Tadaaah!

Wikipedia is so much fun! Where else can you find a whole article about fluffing, or this little tidbit;

The use of the term "blowjob" in a sexual context was first recorded in 1961; as recently as 1953 it meant "type of airplane."

Good stuff, eh?


On a lighter note, my throat feels much less sore than before, though my tonsils are still inflated......and final extra housemate moves in tomorrow!

mortequinoflagellant

I think I shall indulge, bear with me.....

Audi drivers can be so amusing. They've been driving along up the bum of some poor bugger in a Ford, in slow moving traffic that they know down well stretches both before and behind. So why, when the poor bugger in the Ford turns off into another road, do they feel the need to rev up and speed off past them for all of half a second, till they are sitting up the bum of the next car in front. Well done, Audi driver, you've shaved perhaps less than a microsecond off your journey, but wasted a damn site more fuel by rapid acceleration and then deceleration. *applause*

I thank you, I thank you. That's enough of that for now, then.

Washing machine is to be looked at on Friday, for which I shall have to come out of work and head home. Meaning work on Friday is cancelled, really. I shall have to work all hands to the pumps tomorrow, even though there isnt that much I can crack on with! Never mind. What is more worrying is that the washing machine it seems is being temperamental rather than totally fucked, since though I spent all of yesterday afternoon trying to get it to start my second load, housemate manages to get it turned on easy almost first go this evening. Explain that one! Repair-man isnt likely to do very much with it, is he? Which means we'll be left with a shitted-up washing machine that only does one load a day, hardly any use for a houseful of 4, huh? Not that landlady will give a flying buggery, the way she's pushing sooooo hard for the back wall to be fixed......

Looking forward immensely to end of next week, and the short week after that. It'll soon be 2007, and I'll be all confused all over again. Keep you fingers crossed, bloggardes......

Ding dong, ding dong!

Well, how could I almost forget! Happy one year's blogging, dear readers! Much has happened in the past year (vide supra), but also, not a lot. How's that for a paradox? Well, it's been quite fun, I'm glad I've kept it up and I shall endeavour to continue to do so!

*licks*

Where to begin?

Havent the past few days been rather eventful? In truth, no, but I've got plenty to blog about, and will be doing so very slowly with repeated savings, so bear with me, bloggardes......

I've had the day off work today. I've been more than a little ill, but it seems to have been a 24hour bug thing as I'm a lot better. Woozy head, very upset guts and that 'orrible feeling you get in your mouth when you've got flu.....on top of the sore throat, so it's not been the best of things. Of course, I was really feeling like shit last evening when still at work, so it was a very gentle ride home and I put myself directly to bed after a hot bath and a paracetemol. Feverish night, sleepy morning this morning (to be interupted by a visit from the landlady and surveyor- nice, but I just breathed at them and went back to bed), trip to Morrisons very slowly since I had no food, only to buy silly numbers of sweet things and eat cake when I got home, but I do feel better for it. Probably back to work tomorrow.

Other news from today is that my paper from phd stuff is going into Eur JOC rather than Chem Eur J, which in the executive summary means that it wasnt good enough as has been published in a journal of lower impact than we'd hoped. Never mind. I'm a little bit upset, but I'm also not horrendously surprised, given that we had to cut out a big whack of work to tell a completed story. Hopefully there'll be another one by me coming out v. soon, what with the work I've been doing here. In this instance, it means I must get the titrative work done before Xmas! There, a deadline for myself. And the other news of the day is that the washing machine is playing up - turning on and locking the door, but not starting the wash cycle....any clues, anyone? Really cant be doing with the hassle of getting it serviced.....

Weekend news has now been relegated to the store of anecdotage to be recalled at a later date, since none of it is really very interesting or to be revealed in a public blog (*snigger*). I'll get back to you all later with how the evening/washing machine saga turns out, oh joy....

Bugger Top Trumps

Quite. Whilst trying to access their site for a link to post here, it managed to crash my browser and hence lose a big dollop of bloggage. Apologies, blogardes, but you shall have to wait a bit longer for the momentous news-es of the weekend (which arent that many, unless you want me to talk about the ladies sanitary products of much hilarity - but more on that story later).

My advice: steer clear of the top trump stuff.

Sore throat nastiness

I've got a sore throat. As I've blogged already, but it's one of those annoying ones that you only really notice when you havent got anything to concentrate on. And then it throbs. Lozenges proving ineffective at the moment, but I'm no so sure I've got effective enough ones, just ones that numb you up! Liquid consumption has been upped, since my face is also very dry and I needed to do it anyway.

And now, onto the interesting observation of the day. Why do people ever bother to close the bathroom door when there's no-one in the bathroom? In a shared house this becomes of great importance, I've noticed. If the default setting is no-one in, door open, then if the door is wide, you know you get to have a crap, if it's shut, you cross your legs and hope for the best! Saves any kind of bashing of the door and embarrassment of person trying to enter, as the way is clear. This is completely negated by closing the door if the room is empty. I fail to see the offensiveness of an empty bathroom. Still, people persist in doing it. Let the bathroom be free! It also allows disappation of moisture and smells.

And curse you Bartlett, for giving me a self-fulfilling prophecy! First mention he makes of lady house-sharers turning up the heating and then flinging open the windows (what is with that? crazy ladies), and I come home to see the top room window open. It's freezing outside! Shut your window and keep the bleedin' heat in - and if it's too hot, turn your radiator off! Of course, all mentioned in the nicest possible way.

I'm not turning into the annoying housemate, am I? That would be something I could never live down......

Bang goes that idea!

Well, it being a Wednesday of the colour at irridation of 585-620 nm, there was a mahoosive queue for anything Bond related at the cinema, and the three screens for that film were all sold out. Whoops!

So we went and saw The Prestige instead. Not bad, quite a good film with a very disturbing David Bowie in it, can recommend if you are dithering, but dont rush out and see it, it's not worth that much effort! Home again, very late, and speaking to lovely man and crashing my browser courtesy of little animations. Brill.

Time for bed, sleep and suchlike, though I'm wide awake right now.......

Wednesday - little to report

Nope, not much in the way of news. I feel like my tonsils have swollen up massively, which does not bode well for the weekend (though I'm sucking Strepsils like no tomorrow), and it's a bit sore. Little done at work today: column prep, breakfast, column run, bit of cleaning and phaffing, then a 2 hour-lunch break before seminars (hence couldnt really start anything fresh), which were quite interesting, including a guy I've seen before who managed to talk for the full hour without covering the same material. Scary. Admitedly three (four?) years in the interim, but it does mean that there's a heck of a lot of stuff going on in his group that he's obviously up to speed with. Frightening, and not something I really want to do. But that's an old chestnut, yes?

Not much else to be talking about, off to see the Bond film tonight (hopefully I wont be blown away by the subliminal homoeroticism or whatever, I bet it's frightfully tame and girly) so shall report back on that later. But dont expect a major crit.

Tired Tuesday

Very tired this evening, been a long day.....you know those days where you seem to do lots, but dont actually achieve anything? Had a bit of a one of those today. At least I had the day wrong for the undergraduates thingy, so I didnt have to do any teaching this afternoon (that delights awaits me for next week), but it meant I instead tried to do too much of something else; what I really need to do is sit down and do some paperwork (and phone the council and the 'leccy people) and generally relax about things, I'm being Mr. Stresspot at the moment and it isnt good for me. Have to remember it's only a job, and there'll always be something for me to do with my time.....only trouble is, it might not be something I enjoy or can cope with doing.

Driving licence arrived back today, to find my endorsement on it written in biro. Nice. You'd think they'd have something a little bit more hi-tec for it? Nice to know things are still done in a basic way sometimes. Anyhow, that shall be the last thing to go on there, I'm not getting hold of any more of those things. Captain sensible shall be in command from now on.

D'you know though, I really feel like I'm wasting my life away. Days merge into one, and I'm just not sure I'm doing the correct thing. I suppose this is what we might call a classic case of dukkha and I should worry about more important stuff. In the end, I guess there is no 'correct' thing, and I just have to take life as it comes, and get a little bit of enjoyment out of it somewhere; trouble is, it never seems that way all the time. I blame the darkness. That is, the dim evenings and mornings, and my lack of venturing out into the sunny afternoons. Not the once-popular four-piece beat combo with the penchant for lycra.

Maybe it's dehydration too, I really havent been drinking much these later days. I'm so looking forward to having a lot of time off over Christmas, I really didn't appreciate this time last year when I was just writing up (erk, that's a year ago) and having little to do, should have used it more sensibly and had a proper holiday with it, even if I had no money and less at the start of this year. At least I've paid off my overdraft now (well, I will have when I transfer the money), and I can start putting something away as proper savings. Well, at least until I have to get another job somewhere else.

*sighs* If it aint one thing, it's another.

Had a bit of a talk online with Justin last night, havent spoken to him in a long while, bless. He's feeling a bit out of sorts too, and misery loves company, I'm told! Still, I always have this habit of being breezy with friends rather than just miserable at them. Hope I've said something encouraging to him, dont like to think of people being down-in-the-dumps. Not nice.

Chilli for dinner this evening, cooking on the hob as we speak. Looking forward to it, nice big load of rice and chilli, mmmmmm........

Scariness

Just arrived home from rather hairy journey back from Harrogate. Been out to visit fellow post-doc and sanitorium inmate, staying for many cups of tea, conversations and eventually dinner. Thumbs up all round, until the time I have to come home in the pouring rain and strong winds.

Bike riding at the best of times is great, great fun, but on a night such as this it most definitely is not. Very slow all the way home, very wobbly with great gusts of wind and so all over the road....thank goodness I went with all my waterproof togs, I came home completely dry! Not something I shall be repeating anytime soon, rather I shall leave for home whilst it is still light. Going round Leeds streets is also not very fun, what with the terrible condition they are in; tomorrow morning's run into work will seem peachy by comparison.

All over, it's a general *phew* and time for bed! And an 'I love you' for the important man who reads this - I know I'm being wet, but I dont like being nissy around you, and that's all I'll say because otherwise I'll get annoying (:-P

Till tomorrow, bloggards.......

Day of excessive posting

Isn't it just?

Well, our beautifully clean oven, the oven that I scrubbed for ages and that still wouldnt come clean, which was eventually done by the industrial cleaning guy with the god-knows-how-concentrated caustic solution/bleach bath/chromic acid and was lovely and spangly.......has now been successfully cacked up by myself! Cooking stew in pot with not enough space for everything, bit of an overflowing situation.....net result: Jon-ster is scrubbing the oven again tomorrow. Fucksocks.

In other news, I've managed to get our boiler to give out water of a decent temperature! And reprogrammed it to heat up on a weird-ass digital timer!

I need to get out more, don't I?

Seized nuts

Oo-er. Actually, it's the adjuster nuts on my bike, I need the magic of WD-40. Only the one seems to be seized though, which is odd. I think I've managed to get it right without fucking it up though! Will need some for next time though.....and my rear sprocket is royally cacky, gonna need a proper proper clean-up with the solvent and everything come december, not fun.....must remember to prep her up good and proper for the delay over the holidays! And to remember the whopping amount of money it's going to cost me for the service again.....the trials of bike ownership (which are nothing once you get out on the road!)

Ooaah!

'allo! I'm back again, and NO, I've not spent the last 3 days doing non-stop sudoku.....in fact there has been only a little of that!

The rest of the week has passed with little incident, certainly compared to the excitements of Tuesday. Life could in fact be called positively dull in comparison, only that we had another fire alarm on Thursday, though that one was a false alarm. Phew. All that could be too much for me! But it goes to show the general state of paranoia in the lab, that on Friday when I came into work in my fake-ass England top of synthetic-fabric goodness, and it decided to make me into Mr Static Electricity Man, I ended up removing it before dealing with my reactions of immense 'bang' potential....replacing said top with another one, we havent quite descended to the realms of the porno-topless hunks-laboratory-fiddling-amongst-the-petri-dishes just yet. I'm not hunky enough for a start! So I removed my hydrogen and dealt with all my enormous stuff most carefully.

New housemate has moved in yesterday, seems very nice guy, quite quiet and friendly, thing we'll rub along OK. Dont think we'll be all sociable though, he's a bit of a football nut I think and I feel like I'm ancient, he's such a young thing! Well, 22 or so, which seems like a world away to me now, now that I'm entering the elegant throes of middle-age and respectability (no hollow laughter at the back, please) [the thing here of course is - when do I get my big mid-life-crisis motorbike?].

Today I've managed to achieve the sum total of nothing despite getting up at early o'clock. Random surfing has accounted for some of the time, a bath for some other time....but I havent yet managed to either a) clean bike and adjust stuff, b) do shopping or c) tidy up my junk in my room. This will have to be remedied, the only problem is that it's gorgeous outside and I just want to ride!

There you have it then. I'm doing good, and have actually sent of job applications (hooray!) now, just have yet to hear back from them.....keep your fingers crossed, people......

Ah, cockflaps

I've just managed to wipe all my saved games on my little sudoku player. That's about 130 solved puzzles up the spouts.

Bugger.

Smoke, no mirrors

Now that the immediate excitement has worn off, and the smoke has cleared (and I can finally log onto blogger) we can tell of the exciting events of Tuesday. Oh my child, you are in for a tale of wonder and delight!

Yesterday started pretty much as standard. Tedious, usual standard, and the day seemed to progress in the same vein. All until around about 11, when labmate in fume cupboard next to me has a little accident with a winchester of ether (NB non-chemists - ether is highly flammable) and sets a flask full of it, the winchester full of it, two labs coats and half the floor on fire. Whoops.

Now, we move into the case that time seems to slow down! All of the following probably took only 45 seconds to a minute to occur, but I've got a lot of detail to put in! With large licking flames, co-worker has quite rightly legged it, leaving something that could very easily turn into one massive fireball without immediate attention. Chemistry labs are full of flammables, so fire can spread very quickly.....as was the case here; a very little bit of flames in a fume hood turned into flames on the floor and a maybe 2 sq. m. area of conflagration! Delightful.

Now, everyone else had frozen, unsurprisingly - shock is a wonderful thing for making you do that - but eventually I thought 'shit, get fire extinguisher', then 'oh fuck, where are the fire extinguishers', remembered and spotted them, grabbed one and started pushing it back. Carbon dioxide is the extinguisher of choice, people, it all evaporates at the end and you dont have muck to clear up!

I managed to put out the flames on the floor and most of the burning winchester, but then it all ran out. Different lab mate by this time has got the other, powder, extinguisher and puts the rest of it out. We then all leg it in the general building evacuation!

Fire brigade arrives, they check everything (it was all out by then, but best to be safe) and then OK it for us to start damage limitation. Now has anyone else noticed that fireman are less good-looking than they used to be? Maybe I'm starting to look at faces and not just heavy fireproof jackets and thick boots. Hmmmmm.

Lab is coated in extinguisher powder, and this stuff being a finely dispersed material (the better to put out fires, my dear), it's everywhere. Yick. And it smells, and is horrible and ugh. Face masks donned, cleaning begins, never mind......all this of course means that I got no work done yesterday at all, but at least I have an excuse this time! Plus I'm now feeling like a little bit of a hero of the day, since I reacted first! Very scary though, not something I'd like to do again, and all due credit to the fire service for being able to do this kind of thing all the time.

Rest of day was very pedestrian by comparison. After mopping up (I spend my life cleaning things, well, except my own home) and sorting things out, it was time to go home! For a well deserved dinner of chinese chicken - my plum sauce has gone off, mind - and a bath to get the residual powder off my head and out of my lungs. Housemate came home very late, so I havent seen her - but she's still in the habit of flipping the door latch! One of use could get locked out again at this rate!

So, the moral of the story is......dont burn things. Cleaning up is not fun. Oh yes, and fire kills. Leave the pyroclastics to volcanoes.

Wednesday, today, seems positively dull by comparison.....though I can still smell and taste extinguisher powder......

Sneezing extravaganza

Dunno what's happened to me this evening, but I've had the most prolonged sneezing fit. Was kinda funny until about sneeze number 30. Not so funny any more, just annoying - as if I were some character from a crappy comedy show who keeps sneezing. Anyhoo.

Woke up continuously through last nigh owing to strong winds, hopefully I'll get better sleep tonight. Today at work has been nice and relaxed, almost enjoyable since I decided not to do any proper work in the morning and just finish off a few things. Good stuff. And afternoon devoted to teaching, so quite relaxed. Managed to get out across lunchtime and replace my bike cover (with one that's actually too big, never mind, it's got ties on it so should stay there!), and get a balaclava for the cold weather. Much fun. And went back via the chinese supermarket so have filled up with various odd veg and sauces, which should tide me over for the first part of the week in healthy vegetable goodness. Tomorrow will be devoted to winter veg soup though. Coming home at a sociable hour does me some good.

Had a bit of an annoying event this morning with another daft car driver, who decided to overtake me going round a corner. Pillock, it's not like they couldnt have seen me. What possessed them to do that? Most idiotic. Good job I did spot them and saw they were about to do it, and hence slowed down even more. And it's not like they were even boy-racers, just some suburbanite delivering their kids! Obviously since I wasnt in a Chelsea tractor covering half the road, I was invisible....still, it's another good learing point for me to remember that everyone is out there to try and kill me, and that I should try and spot these things in advance.....have to start implementing advanced riding skills at some point, no?

No other news from today. No application to jobs though, either. This will be done tomorrow. Along with phoning the council tax people.

Update-ums

A long time to go without blogging, no? Well, I'm back now and hopefully will manage a bit more than random tidbits.

Last week passed off with several late stayings at work. This could be consiered both a good thing and a bad thing; good, it means I'm enjoying my work - bad, it means that they I'm letting myself get a little bit used....anyhow, I should start thinking about getting a life of my own and stop living for two things only.

In related news, I've been entirely unhealthy. Not just the wheezy-coughing think, though that still remains, and not the dehydrative-caffeine thing, though that also remains. Likewise not the lack of exercising, though that too is a fixture. I'm talking about the diet, where my vegetable/fruit consumption sits at an all-time low. I need to shop properly on Monday (this will involve great discipline to leave on the dot of five) and enjoy cooking again like I used to. Though cooking is less of a pleasure when a gale blows into the back kitchen owing to cracks in the wall (still not fixed, though we are at least having them propped up and the insurers coming to look at them now).

Jobs remain unapplied for. I shall remedy this on Monday also, because it is getting to the point of silly. There's about 5 months left that I have to work (though this will probably be possible to extend a little, though with the living arrangements I'm less sure!), and so badly need something else to move onto afterwards. Admitedly, my inertia on this subject is entirely that - mine. And so I'll have no-one to blame but myself when I'm unemployed come May. Still, this might be preferable to continued rejection, no? I never did hear back from the ICR re: jobs. Have to get onto it all as pronto as possible. This unfortunately means a lot of extra work with the reading and the mugging and the presentationing. All the kinds of thing that I absolutely detest.

One thumbs-up for the books, and many thanks to Cath for giving me a buzz on Friday with the boss comparison (I get that it was meant to be nice!), a very nice glow to be had from realising that, actually, I do know something about what I'm doing and am not just blagging the whole affair.......

This weekend is being spent with P, so I dont have to make my usual comment of 'mope-y missing him'-ness, but I thought he should get a mention anyways....

Back to work on Monday for a new set of little darlings in the undergraduate labs. This means that the academic year is almost a third over already, not sure what to think about that one apart from OMG, doesnt time fly; and I shall turn over a new leaf with as many different things as I can bear, but too much too soon would be a problem. If I try to start morning meditating again, I shall be satisfied enough, but this could entail a change of routine. We'll just have to see, all over......

Another day

Sore throat again, owing to more teaching today. It is kinda fun in a strange way, but also not in the slightest. Day feels like it has been wasted, mostly due to lack of working materials supply at work which means nothing can be done (by me at least). Should really take this opportunity to do my job applications, but that is so much like a chore. But I will do at least four of them this week, or I can no longer have self-respect.

Dithering by Steve at work has been put to rest, I'm glad he's finally made a decision because things like this are never nice to have hanging over you. Does however bring home to me my need of work searching! Unfortunately I can easily see myself coasting along and winding up doing a shit job, just because it takes less effort. So much for burgeoning promise as a youngster, eh?

Really annoyed with the darkness of the season, really makes me down.

Suad's paper published today, made up for you that you got it done! Pat on the back. Must go and visit all that old lot at some point.....*sighs whilst dipping his biccie in his tea*

Not really a cohesive post today. More effort shall be made to bash together something proper tomorrow. Need to get back to my Greek-wagon too.

Prophylactic alert

This is absolutely fantastic. I want lots of them. I'm slightly disturbed by the fact I want lots of them. But it looks so much fun!

Beware of link, requires some fancy plug-in, no doubt.....

Wheezy and depressed

Nearly an almighty cock-up of a weekend, with both my sister and I thinking it was Gran's birthday do on Sunday (on her actual birthday), whereas it was the Saturday. So I was late. And didnt get to do any of the town-pottering I wanted to do. Never mind. But it the sudden rush to the train station, I also forgot my inhaler and have spent a very nasty wheezy night last night. Always seems to happen when I go home, dont know what's going on there, though it could be a stress thing.

Train service back home also leads to depression, since it involves a 50 minute layover at leeds central which, though a nice enough station, isnt nice enough to be hanging around in for long periods of time. Even when intently people-watching with the glummest expression.

Back home now, and all seems to be well after a puff of drugs, but I think that I've got an out-and-out cold that'll be bubbling over for the next few days or so.....which means I'll have to drink loads of water and grease my nose up!

Tomorrow will be really nasty, what with 1-person tutorial (well organised there) and afternoon of manic demonstrating/marking. Have to take a bevvy of pens, and a piece of paper for a name list! And begin the whole job applications thing once again......

It is the way of the world

So it is. I must have been extra-special tired on Wednesday, not to have blogged anything yesterday. But there you have it. It's been a tiring week.

Today has been a real mixed-bag of a day. First I want to say that I'm loving the new housemate, we seem to get along easily enough and it's fun so far. No stretch of effort or anything. And now onto the other side.

Freezing. Today has been. Bollock-retractingly freezing, and not fun. At the best of times this isnt good, but really wasnt this morning as my bike refused to start. I think I've worked out what the problem was now, but this morning I had to run around like the famous headless chicken to get to the station to get a train, and to work at a sensible time. All calculated to throw me completely. Ah well.

Quiet at work today owing to 2/3rds of the lab being away. This was good. Work is always too busy, and you cant use half the stuff you need. And have to dodge around people. And not have any desk space. But today was lovely for getting on with work! Nice.

This evening was spent having my first pint of beer since I grew my beard again back in May. This is a long time, but I relished having froth in my 'tache again, a simple pleasure that is one to enjoy. And then to a fireworks display, very pretty. This however did not stop me desperately needing to pee, most unpleasant. And then home.

To test bike, guess what? With a massive backfire, it starts at the first attempt. What an arse. So I learn not to use silly amounts of choke at first attempt. Ah well, I know now. And now quick dinner and bed. See you tomorrow!

So very tired

I am so very tired. Obviously the release of a lot of stress, which is making me collapse in a little heap. I also need to feed myself this evening, on the basis of not having anything in the house to eat. So I think I shall be making a trip to buy something bready. But it seems hardly worth shopping when I'm not at home at the weekend, and probably eating out tomorrow night.....alas the trials of a Jon-ster in the 21st century.........