2008
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2008 |
| Lobby Blog Gallery 2010 082009 |
 29/12/08Xmas  |
Went back to work after my illness on Xmas Day, you'd think I could've stretched it out to see me through the festive period, but alas no. Back I went with my flashing stars Santa hat on and my little soft toy Santa stuck on the end of my pen. I worked 13 hr shifts on Xmas Day and Boxing Day, had highs and lows, highs being all went smoothly despite being the only trained nurse on and the girls I was working with were good company. The lows being some relatives with ISSUES, you'd think it being Xmas Day an' all that some people would take a break from harassing nursing staff and show a little understanding, a little kindness even, a little good will, or summit along those lines, but some people just never take a day off from being a shithead. I got the duty doctor to listen to my chest and he says there's still some basal creps in the left lung, but he holds out hope of the Cefalexin mopping up the last of the infection and this cough going, but it may take up to 3 weeks. If after then the cough is still in evidence I should go back to the GP he reckons. We had our Xmas Day on Saturday, opened the pressies, visited my parents then had Xmas dinner, was a lovely family day full of love and peace and I got diamond earrings! Diamond and platinum earrings, a fabby smart black double-breasted winter coat from NEXT and a netbook, lovely little shiny black 160GB Asus Eee I've called Gorgeous. Also got Angel perfume and an external DVD drive that can also put images on the disc with Lightscribe technology for Gorgeous. Oh yeah, and The Fiancé got 'us' a Miele cylinder vacuum cleaner, I say 'us' cos I want him to feel as comfortable using this gift as me. |
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22/12/08 killing the zlob.g & watching The Hunting Party  |
Spent most of today fixing The Boy's
ACER Aspire desktop. He'd only gone and got himself a trojan, the zlob.g no less. Was a
nightmare, tried removing it with Malwarebytes, that got rid of
everything else, all the other shite he'd gathered, but the zlob.g was
still evident, so at the end of my tether I decided just to use the Acer
recovery disc and start again, but feck, it got worse, the recovery disc
failed telling me... restore failed - reason 0xd00000le So I restarted the computer again, and got this message file:\windows\system32\config\system status: 0xc0000225 info: windows failed to load because the system registry file is missing or corrupt Windows should follow a message like that with at least a hunner exclamation marks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was terribly worried, bout the 'registry file is missing or corrupt' thing, but from somewhere in the depths of my memory I was thinking, ACER eRecovery technology, there's summit else I should be trying...eventually it came to me...to try to make it reinstall from the hard drive bit that's got the ACER empowering technology, instead of the disc copy (I know what I'm trying to say here). The magic fix is...Alt + F10 on boot-up and instead of the disc version that was failing me, I got the hard drive version, AND it actually worked! I thought the zlob.g had ripped out the registry, chewed it up and spat it out, and when the eRecovery disc wouldnt work I was shittin myself, thinking...loadsa money to repair, or a new computer...then the joy when ACER's eRecovery stuff worked on the hard drive...the ALT F10! ALT & F10 I love you forever. Then there was the downloading of the driver for the wireless PCI adapter (which I actually physically installed in the first place, but couldn't remember the name of it until I'd unscrewed the side of the tower and with a torch and The Boy's good eyesight found out the make and model), and AVG, ZONELAB and ADAWARE, and tattooing the words NO LIMEWIRE!!!! on The Boy's forehead. So, anyway, having recovered from that, The Boy and I settled down and enjoyed The Hunting Party, a movie with Richard Gere bout The Bosnian War. |
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19/12/09 Onion Soup Au Gratin and a trip into The Highlands   |
I've now made Onion Soup Au Gratin
twice, and OMG, it's sooooooo tasty. I'm the kind of cook that
masters one dish a year, once I've been told how delicious it is, I feel
all worthy as a woman and wife-type-person, and that's all you get for
the next year. The Fiancé will recognise this particular
syndrome. Is it the caramelised onions, the garlic? The
white wine may have something to do with it. The recipe for Starry
Onion Soup Au Gratin is
here. We're just back from a night in The Highlands. Spent Saturday night at Cluanie Inn, dinner and a luxury room with four poster bed and jacuzzi. It's in the middle of no-where, well, it's on the A87 road heading towards Skye, in Glen Shiel next to Loch Cluanie. The food's delicious, I hadn't had sticky toffee pudding since I was...well...it's been decades, this one had melting vanilla ice cream on the side and a very chefy dribbled/diagonal stripe topping of raspberry sauce. The building, established in 1780, was originally a resting place for cattle drovers on their way to the markets or 'trysts' at Falkirk and Crieff. The owners, staff and clientele, have all so far, been extremely friendly, there's a log fire in the bar and a grey parrot twitters away most of the time. They do whiskey-tasting events with their 260-ish different whiskeys. The clientele are usually fishermen, shooter/stalkers, hill-walkers, Munroe-baggers, locals and I spose, people like us spending a night in The Highlands.The Luxury bedroom we take (we were there last winter) does have a four poster and a jacuzzi, but it's a little less than the luxury we're used to, the old draughty windows probably play a part in that, but they're part of the Inn's charm, weighing up the pros and cons, it's worth it. It simply means you get under the warm bedding a lot. They don't have TV, mobile phone or internet reception, but they do have TVs and DVD players in the rooms, so take something worth watching. We took Eddie Izzard's Dress To Kill Live Show cos The Fiancé's only just found out how funny Mr Izzard is. On our way to Loch Cluanie on Saturday and there's this stag loitering around the view-point lay-by on the A82 just before you get to Rannoch Moor. Looks friendly enough, would probably take your eye out with them antlers, hope he buggers off before next shooting season. |
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16/12/08 phone problem sorted, improvement in physical health and x-ray result |
I got a text message from TalkTalk on my mobile this morning telling me that TalkTalk had checked my landline and found no fault. Rats! The problem was in the wiring in the house, would need to fix it myself, or get my Dad or The Fiancé to sort it, OR pay £50 call out charge, and that would just be for starters. I'd already tried all the usual trouble-shooting easy fixes to no avail. Was going about the house an hour later fretting bout what to do next when a man chapped the door.
He was a BT engineer, his sweatshirt told me so, and I was gobsmacked, why was he there? Who was paying for him? I explained to him that TalkTalk had just told me it was my problem and I had only requested an external line-check, wasn't ready to invite the official expensive guys to come in and sort it.
He told me to ignore TalkTalk, said that he, working as a BT engineer, and TalkTalk were all the same really, he was only there to check the external line and wouldn't be costing me anything. So I invited him in, he even took his boots off to save my floors, what a hero. He couldn't figure where the main box in the house was (it's complicated), so he quickly sussed it would be easier to go back outdoors again and check the boxes, one on the house and one on a nearby telegraph pole on the street. That man worked tirelessly in the teaming rain and bout 30 mins later came back to tell me that the fault was in the box on the pole on the street. Not my problem, not costing me anything. And it was a serious problem, deterioration of the equipment up that pole caused by the neighbours trees. He had to call for back-up, a platform to allow him to work up the pole, then spent bout 2 hours on the platform. I made him a coffee, he drank it in the rain and just got on with his job.
While he was still up the pole another TalkTalk text came in saying that the TalkTalk engineers had confirmed that the fault was now rectified and telling me to text them back to corroborate. I went out and called up the pole...TalkTalk says their engineers have fixed the problem...he laughed and said...thats good of them, just ignore them.
Next time I saw him he was asking me to check my phone, it was working again, and he even un-redirected calls to my mobile back to the landline.
Seems to me the good news is, even if your with some other phone company, when you get trouble, it's the BT guys that come and fix it. And I'm guessing it's only BT that have the years of training and talent behind them that can provide this type of service in the UK today.
Today I woke up feeling distinctly...better, still got 5 days of antibiotics to take, but I felt a difference this morning. I checked back, I've been ill since the 1st of December, it's now 16 days later. I phoned the health centre for my x-ray result and got the good news it's entirely NORMAL! Summit bout me is normal, who'd have thought it...I quickly got over that surprising bit of news, and celebrated the fact that I don't have pneumonia or cancer.
When I broke the good news to The Fiancé and my Mum, they were both so overwhelmed, I realised I wasn't the only one worrying all weekend. I'd spent a few days there feeling tearful, and crying sometimes too, deep down I was scared. And when The Fiancé threw the wardrobe out into the rain, and when the phones broke, and when The Boy and The Fiancé were having words, I was crying...cos I was scared. It's not easy being ill, vulnerable and scared. |
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15/12/09 progress on the walk- in, annoying TV ads, Triple Gold Medallist Chris Hoy is Sports Personality Of The Year, Iron man and my phone problem  |
It's probably safe for me to mention the walk-in wardrobe again, The Fiancé's in Norway so it's safe. The large units and most of the internals are in situ and looking lovely. The Fiancé is used to bespoke, 100 year old laid down by the granddad solid-oak, craftsman designed and built individual pieces of furniture à la Dutchland. He therefore found the basic (lack of) quality of IKEA furniture, difficult to say the least. The first cupboard he built, rapidly unbuilt itself when he lifted it, so he chucked that out the door, I mean, right out the door, into the rainy night.
Flabbergasted, I pleaded the
sensible approach, that he couldn't just throw it away and that it
probably takes two men to construct this stuff safely, so we invited my
Dad over to help.Dad came over the next two days and
once Ikea had delivered a replacement unit for the
chucked-out-on-a-Scottish-December-night unit, the job got done with no
more major mishaps. The Fiancé even brought the chucked cupboard
back in and used it to make a shelved unit to fill the gap, making the
whole thing wall-to-wall. I've been filling it with clothes,
handbags, shoes and boots, underwear and belts, a shoe rack and drawers
and figuring out where more drawers can go. And I need boxes for
storage, but the black ones I want aren't in store in the Edinburgh
branch, so my brother, who is working through the Glasgow way is going
to pick up the boxes and another couple of drawers for me tomorrow at
the Glasgow branch. And I still think I'll need some more drawers
before I'm finished.Some TV adverts are really bugging
me just now, maybe it's cos I'm off sick and seeing more TV, but some of
them are so annoying :- that Scottish company that has the
knight in shining armour riding around on horse-back, waving a Saltire,
claiming no-win-no-fee, Scotland has a champion, a champion for the hurt
etc. Riles me due to the implication that Scots are a bunch of
slackers ready to sue at the first sign of a raised flagstone we might
trip over and sprain an ankle, and it's use of Scottish symbolism, and
the knight in armour, when did we ever have armour???- the Tesco ad with Des O'Connor, as
if its not annoying enough having to see & hear Des, there's those
really really really annoying signs popping up as he glides around the
room- Goodfella's Pizza, sponsors of
Harry Hill's TV Burp and You’ve Been Framed,
and that sickening little Barry White puppet and the 'It's Goo-oooood'
Triple Olympic gold medallist Chris Hoy has been crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year, bet that came as a bit of a shock to Lewis Hamilton. That'll teach him for having no personality, and living in Switzerland probably had summit to do with the public's choice. Mr Hoy is a real star and inspiration to all. We watched Iron Man over the weekend, good to see Robert Downey Jr back and on top form, and Gwyneth Paltrow looking hotter than she's ever looked before. Highly recommended. And I got to watch Hancock again, with The Fiancé, though he said he didn't think it was as good as I think it is. Probably cos Will Smith is soooo damn...ouch that hurts...HOT HOT HOT! Been having a wee problem with the land-line since yesterday, no dialling tone and no calls in or out. I tried all the stuff your meant to do, including plugging in a corded phone, no joy, just crrrrrrrrrrrrr, and when I unplugged the router, sounded like I was tuned into a distant radio station instead of the crrrrrrrrrrrr. So I did the only thing open to me, I contacted the TalkTalk call centre, jeeez, used up bout £9 on my mobile listening to some really crap hip-hop type song played repeatedly, then I was talking to some lady in...India I'm guessing. She was very polite, but several times I didn't catch what she was saying, though she did seem to understand me each time I spoke. I think in the end she told me there is a fault on the line outside of my house, it'll take up to 5 working days to fix, and calls to my landline will be redirected to the mobile number I gave her. I think. I've tested out the calls will be redirected to your mobile idea, and they are being, but I don't hold out much hope of the problem on the line being fixed anytime soon. It's not exactly reassuring when it's so...foreign. I was thinking to myself as I held on yet again while she 'tested the line', how you gonna do that from India?I don't like having to call (especially from my mobile!) an 0870 number - which generate revenue for TalkTalk - to report a line fault. They're providing a service, and they should pay for their technical problems. I'm left thinking, will it be fixed? Is saving a few pence on calls and line-rental worth it? Would BT offer a more UK-based service? I don't know, but I will be looking into it, and I think I'll send off an email to TalkTalk to ask if they've taken on my problem as the call centre woman said they have, or as I think she said they have. I've added my new 2008 Bikeshite Xmas Banners to The Computer Art Gallery. The Fiancé is going with the Xmas Lights one first, which is nice, cos that's a new Jasc Photoshop Pro technique I learned over the weekend. |
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11/12/08 still no well |
I'm not feeling any better, still coughing, short of breath and hurting, so I decided eventually that I'd have to go back to the health centre. Asked to see the nurse again, but they gave me a doctor. She listened to my chest and said the infection is still there, so it's a course of Cefalexin this time, a further 10 day sick line and I had to have a chest x-ray.
The Fiancé came home last night to look after me, he took one look at me and decided he's well now. After the running around from doctor to hospital he set about the walk-in wardrobe project. Which hasn't went entirely smoothly, that's all I best say for the time being. |
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09/12/08 Hancock  |
Watched Hancock tonight, a great
movie, so looking forward to watching it again. Did away with my movie
review pages on here, it was doing my head in, too much work and the
pages looked pretty scrappy, so I'll just write bout movies here on my
blog in future. Added a new smilie I made to the gallery, a member of The Fiancé's website called meeps wanted a personal smilie of him and his Mitsubishi Warrior L200 vehicle, I supplied. |
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06/12/08 Xmas tree and The Comedy Awards  |
I put the xmas tree up this evening, black tree, blue lights, mirrors and stars, the photos don't do it justice. Found a good use for all the leaves that have been hanging around in the corners on the patio, burning them in the fire tonight. Watched The Comedy Awards tonight and so pleased to see Russell Brand winning an award. Angus Deayton was excellent, sticking it to The Daily Mail and the 42,000 wankers that phoned in to complain about Rossy and Brand. Still missing my weekly dose of Rossy and Brand podcasts. Found a new podcast to like, Phil Jupitus and his pal, another Phil, cover 10 topics in humorous fashion each week. Currently my favourite podcasts are : the two Phils, Collings and Herrin, Timeghost and The Absolute Peach. |
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05/12/08 no well, SW services under even more attack, utility company tricks and Boy George |
I don't go to the health centre if I can possibly avoid it, but this feeling no well business isn't getting any better, and I should be going back to work tomorrow. I really don't feel capable of going to work, this cough is exhausting me, and the pain just below my sternum is worrying, (though I suspect damaged muscle), so I phoned the health centre today to see a doctor, but the receptionist was a bit icy and decided I could speak to a nurse instead. The nurse phoned me back, was much friendlier and invited me down to see her. Turned out the nurse offers as good a service as seeing a doctor, so fair enough.
She started off by asking if my husband is a nurse, this is a common misconception within the NHS in my area, I get asked quite often. I've kept the surname of hubbie #1, and given that our surname is rare in Scotland, I think we're the only ones in Scotland, I explained that my partner isn't a nurse, but I know the one she means, he is a nurse, but he's an ex, I'm a nurse, and no offence taken. Always a good ice-breaker, anyway, she was thorough, looked in my eyes, ears and mouth, placed a gadget on my forehead, which must've been taking my temperature, then applied the stethoscope, in conclusion she declared my chest is infected and gave me a prescription for antibiotics and a sick line for 7 days. A sick line!!! I've been hankering after a sick line for a long long time, loads of people I work with seem to get them all the time, and now I've got one, I couldn't be more satisfied.
I predict my next health problem will be thrush, got a Fluconazole capsule along with the Amoxicillin and more chesty Meltus. Spent £24 at the chemist, it's not cheap this being ill business. I told the nurse that the last two times I've had Amoxicillin resulted in severe and incapacitating vaginal thrush, but she wasn't impressed, she wasn't feeling my pain, she brushed it off stating that thrush is a side-effect of antibiotics, like one should just accept that. The last time I needed antibiotics was from the dentist, and when I pleaded not to be given Amoxicillin, the dentist found it in her heart to provide an alternative. The alternative didn't give me thrush and helped cement my personal research findings on my Amoxicillin/thrush connection.
The Dewsbury MP Shahid Malikfrom is calling for an independent review on social service's involvement with Karen Matthews. And why not, lets throw more money at a woman who has already been scrutinised to the hilt in a high court criminal case, and will cost us loads more money keeping her in jail, and even more money caring for however many of the 7 children to 5 different fathers who are now without the mother and who's fathers don't step in to care for them. What the hell ever happened to personal responsibility? I have one son, because I decided I can afford to raise one, and raise him well, by the time The Boy was 2 I was splitting from his Dad. Child care that allowed me to return to work was provided by his Dad's parents, if I'd went on to have another child by another man, the second child wouldn't have been welcome at the grand-parents, and would have had to go elsewhere for child-minding, that wouldn't have been beneficial for siblings, therefore I ruled it out.
The media is doing it again, manipulating the extremely easy to manipulate British public and scape-goating SWs instead of pointing the finger at the problems in our society that result in a mother with 7 children to 5 different fathers believing that it would be possible to 'kidnap' a spare kid for the get-rich-quick remedy of pocketing the reward money, kinda like winning the lottery. Who is going to happily enter into the field of child social work these days? Only more foreigners and others who don't have a choice of speciality, and that can only mean the quality of social work services for the children of the UK will get worse.
A couple of days ago I got gas and electricity utility bill reviews saying that I had underpaid electricity by £16 and gas by £30.
I pay by monthly direct debit, just a couple of months ago they informed me that I'd over-paid electricity by £40, and gas, by £190. At that time my utility company stated they'd keep the over-payments and forward the amounts into the new monthly amount calculations, but I didn't agree that this was the best use of my money so I negotiated with them that they give my money back to me, better that it be earning me interest than them.
And now they say that due to recent increases in costs and the fact that I'm £46 in the red, they'll be increasing my monthly amounts to, electricity £102 and gas £125! I disagreed, and phoned them, the gas was calculated on a recent meter reading, the electricity was an estimate, and an over-estimate at that. So in reality I owed them approx £30, and if I hadn't requested my over-payments back they'd still have owed ME money!
Concentrating on the electricity I asked by how much their prices had jumped, she told me 19%, so I put it to the customer services lady, your price has jumped by 19% and you want to hike my monthly payment by 100%? And the gas, you recently had to repay me nearly £200 and you want to raise my monthly amount by £45? She pointed out that due to the increase in prices, if I don't increase my payments I might be in for the shock of a hefty bill in 6 months time. I asked why 6 months? She agreed to change that to 3 months. So in February 2009 they'll inform me of the state of play and I'll easily clear any debts if indeed I've got any. Bloody cheek of these utility companies, I believe they're all guilty of the same tactics, cooking the books to have our money profit them. Given that many people won't give it any thought, and won't question them, they must be raking it in. |
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04/12/08 Karen Matthews  |
A
police detective involved in the Shannon Matthews case has described the
mother found guilty today of her own daughter's kidnap, false
imprisonment and perverting the course of justice as pure evil, I think
that's a gross exaggeration here are some truly evil people... Adolf Hitler Peter Sutcliff Ruhollah Khomeini Pol Pot Ian Brady & Myra Hindley Tomas de Torquemada Beverly Allitt The Wests Karen Matthews is merely a scummy, minging, greedy, ignorant natural born liar who finds it difficult to determine right from wrong, very Waynetta Slob. |
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02/12/08 Vickie Hamilton |
Justice for
Vickie RIP
Poor Vickie, 15 year old, a wee lassie making her way home to her parents in Falkirk, from her sister's house in Livingston on a cold evening in February 1991. Waiting in Bathgate for a bus she encountered Peter Tobin. And now today he has been convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting the schoolgirl before killing her, cutting her body in half and burying her remains in his garden in England. Already in prison for the rape and murder of Angelika Kluk in Glasgow, he'll most likely spend the rest of his life in prison, and that, in my opinion is too good for him.
I don't see any point in keeping this man alive. Bringing back the death penalty for certain cases would save money that could be spent on cancer treatments or caring for premature babies or research into Alzheimers. Almost anything would be a better use of the money.
I don't think this country can afford to be so namby pamby PC with seriously sick bastards, men who rape and murder children and women, serial killers, predatory paedophiles who abduct, terrorise, torture and murder our babies. These people don't deserve to be part of society, they give up their rights to breath when they take the innocence and lives of our children.
I'm off sick with some sort of bug. Aching all over and my lungs are wheezing like a dust-covered old squeezebox brought down from the attic. Mum and Dad did a mercy dash today, with fresh supplies of Paracetamol and Chesty Meltus. The Fiancé ought to keep his bugs to himself. |
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01/12/08 Edinburgh Military Tattoo |
Online tickets for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2009 went on sale today
and I spent 2 and 1/2 hours clicking repeatedly till I got through and
purchased x2 for the Saturday 22nd August show and firework display.
I've never been before, and now I think
its
something I should experience, and I think The Fiancé will enjoy it too.
Here's some of the blurb...set in front of Edinburgh's cliff top castle,
with stands built on and out from the Castle Esplanade, the Tattoo
brings to the heart of Edinburgh a spectacular range of traditional
military costumes, music and parades, not just from the Scottish
tradition of kilts, bagpipes and pipe bands, but combat and motorcycle
display teams, parachute displays and visitors from military forces from
around the world. Every year there is the haunting sound of the Lone
Piper, performed against the famous backdrop of the castle, as well as
Massed Highland Dancers. Celebrating not only the 60th Tattoo, 2009 also helps celebrate the 250th anniversary of Scotland's national bard, Rabbie Burns, as well as Scotland's first ever Homecoming Festival. With music provided by the massed bands of the Royal Air Force and the band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, there are also two sets of Swiss visitors - its Top Secret Drum Corps and, in its Tattoo debut, the Central Band of the Swiss Army. The Swiss have an army to go with the knife??? |
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30/11/08 St Andrew's Day, feeding the birds in winter & really annoying camper van |
Happy St Andrew's Day.
Its been freezing up here for a couple days now, but sunny with it...it's been nice. I do hope everyone is remembering to feed the garden birds and give 'em fresh water. When winter kicks in I put out seeds and nuts and those fat-filled coconut shells you can buy made by Armitage Bros. There is a basic design fault I've noticed with the Coconut Fat Feast from Armitage Bros, the coconut shell is hung by a piece of string threaded through a hole on a side edge, but this allows starlings to go crazy and stuff their faces, emptying the thing in a day. The starlings can stand on top and peck down at the goodies or hang on to the bottom edge and eat up the way. The answer is to cut that string off and make a hole through the top centre of the coconut shell, rethread it with another bit string, I've found that looping a bit string through a large button, tying a knot and pushing that up through the new hole works well. The button stops your string going back out of the new hole you made. When the birds finish one, I remove my button and string and reuse it for the next one. I'm sorry for the starlings, but they're so prolific compared with the tits, and so greedy.I emailed Armitage Bros last winter telling them bout this problem, but didn't even get a reply. I think I'll try again though. I just checked my email account sent mails and it's still there, so I made a few alterations and sent it again. Lately some man who lives a approx 100 meters (I say approx cos I'm rubbish at guessing distance, but he lives just over there) down the street and on the other side of the street, insists on parking his camper van outside our house, not directly outside, so he's not blocking the drive, but just to the side of the drive. He has his own drive, but prefers to leave it here for us to look at. I don't know him and have only seen him once. You know how little things like this can really start to get on your nerves...that's how it was getting to me...I wanted to go shout at him PARK THAT BLOODY MONSTROSITY IN YOUR DRIVE!!!! MORON!!!! FECKING MORON!!!! My dear sweet Mother had even given me instructions on how to let tyres down, that's how bad it was affecting me, and Mum and The Fiancé both agreed it was out of order. The muckle great thing was impeding The Fiancé's vision when driving The Jag out of our drive, increasing the risk of accident. That's the stuff I put in the polite note I put on his windscreen today. Within the hour the camper van had been moved. I was quite astounded at the the owners speed and compliance. I can see a camper van parked way along on the street across from us, I suspect he's moved it there. What a cheek this man has got, he's got a neck of brass. |
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28/11/08 goodbye spare kitchen & snoring cure is rubbish |
The Fiancé went
back to work in Norway today, but due to illness, upstairs is looking
worse than it did when he came home. The kitchen got ripped out, water
and gas cut off, but the wardrobes are still in boxes in the dining
room. He got us portable gas heaters so we wont freeze, which is good but clothes are still in the spare room wardrobes and the ironing board is in our bedroom, we have to come downstairs to use the loo and no baths for the boys for a while. I never use the bath, preferring the shower downstairs, but oh how the boys are going to miss it. The Fiancé must be the sickest person I've ever met, when he gets a cold or a tummy bug he always looks ghastly, goes grey and clammy, looks like he could be having a heart attack. He was so ill on Saturday when my brother and his wife visited they couldn't talk to him, he was so ill I had to sleep on the sofa, he was so ill he couldn't talk to me without banishing me from the room. He was so ill I seriously worried that he was dying. Last time I saw him like that was a night he spent on the floor of a hotel bathroom in Milan. Today I've been brewing something, my leg and arm muscles are aching, got head cold symptoms and my eyes are smarting, but am I complaining? No. |
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27/11/08 wardrobes and the cure for snoring  |
The upstairs kitchen is gone but the snoring cure was a
failure, the thing just didn't work, as in looks like it was faulty,
either that or The Fiancé broke it. Didn't stay on when switched on,
The Fiancé testing the device was deliberately making snoring noises,
nothing was happening, the lights didn't stay on, what a disappointment,
I was expecting him to be getting electric shocks all night long. Was
wondering too, if I snored, would he get a shock? Probably. Pity, but
looks like he'll just throw it in the bin and forget bout it. Got home from a half day at work, and I'm not sure how it came about, but within the hour we were standing in Ikea choosing the wardrobe units for my walk-in wardrobe, excellent. Two of these will fill the entire wall, sliding doors, the black bits are shiny black glass. I think it came about because I was in a really good mood, having a few laughs at The Fiancé and mentioned the walk-in wardrobe, as in...'the walk-in wardrobe, euphemism for kitchen'. Seemed to get him thinking. My walk-in wardrobe is actually the kitchen of the flat upstairs. We've bought the flat upstairs and made the joining stairs, so we're using the upstairs as bedrooms, but there's still loads to do. The living room is our bedroom, high ceilings, working fireplace, and the galley kitchen adjoining is just about to become my walk-in wardrobe. The long wall will be full of these wardrobes with a full length black or oak framed mirror on the short wall. I'm having the same in each unit, none of them stupid bitty bits, sock compartments and shoe type things, two shelves at the top, a rail then two drawers and a shelf at the bottom. Once I put my clothes in and suss out the space left over, under the blouses and skirts for instance, will get more drawers/shelves to fill that space. So tomorrow he starts ripping out the kitchen units and preparing the room, and the units are being delivered. He was out and about while I was at work, amongst other stuff done and bought, he got himself an anti-snoring wrist device. Get this, apparently when he snores...it's going to give him an electric shock, which sounds like fun. Will be trialling it tonight. |
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26/11/08 Russell Brand, where's Hamish? and Venice photos uploaded  |
Watched
Forgetting Sarah Marshall last night with The Boy, tied in nicely with
us having watched Superbad earlier this
month, and we also loved 40 Year Old Virgin, they're all from the same
gang. AND Russell Brand was there, his character was essentially
himself, which was nice. Reminded me I had to get him singing
Inside Of You from Youtube and convert it to mp3 to listen on my iPod.
Got it now and going through spells of playing it on repeat through the
speakers. It's dirty and lovely. Hamish the Red Stag has wandered off, he's no longer at The Pyramids Park on the M8. Can't find any information on the internet to tell me where he's went to. |
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20/11/08 strictly no come dancing please |
Have not much of a clue what's happening with this Sickly Come Dancing crapo-dance-a-thon-shite, but I seem to have absorbed by some sort of occasional-watching-of-the-TV-news osmosis type process, that some guy CAN NOT DANCE to save his life. However, the UK public, or at least, the portion of it that's willing to not only watch rubbish but also spend their money voting on rubbish, not just once, but week and after week, year in and year out, again and again, on several different 'talent' progs, while most likely also phoning in to complain about a couple of the only people on British TV and radio with real talent who are actually worth watching and listening to, because everyone else was doing it, and not because they heard the so-called offensive material for themselves and made their own minds up, but oh no! jump on the band wagon and make the rest of us miss out on what we think is quality entertainment. | |||
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17/11/09 back downer and my nephew? |
Bit of
a downer, being back from Paris, back to work, back to housework, back
to crap weather. Back to a family issue that's proving painful. AND
just to make things perfectly crap, the end of last week had me all
hormonal too. A couple of weeks ago, a person contacted me on Friends Reunited and it looks like he's my nephew. He looks so much like my brother and other male members of my Mum's family. Unfortunately my brother wants nothing to do with the son he's never met before. He did meet up with him a week ago, for the first time ever, and now it looks like it's to be the only time. Apparently he felt pressured into the meeting. My Mum wants her new grandson in her life, and I don't know what to do. My brother is already freezing me out in a shoot the messenger type way. Though all I did was respond to the boy in email, and speak to my Mum bout it. The Fiancé was the one who actually broke the news to my brother, in a man to man type way. The Fiancé thinks everyone should put my brother's wishes first, and he wants nothing to do with the boy, because my brother says so. My brother really appreciates The Fiancé's input, really grateful to the Fiancé for his sensitive approach, and he's really angry at me, for nothing. Men eh! |
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08/11/08 Bonjour...back from Paris |
It
was fantastic, the story is told in my
Paris
Journal the photographs are in The
Paris Gallery. I had a rather special moment with a Frenchy guy, a Frenchy doing the security check stuff at CDG Airport, I'd put my handbag and coat in the tray, he approached me, and real close up, started to address me personally, told me...'sunglasses', I put my Ray-Bans in the tray, he briefly checked me over again, told me...'watch', I put my Swarovski crystal-encrusted Seksy in the tray, he checked me over again, then he breathed 'perfect'... ...and a split second later as I walked close past him, he added in his deep sexy Frenchy accent...'...woman'. While we were in France Barack Hussein Obama has been elected as President-elect in the USA. Maybe cos the only TV channels we watched in Paris were CNN and the BBC News channel, I am now sick of Barack Obama. Seeing him with Rahm Emmanuel, rumoured to become his Chief Of Staff, sends a shiver down my spine, they look like a couple of baddies from the movies. |
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29/10/08 Rossy and Brand |
I had to email the BBC to give my support to
Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand. I also contacted Rossy & Russell on their websites.
Feckin British cretins, jealous of what they can't obtain, jealous of them that's better looking, more talented, more successful, richer. Living the dream, them that's living the nightmare are the scary people. Oooops there goes another bandwagon, better get on it. The BBC suspended them, the cretins are calling for them to be sacked, what'll I do without my Rossy & Russell podcasts??? hmmm??? Spose they'll just go to another TV/radio company.
The boys were out of order, they went over the top, like two big school boys, BUT the tape should've been edited at the BBC. The BBC employed the boys because of who they are, and they are riskee. Sachs'll get over it, do the irate British public think he doesn't know his granddaughter has sex? He'd just need to watch some of her DVDs to find out what she gets up to, including blood letting, from Japanese rope bondage, whippings and satanic crucifixions through to fantasised sequences involving torture cat-fights, voodoo and vampirism, she is a Satanic Slut after all. S'pose it's much along the same lines as the Marilyn Manson scene. Voluptua and her sluts have been described as...'sometimes bloody, often blasphemous, very sexual and occasionally dangerous'. Apparently 'No subject is taboo or too extreme for the Satanic Sluts', well apart from Russell Brand saying he shagged her obviously. Says on her online journal under 'dislikes' - 'Having to sell out to earn money' hahaha...good one, she's probably got The Sun's number on speed dial. I'm no prude and an atheist, none of her antics, neither the sexual content nor the anti-Christian stuff offend me personally, but I'd say her granddad's probably got a pretty good idea that she does have a sex life, without Rossy and Brand telling him, she makes her living from selling varying images of fetish sex. If I announced that I perform black masses and cut myself till I bleed to entertain people that get off on that sort of thing, most of you would probably think either, poor woman, she needs help or what a stupid tart...but because it's Rossy & Brand verses Voluptua, Rossy & Brand have been demonised and Voluptua's become an innocent saint-like figure. BTW she has mentioned Russell Brand's podcasts on her website before all this happened, when he gave her and her group of sluts a name-check, she's been happy enough to take advantage of the publicity generated via Russell's popularity in the past, and I bet she's well happy bout the publicity she's getting now. Yes the BBC made a serious mistake, or rather, SOMEONE EMPLOYED BY THE BBC made a serious mistake. That person or those people were at fault. And as a consequence two of my favourite comedians are off-air for a time. I admit the boys were wrong, carried away with their humour and massive egos, but that's why they are two of the top British entertainers earning a fortune from just being themselves. Can you imagine being paid for just being you? lol...I wish. Rossy & Russell will no doubt return, and continue to provide more TV shows and podcasts that I adore so much. I for one can not stand up and say I've never made a mistake, high-jinks I was embarrassed about the next day, but in my life, the entire world would never hear about my shame and I wouldn't lose my job over it. The media bandwagon that has seen this incident blown out of all proportion is also to blame, and the people who are so eager to email and phone complaints about summit they haven't even witnessed for themselves, haven't 'felt' it, caught up in mass-hysteria, going with the flow like the sheep they are. One of the first occasions the UK witnessed this kind of sheepiness was Princess Di's death and funeral. If the TV and newspapers tell them it's bad, they believe it's bad. That's actually the worst thing bout this for me, I hate that a large majority of people in the UK are so stupid, so ready to accept that what the TV and newspapers tell them is what they should be thinking. I'm happy to continue paying the TV licence, I don't want to see the BBC lambasted or destroyed over this incident, just the person or people responsible for Ross-Brand-Gate. The BBC is the best broadcasting company in the UK today. Imagine our TV sets without the BBC...OMG...driven by advertising and ratings! The UK's cretins far outweigh the intelligentsia...will be a sad day. Come back Rossy & Russell, all is forgiven, mwaaaah, mwaaaah xxx |
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24/10/08 red stag sculpture on the M8  |
Look-a-here!! No sign of the red sheep on the man-made hills at The Pyramids Business Park today, instead there was a big red stag called Hamish. This is on the M8 next to junction 3A at Bathgate. I don't know if the sheep were hiding round the back of the hills, avoiding Hamish, or if they're gone? Hamish was created by sculptor Andy Scott for Cumbernauld galvanising firm, Highland, and they say he might go a roaming, turn up in other places in the future. I'll keep an eye on him. | |||
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22/10/08 Kerry Katona, mobile rip off and planning Paris  |
That Kerry Katona on This Morning, it was
despicable for the TV people to allow her to continue. Once it became clear
that she was in a distressed state, which she most definitely was, they should
have stopped filming. Not sure what was causing her distress, but it didn't
look like medication, not mood stabilisers anyway, it looked most like
recreational drugs, alcohol and/or cocaine. I was uncomfortable watching TV's
favourite pair of presenters grill a slurring disorientated woman. I was receiving 'browser alert' messages on my Virgin [other mobile phone companies are available] mobile phone from something called JUICE. I have no idea where these are coming from or why. Yesterday when trying to have one of my younger friends take a look for me, see if she could tell me what it is and why, I seem to have downloaded 'glamour' photos of Danielle Lloyd!!!? My young friend tells me she's a Big Brother person. I hate BB, I hate being made to part with my money for something I don't want, and I hate the porn industry, and sexual titivation ie half naked 'glamour' shots are bordering on that. Then I got a text message from 83044 thanking me for BUYING THE PHOTOS! I'm appalled and disgusted that people can do this to me, unwanted and unrequested. So I wrote an email to Virgin and today a Virgin man phoned me. Said he didn't know who Danielle Lloyd was either till I told him. They're called w2mobile (other scam rip-off promotional message companies are available). He was telling me the pictures cost me £3!!!!!! Well that's £3 too much for summit I didn't want, I emailed them my wrath, a few swear words and requested my money back. Probably little chance of that, but I feel so badly done to. And I've sent a text to 83044 saying STOP, got a message back promising they will. Mr F dropped in for a chat this morning, we catch up and speak of Mrs F. Mrs F is in long term care now, but we cared for her for about a year, which is a long time to be in an acute admission/assessment unit. The Fiancé's home tonight and has just bought tickets for Tristan and Isolde at Opéra Bastille. |
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18/10/08 risk assessment and shopping with Mr F |
Was as at a study day today, I've got to do two and a half days of
Health & Safety Risk Assessment stuff, which all in all wasn't actually
as terribly bad as I expected, but it was pretty bad. The only saving
grace I reckon was the instructor was my old
student-days-nurses-home-compatriot Shona. She talks fast and
funny, and she's kinda likeable. The couple times she handed over
to her colleague, a guy in a too tight V neck jumper and too tight
corduroy trousers, the mood in the room took a severe nose-dive.
She and I were playing catch-up in the few moments we had time to
chat, I was telling her bout The Fiancé and the two apartments into
one house conversion project, and she's also wearing an engagement
ring! He's an Elvis Impersonator she met in Lanzarote. Just discovered I have to do a presentation at the end of November about my project. My project is a Life Story Book tool I devised for use with appropriate patients at work, patients with cognitive impairment. I had to do the project in the first place because I'm on this year long course Leading Into the Future. I'm on this year long course against my will. Against my will but necessary because nurses have to keep engaging in further learning and study. It's an irritating fact of life that I find myself having to spend my own free time not being free, but chained to the tyranny of the governments whim. Anyway, I spose I better do some work towards this feckin project then. The shopping with Mr F, he picked me up after the study day and we headed up to Currys where a very obliging young lady took the list of ink cartridges I provided and found us a printer/scanner/photocopier at a reasonable price, reminded us that we'd need a USB cable and ink cartridges to get us going, and sold us 3 years worth of warranty. I'll organise the checking and setting up of the printer next week when I'm back at work. After the shopping we went for a Pepsi Max for me and coffee and cake for Mr F. |
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17/10/08 sheep, potatoes and Madonna     |
I've got a sheep named after me, and it's starting to annoy me that I
haven't made the effort to go visit her. I think I probably met her
when she was new born, but at that time wouldn't have known she was
going to be special to me, because I met 6 or 7 of this years lambs back
in March or April. Her owner is Tom, a good friend of mine, a retired
farmer who lives just outside Dechmont, my sheep is called
Rench Marilyn, and she's a Scottish Highland Show 2008 prize winner
already. I'm going shopping with Tom on Friday so might ask bout visiting Marilyn then. We're going shopping because Tom wants to purchase a gift for the ward, as a thank you for when we cared for his wife. We need a printer/photocopier/scanner and Tom's kindly getting us one. So I may have a photo of Rench Marilyn soon. Now I don't know whether to tell my next sheep titbit or go to my story bout summit else called Marilyn. I'll plump for the sheep story...there are red sheep on man-made hills along the road here, you see them as you drive along the M8 going past Bathgate. When I first heard about them (a while back now) I recalled Voltaire's Candide, and his red sheep which, laden with the gold and jewels of Eldorado, he chooses to leave Utopia and goes off to find his one true love and live happily ever after. The silly fool looses all but one of them sheep, to the sea, and he donates the soul survivor to the Science school type establishment in Bordeaux. Anyway, moving on to the other thing called Marilyn story, I discovered today that there are Marilyn potatoes they're on sale in ASDA, thankfully as part of their 'Extra Special' range, just as bloody well. Also Marilyn Monroe once dressed in a potato sack to promote Idaho potatoes. Madonna's getting divorced again, I never thought Guy was good enough for her anyway. She'll come off worse in the media, but that'll be no surprise, the media always pillory the woman when there is a 'couple' story to tell. And in another bizarre twist I discovered too, that Madonna had dyed sheep! She apparently incurred the wrath of animal rights activists when she dyed (or more likely, had others do the dying) the fleeces of a flock of sheep from her estate blue, pink, yellow and green for a Vogue photoshoot. Laura Barton asked the question in The Guardian in November 2007, Is It Wrong To Dye Sheep? Though, as the article says, if done properly, there is no harm, if done wrongly the sheep would be put under stress for no good reason and seems the most important thing is, incase your considering changing the natural colour of your sheep...only use non-toxic vegetable dyes. I don't think Rench Marilyn need worry. |
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05/10/08 two year anniversary and Kilchurn Castle  |
Today is 2 years of The Fiancé and I,
and I've pinned him down to our Paris trip. We went for a drive in The
Jag, up to Loch Awe to visit Kilchurn
Castle, then into Tyndrum for dinner. We did some talking bout how
we met, the first date, the early days, I love hearing his side of
the story, and how much he loves me. We agreed 2 years later it
still feels as fresh and exciting as the first days, but as
comfortable, secure and devoted as a long-term relationship.
Ahhhhhh, big happy sigh. About Paris, we're doing 5 nights in The Paris Hilton, think of the scope for humour in that one. It's at the foot of The Eifel Tower, I think it's going to be fabby. He's come round to the idea of flying there too, so it's flight/hire car/Paris Hilton for me. The Fiancé hates flying cos he does it all the time for work, and wanted to take The Jag on the ferry or do The Eurostar, but I'm quite fond of flying, and it's quicker. He's booking the trip this week. I'll have to put The Rock in for cleaning, ready for him getting down on one knee and asking nicely, cos that's why we're going to Paris, as well as visiting all the famous places I want to see. |
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04/10/08 enough with the munkeys already  |
I've finished shopping for The ITV Digital Munkey stuff
now, I got the 'Sidekick'
T-shirt one,
brand
new, sealed and in the box, the 'Big In Norway' T-shirt, brand new and
sealed, and the keyring, brand new. Say CHEESE Munkeys and you too Mr
Bean's Bear.
eBay's the only place you can
get the ITV Digital Munkey stuff these days. Made a new graphic for The Fiancé's website, celebrating BFR's 2008 Championship. After much trial and error I managed to find the right Animation Shop Optimization settings. It includes detailed photo images and a PSP-made neon text image...my first neon...I learned a new skill...I'm sooooo pleased with me. |
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01/10/08 podcasts |
Been listening to some podcasts. Favs are Jonathan Ross, Russell Brand, Ricky Gervais, The Absolute Peach, Armstrong And Miller's Timeghost and Answer Me This. All available on iTunes, but some you can find on their own websites, where you can download an mp3 version of the podcast, which you can keep forever. Also I've figured out how most iTunes can be changed into mp3s. Burning the iTune podcasts to a CD or DVD then ripping them to my hard drive, they can then be changed into whatever format I fancy using a great free programme called Quick Media Converter from Cocoonsoftwear, it's simple, free, safe and amazing. | |||
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20/09/08 cars and George Michael News  |
Started Xmas shopping already, Mum's pressie is sorted. We got a metallic
red
Jaguar S-Type 2.7 Twin Turbo Diesel Sport, which I've christened Jolene
(the White Stripes version). I'll miss the RR, but I think I can get
used to The Jag. George Michael News...he's done it again, got himself arrested in a public toilet, this time on Hampstead Heath on suspicion of possession of drugs. Pushing his luck feeding his obsessions, and he's got a couple of dangerous obsessions. |
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16/09/08 Mallory Park and hen parties |
Trip started when we hit the road bout 11pm on Thursday (11th), The Fiancé had
already done a day's work, before flying from Norway to Aberdeen then driving
the 2 1/2 hours down the road to home by the time we set off. And so, The Fiancé, Munkey and I took the east coast road down over the border then down through England on the A1, between the Dales and The Moors onto the M1. I'm not very good at roads though, so maybe that's rubbish. Anyway, was about 330 miles, took about 6 hours and I nodded off here and there. When we got to The hotel I went straight to bed and The Fiancé went to the track. 3 nights at Ullesthorpe Court, golf course and spa type place owned by Best Western. Friday night was all golfer types on the piss since Friday afternoon's game, always good for a titter the golf types, and the hotel played host to at least 2 Hen Parties. These Hen Party type women aint half clever, seems they've devised a way of being able to recognise each other after one too many Vodka Breezers, what they do is wear summit they all have in common. The pink cowboy hat, denims and check shirt party made for the most ridicule from me. None of them particularly doing themselves any favours in said outfit. The addition of the pink cowboy hat made them all mostly look like gay cowboys a la Brokeback Mountain, and on closer inspection, like gay cowgirls. The other lot were in tiaras. And the disco event played, well, disco music! I seriously didn't know 'discos' still existed. |
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10/09/08 stupidity exists - definitely |
We're still here, despite the
Large Hadron Collider experiment in Geneva today. Some very OTT people
were freaking on about a man-made black hole into which the Earth would've been sucked. At hand-over this
morning on the ward we were discussing the hysterical rumours that surround this £5 billion research project
into matter and it's behaviour. A student nurse I just met 10
minutes before said...'oh no, I wish you hadn't told me that, I
believe that kind of thing'. She believes in 'that kind of
thing'!? I was amazed, 'that kind of thing'? What does that mean?
I asked her, incredulous, 'you just believe...in that kind of thing? like you believe in everything every mad rumour monger ever spouts?'...she didn't seem to know, she just retorted...'I just believe in that kind of thing, and now I'm really worried'. |
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07/09/08 King Kong and Cliff News   |
The Fiancé and I watched the Jack
Black/Adrien Brody version of King
Kong, and were entertained, he more than me it has to be said. I
commented that the special effects were rather special, he claimed
there were no special effects and that the giant gorilla and
prehistoric creatures were all real, he defends this ridiculous
statement by pointing out that nowhere in the credits was there a
statement claiming 'no animals were injured in the making of this
movie', therefore King Kong and his pals were real and died in the
making of the movie. The Fiancé is talking nonsense. We also watched We Own The Night, not a very remarkable movie. According to The Sunday Times Cliff Richard is cohabiting with an ex-priest, now I don't much care bout that, I don't care if he has a stoma or not, I don't care if his merchandise is over-priced or not, and I don't care whether his 'impromptu' sing-along at Wimbledon in 1996 was engineered by his then PR company or not (all of these scandalous rumours can be found on his official website) and I don't much care who he lives/sleeps/eats/dances/converses/shags with... I just beg, for the love of music, someone please stop him singing! |
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06/09/08 Happy Birthday Me and The Paralympics     |
Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear meeeeeeeeeeeee
The Chinese are at it again, showing off, this time it's the Paralympics. I'm drinking champers, wearing the RayBans, the black leather biker jacket, to go with the UGGs and measuring my BP on my new electronic sphygmometer. The sphyg was a pressie from my Mum & Dad. |
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