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Archive for March, 2010

What I have been up to this week 2010-03-28

March 28th, 2010 No comments
  • RT @alyankovic: SPOILER ALERT! One of the songs on my next album will be in C#. <<Would be awesome if was the prog language!! #
  • On my home from theatre. Was a good night even though the play was longer than I remember. #
  • Currently tracking @gibmasterflash on google maps. #stalkermuch #
  • Getting bus into town for Fiddler on the Roof by LAOS. Actually quite excited! #
  • RT @ah8r: The difference between capitalism and communism: when the harvest fails, the capitalist phones up Dominos. #
  • Cheesy, but I lol'd RT @RichardWiseman: What did a Buddhist say to the hot dog vendor? Make me one with everything #
  • I was one sentence from quitting/getting sacked today. Go me! #
  • Never really liked Coke Zero or Fanta Zero, but just discovered Sprite Zero. Verdict… WIN! #
  • Always forget how awesome a song 'steal my sunshine' by Len is. Tuuuuune. #
  • Back in Leeds :-)#
  • RT @newscientist: World of Warcraft portends what is to come in the real world, from warfare to religion http://bit.ly/bfdSDO LULZ!! #
  • I love staying in hotels. Keeps my 'bonnet de douche' stock levels high :-p #
  • Just something funny about a Celtic club shop opposite pound-mart :-p #
  • Seriously hit the wall today. Maybe its the thought of a 500 mile round trip for a couple of hours of work. #
  • Lol, work screwed up the dates I'm supposed to be in Glasgow. not there til Wed! #
  • So, apparently I am going to Glasgow tomorrow… #

Giving up my car

March 27th, 2010 No comments

Following on from my recent post about what I want to do for a house next year I have come to a few decisions.

Firstly, I think it is almost certain that Liz and I will be moving into a flat in the city centre. After all I am 25, so not that many chances left to squeeze in some hard core party time before I have to start thinking about responsibility and the cost of my mortgage. There seem to be some nice looking places in Leeds that meet most of my criteria – i.e. large(ish) living area, at least 2 big double bedrooms and a kitchen that you can actually use, but they do come at a price premium. This means my budget for nect year is going to be pretty tight, even with my pay rises and bonus.

This leads on to my second decision. I am going to ditch my car. I worked out that it costs me between two and three thousand pounds a year to run in insurance, maintenance, tax, petrol etc which I just can’t afford if I live in the city centre.

The money would be better spent on bus tickets and car hire when using a car is unavoidable (holidays etc).

So it is going to be the end of an era. I have owned a car since before I could drive and have always loved the independence and freedom that owning a car brings. It is going to take some adjustment, but it actually isn’t that bad. My car has eben in the agarge this week getting the handbrake fixed so have had to catch the bus to work and back everyday. Whilst it adds over an hour a day on to my commute time, it doesn’t feel that much. In fact, the time I spend on the bus is time I loo forward to. It gives me time to listen to music, read books and write notes etc for artcles and blog posts. All stuff that I never had time for before.

What I have been up to this week 2010-03-21

March 21st, 2010 No comments
  • I have been England's biggest critic this 6 Nations, but that ref is a cock boy! #
  • Night in trying to recover from all the early starts. Having said that, day 2 of the Eng v Ban test starts at 3AM on Sky…. #
  • I reckon of the thirty people on the bus I'm 2nd oldest! #
  • I can't believe I actually raise the average age of people on the bus by a good few years! #
  • Only 3 hours to go :-)#
  • This Saturday working lark is way overrated. #
  • RT @wilw: Ernie's Law: IF rubber.duckie=1 THEN bathtime=lots.of.fun …Amen #
  • Off to plan for @leedsatheistsoc Reason Week 2010 then a course on Scientology #
  • Currently learning to 'add value' and being told this doesn't mean sales, lol. #
  • This is not a good sign… Flagging already! #
  • Nothing like getting to work an hour early! #
  • This is such a ridiculous time of the morning! Stupid bus timetable means I'm gonna be at work an hour early! #
  • Hmm, tempted to trial Star Trek Online mmorpg. Got mixed reviews, but it seems that most of the criticism is from non-trekkers. #
  • Booooored.com #
  • Pleasant evening at the casino. 2 course meal, glass of wine and an hour's gaming for PS12 #
  • Its nice to finish early on a tuesday again. #
  • West yorkshire playhouse gets 2 thumbs up. Their complaint resolution is 2nd to none! #
  • Culling my followers. #
  • Got to love server support teams. 20 mins of downtime just to increase my storage quota. #
  • There is nothing quite like recovery steak! #
  • Ah, gotta love student house parties. #

3 years on

March 18th, 2010 No comments

Normanralph.com is now three years old. It has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride, both for the site and me personally.

We have been through three site redesigns, several changes of direction and a lot of stuff has been written about a lot of subjects.

I hope you have enjoyed the last three years’ worth of content and I am confident that we will see another three years of content to come!

Future Plans

March 18th, 2010 5 comments

It’s getting to that time of year again, when decisions have to be made about where to live and what parts of my current life are improtant enough to make comprimises in other areas to make sure that I find the best place to live for my curcumstances.

I have really enjoyed living in Seacroft. The house is beautiful to look at and when the weather is nice, it is actually a realy comfortable place to live. The problem is that the weather is rarely nice for long periods of time in this country and the waterproofing issues the hosue faces when it rains/snows/hails are just too depressing.

When the landlord called me to suggest whe was thinking of putting the place up for sale I pretty much made up my mind that we should move on. The problem is where?

The practical part of my brain says we should move to within waling distance of either my or Liz’s place of work so that we can eliminate one of our travel expense budgets. This means picking one of Roundhay or Morley. Liz on the other hand has her heart set on modern city living, looking primarily at appartments in the city centre and just to the south of the river and canal.

There are good arguments to make for both. I mean, O2 do a free bus service from town to the office so actually city living would meet my cost reducing requirements as well as keeping the missus happy. However, I do like my space, particularly in my office/home entertainment room. I have lived and worked out of poky rooms for the past few years and I really want to treat myself to a decent workspace. A good sized second bedroom would probabyl suffice, as we really only need a spare bed for people to stay over in, rather that a fully functioning spare room.

So the search will begin in earnest over the coming weeks, so any thoughts or ideas then feel free to contact me.

What I have been up to this week 2010-03-14

March 14th, 2010 No comments
  • Sometimes I wonder how things actually get done round here. Still waiting on test data from last week! #
  • Working late shifts this week. Loving the lie in but would hate to do them full-time. #
  • Stupid Forbidden Planet. Who closes on a Sunday. #
  • Out in town. Gonna nerd it up later at D&D. #

Keeping my word

March 13th, 2010 No comments

Okay. So I have once again been guilty of not blogging on a regular basis as I have promised over and over again. I am afraid this is probably going to be a pattern that continues for as long as this blog exists.

In my defence, I have been busy working (I am currently working on a project that means I have to work long hours and travel a lot) and doing my best to spend time with Liz and my friends (something that I am equally as bad at).

I have about 15 articles/posts in draft format and I am probbaly going to start posting them unfinished/unedited because it seems I am incapable of finishing anything before starting something else and rather than have you sit here reading Twitter updates ad infinitum, you might as well get some unpolished work to read and maybe comment on!

What I have been up to this week 2010-03-07

March 7th, 2010 No comments
  • 2nd interview in as many days. Wish me luck! #
  • Work is taking its toll today :-(#
  • In work today despite feeling like shit. Why do companies force employees to choose work over their health? #
  • Pretty ill today, barely been out of bed for 36hrs :-(#
  • Dr Evan Harris MP talks a lot of sense! If you live in Oxford West and abingdon then you should vote for him! #
  • Just don't get the Sea of Faith. #