So it's late October in the UK, and the storms have moved in. The winds were bad enough on Sunday night that most of the London Underground was out of action on Monday morning, and key lines still struggled into the afternoon. My local area wasn't too terribly hit - a load of leaves stripped from the trees and lots of litter blown around - but, with a tarpaulin on my roof weighed down by spare bricks and fragments of paving tiles, it was a loud night for me. So loud, in fact, that I woke up in the middle of the night with a splitting headache that stayed with me till morning. One of these days, I'll remember which parts of my brain can be fixed with paracetamol (front right, lower rear) and which requires the less friendly painkiller ibuprofen (front left), which I've all but sworn off and only use in real emergencies.
There were dire warnings of further adverse weather to come, but it's been strangely calm since Sunday night/Monday morning... and the Met Office (a body well known for predicting the weather by esoteric means that never include looking out of a fucking window) suggests things are going to remain fairly calm, at least until the weekend...
I learned yesterday I'd suffered some devastation of my own: my ancient Sega Saturn is working fine (no surprise, it's often said it was the most reliable console of its time, and mine will even run a game on a broken disc!) but my main memory card is buggered. It seemed to be OK initially, but after playing a couple of different games, the Saturn lost track of it. I pulled it out and put it back in (with the console off, obviously) and, after a few attempts, it picked up the memory card again... but it was suddenly blank. Bang goes all the saved games I had from when I was regularly using the machine - everything from Fighters Megamix to Panzer Dragoon Saga, from Castlevania X to Policenauts. It seems as though the battery in the memory card had finally died but, having switched it out for an equally old replacement memory card (which I thought had been bought new, but must have been second hand as it came with some saved files for games I never owned), things seem OK. Weird.
It's a bit of a blow, especially to lose completed games of Policenauts and Castlevania X (bar one painful boss battle that wasn't utterly necessary for the completion of the game), and a game of Panzer Dragoon Saga that was quite close to the end... but at least I can replay Panzer Saga. The other two, being imports, are rather more problematic. I have an emulator they both seem to work on, but it's not the same as using the console.
Tuesday, 29 October 2013
Wednesday, 23 October 2013
Plus One
So I've missed the seventh anniversary of this blog by a couple of days... No great shakes, since I did a big nostalgia-fest last year, but it's still disappointing that I didn't even realise until yesterday, when I happened to see the reminder on my cellphone, and then just couldn't be bothered to write anything.
Things have changed a fair bit since then, but almost everything I wrote then still applies... particularly the bits about writing. This year has been a bit drier on the work front - after my long-term role ended, I've had only a few scraps of work here and there. My finances are a bit rubbish, largely because of another inflated service charge bill, ostensibly for renewing the main roof.
On that subject, in spite of assurances from the managing agents that the landlord will allow the roof renewal to go ahead once the residential leaseholders' services charges are paid, they have also expressed some doubts. I've paid a total of something like £5K over the last two years on the understanding that the first floor roof was supposed to be done back in 2011 and that the main roof was to be done this year... and yet neither is any closer to happening. For this reason, I've actually engaged a solicitor to look into it for me.
Considering how expensive the roof non-renewal has been so far, it almost feels pointless and contrary to take on the additional expense of a solicitor, particularly after he told me that I probably won't be able to recover my expenses from the landlord... Any of the solicitor's bills could be crippling. Unfortunately, after owning a flat under a leaky roof for five years, it's only about the money in an abstract way. The point is that I've paid inflated service charges for absolutely necessary work which the landlord has failed to go through with. The point is that the managing agents had to threaten the landlord with ditching his business before he agreed - in principle - to carry out the work this time, and now it looks as though it's still not going to happen.
All this came about because I happened to hear someone up on the roof a few weeks back, then overheard part of a conversation about the roof and alternative methods of roofing, and decided to call the managing agents to ask what they knew about it... and they knew nothing about it. It doesn't inspire me with confidence when the landlord (most likely him, anyway) goes behind the back of his managing agents to look into alternatives after they've gathered quotes for the job. Two years ago, he insisted they look into 'liquid roofing' for the first floor roof, but still wouldn't agree to the expense. I've no idea what it'd cost to renew the roof with fibreglass, but I'm guessing it's not the cheapest option... and it's also not compatible with the work that needs doing when the landlord doesn't own the entire building, and so wouldn't be replacing the entire roof...
Finding myself a regular income just got that little bit more important, however you slice it...
Another expense was about £2.5K on a new boiler - very important now the weather is turning and the bills are set to rise - along with a heated towel rail for the bathroom. Thankfully, my folks bailed me out for that one, so I haven't had to delve into my savings too deeply as yet. I'm hoping that the new boiler will give me a more manageable winter fuel bill, but I'm still keeping the heating off for the time being, and until it gets completely critical.
On the upside, in about two weeks, I'll be celebrating the first time I met the young woman who is now my girlfriend and, a month after that, we'll be celebrating a year of being a couple... We celebrate being a couple basically every time we meet, but it'll be nice to have a proper anniversary.
Things have changed a fair bit since then, but almost everything I wrote then still applies... particularly the bits about writing. This year has been a bit drier on the work front - after my long-term role ended, I've had only a few scraps of work here and there. My finances are a bit rubbish, largely because of another inflated service charge bill, ostensibly for renewing the main roof.
On that subject, in spite of assurances from the managing agents that the landlord will allow the roof renewal to go ahead once the residential leaseholders' services charges are paid, they have also expressed some doubts. I've paid a total of something like £5K over the last two years on the understanding that the first floor roof was supposed to be done back in 2011 and that the main roof was to be done this year... and yet neither is any closer to happening. For this reason, I've actually engaged a solicitor to look into it for me.
Considering how expensive the roof non-renewal has been so far, it almost feels pointless and contrary to take on the additional expense of a solicitor, particularly after he told me that I probably won't be able to recover my expenses from the landlord... Any of the solicitor's bills could be crippling. Unfortunately, after owning a flat under a leaky roof for five years, it's only about the money in an abstract way. The point is that I've paid inflated service charges for absolutely necessary work which the landlord has failed to go through with. The point is that the managing agents had to threaten the landlord with ditching his business before he agreed - in principle - to carry out the work this time, and now it looks as though it's still not going to happen.
All this came about because I happened to hear someone up on the roof a few weeks back, then overheard part of a conversation about the roof and alternative methods of roofing, and decided to call the managing agents to ask what they knew about it... and they knew nothing about it. It doesn't inspire me with confidence when the landlord (most likely him, anyway) goes behind the back of his managing agents to look into alternatives after they've gathered quotes for the job. Two years ago, he insisted they look into 'liquid roofing' for the first floor roof, but still wouldn't agree to the expense. I've no idea what it'd cost to renew the roof with fibreglass, but I'm guessing it's not the cheapest option... and it's also not compatible with the work that needs doing when the landlord doesn't own the entire building, and so wouldn't be replacing the entire roof...
Finding myself a regular income just got that little bit more important, however you slice it...
Another expense was about £2.5K on a new boiler - very important now the weather is turning and the bills are set to rise - along with a heated towel rail for the bathroom. Thankfully, my folks bailed me out for that one, so I haven't had to delve into my savings too deeply as yet. I'm hoping that the new boiler will give me a more manageable winter fuel bill, but I'm still keeping the heating off for the time being, and until it gets completely critical.
On the upside, in about two weeks, I'll be celebrating the first time I met the young woman who is now my girlfriend and, a month after that, we'll be celebrating a year of being a couple... We celebrate being a couple basically every time we meet, but it'll be nice to have a proper anniversary.
Wednesday, 9 October 2013
Continuing The Roundup/Further Impressions
Following the TV roundup post from the beginning of the month, my impressions of a couple of the shows are shifting slightly.
This is most noticeable for Orphan Black, the alleged Sci-Fi show featuring a bunch of doppelgängers. Introducing us to the killer the way they did could have provided plenty of shock and intrigue... if only they hadn't tied her to some weird religious cult which - wouldn't you know it? - considers a bunch of clones to be a despicable heresy unto the Lord, which must be scourged from the Earth. That has to be the most tired plot twist ever in the history of television, and it drags the show further from its self-professions of Science Fiction. Now it's just becoming a knock-off Dan Brown 'thriller'. Further clichés include the small fact that Sarah's daughter can tell the ostensibly identical doppelgängers apart without any effort, and that the killer's motivation is a pack of lies fed to her by the folks who recruited her. The show is revealing some of its secrets, albeit clumsily, as in the conversation between Sarah and Alison, where the latter seems surprised that Sarah has a natural daughter, but it's still dragging its heels in the main plot. I've read the write-up to this week's episode, and it sounds as though things may start to hot up... but a quick side-trip to IMDb sent a chill down my spine for all the wrong reasons: there's already a Season 2... meaning, most likely, no questions truly answered by the end of this season, and an annoying cliffhanger.
Under The Dome, too, continues to play into clichés and stereotypes with the clash of wills between 'Big Jim' and Ollie over the fate of the town, both assuming the Dome will remain forever, and both determined to make the most of it. There is one interesting hint that the Dome is maintaining some kind of equilibrium - just as a baby is born (somewhat prematurely due to the mother's contact with the Dome) another character dies 'of natural causes'... Though the idea of 'a life for a life' doesn't quite jibe with the bodycount thusfar...
I didn't even bother watching the second episode of Atlantis, despite being intrigued by the trailer introducing Medusa in a decidedly un-Gorgon-like state... And the write-up for this week's episode almost left me weeping. The BBC needs to figure out what its target audience is for these shows. If they're aiming for the same 'family group' that watch Doctor Who, a bit more authenticity and a bit less utter stupidity would be welcome.
This is most noticeable for Orphan Black, the alleged Sci-Fi show featuring a bunch of doppelgängers. Introducing us to the killer the way they did could have provided plenty of shock and intrigue... if only they hadn't tied her to some weird religious cult which - wouldn't you know it? - considers a bunch of clones to be a despicable heresy unto the Lord, which must be scourged from the Earth. That has to be the most tired plot twist ever in the history of television, and it drags the show further from its self-professions of Science Fiction. Now it's just becoming a knock-off Dan Brown 'thriller'. Further clichés include the small fact that Sarah's daughter can tell the ostensibly identical doppelgängers apart without any effort, and that the killer's motivation is a pack of lies fed to her by the folks who recruited her. The show is revealing some of its secrets, albeit clumsily, as in the conversation between Sarah and Alison, where the latter seems surprised that Sarah has a natural daughter, but it's still dragging its heels in the main plot. I've read the write-up to this week's episode, and it sounds as though things may start to hot up... but a quick side-trip to IMDb sent a chill down my spine for all the wrong reasons: there's already a Season 2... meaning, most likely, no questions truly answered by the end of this season, and an annoying cliffhanger.
Under The Dome, too, continues to play into clichés and stereotypes with the clash of wills between 'Big Jim' and Ollie over the fate of the town, both assuming the Dome will remain forever, and both determined to make the most of it. There is one interesting hint that the Dome is maintaining some kind of equilibrium - just as a baby is born (somewhat prematurely due to the mother's contact with the Dome) another character dies 'of natural causes'... Though the idea of 'a life for a life' doesn't quite jibe with the bodycount thusfar...
I didn't even bother watching the second episode of Atlantis, despite being intrigued by the trailer introducing Medusa in a decidedly un-Gorgon-like state... And the write-up for this week's episode almost left me weeping. The BBC needs to figure out what its target audience is for these shows. If they're aiming for the same 'family group' that watch Doctor Who, a bit more authenticity and a bit less utter stupidity would be welcome.
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