Category: Personal

Oh So Quiet

Not been in the mood to post recently. Combination of work (including trip to Bristol), a stinking cold (blame rests with Easyjet) and then a migraine yesterday means I’ve not had the inclination to write anything. This means I’ve made no comments on the PS3 slip (I think it’s good news to be honest) nor on Blair and New Labour or on Saints Row being more enjoyable than GTA.

The only blessing from the last week is that it’s over and tomorrow night is showtime. That 24-inch iMac is so so tempting that I may make the plunge tomorrow. I had pretty much settled on getting a Macbook Pro but I don’t need that type of power on the go. So it may be an iMac now and the gorgeousness that is 1920*1200 pixels with a Macbook early next year. Oh – and a new iPod. For once I’d love the spoof to turn out to be true.

Anyway, enjoy the show for those watching online – no doubt I’ll post with some news in the next few days.

Almost forgot…Lord of the Rings:Return of the King looked amazing in HD on Sky at the weekend. Quality of the picture was superb and looked so much better than DVD. The Proms and the live football have also been great. Sky even managed to get a decent firmware upgrade out which has fixed quite a few of the bugs. Only grumble is lack of disk space makes keeping films etc an issue, especially now that the original Star Wars movies will be broadcast in HD before Christmas. Might have to perform a sneaky disk upgrade before then.

Small Things

Lots of little things going on at the moment, best summarised with a list. Yep – not in a posting mood at the moment.

  • Glasses finally (I hope) sorted. New right lens has made a big difference.
  • Few days off work which is great – really need some time away from it.
  • No big plans though – jobs round house mostly.
  • K2 and WordPress updates have made things a bit nippier round here.
  • Tidy up of blog also – removed some redundant pages/features.
  • Ordered some new kit…NAS & USB drive to finally get my data and backup issues sorted. I’ll post results once gear is here and up and running.
  • I hate wasps!

Pseudonyms

Today I was called….

“the guy that brings in all the CD’s”
“the guy that shouts at her all the time?”
“the guy that knows about computers”
“the guy that has ‘turned on by technology’ on his website!”
“the guy that has more gadgets than I will ever allow you to own!”
“I don’t care how many X-Box’s that guy has, I’m not buying you one!”
“If you like that guys CD’s so much why don’t you feckin well move in with him?”

and those were just the things I know about. I’d hate to think how long the list would be if I overhead a few other conversations today. Still, as the quote said it’s better to be talked about than not talked about. I think.

Sneaky Orange

Opened my mobile phone bill and spotted that from 1st July Orange will now charge £1.50 to receive a fully itemised bill. As usual they will auto subscribe you to this great feature unless you opt out. To opt out text BILL to 2018 or call 150 from your phone and speak to customer services. You can get itemised billing online for free but obviously times are tight in the land of Orange. I’ll be keenly looking elsewhere as my contract is up and I don’t like underhand actions like this by companies I use. Just don’t see a phone that I want to get.

Is everyone a Jack?

After a few comments at work today I was driving home with the thought that it would be so good to know just one topic inside out – to be an expert in a certain field and not just a guy that thinks he’s smarter than he his and has a bit of knowledge about lot’s of things – a jack of all trades, master of hee-haw. Just another one of my crap random thoughts that will stay in my head. Then I read Gordon’s blog and today of all days he’s posted about a scarily similar topic.

Even worse – I’m pissed off like him. I would love to innovate and lead in a certain topic rather than copy and follow which is one of my better skills (that and Google searching which sums it up really). Reading the comments at Gordon’s the feeling though is it’s better to be a Jack than a specialist. From a career point of view I think totally the opposite as I struggle to describe what I do which if I was a specialist would be easy to determine.

So anyone owning up to being an expert or are we all becoming Jacks? Yes I realise that this is open to abuse and that for most I’m an expert in bullshitting and for Robert I’m an expert in bullying and betraying at Halo. They don’t count, OK!

Yorkhill needs help

I was reading in the Evening Times that some lowlife had stolen Playstations from a children’s ward at Yorkhill Hospital. Bastards. What next. One of my friends nephews is critically ill in Yorkhill at the moment and it really hits home what a service they provide when someone close to you is affected.

My PS2 has now found a new home and hopefully it will be getting used by one of those kids in the next few days. If you can help then contact the Yorkhill Children’s Foundation.

4 Things

I’ve been tagged by Gordon so without further ado…

Four jobs that I’ve had

  • Database design
  • Database support
  • Business analyst
  • Trainee rottweiler – joke for those in the know – all of these have been at the same firm

Four movies I can watch over and over

Four places I have lived

  • Kelvingrove, Glasgow
  • Kelvindale, Glasgow
  • And thats it’s – only two
  • I’ve lived a sheltered life

Four TV shows I like to watch

Four foods that I like

  • Curry – and if I could choose one it would be South India Garlic Chili from the Spice of Life
  • Ice Cream – Vanilla Haagen-Dazs
  • Black Pudding
  • Pizza

Four websites I visit daily

Four things I want to do before I die

  • Find me a woman!!
  • Pay off the mortgage
  • Retire early enough to enjoy my grey years before I depart from this earth
  • Learn a musical instrument

Four places I would rather be right now

  • Lottery headquarters picking up a cheque for £105 Million
  • Japan
  • Alone in a yacht
  • Out in the country, in Scotland, staring at a non light polluted starry sky

Four people I’m tagging