“Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time.”

"And there's nowt that I can bid ye
But that peace and love gan with ye
Never mind wherever call the fates
Away from Hexhamshire"


Post 600! Can you believe it? I'm off to bed with a terrible headache (is there really any other kind?) and a 13 hour shift commencing in 7 hours - nighty night!



“Whenever I think of the past, it brings back so many memories.” - Steven Wright

“So I rang up a local building firm, I said 'I want a skip outside my house.' He said 'I'm not stopping you.'”

"Leaving me to spend my lonely nights
With dreams of yesterday
Summer kisses, Winter tears"

Blimey, I am so very tired! I came in from work a little after nine, and fell asleep in front of the computer , until just few moments ago.

I'm really sad that that trip abroad next week won't happen, I could really do with something actually happening to me. I've looked at UK alternatives, but March in the UK hardly compares with March in Nevada does it?
Meanwhile back at work, I actually volunteered to go to another ward for a few weeks . But wait! despite my continual protestations against such an eventuality transpiring, I reasoned that it can act somewhat like a fire break against future movements. At the very least when I get back, I'll be immune to the random daily movements my ward seems to suffer, at least for a while. I only hope I don't end up being stuck there, as in the past such short term transfers have ended up a much more permanent arrangement.

According the visit counter over there, I've had 20,000 visitors! I actually put that counter in after about a year, so it might be a few more, but since it logs my own visits too, it probably leaves about 9 unaccounted for! (only joking! it's more like 11)

“It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience.” - Julius Caesar

"Do you have Soul?""That all depends".

"If you are looking for disappointment
You can find it around any corner"

Quite some time has passed eh? Is there a good reason for this? Well, er, no, just apathy mixed with a dash of laziness, and a whole mess of 'what's the point?'.
but here goes ;

First It looked like something was going to happen to me there for a minute, but in an attempt to be completely upfront about what I like to call 'my personality' I may have taken good first impressions to a new all time low, or bad first impressions to an all time high , you decide!
Nothing ventured eh? I shall remain beguilingly vague on the matter.
Amazingly I actually spent a big part of the week planning what seemed like a bargain holiday next week to, of all places - Las Vegas! (yes you read that correctly!).
However despite all my planning the bargain price had blinded me to one fact, a thirty hour travelling time (that's thirty there and another thirty back, so I suppose that's actually sixty- duh!).
Even though I'm travel starved, I just couldn't face a twelve hour overnight wait at JFK (that sounds pretty cosmopolitan doesn't it?), amongst other waiting highlights, so I'm simply not going. A more reasonable time of 17 hours was later found but it was 50% more pounds, and I simply can't afford it.
I always recall a Viz 'top tip' from about 20 years ago - "half the fun is planning the holiday, so this year I'm planning two, and staying at home".

I woke up a few days ago with a mouthful of cold sores (which means I'm tired or stressed, or more likely both). To be honest I looked like the winner of a cheese on toast marathon. thankfully they are almost gone. Now why did I feel the need to write that down eh?

what a terrible trailer for such a great film!

"Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?" (yes I watched 'High Fidelity' tonight)

“Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing”

"I'm afraid sometimes you'll play lonely games too, games you can't win because you'll play against you"

"They come on like they're peaceful
But inside they're so uptight
They trip through their day
And waste all their thoughts at night"


Well here I am, and once again it's not for the content, more the illusion of sharing. It's after midnight, I don't want to go to bed yet, I'm relatively sober, but something feels comforting about visiting the old blog tonight. Nothing continues to happen.

The highlight of my week thus far has been watching the last few episodes of True Blood in one sitting. Like all beloved entertainment, we want it all at once, even though we know it will be months before there's anything new. Only 7 months until season 3 ! And whilst in a TV frame of mind, this weeks 'House' was an interesting failure. I'm all for format busting, but 45 minutes of storyless bureaucracy (it was a Cuddy-centric episode) is hardly riveting, unlike last years Wilson episode (and that's not me being sexist).

The Vancouver Olympics start tomorrow, and In an alternate universe Billie and myself would be attending. Once upon a time that was actually true, but now long forgotten. It's half term next week to boot ;“The best laid schemes o' mice and men Gang aft a-gley; And leave us naught but grief and pain For promised joy”
Be seeing you,
squeak, squeak, squeak...

“It takes only one drink to get me drunk. The trouble is, I can't remember if it's the thirteenth or the fourteenth.” - George Burns

“One always speaks badly when one has nothing to say” - Voltaire

"I got the message and the message is clear,
I really really really really wish you were here"

Well here's a thing, I had a nice day! Billie stayed last night. we had a pleasant trip t' MetroCentre where neither of us bought anything, although an emergency stop at Sainburys did yield an excellent Northern Soul Box Set for me (CDs are of course my ongoing addiction). The good part (at least for me) is that since Billie is currently grounded for misdemeanours, she consequently had nowhere to go the following day, we slobbed around watching TV, generally doing nothing much, which I really enjoyed.

So there you go, I had a pleasant day with my Daughter, and only now as bedtime approaches and the darkness of midnight begins to slide its ever comfortable arms around me, do I find my mind wandering to its old concerns and hang-ups. But at least I know I'm still capable of feeling happy, somewhere deep deep down...

(a cover of a track from one of my all time favourite movies... any guesses philistines?)

“I always knew looking back on my tears would bring me laughter, but I never knew looking back on my laughter would make me cry.” - Cat Stevens

“Nothing helps a bad mood like spreading it around.”

"It's such a sad old feeling
the fields are soft and green
it's memories that I'm stealing
but you're innocent when you dream"

Well fret ye not, here I am again, not quite so suicidal as last time, not quite. I'm only temporary buoyant as my days off loom, well you know the routine.
I've never had quite as many compliments like ever, as since my recent terrible haircut. The fact that so many people like it only makes me hate it more and want to grow it long again. However I think I'll eschew the Robinson Crusoe look of long hair and full beard I've been sporting for the past 20 months or so. I may have been scaring small children and old ladies, but I've been to depressed and preoccupied to notice.
I watched the Season 6 opener of 'Lost' tonight and it was like welcoming back an old and sadly missed friend. It didn't half cheer me up, well at least for a moment.

I'm half way through season 2 of 'True Blood' and loving it. Michelle Forbes has been a revelation, She was scary in Battlestar Galactica, but is almost magnetic here, I do hope the resolution doesn't disappoint!
However I only wish I could bring myself to watch the new series of 'Caprica' but anyone who's read more than a couple of posts here will know my silly reasons I can't/won't.

My meagre central heating is struggling to combat the cold weather. I'm sleeping in pyjamas, dressing gown and under a 13 and 15 tog pair of quilts ( I guess that makes 28?). When I'm watching TV downstairs it's from beneath blankets, and surely it's only a matter of time before I'm having to break ice on the bath. Is this any way for a mature geezer of my ilk to live?

Be seeing you, I expect...

“I like these cold, gray winter days. Days like these let you savor a bad mood.” - Bill Watterson