Sunday 31 August 2008

Douglas Adams Will Be Ashamed

As a duck lover, I had great joy in accepting an invitation to the Great British Duck Race, and to sponsor a couple of ducks to race along the Thames in aid of St John Ambulance.
250k blue rubber ducks racing 1k along the river next to Hampton Court...Awesome!
The winner duck (the one that passed the finish line first) won 10k, and the rest of the money went to charities, such as the Downs Syndrome Association and SJA. £2 per duck!
Not bad...Especially when I got a hug from a giant duck and lots of free rubber ducks to add to my collection!
See...Pics...Lots of ducks!!!

Setting up the track at the top of the lock

And they're released!

Ducks, and more ducks, and then a few more ducks :D

The day was pretty good, full of the usual smut and geek speak of the crowd, though the weather was miserable. It absolutely chucked it down as we were walking back to the car...I'm talking monsoon!! I had no idea where my towel was...sorry Doug!
Yesterday my boyfriend came down from home and we went out in Portsmouth, around Guildhall area. Had an un-nerving taxi ride, with the driver telling us how dodgy the area is, eeek. But I found it fine. Drank in good ol' Yatess, The Fuzzy Duck (can you see a trend?), and an Australian pub, where we had a bit of a dance, and drank a little too much...
So I struggled to get up the next morning ;p

Wednesday 20 August 2008

A Message to Stagecoach

Stagecoach...please...think carefully about where you place your bus stops!!!
Whilst waiting for my bus today, the win was actually being blown into the bus stop, meaning i got even more wet! So I stood behind the bus stop to keep dry, meaning that the bus didn't see me and nearly drove past.
Also, the wind blew my umbrella to pieces, which teaches me not to use an umbrella in Pompey.
Damn weather...

Tuesday 19 August 2008

Its 6pm, and I'm fed up.

I had a traumatic journey home from work on the bus today.
First of all, the rain started, and even though I was under a bus shelter, the wind from the river was blowing the rain into the shelter...so I got drenched.
Finally got onto the late bus, when a rather large man stopped the bus, then proceeded to walk up the bus...very slowly, and he struggled through the seats to walk allllll the way to the back.
*sigh*
Starting to get a bit impatient, the bus then gets stuck in traffic.
*sigh*
Then the bus gets stopped by an elderly lady, who looks rather frail and is dragging along a shopping trolley. She struggles on the bus, whilst having rocks being thrown at her by some kids. The bus driver shouts at them, along with half the passengers, so the kids rock the bus, and the woman nearly falls over.
*sigh*
I finally get to my bus stop, and I am greeted from the bus by a drunk man, stinking of pub.
"hello darling, you're looking smart"
So I ignore him, and carry on walking.
But then I noticed he was following me, so I dived off into the church just to make sure he lost me, and waited until he walked a little up the pavement. Only then did I notice that he had a large head wound, but I was too afraid to approach him by myself to help him out.
So, keeping an eye on him, I carry on walking up the road, in the direction that I usually walk in. He passes an African lady, dressed in gorgeous traditional African dress, and he makes some comment about her being Jamaican, and starts to dance.
He also then trips up a skater on the pavement, who I help up and make sure hes not broken before I turn my attention back to this guy.
However, now in the distance, I see him stagger into the pub at the end of the street, and burst into laughter.
*sigh*
Then, I head homebound, just as a group of kids walk towards me, taking up the whole pavement. The shock on their face when I just barge into them was amazing.
Yes, old people can be rude too you know.

Monday 18 August 2008

V Festival

OK you'll all be excited to hear that my iPod (mini radar, mach 2) is updating itself whilst i'm writing this blog :D:D
Anyhoo, I went to the V Festival this weekend!
yeeeyyy
So there I was, amongst 90k other people in Hylands Park, Chelmsford, Ol' essexshire, watching and listening to lots of famous type-people; The Feeling, Stereophonics, Hoosiers, Scouting for Girls, Amy Winehouse, Will Young, Muse, Lost Prophets, Girls Aloud, Alanis Morisette and The Kooks.(Scouting for girls on stage, with 50K-ish people pearing onto the channel 4 stage)

We were soo lucky with the weather, it was dry and sunny both days. But it did rain over night Saturday night. Although I wasn't camping, the ground was still soo muddy. However, the organisers put big plastic sheets down on the ground, so the V Festival turned into V Slippery-fest.
Heres a pic....
It made it slippery, but it did make it much easier to clean up after the punters when the site closed. Apparently what the site does it get massive leaf blowers and blow all the rubbish down to one corner, then shovel it all up. Thats why you can see tractor marks on the above picture.
:D
(The Main Stage, with 40K odd people and Lost Prophets [i think])

I also had rather a nice dinner, consisting of a hog roast...

Overall, a fabulous and fun weekend, now im knackered so off to sleep, g'night!

Wednesday 6 August 2008

GM Seagulls

I woke up this morning again, to the sound of seagulls crowing outside. I'm used to them doing this at home, but these seagulls are unusually loud. They have been known to be quite violent as well. Nice to see geographical variation in practice ;p
Just thought you'd all like to know!
KWAAARRRKKK KKWWWAAAAAAAAAAAARKKKKK

Monday 4 August 2008

The First of Many

Well I started my placement today, first day in full time employment!!
I turned up for my induction meeting with other placement students and who was to be there, but James' ex-housemate, also on placement at the same company as me! Small world huh?
Next we completed looooads of forms, got force-fed cookies and coffee and then were released from HR (*phew*) to go our separate ways. I managed to scrounge a lift from another student, and the working day began. I was given the vending machine tour, and also told about the cake corner in the office, where people bring in cakes for special occasions.
Special occasions include: Birthdays, Weddings, New baby, Achievements, People going on holiday, People coming back from holiday, Fixing a computer problem, Buying new shoes...etc etc...
So... there's always a plentiful supply!

Saturday 2 August 2008

The Mighty Move to Pompey

As some of you know I'm currently about to start my 3rd year of my degree, which involves a year long work placement. For this, I have moved all the way down to sunny seaside Portsmouth! I have a nice house, which I share with 4 other people!
The move in was pretty simple, can actually park outside the house, unlike everywhere else Ive lived since being at uni, and I unpacked all my stuff in no time. I really do have a lot of stuff.
Then went to the seafront for chish and fips, and after the the parents buggered off home!
After an intense session of TV watching in the evening, I decided to go to bed. All fine and dandy.
0330, and I get woken up by a couple just screaming at each other down the street. If it was the middle of the day I would probably have found this quite amusing, with quotes like,
"The hamster has nothing to do with our marital status, don't you try and bring him into this!!"
and
"Open the door...don't make me call a locksmith!!"
and
"FINE, I'll go spend all the money, then you'll see how poverty stricken I really am!"
Eventually the woman just left and peace was once again restored.