OK, so assume that this blog has started with apologies for not having written lately, although I did explain why I would be being less frequent with this blog in the post a couple of weeks ago.
But I got so annoyed with something today, that I had to write...
Royal Mail.
OK, so I don't really like to complain about them, because on the whole they provide a good service. It costs you a few pence and you can send something the length of the country. HOWEVER, if I ever get one of those little red "We tried to deliver something but you were out" cards, my heart sinks.
I'm ALWAYS out when they try and deliver something because, like most people, I work during the day. Therefore I have nothing against the cards per se, it's just that whenever I get one, the claiming of said package seems to be horrendously complicated.
It always says you should wait 48 hours between the time they tried to deliver it, and the time you go to collect it..
Why is this? I understand needing SOME time, because the package stays in the postmans bag since he's finished his round. But, working on the assumption that postmen go home at the end of a shift, and therefore leave their bags at work, I would assume that they get emptied every day. And therefore, you put everything that needs to be collected into a van, which takes it to the relevant sorting office. Surely. That'd make sense.
Well I don't know what they do, but it obviously isn't that.. as was proved by today when I went to pick up a recorded delivery package that they tried to deliver to me on Friday. I originally went on Monday, to be told it wasn't there yet, so I went today. And guess what? It's still not there... I guess this wouldn't be so bad, if not for the other major hassle with it...
The Sorting office is only open from 8am-12pm.
Four hours a day? Name me another public service that only opens for four hours a day, at the time when the majority of the population is at work!! Seriously, I can't fathom the logic behind this. Why do it?
So I'm still waiting for my package, (incidentally, I don't know what it is, and I really hope it's something for which going to this amount of hassle is worthwile (but I'm sure it will be (mostly))) which HOPEFULLY, I can pick up tomorrow, although that means I'll have to dive out of work during the day to go and try and get it. But I'm still vaguely hopeful it'll be there. Unlike something that was sent to me last year, which I never recieved because "It's gone missing..." That was the excuse. Seriously.
Like I said at the start, I know that they do provide a good service, but it's the little things like this that really just feel like a let down.
So, other than that, I'm still writing my novel for NaNoWriMo. As you may remember, my aim was to write 2000 words a day, so that I could have five days off. This has gone a little wrong...
I was on target until Thursday, which was my birthday, so I let myself have the day off. Then I did my 2000 on Friday, and since then... nothing. To be fair, I have got excuses (been visited by Neety, who bought me Guitar Hero: Metallica for my birthday!) but not a real, solid excuse. So now I'm staring at the document again, knowing that I have (ideally) 8000 words I need to catch up. Before tomorrow. And I'm in the middle of a chapter introducing a new character and I don't really know where I'm going with it.
And that's the thing thats hardest about this time/word limit. There's no time to go back, re-jig and cut bits. I could cut the half chapter I've got (which is about 1500 words) and just go to another character, but then I'd lose more word count.
So I'm procrastinating here and on the internet. And in a minute I shall cook some dinner. I'm trying to be good and not play Guitar Hero, but we'll see how the evening goes.
I could, of course, assume that Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Today were all days off, and recalculate accordingly. If I did that then I'd have 2000 words a day left to write, with NO days off... and since I'm heading to Poole this weekend, and again at the end of the month, I ought to try and salvage at least one.
Anyone else doing NaNoWriMo by the way? Or is it just me...
On the good news front, my nice bike is now on its way back to Poole, where my wonderful father will have a look at it, and see if it's fixable! Yay!
Anyway, I ought to go now....
Showing posts with label Motorbike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Motorbike. Show all posts
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
Well, I is back in the London Town....
And working way too hard, and consequentially doing way too little when i get home.
But am still loving Biking goodness :)
But am still loving Biking goodness :)
Monday, 13 April 2009
What an Easter - Dr Who, Red Dwarf, a Motorbike and Egg-Shaped Chocolate!
Hello to you all!
Reviews are below. Consider them spoilerful!
So... I know I didn't do one for the Christmas special, but here is: My Dr Who review.
Dr Who - Planet of the Dead
Well, I haven't written a review of anything for ages, so here goes. I liked this Dr Who, liked it a lot. Michelle Ryan was surprisingly un-annoying, I did think I was going to hate her, and the plot made, for the most part anyway, sense.
Lee Evans was almost good. If they hadn't given him stupid comedy falling over bits, he'd have been better, but such is life.
All the support characters were good actually, the bus people and UNIT... and the swarm also were brilliant.
One question though, did we really need the Tritovores?
If this had been old-school Dr Who I'd have seen the point, because you could have strung out the "they could be the baddies" idea for a couple of episodes, but in the fast-moving world of Nu-Who, they were just pointless, existing only so that the Dr could steal bits off their spaceship.
What annoys me more is they were quite good monsters, and I kind of feel they should have been saved for something more.
The flying bus? Well, regardless of the lack of science.. (how would turning the steering wheel cause the bus to turn when none of it has anything to push against?) which I know can all be covered with "the anti-gravity thingys work like that" it was pure RTD Dr Who, and fun. Although, given the rushed post-production of this episode, it was a bit ambitious...
On the whole? 7 out of 10. Maybe 8. Although I think the reason it doesn't get 8 is the ending. Maybe I know too much background information, but the end with the Dr and Christina seemed out of character, and seemed to have been written too much as a "we need to do something but we cannot use the TARDIS because the set is being re-built for HD work".
So, moving on...
RED DWARF: BACK TO EARTH
Before I write this, I would just like to clarify that I have only seen the episodes in 3 different parts, and I am sure that the whole thing would work better back to back, which I shall see tonight on Dave, so this may alter the rating.
PART ONE:
I both loved and seriously disliked this episode, mostly for reasons of "not much happens". There feels to be very little plot in regard to old Dwarf episodes, and I don't think it was the best thing to start the return of the show with.
However, I loved the sets, the acting, and most of the script. Some VERY funny gags.
Once I had watched the third part, part one made more sense.
Things I didn't like? No explanation of how Rimmer died and became a Hologram again, not enough for Cat to do (although that is a running problem in most of Red Dwarf!)
Rating - 7 out of 10
PART TWO
Ironically, the bit I was dreading, Them ending up on Present Day Earth, really gave it a bit of a kick up the arse. Doug Naylor obviously likes writing Rimmers opinions on 21st century culture a little too much though ;)
Some properly laugh out loud funny bits in this.... Rimmer and Katerina on the roadside, priceless! And I liked the Kids on the bus
Rating - 9 out of 10
PART THREE
So, hows it going to work?
The third part, starts with the dreaded Corrie visit, which actually worked quite well, and Craig Charles meeting Lister was priceless.
Visiting the Creator, and the entire typewriter sequence was hilarious.
Loved the Chinatown street run.
In fact, I loved it all, until the revelation about what caused it...
But then, they saved it for me again. Firstly with the appearance of Chloe Annett :) And secondly with the wonderfully funny corridor scene at the end.
Rating - 8 out of 10
TOTAL TRILOGY RATING - 8 out of 10
This may change once I have watched them all back to back.
Other good stuff - I have a motorbike! YAY! May put pictures up soon.
And I'm eating easter eggs. Mmmmmmm. Tasty.
Reviews are below. Consider them spoilerful!
So... I know I didn't do one for the Christmas special, but here is: My Dr Who review.
Dr Who - Planet of the Dead
Well, I haven't written a review of anything for ages, so here goes. I liked this Dr Who, liked it a lot. Michelle Ryan was surprisingly un-annoying, I did think I was going to hate her, and the plot made, for the most part anyway, sense.
Lee Evans was almost good. If they hadn't given him stupid comedy falling over bits, he'd have been better, but such is life.
All the support characters were good actually, the bus people and UNIT... and the swarm also were brilliant.
One question though, did we really need the Tritovores?
If this had been old-school Dr Who I'd have seen the point, because you could have strung out the "they could be the baddies" idea for a couple of episodes, but in the fast-moving world of Nu-Who, they were just pointless, existing only so that the Dr could steal bits off their spaceship.
What annoys me more is they were quite good monsters, and I kind of feel they should have been saved for something more.
The flying bus? Well, regardless of the lack of science.. (how would turning the steering wheel cause the bus to turn when none of it has anything to push against?) which I know can all be covered with "the anti-gravity thingys work like that" it was pure RTD Dr Who, and fun. Although, given the rushed post-production of this episode, it was a bit ambitious...
On the whole? 7 out of 10. Maybe 8. Although I think the reason it doesn't get 8 is the ending. Maybe I know too much background information, but the end with the Dr and Christina seemed out of character, and seemed to have been written too much as a "we need to do something but we cannot use the TARDIS because the set is being re-built for HD work".
So, moving on...
RED DWARF: BACK TO EARTH
Before I write this, I would just like to clarify that I have only seen the episodes in 3 different parts, and I am sure that the whole thing would work better back to back, which I shall see tonight on Dave, so this may alter the rating.
PART ONE:
I both loved and seriously disliked this episode, mostly for reasons of "not much happens". There feels to be very little plot in regard to old Dwarf episodes, and I don't think it was the best thing to start the return of the show with.
However, I loved the sets, the acting, and most of the script. Some VERY funny gags.
Once I had watched the third part, part one made more sense.
Things I didn't like? No explanation of how Rimmer died and became a Hologram again, not enough for Cat to do (although that is a running problem in most of Red Dwarf!)
Rating - 7 out of 10
PART TWO
Ironically, the bit I was dreading, Them ending up on Present Day Earth, really gave it a bit of a kick up the arse. Doug Naylor obviously likes writing Rimmers opinions on 21st century culture a little too much though ;)
Some properly laugh out loud funny bits in this.... Rimmer and Katerina on the roadside, priceless! And I liked the Kids on the bus
Rating - 9 out of 10
PART THREE
So, hows it going to work?
The third part, starts with the dreaded Corrie visit, which actually worked quite well, and Craig Charles meeting Lister was priceless.
Visiting the Creator, and the entire typewriter sequence was hilarious.
Loved the Chinatown street run.
In fact, I loved it all, until the revelation about what caused it...
But then, they saved it for me again. Firstly with the appearance of Chloe Annett :) And secondly with the wonderfully funny corridor scene at the end.
Rating - 8 out of 10
TOTAL TRILOGY RATING - 8 out of 10
This may change once I have watched them all back to back.
Other good stuff - I have a motorbike! YAY! May put pictures up soon.
And I'm eating easter eggs. Mmmmmmm. Tasty.
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