Another Personality Test

Here's the results of another personality test:

Global Personality Test Results

Stability (53%) medium which suggests you are moderately relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic. Orderliness (30%) low which suggests you are overly flexible, improvised, and fun seeking at the expense too often of reliability, work ethic, and long term accomplishment. Extraversion (53%) medium which suggests you are moderately talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting.

Take Free Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

trait snapshot:
messy, disorganized, not rule conscious, rebellious, rash, weird, ambivalent about chaos, likes bizarre things, anti-authority, not good at saving money, not a perfectionist, leaves many things unfinished, low self control, strange, desires more attention, romantic daydreamer, abstract, impractical, unproductive, leisurely, likes the unknown

Personality Test

I found a site called Similar Minds which has loads of personality tests. I have only filled out one so far. The results are below:

Global Personality Test Results

Stability (63%) moderately high which suggests you are relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic. Orderliness (33%) moderately low which suggests you are, at times, overly flexible, improvised, and fun seeking at the expense of reliability, work ethic, and long term accomplishment. Extraversion (50%) medium which suggests you average somewhere in between being assertive and social and being withdrawn and solitary.

Take Free Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

It also gave a trait snapshot which is also shown below, this is fairly accurate not sure about all of them though. I've made some of the closet ones bold.

trait snapshot:
messy, tough, disorganized, fearless, not rule conscious, likes the unknown, rarely worries, rash, attracted to the counter culture, rarely irritated, positive, resilient, abstract, not a perfectionist, risk taker, strange, weird, self reliant, leisurely, dangerous, anti-authority, trusting, optimistic, positive, thrill seeker, likes bizarre things, sarcastic

Meebo

I was doing some research into AJAX srcipting to write webpages and I found a list of sites that were known to use AJAX.

One of them was Meebo, which is very simple but excellent. It lets you use all your IM clients from the webpage (Yahoo, AIM, ICQ, Jabber, GTalk & MSN).

I was a bit unsure about typing my password in but gave it a shot and was very impressed.

5 minutes

Now listening to Mariah Carey - dream lover (hell!)
i did say i would shut up for 5 minutes ;-)

If the last post doesnt make complete sense or stuff is spelt wrong its the predictive text on my phone when i write quick and dont always realise it has chose the wrong word.

Im laid in bed listening to T-rex and relaxing or trying to but i seam to be back to normal and my mind is working over time thinking up ideas and stuff i should be doing. I have always been like that but the few weeks before i was off work i was so drained that all i wanted to do was sleep but couldnt.

During this time i found myself just staring into space and thinking about nothing really, i was just totally fed up. There wasnt any one thing that caused it just lots of things both personal and work related. Havent really sorted any of them but realised that there are a lot more fun and challenging things i could be doing at least in my spare time. The parachute jump was part of that.

I guess i hoped jumping out of the plane would let me put some things behind me not really sure i did that but did make me remember just how fun life can be. havent had much fun recently until now.

what has been a bit worrying is that a few people have mentioned when ive been on the phone at work that i sound really miserable yet i didnt think i was. Hoping im not slipping into being a miserable bastard again after less than a week back at work.

Get it on has just started playing on the ipod. Now im smiling :-)

Today was a fairly good day at work this morning i was busy merging files and importing them into mysql which is a database used by thousands of websites to store their data. I also wrote some simple php code which is used to create more complex webpages.

This afternoon i went to our darlington office and fixed some problems. I was hoping to get away early because i hadnt had a lunch break but i ended up getting stuck longer than i had hoped.

thinking about it i must of been a bit pissed off this afternoon as i seamed to have a very heavy right foot when driving home. usually this happens when im a bit angry or frustrated. This was probably to do with a mirror i was trying to give to Kelly (dont ask) this was why i was late leaving. In the end i got sick and just dumped it in reception and went.

I wonder what i would be like on a track, probably not very good but think i would drive with no fear but probably not very neat.

Talking about driving around a track that reminds me that Julie and her dad are coming over tomorrow night. I used to work with Julie years ago and her parents once bought her a track day at Croft circuit for her birthday.

Will be good to catch up havent seen her for about a year. My dad is installing some RAM in her dads computer i think.

Well i think i have rambled on about nothing for long enough and some of T-rexs songs are now boring me. So i will shut up, for 5 minutes anyway :-)

Tired Songs

The last playlist was very short so decided to so another. This one is song titles containing "Tired". See list below:

1. Al Green - Tired Of Being Alone
2. Anastacia - Sick And Tired
3. The Beatles - I'm So Tired
4. The Cardigans - Sick & Tired
5. Eric Clapton - So Tired
6. Foo Fighters - Tired Of You
7. Graham Coxon - Tired
8. The Kinks - Tired Of Waiting For You*
9. Green Day - Tired Of Waiting For You*
10. Manic Street Preachers - You're Tender and You're Tired
11. Ms Dynamite - Sick 'n' Tired
12. Ozzy Osbourne - So Tired
13. Pixies - I've Been Tired
14. Fats Waller - Then I'll be Tired of You

Again songs in Bold are rated 4 or 5.

Runaway Songs

Continuing with creating playlists of song titles containing a word I choose. I picked "Runaway" after listening to Bon Jovi. Here's the list:

1. Bon Jovi - Runaway
2. The Corrs - Runaway
3. Del Shannon - Runaway
4. DJ Infiniti - Runaway
5. The Donnas - Teenage Runaway
6. E'Voke - Runaway
7. Groove Coverage - Runaway
8. Iio - Runaway
9. Janet Jackson - Runaway
10. Linkin Park - Runaway
11. John Barry - Runaway
12. Madonna - Runaway Lover
13. Nuyorican Soul Feat. India - Runaway (Mongoloids in Space)
14. Slade - Run Runaway
15. Soul Asylum - Runaway Train
16. Wyclef Jean - Runaway

As usual the songs in Bold I rated 4 or 5 stars, not many this time!

First Day Back

It was my first day back at work after 2 weeks off. It was just the same as when I went off (very boring). I was hoping to be able to do a plan of what I had to do the next few days this morning but I ended up answering the phone all day and never really got motivated to do anything. Everytime I started I would have to answer another call.

We were supposed to be getting a couple of upgrades soon, one was to upgrade to Lotus Notes 6.5 which has been postponed until at least January :-(

I have an idea for something that could be interesting for me and would certainly enable me to learn new things and improve upon a database I created a year ago. I need to think on it first but it looks like if it works it would be a lot easier to use and solve some of the problem we've had with the original database over the last year.

My plan is to try to have stuff to really look forward to on a weekend hopefully then work might not be so bad. Not that it's really bad just boring. Being bored is a nightmare for me, was reading something about Geminis needing to be constantly learning and figuring stuff out. With tons of things on the go at once otherwise easily bored. It does sound like me!

Logitech MM50 Speakers

I have just ordered some Logitech MM50 portable speaker for iPod. I have been thinking about buying them for 2 weeks since 1st hearing about them on the Daily Source Code when Adam Curry mentioned them.

I decided to check them out else where 1st just make sure they were as good as I hoped. After reading Cnets review they made my mind up and have ordered them from Dabs for £71.67. They are £99 everywhere else, unfortuntely Dabs don't have any in stock but do say 442 are available on request so hopefully I should receive it in a few days.

They enable you to dock your iPod and control it with the remote which comes with the speakers. You can use the speakers either plugged into the mains or using the lithium battery inside the speakers. The sound is supposed to be excellent but guess I wont know until it arrives.

UK Speed Cameras

I was messing about with Memory Map which I use when I go walking to plan routes and to see where I have been. I got wondering if I could find the GPS co-ordinates for all the UK Speed Cameras.

About about 10 seconds searching in Google I found exactly what I was looking for from PocketGPS. They have a monthly updated database with all the UK speed camera locations available for free.

They have a zip file that contains the locations in various file formats, you can then use this with most GPS software or even Autoroute!

Earphones that blow you away

I mentioned about 3 weeks ago that I was going to order some more earphones once payday arrived. I have now had the earphones for over a week.

I bought some Etymotic ER-6i Isolator In-Earphones wasn't sure whether to buy them or not because they seam quite expensive for earphones but I like my music, so thought what the hell. I was also looking at some Sure e3c earphones but were a little to expensive!!

Anyway I bought them off Ebay for about £60 I think they were including shipping from America. On Amazon.co.uk they are £79.99 reduced from £99.95. Wasn't gonna pay this much so Ebay to the rescue ;-)

The Sony MDR-EX71SLB's I have been using for months were excellent I always thought, at least compared to the standard earphones. There is a knack to inserting the ER-6i's into your ears, which the instructions describe. I didn't have a problem putting them in and they instantly cut out all surrounding noise. I had 3 computers running and I couldn't hear them at all, this was without any music playing through them.

I love them, letting you drift away with your music and not being interupted by stuff around you. I guess this could be a very bad idea if running near roads!

I wasn't sure how much better they actually sounded than my old MDR-EX71SLB's, but I wore old earphones in the bath today and thought this doesn't sound as clear. So before writing this I did a little test. I tried the old Sony MDR-EX71SLB while listening to Coldplay - Speed of Sound then switched to the Etymotic ER-6i's. The difference was unbelievable everything was crystal clear and you could hear so much more.

While typing this I'm listening to Dire Straits - Down To The Waterline and I've heard things in the song I have never heard before. Anyway who uses earphones should listen to the same music using some of these, they will be amazed :-)

The only problem I had was after the 1st time I put them in I had problems getting them back out of my ears. There is a knack to this as well as insertion, you have to twist as you pull. I will have to tell the people at work not to yank on the wire to get my attention as they have done before or they might pop my eardrum. May sound a bit dramatic but the earphones create a seal and its like popping a cork when removing them!!

I do have another problem which is that my large philips headphones I use on my computer when its late at night now sound rubbish compared to these. So I might have to buy some more expensive large headphones. Possibly some Ultrasone HFI-650's, now they are some serious M.F.

Last Night

I had a good night at Lumley Castle and ended up a bit drunk. Certainly judging by the post I had made on my blog which I just removed because it didn't really make any sense. Although I know what I was trying to say. I also ended up sending a few texts to someone, oops, sorry!

I spent the first hour or so talking to Alan, he wants to do the parachute jump like I did. I've told him just to go and do it, don't think Kelly will be too happy about him doing it.

Once we moved upstairs I ended up talking to Rosie and the Hayleys for the rest of the night. Rosie is a really good laugh, we ended up eating this cheese thing and neither of us like cheese.

It was probably a good idea that I was getting picked up at 11:30, I was getting drunk by then. Not really sure why as I hadn't gone mental on the drink maybe had about 6 pints at most I would of thought. Felt a bit rough this morning, I am definitly getting old.

Wedding Reception

I'm off to a wedding reception at Lumley Castle for Dawn & George who I work with. They are both really good laughs and are well suited.

It should be a good night I know quite a few people from work who are going (I think & hope). Kelly and Alan Johnson are going so can have a laugh with them, although Kelly is the brides maid so she might be busy. If I end up on my own I can always prop the bar up, although I am trying to drink as little alcohol as possible. Gonna be in training from next week (so that'll last until Monday afternoon).

I got ready this morning to go to Durham to buy a new shirt for tonight, but as I was about to walk out the door my mother told me the Newcastle match was on in 45 minutes. So that scuppered my shopping trip (shame, lol).

Looked through my wardrobe and there is nothing there, well there is about a dozen shirts or so after throwing all the others out but they all seam very old now (Jesus, I sound like a woman). I have one hanging up which I might have to wear but luckily my mother and sister have gone shopping, I asked them to get me a shirt if they saw anything I might like :-)

Thinking about it, Nikki A, Gary, Anna Z, Vicky and a few others are going I think tonight so should be OK. If I end up drunk I'm sure I will keep everyone amused if sober I will probably be very quiet and boring though.

Updated List

I just posted that I am intending to do a Hot Air Balloon ride soon and mentioned it was another thing on my list. Here's the list again with a few extra things on it:

To Do
Parachute Jump
Static Line Jump
Pass motorbike test
Drive a Ferrari
Hot Air Balloon (Pending)
White Water Rafting
Horse Riding
Drive Lands End to John O'Groats

Things to see
North West Scotland
Pyramids (Egypt)
New York
Grand Canyon
Canada
Australia (Ayrs Rock)
Ruins in South America
Iceland

To Buy
Mac Mini
Bike
Punch Bag
House
Quality Headphones
Laptop
Pay off Loan
Ipod

I added the Mac Mini and driving from Lands End to John O'Groats. I could do the drive next year and take in the North West of Scotland at the same time then doing 2 things from the list. This will be very expensive though just on petrol alone never mind accomodation. I could probably go to one of the other places cheaper. I could really fancy going to New York for a weekend but would rather go with someone.

I have put the house on hold until December unless something I really want becomes available, I think it is best to do some of the things I want to do above before being stuck paying for house for the next 25 years.

Another thing on my list

I was laid in bed at about 2am this morning unable to sleep again, thinking what I should do next. I mean from my list of things to see, do and buy. I think the next will be a Hot Air Balloon ride.

I pulled out the laptop and did a search, I thought there was a place in Consett that does them. I turned out to be correct. The company is called Could Nine Balloons, it will cost me £155 to do it, the actual balloon ride lasts about an hour depending on the wind. You end up doing the balloon ride, having some champagne and getting a certificate which sounds good to me.

I have seen the balloons come over my house before but it all depends on the wind directions and you don't know where you are going to end up.

I think I will ring them next week rather than just booking online, would like to know how soon I can do it 1st :-)

None event Shopping

As I mentioned in my previous post I went to PC World at Team Valley in Gateshead with the intention of looking at a Mac Mini. I was also gonna buy a USB mouse for my laptop and a cover for my iPod (it's already getting scratched).

I ended up leaving empty handeed, the only mouse I thought was OK was a Microsoft Optical Mouse for £20 which seamed expensive. The iPod cover didn't say which models it fitted. So ended up leaving without buying anything. I checked on Dabs when I got back and get the same mouse for less than £12. Haven't looked at the iPod skin yet.

The only positive thing I came away with was that I liked OS X on the Mac, even that took some getting to because some bloke was stocking the shelves under the Macs and I couldn't get near them until he buggered off.

I have always said I hate shopping and thought it was because I usually couldn't afford to buy the stuff I was looking at but that's 2 shopping trips now where I have had the money to buy stuff and I've come away with just about nothing. If I could figure out why maybe I could make a fortune helping to improve shops ;-)

Mac Mini

I am trying to decide if I should buy a Mac Mini or not?

Maybe Steve Jobs' plan of getting people to buy an iPod and then making the jump to a Mac is working. I just fancy trying one out and the Mac Mini is the cheapest way to get one. The fact that is also tiny is a bonus.

Another reason for thinking about a Mac is possibly because Adam Curry is constantly talking about them on The Daily Source Code Podcast.

I went to PC World at Team Valley in Gateshead hoping to try a one out but they didn't have any Mac Minis. They had some old iMacs which I spent a couple of minutes playing with and did really like, very simple to use and easy to find things. Although the version I was using was running Panther not Tiger.

Anyway I am trying to hold off buying one for now but not sure how long I can resist, I'm shocking when I have money in the bank!!

Fishing Update

I forgot to write an entry when I got back from fishing. I ended up catching about 10 (I think). 7 Roach, 1 Carp and 2 Crayfish. I got what I think where another 2 carp, one of which was a big. But unfortuntely it snapped my line when I was messing about with the tension on the reel. The other the hook must of come out of its mouth after I was playing it for a couple of minutes.

I never got chance to take any pictures, as my hands were covered with fish slime (nice, lol).

Fishing

I am on my way to Bedale fishing again. Well not exactly on my way, im sat in the car in Darlington while my dad and uncle are in the tackle shop getting my permit and the maggots.

Got here and the shop wasnt open but luckily they have just opened up.

Hopefully i will catch some good fish again this week and try to remember to take a picture with my phone.

One Door Away From Heaven

One Door Away From Heaven
Author: Dean Koontz
Pages: 760
Rating: 4 out of 5

Overview:
Micky Bellsong is a young woman at a crisis point in her life, unsure of where she should be heading and using a stay at her Aunt Geneva's to sort out her life. Then the precocious and deformed Leilani Kronk walks into her life telling stories of her stepfather Preston Maddoc and her drugged-up mother who both believe aliens will beam the girl into their mothership and heal her deformities before her 10th birthday. But tales of Preston's vicious past, including his hand in several murders, leave Micky believing that a far more terrible fate awaits her friend so when the Maddocs head off taking Leilani with them, Micky pursues.

My comments:
This is the 1st book I have read in months, I used to read a lot and have spent a fortune on books over the years but recently have listened to audio books or been glued to a computer but while on holiday decided to sit down and read.

I was given the book by my mother she had picked it up for 20p at some charity sale.

You very quicky get drawn into the book which is what I've always liked about Dean Koontz. I wont tell any of the story as the description above does that. It's a really good book, I gave it 4 stars rather than 5, because there were some parts that it seamed to skip over and left some unanswered questions but then again should a book not leave you wondering? It wouldn't suprise me if a follow-up to this came out.

Pennine Way

On Sunday and Monday I walked 2 sections of the Pennine way. On Sunday I walked from Garrigill to Dufton. Then on Monday from Dufton to Langdon Beck.
Click picures to enlarge.

Sunday: Garrigill to Dufton

Distance: 15.8 miles
Time: 5 hours

The 1st day was the furthest of the 2 days and over the harder terrain. We set off (me & my dad) at about 7:15am as the sun was coming up. I wasn't feeling exactly awake as I'd only had 2 1/2 hours sleep the night before. About half a mile in I started seeing flashing lights and suddenly went dizzy for a few seonds. After that I was fine, wasn't a good start though.

After about 4 miles we fancied a cup of tea but decided to wait until Greg's hut, my dad said it was fairly close, well it turned out to be another 2 miles. The hut ended up being a proper stone building almost a house (a bovee). We sat in there and had a cup of tea. Just before we got there a Transit van had pulled up just behind us, we couldn't believe it had managed to drive up the track. It wouldn't of been easy in a 4x4. Anyway while we were drinking our tea (very English) 4 men arrived and they had been in the Transit. They were all Fell Rescue and were taking part in some exercise. They mentioned how it was a good advert for a transit van (you're telling me). They told us a couple of stories and we left one of them telling us to turn left at some stones on the hill.

We left Gregs hut and within about 2oo yards or so found ourselves surrounded by fog. We decided to carry on and we continually looked at our GPS to make sure we were on the right track. If we hadn't had them there is no way in hell we would of carried on, we would of turned around and gone back. We could only see about 10 feet in front of us, but the GPS guided us perfectly along the path we had plotted. The fog was like this for 3 miles, we passed 2 groups of people, the 1st I think were part of the fell rescue. The second was near the end of the fog (or their start) they were American. Hope they didn't carry on as they had no GPS!!

The end of the fog was just after Great Dunn Fell where the RAF have one of those golf ball things, see pictures to the left. You can see the fog behind!

There were a few Fell Rescue jeeps around here as well as about a dozen people on quad bikes. we continued on to Knock Old Man which was hard going over lots of little rocks. We stopped at a large cairn before descending the last few miles to Dufton. On the descent we stopped while I cut my toe nails. My toe nails weren't long but they kept catching the front of my boot when coming down hill and were being pulled up (hurt, to be polite). The last mile I ended up pulling a muscle on the inside of my thigh as well. Guess that's what I get for being unfit and having not walked over about 8 mile for a long time!!

We eventually made it to Dufton and headed straight for the pub. I about collapsed on the bench outside (while trying to look fine of course). All the people we had seen on the quads earlier were now at the pub.

That was it for the 1st day, we stayed at a friends caravan and went back to the pub on the night for a meal, steak and onion pie which was gorgous.

I didn't take may picture because a lot of it was just too foggy, wish I had taken some of the fog but was too bust watching the GPS.

2 miles from Garragill

View from Knock old man (sitting down)

Monday: Dufton to Langdon Beck

Distance: 14.1 miles
Time: 6:50

I was worried after Sunday I might not be able to move but I got up and appeared to be not too bad. We decided to set off later as it was an easier walk and we weren't being picked up until about 6pm. We set off at 11:20am and we were tired but weren't making bad progress. We got to High Cup Gill after about 1 hour 50. We sat and had the 1st cup of tea, I took a few pictures in this area, see one to the right.

I will add a few more pictures from the top of the Gill they are more impressive they might not relate to what I am writing about, but look impressive.

We passed a few people going the opposite direction to us around High Cup Gill and High Cup Nick.

From this point on it was just walking over moorland (grass initally) but there are now stones put down over any points that would of been really boggy, which is most of it.

At this point the original Pennine way goes left but you are directed to the right (the new route) this is much easier and is sign posted and with stones and isn't as boggy.

Both routes join back up at Maize Beck and we followed this for 2.5 miles crossing over it at the bridge, we passed a bloke going the opposite direction on his mountain bike on the bridge.

From this point it becomes bleak and there's not much too look at for a few miles. About 8.3 miles in my feet were killing from blisters, I stopped to have a look and ended up taking a knife to my feet (sure you're not supposed to do this but since when do I listen?). I stopped short of sawing them off ;-)

I was pleased when we made it to Cauldron Snout where Cow Green Reservoir is as it meant we were nearing civilisation, although Cow Green is probably the most remote reservoir in England. Can remember fishing their ears ago and the waves were bigger than being at the sea side!

Anyway we stopped for some more tea, I was damn pleased to stop as I was struggling with my feet killing me.

The picture to the right is the damn at Cow Green with my dads bag in the way (was too tired to get up for a better shot).

We were sat there for about 25 minutes and didn't want to move as people were wandering about up Cauldron Snout.

While I was sat there a caterpiller ended up walking over my leg, so I decided to take a picture, it didn't come out all that brilliant but better than I expected.

After it had kept me amused for a minute I'd had enough and flicked it off my leg but I must of had plenty of energy left in my finger as it went about 6 foot in the air and blew past my dads leg. Don't worry creature lovers I'm sure it was fine it landed in long grass (I think).

Eventually we had to set off again and we had a nasty climb down Cauldron Snout over very large steep boulders down to Falcon Clints. We could of taken the road but thought it would be shorter the way we went (how wrong we were).

The picture to the right is of the water coming down the River Tees at Cauldron Snout while we were clambering down.

Just after this I pulled the muscle in my right leg again (damn being unfit) and it got worse and worse. We still had over 3.5 miles to go, I pushed on and tried to forget about it for a mile and half. We then had to go up a very small bank and from there on it felt like I had leg brace on and was struggling to walk probably looked like it as well. Checking though I still managed to walk at about 3 miles an hour some how. The last 3 miles were very long miles!!

My mother rang me when we were a mile from the end to ask where we were as she was picking us up. She had already rang the pub to see if we were there because it was hard to get a signal up there.

The last half a mile joined onto the road from Cow Green and a car went past, I was very tempted to flag the bloke down and pay him to take me the last few hundred yards.

Eventually we got there (which was the pub) and the bloke knew who we were from my mother having already rang him. I decided to have a pint of lemonade rather than lager as I wanted something to refresh me!!

It took us nearly 2 hours more to walk a shorter easier walk than the day before, we thought the second day was gonna be easier and quicker. Probably would of been if it weren't for my feet and legs, a quad would of been nice :-)

About 20 minutes after we got there my mother arrived. My mam and dad then laughed at me hobbling to the car and struggling to get in (pleased someone was amused)

So the outcome of all this is I am unfit and walking 2 fairly long walks 2 days in a row was hard, I guess I need to get fitter or give up ;-)

iPod

I have now had my iPod for 2 weeks, I wanted to leave it this long so I could get a real feel for what it's like. In this time there has been ups and downs, mostly ups luckily.

One of the 1st things you realise after turning on your iPod is just how simple it is to find your way around. My Zen Micro isn't complicated but this is simplicity itself. The 1st gripe I have is with iTunes, it is very cluncky, especially if you have a large library of songs. I added my songs to iTunes before my Ipod arrived and it took a very, very long time. Windows Media player took less than half the time. Once my songs were imported into iTunes it is again very simple to use, but I do then have another major gripe, this was one of the reasons I resisted buying an iPod for so long.

iTunes can't automatically scan folders for new songs, to most people this isn't a problem but the way my music is organised it becomes a big hassle. I have to manually import folders and tracks, this can take a long time. The strange thing is when you 1st start iTunes and import a folder it can take several minutes to import the dozen or so tracks of that album but if you then import another folder that will be slighty quicker until after importing several albums it will only take a few seconds. But as generally, I would only get one album at a time (not made of money) it would take me several minutes to import it into iTunes!

I have one final gripe after 5 days of using my iPod, I left it synchronising while I watched some TV. When I came back to it, I found it had switched itself off and I couldn't turn it back on. It was already plugged into my USB port so it had power. I tried plugging it into the main and pressing every button, but to no avail. After lots of swearing I went to Apples site and looked at the troubleshooting it mentioned this exact problem and there were several combinations of button presses that could un-freeze it. The 3rd one I tried did the trick (Menu & Select).

Since the freezing, I have had absolutely no problems. After getting my gripes out of the way it may sound like I think its crap. Far from it, it is probably one of the best purchases I have made for some time (along with Camera, TV, Laptop). I like how it integrates Podcasts into iTunes and the iPod, if you have listened to 9 minutes in iTunes then sync the iPod, you can continue listening exactly where you left off. You can do this with audiobooks as well.

It also appears to sound slightly better than my Zen Micro which was supposedly a good sounding player, saying that my ears are crap.

The end result is I'm listening to even more music than before (if thats possible). Listened to about 500 songs last week. Nearly all of which are being recorded on Last.fm.

My advice to anyone would be go and buy one, even if you're are someone who is useless with Technology and gadgets you will be able to operate an iPod and transfer music to it.

Pros: Simple interface, integration, good design, podcasts.
Cons: no scan for new music, no Napter equivelant on iTunes yet.

Cant sleep

I have to get up at 5 tomorrow morning but i cant sleep. I am walking part of the pennine way ending up in Dufton tomorrow night. Then walking to langdon beck on monday.

Should be good not that i have done any exercise recently. So will be shattered tomorrow night.

Still undecided what to do the rest of next week. I should go to scotland but not sure where to stay. I want to go to the north west but not many places to stay and dont want to stay in a b&b that is like someones house. I could sleep in the car, guess i could try that for one night if it was really bad then find somewhere to stay!

Will have a think the next 2 days.

Quotes

Here a some quote I've just read, they all have a common theme!

"We're all lonely for something we don't know we're lonely for"

"Somewhere there is someone that dreams of your smile, and finds in your presence that life is worthwhile, so when you are lonely remember it’s true, someone somewhere is thinking of you."

"Friends will keep you sane, Love could fill your heart, A lover can warm your bed, But lonely is the soul without a mate."

"Lonely men seek companionship. Lonely women sit at home and wait. They never meet."

"People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges."

"You cannot be lonely if you like the person you're alone with."

"I have so many different personalities in me and I still feel lonely."

"All the lonely people, where do they all come from? / All the lonely people, where do they all belong?"

"What loneliness is more lonely than distrust?"

"Dreams have but one owner at a time. That is why dreamers are lonely."

Night Out/In

I went out/in tonight by that I mean I went to Nikki Appleby house along with a few others from work. It was some of the regulars from the Durham Nights out.

If I'm honest I was dreading it at 1st because wasn't sure what it would be like and I also ended up having to drive so couldn't drink. I thought Craig was driving as well so didn't think it would be so bad 2 of us not drinking but got there and Craig had got a taxi.

Anyway in the end it turned out to be a good night, didn't matter that I was drinking Pepsi all night. This is the second time I've been out in the last few weeks where I haven't drank and still had a good night. I think it maybe depends on who you are out with.

A few of them were very drunk by the end of the night, Mel & Nikki especially. I dropped Katy off home and she was pissed to. I can tell when she gets to a certain point and she starts talking about her degree I now know that its the point for us to leave, lol. It is quite funny I seam to end up being her minder, before she opens her mouth and says something I say its time to leave!!

Dream Songs

I said yesterday that I was gonna create playlists of songs that contained a chosen word in their title. Today I chose DREAM. Below are the songs I listened to:

1. 1 Giant Leap - The Way You Dream
2. 2 Brothers On The 4th Floor - Dreams
3. ABBA - I Have A Dream
4. Accept - Winterdreams
5. Aerosmith - Dream On
6. Andre Visior - Islands of Dreams
7. Aretha Franklin - Don't Let Me Lose This Dream
8. Arollo - Dreaming (Percussion Mix)
9. Art Garfunkel - Dreamland
10. The Beatles - Like Dreamers Do
11. Beth Orton - Live As You Dream
12. Billy Joel - The River Of Dreams
13. Billy Ocean - Get Outta My Dreams
14. Black Sabbath - Tomorrow's Dream
15. Cheap Trick - Dream Police
16. BT - Dreaming (Lybra Mix)
17. Crowded House - Don't Dream It's Over
18. David Bowie - Moonage Daydream
19. Depeche Mode - Dream On
20. Dio - Dream Evil
21. Dokken - Dream Warriors
22. Dune - In My Dreams
23. Elvis Presley - If I Can Dream
24. Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams
25. Fleetwood Mac - Dreams
26. Foggy - Come [Into My Dream]
27. Frank Sinatra - Put Your Dreams Away
28. Gabrielle - Dreams
29. Green Day - Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
30. Human League - Together In Electric Dreams
31. I Monster - Daydream In Blue
32. Iron Maiden - Wildest Dreams
33. Iron Maiden - Infinite Dreams
34. Jakatta - American Dream
35. Jaydee - Plastic Dreams
36. Judas Priest - Living Bad Dreams
37. La Bouche - Sweet Dreams
38. Livin' Joy - Dreamer
39. Mamas And The Papas - California Dreamin'
40. Mama Cass - Dream A Little Dream
41. Mariah Carey - Dreamlover
42. Marilyn Manson - Sweet Dreams
43. The Monkees - Daydream Believer
44. Ozzy Osbourne - Dreamer
45. The Pointer Sisters - Could I Be Dreamin'
46. Pro-Pain - American Dreams
47. QFX - Ocean Of Dreams
48. Queen - Dreamer's Ball
49. Rachel Stevens - Sweet Dreams My LA Ex
50. Robson Green - What a day for a daydream
51. Roy Orbison - In Dreams
52. S Club 7 - Never Had A Dream Come True
53. Sixpence None The Richer - Don't Dream It's Over
54. Van Halen - Dreams
55. Westlife - I Have a Dream

As you can see I got a bit carried away and ended up with 55 songs. Once again the songs in Bold I gave 4 or 5 star ratings.

Crazy Songs

Anyone who knows me well, knows how much I collect music. I've decided on a new way to listen to it. I will think of a word and search for all my songs containing that word.

Tonight I searched for Crazy and these are songs I listened to:

1. Beyonce - Crazy In Love
2. Britney Spears - Crazy
3. Brooklyn Bouce - Crazy
4. Charlotte Church - Crazy Chick
5. Eminem - My Dad's Gone Crazy
6. Fine Young Cannibals - She Drives Me Crazy
7. Katie Melua - The Closest Thing To Crazy
8. Kiss - Crazy Crazy Nights
9. LeAnn Rimes - Crazy*
10. Let Loose - Crazy For You
11. Loretta Lynn - Crazy*
12. Madonna - Crazy For You
13. Lucid - Crazy
14. Metallica - Stone Cold Crazy
15. Micheal Buble - Crazy Little Thing Called Love*
16. Ocean Colour Scene - Crazy Lowdown Ways
17. The Osmonds - Crazy Horses
18. Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train
19. Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Babies
20. Phil Collins - Driving Me Crazy
21. Prince - Let's Go Crazy
22. The Prodigy - Crazy Man
23. Queen - Crazy Little Thing Called Love*
24. Seal - Crazy
25. Simple Plan - Crazy
26. Guns N' Roses - You're Crazy
27. 3 Inches Of Blood - Crazy Nights
28. Aerosmith - Crazy
29. Angel City - Do You Know (I Go Crazy)
30. Ike & Tina Turner - Crazy About You Baby

The songs in Bold I gave 4 or 5 stars, which is suprisingly a lot. Although this is maybe because I was selective in which songs I played, I had more songs containing crazy than these but chose not play some coz I knew I didn't like them that and by the time I got to Tina Turner it was 1:15 am!!

Living Life to the MAX

I was chatting tonight on Messenger and part of the conversation was about enjoying yourself because life is too short. If I had a £1 for every time I have said that to people I would be rich, so I think its about time I took some of my own advice!!

I have started by doing the parachute jump, now I have to keep doing stuff that I want to. I started writing a list of things to do, see & buy. Wasn't gonna post it on here but here it is:

To Do
Parachute Jump
Static Line Jump
Pass motorbike test
Drive a Ferrari
Hot Air Balloon
White Water Rafting
Horse Riding

Things to see
North West Scotland
Pyramids (Egypt)
New York
Grand Canyon
Canada
Australia (Ayrs Rock)
Ruins in South America
Iceland

To Buy
Pay off Loan
Ipod
Bike
Quality Headphones
Laptop
Punch Bag
House

As you can see I'm fairly good at the buying part of the list, although guess paying off the loan wasn't buying. I've put house in bold because this this is the biggest single purchase I will ever do. Its not gonna happen anytime soon either. The absolute most I can get is about £79,000 but wouldn't want to be paying that back. Couldn't afford to live. So I have decided tonight that it is on hold unless something I really like comes up. I am completely sick of bloody Bairstowe Eves (estate agents) ringing me every day as well.

I might buy the punch bag tomorrow, not sure if I will keep using it though.

I've done the 1st on my things to do, I added a few more tonight like, Static line jump, Hot Air Balloon and white water rafting.

Haven't been to any of the places to see yet. I was going to go to North West Scotland next week but not gonna have chance I don't think. Walking Monday, Fishing Tuesday, Wedding Reception Saturday. I guess there is Wednesday to Friday but sure I'm supposed to be doing something then. Will have a look tomorrow, need to do something else on my list next week!!

If anyone who knows we reads this and you fancy doing any of these let me know ;-)

Next major thing is my job would love to leave that but can't do that, YET!

Strange but true

A 13 foot Burmese Python tried to swallow and 6 foot Alligator in the Everglades in Florida, the Python ended up bursting and both are dead. This is the sort of stuff you think is made up until you see the picture. I read this in the local paper and this BBC article.

Metro Centre

I went to the Metro Centre today, mainly coz I decided I would have a look to the pictures to watch Land of the Dead. I got there a couple of hours before the film was gonna start and decided I would just have a wander around the shops and buy anything that took my fancy (money permitting). Yet I was wandering around looking at clothes and never saw anything that I fancied, all the shops have just got in there winter collection and it doesn't seam right to be wearing them yet. Still a little too warm, maybe in 2 weeks I will change my mind when its chucking it down with rain.

After about 30 minutes I was bored and was looking at my watch, I have always been someone who knows exactly what I want when I go shopping and head straight for it and get the hell out of there as quickly as possible.

I bought a Newcastle shirt which I've been meaning to get for weeks, then decided to get something to eat. I ended up in KFC!

After having something to eat I ended up going to Waterstones and browsing through the books, haven't done this in ages. I left with Stephen Laws - Darkfall which I will read when I have finished Dean Koontz - One Door Away From Heaven which I started reading the other day.
I read a Stephen Laws book a few years ago, Chasm, which was excellent.

I stopped buying books in book shops because they were cheaper online, today was a case in point. I picked up 2 other books but after seeing that they were £6.99, I knew they would be cheaper online so put them back. The book I did buy was £5.99 but just looked on Amazon and it is only £3.50. I would have to pay postage but if you buy a few books its still cheaper.

Anyway after buying a the book I went to watch the film, the info on that is below.

Koyaanisqatsi

Koyaanisqatsi: After watching Baraka I wanted to see more films like it and found this one. It is very similar but in my opinion Baraka was much better. I found myself a bit bored with this at times. There are another 2 movies in thi series. I will watch them and see if they are any better. I still gave this 7 out of 10 on IMDB.

Land of the Dead

Land of the Dead: I went to pictures this afternoon and watched Land of the Dead. I've been a massive fan of the original Dawn of the Dead by George A. Romero ever since I 1st saw it in the 80s. Although this isn't as good as Dawn it is still very good and better than the recent remake of Dawn.

Its about a group of people who live in a city which is surrounded by water and fences which has kept the Zombies out but they are becoming smarter. Wont say anymore but worth watching. Might watch Day of the Dead tomorrow haven't watched it for sometime. Oh I gave Land of the Dead 8 out of 10 on IMDB but would of given it 7.5 if I could!

Fishing

I went fishing today with my dad & uncle in North Yorkshire, can't remember the name of the place.

I ended up catching 7 roach, 2 carp and 3 crayfish. The roach were only little nothing impressive, the 2 carp were better although I guess little for carp about 4Ib and 5.5Ib. The crayfish I would rather not catch as they are a pain in arse to get off. They are like crabs with pinchers, managed to get them off though without getting nipped!

It was a good days fishing, the last few times I've been fishing I've either caight nothing or tiny fish.

On Monday I was going to go to Newcastle but I had a really bad headache from the Parachuting, still have a bit but not so bad now. Haven't decided what to do tomorrow yet. Not sitting around the house though!!

Dog used as shark bait

There are some sick bastards in the world, the picture above is a dog which has a hook through its nose where it has been pulled behind a boat as shark bait. This is happening in French controlled Reunion island in the Indian Ocean. Pulling a dog behind a boat it a hell of a lot different from live fish. A dog has more feeling and emotions like fear.

Bloody French!!

Parachute Jump

I finally managed to do my parachute jump today!!

Above is a picture of me and the instructor Mark doing the jump, we are freefalling at about 120 mph at this point towards Shotton & Peterlee. It is the best experience you could ever have (well almost!!). I was suprising calm when we jumped out of the plane and wasn't in the least bit nervous.

It's very hard to try to describe the sensation to anyone who has bever experienced it themselves, it didn't feel anywhere near as bad as I was expecting when we left the plane. Maybe it was easier because it was cloudy when we jumped from the plane at 11,500 feet so couldn't see how far down it was. Although when jumping through the clouds it hurt, the rain in clouds was belting off my face and it hurt. Try riding on a motorbike without a visor (just goggles) at 120 mph in a hail storm and you might have an idea!!

Mark (the instructor) kept putting his hand in front of my mouth and face to shield it but I didn't realise he was trying to tell me to do it. My ended up with a headache from the rain pelting me (small price to pay).

Once we broke through the cloud cover it was much better and I could finally see the land below and the sea to the east. The freefall was over fairly quick (14 seconds something like that) and the parachute was pulled, it very quickly slowed us down and it then felt like we were floating and I could admire the view. Mark gave me the controls and he told me how to steer and what direction we needed to be facing, while pointing out Seaham, Peterlee & Sunderland. We did a few spirals although to be honest I wasn't that keen on them it was making me a bit dizzy probably made worse by the headache.

I had about 4 minutes (I think) of parachuting before we touched down, we made a perfect landing on our feet.

If I have one piece of advice to anyone doing a jump, make sure you go for a wee before you jump. Once I had the harness on I couldn't got to the toilet and by the time we did the jump I was busting (lol). Maybe this was why I wasn't nervous was thinking too much about needing the toilet. If the parachute jump had taken another 10 minutes I might not of been able to wait.

I now really want to do another jump, but might do it for charity next time it will be cheaper and hopefully raise some money!!

Everyone should try it :-)

One last point the photo at the top makes my nose look massive I'm sure its not quite that big?

Change and misery

Change isnt easy. Changing the way you live means changing how you think. Changing how you think means changing what you believe about life.

When we make our own misery, we sometimes cling to it even when we want so bad to change, because the misery is something we know. The misery is comfortable.

No Jump :-(

I'm back home, it was too windy to jump. I spoke to Ian, the guy who runs the place and he said it was unlikely to drop to an acceptable level today. I have to ring him at 8:30 tomorrow morning to see if the wind speed is low enough to go.

I'm gutted I never got chance to jump today, had built myself up to jump and now end up disappointed. The worst part was waiting around, just about everyone there knew each other so I couldn't really join in their conversation. The other lad doing the tandem course was untalkative, I can be quiet when I don't know people but whenever I said something I got a nod or a one word answer, so gave up and sat in silence.

Hopefully I will have better look tomorrow, I have decided to pay for a DVD of my jump (£65). So may post some images or part of the video tomorrow if the jump goes ahead!

Too windy :-(

I am still sat in the canteen waiting. a message has just come up saying it is too windy 34 knots, it has to be less than 20 i think to jump.
The weather is supposed to be better tomorrow.

Im still waiting around in case it drops but not sure where the other lad who is doing a tandem jump has gone.

there are 7 others on a course but they are doing a static line one.

A load of students have just turned up. I think they are from Newcastle university, they have some sort of club at the uni for parachuting.

think i will go and find out if its worth hanging around!

Waiting to jump

I have done my training for my parachute jump. Sat waiting for the wind to die down so i can jump.

Wish i could just get up there and jump.

Missing iPod

Amazon sent out my iPod yesterday and provided me with a Parcel Force Tracking Number. I checked this morning when I got up and it said it was out on the van for delivery. Great I thought, I will get it today and can play tonight. I told the lasses on reception @ work I was expecting a parcel but as they day wore on nothing arrived. It got to 4:30 and I decided to check the website in case for some reason it had gone back to the depot.

To my horror it had been signed for at 12:02 by an "A Mitson", there is no person by that name in our building. I walked over to the building opposite to see if they have received it but they hadn't.

I rang up Parcel Force and got transfered to the Newcastle depot, the woman was helpfull and said she would ask the driver where he had taken it when he got back and ring me.

She rang me back about 6 o'clock and the driver said he had taken it the Police HQ by mistake but would pick it up in the morning and deliver it to me. I didn't complain and just thanked the lady for finding out what had happened.

I'm a bit pissed off because I was hoping to play with it tonight and payed for next day delivery for that reason, when I could of had free delivery in 2-3 days. Nevermind at least I found out where it went and someone isn't walking around with a free iPod (I hope).

Parachute Jump

I have finally booked and paid for a parachute jump. I've always wanted to do it but like many things I say, I want to do something and never do. I'm gonna be jumping from Peterlee Parachute Centre, it's costing me £250 but will be worth every penny when I'm hurtling towards the earth at 120 mph!!!

I'm doing a tandem jump which means I'm strapped to an instructor and he pulls the chute, the only other one I could really do was a static line jump. Where when you jump out of the plane the parachute comes straight out but I want to freefall and with a tandem you have the added bonus of not having to do 6 hours of training 1st :-)

I think most people thought I wouldn't do it when I've been mentioning it for the last couple of works but this is the start of turning my life around and actually doing things I want, rather than just letting life pass me by.

:-(

Well the weekend has disappeared again and have to get up for work in less than 7 hours. I have done nothing really all weekend. I've never set foot outside the house since getting in from work on Friday night.

Tomorrow I have to ring up the finance company I used to buy my laptop, I got it on one of those buy now pay later things. I don't have to pay for it until March before it would cost me a fortune in interest but I am gonna pay it all off now while I have the money.

I am also gonna ring to see aboout doing the parachute jump :-)

I've jotted down a load ideas for things to do when I'm off for the 2 weeks, I'm gonna do part of the Pennine way walk with my dad (well a short one day section to Alston). Plan on going to Scotland for a few days again, may stay in Amulree again but only for a night then want to travel on up to the North West but that is just an idea at the moment. Loads of other things wrote down as well but gotta plan out each day and what I'm doing or will end up doing nothing as usual.

Well, think I will get into bed and listen to some music...

Headphones

Just wrote that I have ordered an iPod, the other thing I am very tempted to buy are some more headphones. I already have some fairly good Sony buds but after spending so much on the iPod I think I need some higher quality ones.

I've looked at some Sure E3C, but they are a bit too expensive. So I think I will go for the Etymotic ER-6i Isolator In-Earphones, they are £80 on Amazon but you can buy them on Ebay shipped from America for £55. Which is still a hell of a lot of money for headphones but as you can tell from this blog recently how much I like my music.

Gonna wait for payday before investing in these, got some other things to sort out 1st. Like a parachute jump ;-)

iPod

After 2 years I have finally sucombed to buying an iPod. I have held off for so long because I have/had some major problems with the iPod. It was too expensive, I guess it still is. I just spent £280 (cough!) @ Amazon.

I've wanted a large Hard drive MP3 player for ages but held off in the hope I would see something better than the iPod, without so many restrictions (iTunes), but nothing has really turned up that beats it or not in large HD sizes (60GB).

Another reason I've disliked the iPod besides for them trying to force you to buy your music from iTunes is I hate following everyone else. I like to find hidden jems but unfortunately I'm still searching, lol.

After all this dissing of the iPod why did I buy one. I think it is the best overall MP3 player, it has an excellent UI, good size and there are now some hacks for the iPod and iTunes. I think Last.Fm may of been the final thing that swayed it, I can get the songs I play on the iPod submitted to Last.Fm.

I am still never gonna buy a song from iTunes unless they start a subscription service like Napster. Its too expensive and too many restrictions, why pay the prices on iTunes when you can buy the CD from Amazon cheaper and rip it without any restrictions and at whatever quality I like!

Anyway I will post what it's like when it arrives in a couple of days (hopefully), looking forward to it.

Northern Star

I re-discovered a song tonight, I had never really looked at the lyrics before either I just liked the music. But after reading the words it's even better.

Melanie C - Northern Star

They tried to catch a falling star.
Thinking that she had gone too far.
She did but kept it hidden well.
Until she cracked and then she fell.

If all the history is true.
She's gonna end up just like you.
You made it to the other side.
But tell me who will be my guide.

They build you up so they can tear you down.
Trust the ocean you'll never drown.
Who is next? Who's gonna steal your crown?
You'll see.

I have learnt my lesson well.
The truth is out there I can tell.
Don't look back and don't give in to their lies and goodbyes.
Northern Star.

Fulfil the longing in your heart.
Then we will never be apart.
And if they dare to question you.
Just tell them that our love is true.

They buy your dreams so they can sell your soul.
Is it any wonder we've lost control?
Feelings come, feelings go.

I have learnt my lesson well.
The truth is out there I can tell.
Don't look back and don't succumb to their lies and goodbyes.
Live your life without regret.
Don't be someone who they forget.
When you're lost reach out for me.
And you'll see she's not far.
Northern Star.
Northern Star.

I have learnt my lesson well.
The truth is out there I can tell.
Don't look back and don't succumb to their lies and goodbyes.
Live your life without regret.
Don't be someone who they forget.
When you're lost reach out for me.
And you'll see she's not far.
Northern Star.
Northern Star.
Northern Star.

Friends

Although this week has been quite hard at work for reasons I'm not going to go into. The one thing that has really come out of it, has been how a few people have been real friends to me this week. I think the main reason I still work where I do is because I've made so many friends.

That is also the reason I stayed at my job at the Red Cross for so long, when I think about it I make good friends where ever I have been. Right from starting school, to Y.T. to each job I have had there are still people I am good friends with from each place.

Anyway a few people this week have said if I needed to chat just to let them know, although I'm not always good at speaking like that. Words always seam to escape me. That's sort of why I set this up but it seams I have to be careful what I write these days for fear of upsetting someone or it being missinterpreted. I should just say fuck it and write what I want to, will make a decision on that when I'm off. Life is too short

To end this post here's 2 links about Pathological Liars, lol.
Link 1
Link 2
Bonus Wikipedia link

Holiday

I've finally got some time booked off at work, I'm off from the 1st October for 2 weeks. I was hoping to go to Las Vegas for 5 nights but after finding out it was gonna cost me at least £860 (because its short notice) I have now changed my mind.

I've been looking @ doing a parachute jump as well, originally I was looking at somewhere in Cumbria but found out I can do one in Shotton near Peterlee. It will cost me £250 but I think its worth it, always said I would like to do it. Thats for a tandem jump where you are strapped to an instructor. At least that way I can't choose not to pull the cord, lol.

I'm gonna make a list of the stuff I want to do when I'm off, otherwise I'll sit on my arse staring at a computer all week and it wont seam like much of a holiday.

A holiday can't come soon enough, I was fucking fuming today when someone started twisting at me for supposedly not doing some work. Yet I had done it 2 weeks ago and was waiting for some information back, think I kept my calm quite well and just finished it off. Might Chin the next person that says TEMPLATE, though. (joking!!)

Last.FM again

I've mentioned Last.Fm a few times in the last week, see my other posts or the site itself for more info. I have totally got into using it and have listened to some good new music because of it.

I decided to actually pay them some money for 2 months subscription, you don't have to. I wanted a few of the extra features like playing my favourite tracks from Last.FM radio and getting priority for stuff other non-subscribers. Its not like its gonna break the bank at £1.50 a month!!

Here's the link to my user page, didn't use my real name because I was just testing it at 1st (Can't change name). You can see what I've been listening to.

Angry

I've managed to avoid any situations for well over a year where I would get angry and lose my temper but today I woke up "full of hell" as someone once described me a couple of years ago. I used to be fairly miserable and kept everything to myself and because of that I could go from joking to ready to jump down someones throught within a blink of an eye. I haven't been that bad for years and can't see me ever being that bad ever again. I've changed far too much for that.

I woke up in a bad mood because of stuff at work, wont go into it on here (yet!). If there is one thing I hate its people lying about things that will impact on others, even more so when its me they are lying about. Thats why I posted "The Rolling Stones - Lies" last night as a song that reflected how I was feeling. I'm sure people will twist at me for writing this on here but I don't care, why should I be made to feel like I've done something wrong when I haven't!!

Holiday

I am in desperate need of a Holiday but not sure what to do or where to go. I would love to go to America but would rather not go on my own, although maybe I need to go away on my own.
I have the money burning a hole in my pocket which I was trying to save.

At the moment I think some time away is more important than saving, had enough of the lies and shite being said about me at work at the moment.

Trust No One.....

Messing about with Last.Fm

I've been trying stuff out on Last.Fm tonight although they have been experiencing some problems the last few days. They are installing another cluster (more computers) but its causing problems while they upgrade.

I can live with that seeing as it's free and an excellent service.

In the sidebar to the right I have added a listening to image, it shows the last song I have listened to if anything. Its just an image so it will only refresh if you press refresh your browser (F5). There are some problems with it, if the song name is too long the picture will be wider than the sidebar.

Here's another image with the last few songs I've recently listened to (again if I've just listened to anything):



The image above is too wide for this site. Hopefully when I get chance I will create my own script to produce these images then I can limit the size of them but at the moment they are running from someone elses site.

I've noticed that FireFox often doesn't refresh the image properly and pulls a cached version (saved version of the image). Also the times shown are an hour behind coz of daylight saving.

More songs for how I'm feeling

I was looking for some songs for how I'm feeling and my situation. I couldn't find much the closest might be Rolling Stones - Lies. I also think the Beatles - Nowhere Man is also sort of approriate. The Lyrics for both are below:

Rolling Stones - Lies(M. Jagger/K. Richards)
Lies, dripping off your mouth like dirt
Lies, lies in every step you walk
Lies, whispered sweetly in my ear
Lies, how do I get out of here?
Why, why you have to be so cruel?
Lies, lies, lies I ain't such a fool!
Lies, lies in my papa's looks
Lies, lies in my history books
Lies, lies like they teach in class
Lies, lies, lies I catch on way too fast
Fire, fire upon your wicked tongue
Lies, lies, lies you're trying to spoil my fun
Lies, lies you dirty jezebel
Why, why, why, why don't you go to hell?
Why, why you think me such a fool?
Lies, lies, lies honey that's ya rules!
Lies, lies, lies, lies, oh my lies, ...


Beatles - Nowhere Man

He's a real nowhere man,
Sitting in his nowhere land,
Making all his nowhere plans
for nobody.

Doesn't have a point of view,
Knows not where he's going to,
Isn't he a bit like you and me?

Nowhere man, please listen,
You don't know what you're missing,
Nowhere man, the world is at your command.

He's as blind as he can be,
Just sees what he wants to see,
Nowhere man can you see me at all?

Nowhere man, don't worry,
Take your time, don't hurry,
Leave it all 'till somebody else
Lends you a hand.

Doesn't have a point of view,
Knows not where he's going to,
Isn't he a bit like you and me?

Nowhere man, please listen,
You don't know what you're missing,
Nowhere man, the world is at your command.

He's a real nowhere man,
Sitting in his nowhere land,
Making all his nowhere plans
For nobody.
Making all his nowhere plans
for nobody.
Making all his nowhere plans
For nobody.

Top Music Lists

I watched a show on VH2 last night "100 Classic Anthems" it was on for hours after watching most of it I decided to have a look at the website to recap, but the website was rubbish there is nothing there. I wrote the top 9 down seeing as I couldn't find it any where on the internet, it was:

9 - Joy Division - Love Will Tear us Apart
8 - Guns N Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine
7 - David Bowie - Heroes
6 - The Who - My Generation
5 - Rolling Stones - It's Only Rock & Roll
4 - Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven
3 - Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
2 - Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
1 - John Lennon - Imagine

It's in reverse order because thats the order I heard them (couldn't be bothered to re-rder them).

While searching for the full list I found a website that had tons of music lists on (DigitalDreamDoor). There are lists by decade and Genres of music, I'm gonna work through some of the lists to hopefully hear some good new music. My Napster subscription should come in handy for this and will finally get some use :-)

Pandora

After messing about with Last.fm the last few days I also found Pandora, this is an excellent way to find music. You type in an Artist or Song you like and it creates Radio Stations of music similar to what you chose. You can listen to the 1st 10 hours for free after that you have to pay. I've only used it for about an hour but I may end up paying for it. Give it a go :-)

To The Pub!

I decided that for a change I would go to the Pub at dinner time today, recently I've just been sitting in the staff room but it doesn't really feel like you have had a break. So I went down the Garden House with David for a few games of pool and drank some Pepsi (Can't drink when @ work). We both enjoyed it and we are gonna do it again. I think David enjoyed it slightly more than me as he won overall, lol!!

www.last.fm

The last few days I have been messing about with Audioscrobbler which sends every song you play on your computer to www.last.fm, I originally heard about it over a year ago but couldn't see the point in using it at the time and wasn't all that impressed when I looked at the website.

But over the last week I was messing about with Jinzora 2 and XBMC on my Xbox both support Audioscrobbler. So decided I would give it a go, I have been hooked ever since.

Basically whenever you listen to a song the name of the song, artist and album are sent to www.last.fm, so at the most basic level you could see every song you listened to. This information is then made into charts so you can see who you listen to the most. You can click on the song, artist and album to see more information about it and which tracks are the most popular. All this information is used in various ways. You could see what people with similar tastes in music to you are listening to and discover new music.

Anyone who knows me will know how much I like collecting stuff on the computer like music and logging stuff. People at work say I have some sort of Obsessive-compulsive disorder, lol. So having all this information logged without me having to physically do anything is like heaven to me. Well that's going too far but is interesting (to me at least).

So far I have listened to about 270 songs but that will quickly rise with the amount of music I listen to. Maybe the people at work are right about the Obsessive-compulsive disorder thing I do for some reason still store every Text I've sent or received since April 2003 not sure why maybe they will come in handy one day (how I don't know). Although it does come in handy after a drunken night out when I've texted people, I can see what I've said and spend the next few days apologising, lol...

Any way if you listen to music on the computer check out www.last.fm and give it a go. When I have 500 songs submitted I will post the link so you can see what I've been listening to.

Out on the piss

Its been a week between posts mainly because I've been so busy this week and I was out on Thursday and Friday nights.

Not much exciting happening at work at the moment (not that I can be arsed to write about anyway), just very busy with several staff away on long holidays. So not gonna bore anyone including myself by writing about it!!

I went out on Thursday night for Sandy's leaving do, I said I would go (Sandy is a good laugh). We were going to an Italians in Durham (La Spaghettata) I had been to it before and knew there was one thing on the menu I would manage to eat (hate Italian food). I was told during the day that they had changed it to Pizza Express instead (Oh no). I downloaded the menu and there wasn't a thing I would eat (don't like, cheese, garlic, tomatoes, etc..). So I said I wasn't gonna go didn't want to sit there and eat nothing but I was disappointed.

I dropped Katy off in town on my way home, as she was going out for the leaving do, then set off for home. I got a few miles and Katy rang me to say they were changing it back to La Spaghettata so I could come out. I turned around and drove back to Durham, only problem was that I hadn't got changed at work because I thought I was going home. I parked up by the County Hotel and got changed in the back of the car, it must of looked very dodgy as it was very busy with everyone walking past my car and me changing in the back!!

Anyway I met everyone in Chase and we then went on to the restaurant, I was still dreading it because I hate the smell of cheese and garlic never mind the taste. I survived on my mucus chicken (Lemon chicken). We all had a good laugh, then we moved on to Jimmy Allens. Quite a few went home, we stayed there for a while and a few more left. We ended up down to the last 6 of us in the Hogs Head, Ian left in there and ended up being me, Katy, Sandy, Pete & Howard we decided to move on to O'Neils but was too busy so walked back out and went to The Jug. It was quiet in there and we spent about an hour or so in there before I drove Katy, Howard and Sandy home.

I had a really good night, normally I hate going out and not drinking when everyone else is but for a change it didn't matter.

Hell that was a long story (and probably very boring). Friday I went out to the Durham Night as I always do. It was another good night and I spoke to a couple of people I don't get much chance to talk to out of work which made a change. The rest of the night though I spoke to the regulars (Katy, Craig and Tony). We had a good laugh and had a couple of bets on stuff through out the night. One was about what time 2 people would kiss, I missed out on winning the bet by 40 seconds!!!

I was the most sober I can remember being at the end of the night for ages, I was stood there at midnight thinking hell what's going on I'm never this sober at this time. The plan was actually to stay fairly sober but didn't really expect to achieve it, lol.

Anyway this has been a long and boring post but I don't care the idea of this was to log what I had done as well as writing what I think.

Suspect Zero

Suspect Zero: I watched this last night, it didn't have brilliant reviews but it was the 1st film I picked up. It's about a killer hunting down other killers by remote viewing and the FBI trying to catch him.

The film wasn't brilliant but did find the remote viewing part interesting probably only because I have watched documentaries and read about it before. Ben Kingsley did a good job but Carrie-Anne Moss & Aaron Eckhart were a bit wooden. I gave it a 6 out of 10 on IMDB.

Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigalo

Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigalo: I watched this on Friday night, wanted something that was easy viewing, that’s exactly what I got. I knew from the rating at IMDB it wasn’t going to be brilliant but with that in mind I enjoyed it (sort of). It was OK as a bit of light entertainment but not a lot of laughs really..

Best album in ages!

I’ve been listening to a lot of music as always recently. I was listening to Festival, an excellent album of the biggest songs played at the festivals recently. When listening to it, one song jumped out that I hadn’t heard before and really liked. It was “Oh Yeah” by The Subways.


I decided to find out what else they had done and listened to their album “Young For Eternity”. Initially I listened to the song I had originally heard “Oh Yeah” but the other songs on the album are as good “Rock & Roll Queen” and “Mary” but all the songs are excellent. I think is probably the best new album I’ve heard this year.

Exercise

I got up and decided I had to do some exercise today. I went for a run/walk, I knew I couldn’t run the whole way around the route I was gonna take. So I set some aims, 2 longs sections I wanted to run. I managed my target and could of ran further but didn’t want to kill myself on the 1st run I’ve done for weeks.

The hard part now is keeping it up, I have some more targets in my mind that are a little further around the same route. My aim is in the next 4 weeks to be able to run the entire route. This should be fairly easily achievable if I keep going out!!

Why are women so complicated?

Me and Kelly have been in touch a lot over the last few days, we sort of didn't talk much for a few weeks. Probably because of the situation she was in being in a relationship and having a son. But as we always were, we are still very close and really understand each other. Hopefully chatting (only by texts) has helped us both. (I better clarify this, I don't mean Kelly Johnson. In case anyone from work reads this)

I just feel as confused as ever, still really care about Kelly but always find it hard to drop my guard, been hurt too many times before. She said I need to learn to let go and let someone in. Don't think she was necessarily meaning her but she is right.

It was a bit odd yesterday, when at one of our other offices at work, the person I keep never mentioning the name of. I was working upstairs on my own and she came to tell me that someone needed my help. The weird thing is the room I was in isn't on the way to anywhere and not her job to do that sort thing. Especially when she had been trying to avoid me recently. When she spoke I got the feeling she wanted to say more than just the message but didn't know what to say. I didn't either as I was surprised she came to find me.

I sent an email later on saying that sorry we didn't get chance to speak coz she disappeared quickly. She said that she didn't know what to say. I said I didn't want to go back to ignoring each other again. I just don't understand her.

I was a bit pissed off recently with her because I was told some stuff that she had supposedly said to others at work and it wasn't true, but I shouldn't go off hearsay. Why can't people just talk (this coming from me, lol).

This makes me sound like I've been stringing to people along, I haven't me and Kelly decided it wasn't working a while ago and I realised how much I still cared for the other (this is getting hard not being able to say a name). I am still very close to Kelly though and often wonder if I made the right decision? (from recent events anyone would think not, sick of being treated like shit)

Owen Signing for Newcastle

Can't believe we actually managed to sign Owen, I was sure he was going to go to Liverpool. Here's Owen with Souness signing his 4 year contract. There were loads of rumours about get out clauses but the club has stated there aren't any.

Along we the other signing over the summer, Parker, Emre, Luque, oh yeah Clarke and Moore as well. It looks like we are getting a team back together (I hope).

Hopefully I will see Nolberto Solano confirmed tonight as well. We have missed him since he went to Villa 18 months ago, that was Bobby Robsons worst decision selling him. He is on Tyneside somewhere tonight having a medical but part of the deal is supposedly giving Milner on loan and he will have to have a medical as well.

UPDATE:

Just as I posted this Solano was confirmed, I am as happy about him re-signing as about Owen maybe more so.