Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Cats are Stupid
Several comfortable sofas, a couple of baskets, even the odd bed to lie on, but no, the cat decides on the vegetable box.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
No Pets Allowed
...but apparently foxes are OK.
I have mice too but unfortunately I haven't been able to take any photos of them, and I decided that perhaps nobody really wants to see the end result of mouse vs. properly set mousetrap.
I have mice too but unfortunately I haven't been able to take any photos of them, and I decided that perhaps nobody really wants to see the end result of mouse vs. properly set mousetrap.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
From Snow To Sand... and back to Snow!
From Snow in the UK to sunshine in Tobago
... and I was delayed on my way home because of 4 inches of snow at Gatwick!
Friday, March 07, 2008
What Women Really Want....
I was trying to find a recipie for cake and I came across this list that I made up a long, long time ago. It made me laugh and it's still very true.
1. A Hot Bath
2. A Duvet
3. Chocolate
4. Trashy Movies
5. Boiled Eggs (actually, a lot of people hate these but I love them)
6. Things that smell nice
7. A bottle of wine
Combining 2, 3, 4 and 7 before 1 is of course completely indulgent but brilliant.
1. A Hot Bath
2. A Duvet
3. Chocolate
4. Trashy Movies
5. Boiled Eggs (actually, a lot of people hate these but I love them)
6. Things that smell nice
7. A bottle of wine
Combining 2, 3, 4 and 7 before 1 is of course completely indulgent but brilliant.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
So True...
This picture, printed at PHD comics, with the footnote "Usually, my research interests add up to more than what I have time for, and some interests take up more time than what they are supposed to." just sums up my time in research. And could probably be subtly altered to fit pretty much any job. I would also like to edit "why other people's blogs are more interesting than yours" to "Facebooking"
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Apologies...
Yes, been exeptionally rubbish recently. But most of my friends are far far worse.
Thoughts of the moment:
- They've had pictures of this "Amy" on the underground before and after her "cosmetic surgery". I think she looks better before. Even if she's not smiling.
- I like my new job. That's all I can say about that.
- Sitting down all day makes me fat. Oh dear.
- I love Heroes. It rocks. My favourite is Peter Petrelli. Hubba Hubba!
Thoughts of the moment:
- They've had pictures of this "Amy" on the underground before and after her "cosmetic surgery". I think she looks better before. Even if she's not smiling.
- I like my new job. That's all I can say about that.
- Sitting down all day makes me fat. Oh dear.
- I love Heroes. It rocks. My favourite is Peter Petrelli. Hubba Hubba!
Sunday, September 02, 2007
TPC Annual Do: Better Than Ever
New Haircut:£70
New Dress:£30
ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS!!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
The Bus That Talks
"This is the 243 to Waterloo"
"Rosebery Avenue"
Yes, it's true. I've found a bus that talks. And it tells you where you are going. It's incredibly helpful when you have no idea where you are.
I wonder how long it'll take before it gets annoying... never mind, I'm moving next week... I hope!
"Rosebery Avenue"
Yes, it's true. I've found a bus that talks. And it tells you where you are going. It's incredibly helpful when you have no idea where you are.
I wonder how long it'll take before it gets annoying... never mind, I'm moving next week... I hope!
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Printer Farce
Last week, I mostly tried to get a printer. It was supposed to be delivered last Friday and arrived on Wednesday. There was a catalogue of mishaps along the way, including:
- My father allready being a member of the site, which meant I couldn't register with the same address, and because I was busy the next day I had to leave it to poor Tony, who was having a bad day anyway
- The printer being "delivered" on Friday - not sure what happened there, but I sat around all day jumping every time I heard a car go past
- The bloke turning up on Monday morning, just as I was going to London, being told that my mother was in the house and not bothering to knock loudly, just leaving a card
- The delivery being "returned to the branch after an unsuccessful delivery attempt" on Tuesday i.e. they couldn't find us
- Finally turning up on Wednesday, after I'd rung to check where they were and being told they couldn't find us again, only with one box - printer cartridges and no printer
- Calling them again, only for them to assume I was still chasing both boxes, and finally getting two minutes to explain I'd got one box and not two. Then I was told that they'd only loaded one box onto the van that morning. Duh. They said they'd see if they could get someone on their way home to deliver the printer
- The bloke turned up at 7:30, saying "Here's your delivery they cocked up for you"... never has a truer word been said
Worst of all... they're going to deliver something to me tomorrow. Agggh. I really hope they can get it right this time, otherwise I'll have no nice new shoes for next week! (that'll then lacerate my feet... ah well can't have everything!)
- My father allready being a member of the site, which meant I couldn't register with the same address, and because I was busy the next day I had to leave it to poor Tony, who was having a bad day anyway
- The printer being "delivered" on Friday - not sure what happened there, but I sat around all day jumping every time I heard a car go past
- The bloke turning up on Monday morning, just as I was going to London, being told that my mother was in the house and not bothering to knock loudly, just leaving a card
- The delivery being "returned to the branch after an unsuccessful delivery attempt" on Tuesday i.e. they couldn't find us
- Finally turning up on Wednesday, after I'd rung to check where they were and being told they couldn't find us again, only with one box - printer cartridges and no printer
- Calling them again, only for them to assume I was still chasing both boxes, and finally getting two minutes to explain I'd got one box and not two. Then I was told that they'd only loaded one box onto the van that morning. Duh. They said they'd see if they could get someone on their way home to deliver the printer
- The bloke turned up at 7:30, saying "Here's your delivery they cocked up for you"... never has a truer word been said
Worst of all... they're going to deliver something to me tomorrow. Agggh. I really hope they can get it right this time, otherwise I'll have no nice new shoes for next week! (that'll then lacerate my feet... ah well can't have everything!)
Friday, July 06, 2007
Messing About By The River
Yesterday I got to be fraightfully posh and go to Henley. Henley, for those of you who don't know, is all about rowing. Well, mostly anyway.
My father in byegone days was once a great rower and rowed this course several times. This is why he comes every year to watch, and got annoyed when, in years gone by, a certain daughter of his had Parent's Day on the last day of Henley (which, needless to say, is the finals day...). I got home on Wednesday night after midnight (not drinking, just for a change, babysitting for my sister's incredibly well behaved and very sweet children) with a horrendous throat and as a result, wasn't feeling terribly special.
We ate the most delicious lunch - I had a half pint full of shell-on prawns, very fiddly but yummy with seafood sauce, followed by crab with new potatoes and salad and to finish, half a platter of cheese. Mmm. Oh, and I probably finished off a good half a bottle of wine.
After that rather filling lunch we - that is me, my godfather and my father, decided to go up to the start, which involved a rather interesting walk along the river which was quite narrow in places, and getting out of the posh area and seeing what is rather sadly the commercialization of this event - at what point do you really want to buy silver jewellery/fat face tops/an ergo at a rowing event? We did go into the food tent where I succumbed to buying beautiful tea that expands into a flower and my father bought some garlic for my mother...
When it got to tea time, the rain started, but, in a very British manner, we sat down with our umbrellas opened, had cake and scones with champagne and eventually went home.
My father in byegone days was once a great rower and rowed this course several times. This is why he comes every year to watch, and got annoyed when, in years gone by, a certain daughter of his had Parent's Day on the last day of Henley (which, needless to say, is the finals day...). I got home on Wednesday night after midnight (not drinking, just for a change, babysitting for my sister's incredibly well behaved and very sweet children) with a horrendous throat and as a result, wasn't feeling terribly special.
We ate the most delicious lunch - I had a half pint full of shell-on prawns, very fiddly but yummy with seafood sauce, followed by crab with new potatoes and salad and to finish, half a platter of cheese. Mmm. Oh, and I probably finished off a good half a bottle of wine.
After that rather filling lunch we - that is me, my godfather and my father, decided to go up to the start, which involved a rather interesting walk along the river which was quite narrow in places, and getting out of the posh area and seeing what is rather sadly the commercialization of this event - at what point do you really want to buy silver jewellery/fat face tops/an ergo at a rowing event? We did go into the food tent where I succumbed to buying beautiful tea that expands into a flower and my father bought some garlic for my mother...
When it got to tea time, the rain started, but, in a very British manner, we sat down with our umbrellas opened, had cake and scones with champagne and eventually went home.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
And There Shall Be Much Rejoicing
... for I have been offered my dream job.
Sometimes I wish I knew more internet trickery so I could bring you them dancing.
Sometimes I wish I knew more internet trickery so I could bring you them dancing.
Pop Goes The Gooseberry
Half a pound of tuppeny rice
Half a pound of treacle
That's the way the money goes
Pop goes the weasel
We've had a lot of rain here. Although, we're lucky because some poor people have been flooded badly up north. The problem with rain, if you're growing fruit, is that it seems to make ripe fruit burst. So, it was, as I was picking gooseberries, that this rhyme went round my head. There's something about picking fruit that makes me think random thoughts, such as "what does this rhyme really mean?" I came to the conclusion that it was a subversive rhyme suggesting that if you bought rice and treacle, you would have no money and be fat. I was almost right.
Last time I picked gooseberries, I decided that fruit plants had a "zen". I did warn you my mind wanders. The zen of fruit plants was that they attempt to hide all their fruit under their leaves so that I didn't see the ripe ones. And, in the case of gooseberries, protect them with evil thorns to put you off.
Nevertherless, I got a whole punnet of mostly non-popped gooseberries.
However, before I picked the gooseberries, I picked a whole load of tayberries. These fruit may look the same, but because they're redder and smaller, are different. My mother told me not to pick them any more, but then in the afternoon started picking them anyway. Yes, I was confused too.
Half a pound of treacle
That's the way the money goes
Pop goes the weasel
We've had a lot of rain here. Although, we're lucky because some poor people have been flooded badly up north. The problem with rain, if you're growing fruit, is that it seems to make ripe fruit burst. So, it was, as I was picking gooseberries, that this rhyme went round my head. There's something about picking fruit that makes me think random thoughts, such as "what does this rhyme really mean?" I came to the conclusion that it was a subversive rhyme suggesting that if you bought rice and treacle, you would have no money and be fat. I was almost right.
Last time I picked gooseberries, I decided that fruit plants had a "zen". I did warn you my mind wanders. The zen of fruit plants was that they attempt to hide all their fruit under their leaves so that I didn't see the ripe ones. And, in the case of gooseberries, protect them with evil thorns to put you off.
Nevertherless, I got a whole punnet of mostly non-popped gooseberries.
However, before I picked the gooseberries, I picked a whole load of tayberries. These fruit may look the same, but because they're redder and smaller, are different. My mother told me not to pick them any more, but then in the afternoon started picking them anyway. Yes, I was confused too.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Thursday, June 07, 2007
So Much For The City
Well, here I am. Last week all I could see from my bedroom window was a street lined with houses leading down a (very steep) hill to the train station, this week all I can see is fields.
I miss the city.
I miss the city.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Making It Up As We Go Along
This weekend I went to a friend of mine's house who happens to be Indian. We started to watch some Bollywood movies, the first was Bride and Prejudice, which was actually quite good and in English. The second film was entirely in Hindi with the odd English word thrown in, with no subtitles. So we made up what they were saying which made the film probably far more amusing than it really should have been.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Having A Rammstein Moment
Many years ago my then boyfriend introduced me to 80s rock bands. Many of the music he left me with (after a badly-executed finale) is still top of my playlist. One of the songs he gave me was Rammstein - Du Hast.
For those of you who don't know, Rammstein are a German rock band that, apparently, are still touring. I did try and find a decent picture but random won me over in the end.
Anyway, the years have gone by, and hard times have befallen the Tall Scientist, who is about to be demoted to Mother's Fruit Picker and Plant-Fixer. It's not that I mind helping my parents, it's just that I'm 28 now and I'd really like a life and a place of my own, but I've managed to mess that up by not being offered any of the jobs I've been interviewed for. In my rollercoaster ride of trying to find a new job, I have encountered excitement, hope and despair. There's not much I can do about the last one, but I have found a solution. It's Rammstein. Something about angry German music (never, ever listen to it in English, it's just not the same) just makes things better.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Oefs Sur La Visage
Ah... Eurovision. I'm sure at some point this was actually a competition where members of Europe competed in a song contest. Now, they let countries such as Russia, Georgia and Serbia compete, with the end result being that the Balkan states run away with the competition.
The entire show runs on one premise: introduction, then before each country's entrant comes on, they show some kind of random skit about the country (this year, it was in Helsinki, and I gather most of the skits were about snow...) , then the entrant (a lot of freaky people and/or traditional style). Interspersed with this was commercial breaks (filled for us by some scary woman in pink) and, as always, keeping the sanity in what is otherwise completely mad, our Terry Wogan (who DID NOT like the woman in pink!!!!), then another interval after all the entrants for everyone to vote where they have a weird show, which this year for some reason or other included some very mad cellists and a bloke in a bubble.... Then every country in "Europe", even the ones that got kicked out in the semi-final, get to vote, with points ranging from 1 to 12 being awarded to the other countries. At this point the "neighbour" voting comes into place, with Norway giving the most points to Sweden, Macedonia giving the most points to Serbia, etc etc. The UK, being not a very popular country, narrowly missed being stuck with the dreaded "nul points". A couple of years ago, just round the time of our invasion of Iraq, we did get that, and it was embarrassing. So, I have some suggestions for next year:-
1) Get Gordon Brown to make a suggestion that Balkan States become part of the EU (it'll never pass, and they might like us more!)
2) Get some kind of weirdo to represent us - that bloke from Dead or Alive would do
3) Get morris dancers to do it
4) Get someone whose family originally came from a Balkan State to do it (then they'd all vote for us!)
Bye, bye Scooch.
The entire show runs on one premise: introduction, then before each country's entrant comes on, they show some kind of random skit about the country (this year, it was in Helsinki, and I gather most of the skits were about snow...) , then the entrant (a lot of freaky people and/or traditional style). Interspersed with this was commercial breaks (filled for us by some scary woman in pink) and, as always, keeping the sanity in what is otherwise completely mad, our Terry Wogan (who DID NOT like the woman in pink!!!!), then another interval after all the entrants for everyone to vote where they have a weird show, which this year for some reason or other included some very mad cellists and a bloke in a bubble.... Then every country in "Europe", even the ones that got kicked out in the semi-final, get to vote, with points ranging from 1 to 12 being awarded to the other countries. At this point the "neighbour" voting comes into place, with Norway giving the most points to Sweden, Macedonia giving the most points to Serbia, etc etc. The UK, being not a very popular country, narrowly missed being stuck with the dreaded "nul points". A couple of years ago, just round the time of our invasion of Iraq, we did get that, and it was embarrassing. So, I have some suggestions for next year:-1) Get Gordon Brown to make a suggestion that Balkan States become part of the EU (it'll never pass, and they might like us more!)
2) Get some kind of weirdo to represent us - that bloke from Dead or Alive would do
3) Get morris dancers to do it
4) Get someone whose family originally came from a Balkan State to do it (then they'd all vote for us!)
Bye, bye Scooch.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
I'm Sure This Photo Needs a Caption...
How about....
"Awww, luv, I wish you wouldn't do that in public"
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
So Far This Week....
- someone created a small fire below our labs and due to smoke damage we now cannot do 90% of the work we do for an entire week (and consequently can't work)
- someone hacked into my Ebay account and tried to sell stuff, causing me some panic. If I'd been away this week, I would have been in all sorts of trouble...
- I tried to fix the broken front screen of my mobile, only to discover that in fact I needed a whole new fascia
- my back wheel on my bicycle went over something, it went "whoomph" and was suddenly very flat.
- trying to do tongue twisters for my singing teacher almost made me cry (not his fault)
- my badminton friend fell over and broke her arm, and will be plastered up and out of action for six weeks (not my fault, and slightly tenuous)
- in organising my life I have come across various problems, and am currently on Plan D or something... whimper
- I've had two very horrible vivid dreams, one involving a big flood with zombies who could walk through water and the other being semi-naked at work (although I obviously wasn't too bothered about this, as in my dream I just looked down and thought that maybe I should put on a pair of trousers soon....)
- someone hacked into my Ebay account and tried to sell stuff, causing me some panic. If I'd been away this week, I would have been in all sorts of trouble...
- I tried to fix the broken front screen of my mobile, only to discover that in fact I needed a whole new fascia
- my back wheel on my bicycle went over something, it went "whoomph" and was suddenly very flat.
- trying to do tongue twisters for my singing teacher almost made me cry (not his fault)
- my badminton friend fell over and broke her arm, and will be plastered up and out of action for six weeks (not my fault, and slightly tenuous)
- in organising my life I have come across various problems, and am currently on Plan D or something... whimper
- I've had two very horrible vivid dreams, one involving a big flood with zombies who could walk through water and the other being semi-naked at work (although I obviously wasn't too bothered about this, as in my dream I just looked down and thought that maybe I should put on a pair of trousers soon....)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)