Was talking to Chris who does http://www.trioptimum.co.uk about writing weblogs (a.k.a. “blogs”, which leads to the verb “to blog” etc). He reckons that it’s only worth blogging when you have something interesting to say. I’m not sure I ever do, and I do it out of either boredom or constant nagging from someone or other. So here is another not very interesting diary entry.
Sunday morning I got up for church. In fact church was top class on Sunday – one of those times when you feel you “connect” so God’s hearing what you’re singing because it’s coming from the heart. And then the talk was on “your secret life”. The guy who did it was really good, even though I think it was his first time doing it (certainly since I’ve been there). He’s a solicitor, so maybe he’s used to talking confidently in front of a bunch of people. Anyway he talked about the things we shouldn’t keep private, those we should and those we should tell certain people. Was biblical, practical and challenging – just the way I like it.
Then Sunday afternoon around 5 I left to go down to Alan & Fi’s (uncle and aunt, in case you don’t know my family that well) to do some work for them the following day. It was really nice to see Oliver and James (cousins, in case you hadn’t guessed) again as well as Alan and Fi. Always feel so welcome in their house, they’re good hosts :o)
After an early night (for me) and a relatively early breakfast, we started work about 9. Installed another hard disk, more RAM, network card in their old machine, shuffled data around a bit to leave them with loads of space and some flexibility. Then we had some confusion… I’d forgotten to take my cable, crimping tool and ends down to make the lead to join their machines. Fortunately there is a Maplin 5 minutes down the road, so I popped out and bought a cable. Got it back, ran it round the back of the room, behind wardrobes, bookshelves and radiators, plugged it in and started conifguring the computers. At this point I realised I’d bought a “patch” cable not a “crossover” cable as I’d needed. The silly thing is that when I bought it, I’d seen it said “patch” cable on the bag for it, and I wondered “what other kind of RJ45 cable can you get?”. Unfortunately my brain deserted me and assumed that they were silly and I was perfect… DOH! Anyway, took the patch cable back and exchanged for a crossover, no probs, just a little embarrassment.
Then networked their two computers and arranged file sharing etc. The only thing I didn’t get working was the Windows 98 machine being able to access shares (files & printers) on the Windows XP machine.
Anyway, finished that about 7pm and almost immediately headed off to see Oli in West Drayton (near M4/M25 junction, in case you’re not so good at Geography). It was great to be able to pop in on him, because I’d not seen his flat or met his mate Tim that he’s living with and is one of his best mates from Uni. So that was really good. Got a (rather unhealthy, but jolly tasty) BK meal to take out, ate it and went to their (very) local. Was a cool night.
Stayed over that night, resisted the temptation to do the 3D jigsaw of New York they had scattered over their spare room, realising that if I started fiddling with it, I’d never stop and get no sleep. Or otherwise go to sleep frustrated that I had go nowhere. I think I should get one and do it whilst watching films in the lounge. I did the Eiffel Tower one before and quite enjoyed that. It’s just that little bit more interesting than a flat jigsaw – you feel like you’re actually building something. Anyway, where was I?
Yes, I left about 10 on Tuesday from Oli’s and got back to Notts about 12.30.
That evening I got my Navs group together for a meal at Scruffy’s. It was really really nice to see most of the guys again. Had 8 of us there, and the other 4 had mostly good excuses (exams & coursework – what’re they?). Had a lovely meal too – the “Scruffy Dan Pie” – a beef, guinness and mushroom pie. Oh how lovely. That’s my favourite thing with beef in I think, had it a couple of times since stopping being veggie, and it’s been really tasty and succulent each time. So I came home and watched The Shawshank Redemption. Another classic that I’ve not watched for ages. I’m getting really into watching a film before bed, but whilst doing other stuff (on my other computer). Makes good use of my DVDs at least! Also seems to make me go to bed earlier (2am instead of 4am), which is good.
Yesterday (Wednesday), had a meeting with Josh for a few hours in the morning, did some work in the afternoon and went to church small group in the evening. Oh, interesting thing (well it was for me)… There were 10 of us in the pub (yes that’s all we seem to do as a small group now), 3 of which were new faces to me. At the end of the night I was talking to one girl, Emily, as we walked back to the house and our cars. So I asked where Emily lived since we were about to head home. (Now here’s a report of a conversation Livis-style, just for my mum – the rest of you, pardon my writing techniques please) She turned round and said “behind the Savoy”. So I was like “so you live, like next door to me then”. She only turned round and went “You know that red gate that leads off Derby Road?”. So I turned round to her and said “What the one next to my bedroom window?”. Anyway, it turns out we are literally neighbours. For those of you who know my house – she lives in the house that’s next to our car park, above the Haus garages. Anyway, I gave them all a lift home.
Erm, then I watched Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (a.k.a. Wo hu cang long) on DVD. Quite a relaxing film really, because even during the most intense fight sequences, there’s no really excited music, just the sounds that they make whilst fighting really. Is such a good film, and has a whole genre to itself – arty, well-made, martial arts films – at least I’ve not seen anything like it… which is probably why I like it so much.
Then I went to bed and am now about to embark on a day of looking for houses (how exciting!). Oh, for those of you who don’t know, my parents & I are looking to see if we can afford to buy a house in Notts, since this is where I want to stay. We’ve got as far as figuring out how much we can afford (after confusing a mortgage advisor lots, he found useful stuff out for us). So now I have to find a place… which is rather nerve-racking!
Anyway, I only started writing because the shower was taken, and I needed something to fill 5 mins. This has now taken about an hour with distractions!
Oh well, time to get my butt in gear now.
Take care y’all.
