- found my old pen collection, and ruthlessly spent an hour deciding which ones to keep and which ones to ditch
- gone through my old collection of magazine cover CDs and DVDs, discerning which ones to throw away, which ones have some small software to save to my hard drive, and which ones to throw away
- gone into five sofa shops, to drool and dream over new corner sofas for my new London pad
- spent ages discerning which books, CDs, DVDs and electronics to get rid of
Thus, after about a week of packing, I have 13 boxes packed. And about 50 to go. Oh dear.
If there's one wish I'd had for the forthcoming season of Doctor Who, it would be: 'No More Daleks please'.
Yes, I appreciate they are definitively the most famous of foes, and guaranteed good viewing figures. But when you've reduced the kind of enemy who can obliterate an omnipresent God-like Time Lord race to a snivelling sobbing half-human hybrid wrapped in chains running at the first site of a brown raincoat, maybe it's time to give them a bit of a rest, eh?
Throughout all the sneak peeks of season 4 thus far, there's been nary a site of a pepperpot or an eyestalk. Which was a good thing. (The hint of the ye-olde companion-in-love-with-the-Doctor subplot is not a good thing. Even if it has the suddenly easy-on-the-eyes Catherine Tate).
However, amongst the mini teasers for the new season, there's one for the Dalek. Harumph.
Yes, I'm selling DVDs, books, computer games, electronics, and toys galore. Roll up, roll up, take a look and then enquire if you're interested!
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First off, let me say that I hate the idea of Big Brother, at least in terms of governments tracking my every movement and data. Mostly because I can't even trust them to send CDs in the post without it getting lost. I'm totally against any form of ID cards being introduced to the United Kingdom, and won't be voting for any party that wants to introduce them.
But... for the last two months, I've had an Oyster card to get around London - which is basically the electronic version of a traditional paper travelcard. And yes, it does mean that London Transport (a government agency) now has full details of my movements across London in the last two months.
But it also means that I can easily see the data on my travel movements via the Oyster website, and I find that accumulation of data oddly fascinating. It could only be better if someone merged it with a Google maps mashup so I could see my travel, and played with some statistics to find my most frequently used journey or something. It also means I get to save money since I no longer have to buy daily travelcards for the convenience of quickly getting in and out of a tube station. To ape Richard Hammond, it's just brilliant.
And there's more. (I'm watching too much Top Gear, can't you tell?)
For the last month, I've had a GPS system permanently installed in my car, so my car insurance company knows everywhere I've driven to. This should make car insurance cheaper, and have the side benefit of reducing carbon emissions. Now if only the car insurance company would let me see the data that I've accumulated, so I can (again) track my movements.
The thing is, I still hate the idea of ID cards. But I've lovingly signed up to having my movements tracked electronically. But then I can't really see the point in ID cards at all. How am I going to benefit from them? And if I'm not going to benefit from them, why should I be forced - or even encouraged - to have one?
So... yet again another potentially life-changing question, after someone has unexpectedly graciously offered me another job. Do I go for:
Nottingham - six-month lucrative contract, possibility of permanent. The money involved is obscene, and would be enough for me to do a Masters', but the work itself sounds relatively dull, and it's a continuation of the dual-city thing which has run me a tad ragged lately.
London - eleven-month contract at my old haunt but at a higher grade, with the possibility of extension for another year and who knows after that? The money offered is nearly equivalent, although that'd be over eleven months as opposed to six months with the Nottingham job, so I doubt I'd build up enough savings to do a said Masters. But then London offers stability, a chance to sit still for eleven months and try to build a life. Oh, and listen to Virgin Radio in glorious FM, now I've become a late-night addict to The Geoff Show.
Just to throw another spanner into the works, I've got two more job interviews tomorrow - one with possibly the best TV channel in the world...
Donate sperm, get tickets to a music festival in Europe.
Oddly, I'd love to go to a music festival, but who would I go with? Who'd hold my hand ?!
For the last three years, I've been comfortably able to figure out when Easter is, for one simple reason - Doctor Who usually starts on the Easter Saturday. At least it has since its relaunch way back in 2005.
However, it's only suddenly dawned on me that this year's Good Friday - and the chance for two days of rest! - is next Friday. And no Doctor Who in sight. And because there hasn't been any pre-publicity or previews for Doctor Who, I haven't noticed it's nearly Easter and consequently, it's a wee bit late to book a quick getaway holiday somewhere I can mostly sleep and avoid people.
Where is my Doctor Who? Have the production team been beavering away on it all year and decided not to show it? Did they not notice it was Easter? When is it coming ?!
Of course, everyone *expects* British Telecom to be slightly inept - it's the very definition of a UK broadband provider - but to be fair, I've had reasonable service from them. Even now, my paid-for net access doesn't seem to work - yet I can access the Internet through the BT/Fon Wi-Fi community I set up, using my .. erm... paid-for Internet access. Strange...
But that's not the inept part. When accessing BT's broadband help service, you're advised to:
check the broadband service status line on Freephone 0800 169 0199 to see if your area is listed as having a problem.
Call that number - and it gives you the last update for ... November 2007. Not exactly up to date!
However, because I can still use the Net via the BT Fon Wi-Fi link, BT do not make THE LIST. I'm sure they're gutted.
An Australian gay site has produced the top fifty gay songs of all time, and it's quite interesting/scary to see the songs I like/love on the list...
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At one recent job interview for an advertising agency, I got lobbed the question Who is the current England football captain?. Unfortunately, I rather froze on the spot and didn't really answer the question.
Obviously, in hindsight, I should have done a quick swot of football - but is it a question you could easily answer without referring to anything? Football fans (that means you, Mosh and Rhys) need not apply.
PS: The answer he gave was Wayne Rooney. Which doesn't strike me as being particularly right but...
