - Nipple and ear. And that'll do.
9. Do you make your bed daily - Yuppers
CLOTHES
10. Which shoe goes on first - Right. Never thought about it before. Hmm.
11. Speaking of shoes, have you ever thrown one at anyone? - Only in jest
12. On the average, how much money do you carry - Money? Ha, as if!
13. What jewelry do you wear 24/7 - Well if you don't count the bar through my nipple and my solitary earring, none. I've tried necklaces and rings and they just piss me off.
14. Favorite piece of clothing - My green rasta t-shirt. And there's a top of Charlies that doesn't quite come low enough to cover her boobs. I love that one.
FOOD
15. Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it - Oh, I'm a twirler
16. Have you ever eaten Spam - Yep. It's not as nice as Luncheon Meat
17. Do You Use Extra Salt On Your food - I used to, but it started giving me palpitations. Signs like that, you'd be a fool to ignore
18. How many cereals in your cabinet - Cereals are a bugbear in our house. Charlie truly believes that after they've been open a couple of days, they're off. So when we buy the family size boxes of Sugar Puffs or Rice Crispies, 60% of them goes to waste. Me? I have toast.
19. What's your favorite beverage - Alcoholic - Waggledance. Non-alcoholic - Apple Squash
20. What's your favorite fast food restaurant - Benji's or Subway
21. Do you cook - Every frikkin day
GROOMING
22. How often do you brush your teeth - Not often enough. I've recently found these chewable toothbrushes that work better than any handheld one. Great!
23. Hair drying method - Au naturel after a vigorous rub with the towel
24. Have you ever coloured/highlighted your hair - I might have shone a torch at it once. I'd rather chop it all off than colour it.
MANNERS
25. Do you swear - When the kids go to bed, the air turns blue
26. Do you ever spit - I didn't used to, but lately I've been getting these big gobs of crap in my throat that just have to come out. Erm...is that TMI country?
FAVOURITE
27. Animal - Cat
28. Food - Chinese, despite going to the all-you-can-eat buffet at the Big Wok far too often
29. Month - August I think. Holiday month.
30. Day - Friday 13th
31. Cartoon - Can't think of one that stands out. I watch too many thanks to the little ones.
32. Shoe Brand - Divine
33. Subject in school - English
34. Color - Green. Can you tell?
35. Sport - There's a fundamental difference here between what I want to do, what I actually do and what I watch on TV and pretend I could do. In that order: Cycling, fuck all, archery.
36. TV show - MASH, 24, Trek, The Apprentice UK, a few others
37. Thing to do in the spring - Stop her from looking for presents
38. Thing to do in the summer - Convince her it's not quite time to start looking for presents
39. Thing to do in the autumn - Tear my hair out because everything is referred to in terms of how good a present it would make
40. Thing to do in the winter - Rip up lists of presents, go to the shops and buy whatever looks nice. Anyone else notice a recurring theme?
IN AND AROUND
41. In the CD player - An MP3 cd with Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, and some people that don't start with "B". It's basically my summer compilation.
42. Person you talk most on the phone with - Charlie
43. Reading - I just finished "The Da Vinci Code". Now I'm reading "Life, the Universe and Everyhing" for light entertainment before we buy a new book next Saturday. No hints as to what book that is.
44. Do you regularly check yourself out in store windows/mirrors - I tend not to, but not cos I don't like seeing myself, it just doesn't occur to me to look
45. What color is your bedroom - Green. Who knew?
46. Do you use an alarm clock - Kids are the best alarm clock ever - but only if you like getting up an hour early
47. Window seat or aisle - Window. I lie spying on people going about their daily lives as I go past on the bus. And it's pretty hard to not get a window seat in a car.
48. What's your sleeping position - On my right side, preferably cuddling Charlie
49. Even in hot weather do you use a blanket - Nope. When it's too hot, it's just me and a fan
50. Do you snore - No. I stayed up all night to find out
51. Do you sleepwalk - Nope. And after hearing about the girl who had to be rescued from a construction site crane this week while sleepwalking, I'm thanking god for that
52. Do you talk in your sleep - If I do, I probably make more sense than while I'm awake
53. Do you sleep with stuffed animals - My godmother knitted me an Eeyore when i was very little. Slept with it for years, but not for the last 25 years
54. How about with the light on - You're looking at the guy who can fall asleep on nightclub dancefloors. yeah, I can sleep with the light on
55. Do you fall asleep with the TV or radio on - Have to
56. Last interesting person you met - Most people I meet are decidedly average, or behind a till.
Thanks to Katya for this one. Just had to nick it.
Friday, July 08, 2005
Guess what? We've got a home secretary with a touch of common sense!
I know, I'm as stunned as you!
Charles Clarke has said that ID Cards wouldn't have stopped the London bombings.
Of course, he goes on to say they'd be a good idea anyway, but then if he hadn't, Blair & Brown wouldn't have been too happy with him. I bet he's skating on thin ice just saying what he has.
I can't help thinking that the ID Card trials will go on for ever, then it'll be buried once Gordon takes over at the next election. There's too much bad feeling about them, no-one will sign up for them. It'll be Labour's Poll Tax: No-one wants to pay, no-one's got one, can't prosecute 60 million people...oh forget it then.
In the meantime, it's just two more days before my Broadband comes back on. Can't wait!
I know, I'm as stunned as you!
Charles Clarke has said that ID Cards wouldn't have stopped the London bombings.
Of course, he goes on to say they'd be a good idea anyway, but then if he hadn't, Blair & Brown wouldn't have been too happy with him. I bet he's skating on thin ice just saying what he has.
I can't help thinking that the ID Card trials will go on for ever, then it'll be buried once Gordon takes over at the next election. There's too much bad feeling about them, no-one will sign up for them. It'll be Labour's Poll Tax: No-one wants to pay, no-one's got one, can't prosecute 60 million people...oh forget it then.
In the meantime, it's just two more days before my Broadband comes back on. Can't wait!
Thursday, July 07, 2005
There are actually people out there who think the London terrorist attacks had something to do with the city winning the Olympics 2012 vote yesterday.
If that's true, then I want Osama Bin Laden to predict my Lottery numbers because he's got a better crystal ball than anyone on the IOC.
About 40 dead, over 700 injured. It could have been a shitload worse.
Right now I'm watching that "Undercover Teacher" programme on Channel 4 and I reiterate the sentiment I've mentioned before. Kids have too many rights. The teachers have lost control because they don't have the right to establish respect.
One thing that comes through is that teachers are under enormous, constant pressure from inspections and curriculum changes. I've said it before and I'll say it again. They need to be left alone to just teach.
If that's true, then I want Osama Bin Laden to predict my Lottery numbers because he's got a better crystal ball than anyone on the IOC.
About 40 dead, over 700 injured. It could have been a shitload worse.
Right now I'm watching that "Undercover Teacher" programme on Channel 4 and I reiterate the sentiment I've mentioned before. Kids have too many rights. The teachers have lost control because they don't have the right to establish respect.
One thing that comes through is that teachers are under enormous, constant pressure from inspections and curriculum changes. I've said it before and I'll say it again. They need to be left alone to just teach.
The Secret Organisation Group of the base of Jihad Organisation in Europe has this to say:
We're not, actually. We took it on the chin and now we're going to get you. You're not blowing up wussy Americans now.
Nation of Islam and Arab nation: Rejoice for it is time to take revenge against the British Zionist Crusader government in retaliation for the massacres Britain is committing in Iraq and Afghanistan. The heroic mujahideen have carried out a blessed raid in London. Britain is now burning with fear, terror and panic in its northern, southern, eastern, and western quarters.
We're not, actually. We took it on the chin and now we're going to get you. You're not blowing up wussy Americans now.
They got us, and we coped.
All the casualties have now been hospitalised and in most cases released. Reports have come in of lost limbs, terrible burns, generic blast injuries, but very few deaths.
Eyewitnesses, while surely in shock, have been calm - almost matter-of-fact about the attack - one man, sitting on the back seat of a small paramedic car with a big pressure bandage held to the side of his head was almost dismissive: "I heard a loud explosion, like a bomb went off, then I was lifted off my feet and stuff"
"And stuff"! He was caught in a terrorist attack, bombed off his feet, came withing feet of death or much worse injury and he describes it as "I was lifted off my feet and stuff". Amazing!
Blair seems suitably traumatised - and actually quite impressive with the other seven world leaders ranged behind him, Bush looked and sounded as nonplussed and ditzy as usual and the people of London have reacted with stoicism and quiet determination.
What a vast difference between this and the other attacks around the world. Regulars will know I've got no time for national pride, but you know what, this once, I do feel some pride, for the capacity of Brits to take this on the chin.
All the casualties have now been hospitalised and in most cases released. Reports have come in of lost limbs, terrible burns, generic blast injuries, but very few deaths.
Eyewitnesses, while surely in shock, have been calm - almost matter-of-fact about the attack - one man, sitting on the back seat of a small paramedic car with a big pressure bandage held to the side of his head was almost dismissive: "I heard a loud explosion, like a bomb went off, then I was lifted off my feet and stuff"
"And stuff"! He was caught in a terrorist attack, bombed off his feet, came withing feet of death or much worse injury and he describes it as "I was lifted off my feet and stuff". Amazing!
Blair seems suitably traumatised - and actually quite impressive with the other seven world leaders ranged behind him, Bush looked and sounded as nonplussed and ditzy as usual and the people of London have reacted with stoicism and quiet determination.
What a vast difference between this and the other attacks around the world. Regulars will know I've got no time for national pride, but you know what, this once, I do feel some pride, for the capacity of Brits to take this on the chin.
No pics yet, but I've never seen Blair looking more shocked. I swear - because I've felt that expression on my own face and heard that catch in my own voice - that he was scant moments from tears.
And I doubt he spent the morning reading to the kiddies, either.
They've now found statements on Islamist websites claiming responsibility for the blasts. Each of them Al Quaeda associates.
And I doubt he spent the morning reading to the kiddies, either.
They've now found statements on Islamist websites claiming responsibility for the blasts. Each of them Al Quaeda associates.
Mark's OK. I've never wanted to read a website update more. Thank fuck.
Six blasts. Train crashes, two buses blown up, two confirmed dead. They won't be the last.
BBC sources that monitor Al Quaeda are saying they did it (that's breaking news by the way. I'm typing as I hear it).
I've been saying for ages that we don't want to wait until it happens to us to do something about terrorism. I'm sure the security services haven't been sitting on their arses, but I can't wait to hear about the reasons they missed this one.
I've heard one commentator say that with everyone up in Ediburgh, you wouldn't expect something to happen in London. How naive can you get? They caught us with our pants down.
I know it's shock, but all the eyewitness reports seem quite sanguine. Tony Blair's going to say something at midday. More blogging after that maybe.
Six blasts. Train crashes, two buses blown up, two confirmed dead. They won't be the last.
BBC sources that monitor Al Quaeda are saying they did it (that's breaking news by the way. I'm typing as I hear it).
I've been saying for ages that we don't want to wait until it happens to us to do something about terrorism. I'm sure the security services haven't been sitting on their arses, but I can't wait to hear about the reasons they missed this one.
I've heard one commentator say that with everyone up in Ediburgh, you wouldn't expect something to happen in London. How naive can you get? They caught us with our pants down.
I know it's shock, but all the eyewitness reports seem quite sanguine. Tony Blair's going to say something at midday. More blogging after that maybe.
Fuck fuck fuck
They got us!
A bus has exploded, there's reports of a crash at Kings Cross station, "incidents" - or explosions as other people call it - at several other stations.
London is paralysed.
I'm watching News24.
And all on the first full day of the G8. The Police focus is at Gleneagles, 600 miles away or more. It can't NOT be a terrorist attack.
The Police are focussed on Gleneagles not just because of the eight richest world leaders, but because of the threatened million or more people expected to protest against the conference.
I wonder how proud the organisers of the aggressive protests feel now. I wonder how vociferous the "full disclosure, no Stop & search" crowd will be now.
And the news just said there's something going on in Brighton, too.
I can't promise regular updates because of the fucking dialup restricting my time online (I can't afford to stay on all day at 60p an hour), but shit!
I only know three people who live anywhere near London. I hope they're OK.
They got us!
A bus has exploded, there's reports of a crash at Kings Cross station, "incidents" - or explosions as other people call it - at several other stations.
London is paralysed.
I'm watching News24.
And all on the first full day of the G8. The Police focus is at Gleneagles, 600 miles away or more. It can't NOT be a terrorist attack.
The Police are focussed on Gleneagles not just because of the eight richest world leaders, but because of the threatened million or more people expected to protest against the conference.
I wonder how proud the organisers of the aggressive protests feel now. I wonder how vociferous the "full disclosure, no Stop & search" crowd will be now.
And the news just said there's something going on in Brighton, too.
I can't promise regular updates because of the fucking dialup restricting my time online (I can't afford to stay on all day at 60p an hour), but shit!
I only know three people who live anywhere near London. I hope they're OK.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
This, this and this are reasons why I think the protesters, while on-target with their ideals are fucking idiots when it comes to the actual "doing" thing.
Question: What's the best way to make sure no fucker listens to you no matter what you've got to say?
Answer: Get violent.
I wonder if anyone who contributes to Indymedia ever heard of Mahatma Ghandi.
Question: What's the best way to make sure no fucker listens to you no matter what you've got to say?
Answer: Get violent.
I wonder if anyone who contributes to Indymedia ever heard of Mahatma Ghandi.
London is to host the 2012 Olympics. May I suggest that everyone in London start riding bicycles now, because driving a car is about to become a whole lot harder.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
G8 is going to fail. I wonder, was there ever any hope that these people would come to any decisions that might change the world in the singlest iota?
Bush says "America comes first", Jaques Chirac is trying to embarrass Blair and push the UK and US apart, the US senate is prepared to block anything anyway.
It's all going to go titsup because of political posturing and personal prejudice.
But then, when wasn't it?
But then you see what's actually happening in Africa, the millions of people with no future, no life, the thirty thousand every day who, as I said before, have nothing left to do but lie down in the dirt and die. you go to Indonesia and see the ravaged land, mudslide after mudslide because they cut all the trees down. You look at the sea levels rising, the centre of America turning into desert - OK, bigger desert. It's not an emotive tool being used by manipulative pressure groups to get their agenda on the news - OK, well maybe it is, but still, these people are real, these things are happening.
The strength of the African people is terrifying. For hundreds of years they've been exploited, killed, oppressed, enslaved, emasculated, raped by us westerners, but still they carry on. Africa is a vast, beautiful, churning charnel house of historical, present and future death and destruction, but still they carry on. We've robbed them of any future but still they carry on.
I'm shamed. I'm humbled. I wish these people could be. The world is in their hands and they're raping it for personal gain. They're the enemy. Africa is the victim and we're all to blame.
Everyone in America these days is talking about patriotism, how to be a Good American. Newsflash: You are not the centre of the universe. Your world relies on the big fish looking after the little fish. Be a good American by forgetting you live in America and remembering you live on a fragile world which needs your help, no matter what the cost.
Bush says "America comes first", Jaques Chirac is trying to embarrass Blair and push the UK and US apart, the US senate is prepared to block anything anyway.
It's all going to go titsup because of political posturing and personal prejudice.
But then, when wasn't it?
But then you see what's actually happening in Africa, the millions of people with no future, no life, the thirty thousand every day who, as I said before, have nothing left to do but lie down in the dirt and die. you go to Indonesia and see the ravaged land, mudslide after mudslide because they cut all the trees down. You look at the sea levels rising, the centre of America turning into desert - OK, bigger desert. It's not an emotive tool being used by manipulative pressure groups to get their agenda on the news - OK, well maybe it is, but still, these people are real, these things are happening.
The strength of the African people is terrifying. For hundreds of years they've been exploited, killed, oppressed, enslaved, emasculated, raped by us westerners, but still they carry on. Africa is a vast, beautiful, churning charnel house of historical, present and future death and destruction, but still they carry on. We've robbed them of any future but still they carry on.
I'm shamed. I'm humbled. I wish these people could be. The world is in their hands and they're raping it for personal gain. They're the enemy. Africa is the victim and we're all to blame.
Everyone in America these days is talking about patriotism, how to be a Good American. Newsflash: You are not the centre of the universe. Your world relies on the big fish looking after the little fish. Be a good American by forgetting you live in America and remembering you live on a fragile world which needs your help, no matter what the cost.
Monday, July 04, 2005
Sunday, July 03, 2005
Something else happened this week.
I know, shocking isn't it? Live8 wasn't the only thing going on.
This week marked the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, and there's been a bit of a shindig to celebrate.
And finishing today is the International Festival of the Sea in Portsmouth.
God, I'm missing out on so much. I tell you, I'm gonna run The Beast into the ground as soon as I've passed, running between all these events and celebrations and displays.
And when I do, I may just have to start a photoblog to share it all with you, especially since Blogger now has its own photo hosting.
I know, shocking isn't it? Live8 wasn't the only thing going on.
This week marked the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, and there's been a bit of a shindig to celebrate.
And finishing today is the International Festival of the Sea in Portsmouth.
God, I'm missing out on so much. I tell you, I'm gonna run The Beast into the ground as soon as I've passed, running between all these events and celebrations and displays.
And when I do, I may just have to start a photoblog to share it all with you, especially since Blogger now has its own photo hosting.
I feel so out of the loop!
If I'd had broadband yesterday, I would have visited every site attached to live8 and Make Poverty History, watched all of the 10 gigs on AOL's livecasts, tracked down blogs and reports and activists sites and sat and watched it all happen.
When the G8 occurs on Wednesday, I'll still be limited to dialup, which means I don't have the time to go to all the places I want to, or comprehensively query google for links, or successfully follow webcam links, or anything like that.
I was watching a report on News24 this morning from a 12 year old girl who marched around Edinburgh yesterday. It looked like a great day, and she found a fair few people to interview, including Pete Postlethwaite. A good report altogether.
But it brought a sense of shame to me. I want to be involved. I've cared about it for so long - since at least the age of fourteen - and to see everything kicking off now, and to have the G8 happening so soon and to be able to do nothing but watch is so limiting.
But as was said yesterday quite regularly by the commentators, this is just a starting point. Watching the political and business news, reading behind the vitriol on indymedia, keeping my ear to the ground about small changes and political initiatives is what to do now. It's all I can do for now.
Hopefully, once my IT Consultancy business gets off the ground and I've learned to drive, I'll have more time, money and opportunity to get to places where things are going on, I can get to see some of these things firsthand.
I've invested such a lot of soul into my beliefs about what needs to be happening in the world, I need to see some of this for myself, I need to DO something, BE somewhere. I'm there in spirit and as soon as I can, I'll be there in the flesh.
Here's a couple of quotes from Radio 2's Live8 commentary:
Jimmy Carr: "I think we really need to stop selling them guns, too"
Slash: "Flew in at 7am, had a nap, woke up and had a beer"
If I'd had broadband yesterday, I would have visited every site attached to live8 and Make Poverty History, watched all of the 10 gigs on AOL's livecasts, tracked down blogs and reports and activists sites and sat and watched it all happen.
When the G8 occurs on Wednesday, I'll still be limited to dialup, which means I don't have the time to go to all the places I want to, or comprehensively query google for links, or successfully follow webcam links, or anything like that.
I was watching a report on News24 this morning from a 12 year old girl who marched around Edinburgh yesterday. It looked like a great day, and she found a fair few people to interview, including Pete Postlethwaite. A good report altogether.
But it brought a sense of shame to me. I want to be involved. I've cared about it for so long - since at least the age of fourteen - and to see everything kicking off now, and to have the G8 happening so soon and to be able to do nothing but watch is so limiting.
But as was said yesterday quite regularly by the commentators, this is just a starting point. Watching the political and business news, reading behind the vitriol on indymedia, keeping my ear to the ground about small changes and political initiatives is what to do now. It's all I can do for now.
Hopefully, once my IT Consultancy business gets off the ground and I've learned to drive, I'll have more time, money and opportunity to get to places where things are going on, I can get to see some of these things firsthand.
I've invested such a lot of soul into my beliefs about what needs to be happening in the world, I need to see some of this for myself, I need to DO something, BE somewhere. I'm there in spirit and as soon as I can, I'll be there in the flesh.
Here's a couple of quotes from Radio 2's Live8 commentary:
Jimmy Carr: "I think we really need to stop selling them guns, too"
Slash: "Flew in at 7am, had a nap, woke up and had a beer"
Friday, July 01, 2005
I booked my first driving lesson today. Very chuffed!
Thing is, I now have just ten days to get rid of the latest attack of gout. Luckily, I think I know what caused this attack. It seems that wholemeal bread and mackerel are high in Purines, which exacerbate gout, so the four ham on wholemeal sandwiches I had on Wednesday won't have helped, neither will the baked mackerel I had last night.
D'oh!
I should avoid lentils, booze, liver, brains, sweetmeats, gravy, booze and yeast extract foods too.
It's not actually that bad because it's mostly stuff I don't like, apart from gravy and mackerel.
So anyway, I've been getting attacks of the shivers and feeling really bad every few hours and it's only a couple of hours ago I realised it wasn't a reaction to the pain, but withdrawal symptoms from the Keral tablets I've been double-dosing on. I knew there'd be a drawback to overdosing! So I've put myself back on a regular dose. Just hope it works.
Anyway, the driving lesson. As the regulars will know, I've named my car "The Beast", and for good reason. It's a 1.8l 17 year old Audi 80s which has 60,000 miles on the clock and has a petrol tank so big I could get to Glasgow without filling up. 80mph in The Beast feels like 50 in my sister's Rover 25. So it really is a bit of a beast. So I thought it might be an idea to request a big car to learn to drive in. Makes sense to me. My sister learned to drive 11 years ago in the prerequisite dual control Fiesta that I think everyone expects to learn in, but then when she stepped into the massive, powerful thing she bought herself after passing, she wouldn't drive it because it was too scary and powerful.
I know what she means. I've practised pulling away in The Beast, just running it forward twenty meters, then backing it up again outside the house and it scares the shit outta me, so even though it'll probably bore the crap outta me, I've booked a couple of introductory lessons in a 1.8l Ford Focus for a week on Monday. If I learn in a car as powerful as the one I actually own, I can face my fear before I get my "P" plates, and that can only be a good thing.
Now, if only my accelerator foot would stop being sheer agony...
Thing is, I now have just ten days to get rid of the latest attack of gout. Luckily, I think I know what caused this attack. It seems that wholemeal bread and mackerel are high in Purines, which exacerbate gout, so the four ham on wholemeal sandwiches I had on Wednesday won't have helped, neither will the baked mackerel I had last night.
D'oh!
I should avoid lentils, booze, liver, brains, sweetmeats, gravy, booze and yeast extract foods too.
It's not actually that bad because it's mostly stuff I don't like, apart from gravy and mackerel.
So anyway, I've been getting attacks of the shivers and feeling really bad every few hours and it's only a couple of hours ago I realised it wasn't a reaction to the pain, but withdrawal symptoms from the Keral tablets I've been double-dosing on. I knew there'd be a drawback to overdosing! So I've put myself back on a regular dose. Just hope it works.
Anyway, the driving lesson. As the regulars will know, I've named my car "The Beast", and for good reason. It's a 1.8l 17 year old Audi 80s which has 60,000 miles on the clock and has a petrol tank so big I could get to Glasgow without filling up. 80mph in The Beast feels like 50 in my sister's Rover 25. So it really is a bit of a beast. So I thought it might be an idea to request a big car to learn to drive in. Makes sense to me. My sister learned to drive 11 years ago in the prerequisite dual control Fiesta that I think everyone expects to learn in, but then when she stepped into the massive, powerful thing she bought herself after passing, she wouldn't drive it because it was too scary and powerful.
I know what she means. I've practised pulling away in The Beast, just running it forward twenty meters, then backing it up again outside the house and it scares the shit outta me, so even though it'll probably bore the crap outta me, I've booked a couple of introductory lessons in a 1.8l Ford Focus for a week on Monday. If I learn in a car as powerful as the one I actually own, I can face my fear before I get my "P" plates, and that can only be a good thing.
Now, if only my accelerator foot would stop being sheer agony...
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