today's something...

I have learned while in England

If the taxi is turning, then by golly it is turning.

Where as in the United States things might be spelled with a z like immunize in the United Kingdom they spell most z words (z being called zed here) with an S like immunise.

well

we had a great Christmas and Christmas weekend, apart from me working a VERY boring 6.5 hours Boxing Day night (the 26th to all you ferners). Christmas itself was spectacular with piles of gifts for everyone a nice relaxing day plus a large meal to cap it off with the whole fam, whats here anyway. Saturday we slept in a bit and the partner and I plus her brother went to Staines to catch the opening showing of the new, to the UK, Sherlock Holmes movie, it was great! We then looked around all the decent Boxing Day sales, bought a few things, you know. Then I had on of the most boring 6.5 hours of my life.

Sunday, today, was quite nice we just pretty much relaxed around the house, I got to watch my new GI Joe movie the partners parents got me, it was pretty decent. Now partner and I are just relaxing and taking some notes preparing for a big trip to London tomorrow.

Peace...

today's something...

I have learned while in England

They do not have real macaroni and cheese, no kraft or velveeta

Air conditioning is not common

The conservative side wishes they were still in the days of the empire

today's something...

I learned about England

Christmas Pudding is not pudding, it is fruit cake EDIT: forgot to say that it is soaked in liquor

Santa Claus is Father Christmas, except when he is Santa Claus

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

today's something...

I learned about England

do not give the peace sign as it looks a lot like a very rude gesture

bacon is called rashers, except when it is called bacon

ham is gammon

Todays something

I learned about England segment

the restroom is called the loo or simply the toilet.

cookies are called biscuits, except when they are like chocolate chip

sorry for...

the lack of posts and info the last few days. Partner's family flew in on Monday and we have been well busy.

Monday their flight in got delayed about 4 hours so I was unable to go with to the airport to pick them up. After my main job I was summoned to my on call job but when I got there they had not yet received the shipment so I was sent home.

Once home I greeted the family then went off to deal with ASDA for repeatedly screwing up my grocery order and after three phone calls finally decided to tell them just to refund me for the stuff I never got.

Then back to on call job since they finally got stuff in. When I finished there I billed for 1.5 hours plus travel since I had to come back and the weather was rubbish. They did not feel like breaking a twenty so I got what I wanted plus a X-mas bonus!! So I went to the bus stop across the street, traffic was HORRENDOUS for some reason, and once the bus got to the round-a-bout the bus driver decided that he did not want to try and wait to get up the hill so he was going to go around, it seemed like a good idea. Little did the driver or anyone else know the traffic was bad everywhere and I ended up stuck on a non heated bus for 1.5 hours;( So a 20-30 minute walk became an hour and a half bus ride. I knew I should have walked but did not want to get in trouble with the partner.

By the time I got home at about 730-8 everyone else was so tired they just went to bed after I had supper, so no fun for me Monday. Tuesday I had to leave for work before guests were up but I lucked out when they decided they could not be bothered to go to Reading and went to Staines instead. My lovely boss let me off an hour early because the fam stopped by to say hi. We went to Staines and shopped til we dropped and then came home had desert and went to bed. Today we are hoping to get out to London to visit the Christmas market on the last day.

I am going to start a new segment on this blog that will highlight either differences between England and the US or something I have learned about said England since being here.

Peace. Merry Christmas

today was

quite nice. It has been a while since I have had a weekend off and I am quite enjoying it. Got my pay in the account today so we went out to Staines. Got a maths book for the daughter unit, did a little shopping, I took advantage of some big sales on figures I collect, got a new pillow for partner and a new kettle since my herculean strength ripped the wall plug for the old one in half. After our shopping we decided it would be nice to see a movie. At the time the choices were Where the wild things are, Planet 51 and a movie called St. Trinians 2. Partner and I thought Where the wild things are might be a bit sad for her so it came down to P51 and St.T 2. Daughter chose St. Trinians as it was a girl centric movie about tough girls. It was actually pretty good, starring Rupert Everett as Headmistress Camila Fritton and Doctor Who's David Tennant as the wicked Piers Pomfrey.

Daughter finished school for the year this past Friday, she was quite happy about it. Something cool is the other year 3 teacher has asked if daughter wanted to step up to the next maths level, hence the new maths book, which daughter and us are excited about.

Spent part of the day cleaning, getting ready for the in-laws in Monday. We are all pretty excited, we will get to have a bit of fun. We have a large grocery order coming Sunday, just to be sure we have enough food.

Peace.

SNOWING

it is doing it right now.

Pretty cool, it has been snowing off and on the last two days and today the ground got cold enough for it to stick. Since about 4pm it has snowed non-stop and we are supposed to get around 4 inches of the stuff. YAAAAAYYYYY!!!

busy busy...

busy. Wild week with lots of hours and extra's last week so not much time to keep things up to date. I have finally finished in the other store, something I am quite happy about. It was getting kind of stressful at the end. I am currently working about 33.5 hours per week average at my standard store and after the new year I will pick up another roughly 3 hours per week.

Daughter has decided that she no longer wants to do any clubs other than guitar. That will see her drop 4 clubs and save us a good chunk of change. I am not so concerned about the money as long as she is doing clubs she likes, says she is tired with all the extra time at school which is understandable. It leaves her with the guitar since she now has decided to be a rockstar ala Hannah Montana.

Partner has been getting lots of work done lately so that she doesn't have to gets lots done while her family are here.

Partners family will be here in about a week and a half. For two weeks. We really are looking forward to it, it should be fun.

We finally finished shopping for and wrapping all of Christmas.

Peace

Sleeping on sunshine

Well busy week for myself and everyone else this week. I myself put in better than 60 hours between my regular hours, covering the other night shifters holiday and putting in extra shifts at the other store. I am well tired but the check will look nice. 6 days in a row working 10 hour shifts until midnight and the 6th day from 830am until midnight so...

The girls were busy, daughter had her usual busy wednesday and had a play date on friday. It started with just one of her school mates but upon her friends mum coming to collect her, along with the friends siblings, and partner and the other mum talked while the four kids played. Then on Saturday daughter had a x-mas fair that she attended for a few hours.

Last Saturday we had our new mattresses delivered, the first night was a bit rough getting used to the far firmer mattress but since that first night we have been sleeping worlds better, it probably helped a lot during this past week. We also got a new, to us, sofa from one of the charity shops, it is quite nice too.

peace... one love

watch those pennies float on by

Well got paid today, it was a nice payslip. Then the partner and I had to go blow half of it. 200GBP to pay the monthly bills, 250GBP to get new mattresses for the daughter and us and then 90 on a 3 seater sofa from the charity shop. Quite a bit of money, I am not enthused about the amount spent but obviously bills have to be paid and the mattresses will make the rest of our lives easier and we may even get a decent night sleep for once. The sofa was the only bit that was a bit of luxury but, lets be honest, the price includes delivery and it was from a charity shop so... We also got a bit more stuff we needed from the department store, finishing off most of the X-mas shopping and such, but that was put on the partners card for now.

This does mean however that the rest is going to have to be watched METICULOUSLY. I cannot stress that enough. While I still have about half the payslip left that half has to cover phones, travel and groceries.

Despite the vast amount of monies spent we are excited about having comfortable seating and nice mattresses for once.

Peace.

Up Up and Away

So my birthday has come and gone, partner made a great supper and we had a really good but simple swirly cake. We all really found it tasty, the cake. On Sunday I got to use the birthday money my mom gave me to take my partner and daughter to the movies to see Up, which we have all been looking forward to.

Up is a really good movie, not as epically good as Wall-E was as far as Pixar movies go but really good and a captivating foray into the dramatic for Pixar. Pixar has always had drama in its movies but Up takes it to a whole new level. This is a much more grown up movie than I was expecting but, it was a much more grown up movie that kids could still enjoy. I recommend seeing this movie to anyone and I hope to have a review up soon.

Peace

clean break

so... the clean break I thought I might get from my secondary store was shot down today... someone decided to break the news to the boss there before I had a chance. He was not happy. Not so sure what to do. I am getting more hours from my main job but he feels I promised to keep on with him until he found someone else. I did say i'd try but... he is also looking for someone. I am going to have to try and figure some way to work them both or something or work something out.

Peace... One Love

weekends over

Well the weekends over and I worked the whole thing. Trying to build up money since the in-laws are coming. Yep from the 21st of December to the 3rd of January we will be hosting my partners parents. The good thing is that both partner and daughter are really excited. I am looking forward to it as well. I am going to try and get a few more days off for the time they are here just so I can do some hanging out to. Unfortunately company policy does not allow time off during December so it means I will have to lose pay :(.

well

daughter made it through the day ok so I am happy about that.

partner got a small work desk for me to use when writing or daughter to use for homework.

I however had a wonderfully interesting day. Had coffee with the partner and went to work. It was a good bit chilly. Not interesting enough? well read on. I left my town and got to the connecting station in the next town.

I hopped on my second bus and waited for it to go. The driver arrived on time and left having had to stay on a bit to explain a change to the route to potential passengers. We started to move, about ten feet and while in motion a woman missed the bus. Well to leave the station there is a light and the bus got caught at the light. Next thing you know a young man is running up along side the bus and is informing the driver that he left a lady at the stop. The driver explained that once in motion law and regulation states that he is not allowed to stop and pick people up unless it is at a stop, makes sense that is the point to a bus stop. Well the young and well intentioned man said that if the driver did not allow the lady on the bus, he really could have if he wanted I suppose but I digress, he would stand in front of the bus until she got on. And he did. Well, well intentioned or not I cannot be late for work, so among clamorings of people to call the police and whatnot I informed the gentleman that it was kind of ironic that he was holding up a bus full of people, and potentially making them late for work, to help out someone else. He could see my point but "didn't care." Oh well. So in the end I told the driver to just let her on so we could go, she had already made it over and gotten on anyway, and in response to the passengers telling the driver to call the police said "well even if he was being an idiot, at least it was for a somewhat good reason," something you cannot say of a lot of idiots.

After leaving my first shift at one store and heading to the next store, about halfway there on the bus, which came just as I got to the stop, I realized I still had keys for the previous store!!! So I called the store and they of course said I would have to come back, called the next store and relayed that I might be late. I then hopped off the bus and heading for the nearest stop going in the opposite direction. The bus had allegedly just passed according to the time table, musta been one of those invisible Harry Potter jobs, so I had to wait another 20 minutes, that I really did not have. Well, not being one hundred percent sure where I was I decided to wait for the bus, did I mention how it was chilly in the morning? Well it was now late afternoon (about 5pm) and well into getting dark and I was quite cold. So I waited some more, the bus I was awaiting never showed, crap, next bus wasn't for another 15 minutes, well... waiting. I was then the almost victim of an egging by a pair of losers with bad aim. They missed me but hit the bus sign next to me so I did take some yolkey collateral. Finally a bus, not the one I was awaiting but it would work, plus it was warm. Got to the shop dropped the keys and returned to the outbound bustop I had been to nearly an hour before. According to the schedule the bus should be in about 5-7 minutes. So I wait... in the cold. The scheduled bus never arrives, another does though, 15 minutes later. It for whatever reason thought is stopping halfway to my next stop, we have to switch buses for a bus I have never ridden and I am already 20 minutes late for my second shift. Oh yeah the bus switch, went by the next intersection as we (the passengers) were getting off the bus. The next bus was not scheduled for guess... 20 minutes. Except halfway through another in the line of bus we were on comes around the corner (not the same bus) and picks us up and takes us to the next bus station. I catch a bus and make it to work 45 minutes late, it took me two and a quarter hours to make a journey that normally takes about 45 minutes. And it only cost me double my usual fare plus a nice chill to the bone. I bought a cup of noodles before going in to work and have never been so happy with one.

Wheee....

Peace... One Love

Happy Birthday Patrick

soooo..

Well... I told my other boss that I could not continue with the hours. He is currently trying to hire a replacement. My main boss has confirmed that she will be able to supplement the hours, we just have not settled on the specifics.

Have spent a bit of the day looking at web hosting for the partner, man it is hard to sift through all that. I looked at dozens of sites and figured out nothing. uggghhh. She wants a small cheapish professional website for her 'model' nation she is setting up. Like I said though digging through the gosh knows how many different hosting sites/offers.

Daughter has been sick the last week or so... a bit of flu mixed with a throat infection, poor thing. We ended up skipping our plans for her half term and just stayed in. She has had her first and second violin lesson and starts guitar lessons on wednesday. She is a busy girl as that is on top of judo wednesday morning. So daughter has choir on mondays, violin on tues, judo, guitar and cookery on wed and art on thurs.

until the next time

peace... one love

Happy Birthday Patrick

the next episode

Hello one and all... Much ado about nothing. Wait... what? Anyway Lot of contemplating going on lately, I think I am giving up my hours in the other store I work at, or my third job if you will. After talking with my manager, my partner and giving it some thought, I have decided that the slightly better than full time hours combined with the amount of walking and travelling that the strain is just too much. I can get more hours with less travel and less expenditures if I stay in my home store, and probably have more time to spend with the family.

Peace... One Love

ok, time to get this done

I am sitting here, not much on my mind other than I would like to get the writing done. I have been ridiculously busy recently, haven't had time for much sleep or food. Hopefully the payoff comes on the 20th, payday. I have a few articles as well as figure reviews either written or typed up, I just haven't had the time to do them up and put them online. I have however been considering putting up my own for real website, would give me a chance to actually try my hand at programming a site.

Daughter is doing alright, having well since started school. She has taken on judo, choir, art and cookery clubs keeping herself quite busy. Like anyone she has her on and off days but she is getting on. She is letting her hair grow out again, "American style" whatever that means. She does look cute in her Judo outfit. Christmas is about wrapped up for her though; a few foreign language DVD's, a witches wand (her latest fad, she insists she is a real life witch), a couple World Wildlife Fund adoptions (her BIG gift so to speak) and maybe a few little bits and bobs here and there plus whatever the multitude of Grandparents provide.

Partner is doing alright as well, just having some trouble getting re-motivated after her review. It went well the way I understand it but, she needs to rework a lot of it as well. She just really has to get back into it. I think she is quite excited about the mattress shopping as I think both physically and mentally she is suffering for it. I found a place that does them for pretty cheap so... hopefully that both goes well and proves productive. Partner's Christmas is also almost wrapped up, cannot mention what I am getting her but some has already been ordered.

As for myself, who knows what the girls have cooked up. I may be getting a couple things for myself. I know Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Bludgeon is supposed to be coming out around Christmas, maybe. If he does that is my X-mas present to myself.

Peace...One Love

One friggin YEAR!!!!!!!

So, here it is the one year anniversary of us moving to England.

What is the time??

Man what a week. With daughter back at school and my three jobs all putting me to work I am knackered (tired). It's good though as eventually it will all pay off. My boss and I also finally got caught up on all my back hours of pay so that will be good. It is a good thing that picking up a third set of shifts through my store is a couple months off as that will give me time to adjust.

Daughter is enjoying her classes I think. I know she likes her teacher. She is going to be picking up lots of clubs. Art for sure and cookery, she also wants to do dance, french and choir. So... she will be busy.

Partner is finishing up getting ready for her annual review. It is on Wednesday so that will be a big weight off her shoulders, if she does well. Which she will. She and I are trying to plan on her possibly going to the states again next spring so she can attend AAG like she should. We just got to find the money.

For the upcoming week, I have a three day holiday. A leftover from when partner was originally going to Brighton to but, what with the review and all. It will give me a little break. We are also planning out activities to prepare for the possibility of partners parents coming out this winter. I am also planning out X-mas purchases both for my girls and the rest of the fam. Again like last year it will be a bit of a light Christmas.

We finally got our carpet installed!!! It looks great and makes the house look so much better. Partner was quite happy after having it installed.

Well... Not much else I can think of for now.

Peace... One Love

Jobs???? We gots to many stinkin jobs!!!

I am off the next few days. Hanging out with the monster while partner is in Manchester at the RGS. Mustly just chilling the first two days. Friday I am taking her to see the Hannah Montana movie, just pray for me.

Daughter starts school back on the 3rd, which is next Thursday, she is kind of luke warm about it.

I picked up what amounts to another job, being that it is nearly the same number of hours I work now, just at another store. I will be working 6 days a week, having every Sunday and every other Friday off. Since it nearly doubles my hours, this will be a considerable amount more income every month. It will allow me to work towards getting a trainee dispenser job that will hopefully lead to a full time dispensing position. I will also try to maintain the warehouse job during the earlier part of the day. My new hours are 1-530 on Monday and Tuesday (except Tuesday's that partner goes to London) and depending on whether or not I work on Saturday for my regular post, either 830-430/530. Having good paychecks regularly will be quite nice. On the chance we do not get the option to stay, we would like to be able to do stuff while we are here.

Also, at the end of November another staff member, at my regular store, is going on maternity leave. My manager has requested that I fill that void, unfortunatly I do have the gaps in the other store to fill, so it is possible that I may get a pile of daytime hours also. Partner has cautioned me against trying such a schedule as it would undoubtably lead to fatigue, she is probably right.

I am working on planning out daughters next school holiday, maybe a trip to the aquarium, some other things close by. If we can do good money wise over the next couple months we may be able to do a bit more.

Peace... One Love

any questions? drop them in the comments

WALES???

Well,

We got back from Wales yesterday. We had fun. When we got back into town we were stopped by the mother of one of daughters classmates to set up a playdate for Tuesday. I was then trapped by co-workers asking if I was supposed to work last (friday) night. I said no but, when looking in the diary the other girl had crossed her name out. So, with an hour until time, I was informed I needed to be in. We still needed to go to the grocery store to get some meals for the week. So we did the grocery shopping went home, got a bit unpacked, and was still only like five-ten minutes late.

Wales was beautiful, I have pictures that will be uploaded later. We enjoyed staying with the king of Hay, he was very fun and charismatic. Some time ago he had lost his hearing in one ear and as such mis-heard daughters name, kept calling her Becky. The town was tiny, 1500 residents, but was quite alive. King Richard had turned the town into a bit of a tourist spot when he declared himself king and Hay an independent country. His way of making the economy was by being a second hand book town, along with the tourism and it has worked. The king himself is hilarious. We had a bit of good food, breakfast with the king and daughter of course got some treats. I got lots of pictures.

I will be getting more hours, I do not know if I mentioned it, the manager of another store needs a trainee dispenser for at least Saturday all day and maybe Monday and Tuesday during the day also. I will see on my next paycheck on Thursday what my pay raise was from me getting Healthcare Assistant. The other manager said he could have me done with my dispenser training in nine months but, he finished another girl in about three months on just two days a week so I am sure I can get done just as quickly. Maybe by next year? That would be cool, two promotions by the time I have one year in.

Partner goes to Manchester in about two weeks. We are going to prepare better for her trip than we did for the one to Hay. I am now seriously thinking of getting my liscence switched over. It would probably be easier and cheaper to just rent a car next time, than taking a train and cab.

Peace... One Love

the more things change

Well an interesting week since my last post. I started my new job, I got it on the day of the interview, but it will not be the hours I was hoping. In fact I only worked about six hours for the job this week and may not work any next week. It pays better and I like the place and the people all seem cool. I think I will still have to look for something more. The place sells parts for HIGH end sports cars, I will provide a link in the sidebar for people to check out the site.

I have worked every night this week, as the other night person is on holiday. I will be working tonight also and tomorrow, sunday. The sucky thing is that on Tuesday evening I started coming down with something, I was thinking Spanish Influenza or SARS, lol. Wednesday I had my first day at the shop and did not drink enough. By the time I got back up the hill, it was kind of warm that day too, and home I felt like Hell. I did not want to get out of bed but, as money goes, I was not sure if I was eligible for sick leave and could not afford to miss work so I went. I was hopped up on Excedrin and vitamins so I could function but was so beat from my walk up that I took the bus down. When supper time came at work I decided I was not going to be a wimp anymore and went to the kebab shop and got a burger with some of their very spicy chilli sauce, I was going to sweat it out. Within a couple hours of eating it, I felt better and by the next day was much improved. I still have a sore throat and am not 100% but, am a lot more comfortable.

I was however bummed that I decided to get sick right when starting a new job and having lots of extra hours at work, but that is how it goes.

Daughter is happier as my mother kindly sent us, ie her, some puzzles and coloring supplies. She finished the puzzle the first day, so we may get her some more over time. My mom also had some gardening soil sent to us so that daughter could do some potting and planting, which she was happy with.

peace... one love

big things, little things

Partner and I have been talking a lot lately, mostly about money and it being so tight. I started looking for a second job a few days ago and found a good possibility in one which I applied for today. Within a couple of hours of emailing the given contact at the job website, I had an email response about when I could start and when I could come in for an interview! I responded about an ideal start-date but said it was possible to start sooner if really necessary. She responded with an interview time and said I might be able to start NEXT WEEK!! With my current job at the chemist having my hours cut back to my contracted 3 nights a week (just 18 paid hours) this was a very exciting thing for us and would help out greatly. It would mean roughly 48 hour weeks but you know how it is, do what it takes to pay the bills and all.

Daughter and I went to a place called Genievieves(sp?) to do some pottery work. We have been trying to do inexpensive stuff with her to help keep her occupied/spend time with her while she is on summer break. She painted a cat, no surprise there, I then suggested she do another one especially for her mothers birthday. Tomorrow we are going to see G-Force, which daughter has wanted to see for awhile. We will also hopefully be picking up some gardening supplies.

A busy month ahead, we are going to Wales from the 12th through the 14th so that partner can interview the leader of a micronation there. It will be interesting to do with the little money we have but we think we can pull it off. Next, later in the month partner is going to Manchester to participate in the Royal Geographer Society conference. I also work my last bank holiday of the year.

Peace... One Love

woohoo.

So daughter and I went to see Ice Age 3:Dawn of the Dinosaurs on Wednesday, easily the best of the three. I laughed so hard at one scene I even snorted. I will put up a review on Associated Content soon hopefully. Walked around Staines abit, did some looking, I was good and did not buy a single thing (Transformers) as I am trying to save up and pick out stuff that I really want, there are just alot of figures I would really like, but even more coming next year that I want, so. Daughter and I also got to feed some ducks at the park in Staines, which she liked. We did not get to spend as much time hanging out as desired because I was able to get extra hours.

I worked two shifts Monday and Tuesday (the regular girl was having family issues) and picked up Wednesday night and 5 hours Thursday. I was recently informed that due to a person coming back to store that my gravy train hours would be getting curtailed by 2/5ths, not good. Luckily I am cramming in as many extra hours as I can get now. I got to talk to the area manager and expressed my desire to have more hours (full time), more pay and more reliability. I was looking at being a dispenser but he suggested team lead, I told hime I just wanted more. I really like my job now but, we just plain need more money around the house. He said he would keep me in mind. Manager said after her talk with him, he would start digging. Spoke with an area pharmacy manager that covered the store the other night, he said if I needed more hours to call him and I responded that since he knew my manager so well to just call her, hopefully more hours will come of that as that makes 4 different people (including 2 managers of stores I have subbed at, and two area managers) that know I can always use more hours. I felt with the two area managers that I might have been a little aggressive but, you do what you have to. And I really do not mind which track I take for career progression.

We have people from property maintainence coming Friday to look over issues that we have had with the property, most since we moved in. Partner had to email some big-wig to get things moving after going round in circles but, within a week of emailing this guy we have gotten more attention than all the previous months of living here. Like I said about the job/hours and going straight to the top, you do what you have to do. Partner is doing some hardcore work on preparing for the RGS (Royal Geographers Society) at the end of August. We are all pretty excited about going to Wales in early August but we will have to be careful as it will be right before I get paid so money will be tight.

Peace... One Love

what to do

Well, daughter is now out of school for about 6 weeks. We got a trial version of the upgraded cable package so she can have a few more channels to watch while partner is busy. She is already dieing with boredom though. Wednesday we are going to go see G-Force, it looks cute enough. Partner may or may not come depending if she can spare the time.

I have made a few updates to the various pages we have, feel free to check them out and either comment there or here.

Peace... One Love

and on..

Picked up more hours today, my paycheck in August is going to be nice. I also got an award at work, apparently my area manager submitted my name for my customer care results and out of a region of like 18 stores I won so.. I got a certificate and two 25GBP gift vouchers. That was really cool and not something I was expecting. I spent most of it on toilettries and vitamins for the house. Thirdly I passed my final test for my Heathcare Advisor certificate. This means that once i get the actual promotion I will be able to do more as well as earn more money. Hopefully if I can swing it I will be able to move on to Dispenser training which will put me behind the actual pharmacy counter.

Daughter has 1.5 days left in school. She had a party today, but is still recovering from being sick. I think next wednesday, since I am off, our phone supplier offers 2-for-1 movie tickets and I get paid on Monday I will take her to see G-Force.

Partner and I on friday will participate in another study for money.

Peace... One Love

More hours less problems

Daughter has been home sick since Tuesday, although seeing her you might not notice. Doctor told her she had to be out until at least Monday and only then if she showed improvement.

This has meant that I have been able to pick up some on the fly hours. I stayed a little later than usual on Tuesday and picked up another shift this past Thursday. I am also getting to pick up another shift on Sunday so... Hopefully the money issue will continue to get better.

Daughter is done with school on Friday the 17th so she does not even have that much more to go. Partner lightened her work load by finishing and sending off a book review that she has been working on.

Peace... One Love

not by a long shot

the title for this post makes no sense, and i do not know why.

Daughter stayed home today, she had a mild temperature and the sniffles so, thanks to swine flu we cannot just give her ibuprofen and send her on her way. partner wanted to keep her home either way and I agreed, the poor girl was miserable. One nice thing that came out of it was that because I did not have to pick up daughter from school, I was able to finish what I needed to finish at work and pick up an extra half hour. Every little helps after all. Daughter is a little scared of going into the next grade, year 3, but a meet and greet with some year three teachers and seeing her classroom on Monday has alayed some fears.

We also got a grocery order this afternoon. It was much needed and none to soon. We managed to get a good bit for less than usual thanks to bargain branding it where we could and the good stuff where needed.

I have a double shift coming up this Saturday, one shift at my store and another at a local store. The store is incredibly boring but I will be getting paid to be bored so... I will also have to take a cab back as it is the only way I can make it for my second shift, at my store. That is the only sucky part but, I can claim compensation from Boots, I can get the money back so.. it will work out. I am still trying my hand at these web design classes free online but, really they and the free webhosting they give links to are all rubbish.

Peace... One Love

Uuuuuh,

Man my feet are killing me today. On top of both my regular and extra regular this week I have picked up a good bit of extra extra this week in hours. Lots more standing and a good few more times up and down the hill. It will be worth it come pay day though. I am also picking up a few extra hours next week at a store in one of ht enext towns over. So, I am putting nose to grindstone.

I just got home myself, partner was asleep but awoke when I came in the room. When I checked daughter to see if she was hot, she woke and asked for water. I went downstairs to get her some and came upon a huge spider probably 1.5 inches across. I am glad I went down and not her, the scream would have been.... not fun to say the least. I was able to catch him and toss him outside without killing him so... lucky him, if I could not have caught him I would have had to mush him.

I saw one of those new Nissan GT-R sports cars on wednesday for the first time, pictures do not do it justice, it is a big beautiful (big) car.

Peace... One Love

56 Stars for Belgian Kimberly Vlaminck
Recently a teen made international news from and allegedly unwanted tattoo, here is what I think.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1889636/56_stars_for_belgian_kimberly_vlaminck.html

Monsters V Aliens, an Intergalactic Smack DOWN!
I saw the movie Monsters vs. Aliens a little while back and am finally getting around to writing what I thought of it.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1889680/monsters_v_aliens_an_intergalactic.html

OH MY GOOOOD

Man was it hot yesterday, not Eastern Carolina in the middle of summer hot but, the hottest it has been so far this year. So hot in fact that we had to pull some savings so that after work I could buy a couple fans for upstairs. gaaawww

Uhm in other news I am picking up even more hours now, doing a double shift Saturday the 11th of July. A double shift, it will cost about five GBP for the trip but I will make about 25 GBP so... every little helps.

I am starting work on some stories plus I am planning on starting to teach myself how to draw, I would still like to try my hand at a webcomic. As well I am going to start a free online XHTML class so that maybe I can start working on a little webdesign. Who knows...

Peace... One Love

What a week

Well not too much to report on as little happened this week. Transformers Revenge of the Fallen did premier in the States though, and is doing smashing business that I hope it keeps up. The more money it makes the more likely we get cool Transformers toys so...

I have been picking up a little extra in the way of hours and will do more so in the coming week, as for some reason money is still tight though, it will not be as bad as last month. We have also been participating in paid studies on campus when we have the time.

Daughter has had an eventful week, on Friday she performed in a play, had one of the last (and best) lines. She also had mufti day in which in exchange for bringing in one piece of chocolate, she either got to wear sneakers or a hat. On Saturday daughter had a fete or fayre as they are known here at her school. Partner and I also attended and helped a bit with set-up. It was quite the shin-dig. They had a charity there, a dj and alcohol (I really love this country) as well as plenty of activities. One aside I will mention is that the fair did help us spend some of that money that is un-accounted for so... But we were able to pick up a honest to goodness bicycle for daughter for a puny 10 GBP. Daughter had alot of fun and me and partner enjoyed ourselves enough. After I aired the tires up we were pleased to know that the bike functions quite well, not bad for a second hand bike. Today daughter got to go to the neighbours and play in her pool, she did not want to come home.

I have done a bit of writing both stuff that has been submitted and stuff I am working on. I really do want to start working on my drawing skills as a webcomic of sorts is still something I want to do. I also still would like to write.

That is all for now I do still intend to update regularly when possible.

Thanks

Peace... One Love

go see Transformers Revenge of the Fallen, twice, its awesome

Our time in review

Well some time has come and gone, I have done a bit of writing and intend to do some more. What have we been doing since my last post?

Partner went on a Geographers retreat to Scotland, lucky girl, she said it was gorgeous and had both a good and productive time, as well as making valuable contacts. Daughter and I stayed back at the homestead and chilled out for a few days. We took the opporunity to go and see Night at the Museum 2 which was great, read my review about it athttp://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1853499/night_at_the_museum_2.html. I had daughter for another two days after partner returned as she then had to go to Brighton, for another day conference.

We spent the next two weeks extremely tight on money. Partner and I participated in a couple of studies to earn a little extra cash.

We unfortunately missed both the Magna Carta Day festival and the Englefield Green fair due to daughter being abit under the weather.

My big thing is that today for Fathers Day, I got a new Father's Day exclusive coffee mug from daughter plus 2 cards. I also got taken out for lunch and to go see the greatest movie of the year, Transformers Revenge of the Fallen, which was awesome in every way and for every minute in its runtime. Lunch was really good, it was at a mom and pop cafe near daughters dentist in Staines.

So there you go!!

Peace and One Love..

Jetfire Says " I was Trapped in Ice for Millions of Years."
I ordered Jetfire a while back and finally got around to reviewing him.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1823793/jetfire_says_i_was_trapped_in_ice_for.html

Sup Hep Cat%252C Let Jazz Lay it on the Line for Ya%2521
I picked up Transformers Animated Jazz%252C he was just too cool to pass up.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle%252F1823741%252Fsup_hep_cat_let_jazz_lay_it_on_the.html

Ramjet Has No Problem Headbutting Knights
I ordered Transformers Universe Ramjet and would like to tell you what I think.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1823701/ramjet_has_no_problem_headbutting_knights.html

Swindle Would Sell His Own Mother for 5 Energon Chips
I picked up Swindle on sight a while back, here is what I think.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1823627/swindle_would_sell_his_own_mother_for.html

Me Grimlock No Bozo%2525252C ME KING%25252521
I recently picked up Transformers Animated Grimlock and decided to let all know what I thought.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle%2525252F1823557%2525252Fme_grimlock_no_bozo_me_king.html

Cyclonus Says %2522All Hail Galvatron%2521%2522
I recently acquired Transformers Universe Cyclonus and here are my thoughts.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle%252F1823453%252Fcyclonus_says_all_hail_galvatron.html

Night at the Museum 2
Me and the daughter saw this recently and I thought I would let you know how it went!
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1853499/night_at_the_museum_2.html

Trailers for GI Joe: Rise of Cobra and Terminator Salvation, My Thoughts!
I give my opinions on the trailers I saw for GI Joe: Rise of Cobra and Terminator Salvation.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1801542/trailers_for_gi_joe_rise_of_cobra_and.html

Circus of the Octomom: Does She Really Need or Deserve Her Own TV Show?
My thoughts on the Octo-mom and her plans for a reality TV show.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1808280/circus_of_the_octomom_does_she_really.html

Transformers Wishlist for 2009-2010
My list for hopeful Transformers purchases from upcoming toy lines like animated, Revenge of the Fallen and classics.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1801414/transformers_wishlist_for_20092010.html

X-Men Origins: Wolverine a Review
Recently got to see the X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie, which while overall enjoyable, do not go in expecting to see X-Men 2.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1801520/_xmen_origins_wolverine_a_review.html

What in the world, Carmen Sandiego??

I took the girls to see Monsters vs Aliens, they both really enjoyed it.

 

Over the past weekend, since I had the weekend off, I took the girls to check out the nearby city of Reading. They were pleasantly surprised by the size of the town, and the plethora of things to do. First there is the outdoor area and mall, then there is an indoor mall called the Oracle. First we walked around a bit of the outside of the mall, checking out a few shops as well as some of the market stands, daughter and partner picked out a couple hand-made bracelets. We then went into the Oracle and looked around for awhile; hitting most of the shops, including build-a-bear and a bookstore,  finally ending our indoor trip with a meal at Tootsies. Daughter had a kids sized ribs, I had nachos and partner had and open face sandwich, it was not to bad. We finished our day by walking around the remaining section of the outdoor mall, partner and daughter picked out a couple of fancy light scarves. Finally before heading home we watched some native American interpretive dance and I purchased a cd of their music.

 

Yesterday, Wednesday, daughter and I walked partner to the train station so that she could begin her journey to Scotland. She will be going for four days to a Geographers retreat to… do… stuff?!? After walking her to the station, daughter and I went and saw Night at the Museum 2, which was hilarious!!!!!!!!!!! 

I missed them quite a bit while they were gone but through the magic of telephone and the internet, I was able to stay well in touch. I also was able to decorate my daughters room while she was gone, so that it was more proper girly, with pink curtains and a pink lampshade, a purple rug and sheet and pillow set to compliment the Little Miss ones my mother bought her and a voile/ sheer curtain for the door.

I worked quite a bit while the girls were gone, the first two weeks were better than 60hrs each I believe somwhere between 40-50 the third week and 30-40 the week they arrived. My schedule has also changed now my contracted schedule is wednesday 530 to 12, thursday 530-12 and either friday or saturday 530-12. I also added on two days of extra duty monday and tuesday 930-3. So I now work five days a week with no double shifts so there you go. I saw two movies while the girls were gone, Paul Blart mall cop (suggested by the 'rents) which was quite funny and Monsters vs Aliens which was hilarious and another hit for production company Dreamworks in the CGI kid movie run, the first few minutes with President Colbert is classic. I also was also able to pick up a few collectible figures myself that will be getting their reviews soon.  

I think this will be it for now, if we do anything soon I will try to post it.

peace... one love,

Chris

A long time since posting

It has been quite a while since I have been able to make a post, lots of stuff has gone on in the five week interim. 

Obviously the big thing is that my girls have gone and come (not proper grammar I know) on their 1 month trip to the States, and have been back for about a week. I am told they enjoyed their trip well. Daughter got to enjoy the aquarium, Disneyland, spoiling by Gram and Gramp and even got to go fishing with my parents. Partner went to the big conference in Vegas, visited a Micro-nation in Nevada then flew out to meet daughter to go visit her brother and see Disneyland, flew back home, went to visit a friend in Minnesota then spend the other few days going to the aquarium, beach and such. 

I made out a little as she brought me back a few cool shirts, one a retro "sueded" style Mickey Mouse shirt from Disneyland, one from the Aquarium that says on the back "all that wander are not lost" and a cool geography themed t-shirt. I also got a keyring with the key from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's chest, the key to Davey Jones chest. I also got a few collectibles my Mom picked up for me, as well as some new underpants and socks. My partner and daughter also got to enjoy some great food while gone, whether good ol' down home cooking or fancy restaurants, they even went to in and out burger, a fast food joint I would love to try. 

I missed them quite a bit while they were gone but through the magic of telephone and the internet, I was able to stay well in touch. I also was able to decorate my daughters room while she was gone, so that it was more proper girly, with pink curtains and a pink lampshade, a purple rug and sheet and pillow set to compliment the Little Miss ones my mother bought her and a voile/ sheer curtain for the door.

Alright that is all for this update, I am going to try and continue tommorow after dropping off daughter.

peace... one love,

Chris

18 days has come and gone

Well it has been nearly three weeks since I last posted and there is a little to go over.

First, and biggest is that partner and daughter have left for the States. At 10:55 am UK time they boarded a flight bound for North Carolina. They will arrive about 8-9 pm UK time or 4-5pm US time. They will return roughly 1 month from today. The sucky thing was that we got to the airport 2.5 hours early but, only got to spend a half an hour together since they had to get in the line for security, I watched them as long as I could but after a few minutes they were out of site. I was really kind of bummed about being back home before their plane even left.

On March 7th, daughter and I went and saw Hotel for Dogs, starring Don Cheadle and a plethora of pups. It was a pretty good movie actually with a couple of great underlying messages. Daughter laughed hard throughout the movie.

On March 11th partner and I went to see Watchmen directed by Zack Snyder. The movie was quite long, nearly 3 hours, and was a quite cerebral movie. Now on debut Watchmen was the number one movie but, made a relatively modest opening weekend boxoffice. I personally attribut that to how mental the movie as if I would have written a review of the movie 2 hours after I had seen it I would not have been as generous as if I had written a review 2 days later.

This is my first day off in 10 days again. Spending it just relaxing. I am ordering some stuff to help decorate my daughters room as a surprise for when she gets back.

Peace... One Love

LOOONNG Week

Hi all. Just posting to inform on all that is going on.

Daughter went back to school on Tuesday, so she has only had a four day school week. Spanish on Tuesday went well as did art on friday, She also started back up in cookery on wednesday so she is going to be busy.

Today we went to Staines, and did some shopping for all of us. I got an iron and a pair of nicer shoes for work. Daughter got an entire outfit, she looks quite sharp so we will have to get pictures up online, she also picked up a little outfit designer book and some curriculum books to keep up. Partner got a couple new blouses to do presentations in for her big conference in Vegas. Sad happenings though, daughter set one of her stuffed animals ( a kitten) down at a store and forgot about it, when we went back to the presumed stores but to no avail. :(

As for me, today is my first day off in 10 days, I am hoping the nice looking shoes I got for work are as comfortable as in the store. You know how that can be though with shoes, hard to guess which will be any good or not.  So yeah, long week, it was not too bad though as I have been on a vitamin regimen and friday started taking something called co-enzyme Q10, which is supposed to help with getting the most energy out of your food. By the end of the day (do not know if for sure it was the enzyme) in which I was on the clock from 930 am to 12 midnight I was just as alert as any other time of the day, it was kind of weird but also nice not to be yawning my ever loving butt off after such a long day. The nice thing is though that all this extra time will pay off. Well. 

Cheers,

Peace... One Love,

Chris

18 days until the girls are stateside and one month after that until they have returned!

Transformers Classics Optimus Prime review

Transformers Classics Optimus Prime Voyager Class
I give a review and transformation guide for recent purchase Classics voyager Optimus Prime.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1489408/transformers_classics_optimus_prime.html

Quidam

Well I finally had some time off, no work this weekend although there was the opportunity. 

Daughter had science week this week. She got to grow salt crystals on string between two cups. They did a volcano also, I would have to ask her what else. She got a teddy bear and a small keychain leopard for Valentines day, along with the requisite flowers. She also went and picked out her very own fancy journal, recommended by her teacher so that she might work on her writing. We had a meeting with her teacher, she has come along so well, she was a bit behind the other kids but has caught up on handwriting (hers is better than mine) maths and everything else. Now she just needs to work on writing more.

Partner worked most of the week, along with doing a vast amount of the house work. Got her some flowers and took her to lunch for valentines, not the best I have ever done but money is still tight and I did not have money when I could have planned better. Next year she will get what she deserves. 

As for myself, I worked another big week and like last week am quite tired. It was not quite as many hours but was double shifts and so I burned at both ends. This upcoming week I have Tuesday off followed by 10 days straight. It is tough but I am greatly looking forward to the paychecks. Daughter got me a puppy for valentines, I think it helped me get a good nights sleep once I got home Friday night/Saturday morning. We all stayed in Saturday, we needed the rest for Sunday. 

Sunday we.... well we went to see Cirque du Soleil's Quidam, which was an amazing show. Me and daughter had never been to Cirque du Soleil before so it was quite a treat. The trip there however was... a chore to say the least. We got to the train station around nine something, only to find out they were doing some track work and were diverting passengers to hired coaches (buses), sadly it was train expensive and bus difficult, except if we had taken one of our local bus routes it would not only have been cheaper but easier. We had to be to the show at 1pm, we only had a half hour to spare... the trip which should have been an hour to an hour and a half max took over four!!! The trip back was easier but longer than necessary. We also had supper at a place called Girraffe, which had a menu of foods from around the world (music too) and decent prices. It was a great meal, we were all quite satisfied. So really it was a good day, just taxing lol!

Peace... One Love

Chris

Transformers Animated Megatron review

Transformers Animated Megatron Voyager Class
I take a look at my recent purchase of Transformers Animated Megatron and provide a review and transformation guide.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1444591/transformers_animated_megatron_voyager.html

Family movies in 09

The Greatest Upcoming Family Movies for 2009
I am listing here what are to be the best kids movies of 2009, hopefully you will find the info you need to help you decide to see one!
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1429975/the_greatest_upcoming_family_movies.html

Wild wild week

Well, what an interesting week we have had here. First on Sunday, daughter and I went to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua, it was actually a pretty good movie. Although the main character was not Papi as you might expect from the commercial, instead it was a white chihuahua named Chloe. The movie had some seriously funny moments and was paced quite well.

Monday... was interesting, apparently it started snowing quite heavily Sunday evening and by morning we had about 4+ inches of snow, with more in some parts. Quite a shock when we got up in the morning. We had trouble figuring out whether or not daughters school was closed so we still trudged to the bus stop. Daughter was quite happy with the near half-foot of snow on the ground. She was even happier when partner called and informed us she finally found out school was closed, so I walked daughter about halfway home and partner met up with us. I then proceded on to work and they went home and had a snowball fight. Now Sunday has just finished and we still have snow/ice on the ground in some places.

Tuesday saw the cancellation of our grocery order due to the icy road conditions. Sadly a more local grocer that does deliveries was still delivering. We had it rescheduled for Friday. 

Wednesday, daughter went back to school finally, she of course still wanted to be able to enjoy the snow. 

Friday, we had a bit more snow but not more than maybe a half inch to an inch. We finally got our grocery order in, was able to have a nice full meal for the first time in almost the whole week. We also got our tv, it is quite nice. Sadly when we ordered it I mistook "digital tuner" for a built in antenna and we can not use it yet. However Saturday I called Virgin Media, who handles our internet, to add cable for just a few GBP onto our bill. It probably is a good deal as it is over 100 channels, including movie on demand channels, for those few GBP. I also spoke with CitiBank through whom I have a rather large outstanding debt with. I was able to work out a payment plan that I can work with. Hopefully I can have it paid off in a year if I am vigilant about working extra hours and saving money. The payment is only 51 dollars a month, which I think I can swing. I am still planning on picking up all the extra  hours i can until I pay it off, with luck I cna get three to five more months with hours like February and then I can be done or if I can just get one week a month like this past week I can do it in about twelve.

Saturday I finished my 53 hour work week. It was rough but, it will pay off. At work we had a different than usual night guard who used the wrong access code on the keypad for a door to many times and locked us out of the back part of the store for most of the night. We ended up having to use an emergency button to get it open.

Sunday daughter and I went to see Bolt, a movie that was quite good. I like most people I think really like Rhino the hamster. Daughter of course liked the girl and her dog aspect. Partner accompanied us and saw Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, which she has wanted to see for quite awhile, she said she greatly enjoyed the movie even crying a bit at the end. The sad part about this outing was finding out that the cinema we saw it in held nothing for us. At one time this cinema was probably very nice as partner said the room she saw her movie in was quite obviously set up for a more formal viewing experience, with seating for maybe a dozen and well appointed seats and walls. Now however the cinema is like the one nobody really wants to go to, torn up seats bad lighting and decor. We have no desire to return to that theater or to Slough, the town the theater was in.

All in all an exciting week with a lot going on. I hope all my readers are well, please stay safe. As always

Peace.,, One Love

Afternoon all!!

It has been a couple weeks since the last update.

Daughter was sick not last week but the week before, the flu or the cold or something. So she missed three days of school. She did get to go to art club on friday and dance class on saturday so her weekend was at least ok.

Partner go to BIG assignments off of her chest. She submitted her paper the geographical journal for publication. She also sent out the piece she wrote for a geographic encyclopedia (which pays 150 bucks) and they have accepted the draft. She is excited and relieved at the same time.

We decided for both of our sanity, mostly partners (and he ability to get work done), that we were going to get daughter a tv. The one we ordered was a sony lcd. Not sure of the model right now, but it was not expensive, we just wasnted to know it was at least a decent tv. This also means we have to get a tv license, which is 140 GBP a year, uggh. It will be worth it though. The tv we got, and alot of others, will have a Freeview+ antenna, apparently Freeviw is a collection of free digital channels available here in England. The show channels number about 40+ as well as like 30+ radio stations that can be received. So that will be cool and daughter will enjoy it.

I have been working as much as possible recently. This past week, I worked quite a bit of extra time. I am pretty tired but, it will pay off. Next week I will be working more than 50 hours. While they do not pay time and a half for overtime, it will still be about three weeks pay in one week. I really am liking the job, the schedule is rough but otherwise, the people I work with are pretty cool. It is also really awesome that with all the turmoil, both in the UK and abroad that my boss is able to offer me so much more time. At the moment I am taking pretty much anything she can offer. Hopefully while partner and daughter are gone I can pick up even more extra time. I actually had about four cups of coffee yesterday, pretty rare for me to have coffee but I was and am still dragging.

Tomorrow we might go to London and catch a Cirque Du Soleil that is here. Daughter is pretty excited about it, as are partner and I. I also plan on starting to pay off my Citi card and hopefully, my solitary month can help go a long way towards that.

I would also like to thank my mother for the wonderful towel and stickers that she sent. They are really cool!

Love,

Chris, partner and Daughter

Peace... One Love

Movies in 2009

The Best Upcoming Movies of 2009
My ideas about what the biggest an best upcoming movies of 2009 will be.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1415419/the_best_upcoming_movies_of_2009.html

Transformers Galvatron: review

Transformers Universe Galvatron
A recent purchase of Transformers Universe Galvatron gets a review and Transformation guide from me.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1389754/transformers_universe_galvatron.html

Cheers

Hi guys, hope all are well. I actually am having trouble remembering the last real post I made so I have a little to relate. Okay first daughter had her first Spanish club class this week and she seemed to love it. Daughter has also been enjoying sleeping in me and partners bed this past week, a bonus for her with me out working. She is getting big; and she keeps telling me and her mom that, and really she is, give her another two or three years and she may well be as tall or taller than her mother.

I finished my second week at my Boots job, I put in 28.5 hours, which I am pretty excited about. hopefully I can keep getting extra hours in like this as I am actually only contracted for 18 a week. I had another interview this past Friday, this time for a part-time weekend post at the library (Royal Holloway); the nice thing is that it would pay 11 GBP an hour, which would be awesome, the job runs for the remainder of the University terms. I think the interview process went well, the only thing that I think would keep me from getting the job would be the Boots job and the potential for overlap of hours, the overlap would not be for sure just possible. Partner said however that if I did not get this or another second job, to not worry about it at the moment as the Boots job, especially if I can continue to get the hours I am, should cover most stuff for us. She also said that she would prefer to have me available to help out around the house more, but also that if i did get the job, the money would be awesome. Personally, I now think I should hold off on a second job, at least until I can get used to this working till midnight four nights a week.

The worst thing about the job interview from my last post, is that they never contacted me back, no email, phone call or anything. That is just sad but it means it is probably for the better as it might well have been a disappointing job with that much dis-organization.

Saturday morning, daughter went to a dance class at the town social hall that is right around the corner, said she loved it, so that gives her something physical to do on weekends and it is only 3 GBP each session. Partner also purchased her and daughters plane tickets to go stateside, partner is going to a big geography conference and daughter is visiting gram and gramp. Since the trip will slightly co-incide with daughters two school break so they will get to be stateside for nearly a month... wow. Partner is concerned about me being alone for that amount of time but I have assured her I will be ok.

That is about it, Sunday partner is making her amazing Jambalya (sp?) so it will be a good day. We are experiencing some rough weather also, the weather Friday was forecasting downpours and winds up to 90mph. I do not know if the winds are 90mph, but they are blowwing good, and we managed to escape the day long rain they predicted but, it started after dark. so....

Okay, I would also like to than all readers of both my blog and my articles which now have over a thousand views so I am trucking along. Mom, I am taking some of your advice and have begun writing on some things regarding US-UK or UK centric so..


Love to all family and friends I hope this weekend finds you well and happy!!

Peace... One Love,
Chris

Transformer Concepts

Transformers Universe Concepts I Would like to See
There are some Generation 1 Transformers that have been left in the relative dark since back in the 80's. Here I give an idea what new takes on these toys would look like.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1354742/transformers_universe_concepts_i_would.html

Sideswipe review

Transformers Universe: Sideswipe
I review my recent gift of Transformers Universe Sideswipe figure. I give my personal opinion and provide a transformation guide.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1353241/transformers_universe_sideswipe.html

Transformer Wishlist

Top Transformer Toys on My Wishlist
Here I take a look at current Transformers toy lines and pick which figure's I would like most. From Transformers Animated and Universe, as well as Marvel crossovers!
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1356121/top_transformer_toys_on_my_wishlist.html

Recent Events

Hello all,

Well start off with, daughter went back to school this week, much to her chagrin. It snowed Monday, not a lot but enough to make snowballs and such, perfect snowballs. Monday also saw me start a job, at a pharmacy called Boots. It will generally be an evening gig, 530 pm to midnight. I have had it in for a week now and am enjoying it. After my first shift on Monday I got a call for an interview with another job, when it rains it pours right, and interviewed for it on Friday. Daughter starts Spanish classes next week.

This week also saw the first official teaser poster come out for the upcoming Transformers movie (this is just for me, lol).

The job pays minimum or a little better so I am happy. I also told my current boss that I was available during the day also, hopefully that will get me some more hours. The job I interviewed for on Friday was a Space Management Administrator (entering information into a database) and is with partners college. The two together would add up to about a full time job.

The interview (Friday) itself was a little weird, I was instructed to be at a certain room in the university building at 930. Well I was at said room at 920, no one there, a lady asked if I was lost and I replied about the interview, she went and got a ket to give me access to the room and prepare for the interview. I sat in the room for 30 minutes, until a guy popped his head in asking if I was here for a meeting and I said no, an interview. I was asked to come out of the room while he called HR to find out if there was a mix-up, HR said yes there was an interview (at least 3 actually) scheduled in the room I was at AND that I was not on the list, even though they had spoken to my partner to confirm I was coming! So the lady (Josie) that had originally asked if I was lost informed me there was another applicant sitting in the hall and invited us to follow her to the mess hall, so to speak, and got us each a cup of coffee, meanwhile we were waiting on a return call from HR trying to figure out what was going on. Josie said she would wait for the call for us, it was coming to her office. The call apparently never came, so Josie found out on her own where the interview were supposed to be held, a floor up from where we had been although no one had informed the applicants, and she came back to get us (me and the other applicant) and showed us the way. Man was this lady nice and on top of her game, she said after she took us to the interview room that if it did not work out for either of us for the interview to come back and talk to her about a job in the catering department. How awesome is that? The interview did seem to go better than the last interview I had at the Uni, I will hear back Monday, Also Monday I am returning to speak with Josie about maybe something in catering. (sorry for the length I arrived at the school at 930 and di not finish my interview until noon.)

that is about it for me, another wild and crazy week. I will try to continue to post at least weekly, although I still have to work my posts around partners schedule and now my own.

Thank you,
Chris

Peace... One Love

Top ten pop songs for karaoke

Top Ten Pop Songs for Karaoke
My list for favorite pop songs for karaoke
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1378126/top_ten_pop_songs_for_karaoke.html

Top ten rock and roll karaoke songs

My Top Ten Favorite Rock and Roll Karaoke Songs
A great list of my ten favorite rock and roll karaoke songs
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1378079/my_top_ten_favorite_rock_and_roll_karaoke.html

'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' Stills - Photo Gallery on Yahoo! Movies

'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' Stills - Photo Gallery on Yahoo! Movies

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Review of Transformers Universe Acid Storm

Transformers Universe Acid Storm
Transformers Universe is a line of toys with characters based on those of the original toy-line/cartoon but made with modern technology. Here I take a look at the Acid Storm toy from wave 2!
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1348039/transformers_universe_acid_storm.html

Transformers the Movie Bumblebee review

Transformers the Movie: Deluxe Bumblebee (Camaro Concept)
Here I give my opinion on the Bumblebee Transformer based on the live action movie based on my being both a big kid and a collector.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1337102/transformers_the_movie_deluxe_bumblebee.html