Be Excellent To Each Other

Haven't eaten properly in four days. All the time I cough and cough and my tummy goes 'Gloop' and it is sick time again. Really, really, fucking miserable.

I recommend a new stomach.

Geez, sounds horrible Mali! Get better soon, chap.

I was going to ask you if it was open source?

Weellllll, you said you wanted to lose weight...? Um. Every cloud Mali, every cloud!!

Get well soon dude

Hahahaha want:

http://www.topman.com/webapp/wcs/stores ... ageSize=40

Hahahaha want:

http://www.topman.com/webapp/wcs/stores ... ageSize=40

Sigh. Another evening spent having to pirate games that I've paid for, because of game-blocking copy protection that wouldn't be an issue if I hadn't paid.

WHEN WILL THEY LEARN.

Back to work tomorrow, too

Hmm, Singularity. Been playing it on the PC. It's save game function is utterly game ruining. It's a brilliant game other than that, but it's fucking, fucking, fucking save fucking broken fucking save game thing means I've essentially lost over an hour's play time and I'm fucked if I'm doing that again now, as much as I was enjoying the game.

Bollocks. Work tomorrow.

Changed my mind, played past where I got to previously, am loving it again now.

The slightly shit save mechanic is that you only get the one save slot, which autosaves when you pass checkpoints. All well and good, but I needed to pause it during a cutscene, only to have my pause attempt actually skip that cutscene. Trying to reload the nearest checkpoint actually took me to the point following the cutscene. I went back to the main menu and tried to start a new game in the hope it would at least give me a level select so I wouldn't have to re-play too much, only to have it wipe my save game and start me from the beginning.

Now I know how it works though, I can stop being such a belm about it and enjoy the game.

It's really good, by the way. I'm staggered this didn't get better publicity. I mean, in many regards it's a total rip-off of Bioshock, but I actually think I'm finding it more enjoyable than that was.

I might pick Singularity up tomorrow if it's cheap in town. Then again, Splinter Cell should turn up soon and I'm not exactly short on other games to finish either...

yay! off to work!

Yay ! No work till Thursday

Shush.

Bus empty. Not too cold. Trying not to think about what lies ahead today

My tiny dog is heater sized and fluffy, was wondering why it was so cold and the burnt hair smell was coming from.

Interesting column about pet ownership (It's behind the paywall, though)

Balls to the 12 days of fucking Christmas. There should be a law that all festive decorations be removed and all Christmas tunes be expunged at midnight on January the 1st.

The last thing I need to see on my cheery way into work is tinsel, baubles, Santa and Fucking Rudolph and bloody Christmas Trees.

Back at work....it's not been as traumatic an event as I had feared. I managed to get up at 6:40 and get myself ready in plenty of time, now I'm on my 2nd coffee and have actually started doing some work. Not bad at all....I fully expect this novelty to have worn off by Thursday, though.

I'd recommend this water and vomit diet. I've lost 3 pounds so far.

I'm not eating vomit.

At work. Feel wretched. Lost Ipod. Under 8 hours to go before pubtime (strong porters are very good for a rough throat, I've found)

10 minutes ago I took some antacid tablets to try and make my tummy not hurt.

I've just noted that one of the side effects is "the shits".

Fucking great.

Ouch.

Most un pro.

I once lost a fair chunk on the "Recover from maxillofacial surgery" diet. Nothing like complications during a wisdom tooth removal to leave you unable to chew for about 2 weeks.

Also, thanks to my Dad, the 'Times', Radio 4's 'Today', and various other news sites for RUINING THE ARCHERS FOR ME.

Was looking forward to it, even it wasn't an agricultural storyline. Oh well.

I'm a little narked over that, too.

I may have mentioned previously that some idiot hit my hire car and I need to replace the wing mirror. It tus out that even thought the broken bit is a small metal bracket, I ahve to have the whole thing replaced at a cost to me of 160 quid. Excess on hire car insurance is 250 so no point reporting it to them. Of course, when I got given the hire car they gave me the option of getting rid of the excess for a 60 quid charge, which I said no to, so I'm getting the routine from Mrs Kissyfur.

Also, turns out that the car allowance which forms 12% of my new job's salary is dependent on me owning a car under 5 years old, so hello more expense. I had been planning on buying a 10 year old estate, but it now looks like it'll be a 4 1/2 year old Ford Fucking Ka.

Happy fucking new fucking year.

Without wishing to make things even worse Kissyfur, would a Ford Ka be allowed under your car allowance scheme? I know companies insist on the car being a certain size, or having 4 doors, etc.

Most student?


This isn't a surprise - most companies with car allowance do something like that.


That you'll have to replace in six months.


You too, buddy!

Nowt wrong with an '06 plate Ka. That's why we have one. Due to car allowance having shitty rules. Besides, they are awesome.

GOOD NEWS:

Pill has worked and I don't have a tummy ache anymore. Might try some food later.

Bad news, I've got to tidy the house and stuff before going to town to gets ma monies.

That's a bit of a shit. What's the point of that rule, other than ensuring the staff car park is full or new stuff? Could you buy a new insurance write off from a scrap yard or something for very little, stick it in the garage, register it as your "main car" and then buy what ever you want and actually use that?

It's a surprise to me. Both times I've had a car allowance before I haven't even had to own a car.



That's being checked on. I'm seriously considering turning the the job down and becoming homeless if they insist on a constantly sub-5 year old car.

http://www.nationwidevehiclecontracts.co.uk/

I might try to adopt that, yes.

If Mr Chris gets a fuel card it might have to be a diesel, though.

Oh yeah, good one, Mali.
Now I look the right dick

That would wipe out the entierty of the car allowance, making it pointless. I can't afford a further 12% pay cut on top of the reduction I'm already taking by leaving private practice.

I'd argue that it's entirely the point.


This, of course, is shit.

Sorry, I deleted it as my brain went funny.

£40 a week inc VAT for a 3 door clio looks good.

The EXACT OPPOSITE of what my ex said to me just over two years ago.

Yeah, if it's really for a car. As I said, the other two places effectively gave it as cash in lieu of a company car, I think, so I didn't even have to own a car.


Yes.

Being a lawyer is it unreasonable to have expected him to read the fucking small print?

HAHAHAHAHAHAH.

You'd think, wouldn't you?

Well, I'm 1 1/2 weeks from starting the new job so it's a bit late to say to my current employers "oooh, sorry, I've decided to stay for a while whilst I look for another job" so it looks like I'm sucking it up.

Fucking great start to the year, this.

Ford Ka's are absolutely bloody awful, seriously don't get one. My mum has Ford tattooed across her very soul hates my dad's year old one. The build quality is shocking, the back end is ugly as sin, and there simply isn't enough room in it - plenty of cars the same size out there but none have the claustrophobia or negative boot space of the Ka - the mini cooper they had for years for example.

They have the virtue of being dirt cheap, though. The only other sub-5 year old cars I've seen remotely locally for under 3 grand are all chevrolets.

Meanwhile in Australia...

"They're in their mating season and they've been flushed out of their environment... snakes are very, very cranky right now," a state emergency services officer said.

Kind of puts our bin thing in perspective really.

You may also find that your car allowance in the staff handbook requires you to have a car 'in keeping with the perception of your level of standing in the organisation'. Seen that once, basically, it means you can't get a ka.

How car allowances need to be used will depend upon how they came into being. If a company used to give all its employees company cars as they need them to do their job, tax rules now mean it is cheaper to give them cash but make certain car ownership of condition of employment. Here, company cars were always a definite perk, and the car allowance was to allow people to forego that perk for MORE MONIEZ.

To be fair, I too only checked the details of my car allowance 72 hours before my promotion (which gave me that entitlement) took effect. However, I didn't need a car, so upgraded my wedding instead.