xgwishx I have your sunglasses, and perhaps your picnic blanket.
sly_girl I think it might be your dignity, but I'm not sure. It's stuck to the overhead beam in the shed.
longi I definitely have your dignity. Its sitting at the bottom of the garden, giggling.


As usual (and per house rules), any and all alcohol left in the esky at the end of the night now belongs to the cats.

For all those folk that dropped by this afternoon/evening.
Thank you. :)

I had a most wonderful time. You're all awesome. :)

And now, Im going to bed to pass out, next to my girl :)

Can you guys in the UK launch a firework or two for me? :)
I always like Guy Fawkes day...

If you are interested in dropping by on Saturday, and you dont have the address.
Drop me an email (at livejournal is fine) and I'll get it to you. :)

I was reminded of the fact that I shortly turn 34.
While I am nonplussed with this turn of events, Annie did remind me that its somewhat traditional to have a sort of...thing.

So, should you want to come around next Saturday, on the 7th of November for a few beers in the backyard, from say....4 or so onwards, that might be nice.
Nothing special, but if the weathers nice, I'll get the decks out, have a bit of a noodle and once it gets dark, we'll see if we cant get the projector going on the side of the house and watch a movie in the backyard.. :)

Would be nice to see you if you decide to come. :)


"That was wonderful!"
"Bravo!"
"I loved it!"
"It was great!"
"Well...it was pretty good."
"Well...It wasn't bad."
"There were parts of it that weren/t very good though"
"It could have been a lot better."
"I didnt really like it"
"It was pretty terrible."
"It was Bad."
"It was awful!"
"It was Terrible!"
"Get them away!"
"Boo!"
"Boooo!!!!!"

2 separate meetings today at Tullamarine, both for the same project.
4 Hours apart.

And, in between, its back to the office for another meeting, for a potential client, who wants to see the software in action.

On the bright side it does mean I don't have to cool my heels at the airport between meetings, which is just as well, considering that it could get very messy as my first instinct when in a terminal is to find the nearest bar.

On the downside, its *the airport*
Which means I'm surrounded by planes, and not allowed to get on any of them.

If you've emailed me at vurt lately, and I haven't replied its for one of two reasons.


1 : Theres something weird which see's mail go to either my IMAP folders, or direct to an mbox folder thats different from the IMAP stuff in which case I've not seen it.
I've just now checked it and found a stack of mail that I've neither seen or replied too.
My apologies.

2: Im a lazy bastard and I sometimes forget all about vurt. :)
I have no excuses for this.


So, if you've mailed me, and I've not replied, I'm sorry. :)

For some reason, all I can think of is Marty Feldman singing "I aint got no body!" from Young Frankenstein.

My brain is clearly telling me that its time to take a break.
Either that, or I'm having some sort of neurological 'event' which can only lead to bad places.

Where would one go about obtaining a boating suit of this sort?

And could I conceivably get away with being married in one. :)

I just read an email addressed to Niel and it took me a few seconds to realise that was me.

I need a break.

Hur Hur

"A survey of consumers' movie rental, downloading and pay TV viewing habits has revealed a significant slice of the population prefer accessing their entertainment through the back door."

A Heisenbergian analysis of late afternoon 'snacky cake' pathfinding techniques.
Or, More simply :
The snacky-Cake conundrum.

This is perhaps the most interesting discovery of today. And certainly right up there with the fruedian analysis of 'Two and a Half men' that I wrote last week (I shit you not)
Basically, this the problem that we all face, at least once in our working week.
Its the problem if trying to identify *where* you're going for that afternoon snack.
You step out of the office, and onto the street, money in your pocket and you think "where am I going?"
You can't stop, Oh no, there's snacky cakes, and if you delay, if you're tardy then 'Schrodingers snack' comes into play.
Essentially, what it boils down to, is that while you're going to get that afternoon treat, its impossible to know exactly *where* you're going. Only that you *are* going.

And you don't know where you're going until you get there *Nod*
Serious Stuff.

Now, Schrondingers Snack.
This is when you finally figure out what you want, you stop outside Fergusson Plarre, and you think "I need a lamington. With Cream (or other treat of your choice)" and in that moment, the moment you open the door, and step into the bakery, there exists *two* distinct possibilties.
1 - The snacky-cake is there. Waiting for you, the last one on the tray, its delicious sweet coating of cocaine like frosting calling your name. Beckoning you, Siren like.
2 - The tray is empty. What you want, is gone. Some other fucker, most likely the bastard you stepped aside for on the way in, while you dawdled outside, trying to decide, got in before you.
The snack is gone. Almost as if it never existed.

The problem is, you never know until you step into the bakery. Its impossible to tell which reality is predominant.


Heavy thoughts indeed.
It seems that Im definitely firing on all cylinders today.
Oh yes.

I just managed to work the word 'excession' into the technical specification document I'm writing.

Wether or not its in the right context or not, I have no idea.
But I'm leaving it in there, just to see if anyone notices.

I was running early this morning.
Showered, shaved the whole shebang.
I'd even found time to sit down and watch a movie before I left for work.
So I step out the door only to discover that thanks to clicking the wrong button during yesterdays sync with my laptop, my iThing now has no music on it.

For a moment there, I stood, and thought.
Now I'm going to be late for work because I can't face the world without music and the music inside my head isn't loud enough.

Went to scienceworks on the weekend.
Mainly to see the Star Wars Exhibit stuff, but we also had a noodle about everything else too.

Highlight of the exhibition was not the ships, or the models, or the costumes but the small little cabinet tucked away in the corner containing weapons.
In particular the blaster that Bobba Fett carried through Eps 5 and 6.
Up close it looked even more menacing and lethal than it does in the films, but as well as that, you can actually Identify parts of real firearms that its cobbled together from.
The stock from an old rifle, the butt and trigger off what was a revolver for example.
All put together to make this worn, utile weapon.
Whoever made that is a freakin genius in my book.

In the same cabinet were a number of other firearms and a selection of lightsaber hilts.
Shiny and rather awesome.

After strolling through the exhibit we went to then 'sportsworks' section, where I nearly blew out my knee in a futile effort to run fast, and then got incredibly depressed when I got on the scales and discovered that I am now, officially, a giant fatty.

My heart rate however, is still pretty damn good despite the rest of me falling apart.
Wonder of Wonders.

Awake ? Check.
At work hell early ? Check.
Dressed? .... Check.

Metric Tonne of work emails answered already ? Check.
Emailed parents? Check and Check.
Caught up on LJ? Check.
Staring vaguely out of the window in the hopes that armageddon will occur while I watch ? Check.

Medication? ...uh oh...
Morning Routine re-arranged to accommodate rushing back home and taking medication? *sigh* Check.


What with the study being used at the moment for actual studying, Im not spending much quality time with the computer. I'm also aware that there's a precious lack of any meaningful content passed through LJ on my part recently.
Work continues apace, I have more to do than I really know how to cope with, so the learning curve is... steep.
Being a project manager type means I have to reign in a somewhat instinctual response to try and fix things, and instead, organise other people to do it.
Im writing a lot of things down, and strangely enough (not), my handwriting is improving again.
Everyone seems to be jumping ship, rat like, for dreamwidth, and I'll be damned if I go with them.
I'm staying here. Right here, until LJ sinks and Im left swimming in the vast sea of informational crap that is the internet.

But for now, I get to go to the doctors and see if I broke my hand a couple of months ago and have been ignoring it ever since.

So, daylight savings is here.
What this means is that thanks to the clocks going forward, Ive been cheated out of an hour of my life.
I don't get that hour *back* until the clocks go *back* sometime next year.

No wonder I'm grumpy, I'm short on sleep for 6 months of the year.

In other news, my niece, bless her little cotton socks, called me fat on saturday night.

My wife to be howled with laughter and cried "Out of the mouths of babes!" and is now using this as ammunition to starve me, or otherwise restrict my daily intake of vital, yet fatty foods.

I suppose however, that this is a good thing.
I still object on principal however. The principle that deep down inside I hate having to *do* *anything* that I'm told to do.
If it's necessary, I'll get around to it in my own sweet time and not before.

In other news, after having to change movie plans at the last minute due to an inability to deal with 3d movies, we went and saw 500 days of Summer on friday night.
While it jumps about a bit, and is a *bit* clumsy, The film is a fine breed of what I'll refer to as a "young persons romantic comedy".
Dealing, as it does, with the more trickier aspects of the so called 'Casual' relationship.

Pandorum
What looks to be a run of the mill sci fi movie, in the vein of Alien meets Hellraiser 5 (Otherwise known as Event Horizon)

9
Something cute, and post apocalyptic with puppets.

Where the Wild Things Are
Need I say more ?


Avatar
Looks Interesting. Dont let the fact that the advertisements all have "FROM THE DIRECTOR OF TITANIC" splashed all over them. He has done other stuff too you know :)



Zombieland
Woody Harrelson. Shotguns. Chainsaws. Shotguns. Amusement Parks and Zombies.
Whats not too like? :)

Does anyone want to join me for ZombieLand? :)

I refuse to feel bad about the fact that just having finished up my work for the night, I'm sitting here with a gin (neat) and listening to Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey, bathed in the soft light of my desk lamp.

In fact, I feel pretty damn relaxed and happy about it.

Screw you modern world. I'm turning off the laptop and Im going to sit here in the half light for a while with the music.

A beautiful drive south west, to the beach.
A meeting that went for *just the right* amount of time.
During which the smell of cut grass wafted up from my boots, reminding me of the sun outside.
A fantastic drive north east back to the office.
A slow afternoon.
And now ?
Now a beer, sunlight and music.

I've had a good day.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/jersey/8246001.stm

This article is not helped AT ALL by the fact that I'm reading SpatterJay.* Stuff.




*Neal Asher Books

Party this weekend is Canceled.

We're buggered and we have a house inspection next week.

I remember that the words Im looking for have already been said.
They're not mine, and they dont sum it up exactly.

But its the closest thing I have.


I felt like putting a bullet between the eyes of every Panda that wouldn't screw to save its species. I wanted to open the dump valves on oil tankers and smother all the French beaches I'd never see. I wanted to breathe smoke.

I lack words.

Actually, I've lacked the words for a while now, but I feel their lack most especially today.

My Copy of Orbus has arrived.

I will see you when Im finished it.

In fact, I think Im going to stay in bed till I've finished it.

http://www.revolution.co.uk/_display.php?id=93

This might be because I've had sugar.

I know for a *fact* that I own this game on it's original release, and now, I'll be able to play it on my iPod. :)

'Orbus' has just been released in the UK.

It's still Polity based, but its another Spatterjay novel, since the Cormac stuff seems to be finished up now.

Yes, I know I said that we were going to have a party this weekend.

But I'm going to have to cancel, My apologies.

Annie and I are buggered and the house is in no state to have a party. (read: we just haven't got organised at all)

My apologies if I've put anyone's time frame out of whack.

Michael Bay is directing a Victoria Secret commercial..


Are the models going to explode ?

My Uncle in Germany finally got around to adding me on Skype this afternoon.

He's starting his day, as I finish mine.

The brief conversation went (approximately) thusly

Ulrich : We just start with our breakfast (beer)
Me : What a coincidence, I'm just finishing my working day (with beer)

My Uncle is awesome.

Im not a ginger beer fan, never have been.

But this Blue Tongue Alcoholic Ginger Beer is quite nice!

Now...sometime ago (read earlier this year) I was waxxing lyrical about Bones.
I recall saying that the Writing was good, and that it was a damn fine show, filled with good character progression etc etc.

I take it back.

Oh, Most of that stuff still stands.
Its still well written.
Its still got some good character progression.

I say Some.

Booth has really grown as a character. Likewise Sweets, Angela and Hodgins.
The collection of new 'interns' or 'grad students' that they've written in to fill some of the gaps left behind by the departure of a regular character are at times funny, interesting, painfully weird, and endearing.

However, In the first half of season 4, I have a big problem.
A *huge* problem.
Bones herself.
What the fuck are they doing ?

She's getting *stupider*
I can only assume that there are new writers on the show, or that the same writers have suddenly decided that they no longer care.
OR, given that both Emily Deschanel or David Boreanaz both produce a fair chunk of this seasons episodes, that one of them has been putting their oar in the water a little too much.

I can understand that the schtick of the character is that shes a highly intelligent and extremely socially awkward, but in the last couple of episodes, we see her making comments which are not the result of social awkwardness, or a lack of awareness of the finer points of human interaction, but arise from sheer stupidity or, in one case, plain offensiveness.

It seems that rather than let the character progress, they've elected instead, to regress the character in order to keep a dynamic which is no longer appropriate to the show, given that the rest of the characters have evolved and moved forward.

And, given that they continually make a point of telling us just how intelligent her character is, its not inconceivable that she would have *learned* at least a few things over the last 3 and a half years, being in close proximity socialised *normal* people.

Not only does it jar, but it also has been ruining the episodes for both Annie and I, to the point that I'm actually loath to watch an episode now,, for fear of what astoundingly stupid thing Bones says next.

Here endeth the rant.

The Poor Ginger thing looks like a bit of a plucked chicken.

Her Belly is shaved and he's currently stoned, in a cat bed, in front of the heater.
Water and litter in easy staggering distance.

Needless to say that we're glad to have her back. :)

The Lort Smith however, might not share our feelings.
Apparently, the moment we left, she turned in a hissing, spitting ball of fury.
To the point where they had to put a warning label on her file.

...I am quite pleased with this. :)


Thanks for all the good wishes all.

In Which Kitty becomes Mildly Radioactive and then joins the 'Zipper Club'

I have three idiot fur children (and thank you to Malice for such an awesome term).
Fur child number 1 is just..well..he's Mental.
Fur child number 2 is 'the good child'
Shes the one which doesn't climb into your bowl while you're eating.
Shes the one which doesn't scream at you at 5am in the morning for breakfast.
She likes cuddles and purrs like a normal cat.

Fur Child number 3 was a mistake.
Its true.
We never wanted her, but when you rescue a stray, what are you going to do?

On Thursday night, No.3 decided to vomit all over the place.
Repeatedly.
Were it not for the fact that I have become subconsciously attuned to the sound of a cat vomiting, and can react to such in my sleep, we'd have cat vomit in the bed.
While she appeared to be a little disgruntled, we assumed it was because she had gorged too much on dry food - and kept on eye on her.
A trip to the Vet on Saturday saw No.3 radiographed, and the diagnosis was "Theres a bit of Gas in there but it should be ok. Keep an eye on her"


This eye continued to be on her until this morning, we rushed her, dry heaving to the Lort Smith.
We learned many things this morning, at the Lort Smith.
Like : "monday seems to be 'Bring your Pug to the Animal Hospital Day' " There were at least 5 of the little things rushing around, snuffling, wheezing and barking at each other.
And :
"Idiot Fur Child number 3 seems to have a blockage somewhere in the plumbing that is her guts"
What that is, we're not entirely sure, but its severe enough, that after making her mildly radioactive with the help a little bit of Barium, they decided to open her up and investigate.

On the plus side, we're getting her spayed and micro chipped at the same time.

The Minus side ? I've got a radioactive kitten that at any point, may decide to grow into something terrfyingly huge, hungry and bad tempered about being cut open and re-arranged.

If that happens, I just hope she doesn't want cuddles, the bed is cramped enough as it is.

For those that remember the add.

For those that done, all you need to know is that My Copy of Dogs in Space has just shipped and should be arriving in my grubby little mitts very soon.

Muuhahahah

Of a pink iced doughnut reminds me of Summer.

Summer, Freshly cut grass, water fights, and Lunch Orders.

And the fact that no one seems to be able to spell it right.
Particularly when its *right in front of them*

I say
"Regards,
Niel"

And they say, *right underneath it*
"Hey Neil"

Where does one draw the line ?
Does one simply leave the mistake and hope they pick it up themselves?
Does one kick up a stink and point it out ?

Honestly, Im so tired of having to correct people that these days, I just let it slide most of the time.


Now, don't get me wrong, I love my parents. I do. I love the fact that they gave me a ...'different' name, and I love the fact that it keeps the german side of my parentage alive in some way.
However, It does make me think twice about what I'm going to call my children, if I do have any.

..It could be worse I suppose, I could have been called Sue*



*I just heard this song for the first time the other week! Its *awesome!*

I've sadly been neglecting Aleph and Ella.

So here's some photo's I found. :)

Set a date yesterday afternoon.
Venue for the ceremony booked and all.

Now to start with the organising stuff...*fear*

PS: Oh, Keep the last weekend in March free.

Last time, I was dying of plague.

Today, after refusing to die from being stabbed, shot, poisoned, boiled, frozen, dehydrated and starved, I am pissed off.
At everything.
At Anything.

This includes clients who don't read tech specs and insist on allocating hardware resources insufficient for a desktop machine, clients who argue that my Dev people can do their job without SSH access and clients, who, at the end of the day, cant even be bothered returning my phone calls.

And the little old lady in the bakery with woolen gloves and a cup of tea.
Why the little old lady ? Because she exists.
Because she smiles.

Just *because*

Thank you for your time.