How Cool Is This...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/magazine/6523155.stm
My English teacher from High School gave a quote for this story! So I thought I'd mention it.

That's all I wanted to say really. In fact, that was the high-point of the day. Oh how I giggled and made my colleagues stare at me. I would have explained, but the moment would be lost on them.

Has anybody else started using the new £20 notes yet? I have just visited a cash machine and received my second such note. I have studied it in great detail, compared it to the Euro banknotes and have come to the conclusion that they are remarkably similar.

Earth shattering news or what?!

In honour of my former English teacher, I am going to spell-check this post for a change.

Bye all

Chilling Wi' Da Still.
Food of yesterday was lovely. I think it managed to upset my tummy a bit, but I would still call it a success. Haven't slow-cooked today, will set it all up tonight for tomorrow. Therefore tonights meal shall consist of Sausages, chips and assorted vegetables. Not very healthy, I know, but I haven't had sausage for ages and I have a bit of a craving.

Not any old sausage mind, oh no! Cumberland sausage no less. In fact, come to think of it, the Cumberland sausage served at the northbound M6 Carlisle service station was and still is a rather pleasurable meal after several hours on the road. I would highly recommend a visit. It's an eco-friendly place and you can sit next to a lake watching birds flutter around the sweeping countryside.

So what am I going to do with this evening? I am in a fair mood. I think I should practice some singing since I've not done any this week. I have to change clothes because these trousers are making me itch :-s So I'll have to put the washing machine on aswell.

You know this BACS problem with paying us our wages? Well my rent payment bounced because of it! I have a back-up plan though, so don't worry, it will get paid. The charge for the standing order failing was £38 though! A little steep in my opinion. Still, it has been refunded so I can't complain this time.

I'm offski now - I'm not going to be spending all night on the computer without eating again - I need deeding at sensible hours!

Take care

Still haven't eaten - it's getting late and dark and cold and everything.

Foooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood!

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Musician   Doo doo de doo waaaa doo de doo! (<-- That's you playing something.) Everyone appreciates the band/orchestra geeks and the pretty voices. Whether you sing in the choir, participate in a school/local band, or sit at home writing music, you contribute a joy to society that everyone can agree on. Yay! Welcome to actually doing something for poor, pathetic human souls. (Just kidding.)
Social Nerd
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Science/Math Nerd
Drama Nerd
Artistic Nerd
Literature Nerd
Anime Nerd
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace

Good News!
I CAN do an MSc on a distance learning course! I SHALL go to the ball. My name ISN't Cinders, but I don't care. You can call me chief fraggle of the dodecahedron of quintuplessy for all I care.

FIVE COMMENTS too! A record!

So apart from a couple of incidents - one being the driver who tried to ram me off the road on my way home from shopping - I am having a lovely day!

I wonder if a new episode of Ideal is available on the BBC3 website yet?

*wonders off to look*

Alas, no. But never mind, I wish to share some more proactive positivity with the world before I wash my hands cos they smell funny :-s

I have rejoined the SETI@Home project. Years ago (back when it started) I joined the program but my computer was so pathetically slow it never finished the first packet of data it was sent to process. But now, something like 7 years on, the same computer (sort of - it's more spiritual than physical) is churning them out at the rate of one every 14 hours!

Erm, lets gloss over the fact I want/need a dual core processor shall we?

That's right, the nutter is ignoring reality again. Still, it makes him happy.

I haven't done ANY work on my models of late - 3D or LOTR. The LOTR stuff is sat next to me at the computer and is looking pretty damn fine even if I do say so myself. I am looking forward to fixing it all together. Well, the parts I've painted. It's taken 4 months to paint 8 parts. And just to show I haven't lost my 'Engineers Edge' that's 1 part every two weeks.

Guess what I've got for tea tonight?

Since I am in a good mood, I am going to treat myself to some smoked mackerel in some sauce I found. The combination could be utterly disgusting since the sauce is made for chicken. But you don't know until you try.

Then for the rest of the week I'm going to be using the slow cooker. Could've done with a mushroom sauce really, but I'm sure I can knock something up. Something, not necessarily the right thing.

Well hasn't this been a bizarre post?

Free-Range, Organicly Grown Emotions...
...Not a good thing!

So this morning I woke up and I just lay there. I lay there thinking of all my problems and just how many hills I have to climb. I went through several emotions; melancholy, anger and resignation to name but three.

It took something like 30 minutes for the intelligent part of my brain to kick in - which is very poor by my standards. This part of my brain acts as a watchdog - making sure the rest is behaving as it should. As I have said in previous posts, the mind likes to play dirty so you have to be on your guard unless you want to fall into depression.

I have realised this morning that the mental training I do in order to keep my mood on a high has been rather slack of late. I say slack, more like non-existant. I have been dwelling on things and avoiding issues - the top two things I'm NOT meant to do.

So remembering what I have learnt, I got up out of bed and decided to go downstairs to the computer and share my training with the world. It's not complicated, it's not difficult and it will sound bloody obvious but the trick is to keep an eye on yourself and take action rather than the knowing what action to take.

• If lying in bed dwelling on things, make yourself get up. Make a cup of tea, change the sheets - anything. Your mind is trying to put you in a miserable mood using the snowball effect (i.e. one thought leads to a worse thought that leads to a worse thought, and so on). Getting up and doing something will give your mind a new focus. This is not the same as avoiding the issue (see next point).
  
• If you can feel that you are in a bad mood (lets face it, we all have off days), take any opinion you come up with with a pinch of salt. That opinion will be tainted by your mood and is therefore biased. For instance, if you are in a bad mood and look in the mirror, you might see a worse looking person to the one you see when in a good mood.
  
• ALWAYS keep in mind that you can be a good person if you choose to do so. There is ALWAYS choice. It is not egocentric to have faith in your abilities, noris it egocentric to believe that you can be a force for good in the world. Remember that little things will always make a big difference. Saying hello to people with a smile, for instance, will often make the other person smile, who will then go on to make other people smile and so on. A rather simplistic example I know, but I hope you get my point.
  
• Personally speaking, I do not believe in organised religion (please remember that belief in a god and belief in a religion are two separate entities). However, their more general teachings are the basis for a happy life. For instance, treating others how you wish to be treated will often lead to them returning the favour. However, for me, if they fail this test, then I begin treating them how they treat me. Only fair, but I give them ample opportunity.
  
  I do believe in peace of mind and feeling secure within yourself. So I always remember things like this - if I treat people with respect, and they show me none, then I am the better person and I should feel proud for being the better person (as opposed to feeling sad/anxious because I am treated badly).
  
  To me, if you are secure in yourself then you do not need religion. However, many people find religion equally as beneficial. So whichever route you take it doesn't really matter as long as you have your dignity and belief in your own abilities.
  
  Nobody but nobody can take away your self-respect and have absolutely no right to tell you how to behave. Suggesting or advising is one thing, ordering/forcing is another. You are not wrong for resisting this type of treatment.

There are many further tips I could give, but I would end up writing a book. In fact, much of this advice is already in books. One of the books I gained a hell of a lot from reading was this one. I would recommend it highly.

So now, guess what? I am in a far better mood than when I started this post. Writing this has helped me to remember a few points I had forgotten. So I am going to get a lot done today and stop avoiding things. For instance, I have a lot of washing to do. There is also tidying up, cleaning and - the most important of all some would say - eating!

Doctor Who.
It's back. And I must say I enjoyed tonight's episode. I was looking forward to a tie-in with the end of Torchwood, but I have a feeling we won't see that until later this series.

This new companion, Martha, I like her. She's different and, if I'm brutally honest, as long as there is no love interest this time, then I think I will thoroughly enjoy watching her alongside The Doctor. I just worry that if the show goes all romantic again then I'll just lose interest. After all, it isn't a love story is it?! Well, that's not why I watch anyway.

So if somebody came to ask me what I would rate it out of 10, I would have to give it a 7. Great acting, some impressive CGI and a strong storyline but far too short if you ask me. But perhaps I should increase the mark to 8 - after all, it's good to leave the audience wanting more - isn't it?!

Cloak and Dagger.
My posts seem to be getting more and more suspicious everytime I write something! I assure you, no cults are involved.

I must tell you of an event that occurred recently because as a blogger, I feel it is my duty. Indeed, I feel I have an obligation to tell the world.

There was an attempt to curtail my civil liberties. Obviously I do not intend to allow this. This country is (more or less) a free country where I have the right to conduct my life how I see fit. If this breaks any laws or other rules, then the appropriate democratic procedure should be followed.

I further feel I have a right to live without fear and without threat of punishment when I have broken no laws.

Erm, due to the vague nature of this post I have just realised that this sounds extremely suspect. Unfortunately, I probably would be breaking laws if I gave any further detail. It's like when the media say that they have found something but have been banned from telling anyone exactly what it is they have found.

And so the details of this, along with the 2 other matters I want to share, will have to wait. The original two matters contain good news in case you were wondering. If you have my email address, then I will gladly tell you in confidence.

Late Night Tales of the Unexpected.
Yes, the unexpected happened this evening.

After 2 weeks of not being able to go to choir practice, I finally turn up and the normal rehersal room is completely empty. Well, I say completely, there was the piano and some chairs, but no people. So I drove home.

I also found where the local radio station is broadcast from and actually saw one of the presenters working away in the studio.

I have two big stories at the moment but they need to be kept quiet. I hate keeping secrets, so I thought it only proper if I told you I was keeping secrets even if I don't tell you. I do realise this may drive some people to the brink of insanity with curiosity - but you'll just have to wait won't you.

Hehe.

Well I'm off to bed now. Night night all x

Mothers' Day.
What an emotinal weekend it has been. I managed to lose control of my emotions (if they were ever under my control in the first place). Lets start at the beginning.

There is a man I have been sitting next to at work for the past few months. He has provided stimulating conversation and entertainment - not just for me, but for the whole office (if not the entire company). Well, he has decided that he has had enough and has quit his job.

I was suprised at how upset I felt - after all, I've only known him a few months, others have known him for years. So when it came to his leaving do, I didn't feel I had the right to be upset or the right to talk or do anything. I wanted to tell him how I'd miss his company but feared it wouldn't be received as honest.

As a compromise I allowed myself to stick around with a few of the 'hardcore' stayer outers. This was all going very well until we went to a particular bar. I have made a mental note not to go in there again but no doubt I will forget in a few weeks time.

Lets just say (as I'd rather not go into details) that fate decided to try and take advantage of my emotinal mood that day. So I just got up and left. Fast. Shaking. Probably pale as a sheet and sweating. The world had kind of gone fuzzy as my brain steered me out of the building and into my car (note that I had been drinking coke so I may have been high on caffeine). I felt so rude but I could not stand being in that building any longer. Through no fault of the people I was with.

When I got home I felt so rude - I felt such a mess. I cried for a bit, texted one of the people who was there to apologise for me running off and tried to relax / distract myself.

So then we got to yesterday. That was a bit of an emotinal disappointment too. And now we're on today.

Today, Mother's Day. Another marketing exploitation of love. I don't need a special day to tell the people I love that I love them. If I did then why don't they have "Friend Day" too? That way I could get cards for the male and female friends to say thanks for being my friend without looking like some emotionally unstable fruitcake.

But of course, if you don't get a card there'll be hell to pay. Just my luck then that I missed the postman and now the card will arrive late.

Then there's a few stresses at work at the mo - don't ask as I can't tell you. I'm glad I have holiday booked for soon though.

When I have a rough patch like this, I am always reminded of what one suprisingly-terrifying-for-her-age woman said to me once in that tone of voice that goes straight to your inner child. She said something along the lines f "some people have their bad luck spread out, some get it all at once now shut up and get on with your work".

Anyway, I shouldn't just come on here to moan - though I have to admit, it does help me to put things into perspective.

I do, in fact, have other things, less whiney things, to say. I have just finished reading a book by Mark Thomas called "As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandella". It was about the arms trade and I found it very interesting. I wouldn't say I disagreed with anything he said, but some things were a little lacking in substance here or there. But on the whole, it was enlightening. It was also rather scary just how easily front companies can be set up and trading in arms to 'dodgy' countries can be carried out. So thanks for bringing this to my attention Mark.

And on that note I shall depart. I am afraid I have run out of energy. Take care all x