Nothing (much) To Report

1.53: I really want to sleep. I ache all over, my eyes hurt, along with my head – a product of sitting crossed legged and hunched over this laptop with near constant staring at the screen, coupled with one too many late nights, (plus a little vodka earlier this evening) but I’m not allowed to slip into blissful, restful slumber.

OK, it’s a Saturday night, plenty of people are out drinking, dancing, staggering around clubs and town centres, snogging (and more) strangers, and probably hugging toilet bowls, but I doubt any normal considerate humans are bashing (or something?!) bricks about, dragging spades across concrete and generally carrying on like it’s 2 in the afternoon on a Monday (for example).

It’s next-door you see. They’ve been constructing a monstrosity of a shed for some time now, usually at inappropriate times. Tonight the geezer actually doing the work, an assumed (by us) lodger, has some mates round. Whether they’re helping him is debatable. They’re certainly helping in raising the noise levels, shouting and laughing as though they’re in the middle of nowhere. I have ear plugs in but I can still hear everything. Oh and then there’s the music: rap on the whole, with the odd soul number, with a little Bob Marley earlier on at around midnight. I think most of this output is thanks to gfm, (that’s giving my location away a little) as that’s the ident I keep hearing in-between the tracks and the rather shouty DJ. Every so often it goes quiet and I get my hopes up that they’re about to call it a night with the labouring and drinking and guffawing, but alas, it hasn’t happened yet. Obviously, otherwise it’s unlikely I’d be writing this.

If I had a loaded gun right now, I’d definitely use it. Unfortunately they’d probably see me before I could take one of them out, or the radio, as my bedroom window overlooks their back yard, one of the reasons why I suffer more with the noise pollution (and frequent air pollution thanks to the lodger revving up his bike for far longer than necessary) then anyone else in this house. I also would be thwarted, shortly followed by being arrested, due to the 1000 watt (I’m guessing) light they have conveniently pointing in the general direction of my window. An anti-tank missile might be better, but that would probably be a suicidal course of action to take, due the close proximity.

Wait! No surely not? Is it true? Has it ended? Can I finally get some sleep?
No, they’re still there. Bastards.

2.27: And now I can smell smoke, so they've started the bonfire up again!

I debated for quite a while with myself about whether to pick up the laptop or not, glad I did. Means I’ve written about something that isn’t connected to weddings; something slightly readable, after some work/thinking; I won’t spend the rest of the night unable to sleep due to thinking about writing this only to completely forget everything in the morning, as I usually do.

2.36: Well, bugger I!
It’s all stopped!
No light, no music, no blokey-type sounds. At last!

2.42: Completely wrong. The music does seem to quietened down at least, but the cement mixer is going now.
When will this end?
Can I knock myself out?
Should've drunk more vodka, or stayed on IRC for longer.

2.58: Really tired now, so I'm gonna stick a pillow over my head and try again.
Goodnight.

3.11: Oh, crap. The shouty, sweary rap "music" has restarted. I shall shortly be crying, and very grumpy tomorrow in the morning afternoon.

OK. Slightly addicted to this laptop marlarky. It's all going to be ok so long as I stay away from any e-stores.

I'm currently on IRC, for the first time ever! Via ChatZilla, another lovely Firefox extension, no problems to report. Not that anyone would care about a report I'd written. Anyway…

Feel I may come across as a teeny bit of a stalker to a couple of fellow bloggers (I'm not kidding myself in thinking I'm anywhere near the same league of blogdom as either of them). I'm doing my best not to come across as an idiot/weirdo/prat/stalker, and I think I'm mostly succeeding. It's just the odd, completely out-of-place comment that's likely to cause these people to never speak to me again. Oh well, I always have the option of changing the nickname! incey_wincey btw, should anyone wish to know.

Last night, I sat up til the wee smalls watching an "acquired" video or two on this beautiful* piece of technology. Nothing naughty, nowt rude. Old Penn & Teller shows, if you must know.

I've spent the vast majority of today (Friday) crouched over it (I know, not a good idea, spines can only take so much crunching). It's been lovely to read emails and chat on MSN without having to put up with the droning shite that my brother insists on calling music. And his smoking, coughing, wheezing, drinking lager, farts, general little brother annoyances.

My eyes hurt, the finger is still numb, I need to pee (ooh, personal info!), I really need to quench my thirst, and I should to go bed. Yup, addicted.

*It's only beautiful in the technological sense. Looks-wise I doubt it would win any prizes. Even ones in the pug-ugly category.

Extra; added a few minutes after original post:
This'll be non-news to regular laptopers, but I've just discovered how scroll pages with the mousepad thingy. How sad. Why read manuals when one experiences moments of pure joy like that?!

Here I am, tapping away on a keyboard, well past my bedtime. Not exactly true, I would normally be in my bed by now, just not necessarily asleep. As it happens, I’m sat on/in my very comfortable bed. This is possibly the real reason for purchasing a pointless bit of kit like a laptop (pointless in my life): I get spend even more time in bed!

I few things I've learnt about myself, and the world at large, in the last 6 or so hours:

• Broadband has ruined me; I’m now utterly impatient when it comes to download/upload times. Especially when one has recently been enjoying the benefits of a 4Mb upgrade.
• Ditto on speedy processors.
• An indoor tv aerial and a wireless home network aren’t good buddies. The tv reception gets particularly aggrieved at the intrusion.
• I really like mice, the computer peripheral sort.
• The back of my index finger on my right hand appears to be going numb, I'm quitely wondering why.
• How Lost, season 1, ends.
• Some shoes just aren’t meant to be dyed.
• Shoes before frock risks neck breaking and a ripped frock; frock before shoes is an impossibility.
• I collect just as much crap on a computer as I do in real life. I’m too good at it in fact; an expert crap collector. (Note to self: stop it!!)

Who've thought that skinning chicken quarters could be therapeutic?

Yet another night of restlessness. I think this could be the start of another regular-ish period of insomnia; it seems to come ever three months or so. Really pleasing considering I'd be getting up early; eight am is early for me. I'm not big on mornings, they bring daylight and hang-overs. Removing yourself from an almost comfortable spot to spend possibly hours waiting for a delivery isn't what I'd call enjoyable. Even if it means there'll be a new bit of kit to faff about with.

In the middle of Nigella Bites (UKTV Food), the phone rings. A very distant voice confirms that I am the person they wish to speak to and proceeds to inform me the following, more or less: Their computer's were 'down' yesterday, thus no deliveries were processed to be set out today. They'll try to get the order sorted night for delivery tomorrow.

Fan-bloody-tastic.

Least I got a phone call I suppose. Tomorrow heralds another dress fitting, @2.30pm. My parents won't in the house at the same time either. Who'd like to wager that the time the house is bereft of occupants, the courier will show to pound/tap on the front door?

The wireless mouse still isn't working either.
Shame I can't polish off the bottle of vodka that's lurking in my room tonight.

OK, so I'm not in agony, nor has something "very bad" happened to someone I know, it's just been one slightly shitting moment to the next since I got up. Actually it started before I even got up. To say I slept last night would be a big fat lie. There was non-sleep, with much tossing and turning. Feeling totally un-refreshed and quite grumpy, I arose with a pounding headache. Oh, the joy.

A slightly positive note, the wireless keyboard/mouse combo that I'd bought via eBay was sat on the table, instead of a little note from the courier saying "Sorry, we couldn't deliver this. You were out"; which is subtext for: "We knocked very quietly and then we didn't/couldn't wait long enough for anyone to answer the door."

With one strong mug of coffee in hand I decided to tackle the installation of the new input devices. In my eagerness, I didn't pay as close attention to the instructions as perhaps I should have. Batteries all in place, USB cable plugged in (I need a USB hub!), drivers installed, neither bit of kit works. Bumflaps. Reboot the pc, keyboard works, mouse works for 5 seconds then nothing. Arse biscuits. After another 10 or so minutes of restarting and checking cables/batteries, a sudden thought creeps into view in my tired brain. The batteries in the mouse are rechargeable, thus they need charging up BEFORE use. D'oh! My only defense is that I am knackered.

So the new joy of a keyboard that isn't constricted about where I put it on the desk, (or my lap!) has been marred by that fact that my external hard drive, containing all my music, has ceased being recognized by the pc. Mightly arse biscuiting-bumflaps.

I'm borrowing some of the 300GB hard drive my brother recently added to his own pc to try to restore matters. But the last hour of copying the entire contents of the external HD may have been in vain as I've just remembered that the only way I solved this problem before was to re-install Windows. (I can't even type what I'm now uttering!)

Tomorrow's scheduled delivery will be occurring between the hours of nine am and five pm. I can't wait for the joyous sobbing that will bring. But will it be due to great happiness, or total about-to-throw-this-heap-of-junk-out-of-the-window despair.

I like Tuesdays.

They're my new favourite day.

My brand spanking new laptop arrives (hopefully) on Tuesday.

I am, however, required to hang about the house all day, waiting. But as I normally do this, I don't think I'm going to have that much of a problem.

-end of unimportant news-

I didn't escape the total Hen Night @Home experience. I was pretty much dragged out for the dinner, but resisted any attempts to presuade me to visit any of the hostelries of this not-so-fine city.

If I were to be ever asked where one should go for dinner, I wouldn't recommend were we ate. Nor would I like to pay a repeat visit to the place. Cheap and tasteless food, with cheap and nasty wine. A mighty waste of my £22. And I had to wear bunny ears throughout.

I probably wasn't at my best, if the truth be told. I'd spent Friday night (and some of Saturday morning) drowning in vodka. I had to ring myself out sufficiently for yet another dress fitting the next afternoon. My dress fits perfectly. I'm not on some stupid diet consisting of chocolate and ice cream which has caused me to drop 2 dress sizes since I first picked the dress, way back in September.

Sunday was whiled away listening to assorted metal complications and drinking Earl Grey. How amazingly fun.

(This was meant to be written & posted yesterday, but I got side tracked with arsing about with flickr.)

Oh, good god. It wasn't a dream; I didn't imagine it. It's all true. The laptop thing. Cos it was the one thing really missing in my life! (Yea, right!) I'll probably never know how I coped without one when I do lay my greasy hands on it. (Hands not actually greasy.)

In answer to .david's question, it looks a bit like the picture, I think. It's not a cool Apple one or even a Dell.

Specs:

• Mobile Centrino Intel Celeron-M Laptop.
• 1.4GHz processor, 60GB hard drive, 512MB RAM.
• 15.1in/38cm TFT screen.
• CD/DVD/CD-R/DVD-RW rewriter combo drive.
• Built-in wireless LAN card to connect to the internet wirelessly at "hot spots" (may require payment of access fees).
• Integrated speakers, built-in modem, three hours' battery life, Windows XP home edition.
• Carrying bag included, weighs 2.9kg.

Yes, I c'n'p'ed that lot. I won't know anything more until it's here before me.

This does mean the potential for waffling opportunities will greatly increase, so will the likelihood of an eBay or Amazon purchasing disaster whilst drunk. On the plus side, I'll be able to read anything I like from the comfort and privacy of my own bed.

I've caved in.
I've bought a laptop.
I may regret this.

As a side note: Wow, this Russian vodka is good.

I happen to consider a ScreenSelect unlimited subscription of £14.99/month the greatest way to throw away my money. Who needs to buy DVDs when one can rent them?

Going to the cinema to watch the latest blockbuster? Pah! Why sit in discomfort, be charged a fortune for popcorn and teeth-rotting cola when you can have the bliss of your own sofa, loo breaks to suit you and and near endless supply of tea, or beer, or whatever takes your fancy?

Or why bother trying to remember the plot twists of your favourite tv show when you can rent and watch entire series' in virtually one sitting? Should you have the luxury of that much free time.

I tend not to even bother watching the latest must-see American import on tv now, I just wait for the DVD collection to be released. Kinda handy if your access to Sky1 or Living, (for example) is severely restricted.

The latest set of three DVDs that popped thru the door recently included the first disc of season two of Spooks. There's only two episodes on this disc, disappointingly. I'd rather watch the drama than lots of 'extras', sorry, Special Features, although one or two of the behind-the-scenes mini documentaries tend to be interesting. I was oblivious to Spooks up till one night when I tuned into BBC1 thanks to nothing watchable being on (and yes, I was too lazy to turn off the tele and find something else to do) about slap bang in the middle of series two, and was hooked from there on in.

Episode two was particularly thought provoking and controversial. I wonder how many people scoffed at the thought of suicide bombers in this country at the time it aired? I have no idea of the amount fuss it kicked up, but I can image to wasn't praised to the heavens. One actor in the below mentioned SF, says that the people who were up in arms about the show hadn't actually seen it. Where have I heard that before?

In a Special Feature entitled Controversy, various production staff and actors talk about the episode in question. Writer Howard Bretton states that he wanted to “do a story about a good Muslim… A Muslim hero. And to put that into a dangerous al-Qaeda-like, militant Islamic activity.” He says he wanted “to brooch the terrifying subject of suicide bombing because it's obsessing our security services” but to put it into a classic good-verses-evil spy story.

Considering the current climate, I don't think anything in a similar vain has a hope in hell chance of being commissioned, by any broadcaster and I doubt that this particular episode will be shown again on a tv station any time in the near future. So go rent the DVD.