So...

Beat The Traffic

2007-04-20T12:18:00.000Z

So...several times a day for the last few weeks a Chinook has flown over the flat making trips between the naval base and the maritime HQ on the seafront. The journey by road is illustrated here. I do hope the Navy's need to make this journey in a twin rotor, 200mph, 32 million pound helicopter is justified.

See What You Can't Do

2007-03-23T15:01:00.000Z

So...i just checked my O2 bill online. I have never seen anything so complicated. There were numbers EVERYWHERE! The links made little sense and i found myself going round in circles. If this is deliberate in an effort to make us pay the extra 99p for Itemised billing then it's almost working.

O2 aren't completely useless - they provide you with a formula for calculating how many text messages had the letter 'e' in the body, but I'm still just left daydreaming of the good old days at Orange where i dialed 150 and was politely told how many minutes i had left this month.

The "Vista Trap"

2007-03-02T11:55:00.000Z

So...a few reports i've read in the last few weeks have really got me rather annoyed at the response to Microsoft's latest operating system, 'Vista'. see here and here for example.
Basically these people are either trying to upgrade to Vista from Windows XP without performing a complete format and installation or they don't have satisfactory hardware to run it and they're not having much luck.
The guy in the first article pissed me off, mainly because most of his problems were related to incompatibility between his peripherals and Vista. It's all very well upgrading then discovering that half your kit won't work, but the same amount of work carried out before you did the upgrade would have led to an obvious conclusion that your hardware WAS NOT SUPPORTED!
One thing Vista is not is a poor-man's operating system. You've either already spent the money on a decent specification computer or you're going to have to and if you don't then keep your mouth shut when you find out that nothing works. 3rd party component Support for Vista exists and is exactly where it should be - in the new products. It makes little sense to invest heavily in Vista support for ancient products when you can lower the price of new products and encourage users to upgrade hardware with their new operating system.
If you can't afford to upgrade your hardware, DON'T BUY VISTA! There's no point. you won't gain anything except the enhanced ability to moan and complain because your PC now behaves tortoise-like.

Consider buying a 10 bedroom mansion and putting your old flat furniture in it. Clearly your furniture is under-specified and what's the point in having 10 bedrooms when you live alone? Sure, you can have some awesome parties but most of the time it's just not necessary and you'll soon realise that your old flat was perfectly sufficient.

Je Suis Had a Beaucoup de Good Times on NYE

2007-01-08T17:12:00.000Z

So...as the title suggests i was given the opportunity over New Years to demonstrate some real language skills to the population of Grenoble. We went to see Janey in Grenoble on New Year's Eve, which was really cool. Did lots of sitting drinking coffee, eating Giraffe (kind of) and traveling in Gondolas (see facebook for pictures).

Anyway who would have thought that such a good weekend would end in tragedy...and by tragedy i mean total embarrassment...

On leaving France i had my boarding card inspected one final time before leaving the gate. The guy checked it and advised me to enjoy my flight, to which i replied with thanks, turned round and walked face first into a window.

The door was of course just to the left of me, but i managed to miss it completely. I was one of the first to board, so you can just imagine the 300 odd people standing behind me sniggering away. It kept me amused for most of the flight once the pain had worn off :(

Thievery Pays

2007-01-07T22:04:00.000Z

So...some guys are stripping out the shop beneath us and there's a skip outside our place. Just before Christmas i randomly pulled some BT telephone exchange electrical thing from the rubble, put it in my room and went home.

Anyway i just got back to Portsmouth and i Googled this thing. Turns out they sell brand new for £800 and 2nd hand on Ebay for £300!

It's not stealing: firstly it was in their skip, and secondly they woke me up at 8am every morning for a week with a hammer drill. Quids in.

You Can Do It

2006-12-05T17:56:00.000Z

So...I went B&Q today. Couldn't find what i was looking for so i asked the first assistant i could find that was wearing an orange B&Q apron with their name on. The story picks up at Aisle 19 in-store...

"Excuse Me, where can i find White Spirit?"
"Sorry don't ask me, I'm just an actor working on a film in here"

Probably makes it to my all-time top-10 of randomness.
Needless to say i found the White Spirit alone.

FaceBook

2006-11-16T12:01:00.000Z

So...i did it. Today i gave in to peer pressure and left my principles behind to join Facebook.

I'm not a fan of this kind of thing. I would never consider MySpace, Wayn or anything similar, but most of my mates seem to be on Facebook, and i do love going with the flow.

Having said that i cant see I'll ever visit the site again now I'm a member, but it might just stop all those invitations arriving in my mailbox.

So my FaceBook Id is....ah screw it i don't care. Just phone me instead.

LondON

2006-10-31T00:21:00.000Z

...And oh boy was it ON this weekend! In the haze of a misty October's lunchtime I set off with Matt & Hannah to London for a weekend of Mayhem, Mischief and McChicken Premiere...

After a quick pizza at Hannah's I branched off and made the journey alone to "the Nest", Joe's new place in Forrest Hill. It's just great, just 3 footsteps of a small child from the station (look @ the map) and bus stop opposite. It's only 7 miles from London Bridge so everything's pretty accessible.

Joining forces once again with M & H and later, Kester and his other half, Alice and Joe's flatmate, Christian we headed out with cash, cards & cheque books for a fun and ever-so-slightly expensive night in Covent Garden. After a few drinks and some unbelievable dancing from Joe & Mark we entered easily the best part of the evening: McDonald's.

It's fair to say I over indulged, but it was all worthwhile: i got a good feed and felt none the worse for it the next morning. Needless to say i wont be having a Big Mac for a while.

Joe works right in the centre and on Sunday we walked his journey to work, across London Bridge, past Tower 42, the guerkin and Subway. Destination: Spitalfields Market for some Celebrity spotting. It was a fruitful exercise, with a good 30 seconds walking in front of Damien Lewis, and i also bought a tie with a chairlift on it (nope, still not over it!).

One National Express and an icky M&S smoothie later we were back in Portsmouth. Photo of the weekend? We have a winner...

Summer of Snow - Part 4: Life

2006-10-18T19:30:00.000Z

So...With my amazing job on the mountain and the awesome social scene in the village, life was good, but my job hunting wasn't over.

I applied and got a position working in The Last Post Cafe (& Restaurant), working in behind the bar, but mainly waiting on the restaurant floor. This was amazing fun and i made more really good friends as well as earning that extra bit more cash!

The mountain employed lots of staff, and as most were resident in Methven the pub in the evening was pretty much dominated by staff. This was great because everyone knew everyone, so the atmosphere was usually great.
Most popular was "jug & curry" night at Steelworx on a Tuesday night. This was also Jam Night, and i managed to play a couple of times, once on the piano and once on the...

....The find of the season would have to have been my Accordion. Financed by Dan as my Birthday present, it's brought me many hours of pleasure (and a lot of pain to everyone else!!).
I managed to take it pretty much wherever i went (never made it up the hill though) including the Last Post staff do at the end of the season, where we danced through the street to Jingle Bells etc!!

I also did a gig with a blues band in the Blue Pub in August, which was great fun!

The Lift Department social club took care of several nights out and fancy dress parties and i threw a big Toga Party for my Birthday. Ski Patrol also organised a cocktail party at the end of the season. The mountain management also organised a few events and chucked in some free drinks for us all. We also had Formal Dress Day on the mountain, where each department wore a suit/dress to work, but the Lifties went in fancy dress - i was in my cactus costume from the Mexican party!

We took plenty of time on closed days to explore, and one trip took us right through an area where Lord of the Rings was filmed, Mt Sunday, or Edoras as it's called in the movie apparently. Amazing scenery. Also saw a lot of Christchurch - city not too far away. Some good nights out and good shopping too!

And also the snowboarding and skiing was great! We got 2 days a week off plus lunch breaks on our work days, most of which we spent riding on the hill, so my boarding has come on a hell of a lot! I had a bit of a fall whilst playing for the staff volleyball team, dislocating my knee. It put me out of riding for 2 weeks, but i could still work, so all good!

I'm probably running out of things to say to describe the season. I'm gonna upload all my photo's sometime, but there's a few for the time being. Altogether an amazing way to spend my UK summer. I've been offered a job next year, which I've accepted, so the fun will begin again soon!
...Oh and the burger was my leaving present - triple bacon & egg, chilli-beef-and-cheese pie burger - They know me too well!

Summer of Snow - Part 3: Work

2006-10-18T19:29:00.000Z

So...after a good tip-off from someone in the Blue Pub (who later turned out to be a good mate, Ryan) and a day's skiing i headed to the staff room on the mountain to see about a job - i was in luck, the season was so-far considerably better than last year and they hadn't employed enough staff. The day after i began my training to become a Lift Operator on the hill.
Dan had been pre-accepted a job in the snowsports school, and we had our induction together on the same day - it couldn't have worked out better.

Being a 'lifty' involves most of the operational aspects of the ski field, from vehicle chain fitting to car park management, to snow clearing, to de-icing, to access road patrol, ticket checking, as well as operating the chairlifts on the slopes. My average day started at 7:30am, when the staff buses left in convoy for the mountain, then at 8:15 we were out on the field setting up the lifts. This involved full checking and running of main and backup electric & diesel engines for each lift, emergency stop testing and line checking. those lifties rostered to the top stations were whisked up on snow-mobiles or on a chair if their lift was operational, to set up unload fences etc. the field opened to the public at 9am, and our job was to keep everything running until closing at 4pm, when we did everything in reverse to pack away. Those lucky enough to be stationed at the summit got a ride down with the whole field to themselves, usually heading down long after patrol! Having packed everything away the day ended at 5pm when we took the staff buses down.

If the weather had been bad there was usually a lot of snow clearing to be done. At the start of the season we would frequently have 35-40cm dumps of snow, and this would leave a lot of drifting on the slopes and around the lift stations, along with heavy quantities of ice on the chairs and lines. a De-ice Start begins at 5:50am, and for most of the season i was on 2 of these a week. It was great fun - leaving the village and driving up the access road in complete darkness in sometimes waist high snow and ice for 15km about 3 feet from the edge of the road...and a very long drop off the side of the mountain. Driving on ice and snow was a skill i really mastered, although i never had to drive in the dark! By the time we reached the mountain the sun was about to start rising, and once we were in full deicing harnesses and slowly making our way through the waist high powder on the slopes to the summit on the back of a groomer we would see the entire sunrise - what a sight - worth getting up so early for!
Deicing is the highly technical process of climbing each pylon on each chairlift and hitting parts of the structure with a big wooden stick until the ice fell off. Not so great if you're afraid of heights, but i loved every minute. a Deice start could happen on a beautiful sunlit morning after a 50cm snow dump, or in the middle of a whiteout with 80kph winds and visibility down to about 2 metres. This was less fun, and remembering to hold on is quite important. The strong wind and low temperatures create rime, which clings to anything in it's path. When we reached the summit in these conditions pretty much everything was covered, and a lot of deicing was needed before we could get through the door of the lift hut, let alone run the lift! If the conditions were still bad we would end up covered in rime too, which froze everything - jackets, gloves and hats, and built up on our goggles as well, making work VERY difficult. On several occasions my jacket hood had frozen sufficiently that you could punch it much like a football and it remained solid. Also my gloves would freeze, and although my hands were quite warm inside, the fingers of the glove would not bend, making anything other than pushing and hooking things very difficult.

With this heavy snow the chairs would get stuck in the lift stations, and in teams we would push them through (6 people cannot pick up a single chair, they're very heavy), which was not easy in thick snow and zero-visibility and solid pants! The reward was usually a good powder run from the top once we were finished, although in 1 metre vis. it wasn't quite so fun when you didn't know where you were most of the way down!

The lift crew was about 35 strong, and we made a great team. Working in conditions like that requires teamwork, and it brought us all very close. I'll miss everyone, but most will be back next season

Summer of Snow - Part 2: Mt Hutt Village

2006-10-18T17:17:00.000Z

So... Dan and I moved into 29 Colcord Place, a small 3 bedroom bungalow in Methven covered in knee-high snow. The place wasn't too bad - fully furnished, open fire, really sweet old lady next door etc. As the photo shows the driveway was quite long, and only a shovel-width had been dug to walk through, making it very difficult to get cases and snowboards to the house. The following day we spent a good 2 hours digging snow, only to give up and pay a man with a digger 20 bucks to do if for us! lazy bastards are we.
The mountains in New Zealand aren't really suitable for hosting a resort because of the crumbly rocks and also the weather can be very crap, so it would either slide or blow off the side. hence the 'resort' is off the mountain and a short car/bus journey gets you to the slopes. Methven is really a farming village that accommodates Mt Hutt staff and visitors to the hill when the snow falls. It's very surreal to see farmers mixed with ski instructors in the bars, but generally speaking there's a local for the farmers, and the rest of the pubs are for the mountain!

Summer of Snow - Part 1: The Journey

2006-10-05T15:13:00.000Z

So...i'm back! Finally you lucky people get a report on my adventures in New Zealand!
Dan and I arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand after a 2 day (inc. ~25 hours in the air) voyage halfway around the planet!We had a very cool 5 hour wait in LAX, which meant we were able to get a taxi to nearby Santa Monica for a stroll down the beach, a big steak and a drink in Hooters (could not be missed!). It was quite surreal to be halfway to a season of snowboarding, yet sitting on the beach in 35 degrees!
Back onto the plane, Qantas this time. I fell asleep in the departure gate, and was woken up for boarding. I crawled onto the plane, fell asleep in my seat and slept for the whole 12 hours! Had a bit of a run-in with the large man sitting to my right: I dreamt i was in a window seat on the right (starboard side if you will) of the plane. i was actually on the left in the middle seat, but this didnt stop me from leaning right to take a peek out of the window in my sleep. Unfortunately for both of us i was awoken by the man to find my face just inches from his, my window turning out to be the other side in reality. he wasnt too impressed, and moved after take-off.

12 hours later we were in Aukland, and after one more flight, a Qantas domestic we touched down in Christchurch - our final destination. A light dusting of snow on the ground here, but on the car journey to Methven we were to see just a bit more!

Methven - Mt Hutt Village, had been host to about 50cm of snow earlier that week, so we arrived in a winter wonderland with knee deep snow in all directions. Probably the most snow i've ever seen not on a ski field! Graders had been through the village and made huge piles either side of the road, leaving a single lane in the middle. It really was quite incredible, but we'd arrived and it was to be our home for the next 4 months. I couldnt wait!

Caption Competition Part II

2006-06-08T10:58:00.000Z

So...you know what to do
(Photo is from Matt and Tim's visit to Portsmouth last month btw)

We've Got Jumpers

2006-06-08T07:40:00.000Z

So...last night was a bit of a laugh. We went to the Union for the last night of Uni this year, and whilst making our way there we noticed they had opened the doors, and students could go and drink on the grass in the park.
Not only this but we walked past the OPEN gate into Ravelin Park. After a small conference we decided this opportunity was too good to miss, and proceeded to enter the park and make our way through the bushes towards the crowds - it all seemed rather cool at the time.
Anyway we got as far as mingling before we suddenly were surrounded by a group of security staff. One remarked "So, we've got some jumpers have we?"
We were escorted out of the Union, walked round to the front and paid £5 to get in
All very adventurous.

home from home?

2006-06-05T17:52:00.000Z

So...i returned to Portsmouth about an hour ago from a gig in Cambridge over the weekend. I'm in the middle of exams at the moment, so the timing was hardly appropriate, but this entry relates to my feelings after the journey 'home', or rather the lack of them...

3 years ago, when i first started University, the prospect of leaving home for such a vast period of time was, although thoroughly exciting, more than a little daunting, and i can happily admit to feeling rather emotional on my first return to Cambridgeshire (for a gig), about a month into the first year. It was very strange, having lived a surreal life for the last 4 weeks to be leaving it for somewhere i had very much forgotten about - home. It occurred to me that whilst i was having all the fun, i had inadvertently pushed aside the life that had taken me 19 years to construct, and i felt a little sad. Seeing the house and my parents again was great but the 'double-life' that i was to live seemed unreal and unaccomplishable!

In contrast, and the reason i chose to share it here, my journey back this weekend was uneventful, and i didnt bat an eyelid at the prospect of climbing into the van at home, travelling 4 hours North and getting out at...home. It seems the dual-lifestyle of city University, and sleepy village Bluntisham can infact interleave. It does, of course, also suggest that i have moved to a position where i know i can survive without the supervision of my parents, and although i love them to bits, it feels right.

But what challenge does this present to me for the future? Well i do enjoy returning to family even though it seems acceptable to live in 2 places now. Finding it this easy to go back does of course help the bag of dirty washing i usually take with me (thanks, Mum)...but Mum and Dad certainly dont take their washing home.
I think the most reassuring thing from this little moment is the satisfaction that whatever i choose in life, wherever and with whomever i end up living, a trip home will become less and less crucial to survival, and thus even more enjoyable!

To Ski or Not to Ski

2006-05-22T16:47:00.000Z

i won't lie...this blog entry is purely a distraction from my Java coursework, but it's about time anyway.

So...following my superb skiing holiday and subsequent re-kindling and enhancing of my love for the sport i am making plans to head to New Zealand with Dan, Esti and James for the summer. My skiing is at a sufficient level that i wont get bored, as i intend to stay for 2-3 months over the summer. The aim is to find a job, as there's no chance in hell i can afford to go without one!
However on the subject of money, I do feel it's time i stopped scaffing equipment and buy my own, but there is one increasingly important question in my mind: do i buy ski's or a snowboard?
I've now clocked 8 hours on the dry slope on a board, far less than i've skiied, but i think (and Dan agrees :) ) that i've got sufficient potential for it not to be a waste of money!
It's important to realise that currently i cant afford either, so that does make the answer a bit easier for the time being, but some serious thought will need to be executed in the next 3 weeks!

What's He Saying?

2006-04-26T19:29:00.000Z

So...i'm reading through my gym induction booklet (albeit months after my induction) and i come across this happy fellow on the inside cover.

In a rather blatent attempt at lowering the tone here, i have removed the boring weight loss comment from the box, and invite you to offer a more suitable caption. A Soup Teapot for the winner!

The Return

2006-04-24T19:03:00.001Z

So...it's been 8 days since i returned from the States, and have only just plugged in my PC and jumped aboard the blogmobile (still love that, Matt). Shameful, i know, but here goes with an account of my travels...

Skiing was, without doubt, fantastic. First some non-snow words.
Colorado was my third visit to the USA. I truly love visiting America. I love that it's soooo different yet so similar to the UK in many ways: I've travelled 7000 miles yet i can still order a Subway without looking at the menu. 'Americanisation' may bring some nasty side-effects with it, but im happy to ignore them and marvel that the place i currently live is becoming more like the place i love to visit.
My journey comprised a 10 hour flight to Denver with a 3 hour connection to the ski resort. I enjoyed this because Colorado is obviously not all about the snow, and it was great to see some genuine American country. I saw my first tumble-weed...not actually tumbling. Very disappointed - i expected to hear the soft breathing of the wind as it rolled past, but no it was stuck in a fence. We drove through several mining towns that looked 100% stereotypical: Saloon bars etc - I do like when the movies look real.

There were frequent signs right through the bus journey:
"Use Caution! Watch for wildlife." - afterall this is bear and deer country. I couldnt help but feel the sign was misleading though: how am i meant to drive with caution if i'm observing a Grisly through my field glasses??

Beaver Creek was pretty awesome - one hell of a resort. It's fair to say, the Americans sure know how to do ski resorts! a few pics to follow when i get them back from Dan. all the paths and squares in the village are heated to stop freezing, and they print new maps daily with an overnight grooming report - so we know whick slopes have been groomed, and what the forecast is etc. The slopes run right into the village, and there are escalators to take you to the lower level village square with an ice rink in the centre.
There are 147 trails and runs to ski in total at Beaver Creek, with another 197 runs at Vail resort, which we also visited. That's a combined skiing area of 8000 acres (a lot) You could probably avoid skiing the same run twice if you tried for the whole 2 weeks! Some of these runs were incredible to ski. Providing Dan makes no comment i'll say i really felt my skiing came on immensely.

I believe we "Apres'd it to the max" on several occasions too. Some fantastic food, good beers and great laughs. Dan and i managed $140 (~£80) on cocktails one afternoon, still in full piste attire. Quite the afternoon, i'm sure Dan will agree! If i'm on MSN then do ask me for the videos - well worth a watch.

Ok i'm gonna round this mighty beast of a blog off now. I think my thanks must be mentionned to Dan and crew for such a good ~2 weeks. I met a lot of really cool people and had some memorable times.

A couple of pictures below are in order, just to push the boundary of how much space a single entry can consume...

There was a little more snow than the top-left image (view from the flat) suggests. The slopes head round to the left, but one of the bump runs directly above the ice rink is called Lupin - conquered!

Looking down on Beaver Creek Village. Again spot the lack of snow - in fact we left the day before the season ended! blogger has limited it to 1024px wide, so no larger image at present

This is it...

2006-03-31T09:43:00.000Z

So...blogland once again lures me into another post. I swear i write more than you dissertation people (and i actually know what my semicolons are for!). For the uneducated, i'm leaving next week for pastures white and felt a quick blog was in order before i pack away my computer (gasps all round, yes i sometimes leave my desk).

In a subtle twist i do not intend to send postcards. Instead i request that you send them to me whilst i'm on holiday, preferably (and this may seem a bit cheeky, eh Robinson) with a little bit on the back about what exists where you live, including the phone number for your nearest Dominos Pizza. [Sorry, it's an 'in' joke. just smile and continue reading]

I did consider setting up a countdown timer for it all, but they're so blazee these days. Going with the flow just doesnt feel right. (plus it might get hijacked)

anyway that's your lot, see everyone in a fortnight. please leave now.

hook, line & sinker

2006-03-12T10:57:00.000Z

So...every once in a while, words are totally re-defined. This time i speak with reference to 'GULLIBLE'. But who in all their wisdom could do something stupid enough to shake such a powerful word to it's very core? I answer...

Dan

..who, yesterday purchased a 1400 pound laptop on ebay, for £300 from a seller in China, who did not speak English, did not have a Paypal account, requested payment by Western Union, had an email address beginning with 'kjsffaysk', suggested 50% payment before and after receipt of the laptop, has had their item removed from ebay, and is no longer a registered user of Ebay.

Glad to hear you realised in time, Dan. Nothing lost in the end.
My guess is that it will probably be a while before you are allowed to forget this though.

Ski-Sunday

2006-03-05T00:42:00.001Z

So...i thought my pending holiday needed mentioning.
A rather quick decision a couple of weeks ago saw me signing away the modest sum of £419 in exchange for 10 days on the slopes of Beaver Creek Ski Resort, in Colorado & staying somewhere in St. James' Place.

This is without doubt a fantastic opportunity to spend some quality time with my good friends Dan and Esti, and get some serious skiing done at what appears to be a world class resort.

In preparation i have calculated that i've spent around 16 hours at Southampton Alpine Centre, reacclimatizing myself and learning far beyond what i could do before.

Now i just need to get some more Java done and i'll be away!

Gym'll Fix it

2006-02-21T01:35:00.000Z

So...following a textbook case of 'who ate all the pizzas' the other week i realised that my preferred diet demanded a little assistance and decided to enrol at Fitness First. To be honest i don't think i'd have bothered blogging it, were it not for this little cracker...

Ian: "Hi i signed up yesterday and i'm here for my induction."
(female) Receptionist: "Ok, could i take your name please?"
Ian: "Ian Mair."
(female) Receptionist: "Oh! That's funny, that's the same as mine!"
...to which i rather stupidly replied...
Ian: "WHAT, THE SURNAME?"

...So next time you're in Fitness First, look out for Ian, the attractive female receptionist

[as a side note, for many years as a child i thought Jimmy Saville's name was actually Jimmal Fixit]

Ryan

2006-02-17T17:20:00.000Z

So...to all those involved in thursday's little prank, i say GOOD WORK! and thanks of course to Ryan for being such a good sport. Pictures/video available on request from ballinger@empire-state.log

Hospital

2006-02-14T18:31:00.000Z

So...last night was rather unusual. Throughout the evening i developed a pain in my left side, that got progressively worse until i couldnt move without crying out in the worst pain ever. By about 1am i could barely breathe due to the pain of my chest. Pretty scary stuff.
After much banging on the wall to Maxx (who was most entertained with the knocking and replied with his own little tune on the radiator) he came through, realised how serious it was, woke up Sweeney and called for an ambulance.
I was whisked to hospital in the most incredible pain you can imagine, that was focused in my lower chest and peaked about every 2 minutes - resulting in what the guys later could only describe as an apparent attempt by myself to go into labour.
It was all pretty scary. I had so many blood tests, ecr's and xrays within the first hour, it did appear that it could be rather serious.
I was put on oxygen and spent the rest of the morning feeling very light headed. At about 4:30am i was seen by a Doctor, who, after a proper examination concluded that i had a viral infection in my lungs that had caused an imflammation in the left side resulting in the pain.
Sweeney & Maxx were certainly very legendary in their care. Special thanks to Sweeney for half dressing me. Shame there wasnt time to change my Superman Pyjamas ;) Also their efforts in A&E to keep me cheerful are appreciated, although they werent welcome at the time because laughing gave me such pain! Much respect to Maxx also, whose professional diagnosis certainly helped me come to terms with the situation: "I know what the problem is...you just need a big shit." Thanks Guys.
My experiences in A&E were also very good. From arrival, within about 30 minutes i had had ECR, blood pressure, 4 different blood tests and X-rays. Very efficient.
I was discharged just after 5am, quite relieved, but also in some pain still, which continues today, but i'm certainly a lot better. Quite a night though.

Unlucky Dip

2006-02-04T19:45:00.000Z

So...i bought a lottery ticket today. I dont normally, but i'd heard the EuroMillions jackpot was big, then found out the draw was yesterday, and felt a lotto ticket would bring my spirits back up.

Lucky dip, by definition should be "A Lucky Dip", so you can imagine the look of shock on my face when i saw the numbers...
25, 26, 27, 38, 39, 40
It's 7:45. i will update you in an hour