Just a quick note about something i learned yesterday.

When making an Irish coffee, the ratio of 40% malt whiskey and 60% coffee isn't a wise idea on an empty stomach (and when you've got work tomorrow!)

Mark

Hi all

Well I attended the funeral on Friday for my mates’ dad. It was only when I was sitting in the Cathedral that I remembered how crap I am at Funerals! I didn't cry but I got very welled up.

I felt so sorry for my mate who did so well to keep himself together, as did his mum. If it was me I think I would have cried my eyes out. He did cry when his dad was being buried at the cemetery but nothing major. His eyes were red and very watery. I did talk to his girlfriend afterwards and asked how both of them and his mum were doing. She thinks it hasn't properly sunk in with him yet as some days he's fine and other days he just cries. I can't blame him.

She's a really nice person and was by my mates’ side all through the service and burial. I'm glad she was there and will be with him afterwards as I think at difficult times like these you need to somebody to just be there. They're both really nice people and I wish them all the best.

His dad died at the age of 71 with lung/liver cancer.

I did go into town afterwards because I didn't feel like going home. I sent out a number of texts to my mates but being a Friday most were either busy, going out the Saturday night or didn't get back to me until it was too late. So me, completely decked out in my black shirt, tie, trousers, shoes and coat went to a "posh-ish" pub in the centre of town and had a few beers by myself...like a really sad bastard!!! Lol!

I was hoping K would be able to get out. She's having a really bad time with her mum and I was hoping to get her out the house and to help her unwind and relax. She's been very ill over the last three months and K has been looking after her round the clock since then. Sadly she couldn't make it! I've promised to get her a massive cup of coffee (the place pretty much serves them in fishbowls!) when she has the time.

On a lighter note my mate and his girlfriend have just got their first house together. When I was talking to them afterwards they said they were moving in on Saturday. I mentioned that if I get a new TV they could have my old one, which they seemed pretty have with! All I’ve got to do now is find an affordable one which I wasted Saturday morning trying to do without any success!

Anyway, to sign off I’m going to leave you with a song by My Chemical Romance called "Cancer"

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P77iH-uHoRk[/url]

Mark

Hi all

Well after 4 attempts i've finally passed my driving test!!! It's about fucking time as well, lol!!!

I honestly thought i'd failed and was absolutely amazed i passed.

Not hunting for a car yet. Going to do an advanced course in about 2 weeks which will hopefully cut down my car insurance.

But at least it's now only a matter of time before i get a car of my own and get on that open road!

Mark

Hi all

Been a turbulent past few days.

Work-wise we moved office today. Yeah, might not be a big thing but when you're shifting 6 people and only 3 people actually pull their finger out it's a pain in the arse. Especially when one of them constantly moans about what is being moved and where it's being moved too. And also has a right go at one of the people doing the work in the middle of the corridor!

Also being the IT guy I had to move the IT and phone stuff and get it all up, networked and running as well. Should have been a simple job and for the most part it was but I had to give up on keeping mine, and 3 other people's extensions and had to give them new ones. This of course was a MAJOR disappointment for them!

And also while I was literally in the process of moving furniture and the like people were coming up to me and asking me for help with their IT problems! I know I’m IT support but I was busy and just gave them a bit of "you're having a laugh" look while holding a desk or something! Even when I just finished I had "seeing as you've finished moving could you just..." from one person. I mean for fuck sake I’ve been on my feet moving furniture, shifting it about in the office, setting up IT, phones, constantly on my feet and as soon as I sit down for a break I get flooded with shit! Makes me wonder if some people have a single ounce of brain in their skulls!!!

I don't know, can't please all the people all the time!

On a more personal note my mate who I’ve known for about 9/10 years called me on Sunday to say his dad passed away Thursday morning. He'd been ill for the past month. Collapsed on holiday and had to be flown home only to be told when he was at the hospital he had spots on his lungs and a growth on his liver. I had, and still have, a very strong feeling that it was cancer but I don't know for certain and frankly it doesn't matter now.

He asked me to the funeral this Friday. I said I would but I’ve never been to a Funeral for somebody I didn't know that well. He is probably my best mate and as he asked me to go I wasn't exactly going to say no. Hopefully I’ll do more than enough to make things easier for him. I know I’d be absolutely devastated if it was my dad. Just thinking about it brings me close to tears but sadly it is one of them things that is going to happen at some point in my life, that's unless I go before he does!

And to top it all off I’ve got my 4th attempt at my driving test tomorrow! Should be fun! lol!

Mark

Hi all

I said right at the beginning of December that I would get round to uploading some pics. It might be a bit late but I have eventually gotten round to it! I did take quite a few and had picked three to upload before I clicked on the "Add your photo or video". So I was slightly surprised when it gave me the option to upload six! Shows how long I’ve not uploaded pics for!

I've already had some comments. Thanks to girlshow for hers, very much appreciated , but I’ve had one and I’m more entirely sure what to make of it. I think he's trying to suggest that I’ve photo shopped one of my pics! lol! Oh well, can't please them all!!!

Work wise things are pretty shit. This week has been pretty bad and the future doesn't look any better. Without going into too much detail I could lose my job by the beginning of April and if I survive that I’ll eventually have to reapply for my job!

I’m sure I’m not the only person in the UK (and possibly the world) who's going through this. I have noticed the number of IT jobs advertised is going down as well. I've been looking for something else for a while but now I’m pretty concerned about keeping the one I have. It’s far from great but it is a job and a source of income.

Anyways today has been pretty good. Had a decent driving lesson, Notts County came from 1-0 down to win 2-1 and it's been a pretty relaxing and fun day!

This positive thinking thing is pretty easy; don't know why I didn't try it earlier! lol! But I’ll have to wait and see how I hold up when the shit really hits the fan. I've already started thinking about my single status and if 2009 will be the same as the past 9 years. It will be my 10th year of being single this August. And sex-wise, well that’s ticking into the years as well. While I’m trying to be positive, the girlfriend and sex side of things is still a very uphill struggle on that front.

But only time will tell so there's no point dwelling on it too much.

It's been bloody freezing here. We've been hitting the 0's and minuses in terms of temperature. And as I live out in the sticks it's be even colder. The nights have been cold as well and even with two duvets covers on, I’ve still be cold! Another reason to get a hot woman into bed with me!!! lol!

Anyway's more pics tomorrow and I hope you manage to keep warm this night.

Mark

Hi all

Just like to wish everybody a Happy 2009. I hope this year is better than the last, although i would like to hope that this year goes a hell of a lot slower!

I don't know if it's me but 2008 was over way too quickly!

Mark

Hi all

Christ i should really reframe from blogging when drunk. Although it wasn't as bad as i could have been!

But at work i compounded my very acute hangover by eating way too many chocolates and sweets and drinking too much decaf coffee. Sugar overload!

Still managed an hour on the bike today after work but i'm shattered now.

Early night me thinks....yeah right!

Mark

Hi all

Yeah, I've had a few beers and yeah, now isn't the best time to write a blog but even after all I've talked about tonight, sober or not is "why?"

It's such a simple question but the answer is anything but simple.

Anyway I'm going to think about it further, finish my hot chocolate and go to bed!

Mark

(Surrealism and British are my favs!)

SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbour.

COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.

NAZISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you.

BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk away...

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.

SURREALISM
You have two giraffes.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.

A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
You then create a clever cow cartoon image called ‘Cowkimon’ and market it worldwide.

A GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you don’t know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.

A RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
You count them again and learn you have 2 cows.
You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.

AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
No-one believes you, so they bomb the shit out of you and invade your country.
You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of Democracy...

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.

A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION
You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive.

ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company.
The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more.
You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States , leaving you with nine cows.
No balance sheet provided with the release.
The public then buys your bull.


Mark

Hi all

A song i've heard a lot of recently, although it has been the dance version by Cascada. Much prefer the slow version although i'm sure some of you prefer the Rascal Flatts version (who I think did the song first, correct me if i'm wrong).

I can defiantly relate to this song, as i'm sure most of you can. I've been there once before and i'm sort of going through this at the moment as well. Hope you like...


Cascada version (slow):
[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JymMgb46zoY[/url]

Rascal Flatts Version:
[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8iWEktQhg0[/url]

I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house
That don't bother me
I can take a few tears now and then and just let them out
I'm not afraid to cry every once in a while
Even though going on with you gone still upsets me
There are days every now and again I pretend I'm ok
But that's not what gets me

What hurts the most
Was being so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away

And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was trying to do

It's hard to deal with the pain of losing you everywhere I go
But I'm doin' it
It's hard to force that smile when I see our old friends and I'm alone
Still harder, getting up, getting dressed, living with this regret
But I know if I could do it over
I would trade, give away all the words that I saved in my heart
That I left unspoken

What hurts the most
Was being so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away

And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was trying to do

What hurts the most
Was being so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away

And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was trying to do

What hurts the most
Was being so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away

And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was trying to do

Is what I was trying to do...