Archive for December, 2006

Christmas Parties

December 11th, 2006 Comments Off

Well on Friday I decided not to attend my own Christmas party. Most of my colleagues, with whom I had hoped to socialise, had decided to boycott the event either because it was in London and therefore not local or because it was a Friday and therefore their own time. So rather than turn up at an event where I knew nobody I skipped it and focussed on Penny’s Christmas party on Saturday.

It had a few benefits:
1) I could actually go with Penny. My party didn’t include partners
2) I actually knew some people there, even if only vaguely
3) I got to dress up in evening wear. My do was 80s themed. *shudder*
4) Penny’s do had a rockin’ band. Mine was going to be… 80s music.
5) Let’s be honest here, the eye candy was always going to be better at a travel company than at an IT company!

Getting ready to go out was a lot of fun. Well, it was funny, but only for me. Penny was getting ready at her sister’s place as she was doing her hair. And then the power went out for two hours. Luckily power was not needed for the actual hair styling but it did need to be done by candlelight. Considering the lack of light, I must admit Donna did a spectacular job. Hopefully I can find some pics… My own outfit was simpler, donning a tux in the dark is fairly easy. But there was no way I was going to be able to tie a proper bowtie in the dark, so had to settle for a fake pre-tied one. Oh well.

The event itself was perfectly fine and fairly fun. We left the festivities early-ish but I’m glad we did.


The Ball gets rolling

December 11th, 2006 Comments Off

Jessica Louise Ball was born in time for afternoon tea yesterday and weighed 8 pounds 12 ounces. Mother and child are healthy.

Congratulations Stu and Sam!


Congratulations to the Metro!

December 7th, 2006 Comments Off

After yesterdays post about I hate, I think a special mention should be made to this morning’s Metro, reporting on the , for dragging out that old saw: “If you’ve got nothing to hide, you’ve got nothing to fear”.

We thank you Metro, for that pearl of wisdom.


It’s _________ gone mad!

December 6th, 2006 1 Comment »

One of my pet hates (other than pet hates) is whenever some commentary in the “news” refers to something or other “gone mad!”. It’s become such a stock phrase that’s wheeled out far too easily and really winds me up. It’s like stock phrases gone mad!

So when Channel 4 announced their this year, I knew it was only a matter of time before the phrase got wheeled out again.

A brief search of BBC News articles of the last year delivers the following cases of something or other “gone mad!”

I daren’t search the archives of the Daily Mail, I’m sure there would far too many references to list!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/6207970.stm – Bureaucracy

– Bureaucracy again

– Railway naming

– World

– Political correctness

– Political correctness again

– PC yet again!

– Nanny state

No trace so far of anything going mad in relation to the initial story yet, though I feel quite unclean after reading through some of our tabloids’ comments boards.


What a pain in the back…

December 5th, 2006 Comments Off

The last two weeks have been largely taken up with two things: work and pain. My quasi-annual back pains kicked in again and this time I was given no choice, no escape and no way to avoid my fate; It was the chiropractors for me. And I’m actually glad I’ve gone. My weekly appointments have helped and apparently I’ll hopefully be on track for going up to SnoZone in Milton Keynes in January.

Work has been busy, but in a good way. It’s been quite varied, what with calls from my previous client, support work and some presales thrown in there for good measure. It’s meant I’ve really been enjoying my job and makes me glad I stayed in the department I am.

A couple of weekends ago was a gaming weekend where we played Aberrant and Vampire. The Abberant was much enjoyed and the Vampire is really starting to pick up momentum. The next game is in January, followed by one at Conception.

And on the topic of Conception, I’ve decided to run a one-off Mage game there, inspired by 1920’s pulp adventures, ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ and Whacky Races. Hopefully I can pull it off!

I’ve finally settled on what my Christmas meal will be and we’ve tried making it to make sure it works: Venison steak with a port and juniper gravy. Mmmm… Bambi…

That’s it for now, hopefully more frequent and more interesting posts henceforth!