Meet Sabrina

This is our new addition to the family.



Her name is Sabrina and she is a gorgeous cuddly black cat. She loves fuss and will lean into your hand and let you scratch under her chin. She doesn't like her back being stroked much or her tail.

She is still growling and hissing at Pica but not as much so she is becoming more relaxed around him. She has found the litter box and will now eat while Pica is in the same room although growling all the time.
Sabrina still prefers the security of behind the sofa but she is spending more and more time on the window sill.


I am thinking of writing a blog for her all about her life with us.

EARTHQUAKE

OMG I was just sat here and felt a vibration in the floor. Felt like it does when the washer is on spin. Then it get worse and the whole house shook. That stupid glass cabinet shook violently and then it died down and faded away.

I ran to the window and it was like nothing happened. I went to the kitchen window to see if anyone had come out and there was just 1 bloke from the house opposite. DD got us, it woke her but no sign of DS.

Can't find anything about it on the TV news though they are just going on about some terrorist.

Have looked on moneysavingexpert.com and there are people from all over the country that felt it so at least I know I wasn't dreaming!

Random day

First of all when I got up this morning there was this gorgeous rainbow going over the house.



Course was fine today too. I just wanted to get my head down and work hard and that is what I did. Despite others who have no motivation whatsoever, I have just 1 more unit to complete and my level 1 id done - barr the exam of course but then I can concentrate on work placement and revising the work I have done (Maybe letting it actually sink in my brain)

At lunch time I spent so much time running round trying to find a Dance mat game for the PS2 that I only had 15 minutes to get food before getting back. I got myself a sausage roll on the way back to the centre but i didn't have time for a drink so grabbed a beaker of water from the cooler to take into class with me.

As usual the afternoon went really quick and it was soon time to go home. I had some shopping to pick up but had to be quick as special event happening tonight.
On my way home I got a call from the bloke who brought me the dancemats...He saw my wanted for a small bookcase and wondered if I had been successful, I told him I hadn't yet and he said he had one and that he would bring it round.

When I got home DS was home and the electric had gone. I dumped my shopping and went to the shop. When I got back the bookcase had already been delivered. It is a dinky little thing with glass doors but perfect for my DVD collection. Now I just have to put on Freecycle my old table and DVD racks in a kind of Pay it forward.



New member of the family...

Her name is Sabrina and she is a completely black cat. She was once the office mascot of a cab company but they merged with another company and moved offices. Unfortunately they couldn't take her with them so had to find a new home for her.
This afternoon one of the cab drivers came over to pick me up with my catbox to go pick her up and bring her to her new home with us.

Things were a bit tentative when we first opened the box door back at home. Pica became this big fur ball as all his hair stood on end. He didn't do anything else - just went and sat on the window his hair all still on end.

As predicted Sabrina found sanctuary behind the sofa and that is probably where she will spend a lot of her time.
Later on in the evening she hid under DS' bed. This was great for him until Pica decided he wanted to be there too and there was a lot of growling going on.
I fetched her out and she is now sat on the window sill. I think she is trying to work out how to get outside but this is all normal, just like when we first moved here with Pica & Ashar.

I am going to bed soon, lets see what kind of night we have.

Thanks Freecycle

Today I received 2 Dancemats for the Playstation 2. I saw them on the freecycle list and just had to reply. DD has always wanted 1 at home as she loves playing them at the arcades and at school (!) I couldn't let the chance pass.
Then I realised that they were located quite a distance and although I was up for catching the bus, It could have resulted in me getting very lost.

I texted the giver at lunch to ask for directions and got the reply that they would bring them round.
Dead on 3.30 as agreed, the doorbell rang and now I am in posession of 2 full-sized dance mats. I just have to get the games now but they will be great fun for my birthday party...

There are some good people out there!!!

My new toy

At last I made my luxury purchase with the remainder of my Christmas money. I bought this...


It did indeed come with 20 games and I am now addicted to Big Brain Academy.
The other games included are

High School Musical
Brain Age 2
Mario party
Mario Kart
New Super Mario bros
FIFA 08
COD4
Metroid Prime
Sims2 Castaway
Animal crossing
Zoo keeper
Cars
Spiderman 3
Rayman Raving Rabbids
Pokemon Diamond
Cooking Mama
Nintendogs
Lego Star Wars
Sonic Rush
I can tell you these aren't easy. They are all the same sort of things as the brain training games and you have to think fast and have fast reflexs to finish. If I play any of them enough then it should sharpen up my reflexs and my brain and awareness. This is definitely what I need.

Currently my best score in BBA is 900g and grade C - apparently my brain is like that of Michaelangelo...

Cloverfield

Finally got to see Cloverfield last night.

I don't know what I was expecting. Moyles has been raving about it and so has Brian but it wasn't what I expected.
Yes it was brilliant and the effects were fantastic.
There were lots of *GASP* moments and lots of made you jump moments and a good smattering of comedic moments. The concept is very good and cleverly done.

I didn't enjoy the long lead in though. A lot of the party scenes could have been cut for me.

I did notice that in the trailers there were 3 other movies advertised that are also shot in camcorder format - I am bored of it already.

Also we heard the hilarious advert for The Chris Moyles show when we first arrived.

More birthday cake

Today was the actual 7th birthday of my Dear Nephew.

After my course I went hom to get changed and we walked down to Ange's house. They were watching WWE No Way Out when we got there so we watched some of that and then when DS got there DN wanted to try out his WWE Wii game. It was very difficult and could be dangerous if you get in the way.

After they were exhausted of that Wario ware came out and everyone was having a go.
Ange brought the cake out after 7pm and we all got to sing Happy Birthday again. It was a lovely Chocolate cake and we all got a piece.

We were getting quite hungry about 7.30 and although Ange and Debz were starting on their cans I didn't have any money to get any and we needed to eat.

This is the first time that I have ever had to leave early because of getting up in the morning. Usually they have to get up for work but they were all off this week so about 8ish we said our goodbyes and left - calling at the chip shop on the way home and just making it in time for CSI.

When did Mitch Hewer get acting lessons?

Throughout series 1 of Skins Maxxie didn't really say or do much except dance around and look pretty. I thought maybe they just had him in there as the token gay character.

This season however is turning into the Maxxie show. So far the first 2 episodes have been all about Maxxie and Mitch has suddenly become an actor. I am well impressed and wondering if they sent him on an intense drama course in the time between filming the first and second seasons.

Where did the weekend go?

I don't know where the years went but my nephew is 7 this week. Saturday was his party day.
First of all was his friends party which this year was a football party at the leisure centre where his mum plays Netball.
We got there really early and so we were sat waiting while all his friends arrived. There was a good mix of girls and boys and he received lots of big presents.

The party set up is very good. For about £10 a head they get an hour of play, half time drinks, a team photo, trophies, Pizza & chips and party bags. You also get a party host and a referee.

When all the children were ready the ref split them into 2 team - Bibs Vs non-Bibs. It was funny seeing all the children run round the court chasing the ball. Some children stood out though especially the birthday boy and his best mate who played in goal. Zoe's nephew A and hew niece S were also very good at positioning themselves.

The only thing that I didn't like was when Zoe's other nephew N had a mardy and started crying because he couldn't get the ball, instead of just letting him get on with it, the ref played up to him and actually made it worse by trying to let him score. I was really proud though of my little niece and she really joined in and didn't cry or stomp off once.

After an hour of football including a penalty shoot out and a team photo, the score was a draw 9-9. The birthday boy scored a hat-trick and a penalty. The party host led us all to the bar where the tables were laid up with pizza and chips for everyone - and I mean everyone as all the families were tucking in too.
The host brought the cake out and we all sang happy birthday and then there was the presentation of a trophy for the birthday boy and the winner of the penalty shoot-out.

In the evening the party was to carry on at Debz house. When we got to Ange's however we learned that the plan had changed and it was at Tori's instead. The night was the usual stuff - Men playing darts, girls play Singstar. I did have an interesting pretend phone conversation with Tori's 3 yr old where she told me she was just having a cigarrette???!!!!

We didn't stay too late as DD felt ill. We left DS behind who wanted to go to Ange's and play Wii and me and DD walked home. good job we walked instead of getting a cab as she through up a couple of times along the way.

I think it was about 1-2am when we finally got in.

Finally got a haircut

My hair has been looking really awful recently. Long and lank and no life to it at all. I have to wash it every other day and if I didn't straighten it in the mornings it looked horrid.
I was really overdue for a cut so I got an appointment at the Keiran Mullin training salon as I usually do - You can't argue over £7 for a haircut these days.

Gas engineers, Teachers and Hunky Firemen

The gas engineer arrived quite quickly so he was finished in good time for me to get some housework done and do my jobsearch. As I had phoned TBG to say I wasn't coming in I thought there was no point in going just for 2 hours. Jobsearch is pretty easy to get done at home on the Internet.

I made myself a home-made pizza for lunch then it was off to school to meet with the careers teacher. As you know I was very worked up about DS options fiasco and I was ready for a fight. Unfortunately nothing I could say would change the situation. The teacher wasn't particularly accommodating and he was one of those that talked down to me like I was one of his pupils. During the interview DS got very upset and started crying but the teacher didn't seem bothered - Then he announced that the children also have to make another choice. He shoved 5 pieces of paper in our faces and said DS has to choose another subject from the 5 and give a 2 and 3 as well. Poor DS was totally overwhelmed and although I protested that this wasn't fair, the teacher said that it has to be done now.

Finally he agreed that DS and I could have half an hour to discuss it and for him to choose. It wasn't easy, I wanted to just walk out of the building taking DS with me but finally he made a decision that may or may not have been the right one.
I am unsure now whether to let it lie or whether to write to the governors to express my disgust at how the whole situation has been handled.

In the evening we had a visit from the fire service. Nothing serious, just the regular fire safety checks. Now why is it that all the people I have told today have replied with "Were they hunky?"
Well I wouldn't say Hunky exactly but the one that did all the talking was quite nice.
He just went through the checklist with me which took about 15 minutes and they were gone. Our flat passed the examination and our next is due in 10 years.

Meter fail

My waking up routine usually consists of Greg James voice stirring me at around 6am then the blasting alarm of my phone about 6.25am and then the central heating kicking in at 6.30. However this morning as I lay there I realised there was no pipes clanging. I reached out to feel the radiator and it was stone cold. I groaned as It occured to me that the gas had propbably gone so I had to drag meself down the stairs to put the emergency on.

I got the stepladders and went out into the cold. I had to use my phone as a source of light as the meter is in a dark corner. Dread spread through me though as the meter screen read FAIL "WHAT????!" I swore a little bit and then slammed the door and went back inside - I would say back into the warm but the inside wasn't any warmer than the outside.

Luckily I still have the halogen heater that was an essential back in the old house so at least I could heat up the kitchen while the children ate their breakfast but this will be one morning they couldn't wait to get into school.

So I have rung NPower and am now sat here waiting for an engineer. I will ring TBG in a bit and tell them I am not coming in this morning. I was only supposed to be in till 12 anyway as it is DS' appointment this afternoon. Hopefully the engineer comes before then as I don't want to miss that after I am so worked up about it.

Today could have gone better

You think you have made some friends - Until you realise that they are all swapping email addresses and no one has asked for yours :(

Today was awful all the way through. Mondays never really achieve much in the training centre as there are always new starters and the tutors are usually too busy with form filling and inductions to see anyone.
Most weeks though I have been able to get stuck in, in the quiet room but today there was a workshop going on in there which I had already completed so I had to stay in the main room.
It was just impossible to work as no one else seem bothered about getting on and were too busy messing about. The tutor had to stop several times to tell everyone to be quiet. It is the first time that I actually felt like I was back in school.

I did finish unit 3 but If I had chance I would have been able to get on with unit 4 which will have to wait until tomorrow to get started.

Did you see the space station?

I did :)

As we listen to Dean Jackson every Saturday night he keeps the region up to date on such things and we knew that the space station was due overhead at about 6.20pm. So DD and I went outside to see it and it was amazing!

Its options time

...And I am seething.
DS is in yr9 and finally it is time to decide his options choices for the next 2 years. There actually wasn't much choice this year as he only had to pick 2 subjects and a reserve. So automatically his choices picked themselves - IT, Media Studies and as a reserve History.

I was shocked when he came back from school today and said that he has been refused Media because only 10 people have picked it so that isn't enough. Added to that he can't do History either because not enough people have picked that either so he has a choice of French or Business studies.
Neither of these subjects interest him in the slightest. Although he is one of the best in the year in French he can't wait to get rid of it out of his timetable. He has no need of Business studies in his future either.

So incensed was I that I have written to the head of options, head of Careers and also have copied the letter to the Head herself to see what happens. I really don't think that he should have to miss out. What is wrong with doing a class for 10 pupils? And why would they leave History off of the timetable altogether???

I made that! - 2 & 3

Finally my DIY is done and I have finished building my canvas bedroom suite.
The shelving unit was really tricky as there were lots of slats for the shelves and the holes for the screws were too big in certain ones so I had to find other screws to fit. It took a whole day to finish but once it was complete I was extremely proud of myself and my accomplishment.

It is a lot bigger than I expected it to be...

But it does look good doesn't it...


Today (Sunday) I finished the bedside table.

Its huge also.
I now have more storage space in my bedroom than I ever had before...just have to make good use of it in the future :)

Its only taken me a year...

...But I have finally got Media centre set up on my Xbox.
I went through all sort of problems with different modding techniques and did get to the point where I thought I may as well give up. I soldiered on though and now It is all fully operational.

The main reason for my joy is that from now on I can download any TV show or movie onto the main computer and just watch it straight away on the TV through the Xbox without having to waste a DVD by burning it off. It is going to revolutionise my TV watching.

I have also finally got file sharing set up on my network so that I can utilise the external hard drive on my lappy without having to keep disconnecting it from the PC everytime. It is going to make my video producing so much easier and faster!

Disgruntled Cat

Our cat Pica has fallen out with me. I finally got around to buying him a collar today and he is not happy.


It is a reflective flea collar and I am going to get him a ID tag for it too but as you see he is definitely giving me the cold shoulder