Things I Did Yesterday 31/08/10

It's a slow burn. And yesterday I:

- Worked. A lot. I went in early with a mind towards starting at around 8am, leaving time for half an hour to grab a coffee and a bite to eat, maybe chill with a book. Completely forgot that it was the bank holiday, so *nowhere* was open. Also forgot that the West End on bank holiday Monday is a proper hive of scum an villainy. Had to go to McDonalds, negotiate my order around a leery guy who was screaming at a woman behind the counter, then just head straight to work. So it was a 7.30 start!

- Did a shedload of work on a Lambeth library buy which took a lot longer than I expected, as well as the usual things I needed to get done. Then started on the time-consuming job of prepping a department change in our EPOS system. This involved re-categorising around 7000 items of stock and remapping the till keys. This took FOREVER. I hit 8pm with just the final set-up to go (still about another hour's work) and decided I would come back in first thing on Wednesday before anyone gets in and do it then. I really should do it on the 1st for the purposes of bookkeeping, anyway.

- Came home to a very tired, hungover wife. We ordered some pizza in which took more than and hour and a half to arrive! During which we watched Whip It, which was a very middling, formulaic film, to be honest. It had promise, but just dragged things out and made far too little of the rollergirls themselves. It wasn't terrible, but I couldn't recommend it.

- Fell into bed and was asleep in record time.

Carry on reading...

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Things I Did Yesterday 17/08/10

Well, shit, it's an improvement, isn't it? Anyway, yesterday I:

- Woke up in a hotel room in Winchester, Roman town and seat of power to the kings of Wessex and later to William the Conqueror. Lovely place, where Alex had arranged for a weekend getaway to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary. The anniversary was actually on the 1st August, but she was polishing elephants, or whatever they do down there in South Africa, for her mother's birthday.

- Had as hearty a breakfast as a hotel allows (wasn't too bad, to be fair), then hit the road, headed for Lyndhurst, at the heart of the New Forest. Got stuck in the prettiest traffic jam I've ever been in, with lush forest all around.

- Lyndhurst was bustling tourist central, so we didn't spend too long there: just a quick half in a wasp-infested beer garden. Then we went for a drive, headed to Beaulieu (didn't stop at the motor museum or Palace House, as the entry was £17/head!) The New Forest impressed me greatly and we'll definitely be back. We've long talked about a camping and cycling holiday there, and this motivated us both to make it happen. Lovely, varied terrain, with ponies and cattle wandering freely everywhere, and the occasional picturesque village to boot.

- Went on to the spit at the Calshot (past picturesque oil refineries and power stations) and popped into Calshot Castle, a fortress built in the 16th Century to defend Southampton. Nice little English Heritage place, with some amazing models of old seaplanes that used to operate out of there.

- Drove on to Southampton, where we stopped very briefly for a quick drink before hitting the road back to London.

- Dropped the rental car off at the depot near Pentonville Prison, then wandered home.

- Once home we drifted off to do our own thing. I caught up on The Daily Show while Alex watched the soaps, then watched Burning Bright, a silly but fun film about a girl and her autistic younger brother trying to escape a tiger that has been nefariously let loose in their house, which has been battened down for a hurricane. Really, it's not too bad, and has a smart, resourceful female lead; nothing to take for granted in the genre.

- Watched a True Blood (speaking of silly), then hit the sack.

Carry on reading...

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Things I Did Yesterday 10/08/10

Yessir! Nothing like a grand statement of intent to really get my wheels a'rollin'! Anyway, believe it or not, yesterday I:

- Worked. It was my first day back after nearly a week off to go to my nephew's wedding in the south of Italy. Great wedding, all Italian Catholic grandiosity. We were staying in a beach resort, which really isn't my thing at all, but wasn't as bad as I'd feared. No Alex either, which always makes holidays a little less enjoyable.

- Oh yeah, worked. Well, lots to catch up on, so I barely got anything I needed to get done, done. Also, Nat is away doing his Edinburgh show with Tom & Tobi, so there's a bit more work coming from that side of things too. So surprise surprise, all of my library standing orders are now running late and I'll almost certainly be doing some late hours. Not a great first day back.

- To make matters worse, at some point on my trip I've picked up a mild cold. Not enough to be terrible, but just enough to be a pain in the ass.

- Came home and read some comics, which was a nice balm for the end of the day.

- Played a little Diablo II, which I'd started a while back but fallen away from. For a game that's over 10 years old, it's certainly still a hell of a lot of fun. I'm glad that the some-time-upcoming Diablo III seems to have taken an "if it ain't broke" approach, even if it makes their interface seem a little dated.

- Watched an episode of True Blood, which I'm finding a little tired. There's certainly nothing new on offer with it, and while it's fine as bedtime viewing for me and Alex, I can't help but think I'd rather be spending the time reading a book.

- Went to sleep. Hopefully not for a month this time!

Carry on reading...

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