9.9.99

Ooh, just realised it's 8 years since my Grandpa died, today :0(

He did it in style though, well, picked a good date!

R.I.P Grandpa

Ramblings

Well, another uneventful week. Can't wait to give up work now, it's really starting to get me down. It's the illness/work combination, it's lethal! It's a bit like in Batman (the film), where they discover that mixing talcum powder with baby lotion can prove fatal*, except that instead of producing a big smile, I have a big frown, and am not actually dead. God what the hell am I talking about?!! See. LOST the plot!

Had Friday off again, and spent most of the day in town. Was supposed to meet my friend but she had to cancel, so I met Hefty for lunch instead. We had Japanese - hooray! A beef teriyaki bento box - my favourite!
I also bought a book that I spotted randomly on Amazon. It was in some subsection I'd clicked on by mistake. I was only killing time waiting for Hefty, but it sounded good, so I popped into Borders and had a look at it in the flesh. Looked pretty good, first page had my interest (that's the official iPandah test - if you read the first page and turn to the second, it's probably a winner), so I purchased it, even though it was a whole four pound more than it was on Amazon.
Well, got home at about 2pm, started reading it - couldn't STOP reading it!! What a fab book! Am nearly finished, have been at it the whole weekend, and have had to order the other 2 in the series from Amazon. So what is it?

'Dissolution' by C.J. Sansom

And here is the synopsis, shamelessly stolen from Amazon, who themselves nicked it off the back of the book!

'Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church and the country is waking up to savage new laws, rigged trials and the greatest network of informers ever seen. Under the order of Thomas Cromwell, a team of commissioners is sent through the country to investigate the monasteries. There can only be one outcome: the monasteries are to be dissolved.

But on the Sussex coast, at the monastery of Scarnsea, events have spiralled out of control. Cromwell's Commissioner Robin Singleton, has been found dead, his head severed from his body. His horrific murder is accompanied by equally sinister acts of sacrilege - a black cockerel sacrificed on the alter, and the disappearance of Scarnsea's Great Relic.

Dr Matthew Shardlake, lawyer and long-time supporter of Reform, has been sent by Cromwell into this atmosphere of treachery and death. But Shardlake's investigation soon forces him to question everything he hears, and everything that he intrinsically believes ... '

If you like this sort of thing (think 'Name of the Rose'), then it won't disappoint. It just flows brilliantly, really well written, and it isn't bogged down in historical facts like some books like this are.

So there. That is my view, do with it what you will.

Not much more to tell, as I've just been reading all weekend.

Off out to dinner in a bit though, so should get ready really. Or read a bit more of the book........


*Couldn't find a picture of those two models that died in it, or the news reader woman, so I settled for a classic JN one.

I love a bit of dust(er)

So, Season 3 (or Series 3, if you're British) of BSG arrived on Saturday, and Hefty and I started watching it. We missed it when it was on TV cos it aired not long after we'd moved, and we'd cancelled SKY on account of it being shit. Anyway, it's brilliant, REALLY good, have loved it so far, but one thing puzzles me. What is WITH Apollo's fat suit? Okay, so he's not been doing that much since everyone decided to go to New Caprica, but nobody else is fat, is it integral to the plot? Hefty thinks there might be an episode where he's trying to escape from something and has to get through a hole or tube and can't fit or something. I'm not really sure, but whereas I used to look at Apollo and think "YES! You're my favourite character, you rule hero-type dude!", now I just think, "Hmm, Tim Allen in The Santa Clause." It's so bad, it's funny, so I REALLY hope he either loses it, or it somehow plays a part in the plot. I guess as we've only watched 4 episodes, only time will tell....

In other news, I have purchased a lovely French Connection coat, that will not only keep me warm and look cool, it's the same colour as Flexo (my car)!! I also got some very funky dish cloths and dusters from Waitrose the other day, with a super-kitsch design on them, tremendous!!! We've been shopping with Waitrose online for a couple of months now, and it's brilliant!! Much wider variety of stuff than Sainsbury's, and we get freebies sometimes too! Plus, the website's much easier to use, and less faff all round is always a Brucie bonus!!

And that's about all I have to say today.

£8.60

So, I went to IKEA. I skipped all the furniture stuff, cos we are, after all, strictly a Habitat only house in that area. I had a dodgy trolly, always annoying, and by the time I got to the market-place, it'd pissed me off so much that I resorted to kicking the wheels in rage! It didn't do a sodding thing, but it allowed me to vent spleen whlist appearing normal to the outside world (just). Ooh, I did go through the children's section first, hoping to pick something up for the Biz, but it was rather uninspiring, which upset me, cos kid's departments in any shop are usually my favourite bit. But anyways, in the market-place, I bought:

- A big stripy bag for 79p
- A pack of 10 storage bags that looked like party bags to me but with a seal at the top and in yellow and orange rather than Disney themed, for 99p
- A soap dish for the ensuite cos we didn't have one and Habitat have stopped doing most of the ones we liked, for 99p
- A pack of 2 bendy chopping boards for Hefty, for 99p
- 3 scented candles for my sister, 99p each
- A pack of 100 tealights, also for my sister,
- 2 funky green plastic dog bowls for my impending arrival, only 19p each!

So, for £8.60, I think I did quite well, cos the last time I popped into Habitat for a few bits, I spent £57.80.
It wasn't too bad in there either, though there was a scattering of chavs (it's to be expected), but they were mostly in the food bit eating hot dogs (at half 9 in the morning).

I then nipped to Borders and had lunch in Starbucks, but resisted the urge to go next door into Habitat, and instead bought a couple of books for the Biz. Then I went home via the chemist and doctors, and decided to have a snooze, cos I was pretty knacked out at this point.

I left at 4.30pm to pick Hefty up, and spent an HOUR queuing in gridlocked traffic in Leeds city centre. It was a nightmare! It usuall takes about half an hour for me to get to his office, pick him up and get home again, so this was ridiculous! When I eventually got him, we went to Costco for some goodies, then went home for Chinese, which was pretty damn good. We watched 'An evening with Kevin Smith' whilst we ate, then turned it off so we could watch 'The IT Crowd.' Last week's episode was hilarious, and this week's was rather funny too, so I've changed my mind about it.

Then, we went to bed and watched 'Babylon 5.' It was about halfway through the second series, where the Centauries start a war with the Narns for no good frikkin reason at all! G'Kar was so upset that it made me upset and I was crying my eyes out and calling Londo every name under the sun. I HATE him, and I felt bad for G'Kar cos Na'Toth was nowhere to be seen! So he was all alone and upset, I just wanted to hug him and help him destroy the evil Centauries, those mothereffing punks! >:0(

Sigh. Poor G'Kar :0(

Today, Hefty's getting his hair cut, so we're visiting the rents, getting his hair done then having lunch at Caffe Nero, as per the usual Hefty Hair Cut protocol.

Oh dear, I'm having a nosebleed, will catch you later people.

Bleed......