Y Wegof Di-Reswm

26
I was off work Wednesday, and happy with that, even when considering that the reason was that I was going to dental (no not mental) casualty. I might need to have a tooth pulled but it'd still be worth it. The only thing was that I didn't have a lie in - in fact I had to get up earlier than normal. It was first come first served, and the treatment was free so I got there for quarter to seven in the morning and was third in the queue, the place though didn't even open it's doors until half past eight and the first patients were seen after nine. I did look to save the tooth but a shoddy filling had protected some decay below the gum line and it would have need a load of cash and a very good dentist apparently to save it to get another ten years out of it, I decided to have it pulled - it was the first molar on the lower right so an awkward git but at least the gap would match the other side. However the delicate student dentist couldn't budge it for quarter of an hour, I was fine with the local anaesthetic, and theyalmost got someone else to try and shift it but it eventually came out - it did mean there was more of a mess though as apparently she told me it was a 'traumatic extraction', I said 'you'll get over it', she saw the funny side but
wouldn't give me a lollypop. I was given painkillers and some strong anti-biotics though, bu tthey tatse awful.
I eventually got to watch the French flick that night - Indochine - It's won a bunch of awards so promised much. Obviously set in Vietnam, it was during the French colonial/occupation period during the thirties, at first I was turned off by some of the odious characters, but the second half of the picture got moving, and was much more dramatic (the first half was far too much like a chick flick for my liking) and they were redeemed through their righteous actions... There wasn't a happy ending but a sense of regret emanating from personal relationships. BTW the picture shows the female lead at lake Geneve, in Switzerland... There certainly wasn't a Junk boat trawling the shore there during the film!
27
It was nice to be back in work on Thursday... Not! I got over it though. Pub quiz... Anna & her dad last Saturday had noticed that the pub - The Temple in Sale Moor - ran a pub quiz on Thursday night, and plotted to attend. Barbara & I went aswel. it was a shambles - it was flat in there and the quiz'master' could not read or pronounce the questions although he was a nice guy. Two teams entered and we scraped into second after a near disqualification for Anna's
mobile phone indiscretion. But I was beyond caring well before the end, I'm pretty sure it was Charles II who was executed not the first... anyhow. I amused myself, not lubricated by alcohol, to ease the mental torment of the cringe inducing performance, I tried continually to show people my tooth, which I taken with me especially - but they screwed their eyes shut, and refused point blank even when I explained that the bits of flesh stuck to the side had been mostly scraped off. It was a big bar-steward and interesting to me at least...
28
I stayed in, Anna was out on a Birthday do thing. I half watched some documentary thing and finished 'The Big Nowhere'. I enjoyed the book - it was an engrossing read. There were no good guys in it, but some weren't as bad as each other. Most of the good guy's cop it at some point and the real bad guy's get away with it. One of the main 'good guy's' in the course of the book smashes his wife's face in. The book's a grim & graphic read about linked cases of a string of mutilated corpses turning up and a subversive attempt to undermine a leftist pressure group by the authorities in fiftees' Los Angeles. Certainly worth a browse, "No one does the seedy underbelly of american life like James Ellroy".

WEDESDAY
Wasn't looking like it was amounting to much - how I wanted it I expect. Some
weights at Jon's then getting on with lounging or reading my Book (The Big
Nowhere - I'm enjoying it so far, it's pretty good). However Lee friend who'd
been up was off back so a few in the pub was arranged. The beer there is as
cheap as you like almost - but isn't nice stuff, it's from a local Manchester
brewery and tastes sweet. It's also a gut-rotter extraordinaire. Anyhow darts
blah blah blah, where amazingly Anna won as we quit whilst she was ahead - I had
a shaky start due to limb fatigue but was about to roar into lead and onto
victory. Whatever - I've decided not to drink there again, although I may be
obliged again to attend.
FRIDAY
At work I got sent on an extended lunch to one of our local depots - the guy
there showed us around and was very accommodating, and if anything they get an
even shorted end of the stick than we do, it's a shocking indictment of higher
management if you ask me, and to be fair they have asked as a gesture but it's
only that as they certainly don't listen...
Anna and I went over to Nic & Toby's for dinner - food and Trivial Pursuit - I
won at both of course although I may have been the only one counting. I was also
presented with a late present - a wok. Cheers!
SATURDAY
I was up early on Saturday, rubbish chores and the like - making sure Anna got
up for work and I managed to squeeze in a DVD, Battle Royale a Japanese flick
that many of you have probably heard of... I heard a bit about it and wasn't
sure what to expect. But I should have considered that the hearsay that I
received was from people unused to foreign cinema so It wasn't as 'unsettlingly
bizarre' as I expected. Silly fun, with a Lord of the Flies influence, and as a
film easily viewable a few times but not one to add to the collection.
Anna's dad was on his own this weekend and for some reason Anna was concerned
for his well being that he'd be locked in a cycle for the weekend of cold beans
and cabin fever. We knocked on the door, and there was no answer, I may have
even thought 'surely not' to myself, but he was just late as he'd been working.
He even made food for us and I had another late gift - a Gromit Mug (the nose
changes colour depending on the temperature of the contained beverage) with
tea-bags.
There's a pub around the corner which we had to pop to, The Temple (in Sale Moor
- not the one in Manchester City Centre) to drop something off so we stayed for
a few (well them two had a few I was driving) - anyhow there was this DJ (DJ
Billy as the poster proclaimed) mixing in Bee Gees with Blondie and Coldplay...
what Rubbish!

Well, work took up half my Saturday - I rushed then to get a wheel for my bike. But when I got back, it didn't fit, I think that the bike somehow had taken a further knock. I left the bike for the while and I've used a car jack to force apart the frame... what a pain. Then I had to pick Anna up from work and do some shopping for the week ahead. It was now getting on for four o' clock. I headed off for a 'power-nap' and Anna was supposed to wake me when she needed help as she was cooking Cottage pie as a friend of Lee's was coming up. She did eventually wake me when she needed help - 'can you move this telly to the kitchen so I can watch X-factor and can you go to the shop to get me some fags', I trudgingly obliged. It was so late by that time that the whole day had just seemed to have passed me by. Mon Anniversaire. A few weeks back Anna suggested that on my birthday, she'd get up early to make me breakfast in bed. I almost wet myself laughing at this at the time, as it was I woke at 6am and had to rouse Anna before attempting o get back to sleep but eventually putting the radio on and had a mong instead. I'd expressed a preference for when pushed eggy bread, bacon & black pudding, Anna obliged but went to town and had a raft of other ingredients added -it was nice though, but why's she trying to fatten me up? The reason Chip had come up was because she booked half price tickets for Alton Towers on that day, a most unfortunate co-incidence that it was my birthday. I'd have preferred for the day been no different to normal and for nobody to know. As it was - it was referred to as my day and I had to pretend to be happy and not be grumpy as I wanted to be. There was a mix up over cars and I had to end up driving - I had to move my chair forward as I drove and had a sore knee when we got there which didn't help my mood. We went on most of the major rides, ten minutes worth of rides in a six hour day - so a fair amount of the rest was made up of being stuck in queues. So Effing What!? The rides aren't all that - and certainly not worth the queues, and not worth the money - and I feel aggrieved that it cost me both money and time as I could feel my 'chi' (or life force if you will) ebbing away in those queues that deceptively wind back and around. I however was looking forward to the Monorail as it lead to the car park, however all day I dreaded leaving as I knew it's be at the end and there would be a massive queue, but this time with traffic. I was right, the ride back was 66.7% increase in time on the drive down.pah! A total waste of my time, I'm so resentful. I certainly won't be going there again. So we were back and were running really quite late - I'd intended to catch a film at the corner house - Hai Shang Hua - but first more birthday stuff. Thanks for the gifts - I got a Vinyl Record (I'll need a turntable) 'Tom Jones Live in Las Vegas'. A book Trilogy by James Ellroy including the middle book LA Confidential. A Shower Radio that is also waterproof, Some dried olives from Hong Kong a DVD AC/DC - Family Jewels and some lifting straps for when I find a rowing machine. As if that wasn't enough Anna produced a cake - I was wondering what she was up to on Friday afternoon. It wasn't half bad at all! Chocolaty with jam. So just me & Anna made it to the flicks - I'm not surprised that the others didn't after I described the synopsis to them, 'Eighteen-eighty's Shanghai - rich guy's and the goings on at the classy brothels there known as Flower Houses' thus giving the English title of the film 'Flowers Of Shanghai'. The film was slow paced and was mostly told in hearsay where conversations over dinner, tea or opium recounted some of the going's on. The third hand story telling led to a sense of apathy as to the fate of these girls who were sold into prostitution, despite being an essentially terrible situation you didn't connect apart briefly when a few scenes had a bit of weight to them - there was a sense overall that not much really happened, it was well shot though but maybe better as a matinee. Going back to Deeveedees have you noticed how the Saturday papers are giving away free DVDs? I had to laugh at some of the utter tosh that the Torygraph, I mean Telegraph gives away. The Saturday before last I picked up an award winning French Film 'Indochine' which I'm looking forward to fitting in (it awkward to fit it in as the PC is down again - and to watch it in the lounge would mean people talking over it and probably complaining as they can't be bothered to read the subtitles) and this Saturday just gone I got 'The Last Emperor'. Someone from the house in their Sunday tabloid got the Cannonball Run. For only a quid fifty you can't really argue.

SATURDAY 8
Another Weekend seemed to melt into the week as I kept myself busy. Bog standardchores et cetera. With Anna's new work routine she in on Saturday as a matter ofcourse, I dropped her in and back although it was a little tricky as I had topass by Old Trafford (Football ground not the Cricket ground) and England wereplaying there.I had to pick her up too, she was supposed to be coming back with her littlesister, Amy but he suddenly had to go job hunting as where she was working(Starbucks) have this policy of not wanting to rely on any one member of stafftoo much. What with the number of students in Manchester - there are plenty ofpeople to fill the gaps, and 12 hours a week may be a supplement or beer moneyfor a student, but ain't enough to live on if you're on a year out before goingto university.Anyhow we were supposed to take her to their parents, but went on anyway asBarbara had made food for us.Instead we met Amy out later, in the Cornerhouse, which is as expensive as ever,we wouldn't have gone out otherwise as I was certainly shattered as was Anna. Wewere supposed to meet Jon out but he was at the far end of Town and then went toJabez Clegg, a dingy meat market - so we scrubbed that.Anyhow after two steep rounds in the corner house coming to £20 (6 drinks). Wewent to 'Satan's Hollow' where Amy's fella' works at night.This is the place where a bouncer tried to refuse me access due to my accentonce. This time though being with Amy we got in for free, The place is filledwith Goths (some take it much too far - what are they trying to say?? DamnStudents!) and as we walked in ACDC's 'Highway To Hell' blared. Not bad Ithought to my self, we managed to get four rounds at mates rates for £5, and allseemed well. But a change of DJ started a downward spiral... With in quarter ofan hour he'd played some real dross, hitting a low with Brittany Spears...Enough - Home.
SUNDAY 9
I got in a bit of French Revision at Toby's - Anna and Nic went out to try abridesmaid dress for Nic's wedding as Anna's a bridesmaid - possibly the chiefbridesmaid or joint chief bridesmaid or something, I switched off.We got a fair bit of our French work done while they were out, however, Nic &Toby's daughter, Georgia (5) was trying to teach me how to play cards, I wasn'tfamiliar with the game known as 'Poo-head' and that remains the case and Georgiadidn't have a full deck, sorry I mean 'bunch' of cards! Anyhow it ended somehowas honours even somehow... I did try to suggest a game of 'snap' but it was forkids obviously.I could have done with staying in that evening but was obliged to visit a pub,The Volunteer with Sally, Tim & Lee from the house, which was akin to 'GarnantClub' for those who know it. It was dead cheap and I didn't drink - we weregoing to play darts but were beaten to the board, so I tried to teach them'blob' with moderate success but it's best played with three people not five.
MONDAY 10
Work already? NFW.
Quiz night, another close call as we finished third - disappointing as I checkedfamous birthdays for that day (Martin Kemp & Kirsty McColl), but was scupperedas he asked for the next day. We drew a blank on the play your cards right again- it hasn't been won in months and the pot was a whopping £500! Next week I'llpost a few of the questions on here for those who may be interested...
TUESDAY 11
French so far is proving to be enjoyable, it's well paced and I'm keeping up -I'd be happier if I fitted in more revision, and I think I'm the only one whohasn't done GCSE before. I don't have my notes on me at the moment but I guessI'll post a bit of what I do, as encouragement for myself.Constantine Starring Keanu Reeves. Hum-drum watchable stuff but a bit silly,don't go out of your way. I gave everyone a quick rundown of a history lessonabout the Roman Emperor Constantine during the opening credits but I got thenods that I normally get from people who can't hear my words though my accent...
WEDNESDAY 12
I popped to Jon's soon after work - Jon's well into his weight training andwe've been training for a few weeks and I feel better for having got back intoit. I'll try to get back into some aerobic exercise as well. Some of Anna'sfriends came around in the Evening, Keith and Andy - Nice people but haven'tseen them for a while.Potter: "Incidentally have you ever seen Office Monkey on ITV2? It's likeplaying Dare in work - e.g. scuba diving at your desk, pretending you're at afootball match etc. Basically what we did at HBOS for sh1ts and giggles butthese people get to win holidays!" I haven't seen this yet but I suspect 'it'sbeen done', and as Po mentions - they done it for money, not out of love...Trollops!
THURSDAY 13
Scheduled French revision from now on is on Thursday's over at Toby's, we keepgetting stuck on small points really - we try to ring Anna at work to clarifythe finer points of the grammar but she's decidedly unhelpful at times...I've recently doe myself a weekly timetable, the first one for years since I wasin college, maybe it's a bit OTT as it has time allocation for work, the quiz,French lessons/revision, blogging, exercise and so on - but it's just aframework really and just represents an ideal week, in a time managementrespect.
FRIDAY 14
Disaster! The computer has gone kaput again, it's such a pain. Why is it beinglike this?We had to wipe the hard drive last week and reinstall everything - all fileswere lost of course. And it's happened again! So I hope the updates don't becomeas rare as before again, however I've formulated a contingency plan but it's abit of hassle, and relies on goodwill. A quick gym session at Jon's and then, out again in the evening - I was not upfor it at all, but was obliged to as it was purported to be a birthday thing forme - I keep trying to tell people. I really cannot be bothered with or want tobe bothered with it.However though the night wasn't at all bad, if a touch expensive, that is in anperipheral sense (taxis-in this case) not actual money spent on booze.
SATURDAY 15
In work, doing overtime, I'm not forced in but have to do it to relieve thevolume of work. Yippee.
MESSAGES:
CURLY: Well I'm trying - up to speed soon I hope.
BOKS: Ta Boks! Ca va? I'll drop in on your blog when I'm back on the net,posting this by email I'm afraid! D'oh!
GAV: Down in the Big C for the All Blacks game - 5th November is it?

I didn't expect to find Peter's Pies (Peter Thomas - Cardiff RFC Director) in work - they're actually sold at a shop in the building and they only sell the 'Giant Sausage Rolls' for 75p from the range. Manchester seems a bit far away from South Wales for such a product especially as this is the north west of England where you'd expect considerable home grown expertise in that field. The week otherwise has flown by - on Wednesday I was sent to Glasgow again - I insisted on a day trip this time as staying in a hotel on your lonesome sucks a bit - at least on a limited budget it does. maybe last time I should have gone to a cheap as chips place - that was Wednesday and was a long day, up at 4am and back just after 4pm. It was useful though and there's movement on the accounts. Straight after getting back I moved more stuff from the old flat and now only my bike remains (the one with the buckled wheel 0 I'll get it repaired soon) - All that remains is to collect that and give it a clean... The night before had been a late one as it was my first French lesson. It's been fourteen years since I did French at school - And I might as well have not bothered back then as I didn't see eye-to-eye with the teacher who's methods I probably found patronising or inappropriate at the time. Anyhow there was a mixed level there, some re-sits, some people who attained a higher level of qualification, but I did alright. Toby (Anna's step-brother) is doing it to so that should certainly help. We covered the alphabet and some other basics, and I'm determined to be up to speed with that by the next lesson - I hope that I can fit it in. Anna goes part-time next week, as she's back full time at college (2nd year degree in French - should benefit me eh?), she's getting pro-rata pay, so pretty handy. We've drawn up a budget, I'm sure I can stick to it - Anna - I'm not so certain. I tired of having little cash, so I hope some cast iron rules will sort it! Oh.. If anyone asks after me.. I've gone travelling.. And give them my e-mail only if you must! Cheers...