Journal – July 2008

Here’s another collection of entries from my journal. This month I did some more socialising in Exeter and saw the Doctor Who series finale, among the usual other things. So I hope you enjoy!

Sunday July 6, 2008

This past week has been pretty normal really. Nothing too major has been happening at work, other than getting a load of labels and panels printed for Torre Abbey‘s reopening. Next week support worker Genevieve is popping in for my regular review, and we’ve also got a couple of work experience people joining us, so that could be interesting.

Home’s also been much the same as ever. But I’ll be staying with A next weekend. A few of us are going to meet up about the holiday she’s trying to organise in Spain next year, probably in the same area we were before. We’re going through the same company as before anyway.

As for the TV, there’s only been one programme to talk about this week – the finale of Series 4 of Doctor Who. And again it was a cracker! With a cliffhanger last week involving people about to be exterminated by Daleks, and the Doctor apparently in mid-regeneration, it was hard to wait a week to see the conclusion! But it was well worth the wait.

Contrary to the rumours sparked by the cliffhanger, the Doctor didn’t turn into someone new, so David Tennant is still playing him, at least for the 4 specials next year (there isn’t a full Series 5 until 2010). And having pretty much all the key members of the cast together in the Tardis all at once was brilliant – the Doctor, Rose, Mickey, Jackie, Martha, Donna, Captain Jack and Sarah Jane… oh, and the Doctor again, because there were 2 of him… or 3 if you count the DoctorDonna hybrid as well! I don’t think anyone saw all of that coming!

And that was the great thing, that the BBC managed to keep the episode a secret, so nobody could spoil it on the net or in the media, which is very unusual! There were signed agreements and a lot of security I think, and only a handful of people saw the final episode before it aired – not even the Controller of BBC1 or the BBC Head Of Drama got to see it apparently! So I hope they were happy with it, I know I was!

So that’s it. Doctor Who’s done for another series, so Saturday nights will be rather quiet on TV again. But it’ll be interesting to see what happens with our work experience visitors in the office these next couple of weeks. And my entry next week will be after I come back from staying with A for the weekend.

Sunday July 13, 2008

I’ve just got back from my weekend with A. The intention was for some of us to have a meeting about another holiday to Spain next year – a group of about 9-11 of us – that she’s trying to sort out, but we didn’t in the end. She did show me a few places to stay that she had been looking at though. We also popped into a travel agent to see what offers they had, and there are a few nice cheap options available. So we’ll see.

Anyway, the two of us had a nice quiet weekend. For our late supper on Friday night, after a couple of drinks in the pub, we went to Subway for a couple of their foot-long baguettes, before heading back to her place and going to bed shortly after.

On Saturday we got up around midday and popped into town, where we went into the travel agent as I said above, before going to George’s Meeting House for lunch. I had meatballs with pasta, which was very nice. Then we went back to her place and watched DVDs for a little while, before going to the local Chinese restaurant for tea. The rest of the night was back at her place again.

And today we again got up late, and didn’t leave the flat until after 2pm, when we went to the Hog’s Head for lunch. We had roast chicken, which was on a special offer where they give you 2 lunches at a cheaper price than buying them separately. So that was nice. Then I came back home. So nothing too outstanding, but it was a nice weekend.

At work this week, we’ve had a couple of work experience students from a Year 10 class with us. They were working on a newsletter for their school, under the supervision of my section manager. They seemed reasonably interested, and they were both friendly and polite, though one was a little bit shy. One of my colleagues dished out the cakes and rolls for his birthday this week as well, so I had a nice bacon roll. And there’s nothing to report on the home front, it’s been very quiet here. But I’ll probably be ordering some more DVDs shortly.

Much of the news this week has been about the G8 summit, covering various issues from Zimbabwe to the food shortages to climate change to the credit crunch and more. It all seems to be doom and gloom in the media, what with money and fuel shortages, and fuel bills going up as a result of the latter, and the UK heading towards a recession. Knife crime’s still on the agenda here in Britain too, with 4 people stabbed in one day this week, as are higher road taxes on the more polluting vehicles, which has angered those who have cars that were around before the tax went up, as it applies retrospectively to cars made since 2001. So there’s been nothing fascinating going on.

Sunday July 20, 2008

There goes a rather uneventful week. At work, our department wasn’t hit much by the strikes that were going on, as most of us aren’t in the union. And one of my colleagues has got a flashy new computer that they’re sorting out. But other than that, nothing out of the ordinary’s been going on. No massive or high-pressure jobs, which is great.

Little to report at home either, other than Mum winning £100 on the Premium Bonds. I haven’t won anything since February, boo! However, I’m delighted to report that my best mate’s passed his Accounting & Taxation degree with a 2:2! So he’s happy about that, plus he’s got a new job to look forward to, and it sounds like he’s doing alright in his new flat as well.

Much of the news is still about the economy, the impending recession we’re apparently going into and the credit crunch. But also, the wife of John Darwin (the back-from-the-dead canoeist) is in court accused of obtaining money and property by deception over the scam (John has already admitted his part, and will be sentenced later). And the S&M world has even come into the news this week after motorsport boss Max Mosley was secretly filmed in a session, which one newspaper described as a ‘Nazi-style orgy’, even though it didn’t have Nazi connotations at all. Those are a couple of the bigger stories of the week, but there’s not been a lot else.

Sunday July 27, 2008

It’s a very warm and sunny weekend, just like summer should be. How long it’s going to last, I don’t know, but it’s nice!

It’s been another standard week all in all. At work, we’ve been playing around with a quiz for the upcoming Paignton Regatta that a colleague brought in, as you can win £100 apparently. 50 questions were about identifying logos, and 50 were about finding phrases consisting of numbers and letters (for instance, 40 ToAB = 40 Thieves of Ali Baba). So that was interesting. It took us a few days to get the last few we needed, but we got them all in the end with everyone helping!

Nothing particular to report at home either. But I’ve finally watched the first series of Torchwood on DVD, and it’s pretty good. I can see why it had mixed reviews, but you can’t deny that every episode is different in the type of story they do, so it’s bound to be a mix. I’ve got the second series on DVD as well, so I’ll be watching that straight after I’ve finished going through all the extras on the first.

In the news this week, a Qantas plane had to make an emergency landing in the Philippines after a large hole (2-3 metres across) appeared in the fuselage. The pilot had to make an emergency descent from 29,000 to 10,000 feet to make sure the pressure inside the plane stayed at an acceptable level, with passengers having to wear oxygen masks. The plane landed safely and nobody was hurt, thankfully. As for what caused the massive hole, investigators are still trying to work it out. One of the back-up oxygen bottles is missing, so it could have been that that exploded. Terrorism seems to have been ruled out, which is a relief.

In other news, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was arrested on Monday near Serbia’s capital Belgrade, after more than a decade on the run. He is going to go on trial for war crimes and genocide relating to the war in Bosnia in the mid-1990s. While on the run, he had grown a long white beard and practised alternative medicine under a different name.

In the UK, the government have lost a by-election in Glasgow, in what used to be another safe seat for them. They’re also planning to try and get people off Incapacity Benefit and into work. Meanwhile, the Darwins (the canoe death fraudsters) have both been jailed, and police are now trying to recover their property and money which they shouldn’t have had. But Max Mosley won his court case against the News of the World over the S&M session they published details of and had wrongly accused of having Nazi overtones.

And finally, in New Zealand, a judge has given a 9-year-old girl permission to change her name – which was Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii! Poor girl. You do have to wonder what goes through the minds of parents when they think up names like that. Mind you, other strange names have apparently been allowed in the past – such as Violence, Number 16 Bus Shelter, Midnight Chardonnay, and twins Benson and Hedges! Still, some names have fortunately been disallowed, saving some poor souls from names like Yeah Detroit, Stallion, Twisty Poi, Keenan Got Lucy, Sex Fruit, Fat Boy, Cinderella Beauty Blossom, and Fish and Chips. Strange world!

That’s pretty much all the main stuff though. Nothing too much coming up, although my best mate starts his new job on Monday, so it’ll be interesting to see how he gets on with that. And let’s hope the summer weather stays with us!