Strike

I had a lovely evening with Daniel last night.  He stayed at my place and we sat watching TV and drank a bit. nothing special, just company.

I went to bed sober (ish) because i was working in the morning.

At about midnight an ambulance pulled up outside next doors house. Two paramedics climbed out and were met at the door by one of my neighbours. The nosey side of me went out to see what was happening but they all went inside and shut the door behind them. How frustrating is that?.

It's like someone turning the telly over just when it gets to the best bit.

Real life is never like TV. You don't get to see the interesting stuff. God owns the remote and he's forever flicking channels.

I've still no idea what happened. There hasn't been a hearse parked up so i assume it was just an illness thing.

Today, half the country has been on strike as public sector workers shout about their pensions being raided. Even though all us private sector workers are in the same boat and our pensions are fucked up as well. But hey, as long as it doesn't effect them who cares about the rest of us. After all it's us that would be paying for it and i'm struggling to pay my own bills. I find it difficult to fell sympathy. Hang a banker if you have to but don't expect me to cough up extra for other people mistakes (a little bit of politics..goodnight).

Anyway there has been an upside to all this. The horrible woman i usually work with has been away for a few days to visit relatives in the US for thanksgiving.

And she's had to extend her stay by a day to avoid Heathrow.

So i'd like to take this opportunity to thanks all those people on the picket lines.

Well done. Can i suggest you extend it for a couple of weeks. Especially in the Heathrow area.

Voting in the UK Elections

I stopped off on my way home from work to vote today.

Strangely there has been nothing political on the TV or the Radio all day (bliss). Someone told me that they are not allowed to on the actual day of the election, I can't think why, but it didn't seem to include the papers because they were pulling out all the stops.

If i'm honest it just got up my nose. I hate someone telling me what to do and especially in such a sledgehammer way. Give me the details and let me decide. According to the Murdoch press if i don't vote Conservative the world will end on Friday morning and we will have riots in the street, But they told us all to vote Labour last time so what do they know?.
The Daily Mirror (A proper Labour paper) think i should avoid David Cameron because he's a posh knob, but they would do wouldn't they ? and i'm sick of the class thing being thrown around at times like this.
No one supports The Liberals, or at least i've not seen any paper that does, and anyway a vote for them is supposed to be a waste.

So all in all it's hardly a surprise that they are predicting a hung parliament where no one wins and we all end up doing it again in a few months time. That's probably why i heard someone leave the polling station saying "see you again soon"

Anyway i walked into the hall where throngs of people could flex their voting muscles. The place was empty, no one around except three blokes sat behind a trestle table with bits of paper. Me appearing out of nowhere made them sit up like a dog suddenly realising their owner has just come home.
There are two ballot sheets. The Main General Election and the Local Government elections which are being held at the same time.

They couldn't find my Local Election Ballot paper for a while and more or less shit themselves with worry.
It eventually appeared stuck to someone else's and you could see the relief on their faces as they apologised for what seemed like the three hundredth time.

The private cubical that people use to vote in was actually quite dark and i had to step out of it again to read the bloody thing. I wondered why i was putting my X to paper with what looked like a pencil not a pen and imagined someone with a rubber and a proper pen fishing the papers back out of the box again when i left and fiddling them.

I cheated, i didn't actually vote for a person i voted for a party. I looked down the list and found the one i wanted and stuck an X next to it. Thinking about it afterwards i'm not really sure whether it was for a man or a woman, how bad is that ?.

All that time spent trying to find out who i should vote for and the one thing i didn't do was find out who the bloody candidate is.
Still, it's done now.

The one thing i am looking forward to is the end to this intro (below) to a serious late night political TV show on BBC One.
Every time it appears i cringe with embarrassment. I consider it the most horrendous, buttock clenching, watch from behind the sofa, introduction to a political review show.....EVER !!!.

And they say the electorate isn't taking this election serious enough.

Pretty People

Work is usually a pretty sexless place for me.
No matter how much i keep my eye out for something that might catch my eye, or someone that might interest me, it's probably the only place and time in my life where anything sexual seems to have had a bucket of water thrown over it.

Ryan had been moved to another office for a while so that's why i haven't mentioned him much lately. But today he was back !. Much to the relief of both of us. He was sat with a sweaty fat man in a side office for a bit and he hated it. You could see that he was happy to be back and i'll be honest so was i. I was looking around the room the other day in a moment of daydream and noticed that i seem to work with some of the ugliest people in the world. Not that i would ever get off with Ryan, it's just nice to have something attractive to look at to cheer you through your day.

It's been decided, i'm going to America with my parents and a group of other family members later in the year.
I haven't decided, they have, and they told me tonight.
I'm still at the 'we'll see' stage.

I'm doing my final bit of political homework tonight.
It's the third and final Leaders debate on the telly so i'm putting 90 minutes on one side to watching it.
I don't read the crap they send through the post and most of the time i turn the radio off when they waffle on about it on the radio.
Roll on next Thursday....

Shopping for gadgets

The general erection is next Thursday (why is it always on a Thursday?) and i'm still undecided which party to vote for.
I'll be glad when it's all over and we can get back to normal telly. At the moment Party Political Broadcasts are popping up as often as commercial breaks.

My mobile phone is on a contract and it runs out next month.

This means i can either reduce my bill by going on a different tariff, or get another free phone and tie myself into another contract.

My head says be sensible and save money. My heart says get an I-phone.

Buying a new gadget every now and then, to me, is like a women buying a new pair of shoes. It makes my week and gives me something to look forward to.

The difference is that when women spend hundreds on an item of clothing they will probably only wear it twice and on special occasions, so they take it home from the shop and throw it in a cupboard for the next six months. Fellas on the other hand will have a gadget out of the box before they left the shop and stick to it like glue for the next 12 months until they have saved up enough money to buy another gadget.

I used to watch the Gadget show on channel 5 for tips and ideas but they are trying to turn it into Top gear and its now shit.
The gadgets have gone from MP3 players and super thin flat screen HD TVs, to Bicycles and Kites ?.
When once they would show you the future, now they are setting each other challenges that involve racing each other around the London Marathon with the aid of gadgets like Bicycles and sat nav.
Crap.

If i were a TV Critic 'Crap' would be a copy and paste word i would use a lot.

I just saw something on the news about people buying (yes BUYING!) the manifestos of the three main political parties.

The reporter said that sales are currently running higher than that of JK Rowling ! Eh ?

Poor kids, imagine the Labour Party Manifesto as a bed time read.

No dad, i don't want you to read me a story tonight, i'm a bit tired thanks.

The Leaders Debate

Tonight on the telly "political history was made" here in the UK when we had our first American style Leaders debate.
90 bleedin' minutes of it followed by another 4 hours worth of "who won round one ?".
I managed to stay awake for the full hour and a half and thought that if i watch the other two debates as well it will give me a good excuse not bother with any other political shows during this boring election and i won't feel guilty turning the page when it's in the papers either.

Before the debate i had no idea who to vote for. I still don't, but Nick Clegg (Liberal) was the one i seemed to agree with the most, so they edge up the leader board a bit on my voting list.

But all the telly pundits see things differently to me. When i say i think he was the winner it means i agreed with most of the things he said. When they say he won the debate they mean he scored points and looked good. They then go on to dismiss him and his party as never standing a chance in the real election.

Being British that sort of thing touches on my bloody mindedness and makes me think seriously about voting for them just to piss people off. Besides, if so many other people said he did well surely that means they agreed with what he was saying as well ?. Or does it just mean everyone else thought he looked good and smiled in the right places like the pundits, but don't actually agree with what he is saying and won't vote for him ?.

I'm crap at this politics lark. I still don't know who to vote for.

After the debate, TV does what it always does, it fills the airways with reaction from other members of the same party. and what a bloody waste of time that is. Liberal politicians say Nick Clegg did well, Labour said the same about Gordon Brown, and Conservative went for David Cameron. Funny that eh ?.

Anyway let's drop politics for now shall we, i'm all politicked out (politicked must be a real word, it was on spell check)

General Erection

They're off !!. At last ! they have eventually called a bloody election and it will be all over by the end of May 6th (i hope).
Telly and newspapers are full of it and you can almost smell the excitement coming from every bleeding reporter on screen as they wet themselves over the whole idea.

It's like the X Factor or something and i've already seen at least a half dozen representations of how we might vote and some just harbour on the ridiculous. Everything from Special Effect screen graphics full of % signs, through to the size of Ice Cream Cornets and a box of Chocolates "imagine this layer of the box represents the Conservative vote and this is Labour, now lets see what happens when we include liberal chocolate creams...." Wot ?.
God what must it have been like in America ?, their elections seem to go on for years.
Today's Political Musings from a thicko

Conservative : David Cameron has a scratch on his nose, who's he been fighting ?. Sorry did he say something ?, i wasn't listening, i was distracted, he has a scratch on his nose.
Liberal : Vince Cable as Chancellor of the Exchequer ?. He looks like Scrooge with a haircut.
Labour : Cocky bastard, left it till the last minute didn't you ?

As you can tell, i'm not interested in any of them or anything they say....Yet. And i'm so bored and unexcited by it all that i'm distracted by any trivial shite that catches my eye. I hope things change, i wouldn't wanna be casting my vote on the strength of who happens to be wearing the wrong colour socks on May 6th because joking aside, what the wifes wear, who went to what school and where they launched their campaigns from are the least important things i need to know. Time to drop the trivia and start listening to what they are offering i think. (hark at me getting all serious for a change..LOL)

Daniel rang tonight and asked what i was doing at the weekend. Obviously the answer was nothing so he told me he has something planned and i that i should keep my diary open for Saturday and Sunday. But he wouldn't tell me what it was. Now there's a bit of excitement for a change. What are we gonna be doing ?. Or should that be, where are we going ?, because he asked me to fill the car up, i'm driving. Typical.

Now that this blog has been going for a while i thought it best to do a blogger backup. This lets you download the whole thing (comments and all) to my hard drive.
once i had done this i decided to copy and paste just the text bits in one huge Cut & Paste to my Microsoft Word program just to see how much there was without all the pics.
118 pages and 102190 words long it's nearly half a book. Hardly Harry Potter i know and most of it is shit. But i'm thinking of printing it out and sticking it somewhere in the toilet so i can flick through the old stuff to see what i wrote.
One thing that bloggers will tell you about blogging is that once you've posted something and moved on to the next day, all previous stuff is forgotten by you and goes unread by everyone else.
In fact in most cases a blog could really be just a dozen pages you keep overwriting for what good the archive is. But this is a personal diary and the best thing about a personal diary is the looking back.
I'm forgetting to look back.
From my first proper post "It's Easter bank holiday weekend and i am as bored as hell" Sound familiar ? LOL

Politics & Porn

Meeeooooww !.
I'm away two minutes and a fight breaks out in my comments section. Typical homosexual behaviour, intolerance and ignorance combined with catty remarks. LOL. (joking of course). Don't be offended by this next bit but I refuse to join in. Mainly because i don't understand half of it. If i'm honest i got lost somewhere down the page.

In all seriousness it's one of the reasons i'm crap with politics, people start talking over my head. I don't know what they are on about so how can i argue ?. Please remember i'm not the best educated person (can't you tell from this blog ?) I skipped a lot of school, (It wasn't a happy time for me) and i'm still trying to play catch up. The title of the post was to vote or not to vote ?. Well Reading the comments section i'm reminded why i turn politics off when it's on the telly. I have the attention span of a goldfish and if your not talking my language my brain tunes out.

I know that's not something to be proud of and i look forward to your comments slagging me off. But the only thing that interests me about politics are. Will i be able to afford to live, and how much more are you gonna squeeze out of me for owning a fucking car !!. In truth I hate them all. i trust none of them and i know that the only time they seem give a shit about me is the last 6 months before a general election. Then, when its over and they get into power, they just carry on as normal. I will vote of course, but i've yet to decided who for. Since this post provoked such a response I'll keep you informed which way i'm swinging over the coming weeks, I may even tell you who i vote for when the time comes. It'll give me something to blog about, and it'll give you an idea of how the mind of a none political thicko works when it's election time.

First brainless political thoughts of the day ?.

Labour : Who voted Gordon Brown Prime minister ?(no-one) and who voted Peter Mendelsson anything ? (no-one) Who voted Lord Sugar anything (no-one) etc etc..i hate them for that alone.

Conservative : David Cameron needs to spend less time being pictured running around exercising and riding around London on his Bike, he looks a twat. It's like seeing your dad at the gym or trying to dance. And anyone who employes an ex editor of the News of the World as his PR loses my vote pronto.

Liberal : That bloke from the liberals (whats his name ? thingy) Are you the leader or is it that old bloke who looks a bit like a Wiesel ?. All i see is suits, sometimes Jacket on, sometimes jacket off. But when i think liberal i think suits. Don't ask me why.

UKIP : A rude tit head of a leader who acts like he's showing off to his mates all the time. He treats it like it's some sort of jolly jape and i once saw him say he enjoyed "stiring it up in Europe". Stop it you pillock!, your supposed to be representing Britain you nobhead, start doing your job and stop acting the goat. He's even arrogant enough to think he speaks for the whole of the UK. Someone punch him please, i don't care what country you come from, just do it, I promise you that people in the UK wont be offended, we'll probably just piss ourselves laughing then send you a medal.

Not very sophisticated political commentary i know, but there you go. The level of my thoughts.

Oh and one final note. who will be willing to legalise pornography ?. It's like the fucking dark ages in this country. Now there's a policy i don't see anyone adopting yet LOL

Anyways after that short rant, back the norm, it's a bank holiday weekend here in the UK so i've spent less time at home and more time with my family. But it's Sunday now and they were getting on my tits, so here i am, back home again.

Had a leisurely day with my mum and dad yesterday, which ended with us all sat in front of the telly watching Dr Who eating fish and chips.
It was like old times and i felt like i was 7 again. All that was missing was being told it's bath and bedtime afterwards.

When i stay over i sleep in my old room. Its starting to look less and less like my old room to be honest. It's turning into a store room and i had to move a cloths horse with drying tea towels on it and a Tesco bag full of old Birthday cards stuffed under a pillow.
Why do women keep old cards ?. My mum keep loads of 'em.

My Mum & Dad also got broadband the other week. which is quite funny because neither of them really uses the Internet. They just got it because everyone else has it. My dad can send e-mails and my Mum has discovered net shopping. But when it comes to buying stuff she then goes to the shop because she refuses to input her Credit card details.

On the plus side i can use my laptop the next time i'm over, so no excuse not to blog from their house in future.

To vote or not to vote ?

I'm wondering whether to vote at the general election. I probably will, but i still haven't decided which box to tick yet. I just can't bring myself to find out who is gonna do what for me. As soon as their faces come up on my telly screen and they start talking bullshit i turn off.

They all seem like tosspots to me. None of them have my vote yet. Almost daily now i get some crap through my door from labour or Conservative propaganda head office.
It usually has a picture of a middle aged man or woman dressed like my grandma or grandad on the front, and from what i can see scanning over the leaflet it's two thirds telling me how crap the other side are, and one third telling me how good they will be.

They ask stupid questions that your supposed to answer no to, like
Do you want your pension raided and given to illegal immigrants ?.
Do you want murderers and rapist released from prison early ?.
Do you want taxes to be doubled and given to the greedy fat cats in charge of our banks ?
if the answer to all these questions is NO !. then you need to vote for.......

Do you think their treating me like a child ?. Talking down to me ?. think i'm an idiot ?.
Answers on a postcard to......Labour, conservative, Liberal......Blah blah blah.

According to the weatherman we're gonna get some snow this week. Bloody hell, please no.

I'm getting addicted to Family guy and American Dad on BBC three. It's the only thing on this channel worth bothering with and they show them all the time.
When i was a kid i loved cartoons, then i reached my teens and the sight of animation turned me off. Now i'm back to the toons again.

If i hear Florence + the Machine dog days are over one more time i'll bloody scream. It seems to have take over from Here come the girls as the tune that every TV show wants to slip in somewhere