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February 29, 2004
One of Those Days...
... Even before I went out last night, I was having problems remembering stuff - my mind was all muddled yesterday, which lead to 3.15 this morning, but more of that later... Still, Manchester was fun - getting there was almost as good, if not better, due to a nice lady who sat next to me and then followed me to M&S... after walking down Deansgate, then doubling back when I went through Bartons Arcade... odd. Sadly I managed to lose her in Marks & Spencers. :-( I did get Lord Of Misrule, Christopher Lee's Autobiography (with a signature signed by him stuck in by the nice girl behind the desk who said she had forgotten they had them - seems I was lucky!), and a few other bits and bobs. I returned home to find that I had won a Talking Tom Baker on Ebay, which was nice) and set about watching Finding Nemo on DVD!
James was having problems logging into Knight Onlne for the first time - he found out it was Zone Alarm that was the problem - after it was turned off he could get on. Though being a n00b he wandered off to look at a Bulcan and it took one look and killed him. Laugh? I sure did! He seems to agree with me that it is fun. Of course, so was later on... the Night Out With Andrew...
I arrived at Nick's and we headed off into town and hung around in the almost empty Swan. Things did start getting a little more busy towards 9.00 when James landed, though, just was we had decided to say stuff it and play on the pub's Start Trek:TNG pinball table. As you can see in the picture below, he was in fine spirits at that time of the evening... I decided to keep ringing Andrew's phone number until he answered (in between taking photos) but it just rang and rang... I think he had unplugged it. I got the feeling by 11.00 he wasn't going to turn up... Not that we cared - the town was quiet unfortunately as you can see of the picture of Paradise Island (maybe everyone was watching the Eurovision programme (please let whoever was chosen be able to sing near the right tune this year!!!)? It certainly heated up as the night got going though - we were almost the first people into Ignite, after a slight detour into Pharaoh's. This hasn't had the highest of reviews of all the new bars, and it certainly wasn't packed - it was almost as dead as the mummy up at Towneley Hall! Ignite got going though, especially after 11 - lots of pictures of that part of the night out! James met a friend (but not that one) and remained pretty happy for a while. Nick, of course was deleriously happy all night (lots of old women in tight skirts!) but was a little (!) agrieved that the DJ couldn't play Life Is A Lemon (And I Want My Money Back) by Meatloaf... He did get Run DMC/Aerosmith and Walk This Way, so that shut him up! As it is a leap year, and today is the 29th, when midnight rolled around quite a few girls proposed to their blokes, which was nice. Sad, but nice! Especially when the DJ announced to everyone that it had been done and that he was on the way to misery. Or was that James later in the night?
James was anxious for us to have a wander, so Nick and I did - he immediately dashed upstairs to the pool room. Now, he isn't great at pool but, as has been mentioned previously in the Blog, I suck lemons at it! Nick almost stuck to the rules, I just whacked the ball. Amazingly, I potted a ball almost every time - shame it was the cue ball that went down! Thanks to the wonders of the mobile phone, almost every shot got caught on camera, though it was telling that most of my shots were of the table and most of Nick's were of the girls. Go figure! Eventually the table was cleared, and we headed back downstairs. James was happy enough at this point (about 1.00am) but this was to change. He has been known to get a little unhappy and grumpy, and this began to happen as half-past arrived. he got Nick to go on a wander (up to the pool room again) but I hung around. It would be interesting to see what happened. What happened was slightly unexpected. He tried to get me to wander, and started muttering that I'll never know what he has lost, and that I should go out there and find someone. Having seen what marriage and even relationships do to people, I feel lucky to have had the little fun I've had, and now I'm quite happy just to sit here on the shelf and watch things happen around me. He was determined to make me see that my life was easy and that this was a bad thing - I needed complicated. Personally, I feel my life is as complex as I want it to be for the moment. And there's time enough for romance and slushy stuff when I get into my room at the old folks home... except I'll be even more past it than I am now, which will work out well for me... Oddly , I wasn't sure that relationship advice from James was necessarily a good idea, but then I fear he had an ulterior motive... and somehow I feel it was my duty to jam my foot in the door, for his sake. Eventually (after a brief period of happiness when Summer Of '69 came on) he decided to give up on me and set off home at a quarter to two. I hung around (trying to get some last photos!) before going in search of Nick (who I found, in all places, in the pool room! Not playing, just ogling again.
Outside he went for his usual horse-meat hot dog and we found two cuties wrestling in one of the planters... see pics! They didn't care - one was drunk, the other could barely stand! We headed home eventually (I had to force Nick to go as I really had to go home and go to the loo!!!) We said see you tomorrow/in the morning/later/whatever-it-is you-say-at 2.40-in-the-morning and I headed home. As I got near I reached into my pocket for my keys, and then realised the thing I had been looking for before I set off. My keys. Yeah, D'OH! is right! I rang mum to try and wake her gently, but got no response (she had it unplugged), and eventually gave up and had to ring the bell. She came quickly - apparently she hadn't been asleep long as she had not been able to - her ear had swollen up and so she'd watched a film. Not sure if I believe her, but there was no problem. I then spent a half-hour or so copying the pictures from the phone to Ayu, so I could check them out (lots of blurred ones, even before I started drinking!) and easily copy them to Ayumi this morning. Then I put my head down and had about 3 hours sleep (that should do me for now!). I woke up about 8 and set to on this blog - the longest with all these pictures, and certainly the one that has taken the longest to do!!!
Now I'm gonna caption these pics and then go down to have a big fry-up breakfast... I always seem to make sure I cool off with fruit juice after drinking like that - it's a hangover cure that works as it is proactive, though I do need to go to the loo a fair bit - better than throwing it up like one person I know does... no wonder she's so thin!!! Ah well - I'd better finish this off or else I won't be at Nicks to yell and scream at Andrew for not turning up... it looks like Pig Flights 223 to Washington has been cancelled again!
The Pictures Of SHAME! A few pictures of us and the people we saw and interacted with, sort of thing...
I don't know what Nick is so surprised at - I turned up on time!
James just after he arrived - he was happy at this point, as he was happy to show everyone...
Paradise Island? More like a deserted island! A few people downstairs, but the top room was so dead the bar staff were surprised when we turned up, and I'm sure the DJ only started playing his CDs when we walked in!
The most exciting thing I saw at Pharaohs - the tiny sinks! What is it with clubs and these things? You need to use both sinks just to wash your hands! Even Lava/Ignite has them! At least the loos were clean!
Ah, down at Ignite - here we see Nick (lit by the cool light sabres installed in the bar) getting the first round in. Not sure if it was my money that paid or not, but I drank the stuff he brought over!
Every night out has to have this sort of shot - Here James and I have fun - but why was I ready to shoot myself?
AAAAHHHH!!!! Vampire in the house!!! Don't worry, Nick stakes me later on... He must have been watching Buffy or something recently...
James telling Nick dead baby jokes. Guess what site he's been to lately? By the look of the lighting, he's already in Hell (no doubt he'd agree!)
Ah, totty! One of mine this (I also have some pics of them on the dance floor and at the other end of the bar - purely by accident, of course!)
Finally, things start to get busy as people turn up after midnight to propose to each other!
Nick plays with his balls!
I get my cue out and try to get the white ball to stay on the table - I fail!
AAARRGGGGHHH!!! Just before I go up in flames as Nick stakes me for being so bad at pool!
Nick lines up a shot...
Nick takes the phone while I sink the cue ball again and lines up another shot... he moaned that it didn't zoom properly (it's a digital zoom, so its more of a crop than a real zoom, so he has to make do with this!!)
He really didn't like taking pictures of the girls much, did he?
Bases loaded! Batter up! How do you play this damn game anyway?
James getting some '69 in the middle of his rant about me being a sad lonely bugger!
James has buggered off, and the night is drawing to a close...
Nick eating his horse... um... well, dogs don't have them that big...
Like WWE but cute - the two slightly tipsy cuties having some down and dirty girl-on-girl fun by the hot 'dog' stand...
Luckily (?) they decided to join Nick in eating a horse schlong... before the brunette cutie decides to sit on the pavement giving us a rather interesting view that I can't reproduce here unless you pay me something on your credit cards...
Finally, as I came past the Sparrowhawk Hotel I spotted something I had to take a picture of - the workmen obviously needed a hint on how to dig a hole or something... or maybe it was a subliminal message to tell me what I must do to Andrew today...
So there we are - that should keep people happy! I will try to put more pictures in the photo bit of the gallery, but it's still buggering about... We'll see what happens! Later, wossnames!
Posted by Badgers at 08:58 AM | Comments (0)
February 27, 2004
Pigs Awaiting Clearance To Take Off On Runway 5...
So how are things with you? I know this week hasn't been as productive as I wanted... I've spent it either playing Black Hawk Down or doing things for mum & dad. I have been able to do a little art, but not any animation since the anniversary intro. I have played with my Product Enterprise Eagle Transporter, got a cheap LCD TV/Monitor via eBay (I can have an extended desktop - that will help in so many ways!) and thanks to James, gotten into the open beta of Knight Online, a Korean (but in English!) MMORPG - see below. I have also played a little Galaxies to set up some more things for Andrew, and finally started to get stuff for that server's incarnation of Helise Truefoot - a landspeeder and a... costume.... for being an entertainer. Let's just say that on the Kettemore Galaxies server, the medic Helise can let her hair down. Andrew doesn't know what is gonna hit him tomorrow, but if he spots Helise, he will have a fair idea...!
I will also be leaving BT for NTL in the very near future (not that this will affect anything!), and the parents will be moving on too as they are sick of BT Openworld - first they get no emails for over 3 months, then they keep getting booted off after a few minutes (not a good thing when they are doing some online banking), and they are getting cheesed off with the slow speed. Admittedly, they are only going for 3x Broadband with Tiscali, but its fast enough for them, and its less than they are paying now...
Hmm - Knight Online then - any good? Well, it isn't as complex as Galaxies, but it is fun - lots of hacking and slashing, and quests and stuff. Some good models (the basic female is virtually my usual Helise character without any fidding, and there are some big ugly orcs!) and nice presentation - I like the way you select your characters when you log in... It has lag problems, but this is an open beta and it is designed to test the servers - something that is definitely happening as the place is full of people - not quite as scary lag-wise as Bestine on Galaxies (or any big city - the Imperial Crackdown has seriously put some strain on the servers), but you are likely to find yourself booted off when the server gives up (it has happened a few times today). Gameplay is similar to a simplified Dungeon Siege but with hundreds of other players. Apparently it is made so that a big ongoing war can happen between the two races - we shall see - there is a real spirit of cooperation at the moment!
All this and tomorrow is Manchester shopping day (I need to get a long USB cable and find some film called Nemo or something). And tomorrow night sees the debut appearance on the Burnley pub and night club scene of Andrew Duffy, who is single, straight (we think, but can't be sure as there is no evidence either way) and a sniping git. He has been out with us before, but that was well over 10 years ago - so long ago in fact that we used to sit at the edge of the dancefloor in Smackwater Jacks and talk about old computer games and TV shows. I don't think he relaises that what we do nowadays is more akin to what he does in cantinas on Galaxies - ogle the dancing girls! Of course, this doesn't build up our Mind points (in Nick's case I think it drains his mind pool like the plug being pulled out!)
Finally. I've discovered that the 3rd season of Black Books begins on Channel Four on 11th March, just in time for my birthday! Should keep me happy!
Posted by Badgers at 10:05 PM | Comments (0)
February 24, 2004
Vietnam Flashback
Saturday was dull dull dull, and Sunday wasn't much better. No, that was a lie. Saturday wasn't the most exciting of days, true, but Sunday was as exciting as any have been for a while. The day was spent playing Vietcong with the new Fist Alpha addon, which was fun (and full of swearing!), and towards the end of the day we headed home, but not before a night out was organised for this coming Saturday! Not that this was a shock in itself, as Nick is very interested in going out, I'm desperate for one last night out before I hit the big 34 (!) and James is even more so for reasons you might be able to pick up by reading his blog! No the excitement, the shock, the unmitigated horror came when Andrew agreed to come. True, he has muttered this before (and we still expect him to forget or nor find the pub we are in or, as has happened previously, get stuck somewhere about a hundred miles away after a LAN party. But he seemed so adamant, we have to trust that he will be there. It means the night will be much more muted than usual (!) but what the heck... at least he'll (probably) be there for the first time in well over ten years!
So, Monday came and went yesterday, and saw me having fun setting up a test install of PHP Nuke over at .com... it worked, and worked well (i got excited about it actually) but now I have decided it isn't quite what I need, though I may end up using it here at Badgers in the future, as it would mean less individual pages and blogs needing to be set up than MT. Hmm.
This morning saw me going in to Physio only to find that it wasn't on today, so I went to get the mud washed off the car and became the car that a trainee was taught to wash. Poor bugger - was there no jobs going at McDonalds or KFC?!? Ah well. My car is clean(er) which is all that matters. This afternoon I have a little journey into town to get my eyes tested which will be a nice change. Life is good. Possibly. Thankfully I hit Manchester on Saturday (or Friday, since I'll be out Saturday night!) for some retail therapy!
Enjoy!
Posted by Badgers at 02:39 PM | Comments (2)
February 20, 2004
Through A Hedge Sideways
It's coming to something when the highpoint of the day is a crash.
I knew today would be busy - I had to get all sorts of stuff done as I'm off this coming week - in the end, not everything did get done, but I still only just finished work at 7.30 tonight... I managed to get the paperwork sorted out for the past week of visits, sent a lot of closures through to my boss to keep her occupied next week, did the appointment letters for the next few weeks and picked up some stuff from the hospital. I had to deliver a pager to a deaf girl (who wasn't in, so I eventually got it to a family member), a minicom to another deaf lady, I was hoping to get to show a woman how to use her new fax (but I couldn't get a reply on the number I had), had a dull meeting in which only one thing applied to me and then only vaguely, then deliver some stuff to a man in Longridge (after going back to work at 5.30 after the meeting to write up the report on a visit I had made before the meeting, finish some computer work and then empty out the car of work stuff (finally).
I managed to get to Longridge and deliver the stuff safely, but then headed home via Clitheroe and Sabden (as it would be quicker). No problems until I moved over to avoid an oncoming car and kinda went 'off road'. Oops. James would have been proud. Well, not really, as I didn't go screaming into the field, just drove off the road into a muddy ditch that ran alongside it in the darkness - I got out of it easily enough, and the only damage was that the mud had pushed a foglight in, so it needs to be clipped back in place (in the morning - too dark and cold to do it now, and the mud is everywhere!!!)
Its days like this that make me feel that I need a big drink, but I know I'd probably go a bit far and go all Jamius about everything (not that he gets that melancholy... not since the last night out!). Ah well. Life goes on!
Posted by Badgers at 08:53 PM | Comments (2)
February 19, 2004
Blink 118 192
Michael Howard picked a nice day to come to Burnley and stir up controversy (and try to stir up some votes) today... See the BBC news articles here! I won't go into the arguments that are once again bringing Burnley and the BNP and the riots back into the news again. I don't want to make this page political (lets just say my major reason for not liking the BNP is that they manage to nick my parking space every time they come to the local Polling Office to try and strong arm some votes, my main reason for not liking the Conservative party is that they go back on their word faster than New Labour and as for New Labour... I'd rather vote for the Demonic Robot Party!). He spent his day in the Kierby Hotel and visiting a few of the more deprived (of riots, for the past couple of years, thankfully) areas of the town before buggering off again, while the BNP protested and handed out leaflets.
Still, as I say, the weather was very nice - I spent my day after physio (ow!) out and about in Burnley and Rossendale. Not a bad day today, except for the last guy who was a really hard sell - and I don't sell anything!!!! An hour and a half to get him to try a HPI Minitech personal listener that obviously helped him to hear the TV better... some people! The rest of the week hasn't been bad, though I haven't got half the things done I was planning to - I tidied my desk (I can now see it!), got some paperwork done, and saw lots of people (including my boss for a change!).
I may have even seen a certain teen grunge-rock band driving in Oswaldtwistle - I let them go across the road from the side street mainly because I couldn't go any farther due to a large truck blocking the road. They looked grungy with spiky hair, bad pock-marked complexions, etc, and as they went by, one of them gave me a grunge-rock style 'thank you very much dude!' thumbs up. Wierd. One person I haven't seen this week is the lovely Catherine at Physio - still, its not a good idea to get a crush on your physiotherapist - especially when, like today, he is a strapping lad from Dublin. I don't know though...! I have hardly heard from James either (I think he's been in hibernation!) apart from a few emails gloating about how much he's downloaded... just wait till I get my 1 Mbit NTL connection... that'll teach him!
Annoying news I have received today is that Jake 2.0 (just started on Sky One) has, despite being given a full 22 episode commitment by the network, been cancelled after 13. Bugger - it looked like it would be a fun series too. How can this (and the cancellations of stuff like Farscape and Odyssey 5) happen when Mutant X continues to suck more and more, and Andromeda, after starting out rubbish, got really good, then started getting far worse than you could ever believe (Dylan gets to snog the girl and save the entire universe by being Hercules with a phallic shaped gun-thing again?!?!? Wasn't that last week?) with every member of the (great) ensemble cast that leaves? Ulp - this is becoming a rant...!
I'd better head out - I have plans to make, a good book to read, and I've got to wash my hair... Bye!
Posted by Badgers at 07:06 PM | Comments (0)
February 15, 2004
Flashbang Out!
Friday wasn't a good day. I have a feeling this coming week will be a bugger, too. Luckily I have decided on a way to make sure that the week after next I actually get to take the week off! It needs lots of work this week and in the weeks after (especially as two weeks later I take another week off to get my holidays down as low as I can so I don't lose too much, just to keep the boss happy - oh for April, when my new boss will in fact be based in Preston and not have any idea what I'm doing!). This means that I should have two weeks of being able to sit down, work on this site and Roguenoid.com ready for the relaunch. No to mention some Flash and the new I.T. strip series! Sadly, the hoped for night out can't happen this coming Saturday (I would have had the week to get over it!), and the week after is unlikely to be convenient to me - perhaps later! Ah well. I guess we'll put it aside, along with the plans to go to EuroDisney, etc this year!
Saturday saw me taking mum shopping (she had forgotten that my car is kinda full to the brim with stuff already!), and I couldn't help noticing all the Easter Eggs - Iceland and Kwiksave were full of them! I did like the marketing idea of the Harry Potter eggs, though... the chocolate might be horrible (it used to be with the licenced eggs as it was never Cadburys who did them), but kids will want all of them as each is a building from Diagon Alley - Gringotts, Flourish & Botts, etc. Neat. Nestle are pushing their new Double Cream Eggs too... though the tagline 'chocolate matters' is worrying... it doesn't matter a fig to me - but then I'm one of the lucky ones who doesn't get a migrane from eating the stuff, I just projectile vonit. Oddly enough it has been years since I have eaten any. Ick. Except when I have one of those vomiting dreams... Double Ick! Ick Ick Ick-ick-ick!
Saturday afternoon was spent doing the RNP and Badgers wallpaper for my new phone, and deciding what to have as my ringtone (I settled on You by Ayumi Hamasaki, but have Evolution, Surreal, Poker Face and Connected as well, depending on my mood, and the Bubble Bobble theme, of course!) I will be able to make up new wallpapers for those phones that can handle them - I'll start setting up a page via the Shop at RNP to send them out (yeah, you will have to pay a little I'm afraid!)
Finally, today rolled around, and James revealed he couldn't make it so it was just the three of us - and it was non-stop FPS (surprisingly) with Delta Force: Black Hawk Down (not as bad as I thought it was originally, butwhere is the Co-op that made the earlier DF games so much fun?), Vietcong (still fun, with Coop!) and Raven Shield (where we finally got Doof to play at Hard mode!!). Strangely he didn't seem to understand my codes for what I was going to do - I yell "Flashbang OUT!!!" and he wanders into it and gets bloinded along with the enemy... and as for when I said "I'll take the guys out round the corner!" he leans round the corner and shoots me in the back! He really needs to read those Marine manuals I got him for Christmas! How will he cope with FarCry and Söldner?
Now I'm sitting upstairs, doing a blog entry, and prepping for the horrors that await me tomorrow and for the rest of the week - the only bright spots are the two physio sessions (though I'll be wearing my trainers if we do blocks again, to make sure I don't need Catherine's help - must... be... strong!!!)
Oh - And I noticed that now the Imperial Crackdown has begun on Galaxies, the servers seem to be running like a crippled slug - not too surprising considering the sudden increase in combat between Rebel players and Imperial Stormtroopers! Hopefully this is something that will be sorted as things have gone from silky smooth to the sort of gameplay you'd expect on a 14.4 modem! Sigh. Doof has mentioned that doing the theme parks (not Jabba's Palace though, as they won't talk to me...!) gives much better rewards - no broken communicators any more then!!!
Ah well - off to walk a dog before food is prepared and I settle down to a night of doing as little as possible! Catchya later in the week, if you know where your towel is!
Posted by Badgers at 07:39 PM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2004
Friday The Thirteenth Part EEK!
I usually have really good Friday the 13ths. No masked killers rampaging round Rowley Lake trying to hack the faces off the fishermen or anything. Today totally buggered that up.
The day was going to be busy, as I had a few people to go see and lots of computer work to get down to. Then I get a message that something that should have been delivered to the lady in Dunsop Bridge over six months ago (as noted in a previous blog entry) hadn't been, so I had to trail over there. And to Longridge. And Barnoldswick. And Colne. Add to this the fact that a pager I had ordered for a profoundly deaf lady hadn't arrived (a month after I had ordered it) and things just went tits up so quickly they nearly had my eye out!
So I headed off and got everything sorted, eventually. Of course, on the way back from Barlick I was nearly killed... I was coming to the turn to head over to Barrowford, and was indicating and turning when a fool in a green pickup came screaming up the road and straight up the one I was turning into - no indicators, no nothing - I'm glad my brakes work! And the swine had the balls to give me a nasty look - yeah, like the pickup would have sustained damage if I had have hit it! And doing 50 at that point in the road probably wasn't wise for him to do anyway... Jjust because he just had to keep going striaght to get onto the road, while I had to slow right down, look to my left to make sure it was clear, and actually indicate. The Mercedes behind seemed to be on my side, the driver looking at the pickup as it sped away into the distance and shaking his head, before waving me on my way. Not that the pickup driver was the only idiot on the road today - it seems to have been a day of loonies!
Not that Marie, James' wife, is an loony, of course, but I did notice that as she tried to run me over this morning she was driving a blue Sierra, not the rust-coloured one I'm used to leaping out of the way of. Of course, James called it white, but that's only between the rust!
So, I finally arrived home, cheesed off, grumpy and not a happy bunny. One day is all it has taken to totally bugger up all my good work - it looks like my week off in a week or so's time will now be cancelled as I have too many people to see - oh how my boss will like that! Maybe I just won't tell her! And my happy, sunny disposition (largely thanks to Catherine yesterday!) is blown right out the window. All this, and just when I need a drink, it looks like the very same window for going out this side of ever may have just closed once again... typical.
Still, I am not the only one with problems - Dad is still working security, but the company has changed, and they have a different rota (less money), don't have supervisor posts (less money), may have to work the month before being paid (no money at all for a month) and don't take into account service - so that's 15 years service down the drain. Security, I have decided, is a crappy job, even at the best of times. It actually makes my job seem bareable (though dad would probably hit many of the people I manage to be civil to - James would probably park a bus on them!)
Still, some good things have come out of all the recent strife - I have lost weight (yay!), I'm finally feeling well enough to excercise once more (though my ankle is a bugger - after the blocks it didn't feel too bad yesterday, but today - ooohhh!!!!), I have started on the new I.T. strips (in the Liberty Meadows/PvP four panel layout) for the relaunch of Rogue Noid Productions site on April 1st, and may even get round to giving the car a good clean out this week if I can get all the work crap out of it!
So here's to another card-free (and thankfully, flower-less - a great saving there!) Valentines Day tomorrow - even if I got a card and flowers, it would have been better than today!
Posted by Badgers at 10:36 PM | Comments (1)
February 12, 2004
Making Movies Out Of Rides
As pirate movies go, Pirates Of The Carribbean was good fun. Now Disney have given us The Haunted Mansion.
Any more attractions they can make movies of? Rock 'n' Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith? Frontierland? The Coral Reef Cafe?
Space Mountain would no doubt be on the list, but which? The US version or the Jules Verne inspired Paris version? And considering the nearest the company has had to a success in the sci-fi genre was The Black Hole, would we wait with baited breath?
Perhaps this is the new thing - perhaps the UK should get into this and stop making slushy Britcoms! Imagine - Nemesis: The Movie! Oblivion! Hex! (and not forgetting the classic Q Here Movie!) And thats just Alton Towers!
There's money to be made somewhere, guys...
Posted by Badgers at 10:28 PM | Comments (0)
Speed Cameras
I've had this on the go for a little while, but today it is topical again after the Daily Mirror's headline this morning.
I don't mind speed cameras. There I've said it. I do mind them being used as money-making machines. If they were all in accident blackspots, I would have no problems with them, but they quite obviously are not. If they were, My street would have them installed as people race up and down it doing 40+. Imagine how many accidents we've had - cars hitting our cars, cars flipped over, people run over... sounds like a blackspot to me!
One that does annoy me is on the way from Rawtenstall to Burnley. It is situated at the end of the 40MPH zone, and just before the 50MPH zone. How many people accelerate when they come into the last stretch to get up to speed? Everyone. Even me. Nick just accelerates anyway, but thats just due to watching too many movies with car chases. In fact, considering his welsh speeding ticket, if he ever gets caught driving along the road to get here (two spped cameras, and both apparently turned on and working this week!) he'll find himself minus licence. In fact, many people can find themselves licenceless (is that a word) easily - remember this story? That happened in more than one county - the number of cameras on roads in Burnley, you can lose it within the space of driving along Eastern Avenue!
One thing I hate is that people suddenly slam their brakes on and slow down to 20 or less in a 30 zone. This is sooo dangerous (see my blog entries for the past year and see a numberof mentions of fools slowing down like this!) and causes as many problems as it solves. As does driving 10 miles an hour too slow, which while it sounds good, isn't.
Are the cameras there to make money? Top Gear showed that, no, they are not. There are an easy way to make money, and no doubt this buggers up what I would like to see happen...
Y'see, driving along the bypass to Barrowford, there is a big sign. if you go under 50 it is just grey and blank. If you go over, it flashes up "SLOW DOWN! YOU ARE GOING TOO FAST!". The sign seems to work - people slow down on seeing it and it is almost a reward not to have it come on. It works on guilt. And it works. And of course the boy racers can use it to show off that their Vauxhall Corsas can go over 50mph. But it doesn't actually bring in money. I have a solution, though, if the police can stomach it. Advertising. Have an advert on the board, so it starts to pay for itself - but if a speeder comes along, up it pops. "SLOW THE HELL DOWN, FOOL!" Non-confrontational, and effective.
Not that it will happen.
I'd also like more 'countdown markers' on our roads - especially when you come from a fast road to a 30 zone - giving 300 yards or so to slow down comfortably. Again, not likely, though at least these are already out there and quite common.
Just a thought, is all.
PS - When driving to Northwich in Cheshire I was stunned to see something I had never seen before - a 60mph sign! I may be back there in April and may add a picture for posterity!
Posted by Badgers at 07:56 PM | Comments (0)
If You Were To Have Sex In A Car...
...where would you choose to do it? Somehow, I doubt the first place would be up on Crown Point in the rain and wind in the back of a Nissan Prairie. Someone obviously thought it was a good idea as I pulled in there on the way to Bacup to check some paperwork, and couldn't help noticing the humped form (in a big blanket) jogging horizontally. Well, as much as he could. I zipped off to Bacup pretty quick, I can tell you! Of course, Crown Point used to be a major sex-in cars place - in the olde days when dad was on CB (the horror!) we'd be up there (me, Mum & Dad) with dad talking gibberish to someone on Pendle Hill, Mum not doing much really, and me reading a book in the back by torchlight (or wandering over the rocks that were nearby if it wasn't too dark). Not all the other steamed-up cars used to have big 3 metre aerials stuck on their rooves with magnets though.
There - that sets the tone! I'm back after a little while away fiddling, reading books and trying to get GPRS working on my new phone...
Last Sunday saw a day with all four of us together, with attempts to get JF Duke Nukem 3D (a new build of Duke Nukem that runs in XP and actually allows multiplayer) Sadly it only allows 2 two players (or seemed to) though it ran very well. I'm currently hunting down some of the old maps we used to play... Check it out here - it's worth it (though bear in mind you need the Duke Nukem .GRP files).
The week hasn't been bad - only one big all-day meeting after last week, which wasn't too bad - some of my letters (with the odd change) are to be used across county, and my checklist that social workers fill in may well go on the computer system to form the basis of referrals to the service. Which was nice. As was the Bacon and Mushroom bagette form the White Cross tuck-shop in Lancaster.
Of course, the week has had its near death experiences, unsurprising considering I have hardly been in the office this week! Driving along a nice, clear road I was nearly totalled by a Ford transit van that obviously couldn't be bothered to wait for me to pass - how he could miss me coming up the road (he nearly didn't) or the car coming the opposite way (who had a nice squeal of brakes) I have no idea. I also nearly rear-ended a car that suddenly slowed down to take a corner (I was a little way back, but didn't expect him to slam on and turn without indicating) and was thankful that the ambulance that nearly hit me in the back could slow down quickly too and so didn't get any customers. I have a driving rant coming on!
Thankfully, with the last big meeting for a while out of the way, I got to physio this morning, and one of the few people there (after Tuesday it seems some were not well - it had apparently been a bugger, and due to penalties, been 20 minutes longer than normal!) was saying how she had been glad that it hadn't been blocks on Tuesday as well. Guess what Catherine, the lovely physiotherapist got out. For those not in the know, blocks are large wooden box-wedges, angled at about 40 degrees. The exercises usually consist of standing with your bad leg on the wedge and using them to stretch by stepping forward, backward, etc. Not too bad in theory, but the strain is enormous. I wasn't too bad, except that for some reason I just couldn't get a grip on the blocks in bare feet - I kept sliding off! You'd think a guy with size 12 flat feet would have more traction! I can't help remembering Fletcher's medical examination from Porridge... "What, with these feet?" One exercise I definitely got the benefit of was the one where you stand with your bad foot on the block and balance on it. As I couldn't get my feet to stay on, Catherine came and stood close while pressing her foot against mine to keep it on the block. I could just about balance, though she did help a bit. Amazingly, all my thoughts at that point (well most of them) were focused on my foot. Oh, and cold showers, cricket, any woman Nick dances with on a night out... anything unsexy, really, for some reason (I can hear James gasping from here!)
In other news I have finally got a new mobile phone - a nice shiny Motorola V525. I've just had GPRS enabled and it works - I just need to work out how to push ringtones onto the thing (via bluetooth or the web, I suppose) and pictures. Talking of pictures, the camera is a good one - I've switched to 640x480 and quality is good, especially in dark conditions. And I can easily bluetooth the pics to Ayumi or Ayu. Looks like fun to be had on our next night out! I just need to make sure I have everyone's numbers right - I had James' number, but lost it when I had to reformat. Far better than the Nokia I use at work, and the battered Siemens C35i I used to have before it went tits up! I just have to decide what ringtone to put on it (currently I am using Sweet which is a rather nice Japanese-sounding tune) and need to put either an RNP or Ayumi image on the background...
Ah well - off to do other stuff now - We shall see what the weekend brings... I mean, you have all bought your Valentines cards, right? Especially those you are sending to yourselves to try and make it look like you are not really a sad johnny-no-mates? Heheheh!
Posted by Badgers at 07:23 PM | Comments (0)
Jeremy Clarkson and the Chocolate Factory
As part of his Inventions That Changed the World series, Clarkson is looking at chocolate. And I of all people, the one person who can't eat chocolate or else I projectile vomit, am his cameraman. I'm following him (he is in one of his supercars, I'm in Camille, my 206), and he loses me. I manage to catch up though as I know where he is going! I arrive and drive into and around the factory - no-one is surprised (except me). I get out and manage to park outside. I go in again on foot with the camera on my shoulder, and find Clarkson chatting with some rather nice ladies, who are looking after a bunch of screaming kids. I think they were teachers, but they might have been guides at the factory, especially considering the last part of the dream.
Anyway, once I finally extract him from the girls clutches, we start filming. we are walking along the roof while Clarkson talks about chocolate. I crawl backwards through a skylight followed by Clarkson who replaces the skylight and o it is a glass globe - he explains that the original Mr Cadbury (not that the factory was anythign like Cadbury's real factory in Bournville) could look into the lobe ands see the whole sight, and anything that was going on. I zome in to look and yeas, a distorted, but recognisable view of the whole site can be seen. I mention that I could see my car. He asks if I can see his Aston as he can't remember where he parked.
The filming over, we go out and meet the ladies again, along with the kids. Clarkson becomes a little infatuated with one, and we leave together (no kids). At some point Clarkson lurks behind, and ends up catching up by driving a lorry. He tells me he rather likes one of the girls, and we go into their house to meet the family. I end up shaking hands (one way or another) with their grandfather... oddly as I do so, my leg starts to give out.
Surprisingly, despite the chocolate (which to be honest, I never see), this isn't a vomiting dream. Imagine my relief! I can even guess where some of this comes from.
First, the obvious - I went to bed last night remembering to set the video to watch Inventions... as I would be watching Jake 2.0 tonight (and also hoping that 24 isn't as bad this year as it has been said to be). I bought Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory at the weekend on DVD in Manchester. The globe is oddly Wonka-ish, but not from the film, unless I forgot about it.
The ladies were all nice, probably mid twenties, and all very helpful - they didn't cuff the kids once. Noone I knew again (I seem to be very good at conjouring up good looking women in dreams (say a single thing James and I'll punch you up the conker mate!) - I assume they are people I have spotted while out and about - certainly not anyone I recognised though).
Why the grandfather? Why is Clarkson so smitten (apart from the obvious)? Why the heck was I the cameraman? And if the programme was about chocolate, why didn't I get to take any footage? Why am I bothering to analyse it anyway?
Posted by Badgers at 06:48 PM | Comments (1)
Goodfellas Pizzas
Imagine an advert for Extra Deep and Crispy Pizzas from Goodfellas - there may even be one like this dream...
The camera goes down a street and everyone has extra-wide (and extra cheesy) grins. The anouncer asks what is going on, and the person talking turns, easting a pizza (though oddly, a very thin one, rather than a deep-pan pizza). He tries to speak but can't, mumbling something and shrugging his shoulders. The announcer says "There you have it!" and the Pizza box appears on screen.
Literally an advert, this is no doubt inspired by the many posters advertising the Goodfellas pizzas - showing people with extra wide grins (and more teeth than the Osmand family, to quote Red Dwarf). It was like a real advert - except it made no sense. Then again...
Posted by Badgers at 06:29 PM | Comments (0)
Without A Paddle
I'm on a river in a long canoe, and yes, I have no paddle. This is not a problem as I am using my hands to paddle and to guide the canoe through the cold running water. It feels exiting and fun. This goes on for a while, then suddenly the boat jumps forward - there is now a motor at the back, though it isn't working properly, and Nick is driving! Every time he tries to put his foot down the canoe leaps forward but stalls, and the seats fly back, usually nearly landing on top of me. Yeah, I know canoes don't have seats, but work with me here - it was a dream! Anyway - we go under a bridge and I tell Nick to stop 'cos he's just buggering up the outboard motor. I look back and see Andrew waving to us while he is fishing.
Okay, this came from nowhere... and I have no idea what any of it means (if anything) or where my brain trawled it up from. Canoes? Rivers? Nick (trying) to drive a speedboat?
Nope - nothing.
Posted by Badgers at 06:24 PM | Comments (0)
February 08, 2004
Fjords!
So there I was, not unlike Slartibartfast with his glaciers poised to sweep over Africa, with a few rants that had been building over the past week. The great coastline designer was told his new Earth wasn't needed, I found last night that my computer suddenly lost all ability to make sounds other than a post 'beep', and told me it didn't have any sound devices - even when I plugged in my USB headphones. Then funny stuff started to happen with the graphics card after a reboot. There was, of course, but one answer - reformat and reinstall!
In the space of 4 hours I had Windows XP up and running, and almost all the software (James had my DVD with some other bits on), with the Radeon Catalyst 4.1 drivers - so far, no problems! This should be a good example for Nick installing the 9600Pro - he doesn't have anywhere near the amount of stuff to put back on! I even have all my shortcuts to games and emulators sorted! He could get it all done in no time - in fact, I fear James might just make him do it today!!!
I'll get the rants I had planned online in the next few days (Haunted Mansion?!?), along with some other planned bits (mostly sitting on my iPAQ at the moment) that I have planned. At least the problem with .com was simple - I just had to pay the $8.88!
The rest of the week was interesting. After the meeting on Monday where a colleague started to go slightly potty about the reorganisation (it might effect him seriously) he emailed the chair of the Technical Officers Meeting and stressed out to her about it all. To be honest, the changes don't affect me as much as the others (I've done some stuff with partially sighted and blind people, as it is in my job description), though I'll want more training, and I agree that if we are taking on all those other jobs too, we want paying. Currently I don't do too badly (one colleague in Yorkshire is getting paid about £12K before tax - others get much more than me), but if we have to do all that reviewing and stuff on top of this already busy job (which may get slightly less busy if the loan store stuff actually happens) its gonna be difficult. I'd like to see certain shelf-makers and bus drivers do it. And as for those who can't install a Radeon 9600 Pro within three months of getting it...
The rest of the week at work was mildly annoying, but nothing I couldn't handle.
Manchester was fun, thankfully - lots of books (and vouchers used!), a few cheap DVDs, a flyer for various Valentine's Day potions from Penhaligon's (He Love Eau de Toilette - £30 for 50ml!!! Bargain!!!) Not sure if the coloured bottles and gimmicks that will rule Burnley's nightclubs and bars next weekend would be any cheaper, though... red for those not interested, amber for those interested, and green for those gagging for it! Talking of the 14th, has it come late this year? The various shops seem to have only put up displays in the last week or so (though the cards have been on sale since Christmas!). Easter is already on us though - eggs are in shops, and the displays are already up in some places...
Ah well - Sunday is here, and Ayumi is finally running well again... James will be at Nick's, so I expect to decimate his armies in Total War (!) We may get round to planning a night out in the near future (we all need a drink, apart from Doof and his total inability to escape Galaxies (I'm currently going cold turkey - for 4 days! - after getting The Kettemoor server Helise on the road to her Master Medic future... I'll be back online on Bria tonight though!)
Maybe later, nerfherders!
Posted by Badgers at 09:43 AM | Comments (2)
February 04, 2004
Madness, I Know Your Name...
...and it is Samba de Amigo Version 2000 on the Dreamcast! With maracas. When I got home to find that the disc had arrived (from Japan) I set everything up and had a mad half-hour... "Volare! O-Oh!!!" etc... now to get a VMU with the extra songs...
So, How's life been treating you? I didn't get to Manchester (way too ill - I'm only just coming out of it) and this week has been a bugger so far - the highlights (!) including going to Preston (including driving up the hill to the town centre using the clutch all the way - imagine my poor ankle!) for a meeting where we didn't actually get near what we were there to talk about (how the reoganisation will affect us, and how come we have all this crap on our job descriptions now?), going out to install a new (well, second hand but working) flashing doorbell in an old man's house as he was harrassing the War Pensions Office about it and going to write to his MP as the engineers from the comapny that will remain nameless (Universal Aids Ltd, based in Stockport!) hadn't fixed the system yet, and cutting my right index finger open while doing the installation! Still, at least this calmed him down and got him on my side!
Thankfully, Galaxies has given me much more fun - I'm rapidly heading the way of the Master Marksman and Master Scout thanks to a canny purchase of a snub-nosed carbine... yeah, yeah, I know... but it's so much more fun than real life!
Oh, and after Sunday's little Total War Battle (Nick versus Me and Andrew in TW:Medieval - I just had one purpose (even though my general was eventually captured) and that was to decimate his castle. Let's just say that his keep never stood a chance!) I hope James has been learning how to make his armies follow his commands... I like that game! Roll on TW:Rome later this year!!! That is, of course if he turns up!
He's back online again as he's left comments on the last entry that indicate he wants to go out (for Julie-related reasons, probably!) and is also gagging to go to EuroDisney (Andrew humphs every time it is mentioned, oddly). We shall see what happens this year... Maybe we should take a week off and dstart at Alton Towers, head to London and hit Chessington and Thorpe Park, then head into the wilds of France to hit Euro-mouseland. And then head into Belgium to check out Asterix World too. He's also sent me links to lots of eBay stuff - like Space:1999 Eagles (drool) and one guy who has lots of mini (like 3") models of ships from movies and shows... there goes my money again...
Posted by Badgers at 06:31 PM | Comments (4)