Journal Entries
Viva Las flippin' Vegas baby YEAH!!!
Posted Sep 21, 2003
Passing time at Gatwick.. (I could get to love these net phones)
I'm waiting for my flight to the USA and getting very excited!! 
See you in two weeks folks!! 
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Latest reply: Sep 21, 2003
Not that I'm advertising another web community but...
Posted Sep 8, 2003
I went to the Faceparty.com 1st birthday party at the weekend (Old Billingsgate Market, 9pm-6am) and it Rocked!
It was destined/written/fated that I should go you see. My friend was DJing there 
, but I couldn't afford a ticket
. So next thing you know, he's been given some tickets to run a competition from his website, by then though, my friend had set Saturday's date for her hen-night. But then she cancelled it 
so I went to enter the competition but it had closed . But then one of DJ NB's mate's that had won a pair of tickets couldn't go , but I was still considering the cost of train , but as there were two free tickets going, my housemate could come too, and he drove .
My friend, DJNB, was playing in the VIP room, with his music being pumped into the Beach (huts to sit in, tropical plants, sand, food cooked in desk sized pans 
) and the Ice Bar (white frosted walls, ice sculptures on tables with tealight candles in; as plinths for high tables; giant tree trunk shapes
). As soon as we got in, I recognised one of his tunes playing, and squealed as much to one of his friends . It was very cool, seeing people bop to his music. We explored Industria (cavernous dance room), the Gash House (decor = opulence - red curtains, chandeliers and (fake) pig torsos hanging from ceiling, giant edwardian portraits in out of shape frames, housing the Gay Bar) and the Caves (bedecked with starlit curtains).
Just spent time wandering and watching shows (firebreathers etc.) and bopping before actually buying a program. Which enabled us to plan the rest of the night.. being in the right place for Supergrass.. very cool, got close to the front with major moshers , and Electric 6 , and Danny Rampling etc. Then there were the odd bits you'd see walking around - the old toff with bunny bird, giant clowns, and chilling out in the Ice Bar - a big lady with big grey hair in full Ramblers outfit (khaki shorts and high wooly socks) came in looking confused, looked at her Ordnance Survey map.. followed by some old bloke again in full Rambler style, looking at his map and scratching his head, then one of them pointed to the door and the other side and off they went, with another Rambler trailing after them 
Started to flake a bit about 4am, Twisted Individual were playing, but that was too 
, music in the main dance hall wasn't moving us, so we went down to the Caves, and they had old skool choons on! That got me boogying.. housemate attempted but ended up sitting down looking after my water , then a new DJ with some speed garage.. not normally my thing but I was in the Zone by then . Eventually grew tired of that, by then it was 5.50am, so we wandered up into the main dance hall, housemate wondered what we were doing, and I told him we were staying till 6am! Otherwise we wouldn't have made it all night! So we watched the laser show for 10 minutes.. and left .
Made a detour over Tower Bridge and back before going home, to see David Blain asleep in his box
Was just as good as Faceparty's launch part last year, but for different reasons - definitely good having bands , downside was that the toilets weren't as well looked after 
and it was far more cramped in the main mixing area (Beach)
Best bit - Electric 6 doing 'Radio GaGa'
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Latest reply: Sep 8, 2003
Planning an itinerary sucks
Posted Sep 5, 2003
Trying to plan our 'road trip' when we're in the USA in 2 weeks and 2 days. And it's such a pain.
Starting point is Las Vegas, ending point is Denver. Stopping by Salt Lake City because that's the one place my travel partner has said he wants to go. Also stopping by Grand Canyon
Admittedly the first excited big plans are always going to be cut down, San Francisco is out the window, and Los Angeles may be following suit And I'd really really wanted to go to the Sequioa forest
Restrictions:Start and end points are unchangeable.Friend is doing All the driving, so really long stretches are no good.Major hilly hiking we can't do (friend's knee won't cope)
I guess we'd like to do a bit of city and a bit of country, mind you, will get plenty of city in Vegas, Salt Lake and Denver.... Ah, that's helped already, it'll be okay if the rest of it is more nature-related tourism.
This is such a major pain in the ass... Gaaaaargh!
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Latest reply: Sep 5, 2003
I'm king of the castle!
Posted Sep 4, 2003
I did it! I flippin climbed Ben Nevis!
It's a hard slog but well worth it, even just for the sense of personal achievement. 6 months ago I would've brushed off the idea, a year ago I wouldn't have even conceived of it! It's good to get healthy people, then you can do stuff like this... it feels so good!
There are a few photos here http://uk.f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/queeglesproggit
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Latest reply: Sep 4, 2003
Things I'm worried about
Posted Aug 20, 2003
Fretting this morning so I'm just purging, cuz it helps...
Got weigh-in tonight at Slimmers World but fretting about it because my bridesmaid dress fitting is in 2 weeks and that's pretty much my deadline for weight-loss before the holiday I really really want to be slim so I can look pretty instead of fat. I don't look fat any more, I know that, but there's still lots of wobble. I don't want wobble. I want to be slim as possible for this wedding.
Only remembered last night that I've got a specialist doctor's appointment tomorrow to discuss the results of the ultrasound I had on my legs a couple of months ago, and I don't know where the letter is that I'll have to take with me Aside from that there's the bit that I'm trying not to think about - the possibility that they may find the source of the varicosities and be able to get rid of them. Not going to get my hopes up because I don't want to be disappointed. I didn't hear any "wow! that's the bugger!" when they were doing the ultrasound so it's doubtful they've found the source. 
Just gotta find the appointment letter.
My little sister really needs to get away for a few days, I'm off to Scotland weekend after next, and since somebody dropped out there'd be space for her, but she's skint. I'd have to pay for her room and petrol, and although she'd be able to find some spending money, if we went out for a meal I'd most likely be paying for that too. I'd really love to take her away, but any money spent now is less I can take to USA, which leads to...
Worried about money for holiday in general. Preparations are turning out more expensive than planned, and savings aren't going as well as planned anyway. The person I'm road tripping with will have more cash available than me, and I really, really don't want to be saying "oh we can't do that cuz I can't afford it". I'm not going to be doing that. But I really want to do this for me sis. Borrowing a couple of hundred off family before I go is dodgy, as another family member has borrowed fairly serious money from everybody and not paid it back. I'm trustworthy and family know that, but I don't want to be another one of the kids borrowing money. And some would say "oh it's the company that counts.. blah.. you don't need money to have a good holiday.. blah". Yes, you do. I don't go on holidays often. Egypt last year was my first 2 week holiday ever. I worked 3 jobs to save money for that. I'm working 2 now. I work on the basis that this is my One visit to a country, I want to be able to do everything I can do. I am not going to miss out or make other miss out. I don't want to miss out on anything . Really stuck on that one.
Oh and then little sis' boyfriend got her a motorbike, then they went and split up. The finance is in his name, and so she has to give him the money to put in his account which the DD comes out of. And though there shouldn't be a problem with that, there's the what if's. What if he's a bit skint at christmas and 'borrows' the money? What if he cops a strop and cancels the DD? Finance can't be transferred to somebody else's account. If the payments don't go through and it's His fault, sis loses Her bike But managed to put off that quandry till after holiday, he should be sweet till at least then. I'd planned to carry on working 2 jobs afterwards anyway so I could have some proper spending money to buy things like clothes! But I'll be able to use that to help sis out with bike problem, and if I get a permanent (rather than temp) job, I may be able to get a loan out to pay for the bike in one go, then the problem will be solved. So that one's not too bad.
Watching Eastenders last night - 'nanna' seems to be going dotty, looks like alzheimers. My nan seems to be going downhill again. Not hallucinating as badly but just not 'with it'. She's got Lewy Bodies Syndrome, which is similar to alzheimers but works a lot faster. 5 years left is the general prognosis after diagnosis. Have been doing okay with it, but watching Eastenders and ended up with tears in me eyes at the end, brought it home to me I guess. But, there's nothing that can be done about that problem, so just gotta continue to accept it.
Oh nearly forgot - the driving. Insurance runs out on the car on 23rd October. So basically that's my deadline. The plan is to start the next year's insurance in my name, as it would be far easier than transferring it from nan to auntie and eventually to me. I'm on holiday from 21 Sep - 6th October. I need proper driving lessons to back up the ones I'm getting from my Auntie. Ideally, I need to take a test before the holiday, which I'll most likely fail - the purpose of that test will be more to find my weak spots according to testers. Even more ideally, I need to have a bit of intensive lessons either before or after holiday. But even if I could afford to pay for that, I don't know when I would have time. Working full time and most evenings doesn't allow a lot of free time - unless.. I perhaps had lunchtime lessons every day 
. But, money still a problem in that area. I really want to pass by 23rd October
. I just don't know about having the time for family lessons. If I were to leave work1 earlier to leave more time before work2, I'd have to go in earlier, get up earlier, which isn't good if I'm not getting home till late from work2. If I end up making myself ill, Everything will go to pot.
So after writing all that, the main frets are - slimming for the wedding - which can only be worked on, no solution, just gotta work at it, so there's no point worrying is there. Just gotta eat damn healthy and exercise to the best of my abilities - that's the best I can do. legs specialist - nothing I can do to change the outcome of that, so no point worrying. Little sis & money - I'm pretty sure I'm going to invite her to Scotland, simply because she's the most important thing to me. But how to save/get enough money to ensure a good holiday after that.. I don't know.
Time and money. Haven't got enough of either.
If I had more time I could work more and make more money. I need the time to drive etc.
I need to work towards earning more money in my full time job. Need to earn another £3k a year to be in the same financial position, with only be working normal hours. That'll have to be a more long term thing though. It can't really be a current worry. It's a good goal to go for though. Extra £3k.
If I want to achieve all I want to achieve by the end of October (car/sis holiday/my holiday), I'll have to borrow. 
Feel a bit better cuz I've narrowed down the worries - so that's good. The others.. there's nothing I can do about them this morning, or this afternoon. So just get work done.
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Latest reply: Aug 20, 2003
Queeglesproggit - Keeper of the evil Thingite Avon Lady Army and Mary Poppins's bag of darkness..
Researcher U170995
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