Monday 26 January 2004
Thursday 22 January 2004
It's been a real waste of a workday. And, as if to give testimony to this fact, I've just realised that I've spent the last hour donating my tuppence-worth of wisdom to beerintheevening.com/.
Wednesday 21 January 2004
Thursday 15 January 2004
Imagine a happy camper.
Now imagine the opposite... that was me when I got home lastnight.
Turns out some person, very probably in a van or lorry, scraped past my car at some point yesterday when I was parked on the north drive at work.
I sent this message to ChrisOffOfWork:
You would not believe
how fucked-off I am
right now: some
bastard broke my
driver-side mirror, my
indicator light, and did
a nasty reshaping job
on the wing today AT
WORK! AND I was
parked well within the
markings. Have
passed through the
Anger and Rage
stages now. Heading
towards Must Kill
Everyone...
It was a long text message. And if it wasn't concise, it was certainly heart-felt. Nearly six months ago, I had the aerial broken off, last month someone tried to break in and knackered my door, which now leaks water, and now the wing mirror � necessary for general driving purposes and road-worthiness � has been smashed up. I've had enough. I really was not happy with this part of the world lastnight...
But it sort-of came on top of other things, so the mood was a bit better on waking up. Still can't believe it happened, though. Unlikely to be anyone at work, unless they've taken to driving a van/lorry instead of a car like everyone else. And as I will be the first person in astronomy to own a monster truck, I can rule out any monster trucks...
Scientific reasoning there, see.
Best get back to it, then...
Now imagine the opposite... that was me when I got home lastnight.
Turns out some person, very probably in a van or lorry, scraped past my car at some point yesterday when I was parked on the north drive at work.
I sent this message to ChrisOffOfWork:
You would not believe
how fucked-off I am
right now: some
bastard broke my
driver-side mirror, my
indicator light, and did
a nasty reshaping job
on the wing today AT
WORK! AND I was
parked well within the
markings. Have
passed through the
Anger and Rage
stages now. Heading
towards Must Kill
Everyone...
It was a long text message. And if it wasn't concise, it was certainly heart-felt. Nearly six months ago, I had the aerial broken off, last month someone tried to break in and knackered my door, which now leaks water, and now the wing mirror � necessary for general driving purposes and road-worthiness � has been smashed up. I've had enough. I really was not happy with this part of the world lastnight...
But it sort-of came on top of other things, so the mood was a bit better on waking up. Still can't believe it happened, though. Unlikely to be anyone at work, unless they've taken to driving a van/lorry instead of a car like everyone else. And as I will be the first person in astronomy to own a monster truck, I can rule out any monster trucks...
Scientific reasoning there, see.
Best get back to it, then...
Tuesday 13 January 2004
Today�s been something of a landmark day. The most momentous thing was that I think I�ve finally got the hang of swimming. From the first time I branched out and swam the length of Omagh pool until today, basically, I always treated swimming lengths as a desperate dash to get the other end before I drowned. This morning, reminding myself to pace, I actually managed to feel myself FLOAT and realised that the swim was controllable, and � despite the fact that I had a slight flashback to the Dubai-pool forgetting-how-to-swim incident (of which no photos exist) � and the whole procedure seemed suddenly effortless; if only relatively speaking�
A bit like suddenly being aware of something that was always around you, but always ignored.
On a different note, last week�s expected boom in the bank balance was quickly reversed by someone depositing a cheque from before Christmas. My suspicions were aroused when it appeared that Dr L�s money still hadn�t cleared. However, this was not the case. Dr L�s money cleared last Friday. The same day the cheque did. So, I now have about �14 to my name, and I�ve gone from aroused suspicions to constant panic. I really pray that the NICE bank will let me have an extension to my overdraft. Really. New Mekhiko may become a foreboding place, otherwise.
Not least of my worries is that I also calculated that I have to pay back �50 of my Mallorca advance! Rubbish� And the car door now won�t get fixed before I go away.
On the good side, I still haven�t sent FPK my November expenses. Which is also on the bad side, as I could�ve done it last week, in principle, when the Ganch came over.
What may help put things in perspective is that himself doesn�t sound in the best of form, so a wee trip up to town is on the cards. I think I know how he feels. More than at any other time, my life is actually a mess right now. It�s crap how money worries can do this to me, but when I can not worry about bills and necessary expenses, I can at least get on with life. But this just� ach, I can�t even say it�
Better form tomorrow, hopefully. Need sleep, clearly.
A bit like suddenly being aware of something that was always around you, but always ignored.
On a different note, last week�s expected boom in the bank balance was quickly reversed by someone depositing a cheque from before Christmas. My suspicions were aroused when it appeared that Dr L�s money still hadn�t cleared. However, this was not the case. Dr L�s money cleared last Friday. The same day the cheque did. So, I now have about �14 to my name, and I�ve gone from aroused suspicions to constant panic. I really pray that the NICE bank will let me have an extension to my overdraft. Really. New Mekhiko may become a foreboding place, otherwise.
Not least of my worries is that I also calculated that I have to pay back �50 of my Mallorca advance! Rubbish� And the car door now won�t get fixed before I go away.
On the good side, I still haven�t sent FPK my November expenses. Which is also on the bad side, as I could�ve done it last week, in principle, when the Ganch came over.
What may help put things in perspective is that himself doesn�t sound in the best of form, so a wee trip up to town is on the cards. I think I know how he feels. More than at any other time, my life is actually a mess right now. It�s crap how money worries can do this to me, but when I can not worry about bills and necessary expenses, I can at least get on with life. But this just� ach, I can�t even say it�
Better form tomorrow, hopefully. Need sleep, clearly.
Well, the financial situation lastnight is still very much in a state of what non-physics types often call "flux". It appears (and thanks to my very nice landlord, Dr L for letting me know about this) that my bank was paying my rent twice a month, instead of just once. Why they took it upon themselves to do this is a little beyond me, but I have the feeling that it's probably got something to do with someone hitting F12 when they should have hit F11, mis-hit 2 when it should've been 1, etc.
The upshot of the whole situation was that I was half-a-grand to the bad, which Dr L kindly amended. I still have yet to find the source of the problem, but it'll need to be found'n'fixed before next month. Particularly as I'm off to New Mekhiko on the 28th of this one, and don't much fancy being stranded up a hill in the desert with no food or money.
In other news, the Ganch came over last Wednesday for a wee collaborative visit. Which meant I got to eat out in one of my favourite places in Guildford: Wagamama! I'm a simple man, so sit me at a bench with some cracking Chinese/Japanese food in front of me, and someone to talk shite to, and I'm a very happy camper. The RAS meeting that we both were attending was dutifully followed by a visit to the classic Soho Spice on the Wardour Street (off of the O'Neills HQ). And much thanks to Neilo for providing directions to Soho Spice from Leicester Square, despite the fact that he was on holiday in Barcelona, himself and stupot enjoying 20° CELSIUS, while we were enjoying something similar in Fahrenheit. Gits.
The upshot of the whole situation was that I was half-a-grand to the bad, which Dr L kindly amended. I still have yet to find the source of the problem, but it'll need to be found'n'fixed before next month. Particularly as I'm off to New Mekhiko on the 28th of this one, and don't much fancy being stranded up a hill in the desert with no food or money.
In other news, the Ganch came over last Wednesday for a wee collaborative visit. Which meant I got to eat out in one of my favourite places in Guildford: Wagamama! I'm a simple man, so sit me at a bench with some cracking Chinese/Japanese food in front of me, and someone to talk shite to, and I'm a very happy camper. The RAS meeting that we both were attending was dutifully followed by a visit to the classic Soho Spice on the Wardour Street (off of the O'Neills HQ). And much thanks to Neilo for providing directions to Soho Spice from Leicester Square, despite the fact that he was on holiday in Barcelona, himself and stupot enjoying 20° CELSIUS, while we were enjoying something similar in Fahrenheit. Gits.
Saturday 10 January 2004
I successfully deposited James at Gatwick airport this morning. And now I just want to go to bed. I�ve had two nights of five hours sleep, as well as a steady (though moderate) intake of alcohol over the last three days. And I think the meal I had in Soho Spice may have taken my system slightly by surprise. (Two points here: [1] Cheers to Neil for the directions when I phoned him from Leicester Square, despite the fact that he was on holiday in Barcelona; [2] The deficit of toilet roll in the house this morning was not a good thing).
BUT, my house is no longer broken. NiceHousemateLady found a plumber on Wednesday who was able to come round yesterday (when I was at the RAS Waves meeting), which means I can spend today in the warm safety of my room, away from things in shops which I�d inevitably break. Or even shops which I�d inevitably break).
This is a good thing, as I can feel my concentration vanishing rapidly� rubbish� Still haven�t found out why Mr Fraser was on the radio during the week, or indeed any of the story surrounding the text I got from my wee sister on that subject. Cheers to her for that, though. I was just stuck in some messy FFT stuff that had to be fed through the science mangle in my head.
Think I�ll sign off now. Ramble ramble ramble�
BUT, my house is no longer broken. NiceHousemateLady found a plumber on Wednesday who was able to come round yesterday (when I was at the RAS Waves meeting), which means I can spend today in the warm safety of my room, away from things in shops which I�d inevitably break. Or even shops which I�d inevitably break).
This is a good thing, as I can feel my concentration vanishing rapidly� rubbish� Still haven�t found out why Mr Fraser was on the radio during the week, or indeed any of the story surrounding the text I got from my wee sister on that subject. Cheers to her for that, though. I was just stuck in some messy FFT stuff that had to be fed through the science mangle in my head.
Think I�ll sign off now. Ramble ramble ramble�
Tuesday 6 January 2004
Too long since the last update. A week, in fact, looking at the previous entry...
Actually, if I really want to put into practice what I've just read, I should be using a lot more semicolons, colons, long dashes... and the odd ellipsis. Basically, it's because lastnight I finished Eats, Shoots & Leaves : The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. (Although I'm sure there should be a hyphen between "Zero" and "Tolerance" there.) The amount of inappropriate laughing that eas elicited by various passages in this book was a depressing revelation in a way: not only am I a professional geek, but — as many of my friends, family and colleagues had long suspected — I am also a grammar and punctuation geek.
Great.
Well, at least now I can claim that I've at least read something to back up my over-zealous editorial stance on other people's papers. And theses. (Sorry, Abi.)
VERY RUDELY, I didn't mention the fact that on 22nd December 2003, Mr R. T. J. McAteer became Dr R. T. J. McAteer! I might stick a reverse entry in to that effect later. He should be very proud, and it was well-earnt (cf thesis standards in February/March 2002). Must not forget to pick him up from Gatwick tomorrow, either... A "collaborative visit" is scheduled.
In other news, my house is broken, I stayed in with the family for New Year's Eve (so there was no Fraser-style pesting going on), I got back to Guildford on Friday, to work yesterday, to swimming this morning, and I haven't done a tap of actual work yet; short of moving the world's biggest crate of photographic plates EVER about five minutes ago. Not on my own, I have to admit. Swimming isn't that good.
Actually, if I really want to put into practice what I've just read, I should be using a lot more semicolons, colons, long dashes... and the odd ellipsis. Basically, it's because lastnight I finished Eats, Shoots & Leaves : The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. (Although I'm sure there should be a hyphen between "Zero" and "Tolerance" there.) The amount of inappropriate laughing that eas elicited by various passages in this book was a depressing revelation in a way: not only am I a professional geek, but — as many of my friends, family and colleagues had long suspected — I am also a grammar and punctuation geek.
Great.
Well, at least now I can claim that I've at least read something to back up my over-zealous editorial stance on other people's papers. And theses. (Sorry, Abi.)
VERY RUDELY, I didn't mention the fact that on 22nd December 2003, Mr R. T. J. McAteer became Dr R. T. J. McAteer! I might stick a reverse entry in to that effect later. He should be very proud, and it was well-earnt (cf thesis standards in February/March 2002). Must not forget to pick him up from Gatwick tomorrow, either... A "collaborative visit" is scheduled.
In other news, my house is broken, I stayed in with the family for New Year's Eve (so there was no Fraser-style pesting going on), I got back to Guildford on Friday, to work yesterday, to swimming this morning, and I haven't done a tap of actual work yet; short of moving the world's biggest crate of photographic plates EVER about five minutes ago. Not on my own, I have to admit. Swimming isn't that good.
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