The Passing of Time

It occurs to me to note, in an abstract yet timely fashion, that time passes differently for me these days.

Time was, New Year actually meant something, a kind of fresh start, the opportunity to do something different, make resolutions, etc.

Now, as I sit here - still quite awake - I'm thinking that tomorrow will just be another day like today. Another day in the sequence of days that make up my life. The only difference between them is that tomorrow will be marked by the year 2009.

Certainly I'll be aiming to make some fresh starts, do things differently, and make resolutions (chief amongst them being to move into my damned flat), but other than that Life Goes On.

Happy New Year, all the same.

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Impending Festivities

OK, so it's New Year's Eve and I'm not in my flat. I'm in my cosy bedroom at my parents' house.

I'd considered staying over - a symbolic gesture: "I've still not moved in, but I've seen in the New Year in my own home" - but changed my mind for various reasons.

I went over to the flat early-ish in the morning to try to finish off the base coat painting in the kitchen. It took me several hours yesterday to do one two full walls and some of the tricky bits. Today, I took another couple of hours to repaint the same parts (only less) because the first coat of base coat wasn't up to much... And I'm still not finished.

I am making rather a mess of it.

Out of curiosity, I asked my mother how long she'd expect a room that size to take, and she offered "a couple of hours".

Clearly I do not have a future as an Interior Decorator ahead of me.

All this, and I still don't even have the paint that'll be going over the base coat. How many more hours is that going to take me? Why did I even consider taking on the task of painting the kitchen myself? It's put me right off doing any other decorating, I can tell you.

Around lunchtime, I met up with my boss, ostensibly to check out the Annie Liebovitz exhibition at the National Gallery. The option of visiting Forbidden Planet was also floated, and lunch was a likely prospect.

When we got uptown, Forbidden Planet was our first port of call, followed shortly by Orbital Manga before heading to a Japanese cafe for lunch. With bellies full of fine sushi, we made the exhibition our last port of call for the day - London was, after all, already filling with New Year revellers.

The first thing that struck me about the exhibition was the archaic way the photographs had been produced... but after scrutinising a good few photos, the reasons became obvious - even on a monochrome image, the depth of tone was astounding. Some of the colour images showed a strange bias, but this was likely intentional.

When we left to come home, I was still ruminating on the question of where to spend the night, but had decided on a nice, warm bed after a decent dinner by the time we reached the point in the route where the decision had to be made.

Looks like my parents are intending to sleep through the marking of the New Year... Hopefully I can do the same.

Tomorrow, maybe I'll spend the day at the flat, finish of that darned base coat, and spend the night there so I can go in to work on Friday from the flat, just to see how that goes...

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Gradually moving in?

Actually making constructive use of the holiday time for once, my father and I moved the old, large-screen CRT TV (now replaced by an LCD in the lounge) over to my flat, with the help of my boss and her car. It wasn't really that heavy, but it was unwieldy... and I'm really not as fit as I was back when I had a 20 minute walk to get to the station in the morning. When I move, I'm going to have to start taking regular walks, or I'll get completely unfit.

But, going back to the point for a while... I have a large TV on which I can (a) watch movies of any region, whether PAL or NTSC and (b) play videogames, including those which require a lightgun for best effect.

All my Christmas Kitchen stuff is also there now, including a small selection of cookbooks donated by my mother. It'll be interesting to see how well I cope with some of the recipes.

Had a swift couple of drinks with my boss afterward, as a thank you for her help, and heard about her Christmas. I'd bought her Wall-E on DVD, and it made her cry... though her mother thought it was crap. Tsk.

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Yule Blog #2

This has been quite a dull Christmas so far... I guess without my Paternal Grandmother to start 'exciting and informative' arguments, there's just not a lot for any of us to say. My sister and her husband departed yesterday, and that was pretty much it. Back to the old routine.

On the upside, I do now have a cheque covering the cost of my Ikea Kitchen Starter Set (conspicuously absent from my Grandmother's card and, in fact, written by my mother rather than my Grandmother).

I must say that my Belkin Laptop Cooling Stand has been pretty fantastic so far. The fact that the laptop's fan is still running on full all the time strongly suggests the machine is on it's last legs, but it's running at speeds I hadn't thought possible in well over a year. It plays video files again (with the odd jitter, but nothing as bad as it was), though Flash video can still be troublesome.

I finished reading Watchmen yesterday - though, when I say 'finished reading', I mean I read the main story, skipping much of the metafiction that adds to the experience as I found it cumbersome. I'll go back and read it again, taking a different route, then I'll read it again for the interviews, news clippings and autobiography snippets later. It is quite an impressive story and, despite knowing broadly how it pans out, the end was still quite surprising. In many ways, it seems a strange book to turn into a movie, because there's such a large moral grey area involved. I hope Hollywood doesn't try to 'clarify' too much...

The artwork hasn't aged that well... by today's Photoshop-savvy standards, the colouring is very basic and bland, and really doesn't get across that Doctor Manhattan is actually glowing blue. And while I'm not sure I can believe or accept the Silk Spectre costume from the movie (seriously - it's just a Dominatrix costume in opaque black and translucent yellow rubber), the costume in the book is just terrible. Odd, when you consider that most of the others work quite well (with the exception of the original Nite Owl and Ozymandius) and translate quite well into real-world costumed (Nite Owl II in particular).

Today, I may be shifting stuff over to the flat... depends whether or not I hear from my boss. That said, my sister's husband will have access to a van sometime over the coming week, so stuff should be moving one way or another.

If not today, perhaps I can get a bit of photography done. Before Christmas, I bought myself a TransFormers Universe (Classics) Ironhide and Silverstreak, along with a bunch more Robot Heroes sets (Arcee/Rumble, Rhinox/Waspinator, Optimus Primal/Tarantulas).

Ironhide is pretty good, but needed some serious paintwork straight out of the pack. The red plastic is very anaemic, and his black/red upper legs were in dire need of metallic paint. His weapon was cast in dull grey plastic, and now has a coat of metallic paint (I kinda wish I'd held out and ordered the Japanese version, with its chromed weapon) so that looks decent enough. Oddly, I haven't had half the problems others have reported. Sure, his head doesn't come out flush with his shoulders, but that kinda suits Ironhide.

Silverstreak is basically the same as Prowl... but something went wrong with his assembly, as his hips were barely mobile, and rotating one cause a large crack in the upper leg. Nothing dangerous, but annoying nonetheless. It looks as though the balljoints on the hips are too large for the slots in the upper legs, so large depressions were formed (possibly the plastic wasn't properly set). I filed the balls down a bit and they're much better now... but still very tight. Other than that, it's basically Prowl without the lightbar and with a different paint job. I had intended not to buy repaints of this mold, and I certainly won't buy Smokescreen (they haven't remolded any parts between Prowl/Silverstreak and Smokescreen), but this one looked pretty cool, and was the last one left.

Now all my Classics collection needs is a few more Decepticons... so I'm happy to see that Universe Silverbolt is being repainted as Darkwing. The mold almost looks cool in those colours.

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The Obligatory Reviews

So, another Christmas, another Doctor Who Christmas Special.

Can I just say that I'm really not going to miss Russell T. Davis as a writer? Sure, he'll probably have written some of 2009's specials, including the Christmas show, but at least he won't be writing a good chunk of a series.

The last series was welcome change from the constant hymn of just how wonderful the Doctor is but this Christmas Special endeavored to remind us by presenting not just one Doctor, but two... and not in the grand tradition of those episodes on 'Classic' Doctor Who, where several Doctors were in the same story due to some clever trickery and sleight of plot.

Oh no. Not for Russell T. the tried and tested formula of a mystery so deep and an enemy so powerful, it needed more than one Doctor to defeat it... This was a whole different kettle of fish.

But I shan't offer spoilers.

Except to say that the giant Cyberman "Dreadnought" at the end reminded me far too much of the animated Iron Giant movie with, perhaps, the slightest nod to live-action TransFormers. It was reasonably cool... but utterly wasted in a bland denouement, utterly without thrills or truly apparent consequences. Villains who self destruct when they're show their true nature don't even work that well in Fairy Tales.

Oops. That was a spoiler. Sorry.

I had high hopes for the story - Cybermen controlled by a mere human woman? The promised "awakening of the CyberKing"? A whole new slant on the Industrial Revolution? Sadly, the show delivered very little of its promise and, while it was better than last year's effort (which I for one can barely remember, it was so poor), it wasn't a patch on some of the episodes of the last series. Some of the dialogue - particularly the Doctor's claim that his companions eventually 'broke his heart' - was clumsy and didn't ring true (remember the episode where Tennant's Doctor met up with Sarah Jane? Who broke whose heart there?)

And particularly amusing was Russell T.'s assertion in the Confidential show afterward that the 'comedy' scene of the Doctors being pulled through a warehouse by a cyberised monkey (they said dog, or something, but it looked like a monkey to me...) was somehow funny, and served to forge a friendship between the Doctors far better than any dialogue would have.

Or perhaps I'm being unfair... because I was also pretty disappointed by this year's Wallace & Grommit - A Matter of Loaf and Death. All the usual ingredients were there - brilliant animation, clever movie references, silly puns and visual gags - but it seemed... dare I say... Half baked?

There was something not quite right, not quite dazzling, in the plot of a serial killer going after bakers and making hapless Wallace the next target. I only really laughed during the last few minutes, where references to the old Adam West Batman movie and Aliens genuinely tickled me.

In between, Shreck the Halls, another Christmas Special, failed to light my candle until Puss in Boots (voiced as ever by Antonio Banderas - perfect casting for the feline rogue) arrived on the scene, and delivered a perfectly judged Christmas story right up until he got distracted by a dangly thing and 'shamed himself'.

Blimey... Christmas really has lost its magic, hasn't it?

My Grandmother has returned to her flat - earlier than I'd expected, but this can only be a good thing. As per last year, the place was very silent until my sister and her husband arrived. There's very little you can bring yourself to talk about if you know you're just going to be asked the same questions all over again in a couple of minutes.

And, hey, at least this year she won't be wandering into my bedroom in the middle of the night...

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Yule Blog #1

A friend recently asked me if I was still blogging, and I replied (I seem to recall) with a perfunctory "on and off".

I has seemed, over the last few months, that it has been far more off than on, but I really haven't had a lot that I wanted to say.

Even this, at the moment, is more for the sake of writing something than having something to write about. But better to write about nothing than write nothing.

Christmas really has lost its magic for me. It starts earlier and earlier each year (even - or perhaps particularly - in times of economic stress), but no matter how many streets get lit up with gaudy Christmas lights, the whole thing is a very empty experience. I don't feel part of it the way I used to. I don't feel any excitement building toward Christmas Day, and that's not just because I already know what I'm getting (having bought most of it myself).

People will harp on about the commercialisation of Christmas (except not so much this year, because we all need to make money), but it's not just that. And it's not just the looming threat of recession that dulls the celebrations.

No idea what it is... Mostly, for me, I'm concerned about my flat (when am I moving in, for crying out loud?), my folks (particularly now the cat's dead, the house is going to be very quiet once I'm gone, and I'll be worrying about them), my sister (announcing the pregnancy so early, I dread what might happen between now and August 2009... and, despite my fondest dream of having five kids, I doubt the wisdom of bringing another new life into this tumultuous world).

So when Christmas Day rolls round, and I'd rather turn over, pull the duvet over my head and go back to sleep, I know that's not an option I can choose... The family will be gathering, as usual.

My mother popped out to collect her mother around midday. I was sort-of-napping, and found my Grandmother in the lounge when I went downstairs for a drink. I think I heard her arrive, but wasn't entirely conscious at the time, so it didn't really register.

My sister and her husband arrived at about 2.30, which gave them ample time to settle before the Queen's Speech.

Presents were exchanged shortly thereafter. My 2008 haul is as follows:

Watchmen - Graphic novel, on my want list for years, but I never bothered picking it up whenever I saw it, until this year, because of the upcoming movie. I passed it on to my mother for a present.

Belkin Laptop Cooling Stand - on my want list for a few months, and particularly timely because my laptop recently shut itself down when I left it on to write a DVD.

Kitchen Stuff - specifically hooks and rails for hanging towels and things from my parents, and starter sets of cutlery, plates, pots, pans, etc from my grandmother.

A chocolate bell - from my sister, along with the cryptic remark that it was a substitute present because the real one hadn't arrived.

A Chinese tea set - from my boss, because she'd threatened new mugs every year now that I have a flat.

A Clockwork Gort from The Day The Earth Stood Still (the original) - also from my boss, an as a substitute for the light tent which hadn't arrived in time.

That's all for now... Dinner is being served...

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The Day The Plot Stood Still

Remakes.

Generally a bad idea... most of the time, all that's added are spiffy special effects, the likes of which were not available the first time round.

And then there's the remake of Sci-Fi classic The Day The Earth Stood Still... which even fails to add spiffy special effects, and detracts from the tight, simple story of the original by introducing a dysfunctional fractured family unit.

Naturally, they couldn't have the young boy showing the alien around New York City, as he did in the original, because today's squeamish audiences would be seeing hints of potential paedophilia (ah, for the innocent times portrayed in the original, when all we had to fear was Communism!).

Also, the anti-militaristic slant of the original has shifted to a more 'global eco-rescue' angle for the remake... where Klaatu (they kept than name, but never had him adopt the name 'Carpenter') is here "To save the Earth... From us..."

Gort remains, but he's now massive, and made out of nanobots (oops, sorry, SPOILER!.. although I believe that's given away in the trailer), and the name is an acronym applied by the US military scientists studying him. I was reminded of the Cylons in the new Battlestar Galactica TV series, but G.O.R.T. is even more bland.

It was all rather unimaginative... and Klaatu, as played by Keanu Reeves, might as well have been sleepwalking, or a zombie.

On the subject of the Undead, I was loaned a DVD box set of Resident Evil: Apocalypse, RE: Extinction and - bizarrely - Doom this weekend. Watched the two RE films on Friday night, and was roundly disappointed. I'd seen the second one in the cinema and not been too impressed. It's even worse the second time around. The third one I didn't bother with, since it looked daft in the trailers - Zombies in a Mad Max-style post-apocalyptic desert landscape? - and the full story flies headlong into the ridiculous. These films were supposed to be based on the videogames? Why give Alice anime-style 'Psionic Powers'? And why, of you're going to introduce the Tyrant from the first game into the third film, make him the easiest 'End of Level Boss' in the franchise?

And they're making a fourth film? With an army of Clone-Alices going up against the global Umbrella Corporation? OK, even more Milla Jovovich on screen is nothing to complain about... but couldn't the films have run a closer parallel to the games?

The less said about Doom, the better. It was terrible the first time I saw it, and even worse the second. Not even the amusing idea of Dexter Fletcher becoming a mutated pig-beast makes it worth watching.

So... Other stuff.

The fact that I'm still not in the flat just goes to show how slow I'm being in sorting things out. The kitchen is done, except inasmuch as the hob still isn't working (in theory, having spent three weeks now trying to get it fixed, the manufacturers will give me a replacement). The flooring is mostly done, and everything else is livable for the time being. I'd like to report that I'll be in there before New Year... but I suspect I won't be.

Our cat died recently... At home, lying underneath the dining room table. He just seemed to have 'shut down' - his eyes were open, so he wasn't even asleep when it happened. There are no signs of pain, so hopefully it was peaceful. If not, at least he was with his adopted family (it's never an adoptive family with cats, after all), rather than at the vet.

Big news - due to get bigger over the next few months - is that my sister is pregnant. Serious shellshock all round (though our mother is ecstatic at the idea of being a Grandmother).

Work is fairly chaotic. The Christmas do, about a week ago, was typical of everything I hate about the company and its staff. People are leaving or threatening to leave left, right and centre, and there's a hiring freeze. There's a proposed new structure already, but that's potentially going to cause the company legal problems.

Personally, I'm unmotivated and demoralised, and - as can be seen by the lack of posting to this here blog - not doing a whole lot of writing. Well, I've done some, but not in the catagory I'd prefer to be working in, and it's been going rather to waste for the time being.

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The Other Weekend News

Went off to Memorabilia at the Birmingham NEC on Friday, stayed the night in the usual hotel, trotted off to the show clutching my Early Bird tickets, and things got off to a pretty good start when I got handed a City of Villains DVD box set, including a book of concept art from City of Heroes/Villains, some Heroclix figures from the game, and everything I'd need to play the game (free for the first month!) online.

After that, it was the usual, systematic wander round the show. It was about average for the winter show in terms of number and variety of stalls, but there were vastly fewer attendees. Even by lunchtime it wasn't remotely as crowded as it has been in the past.

Despite having almost £200 in my wallet when I arrived, I didn't spend a great deal - both because I was intending to be sensible and because there actually wasn't a great deal that I really wanted. I picked up Deep Space Starscream and BT20 Argent Meister from one stall (the guy who always has a tin of Quality Street) at 20% off the marked price because the stallholder wanted to clear his stock, then grabbed the Japanese (Henkei) version of Classics Sideswipe elsewhere. The temptation to pick up Omega Supreme is still not quite strong enough to overpower my aim to avoid overspending on toys.

I was somewhat disappointed that I couldn't pick up obvious Christmas presents for anyone, but I have several already, so that wasn't too bad.

The big disappointment was the lack of stuff happening on stage. At previous shows, they've had several stages running all day, but this one had only one stage, sparsely filled with a small number of events each day... And no really interesting ones at that.

But on the whole, it was a good day out.

Dinner that evening proved to be a bit troublesome, in that I tried a small sample of beef from my companion's plate. I don't normally eat beef because it can make me ill, but she was so emphatic in her praise of this beef that I couldn't resist. After all, it could well be that the beef I've eaten has been cheap and poor quality, or badly cooked.

Sadly, it seems that beef generally will make me ill. About 15-20 minutes after eating it, I felt like I'd swallowed a lead weight. The morning after, I threw up a couple of times.

Thing is, beef has kind of a musty aftertaste... and I suspect something to do with that is causing my stomach to act up. It tastes off, so my stomach behaves as if it is off, even if it's not.

The drive home on Sunday took a brief detour but was otherwise uneventful, largely because my companion saw the need to get me home as soon as possible, so I could lie down and start to feel better.

Shellshock

Got back from Memorabilia today and learned withing a few minutes of walking into the house that my sister is pregnant.

When I spoke to her on the phone later, she was a little put out that she wasn't the first person to tell me, but only a little. She's not looking forward to being pregnant during the summer - she's been told its most uncomfortable... though this probably assumes a hot summer.

So, I'm going to be an uncle around August next year...

Hell's bells...

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Familiar (as in derivative) Dreams

Imagine, if you will, a stately home on a large hill (or mountain). The house is owned by a disgraced superhero, occupied only by himself and his ever-loyal butler. Surrounding the house is an artificial moat. Not a large one... more of an inconvenience than an outright deterrent to would-be invaders. Plus it's empty of anything but algae and the sludge that accrues in such places. The butler asks either if the drawbridge (such as it is) should be lowered, or if it would be acceptable to leave the moat drained... I'm not quite sure about that detail.

This evening, he has invited over four friends... Each of whom happens to be a superhero, and each of whom played a part in his disgrace.

Before they arrive, the butler remarks to his master how lovely it will be to have company for a change. "Happy Human-things", he says, as one might say 'happy birthday'. His master merely glares at him in silence.

The four heroes arrive one by one - each by unconventional means, and in their superhero costumes - and, when the arrive in the entrance hall, they are illuminated by what could easily be some kind of targetting system - orange circles, dancing red lines, that kind of thing. They introduce themselves to each other... by explaining the part they played in their host's downfall. "I stopped him blowing up the city", "I stopped him poisoning the air", "I stopped his Death Ray Satellite", that sort of thing.

I woke up around the time the third arrival started telling his story, which is a real shame. If it weren't so derivative, it would have been a really cool story. It reminded me of Watchmen... Hell, I think a Doc Manhattan clone appeared in one flashback! I seem to recall that the idea of the invite was much the same as in Watchmen - to announce that his latest plan was already in action, and there was no way even the four of them could stop him this time. Shame he never got to deliver his monologue.

In the real world - as much as work could be considered 'real world', the record for latest night in the office has been broken by my team (oh the shame of it), and now stands at 9.30pm, largely because one particular Salesman didn't bother sorting out his feature sales. At 5.30, he was still chasing copy. While my team are understandably rather pissed off, I am at least glad that the problem wasn't ours except by default.

The salesman in question announced at around 8pm that he needed to go home to his daughter. I turned to his manager and added "Because obviously the rest of us don't have social lives". He had the good sense to apologise. Towards the end of the evening, he decided that, next month, he wouldn't sell features. His manager informed him that wasn't an option. I really wish he gets fired... but I doubt it somehow. Too many morons get second chances... then third... then fourth... until it just gets ridiculous.

My kitchen is basically done, though, so that's a good thing. I'll be arranging an official viewing (I popped over before and after work today just to have a quick shufty), final payment and handover of keys for tomorrow. Aside from the few glitches in the last few days, I'm very happy with the end result. It looks like my kitchen, which is quite significant.

Also significant is that my bin has been nicked. There goes another £35 to the Council.

Still haven't received my Memorabilia tickets... which is a little worrying, considering it's this weekend. Still, I only ordered them last week, and I'd imagine they do these things in batches.

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Two Rooms Down (Almost)

The kitchen could definitely be said to be taking shape.

Almost the right shape, too, bar a couple of inconsistencies with the original plan, due either to miscommunication or lack of communication. Also a couple of technical glitches, but these could happen to anyone.

The main issue is with the tiling. All along, I'd said I wanted the tiling to run all the way to the kitchen door from the same level as the rest of the tiling, down to the skirting. The kitchen fitter was not aware of this, and so had finished his tiling at the end of the worktop. This wouldn't be such a problem were it not for the breakfast bar, which has been mounted at the wrong height and, in spite of the instruction to move it yesterday, is still in the wrong position today. Really, that needs to be fitted after the tiling is done.

It also seems as though there's a leak in the pipework below the sink... At least, there was a large puddle there when I opened the cabinet. And it seemed as though the fitter had decided to use a flannel from the bathroom to mop things up, despite the availability of kitchen roll and j-cloths.

I almost regret the idea to go with local businesses for all this work... I don't mind the over-running of the work (it was supposed to be finished on Friday, and it looks as though there's still a couple of days' work before it's truly finished) as long as the extra time is used to get it right, but the miscommunication is very poor.

Intentions vs End Results

It occurs to me, now and then, that I'd intended to document the progress of my flat, photographing each room in various states of refurnishing and writing about how it was all going.

And yet, here we are with the bedroom as complete as it can be till the hall gets sorted out and the kitchen almost complete (I had a phone call today from the salesman, asking how I'd like my cupboard handles fitted - horizontally or vertically), and the only photos I managed to take were of the early stages of fitting the flooring in the bedroom.

So much for that idea.

In other news, work spirals into new levels of crappiness. We have an interesting new system whereby the Commercial Managers now have full responsibility for the content of the magazines. Rather than collecting proofs and sending them to the Printers, we now hand them to the Commercial Managers, who collate them into a book and sign them off. Only when they are happy do we send the magazine to print.

Thus, if the wrong ad goes in and they've signed it off, it ain't a Production error. If a client has a colour requirement, but didn't send a colour proof (as stated in our Terms & Conditions) and then complains about the colour, it ain't a Production error. If pages somehow go in in the wrong order (as happened on one of my magazines recently, because I can't have been concentrating) but they get signed off in that order, it ain't a Production error.

Of course, in practice, we can't do that, and we end up sending pages as they're completed (pretty much as we've always done), but now we have the added hassle of the CMs badgering for more pages.

One, for example, asked me to start handing stuff over for his magazine (deadline this Wednesday) last Friday, the press day for one of my other magazines. I flatly refused - there was nothing to give him at that time, but I was too busy with my current magazine to do anything else.

He complained to the MD that I wasn't doing my job.

My manager got called in, and she and the MD explained - slowly, so as not to frighten him - that this is perfectly normal. The actual production cycle for each magazine is effectively three days. It can be no different, because each team works on six magazines per month. While the CMs are 'responsible' for a set of magazines (2 CMs in our office, one in the North office, one in the South office), they tend only to work on one or two at most.

They somehow failed to realise that Production is a busy department, and that the time we have to devote to the magazine as a team is very limited. Individual designers get 2 weeks to work on editorial for each of their magazines, but they also have to work on 2 sets of Classified each.

The maths is simple. Really it is. Six magazines per team of three Designers, two Copy Controllers and one Production Manager/General Dogsbody equals not a lot of time.

I also had to point out to one of the Salesmen on Friday that staying past 5.30... or even 7.30... is nothing new to us. Once they've signed everything off and left the office for the day, we often have more than an hour's work still to process. This, too, came as a surprise.

Next, one of the newbie Copy Controllers tried to resign, citing my 'unhelpful attitude' as the reason. Supposedly I'd dismissed a request for help. Not how I remember it, but my manager seems to think my memory is faulty, did not listen to my side, and gave me a bollocking. Then later gave me another bollocking over her "grammatically correct" instruction on proofing.

That said, she has a very painful ear infection, and isn't quite back to normal after her husband's rather serious health scare, so I'm inclined to overlook some of her shoutiness.

Here's to looking for a new job in the new year...

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Third night

It has become a habit of mine to spend Friday nights at my flat. The first couple were rather unsettled and restless but last night was much better, with a couple of odd exceptions.

I woke up suddenly around 3am, convinced I'd just heard my front door open (or close). This was highly unlikely, but I went to check anyway. Either I was dreaming the sound, or it came from one of the other flats, because all was quiet.

When I finally got back to sleep, I had a strange dream involving an ex-colleague, but set at my parents' house, in the lounge.

Not a perfect night's sleep by a long shot, but the bags under my eyes are much reduced.

Work last week wasn't much fun. I've been getting a little behind in some flatplans (though steaming ahead on others), and my boss - what with her husband in hospital and everything - hasn't been doing a great job of keeping things moving along.

Friday's magazine went out quite late and, since I was in the office late trying to arrange an 8-page cut to my Monday (now Tuesday) magazine, I helped out a little and uploaded some of the last few pages.

Today, I've managed to pick flooring for the kitchen at my flat and make a tentative decision on carpet for the lounge - assisted by the guy who runs the shop, who advised against a dark carpet, as it would show up dirt, dust, etc. While the lounge is not high on the 'To Do' list, it's nice to have a good idea of what I'm going to do with it.

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Edging closer

Getting everything done that I needed to do shouldn't have been a problem... but we left late - almost 3pm - ended up going by bus because the trains were in a mess, and cut the day's excursion short because I was starving by the time we'd sorted out the tiles.

It should have occurred to me to have something for lunch, considering all I'd had for breakfast was a bowl of cornflakes.

Because I didn't, hunger had developed into a headache in the short walk between the station and home. That really buggered up my evening. I managed to watch Merlin (still pretty tepid, but Michelle Ryan is a very watchable villain even when the dialogue fails to convince), then fell asleep in the hour between the end of that and the beginning of the repeat of Sanctuary, which hadn't recorded during the week either for my mother or my boss.

One might almost suspect that eldritch forces were conspiring against me.

It may be that I'll go out in search of flooring tomorrow, or I may stay home and photograph my TFCC goodies... Depends on weather and timing.

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Hurdles

It could never be said that this last week went without a hitch.

While I had three designers for most of the week, one left early on Thursday feeling unwell and was sent to hospital for an ECG on Friday. Turned out his heart is fine, but they had to be sure. It seems that stress has a very adverse effect on him... but it's not work stress. Looked as though he wanted to talk about it on Thursday, but not in public.

Another of my team is almost consistently late. This bugs me mainly because she had stopped calling to say she was going to be late, and why. I had a little chat with her and cleared that up, but this last week she was late and belligerent. When it was pointed out to her that she'd made a total hash of six pages of estate agent advertising, she tried to prove she hadn't. Because she had failed even to use the correct style sheet - very strange, considering how fiercely she fights to get others to use them properly, and how much she complains when they don't - she just made herself look stupid, lazy and belligerent. I suspect some influencing factor outside of work that I'm not aware of... but then, she also wanted to take time off before Christmas, despite our departmental rule that there's no holiday time in December, and the fact that she's already taken more than her annual holiday allowance.

My new designer is working out quite well, though. She's able to communicate with her editors well enough, and is gradually learning what they like. While I was worried about having a chatterbox on the team (that's self-avowed chatterbox), it's all working out quite well, because the work is getting done. The trays are never full, and generally only have three or four jobs in them at any time, unless the copy controllers are slacking off and doing things in bursts.

Our trainee has now been in hospital for about two weeks... but hopes to be back to work on Monday.

We have one new copy controller already - on trial right now, but she made the right impression (except outside the department, where all anyone can say is that she's gorgeous or "so fashionable"). We have another in the pipeline but three more interviews to go before we can safely make a decision.

The upshot is that my boss won't be my copy controller for much longer. Good for me, because everything should run smoother. Good for her, because she'll be able to deal with all the other shit instead.

During the week, I got my 2008 Exclusives from the TransFormers Collectors' Club - Nightbeat (from the Energon Hotshot mold) and the Seacons. While repaints of G1 figures aren't high on my priority list, this set are pretty cool (read: I hated them at first, but they slowly won me over and I had an almost complete set of the G1 version until I finally got Snaptrap on eBay this year, and I wanted to support the Club), and will make a neat contrast to the brightly coloured G1 version. I've been reading about quality control issues on the Club forum and my set is not without them. There are a couple of stress marks in the plastic of one figure, certain parts don't fit well - Targetmaster weapon modes are affected, rather than combined Piranacon mode - and some joints are a little on the loose side. Then again, this is a 20-odd year old mold that's been re-released at least once. The Club's colour scheme was due to be a Wal-Mart exclusive some years ago, and no-one quite knows how far through production they'd got - if at all - before the idea was canned.

Nightbeat is made from one of the most mediocre molds Energon had to offer, and yet manages to be a decent enough figure. Poseability is limited, only partly due to the Powerlinx gimmick and it's quite simplistic overall... but it has its charm.

I spent another night at the flat last night - still quite restless, but I'd been sleeping in my usual bed all week, so that's not necessarily surprising. I popped into the shop that's redoing my kitchen to finalise the worktop and came away with samples of my top two choices. Now all I need to do is finalise my choice of tiles (I have a good idea of what I want, but need to see it in person) and pick some vinyl flooring. Should be no problem...

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First Night

Once the bedroom was sorted, it was my plan to spend a night over there, just to get the feel of it. The aim was to drop by Ikea or something during the week and pick up everything I'd need to turn the bed into something I could sleep in.

I normally get a lift home from my boss, and she's only to happy to make such diversions (not least because it helps propel me out of my parents' home), but this week she's been rushing home early because her husband has been in hospital all week with breathing problems which turned out to be heart-related.

So when it looked like I wasn't going to get to Ikea, my mother offered to take a few things over there. I rather snappily refused, insisting that I'd take whatever I needed myself, and started drawing up contingencies...

After all, what does one really need to make a bed? There's a sofabed already there, and I could make do with the cushions from that as pillows. My mother's suggestion that pillowcases from home would somehow make them "more hygienic" was promptly laughed at, not least because the average pillowcase is made of fairly thin fabric and, let's face it, I've already dozed on the sofa.

I reasoned that all I truly needed was a sheet to put on the mattress and a blanket. With much reluctance (and having to be torn away from the TV) my mother agreed and helped me find suitable things.

Part of my stupidly large collection of t-shirts also came with me, because there's way more storage space at the flat than at home (how long will it take for me to refer to the flat as 'home', I wonder?), with a five-drawer unit for the clothes that won't fit in the wardrobe, which is much larger than the fitted one in my bedroom at home.

So I went to work with a stuffed backpack, expecting to have to haul it to the flat after work.

But, of course, one of my designers is still in hospital and my boss had been talking about paying her a visit with flowers and a card, but hadn't got round to it. This proved rather fortunate for me as she suggested I tag along, and she'd deposit me at the flat on her way out of town.

Visiting hours at the hospital turned out to be rather awkward, so we ended up leaving at only 2pm, much to the surprise of my team...

It turned out very well for me, though, as we stopped off at a Tesco along the way, intending to pick up flowers (or a plant, as my boss was sure flowers wouldn't be allowed on the ward), but also picking up everything I needed to make the bed - mattress protector, fitted sheet, duvet, pillows and a duvet/pillow case set... as well as a new dustpan and brush, because I'd noticed my parents had managed to break the one that was already there.

The hospital visit was a bit grim. My designer is looking fairly well, but it seems she has Lupus and the joint infections may be related to that. While she kept talking about being back at work next week - aiming for Monday - our boss pointed out that it would be better to get well before even considering returning to work.

Oh, and the plant wasn't allowed. It had to be set aside to be collected by her mother later.

On the way over to the flat, my boss mused that it was strange the girl wore so much makeup when she looked so much better without. It's possibly just a personal thing - many girls do - or it may be related to the Lupus, if it manifests itself with skin inflammation.

Once at the flat, I quickly unloaded everything and dashed back down to the car, as my boss had further offered to drop me off at a tiling shop so I could look into tiles for my new kitchen. Everything there looked great for bathrooms, but not so good for kitchens. Their brochure helpfully labels all the tiles with icons indicating suitability for bathroom, kitchen, flooring, etc... but that didn't seem to affect this.

The bizarre thing, as my mother pointed out yesterday, was that I was offering all kinds of interior design suggestions when she was redecorating the house... but now it's my space that needs designing, I'm coming up blank all the time.

I left the tile shop with their catalogue, intending to read it thoroughly back at the flat.

The evening was fairly dull, the tedium interrupted only by a phone call from my boss (husband back home having finally had the ultrasound scan of his heart that revealed the true - containable but sadly incurable - malaise) and the hour and forty minutes of Kiki's Delivery Service - a movie guaranteed to raise one's spirits.

I headed to bed and had a terrible time getting to sleep in a bed that, while about a foot wider than my wallbed, kept making me think I was about to fall out of it.

Eventually I dropped off - though I'd spent several hours cursing that I'd not brought a book along - and slept fitfully, waking up early enough to do a bit of tidying up and watch some terrible kids TV before heading off to the chiropractor.

So far, the rest of the weekend has been fairly idle. That said, the weather has turned rather cold and when, so I'm not well inclined to go out anywhere... and there's not really enough light to do any worthwhile photography.

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Ticking along...

OK, so we weren't completely screwed today.

My unwell designer was off again, but saw her doctor and now needs blood tests. These are being postponed so she can come into work tomorrow.

The designer who was admitted to hospital was still there today, pending test results... I honestly don't expect to see her this week.

My designer with the recently-broken arm has been told she may never recover full flexibility in her left arm, but since she's young, she has a fair chance.

My boss came in shortly before lunchtime and left just before 5pm, but is aiming to be in tomorrow, to see the magazine out.

Theoretically, I'll have a full house, and tomorrow's magazine isn't looking terrible. It helps that it's small...

Watched episode 2 of Merlin this evening... The trouble with much of today's genre television, I feel, is that it's created by fans of the genres, who are well versed in the conventions of those genres. And so they follow them slavishly. Merlin, so far, has used clichés and stereotypes, and presented us with predictable, one-dimensional villains-du-jour. OK, it is only episode 2... but if they're recycling material already, it doesn't bode well.

Oh, and didn't they establish in episode 1 that Merlin didn't need incantations to make magic happen? So... why is he now using incantations? Is this how he 'learns' to control his power?

The setup for what looks to be a love triangle between Merlin, Guinevere and Arthur is very clumsy, and I hope they do something interesting with Morgana the Eyecandy sometime soon. Hell, I hope they do something interesting with the whole darned concept sometime soon.

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The Incredible Disappearing Spider

It's no secret that I'm not a big fan of spiders.

This evening, I found one sitting - the picture of innocence - on my bed.

Naturally, I tried to swat it but, the bed being rather soft and covered with a duvet, that didn't work out too well.

I tried several times to swat it, and then it vanished.

I'm pretty sure I didn't hallucinate it, so it really did just disappear in front of my eyes. One second (pre-swat) it was there, the next (after missing again) it was not. It could have crawled into my shirt sleeve, but I stripped completely and found no sign of it.

This is rather disquieting, as I need to go to bed right about now.

Equally disquieting, but in a very different way, was the phone call I received from my boss earlier this evening, who has had to take her husband to hospital. He may well have pneumonia and, having improved during the early part of last week, took a downturn towards the end and over the weekend.

Chances are, she won't be in tomorrow, so I'll have to get one of the copy controllers to cover the work she was doing on my Wednesday deadline, and there was a stack of other stuff she didn't get round to today that I'll have to fob off somewhere.

I had two designers off sick today - one admitted to hospital over the weekend, the other just generally 'unwell' - with another taking the day off to get her recently-broken arm checked over now it's been out of the sling for a couple of weeks.

I already knew one of my designers would be off tomorrow (for Eid), so I can only hope that my unwell designer will be back tomorrow, or we'll be potentially screwed.

Not good.

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Meanwhile...

While I was at Collectormania, my parents had planned to pop over to my flat to finish off the bedroom furniture in preparation for the arrival of the bed on Monday.

They returned home a short while ago and, when I asked how things had gone, my mother smiled and said "We went to Kew Gardens instead... We'll have a whole day there tomorrow, as the bed is due between 12 and 6."

For crying out loud...

No, don't worry... I don't have plans for Monday night that might possibly involve the flat, and that 'P' word you have such trouble understanding. I'm not entertaining, or anything.

I swear they do this just to annoy me.

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Uncommon Restraint

Headed off to Milton Keynes for Collectormania as planned. Nice, easy journey getting there, despite patches of fog on the way (my companion mentioned that it had been much worse on her way from home to pick me up, and she'd been limited to about 50mph on the motorway because of it).

The problem with going to Collectormania on a Sunday is that you're pretty much guaranteed to find a huge chunk of the cool stuff is already gone. The problem with Collectormania at the CentreMK is that it's shoehorned into one area of courtyard that's way too small for this kind of event. Once you place all the star guests, there's very little room for the vendors, and I get the impression that many are no longer attending because there's not enough room for a good display.

But hey, it's free entrance. Take that into account, and you can almost forgive the annoying, barging enthusiasts, and the idiots who think it's sensible to drive a pram through crowded, narrow walkways between stalls.

And the good news is that the next one - planned for early next year - has a whole new venue - at the local football stadium. Whether they'll be on the pitch or in the corridors remains to be seen, but I'd like to give it a try. Can't be any worse than Earls Court 2.

There were a couple of stall selling TransFormers, and I managed to grab the last Animated Voyager Optimus Prime - which seems rather hard to find in my neck of the woods - for a whole £2 cheaper than Voyagers at Toys'R'Us, so I was quite chuffed. He's turned out to be a bit of a disappointment - in terms of build quality, it feels kind of like a knock-off. Bits don't fit very well, parts don't clip together as they should, things fall off... but it's still pretty cool overall. Poseable and dynamic, with plenty of character. A bit of superglue will probably fix my biggest concerns.

I passed on Premium Series movie Bumblebee because they seem to have used matte paint. Anyone who's seen the movie would know that seriously shiny gloss was in order. Battle-damaged Arcee piqued my interest for a few moments, but I decided to pass... Though I almost regret that now, as I really like the mold.

So other than Optimus, all I got for myself was a couple of new t-shirts from the almost omnipresent Retro GT - a new design of 'Health Food' and a cool scanline effect Space Invader.

Although I've already got birthday and Christmas presents for my mother this year, I couldn't help but pick up another of the dragons in ex-Enchantica artist Andrew Bill's new line, Bookwyrms - Black Beauty certainly lives up to its name.

After we'd tired of the show - and having cleaned out the American foodstuffs shop for everything that tickled out fancy - some general retail therapy ensued as we wandered around the CentreMK to make the most of the visit.

It's actually quite a nice shopping centre - like Brent Cross, but (mainly) on one level only, and rather less chavvy. That said, my companion did point out several people with very dubious dress sense, and they weren't even in costume for Collectormania. On that subject, one passer-by (dressed in vest, slack trousers and miscellaneous tattoos) commented that she didn't understand why people dressed up for that sort of thing: "It's just pathetic". Right.

On the way back, we took the scenic route, just for fun, and visited a pub my companion hadn't been to for many years, then drove back to London via Leighton Buzzard. Quite a pleasant journey, on what had turned out to be a really lovely day. Mornings are getting chillier - my windows were steamed up again today - but the days have been bright and clear.

Shame it's getting dark so quickly now.

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Of Early Starts and Headaches

Today could have gone a heck of a lot better...

The plan, such as it was, was to get over to the flat early to be available to receive the replacement furniture parts from MFI, have lunch with my sister, then pop off shopping for tiles and flooring for the kitchen.

I managed to sleep through my alarm, and my mother chose to check on me at 7.30... Coincidentally, the time I needed to leave the house to be sure of getting to the flat in time was 7.30.

I pointed out to my mother that there was no way I'd get to the flat in time for 8am, and she rather reluctantly offered to go over there herself, since she was already dressed and ready for the day... but then she spent another 15 minutes bumbling about.

Meanwhile, I did the bare bones of washing, literally threw on some clothes, and bolted out of the door... mere seconds after my mother.

We were fortunate enough with the train, despite missing one while walking to the station, and managed to arrive at the flat only a little after 8am. Thankfully, it turned out the delivery people had a hard time finding the flat (they phoned home from a location that sounded something like the right address, but was wrong in a couple of critical details, so my father attempted - three times - to give them directions, even though they had a GPS with the postcode tapped in.

They finally arrived sometime after 10am, delivered the new parts and took away the old and damaged. I put together then last drawer for the larger set of drawers and then went back to reading my book.

My father arrived to deal with the complicated processes like fitting the lighted rail to the wardrobe, connecting the two halves and adding the 'Space Genie' drawers (only to add them to the wrong places... and they're going to be very hard to remove), but the job was incomplete when we left for the day, for many reasons.

After having lunch (sandwiches at the flat... I cannot understand why my folks are so reluctant to try the restaurants all over the area) with my visiting sister, my mother and I headed off in search of a newly-opened tiling shop with which the kitchen people have a trade account. Since the directions he gave were aimed at drivers - we went by bus - they didn't help us very much, and we ended up heading in completely the wrong direction, only seeing signs pointing to the tile shop on our way back to the flat.

The driver of the bus on our return journey was possibly the grumpiest guy on the planet. One passenger asked him for directions to the shops, and he yelled that there were many shops along the stretch of road ahead, and that she should be more specific. She got off at the next stop. Shortly afterward, a guy got on carrying an ironing board, and the driver quibbled the safety of such an item. Two stops down the line, he stopped the bus and turned off the engine because he wanted the ironing board off his bus. After a brief argument, the owner of the ironing board disembarked (while other passengers protested on his behalf), calling the driver a racist.

By the time we got back to the flat - having stopped off at my optician to get the arms on my new glasses adjusted so they don't slip down my nose all the time - I had a nasty headache, which has persisted all evening.

We got home having missed Merlin, but it's repeated in the early hours, so we're aiming to record it. I hope this one is better than the first part.

Tomorrow, with any luck, I shall be heading to Milton Keynes for Collectormania...

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Commercial Realities

I had an informal chat with one of my staff today. About money.

Really bad subject to bring up with me, really bad subject to bring up at work at the moment. To make matters worse, we'd had an announcement today of five promotions within Sales - we now have four Commercial Managers (only a couple of years ago we made do with one) and a new Senior Salesperson. At least two of those promotions are the result of boarding the Brown-nose Express.

Basically, my designer is getting married and his girlfriend thinks he should be earning more. That probably tells you everything you need to know about their relationship (as in who wears the trousers).

I can understand where he's coming from, but he's already had it explained to him by my boss that he won't get any kind of pay rise till next April. I explained it to him again anyway, trying to put it into a bit of perspective (the trouble our boss went to to get everyone the right pay rise this year, Senior Designer redundancies purely to cut costs, etc), but I could already see him trying to figure out what he was going to tell his girlfriend.

He complained that he felt he was setting too many ads - my boss later asked if I thought this was his 'subtle' way of complaining about one of the other designers on my team - so I explained to him that no-one is employed to set editorial, it's all about the ads, and the fun stuff is just a sweetener. It looked for a moment as if he was going to argue - and I'm sure I will have that argument with the other designer sooner or later - but he didn't.

He'd been considering writing a letter to the MD, but I very swiftly talked him out of that, saying it was the quick way to be shown the door. Kicking up a fuss is not a good way to ensure better money where we work, let alone in the current economic climate.

And because it had been quite a sour conversation - much talk of Office Politics on my part, and much determining exactly what I could and could not tell him - I decided to switch to a new topic once we were done with that.

I've noticed he doodles when idle. He's actually rather good. Far better, in fact, that many of the webcomics out there. I told him as much, pointed him at a couple of useful links, and showed him that there is serious money to be made for those with talent.

He's got the talent... but he tends to procrastinate, and is generally quite lazy. As my boss said later, he'll charge through piles of ads when necessary, but he works lazily and sloppily. While I was away recently, much of his 'finished' editorial work got thrown back at him because he hadn't turned images from RGB to CMYK, which is pretty much as sloppy as it gets.

I'd like to think he'll give webcomics a whirl.

I'd like to think his girlfriend would be supportive if he did.

I'm an optimist at heart.

When we finished talking, he had a smile on his face - mission accomplished! - and I half-joked that perhaps I should shift into Human Resources. He agreed, suggesting that I take out an ad in Classified (as a counsellor?!)

Really must talk to our HR Officer when next she's in.

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Other plans

OK, how weird is it that my parents are currently spending more time at my flat than I am?

I know, they're not only footing the bill for most of my furniture, but they're putting it together and installing the wood floor and I should be grateful. I am, truly.

But when I'm trying to make sneaky plans, and actually have the opportunity to make those plans happen... until my mother announces they're planning to stay at the flat later and then probably eat out so they can get as much as possible done before Thursday (when they're away) and the weekend (when I'll be making some kitchen decisions), it can be more than a little frustrating.

Equally so when they tell me first that the one day the window people can't have to redo the kitchen is the Thursday they're out of town, only to decide to hand over the keys so they can do the replacement window on Thursday.

What is going on?

Should I blame the kitchen designer and his comment about 'only entertaining every other night'?

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Accomplishing... Something

Well, having figured out how to deal with my TransFormers collection, I thought I'd finally do some photography for it...

...And promptly got bored.

That seems to be the deal: I get a new toy, take some photos, put it away in a display cabinet... and then hope that I'm happy with one of the photos because I'll get bored if I have to do it again.

Granted, part of the problem today was that I started taking photos then, when I went to get the next toy, found my mother getting ratty because the LCD TV she bought for use with the IR camera wasn't working. It switched on, then blacked out. Turned out the power socket it a bit loose, so if the cable isn't plugged in just right, it won't stay on.

Anyway, that sorted, she shifted everything back... so it was all in the way of my cabinets. After I'd shifted it all earlier so it wasn't.

I'm so glad I'll be moving out sometime soon.

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A Lightbulb Moment

Here's me, trying yet again to figure out how to refresh my website's Collections section to make it easier to update, and I'm wondering how on earth I can add things quickly and simply to the myriad subsections within the TransFormers part alone.

How can I arrange it so that I'm not messing around with HTML tables every time, adding cells, correcting the formatting, adding photos from Photobucket, typing text, then going back and forth between working view and preview mode just to make sure the formatting is still working.

Then it occurs to me.

I have a blog.

How easy would it be to set up a second blog purely for my TransFormers collection?

Pretty easy, as it happens. A click here, a click there. I don't even need to set up a new account. I only need a new account because I don't want any connection between this blog and my website, but I do want to link between the toy blog and my website.

Each 'review' would be a new entry, and they'd be sorted by adding tags. Could it be any easier?

That works very nicely, thank you.

I can even have full-size photos linked to the text... and wouldn't even have to sift through my back catalogue - I can take new photos as and when I please, and start with the new stuff then work my way back.

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Two scary things:

While I still remember it, last night's dream was quite a curious affair. It started off with me going toy shopping with a ladyfriend and, carrying on the grand tradition I've had for many years of finding TransFormers in dreams that I haven't found in real life, I very quickly helped myself to TF: Animated Voyager Optimus Prime (which seems to be the best version out there... if you can find it). My ladyfriend seemed desperate to leave, suggesting that I could make my own way onward (home? elsewhere? who knows?) by bus, allowing her to drive on wherever she needed to go.

I kept putting her off and shushing her, trying to act as though I was too distracted to hear her in an attempt to stop her leaving (a tactic which would most definitely result in a kicked backside, were I to try it in real life), so I could carry on filling my trolley with wondrous toys.

The shop I did not recognise... Certainly not one of the dream shops I've been to before (brighter, above ground... and filled with new toys, rather than G1), so it was a whole new experience for me both in and out of the dream.

But I digress.

When I finally decided I had everything I wanted, I left with my ladyfriend... and promptly stumbled into a scene from Alien vs Predator: Requiem. We must have taken a wrong turn on the route home, because we ended up going through tiny, dark, residential streets... where people were hurriedly sealing themselves indoors or being evacuated.

Because there were facehuggers everywhere.

Ditching the car (God only knows why, but it was a dream after all), we were ushered into a garage and sealed in. With one of those clear plastic screens you occasionally find on large tents or caravans, which was 'sealed' with plastic poppers. I was about to point out that we were going to have some privacy at last until I saw the expression on my ladyfriend's face. Needless to say, she was not happy.

But we stayed there, and were safe, and I woke up having seen no extraterrestrial-wrought devastation... Rather odd.

The second scary thing comes from the brain-melting conversation I had with my sister about her recent boating holiday. She and her husband had invited a recently widowed friend along and he, in turn, had invited his new girlfriend. Or rather, one of them.

She had declined - having been unable to arrange time off work... or perhaps because she's only known him a couple of weeks? - so he made do with keeping in touch with her by phone the whole time.

But even that's not the scary thing.

The scary thing is that, not only does he - by all accounts - have two girlfriends on the go via the wonders of internet dating, only a couple of months after his wife died of cancer... but he's going round saying things like "It's great... it's like being 16 again, only knowing everything I know now!"

I shudder to think.

My experience of him (and his late wife) suggested that he liked to be 'in charge', to the point where he would regularly humiliate his wife in public. Supposedly they were not like that in private, but does that make him any less a prick?

Just goes to show, internet dating only really works for morons.

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Less Than Magical

The funny thing about the Radio Times, being a BBC publication, is that it can gush praise about a new show in a slick, multi-page feature, then give it a very lukewarm write-up in the listings.

And so it came to pass that the new BBC fantasy TV series, Merlin, garnered such a review.

Quite rightly.

The writer, in his interview, was very clear that they were not simply jumping on the Harry Potter bandwagon... but also mentioned Smallville as an inspiration. The truth of the latter is obvious.

It's competently done, but if it carries on recycling folks from Doctor Who and Torchwood (Eve Myles in the first episode, taking two roles) and insulting the ear with wooden dialogue ("There's something about you, Merlin... I can't quite put my finger on it"), it's going to be scraping the standard of the later seasons of Smallville without ever reaching the quality of the early seasons.

The odd thing is that the dialogue was very good (if a little predictable) in places... but where there was a critical moment, it faltered and came out lowest-common-denominator, trite and unimaginitive.

Still, early days.

Where it first lost me was in its presentation of Camelot. The French castle they chose is very clearly not English. We didn't make anything that ornate, so it's far too fine to work as Arthur's (or Uther's) Camelot. Nice castle, just not very believable.

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Flocking Together

Theoretically, this post will have been made with the latest version of Flock, a web browser I originally downloaded a couple of years ago to make uploading images to Photobucket much easier.

I say 'theoretically' because I had a devil of a job getting an updated Flock to recognise my Photobucket account in its 'Accounts and Services' tab. the blog it added no trouble at all. Photobucket steadfastly refused to appear.

Of course, the problem was solved by updating the software, so all seems well now (and I suppose it's ironic that a browser I downloaded specifically for its Photobucket wizardry would later feature bugs that hamper its performance in that way) and I'm giving Flock's internal Blog Poster a test drive.

This may well turn into the weekend that last weekend wasn't: a time that I actually manage to accomplish things.

Aside from getting Flock up and running in a way that should, theoretically, make life easier for blogging and storing/cataloging my photos (Mozilla frequently crashes on login to Blogger, and Photobucket places draconian restrictions on the files thou shalt upload), I've managed to sketch and ink something I've been meaning to do for a good four years - the "Proud to be a Lick & Stick Monkey" T-shirt image.

It's nothing like I imagined, all those years ago - I'd wanted something halfway between cartoon and realism - but it's cute, effective, and incorporates the essence of the original idea in a far more suitable style.

If only I could have scanned it on my own computer, rather than using my parents' (oh, the hypocrisy! I'll use my parents' computer and scanner, but deny them the use of my laptop!). Mind you, while I thought transferring the scan by memory stick was going to be the slow option, I am revising my opinion. That machine still hasn't finished sending the image by email!

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Boiled Over

As of today, I have a Corgi-approved boiler in full working order, and likely to last me for years.

This opinion, expressed by my uncle's 'Central Heating Guy' - they've worked with each other for 20 years - is rather different from the opinion expressed by the British Gas engineer. Quite the contrary, in fact, to his assertion that it wasn't working properly, and that I could pay £500 to get it 'fixed' and still have - I quote - "a piece of crap on the wall".

I may complain.

Welcome to Planet Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

As if this day couldn't get any weirder, when I reported my computer's strange glitches of this evening to my parents, my mother expressed much concern... Because she had been hoping to use my computer for any "emergency online banking", should her own pack up and die.

Now, set aside for a moment that I've been telling her to get that machine of hers properly serviced for at least the last couple of years.

She wanted to use my computer? And, knowing her as I do, that means she wouldn't have told me about it were it not for the problems I've had with my computer today.

Seriously, what the fuck?

Anyone ever heard of privacy?

Yes, damn right I've got a password on that sucker now.

It's annoying enough that she's kept a full set of keys to my flat - external and internal doors - when the whole purpose of moving out was to get some damned privacy... I'm going to make sure I take them back once the bedroom is sorted out. The idea of her 'popping in' when I'm out really does not appeal.

Small improvements?

A couple of hitches today.

The most obvious being that, having finished today's magazine at around 4.45, it was un-finished for us by one client slip-up and one Sales slip-up.

The former was due to a lack of communication between two business partners, the latter due to a cross-sale that went unsupervised while the Salesperson in question was sick and off work.

Tsk.

Still, we only ended up staying about 10 minutes late... even if that was, technically, 50 minutes later than we finished. And, hey, any waiting around after 5.30 on press day now costs the sales team in question £50 per head in Production.

The thing that really bugged me was the self-congratulatory conversations going on between the members of the sales team, who sit pretty much right behind me thanks to this damned silly open plan office. "I think we've done really well this month," is becoming their monthly mantra... They may have been better than average last month but, this time, having had an extra week to sell and dropping 24 pages (including 4 pages of Editorial which had already been set because the Editor got her work through on time) to give themselves a manageable target, they were still selling on press day. Even the Classified team did better (though they confessed that might be partially because the new girl has inherited one of the most organised folders we have).

I'm sorry, I just cannot congratulate them for this continual mediocrity. Honestly, how can they be proud of themselves when their magazine is 24 pages lighter than predicted (according to the new predictions which take the flagging economy into account), following 5 weeks of selling time, when they'd normally have 4... Though, technically, that's 5 weeks of selling time when it should be 3, as they're meant to close a full week before we go to press.

In other news, my flat has new windows. Unfortunately one will have to be replaced in due course because the glaziers 'forgot' to install the extractor fan in the kitchen window.

I'm basically livid, because they did such a good job with the windows in my parents' house and yet this '2-day job' turned into a 2 and a half day job which still isn't finished.

At least the kitchen still seems under control. Measurements were checked. Example handles were passed to my mother for approval by me. Images of a slight redesign have been emailed to me.

On another subject, can anyone tell me what the hell was going on in the Olympics (Paralympics, specifically) handover ceremony? Did Lord Nelson really play guitar, or did I imagine that? Seriously, three words sprang to mind: sweet monkey jeebus.

And, come on Mr Johnson, would it really have hurt to tidy yourself up a bit? Maybe do up the buttons on your jacket? Just one, perhaps? It honestly would make you look (slightly) less like an Orang-Utan.

Edit: OK... My PC really is worrying me. Before making this post, all my browsers crashed. I tried to restart and it didn't even finish shutting down, let alone get to restarting. I turned off the power, waited, turned on again... nothing.

So I pulled the power lead out and tried again, with some success... and I was able to make the first draft of this post.

But then I shut down, plugged back in and restarted... Only to find I'd lost my modem. For the umpteenth time.

Reinstalling it seems to have worked (as usual), but this is really starting to annoy me. I have now backed up what I consider to be my most important data... And I think it's time to seriously consider a Mac. Almost.

Monday headaches

Technically, today went without a hitch.

My team is back to being three designers, with our 'floater' helping out on next Monday's editorial because, despite all her protestations, I don't think that magazine's designer could finish all the editorial in six days without staying late every night.

She's very good... just slow.

And, it would seem, extremely possessive.

She looked so despondant when I told her to set aside some of the simpler, more templated pages for the 'floater' that I almost wanted to let her try to do it all herself.

But, frankly, I'm a little fed up of her trying and not getting it all finished till after 5.30 on press day. She's really given me no option by taking two weeks holiday right when she should have been working on her magazine. She only does one a month now - though it does editionalise three ways - but two weeks holiday still manages to take a chunk out of her design time.

It would almost be easier if she did still have two deadlines a month because a two week holiday would guarantee she has to be covered for one deadline. Now, she can either get most of it done early (heavily dependant on the editor in question), or accept help.

I think, by the end of the day, she was happier accepting help (having complained bitterly at spending a whole half hour teaching the 'floater' her style and way of working), hopefully realising that there were now fewer pages she has to really work on now the grunt work is out of the way.

And, hell, if this means we're finished by Friday, and only have ads to worry about on Monday, so much the better.

On the downside, I started feeling quite unwell today. Possibly a cold on the way, judging by the way my nose is feeling right now. My temperature went a bit wonky after lunch and, by the time I got home, I had a rather nasty headache brewing. Only brewing, mind, and it seemed far better once I'd had a nap after dinner. Shame I wasted half my evening on that nap.

As far as my windows go, I'm assuming no news is good news... No panicked or angry phonecalls from glaziers or neighbours. And MFI are delivering a whole new drawer set to replace the faulty one... but that's arriving right at the end of the month.

Progress and hold-ups

Well, the weekend got off to a good start with my 'design meeting' about my new kitchen. The redesign - subtle, but worthwhile - looks excellent. Much more clear worktop area, and a small, foldaway breakfast bar. Nice vinyl flooring to be chosen. Confirmed my choice of door/drawer face design, but only managed to narrow worktops down to a shortlist of 5.

I was gratified to find that I had discounted most of the ones my mother liked. More of that, please.

The shortlist features a fairly plain dark grey marble effect, something very similar but flecked with gold, a very warm reddish marble effect, a fairly plain blue marble effect, or a fairly dramatic blue marble effect flecked with lighter blues, whites and red.

Kind of favouring the last, but the reddish one looked pretty good. It just looked a little bit too Traditional.

Thing is, as I'm picking stuff out for my flat, I'm finding that my taste runs far more toward wood than the sharp, minimalist, flat-or-gloss colour that I'd like to think I want. I'm going for warm rather than cool. Cosy rather than sexy.

It's quite an eye opening experience.

My mother and I departed the showroom having handed over the deposit - approximately one third of the total cost - and regretting somewhat that we hadn't visited them before we went looking for bedroom furniture.

The salesman/designer is really very good. Personably and knowledgeable, and he also knows when to offer advice and when to let the customer make the decisions.

Of course, things didn't go smoothy for the whole weekend... How could they?

Having forgotten to visit the shops on the ground floor to warn them of the imminent window works - tomorrow, starting early! - on my first visit, I had to trip back to the flat with my folks in the afternoon to do that. Then, rather than going on to look into beds - as had been the main plan for the day - I helped out in constructing some of the bedroom furniture. We actually got started on that so late (my father sleeps really late at the weekend), it was hardly worth heading off to the bed shops.

We made good headway in the furniture, though, finishing off the bedside drawers and very nearly finishing the full-size drawers as well... They would have been completely finished were it not for the error in manufacture in one side of the last drawer - the dowel holes had been drilled in completely the wrong places, so it didn't fit. At all.

And while my father was able to drill new holes for the side, he wasn't able to do the same for the face. We're probably going to have to buy a whole new set... which actually might not be so bad, considering that a couple were damaged in construction thanks to some overzealous hammering.

After deciding to call it a day, we walked down to the local pizzaria - a really good one, just another reason why this flat was such a good purchase - for dinner. I'm a semi-regular there, as I often end up there when dining out with a friend. I was half expecting my father to order one of the pizza alternatives, but he joined in the spirit of the thing... Surprising all.

Today was a complete wash-out... odd, considering the fine weather we had. It's almost as if summer is finally here (in September?!). The most I managed to do was a bit more paintwork on my TF:Animated Soundblaster (the gloss black actually doesn't show up that well, versus the Movie Optimus Primal I did a while back) and, eventually, taking some more photos.

I really should have taken pictures of my half-size G1 Seekers (Sunstorm, Dirge, Thrust, Ramjet (minus one tail fin), Black Starscream - aka Blingscream, owning to his predominantly black and gold deco - and Ghost Starscream... With Thundercracker still in his box and Ghost Dirge as kinda the odd man out), but the best I could manage was adding Blingscream into some of the shots I took of Soundblaster.

Oddly, Ghost Starscream shows that there could have been a bit more posability to the G1 seekers - they very nearly already have a combined hip/knee joint, if only the look of the plane mode had sacrificed a little more to allow for some backward rotation.

Still, they were excellent models for their time and, ignoring the odd flaw (and the frankly terrible sticker quality), these half size remakes are great stuff.