Rough Mornings, Entering Awards And Walking Home, Like A Boss

You know those days where you wake up annoyed? And from that point everything seems to just get worse and worse?

Well that was what this morning was like for me. I got out of bed and I simply couldn’t be bothered. I was shattered and spending the next eight hours collecting files wasn’t really something that appealed to me. But this job gives me the chance to get into the States, so it’s worth the effort. And, with that thought in my head, I headed off for the bus.

Typically though, I missed it. It was early. I even heard it as I walked towards the stop. Typical.

So I headed to the other stop for the next bus. Which was late.

And then got stuck in traffic.

Finally I got to the station (yeah, I had to get two buses again…for a higher price) and rushed to find a bus that was going by that road. There was still five minutes before 9: I could still make it on time. Got on a bus, showed my ticket, sat down…

And waited.

And waited.

While three other buses I could have been on drove away, I waited for the driver to turn on the engine. Eventually he complied but it was too late by that point. Ended up getting to work after nine. It didn’t matter too much in the end, but I’ll not be making that mistake again.

Well, I’ll try not to, anyway.

So, you are probably wondering, why was I so tired?

The answer lies in the second part of my title, as I decided late last night that I should submit my application to the Northern Writers’ Awards. The deadline is Thursday, so I thought, just in case something goes wrong tonight (Wednesday) I should get it sorted. So I put in my details and opened up the document containing my personal statement and biography that I’d written beforehand (which, I would like to point out, I’d done because the website specifically said to do them), only to find a set of questions that were very rigid in structure. In other words, my answers didn’t suit them. Urgh.

I still used them though. I spent a good hour writing it so I’m going to use it!

I then attached the synopsis that I’d failed repeatedly to complete, only to finally write it last weekend. My final draft summed up most of the points in the 600 words they asked for. Turns out, however, that I could have used 3000 words! All the bits I missed out could have been included! Unfortunately it was too late to write a new synopsis, so I just quickly added a few paragraphs to clarify a few things. It still took me a while though, hence my tiredness in the morning.

Bah. At least it’s done though. Fingers crossed I’ll win something. I could always do with a confidence booster.

You’ll be glad to hear that my mood did improve as the day went on. So much so that I even felt like walking home! Yes, I did get on the bus for one part of it (I hadn’t eaten much) but I still must have walked a couple of miles. Despite the cold I really did enjoy it. Of course I’m regretting it now, as my feet ache even more than usual, but I’m glad I did it.

I’m trying to be healthier you see. And, more importantly, my walk meant I didn’t feel guilty for having a bowl of strawberry ice cream.

…in my defence, the ice cream did have actual pieces of fruit in it. That counts, right?

 

Crysis 3 Beta Available To Play Now (Link To Eject Disk)

Today, Crytek has launched the public beta to Crysis 3 on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Available to all players with an internet connection, the beta includes the game mode Hunter, whereby two Nanosuited players have to murder 10 grunts before time runs out.

If this sounds too hard, don’t worry: in addition to having a futuristic bow at your disposal, every grunt you kill will then respawn on your team. Expect plenty of stealthing in Hunter though, as both the Nanosuit troopers and the grunts they’re stalking try to avoid alerting the other as they maneuver around the map. With the timer forcing players into action, Hunter is all about who makes the first mistake.

If cloak and dagger tactics aren’t your thing, however, don’t be disheartened. There is a second game mode available in the beta, called Crash Site.  Those of you who played Crysis 2 will be familiar with Crash Site, but if you are new to the franchise, Crash Site involves several objectives that you have to claim before the enemy team does. To help your quest for victory, you’ll have guns, powers (including the Rip And Throw ability, which lets you rip off parts of the environment to either hit somebody or hide behind) and the Pinger, an alien tank on legs.

Read the rest of the article (and watch a video) at Eject Disk.

Cheers,

Alex

Ah The Pain!

It is no exaggeration to say that my feet are in chuffing agony right now. Walking on coals? That is nothing to what I’m feeling after today (okay, that is an exaggeration). Ladies who wear heels: I feel your pain.

Why? Because I’ve stood up pretty much all day. Eight hours of being on my feet, and I can feel it. For somebody used to sitting or lying  or lying down most of the time, I truly have been thrown in the deep end this week.

Unfortunately it isn’t going to get any better. My job description consists of moving around from 9-5. There is no escape from the pain. Sure, it feels really good to sit down for a minute or two, but as soon as I stand up there is not a single bit of difference. My feet have screamed (not literally, of course) from the first minute to the last. I’m lying on my bed and I can still feel it!

It’s frustrating because I don’t have any other issues with the work I’m doing. It isn’t fascinating stuff, but I can do it comfortably. I’m not bored, or fed up. The problem is my body is suffering from it. And I lose concentration easily because of the pain.

And I’m only two days into my job. This is not good.

So, really, I have a few options to choose from.

1) Buy more comfortable shoes

2) Get over it

Hmm.  Only one option really when you consider how reluctant I am to buy new shoes for one month’s worth of work, especially when I have a plane ticket to save up for. Damn. Suppose I’ll just hope (toes crossed!) that my feet harden up. Bah.

On the plus side to today, I finally got my bus system organized. If you recall, I was trying out a new bus today, and I was worried that I’d be late. Well, it turns out the bus was actually supposed to arrive at 8:55, so I wasn’t going to run it fine (it takes 30 seconds from the stop to my department) at all. As a result I left the house this morning without fear of being late; it would get me there on time even if there was traffic!

…the bus was 7 minutes late to my stop.

…Then a load of teenagers got on it.

…And we got stuck in traffic.

BUT I still got there on time. Oh yeah! And I saved 50p!

What a good day. Except for the foot thing. That concerns me. Already dreading what I’ll feel like tomorrow night.

Hmm. But still…50p.

Let’s just say it was a mixed day, and leave it at that.

Alex

 

First Day Done

Well you’ll be happy to hear that my first day working in Durham went without a hitch. And, to save all of us a little time (but more importantly me: I’m rather hungry after all), I’m just going to sum up the key points of today using the magic of sub-headers. No, not bullet points this time. Yeah, spicing it up!

Hey, I’ve been filing all day. Sub-headers counts as excitement after that.

The Buses

Ah, the buses…they went fine actually. I got the first one at half past 8, and the second at 8:46. Arrived at the hospital site ten minutes early, so I had plenty of time to find out where I needed to be. I shouldn’t have any problems getting there before 9 (which, if you recall, was a serious issue when I was working in Newcastle, due to my reliance on a single bus that was anything but reliable) because the department I’ll be working in is less than a minute away from the main road. The plan tomorrow is to get just the one bus, which will run it close to 9 BUT should get me there on time. Hopefully. I’m deciding to risk it now, and if it fails, I’ll go back to the usual routine (get two buses). No big deal. I think. Hmm…

The Location

The amount of files in the department is scary. I thought the other places I’d worked had a lot…this place is on a whole new level. There is a long corridor, and on either side there are little rooms crammed full of shelving units. I didn’t count but there must be at least ten of these rooms, each holding thousands of files. No wonder they are trying to convert to a computer database. So much easier. But then I wouldn’t have a job so I’m not going to complain too much.

My Job

I won’t bore you with the details but my job is essentially…

Well, I’m not entirely sure. I wasn’t able to do it today, because the people I’d be working with were both off. Instead I helped another group with their tasks.

Let’s just say my work involves dealing with the filing of case notes. There we go.

My Colleagues

All in all, they’ve been very friendly. For the first time in my working career there are people the same age as me (one guy has his 21st birthday only a week before I do) AND I’m not the only guy. As a result, future conversations should be easier. Today, for example, I found out another guy is also going to America this summer. He’s going to New Jersey to work, but still, that is something we can talk about.

Working was still quite lonely, though. And I was on my feet all day. But hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Lunch

Two chicken salad sandwiches and two oranges, thanks for asking.

The Ride Home

Well I got home shortly after half past 5, which isn’t too bad. Beats the 90 minute ride home when I was working in Newcastle, that’s for sure. If I do get a different bus tomorrow, then I’ll be home even sooner. Awesome.

Final Thoughts

Traveling was fine, the work was fine, nothing went wrong and I’ve got some new trousers to wear for tomorrow. No complaints from me!

Now to do some final tweaks to my synopsis, and perhaps, just perhaps, a little bit of time on the ol’ Xbox. Not a bad day at all.

 

Alex

P.S See, told you sub-headers were fun.

 

 

Looking To The Future

My final day of being lazy is drawing to a close, and I honestly couldn’t care less. No doubt I’ll regret saying that in a week’s time when my fingers are all cut and bloody from 34 (late start Monday) hour’s worth of filing work, but for now, I stand by it.

Sure, I’d much prefer to write my book/play my Xbox but by leaving the house and doing this job,  I will be earning the money I need to see Vanna in April. So if I’m finding my admin duties particularly laborious, I can just think about Minnesota, and how it will feel to be with Vanna again. That should get me through anything.  Failing that, I can think about the Xbox games I might buy if I have enough left over after buying my ticket. Either way, this next month will be a breeze.

And, to further help my motivation, I’ve started to research flights for this summer. Of course there wasn’t any real purpose to doing this now. I can’t afford the tickets just yet, and it unlikely the same flights will be available when I do have the funds, so it’s not like I can decide anything until at least March. But I was able to scope out prices, and see what dates were open to me . Obviously the aim is to get to America early, and then leave as late as possible, in order to maximize my time with Vanna. Oh, and I also have to ensure my flights match up to weekends, so nobody has to take a day off at my expense. I doubt I’d be popular if I was leaving England on a  Wednesday at 6am, for example.

Anyway, I thought I’d have a look. And I found out a few things.

• The cheapest flights are around £500
• But they do involve multiple layovers
• Which take over 20 hours
• And I would be arriving in Minnesota at around midnight, which isn’t really ideal

So I started to scroll further down the list, heading into the pricier flights until I found one more suited to my needs.

At a cost of £700, it is 200 more than the cheapest BUT still less than I’ve paid in the past.  More importantly, I would leave England on a Saturday, and return on a Sunday. As for the other end, I’d get to Minnesota in the afternoon, and leave in the evening. AND it’s operated by KLM and Delta Airlines, who offer a much greater service than Air France.

Granted, it is more expensive to use them, but I believe it is worth paying. Delta Airlines is a fantastic company, and I don’t have a single bad word to say about them. I just thought I’d mention that, you know, in case Delta see this and feel like rewarding me for my great review of their services (I’m thinking huge discount, free upgrade to business class?). Ahem.

But that is the flight I’m aiming for. Hopefully I’ll have enough for it, and hopefully there will still be tickets left by the time I can book them. Failing that, I’ll just look for something else. I’ve always found something suitable in the past. And if I was to get something around the £700 mark I would be very happy.  Of course, Vanna would be saying ‘get the cheap one, get the cheap one!’ but hey, I like some semblance of comfort when I’m flying. Not wedged between two people, unable to get a drink and bored out of my skull because I have no entertainment because there is no screen to watch films on(which would NEVER happen on a Delta flight!). Cheap is my last resort. Delta, my friends, is the way forward.

Okay, enough of the sucking up now. I’m off to enjoy these last few hours of my Sunday, ideally by gaming/watch a film. I’ll tell you all about my new job tomorrow night (the blog might be later than usual, depending on buses home).

Cheers,

Alex

P.S. Finally managed to finish my synopsis! After weeks of delaying it, I managed to write it in two hours. What was the big deal?

 

Wanderlust: Another Amazing Film Review

Apologies for not blogging yesterday. I had some issues (don’t worry, there was nothing serious!) so I just didn’t get round to it. But as I’ve done nothing of interest today (and even if I had, the noxious odor of our fire has destroyed my ability to concentrate: seriously, it is the worst thing I’ve smelled in my life), I’m going to pretend it is still Friday and talk about what I did that day.  So cast your mind back 24 hours and…go!

Friday:

I didn’t have any plans today, so I decided to watch a film. What else could I do? I’ve already gone out in the snow (yeah, it started up again) to hand in documents for my new job, and as I’m putting my synopsis off until this weekend (yeah, that plan is working out perfectly so far…my synopsis remains blank), I still had a few hours to kill. And what better way is there to spend an afternoon? Exactly. Films are perfect for that role.

Yeah. Well, that really depends on your film choice. And mine, mine wasn’t that great. I chose Wanderlust and, though I’m not completely regretting my choice, I can’t say I’m congratulating myself for picking it either. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t mind-blowing either. In all honesty, I’d rather have watched Sherlock Holmes, and I’ve already seen that twice. Hmm.

So what was the problem? Well I’ll give you an outline of the plot (if you haven’t seen it by now, tough) and let you figure it out.

• Married couple Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston buy an apartment in New York. It is expensive, but it’s in New York so it’s totally worth it.
• Paul loses his job the next week. Jennifer, who has struggled to find her career path, presents her documentary to HBO. They hate it, tell her to leave.
• New York apartment is no longer worth it. They sell up, make a huge loss, and end up broke.
• They drive off into the night for Atlanta, where Paul’s brother lives. On the way they stop at a hippie commune and have a great night.
• Next day get to his brothers. Don’t like it, decide to go back to the hippie commune.
• Paul and Jennifer both agree to spend two weeks at the commune to see if it is for them. In the beginning Paul loves it, getting involved completely with their beliefs, while Jennifer struggled to adapt (no doors, nudists, weird rituals) and seems reluctant to stay any longer than the two weeks.
• Turns out that money men want to build a casino where the commune is, and the hippies need to find the deed to stop them. Jennifer helps them protest, and begins to enjoy living with the hippies. At this point, Paul is feeling fed up and looks for a job back in the cities. He decides to leave, but Jennifer wants to stay.  They argue and Paul goes alone.
• Things happen. Paul realizes what he’s done and goes to rescue his wife.
• More things happen. Commune lives on, Paul and Jennifer make up and grow old together. Or something.

As you can tell, I did begin to lose interest in this film as it passed the half way mark. Essentially it a Rom Com involving hippies and mixed humour. I don’t like hippies, and I’m not a fan of Rom Coms. To be honest, it was never going to win me over. And I knew the plot before I watched it, so I only have myself to blame. But I watched it because I like Paul Rudd, and it was directed by Judd Apatow, who usually makes comedies that suit me down to the ground. Unfortunately this wasn’t enough to make Wanderlust a film I could really get into.

I suppose my major issue wasn’t actually the “let’s be one with mother nature” thing, which is something that irritates me immensely, but the problems Paul and Jennifer go through in the course of the film.

I can’t really explain why it bothers me, but I don’t like how Paul is portrayed as the bad guy for trying to get out of this commune. I know this was important for the film, and Jennifer’s flaws were also pointed out several times to prove they both needed to improve, but I just didn’t like it. It just annoyed me.

And, as somebody against the idea of open relationships, the key turning point in the film didn’t win me over either. I could see where they were coming from, and it did make the film more interesting, but I’m not comfortable with it. I’ve seen it several times in films, and it just bugs me. What can I say? I’m a faithful guy who dislikes the message that men cannot be trusted to stay loyal to their wives/girlfriends. I’m not directly blaming Wanderlust for this: I just felt like sharing this pet peeve of mine. But, I had to admit, seeing a film that includes this idea of a married couple seeing other people did annoy me. I’m just glad Wanderlust didn’t descend into an orgy, otherwise I’d have been even less impressed. Somehow.

Other than that, I suppose I didn’t really have a problem with it. But by then, it was too late. I was already losing interest.

So what’s my conclusion?

Hmm. I still don’t know. Wanderlust was a decent film. The plot was fine, the humour wasn’t too bad (I did laugh from time to time) and the acting worked. It was just too far from my own views for me to enjoy it. 6 out of 10.

Final thoughts?

If you don’t find hippies irritating, and enjoy light humour along with a bit of romance, you’ll probably enjoy Wanderlust. But, if you are like me and prefer more comedy in your comedies, you are better watching one of Apatow’s other films. I suggest The 40 Year Old Virgin*, which I watched a few weeks ago, as it get the balance just perfect.

 

The Dream Is Back On!

On Monday I will be starting another, albeit temporary, life in the working world. My assignment, running from next week until the start of March (which is exactly 5 weeks), is once again with the NHS, and consists solely of archiving/admin work (or at least that is what I’ve been told – I’m not expecting any surprises). Not mind-blowing, granted, but I’m comfortable doing it AND, the most important thing to take from this, it will give me the money to get over to the States in April!

I haven’t figured out exactly how much I’ll earn, but assuming I get paid a similar amount to before, it should be enough to afford my ticket. Perhaps enough for my VISA and travel insurance too. Even if it doesn’t, with Vanna working, we should have enough between us to afford it. And you don’t know how happy that makes me. I’ve felt the pressure this week, because I know that if I don’t get work soon it’s going to be a struggle, so to get this job now has made things a lot easier. I can relax!

Furthermore, I still have two months after that (plan to leave at the end of April) to raise some extra funds. I might ask on the Monday whether there is room for an extension once we hit March too, just in case it is an option. It would save me waiting around for another job to open up. I was also told that there is room for working more hours, so worst situation is I stay until six every day.

The next fun step is working out buses, as I don’t really fancy a forty-five minute walk there and back. Unfortunately, all the bus websites that I use haven’t agreed on a set timetable, so I’m not entirely sure how I’m going to get there in the morning. Even the bus stop is confused. But I’ll work out. I start late on Monday though, which is something. The main concern is getting home. According to the website, there are no buses between five and six. Not one. It’s on a main road, but no, not a single bus drives by. It’s the end of the work day, and hundreds, nay thousands, of people need to go home but no, there are no buses. Hmm. I guess I’ll have to figure that out too. Maybe working until six would be a good idea…

Anyway I’m off to celebrate my new job by, uh, doing the things I usually do on a night. But it’ll be different* because I’m employed! Woo!

*Well I might occasionally think about Monday. That counts as different, right?

Black Ops 2 Revolution Live Action Trailer (Link To Eject Disk)

You may recall that last week Treyarch brought out a trailer for the Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 DLC Pack, titled “Revolution”. Today, Activision has released their own advert for Black Ops 2, and it’s safe to say that this video is a little bit different. Starring Peter Stormare, the new live action trailer introduces you to the “Replacer” — a man (Stormare) who kindly does all of your real life responsibilities while you’re busy playing Black Ops.

It doesn’t really talk too much about Revolution (you know, the DLC it is supposed to be promoting) but that flaw aside, the trailer is surprisingly good. It certainly amused us for a few minutes.

See the video at Eject Disk,

Cheers

Alex

BioShock Infinite Preorder Details: Get E-Book And Industrial Revolution Pack Free (Link To Eject Disk)

March is going to be a very exciting month for gamers — not only do we have Gears of War Judgment and the next Tomb Raider catching our eye, we also have BioShock Infinite doing its best to take money from our hard-earned savings. And — if the appeal of fighting two political factors in Bioshock’s flying city wasn’t enticing enough — today we’ve learned there are a few extra incentives to preordering Infinite before its release date on the 26^th of March.

Primarily, there is a free copy of the e-book ‘Mind in Revolt’ available to download. This short story, written by Infinite’s writer Joe Fielder (with assistance from creative director Ken Levine), introduces us to Columbia, the war-torn American city that has taken to the sky.

Read the rest at Eject Disk,

Cheers

Alex

Vanna Rant: Hair

I decided to have another Vanna rant on something that has been bothering me lately: my hair.

The past few months I had been obsessing over red hair. It started when I was watching Bring it On and saw “Big Red’s” hair and thought, “I really like that.. oh and with the curls… I have curls.”

Why don’t I have this color?

The obsession grew when I watched Pitch Perfect and saw Chloe and her beautiful hair. I had seen the actress in another movie where her hair was blonde, so I convinced myself it was possible for a blonde to dye her hair to that exact shade.

For weeks I eyed-up women that passed me in stores who had red hair, trying to decide whether this was something that I really wanted. Would it look good on me? Could I pull it off?

The final straw was watching a Wendy’s commercial.

So with my obsession-crazed eyes, Sharissa and I searched for the perfect shade of dye at Walmart.

I decided to keep it light remembering the last experiment I had with dark shades.

*gags* I don’t even know why people still talked to me when I looked like this.

We eagerly went home and dyed my hair.
… it turned out pink.

SO we went back to the store to try another box.
Came out pretty nice and I didn’t cry, so that was a plus.

Pretend I look nice. This was taken late at night to show Alex, and I wasn’t planning on showing it to anybody else… so it’s a bit uggo. But its the only evidence I have of my red hair.

Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Hah.

Just as I was confident with my new color, my shampoo decided to strip my hair of the dye and leave me a patchy pink/gray mess.

Devastation.

I decided to give up on my red hair fantasy and return to my natural hair color, so I dyed it back to blonde…

And it turned pink. Again…

And right now I am still walking around with a frizzy pink blotchy mess – saving up every penny so I can get my hair back to normal.
If you see me in the street, I’m sorry.

I would show you a picture, but it is too unbearable for me to photograph it and post on the internet. Yes, it’s that bad.

Which leads me to the rant portion.

Why can’t box dye be accurate? and why can’t salon prices be reasonable?

Box Dye: $10
Salon Dye: $100 +

It’s like us poor people are destined to look atrocious when we try to change our hair color.

You only see poor skanky women with hair like mine.

Point proven
Watch Jeremy Kyle, Maury or Jerry Springer if you need more proof.

The whole thing is just disgusting.
Why, Hair Gods, why?