[

Feeling:

|

surprised

]

A while back it was revealed that many supermarkets were no longer stocking 100w bulbs under pressure from the government to push energy saver bulbs. I was Displeased by this, as I have a flat with two rooms with no external windows plus a lounge with an off-centre light, thus requiring a high watt bulb to illuminate the murkier corners. There was Mutterings about governments and nanny states and who were they to tell me what I could use in my own home chunter chunter whinge moan complain.

Well I had to bite the bullet recently, having used up my stock of 100w bulbs, so I moped around the shops, looking at options. I managed to find a 20w low energy bulb, which is supposed to be the 100w equivalent. I put it in the lounge light this week and, umm, actually it's bloody good. I'm thinking I might even get away with a lower watt as the light is more than bright enough. Apparently low energy bulbs have come a long way since I last used them and I will be interested to see what the next lowest wattage bulb is like. If it's as good as this, I'll move this one into the very dark hallway and get another 20w for the bathroom :)

Energy saving - sometimes it's not as inconvenient as you think!

[

Feeling:

|

bouncy

]

I've just bought a car! It's a shiny blue Peugeot 206, 2004, all the mod cons, 68k on the clock, diesel, great little runner - I'm a very pleased mousey! I should take possession of it next weekend :) *bounces alllllll around the room*

quirkybird is a ridiculously talented cartoonist/artist who drew the hilarious Bite Me and is currently working on "Family Man" (seriously, check this panel out and drool.) We met last year and she said she'd send me a drawing of my very own. It's arrived!! It's two of the protagonists from Family Man (and Bite Me) sitting at a bar and the caption reads "The Right Honorable Vampire and Werewolf Drinking and Debate Club" :D It's great! *squeaks like a happy fangirl*

If anyone wants me today, I'll be over here doing the Happy Mitchy Boogie :D

[

Feeling:

|

cheerful

]

I was hellish busy all week at work but I got done what needed to be done. I think jenni411 has cut and pasted a statement I made about never whining about being bored at work again. She has my full permission to post it should I forget and start whining about being bored :)

Thursday was enlivened by an evening with the ever lovely thalinoviel. We'd arranged to meet so I could admire her shiny new motor and also test drive it a lil'. However, we neglected to actually specify who was meeting whom where. So there I was sitting outside her house and there she was sitting outside mine when she called to ask me where I was :P There was giggling :)

Anyway, I belted back to WGC and took the dear girl out to Pizza Express for food where there was much yakking and catching up. I drove her very shiny new car home and while it has a lot to recommend it, I think I'd need to do a longer test drive to be sure. It's a smidge on the small side and feels a bit light on the road, but then I've been driving a Rover 45 for five years, anything smaller would feel light and small :) But it's definitely a model to consider, although I'm still eyeing a Corsa or a Fiat Punto.

Have done nuffink this weekend except loaf and watch tennis. Am currently watching the Men's Final between Roddick and Federer and it's a nail biter which is why I'm updating my LJ by way of distraction!

[

Feeling:

|

hot

]

Happy Canada Day to my Canadian flisters *squishes* Hope you have a fun day :) Do you guys do the fireworks thing like the Americans do for July 4th?

Work was...busy. Very busy. However, Monster Job 1 has been finished, although there will be follow up work to do Friday. This afternoon I was working with Hollywood as Battleship is on holiday. Spent all afternoon compiling a mailing list of over 200 names but I got the job finished! Albeit gone 5.30. Ah well :) I'll be able to leave nice and early on Friday with a bit of luck.

Roastingly hot here at the flat, made worse because I was spoiled all afternoon by the office I was in being temp controlled and thus nice and cool. The cat is loving it of course, he's been plastered up against the lounge window where the sun's been shining all afternoon, baking as only a cat can. He has only just retreated to the coolness of his cat bed in the hall - all I can see of him is 4 lil' white paws. Dead cute :)

And now I must muster up some enthusiasm and go get something to eat. Really don't want to cook but I'm all out of salad/cold food. *sighs*

[

Feeling:

|

busy

]

So on top of week workload from hell, schools have just started phoning in about a letter we sent out last week. Apparently a Certain Person I won't even nickname in a public post didn't bloody proof read the master document before sending it out to 538 schools and it has the wrong dates in one of the columns. We (by which I mean "me") may have to send them all out again. *grinds teeth*

And then a message comes down from on high that my services are required upstairs again this week and next week. Next week, no bother, I can do 3 afternoons, easy. This week? However, I think we've fended them off so that I'll only have to do tomorrow afternoon and maybe Friday. But seriously, of all the things we didn't need this week.

I need tea.

[	location	|	work	]
[	Feeling:	|	busy	]

Busier than a very busy thing. Just taking time out to give my eyeballs a rest and slurp some tea. I'm still bored out of my tiny skull, you understand, 'm just too busy to complain much about it :D However, I have done the sensible thing and already spoken to FogHorn about my schedule this week and the priorities have been established so I won't get all pressured and bad tempered :)

And now back to the spreadsheet o'doooooom! *swishes cape*

[

Feeling:

|

impatient

]

Why is Leverage S1 not out until July 14th? *whiiiines* Want it, precious, waaaaant it!

On the plus side, Burn Notice S2 is already out and ordered and winging its way to an impatient mousey :)

Now, if you'll excuse me, this tennis isn't going to watch itself :D

[

Feeling:

|

cheerful

]

Did some research on Which Car Buying Guide website and I've come to the conclusion it's not really the right car for me. I can do better at that price and get something really suitable for me. So I've phoned and let the sellers know.

Now to thoroughly investigate used cars and get a list of makes and models to consider. I still have hankerings for a Corsa, I've got a real soft spot for Vauxhalls. But I shall dig and delve and see what's out there.

Can't recommend Which enough, btw. :)

[

Feeling:

|

cheerful

]

Happy birthday! Hope you have a fantabulous day :)

[	location	|	work	]
[	Feeling:	|	curious	]

I'm seeing a car I'm interested in buying tomorrow, it's a Citreon C3 Diesel 2004, looks very well looked after, very low mileage, £35 road tax (!), all the trimmings etc.

I know very little about Citreons having never owned one but I've not heard anything too dire - anyone got a different tale?

My real query is about it being a diesel - I know diesel is more expensive but I gather you get the most fantastic mpg. The ad's claiming 80 mpg for long runs and 60mpg for about town, which is phenomenal if true. Anyone have any experience with diesel cars? Please advise a mousey!

[	location	|	work	]
[	Feeling:	|	Intrigued	]

sarahtales aka Sarah Rees Brennan, has just had her first book published. Called "The Demon's Lexican", it's a YA (like HP was YA..) fantasy/supernatural book about two brothers who have been on the run their whole lives after their mother incurred the wrath of a magician. I've been eyeing it with the faint idea of getting around to reading it sometime. However, since Sarah just published this short story on her LJ, which is a prequel fic about a secondary character in the book, I now absolutely and positively have to go and read it! There's elements in the short story that suggest it might appeal to several folks on my flist, so please go take a look and see what you think :)

[

Feeling:

|

sad

]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/25/obit.fawcett/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

[

Feeling:

|

cheerful

]

So for the next two weeks, I'll be hip deep in the goings on at Wimbledon. We'll see how long it takes me to get into trouble for following the results on the BBC website at work - at least I'm disabling the live streaming video! They should be grateful, dammit! :)

Currently watching Djokovic (who I like) v. Benneteau (who I've never heard of). Sadly, Djokovic is a set down and doesn't appear to be firing on all cylinders. Dammit.

I am very disappointed Nadal can't defend his title :( But on the other hand, I doubt ANY final could match up to last years, so perhaps this is a good thing. I don't think Murray will win it this year, but I think it'll be him and Federer in the final, with Fed winning in 4.

Let the games commence :D

[

Feeling:

|

boggled

]

Today I took pity on my poor PoS compy and I cracked open the case to give it a good degunking.

Good grief!!!

I haven't seen so much gunk since that time I attempted to tidy up my ex-boyfriend's room. No wonder my poor compy's been wheezing and crashing and generally behaving badly. The fans were so clogged, 'm kinda surprised the whole thing hadn't melted into a heap of sludge. Well it's all clean now and the silence while it's running is kinda deafening.

Note to self: be nice to your compy, clean it out regularly!!

[

Feeling:

|

cheerful

]

I've been doing all sorts of little jobs today, just to pass the time and avoid doing the one big job I really don't want to do. I'd kind of run out of ways to procrastinate and was reluctantly facing the prospect of tackling the detested job when FogHorn sidled up and said that Battleship is completely swamped and HeadChef (TooBrightTies boss) has asked if I can be spared to go and help upstairs for a bit :D

Huzzah!

This should prove to be more interesting in the sense of actually being busy, instead of sitting here with the sensation that my brain is oozing out of my ears. I don't expect the work to be wonderful, probably stuff like photocopying and filing, but hey! Not in my office! Battleship's office is on the 3rd Floor of the new building and has a fabulous view over the town and countryside :D

With a bit of luck, they'll need me tomorrow too.

[

Feeling:

|

reluctant

]

...don't wanna!! *wah!* :p

*sighs, stops procrastinating and slopes off to shower*

[

Feeling:

|

sleepy

]

I staggered into work for 9.50am this morning. Which isn't fatal because of flexitime but really, not my favourite start time, it means having to work later. It's entirely self-inflicted though, so I can't complain. I closed my eyes for "a few mins" around 7.30pm last night...and woke up at 11pm. Ooopski. Watched The West Wing for a bit and then crashed again around 4am. It would seem that two blocks of 4 hours sleep really doesn't leave me bright eyed and bushey tailed. Who knew?

Mind you, those that know and love me are well aware that on any given Monday, no-one's going to be able to tell the difference between me sleepy and extra-sleepy :D

*trundles off to mainline tea*

[

Feeling:

|

frustrated

]

So I tried to log in to the internet a few hours ago only to find that, for some reason, my password wasn't being recognised by my ISP. I haven't changed it, it's saved as part of the auto-login function so it's the same damn password I used yesterday and the day before and the day before that. This happens periodically and no-one's ever been able to explain to me why, although there are occasions when it's not me, it's Demon's servers snapping one of their rubber bands again.

I left it a couple of hours, slurped tea, watched more West Wing. Tried again, still nothing. Whimpering, I called the technical helpline and waited. And waited. And waited. Twice, actually, after the first 30 minute wait, I had to go to the loo. In total I was on hold for 57 minutes, with no indication of how many people were waiting before me or that there were any real, live human beans anywhere near the phone.

I just tried to log in again, out of sheer boredom, and it worked fine. *sobs*

Clearly a rubber band snapped, which might explain the hellish wait. But even so, 57 minutes? I know this isn't a record by any means but....really? That's what my £x is buying me these days?

I've been pondering switching ISPs for a while but I have to admit, 99% of the time, the service is pretty good. And really, aren't all ISPs much of a muchness these days? Soooooo any of you have any horror stories of ISPs to avoid like the plague (I've heard really bad things about Tiscali)? Or want to sing the praises of your current ISP providers? I'm all ears......

NB: One huge, huge advantage of being with demon is I pay nothing extra for the right to download as much as I like. Given my TV viewing habits, this is pretty much the main reason I'm likely to stay put. But still, tell me what's out there, I'm out of the loop these days.

[

Feeling:

|

bouncy

]

I have napped like a contented dormouse, I have yummy food to scoff and a shiny, shiny new episode of Burn Notice to watch! Later on, there will be baseball as the Mets play the Yankees! Eeeee!

Life is good :)

*bounces happily*

PS: GIP! Shiny new icon courtesy of the ever-lovely doccy.

[	location	|	Work	]
[	Feeling:	|	wryly amused	]

Seeing this article the day after muttering about investigating options for living in the US probably (to quote the immortal Calvin and Hobbes) crosses the line from "coincidence" to "evil omen".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8086392.stm

Bah :P