My Renault Scenic is a piece of French crap!
On the way to dropping small son off at school this morning, pulled up at a junction, looked down and the whole dashboard is dead! No lights at all - no ticking when I indicate - no speedo - no rev counter - no warning lights - nothing - just a completely blank panel!
Carried on, dropped him off at school and came home - luckily hubby's working away in his works' van this week, so his car was here, so I went to work in that - just arrived in time for Day Two of my training course, and thankfully I knew where the keys for his car were!
Mum collected small son from school due to the long day for the training course, and I collected him from there at 4:30pm.
Interestingly, when I'd tweeted that my car was broken on Twitter this morning, by the time I got to work, my phone was saying @Renault_UK had replied asking me to contact them - I couldn't do that until I got home as Social Networking and Mobile Phones are banned at work, so once we'd arrived home, I emailed Renault as the tweet had said.
5 minutes later a reply arrived to say that my email had been passed on to their Customer Relations
Friday, 20 May 2011
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
Tuesday 17th May 2011
My Uni's finished now, at least until September, and if I did poorly, then it's finished completely, so I've decided to take a summer course...
I'm doing a Yale course in Philosophy on Death.
Well, I'm listening to the lectures on iTunesU.
http://oyc.yale.edu/philosophy
Well? What's the worst that could happen? I doubt I'll have the free time to do the reading that they're suggesting, but there's no reason I can't listen to all the classes.
Other news:
I'm doing a Yale course in Philosophy on Death.
Well, I'm listening to the lectures on iTunesU.
http://oyc.yale.edu/philosophy
Well? What's the worst that could happen? I doubt I'll have the free time to do the reading that they're suggesting, but there's no reason I can't listen to all the classes.
Other news:
- Father-in-law's birthday. (82yrs) - they treated us for tea at BentleyWood Farm Harvester.
- Day One of a Two-Day Training Course at work.
- Collected hubby's car from the train station (He's working away, so has the works' van to get an early start in the morning)
- Brother's been to see his new GP and seems to like him, seems trustworthy, seems to think that he understands what his needs and problems are.
- Mum's collecting youngest son from school whilst I do the above work Training Course since it's a full time day, and isn't scheduled to finish until 4:30pm, whereas I normally finish in tine to do the afternoon school-run.
- Oldest son had another Driving Lesson - he's progressing, but it seems like very slow progress - but then again, he can't shower himself or dress himself, can't answer the phone or go shopping, so the fact that he's almost ready for his test in significant progress.
- Book arrived from eBay: John Duignan's 'The Complex' - the one that (allegedly) has a SuperInjunction blocking itfrom being published & sold in the UK. (And what's funny is that I wouldn't have the slightest interest in it if it wasn't for the injunctions!)
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Monday 16th May
So, you're a Social Media Expert? What does that mean exactly? That you spend all day playing on FaceBook and Twitter? And you're proud of that? So proud that you claim it as you main occupation?
Is it code for "I lost my real job in the recession" or something?
Well, if you just tweet links every 15/20/60 minutes, and you never tell us anything "real" that's going on in your life, and you never reply to people who say stuff, either directly to you, or just in general, then you're gone... I'm not interested in tweeters who claim to be able to fix my life with viewing a link, or who just spout out guff about politics, religion, environment etc.
For me, Twitter is about engaging people - engaging them in little bits of conversation - finding common ground with complete strangers at the other end of the earth. So what if that common ground is that we both had a shitty day? Sometimes just knowing you're not the only one can help.
But therein lies a problem - what if I caught you on a bad week? What if you're conversationally stunted this week, or there's nothing going on that you want to share with the world? Well, then you're being thrown in my Guff pile - where I can still find you easily, and take a peek now and then, and maybe I'll be inspired to move you back in to the followed people, or maybe you'll be thrown out of Guff after a few times of never having anything interesting in your feed!
Real friends are in my "secret" friends list. They're the people I really know, and are normally in my FaceBook friend list too - they're people I work with, and smile at when I pass them in the corridor, they're mums from school, they're friends from school/college/uni etc. And they're in one of the page tabs that FireFox opens as soon as I switch my computer on.
Then there's the "people I want to read" list - they're the list that I wanted to keep when I realised that AutoFollow was a shitty idea - I ended up with a gazillion Social Media experts in my feed, squillions of born again (or born 1st time!) Christians, drug companies claiming their meds/diets would cure my sons' autistic behaviours... and I didn't want to see those people, but I did want to read the flow from acquaintances, strangers who're interesting, certain celeb tweeters and so on.
And then there are those Tweeters who I stumbled across by utter accident - their feed contained something I'd just looked up a hashtag about, or I fell over them some other way and their feed concerned me - worried me in some way, but in the kind of way that I thought "this teen's gonna grow in to a UnaBomber" kind of person... so they're in my "Keep an eye on" list.
Only the Guff list isn't secret. I didn't want anyone I'd removed to think I'd abandoned them completely - afterall, the purpose of it was to keep people handy in case I made a mistake - wouldn't life be easier if you could do that in real?
Anyway - it's 2am Tuesday morning, and I'm off to bed - oldest son's finally had his shower (a fight everytime) and no longer stinks - can't send him off to his driving lesson, sat so close to his instructor in a stinky state!
Is it code for "I lost my real job in the recession" or something?
Well, if you just tweet links every 15/20/60 minutes, and you never tell us anything "real" that's going on in your life, and you never reply to people who say stuff, either directly to you, or just in general, then you're gone... I'm not interested in tweeters who claim to be able to fix my life with viewing a link, or who just spout out guff about politics, religion, environment etc.
For me, Twitter is about engaging people - engaging them in little bits of conversation - finding common ground with complete strangers at the other end of the earth. So what if that common ground is that we both had a shitty day? Sometimes just knowing you're not the only one can help.
But therein lies a problem - what if I caught you on a bad week? What if you're conversationally stunted this week, or there's nothing going on that you want to share with the world? Well, then you're being thrown in my Guff pile - where I can still find you easily, and take a peek now and then, and maybe I'll be inspired to move you back in to the followed people, or maybe you'll be thrown out of Guff after a few times of never having anything interesting in your feed!
Real friends are in my "secret" friends list. They're the people I really know, and are normally in my FaceBook friend list too - they're people I work with, and smile at when I pass them in the corridor, they're mums from school, they're friends from school/college/uni etc. And they're in one of the page tabs that FireFox opens as soon as I switch my computer on.
Then there's the "people I want to read" list - they're the list that I wanted to keep when I realised that AutoFollow was a shitty idea - I ended up with a gazillion Social Media experts in my feed, squillions of born again (or born 1st time!) Christians, drug companies claiming their meds/diets would cure my sons' autistic behaviours... and I didn't want to see those people, but I did want to read the flow from acquaintances, strangers who're interesting, certain celeb tweeters and so on.
And then there are those Tweeters who I stumbled across by utter accident - their feed contained something I'd just looked up a hashtag about, or I fell over them some other way and their feed concerned me - worried me in some way, but in the kind of way that I thought "this teen's gonna grow in to a UnaBomber" kind of person... so they're in my "Keep an eye on" list.
Only the Guff list isn't secret. I didn't want anyone I'd removed to think I'd abandoned them completely - afterall, the purpose of it was to keep people handy in case I made a mistake - wouldn't life be easier if you could do that in real?
Anyway - it's 2am Tuesday morning, and I'm off to bed - oldest son's finally had his shower (a fight everytime) and no longer stinks - can't send him off to his driving lesson, sat so close to his instructor in a stinky state!
Monday, 16 May 2011
Sunday May 15th
Spent most of the weekend:
Do I think they let their children down terribly by leaving them alone? Yes, and shame on them for it.
Do I think they killed her? It's a distinct possibility that one of them lost their temper with her crying and killed her accidentally. Or that she overdosed on the sleeping medication they might have given her. Or that in a drugged state she's fallen and banged her head, or vomited in her sleep.
Do I think they've told the whole truth? No. I'm 99% certain that there is more that they could say about the events.
If I were in charge of the investigation, what would I do: Interview everyone again. Go over their version of events, and compare it to what their original statements say, and ask about discrepancies. Find out more about the hire car: who had it at the time of the disappearance? Question the parents about whether Maddie was genetically theirs, whether there was ANYTHING at all in her past that could point to anything. Get all the Tapas 9 together and talk it all through with ALL of them on video both together and separately. And ask for ANYONE with any court allowable evidence to come forward, even if superinjuncted against! And I would look in to whether the Masonic connections were helping to cover anything up.
Twitter: I'm following too many people. For a while in 2009(?) I had an AutoFollow enabled and ended up with all sorts of weirdos in my list (and some really nice people too!) But now it's taking forever to sort out the wheat from the chaff... And I'm worried about ditching the wrong ones, so if there's any doubt they're going in to either public or secret lists, so that I can still keep track of them via the lists.
Sky+: Today we've caught up with Greys Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Casualty, Raising Hope, The Middle, Modern Family and Parenthood.
Still need to catch up with House (about 5 weeks behind) and Glee (3weeks), Hot In Cleveland (3 weeks), Criminal Minds (1week), Raising Hope (1week) and other odd one-offs.
PlayDate: 10yr old son had a friend over. Didn't get off to a good start as his parents were rude enough to drop him off 20 minutes early without checking it'd be OK... so I was only just dressed when he arrived!
Then he spent the first hour yelling stuff, repeatedly, in an almost Tourette's kind of way! "I'm a bloody Ninja" at the top of his voice - and generally being obnoxious inbetween yells - making son find inappropriate videos on YouTube and singing homophobic songs.
Hubby knows the child - Hubby's a Scout Leader, and the kid is a Scout, which is how he knows my son, so I expected hubby to deal with it, but after an hour it was blatantly obvious that if hubby was doing anything about it, it wasn't working!
I'm used to kids swearing in hushed tones when they think they're out of grown-up earshot, but this wasn't that! So I yelled, from my lounge chair... "If you carry on with that language, I'll take you home RIGHT NOW!" Obviously the kid worked out that if he landed home at 1pm when he wasn't expected back until 4:30pm, he was going to be asked why, and it worked, he stopped - dead in his tracks!
Other Stuff:
Still having the nightmares...
They go like this... 24th June I get told that I passed my degree, so I turn up to Graduation Ceremony on 11th July... they call my name, I get on stage, in my cap, gown & hood & I'm just about to shake hands with the "whoever" and someone comes running on to the stage & whipsers to whoever "there's been a mistake, she didn't pass" and because whoever's microphoned up, the whole audience hear, and they point & laugh... hundreds of them....
I know its unlikely -- that if they tell me on 24th that I passed, then I really did pass, and I don't need to worry, but still...
Work: Seriously dislike what I'm doing at the moment, but recognize that it's a vital service to the community. Seriously annoyed at the rubbish IT systems that we're expected to work with, even though they make what has the capacity to be a quick and easy job in to a long, drawn out process. Have serious issues with my immediate boss - she's inflexible (unless you're her favourite) and doesn't play fair. She has no idea what her staff actually do and so is unable to investigate when allegations are made that some staff are cutting corners and doing a shoddy job which causes work for other people, she belittles staff, sometimes without even knowing she's doing it, and appears to consider herself superior to other people whist proving herself morally inferior.
Finances: very tight. 10yr old about to turn 11 and wants a party, but no spare money for one :(
- watching Maddy McCann videos & reading posts about her - whether her parents did it or are covering anything up...
- whinging about the behaviour of 10yr old son's playdate!
- clearing out people I follow from Twitter
- catching up on stuff on my Sky+ box
- working on my mental health (relaxing)
Do I think they let their children down terribly by leaving them alone? Yes, and shame on them for it.
Do I think they killed her? It's a distinct possibility that one of them lost their temper with her crying and killed her accidentally. Or that she overdosed on the sleeping medication they might have given her. Or that in a drugged state she's fallen and banged her head, or vomited in her sleep.
Do I think they've told the whole truth? No. I'm 99% certain that there is more that they could say about the events.
If I were in charge of the investigation, what would I do: Interview everyone again. Go over their version of events, and compare it to what their original statements say, and ask about discrepancies. Find out more about the hire car: who had it at the time of the disappearance? Question the parents about whether Maddie was genetically theirs, whether there was ANYTHING at all in her past that could point to anything. Get all the Tapas 9 together and talk it all through with ALL of them on video both together and separately. And ask for ANYONE with any court allowable evidence to come forward, even if superinjuncted against! And I would look in to whether the Masonic connections were helping to cover anything up.
Twitter: I'm following too many people. For a while in 2009(?) I had an AutoFollow enabled and ended up with all sorts of weirdos in my list (and some really nice people too!) But now it's taking forever to sort out the wheat from the chaff... And I'm worried about ditching the wrong ones, so if there's any doubt they're going in to either public or secret lists, so that I can still keep track of them via the lists.
Sky+: Today we've caught up with Greys Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Casualty, Raising Hope, The Middle, Modern Family and Parenthood.
Still need to catch up with House (about 5 weeks behind) and Glee (3weeks), Hot In Cleveland (3 weeks), Criminal Minds (1week), Raising Hope (1week) and other odd one-offs.
PlayDate: 10yr old son had a friend over. Didn't get off to a good start as his parents were rude enough to drop him off 20 minutes early without checking it'd be OK... so I was only just dressed when he arrived!
Then he spent the first hour yelling stuff, repeatedly, in an almost Tourette's kind of way! "I'm a bloody Ninja" at the top of his voice - and generally being obnoxious inbetween yells - making son find inappropriate videos on YouTube and singing homophobic songs.
Hubby knows the child - Hubby's a Scout Leader, and the kid is a Scout, which is how he knows my son, so I expected hubby to deal with it, but after an hour it was blatantly obvious that if hubby was doing anything about it, it wasn't working!
I'm used to kids swearing in hushed tones when they think they're out of grown-up earshot, but this wasn't that! So I yelled, from my lounge chair... "If you carry on with that language, I'll take you home RIGHT NOW!" Obviously the kid worked out that if he landed home at 1pm when he wasn't expected back until 4:30pm, he was going to be asked why, and it worked, he stopped - dead in his tracks!
Other Stuff:
Still having the nightmares...
They go like this... 24th June I get told that I passed my degree, so I turn up to Graduation Ceremony on 11th July... they call my name, I get on stage, in my cap, gown & hood & I'm just about to shake hands with the "whoever" and someone comes running on to the stage & whipsers to whoever "there's been a mistake, she didn't pass" and because whoever's microphoned up, the whole audience hear, and they point & laugh... hundreds of them....
I know its unlikely -- that if they tell me on 24th that I passed, then I really did pass, and I don't need to worry, but still...
Work: Seriously dislike what I'm doing at the moment, but recognize that it's a vital service to the community. Seriously annoyed at the rubbish IT systems that we're expected to work with, even though they make what has the capacity to be a quick and easy job in to a long, drawn out process. Have serious issues with my immediate boss - she's inflexible (unless you're her favourite) and doesn't play fair. She has no idea what her staff actually do and so is unable to investigate when allegations are made that some staff are cutting corners and doing a shoddy job which causes work for other people, she belittles staff, sometimes without even knowing she's doing it, and appears to consider herself superior to other people whist proving herself morally inferior.
Finances: very tight. 10yr old about to turn 11 and wants a party, but no spare money for one :(
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