Hot Water

I've not minded the sun so much during the past week or so. The Sun I can deal with, it's whe it gets all hot, humid and theres a general feeling of muggyness in the air that I feel uncomfortable.

Like today, it was fairly warm this morning anyway but then it started to rain. Really rain. I'm talking super mega heavy kind of rain for ten minutes. We all thought it might help clear the air. It didn't, it just made things turn all very muggy and generally yuck(technical term), so we had to turn the Air con on again, even though it was all overcast and dull outside.

We're having some weird weather right now.

The company who owns british Gas has announced records profits today of nearly a billion pounds. The day after British gas raised prices by 35%. Someone so did not think the timing of announcing that price rise through.

It took longer then usual to get home tonight. I was feeling annoyed until I passed the accident that was causing the jam and could see someone getting put into the ambulance and then I couldn't feel annoyed after that. I was going to get home tonight. They probably weren't, if the state of their car was anything to go by.

Only one more day to the weekend. Yah! And it's also only 20 days until my Birthday. Yep the big 27 is fast approaching and I still have no idea what I want. Plus it's not longer to conference which I am looking forward too. Even if it looks like I'll be going on my own.

Anyway,

later folks,

Too clever for his own good

Owen appears to have learnt a new trick as Grumpy has now gone out three times leaving him in the kitchen with all the doors shut and when he's got home he's found him sitting on the settee in the Lounge looking rather pleased with himself. Yes Owen has figured out to open doors. Only the doors inside the house mind you not the front or back door fortuanately. Although if was able to work the locks that would be impressive.

The news is currently going nuts right now with the news that British Gas is putting gas prices up by 35% with immediate effect and electricity prices up by 9%. Coupled with the 15% increase in January as you can imagine People are not happy in the slightist. I think I'm going to have to buy some good jumpers for the winter.

Everybody is finding the new Pussy Cat Dolls song " I wanna grow up" extremely funny. There is a line in it which says " I wanna have groupies" however when they played it for the first time that's not what most people heard including the DJ's who were playing the song. People now know what the line is supposed to be but they can't help but hear what they heard the first time. Which means they descend into a fit of the giggles everytiem it's played. Mind you the PussyCat Dolls couldn't really be classed as a 'prim and proper' band anyway could they :-)

It was quite odd driving to work this morning. I got stuck in the first traffic jam I had been in for a long while but there didn't seem to be any reason for it. It just seemed to start and stop for no apparent reason whatsoever. Strange!

The top secret project is going well. Strangly enough I think writing a blog is actually helping with it as I'm finding it easier then I thought it would be. Of course saying that I've probably just fated myself but c'est la vie I guess.

We got a great bit of spam mail today. From someone claiming to represent Mr T and offering his services for advertistment. They even ended the email with " We pity the fool who doesn't take up this offer" For a bit of spam it was surprising well thought out.

It's also been a bit cooler today which I was totally fine with as it's been far too hot the past week or so. If it stays this temperature for the rest of the Summer I'll be more then happy.

later folks!

Getting better

The weather and by weather I mean heat has been much better today. In fact if it keeps to this kind of temperature all week I wouldn't mind in the slightist.

It was also a fairly good day at work too. Not too busy, but also not a case of having nothing to do. Just the right amount of work to get through the day without being rushed off my feet or bored.

Of course the downside to that is I have very little to write about today. Which as I've said before is a downside to trying to write a post a day . Some days you have lots of stuff to talk about and other days well you have nothing :-)

I'm spending the evening working on the top secret project. Which I'm sure by this point won't be have as interesting to you as you'd think it would be, but I'm still finding it fun.

Anyway,

later folks!

Its still too darn hot

Theres one thing right now which would make our house so great and that is Air conditioning as it's just too darn hoootttttttt.....................

Fortunately we were able to turn the AC on at work so it was nice and cool in the office but everytime you went outside it was like walking into a wall of hot air. I had to open all of the windows in the car and the sunroof and let the air ventilate for a few minutes before I could drive home this evening it's been that darn hot!

The Fan has gone from being a item of mystery to Owen to being his new favourite thing as whenever we turn it on we can't get hi mto shift from in front of it. But I suppose if I had that much fur in this sort of heat I wouldn't want to move from in front of a nice cool fan either!

The secret project is coming along nicely. But it has to remain top scret for now.

Asides from all that it's been a pretty quiet day.

and a hot one too :-)

later folks!

It ain't half hot

I was expecting it to be really hot today and I wasn't disappointing as it was so warm I seemed to be sweating as soon as I got up which didn't fill me with for confidence for how warm it would be when I put my suit on.

When I got to the chapel I had to remember to go and sit on the stand rather then find a seat in my usual place. The bishopric said that the ward seemed to be thin o nthe ground, but their still looked more then enough people in there to me. Our Home teacher came across to have a word before the start of sacrement to give me a couple of pieces of advice on speaking which was nice. Although one of the bishopric almost undid that by coming across and the very first thing he asked was " Nervous?". IT was also extremely hot up there on the stand and I could feel myself starting to sweat. However this wasn't all down to nerves. Oh no. No it was influenced quite significantly by the fact that someone had turned the heating on in the chapel. Yes you read that correctly in the middle of a heatwave somebody turned the freaking heating on!

Well all too soon it was my turn and the stand and for all the worry and preperation the time seemed to fly by and afterwards several people said they liked my talk so I guess I must have made some sense after all.

After church I got back to the car park and got into the car and had to immediately had to jump out as it was so hot! I was in Grumpys car so I was able to lean in open the windows and turn on the AC and get back in. At which point I had a look at the temperature gauge and it was a showing a whopping 46! Which explained why the car was like a oven. Fortunately it started to cool down relatively quickly once I started driving but only down to 35.

It was definately turning into a hot day.

In fact it got so hot we had to find our fan out to cool down. Owen didn't like it at all as he didn't know what to make of it and went to sit by Grumpy hiding behind his legs, but he kept putting his head out every coulple of moments to keep an eye on it. However he soon got used to it and seemed to appreciate it's benefits as he's been lying in front of it ever since!

I've just spent the afternoon not doing too much, it's been too hot for anything else.

If it's this hot tomorrow I hope we're going to turn on the AC at work otherwise I'm going to melt!

Anyway that's tomorrow. Yes It's Monday time to face another week of work and the challenges that will bring. Well on the plus side I will actually have some money next week and that's always nice. How long I keep the money is another matter entirely:-)

later folk!

The talk

Just in case any of you were interested I thought I'd share the text from the talk I gave today;

SPIRITUAL GIFTS

Good Morning Brothers and Sisters I have been asked to speak to you today about Spiritual Gifts.

According to the English dictionary a gift can be classified as either
1 : a notable capacity, talent, or endowment
2 : something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation
3 : the act, right, or power of giving

I’m sure that we are all familiar with receiving gifts and presents from others at Christmas time and on our Birthdays and we could all name the last gift we received in such manner. But are we familiar with the spiritual gifts each of us receive and indeed what they are?

Unlike presents we receive from others, Spiritual gifts are blessings or abilities given by God to us His children through the power of the Holy Ghost. These Gifts of the Spirit are given to us to help bless and benefit those of us who love the Lord and seek to keep His commandments. The Lord has many gifts that he desires to bestow upon us but in order to receive them we must live worthy life’s, by living the teachings of the church, by praying and by having faith that the gifts we receive are ones we need, whether that need is clear to us now or may become clear at some future point. Some times we may not even be aware of spiritual gifts that we have received and we must discover these gifts or talents that we have been given. After finding them we must then seek to develop and use them.

We are encouraged in (D&C 46:8). To "seek earnestly the best gifts, always remembering for what they are given" The scriptures teach of many gifts of the Spirit:

Moroni says that these gifts come from Christ, by the power of the Holy Ghost and the Sprit of Christ. So we should not underestimate or take lightly the gifts that we receive.

Elder Bruce R McCONKIE comments in his book “ Mormon Doctrine” that
“ Their purpose is to enlighten, encourage and edify the faithful so that they will inherit peace in this life and be guided toward eternal life in the world to come. Their presence is proof of the divinity of the Lord’s work; where they are not found, there the church and the kingdom of God is not”

So we know that spiritual gifts are important and that we should each be seeking the best ones available to us. From the writings of Paul, of Moroni and the revelations received by Joseph Smith we can gain a clearer understanding of spiritual gifts and how they operate.

In a talk in the November 1987 Ensign Elder Marvin J Ashton lists a few of these God given gifts, The Gift to Ponder, The Gift to Look to God for Direction, The Gift to Hear and Use the Small Voice, The Gift to Calm and The Gift to Care. After considering these gifts I began to see how true his statement was from this same talk that some gifts are not always evident or held in high esteem by the world but are nevertheless real, valuable and important.

The Gift to look to God for Direction is a good example of this. This is such a simple and obvious gift that is available to all, but in times of trial and when things seem their darkest do we make use of this gift? The blessings of spiritual comfort and blessing of knowing that if we look to our Savior Jesus Christ and endure to the end, eternal life and exaltation can be ours if we seek to develop this talent

It can be easy for any of us to loose our tempers sometimes, after all we are only Human, and some of us are able to easily calm ourselves. But how about those who are able to calm others, who can step into the middle of the deepest contention and bring peace to those around them. The Gift to Calm is described by Elder Ashton as a majestic gift, and it is. Peace is a tool of the saviour. Peace will bring love and love will bring eternal progression.

It amazes me sometimes to look around the chapel to see the different kinds of people that the gospel brings together. If it weren’t for the gospel would we all know each other or likely interact? Would we notice if others weren’t there or care. It’s unlikely, but that’s another part of the gospel we should be thankful for as we are surrounded by people who may be very different from us in personality and temperament, yet they have the gift to care. They notice and care if we are not at Church and seek us out to check we are okay and if there is anything they can do to help.

There are other gifts that are listed in the Scriptures, The Gift of Tongues, The gift of interpretation of Tongues, The gift of Translation, The gift of Wisdom, the gift of Knowledge, the Gift of Teaching Wisdom and Knowledge, the gift of healing, the Gift of Knowing that Jesus Christ of is the Son of God. The Gift of Faith. The List goes on, and the few gifts I have mentioned form only a small number of the total list of spiritual gifts that can be found in the scriptures. The Lord blesses us in many ways according to our faithfulness and our needs and the needs of those people we serve. Although we might have the same gift as another, it might affect our lives in very different ways depending on our own needs and circumstances.

Of all of the gifts that I have listed the one which struck me the most as I researched this talk is the Gift of Faith. In some ways it is less noteworthy then some of the other gifts I have listed. It seems like such a simple word but we live in a time where Faith is a rare commodity. Where Science promises answers to questions but these answers can seem to change on a daily basis. Where many are not willing to believe in anything they can not see with their own eyes. Faith is why we are here today at Church. We all need Faith because without it no other gift can be given. We are promised in Mormon 9:21 that
“Whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him”

We should always be working to increase our faith. Faith forms the bedrock in order for us to receive other gifts that the Lord may have for us. We need to use our gifts to strengthen our testimonies and to help each other and to help the Church move forward as we strive to help build up the Kingdom of God.

Priesthood blessings such as an ordination, patriarchal blessing, or a setting apart may reveal to us our specific gifts or talents. Magnifying our gifts and talents enables us to function more integrally within the body of the Church and avoid being like the slothful and unwise servant in the parable of the talents. But we should remember that our gifts of the Spirit are special and Sacred and as it states in Doctrines and Covenants 84:73

“, “A commandment I give unto them, that they shall not boast themselves of these things, neither speak them before the world; for these things are given unto you for your profit and for salvation”

We must take care never to misuse spiritual gifts. As the Prophet Joseph Smith taught, when spiritual gifts “are applied to that which God does not intend, they prove an injury, a snare and a curse instead of a blessing

In Doctrine and Covenants 46: verses 8 -12 it reads;
“And again, verily I say unto you, I would that ye should always remember, and always retain in your minds what those gifts are, that are given unto the church.
“For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God.
“To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby” (verses 8–12). “

So we should all know that God blesses us with gifts. They may not be easily noticeable, they may not be as immediately gratifying as a gift we may receive wrapped in paper . We may not even realise how important and real they are but we should seek to discover our own gifts and develop them. They may not be easy to develop but we should persevere because as we develop them we can benefit ourselves. We can benefit others and in turn we can benefit from their gifts in ways which like the gifts themselves may not be noticeable at first but will be very important and real in the end.

In that sort of state of mind

I've been staring out of the window Of Grumpys office for the past few minutes as I've been contemplating writing todays post. I've been doing a lot of thinking today about things and I suppose the best way I can describe my state of mind right now is nervous. Nervous about my Talk tomorrow, nervous about the forthcoming YSA conference as it looks like I'll be going on my own, nervous that I'm loosing my place in the YSA, nervous that I've not got many friends at church and even less in Loughborough and nervous that I've seem to stop asking for help like I used to. I know that half of this is probably just my good old paranoria kicking back in full force but it' just been one of those days where everything I seem to have done to try and take my mind off things has only lead to me dwelling on stuff even more!

I don't know. I've really try to get this confidence thing sorted as I'm my own worst enemy sometimes as if I screw up nobody beats me down as badly as I do myself. I think I just let things get too me too much sometimes. I got that sorted at work, now I just have to try and do it at 'home'.

Grumpy had to take Owen to the vets this morning to get him microchipped. Owen has in turn seemed to be in a bit of a grump with him all day in turn, which I can understand because if somebody stuck a large needle in me I wouldn't be too happy about it either! Owen also seems ot have developed a fondness for playng with socks as he keeps nicking them from Grumpys laundry basket. On the plus side it does mean that for the first time ever Grumpy actually has any excuse if he can't find a pair of socks. He can just blame owen :-)

It's been another lovely hot day today so I've been able to wear shorts all day. Loughorough was also quiet when we went shopping. I think it's because it's the end of the month and people are getting low on cash. It will probably be a lot busier next week once people got paid.

I've just printed off the bulletins for tomorrow. I only got one announcement this week and that was details of a funeral, which isn't the nicer announcement to make. The two new Elders are giving Talks tomorrow but they had only been put on the agenda as " New Elder's talkx2" I emailed the Bishopric asking for their names and they emailed back saying they couldn't remember the names and said I should call them. That would have been a great phone call wouldn't it
" Hi Elders, I know you were asked to talk but neither I or the Bishopric can remember your names, can you tell me what they are?"

Fortunately Engineseer spoke to the Elders while I was talking to him online and he was able to get their names, wthout us having to mention that the Bishopric couldn't remember.

Speaking of Church that remids me, we'll probably be getting a viit from the Home teachers tomorrow as it's the end of the Month. They like to come round on Sundays for some reason. Whether or not Engineseer and I will be able to go hometeaching before the end of the month is another matter as we've only just been given our hometeaching list. I guess the EQ President must operate on MMT.

Anyway, wish me luck for tomorrow and think good thoughts.

later folks!

The wonders of technology

It was great today at work. Not because of any work I had to do, or any samples that may have turned up or anything shiny I managed to blag oh no. It was because they actually turned the air conditioning on and left it on all day. Ahhh, Bliss.

It was also nice as because it's Friday the traffic is even lighter in the morning and in the evening ( I don't know about mid day though :-) So I was actually on most of the roads actually get up to the speed limit, which in some places made a nice change as well.

We did get something nice and shiny arrive at work today though. We're doing a new range of A2 posters which are brillent because you don't see sometimes just how much detail goes into the artwork on some of our books once their shrunk down to, well book size. I would dearly love to get a couple of the posters actually except I don't have anywhere I can put them :-( Oh well, at least it saves me some money.

My talk, is finished. I think it makes sense and Grumpy and Engineseer seem to think it does too. Whether or not I will actually make sense when I try to give the talk on Sunday is another matter entirely. It might come across really clearly or might become totally incomprehensible when I realise I'm standing in front of the whole congregation and start babbling. Plus I get two people giving testimonys in front of me and Bro H is givign a talk after me! Eeekk!! Well I suppose it could be worse, Bro H could be giving a talk before me then I would be in real trouble.

I'm going to try and take things easy for Tonight and tomorrow, mainly so I can keep myself calm so I don't go and freak out about giving the talk and because ( and this is the main reason) it's nearly the end of the month and I have no money.

Oh well. I guess I'll be off to sit in the back garden and watch the sun set. Well either that or read a book.

Decisions, decisions :-)

later folks

Too darn hot

I don't know what it is about the English but we never seem to be satisfied with the weather. I nthe winter we moan if it doesn't snow, we moan if it does. We moan if it rains, we moan if it doesn't. We say we'd like nice sunny hot weather. We get it and spend our time moaning that it's too hot and we wish it could be cooler.

Yes as you may have guessed it's been a very hot day and like most people after spending weeks moaning about rain I start moaning that we actually get Sun and it's warm. Mind you I probably wouldn't have minded as much if it was the weekend, but c'est la vie I guess.

We seem to have finally solved the problem of getting Owen to stay quiet through the night. We've found if we leave the doors open so he can wander through the House he's much happier as he can come upstairs where we are and he hasn't gnawed the kitchen door since. Which has helped cheer Grumpy up.

Only one more day to go until the weekend. And only two more days to go until I have to give my talk. Eeekk! I'm really not looking forward to doing this. I don't know what it is but I get really nervous whenever I have to get up there.

It also seems that I'm goign to conference by myself as Engineseer isn't going and I've heard nothing from Fraggle. Oh well, maybe this will help me meet some new people. I hope!

anyway that's all for now. I've got to help grump with some sorta techy things.

later folks!

It's sticking around

Well summer seems to have decided to stick around for a little while as it got hot today. Really, really hot. In fact so hot we actually turned the Air conditioning on at work. Which is actually a first for this summer. Even if we are half way through it.

I did have problems getting to work this morning as the neighbours we're having a skip delivered, so the large lorry dropping that off plus the two huge builders vans basically bocked the road so I couldn't get out. Fortuantely they only delayed me by ten minutes which wasn't so bad as it's the summer traffic is very light. If it had been school time it might have been a very different matter.

In the news today that bloke and his wife who gaked his suicide have been sent to jail for six years each. The wife tried to claim that it was very hard lying to her Sons and she didn't know how to tell them. Well I suppose she could have started with " By the way Dad's not dead" Just a thought.

Anyway I'm having a easy night tonight by just doing some painting and reading. I'm not really in a mood to do anything else.

That might sound lazy I know but at least I'm honest about it :-)

later folks!

It's still summer

I'm currently sitting in Grumpys office with a view out of the window as I sit here and type this. It has been yet another beautiful day with lots of Sunshine and clear blue skies. It seems that it is actually Summer, believe it or not. It's also been nice as the temperature has been very mid range as it were. Not too hot and not too cold. and now I sound like someone out of the Three bears.

Anyway, what's also made the day good is that several super markets decided to do big cuts in petrol so the petrol stations had to follow suit otherwise they knew people would be going to the supermarkets instead. Case in point, the garage in Hathern was £1.19 this morning and on the way home £1.15! I like those sort of price cuts. Long may they continue.

The top secret project was work is now coming along nicely as I've actually been able to start it. More news on that when I say something!

I've managed to finish the first draft of my talk for Sunday. Whether or not it actually makes any sense is another matter entirely. Grumpys currently reading it through for me now.

We're still having problems with Owen overnight. He's now really shredded the kitchen door. We think we're going to have to get a new one as we don't want the glass to fall out and hurt him. As you can imagine Grumpy isn't impressed with that.

All the fun of havinga pet I guess :-)

later folks!

It's made it's mind up

The weather seems to have put the last few days of seeming to change it's mind every five minutes and actually stayed sunny all day today. Which made a nice change and a reminder that despite appearences we are actually in Summer.

Owen seems to be back sliding rather then continuing to get better. I have no idea of exactly what time it was that he started barking this morning but it was still dark at the time. In fact he made such a racket he eventually woke Grumpy up sometime around 5.30, who decided to get up and see to him because he was worried he was starting to bother the neighbours. Oh well it at least allowed me to go back to sleep for a couple of hours.

Quote of the day from work;
" She's either a spambot or seriousily unhinged"
Please don't ask!

For a Monday work was pretty good and quiet which is always good too as it allows me to get a lot more done. Hopefully it will last out for the rest of the week. ( I know, I know quite probably a vain hope but I am trying to be more optomistic these days.)

anyway,

later folks!

Still making it's mind up.

Althought it hasn't been as pronounced as it as yesterday the weather has continued to fail to make it's mind up tody as it's been switching from overcast to Sunny on what seems like a minute by minute basis.

Church was very much on the quiet side today. I'm guessing a lot of people are off on their Summer Holidays. I did almost get annoyed with one member who when I laid the bulletins out said he thought they were a bit late and I hadn't even moved out of earshot before I herd him start complaining to his wife over the fact that the innvocation and benediction were marked as TBC. He didn't mention however how I'm supposed to put the peoples information in, in advance when people are not asked/assigned until just before the start of sacrement mind you.

I actually got to Church quite early (for once) and as I was sitting in the chapel looking around one thought did strike me. I don't really know that many people there. The ones I do know I know quite well and I know a lot of the other people by sight and in some cases their 'last names' but that's about it. Which I know is really quite bad. And depressing in a way because with the YSA so thinned out now I could do with some more friends at Church. Not forgetting Social who I still don't know what to do there as she still doesn't seem to want to talk to me which is frustating because I miss talking to he and she seemed to stop talking to me initially over a 'slight' which I hadn't done. She asked for space from people and we gave it to her but ut's just gotten to a point now where I don't know if I can keep hanging on' to see if she decides she want's to start talking to us again. Argghhhh!! It's all so complicated. Why can't anything be simple anymore?

anyone?

Making your mind up

To say the weather hasn't been able to make it's mind up today would be a gross understatement. It seems to have been switching between Sunlight and heavy rain and I mean really, really heavy rain at the drop of a hat. As Grumpy and Owen found out this morning whilst out for a walk. Both of them were a bit soggy by the time they returned.

Loughborough was quite quiet this morning so we were able to get the shopping done fairly quickly even if due to us running out of a whole load of stuff at the same time it was hideously, hideously exspensive.

But C'est La vie I guess. At least we're well stocking now and it shouldn't be that exspensive again. At least I hope so :-)

Asides from that it was a pretty quiet afternoon. I spent a lot of time reading and doing some work on my talk and if I'm honest having a bit of a afternoon snooze too. Being woken up so early by Owen for so many days running was starting to catch up with me.

Well It's Sunday tomorrow. I had no announcements for it again. Although the announcements from last week still 'count' so at least it won't be blank. I suppose I should have expected I would keep having these problems especially after I explaing it to my Home teacher and he 'laughed'.

Oh well. I can but hope things will get better.

Later folks!

That Friday feeling

I'm pleased to report that Owen is still improving. He waited until 6.20am this morning before he started barking and thus woke me up. Hopefully if he keeps going at this rate he shouldn't wake me up before my alarm. That could be a slightly vain hope but I'm trying to be positive.

I also got a nice surprise when I stopped to get some petrol on the way into work. The price had gone down. That's right it had atually gone down. Only by one pence mind you but every little helps.

It was also a slightly strange day at work. I suppose the best way to describe it is that everybody had that 'Friday feeling', I'm sure you all know exactly what I mean.

At least I hope so as I have no idea how to explain it:-)

Well it's the weekend, time for the usual weekly shopping at Iceland tomorrow. I hope they haven't put anymore prices up. Things are exspensive enough right now as it is.

I finally have the first bits I need to start working on my 'top secret project' and no I still can't tell you what it is. But I will let you know as soon as I can.

Asides from that it seems like it's going to be a fairly quiet weekend which should hopefully help me with ym Talk for next Sunday. I'm having a bit of a mental block at the moment and I'm not getting very far with it. Here's hoping it disappears soon, otherwise I might be standing there with nothing to say for ten minutes!

anyway,

later folks!

Slowly and surely

Owen seems to be imprving, even if it is a bit slow as he waited till 5.45am before he started barking this morning. Grumpy is wondering if it's a combination of him being very nervous and not wanted to be left on his own and the fact it's light at that time of the morning and as far as he can see if he's up why isn't everybody? All I can hope at this point is that he will start to improve otherwise I'm going to need to go to bed a lot earlier as I don't think I can keep going getting woken up that early every morning.

Grumpy's fine about it of course. Mainly as once he takes his hearing aids out he can't hear a thing :-)

In the news today, well it seems like a fairly even spilt between the media going on about how all our energy prices are going to go through the roof and the latest outfits certain celebrities are wearing. Interesting insight into what we consider important issues these days isn't it?

Asides from all that, it's just been another, same old, same old day.

boring I know,

oh well.

It's been yet another long day

The day started a awful lot earlier then I wanted it too this morning as Owen decided to start barking his head off at around 5am. Of course Grumpy can't hear him so it only bothers muggins here.

When I went downstairs for breakfast I discovered that dispite Grumpys attempts at protecting the Kitchen door by putting a large heavy mat in front of it, Owen had managed to work round it. He had shreded the mat on one side allowing it to swing down letting him get to the door which he proceeded to have a go at again.

As you can imagine Grumpy was once again not impressed at all. He's been out today to get some stuff to put on the door which is supposed to stop dogs chewing on it. Here's hoping it works.

The government has announced that their suspending the 2p fule tax rise in October. Yaah! Some people aren't impressed with it considering fuel went up a average of 5p in June but I'm trying to look on the bright side. It's not going to be going up by 2 p. As the tesco advert says " Every little helps".

A load of council workers were on strike today protesting about their pay increase this year and want one above the rate of inflation, a whopping 6%, which is twice what I recieved so as you can imagine I wasn't especially sympathic but all of my sympathy rapidily disappeared when it showed a interview with a guy who works in a library bleating about how he can't afford to live on his pathethic salery which was a grand and a half more then I get! So cheer up Mate, it could be worse!

Anyway it was a fun day at work today and we had some new books arrive which is always interesting. So I have a lot of reading to do now.

Best go get started!

later folks.

Here'sssss Owen

Well I noticed that at least a couple of you wanted to see some pictures of the latest addition to the Saxon Household and here he is. These two photos are of Owen and Grumpy in our Living room.

and here's Owen in his 'favourite spot' by the fireplace. I don't know what it is about that spot but he always goes and sits there curling himself into a ball.
We've also discovered that he 'sighs' when he lays down, in what sounds like a sigh of long suffering. We did discover this morning that he really, really didn't like being left in the Kitchen when we went to Bed and spent a while trying to get out. In fact he managed to do this to the kitchen door.
Grumpy was not impressed in the slightist. However we're hoping it will just be a one off as it was his first night and he was nervous, otherwise if he keeps gnawing/scratching at things we might have a problem.

So if any Dog owners have had a similiar problem with their dogs and have any advice on how to stop them doing it please let us know!

later folks!

Ah Luck, how I've missed you

Well after several problems with that *"!!%)# car I have had some luck for once as it has managed to past it's MOT. Even if the cost for a MOT has gone up by a ten pounds.

Also Owen has arrived. Grumpy decided he was going to pick him up today. He's really cute even if he barked at me for nearly five minutes when I got home as of course he had no idea who I was or that I was supposed to be there. After watching him play with Grumpy I'm not too sure yet who has who well trained at this point:-)

Asides from that it's been a pretty standard Monday especially at work. There was lots of work to do and not enough time to do it in. But then that's Mondays all over.

I'm going to be spending this evening trying to work on that talk. I'm not sure where to start mind you but I'm going to give it a shot.

later folks.

feeling sleepy

It was a case of throwing myself out of bed this morning otherwise I wasn't sure I would get up as I felt if I stayed in bed for more then a minute I would probably go back to sleep.

There weren't as many people as usual at Church today as Engineseer and I were actually able to get a seat in the chapel rather then the lounge. I suppose people might just be starting to go off on their Holidays. I wish I could afford to go on Holiday.

People actually took some of the Bulletins today and they weren't covered up by a bag or thrown on the floor. So I'm choosing to see that as progress :-)

Asides from that it's been a pretty quiet day. I've been doing some reading, some painting and a bit fo clearing up trying to get the house ready for Owen who may be arriving either tomorrow or Tuesday. It depends on a number of things.

Monday tomorrow. Time for another week of Week. Here's hoping it will be an easy one.

later folks.

A whole new respect

Well after surving the Day I have to say that I have a whole new level of respect from what our guys in our retail chain do. It's hard work and a lot of the time it's pretty thankless but they still get on with things with a cheery smile and a happy attitude. I will be heading into work on Monday morning with a new found thankfulness that when I deal with customers I at least have the added benefit of a barrier of phone or email between me and them rather then having to deal with them face to face all of the time. The day was a lot of fun mind you and I learnt a lot, even how to work the till despite one comment from one of the retail staff
" Don't worry it's completely idiot proof"
sounded more like a challenge then a statement. However my feet don't half hurt now as I'm not use to spending 8 hours on them. Of course I expected and got no sympathy from Engineseer or his Brother " The other one" In fact I think the comment I got from him was " Welcome to my world"

After such a long day I've spent most of this evening taking things very easy and keeping my feet up. However I did get a call from Bro K from the Bishopric as they want me to do a talk. Argghhhh!!!! I don't like standing up there speaking it makes me really nervous for some reason. Well that and the fact I don't think I've given a talk in over seven years probably isn't helping my nerves. I did smile though when Bro K said the new system they've started to use indicated I haven't given a talk in the last seven months. Little longer the that matey!

I also discovered this evening that the Saxon household is about to gain a new member. Grumpy decided to day that he was going to get a dog. Apparently he was out and about and went past a kennels and decided to go and have a look. He said he couldn't resist all the cute strays and decided to get one. Apparently the Dogs name is Owen and he's due to pick him up on Monday. Lets hope he brings some good luck with him as my car's going in for a service on Monday and we all know how lucky I am usually when it comes to anything car related.

I've just been reading a rather funny story about a Reverend who wanted to teach his congregation a lesson about being kind to others came up with a rather colourful way of demonstrating his point. As the 70 churchgoers turned up for their regular Sunday morning service at the Methodist church in Prestatyn, north Wales they found a scruffy tramp sitting in the church porch. Stinking of beer and dressed in filthy clothes, the disgusted churchgoers did their best to ignore him as they filed past. This task was made even harder when the unwanted guest joined them on the pews, surrounded with syringes and drinking from a can of lager. They were therefore astounded - and perhaps more than a little embarrassed - when the ‘tramp’ threw off his scruffy clothes, removed his wig and revealed himself as their minister.
The Reverend pulled the stunt to remind the congregation about a passage in the Bible when Jesus’ disciples failing to recognise him because of the way he was dressed.

Well I guess that's one lesson they had at church that they won't forget in a hurry.

later folks!

Oh there's that rain

Well it seems that the heavy rain we've been forcast finally arrived today, or at least I hope it did otherwise we might have problems :-)

On the plus side I only had a half day today as I'm going to be helping in a store tomorrow for a release of a new game. It should be a interesting experience as I've never been in a store 'working' before and I should be a help to the guys in the store by giving them a extra pair of hands to help on their busyist day of the year.

As I was on a half day I went into Nottingham Town centre after I left work to meet Grumpy as he wanted me to show him where a model railway shop was that he wanted to look in and of course as soon as I got into the town centre it started to rain. Really, really rain and within a few minutes I was absolutly drenched. When I met Grumpy he found it highly amusing because as he had been in a shopping centre he hadn't got wet at all.

Well at the very least he did find the shop good and got himself a couple of bits for his trains. It's nice to see him starting a hobby and it might even keep him out of trouble. I was also able to pick up a few modelling bits and pieces. It's amazing the types of plasticard you can get this days, especially the one with the rivet patterns and I've just realised most of you probably have no idea what I'm talking about. Well now he knows where the shop is he should be able to find it himself in future, as he gets free bus travel and can get into Nottingham a lot easier and cheaper then I can. Mind you I say 'should' as I know what he's like.

We also went and did the shopping today, after visiting the model shop which proved a interesting challenge as the car park was flooded making getting to the trolleys and ticket machine a exercise in finding the shallow bits. Prices have gone up again which is annoying but not a whole lot we can do about it.

I've spent a large chunk of the evening painting. I've now finished what I aimed to get done so I'm already for the top secret project.

Which is still top secret before you ask :-)

later folks!

Nothing deep and profound

Well the energy I had seems to have gone (hopefully only for now) as I seemed to have had a very looonnggg day. Which didn't start especially well as I overslept and had to run round the house like a muppet in a effort to leave on time.

I then had to wait in a queue to get some petrol, which is now £1.18. Well it could be worse I suppose as it's still cheaper then a lot of places.

All of the newspaper headlines were screaming about how the governments new car tax plans means more then 9million motorists will be worse off then the government previousily admitted. I found it a interesting headline, not for the fact that all the motorists were worse off more that people were surprise that a tax was going to hit more people then the government said.

I know, I know I really am too cynical for my own good sometimes.

Work was also long as well. Not in a bad way, just one of those days where it seemed to really drag time wise but I wasn't able to get everything I wanted done. It was frustrated.

On the plus side, there was next to no traffic on the way home so I made the trip really quickly so I've got lots of time this evening to get some stuff done. I am pleased with myself in that sense as I've been able to get loads done this week in the evenings. I'm being constructive, yah! No idea how long that will last though :-)

It's teachers Birthday so;

" Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Teacher, Happy Birthday to you"

As you might have guessed Teacher isn't her real name.

anyway,

later folks!

Rolling along, singing a song stuck in yet another stupid traffic jam

There was good sign that it was going to be one of those days when I was woken up to the sound of rain and a lot of it hitting my bedroom window and then when I went to leave the house I found that the builders who are working on a house across the way managed to park their cars and van around the close in such a way I ended up having to reverse out onto the main road wth next to no room to move the car in.

After finally managing to get on the main road and start rolling, on the way out of geekville I ended behind a car which starting to indicate that it was turning left so I slowed down. It then started to indicate turning right for three seconds, before then signalling turning left again, before then going back to right and it went on like this for the next half a mile before it finally stopped indicated and picked up speed. Leaving me throughly confused and wondering what the rest of the day had in store for me.

Of course work had it's fair share of confusing incidents from trying to figure out why we had two identical boxes full of books to who called the printer engineer and it was one of those days where ever thing seemed to drag so slowly.

At which point the rain decided to start again and it hasn't really stopped since. But it could be worse in some places they've had a weeks worth of rain overnight and some places were forcast to recieve a months rain in one day. Apparently flood warnings have already started to appear and we're all getting a hideous sense of deja vu.

Someone did point out one of our guys is holidaying down south and might get flooded out. However said guy is on a canal boat as he's having a boating holiday so he's probably more secure then most right now.

Late afternoon news started spreading that there had been a big accident on the motorway it was closed between two junctions which were either side of Nottingham. Which of course meant we were going to get the motorway traffic hitting the city from both ways. The inevitable result? Gridlock which wasn't helped in the slightist by the rain. It did seem like a scene out of a disaster movie watching the traffic jam information page on the bbc website. Everytime you hit refresh a new warning appeared about a blocked road.

Of course muggins here had no choice but to leave the confines of work to head for home and one hour 10 minutes later, here I am.

I really hate traffic sometimes.

I've just been checking the email account for bulletin announcements. Surprise, surprise it's empty! So there's a good chance I'm doing a ward announcements bulletin with no announcements this week. Weird I know but mine is not to reason why :-)

Anyway, I'm having a semi-easy night tonight. Watch some telly, catch up on a bit of reading and then get on with some work I need to finish before the top secret project can swing into action.

A geeky evening I know but still better then usual :-)

later folks!

500 and feeling fine

Well I thought I'd start by pointing out a little fact. This is post 500! That's right it's my 500 post since I've started my blog which is weird as it doen't seem that long since I started.

Anyway, asides from reaching this milestone it's been pretty much a standard day as in get up, go to work, do work, come home. Boring I know but that's the problem with doing posts mid week. They all start becoming very groundhog dayish (if that's even a phrase).

In the news today experts warn that Britain could ( they said could not would mind you) face a recession in Months. And from the looks of things the media will be doing their level best to help talk us into one too.

Also our Prime minster has been putting his foot in it again. Not only has he been telling us that we buy too much food and should cut back as we waste too much food which is driving prices up ( no I'm not totally sure how that supposed to work either) and he announced this just before sitting down to a three course meal which compised 19 dishes ( wonder if he eat them all?). He has just announced that our high petrol prices will actually benefit motorists ( what the heck?) as it will help as it will speed the development of new technologys and reduce the prices on eco cars so families can afford them. Of course he fails to explain how most families who can't afford a new 'normal' car can afford one of these new eco cars but I'm sure he has a plan.

Probably involving yet another tax. ( Oh wait getting political there).

The YSA conference is getting closer. It's looking almost certain Engineseer isn't going and I haven't heard anything from Fraggle so it's looking increasingly likely it will be just me going and not just from the three of us, it looks like I might be the only one going from the ward. Eek! Not sure what I'm going to do, hmm maybe talk to new people :-) Maybe I could get a t-shirt made
" I'm the only one here from my ward and don't know anyone outside of my stake, please talk to me?"
Might be a bit wordy though, how about
" Please talk to me?"
That might sound a bit odd or crazy( no jokes)

any suggestions from anyone?

Of course with conference coming up it means my Birthday is coming up soon as well. Another year closer to the big 30. sigh maybe it is time to book that place in the oap home :-)

Thats all for today folks. It's time for me to go and chase people again for bulletin announcements.

Later folks

Well at least I get out sometimes

Apparently the BBC has had over 2500 complaints about the season finale of Doctor Who. Not over the plot, acting, any scary or bits people might have thought were inappropriate mind you. Nothing as sensible as that. The complaints were that these 2500 very clever people saw a number in the show which was the 'Doctors phone number', decided to call it and were then angry to discover it was a non existant phone number. Now leaving aside the obivous thoughts just what the heck did these people expect was going to happen. The doctor was going to answer? Then again if they really did think that they've got bigger problems then calling a fake phone number.

Weather news, apparently we're heading towards one of the wettest summers on record which will be equal to last summer which leads me to two thoughts. Firstly I really hope their wrong and secondly considering we're already a 'month' into summer then when the rain started last year and it's going to be equally bad does this mean we're going to get more rain in a shorter period?

There's been a good strike againist the old Political Correctness brigade as that teacher who I mentioned last week that punished two lads for failing to pray to Allah in a RE lesson has been suspended.

However the Political correctness brigade then stuck again somewhere else. In Bristol the council has run into opposition after announcing they were going to remove some bushes from a local beauty spot as they were told that this was discriminatory towards a certain group who shall we say use this area for certain activities ( which can be classified as illegal or offensive under law) at night. Words really do fail me on this occasion.

Anyway onto other things.

Work was good today but it seemed really long for some reason. We've all had them one of those days where time just ticks past ever so sssslllloooowwwwwlllyyyyyy........ But on the plus side I was still able to get lots done even if it felt like it took forever.

I haven't been able to get started on the top secret project yet but hopefully I will be able to do so soon when some certain bits arrive. Of course I am starting to worry that referring to it as the top secret project is building up a bit too much. Because it's not like I'm planning to take over the world.

or am I?

he, he, mwah, ha, ha, ha.

okay that's enough.

later folks!

Paging Common sense, Common sense to the chapel stat!

Well the day started off with the weather behaving the same way it's been behaving for the past few days. Seemingly totally unable to make up it's mind.

When I got the chapel the Car park was already remarkably full which did make me wonder if it there was goign to be a Baby's blessing as it was Fast Sunday. This was confirmed when I entered the chapel to find it full of people I didn't recognise. Engineseer and I managed to grab some seats in the Lounge and proceeded to watch in amazement and more and more people continued to pour into the chapel. In fact it got so full that there were people in the corridors a one point as there simply wasn't anymore room. I've never seen that happen before ever.

We had Brother C for our Sunday school lesson. I guess it's looks like the 'job share' is going to be alternating weeks. Traveller was also there as this was her Last Sunday before she heads out to Thailand. It's getting all too familiar saying goodbye to YSA as they head out overseas. I'm trying not to get paranoid :-)

Finally after Church I found out what had happened with the Elders. They came across to talk to me and said they had tried to call me but had the wrong number. So I double checked the number and it was correct. When I pointed this out they said when they had called the message didn't say 'Saxon' but a different name which is why they thought they had the wrong number. I pointed out that it was 'Grumpy's name ' on the message and that he was my Dad. They said that they didn't know that and had couldn't tell he was a relation. However when I pointed out that we both had the same surname and I don't have a particuly common surname they said they hadn't thought of that. I asked why they hadn't left a message anyway and they said that they thought it wasn't much use as they had left it a little late and rang at 7.20pm with the appointment details when the appointment was at 7.30pm? If that's their idea of a little late I hate to see what their idea of really late is!

Amazingly they then tried to set up another appointment without apologising for leaving it so late to contact me and when I said I was busy this week, they they proceeded to ask me if I was sure? And when I said yes I was sure then they asked if I was busy on Saturday. Which for the first time in ages I will be ( more news on that nearer the time). They seemed annoyed at that and just walked off after saying 'Thanks' in a very flat tone of voice.

I left the cultural hall wondering if the Elders had any common sense and if they spoke to everyone they tried to go out teaching with them like that when I walked into one of the Bishopric who asked where the bulletin was. I explained that I had no announcements so I couldn't do one, he then asked why I thought that I couldn't do the bulletin. Because it's the Announcements bulletin nad I had no annoucements? He disagreed and said I should do one anyway (?) as I could still put the order of service on the front and that I could have done one and people would have known what was going to happen in Fast and Testimony meeting. ( umm people bear their testimonys by any chance?) However I kept my mouth shut ( I'm getting better at that aren't you all impressed. No? okay then) and said fine. If thats what the bishopric want I guess that's what they get.

We had dinner quite late as Grumpy had gone in late. So we didn't have tea until quite late as well. But it didn't bother me that much as I had a lot of painting and reading to get done. I might actually get things cleared in time for this project :-)

Well it's Monday tomorrow. Back to work and hopefully it will be a good week again. I've still not lost that energised feeling, which I know isn't down to caffine as I haven't had a lot lately.

anyway, later folks!

#

It's been a long day....

Well the title says it all. Unlike a lot of Saturdays where things are fairly sedate I've been running round here there and everywhere.

First up was an early start to ( well early for a Saturdy) as I had to go and visit the tire place to get a new tire for the car otherwise it's not going to pass the MOT. Of course the weather wasn't co-operating at this point as it was raining! The price for tires had also gone up slightly but it was still better then most places.

I then rushed home to have a quick breakfast as Grumpy wanted to get into town bright and early. Unfortunatly he got hung up with a phone call so we lefta lot later then he wanted. Which meant we would only have time to do the shopping and come straight home. I couldn't do anything I wanted.

So after setting a new speed record for shopping we got home and Grumpy had to rush out, which gave me enough time to put all the shopping away and then go out again back into town so I could do everything I had wanted to do!

Which included having to go and get a new windscreen wiper ( don't ask).

Finally after getting that all done I had to rush home as I had a lot of work to get done as I'm now doing this new ( stil secret before you ask) project for work I'm going to want my painting schedule to be as clear as possible. On the plus side I was able to watch a new futurama DVD while doing it. The second movie isn't as good as the first mind, but it's still good.

I'm also not going to be able to do a bulletin tomorrow as no one sent me any announcements. Which was annoying as I thought I was making progress. Oh well back to the drawing board with that I guess.

Then finally it was time. The moment I had been waiting for all week. TV on, Drink close at hand, mobile switched off. Yes it was time for the Season finale of Doctor Who and I still can't talk about it. Mainly because there is no way I want to spoil this for Scully. It was great and it was an extended episode ( warning for you there scully). Suffice to say it tied up a lot of story lines and several people got happy endings and unfortunatly two people did not and one of these was especially heartbreaking. But I won't say anymore ( in fact I might have already said too much). If you haven't seen this and intend to whatever you do stay away from any mention of it on the internet. You do not want this spoiled.

ITV was showing the film Kindergarden cop at the same time. You could tell there schedulers were just like " Hey lets just shove anything on, it's not like anyone will be watching this channel anyway).

After that I caught up on a bit of reading before watching a film of " Lord of the Flies" which was interesting as I've heard people mention the book before but I've never got round to reading it or know the story.

Anyway after that it was back to do some more painting to try and get the army I'm working on asap. Once it's done it's onto the secret project. Mwah, ha, ha, ha......

Okay's that enough of that.

Later folks!

Somedays you just have to shake your head

Now I know that most of the time news isn't that nice or good as the media seems to take delight in stories that show bad things happening and I've got used to that. But today even I have had to shake my head and wonder what the heck is going on in this country at the moment after reading three stories.

In the first story it seems the government or at least one of their various think tanks has come up with a proposal to try and help the rising rate of pregnancy in teenagers and the rise in STD infections. They are going to lower the age at which sex education begins. I know what some of you might be thinking? Start at 11? 10? 9 at the most, are the sort of ages I'm sure most of you are thinking. I bet few of you were thinking 4. Yes that's right, that's not a typo, Children as young as four are set to be given compulsory sex and relationshiop education in primary school classes. I couldn't believe it. Are we determined as a society to take innocence away from children? 4 years olds don't need to know about sex or relationships. I mean when your four even your friendships with your 'best friend' last as long as it takes for someone to pull your hair or not share a cookie with you. They even had interviews on the radio with some 6 year olds who were having a "Sex and Relationship Education" lesson and hearing them talk about how much they like those lessons was one of the most downright creepy things I had ever heard.

in the 2nd story a 17-year-old boy died after being tied to a tree, made to drink petrol and then set on fire, detectives said today and another teenager has also died after being stabbed in a re planned ambush over a girl.

In the final story the political correct brigade have struck again. I'm not againist all forms of political correctness before anyone has a go but some people push it way too far. Two schoolboys were given detention because they refused to kneel down and 'pray to allah' during a RE lesson. Parents said that their children were made to bend down on their knees on prayer mats which the RE teacher had got out of her cupboard and they were also told to wear Islamic headgear during the lesson on Tuesday afternoon. Now there's nothing wrong whats so ever with learning about different religions but forcing them to pray?? What the heck was going on there...

Anyway I'll leave my comments on those stories there otherwise I will go on and on.

Work was good today and once again I was able to get loads done. Which was nice :-) And onto even more cheerful things. It's the weekend and we know what that means don't we?

Yes it's the Doctor Who season finale and I can't wait to see what happens!

It's going to be good, I know it :-)

anyway,

Later!

Hanging out under the cloud of Damocles

It had been an okay morning weather wise. Not that Sunny but not that cold either. Then it began to get cloudly, then it starting getting dark. Rather dark for a mid day which meant one thing and one thing only. Rain! and lots of it. Looking out the window we could see the dark rain clouds overhead. And then it started to rain. Lots and lots of rain. Really hard giant rain too. Fortunatly as we're in the main building we can take the covered bridge to get to the canteen. There's nothing better to help cheer you up over a bad rain storm then being able to watch it from inside :-)

However by afternoon somewhat strangly the clouds disappeared and we got bright blue sky and lots and lots of Sunshine. The weather really seemed to be struggling to make up it's mind today.

I was also supposed to be going out with the Elders tonight to visit two of our new Home teaching families. The EQ president hasn't given us details of where our families are so we can't go ourselves. The Elders said that they would call me with the details and I heard nothing, zip, nada. So I have no idea what happened there at all :-) Guess I'll find out Sunday.

It's going to be a marie celestie day at work tomorrow as a whole lot of people are out of the office. Which is okay as although it's a bit boring it does help you really concentrate.

Theres a small glimer of hope on the petrol prices front as the government is thinking of post poning the 2 pence fuel duty rise in October as the fuel prices are already at stupid levels and continuing to climb. I think however they'll probably avoid making a decision until nearer the time as if petrol goes down they'll do it and if it doesn't go down they can postpone it, make themselves look good and still be happy with the oddles of extra money they've pulled in in tax.

Wait getting cynical again. Trying to stop that. And as anyone who knows me knows. I'm very trying :-)

later folks!

Tempus Fugit

It was a shock to realise this morning it was Wednesday already. Where the heck is the time going at the moment?

Anyway at least it was a bit cooler today then yesterday unfortunatly the flip side of this was that it was more humid. Never mind at least it wasn't raining :-)

In the news today apparently there is going to be a Friends movie. Gee I wonder what bought that on *cough sex and city movie cough cough*

It was also a very good day at work as well, even if I ended up stuck in overflow car park. Well on the bright side it's the first time I've had to park down there in Months. I don't know what it is about this week but I feel really energised and I'm getting loads done at home as well as work. Now if I can only keep that going :-)

Asides from all that it's been a fairly quiet day. I suppose that's a problem trying to do a blog post every day. You run out of stuff to say sometimes. Not that I've got any intention of giving up doing a post every day. I've done at least one post per day so far this year and I really want to keep that going.

One of the films I can't wait to see this summer is Wall E. Pixar always do good films and it looks like this one will be no exception.

Wall E looks like a great character even if he does look a lot like Johnny 5 ( wow wait showing my age there)

Anyway,

later folks!

Well at least someone found it funny

I've just been spending a little time looking around the web at LDS blogs and I found one blog which apparently deals with issues/ is a survial guide for Mormon girls dealing with the single life in the church.

Of course slightly intrigued I decided to have a quick read, as it's always good to have a Female perspective. Or at least that's what I thought.

The latest blog post deals with what is apparently a issue many single mormon girls have to deal with. The issue " Is he gay?" This wasn't a issue I was aware girls were having to deal with on a regular basis so I guess you learn something new everyday. The post then goes onto list the 'flags' that girls should look out for that indicate he is gay. It didn't say whether or not these were scientifically proven flags mind you. Anyway.

For example, apparently one of the flags girls should look out for is to Ask him point blank if he is gay before you ever get engaged. It doesn't say when you should ask this question, hopefully she doesn't mean right before he finishes the proposal whilst he's down on one knee otherwise it might take the shine off the occasion a little bit.

When Grumpy came upstairs I pointed this out to him as he finds things like this funny. He then found it even more funny when I noticed one of the flags near the bottom of the list
"He’s been single for a long time and not dating anyone."

He went away laughing and I have a feeling I'm going to be hearing jokes about this one for days.

oh well.

feeling hot, hot, hot,

Well it's been the hottest day of the year so far with lots of sunshine and beautiful clear blue skies. It's summer alright yet not as we know it :-)

Of course it was interesting trying to keep the temperature fairly cool in the office as we have to do a delicate balancing act between opening the windows and putting the air con on. The slight quirk we have with our air con is that it's too good. It gets far too cold too quickly and makes the office freezing! Of course it is a unique quirk I suppose. Our air con works too well!

I've also just been looking at google earth which to be fair I haven't found much use for it yet asides from wasting time but there is something so addictive about it once you start looking stuff up. I was looking at work and pleased to discover they've finally got round to updating that area as our large warehouse down the road didn't appear on it until recently. It was just showing as a patch of dirt. I'm not sure why but it was amusing to see a huge warehouse not exist according to Google!

I was wondering about my art tastes today and whether or not I'm 'with it' ( no obivous jokes please) as I saw a news story about a new bit of art work at the Tate Britain Gallery. It's a live art performance called work. no 850 and involves a person running as fast as they can every 30 seconds through the Gallery. Now is anybody else wondering how that is art? Or is it just me?

any folks later!