Jesus H., Stargelman. That is one instance when I'm gonna praise the female driver. She is officially your lucky charm now.

Hey, been a long time since I stopped by here. I kind of forgot about this place. How goes it humans?

So I'm unemployed. The day after the bank announces £3 billion profit, I'm told they can't get the funding to keep paying me. I was told on Wednesday.

That really sucks. I only revently managed to get a job, just finished my first week. But I only work about 4 and a half hours a day at it.
That profit probably came from firing folks like you so they won't have to pay you XD

I feel for you all who did not get jobs or so but I really do have to say that I am so happy to have holiday now> I have been waiting so long and now at last we are on our way, hubby and me.

Leaving sweden tomorrow for the love island of Ruegen in Germany for a three weeks long camping holiday

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!

Hope you have fun Minky.

My first full day of school is today, and I'm not exactly looking forward to it, seeing as they've split up our classes into boys and girls. Most of my friends are guys, and we don't think this is the best idea, but oh well, we can't do anything about it. It should be fun anyways, and I'm sorta loooking forward to it.

Hmm... that doesn't sound very fun. I am looking forward to school. Summer is too long, and I don't have much to do (I'm going to work for the first time next year). I miss having structure in my life

Only two years of my schooling before I went to university had mixed classes. It was all boys schools for me bar those two years. It's something you get used to. Not that it doesn't tend to stunt the ability to interact with the opposite gender when you've had very little experience socialising with them XD
On the whole I think mixed is better, but you'll survive with seperated I'm sure
Especially since it sounds like the classes are seperated, but everyone still goes to the same school.

My schedule is extremely messed up, and I'm glad. Only two of my seven classes are separated because of my insane schedule. So, I have a lot of my guy friends in my classes. Hooray for weird schedules!

I got a job recently as well. I'm in an assembly line making treadmills. The pay is compassion, the hours are compassion, I gotta bike 2 miles every morning to be there at 5:30, but it's a job.

I'm also going back to school, just taking a couple evening classes but it should keep me busy. I also finally started the book I've been planning for nearly 2 years now. The narrative is unlike anything I've ever read before, I really didn't expect I'd write in that sort of style after such a long absence from fiction writing. It's the only way I can do it though, and do it consistently. It's hard to explain but I might throw in an excerpt later.

Oh yeah and I have a huge crush on Kristen Stewart. I mean I've always thought she was one of the most beautiful girls ever but I read a little bit about her and she likes Charles Bukowski, Albert Camus and John Steinbeck. She also like Iron & Wine. If there was such thing as a soul mate, she would be it.

I'm back from Eastern Europe. The trip was fun if utterly not according to plan. I'm also possibly now persona non-grata in Transnistria, a country (for want of a better term) which beg many questions: who is in charge? do the people really love the president so much as to give him 103.6% of the vote? (yes this really was announced in one area) and how many zeros will be on the cost of a loaf of bread tomorrow morning in their self proclaimed currancy? It was a fun place though (at least until the border but I did get a student rate on the fine).

I started in Poznan (western Poland) with the intention of going north though Scandanavia and getting a ferry from Norway to Scotland but it turns out the ferry has been cancelled so I got a cheap flight back from Kyiv instead. Went through Poland, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, back to Moldova, Transnistria (if its not part of Moldova, it has its own army, currancy and government (last remaning SSR in the world) so I'd say so), and finished looping though the other side of the Ukraine.

Other than the Transnistrian madness other highlights were Lviv which somehow survived WW2/ cold war completely intact and is well worth a couple of days if your every within striking distance and Kyiv which is really nice and has all the good points of Ukraine and none of the bad. Any country where beer is classed as a soft drink and vodka is about 2.50 euro per litre is by default fun, if not particularly productive.

So yea, Eastern Europe is good fun...

Oki Olen, I,ve been to Ukraine as well, many years ago, so yeah, I agree it's interesting in eastern europe...Aaaanyway I'm now back from my camping-trip in Germany (former east germany as a matter of fact) The island Rügen was wonderfu as always. Wew had fantastic weather, warm and sunny. So there was time for swimming, sunbathing and above all...good food, drink and so on. And..I don't have to go to work on monday...oh noes...still vacation!

...if you don't have to live in it.

I'm back at the University of Minnesota now. I'm going to be boarding at a fraternity this year. It's a dry frat (so no partying), and the people there are really friendly.

I think I'm going to like it here.

Ok--work again tomorrow, hmm can't say I'm looking very much forward to it, but wtf...it's life!

I thought that was an oxymoron. (haha)

Anyway, since I've been done with school, I haven't found a job, but I did get an (unpaid ) internship that will give me some good experience. Only problem is, I still need some kind of job to hold me over.

Similar here, I back in Edinburgh full time now living with the same four people as last year but in a different flat which is better and cheaper. This does have downsides, like yesterday when I had a chip pan overflow and the fat on the hob top catch fire I realised (after spending a few moments shouting 'bad fire' 'go away' and 'fire inside... not good' and waving my arms around) that I hadn't a clue where the fire blanket was. Fortunatly a wedge of dishcloths sufficed in its place. Who knows what the moral is, perhaps that shouting at fire doesn't work but seems an exquisitely good idea when there is one.

I just found out that Patrick Swayze finally succumbed to cancer. I'm really, truly sad about it.


RIP Patrick. You will be missed dearly. Road House is and shall forever remain the film that is dearest to my heart, and everything I've heard about him suggests that he was a good person and a real class act. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

'Tis quite a loss. I've never been big into his films, but he did seem a class act, and it's always sad to lose those sorts of people.

I find I'm quite sad about this as well. I actually woke up to that news this morning.

He was a good and versatile actor - contrast his role in Dirty Dancing with that in Donny Darko and you'll know what I mean

Rest in Peace

Yay! I finally have my driver's license! Took the test today and now I can make unsafe all the streets of Europe! \o/

YAAAYY! Congrats Stargie! So now you have no excuse but to come to Sweden!

Congratulations!

So that's why I felt a sudden dread about taking the bike to uni?

Great stuff, make the most of it while there's still petrol. Are you planning some kind of roadtrip?

I'd probably enjoy that, but alas, no time. Have to work lots and lots right now.

Today I wanted to take my car for a ride for the first time, and what happened? I wanted to drive the car out of the garage and when I fired the ignition the sound was all wrong. Had to get some starting help because the battery was almost empty on account of the car standing around all that time. But after that it was very enjoyable

(Plays riff from the Beach Boys' I Get Around)

Ah these young men and their automobiles. Why back in my day....

My first car was a 1966 Mustang with a 3-speed manual transmission. And this was the time of the year I loved going for a drive.

Most cool, Stargelman. Enjoy.

Dear god. I am not going to be a pedestrian in Germany at any given time, I mean, Congrats Sarge! That's... heh, wonderful news... keep us posted, 'kay?

I just watched my Twins beat the Tigers to get into the playoffs. Live. Three tickets, third row from the top.

Best $37 I ever spent. I am keeping that Homer Hanky FOREVER.

One of my fondest memories is of riding the subway all the way from the tip of Manhattan to the Bronx and watching the Yankees play Seattle. It was a weekday afternoon game, so we bought general admission tickets and then moved to empty box seats along the first base line.

I don't much watch baseball on TV, but there is something about being in the stadium that is just transcendent....

And speaking of money well-spent, I just went to the encore of the Rifftrax Live show.

I literally choked on my popcorn from laughing so hard.

Days like this make me wish I have had more faith in my psychologist and continue to have talks. Too bad.

It's gotten so bad that I literally get sick of people nowadays. Honestly. I hate working with people, I hate faking smiles and being polite to every idiot that comes trough the door and wanders aimlessly trough the store where I work, I hate the fact that nearly every day I can't hamster cave at on time and that I feel physical pain because of it; when i do eat I also feel pain and it just continues the circle. I am slipping more and more into misanthropy. New and refreshing ways of our management to [de]motivate us is just a cherry on the top.

When I come home I waste time, play games without aim, stare at the floor, think grim thoughts etc. I don't go out anymore. It's just eat, sleep, sit at the PC, take dumps, go to work. That is all that is left.

Mil- I have been where you are now. I won't give you a bunch of happy sappy talk- that always just annoyed me.... I did get through it, and I hope you will, too. I have always considered you to be a friend (in a fellow morose S.O.B. sort of way). Don't bail out on me, dude. Us misanthropes have to stick together.

Hey all.

Sorry for the extended absence, I was chatting with Minque earlier today, and she asked me how the progress with the writing was. Sorry to say not at all. I've been extremely busy with work, trying to save up money for my Nursing Class in January.

As a result, I'm extremely tired when I get home, and I just don't have the energy or mental capacity to write.

Don't worry, I'm not giving up. I'm just putting things on hold for a bit.

Strangely though, while Sethyas has been absent from my thoughts for some time, the conversation with her sparked my imagination a bit during work today, and I started fantasizing a bit more about how he would be like with all the mods I've been playing, and truth be told he would be a bit different then what I was used too from the X-Box version.

In my minds eye, I saw Seth in Westlys Assassin's Creed Armor; Rust Color, tossing a grappling hook into a tower from a castle wall. Walking tightrope across in the dark, he quickly took out a a guard with a garrote, a cord for strangulation....I know, kid friendly.

But it got me to thinking a bit more about his professional persona versus game mechanics. So, I may retcon some of his gear a bit. Though that seems like a small thing, to me, for some odd reason seems to redefine him a bit, and sharing this is likely childish, like something I might do when I was eight, not twenty eight.

But here goes: Main 'heavy' weapon would no longer be a Katana or Scimitar. Too warrior-esque. He would use Shimsil, the enchanted ebony shortsword that makes you sneakier.

Dagger would still be Black Hands Dagger.

No more bow and arrows. He would use poisoned Throwing Knives, or Steel Darts.

And a new addition for the quick silent kill would be the garrote. I would probably call it a rumaal in the story, as that is called in India, the favored weapon of the Thuggee cult that inspired the Morag Tong at least in part.

So...yeah...I hope to be able to share something soonish, but I make no promises.

Blackie!
As I told you yesterday I fully understand your lack of time and inspiration, I'm in the same position, too much work has kept me from writing for the last six months...hmm

I'm glad our talk gave you a small kick to think about my favourite assassin...to be honest, I, too, made some thinking and I will come up with a continuation, I just don't exactly know where to start, see I do have quite some material for a new chapter.

Anyway noone will be happier than me to see Sethyas return...whenever that will be!

Been a while since I've posted here...

Not much has been happening for me. Got home from England, having some trouble getting my pay off the damned NHS for some reason. Sorting that one out is annoying.

Also, can't remember if I mentioned it, but I was in Scotland for roughly two weeks on a Geology field trip with university. The Highlands have some fantastic scenery... which I got to see on the one or two days it wasn't lashing rain and really windy. Taking notes you're gonna use to make a geological map of an area is quite hard in those conditions >_>
Overall a damn fun trip though, seems my class are all great people, so the next couple of years with them should be pretty fun.

And now I'll fade from sight again for another undisclosed amouunt of time

I'd be fairly happy too, I don't know how I missed it for so long but I read through it all at the beginging of september. I'm certainly looking forward to more, whenever you feel up to it. It's horrible always being too tired from work to do much else... hope it improves soon.

Where in the Highlands were you wolfie? They're all nice, especially on those three or four days a year when it's not raining...

I haven't really got any news. Uni is fairly full on just now, some sadist timetabled my quantum mechanics lectures for nine o'clock which can be fairly grim. Sort of annoying timetable with lots of one or two hour gaps which aren't enough to go home in but there's too many to fill them. Still it gets all the assignments done.

I was way up in the Northwest, near Loch Assynt, and then on the Isle of Skye.

Is Loch Assynt by Inchnadamf? That is indeed a long way from anywhere. As far as I know they think The Wicker Man is a documentary out that way... Skye's nice though.

This is making me want to hop on the bicycle again... I could make Skye on Tuesday if I left now, maybe even tomorrow.

That name sounds about right. So yes, I'm guessing you're thinking of the right place, and it is indeed in the arse end of nowhere.

The Isle of Skye? Isn't that where the famous Talisker is from? I like that stuff

It is indeed. Talisker is nice but I think I prefer the Islay malts, things like Ardbeg (my favourite when I have the money), Laphroaig and Lagavulin. If you haven't tried Ardbeg get a bottle (or a nip if any of the pubs where you are stock it) next payday (it ain't cheap) it's marvelous stuff...

I have tried all three of those. Ardbeck has a rather... intense aroma as I remember, but I do like it.

Yes Starge, that is indeed where Talisker is from. One of the lecturers bought himself a small bottle of it from the distillery itself while we were on Skye.

I was surfing the internet and found a dorky site called Cleverbot.com.

Its kinda interesting because you can supposedly talk to as close to an a.i. as the interwebz can create.

Anyways try it and post your conversations just for fun, here's mine below.

http://www.cleverbot.com/j2log-hRwMJZAKWFLHAISWIFE-detail

Hmmm... I think we're still a long way from having fully functional AIs, it gave plausible enough responses but would avoid questions where actual reasoning and thought was required. And when it fails it does badly. It particularly disliked my attempts to draw it into a conversation about existentialism and ended up just insulting me. Though that does somewhat mirror the normal course of such conversations...

This time last week, I thought this was going to be a much different post. The real Trey- the dachshund, over there to the left, was not having a good week. He seemed to be unable to walk (back legs), and manifested other problems that I won't get into here. He is an ancient doggie- at least 17 and probably closer to 19. So we have been dreading these circumstances for a long time. We had already planned some time off to extend our weekend, and were preparing to call the vet and see about a home visit...

By Thursday, he seemed a little better, but was still having difficulty. As I left for work, I remarked in passing that maybe I could take him for a checkup Friday morning, and then we would know something. To make a long story shorter, it appears that the little rat had a bladder/kidney infection. He got an injection and some antibiotics (plus a badly needed bath and clipping). He has shown more energy and appetite this week than in some time. I don't know how long this "Indian Summer" will last, but I am grateful for it. Perhaps to some people he is "just a dog," and I guess I envy them their complacency about such things. But the little weiner has slept beside my side of the bed for all these years and sat beside me as I played Daggerfall and Morrowind and Oblivion... and as I named my characters after him. (I suspect he also created his own characters and played them while I was at work). He has outlived my father and my mother and has always been happy to see me. So it is good news tinged with melancholy- rather a microcosm of life....

Well my letting agency are continuing their attempts to drive me utterly over the edge. They inspected the flat again so we moved all the bicycles, clothes drying racks, shoes, chair and telephone out of the hall as apparently its illegal to have anything in your own hall. I reattched all those intensly annoying devices which make doors difficult to open and then cause them to slam behind you because its illegal to have a door which doesn't trap any stray fingers with sufficient force to break them. Yet still they find things to moan about.

Apparently the kitchen needs cleaning. I'd dispute this as, while not spotless, it isn't bad. But exactly what business of the agency (not even the owner but an agency) is it even if it were slightly dirty. And in the name of health and safty we need to replace one smoke alarm (of 10 in a not very big flat) onto a 3.5m high ceiling with only a pile of chairs, a toolbox and a crate of beer to reach it. The terror involved in getting to the ceiling might be why it never went back up after the battery was replaced...

So yes, I'm annoyed. I just want to be left alone. I heard recently that in all time the UK currently was only surpassed in terms of beurocracy by the USSR, and not in all areas. Scotland is the beurocracy centre of the UK. I think I might emigrate.

@Treydog: I hope Trey is doing better. It can be really hard when pets are sick; they are often such close companions.

@Olen: Management companies and landlords often have unusual requirements; it can be painful, but sometimes we just have to give in. All the best!


I have a job interview coming up next Monday. I've been working only part-time since January, and it would be really great to actually have a full-time job again. I need to do a bit of work to get ready for the interview, so I'm a little nervous, but I'm hoping it will go well.

Planty--- having been unemployed and under-employed, I feel your hope and frustration. I will keep a good thought for you. Here's hoping, my friend.