1007.24 SHEFFIELD BY NIGHT

For the first time in ages I went down to Sheffield for a night out. I have to say either Sheffield has become too much for me or it has become a wank night out. I much prefer Rotherham for a night out (not that I go out much). Maybe Sheffield has moved on, I unfortunately haven't.

*SUPPLIMENTAL*

I wrote the above words upon returning home from a night out with old friends Mr C and Shuffle. While the sentiment still stands (in that I tend to have a better night out in Rotherham than Sheffield these days) I did enjoy meeting up and catching up on old times. I guess all the old places we used to go to have gone and there is no point of reference to our youth and the nights out we used to have back in the late 80s and early nineties.

1007.24 MOT TIME

The most stressful time for any car owner (and I am an owner but not really a driver since Morticia has the car most of the time) is the annual MOT. It's the waiting, the not knowing how much you're gonna have to spend to keep the car on the road for another year. Luckily for me my car passed this morning just wanting a headlight bulb which they fitted for free.

1007.22 COURSE WORK

Most of this week I have been on a course at the Fire Service training centre (nothing to to with fires, just classroom space my organisation sometimes use). Initially I was questioning why I'd been sent on the course as I felt it was aimed more at supervisors level. Most of it was over my head and out of my remit. Later on into the course it's usefulness became apparent and I began to contribute to the discussions. When I call it a course it was actually an 'improvement event' designed to look at the inherent problems of a specific system and getting working more efficiently. The group became very close and efficient and we quickly solved the problem put before us.

The facilities provided by the Fire Brigade were far superior to the training facilities we normally get in house. I hope the next course I get sent on is here.

1007.19 MY WIFE IS A VAMPIRE

I seem to be having a lot of late nights recently, in fact if I think back I can't remember a time when I did get early nights. To get to bed before midnight is a rare occasion indeed. The problem is that my wife is a creature of the night who comes alive after dark and hates the sunrise. It's not good for me I know and sometimes I need to get some sleep but I relent each night and wait up with her.

1007.15 BELLY ACHE

I've been off work all this week with some sort of stomach bug. Safe to say that I've spent a lot of time in the smallest room this week. At this very moment I'm scared to fart. It's not just downstairs action either, I've felt pretty sick, especially today. I was hoping to be back at work tomorrow but I'm not sure at this point if this will happen.

1007.09 PREDATORS

COMPLETE COPY OF ORIGINAL, VERY PREDICTABLE ENDING

The Captain's Movie Review in Seven Words

4/7

1007.09 VIEWSCREEN

After over 6 months watching an old borrowed narrowscreen CRT TV (since my old CRT widescreen blew up last year) I have finally purchased a new 37" HD ready LCD TV and I am over the moon with it. It's the perfect companion to my new Sky+HD box. Morticia wanted a 32" but I managed to pull a sly one in the shop and get the TV I wanted (she still complains that it's too big!). I'm really impressed with the HD picture, might have to invest in a BluRay player next.

1006.03 LE TOUR!

Today sees the beginning of Le Tour de France, the pinnacle of the cycling calendar. A month of road cycling might not appeal to most but for me this is the one. You can keep your World Cup and your Wimbledon, I'll be tuned to Eurosport or ITV4 until 1007.25 when the bikes fly down the Champs Elysees.

My money is literally on Bradley Wiggins since I have placed a small wager on him winning the Yellow Jersey.

Today is also my 11th wedding anniversary, not sure how sat in front of the TV watching today's prologue is going to go down.

1006.29 IMMORTALITY

We all have immortality, we live on through our children and their children. We live on in the hearts of the people we touch. As long as we are remembered we live on.

Good bye Grandad x

1006.18 GEOFFREY WILLIS HALL 1932-2010

Yesterday, just before 19:00 my Grandad passed away. A light has gone out inside of me and I miss him so much.

There will never be another like you, love you x

1006.16 MOVING UP

The last to days we have been moving office at work. We have gone from a building in the City Centre to a small  building in the local community we serve. When I say "we have been moving" I use the phrase loosely as I have had very little to do with the logistics of the operation. In fact the whole team have been moving everything except me and one other. This means that my stuff is up at the new place in crates waiting to be unpacked. Everyone else is sorted. I feel aggrieved about being one of the only two left to pick up all the work whilst everyone else go to get stuck in with the task of getting the new place operational. I did manage to move my personal stuff up but only in between jobs.

It's a good job the 'powers that be' don't do brewery trips. In my opinion the whole operation has been badly organised.

1006.06 DARK TIMES

I'm in such a mess at the moment, I usually cope pretty well with anything that life throws at me but at this moment in time I just can't seem to get a grip on things. There is so much going on, all negative my mind just can't cope. I fear though this is just the tip of the iceberg and things are set to get worse before they get better.

1006.01 IS THERE ANYBODY THERE?

My blogging has been a little all over the place recently. Perhaps this is because I am at a particularly low point in my life. I feel so much despair, I really don't know how much more shit I can take.

The question I am asking myself is should I carry on blogging? It's pretty evident that I have no readers, comments practically never happen and I feel like I am shouting into the abyss. The reason (apart from my writings) is probably down to social networks. I love Twitter (Facebook is a bit plebby for my liking these days) and the instant reaction dynamic but it's gone so quick. Blogs last potentially forever (especially if they are achieved correctly) and are more detailed, thought out and sometimes (maybe not in my case) more entertaining.

So are blogs dead? Maybe not quite, but is mine?

1005.22 SKY PLUS HD

My Sky TV started to fail a couple of weeks ago which prompted me to phone customer services. They did a a few system checks with my which lead to a diagnosis of a faulty LBM (which I believe is the knobbly bit on the end of the stick on the dish). An engineer would have cost me just under £70 just for the call out so I asked if an upgrade was possible. I was transferred to the sales dept.

The sales dept could offer me a free system with a £30 set up fee but only if I took the HD package on top of my existing pack (an extra £10 per month). I told them that I didn't have a HD TV so the pack would be useless. I was then offered a system from £169 +set up. I told them that they were insulting me and asked to cancel my subscription.

Now I know this kind of story has been told be many people, many times. But this is the first time I have had first hand experience of going through the cancellation procedure for anything. The guy in cancellations was very sympathetic and immediately offered me the full Sky+HD system without the HD package for £29 with free installation. I'm not greedy, I wasn't after something for nothing and this I saw as a fair offer. I agreed.

Today the engineer came (at 08:00 this morning) to fit my new Sky. To say I am happy is an understatement. The system is amazing. I can see why people say that Sky+ will change the way you view TV. It's amazing! I can now watch all the shows that used to pass me by because of the hours I work or family hogging the remote.

I'm off now to watch more TV, see ya!

1005.17 CYCLECAM #02

Part of my commute home along Brightside Lane in Sheffield.