Thursday 28 February 2013

Library love

There was a definite need to escape out of one library. But I don't think there will ever be a need to escape from my new library.

The picture that started it all:

And the finished product as designed and built by Wavey:

The man built me my own library. What a dude!

 

Thursday 21 February 2013

Oil and rhinestones and things that go bump in the night

I've been spending some quality time sat in front of the tv this week. These are just three shows that I am loving without any shame whatsoever! 

Dallas
Yep it's trashy and everyone has had some serious plastic surgery done but I really don't care, I love it! They're all so vicious and evil and backstabbing and that's just the first five minutes. Every week there's oil sagas, children sagas, girl vs boy sagas, which girl is hotter sagas, basically it's one big saga with some cowboy hats and horses thrown in for good measure! When I was a wee Dizz my ma used to religiously watch Dallas (the original version) every single week. She would have a friend round to watch it together and they would drink Lambrusco (oh yes they knew how to live back then...) and then my pops would come home from wherever he'd been with fish and chips for them and they'd stay up eating and drinking late into the evening. In some weird way I get complete comfort from watching Dallas. It's like being that wee Dizz again and watching the grown ups from the stairs. 

Nashville
If you can get past the country music (I basically close my ears) this is well worth a watch. I've only seen two episodes so far but in a similar vein to Dallas there's lots of bitching and backstabbing happening, older established star versus up and coming princess...or is she? There's definitely something dark and dreary lurking in the background that you just know will come out soon and effect her future career. Will old and jaded star's guitarist change camps to the up and coming tootsie? Will the newly discovered blondie sack her washout of a boyfriend and take up with the cowboy hat, fringe wearing cutie? So much to look forward to! And in all seriousness, this was written by Callie Khouri who wrote Thelma and Louise so it has good credentials... 

666 Park Avenue
I'm not normally one for creepy stuff and I'm glad I recorded this and watched it in the cold light of day cos ooooh it was creepy and a smidge alarming. Freaky lifts that trap people in their banging doors (that's me taking the stairs if I'm ever in an old building in NYC), walls that bulge and moan and open up with loud white flashing and slurp people up, dirty feet even though it was supposedly all a dream - eek! Tizz is also watching this so we can compare how frightened we are as the series progresses. 

I think these might qualify as "guilty pleasure" tv programmes but in the same way that I occasionally enjoy potato waffles with baked beans and a fried egg on the top (so dirty but oh.so.good), I shall lap up my trash tv and love it so.

Tuesday 19 February 2013

DWTK

Just when I think I'm doing okay at this student-ing lark something happens to put me in place and clarify that yep, I'm old. We were working on this presentation today (group work - don't even go there!) and the plan was to email it to us all so that we can continue the work etc. In the email was three letters: PFA. I know this probably makes me really dim but I've never seen this before so I had to look it up on the interwebby. The first meaning is apparently Pulled From Ass...woah! I know it's the first time we've done this but that seems a bit harsh. No wait, second meaning Please Find Attached. Ah. Lightbulb moment. Oh dear...

Sunday 17 February 2013

Climbing the ladder

Progress is steady in the study / library. Staining the wood takes forever with each piece needing 3 coats on each side, it can literally take all day. But I am so effin chuffed with it, I can't wait to see them when they're all fully done. Billy bookcase my a*$", a Wavey bookcase is sooooo much better! 



 

Wednesday 13 February 2013

Schedules and geekery

Some people are born to lead and some people prefer to follow. In an ideal world I would like to be more one than the other but for the moment I'm happy to settle for being a follower. I follow my new timetable - I have to really as it seems to change on a daily basis! I don't follow everything like a sheep but I definitely respond well to tasks and schedules. Take today for example. I got up with the intention of following the schedule I'd set for myself which would follow this pattern: stain a shelf with woodstain, wait an hour, stain it again, wait an hour, and so on until each side of each shelf has been covered with 3 coats of woodstain. It's an endless task! 

In the meantime, those hours in between I've been quite the student and have been doing some background reading. This is a definite first for me. In the past I've been very much the do all the reading two days before the assignment is due in type person but this time I'm determined to be different. From the reading I discovered several things:
  • First of all, despite my resistance, it turns out I am a geek
  • Second, that the 2 books I have read on e-commerce clearly demonstrate why Amazon are so hugely successful - they literally tick every box from these how to guides
  • Thirdly, I am a diagram girl. Seriously, if there's chance for me to draw a little diagram to illustrate my point I will so do it
  • Lastly, when it's snowing outside there can never be enough cups of tea 

Saturday 9 February 2013

Elbows at the ready

I had a bit of time to kill yesterday before meeting my ladies for lunch but wanted to avoid going into places that would involve spending lots of money (in other words, stay away from Accessorize). Always a trusty alternative I decided to hit the charidee shops of Boro for a mooch around. Yowsers it was vicious! I'm used to the gentle charidees of Norton where people are polite and move around quietly admiring the goods on display. In the three shops that I went into yesterday there was heckling and goading of the staff, there was serious elbowing out of the way in case I wanted to look at that top that she was determined she was having, someone else literally got pushed out of the way when one woman went for a purse, and every single shop was heaving and bustling - I seriously did have to have my elbows at the ready to get a look at anything. Sheesheroonie! I was rather alarmed.

Turned out to be well worth the alarming experience though as I snaffled myself a rather fantastic handbag that I plan on using at the wedding I am attending this year:

I have no idea what the outfit will be or what colour but I am seriously hearting this bag. It even still has the strap inside which is always good and was a bargainous fiver. In my head I'm seeing a rather fabulous suit with 3/4 sleeves and wide flared trousers...it's questionable if I will actually find said fabulous outfit as I always set my heart on something and then can seldom find what I'm looking for, but at least I have my fantastic handbag.
 

Wednesday 6 February 2013

Adjusting

I think it was Friday afternoon at about half past three that my new life actually hit me. I had one email in my inbox, my homespace was completely cleared, and I was essentially staring at a blank computer screen literally counting down the minutes until 4pm when I could leave the building for the last time as an employee. I remember texting Fizz with how many minutes I had left and getting a comforting LOL back. Shortly after the first sip of an ice cold Corona sat round a table with my friends was just the beginning of a very lovely evening, low key, laughing and talking about nothing in particular, it was just what was needed.

When Monday rolled around I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Sure enough, sat eating my breakfast and realising that I was no longer an employee of anywhere felt very strange indeed. It's hard to put into words really as it's a combination of so many emotions, none of them bad I hasten to add, just different. 

In truth I've been a bit of a busy bee. Determined not to fall into the instant student mode of sleeping late and dossing about (no matter how tempting that might be) I've been up and about from about half 7. Yes I've started each day with some tv but I don't think I'm alone in that. I've washed, cleaned, ironed, tidied up a storm. It's amazing how much you can achieve around the house when you're not at work. All those little jobs that you never seem to have time to do, just scratching the surface of keeping the place presentable to visitors...but I tell you what, it is deadly boring. I don't mean anything horrible in what I say but I genuinely don't know how people do the stay at home thing all the time. I would be demented!

I think the biggest thing to adjust to is the lack of people. I've not been a hermit, I've been out and about in the village, buying things, collecting things, answering the door to various delivery people (definitely a bonus, no huge queue across the carpark of the post office - whoop!) but it's not the same as just being able to strike up a conversation across a desk. You might have guessed somewhat by the very nature of a blog but I'm a chatty person. I love to chit the chat. And I can get on with work and still do that chat thing. Not constantly but you know, every now and then. I've been desperate for Wavey to get home each night so that I can start chatting about what he's done, what I've done, yay to the chatting! 

Tomorrow is the first day of my official student life. I have two days of inductions before finding out my timetable and what the next year or so holds. Definitely excited. Also nervous. But oh so ready.

Tuesday 5 February 2013

Funny or sinister?

Yesterday I opened the curtains to something truly odd. A gnome. Playing football. On the roof of the house next door. I can't decide if it's funny or a touch sinister. How did it even get there...?

 

Sunday 3 February 2013

Mouth wide open

Watched two things on the giant tv over the weekend that literally left us with mouths wide open. The first was a Storyville documentary called The Queen of Versailles  I wasn't really sure what it was fully about as just read a brief line or two but it sounded interesting so I recorded it. Oh my word, it was utterly fascinating and horrifying and gawp-inducing all at the same time. I've just done a quick internetty search to find out a bit more about it and was again open-mouthed to read that David Siegel is now sueing the film-maker Lauren Greenfield, claiming that he didn't give permission for some scenes. Blimey. If you didn't get a chance to see it I would highly recommend watching it. Fascinating doesn't even begin to cover it. 

Next up was David Attenborough's Africa. There's no other way to say it really, David Attenborough is just brilliant. This series has been breathtaking and the stunning pictures look even more amazing when your tv is big and you've got HD. I thought my favourite bit was going to be the butterflies until the Springbok started pronking:

Booooiiiiiiiiiiiingggggggggg!

Giant tv - we salute you!