I wish I had broadband

I finally found the motivation to change the colour scheme of this blog last night.
Nice isn't it.

What do you mean you cant see any difference ?
I spent a whole hour making things disgusting shades of Girlie pink.

Oh yeah, I forgot, some bastard severed the phone connection before I had the chance to save all the changed I made.

I wish I had broadband.

commuter girl

8.35 Silverlink Metro to Stratford
Driver: Due to problems this train MIGHT not be stopping at all stations to Stratford.

Passengers: Eh?

Driver: Due to problems this train MIGHT not be stopping at all stations to Stratford, this train MIGHT not be stopping at all stations to Stratford, once again, this train MIGHT not be stopping at all stations to Stratford.

What the hell?
It might not be stopping at all stations - does that mean it will only be stopping at random stations or that it will stop at all stations up to a certain point ?
It was nice to be forewarned of possible disruption to service but a little clarification would have been nice.

The Waitress by Melissa Nathan

aka when writers don't live up their first novel.

I was really looking forward to Melissa Nathan's second novel. The Nanny,her first book was great and I was eagerly anticipating the release of her second, The Waitress. Unfortunately I was really disappointed by this book. The characters are awful and the writing is dire. In fact it's so bad that I don't think I'll even be able to finish reading it.

I've just begun chapter 7 (about a third of the way through the book) and I hate the main character. I hate her best friend, i hate the love interest and I hate the random teenage secondary character. But It's the main character I hat the most.
No one with a degree from Oxford University gets any kind of sympathy from me.

It is totally unbelievable that someone with a degree form Oxford would be working as a waitress because they don't know what they want to do with their life, I don't care if does happen in real life or the author knows someone who went through the same crappy-job-crisis, it doesn't work in a book because to the average non-oxbridge educated person this is impossible. Yes, I said impossible.

Correct me if I'm wrong but to get into and graduate from Oxford University you have to be driven, determined,self disciplined and goal oriented, not some weak-arsed bitch with the emotional maturity of a damp sponge. If she'd made this character a graduate of any other university I could and would have bought the scenario, I would have found it totally plausible and believable and probably would have been able to sympathise with her. I may even have been able to relate to her on some levels. But Oxford, no bloody way.

livin' it up

I got an email from my friend who moved to Paris. She is having a fantastic time....but then again she is one of those lucky people who has a fantastic time where ever they are.

clears stuffy nose fast

Is it possible to become addicted to a Vicks inhaler ?

My nose is no longer stuffy but I still find myself reaching for the little plastic nose wand several times a day. . .

silverlink

Compared to everyone else that uses the silverlink train line to commute to work, I have relativly few complants about the service. This morning however the service stank.

I arrived in time for the 8.45 train and was still waiting at 9.05. there were no platform anouncements and when the train eventualy tuned up there wasn't a single anoncement explanation or apology from the driver. On top of the usualy cramped conditions we had the passengers of 2 trains trying to squeeze onto an already packed train which further delayed the journey when people stopped the doors closing in their determination to sqeeze in.

The result is I was half an hour late for work and will have to stay late tonight to make up for it. Silverlink Sucks.

Monday resolution

...to blog more often.
It's not like I have nothing to blog about, it's that I'm lazy.

time flies. . .

I hate to say it but I have been too busy to blog. Well that's a lie. I have had the time but after sitting in front of a computer screen all day at work I don't really want to sit in front of another one when I get home.

This week I have started another game of email scrabble with 2 friends and am currently kicking their arses by 50 points. Been for anomalous Monday night drinks. Sent my holiday snaps off to the developers and took pity on my next door neighbours teenage son who was locked out and sitting on the wall in the cold and so invited in for a cup of tea.

I also went to a posh 'do' - the proceeds of which were going to the charity I work for. Attending posh fund raising events are one of the few compensatory perks of working for a charity. A couple of times a year we get dolled up, slap on the make up with a trowel and cram our feet into some ridiculously painful (but very pretty) girl shoes so we can do the hostess thing at the door of the event, sell raffle tickets at £10 a time and assist in the auction. In return for doing this we get a slap up meal full of everyday veg with fancy French names, enough booze to keep us merry and the best goody bags in the room-ok the second best the VIPs allways get reaaly good stuff - we get the best of the tat. . .

another one bites the dust

Anne is now officaly 'loved up' with the bloke she has been mooning over for 4 years.
It's now down to me, OHT & Helen (who is too busy writing her Masters disertation to care).

Ryanair

I just remeberd what the guy on our flight home said when he was doing the safety anouncements.
" on your life jacket there is a whistle and a light incase we land in a disco" and "this is a non-smoking flight, if you are caught smoking you will have to go outside the plane where the inflight movie will be Gone with the wind..."
True story.

the great mozzerella debate

We have a regular friday ritual in our office. The regular friday-after-work-pub-goers spend most of the day in an email debate deciding if we're going to the canteen at lunchtime for 'fishy friday' and which local pub we should all go to after work. Todays turned into a debate about the nature of mozzerella.
(it should also be noted that carlos is starting a new job in another department on Monday- I hope he has better luck than me!)

TO: Carlos, g889, OHT, Mr Tom , Jospehine
From: Anne
10.13

Hello All,
It's a bit early in the day to be thinking about this, but

1. Is anyone partaking in fishy friday today?

2. Is anyone partaking in Friday drinks tonight?

(Carl you need a leaving drinks surely?)

This information is required to get me through the day.

Yours,
Anne
>>
10.24
from: Carlos
to: anne, OHT, g889, Josephine, Mr Tom
Today is poisson a vendredi - canteen at 1 I think. And tonight, for my leaving do (for which I'm expecting a present and free beer all night!) I think the Freemasons should be the choice of a new generation. You see, I say probably every Friday 'let's go t'Freemasons' and we always end up in the Garden Shite, so, I'm going t'Freemasons, alone if necessary. But the food sounds really good - I may be tempted tonight to get something tasty.
Here's the link!

carlos
>>
11.19
from: OHT
to: carlos, Anne , g889, Jospehine, Mr Tom

I'm likin' the sound of the food but in the 'leaves' section the 3rd meal highlights 'hand torn Buffalo Mozzarella' RIGHT:

1. All Mozzarella has to be from a Buffalo, that's why it's called Mozzarella
2 Doesn't 'hand torn' just mean they can't be arsed to use a knife. I hope they wash their hands the filthy buggers!

OHT Phd.MBE.A.R.S.E.JCB
>>
11.30
from: Josephine
to OHT, Anne , Carlos, g889,Mr Tom

We should request to watch the hand tearing of the mozarella, surely messy and unneccesary with a touch of pretencion the pretensious bastards with their pretensiousness.

Maybe we should go somewhere less far....sorry i meant pretensious! (i was joking, honest)

how do you spell pretentious? Oh for a speak and spell!
josephine
>>
11.40
from: carlos
to:josphine, OHT, Anne, g889, Mr Tom

Is there any other way to break up mozarella? It's all wet and squishy, and comes in a ball shape in watery stuff. A knife would just be harder. So if they wanted to be all pretentious, they should say 'knife chopped mozarella'. Then we'd all say oooooooooo and all would be well with the world again.

Does anyone know what Salsiccia Piccante Chorizo is? I think it's sausage, but I don't know. If it is, then I've seen a pizza with my name on it. And I'm eating pizza during the England game. I'm so continental!
carlos
>>
11.50
from: Anne
to: carlos, OHT, g889, Josephine, Mr Tom

I have it on good authority that Chorizo is a particularly tasty sausage, a sort of high class pepperoni if you will...
Ann
>>
11.53
from: Josephine
to:carlos, OHT, Anne, g889, Mr Tom

Surely a knife is easier?

What england game?
Jo
>>
12.03
from: Carlos
to:josephine, OHT, Anne, g889, Mr Tom

But a knife means more washing up. It's easier just ripping it up putting it where you want. And more fun..... You don't need a knife or a chopping board for that...
England are playing Wales on Saturday - it's a world cup qualifier.
Carlos

It has to be said that I don't normaly give a toss about football, but will probably end up watching this game purely so i will know what everyone is talking about on Monday.