Week 17

[Philip Ayres]

I wake this morning full of aches and pains due to the weather, and with a stinking cold. Not good.

The money raising on eBay goes well.

[Andy Turnbull]

I woke up about an hour later than planned. It always annoys me when that happens.

Andy

[Philip Ayres]

I also got to sleep 2 1/2 hours later than planned. As per Andy it was rather annoying

[The Doctor]

The week starts badly as the mail brought the news of a big hike in my electricity payments. Fuck. And I'd tried to cut my consumption down to bare minimum to keep costs down. No idea where I'll find the extra cash every month. Fuckfuckfuck. Shouldn't have bought those comics yesterday.

-Ralph

[Gav]

Comics are more important than electricity Ralph. You know this.

Also, i saw a Liam Lynch video last night, an am now convinced you are the same person.

[The Doctor]

Who is Liam Lynch?

-Ralph

[Andy Turnbull]

He's shit.

Thought I'd share with you a few moments from this evening. Managed to convince myself and my good friend and running accomplice Mr Brown to go for a run round The Glen in Dunfermline ahead of the impending 10k and 5k races.

The 5k route is a bit of beast and one section in particular involves us running up towards the ruins of the old abbey and at the top of the gates turning back and running back whence we came. Normally there are a few folks milling about and lots of grey squirrels. This evening was no exception.

On one of the walls was a mother and her friend and assorted young girls all milling around. Myself and Steven were concentrating on running and did our best to avoid running into them. One young girl (no more than fourteen) proceeded to get in our way and as we both split to avoid trampling her she proceeded to cop a feel of both our backsides.

Now we knew we were going to have to run past them again and upped the pace a little to avoid a repeat of the situation. As we ran past the words "They don't look like much from the front but they both have great asses.".

Normally that would be the subject of hilarity but the bloody girl's mother was there! Some people should not be allowed children.

Andy

[legios]

Does sound like their mother wasn't doing much in the way of policing her off-springs behaviour (and probably not much of a better job as a role model). Fair to say that if I had behaved like that at that age I would have caught merry hell for it. The problem is somewhere along the way the parenting chain has broken down. We have raised a generation (maybe two by now) who haven't had adequate role models as far as parenting goes, and as a result have no idea how to do it. Unfortunately, by its nature that becomes a self-perpetuating problem.

On a brighter note, I had the pleasure this afternoon on the way home of overhearing a conversation where one of the participants really did sound like they had fallen through a hole in time. From halfway down a train carriage I could hear a building operative chatting to a young lady about how things had changed since his day - "you're sitting their with those headphones, but I'm talking about proper walkmen - big things that you had to put a cassette tape into". It was all very good-natured, and there was something about it that brightened my day.

Then I got home and caught the Scottish news to see something else that wryly amused me. Apparently the panic buying of petrol has already begun in advance of the weekends refinery strike. One petrol station up north has already been rung dry apparently, people are queing for up to an hour to buy fuel, and folk are already thinking in terms of their lives becoming impossible because they won't be able to get their children to school and what-not. I don't think it is likely to be quite as catastrophic as people think. After all, I wasn't born until 1973 but I am aware of the last real fuel crisis in this country - with the resulting three day week and what-not. I can only presume that others are not so much.

It does amuse me though that the garage behind my house is due to reopen on Thursday.... less than twenty-four hours before the refinery is due to close down as a result of the strike....

Karl

[Hero]

I got a shipping notice from TFsource today.

I forgot what I ordered from them. I already have the Stocking Filler figures so it could be a possible order of Swoop and Sludge I made last September.

===KEN

[Gav]

Apr 21, 2008 19:51:42 GMT The Doctor said:

Who is Liam Lynch?

-Ralph

He is you! Youtube the man!

So i got red ink all over the snout of my classics Grimlock. A happy accident.

[Hero]

I have a presentation tomorrow. I am all ready to talk in front of the class and can talk an analysis but pretty weak on theory.

I will do my best!

[Deleted]

Goodbye Freedom!

Today some spy cameras were installed in parts of the factory where I work with an aim for every room (except the toilets obviously) to have their own camera by next Monday. One was put up in the canteen today presumably so that the gaffers could check who was having a break instead of working. One worker commented 'you'd think we were working in a diamond mine not a meat factory' which I totally agree with. In just a few short days time nobody will be able to have a breather without some gaffer on 50k a year sitting in his cushy little office keeping an eye on us.

[Andy Turnbull]

I'm not sure what the deal is in the workplace but you are legally entitled to obtain footage of cctv from councils if it's up and about See here for info.

A quick chat to citizens advice and if you can do it, I'd be of a mind to pester the company for it on several occasions and get others to do so. It might not stop it but it'll fuck them over and that's the main thing.

Andy

[Shockprowl]

Hi all. In for four days in a row. No nights this run is good. But sometimes doin' four long days in a row is just as, if not more, knackering.

On Knackering. I heard that the word 'knackered' means 'exhaustion through sexual activity'. Anyone know this to be true?

Piglet's had a sniffle, but she's getting over it now. Partic bad on Tues, when she just wanted cuddies all day. Poor little squish-bag!!!! Her eyes lit up when I gave her a packet of her fave organic what'sit style crisps, yeah your not that poorly then, kid!

[The Doctor]

Only 7 weeks after handed in on time (and two weeks past the maximum time it should take to mark) I got the essay with Mr Spock in it back yesterday and it was ok. On the same day I handed in the latest one. Not so much room for creativity in this one, but I did sneak in references to comics own Phantom Stranger and Sub-Mariner, purely for my own amusement.

Uni today is a bit of drag. An all-day task, which we have done twice before already. Zzzzzzzz...

Looking forward to putting my feet up with some comics this evening.

-Ralph

[Andy Turnbull]

Ah well. They will be well earned. In other news I'm off running again this evening after finishing off some pages of art. Then I shall enjoy (that I doubt) the Rangers vs Fiorentina game with some pasta.

Andy

[Philip Ayres]

Nasty fall today - slipped over in the wet and whacked my knee. Ouch. It appears the back of the right shoe has gone completely - need a new pair. Very hard to find a fitting wide enough.

[Shockprowl]

Sorry you had a fall Phil. Hope you recover quick.

[Hero]

I screwed up.

I am sorry...

So sorry

[kayevcee]

Was this the presentation you were fretting about, Ken? There there, mate. You don't have to apologise to us. We'll keep rooting for you regardless.

I am beginning to freak out at the amount of stuff I still have to do to prepare for my exams. Starting to figure out that studying 10 till 4.30 every day through the week isn't close to enough and I'm going to have to really get it together to be ready for my first exam on May 14th. Still, the first two are pretty simple compared to the third, which covers more material than the previous two combined and the less said about the fourth the better.

-Nick

[Shockprowl]

Little Piglet couldn't sleep last night. I was up at 0445. I'm very very tired.

[karla]

I have four days off work!

[kayevcee]

Huzzah! I have no more days off work/study till the 23rd of May!

WIBBLDY WOO!

-Nick

[The Doctor]

Very tired emotionally.

Next few weeks is working on self-appraisal 10,000 worder for course, which will be extremely intensive.

-Ralph

[Shockprowl]

Piglet slept well last night, thank goodness! Think it's teeth. And on a 0700 - 1900 today as opposed to a 0600 - 1800. Later back, and wont see Piglet, but that extra hour in bed makes all the difference!

Watched Thunderball last night. Great stuff. I love the incidental/action music on early Bond films. You know the one with the, I dunno, flute? Du du du du de de, du du du du de de!

[The Doctor]

John Barry knew what he was doing.

In other news, this week has brought into sharp relief the reality that my current course will come to an end within the next few months and I really need to start thinking about what to do afterwards. I think for my own good the time has come to get out of Glasgow. Need to do some thinking about areas I'd like to move to so I can focus on looking for employment. Phew!

In other other news, I must recommend Kopperberg cider, a fine drink I discovered yesterday down the pub. The pear flavour is very refreshing and the winter fruits flavour tastes just like Ribena. Very nice.

-Ralph

[Deleted]

For about the past year now Unite the union has been trying to get recognised in our factory to help out the workers but with the union-hating gaffers and gaffer-loving arsehole creeping workers in the factory it hasn't been easy. Unite is now trying to get the factory recognised the hard way by taking the legal route - and I hope it works.

Yesterday I heard a gem of an excuse from the gaffers why they didn't want a union in the factory. They said it was because they had a strong Works Council. Strong? My arse is it strong! The Works Council was set up shortly after some of the factory workers joined the union in order to opose it and only consists of about seven gaffer-loving workers and about four gaffers. Compare that to the 80 plus workers in the factory that the union has already signed up and you get a general idea of how strong the Works Council is. And what does the Works Council actually do? They gather about once a month to discuss how fantastic the company is doing and how much money the gaffers are raking in and thats about it. Yesterday the Works Council claimed that so far (in the ten or so months since it was formed) they have achieved two things. They have negotiated on a recent 3% pay rise and the decision to give us all four weeks holiday a year plus bank holidays rather than the previous entitlement of four weeks holiday including bank holidays. Last time I checked the government forced both of those things on them. The holiday entitlement was made law late last year while the recent budget has forced them to give us a pay rise so they are taking credit for something the governement has forced them to do.

As one of the members of the union I'm hoping that Unite gets into the factory because as it stands at the moment we have terrible sick pay, no pension, piss-poor wages and sod-all holidays. Why the arsehole-creeping workers who fancy the gaffers don't want the union in the factory to change all this is beyond me.

[Shockprowl]

Blimey, sorry Zudo, that sounds like a great big balla crap you got going on there. Hope the union gets in. Won't help the relationship between staff and managers, but it'll be good for staff to get some representation.

[Hero]

Sorry gang. Not sure if I can cope with stuff right now.

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Thoughts and prayers with Ken, Ralph and Zudobug in their endeavours.

Sunny, so spent the day outside showing people the peregrine falcons on City Hall.

Strange, the webcam appears to have been misaligned so that it's now peeking through one of the City Hall windows. Sort that out tomorrow morning.

Protest by about a hundred campaigners (mostly youngsters) set off from where we were at 2pm, waving Communist Party and CND banners, protesting against the new military development at St Athan. Lots of police around, but all very good-natured and friendly. Had about half a dozen coppers coming to look through the telescopes at the birds. They told us they were expecting three hundred 'anarchists', but it was all a bit of an anticlimax really, compared to when there are events on at the Stadium.

Falcons being quite disciplined about taking turns on the nest, so hopefully they'll have better luck with the eggs this year.

Bit sun-burned now. Put feet up with Doc Who.

Edit: Strange, the webcam just moved position. The Museum's closed, so I wonder who's playing with it...

Edit 2: Aah! Now it's pointing at the pavement. I didn't even know it could do that!

Edit 3: And now back to the nest. Whew! How peculiar.

Martin