Gamechanger, part 2

Continuing on from last time is the second part of my "gamechanger" post which only exists as I rambled too much in part 1. I picked up my car on Saturday and over the course of the weekend and today's commute I must have easily travelled 100+ miles. I am a little nervous when first starting off on a journey - it's a little scary

I took some snaps in between the time of running over flowerbeds at my Nan's house - "you got the one with the sexy arse" exclaimed my friend Carl when laying eyes on what has been my most expensive purchase EVAR!!1 Seriously, the only way I will top this is buying a house, or a more expensive car.

It's been great to save the time on my commute - I am now leaving later in the morning, and once I get the route down I could probably leave even later still. It's also very pleasant being back home much earlier and not being a bit sweaty from the approximate 3 miles I walk each day. It's nice to look at the clock when I got in earlier and think I wouldn't be half-way home if I was still going via public transport. I won't be doing anything more or new first thing in the morning, but getting in earlier obviously gives me more time - more time than I'm used to or know what to do with. One thing is with the extra time available, not being a bit knackered when finally getting in and not walking 3 miles every day means that I should and will be able to go to the gym more frequently. Often I'd find a regular schedule difficult to maintain as I would be too tired or just completely unmotivated after a rough day at work to go.

At the start of the year, I set myself 3 major goals and I've achieved one - learning to drive and having a car of my own. The other two goals are to get fitter, and with getting back sooner I should be able to develop a regular schedule. Looking ahead and there's 2 and a bit months left, which should be enough time to get fitter and into better shape. The final goal is to find a new job which has been tough so far - lots of applications, a couple of failed interviews, but again being able to drive and not be tied down to public transport opens up a lot more opportunities.
I think the target for the rest of the week will be to get down the gym on a regular basis, get more acclimatised to the commute and towards the end of the week, hit the job search hard. And who knows I might be able to free up some time to blog more.

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Gamechanger, part 1

Image by canonsnapper via Flickr

The blog has been quiet of late for a number of reasons. One of those reasons has been the summer (stretching onto Autumn, more about that later) of me learning to drive. I've alluded to it in various tweets and also my first (and currently only) iphone app review post where I looked at some apps to help with the theory test. Well I managed to pass the theory back in June, put in my practical test straight away and failed at my first attempt in August. Not to be beaten, I put in for it again and passed the second time round at the end of September, and there was much rejoicing.

This weekend I am heading back to Shropshire to take the final steps and secure my first car - a pretty cool red Fiesta (low mileage, good condition *thumbs up*) and the realisation that being able to drive really is a gamechanger.


A fair time ago I blogged about my inability to drive and therefore reliance on public transport was a good thing but screw that! For the most part I will be kissing goodbye to public transport and I can't wait. I am proud to think that the monthly tickets for the train AND bus services I use to commute to work will be my last. My commute at the moment consists of a 20minute walk to the train station, a short train ride to Stourbridge Junction - a short hop to Stourbridge Town and there I'm presented with two options. If the timing is good, I can get on one bus for a 45 min journey which will take me directly into the estate where my workplace is based. Alternatively, I can take a shorter bus ride and that will leave me with a further 15 minutes walk to the estate.

That journey totals about an hour and a half - some people think I'm crazy to do it but I haven't got too much of a choice especially with my job prospects being pretty awful. But with the car, I reckon the commute should drop to about 30-40 minutes, we will see what the rush hour traffic will be like, but it means that I can leave the house later and be back sooner = more time to do the things I want to and/or enjoy, not to mention more time for the blog and a hopeful return to the reviews etc. It also means some extra time in bed which will do me a world of good - I get by on 6 hours sleep but it always takes me til mid morning to truly "wake up" and I do often feel stretched (if that makes sense). A car also means that journeys back to Shropshire to see friends and family won't be a chore and take up half a day - The drive is just over an hour for the family which is a lot better than the 3+ hours going via Birmingham on the train.


I was disappointed not to pass on my first attempt - I really lucked out with the instructor I decided on - Mike who drove a Mini One converted to run on LPG. Mike could only be described as a proper geezer, but a very good instructor with his rhymes to remember the rules of the road and practical guidance for reversing into a parking bay (you won't have the luxury of all that space in a supermarket car park...). I was ready and perfectly capable to pass that first time. I was truly gutted and I think Mike was as well - and not just because it would have been an extra tick in the "win" column. I had an hour before the test and he said to me "if you drive like that on your test, you will pass no problem". A measly 40mins later and I had racked up the 2 Seriouses which would deny me my full driving licence. For the curious, I foolishly pulled up and stopped alongside a car when I was instructed to stop behind the car and subsequently held up the traffic behind me. I got the other serious by not signalling on a roundabout. Coming up to the roundabout, I was instructed "take the 2nd exit" i.e. go straight on, and I didn't put the car into gear whilst slowing for the roundabout, so I was out of gear when taking the roundabout, and in my panic I took the third exit and neglected to signal that I was going to go right on approach.

cue me putting on a light show for the car behind as I wrestled to great frsutation to cancel the indicator

Like a lot of others, I found the driving test a stressful experience and I probably needed to sit one test just to be put into the situation. Also its sickening and a little scary when I hear people speculate that examiners have to fail a number of people to hit quotas and keep revenue coming into the DSA. The first time pass rates for a lot of test centres don't go much higher than 40%. Failing is one thing but what is more gutting is the waiting period for the practical test. For me it was 7-8 weeks, so the fact I had just failed and I would have to wait that long just to have another go was crushing. Compound that with the fact that Mike had relocated during our lessons and was slowing moving his clientele to in and around Gloucester, meant that I could not continue having lessons with him.

I had to find a new instructor which came in the form of Phillip and his Mini Clubman. It had all the electronic assists and gizmos, a card for the ignition as opposed to the traditional key, an engine that can be turned off if you were waiting at the traffic lights, gradient awareness that would continue to engage the brake to help with hill starts and my bane, that damn indicator arm. When indicating, the arm would return to its central position, rather than stay in the up/down position and this would mean that rather than returning the arm to the central position to cancel the indication, you would have to push the arm in the opposite direction and that would often mean the opposite indicator would come on - cue me putting on a light show for the car behind as I wrestled to great frustation to cancel the indicator.

Phillip, my new instructor had very much a hands off approach. Normally I would be pretty pissed off at this - I would always be questioning my actions to Mike, I needed to confirm whether I should have been in a different gear for a turn etc and that process was nowhere near as effective with Phillip. Fortunately I felt that I was at a level good enough to pass already and it was just a case of keeping up the practice until my next attempt. Phillip's quieter approach, often just giving out directions may have proved to be good preparation to what it would be like on the test.

Expect part 2 in a couple of days, complete with pics of my new motor, no doubt. I'm heading home this weekend to sort out the road tax which of course can't be done without sorting the insurance first. Also, the insurance can't be sorted unless the specific car is confirmed before taking out the policy. Who thought buying a car could prove so difficult? Well, at least the insurance has been sorted, the road tax will be sorted Saturday morning and I should be driving in my new (to me, at least) car soon after. With any luck, I'll be able to catch the formula 1 this weekend as well, go Button!

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Google Analytics and Censorship

A bit of a meta post this one. Google analytics is a free service that anyone with their own website, even just a simple hosted blog like this one should give a try. google analytics is basically a site usage reporting tool - a big step up from the hit counters of the internet's infancy.

The statistician in me loves to pour over the reports it offers and it's always interesting to discover how people find this blog and also what they check out while they're here. I usually check once a month or so and see how the latest ran has been received etc and to see where I get he visitors from. I've linked the blog from my facebook profile, my Twitter and other social bookmarking sites so the majority of direct traffic comes from there. the other traffic comes from search engines like good ol' google. i can reveal that the most popular searches have been along the lines of "gym motivation" thanks to the couple posts I did on that and also Jonathan Ross whose podcast I wrote a review of - I guess the scandal with Russell brand has kept those searches going. There is of course some gaming and f1 searches due to my leaning toward writing about those subjects. in the past I've tried those search terms which have led people here and fair play to them digging deep through the search results as they didn't show on the first couple of pages for me!

Now I took a stance that I would not go on about my current job although I have no doubt made my thoughts clear and even lamented about them in a Your New Favourite Podcast episode. I have also named my employer, only once and that was a "first day" post but someone managed to stumble onto the blog. I fear what kind of impression they would get from the rantings of one of the employees. it's also worth reiterating that any thoughts and opinions expressed here within this blog are mine and mine only and in no way reflect that of my employer. Checking the google analytics recently and it seems someone (or many) have been clicking round the blog, in particular the "work" category.

Until I had to answer the phone late on in the morning one day, the only words to fall out of my mouth were "Spineosaurus" and humming of the Jurassic Park theme

Everything written here was correct as at the time of writing and to be honest I'm a little sick of censoring myself. I do it constantly at work, being on the phone to strangers means I can't really say what I think.

In fact I had some work colleagues as friends on facebook and xbox live but I've decided that I will draw a line at the office hours - all other times I should not feel restricted in my opinions because of fear that someone from work may be listening. of course I know better than to bad mouth the company - I have some sense of professional integrity combined with an ever present fear and anxiety of my actions towards others. That being said I should be able to say whatever I feel like and I'm not fussed by being confronted by people over these words. It's all my opinion, and it's true, but who really pays that much attention to what I say and do - I can say that at work that that's not the case. Until I had to answer the phone late on in the morning one day, the only words to fall out of my mouth were "Spineosaurus" and humming of the Jurassic Park theme - thank you /filmcast!. In fact, I feel it's become so bad that I actually think of the person you see during the working day as a different persona, a separate slice of me is a better way to put it as I only share a small section of me - I am content to share this mostly silent but sometimes blithering idiot that they call "Jonathan".

Apologies for the rant but I'm making a (small) effort to blog more as a friend has recently started blogging and another friend is keen on starting a podcast with the working title "the toast rack" which I think sounds awesome. so look at for more blogging, hope to get back into the routine of reviews in what ever form they take, and maybe some more Your New Favourite Podcast episodes time permitting of course.

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What's your Green Karma?

I got the idea for this post whilst on the commute into work. For those not in the know, part of my commute consists of a bus journey. Getting closer to work, and I more often than not see a queue of cars in the other direction and as I go by pretty much every one has just one person in the car - maybe 1 in 20 there is a single passenger. Anyways, this got me thinking, that whilst I am tied down to public transport, I'm doing my bit to save the environment as opposed to these non-carpoolers.

Before I get shot down, I'm not claiming myself to be some kind of eco-warrior here - whilst I do subscribe to the public transport, I have a host of power-hungry, and no doubt world destroying, electronics at home, so there is some kind of balance. To answer the question I threw out there: What's my green karma? I'd probably argue that considering the above, I'm going to argue it comes out at about neutral. To help swing the pendulum in my favour I also buy fairtrade bananas from Sainsburys, so check me out...

That being said, as soon as I (finally) pass my driving test, I will ditch the joy of sharing a rickety and sometimes smelly bus full of noisy kids, chavs and drunken bums and become one of those lone occupants in the queues of cars I see. Does that make me a hypocrite? Probably. Am I ok with that? Oh yes.

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Lately I'm getting better / Wish I could stay sick with you

This is the first work-related post I've made since the "First day" post. Having checked Google Analytics, it's interesting to see what search terms lead people to my blog. Someone found the blog after having typed "prestwood professional" into Google - I can only wonder what they thought upon reading this :s. It's probably best to take this opportunity and say that any thoughts expressed within are purely my own and are not linked to any organisations etc etc.
Now the legalities are out of the way, we can get down to business, and the bone I want to pick concerning the health of my work colleagues (I love the phrase "work colleagues").

I've avoided posting about work for the above reason and the potential rant floodgate which once opened I would find very hard to close. First off, it's best to give a little background. The company is pretty small, there's actually only about a dozen of us, including part-timers, and the core is made up of 6(ish) support staff which I am one of.  It seems like people are coming down with colds and flu all the time.  These people are very poor immune systems, Simon for one has had this chest-infection type problem for as long as I can remember.  I always shudder when he makes this horrible throaty, regurgitating noise when he clears his throat - he really should get that looked at, seriously.

Now I'm pretty sure I've never had to call in sick and skip days, I had some problems with my teeth so I had to take a couple of afternoons off, that was pretty lame but necessary. The question is what is different about myself and seemingly everyone else on the support team. I wondered if it was my diet, but dismissed that straight away as whilst I've been trying to improve my diet, it's still pretty crappy when you break it down.
You could argue that it might because the job itself is not particularily active, a lot of sitting in front of computers all day, but it's the same for me too so it can't be that either.

I was ranting to my Nan about this one day and I think she nailed it. I am the only one that doesn't drive into work, therefore I walk a fair distance, although I've yet to plot it accurately on Google maps (or indeed any other map) but when I had a quick look at the aforementioned pr0 site, I approximate my walking to be about 3 miles a day. It can't be that simple I said, but on the face of it, that is the main obvious difference. So my inability to drive is both a blessing and a curse.

There's also the possibility that my co-workers (another great term) are quite wimpish when they become a little under the weather. Everyone seems quite lax and comfortable with taking time off. The silver lining is reading the "calling in sick" emails that get sent in - some of them are really hilarious, part of one I remember used the phrase "flu-like way".

Here's hoping it is never anything really serious or else I may have to start believing the sick notes...

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Time to tighten my belt...

No, this is not a topical rant brought on by the credit crunch, and/or my failed efforts to produce a proper budget, but rather more of a literal statement concerning my jeans etc. Yes, I mentioned a fair way back (about January) that I signed up for the local gym, and whilst I haven't managed to go as often as I would like, my efforts have gradually taken their toll (in a good way) on my body. I've been caught out without belt twice now, the most recent being today when I was carting my prescription home - it effectively doubled my trip, having to stop to pull up my jeans to stop them falling down altogether in public, oh dear how embarrassing that would be.


It first became apparent when I went home for Easter, and whilst round Eric and Karlie's, I spotted the scales and decided to check my weight. Now, I had weighed myself on the first time I went to the gym, and upon weighing myself at Easter, I had come down from 12 and 1/2 stone to around 11 and 3/4 stone. I was pretty chuffed at that. To add to the ego boost was my good buddy Carl's comments on how slimmer I was now looking. It's rather cool, and as it has been such a gradual thing it's been much less obvious for myself. It's quite terrible looking back at some older photos and see how how much fatter I was in the face especially. I think around about the time of my graduation I probably hit my peak weight, captured forever in my graduation snaps. And to make matters worse, my Nan insisted that I take one of graduation photos with me to hang up in my place here. First off, the photos were for my family not for myself, you have to be very vain to have pictures of yourself hanging up in your own home. Second, as I just said, I was quite a lot fatter in the face, so it's not fun to be reminded of that. And the bonus third reason being, that I generally don't photograph well (must be the subject matter /emo) - the photographer wasn't happy until I showed some teeth whilst smiling, although he never said as much, so I actually look a little uncomfortable having to hold a smile for so long.

"Smile! Come on, really smile!"
(under my breath) I am smiling you jackass.
[inadvertedly shows teeth] "There you go!"

Anyways, I'm going all OT. Yeah, so personally I've noticed it on the ol' face, mainly the cheeks and the chin, a lot more defined than they used to be. I've also noticed it in some of the clothes I wear. Some of my older shirts I have a 17" collar, but that is a lot looser now, the recent shirts I've bought now have 16.5" collar, and I could easily now take 16" collar to be honest. Also, how cool do black shirts look? Hell yeah. It's also noticeable in the belt I wear to work. A few months back I asked to get some new holes pierced into it, as the tightest hole was still quite loose. Now, those two holes are getting a bit loose now hehe.

Getting back to the gym and the other week I got back in from work, changed into my gym clothes as is my habit, this time putting on my Oakley shorts which I clearly had not worn for some time. Fast forward to myself on the treadmill and I'm noticing them starting to fall, oh dear I thought. Had to bring the jog to a close to avoid making an ass of myself, literally.


So overall, I very pleased with my progress, it's been quite gradual but consistent so I'm really starting to reap the rewards. As it was pointed out to myself quite some time ago. It's always better to be fit and healthy, you don't get sick as often, the long climb up the stairs is nowhere near as taxing, and clothes fit better - all this combines to an improved self esteem. I'm not quite sure I'm a completely changed person, but I'm getting there and I really do feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

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Ma First Daiye....

Hey, so here we are, long time no blog but it's time to share again.
A lot has happened in the last few weeks, especially considering how little I've been blogging in these last couple of months so it's a bit of a mystery what's actually happening right now.
I'm sure I'll be able to expand on the events of the past another time, but in a revision session, catch up type thing, it's best just to spell out the simple facts so that you can pass the exam (There is no exam).  Basically, off the back of this JBC Course in Coventry I have managed to get a job hurray for me! Yeah, today was in fact my very first day, so it's pretty scary to finally be part of the rat race proper.I am working for Prestwood Software based in the Stourbridge area, who offer financial planning software, and my job is to provide support for this software product to its users.  Also somewhere down the line, within a year or two, I will be able to move into the programming side of things, which is what I really want to be doing with myself so feeling pretty optimistic.

I have had my first day, indeed the first day of five week's worth of training, to get me upto speed with the software product, how the company operates and more generally the, frankly scary, world of financial services.  Yep, I have my own desk and PC in the offices.  The PC itself is running Vista so that will be good to get some hands on experience with that.  My first day started off with a crash course in financial services, learning what endowments, annuities etc are.  I was asked a few times how I was getting on, what I actually wanted to say was what a mindfuck all this information is - I was feeling really stretched and my concentration levels seemed all over the place.
The main reason for that is probably the living arrangement I am currently engaged in, and other arrangements I am chasing. Simply put, Stourbridge is too far to commute from Wem so I set on sorting out my own place.  Unfortunately time spent chasing this other job in London (more on that later), I was only able to spend Tues to Fri of last week flat hunting.  That being said, I've done rather well I thought and with the help of my good friend Wilson [picture missing] I've decided to go for this house in Kidderminster.  Kidderminster being a short train ride from Stourbridge for those geographically-challenged people (like myself). I sent the application off for that on Sunday, and if all goes to plan I could be moving in this Saturday. I am very pumped about that, my very first place plus being in Kiddy I am quite close to Wilson so I won't be in a new strange land completely on my own, which is a bonus.

Yeah, so currently I am shacked up in a B and B in Stourbridge. It's not too great, put simply it's a room with a bed(double) in, an ensuite bathroom and a TV, the TV being a big surprise.  The only proper benefit is the price, this place being cheap.  Money is getting very tight, and the whole application process and the required deposit all adds up to a small fortune.  Yeah, so slumming it a bit in this B and B till Saturday when it hopefully should get a load better.  I should be contacted on Thursday with regards to my application but hopefully it should be fine and I'll be in my very own place before I know it.

Continuing my trend in offline blogging I will no doubt build up a backlog of blog posts while I seek to find ways to spend the time at the B and B, especially lacking the money to go out, have a pint or two, go watch a film etc... It's ok, as you may have guessed by now, I've brought my laptop and my trusty external HDD to provide with TV based fun to keep me sane.
Here's taking the first steps in becoming a working professional...

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A New Chapter...

Hey peeps, it's been quite neglectful of me not to mention what is in fact a new chapter in my life about to begin.  That being that as of next week, I would have started on a training scheme which should (here's hoping, although the family is that tiny bit more) lead to a nice shiny job in computing.

The training scheme is being put on by JBC Computers which as it happens are based in Coventry - it really is a small world, and if I'm a little honest was a tiny added motivation in going for the scheme.  The scheme itself is training myself to have the skills to fill a desktop/network support technician role.  So that goes right from the hardware of PCs, networks, servers etc, right through to the software aspects like configuration and security issues.

Now, I am cautiously optimistic about the scheme, the main worry is my financial situation which is looking in pretty dire form right now.  Moving on from that I am really looking forward to it, and the new skills and experiences the whole thing will bring.  I am a little apprehensive that it is not software development training, as that area was what I did (still do) want to go into.  But saying that, how much actual programming have I done in the last year since graduating? The answer is very little, and pretty much all of that has been web programming i.e. HTML, CSS, PHP etc

After going to the open day in which they practically offered me a place, I didn't feel I had to earn it, or convince them - which is a good thing.  The place I have been offered is a sponsored place, and thus all of the fees for the course are void - which is also a good thing, as it would cost upwards and beyond of £5000 depending on which modules are done :S.  That being said they do offer discounted accommodation which I have taken them up on, as well a commute from Wem every day is just silly, and probably not even possible, especially in the morning.  Yeah, so living in their accommodation, which is very much like the place I stayed in back in Uni - the good ol' Red Faction house.  We got shown one house that the company owns, and that was literally across the road from their main premises, so making it in on time shouldn't be too tricky.

Also including in the scheme, which is very enticing for myself, is the grooming of ones self in preparation for interviews and then job beyond.  Cleaning up my CV, and those crucial interview skills are something I feel that I could benefit a lot from, so I'm hoping that aspect works out especially.  The whole course is over in about 7 weeks, with the option for the company to keep tabs on you as you/I progress in my new found job and continuing the learning process with more exams and the qualifications that go along with it.  Although it's probs unlikely, but if I went for every exam they offer, I think I would gain something like at least 7 qualifications in various subjects like A+ networks, Windows Server 2003 etc.

To repeat my newly set facebook status, if you do see me in Coventry, then do not hesitate to tell me how tubular my tie is.  That being because, they are pretty strict when it comes to dress code, so I'm gonna have to look pretty smartish a lot of the time, but that's no real problem, it may sound a bit weird but I actually am more uncomfortable in jeans now than I am in my work trousers, mmm.

 

Here's waiting for his transport to the real world. hope the movie is a good un...

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..Being vague and noncommital [Dated 08/05/07]

Hey, I was meaning to post Friday evening, but well it seems very easy to pre-write off the evening before I even attempt to do something productive. Anyways, moving on from my questionable motivation (oh dear!), and Friday was a bit of a weird day.

I don't know what it was about the day, but I was in an incredibly good mood, probs one of the best ones I've been in for quite some time. I don't think it was just one thing, but a number of things - first off the shower, yes the infamous shower has finally been fixed. For those not in the know, I kinda bust the old one sometime last year, so the task was taken up by my Uncle and Grandad. The new shower was a present for my mother at Christmas, and work started after local plumber favourite Mark installed the new shower, only for my Uncle and Grandad to remove it when they gutted the wall - crazy I know. Anyways, about 3-4 days of the week, my Uncle and Grandad would come along and spend about 3 hours working on retiling, buying new shower bases, new shower doors etc, and during that process, discovering new and exciting problems to extend the length of the job through a combination of the "uniqueness" of my bathroom and poor planning on their part.

I moaned about it a lot, and pretty much gave up the hope of having a shower at home ever again, but enough complaining about that saga, as of Friday I was given the all clear by mission control, and off I ventured into territories unkown. The shower feels smaller than it used to be, despite a solid brick wall removed, and replaced by a glass panel. The doors open on the corners which is fine, but I feel sorry if you're a large person, cos well I'm slightly on the large side, and there's not a lot of room. If you're wider in either direction, whether that be across the hips or have a beer belly, then you may have fun getting in and out. There was also a problem with the shower itself as the nozzle didn't actually point down, combined with the new pressure, meant that some parts never got water to put it mildly. But, using my skills, I "attacked" the shower, and taught it a new dimension, so now it does indeed point downwards. That's me 1, shower 0. Anyways, enough of the new shower review, I will end by giving it 3.5 Jonny stars.

That could have been it, but I didn't feel amazing till I got to work. That day, I also started on these multivitamin tablets. Yes, I am/did get a little concerned about my questionable diet at times, so I decided to opt for some of those, to keep me topped up on what the body needs etc. It actually says on the label that it shouldn't be used instead of a well-balanced diet. That's fair enough, it's not a get-out-of-jail-free card in terms of health, but if you did have a well-balanced diet you probs wouldn't need to take vitamin supplements - you would probably get what you needed from your pr0 diet I'm thinking.

I was round Carl's the night before, printing some stuff off and everyone's favourite Sam called, as she does. Anyways, Carl mentioned that I was in attendance, so suprise suprise I recieved a text off her, within the hour, in fact, within 5mins actually *shakes head*. Anyways, without going into absolute detail, she said that she was single and looking for someone, to which I replied that I was the same but had my eyes on some ppl (for new readers, that is hot librarian chick). She assumed that it was someone from work (on a side note, apparently most people meet their future spouses at work, I read somewhere, or it was on the Wright Stuff most likely, back to the story... ), so i decided not to correct her, and have a bit of fun being vague and noncommital - a taste of her own medicine if you will. I asked her to play a game and guess who it is. She went for this and said Becky, and then Vicky when I said no. I thought initially maybe she thought Becky is the most attractive one at work, but slight more thought made me to think that Becky and Vicky are the extent of the female staff that she knows the names of. Anyways, she eventually sent the message saying words to the effect of "I bet you'd like to have your eyes on me". To this, I decided the game had to stop, and I told her straight - not any of the potentially hurtful stuff about her going on and on asking if I like her etc, but the slightly complicated stuff with Carl. Read: Carl and her being exes, and every now and again Carl, wanted to get his end away, arranges to meet Sam to do the nasty, and she has no other, or better offers so she complies cos she's sex-crazy. Or at least that's what I've made out, Carl hasn't said as much, but pretty much confirmed it through phone calls and talking to others etc.

So I told her that I was not interested in starting anything with her while she was still having visits from Carl. I'm in the right, if it's happening before I got involved, there's nowt to stop it happening if and when I do. Evidence to that is Carl continuing to see her every now and again, despite me declaring my interest in maybe seeing her. Although it would be a cheap lay, I cba to put up with that carl business, and her general insecurity would drive me away for sure. I remember reading this drunken rant Marsh did on myspace, one particular part was something along the lines of "If we give you a compliment, don't turn it down, accept it cos we've made an effort to tell you how great you are, and if you keep denying it then we will eventually stop complimenting" - I need to dig that up and with his permission, I'll publish here, cos it is actually fantastic, and I told him so. A lot of the stuff in there I agree with whole-heartedly. Anyways back to the main story, and if after seeing Sam for a bit, and I did say how great I thought she was etc and she kept saying, oh I'm ugly, then I would probably go crazy.


Anyways, this turning down which I'll expand later as I have to go to work soon, came after the comedown of this great mood. I think it all happened when I was chatting to Steve about jobs and the future. Reality hurts I'm afraid, and both of us deciding that going to Uni seems a pointless exercise as we can't get hired by people who can't even form a grammatically-correct sentence, or do their own jobs properly - it's sickening. He also told me that I should move abroad, to Canada we eventually decided the best place being. He also told me not to put too much emphasis on material wealth, him walking out of the stockroom, leaving me to digest these cold, sobering facts - I crashed.

Going back to the Sam adventure, after sending this honest text, she sent back a text simply saying "bye" and then following that up with "me and carl are m8ts jonny and iam single im trying 2 find mr perfectr any way tb"

and then:

"Did carl say anythin about me 2 u plz tell tb iam getting very upset tb"

Do you see what I mean about truth hurting? Anyways, I did my best to clear the waters and replied, saying that Carl didn't say anything bad, just hinted at those two still being very friendly, which is nothing to get upset at, and I actually said, don't worry there's no need to get upset. Anyways, I got this message, now I kinda understand it, but I guess seeing someone who's grasp on the language and who uses text speak probably goes against every core value in me. WTF is "m8ts"?!?!? just type mates, it takes as long, for christ sake.

Anyways, emails pls to what this message actually means pls:

"Me and him r m8ts and have a laugh but i don't think i find any 1 im not pretty or fit tb am i be honnest"

And that's it copied exactly from my phone - lol. I feel a little bad, but I can't help her, and I'd definitely don't want to be dragged into daily calling and inelligable(sp) text messages. The silent treatment sent her away last time, and I can only hope it will this time, and before we forget I'm not the bad guy here.

Take it easy, work calls :s

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Don't forget to tip your geek... [Dated 24/04/07]

Hey, a short post this time as I have been shopping for a card for my Mum's upcoming birthday. Anyways enough of that...

For some reason I got thinking about how I introduce myself to other people, and how people define themselves. I like to think there are two quite, well almost distinct halves to me, them being Jonathan and Jonny, everyone's friend lol.


Not to dig up the Becca thing again, but I think she is actually the only girl I've met who has done a different reaction to me telling me that I do/did Computer Science. Generally girls I meet who ask what I was doing for a degree, and I reply Computer Science, and they would all go, "oh" and go colder to what was before a warming prospect of friendship etc. Becca actually replied "Oh, like what Rob does", when I told her after she asked many a year back, but I dunno, maybe girls hearing that draw the same conclusion that I must be a geek, and that is a bad thing. That saying I am a geek, but I don't like the way it is considered a negative thing.

Geeks are responsible for any piece of technology that we use today, and jock types/geek haters should actually realise that and be thankful for the time these "uncool" people dedicated to exploring what was possible. The internet, the vessel you use to send you horrible, gut-inducing chain mails, "send this to 8 people NOW, or you maye die! etc" to all your stupid friends, was created by University boffins trying to get two seperate computers to send messages to each other.

I remember back when I was an avid user of StumbleUpon, (great addon for FF if you use it, get it you will not be sorry), I found a few articles and the like where it was saying the benefits of dating a geek, and I quite excited about that, but that train of thought has not broke through into the mainstream just yet.
Thanks to watching the bizarre Japanorama, there is a buzzing sub-culture of Otakus,or geeks/nerds, that are finally being appreciated, and heck it sounds very tempting to be part of that movement. Also the word Moe (pronounced Mo-ay) is rather smart. The Japanese have given a word to a pleasure moan if you like - it was something I immediately wanted to force into my everyday vocabulary.


Speaking more broadly, I often get frustrated at how much imprortance is placed on money, and how effectively you need it to do anything basically. I am quite sick of the life I'm living right now, I'd love to uproot myself, move somewhere else, do something new and exciting, but that all takes money which I don't have to a degree.

Moving back to something lighter, I've started rewatching the entirity of the Shield in preparation for the new season, season 6. There's a few shows that have started new seasons, Scrubs, Lost, Prison Break, 24, and I'm a little behind so I need to sort out some kind of schedule so I can watch them all, rather than blitzing them seperately. Oh my I forgot, the Stargate shows as well, oh my, that's 7 seperate shows, and I might even wanna watch some more Drew carey Show, as watched season 1, and it's not too bad, although Drew is a weird frontman for a show.


Time to wrap up, day off tomorrow, so some overdue tidying in store, both physically in my room, and files on the PC, so that should be fun. As someone said at work yesterday, "days off aren't really days off, cos then I'm just busy at home". Once again reminding me how little I want to do the whole 9-5 thing, just to chase some money to buy a few things to make me happy, and then savior the few days off I get, which would then be spent sorting out personal life. Man I can't wait to join the Rat Race, seeya there!

Take it easy
J-Man.

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Belated Hello! [dated 13/04/2007]

Hello and welcome back. Before I decided to start blogging again, I took a little look at the last post I made. It was actually the first post in a new blog I had created and unintentionally it mentioned a renewed effort to get into the habit of regular blogging. I think that post was made last September, Lol.

Anyways, here we are now, and this time I promise it will be better, and that doesn't sound like a cliched empty promise if ever I heard one.

Let's kick things off with some music commentary and go from there. As it turns out, I'm back off to my union to see Biffy play there, should be awesome, looking very much to that. My original and hopeful plan was to meet up with my old mate Adam and spend the hours before the gig catching up and general hanging out, but a phonecall earlier today means that now Adam is going in a minibus from and to Northampton. Gz to him I said, and although I knew that I would be making the train journeys there and back on my lonesome, but I won't get to hang out which saddens me greatly. Anyways, I'm not gonna moan too much, the gig will be cool, and I'll get to see my uni mates so it should be win win.

In more general music news, I can't get enough of At the Drive In's supreme Relationship of Command, and also Motion City Soundtrack's Commit This To Memory. Considering At the Drive In first, the album is the result of a group steadily getting better and better until they break through with this hit. Although I have downloaded the back catalogue of them, I'm nowhere near as impressed at those efforts, which obviously suffer from lower and lesser production, then RoC which is as polished as well, a very polished stone lol. I remember when first hearing it, and my initial thoughts were that apart from One Armed Scissor, it was all incontrolled noise. A couple more listens and a couple of years later and that opinion has pretty much reversed. That happening is probably thanks to finally being able to appreciate the Mars Volta, whose debut was a masterpiece, to exaggerate ever so slightly, but later efforts have me less convinced, but that's another story.
The great thing I Find about listening to RoC is how chaotic it all seems, it feels like getting chucked about on a rollecoaster, although that is still quite comfortable, maybe a plane crash is closer. Listening along, I feel almost breathless from the onslaught of sound they throw down my ears. When it stops I feel relief at the restbite, btu at the same time, really enjoyed the song, and wish it had never ended. Anyone that has not heard it, I recommend it fully and if you have patience to listen to it a couple of times, as initally it's probs not to everyone's tastes, you will love it... or your money back.


Another album I can't get enough of is MCS's 2nd album, commit this to memory. I remember when it came out, how excited i was, after finally been converted to them thanks to my mate's love of I am the Movie, I came to the slow realisation, that it was genius. I was excited at release, downloaded it promptly (i'm a pirate, get over it), but then felt disappointed - it had seemed that the magic formula created on I am the Movie had been lost in the time after. I don't know how much time passed before I decided to give the album another proper listen. I think it was during revision time, when I put it on to revise to, and unfortunately for my revision, I paid too much attention to the record, and I was thinking, actually oMG! this is fantastic, a masterclass!. I was happy once again with MCS. Somehow some months later, probably after reviewing both albums in quick succession, I had decided that Commit This To Memory was not worthy as being I am the Movie's successor and had cast it down once again.
Only thanks to a couple of songs, namely Hangman and Attractive Today appearing in my huge random playlist of all tracks, I had retracted my opinion again and actually it was awesome once again.
The writing is awesome, and their grasp of melody is superb. There are only a couple of songs off the new album, mainly the slower ones, which don't have you singing along and/or tapping your toes even after the first listen.
So good was the album, it's been on my wanted list for quite some time, and eventually I stopped resisting and parted cash for the shiny cd and artwork.




A final mention, music wise, is with purchasing MCS's album, I also splashed out on Guitar Hero 2 for the 360. Although it's probs the least stunning looking game I own for the 360, that's not a really important feature for the game. Being bundled with an Xplorer controller, I get to play along with some classic rock tracks. It's crazy addictic and fun as well. it wasn't long before I was nodding along while I was playing. In terms of achievements, I want to 100% complete the game, although it may be really hard. I am working through on medium now, and it's starting to get tough, and the next difficulty they start using the 5th fret button :S



Moving on to other events, One of particular note, happened at work yesterday. This Irish woman, and I assume it was her daughter were purchasing a garden set from TJs. Me and this guy Aaron weren't allowed to take it their car, they had to find their way to our loading bay on their own. they then confessed that they couldn't read or write, adding that they were Irish - like it was something, a trait you expect of them. It's a stereotype I've never heard of, if they were drunk, then they would be living up to what I consider stereotypes of the Irish. Anyways moving on, and I couldn't help noticing her daughter - to be fair she was half naked so good for her. She wasn't freckly as such, more blotchy over the top half of her body. I was curious to what the rest of her boobies looked like, as well most of them were hanging out of her small red top. It's no suprise I hadn't failed to notice them. Anyways, they went off to bring the car round - wtf they can't read or write, but they can drive! *shakes head* As I later learnt they were gypsies from the fair that was in town. It might be a bad and shameful thought, but I couldn't help but think - "mmm, if you're not worried about catching diseases, then to score some gypsy ass would be pretty cool"

They eventually arrived at the loading bay, later that day, and Martin was loading a TV into his car at the same time. We helped the garden set into the car, all the time Martin was smirking like a chesire cat, and I almost lost it and burst out laughing. When they left, Martin came over, said a few things, he said to us, us being Rachel, Janet and myself, that those 2 must have been a sight from the loading bay (there is a significant drop to the car park btw), and we were all laughing, but I was acutally thinking, it wasn't all that bad, thanks to the daughter, I'd say that was the best cleavage I'd seen all day, hell probs all week, unless something crops up later today lol.
The question is, am I a bad person to think like this I'm not too sure.

Right, time is against me so I must go, One thing I must do is remember to upload this, I have a few blog entries on this laptop which have never seen the light of internet. There's a few more things I wanna add to this, I think it will get done in some kind of P.S. form, seeyas laters. Take it Easy.


P.S. I resume several days later, and also more importantly did not get this uploaded, ah well, I'm trying to force myself into a regular blogging schedule, but still hopefully avoid boring and trivial posts like maddox moaning about how many pieces of toast one blogger had one day, mmm. I also want to make this blog more public. I am becoming a bit hermity in my existence at the mo, so maybe having this connection in written form, well keep ppl connected, and if someone asks what have I been upto, I will then barrage them with the URL of my blog, although that probs won't satisfy all of them - "What?!?! You haven't been keeping up with my blog!?!? ZOMFG!"

Anyways, time for fresh post, concerning the weekend that has just passed, bb

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