Drastic measures to ensure a quality Tube service:

"Under Stalin, Moscow's subway was an example to the rest of the world. It was efficient, cheap and clean. If anything broke down the person responsible would be shot as a warning to others."

Vladimir Dirizevsky, Moscow

It could just work...

A very interesting article about hacking.

All this PPP stuff - let's hope London Transport gets its act together if and when I return from Oz - today was appalling !! Coming back from Embankment we were stuck in a stalled train for 15 minutes with absolutely no announcement at all, and it was really warm in there. That's after a 1/2 hour wait for the train. So I decided to hop off at Earl's Court and get the bus the rest of the way home. Usually the 74 isn't too bad, so I ignored all the taxis driving past. The bus stop timetable was a marvellous work of fiction; "Buses run regularly every 4 minutes until 18.20, then about every ten minutes until 22.24". More like "whenever I crawl out the garage, then whenever I bloody well feel like dropping by, until my mates call me from the pub". I waited 40 minutes for a bus. And then (due to Hammersmith and Fulham Council digging up every road in the borough right now), it took an additional 20 minutes to drive the 3 mile route, doubling back on ourselves at least twice. I must say though, he was a good driver (I didn't need to take a taxi to the kerb when I got off), and people watching is always interesting on the bus. Oh, and there was a cool breeze running through and no tunnels to get stuck in. Always a bonus...

Speaking of Oz (I did, briefly!), I bit the bullet and bought my ticket at the weekend. One ticket via L.A. and Auckland/Christchurch (plus 7 day stop-off in NZ) to Melbourne, departing 7th December. One way. Eeeek.

Last but by absolutely no means least, huge thanks to Rodney; the little angel magicked my blogspot adverts away !! What a total honey!! Ta, luv!

Now I must try and stop Pepsi escaping out of our attic room window - she's just managed to open the door. Gah!

How to keep your beer cool the NZ way... [via Nick]

Here we are, a brief photo shoot of the cats sprawled on my bed in front of the fan, looking at me as if to say "we're very comfortable, so where are you sleeping tonight?". Pepsi is the dark chocolate evil-looking cat (who I was rescuing this morning), and Rosie is the cute blonde teddybear ;)

Cat On A Hot Tiled Roof

Well, I got the cat down. It took 3 neighbours, 3 ladders and several scratches to the face and arms (poor terrified cat). She was stuck on the roof and no-one had the keys, they went away yesterday so Pepsi has impeccable timing. It was pretty hair-raising - try climbing down a narrow ladder from a 2 storey house with a terrified cat clutching you for dear life with claws, miaowing her head off, trying not to set off the burglar alarm. Scratches aren't too bad thankfully. Pepsi is now collapsicated on the floor (as well as Rosie), stretched out without a care in the world. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! Am off to buy a bottle of wine (or three), to say thanks to the pseudo-fire-brigade!!

Pet Rescue ain't got nuffink on us !!

It's nearly three bloody AM and I am awake, unable to get to sleep as my cat has managed to get herself trapped in a neighbour's roof extension, and I am stressing. She disappeared about 10pm - normal turn of events - but then didn't come home. So I had to walk up and down the street in my PJ's at 1am, yelling for her and dropping notes in each door for the morning ("please, if you see a small brown friendly cat, can you return her?").

Finally located the miaowing, and doh!, it turns out that these neighbours are away for their holiday and seem to have left a window open. This has happened before - it's Pepsi's favourite trick in the summer... climb in random people's windows and snuggle up with them (nice!) - but she hasn't done it for a while (and we asked our neighbours to shut this particular window, as she can't get out of it as it swings shut). So she's yelling her head off (poor little thing), and I am facing the prospect of the morning (hopefully having slept at least a couple of hours) spent with either the RSPCA or the Fire Brigade - or both - getting her out. And meanwhile I just can't settle down to sleep.

Gah!

I've just been to the most mahhhhhhvellous party...." - as Noel Coward would say.

I've just been to my friend's house warming party; he actually moved in a long time ago, but he aquired a new flatmate this week - any excuse for a party, this boy. So I went. Abso-bloody-lutely hysterical! After the infamous memory-loss party, I've been cutting down on the happy-juice, so tonight was no different and I stuck with a glass of wine and a mug of (warm!) Bolly - the rest of the evening was cranberry juice and tonic water (though not at the same time).

Myself and Grace were the only straight people at this party. Imagine a small, 2 bedroom West London flat, and fill it full of boys. On a campness scale ranging 1-10 (where 1 is Jeffrey Archer and 10 is Brian from BigBro), the average was about 7 or 8. Funny?! I haven't laughed for as long or as hard (ooh, matron!) for a very, very long time. A brief intermission whilst we watched Big Brother (nice one Brian!), but the rest of the evening was filled with interesting conversations, giggles, cuddles, screeches and cries for "where's my Bolly?!!". I can't actually commit most of the derringdo to this page, but it was highly amusing, debauched and boy, their heads are going to hurt in the morning.... [evil cackle].

I may be slow in posting this, but this Harry Potter article cracked me up!!!

Are You In A Doomed Dotcom?

Anyone for shopping?

Have been chatting with Davo today about Japanese food, and now I'm drooling... I need sushi now!!

"take a turn around the room.....to show our figures to their best advantage"

[Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen]

A straw poll in our office indicates that 5 out of 8 people in our office didn't know that Pride and Prejudice was written by Jane Austen. Erk.

This is very cool. [via several blogs]

My horoscope this week has been unnervingly accurate. Not that I believe such garbage, but here's todays;

"Poor Cancer is having a tough day and feeling a bit crabby. You wish you were an invisible image. The ALT tag would say 'blah'.

Parallel Universes

Do you ever wonder how your life would have worked out if you'd made a different decision 1, 2, 5, 10 years back? If you'd chosen to go left instead of right. If you'd chosen vanilla instead of chocolate. If you hadn't kissed that person. If you'd caught that train. If you'd studied a bit harder. If you'd done your homework that night instead of watching TV. If you had taken the other job. If you hadn't decided to move house. If you hadn't travelled the world. If...

Would it be significantly different? Do we have an almost pre-destined 'plan' which you may deviate from but never really leave? Or are the choices we make a definitive step in who we are - and who we become. How different would we really be? Although we know that what happens to us shapes us as human beings, would we change significantly from a "blueprint" set out from the start?

Are we ever too old to change who, what and where we are?

Turns out it's going to cost me at least £200+ (and that's half price as I don't have health insurance!) to get a (private) second opinion on the impact of my GP's f*ckwittage. To get a NHS specialist's opinion would a) take too long (minimum 6 months) and b) require a referral from my GP, which is nuts, and c) require dealing with the NHS! What price my health, but still - another indicator of how screwed up the NHS really is. The 'Jen vs NHS' machine is rapidly gathering momentum...

Life is hotting up in Sicily....

Good things...

.. my cousin Kelsey just walked into a job at Queen Charlotte's Maternity Hospital in London; she had an interview last week and a job offered on the spot. For someone who has just qualified, this is a tremendous and well deserved achievement.

.. my mate Mark is on the 'Summer Holiday' program tonight (BBC1, 7pm); he runs a diving company in the Turks and Caicos islands. So watch out for the cute blond.. :) If you want to dive, this is the place.. and he's the guy to do it. I've known him for 25 years, and he is a superb diver, so am really glad him and Phil are getting the publicity for Big Blue.

Ye ask, and ye shall receive...

To say that I am in a bad mood would be an extreme understatement right now. The f*ckwittage displayed by my GP has reached new heights that even my doctor-friends are surprised at, and I am most definitely on the warpath. Copies of The NHS Patient's Charter and a very strongly worded letter are being compiled, and as soon as I get a minute I'll have the photocopier in the car and my notes in my hands, and there is nothing they can do. Oh, and a letter to the NHS complaints board too. Just in case they were in any doubt of exactly how pissed off I am, and how far they have overstepped the mark. B*st*rds.

(in fact, it has taken me about an hour to react to all this, as despite their appalling track record, even I couldn't quite believe how amazingly and unbelievably badly they have behaved).

And no, I can't change surgery. a) they are all as bad as each other and b) there is a year's waiting list for the ones in my area. And they know that..

>>>FUME<<<

Thoroughly enjoying the new Ben Folds (solo) album (Rockin' the Suburbs). As good, if not better than 'Whatever and Ever Amen' (his best album in Ben Folds Five); this man is one talented dude.It's out in September (11th) but a kind person pointed me towards the MP3 versions. A huge thanks to you, my friend. Ben is touring Oz and UK in August - so go see him! Sadly his main UK tour is in December (supporting James), which I shall miss. I can't wait to see the title track video - produced by Weird Al Yankovitch - sure to be a barrel of laughs!

The latest in portable Palm accessories, the Lego Palm VII. Sorry, Cal and Mo - your Palm keyboards are just soooo passé now!

Spent the morning sleeping, and the afternoon sat in Hyde Park (and then The Swan in Lancaster Gate) with a group of UK Bloggers - many more than I can mention (or remember) here, but including Meg, Davo, Luke, Tom, Bella, Graybo, Mike, Rachel, Tom, Rodney, Nick, Drew, Mo, Cal, Ian... and many others! It was very surreal meeting many of these people; you read what you think they "are" in their blogs, and sometimes you are surprised by the "real thing". Pleasantly, I must add.. Having said that, as Rodney and I walked into the mini-Sainsbury's near Marble Arch tube, we spotted a small group of people and I said "I'll put a fiver on those being Bloggers". Rodney said it was because they were blinking at the sunlight - people so used to sitting in the dark with their computers. I was right..

It was very relaxing and a lot of fun, which was good as meeting a load of new people is always hard, and in this context very surreal. The weather held, and much frisbee throwing (head-decapitation-style), drinking, talking and general tomfoolery took place. There was some sort of concert setup in Hyde Park not far from where we were sitting, so we were serenaded by loud opera and such cultural delights. Meg swore that it was meant to be Status Quo and the Beach Boys, but of course she hadn't arranged this location on purpose.... *Ahem*. ;)

There are (of course) several hideously embarrassing photos and (thanks to the marvels of modern technology!) video clips of various people and events; including Mo and Graybo being mauled by Bella's 5 yr old daughter Mila (they deserved it!); it was fantastically funny watching big strong (!) guys being beaten around the legs with a pink frilly umbrella ;) They'll be up on the site as soon as I can be bothered to recharge the camera :) Right now I'm just too tired to go downstairs to set it up.

Ok. So now I am worried.. my throat is now at the stage where a few years ago I ended up in hospital on a drip for 3 days. This would really spoil my day.

Despite working in a (freezing) server room FULL of a significant amount of (noisy) servers the last 2 days, I've had no web access at all, and I have a sore throat from a) the aircon and b) talking loud enough over the sound of the servers. My glands are up (the size of golf balls) and I can't swallow. Eeek. Hope it disappears in time for the bloggers picnic (along with the relentless rain falling outside).

The Isle of Man was very pretty; I had a half-foot-square view of the sea from my bedroom window (I knew I should have taken the digicamera!), and I managed to go to the Manx museum for 2 minutes (on the pretext of getting the only decent cup of tea the entire trip). I also had an - erm - interesting txt mssg conversation about 'kitchen surfaces' with a friend today, which was made more entertaining by the fact I was trying not to laugh in front of my colleagues whilst documenting the project and replying to the messages .. very difficult. The plane home flew directly over my house, which was really cool as I could see the ponds in the garden... freaky! I knew the planes were low, but this was like being Gulliver (was it Bresingamen or Lilliput?)

But the most important thing is that the client signed off the project, so I'm done.

At least, until Phase 2...... ;)

It's late, I am off to bed.

"Sweet sleep, sweet repose

Hope the flies don't tickle your toes"

Gah! It's too bloody early !

06:33:04

I do love reading this entertaining load of rubbish - today's was spookily spot on, though.

"Okay, you've given it your best shot and performed above and beyond the call of duty. And things still did not pan out as you had hoped. Should you punish yourself to the fullest extent of your own laws? Well, you can certainly make an argument for such actions if you desire. But the truth is, that considering the tools you had to work with, what you just pulled off was pretty damned close to a miracle. Those on the outside cannot see it, however, because they, well, are on the outside. "

So I am off on a business trip for the next couple of days, and won't have web access (probably) [this is very very funny, but I sadly can't tell you why...]. I'll blog again when I return...

I thought I'd seen everything... [via Lindsay]

To say I am stressed right now is an understatement.

I spent the last 2 days building up a production server with all the right bits and bobs to make my product work.Not much stuff, but enough to take 2 long days of installing and bouncing and testing. Go-live is on Monday, and I head onsite tomorrow for 2 days to finish the job. I was feeling pretty confident, most of what I had to do would take 5 minutes apiece, and today was scheduled with last minute copy changes (so, nothing major) and documentation (a day's worth at least).

So at 10am this morning, I get an email that they're going to rebuild the server, and that I had an hour to take everything off that I needed, AND write a document to instruct the people onsite on how to reinstall everything and reconfigure the box.

Argh! I did as requested, am doing some cosmetic changes now, and then have to write the document. I haven't had lunch, and I have to go home on time to cook dinner.

I have to get to Heathrow for 8am tomorrow morning, complete with all paperwork (documents, completed code), CDs (code, install disks) and a presentation (more paper, my brain) and a proposal for part 2 of the project. And once I get onsite, I have to check the reinstall, upload the modifications, test the product, present the finished job, train clients accordingly, and persuade them they want to go ahead with phase 2. AND I have to wear a suit.

It's 14.38, I'm hungry and tired and although I know I can achieve all this, all I want is a cheese sandwich, a cup of tea and a full frontal lobotomy.

EEEK!!!

I've been having much fun making things look good in IE and NN tonight. A total revamp of www.fameis.com is coming soon to a CSS-compliant browser near you... Once I have finished that, I shall start on this blog, redesigning it and incorporating it into the currently-empty www.globaljen.com. Currently bereft of design ideas, though.. well, actually I have no idea what I want it to look like right now, but I've spent plenty of time the last few weeks finding out what it definitely won't look like.

On Saturday I'm off to to the ukbloggers Party in the Park. Should be fun, keep your fingers crossed for the weather (cool graphic courtesy of Meg).

Again from Meg; I followed her lead to this personality disorder test. I won't tell you what I got but I'm far from normal.

But you knew that.....

Lost in Translation [via lukelog]

This is sick. I am not amused.

Just another day at the office...

Ok, so I am now at the stage whereby all I want to do is tear my arm off at the elbow... I have resisted the urge to scratch but one bite is rubbing against the edge of the laptop and aggravating it even more.

And the bloody "T" key is still popping out of the keyboard every second word.

Gah!

[can you tell I'm not in the best of moods? can you really?!]

I got bitten by an ant yesterday, whilst lying on the lawn trying to will away my impending hangover. I didn't think much of it at the time, but now I am in absolute agony, with 3 bright red weals on my arm. I went to drop off a prescription request at my doctors just now, and asked if there was any chance of seeing a doctor for 2 minutes to prescribe some hydrocortisone cream (the antihistamines aren't working, obviously). "Our next available appointment is on Thursday afternoon; would you like me to pencil you in?". Erm.... no?!?!. I bloody well hope it has stopped itching by bloody Thursday!!!! I did think about asking them for an appointment on the 24th March 2005 for a really bad cold, but the receptionist clearly didn't have any sense of humour, and last time I was in he got really upset when I walked out of the surgery saying they were all crap...

Luckily the chemist sold me some over-the-counter cream, that whilst not being as powerful as the stuff the doctor dishes out, has taken the edge off the urge to rub my lower arm with an industrial sander (coarse paper setting).

It doesn't help that I am still hungover from Saturday's drink-fest, and am not in the best of moods as a result... partly due to feeling grotty, and partly because I still can't remember anything after about 10pm. And I know vodka makes me do really, really stupid things... so my imagination isn't making me feel any better.

By the way, does anyone know the best way of sticking laptop keys back on? I have a "T" key that keeps flipping off the keyboard of a Sony Vaio, and it is getting really annoying. I need to glue it in some way without wrecking the thing...

This is a quick blog, as I am exceedingly tired.

Saturday was spent doing not very much, I'd stayed up late friday night watching an appallingly bad scary film, and didn't get to sleep until 3. I did managed to redesign a site but haven't had a chance to implement it yet. A drive to Guildford was next on the agenda, as Sal and I went to my mate Stu's 30th birthday party. It was a perfect party house - in the middle of absolutely nowhere. A great party too, even if I can't remember half of it. The culprits; several bottles of red wine, and some vodka jelly - you can fill in the blanks. I woke up on the living room floor this morning, though I'd managed to sort out my sleeping bag to cover me, it wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep.

Feeling decidedly fragile, we sat and watched the warmup to the British Grand Prix - comedy moments from Murray Walker galore. Still most definitely in no fit state to drive, I drove Sal and 2 of Stu's friends back to London. Sticking rigorously to the speed limit and praying for no police cars, let's just say I won't be doing that again in a hurry - terrifying doesn't come close to describing it. Dumb for sure... but we had to get home.

This afternoon was spent recovering, napping, eating, watching tv, and feeling decidedly grim - hangover set in at about 7pm, when Sal and I had to brave the Tube (half the lines not working) for our trip to the Tower of London, to watch our friend Will perform the Ceremony of the Keys, when they lock up the Tower for the night. It was really interesting - this has been going on every night for 700+ years, and a treat to watch. Lots of yelling, swords, marching around and smart uniforms. Will looked particularly smart in his Blues, and a beautiful ceremonial sword. I did take a picture but it was very dark and I'm too tired to upload it.. soon though :)

It's friday night. I should be in the pub with a mate, celebrating her move to Australia (it's in the water!). Sadly, I'm sat in the office trying to get Netscape and IE to look like each other using a CSS. It's a losing battle, but I have to do it as the site goes live on Monday. DAMN!

Well, I haven't been able to write about this in my blog, even though it was (is) the most important thing in my life for months. You know the old adage - if you don't people to know, don't blog it - I stuck to that religiously.. possibly at the expense of my sanity sometimes!

But this morning I told my boss that I am moving to Australia @ the end of this year. He took it exceedingly well, and I still have a job. And a reference for my visa.

I can't explain how much sleep I've lost over this - giving 5 months notice is tricky - but now the overwhelming feeling is relief, a 2-ton weight off my shoulders, and an incredible feeling of happiness.

*GRIN*

Bloody computers. My ADSL is just not playing, so I am on a poxy dialup right now. Nightmare !! They're all sick right now - all my mates are having problems with their ickle white boxes.

Just had a bit of an weird evening - a childhood friend was over from the Caribbean where he now owns and runs a diving company - I see him about once a year at best. Due to future plans, I probably won't get to see him again for at least 2 or more years. That sucks so much. We've grown up together as small kids (since I was about 1+3/4) and they're 'family'... all of us (6) kids are ships that pass in the night as we travel so much, but we've spent so many holidays and christmas' together that if more than 12 months goes by without seeing them, I miss them like mad.

Listening to Moonwash's 'Cold' with the subwoofer set and the volume right up - awesome. Cheer me up :)

I just had one of those defining moments. My heartbeat hasn't quite slowed down to its normal rate yet.. and I just have to write about it.

I had been talking to my friend Silke at lunch today about Goldenboy. She and I love the CD and live performances, and she told me that some of Shon's earlier music (pre-Goldenboy) was available for download. Not being a Napsteresque-lover, I was a bit hesitant, but having loved Blue Swan Orchestra, and heard very good reviews of Moonwash (formerly Moonwash Symphony), I decided to go for it.

Wow.

Wow wow wow wow wow wow...

'Cold' reached out of the computer, held me by the shoulders, looked me in the eye and spoke to me. And I fell in love with it, head over heels, totally and utterly - hook, line and sinker.

I love music, and there's nothing better than sitting there listening to a good album. But this - this was something else. I can't stop listening to it, and I just can't get enough. I'm taking my laptop home in a couple of minutes, plugging it into my network and that baby's gonna zip over to my big pooter and have a big fat shortcut on my desktop. I can't wait to hear it with a proper subwoofer, instead of these crummy earphones!

You want to hear it too? It's a bit of a palaver but it's SO worth it. Go visit www.audiogalaxy.com, download the widget, and search for "moonwash". You really, really won't regret it. I'm off to search for other songs.. if you find any more Moonwash/Moonwash Symphony stuff, please let me know?

I've got a really difficult situation this week that I need to deal with. I'm really not looking forward to it, as it's hard, awkward, emotionally charged, and a downright nightmare. I was going to delay it to the last possible moment but I really have to sort it out asap. It's doing my head in !!!!!!!!!!!!

Been listening to Blue Swan Orchestra the last couple of days, a severely chilled but highly entertaining debut(ish) CD from Goldenboy. I love going on tours and finding really special new stuff on the way.... this particular CD was very kindly given to me by Shon (aka Goldenboy) at Neil's Cambridge gig back in April, and I find it hard to remove from my stereo. Perfect for those summer evenings where it's too hot to listen to loud music, it evokes some echoes of Belle & Sebastian, and Woodstock (the festival). Marvellous!

I do love springing surprises on people. I was due to meet up with my friend Sal on saturday lunchtime, to go buy a birthday present for a mutual friend. So having organised that, I called our old flatmate from uni, whom neither of us have seen for a couple of years. He's in the army, so is always off galavanting around the countryside on his Warrior tank. I arranged a rendezvous...

So despite the horrific hangover, I managed to make it to Sloane Square on time. Met up with Sal, and as I said the words "well, I need to wait for someone else", her jaw dropped about 20ft as Will joined us. Had a great lunch and mooch around the shops; just like old times. An invite to join Will when he next locks up the Tower (of London, that is), and we were on our way home.

Saturday evening was filled with trashy TV whilst I babysat. Flicking between 'Top Ten 1987', a retrospective of 1976, and Drew Barrymore's "Never Been Kissed" - a truly atrocious film saved only (for me) by the realisation that they were playing a Semisonic song during one scene.

Today has been incredibly lazy - a brief stint @ the supermarket followed by tennis (Wimbledon) on the TV and large amounts of Pimms, and a delicious dinner. Scallops, NZ Orange Roughy and tiger prawn tails marinaded in soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sesame oil and lime juice - flash fried and served with a tomato and red onion salad, and green cabbage braised with chili, garlic and lemon juice. Followed by mixed berries tossed in rum. Mmmmm.

I do like sundays...

Eurgh. It's not pretty. Why can't it just rain?! I lay awake @ 6.14am and opened all my windows, lying there begging a breeze to pass through my neck of the woods. Feeling decidedly unwell, the heat didn't make the pre-hangover any easier to deal with, and exacerbated that nauseous ickyness you get before the real symptoms kick in.

They have now. Ick.

It swung towards the margharitas, the 20yr-old tequila the barman gave me a free shot of, another nameless coctail, and the outcome was very ugly. My head hurts.

Ouch.

And I haven't even gone to bed yet....

This is really cool - a great new photo of Mars, crystal clear.

I've done well today - achieved a heck of a lot in the last 2 days on 3 different projects, and fulfilled my objectives on all three counts. Made a few customers happy, and means that I am relaxed for the weekend. This is despite many technical hitches and some severe f*ckwittage from some sources. One must rise above such pathetic idiocy, and achieve regardless. That's not to say I condone such behaviour; but although I know I can be slightly pedantic sometimes, there are times and places, and some people just don't understand just when to shut up and get on with it. Gah! Now all the newly developed, skinned and validated pages are sitting snugly in their new home and all I have to do is wait for the other company to sort out the licencing issues. Marvellous :)

So I can now go to the pub with a clear conscience, and was finally (after 5 weeks) able to turn off the server at 5.30 on the dot. Makes the office a hell of a lot cooler, and a lot quieter. Now there is the mild hum of a couple of Sun servers and the dull roar of traffic beneath. The kids went home 2 hours ago so it's very peaceful. The only pressing question right now is: beer or margharitas??

Have a lovely weekend :)

Just had a perusal through the referral logs.. .heheheh. Funny how many people there are accessing the site from legal firms.. 4 different legal institutions today; a new record I think... ;) It's amusing to see the frequency of repeat visits as well, especially if it's from an address I actually know.

I've managed to iron out most of the little bugs in my product now - been working on it (on and off) for about a month now, so the novelty has definitely worn off. Keep finding ickle bits that could be improved and little bits that work 99% of the time - it's the 1% that niggles me. I have to throw it onto the Production (live) server this arvo, and still have a few things to sort out. I can't wait til I can actually tell people what I've been doing.. it's a really boring secret, too!

Hey, ho, it's back to work I go...

[speaking of Hey's and Ho's, if you haven't yet seen Shrek, go and do so now. It's funny as hell!]

Thanks to Tom for this link, which fits my mood quite nicely these last 2 days. Grrrrr....

[and if I get a whole sheaf of these voodoo things in reply - duh !]

Ooooooooh! I just a had a few really weird moments of deja-vu. Odd.

You are what you eat [via Jason].

Us Brits. We all moan about the awful weather in the UK 11.5 months a year, but now it's all hot and sunny, we all want it to rain! I can't link right now but 90% of all blogs I read this lunchtime asked for a thunderstorm...

No, I didn't get any sleep last night either. C'mon, RAIN, damnit!.

Tell me about it....

Freaky moment this morning. I woke up really, really early (4.44am) and found it difficult to go back to sleep. So I sorted out a few CDs that have been building up in a wobbly tower after the tour. Top of the pile (i.e. most recently played) was Goldenboy, Neil Finn's support in Australia as well as backing guitar on the UK and Oz tours. Very chilled, SoCal stuff - perfect for the early morning or late evening. So I listen to 'Blue Swan Orchestra', and eventually get up. Go upstairs to the computer and *spooky* - sitting in my inbox is an email from the Goldenboy himself, Shon Sullivan! Now. What are the odds of that happening?!

My mouth is black. Well, the inside of it is. Due to a severe sugar-low halfway through every afternoon (hypoglycemia), I can justify a small amount of sugar-crammed trash to keep me going a little longer (and stop me passing out on my desk). I've got rice-cakes, but there are times I just need unadulturated glucose. Today's sugar-rush of choice was a small bag of BlackJacks and Fruit Salad sweets. They are delicious rectangles of reminiscence; the 20p pocket-money dilemma of a saturday afternoon, the summer-school tuckshop, 50p from the Grandparents during the monthly sunday visit. For you non-Brits; BlackJacks are aniseed-flavoured chewy candy, and turn your mouth black as coal after one or two. Fruit Salads are raspberry and pineapple, pink and orange, tangy and sweet antithesis. Not quite sure why, but you always bought them together; often exactly the same number of each so you could alternate between the two. Mmmmmmm. They're incredibly sweet, and I only bought 2 of each.

I feel a lot better now...

Awwww, bless!

[the best bit about where we were in t'countryside is that there was no mobile reception - there was about a square foot on the drive that gave about one bar if you stood on one leg and pointed the phone at the sky (just enough for a txt mssg) but otherwise it was dead. for someone who sits in an office where the phone rings off the hook, this was luxury..]

I really need to add a whole new lot of people to my list to the right.. am behind internet-wise (I need to move the whole of fameIS.com before Friday and I can't be arsed. So if you're not added yet, please don't take it personally...

Oooh, I almost forgot to change my book - am reading Rodney's birthday present to me - the original book behind the film Chocolat. It's great, and I've only read 60 pages or so. Thanks Rodney!

Saturday

I got a horrific amount achieved this morning; I scared myself with the level of organisation required to fit in a visit to the GAP, the bank, the Post Office, Morrocan shop (chili sausages..mmmm!), Early Learning Centre, toyshop (latter two for 2yr old cousin's b'day present) AND my aunt and uncle's (to drop said present off) - all in two hours. AND I got to the hairdresser on time, where I sat for 2 hours chatting with Paul - have been to the same hairdresser for about 10+ years, he's just the best. Straight back home to head down t'countryside, where my mum wanted me to see some cottages she wants to retire to (not all of them, duh!). Very sweet places - Sussex is soooo beautiful this time of year, with the Downs looking like velvet carpets draped over a sleeping lion. We headed back to stay at a friend's place.. they were @ a wedding so we had the house to ourselves. Cue delicious lamb chops, chili sausages and salad, washed down by a bottle of red. Flaked out @ 10.30pm due to excess fresh air (and alcohol). At some point during the night I woke up, twisted the other way round the bed. As it is in the middle of nowhere, it was very dark, and it took me a while to orientate myself again. By gum, having no streetlamps really makes such a difference. It really scares me sometimes how much a townie I've become....

Sunday

At some point in my drunken stupor last night (well it was a whole bottle of red) I asked mum to wake me up @ 7am, to accompany her at the car boot sale. Doh! So, having not seen 7am on a sunday morning since - well, I usually approach it from saturday night - scrambled sleepily into the car. A scramble round the sale - got a few cute 7" singles, and some plants and raspberries. And a delicious bacon sarne (a pre-requisite of every visit to a car boot sale I have ever known). Home to sit in the garden, reading my book on a deckchair in the sun. It's amazing how hot it is early in the day. Then a quick visit to a garage sale and it was time to head for home. Where - surprise surprise - we set up the deckchairs and read in the sun. Except this time, I fell asleep. Oops. At some point I had the sense to go inside, but I do seem rather pink now, and my arms and face sting. The cat is asleep on my lap and I haven't achieved anything constructive today at all. Which is what sundays are for.