Empty Head Section!

Yes it is quite comical if you're a Web developer, but I'm not sure I'd go this far, and I wonder if he has "/body" on the back of his heel. Or even if he has "head" in the middle of his scalp, because that in particular would require some pain, I'm certain (blogger won't let me show HTML tags... bah). Still, some people are proud of their geekdom, like this graffiti artist for instance:

I would like to think that this is from the wall of a public toilet, but probably not. The plain fact is that everyone is a nerd of some sort, whether your thing is computers, films, books, music, sport, television, there is going to be something you're nerdy about. Make no mistake, it's written in your DNA.

Tonight I have what we in Scotland call a "Do". That is to say, I'm going to a "Do". What the hell am I talking about? Simply put, a special event of any description. Preferably one where drink flows freely. Not that I'll be drinking, no no, not I, I have a leading role in this event, so am required to have my wits about me. Why don't I just tell you what it is? Well, where's the mystery in that?

This Is A Sterile Area! Please Wash Your Hands!

I managed to get some sleep last night, not as much as I'd have liked, but I got some. I know I did because I woke up remembering something I'd dreamt. I had a really busy day yesterday, so if I hadn't slept, it would have made today difficult, that's for sure. Still waiting to hear back from the University regarding how I did in my assessment. I'd have liked to spend more time on it, but there simply wasn't any time. One week was all we had really. I'm sure Ill do alright mind you. I'd be very unpleasantly surprised if I haven't.

Network problems still abound at the school. It has made things harder than they should be, but we're getting through it reasonably well. Today we were building pc's, so they enjoyed that, and there are more to be made tomorrow. It makes a nice change. It's been a while since I put a pc together, but let's face it, it's not that difficult is it?

One of my major concerns is just how exactly I'm going to get through these four weeks without catching something. Contagion is rampant among the pupils, with many of them spluttering and coughing. A quarantined area needs to be set up for those afflicted (joke). Even worse is the Winter sickness bug. Scary stuff! I know why they're in school though. Both parents working, no where else to go. A parent will take a day off for their child, but they can't spare more than that, so the sickly child must return to school posthaste. That's just a fact of modern living isn't it? In fact, more than likely, the parent is "the parent" as opposed to one of the parents! C'est la vie!

I'm not Dead, but sometimes Apathetic!

I've hardly had time to do this today, I've been so busy. I still couldn't sleep last night, but I must have slept a bit, otherwise I'd be dead by now. I am however extremely tired. This will have to be short and sweet, simply because I don't have the time and I have many other tasks to attend to. But you know I'll make it up to you!

Extreme Sleep Deprivation!

I have no idea what's wrong with me. I swear I never slept at all last night, and the most peculiar thing is, that I just didn't feel tired. That's like 4 nights in a row with very little sleep whatsoever. I don't feel stressed, although I have a lot on. I wasn't thinking about anything. I cleared my mind and felt relaxed, but I just couldn't fall asleep. I've had times before when I haven't slept much, but I usually get "some" sleep. This was different, I'm convinced I never slept at all. Maybe I should count sheep, I haven't tried that, but desperate times call for desperate measures!

I'm going to be building some computers this week, hurrah, or not, we'll see it how it goes. I will probably be there more in a supervisory role really. It couldn't come at a better time, because the old network gremlins have chosen this occasion to reduce the network to a nervous wreck, and I got caught out with no Plan B. So I had to wing it for 2 hours and 40 minutes, and it was pretty horrendous. I pleaded with the network guy to restore normal service, but it couldn't be done in time. I seriously hope it's back to normal tomorrow.

I read today that some First World War soldier's letters are being published on a blog 90 years to the day he wrote them. That's pretty neat, I should check that out. I hope he wrote quite freqently though, otherwise it might be disappointing... 2 letters about rain and mud, then it's all over!

The Winds Of Change!

Just a quick post tonight. As I said yesterday or the day before, I have so much on this week, it's unbelievable. In fact I couldn't sleep last night. Not that you'd particularly care anyhow, but the result is I'm very tired right now. Wait and see, when I go to bed, I'll get a second wind, and I'll feel as fresh as a daisy again. Today went OK. It was a bit odd though, almost like starting all over again. But I'm sure I'll fall back into it quickly enough.

I'm toying with the idea of downloading the new BBC iPlayer. Apparently you can watch any show from the last 7 days on it, but if you install it, it goes up to 30 days. Actually, I wasn't sure if that was true, but I've just been on their website and verified it. So, there you go then, sometimes people do tell true stories. Just how well it'll operate when the kids are stealing all my bandwidth, who can say. But at least I'll be able to watch programmes on their laptops once they've gone to bed, and that's exactly my intention.

Yesterday I was washing and hoovering the car, and as I was bending down to wash along the sills I felt a little breathless for a second. I guess that means I'm more out of shape than ever and ought to embark on some sort of exercise regime. That could prove difficult given the pressing matters at hand, which will consume every waking hour. I will do something exercise-worthy though, you have my assurances, because I have too!

Season's End?

Well that's the holiday season over once again, and I'm getting ready to get back to work tomorrow. I only wish I had more idea what I'm going to be doing, the details are sketchy as usual. That doesn't suit my personality, I like things planned and organised well in advance, but for the moment it's not my call, so I have to just play along. I'm sure things will go fine though, and if, as hoped, my assessment results, when they come back, are positive, then I'll be a happy bunny once again!

Speaking about making me happy... both Primeval and Lost are due back on our screens shortly. Primeval ended on a pretty decent cliffhanger, so let's hope that the storylines are even better this time around. As for Lost, I was a tad disappointed by the end of the last series, so they better make up for it in the start of this new series. The end of series one and start of series two, were both epic. We really need more of that. Also, saw a trailer for an American comedy show coming on here shortly; "Reaper". It got my attention, could be good. Certainly better than anything coming out of the UK at the moment. British T.V. is on a major slide right now, practically free-falling!

My father just got home from Offshore not long ago, four days later than expected. There were 100 mph winds and 100 ft waves hitting the rig, he was telling me. One wave actually moved the rig about 10 ft, but it sprang back again. That's pretty rough weather. If anything did happen to the rig in those conditions, launching the life-boats would be suicidal. Still, there are worse places to be. The number of guys I know working out in West Africa, where they risk kidnapping and so on. I've heard loads of stories which I can't repeat here, but let's just say, I wouldn't do the job for any sort of money. The risks some of them take daily are just ridiculous. No amount of money's worth risking your life for, is it?

The Man Who Did Too Little!

I'm a bit stressed out at the moment, I've got such a busy week coming up and I know there are things I should be doing, but then I procrastinate, because technically I'm still on holiday right? Maybe I need the pressure of having to do things before doing them, rather than doing things in advance and creating breathing space for myself. It's hard to explain, I know I should, but I'm having difficulty prioritising tasks right now, because I'm waiting to see which is going to be the most urgent and demanding as they happen.

It's just a sort of lull I've got myself into over the holidays. As I said before, it's easy to get used to do nothing, and another week of the same wouldn't hurt. My memory card for my digital camera arrived today and by the time I'd formatted it and copied across the photos I'd taken, from temporary memory, the battery died on me. How sad is that? Flies live much longer!

One more day of freedom then it's back with the nose to the grindstone. I'll have to pull myself up by the bootstrings and throw myself back into it with great gusto, because it's expected of me. I'm still pretty much under scrutiny, no more observations to endure, but I have to get some momentum going, in order to impress. And yet, I can't allow myself to perform too well, because that might upset my mentor, whose approval I require in order to continue. Are you beginning to see what's involved here? Who'd become a teacher? It requires total dedication and an natural ability to please everyone!

Snow Doesn't Lie!

Those wonderful snowy vista pictures I was going to photograph for you this morning? Well, there was snow lying last night, but the rain melted it all before I got up, and I was up at 7:30 to put the rubbish out. Then I went back to bed again. May as well get the long lies while I still can. However, the weather seems to be on the downhill, so anything is still possible. Perhaps tomorrow there will be several inches of snow. As for tonight, my father is meant to be coming home from offshore, having worked through Christmas and New Year, but he's practically in the Arctic Circle, so he might not get off after all. I ususally go and pick him up from the train station if he's late, as the buses from the station stop after about 7 pm.

That's why every one around here is so eager to ditch their cars and use public transport (implied sarcasm). Are you listening politicians? The trains and buses are not only ridiculously expensive, but they are always late, the trains in particular. When you want to be somewhere by a certain time, spending an extra hour on the train as it crawls along at about 5mph, is absolutely infuriating. But that's how it is here. Think yourself lucky to be somewhere else. Or, perhaps not. Clearly there are worse places to be. But they probably still have better public transport.

The latest hobby that the wife and I have fell into, is surfing through Bebo to see if people we know have accounts and then laughing at their photos of themselves posing ridiculously. Have they no shame? Clearly there are a lot of people around here with a very high opinion of themselves.

Places Where Things Are Kept!

I ordered a 4 Gb Memory Card "online", for my new digital camera yesterday. That should allow me to snap away merrily for many an hour, given half a chance. As I reported to you yesterday, the weather looks set to take a serious turn for the worse here, tonight. We're on the coast so we don't really get too much snow, but hey, if we do, I'm on it, OK? I'll make sure you get the pics. Fingers crosssed, there'll be some fresh white powder in the morning!

I haven't really been up to much. I turned down the opportunity to go hard drinking again last night, I don't have the constitution I once possessed, to be able to bounce back from a previous day's drinking session, ready to go again the next day. Let's face it, anyone who has (consistently) is probably an alcoholic! But you need money to be an alcoholic, and I've never really had any!

Everybody is back to their respective mill-grindings come Monday anyway, and that'll be it, the holidays gone in a flash again. I've quite enjoyed doing very little. The calm before the storm no doubt. Only a major lottery win could dislodge me from the heading I'm sailing on right now. Maybe even then I would still persist with my impious designs, pausing only to replace my clapped-out motor and to ensure a roof over our heads. Sounds like some sort of New Year's resolution! Well it isn't!

Eat the Yellow Snow!

I'm sorry I never posted yesterday, but I went out after lunch and ended up very drunk, at which point all prospects of a post being posted were seriously dented. I don't make a habit of drinking to excess, or drinking very often, so I'm sure you can forgive me for this one transgression. I was almost sick in the middle of the night, but I managed to overcome it by sheer force of will. I'm still quite impressed by that. Once you get the cold sweat and start salivating heavily, that's usually when you know you've reached the point of no return. But not this time, yay!

I stayed up on New Years Eve to watch the Radiohead webcast, at midnight. Very enjoyable it was too. It was my first opportunity to put my new wireless network to the test. We watched it on one of the kids' laptops in the living room, and there were no problems with buffering or anything, in fact the wireless connections seem just as good as my hard-wired connection. That's something I definitely didn't expect, but well there you go. Isn't technology marvellous.

I've been invited around to a relatives tonight for even more drinking, but I think I might decline. I still feel pretty rough from last night. It was bitterly cold yesterday as well, and it's not set to get better any time soon, quite the opposite in fact, with snowstorms predicted over the weekend and into next week. However, if that proves to be the case, rest assured I will put my new digital camera to work on your behalf, so as to bring you crisp images of fresh powder. How does that sound? Do we have a deal?