OK, not funny. After messing around on WoW for something to happen - the only person that was talking to me had to go for a while - my head decided to start pounding. I'm not going to call it a migraine as I hate that word - people use it all the time without knowing what one is.
But anyways, I'm going back to bed. Cam is on for the world to see. Later
While I would never delete any post I make on here, regardless, I've adjusted the main page to show only the last FIVE days of posts. It was set to nine, and took a month of sundays to scroll to the bottom, let alone adding to the load when you open the page. I post a lot most days (I know, "Pulling a Dan" ), so the blog tends to get veeeery long.
Added to this, the link at the bottom "Older Posts" seems to work now, so you can either scan through the archive to see older stuff, or you can click the "Older Posts" button waaaay down there. It's not instant when you click it, as I believe it shows things in blocks of five-days now.
Now that my face is fed, it's time for Dan to go over the previous week from the eyes of the bloggers around the world. Aside from me still being poorly, this is the week that saw me add a webcam to the blog, as well as reinstall MSN for all-and-sundry to contact me. Busy busy busy!
For the first time in a very long time, I woke up at 10am. I can't even remember the last time I slept in so late. Granted, it probably helped that we didn't go to bed nearer one in the morning as we had Amber & Pete over. We pissed around, had a lot of laughs, and are sorting out playing D&D more regularly after people advised me it was something I should do.
You know who you are!
However, the downside? Well, it's 11am and I've only just gotten dressed, so I feel REALLY lazy. Added to this, I feel like I was up all night drinking, and have a pounding headache. Jo has acted on this, and is taking her and the kids out with her mum for a few hours so I can have peace and quiet. Her idea, not mine.
Those of you living around here - the rain at 2-3am was incredible. We have a flat roof upstairs, so the rain was hammering on there, feet above us in bed. Long Riding - as usual - disappeared under water for a while, but it was made more surreal by the fact I was on pain killers.
The cam is on and pointing out to the world once more. For those not seeing it, I am not sure WHY you're not seeing it. I suspect you're missing a plug-in of some kind, but can't figure what - if anyone can, please let me know.
As for the report of a virus being on my page somewhere, I've checked and double-checked the code this morning, and can't see anything malicious. Those of you that are technically-minded, could you have a quick peek if you have 5 minutes? I suspect it is the amount of Javascript running on the page that is causing it, but not sure why it would have started all of a sudden.
Still, with Jo off out, and me pushing this headache to the rear of my head, I am likely to jump on Warcraft today and mosh through a dungeon or something for laughs. I've discovered that if I play WoW, the camera and it have a fit over who-gets-the-most-memory, so the cam will go off when that happens.
For the enquiring minds...
The camera is pointing South, out onto Long Riding, facing the houses opposite us. There are two infant/junior schools and one senior school nearby, so from 8.15am-8.45am and 3pm-3.30pm there will be lots of kids walking outside. We're also on the main bus route in Basildon, the #8, which drives laps around the area. They should run every ten minutes in both directions, hence it looking like there are so many. We don't have proper school buses out here either, so you won't see them.
Emergency vehicles - the police are usually blue-and-white, while ambulances are green-and-yellow (there is one outside as I write this), and fire engines - well, you can't miss those.
Long Riding is a fairly long residential area with various shops and a pub dotted along this half of it - you can't drive the entire length as the middle is Buses and Emergency Vehicles only. The road has estates on either side of it, some council, some private, making it a fairly busy road. With this map, the red dot is pretty much our house.
You can view this at Google Maps here.
As for time zones and what-not, we're currently in British Summer Time (BST) for another 3-4 weeks, until the clocks go back. Generally, we're an hour behind most of europe, 10 hours behind Australia and 12 hours behind New Zealand. Americas, we're 5 hours ahead of the East Coast, and 8 hours ahead of the West Coast. No idea about you Central timezoners. I'm sure you can figure it out.
And yes, that IS the Blood-Red-House-Of-Hatred out there...
Other than that, welcome to my street!
Well, so far so good - the only reports of the camera not working seem to be after I turned it off, so that's all good. *touches wood* MSN is on and has had several people jump on since last night. Nothing has broken (yet) and everything seems to be running smoothly (so far), so I'll chalk this down as a win for me.
Yay Dan!
In other news. Well, it appears that I am the only person on this green earth to have never seen Braveheart. Yeah yeah, shoot me. Of course, while I enjoy epic-scale/historical movies, the last few days have seen me in a frame of mind to not really watch one. Jo has been telling me how great a film it is, so we put it on last night.
It went on forever and ever. At 10pm, Jo told me we were only half-way through, so we turned it off and went to bed. I just couldn't face it, and not even sure I can face the other half today. I suppose I should make myself scarce ;)
On the bright side, it's Friday. Today is only the second day this week I've gotten up to take Jaysen to school, Jo has been doing it mostly. I still feel icky, but I'm bored and I am sure the rest of the house is sick of hearing me complain and moan, so I'll just have to suck it up and get on with it. No doubt tomorrow - Saturday - I will be up at the crack of dawn doing something daft.
I tried the Everquest 2 trial the other day after all. It sucked for me. Wasn't a patch on World of Warcraft.
Anyways - I need to whip the boy into his uniform and get my proverbial skates on - enjoy the scenery of "Out the Window". I'm sure you will be mesmerised for hours to come. FYI - there is a 20 second delay between here, and the screen you see there. Most odd watching a car go past out the corner of my eye, only to see it go past on the screen a short time later!
The more observant might notice a bit of metallic mesh going to-and-fro off to the side over the tagboard there. Yay me and my smartiepantness. So, I have a live-streaming webcam installed, however, those that remember this blog back in the day will remember I had something similar before running on here, and for a lot of people, it caused masses of slowdown and errors, and ended up getting pulled.
Not that I am fussy when it comes to that sort of thing ;)
So anyway, the cam will be pointed at whatever. It has a built-in mic so I might even treat you to music or my verbal rantings one day, but for now, it stays muted. Can't have the strangers around the world listening to my innane dribble - it's enough that you read it!
For a larger image, you can visit the cam direct at Camstreams. Seems to be a pretty nifty little site for this kinda thing, so if you want a webcam on your blog, there you go :)
I will add, once I go to bed it'll be turned off - I'm sure the people around the world couldn't give a fig about seeing this room when it's pitch black! Once I am "awake" and downstairs, then I will point it somewhere.
Edit: Forgot to add - PLEASE let me know if it takes forever to load, if you get whacky error messages, or something else goes screwy. If it's causing problems for people, then I'll just provide a link to the cam instead.
Webcam: Keep Or Ditch?
OK, as should be abundantly clear to the side there, I've reinstalled MSN, and set up a new Hotmail addy for such purposes. As you can't use a Number at the start of a hotmail addy, I've had to use Oddness with an O not a Zero. I know, confusing, but still.
The MSN will be on most of the time. I think. However, I might not be around, so send a message, and if I am here I will reply, otherwise, assume I'm not around.
The address is (as it shows):
You ever go through phases when it just seems that people in general are conspiring against you. I like to think I am a pretty well-organised person. I'm very very rarely late for anything, remember where I am supposed to be at any given chance, and generally have decent planning skills. Right up to a point. And you know what that point is? As soon as you have to add "Other People" to the mix. Now granted, I've been told that my timekeeping is borderline obsessive/compulsive - I feel sick if I know I am going to be late somewhere - but there are days when it seems like those that know what the plans are, they stick the proverbial spanner in the proverbial works.
As you can tell, I'm Dan McGrouchy today.
On the other side of the coin, we've started a teeny bit of table-top roleplaying again. While we used to play Dungeons & Dragons multiple times per week, it dried to zero after we lost Bethy, and all my Email D&D games fizzled through me having a real lack of description and motivation. We're only playing the game once per week, but again, we're relying on someone else, and he seems to not give a crap if we have fun or not. If we cancel, then we'll keep cancelling. Of course, in true Dan-Style trying to keep others happy, I am letting him get on with it, and even sat last night and drew out his fantasy world as a map, which I finished and coloured today. It's probably the most fantasy-based stuff I've done in a long while.
Jo is toying with running a game for people, and I keep debating to start one up, but since we lost Bethy, it's like my roleplaying flame died down to a glowing ember. It's still there, it just needs re-stoking. I can't even put finger-to-keyboard for a short story or anything which is VERY unlike me.
I think I need to pop a wad of pain killers and veg in bed. Early night, try to sleep, as I'm just "feh" today. I've also got the concentration span of a glass of lukewarm lemonade, hence the rambling post.
OK, I've lived with various members of the opposite sex pretty much all my life. I know what happens to you every four weeks, I know enough to ply you with chocolate, ice cream, alcohol, pain killers and "womens items" which I have no issue buying. Even if the poxy makers decide to change their packaging to a new fangled "Colour Code" system which sucks for us colourblind sorts.
But I digress.
Knowing what happens to you each month, I know you're sore, hurting, tender and suchlike, even if the ads make out you use their stuff you can go rollerskating instead of huddle on the sofa with a hot water bottle. I know it hurts, but I have come across some fairly compelling evidence that suggests you girlies might be milking us blokies for all our worth, and maybe - just maybe - your poor tummy and lower items are not quite as painful as you might suggest.
I give you my proof.
THAT, ladies, is a very very large dog. Heavy, mores the point. On Jo's lap. No, Sally is not the smartest organism on the block. Anyway, that is a very large, heavy dog, sitting on Jo's lap and belly at THAT time of the month. Jo, you will notice, is smiling.
Gentlemen, the ladies have been playing us!
I vote we start the riots now, starting with the chocolate factories.
"Da Power" being boredom. Still.
Anyways, I've resorted to 24, Season 1. Seen it lots, but have season 2, 3 and 4 still to go (seen half of 2, a few of 3, none of 4), plus have Season 5 heading my way in a few days. I don't watch TV (There are few of us that do in England, it would seem), and could never watch a program like that one episode a week. Ugh.
I've never really been one for TV to be honest, and it was a rare day when I thought "I must see so-and-so". Partly I blame the computers (because I love my pc), but mostly, I blame the channels. How they can broadcast such crap is beyond me, from the Inane Soap, Yawntastic Drama, and for-the-love-of-all-things-sane, what is with the bloody "Reality" TV shows. Makeover programs (If you're ugly, we'll fix you, or your house sucks so we'll fix that), Social Programs like B*g Bro**er (a dozen people that hate one another in a house performing to the country), and the plethora of other crap out there that people schedule their lives around. The times I've been on the phone or messenger or whatever, and they have to drop everything just to see what some prat is going to do next. Bah. I should sell "Grass Growing - LIVE!" or "The Paint Drying Olympics!" to the TV networks, because that's about what all this crap mounts up to!
You want reality, look out your window.
And no, I don't do sports. At all.
So, aside from my random rant, Jo has gone to get Jaysen from school, then nip into town for some food. I escaped that particular torture with pleas of "No, I can't, don't make me, woooooe is me, ooooowie the pain..." and it worked. I suspect she just wanted a break, but still...
And a side note here - I've started reading another friends blog, except this one is hosted over at LiveJournal. Seems so different from Blogger, and - I don't know - less? Considering they do a Free and a Paid account over there, you'd expect it to be smarter, prettier or whatever. But the three blogs I read over there.. I dunno - I suppose I am spoiled by Blogger. I remember waaay back when you either had to pay to join LiveJournal, or had to have someone invite you to a free account. I had an account there (invited) but never used it... And now I love my blogger *mwah*.
Wonder if I can convince LJ users to come over here... Hmmm..... I could try bribery first I suppose ;)
Can you tell I'm bored... Sorry... I'll go back to the corner.
...For my name is Boredom.
So, here's the thing. Do I go upstairs and watch TV, channel hop for innane shite on daytime TV? Do I play World of Warcraft? Do I download and play the free trial of Everquest 2? Should I get a boxset for 24 and watch them again?
I'll see if the coffee machine has an answer...
Edit: Coffee machine just forced another large coffee on me. Guess I'll just have to see what happens!
So here I sit after another crap night of "sleep". My cold germy-thing has come back with a little more Oompf today, plus my legs and back are not happy souls. Bless.
Still, armed with meds and coffee, the world is my oyster. As long as it doesn't involve much in the way of actually partaking.
So, with Tam stay with nanny for a couple of days, Jaysen at school, Jo having an early nap (not to mention the bloody neighbours mowing their lawn while it tries to rain...), I sit here considering what to post. Do I discuss my various injuries over the years - being one of few people alive to sustain an injury from a cannon, to having a wall collapse on me but saved by chain mail, or the various incidents of being suspended by something piercing into my body. Or do I go through my in-depth childhood so you, the reader, can psycho-analyse me. OK, yes, I don't need you lot to tell me I'm off my rocker. I could go for a walk and snap photos of the surrounding area - but that would mean actually getting up and doing something.
For those that have demanded polietly requested my photo, I figured "what the heck" and took a new one. Granted it's on the webcam, and the daylight flooding through the window beside me makes me look rather *cough*whiter*cough* than usual. And yes, my hair is getting stupidly long. It's loose most of the time, as having it tied back makes me look like some kind of seedy drug dealer.
What a man eh? hehe Actually, I detest my photo being taken, and snapped this while watching Lee Evans do his amusing stuff - hence the stupid grin. I used to use camarades.com on my original blog and the camera was usually on all the time - if not pointing into the room, at the fish or at something on the desk, then it was focused outside on the world beyond the window. Maybe I will set it up to do that again. I rarely use MSN or Yahoo, but when I do, it's online through the chat software too.
Anyways, as you can tell, I am bored, tired and at a loss as to what to do, so I shall leave it there. Maybe I will post something more later, but don't hold your breath!
It's that time of year again... The nights are cooler and longer, the ground is damper, and that can only mean one thing.
Attack of the Crane Fly.
Now, bugs in any form, shape or size don't bother me in the girlie "Eeeek a bug!" way, but Daddy Long Legs just irritate the hell out of me. Add to the fact that this year we're (apparently) seeing a huge increase in numbers due to last years mild winter, and it all adds up on this poor ol' blogger.
For those that don't know anything about them, imagine the giant version of a mosquito, but all gangly and googly. They don't bite or anything, but just end up everywhere. The cats think they are a delicacy, the dog watches them as though she is regarding something on a similar brain level, and Tam thinks they are hugely amusing. Jaysen likes to catch them and feed Fred, our resident Massive-Fricking-Spider.
But me, I seem to attract them. Walking to school, sitting at my computer, eating my dinner - they just dive bomb me out of the blue. Like I say, they don't bother me, I just seem to attract the buggers. We had people over the other night, all sat around playing Munchkin, and they were attacking me. Me and Pete we catching them as they flew around us, and took great pleasure in throwing them down the cleavage of Jo and Amber. Highly amusing.
Well, for us, anyway.
And that's not all that annoys me about them! You know that sound a gnat makes in the night, the high-pitched whining-buzzing sound that you smack at trying to kill it? You think that's annoying, the sound of a Crane Fly buzzing and bumping around the room is worse!! If a mosquito is like a paper aeroplane, then the crane fly is like a Chinook.
And they suck at flying! I mean, who gave them their license?! They buzzzzzz *thump into the bookcase* buzzzzz *thump into the wall* buzzz *thump into the lamp*. They have zero control!
The cats eating them, while kind of gross, isn't the worst part. I get to play Crime Scene Investigator in the mornings, trying to guess how many victims there were. The evidence is usually a few legs and maybe a wing or two. All over the bloody house. Floors, windowsills, kitchen side, desk... Bits of crane fly everywhere. And then there are the ones that throw themselves down the loo in the night, only to have us pee on them in the morning.
Last but not least - the very smart ones that fly into the back of my desk fan. It's like Horror Movie Confetti. Buzzzzzzz thump splinter shower-of-bits.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, the Crane Fly.
*applauds*
PS - this is my 600th post!
Four Jobs I Have Had In My Life:
-Chef
-Accountant
-Computer Game Tester
-Customer Service Call Center thingie
Four Movies I Would Watch Over And Over
-The Princess Bride
-Welcome to the Jungle
-The Three Musketeers
-Serenity
Four Places I Have Lived
-Laindon West, Basildon (Mums)
-Lee Chapel North, Basildon (Jo's Mums)
-Vange, Basildon (Our Flat)
-Barstable, Basildon (Our House)
Four TV Shows I Love To Watch
-24
-Lost
-CSI
-Firefly
Four Places I Have Been On Vacation
-Belgium
-Italy
-Southern France
-Norfolk
Four Websites I Visit Daily
-Blogger.com (and 31 blogs)
-Sky News
-StatCounter
-YouTube
Four Of My Favourite Foods:
-Spaghetti
-Sweet Chilli Beef
-Chilli Lasagne
-Sausage, Mash & Beans
Four Places I'd Rather Be Right Now:
-In bed with jo
-A forest in the middle of nowhere
-A quiet beach somewhere tropical
-Somewhere else that sounds nice...
Four People Who Are Most Likely To Respond?
No idea, but I tag the following people:
-Christine
-Joansy
-Mark
-Nancy
(Being tagged - you copy this list and change the answers to your own, then tag four OTHER people. You can still do it if you like though!)
So I had an evening playing World of Warcraft. All fun and games, and while those we play with take it seriously, it's not that serious. Fun with laughs, is probably the best way to describe it. Jo knows a few of them from her LARP games, and I just and piss-take (*gasp*) with a few, and chat to a couple of others.
One of said "others" Kirie - an American Ex-Pat living down in Brighton - has pointed out that at the eeeeend of the page, after the last post but before my sarky footer, is a link for "older posts". Turns out it's busted. Turns out *gasp* it's not me, but a known Blogger Beta error.
So, for those wanting to stalk read further back, there is the "Archive" link in the sidebar in a drop-down menu. I've checked it and it seems to work in both Firefox and Internet Explorer, so all well and good.
And while checking I notice that Joansy has asked a question in the box there - yes darlin, Labels are a Beta only thing. I've only added to the last week-and-a-bit of posts, but will add to every new post from now. You also get a little drop-down menu that shows all the labels you've used before, so you don't end up with "friend" and "friends" or whatever :)
Anyway, with my concentration now focused away from WoW, I'm back to feeling icky. Jo has had the dose of her meds altered this week, so she's all wiggly at the moment too.
And being ever so smart, I decided this evening to rip up a load of weeds from the back garden that have been bugging me. So I went from feeling rough to feeling rough and hurting like buggery. One day I'll engage brain cell. Maybe. Anyways, to prevent me keeping her ladyship awake (Her Ladyship, Senior, that is) all night by my tossing and turning, I'm on the sofa tonight. My decision.
In other news... Well, that'd be telling (no, Jo isn't preggers!) but I'm keeping schtum for now until it all goes through......... And "She-Who-Already-Knows" - shush ;)
Last but not least - to the two of you that mailed me today and asked for the link to my private blog. Heck no. With a capital Heck No! hehehe
So, over the last week or two, Jo's mobile phone has been getting it's arse well and truly kicked. Every hour or so, it will ring - just once - leaving behind a number, invariably 070-something (usually 07099). Day and night, she gets this 0709 something random number call and it drives us nuts.
Now, in-and-by-itself, a single number isn't too bad, until you take in the rest of it. You see a number ring, and you call it back. Usually to call someone back you're charged normal call rates, but these numbers are a new breed of "Not-Quite-Premium" rate, called Personal Numbers. They vary from 50p to £1.50 per minute, and THEY make money by you phoning them.
Lucky for us, we're not stupid.
Over the last few days, I've been checking around trying to figure what we can do against it. O2 (mobile provider) has given us no help what so ever. 070 aren't under the umbrella of "Premium Rate" so the ICSTIS are no use. We're already on various "Do Not Call" and "No Silent Call" lists, and they're not helping. So it's over to OFCOM. I spent a quarter of an hour chatting to the woman there who is clearly up to her neck in these complaints (bless!), rattling off all the numbers that have been calling.
And now we wait. They're not sure what they can do, but are apparently looking at cutting them off at the source, which would suggest they know who is responsible - they just have to go through the proper channels.
It just hacks me off that people pull this kind of crap. I don't like Telemarketers at the best of times, especially the Cold Calling variety, but this... They place one call, the reciever calls back and gets a stupid phone bill. This, however, shouldn't be associated with the widely-popular "£50 a minute!!" urban legend that went around a while back - for one, there IS no £50 a minute premium rate number, and calling abroad isn't quite that pricey. Snopes go through the mail and tear it apart as only Snopes can, but it does mention the 070 crap floating at the moment.
Bah, I'm poorly and cranky - I think I should crack open the happy stuff ;)
So after yesterdays rather busy day, today I am suffering. To the point I can't walk properly, Jo is having to do everything, and I am generally feeling crappy and sorry for myself.
Last night we sat watching Firefly (again) on DVD, and I could barely sit through one episode I was hurting so much. I ended up doping myself up and having an early night, though all night was crap despite the meds.
So today, with the last remnants of the cold on me, my back and legs killing me, I am sitting here vegetating. Joy.
So, today started with 0ddness being broken and me fiddling around with settings and buttons and code and everything else, and now I think I've finally gotten it sorted, it's not far off my bed time,
See, despite feeling like absolute pants today, we went out for the day to our friend, Ruths. While I'm not coughing, sneezing and spluttering, I'm aching, my head is pounding, I have a temperature, and I generally feel crappy. We went and had Sunday lunch, were social, did the clearing up, had some laughs - was an all-round good day. The kids were busy little beavers, burning through a jumbo box of chalks on her entire path - bear in mind, her garden is pushing 150ft long...
We got in just after six this evening and I flopped down and found people really disliked the other template for the blog, so set to trying something else. Which was worse. So I tried something else which I didn't like, and have finally settled on what you see here. Well, for now. Amusing thing is, this is the template I used when I originally started blogging waaay back.
I managed to find a hack elsewhere to reduce my Labels section into a dropdown menu, so thanks to the chap over at Hackosphere for his help - I've actually mailed him and asked about doing the same thing for "Blogs I Read" and "Links", as well as making all the dropdowns the same width. This is another coding language that I am not confident playing with - simple edits here and there, but that's it.
So - I started the day fiddling with my... blog, and will finish it the same way at this rate. Or I'll watch a DVD. Either way ;)
Well, so far today, I've had three texts and five mails saying "Dan, we don't like the new layout". Fair enough - I don't want people reading a blog they hate to look at :)
So, stand by for redesign #2. Today ;)
Edit: As you can tell, I am having a mare - Bare with it.
Edit2: OK, another-nother redesign. I think I am suffering from HTML Blindness. Comment here or in the Cbox your thoughts on this layout/scheme etc.
For those just joining us on this wet Sunday...
0ddness got borked. 0ddness got bent over and Farmer Jed arrived with his pitchfork.
As best I can tell, the template I was using - a non-beta, non-blogger template - was hosted elsewhere. The mysterious place of Elsewhere seems to have upped, rolled over, and taken it's last breathe, leaving me with a very broken blog. No theme, no fonts, no colours, just text - here's a screenshot of what I woke up to. Not purdy.
So, I was left with a choice - either try and recode the entire thing (Which is on my list of things to do, along with walking on water and turning the bread into wine), or press the Plooey Button and start over.
And as you're reading this on ever-so-pale-blue theme, the Plooey Button is the route I took. Out of all the other blogger templates, this was the closest I could find to my previous. Of course, I've yet to figure out the new template editor completely, so links and blogs I read are now back to being oh-so-long lists.
The upside... Well, I'm not sure. I THINK this now means I can switch between the different templates and not have to fiddle-faddle with everything and redo links, chat boxes and every thing else, but I'll have to experiment. I've also added Labels to the blog template, so at the bottom of each post, I can add a label or three. This post, for example, will be filed under "Beta" and "Template". In the side box are all the current posts I've added labels to - click on a label marked, say, Beta, will show all the posts I've marked as Beta. And so on.
Rocket Science, it ain't.
So - unless I decide on a different Blogger Template against this one, this is how it's going to be. Until I can convert my previous to beta or whatever else. Don't be surprised if the look of this changes in the coming days...
If you're seeing my normal blog layout, then all well and good, you can ignore this.
See further down for my "fun"
If, however, like me and Jo you're seeing what Tim described a couple of weeks back as "The blog looks like text only", then yes, I think something somewhere went plooey, and the most annoying part - I have no clue where, what nor why.
At first I thought Blogger brain farted. No, everyone elses blog is fine. Then I thought maybe I just needed to clear my cache and suchlike - no, still broken. Try Internet Explorer instead of Firefox, no joy. Check it on Jo's machine - still dead. Reload the template, check the template host site, check others using the same layout, no no no.
So, as much as I hate to do it, I am going to leave this like this for four hours - that is, I'll give it till midday today. I apologise for how it looks, but I do love my template, and am hopeful it will remember to come back. Maybe it's having a lay in.
If not, well, I suppose I will have to get a new template.
The "Sidebar" is currently WAAAAY at the bottom of the page - just press your "End" key on the keyboard. And cross your fingers it fixes itself.
Edit: Hmm, after poking around with the code and tracking the location of the theme, it would appear that things are not looking good, so I might end up changing it sooner than later...
Edit2: Arsey Arse It. It would appear that the sites I've checked using this layout host their stuff elsewhere and run their blog on their own server. Hence it being available to them. As I know ZIP about the code used to run a blog, and as it appears that the place it's hosted has in fact vanished, I have to change the layout. Buggeration.
So, this morning will see a new layout on 0ddness, with various bits and bobs vanishing until I can get them back on the new template. I've saved this one, juuuust in case it comes back on. For those of you that are still in bed (LAZY!), this is what 0ddness looked like this morning...
Ho Hum.
7pm GMT.
Quite a large image,Blogged resized it, uploaded as-is, no resizing, recolouring, or re-anything else.
Had an email from Gemma a few days back - have we got some DVDs she can borrow, do we want to borrow any of hers, yada yada yada. She had a neat little list and it got us to thinking - should we list ours out for her? So we did, and it took an hour and a half.
Bear in mind we've only had a DVD player for a couple of years (Well, two years in December!), we're sitting on 280 DVDs, plus various TV Series box sets and what not. Not to shabby! I think we should start renting them out - we might recoup some of the money we paid out!
The collection itself doesn't seem to have a theme - which is good, because we don't have any real "set" genre in this house. Everything from Chick-Flick to Slasher-Flick, Funny-Ha-Ha to Funny-Peculiar, Sci-Fi to Boo-Hoo. One day I might put it on here for all to see, but let's face it, it'd take up too much room!
I considered listing the Videos as well, but we're pushing well over 500 there and I just can't be arsed. I am Pro. Pro-crastinate!
Not having been very well this week, I've missed out on various bits, and my browsing has been almost zip. This is also the week that I hit 30, and much to the chargrin of others, I'm not worried about getting older. Not fussed about wrinkles, grey hairs, or anything else people worry about.
To everyone that sent me a card, an email, a text, or left a comment, thank you. I'd have gotten back to everyone sooner, had I not felt so crappy this week.
Also worth mentioning - Nancy had a birthday this week, as did another friend of mine, Jeanne. When we were in hospital with Bethy, both these gals called from the States, Nancy from Arizona, Jeanne from... erm, Pennsylvania Conneticut, I think. Anyways, these two gals are a two of those I've known longest, so a very happy birthday to the pair of them. Even if they are approaching very large numbers.
Aaanyway - here's the blogs this week:
Seeing Jo in a (recent) Before and After, here's the kids...
Jaysen on his First Birthday
Jaysen Today
Tam as a proper baby
Tam Today (Running from the Camera)
Tam Today (Not fidgeting for once)
My beautiful girlie, Jo, has been fed up with her hair of late. Wanted it trimmed, cut, styled, hacked... *sigh* I loved her long hair - I like her new style and all, but her long, long hair is no more :(
Here's a before and now.
Before
Brushed
Styled
So, I was going to have a long-winded post lamenting my poorliness. Yes, I like to milk things ;) My head is pounding, my joints are aching, and my throat feels like I've had something stuffed down it.
Get your mind out the gutter.
However, I'm sitting here being moody. Why? Check this Blog: Alans Blog Log.
*gasp* There's no blog there you say? And do you know why that is? Well, those that read Alans blog knows he is currently in the Middle East - Dubai, to be exact - doing his thing in the hotel business. I'm still not sure exactly what it is he does, but he's a busy chap. However, a few days back, his blog vanished. A few of us asked around, until he posted three comments on Minges blog:hi guys. I've deleted my entire blog at the request of my employer. The hotel has discovered by blog and complained that I was "bringing them into disrepute". The IT department here has been spying on my web activities and reported me to the general manager.
Censorship at it's best. I'm not sure HOW he was bringing them into disrepute, but there you are. I'm also not convinced they can instruct someone to delete a whole webpage without any legal backing, but Alan values his job. Alan speaks his mind about everything, and likes to entertain. He did a post last week that was so bloody amusing me and Jo were in stitches reading it. I'm going to see if Google has a copy in it's cache.
The fact that they have employed a marketing company with a GAY manager is obviously, for them, a serious thing.
When I was asked to delete it I had no reason to argue. I can't afford to lose the job I love but I can see the hotels point of view.
This is one of the reasons that most of us free Western thinkers do not live in Islamic countries.
I will start a new blog very soon.
I would just like to add:
The hotel is currently blocking my personal email account on googlemail. If you have sent anything to me then I won't be able to read it until I reach a free thinking society.
I leave this country in about two weeks and will be home on Oct 4th. I'll only be home for 1 day but I will try to reply to all emails. In the meantime please use this:
(Address deleted to prevent spammage)
Be aware that anything you send WILL be monitored.
I'm glad to say I have started a new blog.
http://ascotabroad.blog.com/
enjoy, and please leave comments 'cos I miss you all enormously. At least the client can't complain now as my new blog is entirely anon.
A*an
xxx
Anyways - if you read Alans blog, you now know where to find him.
And I am still ill :(
OK, so I feel rough, which would explain me feeling rather... warm... But seriously - it's ten days from October, and I've got all the doors and windows thrown open. It's hotter NOW than it was during the school holidays in August. Two weeks ago, I was contemplating sorting out the heating, but sod that.
Don't get me wrong, I love the summer as much as any other person (that is, the people that aren't crotchety old gits moaning about it) but it seems odd that we're fast-approaching Autumn, which over here means Wind, Rain, Rain, some more Rain, and Wind. Yet here we are, basking in the sun. Even the light breeze we have is warm. Great for me with a stupidly high temperature.
Two months ago, the Met Office announced this winter would be mild and dry. Now they're saying it's likely to be extra cold.
Yep, the same office that told us that October 1987 was going to be "a bit windy". They buggered that up too... Really. Spectaculary.
Hard to think it was almost 20 years ago!
Speaking of Tim in the previous post, he's posted on his blog and made a comment regarding me and losing Bethany on his blog:
Sadly Dan lost his daughter Bethany to CHD (he runs a blog called 0ddness and amazingly still manages a sense of humour).People often comment on my still being able to smile, and sometimes, I wonder HOW I do it myself. I've always been a smiler, always liked a chuckle, and like it when people smile because of me - either with me or at me, I'm not fussed. If I think about it, it's probably the biggest question people ask me - "How can you still smile?".
Today, I did something that I do so rarely, it throws me into a spin and I get all confused and detached when it happens.
I went to bed and slept this afternoon. Not because I particularly wanted to, but because Jo told me to do so, and that I felt so crappy I would have fallen asleep in front of the PC. That's Personal Computer and not Pediatric Cardiologist. But anyway. I went to the bedroom at about midday - a bedroom that I rarely see during the day - laid down and had a read for half an hour, and the next thing I know, Jaysen it poking me in the side of the head with a "Mummy said you have to wake up, Daddy".
The clock showed 5.50pm. Ugh.
It's getting on for 7pm now, and we've got company tonight. Not sure if I can handle sitting around rolling dice and being geeky, but if we cancel this week, we'll cancel next week, then the next and the next... So no cancel.
Anyway - thanks to everyone that sent me piratey links and did piratey posts - made me chuckle. Gold star to Christinefor actually making pirates yesterday.
Tim - I should point out that Talk Like a Pirate day is International. You'll have to celebrate next year - don't worry, you'll get lots of warning! hehe
*cry*
So I've spent the last 36 hours being poorly, and still feel as rough as sandpaper. The joy of Jaysen being at school is he brings back Every. Single. Germ.
On the bright side, I've not been flu-like for a very long time - lots of colds and sniffles, but I feel like hell.
Which means I didn't get a single pirate day post. Well done to all of you that did the piratey thing though. I think in truth I am just run down. Getting up at the butt-crack of dawn, rushing around all day doing whatever, being busy and what-not, then going to bed late, it all caught up, and Jaysen bring home his cold was the last straw. My body found it, accepted it, and just let it go for broke.
My birthday was wonderful - various fried animals in copious amounts, lots of beer (but not too much - I don't drink till I pass out), lots of cake, a fire-hazard that was my cake and various pressies. There was no hang over, but Monday my throat started getting that nasty itchy-sore feeling. Monday lunchtime the headache started, and just after dinner I was ready for bed. Yesterday I was barely functional, and today I've dragged myself out of bed so I can get the other germ-factory ready for school. Thank heavens Ruth has offered to take him in. I am sitting her sweating and shivering, all at once.
I hate being ill. My everything hurts. And I can feel it moving straight to my sinuses I can always tell when sinusitus is coming on, because if I try to breathe in really deep, my nose gurgles and I can smell burnt toast. I know, I know, very odd, but there you are.
Meh, I need a coffee too. Yaaar, me hearties. Yaaar.
So. Wow. 30 today eh. Go me :)
Being a rather difficult child, it is something to see that I made it this far. I was not the most "stable" of children, and while I wasn't the most mentally stable of kids, I am talking physically. The ability to walk without falling, to climb without falling, to run without falling. OK, yes, granted - a lot of the time I would be running across the top of a wall, or walking over a stream on a log, or climbing up a stupidly high tree, but none the less, I had an aversion to gravity. And sharp pointy things.
It seemed to love me, where ever I went, pulling at me with more force than anyone else. I could be on the smoothest of playgrounds and go crashing to the ground. And I never just bumped to the ground. I'd *crash* down, either breaking something, slashing something open, or ending up with a concussion.
Bikes, Swings, Climbing Frames, Electricity, Physically-Non-Moving Objects, Wild Animals - you can bet I'd be there. And then there was the hazards - broken glass, brambles, nettles, trees, walls - I either went into them, over them, through them, or they ended up through me. I keep debating on getting my hospital file, just to see everything I went though, just to tally up the broken bones, the number of stitches, the cases of concussion, the hospital stays.
I look down at myself and see all the scars, or when I am feeling my head I can feel the scars and lumps, and the various breaks that have long-since healed. I can place almost all of them, from the sharpened butter knife, the cannon, the bike-with-no-brakes, the fence impalement, the milk bottle, the zip line, the scramble net, the brick wall, the rusty iron hook, the dirty pizza knife, the blow torch on epoxy resin...
Just for laughs.
And then there is the fun stuff. Downing a bottle of medicine, hanging on the window from a second story building, deciding to go "exploring" then spending six hours lost in a strange forest miles from home, and I'm not even going to mention the Loo-Bloo-Plus-Sister Incident. She still cringes when she sees the stuff.
And now today, I made it to 30. Older, yes. Wiser, probably. But then, I still have accidents. Granted, they are fewer and further between, but between electrocution, blades, solid objects and everything else, I'm not much different than I was as a kid. Except NOW I do something stupid and can look back and think "Yeah Dan, you're a dick." instead of the eight-year-old Dan "I didn't do anything" or "I don't know how it happened".
And then I look at the kids. Jaysen is a klutz of a similar kind, and while he's not been quite as fun as I was, he's had his fair share. That boy can trip over his shadow. Bethy was always in and out of hospitals, a stay here, a checkup there, so I know how mum felt on that level. And then there's Tam... Thankfully it's too soon to decide where her path lies - I think she's developed Gemmas moodiness.
People look back when something happens - an event, an anniversary, arriving at a new place - and using hindsight can tell what-caused-what to happen. Defining Moments, some people call them. My life was filled with them, from bullying to abuse, coming from a broken home to getting my first place, the joy of having a child to the pure pain of losing one. But what made me who I am today? I abhor bullying of any kind. I hate liars. I can sympathise with people in pain. I understand the concept of pure grief. I know what it is to love, to lose love, and to BE in love. And of course, I like to laugh. I LOVE to laugh. If you can't laugh eventually, then what's the point?
It's what you do, and who you know, that defines you.
So to the people that were around me as I was growing - mum, dad, step dad, step mum, sister, friends, relatives - thanks. I made it, you can have a gold star.
To my parents. You both made me who I am today. For one, you didn't strangle me. Two, you kept me alive, and Three, you taught me well. Don't ever regret not doing something, or doing something wrong. I love who I am.
To my sister, Gemma. I'm sorry. I never meant to be so mean, and I hope you don't hate me for the things I did to you. I'll always be your big brother, and you can ask for anything. You might not get it, but you can ask ;)
To my friends past and present - thanks for being there. If it was playing on your computer at a weekend, or hanging at your house while the kids are at school, or those of you that I've never physically met - thanks to you too. You've made me who I am today.
My kids - all three of you - you've made me proud. I love you like I've never loved anything, and you've made me who I am today. With one of you playing elsewhere, I know how big a part of my life you are and always will be. Play, laugh, smile and love who you are becoming. Carry on Shakin Your Ass where ever you are.
And to Jo. Thank you. With all my heart, I love you. Here's to the rest of our lifetime together.
Now then, where's the beer? And the gifts. Beer and Gifts. Gimmie. It might be 6am, but I like to celebrate in style.
-Dan
Well, again, I suppose. But anyway...
I saw this on YouTube yesterday and thought "Yeah, pretty good - crappy quality, sound was off, but not bad". And then I thought "I wonder how good it is with proper quality and decent sound. So I went through my History folder, found the YouTube, and hunted around a bit, till I found the homepage.
Follow this link, do what you like with the intro, then select "Watch the Movie" or "Download the Movie".
Not sure why it appeals to me so much. As Emma would say, "Simple Things..."
Edit: I should note that the big "HB2me" post was put up at a little before 6am this morning, BUT I've edited the post time so it stays on top all day :)
Yes, I know my Cbox is broken.
Thanks for the texts.
And the phone call.
And the Emails.
Everyone elses is working, so I think something is either busted, Cbox is having issues, or I broke something - not that I've been near that part of the code today.
I'll leave it be and fingers crossed, it'll fix itself ;)
Edit: Have to laugh when someone gloats their Cbox is working - only for it to go offline 10 minutes later.
OK, you know me. You KNOW I am the least religious person on the planet. I'm in no ones corner, I am not putting one down or bigging up another. But here goes.
Argh!
Pope 'Sorry For Offence'So, Mr Pope has hacked off a large wad of people for things he has said. Did he mean them bad, was he quoted out of context? Who knows. I have a couple of friends that are Muslims and I have friends that are Catholic, Christian, Jehova Witness, Morman. But here is the thing that REALLY gets me.
The Pope is said to be "extremely upset" that his comments about Islam have caused offence to Muslims and is sorry they have led to such controversy.
Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said in a statement: "The Holy Father is very sorry that some passages of his speech may have sounded offensive to the sensibilities of Muslim believers.
"The Pontiff respects followers of Islam and hopes the true meaning of his speech is understood."
The statement came amid mounting anger from Muslims over remarks by the Pope in a speech in his native Germany on Tuesday that was seen as critical of their faith.
Calls for him to apologise had spread beyond the Islamic world.
In the speech, the Pope appeared to endorse a Christian view, contested by most Muslims, that the early Muslims spread their religion by violence.
Islamic fury erupted on Thursday and cast doubt on a visit the Pope plans to Turkey in November.
Sky sources have learnt that Catholic bishops in the country are due to hold a meeting on Monday to discuss the row.
In Srinagar, India, police detained nearly two dozen Muslim protesters after minor clashes on Saturday. Effigies of the Pope were burnt in the street.
Two churches in the West Bank city of Nablus were fire bombed while in Gaza there was a small explosion outside a Greek Orthodox Church. No one was hurt.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry summoned the Vatican's ambassador to express regret over the comments.
The Pakistan parliament also passed a resolution condemning the comments while radicals held protests across the country.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the Arab world's largest group of political Islamists, called on the governments of Islamic countries to break relations with the Vatican.
But there was support for the Pope from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
She told the Bild newspaper that the German-born Pontiff had been calling for dialogue with other religions.
So in that previous post, I went off tangent as usual. The Celeb-Culture we're living in drives me nuts (duh), but there is the opposite end of the scale. Those thrown into the limelight by the press against their wishes.
Case in point.
For the last 18 months or so, I've been reading a very personal blog that you've probably heard about (especially if you live over here). Girl With A One Track Mind is a very explicit blog about a woman and her life, including her sex life, but written anonymously. (I should note, that link is not for kids nor the faint-of-heart ;) ) So popular was this blog that she scored a book deal - again, anonymously - and the books flew off the shelves. Within three days of being published, one of the papers over here - NOT a tabloid - outed her and announced who she was to the world.
Now, had that been me, I'd have buried myself and never left the house, but The Girl countered that by granting a couple of interviews elsewhere, including one on TV with Sharon Osbourne. She continues to post on her blog, but every intimate detail is now pinned to a person and she has to face people that know about it - friends, parents, workmates. She's lost her job over it. All because the fricking press wanted her to be a celeb. They HAD to know who she was. But why? Every little detail - and then the arseheads made her out to sound like a seedy women that was ALL about the sex.
But the way she has dealt with... Kudos... Really. Holding your head high and greeting the world without flinching.
I think I need another coffee. And maybe some prozac. Guess I am getting cranky in my old age! hehe
Is the world on some sort of cycle. This food is good for you, that food causes cancer, you need more of this and less of that, start over... I swear it's happening all the time. For instance:
Warning Over SuperfoodI mean, seriously.. £4 a pack?! Because they claim to improve the sex life and immune system. It's all hype. Like that SkyNews article says, you might as well eat normal fruit and veg - it's cheaper. Even the Wikipedia Article on these berries says a lot of the stuff is hype and never proven.
A new superfood said to boost peoples' sex lives and the immune system is set to hit the supermarkets.
Chinese Goji berries are selling so fast in health food stores suppliers are struggling to keep up.
But health experts say people should not get caught up in the hype as conventional fruit and veg is just as healthy and cheaper.
A small bag of the berries costs £4 and it is recommended people take a handful a day.
They are packed with 21 trace minerals and 18 amino acids and are also said to shift cellulite.
But the British Nutrition Foundation said Goji mania is being driven by clever marketing rather than good science.
Goji berries will go on sale in Tesco later this month and Waitrose in October.
Yep, tomorrow is my birthday, but wait! There is a more important date up and coming. September 19th.
International Talk Like A Pirate Day! (US or UK. Google Search)
So, on Tuesday, all the posts I put on here with be in the style of a scurvy sea-sailing dog. Yaaar!
It's also worth noting - to men first - that March 14th is ALSO a date for your diary. Considering this is a "Family" blog, I'll let you find out why with a Google Search for "March 14th Steak" Oh course, you girlies can look too, as it concerns you to an extent ;)
Population: Me.
For the first time in a LONG time I am actually considering going to see a doctor. No, not today, it's a Saturday.
For the last few weeks, my right shoulder has been sore. Pulled muscle sore, and then some. At first I thought I had slept "funny", then maybe being used as a human pillow had hurt it, then maybe "too much computer", then I gave up and just suffered with it. In silence.
Mostly.
Jo's tried massaging it ("It feels really knotted") and has tried muscle rub. I've taken my anti-inflammitries, I've left the computer alone for a few days, I've even pushed Jo away at night. Of course, that's led to more sleepless nights so I'm tired AND sore.
And of course, the lack of sleep is making me a weeny bit cranky. And Cranky Dan is cranky, so he sits on his own being quiet. And Cranky Dan suffers from wandering mind syndrome, in that my brain fires off all the things I don't like to dwell on.
So Jo is making me toast. Happy Last-Day-Of-Being-Twenty-Nine.
I know, I like to milk things for all their worth...
...But it is universally agreed that "Agreeing With Dan" is a cardinal sin. It does, however, happen. And when people do it, they realise what they've done, but it's too late. Far too late.
Poor Nancy. She will be shunned like a leper.
So the blogsphere has been fairly quiet this week, with Summer grinding to a halt (then restarting in a blaze of sunshine), the obvious anniversary of September Eleventh and the thoughts and emotions stirred, as well as having fun with Blogger Beta, the discovery of local bloggers and everything else...
Seems that Blogger is having a very bad morning, and after some careful checking, I've figured it out. Of the 30 blogs I read on a daily basis, the ones that have all gone offline are... Non-Beta Blogs.
Mine and Jo are fine (Beta), as are the two crazy Basildon Girlies Laney and Lara (also Beta). China Blue is fine as well (also Beta) with her interesting rant about scented tampons.
Everyone else that is non-beta... well, the instructions how to switch are below! hehehe
Edit: And it seems to be OK again. Well, except poor Joansy, her's is still fighting being online.
OK for those of you that have mailed/text asking for help converting to Beta, it's a very simple, painless process. Before you switch, you should bear in mind a couple of things. First, it's Beta, which means it's still in testing phase - it should be fine but there might be problems - like my profile image not working.
Also if you're not using one of the Blogger templates, then you wont be able to use all the features. My template came from elsewhere, so I can't use the template editor on this blog. I'm pretty sure most of you are using a standard template, so no worries there.
If you're using anything funky on your blog - like a Cbox for example - then you will have to re-add it with the new template editor - just make sure you've got your Cbox/TagBoard or whatever login details. Same goes for StatCounter code as well, and anything else you've added. You'll need to log in to the various sites to get the code again.
Lastly, you'll need to create a Google Account. Sure it's a bit of faffing around, but now Google own Blogger, it's going to be required at some point in the future anyway. If you've got a Gmail/GoogleMail account, that's fine too.
As for doing the switch, you need to log into your Blogger account as usual and go to your Dashboard, where you will see the following:
Under your profile you should see a Blue Box - click on Learn More, and this will start the process, and take you to the next page:
This gives you the basic-basics - read the info and if you're not happy, click "I don't want to" and that will end it. If you do, enter your password and put a tick (check mark) into the little box and click continue, taking you to the next page...
If you've got a Gmail/GoogleMail/GoogleAccount, then enter the details under the YES box, and after clicking "Switch to the new blogger" it will do it all for you. This blog took just over an hour to go through, while my other blogs were instant - it's size dependant. If you DON'T have any kind of Google Account, click no and follow the instructions that come up - again, very painless and easy.
If you want a Googlemail/Gmail account, let me know - one of my gmail accounts has a wad of invites left so I can send them out if you want them :)
And that's that - all nice and easy. Click on the pics to make them larger, and yes, I've taken out all my details - I have other blogs elsewhere, and this was the only way I could get the process screen-captured. And no, you can't have the link.
Besides, I've made them private now anyway - another handy dandy feature of switching to Beta ;)
So after the storm night before last, I tried all sorts of methods of restoring Jo's emails that she's been saving for... erk... seven years. I tried rebuilding the database, I tried renaming all the files and re-importing, I tried converting to a different format, I tried Netscape import, I tried Thunderbird import...
Nothing. Aside from half the inbox, I can't find any of her mails to save. Anywhere. She's all "Don't worry about it" while I am screwing over it. Figures.
Anyway, I've been using Firefox and Thunderbird for a long time now, but Jo has always been "Keep your odd software away from me!". For anyone that doesn't know, Firefox is a browser (akin to Internet Explorer) but with better features, and Thunderbird is an email client (akin to Outlook/Outlook Express), again, with better features. A weekly scan for nasties on out machines usually comes up with one or two for me, and a wad for her - but still she won't swap it.
Being the persuasive person that I am, I finally managed to convince her to swap. So she now has both running on her system.
But Wait - there's more!
After that, I was showing her the stuff in Blogger Beta, and convinced her it's sooo much better, and hey-presto, she swapped to that too! OK, my only reason for getting her to swap was so I can comment on her blog. Ulterior motives and all that ;)
And then last night I managed to convince our friend Ian that HE needed Firefox/Thunderbird as well.
Now to work on convincing Stuart to switch to Beta as well so I can continue to comment-spam him...
Edit: For anyone that doesn't know, Blogger Beta users can only comment on normal blogs if we select the "Other" option - which means you've got to set your blog to "Anyone can comment". If you've set your blog so that only registered users can post, then we can't comment. If you're worried about spammers, select Word Verification instead. There are a few of the blogs I read that I now can't post on, so come on people, let my spamming resume! I'm not naming names though, as a couple of these people don't want their blogs advertised.
Which leads me to another feature of Beta - you can set it so that only certain people can view your blog! Privacy! Secrecy! No one can stumble onto your secret hidden blogs any more! YAY!
So I checked my mail last night and saw that Ahmed replied to me - bless his little scamming socks. As we were being "social" I wasn't allowed to tease the badguys, so left it till this morning. Anyway, he wrote to me:
Dear Dan,So now we're on first-name terms, and he's given me the "I'm not forcing you" thing, calling my bluff to walk away from an (apparent) wad of money, plus we've had the "here's why I can't pay for you" part as well. Interesting, considering once I've been to him, he's supposed to fly to England with me - if he has no money, how's he going to do that?
This is to confirm the receipt of your mail, the content sound so unserious but i will plead to you to please treat this transaction with seriouness and if you are not interested, it is not a thing of force .
Regarding to your demands, i can not be able to take care of your expenses rather i urge you to take care of what ever expenses in your side, upon your arrival here, i will refund you back after we must have gain access to the consignment .the reason for this is because i have used the little fund in my position to offset part of the demurrage charges acummulated by the consignment as it has been long i have not been able to pay .
Think about this and get back to me before i will advice you with all the documents that are related to this transaction .
Regards
Ahmed
AhmedSend me a copy of your passport and credit card. Now I know that this is probably a string of people working on this, and that "Ahmed" doesn't exist, so know he will make an excuse for NOT sending me copies. Which is fair play, because I'd just use them on the other scammer sites as my own passport/credit card for all these "Your bank account is in danger" spams I get.
As much as I'd like to, I simply cannot justify spending that much money to fly to a strange country, where I know no one, don't speak the language and have no clue as to the geography of the place. I don't know you from the next person on the street and for all I know you are not Ahmed but someone else. Can you scan your passport and credit cards as proof for me? It's asking a lot, but by the same token, you are asking me to take a lot on faith.
If travelling to you is not an option, what else can we do - the second option you mentioned...
-Dan
Name: Dan English
