You'll be glad to know I have no photographic evidence of this event...
I was in Primark in the Eastgate Centre in Basildon town centre, doing some shopping for work, and i turned round to see a woman standing stark naked about to try on a swimming costume...
After doing a double take I decided to keep on walking where I found a male friend/relative of hers doing the same thing at the other end of the store...
That'll teach me for shopping in Basildon :P
Anyway, I'm off to Portsmouth tommorrow, a big inprovement (HA). Been packing today and of course I have waaaay too much stuff, six crates to be precise.
As I was the last one to move out of the Rye Experience, there was rather a lot left over, so if Rachel and Keira want any of their random kitchen stuff back, just let me know lol!
I have a couple of mugs, a spatula, a baking tray, some pasta and a few rolls of foil extra at least!
Thursday 31 July 2008
Monday 28 July 2008
London (Take 2) and Dr Who
Had another trip to London on Saturday to say goodbye to Keira, which was really nice :-)
Had lunch in Hyde Park, then did some shopping in Oxford Street, then dinner in a buffet restaurant in China Town. Had nice weather, despite being quite hot and stuffy everywhere we went, at least it didn't rain.
Sunday was also very hot, so myself, James and his family went to Southend and had a browse down the seafront. Did some things I hadn't done for a while, like going in the dodgems in Adventure Island, or just walking along the seafront. We also had Derek with us, a large yellow duck, which made the outing quite entertaining, especially on the way home. James was holding him up to the window, which especially entertained a minibus full of kids and gave us a giggle whilst stuck in Sadlers Farm traffic queues.
(Derek enjoying a cold Carlsberg in my garden)
On another note, I'm listening the the Dr Who Prom as I'm writing this. I'm not sure what to think of it to be honest. It was obviously aimed at children, but I am really surprized that they didn't show it on TV. But then I have hardly seen any of them on TV this year, which is a shame (despite the awful programming). But anyway...one thing Freema said at the beginning made me giggle, "Wow, I need a minute to compose myself, I mean, I'm sure it [RAH] wasn't this big on the outside." Which is exactly what I thought when I first went there :)
Also, they seemed to praise Murray Gold like a god, and "celebrate" the music from Dr Who. I didn't really think the music was that great, I have heard sooo much better, but I'm guessing its all part of the show. They obviously put a lot of effort into it, and it was probably the highlight of the season. :(
EDIT - Id just like to point out that it was the trip to London that was nice, not saying goodbye to Keira... lol
Had lunch in Hyde Park, then did some shopping in Oxford Street, then dinner in a buffet restaurant in China Town. Had nice weather, despite being quite hot and stuffy everywhere we went, at least it didn't rain.
Sunday was also very hot, so myself, James and his family went to Southend and had a browse down the seafront. Did some things I hadn't done for a while, like going in the dodgems in Adventure Island, or just walking along the seafront. We also had Derek with us, a large yellow duck, which made the outing quite entertaining, especially on the way home. James was holding him up to the window, which especially entertained a minibus full of kids and gave us a giggle whilst stuck in Sadlers Farm traffic queues.
(Derek enjoying a cold Carlsberg in my garden)On another note, I'm listening the the Dr Who Prom as I'm writing this. I'm not sure what to think of it to be honest. It was obviously aimed at children, but I am really surprized that they didn't show it on TV. But then I have hardly seen any of them on TV this year, which is a shame (despite the awful programming). But anyway...one thing Freema said at the beginning made me giggle, "Wow, I need a minute to compose myself, I mean, I'm sure it [RAH] wasn't this big on the outside." Which is exactly what I thought when I first went there :)
Also, they seemed to praise Murray Gold like a god, and "celebrate" the music from Dr Who. I didn't really think the music was that great, I have heard sooo much better, but I'm guessing its all part of the show. They obviously put a lot of effort into it, and it was probably the highlight of the season. :(
EDIT - Id just like to point out that it was the trip to London that was nice, not saying goodbye to Keira... lol
Monday 21 July 2008
I Live in Allah
I found out something interesting whilst reading the deeds to my house earlier.
The land for our house and the house next door were purchased together in the early 1950s, but only next door was built. It wasn't until later that the owners sold our plot of land to their son, and he built the house, and a couple of others along the street. What struck me as unusual was what he decided to call the houses. Instead of giving them numbers, he named after Muslim religious leaders, ours being Allah. Therefore, technically I live in Allah! Tehehe
Something else made me smile today. A phonecall to Tesco Clubcard Hotline. The guy on the end was a Northerner, and after explaining why I needed a replacement Clubcard, he said...
"Why can't people just get proper jobs instead of nicking nice young ladies' bags...its disgraceful. It's ok lass, I'll send ya some vouchers to cheer ya up..."
Bless...
Of course the Nectar Card Hotline was just routine and boring... and just referred me to the website...Snore...
The land for our house and the house next door were purchased together in the early 1950s, but only next door was built. It wasn't until later that the owners sold our plot of land to their son, and he built the house, and a couple of others along the street. What struck me as unusual was what he decided to call the houses. Instead of giving them numbers, he named after Muslim religious leaders, ours being Allah. Therefore, technically I live in Allah! Tehehe
Something else made me smile today. A phonecall to Tesco Clubcard Hotline. The guy on the end was a Northerner, and after explaining why I needed a replacement Clubcard, he said...
"Why can't people just get proper jobs instead of nicking nice young ladies' bags...its disgraceful. It's ok lass, I'll send ya some vouchers to cheer ya up..."
Bless...
Of course the Nectar Card Hotline was just routine and boring... and just referred me to the website...Snore...
Sunday 20 July 2008
I Feel Old
Okay two things have happened in the past couple of days that have made me feel old :(
1) At Cadets last Wednesday we took the cadets outside to play rounders on a nearby field. Some of the girls took their shoes off, and I asked them to put their shoes on so they didn't hurt themselves. I thought it was a reasonable request, as I did not want them to be hurt, nor did I want to explain to their parents why they were hurt! Apparently the cadets were talking amongst themselves later and they decided they don't like me because of this :(
I'm an old fogey...
2) I did a first aid duty today at a local farms fundraiser event for a nursery. The DJ made some of the Dads in the audience dress up as the Spice Girls, but the joke was totally lost on the kids as most of them didn't have a clue who the Spice Girls were :(
1) At Cadets last Wednesday we took the cadets outside to play rounders on a nearby field. Some of the girls took their shoes off, and I asked them to put their shoes on so they didn't hurt themselves. I thought it was a reasonable request, as I did not want them to be hurt, nor did I want to explain to their parents why they were hurt! Apparently the cadets were talking amongst themselves later and they decided they don't like me because of this :(
I'm an old fogey...
2) I did a first aid duty today at a local farms fundraiser event for a nursery. The DJ made some of the Dads in the audience dress up as the Spice Girls, but the joke was totally lost on the kids as most of them didn't have a clue who the Spice Girls were :(
Saturday 19 July 2008
London...
Please note that my iPod is not updating itself while I write this...well actually who knows! Some random bastard has it!
I thought I would take a trip to London with Keira to see Avenue Q, as Keira and I have been wanting to see it for a while. So I booked the tickets online, and off I went.
The day started out fairly well, we met in Liverpool Street station, along with James, who had finished work early, and after much argument, we pottered along to Covent Garden and watched some street entertainers and did some shopping! I don't think the street entertainers impressed James very much, but I thought they were alright!
Next was dinner time, with 3 hours to go before the performance we decided to stay and have a pub dinner in the Punch and Judy pub in Covent Garden. It was a lovely little pub, and we sat in a low-lit corner and had a beef dinner with wine, which was delicious! We were also served by a really sweet waiter, who was on his first day and just wanted to impress us.
The trouble was, some bastard nicked my handbag from under the table. I rang home, and my mum (who was nearly in tears) said, without saying anything else informed me that my bag had been handed in at Charing Cross police station. So that was our next stop. And then almost 45 mins after arriving we were actually served by a policeman and he gave me my bag back, with nothing in it apart from my St John ID, my keys and my empty purse. Great.
Luckily my dad had frozen my bank and mobile account, so they didnt have enough time to actually spend anything but they got £25, my ID, my iPod, and my phone.
Also, luckily James didn't have work the next day so he could come back to mine that night so I wasn't travelling alone without a phone late at night.
Anyway, after leaving the police station it was too late to go to the show, so we decided to go to the a pub near Leicester Square. It was a nice pub, and I drank rather too much wine. Im very glad to have good friends who helped me out so much and helped me to have a great evening despite everything that went on.
Just got a battle with the insurance company to deal with now...*sigh*
I thought I would take a trip to London with Keira to see Avenue Q, as Keira and I have been wanting to see it for a while. So I booked the tickets online, and off I went.
The day started out fairly well, we met in Liverpool Street station, along with James, who had finished work early, and after much argument, we pottered along to Covent Garden and watched some street entertainers and did some shopping! I don't think the street entertainers impressed James very much, but I thought they were alright!
Next was dinner time, with 3 hours to go before the performance we decided to stay and have a pub dinner in the Punch and Judy pub in Covent Garden. It was a lovely little pub, and we sat in a low-lit corner and had a beef dinner with wine, which was delicious! We were also served by a really sweet waiter, who was on his first day and just wanted to impress us.
The trouble was, some bastard nicked my handbag from under the table. I rang home, and my mum (who was nearly in tears) said, without saying anything else informed me that my bag had been handed in at Charing Cross police station. So that was our next stop. And then almost 45 mins after arriving we were actually served by a policeman and he gave me my bag back, with nothing in it apart from my St John ID, my keys and my empty purse. Great.
Luckily my dad had frozen my bank and mobile account, so they didnt have enough time to actually spend anything but they got £25, my ID, my iPod, and my phone.
Also, luckily James didn't have work the next day so he could come back to mine that night so I wasn't travelling alone without a phone late at night.
Anyway, after leaving the police station it was too late to go to the show, so we decided to go to the a pub near Leicester Square. It was a nice pub, and I drank rather too much wine. Im very glad to have good friends who helped me out so much and helped me to have a great evening despite everything that went on.
Just got a battle with the insurance company to deal with now...*sigh*
Monday 14 July 2008
Camping in the Arse End of Nowhere
This may be a rather long post, as I have lots of time to kill whilst my iPod updates itself.
By camping in the Arse End of Nowhere I originally meant somewhere near Dorking, however, the night before I was meant to leave I realised that there was a mistake on the bottom of my map and kit list that a friend had sent me.
"Produced by SoandSo 2007"
Hold up...its not 2007...
So I thought I would check.
Bloody good thing I did as well, as the arse end of nowhere was actually somewhere on the border of South Surrey and West Sussex. Nice place.
Sooooo
I packed my 85L pack and jumped on the train down to Crawley where I was picked up by SoandSo. Luckily it was a sunny day, so once I was there we got everything set up pretty quickly! HOORRAAY!
However, for some reason I was written down on the staff attendance list as "laura."
This didn't bother me, as there were 2 other Diana's on the camp too, and it would have just been confusing if there were 3 :P Just add it to the list!
Once the 50 cadets and 40 badgers (younger cadets) had arrived, it was time for them to do some activities, rock climbing and abseiling then head back for some snacks before bed. Matthew and I were put in charge of making milkshake for some of the cadets. But for some reason, probably us being a combination of tired, confused, stressed and stupid, we made 5 pints of starwberry milkshake. Now when only 5 cadets wanted a serving (1/3 of a pint) we had rather a lot left. Instead of breaking this news to the person in charge, I decided to just drink a lot of milkshake. After a pint and a half however, I decided to stop...I have my limits :P
I slept well that night, despite being cold, with the satisfaction that I won't be suffering with a calcium deficiency any time soon :P
The next day for the cadets was a fun-packed adventure ride with activities including kyaking, archery, zip wires and climbing through tunnels.
The next day for Matthew and myself (who were in charge of 9 cadets) consisded of taking the cadets to the activities, then taking them back. Pretty good day really. Apart from the moaning, fighting and general childish behaviour. Had pretty good food, as we had proper ovens to cook on rather than doing it the hardcore camp style!
The trouble with Surrey camp, and also the beauty, is that they have traditions. Unfortunately, one of these traditions includes new staff eating sandwiches made with parts of all the meals from the weekend so far.
So I ate a Marmite, Coco Pop, coffee, chilli beef, potato, mustard, Goldern Syrup, etc etc sandwich. To be honest, all I could taste really was the Marmite...
Getting home was also a mission, I wanted to get from Victoria to Tower Hill, however, they shut the District line, the Circle line, some of the Jubilee line and the DLR. Great. So with all my stuff, there I was treking across London, getting hopelessly lost trying to find my way from Bank to Fenchurch Street.
Eventually I got home where a mahoosive chinese takeaway was waiting for me :D
I think my iPod has settled itself down now...gaming time :D:D
By camping in the Arse End of Nowhere I originally meant somewhere near Dorking, however, the night before I was meant to leave I realised that there was a mistake on the bottom of my map and kit list that a friend had sent me.
"Produced by SoandSo 2007"
Hold up...its not 2007...
So I thought I would check.
Bloody good thing I did as well, as the arse end of nowhere was actually somewhere on the border of South Surrey and West Sussex. Nice place.
Sooooo
I packed my 85L pack and jumped on the train down to Crawley where I was picked up by SoandSo. Luckily it was a sunny day, so once I was there we got everything set up pretty quickly! HOORRAAY!
However, for some reason I was written down on the staff attendance list as "laura."
This didn't bother me, as there were 2 other Diana's on the camp too, and it would have just been confusing if there were 3 :P Just add it to the list!
Once the 50 cadets and 40 badgers (younger cadets) had arrived, it was time for them to do some activities, rock climbing and abseiling then head back for some snacks before bed. Matthew and I were put in charge of making milkshake for some of the cadets. But for some reason, probably us being a combination of tired, confused, stressed and stupid, we made 5 pints of starwberry milkshake. Now when only 5 cadets wanted a serving (1/3 of a pint) we had rather a lot left. Instead of breaking this news to the person in charge, I decided to just drink a lot of milkshake. After a pint and a half however, I decided to stop...I have my limits :P
I slept well that night, despite being cold, with the satisfaction that I won't be suffering with a calcium deficiency any time soon :P
The next day for the cadets was a fun-packed adventure ride with activities including kyaking, archery, zip wires and climbing through tunnels.
The next day for Matthew and myself (who were in charge of 9 cadets) consisded of taking the cadets to the activities, then taking them back. Pretty good day really. Apart from the moaning, fighting and general childish behaviour. Had pretty good food, as we had proper ovens to cook on rather than doing it the hardcore camp style!
The trouble with Surrey camp, and also the beauty, is that they have traditions. Unfortunately, one of these traditions includes new staff eating sandwiches made with parts of all the meals from the weekend so far.
So I ate a Marmite, Coco Pop, coffee, chilli beef, potato, mustard, Goldern Syrup, etc etc sandwich. To be honest, all I could taste really was the Marmite...
Getting home was also a mission, I wanted to get from Victoria to Tower Hill, however, they shut the District line, the Circle line, some of the Jubilee line and the DLR. Great. So with all my stuff, there I was treking across London, getting hopelessly lost trying to find my way from Bank to Fenchurch Street.
Eventually I got home where a mahoosive chinese takeaway was waiting for me :D
I think my iPod has settled itself down now...gaming time :D:D
Wednesday 9 July 2008
Nocturnal Nursey Di
This weekend sees the passing of the almighty Guilfest, the hardcore family music festival that is held in Stoke Park in the magical town of Gillyford!
Being the dedicated Johnnie that I am I decided to take up the nightshifts, which involves 12 hour first aid duties sitting in a converted Arriva Bus, 9pm till 9am. I actually had fun, despite the rain and coldness and lack of sleep. Got a chance to do some things that I don't usually do (not that I can talk about any of them due to patient confidentiality rules). I also got a chance to watch Blondie and Bowling for Soup on stage, both of whom were awesome :D
Would just like to say thanks to Adam and Emily for letting me stay at their house and supplying me with a plentiful supply of tea... much much much appreciated :D
Also like to say thanks to the little Chinese food stall that was close to our post, who produced some amazing food and gave us discounts...again, much appreciated guys :D
On a slightly different note...
I went along to my Cadet divisional meeting this evening, only to find that an official register, without my name on it was produced. This really cut me deep, especially after being told that I wasn't a member, or wasn't qualified to be in the division. I have only been there since I was 11. I don't know what I've done to piss people off in Essex, but my patience is wearing thin. They may find themselves with one less "adult member" before long.
Emotional Rant Over.
James came to stay over night, which cheered me up. :D Im really gonna miss him next year :(
Coming soon on Crumb Knowledge...Cadet Camping in the Arse End of Nowhere, trek to Bacup, and the move to Pompey...
Being the dedicated Johnnie that I am I decided to take up the nightshifts, which involves 12 hour first aid duties sitting in a converted Arriva Bus, 9pm till 9am. I actually had fun, despite the rain and coldness and lack of sleep. Got a chance to do some things that I don't usually do (not that I can talk about any of them due to patient confidentiality rules). I also got a chance to watch Blondie and Bowling for Soup on stage, both of whom were awesome :D
Would just like to say thanks to Adam and Emily for letting me stay at their house and supplying me with a plentiful supply of tea... much much much appreciated :D
Also like to say thanks to the little Chinese food stall that was close to our post, who produced some amazing food and gave us discounts...again, much appreciated guys :D
On a slightly different note...
I went along to my Cadet divisional meeting this evening, only to find that an official register, without my name on it was produced. This really cut me deep, especially after being told that I wasn't a member, or wasn't qualified to be in the division. I have only been there since I was 11. I don't know what I've done to piss people off in Essex, but my patience is wearing thin. They may find themselves with one less "adult member" before long.
Emotional Rant Over.
James came to stay over night, which cheered me up. :D Im really gonna miss him next year :(
Coming soon on Crumb Knowledge...Cadet Camping in the Arse End of Nowhere, trek to Bacup, and the move to Pompey...
Thursday 3 July 2008
Posh-like evening with the tax people
(Tis a long one...sorry!)
My boyfriend is working for Tax people next year as part of his Mathematics and Statistics course, and as an introduction the new students planned an evening of London social fun.
Well, we thought it would be a clever plan to go up during the day, take a stroll around ol' London town...like the fabulously sophisticated Essex people that we are :D
Well, the day started well.
1) The bus was late
15 minutes late
So I started to leg it to the nearest station
Then the bus came...
So I ran back to the bus stop!
Luckily there were lots of old people at the bus stop who took forever to get on the bus...HORRAAY
2) Then...because the bus driver was traveling through the Essex countryside with door open (H&S??)* lots of bugs flew into the bus... including a big fat hairy black and yellow bee that look a fancy to my left knee...
And stung me...
GREEAAAT
Being a first aider, I rang my mum to double check that I had been stung before and wasn't allergic.
Of course I haven't been stung before, so started to panic, and rung James to go and fetch some pyriton... just in case ;p
3) Of course James (bless 'im) went all the way across Chelmsford to fetch some for me, and when he returned to the station he found they sell it in the well known station stationers. Well at least he was entertained while he waited for me!
4) We finally get to London and it rains... nothing more to be said here, tis just Britain for ya!
5) I then check my pocket for my ticket to get on the underground, but wait! It has vanished!
Luckily I retraced my steps and found it just before it disappeared into a drain... Was a very dramatic moment, almost got run over by a taxi too...
6) We decided to visit James' place of work, which was right in the centre of town, so we decided to stop and have a packet of crisps in a nearby park. All was finally good, nice park, no rain, quiet apart from the 2 tramps, *sigh* until the protesters went past...
The truck drivers who are protesting about the price of oil drove past in a long line along the embankment sounding their horns...the peace and tranquility was no more :(
7) Saw Gordon Ramsey in Covent Garden, along with some very nice ties, bracelets made from forks and funky clocks!
8) The actual dinner was fabulous James' colleagues were nice, great pre-drinks session, gorgeous restaurant... although more posh than i'm used too... and the journey home was fine! A great end to the day! Despite everything, and best of all, I got to spend time with James, which definately made it worth it :)
*Health and Safety - I just had a vision of the old couple in wheelchairs in front of me disappearing off the bus as we went round Sadler's Farm roundabout, and the pram once we got to Chelmsford. Although this may have been advantageous, as once we got to Chelmsford, they held up the bus another 5 minutes getting off (Grrrrg). Could potentially have a nice picnic along the fields next to the A130. *Snigger*
My boyfriend is working for Tax people next year as part of his Mathematics and Statistics course, and as an introduction the new students planned an evening of London social fun.
Well, we thought it would be a clever plan to go up during the day, take a stroll around ol' London town...like the fabulously sophisticated Essex people that we are :D
Well, the day started well.
1) The bus was late
15 minutes late
So I started to leg it to the nearest station
Then the bus came...
So I ran back to the bus stop!
Luckily there were lots of old people at the bus stop who took forever to get on the bus...HORRAAY
2) Then...because the bus driver was traveling through the Essex countryside with door open (H&S??)* lots of bugs flew into the bus... including a big fat hairy black and yellow bee that look a fancy to my left knee...
And stung me...
GREEAAAT
Being a first aider, I rang my mum to double check that I had been stung before and wasn't allergic.
Of course I haven't been stung before, so started to panic, and rung James to go and fetch some pyriton... just in case ;p
3) Of course James (bless 'im) went all the way across Chelmsford to fetch some for me, and when he returned to the station he found they sell it in the well known station stationers. Well at least he was entertained while he waited for me!
4) We finally get to London and it rains... nothing more to be said here, tis just Britain for ya!
5) I then check my pocket for my ticket to get on the underground, but wait! It has vanished!
Luckily I retraced my steps and found it just before it disappeared into a drain... Was a very dramatic moment, almost got run over by a taxi too...
6) We decided to visit James' place of work, which was right in the centre of town, so we decided to stop and have a packet of crisps in a nearby park. All was finally good, nice park, no rain, quiet apart from the 2 tramps, *sigh* until the protesters went past...
The truck drivers who are protesting about the price of oil drove past in a long line along the embankment sounding their horns...the peace and tranquility was no more :(
7) Saw Gordon Ramsey in Covent Garden, along with some very nice ties, bracelets made from forks and funky clocks!
8) The actual dinner was fabulous James' colleagues were nice, great pre-drinks session, gorgeous restaurant... although more posh than i'm used too... and the journey home was fine! A great end to the day! Despite everything, and best of all, I got to spend time with James, which definately made it worth it :)
*Health and Safety - I just had a vision of the old couple in wheelchairs in front of me disappearing off the bus as we went round Sadler's Farm roundabout, and the pram once we got to Chelmsford. Although this may have been advantageous, as once we got to Chelmsford, they held up the bus another 5 minutes getting off (Grrrrg). Could potentially have a nice picnic along the fields next to the A130. *Snigger*
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