That ( nearly ) friday feeling

Well hello again everyone, nice of you to drop by.

Here we are on a slightly chilly thursday evening looking forward to tomorrow - only because it means then I get 2 days off work. A friend of mine once noted that you know when you are well & truly indoctrinated into office life when you not only look forward to friday but to 'casual friday'...sad but true. Once a week bosses all over the country don't mind you dressing like you're spending the day slobbing out on the sofa! Today at work has been a drag, the first half the day I spent complaining about people opening files wrongly or other people not working them properly, work would be sooo much better if everyone was as professional & conscientious as me ( only saying this cos I know my friend will read this & have a go at me!! ). You will be pleased to hear that our complaints about the increased targets have not gone unheeded, we had another meeting this week & they have reduced our targets to a more reasonable rate - halfway between what they used to be & the ridiculous targets we had, so most of us are happier now. I must admit you lot are lucky you don't work with me, I can be such a cheeky sod & why my friends & colleagues haven't chucked me out the window I'll never know.

Last night we had to take Bailey to the vet, he's been scratching at his neck & made it quite sore, we took his collar off him in case this was irritating him but his neck got worse. The sores spread all round his neck ( he's been treated with frontline flea treatment so it's not fleas ), we've been given some medicated washing solution, antibiotics, steroids & stronghold flea treatment that also treats mites - £61.63!!!!!!! Bloody expensive but as long as it makes him better it'll be worth it. The tablets started last night being a battle to get him to take them but now I just wrap them in bernard matthews turkey & he wolfs it down. Worse thing for Bailey is he's not allowed out for at least 2 weeks. It's quite nice that Bailey and Angel are good friends now, they still like to play fight but they spend most nights sleeping next to each other either on the landing outside the bedroom door or in the bathroom.

Tomorrow night I get the house to myself again as Nic's off to the local chinese buffet with the girls from work ( personally the one & only time i've been I thought the food was disgusting but she seems to like it ), may have to call at the off licence for a bottle of wine on my way home. I might actually get round to watching my Return of the Jedi dvd, & could even treat myself to a take away as my sister's been making me jealous tonight, I phoned to wish her happy birthday just as she was tucking into a chinese take away. I got her a childs birthday card with a '6 today' badge & added a 3 in front of it & my nephews made her wear it when she took them to school this morning!! My oldest nephew has just moved up to big school & is loving it, he's joined loads of clubs & next week has to audition to join drum club. I always swore i'd buy my sister's kid a drum & stuck to my word a few years ago when I bought J a little drum, now he's trying out for drum club I am so proud, mind you I think sis may get her own back once my little un is old enough. My youngest nephew has started little school, he goes part time for another month then full time, he loves it apart from on monday when his mum asked what he'd done, his reply was 'loads of boring stuff'.

As for the weekend itself we see a return of my beloved formula 1, this weekend the race is in China, the qualifying is on saturday mid afternoon but the race coverage starts at 6 am on sunday so gotta be up early to watch it live. It's a strange thing but watching the rerun, even if I don't know the result is not as exciting as watching it live, I don't know why because the result's the same but it has to be live everytime for me. Then next week i'm on earlies all week so even more early mornings for me.......then up for 5am the following week for the race in Japan. I must be mad.

Mind you I have got the week off starting 9th oct so looking forward to that, even if I do have to go to the dentists on the monday. That's the week we have the next scan & we'll be able to get the picture from the last scan, can't wait. In answer to Phoenix's question, yes Nic is starting to show her bump ( or peanut as we call it!! ). I sometimes read to the baby, thats one of the things I am looking forward to the most, being able to read to l'il Vamp. As kids me & my sister were brought up to love books & we both still read a lot, I am hoping my child will get as much pleasure from books as I have. Although I would miss my racing ( at least I think I still will after Schumi says goodbye ) I could easily live without a tv as long as I had plenty of books to read, I remember as a child at christmas once we were old enough to read my sister & i always got our favourite annuals by our beds, this way we would get up and open this one present & spend the next hour reading it thereby giving our parents an extra hour in bed. I have recently seen a box set of Roald Dahl books which I am thinking of getting for when l'il vamp's older, it has all the books I loved reading when I was younger, the twits, george's marvellous medicine, fantastic mr fox & loads more. It's never too early to start reading to the little 'uns.

Right its time I said goodbye again, I am reading 'the brightonomicon' by Robert Rankin at the moment and want to get on with it. If you haven't read any of his books give them a try, very funny. Once I've read this one it'll be back on to the Clive Cussler books.

Take care all.... Vamp x

 

 

Monday update

Today has been great, didn't get up til mid-morning. Shame I have to go back tomorrow but gotta pay the rent somehow.

Thought I'd add this entry today for Julie, she wanted me to post a rating for the Tom Hanks film 'The Terminal' that I watched last night ( might wanna pop over to her blog & say hi : http://journals.aol.co.uk/joobynice/doing-it-alone-hopefully-not-for/ ).

So The Terminal - for those that don't know this film is about a man ( Tom Hanks ) who arrives in america only to find while he has been flying to the US war has broken out in his country. The US don't recognise the administration in his country so cannot allow him to enter the US - unfortunately as the war in his homeland is the result of a coup his passport & other travel documents are no longer valid - so he can't even go home. To be honest if I was Tom Hanks I'd stay away from planes in future, first he gets stranded on a desert island in Castaway & now he gets stuck in an airport for 9 months!!

The film follows his life in the terminal ( hence the title obviously ) from his discovering how to make money, meeting a beautiful air hostess (  Catherine Zeta Jones ) & making friends with the terminal staff. Everyday he turns up at the immigration desk & every day he gets denied entry to the US.

I have to be honest & say that I wasn't sure wether this was going to be any good, I mean how could can a film be when its about living in the airport? But I am glad to say that I enjoyed the film a lot. Its just the sort of film you need for a chilled out sunday evening. Predictable? Yes to  a certain point but who cares, this is one of those feel good films that blokes pretend they don't watch but secretly enjoy.

Anyway thats all i've got time for tonight, off to have a shower/shave & then watch Hells Kitchen USA at 9. Take care peoples & sleep well.... Vamp x

 

Lazy sunday

Hello nice j'land people.

Here I am enjoying a very lazy sunday, no race this weekend & as I have worked 6 days last week I have lazed around today with no intention of doing anything remotely energetic! I have got ironing to do but as I'm off tomorrow because of working yesterday I have decided to leave my ironing until tomorrow, Nic cooked my dinner ( very nice, roast pork with roast potatoes, brussels, carrots & yorkshire pud ) so I will have to do the washing up but it's worth it.

Not a lot been happening this week, work, work & more work but apart from that nothing. Still tired cos of working an extra day but I chose to work 6 days and have an extra day off this week so no complaints. Next weekend is going to be a bit different, the next race is on at 6am so will have to be getting up nice and early for that.

When Nic's finished watching coronation st we're going to watch The Terminal with Tom Hanks ( that is Tom Hanks is in the film, he won't be here watching it with us!! ), been told its quite good & Tom Hanks is a great actor so looking forward to that. Been reading F1 Racing magazine today, there's a feature about the movie Grand Prix featuring James Garner, its finally being released on dvd in october so might have to ask santa for that. I rarely use my ps2 nowadays but I do like to buy books & dvd's. Between me & Nic we've got a huge stack of dvd's, she says she is going to need them once she starts her maternity leave....you women get all the best perks, wish I could take time off work to watch dvd's & get paid for it ( I'm only kidding, please don't send me hate mail ). I'm planning on taking Nic to the cinema to watch Santa Clause 3 ( Tim Allen ) when it comes out in november, she loves christmas films & the santa clause films are her favourites. Personally I think it would've been better to release the film in december but what do I know.

Think its tme I listed more stuff on ebay, we really haven't got very far with clearing the spare room yet. Take care all... Vamp x 

I'm back

At long last i'm back! It was a tough challenge but I fought the dreaded man flu & won. haha, actually it was more like a bad cold & lack of sleep, but i still won...eventually...honest. I really was feeling so crappy last week that I ended up coming home from work & going straight to bed after my dinner most nights, it was horrible not having any energy to do anything.

So what has happened since I was last here, Cherie Blair gets told off for smacking some kid, the police have been told not to chase criminals cos they might fall & scrape their knees, the Pope got caught reading aloud from the wrong book & the new task force have set up to protect us have managed to foil a major internet banking scam. You know there's so much happening in this little world of ours that we sometimes forget to stop & smell the roses ( at least I think its roses they're growing around here, they're certainly using strong manure...smells very rural in this little cov backwater at the mo ).

I haven't been doing much thanks to feeling less than perfect, saturday I went to wellsbourne market with Nic & our friend E. There was some nice baby stuff there at very nice prices so think we're gonna be going back nearer february, we were looking at a decent pushchair with all the attachments & baby seat/carrier type thing - less than £150!! Nic tells me she thinks her mum & dad might be buying us a cot, I'd prefer a king size bed but beggars can't be choosers, hehe.

Nic's been back to see the midwife today, didn't go with her this time but wish I had, she got to listen to our baby's heart beating away like a little drum. Tomorrow she's off to the hospital for blood tests, they will be checking for signs of downs syndrome & probably numerous other things. Nic has suffered with high blood pressure in the past so they'll be keeping a close eye on her, so far everything seems fine so fingers crossed. Next time I will be going with her will be on 12th october for the next scan. It's really strange because sometimes I am really excited about the little 'un but then other times it doesn't seem real, I must admit that I do take more notice of baby things now, if i'm passing a shop that sells baby stuffI like to check out whats on offer. Considering I never thought of myself as the family man type I really can't wait for the bigday, I will probably be one of those dad's who annoys everyone with tales of his new childs every burp, fart & gurgle.

Changing the subject, when I was lying in bed last week bravely fighting the evil man flu I thought about all the journals I read now & about all you lovely people that read mine - who started online journals? Was it some Adrian Mole type that was constantly being rejected by publishers & growing ever more frustrated that they decided to publish their own material online? Or was it someone with an important message to get out to the world, or for that matter someone who had nothing important to say but wanted to tell the world anyway? And why do we all write online journals, have we forgotten how to use pen & paper ( according to recent reports the advent of email has made people realise how nice it is to keep in touch so more people are actually writing letters ), perhaps it's like therapy - helping us to get through life by being able to get stuff off our chests ( I have definitely found that this journal has helped me sort out my own feelings & relieve frustrations ). Some of the journals are very entertaining ( http://journals.aol.com/dpoem/TheWisdomofaDistractedMind/  ) , some just make you feel part of a large ( ever expanding ) family, others challenge us to think, wether it be about the past (    http://journals.aol.co.uk/bobandkate/AnAnalysisofLife/  ) or the present ( http://journals.aol.co.uk/dominicnutt06/lebanon/  ), other journals may reaffirm  your sanity ( or insanity ) ( http://journals.aol.co.uk/brainwhispers/Wordsjustfallout/ ). Sometimes you can make new friends to play chess with who will wave at you as they drive past your town ( http://journals.aol.co.uk/phoenix71011/Phoenix/  ), then there's always help to find new journals to read ( http://journals.aol.ca/plittle/CarnivAOL/  ). But at the end of the day wether we are all egomaniacs trying to be noticed or not, we have all found a new home in J'land.

I apologise to those of you that I have not mentioned but there are so many journals out there its impossible to mention everybody.

Anyway, gotta go now, her majesty wants a cuppa. I hope you are all well & not having too many sleepless nights. Take care all... Vamp x

 

Sleep deprivation

Crikey, 3 entries in 3 days, can't you tell i'm not well.

Last night I had every intention of having an early night, but then I had some emails to read, then a few alerts from your journals....in the end it was late when I lay down my tired head. Much good it did me, I didn't get any sleep at all so tonight I feel worse than ever.

I was going to watch the latest episode of prison break but so tired and can't afford to have more time off work, so good night all..... Vamp x

Another rainy night

As I sit here the rain is giving it everything outside, just got home from work in time tonight, came upstairs to check my email & all of a sudden the heavens opened. It was like hurricane season, the wind was ferociously trying to uproot everything around us as the monsoon(ish) rain soaked everything in sight. Angel came in just as the rain started so was safely hidden away before the thunder & lightning started but poor Bailey was still out. It took a while of calling him but once there was a slight let up in the rain he came running back, so he's now indoors where its warm & dry.

I am an asthmatic & suffer with hayfever, so when the season's change I normally get coughs & colds, I was surprised not to have suffered this year so far as we have had some very changeable weather...you guessed it, this weekend I got a cold. It makes my job so much fun - just imagine spending all day calling customers, trying to explain to them why their package is stuck in customs whilst sneezing, coughing & with a throat that feels like you're trying to swallow a handful of gravel...nice. Still Nic does look after me ( most of the time ), tonight she had a nice jacket spud waiting for me when I got in, yummy with lots of cheese n beans. Hells Kitchen USA is on later but I may have to tape it because I really do feel the need to be pathetic & curl up in bed early (yes, I know man flu & all that, but hey I am feeling like crap so if you want to kick me when I'm down go ahead ). I am reading Tim Allen's 'don't stand too close to a naked man' at the moment, he's very funny & the humour is so honest, I challenge you not to laugh. I don't want to spoil the book for others so you're just going to have check it out yourselves.

I spent my earlier years partying heavily & think I've got it all out of my system, these days I'd rather spent the nights with a good book in front of my coal fire ( okay so its a gas fire pretending to be a coal fire but its good enough for me ). Don't get me wrong I still enjoy the occassional night out but would rather have a quiet drink in a friendly local than spend the night in some loud bar where you can't talk to each other because the music's so loud ( god I sound like an old fart ). I finished reading 'the hard way' by Lee Child last week, if anyone's interested i have put it on ebay, my ebay id is horsf30, there are 4 days leftso plenty of time for you to check it out ( shameless plug for my ebay stuff I know but what the hell, its my journal ).

Work was a pain again today, the boss was eyeballing me and my friend chatting. Both of us work very hard so I don't think they've got any right to complain. Later my team leader told us to be careful cos the boss was watching again so we should look busy, we were both on a break so nothing they could do. I must admit to being my own worst enemy at times, if I know the boss is watching I will make sure my work is of an equal or higher quality & quantity to others but make a point of chatting more, this is guaranteed to drive the boss mad but if my work doesn't suffer then they haven't got much they can say. I think the boss is watching more because my friend and i are probably the 2 most vocal about the injustice of the recent target changes.

Before I go I want to ask you all if you have come across Phoenix's journal, if so does she give you all abuse like she does with me? Check out her comments on here a few days back about me doing the washing up, then nip over to her journal & check out todays entry ( there's a link on my 'other blogs' section at the side of this page ). It's a good job I know she's only kidding ( or is she? ).

Right I'm off to have a shower and then an early night. Good night & sweet dreams to you all... Vamp x

 

An emotional day

Those of you that read my journal regularly will know how passionate I am about Formula 1, today we have seen Michael Schumacher win a fantastic race in Monza in front of the tifosi ( ferrari's diehard legion of fans ). All weekend we have known that an announcement would be made after the race about next years driver line up, well the expected announcement has been made - Michael Schumacher is to retire from racing at the end of this year.

Although we have all seen this coming for some time it is still  a shock to actually hear the announcement from him today. I have watched him win the first of his amazing 7 championships & every race since, through all the bad times as well as the good. When he finally won the championship for Ferrari in 2000 I cried, I had watched for four years as he built the Ferrari team into the winning outfit they are today, I watched as he nearly won the title more than once but not once did my support & believe ever waiver. Schumi is not loved by everyone, for sure the british have given him a hard time after he beat Damon Hill back in 1994 but what no one can take away is the 7 world titles he has, the 90 race wins, all the points, fastest laps & the entertainment he has given eople like myself.

There are other great drivers out there such as Button, Raikkonen, Alonso, Massa, Kubica etc, but at this time there is no one I can follow with such passion & loyal support that I have been able show following Schumacher. He is undoubtedly the most complete driver ever in formula 1 & I don't think we will see anyone break his records in my lifetime. Schumi has now closed to within 2 points of Alonso in this years championship with only 3 races to go, Alonso has seemed to be rattled & cracking under the pressure over the last couple of months. The bad news for Alonso is that Schumi has eaten into his lead while wrestling with the decision of wether or not to retire, now that the announcement has been made I think we will see Schumacher stepping up a gear over the next 3 races so Alonso could be in trouble. Either way, wether Alonos or Schumacher wins this year it is great to see Schumi retiring at the top of his game rather than keep going until he is no longer competitive. 

The Ferrari press release states that they will announce at the end of the year what Michael's role will be within Ferrari next year so looks like he will still be around at the races, probably in an advisory role. Whatever he does end up doing it is going to take a lot to fill the space left by his retirement from racing. He has raced since he was a little kid with his go kart so he only knows racing. 

I feel sort of empty at the moment because I don't know wether formula 1 will ever be the same for me again, I guess I will keep watching & will probably lend my support to a number of drivers, Ferrari will always have a place in my heart as the greatest team. To be honest next year my energies will be given to looking after L'il Vamp ( will have to get him/her interested in F1!! )but there is going to be a big hole in my life. I nkow there are people out there who will think me sad but if you do  not have a passion for a particular sport/sports person i guess it is difficult to understand. 

Right I'm off to find something to occupy my mind as I really do feel quite sad. But just wait for the next F1 installment in 3 weeks......its gonna be fun. 

Take care all... Vamp x  

ps. just checked out itv's F1 website & they ahve a list of Schumi's records, check this out, this is why he will be missed by so many:

Most world titles: 7 (1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)

Most consecutive titles: 5 (2000-2004)

Most wins: 90

Most wins in a single season: 13 (2004)

Most consecutive wins in single season: 7 (2004)

Most wins at the same race: 8 (French GP)

Most wins from pole: 40

Most wins with one team: 71

Most pole positions: 68

Most front-row starts: 114

Most second place finishes: 43

Most podium finishes: 153

Most points scored: 1,354

Most points finishes: 188

Most points in a single season: 148 (from a maximum of 180, in 2004)

Most fastest laps: 75

Most races led: 139

Most consecutive podiums: 19 (USA 2001 – Japan 2002)

Most consecutive points finishes: 24 (Hungary 2001 – Malaysia 2003)

Most consecutive seasons with a win: 15

Most ‘clean sweeps’ (pole, win, fastest lap): 22

Largest points gap between champion and runner-up: 67 (2002)

Earliest titlewinner: 2002 (in July, with 6 races remaining)

Longest spell with one team: 11 seasons (Ferrari – 1996-2006)

Most time between first and last race wins: 13 years, 11 months and 3 days

Never outqualified in 1992, 1993 or 1994

Only driver to have finished every race on the podium: 2002

Work's getting me down

I'm beginning to hate having to go to work, if you've read my previous entries you may remember they've changed all our targets at work. Where as I was always achieving a 5 every day I am now only achieving a 1. It's not like I'm slacking off either, the other day I came home & was so mentally exhausted that I had no energy to do anything. I hate being like this because I have always taken pride in doing a good job & know I am still doing the same as I was before but now there's nothing to show for it.

Oh well enough moaning. Been trying to think of my top ten songs ( check out bobandkate's blog http://journals.aol.co.uk/bobandkate/AnAnalysisofLife/entries/2006/09/07/top-ten-favourite-songs/1370 ). Very difficult but here goes....

 

1. You can't put your arms around a memory - Johnny Thunders

2. Tragedy - Hanoi Rocks

3. Wild side - Motley Crue

4. Detroit rock city - Kiss

5. Streets of Philadelphia - Bruce Springsteen

6. Belfast Child - Simple Minds

7. Something to believe in - Poison

8. Ballad of Jayne - LA Guns

9. Iris - Go Goo Dolls

10. Princes of the universe - Queen

 

They aren't in any particular order because that would just be way too hard. Obviously there are lots of other songs I love but I think these are the ones that have always been constants, some of them have special meanings to me but others are just killer tracks. I never realised it would be so difficult to choose 10 songs. Even just sorting out this list has brought back many memories, a few of my friends are more than 10 years younger than me & are always makingfun of my music tastes & calling me an old man - but I wouldn't swap my memories for anything in the world.  No doubt L'il Vamp will one day call me an old fossil & tell me how old fashioned my music is, I know I was the same with my parents. I guess what goes around comes around, as a kid I used to listen to my dad playing 'build me up buttercup' & now thanks to the film 'there's something about mary' it is a popular tune again. Great songs never go out of style they just become elevator music!!!

Anyway enough of my ramblings, I have to shave my head, have a shower, do the washing up & put the washing on...I tell you, women use the pregnancy excuse to get out of doing everything.

Take care all & don't forget to come back soon..... Vamp x 

 

Disbelief

Nic phoned me just as I got to work this morning to tell me about Steve Irwin, at first I thought someone at work was winding her up. But as you are all probably aware by now it was no joke. I remember well the day Diana died but as I have never really had any time for the royal family it didn't mean that much but today.....it still doesn't seem real. One of my friends at work spent some time travelling around Australia & New Zealand, she went to Steve's zoo hoping to see him but unfortunately he wasn't there that day. She, like Nic & myself & thousand of others across the world have a great sense of loss. I have always loved animals & I loved the way Steve & his team made learning & caring about creatures fun & exciting. I think Steve can be proud that he has helped to encourage millions of children ( & adults ) to respect all animals.

My thoughts at this time are with his friends & family, he was a great man & will leave a void that will be difficult to fill.