Instead of doing something crazy like go to bed and catchup on sleep, or rewrite my CV so I can find a new job, I did something sensible and uploaded my Egypt photos instead!! They are now there even in special folders for each part of the trip!! I even weeded out the bad ones which is a vast improvement over just uploading them all. And the size of them is good - a full screen slide show is excellent quality, on my laptop at least!
Mum is coming over and arrives on Saturday. I am getting exciting and looking forward to it. It is going to be great to catchup almost a year after I left home. I just hope it doesn't make me feel like going home anytime soon!
Well its now 11.55pm and people are yelling and chanting outside... so I could argue I wouldn't have gotten to sleep anyway?!? They are being unusually noisy even by the 2am "close of the club across the road" Queensway standards...
I can also report that "project wash it all" is nearly complete. With just a couple of sheets and my raggy curtains to go, it should all be back to normal and clean by the time mum arrives.
Whether we actually have a shower is a question that remains unanswered though. Current status is slow progression over the last few days. We now have the "power shower" plugged in to both water and power, but alas no water is coming out! I am now into week 3 of shower at the gym, andit is getting a little old, especially since they are now renovating the gym bathrooms as well!!!
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Six Sixes
I hadn't heard about this until the ICC threatened YouTube and told them to pull the WC cricket coverage from their site, but Kudos to Herschell Gibbs for becoming the first person to hit SIX SIXES in one over of One Day International Cricket.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
deconstructions
Our flat is currently being renovated, at least very slowly. So far we are into our second week of having no bathroom, and no end in sight. Perhaps with a bit of luck the shower will work by the weekend. My room has also been half painted - It smells of paint and dust and is generally unpleasant to say the least. It does however look slightly better than before, but then I am missing my posters and now just have a plain cream room.
Anyway, I could carry on whinging or talk about something interesting, like how I quit my job yesterday. It had been on the cards for a while, with the long hours and surprise requests at 4pm for things that need to be done by the next morning. It is also very tempting to stay, but then I also know that this is London, and there will be plenty of jobs out there for me. The question not will I find a job but which one will I pick!
So all that said I need to catchup on some sleep by tomorrow, otherwise I wont be able to answer questions like what does VLT stand for in relation to science. I'm taking guesses now...
Anyway, I could carry on whinging or talk about something interesting, like how I quit my job yesterday. It had been on the cards for a while, with the long hours and surprise requests at 4pm for things that need to be done by the next morning. It is also very tempting to stay, but then I also know that this is London, and there will be plenty of jobs out there for me. The question not will I find a job but which one will I pick!
So all that said I need to catchup on some sleep by tomorrow, otherwise I wont be able to answer questions like what does VLT stand for in relation to science. I'm taking guesses now...
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Top o' the morning to you!
Happy St Patricks day everyone from Dublin, Ireland - Home (for today at least), of all things green and gorgeous. Today I awoke early and got stuck into a "traditional"Irish breakfast, which was put on by my friend Gudi and his friends. It was a massive breakfast with so much food that we actually managed to have a traditional Irish lunch out if it as well!
After breakkie we headed to the St Patricks Day parade along the main street. After much looking for various vantage points, we ended up standing on the base of Daniel O'Connell. This proved to be an interesting vantage point as people who ad climbed higher and were sitting on the statues were told to move along by the police. As things became more and more crowded more idiots decided they would try and climb the statue, including a group of 3 Romanian guys who were firmly stood down by a group of (admittedly rather nasty) 12 year girls. Another bunch left after we told them the police arrested the people who were sitting there before, and that they were now getting their confessions beaten out of them at the local Gaol. The last guy to try was politely told where to go, and nearly got the "stop touching me like that!" treatment loudly yelled at him by one of the crowd to help move him on. It would have been hilarious to see him skelter off!
So how was the parade? Well, not very Irish, since the theme was multi-culturalism! I didn't know that fish, dinosaurs and sea creatures counted as multicultural, but we also saw plenty of American University marching bands (which were actually quite impressive for their size), a motley crew of Irish Soldiers (the height difference between each of them was remarkable and bizarre), and various other bands including the Scots who got lost and ended up in Ireland instead of home. We watched up to the Sikhs, who were quite impressive, but then we decided we had had enough as the whole thing wasn't particular Irish and it started to get repetitive.
After the parade we went off to a pub where we watched Ireland hammer Italy by 51 to 24 (or thereabouts). Unfortunately France spoiled this victory and ended up winning the six nations. Then off on a long walk to do some Irish dancing in the streets - not that we really knew what we were doing but it was good fun anyway.
So now its raining hard - apparently it is a national law that it must rain on St Paddy's Day. Of course it rains here every 2nd day anyway so chances are that "law" is rarely broken.
But there has been some remarkable news today for Ireland - they firstly not only beat Pakistan in their Cricket World Cup game, but they also bundled one of the favourites out of the competition before the first week of the cup was over!! Quite how Ireland (who I never knew played cricket until the world cup came along) actually beat Pakistan is anyones guess. I'm sure allegations of match fixing will abound. Its happened before. For those of you who know nothing about cricket, this would be akin to New Zealand coming out and beating a top 5 Ice Hockey team. It is almost completely unprecedented.
I say almost because there was another upset also tonight - Bangladesh beat India! Now India and Cricket are like Canada and Hockey, Ireland and Guinness, England and the Queen, American and guns. Cricket is India's passion and pride, a hugely popular sport. Bangladesh is a little better than Ireland at Cricket, at least they have played in a few world cups, and they are one of the main Test match playing games (again for non cricketers - a test match is a game of cricket that is played for 5 days - the world cup games are just one day each). But Bangladesh are routine bottom of the barrel and generally a tour of Bangladesh is considered practice. That said they did beat New Zealand in a warm up game, so maybe they do have a bit of hidden flair about them. I hope they do well anyway as they are a country that deserves it.
So the world cup is now wide open. It looks like many of the top teams may struggle to get through, while teams that were just making up the numbers like Ireland, Bangladesh and perhaps Kenya (if they can pull of a win against England), may go through to the super eight series. Its turning out to be an awesome cricket world cup. Now I wish was there!
After breakkie we headed to the St Patricks Day parade along the main street. After much looking for various vantage points, we ended up standing on the base of Daniel O'Connell. This proved to be an interesting vantage point as people who ad climbed higher and were sitting on the statues were told to move along by the police. As things became more and more crowded more idiots decided they would try and climb the statue, including a group of 3 Romanian guys who were firmly stood down by a group of (admittedly rather nasty) 12 year girls. Another bunch left after we told them the police arrested the people who were sitting there before, and that they were now getting their confessions beaten out of them at the local Gaol. The last guy to try was politely told where to go, and nearly got the "stop touching me like that!" treatment loudly yelled at him by one of the crowd to help move him on. It would have been hilarious to see him skelter off!
So how was the parade? Well, not very Irish, since the theme was multi-culturalism! I didn't know that fish, dinosaurs and sea creatures counted as multicultural, but we also saw plenty of American University marching bands (which were actually quite impressive for their size), a motley crew of Irish Soldiers (the height difference between each of them was remarkable and bizarre), and various other bands including the Scots who got lost and ended up in Ireland instead of home. We watched up to the Sikhs, who were quite impressive, but then we decided we had had enough as the whole thing wasn't particular Irish and it started to get repetitive.
After the parade we went off to a pub where we watched Ireland hammer Italy by 51 to 24 (or thereabouts). Unfortunately France spoiled this victory and ended up winning the six nations. Then off on a long walk to do some Irish dancing in the streets - not that we really knew what we were doing but it was good fun anyway.
So now its raining hard - apparently it is a national law that it must rain on St Paddy's Day. Of course it rains here every 2nd day anyway so chances are that "law" is rarely broken.
But there has been some remarkable news today for Ireland - they firstly not only beat Pakistan in their Cricket World Cup game, but they also bundled one of the favourites out of the competition before the first week of the cup was over!! Quite how Ireland (who I never knew played cricket until the world cup came along) actually beat Pakistan is anyones guess. I'm sure allegations of match fixing will abound. Its happened before. For those of you who know nothing about cricket, this would be akin to New Zealand coming out and beating a top 5 Ice Hockey team. It is almost completely unprecedented.
I say almost because there was another upset also tonight - Bangladesh beat India! Now India and Cricket are like Canada and Hockey, Ireland and Guinness, England and the Queen, American and guns. Cricket is India's passion and pride, a hugely popular sport. Bangladesh is a little better than Ireland at Cricket, at least they have played in a few world cups, and they are one of the main Test match playing games (again for non cricketers - a test match is a game of cricket that is played for 5 days - the world cup games are just one day each). But Bangladesh are routine bottom of the barrel and generally a tour of Bangladesh is considered practice. That said they did beat New Zealand in a warm up game, so maybe they do have a bit of hidden flair about them. I hope they do well anyway as they are a country that deserves it.
So the world cup is now wide open. It looks like many of the top teams may struggle to get through, while teams that were just making up the numbers like Ireland, Bangladesh and perhaps Kenya (if they can pull of a win against England), may go through to the super eight series. Its turning out to be an awesome cricket world cup. Now I wish was there!
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Egypt Photos!
I've been slammed dunked with Giardia and admittedly its going to take me ages to get my photos up, but here are six of the best for the record, to prove that I really did go to Egypt!
Below is me in front of Abu Simbel, blocking the sun from shining directly down the tunnel onto the statues at the end. (Not the big ones you can see!) Apparently the ancient Egyptians moved these statues and the entire mountain they were carved into to a higher spot in anticipation of the High Dam causing Lake Nasser to flood the area.
Below is a felucca, the type of boat we sailed up the Nile on. Apparently many lookers have fallen off them.
Assuming the Giardia clears up in time, I'll be in Dublin this Saturday for St Patricks Day. Fingers crossed otherwise I might finally have to claim something on my insurance!
This first one is of me in front of 3 ancient structures. From memory they are called "the Pyramids", or something like that.
This next one is of me standing on one of the aforementioned "Pyramids". It is the middle one I am standing on.
Here I am in front of the home of "the Sphinx". It used to be called the Lynx, but a translation glitch caused the misspelling. Strangely, the curse of misunderstanding passed to a group of Asian girls who accosted me for photos of a real cowboy in front of the pyramids. Yes and you can find my camel over there thanks!
Below is me in front of Abu Simbel, blocking the sun from shining directly down the tunnel onto the statues at the end. (Not the big ones you can see!) Apparently the ancient Egyptians moved these statues and the entire mountain they were carved into to a higher spot in anticipation of the High Dam causing Lake Nasser to flood the area.
Below is a felucca, the type of boat we sailed up the Nile on. Apparently many lookers have fallen off them.
And finally the temple of Hatshepsut, the massive 3 level wardrobe of hats built for the Pharaoh who just couldn't have enough. It wasn't long after that Egypt had its treasures stolen by various invading empires. (including all the Hats She Put in this temple). Hats are no good for defending a country, what can you do? "Halt! Or I'll, I'll... I'll throw my hat at you!!"
Assuming the Giardia clears up in time, I'll be in Dublin this Saturday for St Patricks Day. Fingers crossed otherwise I might finally have to claim something on my insurance!
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
One positive thing
If anything can be taken as a positive after New Zealand's disgraceful loss to Bangladesh in a Cricket World Cup warm up match yesterday it is this:
"New Zealand is better than Australia, Bangladesh is better than New Zealand, therefore, Bangladesh is better than Australia."
Well that's the kind of thing we used to study in my Philosophy 101 paper. Of course its a load of bollocks, but we have to try and take solace from somewhere!
New Zealand, England, Kenya and Canada are all in Group C, and the cup starts in just a few days. Did I mention this is going to be a brilliant year for New Zealand Sport? Firstly we are going to take out the cricket world cup with a run chase that goes down to the wire. Then we are going to make a clean sweep in the Americas cup, and finally we will take our glorious rugby world cup home after smashing France in the final at Paris. Just remember you heard it here first!
----------
Well I have been babbling, so onto more serious matters. After returning from Egypt, I continued to have fairly "interesting" bowel movements, cramps, nausea and headaches. I went to the doctor yesterday morning and after a bit of prodding and poking, he advised me to go to the University College Hospital A&E ASAP and get seen by one of their tropical diseases specialists. On arrival, at the mention of the fact that "my doctor sent me here because he thought I might have Typhoid", the doctors and nurses swung into action. Ok, well a phone call was made and the TD expert turned up. I got my own room, I guess so that I didn't infect others, and had various blood tests, my blood pressure taken 2 times, and various other poking and prodding.
Eventually I got shifted to my own room in the wards. (via wheelchair, policy apparently!) This room was pretty flash, it even had a flat screen TV with phone, radio and Internet capability, like a high tech version of what you get on a plane! But at 4p a minute for the Internet I wasn't going to try. More waiting around and eventually had the first result - a negative for Malaria. (Unfortunately I have to do this test again today and tomorrow as it has false negatives and positives). The test for Typhoid takes up to 5 days, but the specialist thinks I instead have Giardiasis. After being given the all clear to leave hospital, I had to stay around for another 3 hours to provide a sample to test for Giardia. I can report that hospital meals are beyond terrible!! But sure enough it helped me provide a sample and I was on my way after 8 hours in a hospital with some medicine to combat the suspected parasite! Unfortunately this medicine has made me feel a bit crook, but it seems to have done the trick in eliminating stomach cramps for the most part.
Finally I think I might write a book on my OE. Sure its not the most interesting OE, and neither is my life, but its the easiest option for a lazy person like myself. No research, plenty of content, scope for "creative" additions. And I don't think there is a book out there about peoples OEs? Not that I know of anyway. Plus I have plenty of content already from my blogs, and when the book eventually catches up with "today", I can write it as things happen. Brilliant. I have wanted to do this for a long time, but never been able to think of a decent subject. Now I best be off for a shower and more yummy blood tests.
"New Zealand is better than Australia, Bangladesh is better than New Zealand, therefore, Bangladesh is better than Australia."
Well that's the kind of thing we used to study in my Philosophy 101 paper. Of course its a load of bollocks, but we have to try and take solace from somewhere!
New Zealand, England, Kenya and Canada are all in Group C, and the cup starts in just a few days. Did I mention this is going to be a brilliant year for New Zealand Sport? Firstly we are going to take out the cricket world cup with a run chase that goes down to the wire. Then we are going to make a clean sweep in the Americas cup, and finally we will take our glorious rugby world cup home after smashing France in the final at Paris. Just remember you heard it here first!
----------
Well I have been babbling, so onto more serious matters. After returning from Egypt, I continued to have fairly "interesting" bowel movements, cramps, nausea and headaches. I went to the doctor yesterday morning and after a bit of prodding and poking, he advised me to go to the University College Hospital A&E ASAP and get seen by one of their tropical diseases specialists. On arrival, at the mention of the fact that "my doctor sent me here because he thought I might have Typhoid", the doctors and nurses swung into action. Ok, well a phone call was made and the TD expert turned up. I got my own room, I guess so that I didn't infect others, and had various blood tests, my blood pressure taken 2 times, and various other poking and prodding.
Eventually I got shifted to my own room in the wards. (via wheelchair, policy apparently!) This room was pretty flash, it even had a flat screen TV with phone, radio and Internet capability, like a high tech version of what you get on a plane! But at 4p a minute for the Internet I wasn't going to try. More waiting around and eventually had the first result - a negative for Malaria. (Unfortunately I have to do this test again today and tomorrow as it has false negatives and positives). The test for Typhoid takes up to 5 days, but the specialist thinks I instead have Giardiasis. After being given the all clear to leave hospital, I had to stay around for another 3 hours to provide a sample to test for Giardia. I can report that hospital meals are beyond terrible!! But sure enough it helped me provide a sample and I was on my way after 8 hours in a hospital with some medicine to combat the suspected parasite! Unfortunately this medicine has made me feel a bit crook, but it seems to have done the trick in eliminating stomach cramps for the most part.
Finally I think I might write a book on my OE. Sure its not the most interesting OE, and neither is my life, but its the easiest option for a lazy person like myself. No research, plenty of content, scope for "creative" additions. And I don't think there is a book out there about peoples OEs? Not that I know of anyway. Plus I have plenty of content already from my blogs, and when the book eventually catches up with "today", I can write it as things happen. Brilliant. I have wanted to do this for a long time, but never been able to think of a decent subject. Now I best be off for a shower and more yummy blood tests.
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