Anti Mosquito or People?

I have a Blackberry so I don't tend to download many apps. However, I was looking for a free stopwatch app (to help me with exercising) and while I was browsing the app-store, I came across a free 'anti-mosquito' app.

It claimed to emit a high frequency sound which apparently mozzies don't like so they don't hang around to feed. Perfect, I thought, since I get bitten to pieces when I'm on holiday!

Anyway, after downloading it, I thought I'd test it out - all I heard were a series of little clicks from my phone.

However, the reaction of my colleagues was totally different. Five people sitting near me suddenly cried out, asking what that horrible noise was!

I looked over at my friend SW and asked her "Seriously - you heard something just now?" She confirmed that she could hear a very high-pitched squeaking noise.

I played the app again and a girl from two rows down wandered over and asked what was going on and what was making that awful sound!

Seems I wasn't the only person not able to hear it, a couple of the guys couldn't hear it either and it didn't seem to be age related, which was what I thought originally.

So....I can test this out on mosquitoes next time I go away...and I can also test it out in say shops, restaurants if there's someone annoying me...

Now would I really do something like that!? ;-)

Short

Such a tragic short life for a troubled soul - RIP Pixie Geldof.

Boxes and Lollipops

100 Happy Days - Day 44:  Love seeing how Dilbert's boss could work in the company I work for in real life! It's all about 'ticking boxes'!

100 Happy Days - Day 45:  How to scare children into not eating lollipops - lol!

Ducks and Boots

100 Happy Days - Day 23: 'Donald' and 'Daffy' as I was leaving work. 'Daisy' wasn't about today so it was just the boys hanging out!

100 Happy Days - Day 24: Only six of us turned up, I wasn't the fittest but I did ok and survived the Boot Camp Challenge at work in aid of Sport Relief!

:(

A sad day and not just because Andy Murray lost in the tennis final.

Not saying any more just yet as it hurts too much right now.

I'll keep it all bottled in until it's safe to come out...

Supermarket Bargain (or not)

Tonight's Panorama programme will apparently reveal that supermarket bargains are not quite what they seem.

Here's a great example from my local Tesco store:

Wonder how many people went for this 'bargain' lol?

Phew!

After a truly manic month of to-ing and fro-ing and sorting things out the apartment, everything finally fell into place today, including the previously-unhelpful management company getting their act together.

It feels like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

My tenants have moved in, deposit and first rent payment made. I knew they were a couple, just didn't know it was two ladies until I saw their names on the tenancy agreement! Hope they like the decor, lol!

Gosh, I can take a breather and I can feel my mind already emptying in anticipation of my well-earned holiday! Two more mad days at work to get over with first and then it's sunny Greece with the glamorous C again.

Can't bloody wait!

And Another Thing...

..I've never had to take a pregnancy test before.

But I did and I'm not.

Thank f*ck for that!

Move along, nothing to see....

Motor Update

Well, a week after my car incident, I'm back on the road.

The garage admitted full liability, sorted out a new windscreen and bonnet and gave me a cheque for my travel expenses.

No harm done, although I'm tempted to check the bonnet now every time I drive...

It's been a crap week at work too and the next two are going to be worse - joy! :-(

Not so Easter Bonnet

My week gets worse....

This is what my windscreen looks like after the bonnet of my car flipped up and smashed it as I was driving home.

How could the bonnet flip up like that?

The car went for an MOT in the morning, they mustn't have closed the bonnet properly. Since I didn't drive over 30mph from the garage to the office, it wasn't fast enough to move the bonnet. But as I sped up to join the motorway....BANG!

It could have been worse, I could have been on the motorway itself on the outside lane with people in front, behind or to the side of me and me not being able to see F all with the bonnet up. As it was, I was on the slip road so just pulled over to the hard shoulder.

Fortunately my friend from work CK was behind me and she saw the bonnet fly up and pulled over when I did. She stayed with me until the recovery truck came.

I was shaken but unhurt and quite calm, it was surreal.

Why me?

Now to deal with insurance but first, another £250 excess to pay up! :-( I could cry and nearly did when the glamorous C called to see if I was ok.

Oh, I did cry when I heard from Boom... :-(

Thievin' Scumbags

Day off work today, first day off since just after new year. I had to go into Manchester to get my China visa sorted out (yes, I have a little trip planned), get it all done and dusted in one day so there's no to-ing and fro-ing or having to post my passport etc. But why do passport photos have to look so horrific and criminal like?

Anyway, up earlier than I would normally get up for work, tram into town, queued up, got my ticket and then a few hours to wander around the shops before the visa was ready.

Tried on some summer clothes, bought a coupla items, sat and read a bit in McDonalds with a cuppa tea, tried on some glasses, then picked up the visa (£110 lighter in my bank balance), sorted - nice stressfree day.

But then it went all wrong .....I was listening to my iPod waiting for the tram, there were quite a lot of people on the platform for a weekday I thought. As the tram pulled in and I got on, the usual bit of pushing and scraping past ensued. My music cut off as my headphone jack appeared to have gotten snagged as someone brushed passed me.

Only when I went to plug it back into the iPod, I couldn't as it was no longer in my bag, it had been swiped by some thieving little shit! F*cking disaster!

And to cap it all, the ticket inspectors had just boarded so whilst I was more interested in checking that nothing else had been nicked rather than produce my ticket, they were thinking I was one of those non-paying scumbags until I finally got my head in gear and proved them wrong. But what a mess!

I can only think that it was taken by someone who was on the platform behind me, who had clocked that my iPod was in the front pocket of my bag, not really secure but yeah I know...crap! There seemed to have been more people on the platform than who actually got on the tram and I remember wondering at this for a split second before I discovered my loss - wouldn't surprise me if it was a gang of tea leaves.

My purse and moblie phone? In separate zipped up pockets as was my passport - that would have been a true disaster of Titanic proportions if that had gone!

Technically, the iPod didn't cost me anything as I had used vouchers I'd been awarded at work to buy it but that's not the point.

Majorly pissed off :-(

No Loot

Like many around the world, I've been watching the horrors unfold in Japan, following the aftermath of the earthquake and the ensuing tsunami. That there could still be a nuclear disaster is just incomprehensible.

One thing that has become apparent and markedly noticeable is that there has been no looting.

During other disasters around the world, cars, properties and shops were broken into; in certain countries, looting got so bad that the troops had to be sent in.

Some cultures seem to react to disaster by reverting to 'every man for himself' and hell, why not make a profit whilst they're at it.

The Japanese right now are displaying human qualities that would and should shame these others.

Let us hope that the nuclear danger can be suppressed and that the country and its people can recover from this.

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

The other morning, as I was pulling out of the drive to go to work, I noticed that the neighbour’s dog was asleep on their lawn.

Since I was still half-asleep as usual, it took a few seconds for me to realise something…the neighbour didn’t have a dog!

I kerb crawled past to have a look and saw that the animal wasn’t moving nor breathing.

Another neighbour flagged me down – apparently, the dog had seen been wandering around the estate at night and then had suddenly dropped dead! RSPCA etc had been notified.

Poor mutt but just glad it wasn’t my lawn! :-o

Rabbit Rabbit

Gosh nearly forgot to post - Kung Hei Fat Choi, or Happy Chinese New Year, all!

Seems to have come round extra fast this time round, not had my second wage packet this year yet, so struggling with the usual new year payouts to maman, papa and grandmere!

It's the year of the Rabbit (or Hare) - supposedly not a great year for me...ah well, hopefully my 'dragon' pendants and emblems will help me out here!

Not been organised at all, just plodding away but loads to do, dunno where to start!

Had the great idea of getting the house cavity walls filled and the loft re-insulated (cos the house has always been bloody cold!) - got a good price for it, but was told that I had to get the fireplace checked out. It failed the British Gas inspection as it was unsafe...bugger!

Now, have to get that sorted first, before the other jobs and still not started on my own 'little' project.

And I continue to bury my head in work, WoW, my books, football stuff and the gym. Oh and seeing Boom - spent some time with him on several occasions already this year, so already it's better than this time last year... :-)

So gotta get my arse in gear badly - how to motivate myself though??

Recession, what recession?

In the football world, there's no recession or cutbacks. The clubs just keep on spending and spending from never ending pots of cash.

Fernando Torres has completed a £50 million move to Chelsea - I'm stunned and disappointed but well, what's the point in trying to keep a player who wants to move to a club that still has a chance of winning some silverware this season? Boo hoo! :-(

In return, Toon's Andy Carroll has been poached for £35 million - far too much I reckon.

Pro's - only 22 years old, prolific goal scorer, England player.

Con's - a bad boy prone to hitting his missus, court case over his head so he could end up behind bars, currently out injured.

The Scousers have also signed an Ajax player, Luis Suarez for £22.7million.

Still not optimistic about these shenanigans but I'd say I feel better than the Newcastle fans do.

Anyway, adios Nando - please don't score too many against us! :-(

Teenage Angst

The Biffy concert was my early Christmas present to my godson EB - it had been a year since I last saw him, the first time since he moved out to live with his dad after falling out majorly with his mum, my old schoolfriend MR.

I knew it was going to be a little awkward but was heartened that he still wanted to come up and that he was ok about staying the night at mine.  He's a good looking lad, confident but quietly spoken and highly intelligent, already thinking about what he wants career-wise. He does have a certain disdain for authority but what teenager doesn't?  At times though, I did struggle with conversation as I didn't want to mention his family so much, in particular his mum but I knew I'd have to at some point so I left it til the following day (yeah, I know - chicken!)

So, when I took him out for lunch, I told him that I didn't really know the reason why he was no longer living at home. MR's version was that they'd had some trivial argument and that he'd run away and decided to live with his dad. He told me that she'd kicked him out of the house. I asked him why and he said it was because he threw a snowball at one of his younger brothers. Hmmm. There could be an element of truth in that I could very well see MR going mad if she'd witnessed this - she could never understand her sons; need to act like boys, ie play rough, fight etc.  *Sigh* - I guess it's a bit of both explanations.

Anyway, he didn't exactly say anything bad about his mum (though he had nothing good to say), just said that he didn't agree with her and he couldn't bear her being controlling - again, another element of truth. Apparently, she has sold or thrown away all his possessions - such an act is pretty final so I can't see him ever going back there to live. The good news was that he has been in touch with his siblings and still quite close to his sister it seems, although I hope he's not inciting her to rebel as he appeared to be suggesting...

Me, how did I react to this? Mostly, I listened to him but I didn't offer advice either way. Should I have?  He wasn't asking for my advice and I'm not sure he would have reacted positively if I revealed myself to be on his mum's side, although technically, I'm not sure I'm on her side, she seems to have started burning her bridges as far as their relationship is concerned.

Anyway, as I saw him off at the station, I was left with a pretty high opinion of him. I'd asked him if he usually made any new year's resolutions and he replied yes, that he'd kept to it for the last few years. I asked him what it was and he said that it was not to get involved in the drugs culture - evidently, some of his friends have.  I recalled his comments when we encountered a woman on our way to the Biffy gig - spaced out, she was taking heavy drags from a joint, whilst pushing a pram...

Makes my own resolutions seem so trivial.

Moi

Yes, 6 years on and I've decided to include a photo in my profile.  Why?

I couldn't find a better photo and besides, it doesn't really look like me....!

This template still isn't right, need to tweak it at some point.

Oh Captain My Captain

I'm sorry - I appear to be somewhat distracted by this photo of Chris Evans in the latest 'Captain America: The First Avenger' movie.

Gosh....

You think he shaves to stay that smooth?

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo*

The past few weeks have been mostly a blur and I need to start sorting things out, sort my life out.

Mum's situation has been on my mind but today, I spoke to her and she gave me the news that she does not need to undergo chemo treatment. When I came off the phone, I wept with relief, it felt like a big cloud had lifted off me.

Summer finally seems to have made an appearance so I took advantage by having a day off work on Friday and sunbathing in the garden. The heat and sun felt lovely after such a long winter. Hmmm...must do something about the weeds though, looks incredibly untidy, especially compared to the neighbours' gardens.

A strange weekend really; Rafa's reign at Liverpool has ended, which I'm not too happy about to be honest - if there was a replacement lined up, fair enough but there isn't. Thanks for May 2005, Rafa. 

England have lost their captain before the World Cup has started - hope this isn't an omen of sorts.


* and yeah, I've gone under the needle again. Always planned to after the first one but this is the last one...no really, it is.

Malfunction

My little sis gets married in 10 days time.

When she announced the wedding date a year ago and let us know her 'colour scheme', I surprised everyone (including myself) by going out immediately and getting my wedding outfit, a lovely fitted strapless frock.

I tried it on recently.

It appears that I have somehow lost weight and the dress is now too big! Being rather light in the bosom area anyway, the strapless frock will no longer stay up…without straps!

So I took it in to be altered and am glad that I didn't leave it too late. It fits better now, although I think I will take the spare straps with me just in case of wardrobe malfunction a la Janet Jackson!

Am kinda looking forward to the wedding and seeing all the family. Stressed now about work though. Can't concentrate. So much to do yet I keep procrastinating.

Need to focus or I'll be even more like a headless chicken!