Oh yeah. Forgot to mention this. Friday, just about to pull up outside the house, when I pass my Cavalier (parked up). I notice that some git (git = lorry driver from bastard brick company delivering to building site) has reversed into my near side front wing. A nice dent, a little scrape but nothing too drastic. It'll should push out. I checked the car over and it was all OK. So far, a bit annoyed.

Saturday afternoon we drove past it and I pointed the damage out to Shell as we crept past it. I noticed that the drivers door lock was slightly raised, but didnt think anything of it.

Sunday morning, I collected a battery charger from Dave and go to the car to charge the battery, ready for it to go up to Daves to be sorted out. The drivers door however, is unlocked. The plastic cowling around the steering column has been ripped off, the steering lock is broken and the ignition barrel has been ripped out - there are even tools on the passenger seat that the thief has left behind. Some bastard had broken into the car and tried to steal it! Fortunately, its lack of charged battery prevented this heinous crime from being completed. So now, as well as getting the car sorted out, I also have to have all of that fixed as well! Aaarrgh!

And now some links:-

The 10 worst Album Covers - brilliant.

A game for you all to enjoy - Ant Theft Auto

Real World Advice from the Zelda Wizard

Outkast advice slammed by Polaroid. The final sentence is the funniest. Good to see companies taking things in the correct manner. Doh!

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[link]   Posted @ 14:41

Oh yeah. That CD. It finally finished downloading, so I burnt it to disk, printed off the front and back case inserts and started going through it.

Wow! I know its pirated material (although 1/2 the stuff on it has been released nowadays), it has some cracking stuff on it. Including a load of demos - including RSI CeBit 90 and Megademos - my favourites from yesteryear. Playing S.W.I.V, Kick Off, Battle Squadron, etc really brought it all back.

Made me realise how much I need a proper joystick though. The CD32 joypad isn't that bad - but sometimes games need a proper joystick, stuck to a hard book, on your lap. Gonna track down a Cruiser Turbo and try that out :)

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[link]   Posted @ 13:42

On Saturday, Shell and I decided to use the UKs leading public transport system to go shopping in Bristol. So, using the rail planner found at National Rail, we found a train leaving from Worle at 12:25. We turned up at 12:20.

At 12:25, a bus turned up at the roundabout, but no train. At 12:30, I pressed the information button, to be informed that there were no trains running on Saturday or Sunday at all and we had to catch the bus which would be at the roundabout. Now they tell us. Aargh!

So we drove back into Weston and caught a "rail replacement service" bus from there to Bristol. And we had to do the same on the way home. And it took bloody ages!

Then, this morning, the train turns up 25mins late and its packed. The passengers at Yatton and Nailsea werent able to get on, as there was no more room left after Worle. What a cock-up! I would drive; it costs the same but there is nowhere safe to park. And it takes longer.

Yesterday saw me trying to warm up the bedroom. I covered over the air vents at the top of the windows and covered some cracks beside the window. By yesterday evening, the room was noticable warmer - well, there was an absence of freezing cold air when you walk in anyway.

I also bought one of these:

A Baby George Foreman Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine

It cooks bacon like you wouldnt believe. I will be experimenting with other items throughout the week and reporting back. It also comes in handy for heating up cold rooms...

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[link]   Posted @ 11:33

Got home last night and was surprised in the hallway by Shell, who forced me to close my eyes, so as not to ruin the surprise. She led me into the kitchen, let me open my eyes and was met with:

She'd bought me a tumble drier!

After Pete took his back a couple of weeks ago, drying clothes has been a nightmare, so she thought she would buy me one. Its an odd present I admit, but a fantastic one and just what I needed. What a girl! I was smiling for about 20 minutes non-stop, and kept saying "Thanks". I also asked Shell what she wanted in return, but she wants nothing. She just knew I needed/wanted one and bought it for me to make me happy. You cant beat that, can you?

We went to Back Bar last night and met up with Tim (my housemate). Haven't been out with him for ages, and hopefully we will be out on the lash on Saturday night.

Can't wait for the working week to end. Got loads of stuff on for next week, which should keep me nice and busy. Dave should be sorting out my Cavalier and getting that back on the road, plus we'll be seeing Jethro Tull on Wednesday evening.

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[link]   Posted @ 11:51

Played more Emerald Mines last night, but get stuck very quickly. Will try and find a classic Boulder Dash game instead...

This morning I went to the sorting office and picked up 2 parcels. One contained a spare CD32 PSU and 2 more CD32 games Diggers/Oscar and Wing Commander/Dangerous Streets.

The other parcel contained Issue 1 of Retro Gamer which I subscribed to last week (without evening seeing/reading the mag). It came with a free Namco Arcade Controller. The magazine is brilliant - reminding me of my gaming past and the heritage that kids today just dont realise is there. A potted history of games publisher Mastertronic, Top 10 games for various platforms and a CD full of PC games (based on old-skool games) along with the latest version of all major emulators for virtually every console and home computer ever in existence. Quality stuff!

Last night I discovered the location of a 200 games compilation for the CD32. These are essentially A500/A1200 games that have been HD installed and then burnt onto a CD with a menu system. When it has finished downloading, I'll be very happy.

On a sad note, our team leader called us to a meeting today to tell us that he is taking voluntary redundancy and will not be moving to HP with us on April 1st. Its a real shame, as he is possibly the best man-manager I have ever worked under. He actually cares about us (his staff) and is just generally brilliant. I've only worked for him for about a year, but I will miss him greatly.

Going out tonight (as not working for once), to the Back Bar for some live music, with Shell. Looking forward to that as Shell has been ill for a couple of days and we havent been out a lot recently.

You all realise that the greatest thing in the world is the All Day Breakfast? Damn good article - short, but so, so true.

I have been thinking about finally getting Poo Face started up, for multiple friend blogging. A site by my friend Tom is using Nucleus and it looks perfect for what we want. Unfortunately, our circle of friends have disbanded somewhat, but this could be a good way for us all to keep up with each other as we spread ourselves around the world.

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[link]   Posted @ 13:40

I forgot to mention that on Monday evening, I made bacon and egg sandwiches for tea, although Shell didnt have egg. It was truly awesome. Maybe I should become a chef...

Shell isnt well. Time of the month and a kidney problem - not fun for her. I feel useless (no change there) apart from trying to get her to drink Cranberry Juice (apparently it can help). We spent last night playing Burnout on the GC and then devoted some time to playing Emerald Mines on the CD32. By Christ - what a frustrating game. All because Shell said that she liked Boulder Dash. At one point, I jumped from my chair and almost kicked the TV in frustration before pacing the room calming down. Aargh!

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[link]   Posted @ 10:59

Good Thing: Spent the evening with Shell, playing games, eating, etc. Another relaxed evening with my loved one. Have to pinch myself sometimes to make sure its all real, as I havent been this relaxed in a relationship - ever

Good Thing: Rhiannon called me while I was on the train this morning. Spent a few minutes talking to Chandler and about 10mins chatting to Rhiannon about all sorts of stuff. Fantastic.

Bad Thing: How 2 minutes talking to the ex- afterwards managed to suck all of the joy out of the previous 15 minutes. Aargh!

James Pond 2: Robocod and Sensible Soccer for my CD32 turned up yesterday. Classic games and truly awesome to boot. Will play them this evening I think.

Yesterday, I ordered a brand new CDTV remote joypad/controller. It's infrared, got loads of keys and when combined with an IR receiver on a PC (along with Girder and Igor) capable of brilliance.

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[link]   Posted @ 09:07

Friday evening, we stayed in and did nothing apart from Shell not believing that I had sent her a Valentines card. She was of course proved wrong on Saturday morning - twice :)

Saturday was spent sleeping, doing a little shopping and then having a candle lit (well, tea-light lit) meal in the downstairs lounge. We went out in the evening and spent our time in Cheers, Med Bar and the Cabot; all in all, it was a great day.

Sunday morning saw us staying in bed and then SHOCK HORROR I saw the kids! Bimbo called and said if I wanted to see them I could go round at 1pm to see them - so I did. It was slightly uncomfortable, but Dumbo and Bimbo stayed at one end of the room while I sat at the other with the kids. Chandler almost burst with excitement when he saw me, whereas Rhiannon was a bit more restrained. Rhiannon has progressed well with her reading at school - she is now on Stage 1 book - "with real words" as she proudly told me.

I stayed for about 3/4hr and helped them do drawing and some art and craft or "crarft" as Rhiannon pronounces it. Chandler did lots of colourful scribbling instead. It was great to see them, and they seemed pretty relaxed with me. I hated leaving, but...

Picked up some furniture and a TV in the afternoon from Andy and then went home to get our new lounge sorted out. It now has a 4 seater settee, Sony 21" TV (free from Andy), Cambridge Audio Amp, Wharfedale speakers, Amiga CD32 and my Nintendo Gamecube.

After tea at Shells mums, we played Mario Kart: Double Dash til late.

A great, relaxing weekend and I got to see the kids. I expect something horrendous to happen this week to pay me back for enjoying myself.

Links for today:

Teachers ate cannibis cake - I mean. They institute a system whereby pupils bake and leave cakes for them and they didnt expect this? I know I would have done it. Well, baked the cake. Not given it to the damn teachers - I would have ate it myself!

The Quote Garden. Truly, truly awesome. Spend hours there...

Anecdote. Erm. Anecdotes. Lots of them. Thats it. Sorry.

Javascript Scrabble. Hehe. My days will no longer be boring.

iSketch. Get your friends together and play Pictionary online. Sort of. Very addictive though.

Snackster. The new P2P network. Download it now...

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[link]   Posted @ 10:17

Someone pointed me in the direction of this news item. Have you ever heard of anything stranger? Would that actually work? Would the suicide bombers care? And have lard guns?

Crowd control used to be done by water cannons - now by lard cannons. Rubber bullents will be replaced by shooting dripping at people. I mean, come on.

Drive by lardings anyone?



You are BRUCE!
What Finding Nemo Character are You?

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[link]   Posted @ 10:20

I am currently at work, waiting to do some work out of hours. Its pointless going home, as by the time I get there I would have to come back. I've demolished all the food I had, the shop is closed, which just leaves vending machines to raid; ho-hum. The bad news is that I will be here until my 22:40 train... how great is that. Hours and hours wasted (well, I will probably do some work), and not a sight of my Shell or any other loved ones.

Anyway, what was I thinking about? Oh yes. Thunderbirds. I'm not sure why, but my mind started wandering (as it does) and I started thinking about what Thunderbird character I would want to be/who I am most like. Part of me thought maybe the smart one due to my geekiness, but other will point to the father due to my age. Suggestions welcome please :)

Speaking of geekiness and following on from geek code (I must find it again and post it here), I can now publish my Blogger Code. It is: B9 d+ t++ k s u-- f++ i o+ x-- e+ l+ c-

You can decode it here. Interesting, huh! (No sarcasm please)

I also found this fantastic link courtesy of some blog (I cant remember which) - Captain Groses Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (c) 1811. What a fantastic piece of work. I shall start using some of the better ones in meetings in the near future.

Also a hello to Chris (or Lockers as he is known). He's been reading here for a couple of weeks now and we have started discussing things at work. It used to be that real life influenced this blog - and now this blog is influencing real life. Scary!

On this this site I am intrigued at the title of "Latest Safety Occurrences". Erm. No they arent. They are not safety events, they are accidents and generally fatal events. Do you have a safety on landing? Or a mid-air safety? Or a terrorist induced safety incident? No you bloody dont - you have freakin' accident! I worry about people sometimes.

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[link]   Posted @ 18:21