Tagboard

I'm taking Jenny's lead and have taken my tagboard off the page. I agree with her that there are too many spamming posts and not enough regular ones. I couldn't do much with it anyway. I'd sign in but couldn't sign out, so I'd have to close the browser each time. It wouldn't let me ban anyone from posting. Pile of crap really.

Christmas shopping - part 1

Today Reuben and I started a bit of Christmas shopping. The idea is that we spread out the cost over the next few weeks so our bank managers don't have heart attacks. I already have Mel's and Jenny's wrapped and ready to send so we head to the PO, which has decided to change their opening hours so they shut earlier on Saturdays, a stupid move which leaves us standing in the sleet and cold Arctic wind trying to work out when we can come during opening hours. They shut at 12.30pm now so I need an early Saturday morning next week. (Damnit!!)

We hide the pressies under the car seats so they don't get nicked while we're shopping, and browse around posh Fishpools and buy some items in not-so-posh WHSmiths, Argos, and Boots. I got quite a few pressies (okay, eight), and I found all the cards I need too. The best bit? I spent about £50, thanks to special offers and 3 for 2's. I'm dead pleased with myself.

I really wanted to buy a tree and decorations. The problem is I'd want to put it up immediately and it's way too early right now. I'm easily excitable around Christmas. I have this crazy idea about us inviting ALL our mates round at the same time for drinks and snacks. There's no way everyone would fit but I reckon it'd be a right laugh. :)

Near death experience

Reuben and I wanted to spend the morning browsing in Waltham Cross so we parked up in the car park by the post office and paid for a ticket at the P & D machine. I cross the zebra and... suddenly look up to my right and see a Chelsea Tractor inches away from me!!

I quickly back up, holding my hands out as if to stop the car (like thats ever gonna happen!). The woman starts blaring her horn and telling me to watch where I'm going. I'm like, ""Excuse me, ZEBRA CROSSING!" and walk towards the car, visibly upset. Shit, I nearly died!!

These things are lethal death traps. Why on earth does someone want a 4x4 with bull bars for a drive around town? They are very environmentally unfriendly with heavy fuel consumption, not to mention that the bumpers sit higher than all other cars, so if one hit your car, it'd be halfway through the back seat before it stopped.

Chelsea Tractor drivers are now the new Kings of the Road. I feel sorry for the Kensington & Chelsea schoolchildren...

Return of the Jedi - 2004 version

I need to add George Lucas to Mel's list of film-makers we want to kick in the nuts.

Let's get one thing straight: It is okay to digitally remaster old films. It gets rid of the grainy quality, makes it a better viewing experience, and the sound is quality.

However, it is NOT okay to change the actors playing characters. Seriously. At the end of the digitally re-mastered Return of the Jedi, the remastered version of the remastered version (i.e. the re-re-release in 2004) the ghosts of Anakin Skywalker, Yoda, and Obi-Wan Kenobi appear. Cool. Only Anakin is being played by Hayden Christenson. Yeah, you heard me, an actor that wasn't (probably) even born when the film originally aired! And for some reason, this really incenses me to the point where I was fuming and did nothing but rant and rave for a good ten minutes about the absurdity of it all. How could they do that?! I can only add that the only film's saving grace was that they kept Alec Guiness and didn't change him for Ewan McGregor. That would really have gotten on my goat...

CyberBob in Catch 22

My laptop driver finally bit the dust and now won't even read the cleaning CD! It's like this - it won't read anything because the lens is probably dirty, so it can't read the cleaning CD which will only clean the lens if the driver reads it... (sigh)

I really don't wanna cart it to PC World and let those incumbent idiots take my beloved CyberBob apart... The other alternative is Andy who just spends a lot of time opening and closing windows... Its actually a long-running joke to the point where Anna said, "Here's an impression of Andy" and rolled the car window down and then up again. I laughed so much I nearly choked!

Anyway, now I have to deal with lots of jokes about 'laptop servicing'...

Isis19...?

Interesting...

Isis Indeed, you are 66% erudite, 70% sensual, 41% martial, and 37% saturnine.

This Egyptian supreme Goddess is certainly the most influential deity on subsequent cultures. She was the ideal figure of womanhood, usually compared with the Greek Goddess Demeter or her Roman version, Ceres. Isis was one element of a Holy Trinity, the remaining two figures being her brother and husband Osiris and their heroic son Horus. She was the Goddess of Magic for her brilliance, as well as the Goddess of Love because of her tenacious devotion. She is often shown with wings, curving to caress coffins and sarcophagi of many a king. In certain papyri she is shown with her falcon wing headdress, covering her ears. One of her sacred symbols is the sistrum, a musical instrument that was believed to ward off evil spirits. Isis' sistrum was carved bearing the image of a cat and was representative of the Moon. Isis was the High Priestess and an omnipotent magician as well as the only being ever to discover the secret name of Ra. She invariably carries the ankh, the symbol for eternal life. Her name is, by the rules of numerology, adding up to the number “2” and she just so happens to be depicted on the tarot card “Key 2 – The High Priestess”. The Fifteen Goddesses These are the 15 categories of this test. If you score above average in … …all or none of the four variables: Neit. … Erudite: Minerva. … Sensual: Aphrodite. … Martial: Artemis. … Saturnine: Persephone. … Erudite & Sensual: Isis. … Erudite & Martial: Sekhmet. … Erudite & Saturnine: Nemesis. … Sensual & Martial: Hera. … Sensual & Saturnine: Bast. … Martial & Saturnine: Ilamatecuhtli. … Erudite, Sensual & Martial: Maeve. … Erudite, Sensual & Saturnine: Freya. … Erudite, Martial & Saturnine: Sedna. … Sensual, Martial & Saturnine: Macha.

Wired for blogs!

I have a phone line... WAHEY!! It's nice to have Internet... :)

Just a random passing thought I had today: Why are the US so worried about Iran having nuclear weapons when they have such a large arsenal of their own...??

V Festival - Day 2

Andy arrives about an hour after us, after Rooster had just finished. He loved the birthday pressie I got him – White Elephants and Red Herrings. Apparently the only other gift he got was socks from his parents!

Bands seen: Rooster, Joss Stone, Tony Christie, Embrace, Athlete, Franz Ferdinand, Scissor Sisters
Bands saw and should have missed: 0
Bands missed and wanted to see: The Hives
Best sing-a-long: Take Me Out followed v closely by Filthy Gorgeous and (Is This The Way To) Amarillo
Best line: You can all go see The Hives now! (Alex Kapranos after playing Take Me Out)
Items bought: 10th anniversary V Festival programme
Items lost: 0
Celebrities seen: Jade Goody, Natalie Cassidy
Time spent leaving: 3 mins finding the car, 5 mins leaving the site
Level of tiredness: 8/10

V Festival - Day 1

So I finally to the V Festival – hoo yeah! I bought tickets for Anna and myself back in February and have been so looking forward to it! I offered Andy to come with me, who then unceremoniously dumped me in favour of Mark instead. (Andy dislikes use of the phrase ‘dumped’ and thought I only wanted to go for one day. Yeah. Sure. Fine. Whatever.) Anyway, 8.30am this morning he called me to say that Mark couldn’t make it as he was in Nottingham with his girlfriend and he had a spare ticket a-begging. So Reuben piped up that he’d love to go and we all went. As it turns out, Andrew and Anna clicked rather well… Er, yeah, weird!

Bands seen: The La’s, The Magic Numbers, The Proclaimers, KT Tunstall (briefly), Good Charlotte, Maroon 5, Kaiser Chiefs, The Streets, Oasis
Bands saw and should have missed: The La’s, The Streets
Bands missed and wanted to see: Jet, The Zutons
Best sing-a-long: (What’s The Story?) Morning Glory followed closely by This Love
Best line: Glad to see Pete Doherty could make it – the giant c**k (Liam Gallagher upon seeing an inflatable penis being waved in the crowd)
Items bought: 10th anniversary V Festival T-shirt (sub-woofer design)
Items lost: Right hearing aid (bugger!)
Celebrities seen: 0
Time spent leaving: 20mins searching for the car, 70mins trying to leave the site
Level of tiredness: 10/10 – I slept in the car!

Mr Mouse (deceased)

There was a dead mouse outside our office today, fleas all over the body... It was sooo damn gross! The office is right next door to Pest Control so I march over there, only to find the door locked and no one to be seen all day! It was nasty and I hated having to walk in and out of the office and seeing it there. It became the spectacle of the day. People came in and said, "Did you see that dead mouse outside?" Yeah... (sigh) So much for health and safety at work!

My manager is on long term sick leave so we have another one standing in for him. I went over to him and complained, and he said someone would deal with it by tomorrow morning... Here's hoping!

(sigh)

Stuart the locksmith turned up at our flat about 8.30pm this evening and fixed the lock for us. At last we can change our addresses! Now all we need to do is find the electricity meter so we're not paying for the last tenants' electricity bill, and get hooked up to the Internet. Its all systems go go go…

Free dinner

My aunt and uncle invited Reuben and I over for dinner tonight. This is the first of many visits that we'll be making to all our closest relatives and I have to admit that I'm glad we're starting off with mine! My aunt and uncle are pretty easy going and predictably asked lots of questions and showed off their knowledge of food and wine that have resulted from their travels to America and Europe. They also tried to show me off along the lines of me being obsessive about candles and a decent artist… but I think I was more embarrassed than proud! The highlight of the evening was my cousin sending a string of texts to my aunt, asking all about Reuben and being gutted she didn't get to meet him too!

Keys please!

The previous tenants of our flat handed in one set of keys to the agency instead of two, and one of the keys was a window key instead of the post-box key. The worst thing was that we were jamming the window key into the post-box for two weeks, not understanding why it didn't work, and then we flung the keys onto the window sill in frustration one day and it just happened to land right next to the identical window key sitting there…!

So in effect, there are two keys for our post-box and one for our flat still knocking about. So we're changing the locks. We call the agency and today they sent Stuart the locksmith to change them. The flat lock was changed no problem but he didn't have a small enough lock for the post-box, so we're sticking the flap up with blue tape for now. He should be coming back Tuesday but we hope that no post arrives until the lock has been fitted!!

Darth Vader breathes again

So Reuben was driving to work today and could hear this weird heavy breathing in his car. It only lasts a couple of seconds, he dismisses it… and then he hears it again! He can't understand what the hell it is and thinks he's hearing things when suddenly the Star Wars theme tune starts playing. He then realises that he's left his new Star Wars mug that Raj gave him under the seat of his car… it plays the theme tune, and Vader's breathing when the bottom of the mug is exposed to light. The mug is now safely in the flat but I'm so gonna kill Raj when I see him next. That mug is getting on my last nerves!

Amazing Travels

So there haven't been many updates. That'll be because I've been on holiday... and then I kinda got caught up in this whole 'renting a flat' business... Hopefully I will finish typing up my holiday journal soon and then you can laugh and cry along with the other UKC girls. Or you can just log on to our Amazing Travels blog, which should be updated sooner or later...

Homebound to London

We were up early enough and said a sad farewell to the chalet before handing the keys into Reception and heading back to London. We detoured into Tesco's to pick up the latest Harry Potter book (Jenny bought two copies) and fill up the car one last time. The drive back was relatively quiet, Jenny and Melissa engrossed in their books and me getting quietly happier every time I saw a sign that said we were getting nearer and nearer home.

At Heathrow, I parked accidentally at the wrong terminal so we all took the free tube service between terminals to get Mel to the right one! When we arrived, we discovered that despite the bombings in London, check-in time was still max. three hours before flight take-off and we had planned for four. So we hugged goodbye and Jenny and I rushed back to the previous terminal where Liz had been patiently waiting about ten minutes, and was beginning to think she was in the wrong place…!

I said goodbye to them too and drove home, delighted to actually get a parking spot outside my house. As I struggle to get my stuff from car to house, I realise that the house is empty. But they all know I'm coming home today… (It later transpired that they had all gone to Norfolk for the day as it was my Nan's birthday.) A little upset at not getting a welcome home, I get refreshed and changed, bung some washing in the machine, and have a quick lunch. I then mooch around, waiting for the machine load to finish, when I have the marvellous idea of giving Reuben back his car, and then I won't have to worry about returning it tomorrow…

Back in the car, I search for a jet wash as the car is pretty filthy and I know mine is going to be returned in pristine condition… I pass three and they are all coned off due to the water ban. I reluctantly return the dirty car and Reuben's mother politely offered a drink. I accept and then find myself staying for dinner as relatives are coming over and it'll be nice to meet them etc etc… "I'm tired!" I wanted to yell. "I'm dishevelled and not in the mood to be polite to strangers!" But I didn't and just smiled sweetly and prepared for the worst…

Everything actually turned out okay and I met some very nice people who, in turn, (apparently) think the sun shines where it shouldn't…!! (I heard later that Reuben got a lecture from his uncle along the lines of appreciating me…(!)) I somehow managed to get home and was sooo knackered I didn't wake up until noon the next day!

Bournemouth Part 2

Nice long sleep-in today! Woke up about 9am, had breakfast and we made our way to Bournemouth to search for an Internet café. After a few wrong turns (entirely my fault) we found a reasonably priced café. Jenny and Mel checked their email, Jenny having to write home to prove she was still alive after the bombings, as her mother had apparently stirred up a frenzy of worry! I am hot and very thirsty so I go for a walk while they type away. Afterwards we hit Bournemouth town centre and had lunch in a small café after managing to park in the car park no-one can get to (long story). Jenny then called Liz to double check her flight info and we pottered around the shops a little. One was a fabric shop as Jenny has orders from her mother to bring home 'English fabric'. After a bit of dithering, Jenny finally plumped for reddish-orange butterflies on one, and a Union Jack pattern on the other!

Back at the chalet we took a siesta, much needed for myself at least, having driven almost non-stop for the past two weeks! Jenny finished reading her Jasper Fforde novel and I did puzzles and slept mostly! In the evening we had dinner in the club. The food was freshly cooked but took almost an hour… Desert was very nice – peach cheesecake and brandy snaps! The remainder of the evening was spent packing a few items and watching Jack Dee Live at the Apollo, a re-run from the earlier series. Jo Brand was guest starring and was just as funny the second time around! Eventually we retired for one last night in our fabulous chalet!!

Poole & Corfe Castle

It's been a week since the London bombings and a two-minute silence was held across the country and the rest of the EU at 12pm BST.

We went to Poole Quay this morning to have a peek at the boats in the harbour and at both the Purbeck (limestone) and Poole (clay) pottery. Unfortunately the demonstrations were closed while we were there, so we headed off towards Swanage to go to Corfe Castle.

Corfe Castle was once a grand structure built on a high hill as the original entrance to Purbeck and it was used extensively by King John. Unfortunately it is now no more than ruins, but they are beautiful ruins and have an excellent view of the surrounding landscape. We all went separate ways to explore and Melissa and I find ourselves in a small 'room' that was so high that the air channelling through the 'room' was ice cold and very welcome on a hot day like today! We stood there, gazing through the window at Corfe Castle village, and chatted away until I suddenly stopped and said, "I wonder what happened to Jenny?" We reluctantly leave the cool 'room' and start calling out for Jenny. It transpires that she missed us and went trekking around the entire ruins looking for us! All together again, we climb the ruins, take lots of photos, and simulate sword fights with long grasses, much to the amusement of people passing by!

The sun is incredibly fierce now and with no clouds in the sky is also potentially dangerous. I've already reached my sun quota for today methinks! We head back to the car and arrive at the chalet all hot and tired. We shower feet and laze around until dinner before glamming up and heading towards the club with the intention of getting Jenny either drunk or very happy, and possibly finding her a nice guy to snog. Unfortunately, tonight's entertainment consisted of the four site staff singing a medley of songs from 60's to 90's – compelling (!). However it was possibly better than the unfunny professional comedian we saw earlier in the week…

We had a round of drinks each and, well, Mel and I said we were 'happy' and Jenny claimed she hadn't had enough… but was pretty pink and perky so…! I'm not in the mood for a drink-fest. I'm tired and the club atmosphere isn't all that – there's hardly anyone there and those that are, are young families and elderly couples. Mel and I vow to take Jenny to a pub tomorrow and give her flirting lessons. (She failed to notice the barman flirting with her earlier this evening and Melissa found herself responding instead!) We did have a quick-fire round consisting of me picking up Jenny and her attempting to respond, but she kept just giggling. Melissa then demonstrated what she was supposed to do… More giggles. I think 'tipsy' is the word I'm looking for…!

Chawton & Winchester

Jenny's birthday! I bought Jenny a copy of 'Eats Shoots and Leaves' by Lynne Truss. She's an English teacher and would appreciate the zero-tolerance obsession over grammar that some of us share… Melissa warms croissants for breakfast and we are soon headed for Chawton, just outside of Alton, to see Jane Austen's house. It was fairly easy to find and was a gorgeous cottage surrounded by a beautiful garden in an olde worlde village. Inside the building were replicas of the furniture and crockery used, and illustrations all over the walls of characters from Austen's books, including the ones drawn by Jane's sister, Cassandra. After telling all the staff it was her birthday, we dragged Jenny away and went back down the road to Winchester.

Up in the Great Hall of Winchester Castle is the Round Table high on a wall, inspired by the legend of King Arthur and crafted c.13thC. In the middle of the hall was an exhibition on the World Wars as it’s the 60th anniversary of the end of WW2 (1945 in England). We grabbed a drink and lunch in O'Neill's pub where Melissa takes the opportunity of buying a meal and getting Jenny's for free, it being her birthday and all (!).

After lunch and a trip to the creepy loos (no lights, no locks, or no paper – take your pick) we visited the cathedral, which is the longest medieval gothic cathedral in Europe. It also holds in its library the famous Winchester Bible, a 12thC illustrated manuscript in six volumes. The library and cathedral was overrun with Italian students and we hung about in the gallery until most of them had left.

Back at the chalet we had pizza and Red Square followed by toffee & chocolate curls cake. We didn't have any candles so we lit a match, stuck it in the cake, and sang 'Happy Birthday' at twice the normal speed before Jenny blew out the match! We then turned on the music channels and flipped through the radio, singing along and dancing giddily around the coffee table. Fun fun fun…!

Osborne House, IOW

Today we decided to attempt to go to the Isle of Wight and see the sites. We drove to Lymington and hopped onto the passenger & car ferry to Yarmouth. Once there, we took a bus to Newport and then another to Osborne House. It was nice not having to drive! On the bus ride between Newport and Osborne House, I sat next to a chatty lady who lived there but originated from London. She had a proper cockney accent, which had crossed into a thick 'coun-tree' brogue so Mel and Jenny didn't really understand her… She was bemoaning that she couldn't see Ventnor or Sandown because they didn't have a harbour for her to dock her yacht and, upon finding out I was from London, started a tirade against the bombers of 7/7 and hoped nobody I knew was a victim.

Once at Osborne House it was already 1pm so we headed into the restaurant. The menu is two pages and eight items on page one are the food items. All the others are drinks. The food items consisted of soup and bread, egg and watercress sandwiches, poached salmon sandwiches… Yep, just soup and sandwiches, none of which sounded particularly appealing or filling. In the end, Jenny and I plumped for tomato soup and Melissa had the seafood mix soup. The soup tasted like the juice out of tinned plum tomatoes – bitty, watery, and pretty gross. I'm so hungry I eat it all anyway. Apparently the seafood mix soup wasn't all that wonderful either… The peach and passionfruit cordial drink was nice though… but didn't compensate. This is very bad food karma!! I'm still hungry and have digested tinned tomato juice. Not happy bunnies, we rate the food quality and choice as 'poor' on the comments card, adding that they should get 'real food'.

We left hungry and annoyed, and slowly walked around Osborne House, taking in the glorious décor, the intricately designed ceilings, and the brilliant views of the gardens from all directions. One room contained the Royal Family tree, and it demonstrated how Victoria and Albert attempted to marry off their children throughout Europe to ensure peace between the countries… You could also clearly see how Elizabeth II and Prince Philip are first cousins as well as husband and wife…! No wonder the children of Elizabeth II and Philip are a little weird – they're a bunch of in-breds!

After wandering around the gardens and quickly making out way through the Walled Gardens, we headed back to the bus stop, grabbed our two buses, and hopped back on to the IOW ferry to the mainland. Back at the chalet, we are incredibly hungry and open the Thai Chilli crisps and shortcake biscuits, and cook potato croquettes to snack on before dinner! I cooked sweet 'n' sour rice with southern fried chicken fingers which was eagerly devoured, and we spent the evening doing crosswords and playing the Friends game. Well, not exactly playing but reading out the questions and laughing at them and our own answers!! It was fun.