Journal Entries
Guess who...?
Posted Jan 30, 2007
Well, here we go, another one of my increasingly infrequent journal entries. Must be the post-Christmas blues that make me log in and type things that no-one I know is remotely interested in knowing about 
So, what did 2006 have to say for itself? Well, it was the year I finally fell head over heels in love 
...with someone who messed me about for about 6 months and then said she didn't know what she wanted... obviously she knew what she didn't want, namely me. 
It was also the year my father scared the bejeezus out of us all by having a sort of mini stroke. 
Thankfully, he has made a complete recovery, with no apparent physical or mental effects (apart from losing a day or so of his memory) He did give us a fright though, losing his short term memory for a while, so that he was asking the same three or four questions over and over again, never remembering the answers for more than a minute or two. When one of the doctors asked him what year it was, he could only guess at 2003.
It was the year that work managed to get even worse than previously, and that's some feat... I am currently a senior programmer in an IT company that no longer seems to be interested in computer programming... go figure! So I am, quite frankly, completely bored out of my skull and feel like I'm going backwards. Time to move on soon I think... I just have to overcome the inertia!
So, the less said about 2006 the better, by and large! 2007 can't be any worse, surely?
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Latest reply: Jan 30, 2007
Another Christmas racked up
Posted Dec 30, 2005
So, since I last got around to adding a journal entry, things have been quite eventful...
I spent most of November & December working in Brussels, doing 12 hour days in a pokey office monkeying around with Java, JSP, HTML & PL/SQL... not to be recommended!
I did manage to grab a week off in the middle, but only courtesy of a scarily 'should-probably-have-been-fatal' car crash involving a slippery road surface, a twisty road, several trees and a 5 foot drop into a field next to the road! My car was a total write-off, yet I managed to walk away with nothing more than a cut on my forehead. Trust me, if you saw the pictures of the car afterwards, you too would probably have that "Holy f**k" reaction that I am becoming increasingly used to seeing.
I'm still trying to work out how I walked away from it, and I've only just managed to get a new car this week (in which the starter motor died after only 3 days!)
Merry Christmas
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Latest reply: Dec 30, 2005
As if going to the dentist wasn't stressful enough...
Posted Sep 22, 2005
So today was my first 'regular dental check-up' in Bob knows how many years (I studiously avoided dentists for almost 15 years until I broke a tooth in January, which sort of forced my hand!)
The dentist I saw earlier in the year has since moved on, so I walked into the surgery wondering who I was going to get this time.
I instantly recognised her as someone who had been in my class at primary school, about years ago... My first thought was "Did I do anything really stupid at primary school to cause her to bear a grudge?" After all, 10-year-olds can be cruel...
I don't think so, but it was nice to speak to someone I honestly haven't seen for at least < minus two or three> years, even though my side of the conversation was held back by the fact that she was holding my jaw open and poking at my teeth with some mediaeval-looking implement! 
Worryingly though, she said that I need a filling... so maybe I did do something really stupid as a 10 year old!?!
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Latest reply: Sep 22, 2005
This story brightened up a dull week in the office!
Posted Apr 29, 2004
There's a bloke who moved here from England about a year ago to work for the company, and he had been renting a house not far from the office while he found a house to buy.
Ok, nothing strange so far.
He keeps a few snakes as pets. Not my cup of tea, but whatever floats his boat, as they say
Anyway, he bought a house and moved out of the rented place a couple of months ago.
Again, nothing particularly abnormal about any of this yet.
Well, his ex-landlady phoned one of the managers in the office on Tuesday morning (because he didn't leave any contact details with her when he moved out) to inform us that there were four police cars called to the house in the middle of the night! The new tenant, apparently having fallen asleep at his computer, woke at about 3am to find a snake crawling over him! (I know, snakes don't crawl, but I can't think of the right word!)
Apparently the snake got 'lost' during the move, but our hero didn't seem too bothered... It appears that it is illegal to lose a snake and fail to inform the police.
Also, the animal welfare ambulance was called to the scene, because no-one at the time had any idea if the snake was poisonous or not, so they are going to charge him £50 for the pleasure.
After a manager relayed this tale to him, he nonchalantly told us that he actually had three snakes. One was lost (but is now found, presumably to the profound shock of the poor tenant!) and the other two were gathered up when he moved house. Unfortunately, one of those two went missing between the old house and the new one.
So if anyone sees a snake loose about the Antrim area... it's probably not poisonous, but since he moved house a few months ago, it might be hungry... 
I'm not entirely sure how I would react to finding a snake in my house in the wee hours of the morning, but I imagine there would be more than an animal welfare ambulance called to the scene!
No-one in the office can work out what sort of person can lose a snake in a rented house and fail to think it might be important to let the owner know, especially when they vacate the premises.
We just hope the other missing snake isn't hiding under a server in the office!
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Latest reply: Apr 29, 2004
I'm sure no-one ever reads this...
Posted Apr 21, 2004
...but who cares anyway?
Another occasional glimpse into my dull and not so exciting life.
So what has happened since Christmas then? Not much... I have had a few more mousey visitors in the attic, some of whom didn't leave in the way they expected! Unless they want to contribute to the mortgage repayments, I will continue to repel the verminous little invaders with extreme prejudice.
I was away on a stag night last weekend. We sort of 'lost' the 'stag'! He was a bit the worse for wear after being fed multiple assorted cocktails. The bouncers in the nightclub didn't seem to like him sleeping on the chair and they threw him out. He later decided to go walkabout round the town in the wee hours and we had a hell of a job tracking him down...
Nursing some sore heads the next morning, we all went in search of a cafe and ordered Ulster Fries all round, which hit the spot and put us in the mood for one last drink 'for the road' to use up the remainder of the 'kitty' (It turned into TWO last drinks for the road, and there were still a few beers on the minibus!)
I spent most of Easter week cleaning the bathroom from top to bottom... I had unfortunately omitted to clean all the grout from the wall tiles when they were put in place, and it was a bloody nightmare to get the stuff off. A few other jobs round the house got done when I had the few days off work, and the back garden is all but fenced in now, which tidies the place up no end. Hopefully there will be a bathroom cabinet in place soon, with a proper mirror, so I can stop relying on the little 6" circular shaving mirror that is perched on my washhand basin! The few little bits of artwork I have managed to beg borrow or steal from my brother have found wallspace, and the house generally looks more warm and inviting... well, bits of it do anyway!
There's still a heck of a lot of stuff to do, but I'll get there yet...
I told you it was dull... but then, no-one ever reads this anyway...
Discuss this Journal entry [8]
Latest reply: Apr 21, 2004
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Jynnan Tonnyx (-2+7-9+0!+invtan(1) =42)
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