Ring ring ring goes the telephone ... oh which one?

Ah my love! Astro boy. So it was more shopping for me and a new mobile (cell) phone. One of my dear friends was perusing the PC Home online shopping thingy (which he does frequently, online shopping Queen!), when he discovered the OKWAP Astroboy mobile phone. In an instant my MSN was flashing and after seconds of thought, perhaps only one, I had confirmed my strong desire to add this little thing of beauty to my ever growing collection of Astroboy related things.

I am puzzled by myself, why a man of my age is so fixated by a robot boy, the obsessed is a little too strong, I don't have every piece of junk generated by the marketing moguls with the Astroboy brand, just a selection. To some extent I think it is just an escape, having to be all grown up 24 hours a day 7 days week, week in, week out all gets a bit much. So in my apartment there is a small space filled with Astroboy that reminds me of a childhood past and that even as an adult things don't always have to be serious.
Now if anyone spots anything interesting or usual with Astroboy on it, let me now! I am still in the process of planning my trip to Japan to the famous Astroboy museum, but I need to save enough to buy the whole store I guess, it will be along shopping trip ... and no doubt my face will light up once again like it did when I was a 12 year old in short pants!

There is short and short ....

Somethings puzzle me more than others, one of the main ones is this whole ankle sock thing, which seems to have passed me by. Whilst I can understand those sporty type of people out there wearing them with the latest designer sports wear or indeed those wearing shorts on a hot summers day .... what I just don't get is wearing them with long trousers!

Ok with a pair of jeans and trainers I can just about get it, but when wearing formal trousers or the less causal kind it just looks plain silly.

I like to think that I am quite open minded and don't consider myself to be much of a puritan, but there is some strangely strange about somebody crossing their legs in a suit and revealing a naked, completely uncovered, bare, ankle! I have wasted minutes of my life trying to figure out if they are actual wearing any socks at all. The whole thing is, frankly, bizarre.

I hope the isn't a sign of my Britishness, where some things are considered just not done and that is just one my hangups. But I really do think that part of a suit or the formal look includes wearing socks that go some way to matching the shoes and trousers. The revealing of pink flesh when a trouser leg rides up fills me with dismay. Although I am partial to the odd ankle here and there, there is a time and place for revealing such a thing and during a meeting isn't one of them.

I guess this may be one of the phobias I have to come to terms with, and I do own a pair of the offending articles, which I wear when in one of my more sporting moods (not often).

All things bright and beautiful

Several more days and a weekend have past since my last posting, more effort is needed somewhere in my life, just not quite sure where.

Well excitement came over me and is still coming my way. Last week I treated myself (again) to a new mobile phone (cell phone), the Samsung P308 which at least for now proclaims to be the thinnest available. Like men I am slowly but surely falling in love with it and its little foibles.

However being the idiot I am I managed to delete my phonebook contacts from A to about P (after realising what I had done I stopped it, ctrl-alt-del saved some but not all!). Whilst Samsung make nice phones they make crappy unfriendly software.
The weekend saw me head off to Ikea to get some 'things', I am not sure exactly what I was going for but there must have been something, but does one really need an excuse to go to Ikea? I ended up with more than I needed as Ikea is designed to make you do, but everything I have I like and I was in desperate need of some wine glasses and two more rugs, but I did manage to resist the temptation to buy 10,000 tealights! I never have understood why people need so many small candles.

The weekend was topped off by the party in Fresh which I think saw it busier than I have seen it in a while. It is always good to meet up with friends, laugh and joke and catch up on the gossip (not that I am one for gossip! Honestly). Sunday I awoke, surprisingly, hangover free, and headed off to a friends in the afternoon to see his, relatively, new interior, which I must say was lovely with a sofa to completely engulf you and anybody sat next to you! Makes me want to buy a place of my own, so I can play at interior design.

So, now it is Tuesday, work is work and things are piling up to be done ... so another busy week righting some of the wrongs of the world, at least those in my world ....

If I could ....

Ok, it is fact, I am impatient, miserable, surly and moody! The reason for this .... is when I am flying. After my last trip from Taipei > Hong Kong > Shanghai > Hong Kong > Taipei I have come to the conclusion I actually don't like flying. Well not flying as such, it is the endless waiting around. Those that know me know that my Britishness shines through when it comes to meeting people, I hate to be late, and hate waiting for other people.

When it comes to waiting, flying has to be the worst culprit. Getting to the airport 2 hours before anything happens, waiting to enter immigration, going through immigration, luggage check, body check, double check! Then finally waiting in the departure lounge, then queuing to board, then waiting to pull back, then waiting to head to the runway, waiting at the runaway ... take off ... then the wait to land and the saga continues. Of course all with a nagging doubt in your mind that the flight will be delayed or cancelled! Now by the time I arrive at where ever I am supposed to be I am fully wound up and I mean fully, my mood is miserable and surly and I am likely to snap at any moment.

If only I had wings, then this could all end, but I think evolution is a little far away from that.

My foul mood and general rudeness was made worse on my last trip due to a late out going flight, and a late returning flight and a general lack of sleep and have to make a connecting flight in a mere 15 minutes. Business trips with a tight schedule really aren't fun. Whilst not working I only experienced the inside of an airport, airplane or general darkness, arriving everywhere at the dead of night. None of which is conducive to happy demeanor. However when all said done the job got done and my salary will be paid in the customary manner.

Perhaps I should switch from Railways to the Airways, but I am sure better people than me have tried to improve things....

So in the event that people do fly with me, take heed, if I do snap force another large gin down me, tell me to belt up and that tomorrow is another day ... hopefully without more of the same.

Time waits for .....

It certainly doesn't wait for me, where did all those days go since my last blog, firmly in the past I guess. Counting those days back since my last rambling not a lot as happened, happy, exciting, sad and disappointing times have once again all come and gone and are consigned to a blip in my memory.

Returning from Hong Kong was great, there is nothing better, for me, than opening my own front door, stepping in and realising that once again I am home and my own bed awaits me. It was very much mixed emotions on the crazy cats front, if this is how my cats turn out I have to thank the stars I am not responsible for any children. They would surely be manic and run a mock.

Sadly England, one of those parts of little Britain, generally under performed and failed to beat the Portuguese and limped out of the World cup, thankfully it is only a game and political stability (as much as it is) with continue within the UK. But on a happy note it was great to be in Carneiges, it almost felt like being back home with the drunken youth of today shouting and screaming expletives everytime something didn't go England's way ... but that's half the fun of it, nothing like venting you spleen at a TV screen, I do it often.

This is just a short one and more will follow when I can come up with something stimulating ... speaking of stimulating some of that made me quite happy over this last week, but somethings are better not said ....