The Never-Ending Template

As you may have guessed - by the fact there is slightly less chaos here - I have once again finished completely fucking my template fiddling with my layout.

As is usual for me, I'm still not completely sure if I like this or not, so I am going to leave it, see if it grows on me, or if it grows on me like a dirty dirty fungus.

A couple of hours back when it really hit the fan - and my backup copy of the previous version didn't work - I was ready to start head-butting the keyboard. I was sooo pissed, it wasn't even funny.

That's pissed angry, not pissed *hic*

Lucky for me, it was at that moment that Kellie decided to send me an email, and all was right again in the world. I sucked it up (the Graaaah'ness, not the email) and started again. Well, again-again-again. And finally, I win.

You maybe have noticed earlier there were ads on here. Rest assured, I have NOT sold out, and never will. The ads were part of a template I was trying to use, and were hastily deleted as soon as the template went up. If you saw a tower ad, a square, a banner or anything else, I am sorry - it wasn't me :)

So now, considering I wanted an early night, I am going to sort my crap out and hit the sack.

As usual, if you find anything wrong with the new template, let me know. If you have anything you'd like to say - and be harsh if you wanna - then go for it.

Dia-Dia-Di-a-blo...

Many years ago, when I lived in a pokey little flat with Jo and we had ONE computer between us (back in the stone age), we got addicted to the Internet.  And by getting addicted to the internet, we got addicted to internet gaming of various sorts.  Mostly, it was the Doom-style type games, or online board games...

Being that it was the stone age, there was no Dark Age of Camelot, World of Warcraft, EvE Online - though there were some games, hosted in the states, which meant playing gave a huuuge amount of lag, so we never bothered.

Then, out of the blue, a company called Blizzard released a rather fun game called Diablo.  Typical fantasy slash-through-the-dungeon type of game, get better gear, go up in levels...  And we got hooked on that too.  That game kept me awake for well over a year - the thing with it was, each time you restarted, the levels were different, you could find different unique monsters, different gear... And then there was the Online Aspect of it - you could play together in the same place over a network, or you could (for those that remember, use dial up!) connect directly to another person and play with them.  Failing that, there was Battle.net to connect to the thousands of other players out there...

I never actually got bored of Diablo - I ran out of time, more than anything, as Jaysen was born, and having a baby made gaming rather awkward.

Time passed, and Diablo 2 came out, and was bigger, altered, changed - Blizzard know how to do cinematics, video, storyline, music - and the sequel was no let down.  Actually, before the sequel, there was the expansion, Hellfire, but that seemed rather unpopular, prolly because it wasn't Blizzard that made it...

Once again, the world of Diablo sucked me in, and I sat up all hours playing with friends and strangers alike... 

A few weeks ago, I reinstalled Diablo and played it for a while, killing time, and slowly getting sucked in.

Then this morning, while kicking my way through my blogs, I notice someone mention Diablo 3.  Well, that pretty much set me for the day - despite running late, stressing and flapping and everything else.

The biggest thing I remember with the original, and, to an extent, the sequel, was the cheating.  The cheats people used, trainers, gear, life, stats - people would sift through code, find the best item in the game, then hack it so you could wear the same thing on your head, body, hands, legs, feet, both hands AND potion slots...  For a while, we DID play that way just to see how fast we could get through the game, but it did make it very boring.  Fun for a while, but killed it in the end.

With Diablo 3 in the works, that is now the third game I am looking forward to being released...  Spore, Wrath of the Lich King, and now Diablo3.

I'm sure Kellie won't mind becoming a gaming widow for a while... Right?

Itty Bitty Geekism

Diablo 3 is being made.
I am now willing time to whizz by so I can buy it! Check the movie and gameplay trailers...

I'll embellish on this post later - I just had to jump up and down and cheer ;)

Plurk Widget

I'm putting this widget in a post and not on the side bar for a couple of reasons:

• I want to see if it generates any interest amongst you lot
• I want to see if I can fiddle with it to make it less... ugly
• I want to see how well it works
• It's honestly too fat to fit on the sidebars ;)
  

I don't know what it is about it though, but it's bloody addictive... I was going to check it last night, and ended up spamming posting and having full-blown conversations on there!

Go shoo, check it out! If certain Aussie Stalkers can do, then I'm sure anyone can do it!

Edit: Nope, feck all customisations yet... It's soooo, er... Whatever colour that is... It's too much man!

Musical Monday #44 - Wake Up Boo

A song from my mis-spent youth! After chatting with an old friend on Facebook he reminded me of this song. Back in the Day Dave (aka Pogo), Jay, Gemma and Me used to trundle down into Kent to go Live Roleplaying. And we usually crashed in my mums lounge so we could get an early start.

And every weekend, this was the first song we put on while getting our crap together at the arse-crack of dawn! The Boo Radleys - Wake Up Boo is just a good summer song that reminds me of good times, when, between us, we made less than £100 a week training to be accountants, but still managed to hang out and have a good time.


Hurrah for youth! In an effort to see what the old crowd is doing, I'm actually trying to arrange (thanks to the Almighty Being that is Facebook!) a day we can all get back together, somewhere warm, barbecue, chilling out and having a laugh...

And lastly, before I pass out through exhaustion... My new ringtone is perhaps the best, loudest, hardest-to-ignore ringtone in the known universe...


Obviously, I don't have the stupid owl thing, just the sound - this was the first video on the list... So when you phone me, remember, if I am asleep, I will probably kill you. Dead. Hard. And then some more dead.

For Those Not On Facebook

Mine's Prettier Than Yours

For a while now I've been playing around with Blogger In Draft - that is, technically, the Beta Version of all the fangled new stuff they are working on. I've mentioned it before, and have been playing with some of their stuff before people not on Draft get to play with it.

Nothing is secret (at least, I hope not. Please don't tell me off!) on there, and anyone can access it through the afore-mentioned link (here, in case you're dim) and I've used some of the new stuff - the New Post list I had for a while was part of that (which is now available to all), and the future posting I use every now and then is rather handy, again, available to all.

Yesterday I thought I had broken something when I logged in. Usually, when I get to the dashboard, I see what you see:


Not really a lot I can comment on it really - it's nothing new. However, yesterday...


It's all very shiny and professional looking. Not sure why I like it more, I just do.

Who knows, maybe you peons will get yours updated in the coming days ;)

In other news... People that are getting sick to the teeth of Twitter being a complete pain in the rectum, Matt and Sam have found Plurk. It's similar to twitter, except it seems to work (oooh meow!) and has a purdy interface thingie that shows the posts on a timeline - and you can reply to them, unlike Twitter where things got... well, kinda knotted and tangled.

I'm still getting to grips with it, and it does have a few things that I would like to see done differently, but I've already put my two pence in to see what happens there. Still, go take a peek. You can see my Plurk page here

Laptop Fun...

Update! After various comments on this post, I've tried a few things here and there, but it had never occurred to me to take out the battery and do it. So, I popped it of, plugged it all in and pressed the On botton. Nothing. BUT, Jaysen said he could hear the ticking, like "when the boiler has no gas" I held the button in and could hear it when WHOOSH! It turned on! Gave me a "Windows has recovered from a serious error" message, but appears fine. Rebooted it; Fine. Put in the battery; Fine.

So I have NO idea what caused the brain fart, but it would seem it is repaired. Thank you to Jack for looking at it over the weekend, and to the comments of things to try. Desktops - piece of piss. Laptops - I have no clue.

It doesn't take a lot to piss me off. OK, yes, some days the most silly of things gets me irritated, but this fun with the laptop is actually driving me insane.

Jo bought it for me last August, after my original one died, and it was fine and dandy. It's not the greatest in the world, but for what I wanted and what we could afford, it was the best gift of the year for an early birthday pressie. I've been really careful with it, keeping it away from anything nasty, keeping it cool, not using it on soft furnishings to block fans or anything, and yet a couple of weeks back, it died.

When I say "died" I mean it just stopped working. No blue screen of death, no pop, no bang, fizzle, zap or anything else. And it has stayed that way ever since. Usually, when it's plugged in, the "Mains" light is lit, as is the charging one if need be. NOW, you put the plug in and nothing happens. No lights or anything. It was running on the mains when it died - on a surge protector no less. It's not like I was taxing it either - listening to music and chatting on MSN.

As I was heading down to Mands, her better half offered to take a look, so I left it at that. Jack took a look while I was there and said there's not a lot he can do, and opening it up to fiddle would only void the warrenty. So we left it till I spoke to Fujitsu this morning.

And that's when the real hassle started.

I spoke to a very posh man there, who raised a ticket, but said unless I could PROVE it's within warrenty, either with a receipt or an invoice, then it'd be a chargable repair. Sod that. Of course, it would appear that in my cleaning, I've lobbed out the box and, consequently, the receipt :( So, the man told me to go to where I got it, speak to them and get a proof of sale. Where I headed this afternoon, thinking I could see a light.

No, no light.

The guy at Staples was useless and couldn't be bothered. He was assembling a folder for another customer. Apparently, unless I knew the DAY I bought it, they couldn't do a search for the sale. So I should get in contact with the bank and find out from them when I bought it. So, I toddled to the bank.

No, no help there either.

The only statement I am missing to show the card payment was the only statement I have missing, and apparently the bank are unable to print off a statement there and then. So I had to order some. Then, once I got home, I called Fujitsu back - would a statement be any use, but no.

So now I have to wait a week. Then take the statement to Staples. Then get them to search for the sale. Then get a sales thingie from the planks there - assuming they don't change their mind - THEN get that faxed to Fujitsu... And then comes the "how do I send a laptop to someone" issue.

Seriously, it's enough to make me want to sell a kidney* and just buy a new one. I have the credit rating of a sickly slug, so that puts finance out the window. I have money, but would need to save up, but I can always find something better to spend the money on... I'm going to try start saving, so maybe in a year or so I can afford a decent one. I'm considering going the whole hog and getting a really good one for gaming - that way I can then shift my computer off elsewhere and use my laptop for everything.

Time and Money. All fun ;)



*Kidney offer still stands. One owner, £5000 ono.

The Next Stage

After what feels like an eternity, Jo called yesterday and told me that finally, she had managed to get a house. This has been through no fault of her own, but it was pretty much the last big step that needed sorting.

She sorted out the paperwork yesterday, and can move in "any time from Monday" which is excellent. Excellent for Jo - she can sort herself out and get out of her parents. Excellent for the Kids - they can stay with her now in her own home, without that worry of breaking grandparents possessions. Excellent for Me because I can start clearing through each room and getting "her" stuff and "my" stuff sorted out.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have any problem with "her" stuff being here, but I can't really rip each room out without figuring who's is who's. The hardest part will be the seperating of stuff - over the years, WE bought stuff, or stuff for one another. Of course, there are things that are obviously the others, but we'll just sit and work through it.

As we do ;)

It's not a massive panic either - one room at a time, nice leisurely going through cupboards, draws, units and what-have-you. Once she has taken her stuff from a room, I can be harsh and bin what I don't need/want, and job done - one room cleared. Rinse and repeat throughout the house, and hopefully it'll be done in time. Again, no rush, but will be nice to have less stuff in the house.

Less Stuff = Less Mess = Less Housework - and that's all kinds of good.

Before anyone starts jumping on the "Don't dump perfectly good stuff!" anything decent left over will be either given away, sold, or handed to those in need. The various items of "clutter" we have collected will probably get sent to the great Landfill in the Sky.

Once that is all sorted, then I can prepare each room for decoration. And then, by about Xmas time, the stupid-ass government departments sorting my money out will realise they are pissing me off and pay me so I can actually afford to buy decorating stuff. I also need to look into Laptop Repairs or, if that will be too expensive, a new laptop. SO angry that my nice one blew - thanks to Matt and Sam on Twitter, I'm going to check around see if it's a common problem with that brand, but I'm not holding my breath. I also - foooooolishly - don't have the receipt for it, so not sure if I call the makers if they will cover it under the warrenty. I miss my laptop. Pretty sure it is the internal power supply, but unlike a proper computer, I have no idea how, if at all, you repair/replace one. All suggestions and similar gratefully appreciated - I can't listen to music downstairs, I can't piss around online in bed, I can't sit on the balcony and blog, and the camera is now isolated to the lounge window. I can't even MSN or play WoW sitting on the toilet...

*cries*

Still, aside from that, things are still rosey - if a little painful physically from being so busy of late - but I'll get over it. Finally got a repeat prescription so I can continue self-weaning myself off the Paroxetine/Paxil under my own steam, so all is good really.

But I still miss my laptop.

Who Banned Me?

The Demonstration Has Another Effect

Saturday saw me banned from Facebook.
Sunday saw the girls start the Save The Dan demonstration group on Facebook.

So YAY really ;)

Otherwise, I've had a manic day, shopping, cleaning, drinking white chocolate hot chocolate, shopping more, cooking, school runs... Not even 20:00 and I am knackered. BUT I'm not going to go to bed yet - I'm going to leave it a bit so I am TIRED when I go to bed!

Maybe tonight I'll sleep!

Otherwise, I've had a pretty good day, head is clearer after sorting through some stuff rattling around in it. People keep offering to help me go through it all, but... There's always a but, and this time, I can't go into it really. Very strange situation I find my head putting me in.

Cryptic I know, but who knows, one day I might get it sorted enough to blog.

Ahem.

So, good day, head in a good place once again and lots going on. But still banned from Facebook and still no contact from them. Pah.

On Being Banned

I wouldn't bandy the term "addicted" around very much usually, but I have noticed that I am rather... Well, bored. Usually when I get up, I check mail, stats, news, blogs, facebook. The last isn't just "checking", it's replying to messages, playing games, sending gifts, posting on walls, saying hi to friends.

I never had much in the way of applications unlike some people out there - my profile page usually loaded after a few seconds - but there were things on there I liked to do.

I'm still trying to think as to the why I got banned, and really cannot figure it out.

• I sent 15 Ann Summers gifts out
• I invited several friends to Owned and Scramble
• I SuperPoked everyone with the Poke of the Day
• I made nearly a million dollars buying and selling my friends
• I took two surveys
• I sent a half-dozen messages to my Aussie Stalker
• I posted on a couple of other peoples Walls
• I poked. As usual ;)

Now the ONLY thing that was different about yesterday was the poking strangeness and what I thought to be broken friend request. First, the poking. The only person on was Mel, discussing, er, stuff. I noticed that when I poked her back, another poke instantly appeared from her. I'm not talking with a few seconds delay, but instantly. The second thing was a friend request from Mels hubby. I clicked "confirm friend request" and went back to my front page, where there was a friend request from Mels hubby. Which I confirmed, only for it to get replaced by a friend request from Mels hubby, which I confirmed, and so on.

Typical bloody Australians get me banned it would seem ;) Wenches and Convicts the lot of em.

Other than that, I have NO clue what I could have done to earn myself a ban. That list is what I do pretty much every single morning. Then I am on and off facebook during the day as and when I get a chance. I'm still getting the "Your account has been disabled by an administrator" message trying to log in. No reply to the three emails I've sent them. Emmas group has started getting lots of members - I was in bed last night texting her names of people I could remember on there, but having NO head for names or anything, I was struggling. I was texting her names, she was hunting them down and sending them messages...

Only to get a warning for being a spammer! hehe

My StatCounter has shown that the group has doubled the traffic to my blog yesterday - from 80-100 hits to just over 200. Not too shabby really.

But I am bored. I don't play WoW all the time, and I've read the internet. Usually an evening unwinding would involve kicking arses at Scrabble or Word Twist, but not last night. If it gets too bad I might have to resort to drastic measures...

*gulp*

I might have to turn on the telly.

To Sum Up...

Around midday today, Ruth called - she has her fella Paul down this weekend, and knowing I'm having a crappy weekend, she gave me a shout and offered hot cross buns for lunch, and a roast dinner this evening. Who am I to say no to her nurturing needs...

So instead of moping around the house, I headed over there and chilled out - though this time she only made me do her washing up instead of full-blown housework for a change.

Jo called while I was there, called me a banana for thinking the way I was, and for the first time in a long time, I spoke to her about my fears and suchlike. I was hiding down the end of Ruths garden so I couldn't be overheard, not because I don't want Ruth to know, but I was being a girl as usual.

Marvellous really.

Lack of sleep, compounded by wandering brain thoughts and just not being clear in my head all piled up, and I was at the end of Ruths garden crying down the phone to Jo about various stuff that I can't/won't share here. Nothing about Me and Jo, other stuff involving my life. She was able to help get my head clear, but I've still had a rough day.

I've been checking my mail on my phone to see if Facebook decided to reply - they didn't, but then, it is Sunday so no doubt they have better things to do that respond to people they have (apparently) banned randomly. Cass mailed me to let me know she had a random warning last week, and Deb also mentioned she had a couple of warnings, so *fingers crossed* this is something automated and erroneously random. By the same token, I'd not be surprised if there was something I've done unknowingly.

I was very surprised by a message from Emma earlier on this afternoon telling me she has set up a group to fight for my membership! Not sure what will come of it, but as of now (19:20) I have sixteen supporters! Em set up a group to get me back on, and Mand is on the sidelines with her pompoms out... Crazy girlies ;) Apparently the link to the left in the Cbox will take you to the group if you're a member... Well, if you're not a banned member anyway ;)

I got in a little while ago, have loud music on and am ignoring phones. To sum up: I'm still fed up (though feeling the luuuurve), I'm bored, I ran out of Twitter SMS Updates, so am sending messages but have to log in to see replies, I'm still banned on Facebook, and my laptop is still not coming on at all which has REALLY hacked me off no end.

Now to wait for Jaysen to come home, bribe him with an early (ish) night or else, and for me to try and sleep tonight. Of course, tomorrow is the start of a new week, which no doubt means all the shit will be starting over in less than twelve hours.

Can't wait...

Privacy

I like to think that when I am pootering around on the computer, wandering the web or chatting to people, I can expect some level or privacy. Not from people here, but people out there. The Watchers. Big Brother. The Powers That Be.

Now, I'm not silly to think that my surfing can't be checked on someone at any time, and that everyone leaves a trail. Heck, you only have to look at StatCounter to see the sort of info the "average person" leaves behind on websites they visit. But that sort of stuff doesn't really cause much hassle.

The things that really piss me off on the web are the adverts. Popups, Popunders, Banners, Skyscrapers, Miniads, Flashing, Animated, Static - they drive me nuts. So nuts, in fact, that I no longer see them. Yes, I am probably doing someone out of their GoogleAds paycheque, or their referral meter is slipping behind, but you know what.

I don't care.

Yep, it might sound harsh, it might be heartless, but there is nothing that anyone advertises that I want. Hosting, Space, Sex Toys, Pills, Diplomas - not to mention the "You Have Won!" crap. I don't want it.

Thanks to Firefox and the little addon called AdBlock, I don't see any adverts. And, on the rare occurrence that I DO see one, I add the server details to the filter, reload the page and... Ahhhh Ad Free.

However, it would appear that there are plans by various ISPs over here to start cashing in on the "Targeted Ad" stuff, and three of them are already planning on rolling it out; BT, Virgin Media and Carphone Warehouse. All these companies are adding a product from a company called "Phorm" who used to be a Spyware/Adware company. Nice.

The essence of the Phorm scheme is straightforward. It will have equipment at ISPs that will track your activities on port 80 (used for the web) - though not to secure websites. With each site you visit it will capture the URL (and, for a search engine, the search terms too) plus enough of the header data from the page to "categorise" it into one of a number of areas. Anything longer than a three-digit number is thrown away. Your IP address is not captured, but a cookie with a unique number is set on your browser when you start using it, which persists into the future.

Sounds nice doesn't it. Just what you want. Plus, they are making it "Opt Out" as opposed to "Opt In" because they prolly know most people will respond with Heeeeeell No!

So, you can read the full article here. I suspect it's a UK thing only, but who knows...

Vista SP1

Those of you that have been reading for a while will remember the absolute nightmare I had when Microsoft released Service Pack 2 for Windows XP. For the strange reason of making my XP look different, the patch would not apply. I had a mission with it, but over the space of almost a week, I got it sorted.

Now fast forward to last week when I read the Vista is preparing for SP1. "Ut oh" thinks I, sitting in my mansion smoking my pipe. I adjusted my cravat and started reading about the Service Pack, looking for info from others that have done it and similar such reviews.

Like the previous Service Packs for previous versions of Windows, it fixes flaws, new updates, improves this or that and generally (should) help the computer. And, eventually, they will make it compulsory too no doubt. I keep my computers up to date anyway, but a big pack...

Well, it worried me.

So yesterday I set it to downloading (400+ Mb as I was doing the stand-alone version, sizes vary if you use Windows/Microsoft Update) and finally, after having a quiet five minutes, I double-clicked the bastard.

"May take an hour or more. Computer will restart several times. It is not advisable to use your computer during this process"

Bugger it.

Well, 30 minutes later, it's done. It's all installed, everything still works, I'm still online... In fact, it was completely painless. Which means this is a pointless post!

Of course, I still have to update the Laptop, so maybe will explode while that is happening!!

Back Once More

After the run up to yesterday, I can honestly say that I woke up and felt better this morning. Yesterday was particularly hard, though I don't know why exactly. I felt drained, both physically and emotionally, and for a good part of the day, I was playing Hellgate: London, blowing seven kinds of crap out of everything bad, evil and demonic.

For the last couple of years, we've got to Jo's parents for both Bethys birthday and her Angel date, but this year, neither of us could face that little drama pit, so we did our own thing again yesterday. In true form, we had Ruth and her girls over, and Jo cooked one of the ultimate in Cheer Up Dinners - the mixed grill. Steak, Sausage, Bacon, Mushroom, Onion, Chips... It was sooo what I needed.

Last night we had a relatively early night and laid in bed having some cuddles, but it took me forever to drift off, then when I did, I kept jolting awake. So I'm tired as ever. But, none the less, I am in a much better frame of mind.

Just feels like it's been another long week yet again. But it's Friday finally so after the school run shortly, I can kick back and do sweet F.A.

Of course, as you may have noticed, I have the Cam on at the moment - thanks to Jo buying me a nice cheer up give of a Logitech QuickCam Fusion. Holy hell is it the best Webcam I've ever used - not to mention, sexy:



Lots of knobs and whistles on it, and I've installed it on both the computer and the laptop without any hassle, so no doubt will leave it pointing at something most of the time. I also have other plans for it, especially thanks to the quality of the picture it's kicking out!

I might even get a new blog template to incorporate it... *ahem*

In other news, I have a nice rant planned about the latest school-developments, luckily which don't affect me or Jaysen directly, but none the less, it's a good one that has the gaggles of mums up in arms while I stand back chuckling at them... Plus I have a few tagged/meme things to post, which I am hoping to string out for a while.

Lastly, once again, the overwhelming amount of sympathy and messages from people around the world still amaze me. Yesterday I received emails, text messages and even a few phone calls - all from people I've never physically met. Once again, thank you to you all.

Smart Ass

Yep, done just using the sounds from Windows... It's not a new thing to do, mind you, and I remember another, older version:



Wish I could do something like that! Sadly, this poor blogger is about as talented as a leopard at a stripes convention.

Why Oriental?!

I mentioned this a few days back, and a couple of people enquired more about what I was blattering on about. That is, trying to view Flickr is a mission in near-impossibleness. Assuming that's a word. I don't know.

However, the issue at hand is quite obvious from this screenshot:


Now I am not a Flickr user, but I do occasionally have a need to go and browse the pages, though I do find I go more thanks to Claire's photography on her blog. Regardless, I can't figure head nor tail of oriental languages. I don't know if it's Chinese, Japanese or Korean (prolly the latter methinks), but I can't bumble my way around it.

Please - anyone have any clues? OR am I being a complete divvy bollocks and that's how it's supposed to be?

Rhymes With Bucket

So today, against my better judgement, I decided to attempt to reconstruct the dead computer. I put it off and put it off because, frankly, I was really hacked off with the whole situation. I've had a feeling it's been screwing of late, and expected it to go wrong, but not quite on such a monumental scale.

I had the main components out of the case and connected on my desk, testing everything I could with Jo's parts we knew were working. While having a rummage, I found the cause. My graphics card - the part that I prolly use most due to my gaming needs - has gotten hot. I don't mean "I bit on the hot side" I mean, "melted the fan" hot. To help out, the side of the case has been taken off, and a desk fan - the sort you crack out in the summer - is blowing on the inside 24/7. However, things have obviously gotten worse, and the graphics card has gotten so hot, the solder itself has melted.

Now, Wikipedia tells me this has a melting point of 180 to 190 °C (360 to 370 °F), so I would say the card has "well and truly overheated". Of course, it doesn't end there. One component of the graphics card, marked just "1R5" has fallen off completely. Two capacitors are loose. And, melted solder has dripped onto the motherboard and blown it. It's dead to the point, it doesn't even attempt t boot up. No beeps, no errors, no BIOS, just... dead.

So, unless I win the lottery, sell a kidney or otherwise find a case of money, it's no computer for me, just the laptop, which doesn't run games. The other components are all fine - I just the PSU, the Hard Drives and CD/DVD/Writer, plus the peripherals are fine too, so now I've just got to save up.

On top of this I am stressed out no end (I hate fixing computers when I know there's nothing I can do), plus feel rough as arseholes with some germs fighting their way into my body. Oh yes, my head is pounding too.

So yes, my computer. The solution. It rhymes with Bucket.

Another New Phone!

Those of you that have read for the last few months will know of the shite we've been having with our mobile phones. People out there swear by Vodafone, but we have had nothing but trouble. Double payments taken out the bank, apparently random charges, limits on texting and stuff...

So today, we popped into town with a friend who was getting a new Orange phone, and while he was being sorted, one of the reps came up to me who was drooling over the pretty phones. He tried to offer me this and that, but I resisted. I told him I have a crap credit rating, not to mention Vodafone have me.

And I held back. I fought, I resisted. And he sorted out Vodafone for me, and in the end, got me and Jo new mobile contracts on Orange with unlimited texts! Hurrah! Jo got a shiny new Walkman phone, but me, I opted for the camera-side of of the Sony Ericsson range, the w810i. I could have gotten the newer model, but it's out of stock, and would have taken 4-6 weeks to get.

Gimmie gimmie gimmie.
Very sexy.

Anyways, I THINK I sent a message to everyone with my new number, PLUS it's on my Facebook. If you need my mobile phone number, just shout and I will let you have it!