Month: July 2004

bookmark_borderThunk

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I love Guinness, not mad keen on the after effects of 10 pints of the stuff mind you. Twas a good night last night, a couple of drinks after work ended up being several with Louise joining me in Glasgow and our mate Stuart coming out to play as well. A few beers, some Nasi Goreng from Cafe Mao (we really MUST try somewhere else someday) and then back to Stuart’s to watch the BB eviction that he had recorded on his fancy schmancy Sky+ box (jealous? me?). Alan arrived shortly after us which was an added bonus as the poor dear is normally working, such are the perils of being a bar manager.

Tonight it’s Alex and Rebecca’s housewarming party which should be good. Here’s hoping Louise can rid herself of the cold which has reared it’s head again today – mind you getting in at 3a.m. probably didn’t help. In saying that I’m still decidedly fuzzy myself, and I’ve just noticed a tickle in the back of my throat.

bookmark_borderFREE SPV C500

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In the market for a new mobile? I strongly suggest you check out this offer.

Pre-order the brand new SPV C500 Smartphone (due out a week on Monday) and get 100 mins cross network and 100 texts a month for £25, free connection, £75 cashback and the handset is FREE! Normally it would retail over the £100 mark. I’ve loved every minute (almost) of my SPV so I can’t wait to get my hands on this little beauty.

This is the best offer, for any type of mobile, I’ve seen for ages. What’s the snag? You gotta pre-order it today. You also have to take a new contract which, if you are on Orange already, means a new phone number (you can’t port the number as Orange would then treat it as an upgrade and charge for the handset… buggers..) but I can live with that.

Roll on the 8th August.

bookmark_borderNew blog on the block

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I don’t do this often but I’m smitten already…

Lazy Edinburgh Novelist is.. well exactly what is says on the tin, the blog of Edinburgh novelist Abigail Bosanko.

In the Scottish Fiction section, there I was next to Christopher Brookmyre. Two copies of ‘Lazy Ways to Make a Living’ next to three copies of ‘Be My Enemy’. We have the same publisher but Chris has written a lot more books than me – at least a shelf more – and his latest is always prominently displayed, with the cover face-out. A face-out display gives an author a sales advantage. I had to squeeze all his stuff together and ram him up against John Buchan to give my book some space.

Very readable, and should be a good one to follow.

Thanks to Peter for pointing out this one (even if I did cover the flying ants before he did… 😉

bookmark_borderMore money stuff

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Well it’s payday. At last. Been a wee bit bad this month in some aspects (spent too much on… ohhh I dunno.. illuminated keyboards!) but overall it was a good month as we restructured things and are paying out less than we were before.

Mortgage wise we’ll be, paper-work pending, switching to a three year fixed rate again come end of August (5.74%). Whilst this doesn’t dramatically change the amount we pay out each month for our mortgage in comparison to what we pay now, only a difference of £25 or so, the difference over what we would be paying if we DIDN’T switch is substantial and somewhere around the £100 mark. Yikes!

And rounding off the financial theme, if you use internet banking, check the small print. Seemingly, for my bank at least (Bank of Scotland), you can earn a higher interest rate by depositing £1000 into your account. Depositing. Not leaving. So if you have the means, you can transfer £1000 from a savings account then 30 minutes later, transfer it back. Your current account will continue to earn interest at the higher amount despite the fact the funds have been removed! Seemingly this is seen as “playing the banks at their own game”. I’d prefer to call it “screwing the bastards for all they are worth as they’ve had plenty from me!”.

Anyhoo, enough seriousness (mature-ness?), it’s Friday! Which means two things.

Cakes at 11. Beer at 5!!

bookmark_borderEasy Rider

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He throws his leg over the saddle, composes himself, then pedals off, pulling out straight in front of me in the process. He weaves a little, I hold back to give him room. He veers into the middle of the road, wobbling. Coming the other way a pizza delivery scooter slows to make a right hand turn, stopping to wait for a gap in the traffic. The cyclist continues his path, straight into the scooter. Low speed, he can hardly pedal, and the two riders exchange words.

He wobbles onward, weaving across both lanes, causing cars to swerve. Louise calls the police.

Part of me hopes he was in an accident, but that he is only damaged, teaching him a lesson.

Part of me hopes he was OK and didn’t get hurt.

Part of me was suppressing giggles.

bookmark_borderStationary ache

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Working at home, as I am today, has a lot of advantages. The main one for me is concentration. I’m in almost complete control of my environment here and end up losing all track of time. Louise knows to phone me around 12.30 to make sure I stop for lunch (which I frequently miss when at home, but never ever when in the office).

I’ve just realised that I’ve been sitting in the same position for about three hours, so if you don’t mind I’ll go for a walk round the garden.

*creak*

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