I woke up this morning, just before my alarm clock was going to go off, I thought. Looked at my alarm clock to confirm, and discovered that for some reason I'd woken up exactly an hour early. Oh well, back to sleep.
One hour later, -bingley-bingley-bingley- "This is your 6am alarm Insert Name Here"...
6am? Oh well, a nice long snooze is in order, while I wait for the shower to be free.
A while later, I'm up, dressed and showered. I look at the clock... What? 6:20am? Something's not right here... So, I'll sit back and relax for a while.
Time passes... I'm bored... so into the car and off to work. A cup of tea is made, and the laptop is booted. It must be time to work now?
-bingley-bingley-bingley- "This is your 7am alarm Insert Name Here"...
Wednesday 30 January 2008
Monday 28 January 2008
Brain failing
Clearly, my brain is failing.
Saturday was supposed to be Jitsu training. Due to a combination of dislike of the particular technique that was going to be taught, and a number of minor injuries that add up to really not being up to it, I stayed home. As punishment for missing training, I decided to clean the house, and catch up on all the chores that I'd left for far too long.
Sunday, therefore, continued with the chore theme... I spent the day re-designing the club website. A task that previously took me about half an hour took most of the afternoon - worrying sign number two (sign one was Friday, when I spent far too long pushing on a "pull" door).
Sunday evening, I decided to relax with a book. Unfortunately, I couldn't find even one that I was sure wouldn't melt my already fragile mind, and in the end settled for Batman, as the most realistic of the stories available - yep, that's strike three!
In the course of a later conversation with my girlfriend, I directed her to have a look at the efforts of my day. Oddly though, the page wouldn't display correctly on her PC - the alignment was all wrong, and half the information was missing. Strike four was that I never thought to ask what colour the page was - yes, I had in fact given her the wrong address, and she was viewing the old version of the site.
Strike five is now. I think the cause of most of my brain problems is excessive caffeine... so I figure, another cup of tea should solve it all!
Saturday was supposed to be Jitsu training. Due to a combination of dislike of the particular technique that was going to be taught, and a number of minor injuries that add up to really not being up to it, I stayed home. As punishment for missing training, I decided to clean the house, and catch up on all the chores that I'd left for far too long.
Sunday, therefore, continued with the chore theme... I spent the day re-designing the club website. A task that previously took me about half an hour took most of the afternoon - worrying sign number two (sign one was Friday, when I spent far too long pushing on a "pull" door).
Sunday evening, I decided to relax with a book. Unfortunately, I couldn't find even one that I was sure wouldn't melt my already fragile mind, and in the end settled for Batman, as the most realistic of the stories available - yep, that's strike three!
In the course of a later conversation with my girlfriend, I directed her to have a look at the efforts of my day. Oddly though, the page wouldn't display correctly on her PC - the alignment was all wrong, and half the information was missing. Strike four was that I never thought to ask what colour the page was - yes, I had in fact given her the wrong address, and she was viewing the old version of the site.
Strike five is now. I think the cause of most of my brain problems is excessive caffeine... so I figure, another cup of tea should solve it all!
Friday 25 January 2008
Push or Pull?
Today is not a good day.
I just spent a good 30 seconds pushing on a meeting room door, convinced it must have been locked to stop me walking in... only to have my boss open it from the inside and let me in.
I should have been pulling.
I just spent a good 30 seconds pushing on a meeting room door, convinced it must have been locked to stop me walking in... only to have my boss open it from the inside and let me in.
I should have been pulling.
Thursday 24 January 2008
Shiny happy cars...
Despite my misgivings, the bodyshop did what I can only call a perfect job on my car.
The rear bumper (so cruelly cracked) was completely replaced - not fixed, replaced. The misalignment of the boot lock that made slamming the boot an exercise in futility was corrected (possibly, I suspect, with a large sledgehammer, but who am I to complain). The vicious, nasty scratches on the side were treated to make them less noticeable (not resprayed, but then, that wasn't part of the agreed job).
I hadn't even expected that much - my cynicism and general despair at humanity had left me expecting a duct-taped bumper and a boot that still wouldn't shut.
It's the little things that make the difference though. Not only had they done the job properly, they'd also cleaned my car (inside and out). That made all the difference when I first looked at it - it was filthy before.
The work on the scratches was a freebie too, and they gave me what I think is a good quote on doing the rest of the job.
They threw in a free can of de-icer (so good, in fact, that there's been no ice on my car for two days, and I haven't even used it yet).
The really impressive bit though... while I was off signing the paperwork, they noticed a dead tail-light, and replaced it - free of charge, without even asking. What a nice touch.
So, I'm going to break my rule of anonymity - if you have car bodywork that needs doing, take it to Perfect Finish.
Oh, and I got a free pen too!
The rear bumper (so cruelly cracked) was completely replaced - not fixed, replaced. The misalignment of the boot lock that made slamming the boot an exercise in futility was corrected (possibly, I suspect, with a large sledgehammer, but who am I to complain). The vicious, nasty scratches on the side were treated to make them less noticeable (not resprayed, but then, that wasn't part of the agreed job).
I hadn't even expected that much - my cynicism and general despair at humanity had left me expecting a duct-taped bumper and a boot that still wouldn't shut.
It's the little things that make the difference though. Not only had they done the job properly, they'd also cleaned my car (inside and out). That made all the difference when I first looked at it - it was filthy before.
The work on the scratches was a freebie too, and they gave me what I think is a good quote on doing the rest of the job.
They threw in a free can of de-icer (so good, in fact, that there's been no ice on my car for two days, and I haven't even used it yet).
The really impressive bit though... while I was off signing the paperwork, they noticed a dead tail-light, and replaced it - free of charge, without even asking. What a nice touch.
So, I'm going to break my rule of anonymity - if you have car bodywork that needs doing, take it to Perfect Finish.
Oh, and I got a free pen too!
Wednesday 23 January 2008
Still a Ford Ka
- Coffee Count: 0
- Tea Count: 5
The real problem though, is that it's been 3 years since I drove one of these. I remembered it being fast, responsive and easy to drive... so either my memory is faulty, my expectations have increased, or this specific car is a bit rubbish.
Probably a bit of each, to be honest.
When I got in the Ka to begin with, I thought, "Oh, this will be easy - I learnt to drive in one of these." Then I remembered all the little quirks of my new car, that I've just spent 3 years getting used to. Now, of course, it's the Ka that seems quirky.
Still, I figured out the very long movement on the clutch, the soft brakes, and the tiny steering wheel, and all seemed good. Except that I still wasn't comfortable in it. Oh, and I had no holder for my GPS device. So when it told me "Turn right", I went left - and spent 15 minutes going round in circles trying to join the rush hour traffic.
It's also got a lot less power than my current car, as I found out (the hard way) overtaking on a dual carriageway. I've always screamed at people who pull into the fast lane, then proceed at the same speed - now, I'm one of them.
The good news is that my car's supposedly fixed now. I just have to wait until 4pm to go and pick it up - when I'll also get a price for taking the scratches out, and check if they've really fixed the boot.
I doubt it.
Tuesday 22 January 2008
A Ford Ka
Before Christmas, I was driving from home to visit my girlfriend. It's a long drive, down some fairly narrow country roads, and involving a relatively large amount of overtaking - something I don't normally do, but consider vital when stuck behind a caravan, tractor, slow lorry or cyclist.
It shouldn't be that surprising to be involved in an accident - sorry, Road Traffic Collision (there are no accidents any more!) - after all, it's a long, tiring journey, and overtaking anything is much higher risk that just following it.
Oh the other hand, being rammed from behind (stop making your own jokes Jeff) before I've even left my hometown seems slightly frustrating!
It seems that the nincompoop behind me knew the phases of the traffic lights on this particular roundabout he saw no need to stop when I did - after all, this set of lights is never red when you've just come through a green from that direction. Except this time, of course.
To be honest, I was slightly surprised by the red light - he's right, it's rare to get a red there - but there was a good 10 seconds after I stopped before he hit me... he must have seen I'd stopped?
Fast-forward to today. After much chasing of company car insurance (his, not mine), I've eventually got my car booked in to be fixed. As it was his fault, and he admitted liability, I've nothing to pay, there's no impact on my no-claims discount, and I get a free courtesy car to drive while mine's in the shop.
Just one problem... it's a Ford Ka.
Let's be fair though - I've nothing against Ford Ka's. My old car was a Ford Ka, and it was almost as fun to drive as my current car. At least, that's how I remember it.
This Ford Ka though, is ugly. It's clunky, rattly, and someone seems to have stolen the acceleration. The brakes are soft. There's plastic sheeting on the passenger seat.
It's got a CD player though. That's good, right?
It shouldn't be that surprising to be involved in an accident - sorry, Road Traffic Collision (there are no accidents any more!) - after all, it's a long, tiring journey, and overtaking anything is much higher risk that just following it.
Oh the other hand, being rammed from behind (stop making your own jokes Jeff) before I've even left my hometown seems slightly frustrating!
It seems that the nincompoop behind me knew the phases of the traffic lights on this particular roundabout he saw no need to stop when I did - after all, this set of lights is never red when you've just come through a green from that direction. Except this time, of course.
To be honest, I was slightly surprised by the red light - he's right, it's rare to get a red there - but there was a good 10 seconds after I stopped before he hit me... he must have seen I'd stopped?
Fast-forward to today. After much chasing of company car insurance (his, not mine), I've eventually got my car booked in to be fixed. As it was his fault, and he admitted liability, I've nothing to pay, there's no impact on my no-claims discount, and I get a free courtesy car to drive while mine's in the shop.
Just one problem... it's a Ford Ka.
Let's be fair though - I've nothing against Ford Ka's. My old car was a Ford Ka, and it was almost as fun to drive as my current car. At least, that's how I remember it.
This Ford Ka though, is ugly. It's clunky, rattly, and someone seems to have stolen the acceleration. The brakes are soft. There's plastic sheeting on the passenger seat.
It's got a CD player though. That's good, right?
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