R.I.P Bonnie

An aside.

It's 7 years today since my first doggy Bonnie died.

Still miss you my little friend x

iFAILS and iWINS!

So today I reached a decision. Recently, I have worked out who my friends are. It's not tricky, friendship is a two-way thing and if you're not going to make the effort then I'm not either. If you don't want to be my friend because you don't like who I am or what I do, that's fine, but either say so, or just naff off. Don't linger out of some sense of propriety.

In other news, I have decided to get a Blackberry when my contract runs out in a couple of months, and get rid of my now USELESS iPhone. What I will do, is get an iPad so that I've still got a cool touchy screeny thing to play with. My phone really has become unbearable since I did the new update. If I open my text inbox, it takes about five seconds for anything to happen. Same if I try and open a text. It also keeps freezing, turning itself off, and the contact list randomly opens for no reason. I had just under an hour's conversation this evening and despite charging my phone this afternoon, I had to charge it again whilst still on the phone because I got the 'Low battery' warning. Utter crap. I have a lot of friends who I consider to be Apple newbies, and they're horrified that I could consider giving it up. Fact is, I've been using Apple products for twenty years, and I've never had a problem before. I have come to expect a certain standard, and I'm just not getting it, so I'm going to get something else. Okay, they're not losing out cos I'll get an iPad, but I'm not happy with them, because they were one of very few constants in my life. Apple have always been the brand I can trust. This iPhone fail has put them on shaky ground with me, though I don't anticipate any other product failures, I think it's simply the bad design of the iPhone. I've never understood why things are where they are on it, and having fiddled around with some other phones, the BlackBerry just came out on top. I like that it's fat, and a nice shape to hold. I like the way it works, and everything on it seems to be more thought out in terms of usability. Okay, I know it's lacking in some of the more flashy apps, but I'm not precious about phones, all I ever want in a phone is something I like that works. I got an iPhone because I'm an Apple user, I'm not into the status aspect of it. If it was the most unpopular phone ever but worked awesomely, I'd have it. The fact it's now shit annoys me, and as the new one is also crap, I feel a trade in is my best option.

I'd just like to say how much I'm enjoying 'Spartacus: Blood and Sand.' Initially, I complained that there wasn't enough fighting because they seemed too busy trying to fit boobs into every scene. Well, thankfully, they've cut back on the boobs a bit, and the fighting has increased tenfold. I already know what happens (I hate surprises to the point I have to know the entire plot of anything before I watch it, or I can't bear it!), and I'm excited about it. I love the imagery, the gore, the whole spadoopa! I also love 'Justified,' and not just because it has Timothy Olyphant in it. It's just a ruddy good programme about a US Marshal that's hidden amongst the bajillion random Channel Five channels floating around. I enjoy it every week, it's up there with 'The Mentalist' for me. Have enjoyed the new BBC Three series 'Mongrels' too, though I now need to have me a fat cat called marion. I don't watch a lot of TV, along with the odd 'Midsomer Murders,' this is pretty much it. I don't watch any of the popular stuff that people are always talking about, I'm really not down with the kids, but I'm fine with that.

That is in fact the lesson I have learnt as I've been thinking about the whole friends thing recently. I'm pretty much ill all the time, I'll never have a career, I have a lot of free time, but I'm happy doing either nothing or reading/listening to random interesting stuff. I don't feel the need to improve myself, I know I have no real skills, I don't need to find something I'm good at. All I do, is sleep (a lot), read, listen to the radio, watch a bit of TV, see a select few people here and there, sing in a band, keep the house clean and tidy, look after the Mr when he comes home, and look after my dog every day. I think I do these things reasonably well, and I'm happy with that. I appear to have lost a lot of friends who don't understand why I have no ambitions, why I'm not out socialising all the time, why I'm not out and about on mini-breaks or days out, why I've not had any kids like they have. But, I still have a few (and it is a few, but Id rather have a couple of really good friends than loads of faux friends) friends left who don't care about any of this. They are just my friends and that is it. They don't expect me to do anything other than be their friend back. If I want to moan about something, they listen, if they want to moan about something, I listen. It's not complicated at all, but I think it takes a long time to realise who your true friends are, and though I will never understand how some of the other ones work, at least I know which ones I can always rely on.

I wouldn't describe myself as a life-loving happy person, I would say I'm content. I seem to have a lot of bad luck so I tend to have bouts of miserableness. To some, mine is probably a waste of a life, but it is exactly that, MINE. It's my life to waste if I want, if you don't like it, I don't care. Ultimately, I'm FINE with that. Frankly, aside from the health thing, I wouldn't swap with anyone. I am a contented non-achiever for which I make no apologies.

*Note in response to image. It's goodbye actually...

Pawcakes & Seways

So yesterday was our wedding anniversary. We made pancakes for breakfast, and Hefty made one in the shape of a paw!


Then we headed out to York, dropping Ozzy off on the way. The weather was alright yesterday, quite warm, and when we got there we decided to head straight to the Jorvik Centre. This folks, is a Viking centre, all about....Vikings! There's stuff to look at and a ride thing where you sit in a boothy thing that floats round a Viking village. It's alright, but it STINKS, because they pump air into it that is supposed to be the same as it was back then. Let me tell you, HORRIBLE, and it makes you feel sick after a while. Anyway we did that, then wandered around looking for somewhere to go for lunch.

We ended up going to a place called 'Betty's,' which is really famous in Yorkshire. It's a tea room type place, they do the whole afternoon tea as well as proper food, but they also have a shop that sells baked goods and chocolate. It's a real tourist trap in these parts, people rave about it all the time. I've been loads of times, I think it's pretty good, but it's overrated, one of those places people go to cos everybody else does. Hefty hasn't been which is why we went. And it was okay, we had a decent lunch, but I can still think of places I'd rather go.

After that, we meandered round the shops a bit, and then ended up deciding to just go home. We were going to look round the Minster, but you have to pay to go in and though we're the least tight people in the world, it was a rip off, so we didn't bother. I'd wanted to go to the York Dungeon but it was getting on for 4pm, and you don't really want to stay too late as the traffic gets so bad round there that you never get out. So we went home.

We thought we might go into Leeds for dinner, to our favourite Japanese restaurant, but on the way home we were so tired we decided to just call at M&S and pick up some nibbley food instead. It wasn't nice enough to sit outside when we got home so we ended up catching up on TV! I feel responsible for the non-event of a day, as it was my bright idea, but Hefty had a nice time (beats work) and was happy enough. We normally go to the Trafford Centre for our anniversary (just cos there's nothing to do round here and it was something we started doing), and I wish we had. It's easier to make a proper day out there cos there's a lot more shops, ones we don't have easy access to here, and lots of places to eat and stuff. FAIL on my part. Next year I'll know better. I'm sure most people try and go away or something, but whenever we go away for a day or two, it always ends up being more hassle than it's worth, and we wish we'd not bothered, which is why we started down the shopping centre route (we both excel at shopping). Meh. Never mind.

Today has been uneventful, we tried to sit in the sun for a while after we'd picked Ozzy up, but the cloud kept coming over and spoiling it, so we ended up back inside. I decided to start looking at holiday activities for when we go in October, and discovered some random things. We're off to Hawaii, so I found this website called Go Hawaii and had initially planned to look up helicopter tours, cos Hefty really wants to do one. Unfortunately, Hefty's many years of weight-lifting has backfired for the first time. There's a weight limit on helicopters, and unless we go up one at a time, I'll have to lose four stone before then to accommodate Hefty's bulk. Rubbish! There are plane tours but they also involve mini buses and an itinerary as such, which neither of us were keen on. You can go on a regular minibus tour which we might consider, but I stumbled across a section called 'Segway Tours.' That's right! You can do a plethora of island tours on a Segway! Both of us are WELL up for that so it's just a matter of picking which tours we want to do! One of the pictures on the site made me laugh, it's such an odd sight:


Not planning on doing a whole lot that holiday, but it's nice to do the odd thing here and there. I haven't been for sooo long, so I'm excited to see how it's changed.

Last night (just remembered), I had to endure watching Glastonbury coverage. I try to be open-minded about music but I rarely see anyone there who I like the sound of. I like a lot of different stuff, not just Metal, but it seems they really put a lot of filler on at Glasto. The first thing we saw was a rapper type called Dizzy Rascal, who MURDERED 'Smells like teen spirit' by Nirvana. It's got to be one of the easiest songs to play on a guitar, but his guitarist chopped through the riff whilst he rapped some shit over the top of it. AWFUL. Then there was some nondescript bloke with a guitar and a drummer whose name I can't even remember (by the way, I'm probably not spelling any of these people's names properly, but I don't care about them enough to look up the correct versions), then the dullest band in the world, who had sounded good from the intro. Vampire Weekend, I thought that sounded promising, but they were hammering out boring, predictable crap that sounded like it had been ripped off from a whole host of other crap people. I left the room at that point, decided tidying the kitchen was preferable. I then went to bed, but Hefty came upstairs not long after that and put it on upstairs! Some band called Hot Chip were on, and I think I thought they were okay, but I was in the ensuite at that point so didn't hear them properly. But then this bint called Ellie Golding was on and totally freaked me out! I know I'm not down with the kids, all of these people are probably really popular somewhere, but she had the weirdest voice I've heard for a long time, I can't describe it, she just sang really oddly. Also, she had the pointiest nose and chin, and looked like the Wicked Witch of the West (but not green)! We started paying close attention when she was singing cos Hefty said her nose seemed to be moving of its own accord. Oh the hilarity. We turned off after that cos I couldn't bear it anymore. On the positive side though, in the unlikely event I recall any of these people in the future, I will at least know to avoid them! WIN!

Right, I'm off. Ciao!

And thus my eyes did bleed...

Today I saw this image and it made me chuckle. I love the juvenility of the 'poke her face' comment. I'm a comedy simpleton, but I'm okay with that.

I just made an anniversary cake, which was an impulse decision to say the least. Never made one before, we didn't even have a wedding cake for Pete's sake, but I had some time to kill and thought, 'CAKE.' It's a dairy free cake, and I've never made it before, but it looks okay now it's outta the oven. The taste test will commence tomorrow, and I'll let you know if it was any cop. I'm currently deciding if I should garishly decorate it or keep it simple. I think garish, may as well push the boat out ey?

Hefty is currently making his way home from Dahn Sarf, as he has tomorrow off! He'll probably get back about 11.30pm, but it'll take less time than it normally does on a Friday afternoon. We're going to York for the day, as he's not really been round it for years, and though I used to work there, I've never done any of the touristy things like the Dungeon and Jorvik Centre, so we thought it'd be an interesting day out. My friend has an awesome coffee shop there too, in an 800 year old building under a bridge! So we thought we'd pop in on her and say howdy.

Today, I saw something HIDEOUS. Anyone who knows me will know that I hate BMWs, because they're generally driven by the chav scum of the earth, and none of these people are familiar with the Highway Code, so consequently are more likely to cause accidents and induce road rage amongst the rest of us. Well, not only do I hate them, I hate the design of them, because if you go back over the decades, some of them are alright looking, even if they're owned by twats, but that redesign thing that happened how ever many years ago, means that they now offend my eyes as well as my very being.
I'm going to start by saying that the Z4, is a ridiculous looking car. I'm trying to think of a creative way to describe it, but really, the only words that come to mind are 'ugly as fuck.' When it comes to the 1 series I think Jeremy Clarkson hit the nail on the head when he said it looked like a bread van with the sides kicked in. Most apt. But, the 6 series invokes something in me when I see it that is so much more powerful than the others. Quite simply, it is a MONSTROSITY. I think you have to see one of these beasts in the flesh to appreciate just how ugly it is, but as if that weren't bad enough, they made a convertible one, which is SO hideously designed, that the back window is the size of a letter box, but with less appeal (at least a letter box has a purpose). So today, not only did I see a 6 series, not only was it a convertible, but......(wait for it)....the scrotey owner had put England flags on it! Yes, those awful chavtastic England flags that are usually confined to the likes of a Mondeo or really old Fiesta, were actually sidled into the back windows of a Bavarian cockroach. NASTY. I was quite taken aback and sort of tripped over my feet a bit. Luckily, Ozzy, my new hero, decided that that very moment, he really needed to relieve himself, and subsequently did so right next to it. If I was less responsible, I would have quite happily left the little steaming pile there, in a sort of 'Yeah, that's what we think of you and your shit car' sort of way. But, inevitably, the chav would have had to head back to his Burberry Headquarters, and someone else might have stepped in it.


The other day, I saw a chav in Sainsbury's wearing denim hotpants, and they only half covered her arse. Why? Why would you wear those to Sainsbury's?

Anyway, I have two episodes of 'Spartacus: Blood and Sand' to watch so I'm going to do that. Laters!

iP

Glastonbury and Cheese

I really am baffled by the Glastonbury ticket process. It's one of those things I've always fancied doing (though I'd have to think of a way around the camping, I DO NOT camp), but I don't get why you buy your tickets six months before you even know who's playing. My friend said to me, "It's the experience, and there'll always be someone you want to see." Well, every year I look at the line up to see if I wish I'd bothered, and every year I'm glad I didn't! This year is particularly bad. I know I mainly like Metal, but I'm very open-minded and like lots of different music, but it seems to me that the place is full of crap and distinctly average bands. So what would I be going for? The catering supplies and stalls. Great. WELL worth £200.

So it's three and a half months til my holiday. Not that long says Hefty, FEELS like it. He and I have an entirely different view on these things. He thinks three months is nothing and will fly by, I see it is THREE WHOLE MONTHS (and two weeks) and it drags. He will probably be excited about a month before, whereas it'll be a couple of days before for me as I have no patience. If it's not happening immediately, I can't get excited about it. My Dad is the same. The folks went on a cruise yesterday, neither of them wanted to go (?) but as they'd never done it before they thought they should have a go. A cruise is also a pretty good way of seeing lots of different places that might be faffy to sort out by any other means. So they're seeing Rome, Venice and Florence over a few days, which I suppose is easier. Can't remember where else they're going, but I'm guessing it'll all be around that sort of area. My Mum was washing and sorting out packing two weeks ago, my Dad only started thinking it'd be nice to go on holiday on Monday. At least I know where I get it from. (Tim: Whilst I remember, please can you email me that little cut-out of you to take with me? Want to make sure I get you in on some good photo opps!)

Nice weather again today! Am going to walk Ozzy before the England match malarkey kicks off. I don't support England, I'm Republic of Ireland all the way, but as I like football, and the England team consist of players who used to play for West Ham, I'll give it a go. They've obviously not played great so far, but as I'm not emotionally attached, I can shrug it off. I am, however, pissed off with France! Not only did they deny us a place in the World Cup thanks to Henry's handball (which he ADMITTED and STILL we weren't allowed a replay!!), they don't even want to be there! Moaning bastards. So we'll see if England can pull their fingers out and play a decent game of football.

I was telling Hefty how Frank Lampard has the highest IQ in football (around the 150 mark), and he told me how, in contrast, Steven Gerrard probably had the lowest, as he heard him talking on the radio. Apparently, he was asked what his favourite kind of cheese was, to which he replied, "melted." It's almost a Karl Pilkingtonesque kind of GENIUS. But KP will always be better.


Random fact of the day: Saw a top in Harvey Nichols that was called 'Fatal Top.' Needless to say, didn't try it on.

I'm offski!

Cards, phones, flab.

Got a card! It'll do, still not amazing though. Bah!

Just trying to work out how much an iPhone 4 will cost me. I reckon, on my current contract, I'll have to pay £179.00 for the handset, though the tariff chart is a little confusing so I could be wrong. Also, not entirely sure if data limit is per month or not. If it is, I think I'll be okay, if not, I'm buggered. Why can't they put something straightforward up? Easy to read? That would be TOO easy I suppose.

In other news, somebody told me I should watch a video of Daisy Lowe on YouTube. Apparently, she's a model. For a model, she's kinda fat and flabby. Normal I guess, but I don't want to see 'normal' dancing around in underwear, that's what stick insects are for.

So, today is a lovely sunny day and I feel lousy. I've not had much sleep, despite being WELL tired. I'm tired all the time at the moment, but I either sleep excessively, or not at all. MOST annoying! Meh. Anyway....

Am going to take young Oswald for a walk, then head out to a nearby retail park to try and pick up some supplies, and an anniversary card. As of Friday, me and Hefty will have been married for six years, but every year, I am unable to find a card for him that isn't utter shit. I don't get it. I don't like to generalise, but I would say more often than not, women put more effort into card buying than men. Hefty isn't like this, but I know plenty of men who don't really give two hoots, and just pick the first thing they see. I like to browse and make an informed decision. BUT, cards for husbands are naff. Cards for wives are great, even amazing in some instances. Sometimes, you see a nice card for a wife, but in the same range, the card makers haven't even bothered to make one for husbands. Thus, I have been all over trying to find something. I went to boutiquey card shops, normal ones, NOTHING. I thought about making one (done that before due to this issue), but I'm not very good at card making, so I'd like to buy a nice one really. I even braved the shit-hole city centre (it's a horrible place, it's always full of scrotes AND fashion victims, very rarely anything inbetween this. This is what happens when you put Harvey Nichols near a load of nasty kebab shops) and came back empty handed. Looked online too. FAIL. So I've reached the point where I'll just have to find the best that I can, though I ain't happy about it!!

As it is a nice day, at least I can utilise the roof function on my car, though whenever I put it down, I always seem to come back with half a tree in the back seat. Bucket seats collect debris like nobody's business, I'm sure I didn't have to hoover out my Beetle as much as I do this one. Still, not exactly a hardship is it?!

Got band practice tonight, so I can't be out all afternoon, will have to get in a snooze before I head out. Why do I sleep better during the day? Madness.

An aside: Just seen smallest box of cornflakes EVER on 'Heartbeat.' It's the same size as a box of 'Grape Nuts.' More madness.

So....

....I'm pretty sure I stopped blogging properly when I got entangled in Facebook. Recently, Facebook has done nothing but piss me off, as it doesn't work properly, continuously deletes and loses my posts/photos etc. and I don't feel I can write what I want on there anymore. I have opinions on things and put them on my page, which I believe I'm entitled to do, but with this comes a barrage of snotty remarks from people who don't agree, or people just plain telling you that you're wrong (wrong? Your opinion is wrong?!). So I've sort of given it up, and thought I'd see if my blogging creativity upped as a result. I'll still Tweet (Twitter is something that doesn't require as much commitment) but hey, I've always been able to say what I want on here, so I'm hoping it'll be a cathartic experience!

Am off to get a shower now, as have had little to no sleep and am hoping it will revive me. Then, I might start a new post!

WOOT.

Pandahs need maps or they get lost...

I am at a point in my life where I feel I haven't really done anything with it, so I must decide on something worthwhile to avoid reaching the same point in another 30 years. Oh yes, 30, I am approaching 30, and that is where all this has come from. It's not that I'm particularly bothered about being 30, but it's one of those 'landmark' ages where you feel the need to assess everything you've done.

My assessment? EPIC FAIL.

I'm going to have a good think and attempt to sort myself out.

It could happen.

I could do with a map.

Oh yeah, that Blog thing....

Well, I have realised what's going on here. I keep forgetting I have a blog. Actually forgetting, and then every now and then I think, 'Oh yeah, I should write something.'
Today, I had this same thought, and started pondering as to why I keep forgetting, or if I do remember, thinking I have nothing of interest to say. The conclusion I have come to is this: Facebook.

Facebook (and Twitter to some extent) has become my outlet for all thoughtage. The jaunty 'Status update' is now where I voice all my opinions, crazy-ass ideas, and general randomery. Once I've got all this stuff off my chest, it's gone, forgotten, dealt with. Whereas before I would be enraged or pleased about something and feel a compelling urge to get on the old blog and waffle on about it, now, I've already done it in brief summary format. Madness.

I feel like a bit of a twat for not realising this sooner, but hey, I've not had a great year so far, so it's unsurprising that the brain box isn't up to full speed. But what to do about it? I've become too reliant on FB now, and it's far too easy to provide an edited highlight of events to which I can elaborate on further as the comments roll in. I think what has essentially happened here, is that I have become lazy.

Clearly, I need to have a word with myself and sort this out, but in the meantime, my most recent news will have to be delivered in a selection of character-limited points. Sorry.

- This week I fell down the stairs and buggered my arm whilst acquiring a few well placed grazes and bruises.

- I got food poisoning from Nando's which was deeply unpleasant.

- Whilst having to use my other arm to compensate for the buggered one, I managed to revive a reccurring, deep-seated injury and have now buggered the other one (which is in a sling).

- We're going to Wales for the weekend on Friday for my cousin's wedding, which I'm rather excited about. Their invitations were Marmite jars with the relevant info on the labels and inside, so I'm expecting all kinds of wonderment.

That may be it......I shall have to confer with Facebook to check........eugh, I'm so ashamed.......

*attempts to get ass in gear*

iP

Banding about

Well, I can safely say that I was pretty much ill for the whole of last week. My gym quest isn't going so well, I managed Monday and Tuesday before experiencing a horrible 'pulled muscle' feeling in my stomach on Tuesday afternoon, whereby I had trouble walking!!!! I can't imagine how I did this, I go on the treadmill, cross-trainer, bike and stepper, no funny weights or lifting, it's utterly bizarre. Anyway, I'm going to keep at my 90 minute routine, but I'm going to be gentler I think, just in case. I have recovered from it now, but as tomorrow is a BH, Hefty and I are going to do something, so I'll make it up another time.

I did go to Ming and Francoise's on Wednesday night. I can never remember what we do when I go round, but there is always some kind of hilarity involved, and this week I seem to think it involved large nipples and Emos. Hmm. My memory really is rubbish these days, I don't understand. Long term stuff is fine, birthdays, anniversaries etc, all good, but ask me what I did the previous day and I'll look at you blankly.

I do remember that last night I went to my friend's (and the guitarist in my band) gig, which was mind-blowingly awesome! My bass player is also in the band, and it's a Prince tribute band called EndorphinMachine

I'm not really into Prince, I like some stuff but on the whole, it's not noisy enough for me, but I know how good my band-mates are, and Hefty has seen them before and sings their praises (not literally!), so I was looking forward to going! I was not disappointed!! I'm probably not the best person to write a review of a tribute band to an artist whose work I don't know a lot about and am not really in to, but I can honestly say, it was AMAZING! They're a 10 piece band, they even have a brass section, and it's just incredible to listen to. I've linked to their MySpace page but it doesn't do them justice, they're definitely a LIVE band. They played for 2 and half hours, and I thoroughly enjoyed it all! My drummer was there too, and we were stood around getting all sentimental saying 'Can you believe we're in a band with them' (at which point we would gesture towards the guitarist and bass player! It was frackin great! Hurrah for bands!! Trouble is, I really want to gig now, but we have nothing planned at the mo!!!

Right, am gonna sign off, I don't have much more news than this (that I can remember) and Hefty is snoring like a motherchuffer, which means it's time to go to sleep!!

Ciao for now!

Atchoo

Well, today was semi-productive, but only semi for one reason alone. I've got a bloody cold! I really am flipping from one illness to the next at the moment, it's beyond funny.

Because of this, I never made it to the gym, because I barely had the energy to get up the stairs with the shopping. Then I had to dash out again to meet my friend, then when I got home I had that thing where your eyes are all sore, tired, and overly wet, so I just tried to rest inbetween wiping my infernally runny nose. Boo.

I managed to make my cheescakes though, four mini ones for lunch tomorrow, one uber-one for dinner. Let's hope it's nice, we're going to be eating a lot of it tomorrow! I have also opted to make BBQ chicken pizzas, a garlic bread, and a ricotta and pancetta pasta bake, so by the time we get to my parents, we'll be full enough to make it through dinner. Does that make sense to anyone? Probably not, let me explain.....

It's not an interesting tale, but any member of my family will tell you that if you go to my folks' house, all that's ever in the cupboards is Weetabix, Vitamins (hundreds of em), and Aloe Vera juice. In the fridge, you will find skimmed milk, some form of sliced meat, and a cholesterol lowering buttery spread of some kind. Meals are meagre, and it's very rare you leave there feeling full. I might be surprised, I should give them the benefit of the doubt....

I should try and go to sleep, it's kinda late and I have to be up early to tidy and stuff. I do hate being ill, mainly cos that's all I seem to do at the moment!

Oh well. Nighty night night.

iP

*another great picture, who knew sneezing images on Google could be so entertaining?

Busy-ness

Yawn.

Am rather tired today, must be all this exercise. Managed to do another 90 mins yesterday, and will do so again this afternoon. Got to drop Hefty off at work and head to a real live supermarket for some supplies this morning, cos we've got someone coming round tomorrow. He's the guitarist in my band but we're both friends with him, in fact Hefty knew him first as they worked together. He's coming round so to watch wrestling! An afternoon of wrestlemania and smackdown or whatever, I'm not really familiar with the terminology, but he and Hefty like it so I'm going to do some cookin and turn it into an event. I also need to make a cheesecake cos we're going to my parent's house for dinner tomorrow evening and I offered to provide pudding. I'm making a fudge cheesecake (not chocolate fudge, just fudge) which should be nice (in theory).

I'm also meeting my friend for lunch, so I've got rather a lot to fit in! Sadly, it's chucking it down again today, I'm looking forward to this hot dry Summer we've been promised. We've had some nice days so far though, and I've managed to get a bit of a tan just on my face from having the roof down on my car!!! Bit of a random tan that one, like I've been hung upside down and dipped in something, cos it stops just below my shoulders!

Ooh had a mini-band practice last night actually, and have added 'Zero' by Smashing Pumpkins and 'Livin' on a Prayer' to our set list! Oh the hilarity, I'm angling for 'The Final Countdown' now...... :0)

Right, best get on!

Toodle oo!

*I have no idea who the people in the picture are, but I like the fact that one of them is doing a crazy-ass jump and the other has bitchin hair.

Gym Bunny

So I went to the gym today and did my first session. All in all I did:

5 mins warm-up on the bike
25 mins power-walking on treadmill
5 mins running on treadmill (hey I'm easing myself in!)
15 mins on crosstrainer
40 mins walking on treadmill

So, 90 minutes all in all, which I'm pretty happy with. The only thing I was disappointed with was that there are TVs in some of the machines but not the treadmills. I would have spent longer on there if there'd been a TV, not that I wasn't on there for a while, but watching Diagnosis Murder with no sound and subtitles wasn't as much fun. I managed to watch Doctors on the crosstrainer, but it's not my favourite machine (these ones are different to the one we have at home) and I couldn't do the DM time on it. Oh well! Got some good stuff on my iPod so I'll have to adapt. I'm not going to be there at that sort of a time most days anyway I reckon, as my plan is to go on my way back from dropping Hefty off at work, which would normally be about 11am. As long as I can get a couple of hours in every day I'll be happy enough. It was nice to get back into it and I really enjoyed it actually. I have to be gentle with the running as I have asthma that's triggered by exercise, so I can't currently do anything too intensive. I don't think you need to anyway per se, power-walking definitely gets you working, but I'd like to build up my asthma resistance so I can jog around the village when I'm at home. So 5 minutes sounds crap but for me is really good!

Still have to walk Ozzy but the weather is against us at present. Can't go til Hefty gets back from work anyway, he's doing some kind of computer-fandanglery, no idea what.

My parents have invited us for dinner on Saturday which is bizarre but nice. We were supposed to be going to an antiques place during the day but it's off so it's compensation!

Anyway, Hefty has called, best go, ciao!

Star Trek - Go and see it, NOW!

OHMYGOD! So, Star Trek is the BEST film EVER! I was captivated, mesmerised, thoroughly awesomed out the whole time! I want to see it again and again and again! Truly, it exceeded all my expectations, and I was expecting something pretty darn good! I can't discuss it much without giving it away, but I think one of my favourite things about it was that unlike some remakes, references to the original aren't thrown in in a clanging hit you in the face kind of way. They're there, but there's not millions of them, and they're done well, so well, that if you aren't a fan and you go see it, you're not going to feel you've missed something. But then if you are a fan, you go 'Ah, cool' and smile more!

All round bitchiness people, go see it!!!

*for some reason, you can't get a decent picture of the new peeps when you Google it, which is really weird frankly, but hey. So I just stuck with the original chaps!

Silk and Steel

Has anyone seen that advert for Robinson's Be Natural? With the bird? I love it! It makes me happy to think of lickle birds having all that stuff in their lickle homes!

I just made two key purchases from Amazon, 100 Hits of the 80s and Legends by 5 Star.





Bit random for 8am on a Monday morning you might think, but for some utterly bizarre reason, because I got up to accept my Ocado delivery, I stayed up (don't usually) and am sat watching 'The 80s at 8' on VH1. It was on when I turned the TV on and 5 Star were playing (Can't Wait Another Minute), and I remembered how much I LOVED 5 Star as a child! And as I sang along I realised the chances of me still having the tapes of their albums anywhere was slim to none, and I don't have a tape player anyway, so I went on Amazon.

I love Amazon, especially because I have Amazon Prime which means I get it the next day, however little I have purchased. They messed up with it last week which was annoying, but that's the first time it has happened to me so I'll forgive them on this occasion. Anyhoo, 5 Star, the 3CD boxed set was £4.98, bargain! And because I liked some of the other stuff playing on this show, I decided to invest in a good 80s comp whilst I was at it. 5 CDs, 100 hits (as the title suggests), £6.98. I'm happy with that!

Off to look at a gym today. We have an in-house gym (wow, I made that sound posh), but it caters more for Hefty's Arnie regime, and there's not a great deal of CV equipment. Plus, if I do venture in, Ozzy gets in the way due to his nosey nature and natural capacity for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. There's a couple of gyms near me, but the nearest is a JJB Sports one (I had no idea they weren't just a shop!), and I had a butchers on the t'internet and it seemed pretty good. The best bit is, I can just pay monthly, it's not that expensive, and I don't have to sign an annual contract or anything. Plus, it's cheaper because I can choose Off-Peak hours - hurrah! So I'm going to go and have a proper look on my way back from dropping Hefty off, so I can see if it's any good. Hopefully it is, then I can go on the way back from dropping Hefty off every day, yay!

Right, best get ready, toodle oo!

Scurvy Dog

Goodness, I thought I'd last blogged on Thursday, goes to show how crap my sense of time/space is!

So, what have I been up to. Hmm. Well, not a lot! Hefty was away on Wednesday, he went to St Albans (muchos fun for him) to do his computer fandanglery gubbins, so it was just me and the Ozster. We mainly slept and watched Poirot from what I can recall. I'm not really very well at the moment, various things, so I've been trying to rest, and though I do do some stuff, I have trouble remembering cos my brain is a little out of order at the moment. I know I baked cupcakes, and that I saw SuperSaz, and that I spent today in bed cos I felt a bit low. No idea what I did yesterday, which is bizarre. My long term memory is really good, but recently I have had great trouble remembering things I did the previous day.

I really need to go back to the doctors and sort out my medication, but not only is it impossible to get in, once you do, they're not really very helpful! I remember when I went through a horrendous period of insomnia a few months ago, and when I went to the docs for help, he said he didn't believe in sleeping tablets, I needed to eat more fruit. THANKS! He was pretty crap generally, and told me off for not going back sooner to sort out some of my other meds, but what's the point?! They're shit! I need to go really, and when I do, and inevitably get bollocked for leaving it so long, I feel that this time I am just going to say:

- Getting an appointment (or trying) is usually more stressful than whatever problems I'm having
- When I do come, nobody seems to read my file and I have to list my history
- If I don't feel my medication is working, I get told to try it for 2 more weeks and come back - what's the point if it hasn't been working for 6 months? What's another 2 weeks going to do?
- I'm bipolar, STOP offering me counselling! I have nothing to discuss, I just need better drugs!!!

See, just writing all that has got me feeling very tense, and that's why I hate going. I always feel like they don't believe there's anything wrong with me which is why they don't want to help me. Grrr.

Anyhoo, I'll shut up about it, it's not very interesting to read and it's making me feel worse!!!

Hoping to go and see Star Trek this week, can't wait!! Not sure when we'll manage it but as long as we do it'll be all good!

In other news, my friend is having a Pirate BBQ Birthday Party in June, and because we can take Ozzy, I'm working on making him a wickedace 'Scurvy Dog' costume! Am struggling to buy a costume for him (if I lived in America it wouldn't be a problem) which is why I'll have to make one, but he's only little and it'll be a nice little project for m, something to keep me occupied. I'll post pictures when I have some!

Not much more to report today, mainly cos I can't remember anything! So I shall sign off!

Ciao for now!

iP

*Sigh

Eugh, BBQ NOT a success, it went out, Hefty was furious and is gonna buy a gas one, and we suspect the bit of food I did eat was partially raw cos I've been helluvva poorly sick :0(

Hefty and I both feel crap in point of fact, though he seems to have a fever of some kind (NOT swine flu before anyone suggests it!).

He has to go to St Albans tomorrow too, boo :0( Double boo actually, as the work he has to do starts at 6pm so he has to stay overnight :0( So me and Oswaldius will have to chill on our own. I might actually watch TV (shock horror), but I'm not holding my breath.

Weather is shite today, I generally feel ill and miserable, and most people I know do too. Roll on Summer I say, I need cheering up!

iP

Death of a Tomato

Well, had a bit of an event today. Went to Harvey Nichols yesterday and bought some Daylesford Organic Ketchup because we're having a barbecue today. This is what it looks like for anyone who doesn't know:



So, I opened it at lunchtime cos I was going to have a bit with some pasta - EPIC FAIL! As you can see, the lid is one of those poppy Grolsch cork things and despite being such a little bottle, the top popped out with such force, it pretty much exploded all over me! I was a bit shocked, but wiped myself down and got rid of the splatters on the floor. Then I noticed it had gone on the walls so I cleaned that too. Then, as something caught the corner of my eye, I spotted the mess on the ceiling! Good god! Dexter would have had a field day with this one, it literally looked like a murder scene. The more I cleaned (and Hefty cleaned too, we needed to act quickly so it wouldn't stain), the more I found! It was a ruddy nightmare! So we're thinking of suing HN for the inconvenience of it all. Why the hell not? They can afford it!

That's pretty much my news for today, we haven't done anything, I'm still in recovery and Hefty needs a rest.

West Ham won 1-0 yesterday, we're 7th, which is really good for us. Yay for the Hammers!

BBQ in process of being lit, ciao for now.

iP

Books and shoes

Well, despite saying I needed to get on with reading the two books I already have on the go, and so not having time to get through the Twilight books as well, I only went and bought another ruddy one today! I bought this:



It's a factual fictiony story (if that makes sense) based on a real murder that happened in 1860. And, according to the back cover, an 'unimaginably gruesome murder' at that. I'm about 10 pages in so can't tell you much about it other than:

a) I like it so far
b) It had a Richard & Judy Book Club sticker on the front when it came

R&J, that's good enough for me!

In other news, Ozzy is now on Twitter! The settings bit is playing up and so he can't get his picture up yet which is a bit rubbish. It keeps saying something about 'Twitter is stressed out about this at the moment so the function has been temporarily disabled.' Bizarre. Anyway, if you want to follow him he's @OzzleBozzle

I still haven't watched Dexter or written any of my book, instead I continued with the mad cleaning. There is nothing left to be cleaned in my house now, all three floors are spotless and tidy. This is good news, but Ozzy brought some bark in from the garden earlier and made a right mess chewing it in the lounge, at which point I told him off and got the dustpan and brush. Hope I'm not going to be one of those mental OCD types, like Monk!!!

I heard about these trainers called MBTs that are supposed to help your posture and rid you of your thunder thighs and such. They aint cheap and when I scouted around, they do look a bit Spice Girls meets Special Bus, so I avoided them. Now, Skechers have made their own version, and though they still look a bit orthopaedic, because they're Skechers, I'm thinking I could get away with it, cos they just look like big trainers. Not sure.....? Any thoughts?

Here are the MBTs:



And here are the Skechers:



The reviews I've found (there aren't loads) seem to be positive so I'm very tempted but I was thinking of getting this tiny Mulberry bag I saw so I'm not sure. Part of me thinks I really don't need another Mulberry bag, especially a small one (where will I put all my crap?!) but I do like it. Decisions decisions! Look at me, shoes & handbags, how very un-iPandah-ish! Must be all this cleaning, it's sent me snooker loopy!

:0)