Saturday, June 28, 2003

Right things are getting lax around here, thats over a week since I've actually got around to posting anything. That's far too long.

Late Saturday afternoon and I'm beginning to feel like a human being. Been out last night, team joint celebration and boy did we celebrate. Head was pounding like hell this morning and I'm slowly piecing the previous day together. I'm realy trying to figure out if its safe to go to work on Monday. We had an office warming with quite a bit of wine, before going off to Pancho Villa's, and I do remember wine and Margeuritas and a very big plate of enchilladas and a fabby guacamole and chilli rellenos and it was pretty heavenly. Then we headed off to an Irish pub got moved on from a big food hall thing and then ended up in the bar across the road from the railway station. At the end of the night jimty kindlt escoerted me to the correct platform and I woke up in bed in the morning is I guess I got home okay then. thewife thinks thats as pissed as she has seen me.

If I offended anybody, I apologise, profusely. If I didn't you can probably pretend that I did.

posted by timesnewroman at 5:31 PM  

0 comments

Tuesday, June 17, 2003

Tuesday night and I even have time to post, this despite the fact we have taken delivery of our new boxless oven and I have now completed the installation of said equipment. Rather nifty it is too, thewife is very impressed by the various functions and abilities the thing has. I shall have to keep on top of this, or else like the washing machine I shall become deskilled in the domestic household activities scene and be left to footer about and blog.

Speaking of blogging we now have an additional team member PH who despite his familiarity with the Baghdad blogger himself, has not met a real live blogger in the flesh. Thanks jimty for dobbing me in. I shall keep quiet about your morris dancing, assorted buttons and vast collection of flora and fungi.

I must fly downstairs, there is an odd smell emanating from the kitchen.


posted by timesnewroman at 6:54 PM  

0 comments

Sunday, June 15, 2003

Been too busy to blog. Thursday night saw the spectacular leaving do and presentation of the big (red) yin from the YIK. Seeing him speechless was perhaps the highlight of the night. After the kids had gone the wine came out and we even had to go for more. Pissed as a fart I was, claims thewife. Got home chatted for about three minutes about the space between the space between. It may well have been deep or profound but a day later I have no idea whatsoever I was on about.

Friday, day off and off to IKEA for some stuff for the bedroom. We are gonna decorate. We have been planning this for months. Possibly even a year. There are three yellow squares of paint that thewife got samples of some time ago, and she tried them on one of the walls. They range from a mustardy colour to canary. Some weeks later thewife had decided on an entirely new approach which consists of a spectrum of colours on the cerise, blue magenta sort of spectrum. I offer up a huge sort of Mondrian of the same colours a spectacular backdrop behind the bed. thewife seems to accept this idea, but I am never sure really. Anyways a month or few later, the wife has bought a new duvet cover and it seems the room is going to be decorated around the colours in this. I ask if this is wise and am sort of looked at. The duvet is raspberryish, with some mauve and ochre. It is quite pretty really I suppose and the colours are nice. So down to Homebase, where a fabby new colour range from Dulux called Indian Summer seems to have all the colours imaginable that would go with the duvet. So that's it sorted Goan Sunrise and a reddish hue.

Except we go into B & Q next to IKEA and have a look there and discover similar colours that, because they are "special" they are all on the expensive side, so we have a look at wallpaper, which you can get pretty much self colored and we wouldn't have to paint, but we don't have the duvet with us and thewife wants to see the colours next to the duvet. Having ripped off a strand of wallpaper from a few sheets, apparently you are allowed to do this to the unwrapped ones, we compare them. It looks like we are settling for a sort of reddish colour and a sort of yellowish colour, quite pale and I suddenly realise that its almost the same colours as the living room! thewife sort of agrees but says that the living room really works. Much as I agree, I point out that I don't really want every room in the house the same colour.

IKEA is such a weird place. You think that everything is really quite cheap, but by the time to get to the checkout, you have amassed a small fortune's worth of cheap stuff. thewife thinks seventy quid is pretty good though for getting curtain stuff, rails and lighting with shades for the bedroom.

Saturday, mail arrives from DVLA. They have returned my cheque (see earlier rant/tirade), Brian Donohoe my MP has helped get a result. Yowzah Yowzah Yowzah. My first major complaint result.

Installed the new lights in the bedroom. Two hanging lamps, one each side of the bed, fitted with a dimmer switch. I'm mightily impressed cos they work and I wired them meself. Only problem is with the IKEA shade which managed to rip apart during the installation process. Oops, that and thewife says that the lamps are hanging at different lengths, pah. Found a wasp's nest in the loft in the process though. Apparently its wisest to get environmental health people in to deal with it though. There goes my � 25 saving from the DVLA.. Never mind.

Sunday I cut the grass in the back garden. Or I should really say moss. I have to get rid of this stuff.
posted by timesnewroman at 4:04 PM  

0 comments

Monday, June 09, 2003

Damn and blast, lost Saturday's posts somewhere in cyberspace. Quick recap then. Friday the reidboy came up from London tp cover the game against Germany. We had a few pints down at the Water Sports Club, caught up with tales of Seville, how brilliant it woz despite losing. Jim Stewart had to suggest from his newfound hundom, that Celtic had in fact let Scotland down by losing. Had they won he would probably have given up football and taken up rounders or some such thing. thewife was in too with the cast of Stagefright's performances. They were on their way to a last night luvvies party. She did promise to make the reidboy a fish pie for his dinner after the game on Saturday though. Which he enjoyed thoroughly, washed down with copious quantities of red wine. Looks like thewife and I will need to make a substantial deposit at the bottle bank.



Saturday was catering day, spent the morning and afternoon, preparing, cooking, waiting, clearing and washing up. What fun! Still it'll be worth it, should make some dosh to subsidise forthcoming woodcraft folk summer camp. Also, one of the few veggies we catered for asked me the recipe for my african sweet potato stew, guess that's what you call a result.

posted by timesnewroman at 12:14 PM  

0 comments

Thursday, June 05, 2003

thewife has treaded them boards. A one act play called wiles of a stranger and to be absolutely honest I thought she did magnificent. Claims she didn't remember all her lines but I never noticed and neither did the rest of the audience. the entire cast did rather well. So congrats to Stagefright. Was weird though watching thewife act, and then notice all the wee bits and pieces like..those look a bit like my slippers! Mgod. Mumsy enjoyed it too and was out as late as she has been for a long time. She was quick to notice the role modelling.

All this and come home to discover I have the winning bid for a new oven at the comet clearance site. � 221 for a � 400 is fine by me. Check it out.
posted by timesnewroman at 9:16 PM  

0 comments

Wednesday, June 04, 2003

Jeezuz this new job is keeping me busy seems like I've had it for months, am run off my feet and don't get enough of it done due to detours, digression and meetings. Meet the New Job, same as the old job. There's a song in there.

Wednesday already, thewife has been thespianising a lot recently. Every night this week she has intense rehearsals and is out dead late. Stagefright have a production you see. Community drama group she is involved in. This time she has an acting, rather than directing role. Far sexier, except the character is some old evil granny. It's showtime Thursday and Friday, though I can only go on Thursday cos the Woodies are on Friday. The reidboy is up in between, few pints, stories of Seville, etc etc which should be good. We do have an all day Woodcraft Folk fundraiser Saturday to help subsidise our Summer Camp and maybe contribute to some Palestinian kids coming to it as well (Any benevolent readers out there, or T.U. activists with access to donation making bodies feel free to email some e-dough.) All of this means we have no time to go shopping. On the one hand this may be a good thing, financially. However I want to eat occasionally over the coming week so it was tesco.com again last night. Sort of, spent about 3 hours and the thing was very slow, slow slow slow! Screamed at it a few times but made no difference. If this is broadband I want my money back. Then for some reason it would not let me buy shampoo. Come 11.30 thewife is back and trying to calm me down somewhat. She has a bath and I am still at it. For fuck's sake I only want to buy stuff! But no, capitalism seems to have failed yet again.

Anyways up this morning with the lark 6.00am Back into tesco.com and conclude the business in minutes. Maybe the internet was tired and tetchy just like me.....

Why was the coffee cold jimty? What should I be aware of? How did Mr. Tweede do in his interview? Is Tony a Liar? These and other questions will be answered in future instalments.
posted by timesnewroman at 7:14 PM  

0 comments

Monday, June 02, 2003

Weekend over, back on your heads. Fabby new office, with windows and its kind of all sitting there ready for us. I've got Microsoft Project hmmmm, and speakers.

On the way home from work I pick up the motor (see post from 24/04/03). It has a newish engine at no small cost. Runs well enough on way home. I have to keep an eye on water and oil but things could be looking up on the transport front. Still a bump every now and again from the rear suspension, but it'll have to wait.

Further on the car I knew I missed a rant, probably last week when I was really busy and didn't get around to posting much. So let's hear it then for Mrs P. Wooley of the DVLA in Glasgow. She represents Alistair Darling the Minister for Transport who wants me to part with � 25.00 because I was unaware/poorly advised regarding the sending off of a SORN form. Seemingly when motor before current motor passed away, I should have sent them a bloody death certificate or summat in, explaining that it was being kept off the road. Seemingly this is an offence, despite the fact I knocked the bloody garden wall down in order to ensure that it was kept of the road! I am guilty of the offence of ignorance and for this the government demand I stump up � 25.00, within a week, or else I will owe them � 45.00, which if unpaid by 21/06/03 will result in court action which could result in fines in the tousands. I say you bunch of theiving government bastards. Mrs Wooley, I sincerely hope you sleep badly for the rest of you life.




posted by timesnewroman at 8:20 PM  

0 comments