shorn! oy!

i just had a really weird flashback to my sister's apartment when i must have been about five years old, reading peter rabbit after spending an afternoon watching looney tunes... and then they put the lobster on to boil.

today was quite fun, although diet-wise it was problematic. i'm eating bread and protein instead of sweets and it's driving me beserk with munchies - also i required two cups of coffee this afternoon to keep from passing out.

this morning i walked out with my bluetooth plugged in, and was amused and horrified to find that after about a block it had fallen apart. i clipped the tiny circuit board back in and held it fast until i got to base - luckily for me the jerk TL had super-glue that could be neatly applied. [just because i'm calling him a jerk doesn't mean that i'm not grateful]

today was part one of the "initial contact" meetings since i've switched teams, and the introduction to my new TL (who used to be in my team) was interesting and entertaining. he allayed my fears apropos yesterday's complaint about half-jobs, and there is actually a point to the move.

i had to shave my head this morning - i haven't been this upset about losing hair in a very long time. oh, well - next year. i spoke to lake for a bit, we made plans to resume friday breakfasts, and both the lawyer and the mortgage bank called and things seem to be moving along: at this rate i'll be moving within a month!

and tonight my replacement called, so i'm definitely sorted on the home front ;)

a little good political news

it would appear that there are, in fact, a couple of people on the planet who have begun to understand. here's hoping the rest of the world will open its eyes soon!

big bitchin'

alright, although it looks like cash will be a bit tight this month i can at least count on my credit card for the second half of it :P

there are two primary incidents today:

1) my boss is a great big freakin' moron. before i left for south africa i practically begged him to give me more responsibility (for which i'd have had to sign on extra), and he told me that he's not sure that i'm ready for it. with that vote of confidence i thought, "stuff that", and decided that i should quit while i'm ahead.

this morning i informed him of my decision, and now he's falling all over himself trying to get me the exact job i want just so that i'll sign on.

as i'm older than eight, i'll be giving that a miss. in a surprise turn of events, he let me know that as of today i belong to a different team - so i had to walk back to my office, say goodbye and move all my gear. on the plus side, i no longer have to deal with the dick i fought with yesterday (i sat down to pink floyd and i wasn't the one who'd put it on), and my new team's also pretty cool.

on the negative side, i really like my old team and i'm pissed off that instead of doing the standard three-year stint, i'm now effectively doing two stints of one-and-a-half each, which is a lot less meaningful.

he is a complete demotivator.

2) i gathered the flatmates for "the chat" today. and it seems to have gone rather more pleasantly than i anticipated! let's see how things go in reality.

the other news is almost mundane:

a) nystire is an absolute demon. i have never seen anyone resist for so long or nearly as hard as he did when we bound him and three others for "the wettening", a tradition of soaking people who've been recently promoted. i'm guessing the video footage must have been something really special.

b) we had a supremely boring meeting this morning. in my mind there are a bunch of types of IT consultants who are nothing more than well-dressed con-men.

c) i have figured out (with only minor hassles) how my bluetooth adapter works (BCK-08), and it's really, really cool.

d) i really enjoyed talking to my mum tonight.

e) walking back from dizengoff and singing loudly and unashamedly to tool... i'm back :)

f) the diet seems to be going quite well.

g) my lawyer is trying to get hold of me, i hope that bodes well on the apartment front.

h) going to bed soon, still haven't gotten far with my snow post.

chores

today i have


• provided loads of chocolate and sweets for my section,


• read most of the email i've received,


• reconfirmed my intention to buy the apartment,


• arranged easier transport for most of the next year and a half,


• fought with the prick TL about music (although i think i lost that one),


• begun to get in touch with friends,


• found a potential replacement flatmate,


• run laundry,


• replaced the kitchen light,


• checked out my moo cards (i'm pissed that i got a pink case instead of the orange that i ordered), my copy of beyond the law, and put aside my bluetooth headset clip for later,


• shopped for the next couple of days,


• prepped my landlord for potential changes,


• begun my diet,


• set the hot water cylinder's timer,


• tidied my room,


• made my bed

all that's left to do is


• replace the shower head


• replace the weird flatmate

and i don't have a clue where i lost my beautiful poster.

why i don't have pictures:

according to this forum, and then again to this other forum, i'm not the only person to suffer from this stupid problem.

my shitty digital camera takes hundreds of acceptable photos during the day and even in adverse weather. my mum's used to last a couple of hours on fresh batteries regardless of usage, and didn't even manage an introduction to the slopes before breaking down completely and producing the random beeps mentioned above - undefined in its comprehensively useless manual.

now i either have to play with it and pray, or send it in to samsung. i think i'd rather just buy another olympus.

return from civilization

right, i have a lot of posting to do and i figure i'll get the immediate (and negative) stuff off my chest before harping on about how crazy the last week has been:

after a long (to be described) couple of days travelling, i walked in to my apartment to find that the kitchen light's out, the sink is filled and smelly, both laundry racks are in use, there's no hot water and there's a problem with the showerhead.

i'm not looking forward to the "little chat" that i'm going to have to have with my flatmates later on.

as expected, i arrived home too late to get any sleep, so after shaving and showering, i'm unpacking and getting ready for the office. whooooo.

how did i do it?

i feel awful, and wasn't feeling good most of today - most of the week, really. i've mentioned that already.

what i'm REALLY not feeling good about is having missed my flight. it's the only thing worse than running to catch a flight - running to discover that it's closed. and the only way to get to my destination involves waiting until tomorrow.

yes, it was entirely my fault. even my mother's insanely brilliant driving through crazy traffic couldn't save me - i thought i was ready and it took twenty minutes instead of two to finally walk out the door.

so i'm beating myself up about it, feeling sick, and now off to a friday night dinner that i was conveniently avoiding.

so much for leaving on a high note.

a positive exit

i've had too much to drink - again. at least this time i saw the girl who went with us from mavericks and didn't do anything i'd regret.

i spent the day resting. in the evening protoplasm arrived to share his music stash, after that my mum and i went to visit my aunt and cousins and share an incredible view.

movie night was great - i haven't had so much fun watching a movie in years! we saw the mutant chronicles, which was cool but bad enough to provide a lot of mst3k amusement :)

i am disappointed that dirk diggler wasn't answering his phone, but hyperviper did make it to the insectified party and i'd been worried that i wouldn't get a chance to say goodbye.

the party was freakin' AWESOME, crazy music and a good crowd - so nice to leave on a high note!

have i come down with something?

yesterday didn't flow so well - i was exhausted. i watched metropolis (gorgeous and interesting!), and completed season 1 of the big bang theory.

my mother has agreed to switch cameras with me - her camera takes higher quality photos, has a microphone and a 4gb memory card. sweet!

dinner was really nice, and quite amusing (specifically shadowslight's mum trying to convince me to marry for money), and the pub in woodstock afterwards with protoplasm and his sister was great even though the subject matter was a bit dark.

his new girl is now an old girl and it's for a similar reason to why i have so much difficulty meeting women in my present situation. you can't get a chance without hiding stuff, and once you've hidden something long-term ceases to be on the cards :S

we went to roots, where the music was great and the crowd not bad at all - but i was much more tired than i thought, remembering that i hadn't been feeling good all day. i'm still not at 100%.

i can't believe i'm leaving tomorrow - the month has flown by... as usual... and i can't believe i'm going to be snowboarding soon!

to be read and passed on
no more unwitting comedian

after-effects

i slept about five hours this morning, which wasn't really enough to cast off the effects of the over-caffeinated sleeplessness... regardless, i did some missioning to pick up a movie, the rest of season 1 of the big bang theory and my upgraded reading glasses.

i was irritated by some guy claiming to be a mugged american, but who spent so much time creating a story and making me guess that i grew quite suspicious (and tired). idiot.

this evening my mum and i had coffee with cousins, and then went to see the tempest. a wonderful production, the acting is great and the costumes exceptional!

(w)rapping up in the dark wood

i've just come back from trapping up the mountain with protoplasm in the dark, which was a beautiful opportunity for some introspection and crap-shooting.

i was very glad to have been vindicated by deer and porcupines (there were a sodding lot of them) when protoplasm thought that i was being paranoid, and the view afforded a wonderful sense of perspective.

we're very small. very, very small. but there are a lot of us. and all we need to do is find a reason to band together and look up to the skies. i think i've mentioned this before, but if all humans could wake up every morning and at least be aware that they had choices then this world would be a much better place.

only fear conquers love, and we let it do so every time.

as bill hicks said, "it's just a ride". i'm perfectly aware that objective reality (or, as objective as we can make out) isn't real and that subjective reality is, but the lie of our limited senses is very difficult to look past.
the meaning that we derive, the story that we tell, is where reality lies*, but even though i know this there's a part of me that is afraid to believe it.

i can see myself as a limb of the planet, as we all are, and i think it's a metaphor that i'm happy with.

other catch-phrases for the night include:

fat people should pay double for airline tickets, and so should midgets because they get so much bloody leg-room

a shirt that says "my birthday was the last time that i touched a vagina" (although i'm sure we're not the only people who've come up with that)

in deference to the usual generic use of the word "self": "and here i'm being very subjective when i use the word 'self'" (no tautology there)

we walked past the memorial to someone nicknamed "NOO", and my first impression was that those were his dying words...

* not intended in the truth sense, and i apologize for the pun

big flat disappointment

i finally got it together and took my nephew up to table mountain today - i haven't been in 25 years - but the cable cars weren't operating due to the high winds.

we settled for breakfast instead.

i watched cloverfield (very cool), and the first disc of the first season of big bang theory (sweet!).

self-assessment

there's a lot of it going on at the moment. my primary concern is that i've had to build so many walls over the years that i have trouble getting close to people. i'm always agitated because i'm isolated - linguistically, culturally, and by my point of view.

in other news:
i love hearing about a cease-fire wherein rockets are still being fired, i love the journalists picking random non-english speakers to share their views, and i especially love the idea of "and this time, we'll all make sure that there's no rearmament". because the egyptians are our friends.

the deepest sleep

i had trouble waking up this morning - again. i was up until about 4am watching top gear (the satellite came right *just* as they launched), and had to get up for breakfast at my sister's.

breakfast was very nice. other than visiting my great aunt, i haven't actually done anything with the rest of the day. i'm just emotionally exhausted and unhappy about leaving, even if it is to france for a week before going back to the grind.

i need to stop worrying and get back to enjoying being here.

yay, ceasefire!

now they can stock up again. wonderful.

i'm annoyed. not only do i not have anything to do on a saturday night, but the satellite failed just for the channel that i was watching. i now can't see top gear's reliable rocket go up in flames :(

in the south, by the blue

things zenstar introduced me to today:
keine lust
rubs the lotion on its skin
he-man

all i had to do today was shake off the freakish dreams, take my mum to camps bay, put petrol in the car (and have the attendant laugh at me because it's not my gti - "so buy one!") and head off to visit moonflake and zenstar for lunch.

and in a wonderful turn of events, my mother made decent non-dairy pizza that didn't catch on fire, bringing closure to a bad joke that k-twang and i will never forget from our childhood.

it appears that i have no plans for a saturday night. suck.

xkcd on converting to metric

the other side of crash 'n burn

i know i shouldn't have giggled when she whispered "i'm fit", and i definitely shouldn't have told her that she'd had too much to drink. i shouldn't have patted her on the head, and then responded to her "that's very patronizing" with "yes, i know".

she really should've bought me that beer, drunk the shooter that i bought for her, and not tried to give me advice about what women expect - all i could think of after that episode was "you're totally, completely, utterly not in my league".

that was the second girl to crash and burn, the first couldn't put together a simple sentence, and i don't know if it's because she was drunk or because she's lacking the capacity on a fundamental level. i don't have the energy to deal with stupid people.

otherwise the electro at fiction was awesome. i'm trying to ignore the final minutes when some guy was closing in on a leg-humping (that really wasn't doing it for me), but in general it was a good vibe. a pity we didn't go through with our original plan, the forest mission's been deferred to what looks to be thursday.

also good.

the day:

• mr price doesn't sell sweaters


• i went to visit my nieces. i haven't seen the younger one's friend in a couple of years and she's now taller than me and really good-looking... *sigh*


• i went through the neighbourhood i grew up in, getting some exercise while taking random photos


• i met up with sweetiepie for lunch: she was late, so more arbitrary photography occurred in the area surrounding wembley square before lunch. lunch was moerse expensive, but very good, and it's always fun to see her.


• i went past call-a-pizza on the way home to buy my own copy of slug - hardwired, joined in the punch-tasting (very good) and went through to pick 'n pay to buy a whole roast chicken and provoke more people with my closer to mario shirt.


• my mom and i tried one last time (okay, two last times) to place the cupboard, but due to a horrific design flaw we've taken it down until professional help can be sought. i'm surprised that the damn thing held up until now


• my mum treated me to sushi at willoughby's. fantastic sushi, i'm a bit sad that i found it so filling but i enjoyed every mouth-watering bite. shite, i'm salivating again!
  we had a good talk, specifically about family stuff and future plans, and laughed a lot at the strange passers-by


• protoplasm and SO picked me up and we went through to fiction.

the dodgiest dive

one of them, at any rate. if you make a mistake and turn right at the entrance to stones in town, you'll experience something special.

aeroplane and i had drinks at camps bay, made the above mistake, played great pool (or at least, highly amusing pool) at stones, and after being dropped off at home and eating i watched the spiderwick chronicles, which is a really sweet movie.

cleaned up

yesterday's news:

i had a haircut, a real one - one that leaves me what can tentatively be called a hairstyle! i kind of like it, actually :)
i makes me look all clean and tidy.

i went shopping, competing with foreign sailors in odd-looking uniforms for the cashier's attention, and then came home to discover the anime channel
^_^

i found a free photography lessons e-book, and spent a short while figuring out how to view it on my pda - not the smoothest solution, but decent enough.

i got stuck in serious traffic on my way to pick up my mum, and we went beyond the boerewors curtain to pay the opthalmologist a visit. while waiting for my mum i read a women's psychology magazine that provides lots of "common sense" advice that makes it a winner.
after my mom it was my turn to cry yellow tears, it turns out that while my left eye's correction isn't very different from my lens, my right is in need of an upgrade.

hospital closure: my niece, who in august gave me quite a turn, has finally had the required operation. we went to visit her and have a good laugh, and she was kind enough to let me use her car until she's better ^_^

we came home for dinner, spent a while planning for the apartment (assuming the sale goes through when i return), and nearly killed ourselves laughing.
literally.
my mother was showing me the locking mechanism for a heavy wooden ceiling cupboard door, and it doesn't work. we both started laughing when we discovered this, so much so that we couldn't focus and the door kept getting heavier and heavier to hold up...

i fetched my cousin and his buddy and we went to julip to meet up with protoplasm and his new girlfriend. after a drink we moved over to the rhino room... let me just state that anastetic and whoever played after him were both viciously psychotic and i'm extremely grateful for that. it was a release i've been seeking for way too long.

i was abandoned by all parties while getting my aerobic exercise sorted out, and about half an hour later managed to wobble off the dancefloor and make my way home. my cousin leaving his copy of slug - hardwired in the car didn't provide relief as that crazy bastard's beats got me even more hoppy.

i do feel sorry for the poor parking attendant, the only coins i had left were R2 and he was most vocal about the injustice done to him.

i suffered from a shower handicap until about 8am, meaning i didn't actually have the physical strength to stand for that long after the excessive workout from the party. in addition to that, cupboard door paranoia runs rife as i realized this morning that it's still not locked properly.

the important news:

the constant lucid dreaming i experienced from the moment i passed out on the couch until i forced myself awake at 11am is a solid indicator (to me) that my inner beast has been awakened. i consider this a personal victory against my uniform overlord.

today:

i paid the dietitian a visit, and it was a most interesting hour. she's come up with a plan that seems quite do-able! and i now know that i'm overweight, but my body fat's approaching "anorexic" - so the muscle-building thing seems to have worked out for me :P

i picked my second mum up from the hospital. once i'd dropped her off at home, i picked up keys from an odd english woman and dropped off my glasses for the correction, then dropped off the keys in milnerton and the reality bites in town, forgot to visit my niece (charming uncle, aren't i?) and came back to sea point to rent a couple of videos, buy fish 'n chips (i was under orders) and watch wall-e.

wonderful movie :)

c-potato minus sunset

i've been going INSANE trying to figure out where i knew him from: and it's freakin' jason mewes! the cast is great, the movie is as creepy a concept as i could imagine.

horrifying. and if you don't believe me, wait until the port-a-potty scene near the end. also, i don't know how i feel about how they tackled the drug issue, some of it was well done and some of it just plain pandering.

instead of meeting up with sweetiepie as planned, i went for a walk with my mum and we ended up at maz for supper - the pictures i took of the sunset are great but they don't do it justice, it was incredible today!

the day itself was spent either on the couch or getting lost in n1 city sorting out the decoder. signage: suck.

i also had a wonderful idea that the problem with the internet could be due to the receiver overheating, but i disproved that too soon :(

i think i like puscifer.