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Showing posts from July, 2010

Little John's House

For the past couple of weeks, I've had a tough time keeping my lips sealed about a bit of very good news regarding BikerBetty, my friend with the Dirk Benedict obsession crush. BB is a big supporter of Little John's House , a Romanian orphanage that was set up in 1993 for Ionut Balan and which now cares for six children, as well as providing outreach support and a summer school for other disadvantaged children in the area. A few weeks ago, with Little John's House in mind, she took a late night visit to the Vodaphone World of Difference website after seeing one of their posters on the tube and decided to apply for this year's programme, not particularly expecting to get anywhere but at least it was worth a shot. Within a few weeks of applying, BB found herself in the final group of eight individuals that have been given the opportunity to implement a project for their chosen charity, due to start at the end of September! This is an amazing opportunity for a

Huh??

Techies enjoy having a chuckle over some of the support stuff we have to handle from time to time but there are times that even we do things that would make any normal person think "Huh??". Take, for example, the office I currently work in; an open plan area with a fair few people, all lined up in little rows which are generally grouped in the various teams.  Why, then, would someone instant message a person at the very next desk instead of just talking to them??? Huh?? Okay, I could understand if it was meant to be reasonably private, but when the person sitting next to you messages you to ask if you can send them some files, it's a tad on the crazy side.  Thankfully, there are only a small handful of people that do this ... though they're all on my row! On Monday, however, they took things a stage further when one of them picked up the phone and actually rang someone sitting two desks away.  That's about 8 feet. He could have psssssst in his ear at tha

Fad Attack

I've never been one for jumping on the latest fad: the more people hype something up, the less I want to do with it, especially if it's all gloss and no substance.  Like the iPhone or iPad .  Or Dan Brown. Instead, I've always had my own little obsessions fads. In much the same way that women have a thing for shoes, handbags and anything that glitters, my thing is for jackets.  Not including suits, I currently have eleven jackets.  Yup, you read that right, eleven jackets, and at least two of these have yet to be worn beyond the occasional check to see if they still fit.  Believe it or not, I did have more at one point, but there are only so many clothes I can fit in my wardrobe ... and on the sofa ... and the computer chair... However, my obsession has been changing lately and my attention has now turned to hats.  Other than my black Bench cap, I do not suit hats.  At all.  My head is an odd shape; in fact, think Phil Spencer and you won't be far off.  And

It's All About The Face-Man

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I would be the first to admit that I don't get out much at weekends beyond a relaxing visit to the local coffee shop; not because I don't want to, but because I don't even think about it until I reach the weekend, by which time it's too late to get up to anything interesting. Last weekend, however, was something of an altogether different beast. A couple of weeks ago, I went to visit BikerBetty as I couldn't make it to her BBQ, and enjoyed the usual sociable visit with good food and curious chickens .  Being quite an outgoing person, BB knows how to have fun and is responsible for opening my eyes to the world of studio audiences: we've had a few experiences there! Invariably when we meet up - which isn't as often as it should be - one question has a tendency to crop up: "How would you like to...?" On this occasion, the question was: "How would you like to see Dirk Benedict playing Columbo on stage?" "Where and when?"

I don't like Pussy

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It's not often that I head out anywhere during the week, but when Wazpot (don't ask!), wanted to get out of the house while her hubby watched the Germany - Spain match, I figured it would be good to head out for a wander. Stopping off at the local off license for a few cans, we headed down to the river by the playing fields, as there were some horses down there that she wanted to go see.  Unfortunately, we couldn't even get close to them as there was no way across the river, so we sat in the playing fields, which is where we cracked open our drinks. Wazpot had tried to convince me to get a couple of cans of JD and coke but, as much as I like the drink normally, I'm not keen on the idea of having it from a can.  So I decided to go for a soft drink... Yes, you are reading that right, it really is called Pussy ! As a marketing ploy, the name definitely works.  As a drink ... bleurgh!!  I'd sooner suck the sweat from my socks after a run!!

Don't Panic!

I could really do with my own Hitchhiker's Guide right now, to provide some useful tidbits of guidance as I move from work-life to student-life ... though the nearest thing to that at the moment would probably be an iPad with Wikipedia Mobile installed on it: just as informative but with all the presentation and flair of an MP. Perhaps a Stephen Fry voice-over would go some way to perking it up a bit.  Or an MP dosed up to the hilt on Pimms. Since last Tuesday, when I actually succeeded in handing in my notice after weeks of dithering, I've had these little nagging thoughts at the back of my head as to how I'm going to survive.  All those thoughts of not being able to get another job and how the bills are going to be paid, all jostling around in the background where I could ignore them until finally, during Friday night, they snuck into my dreams. I don't know how many dreams I had, but the last one I remember was going back to a company I used to work for fif

Grinny Pig

In the immortal words of the legends that are The Pointer Sisters ... I'm so excited and I just can't hide it, I'm about to lose control and I think I like it!!! As some of you may know from my previous post , a week last Thursday I submitted my application to UCAS for a place at the University of Hertfordshire .  The course I have applied for is Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence) (BSc Honours) with the idea that it will provide me with an opportunity to move away from the development of dull business systems and into something far more interesting ... at least, that's the hope! Yesterday, at 4pm, I had the offer letter of a position!  I'm going to be a student!! Of course, those of you that know me will notice that I left one teeny-weeny little word out of that sentence: "mature". Whilst I can hope that this means the likes of "cultivated", "prime" and "seasoned", I think it's more likely to be interpr