Odd Thomas Odd Blog

It's official: I'm a Muppet and, according to this quiz , I am none other than Fozzie Bear which, if I had to be honest, isn't all that far from the truth! Last Thursday, I decided to update the firmware on my old Nokia phone - I had upgraded to the HTC TYTN but the screen stopped working within a couple of weeks so I decided to ditch it in favour of the 6680 I had. I really should pay attention to the warning popups that appear on these updates ... or at least make an effort to understand the tech I'm playing with! Thinking that all the important stuff was on the memory card, I happily plowed on with the update ... oblivious to the wiping of all my contacts that was taking place right under my nose: one of those cold sweat moments! I know I am not the world's best at keeping in touch with people but at least now I had a great excuse!  Of the 80+ numbers I did have, I have now slimmed down to a meagre 9 ... I think I'm going to have to make a few surprise visit...

Something I am still learning, and which I totally believe in, is to trust my instincts ... they seem to know more about what is going on around me than I do! On many occassions I have had a compulsion to pick something up as I leave home and discovered that it came in useful at some point during the day. Of course, the opposite of this is the nagging feeling that I have left home with something I really needed ... such as the wedding clothes for the party last weekend! It was probably a combination of these that helped to keep me reasonably calm during my repeated search of the flat for the missing negatives. Three nights I looked in the same places ... though I only went through the bins once, thank you very much ... all the while with the feeling that whilst I wasn't going to find them at my flat, they weren't totally lost ... yet. Wednesday lunchtime, I decided to check one final place and called my Mum. By this point, whilst I couldn't recall exactly what had happen...

Have you ever wondered if there are bigger forces in play around you, whilst you go about absorbed in your daily life? Either testing your resolve or rewarding you for good behaviour? Whilst undecided when it comes to views of God or an ultimate being, there are occasions when I am forced to stop and think about the possibility that someone ... or something ... is making sure I am kept aware that the universe is a LOT bigger than my little world! Take this past week, for example. Due to tiredness*, I didn't pay attention to what I was doing last Friday night and misplaced** something of great importance to someone who I am very close to. So close, in fact, that he asked me to be best man*** at his wedding in Sri Lanka. And he doesn't know ... unless he reads this ... Whilst visiting family at the weekend, I was reminded of a certain something in my possession that belonged to my cousin ... and I suddenly realised that I couldn't place exactly where it was. It was a defin...

...I was on the Sri Lankan Airlines flight back to the UK. *sigh* *bigger sigh* I know I said I was going to give an update when I got back, but things have been rather hectic what with trying to sort stuff for the Somerset party this weekend. Oh, and work, as always. Anyhow, if I gave you a complete update, you would be reading an entry that would rival the length of the latest Harry Potter book, though somewhat lacking in magical adventure, so I think a quick run-down of the highlights and lowlights should probably cover it. Lets start with the lowlights... Crap restaurant service on fixed menu services The rooms suffered from damp They put us in Deluxe rooms and told us they were Superior The corridor roof fell down There was a handful of staff that short-changed us on the exchange (mere pennies, but thats not the point) They didn't get that the bride didn't want daisies in the bouquets The rep was hopeless at getting things done In some areas, they didn't treat the el...

Blimey O'Riley, I'm in another country! Not something that happens very often!! I'm going to attempt to keep this short as it is costing four quid* for 60 minutes on a very slow connection, so I am writing this, updating facebook and trying to squeeze as much in as possible before the next emergency trip to the gents! After a few hiccoughs at the airport and leaving an hour late, we were eventually airbound and on our way to Sri Lanka. After staying up all night I figured I would probably sleep on the plane which would make it a whole lot of a shorter journey ... no such luck. Whenever I woke, only half-an-hour had passed, so it really felt like an inordinately long journey :-( Anyway, I think I shall keep the wedding as the focus of this entry, since that is what we are out here for. The wedding was on Saturday, 7 July 2007 at 3:00 in the afternoon down on the beach about 100 yards from the hotel. Thankfully, it was one of the warmer days, and the sun was high in the ...

There's nothing like leaving things until the last minute, is there?! In roughly 9 hours time, I will be leaving my flat and heading to Heathrow with the aim of heading to Sri Lanka for my cousin's wedding. Unfortunately, due to my naturally stressed state, most of this weekend has been wasted ironing all the clothes I intended to take, and only packing - several times - around half of this! However, another re-packing is in order to lighten the load a little and I still have to: Complete my assignment due by 5 June Write the best man's speech *shudder* Tidy the flat Determine what hand luggage to take I'm a little torn with the hand luggage at the moment. I was intending to take my Canon 30D, new lens, flash and photo viewer in order to make the most of this holiday as a photo-trip. The only trouble is, taking this kit through as hand luggage is looking increasingly like a problem. If I follow Heathrow's rules, then there wouldn't be an issue. However, the...

Cor blimey guv'nor, 'as it been that long since last we spoke?!?! I guess I've been a bit out of it lately, disappearing off on one of my lows. Or as my old friend Michelle would say, off having my monthlies: all the mood swings only without the gore. Unfortunately, I've been pretty quick to anger these past couple of weeks, and have snapped at my family, my colleagues and my boss, though there is still a part of me that thinks one or two of them deserved it! As I went to see the docs about my asthma which has been playing up for the first time in about five years (so I am now back on the ventolin *sigh*), I figured I should ask about my mood problems. He felt that it wasn't family that was the problem, but work (won't argue with that), and said I need to take some time out ... what a stroke of luck, as I'm off to Sri Lanka next week for my cousin's wedding! Though if I don't come back in a better mood, I need to go back and see him... So, I guess a...