Move over Carol!

In one of the very few days that I've come home from work happy that I've actually achieved something .. today I did. Not because I provided an excellent service, or went over and above the call of duty or anything like that (hell, I feel I do that everyday!)

No, today I managed something for the first time ever - I actually completed a Sudoku puzzle! Not any old Sudoku puzzle, but the one in todays Times newspaper no less! Now, granted, it may only have been a 'Mild' puzzle, but it's in The Times, not The Sun! I'm chuffed I completed it correctly as normally they just look like nothing but pure mathematical bollocks to put it mildly and I normally make a pigs ear of it.

Not only that, now I've finally cracked how you should actually do these things (rather than just blindly stick any old number in the blank space!) I came home and I've done two more, so I think I've found a new hobby for a day or two :)

It's for You-hoooo

It's that time of the year again when I'm looking to upgrade that piece of kit that I often seem to spend half the day tapping away on .. The mobile phone!

I currently have a Sony Ericsson k700i, which on the whole I've been happy with. Few niggles of late though with dust getting underneath the fiddly joystick and giving me grief when trying to navigate through the frozen menus, messages and so on (so apologies to anyone I may have inadvertently called whilst losing my temper with it and pressing the wrong button!)

Despite this, I am looking at two models at the moment (not those kind of models Paul! .. well not yet anyway!) - The newer Sony Ericsson k750i which is supposedly (according to reviews), a vast improvement over its predecessor the k700i (mine!) .. or the Nokia 6230i. If I'm being honest, I'm currently leaning towards the k750i as it looks and feels nicer in the hand that the Nokia!

So .. Thoughts .. Opinions?!

Ikea ... Lovely Ikea!

It was no good, I couldn't put it off any longer. Today, I finally had to face one of my fears .. Yes, I went to Ikea!

Finally deciding that I needed a new bookcase (although not so much for Books, more to hold those pesky plastic boxes containing DVDs), I took a couple of Anadin to prepare myself before setting off the journey up the motorway to the nearest store.

Problem number one - I arrived to face the car park! Now, I don't know how wide the cars are that they drive in native Sweden, but here in blighty, we like to fit two people side by side in our cars, so when I did eventually find a space to squeeze into, I couldn't open my door .. or the passenger door .. and as I don't have a sunroof, I couldn't crawl out of that either - so I abandoned that space, drove round in circles for ten more minutes before giving up and parking in a collection bay instead! (Curiously, none of the cars that followed me in seemed to have a problem finding somewhere to park - either that or they all gave up and went home!)

Problem number two - Their crazy 'one way' system once you get in the store. Arrows pointing you everywhere telling you where to walk. Now, no one likes to break a system, so you go along with it and kind of get ushered along by hoards of other people, often being unable to stop and have a look at something, as you'd get trampled on!

Anyway, I eventually found the section I wanted and was able to step out the way of the stampede for a moment to have a browse. Spotted something that I thought would look nice, then realised I'd left the house without my measurements (Doh!) so had to play it by ear, trying to visualise it in the space. So having decided on that, I picked up an Ikea pencil (well, actually I grabbed a handful and put them in my pocket as they'll come in handy around the house!) and wrote down the details of where I'd be able to find the flat pack. Zone number, shelf number, item number and so on. Before jumping back onto the arrow bandwagon and getting ushered along to the warehouse ...

Problem number three - When I did get to the warehouse and navigate myself to the right aisle and to the right shelf .. it was empty! ARGGHH. I just couldn't face going back in and looking for an alternative as I'd already sprouted half a dozen new grey hairs (I could feel them!)

.. so I came home and tried to order it off the internet on their website instead! Only to find that you can't do that. Still, they do allow you to check stock at your store, so I'll do that next time before setting out! Frankly, I can't think why I never did that in the first place, but that wouldn't have made a good blog post :)

Don't even get me started on the weird product names, which I'm sure they make up .. I mean, who want's a "Gorm Clip on Basket". What's a "Desk Jerker" (though that could provide some light relief in a stressful office at times!). The "Nick Chair", no, I'd rather pay for it! A "Klang Wall Shelf", mine usually does make a clang - when it's fallen off after I've tried to put it up!

Despite all this, I do actually like Ikea - they do some cracking stuff for the price, it's just the whole store experience that fills me with a cold fear at the thought :)

Nothing to see here ... Tic Tac Update!

Nothing much to say over the last couple of days, as they've been pretty uneventful. I spent most of yesterday on a friends website undoing the work of a group of Turkish H@ckers who seemed to want to wreak havoc on his forum installation .. before giving up on that as a bad job, I've now helped him set up a new one, so if you're a fan of either (or both) the old Carry On films, and Doctor Who, then why not pop on over to his site and have a look around. If you're a fan of neither, then can't help you there I'm afraid! ;)

Also further to my earlier blog note here regarding those lovely Cinnamon Tic Tac's, I've now found they're actually a limited edition release and are called "Winter Warmers" in jolly old Blighty, and found a pack of four in Tesco's yesterday, so have a few to keep me going (aren't you pleased!!) .. They might be an acquired taste though (much like Marmite!), you'll either love it or hate it!

DVD To Buy, or DVD Not To Buy!

I was always one of those people who would buy a DVD of a film so I could watch it for the first time .. Great idea if the film turned out to be wonderful, but not so good when the film turns out to be utter crap, and would be destined to end up gathering dust on my shelf, typically leaving me £15 lighter!

Not anymore! Think I must have saved a small fortune over the last few months on DVD's, following signing up to Amazon.co.uk's, DVD Rental Service! Plus of course, the added bonus that if I buy any DVD's from Amazon.co.uk, I now get 10% off the cost, so win-win all round!

Whilst rental films such as the action packed War of the Worlds, humbling Hotel Rwanda and thought provoking Downfall all ended up on my purchase list .. other snoozefests such as The House of Wax, House of Nine and The Seed of Chucky, were so appalingly awful, that I'd have been gutted to have actually purchased those, so glad I could send them back after I'd wasted a few hours of my life watching them!

So well worth checking out a rental option if you think you waste money on rubbish films!

Lifes Little Irritations .. (Or Ignorant People!)

Like I said in my very first post, as I've got older, there's things that really get on my nerves and drive me to despair, wanting to run after these people, rip their arms off and beat them with the soggy dripping end ...

• People who are providing a lift for someone, and they've arrived at the house to pick them up ... only the driver doesn't get out the car to ring the doorbell - oh no .. They sound their horn several times to indicate their arrival ... usually late at night or early in the morning ... ARGH ! (Makes me want to go out and lamp them one with a heavy shovel!)
• Drivers who don't indicate when going around an island (that thing sticking out behind your steering wheel is there for a reason you know!!)
  
• Drivers who never gesture a "thank you" when you've let them out (sheer utter rudeness!) .. or when you let one person in, and then all of a sudden the people behind them take advantage and nip out too - so now there's three or four cars infront of you that weren't there before! Arrrggghh!!
  
• People who say "Can you type in your PIN Number" - No need for the number on the end of the request, as it's already "Personal Identification Number", so no need for "Personal Identification Number Number"!!
• People who use trolley's in the Supermarkets "Baskets Only" Checkout .. or people who haven't grasped the concept of the "Ten Items or Less" Queue (and is it just me who finds yourself counting the items in the baskets of the people infront of you just to check!?)
  
• People in a shop, who insist on paying for their shopping with the exact amount, by rummaging around in their purse for half an hour to find the loose change!
• People who, after taking their shopping to their car at the supermarket, just leave the trolley in the middle of a car space, instead of taking the trolley back to the front of the store (You cannot imagine how this act of idleness winds me up!!!)
• People who send Text Messages on phones, but miss out every other character, "H M8 R U CMNG 2 US 2DAY? " must take more effort to type that gibberish than it would to type the full words!
• People who send Text Messages (or EMails for that matter) ALL IN CAPITAL LETTERS
• People who have the 'Crazy Frog' Ringtone (or other equally annoying crap) - set to a high volume (like someone in Asda only yesterday!!)
• People who drink straight from a bottle/carton of Milk and then put it back in the Fridge ... Thanks, I've got to use that later, don't want your dribble in my tea!
• Why birds only ever crap on my car after I've washed it!! (It's like they sit perched on a roof, watching and waiting till I've finished)

There's a few to keep you going !! ARGH .. Now I need to lie down, as it's all coming flooding back ;)

Cinnamon Tic Tacs!

It's always nice when someone shakes their Tic Tac's at you (I always find that anyway!), but what startled me more the other day when I was round a friends house, was that they weren't the usual minty white ones, or the equally yummy lemoney/orangey ones, but they were red (I was about to 'Just say NO' like I was told to by Grange Hill back in the 1980's!, until I was put right!) ..

Apparently there's a new 'Cinnamon' version out, but I've never seen these anywhere! As they were pretty damn scrummy, anyone know where you can get them!

2005 Gone ... And most likely forgotten!

So, Christmas 2005 has been and gone, as has the new year!

I hope everyone had a jolly festive time amongst family and friends. If you're like me, you've put on a few extra pounds, thanks to all the rubbish one tends to buy! (It's like your buying enough to last the entire length of a nuclear fallout, rather than just a few days!)

One thing I haven't done this year (or indeed for the last few), is bother coming up with any New Years Resolutions. Mainly because I always break them by the end of the first week in January and then cuss myself for not having any staying power! So am now saving myself all the hassle and don't have any to break! Saves time in the long run I find!

So here's to another year ahead .. It'll be Christmas again before you know it :)

Welcome to my Blog!

First of all, welcome to Nige's Nonsense (which is the rather lame name I ended up with after not-a-lot of consideration!)

This will be my forum for getting things off my chest! As I get older, I'm finding I'm becoming a bit of a grumpy old man (as those that know me will testify!) Having said that, I still have my soft side, Awww.

Anyway, enough of the boring introduction .. let's get on with it :)