Fuddland
Category: Local News
Entries concerning the daily goings-on in my own life.
This category also has the following subcategories [number of entries in brackets]:
Ever have one of those mornings where you wake up and realise you’re emigrating to China later that day?
Eep!
In: Local News & China / Sinonews
2006 / 02 / 16 – 07:15 | Comment [6] | Top
Although in general I’d really like it if all of my friends lived in one huge mansion and I could see them all at once all the time, there are benefits to having them scattered about the place — one of which is being invited up to Leicester for another long and very fun weekend of goodbye-ing, involving almost equal measures of alcohol and cheese in various guises.
Whilst not comprising quite so much the element of surprise as my other big send-off, this one did reveal that chillies soaked in vodka, filled with white chocolate and dipped in melted dark chocolate, are actually rather delicious, and that the residual vodka packs an unexpectedly warm kick. High on fondue and lovely company, Thursday night featured my first and last ever, never to be repeated, live guitar and vocal performance, of probably the only blues song to be written about a broken futon. China doesn’t know what it’s letting itself in for, does it?
In: Local News
2006 / 02 / 13 – 14:14 | Comment [2] | Top
You know you’ve made the right decision about leaving maths behind when you receive an email about an upcoming Group Theory conference, and you read it as Group Therapy.
In: Local News
2006 / 02 / 08 – 11:24 | Comment [1] | Top
Bit of a treat this weekend in the form of the worst-kept-secret-ever surprise leaving do, held by a group of my friends in honour of my impending departure for Chinese shores a week on Thursday [eek, is it that soon?]. My keen analytical mind figured out something was afoot when I was asked what dates I was free over the next few weeks “for no particular reason”, as well as me telling everyone that if I didn’t have a surprise party I’d be most upset, but nevertheless it was still very nice to see a large number of my close friends and be treated to drinks and a slap-up meal [at a Chinese restaurant in London’s Chinatown, natch].
There were still a couple of nice extra surprises — an old friend whom I’ve not seen in a good couple of years [but who, as I learnt, reads this site on an almost daily basis — hello Jon!], and the most surprising aspect of all: me managing to hold down my food as I was bought many a nasty drink, the culmination of which was some mysterious clear shot at the restaurant, described as “Chinese tequila”, that smelt like fish and took all the will in the world to bring the glass anywhere near my lips, let alone drink its contents. But down it I did, and I got a lovely pot of jasmine tea for my troubles from the sympathetic waitress [although this may have been insurance against having to clean up any mess I looked as though I was about to make all over the table before the colour of my face returned from off-green to its usual shade].
Other surprises during the evening:
My friend finding £100 sticking out of a cash machine with no-one in the immediate vicinity [she says]
Actually managing [eventually] to flag down a taxi on Oxford Street at one in the morning, and having an entertaining and intelligent conversation with the driver [at least, I think we did, I can’t actually recall what was said, except for some stuff about his hat not being anything to do with where he was originally from]
I can dance around disturbingly competently in knee-length boots with four-inch heels
I do love my friends, and I think we’ll leave it at that.
In: Local News
2006 / 02 / 06 – 15:10 | Comment [3] | Trackback [1] | Top
The train manager on my journey up to Leicester yesterday raised a few smiles with his greeting as we set off from St. Pancras:
Good morning, I’d like to welcome you all onto the 10:55 fast service to Nottingham, calling at Leicester and Nottingham only. Coach A has been designated a Quiet Coach: use of mobile phones in this carriage will automatically trigger the ejector seats. Also please note this is a non-smoking train; all toilets have been fitted with smoke alarms and high-pressure water jets.
In: Local News & Travels
2006 / 01 / 26 – 11:13 | Comment [1] | Top
2005 was officially The Year I Got Into Photography, and I’ve been particularly pleased that [minor trumpet-blowing ahoy!] a few other people liked my efforts enough to mark them as “favourites” when posted on Flickr. So, prompted by the FlickrBlog post, I’ve assembled the twenty most favourited photos of 2005 into a Flickr set for posterity.
In: Photos / Flickr & Local News
2006 / 01 / 05 – 08:33 | Top
For the second year in a row I spent New Year’s Eve at my friend’s parent’s pub in Sussex, and it was every bit as good as last time: open bar, delicious nibbles, random music, a good mix of old friends and new people to talk to, and an impressive fireworks display to ring in the New Year. Have a good one, people.
In: Local News
2006 / 01 / 01 – 17:20 | Comment [1] | Top
I can’t possibly write about this now — I’ve been up for twenty-six hours straight, having gone straight to the pub at half past nine this morning after an eleven hour shift. Suffice to say: everyone’s my best mate, they are…
In: Local News / Crisis Open Christmas 2005
2005 / 12 / 30 – 18:29 | Top
Volunteering for Crisis continues to be a terrific experience; even though I have only seen the night-shift in operation, when there are nothing like as many activities and events happening throughout the shelter, it is still impressive how things are coordinated so well. This was especially true of the Christmas Day night-shift, when we had forty fewer volunteers than expected, and were providing accommodation for more guests than any Christmas since 1992. Due to the need to do staggered rotations in assigned tasks, each duty was lasting about twice as long as normal, particularly tough on those who were outside the shelter watching over entrances and exits. But these long shifts gave me much greater opportunity to talk to the guests in more depth than I had managed up to now.
Read the rest of “Crisis Open Christmas nights two and three”…
In: Local News / Crisis Open Christmas 2005
2005 / 12 / 28 – 01:54 | Comment [1] | Trackback [1] | Top
The first night at Crisis was fantastic: lovely volunteer people, and genuinely grateful [for the most part] guests. I was really nervous to begin with, and for extra fun my first task [with my fun new pal Sarah — you’re always with at least one other volunteer on any given duty] was to shut down the TV area nearest the sleeping tents, pulling the plug on the telly and asking people if they wouldn’t mind awfully moving to the other side of the arena. As you might expect, and they had my sympathies entirely, this was met with a few protests, but eventually everyone complied.
Other duties throughout the night: being a “runner” for the toilet/shower areas, fetching supplies from the store cupboard [nice and relaxed: they hardly needed anything, so I spent most of the time folding clean towels into bags with the lovely Kelly]; guarding the volunteers’ entrance/exit [a bit cold but kept warm with foot-stamping and chatting to a very sweet girl called Gemma who was very pleased to have finally turned eighteen and been allowed to volunteer]; and finally, a general clean-up of the sleeping area: folding blankets, stacking beds etc.
Everyone was really friendly and, as we were told at the debriefing, the night passed without any major incidents — a few of the guests’ tempers got a bit frayed but I’m hoping that was just first-night jitters. I didn’t feel as tired as I thought I might do — plenty of tea at every given opportunity certainly helped that. In fact, the only low point was when I bit into a small pie thinking it was going to be a mince pie, only to discover it was apple. Very disappointing!
If I was ever in any doubt that the efforts of Crisis are futile, those were surely blown away by the guest who strolled up to me and two other volunteers, took our hands in turn and thanked us all for giving up our Christmases for him. Warm fuzzy feelings aplenty!
[Aside: plural of Christmas, anyone? Christmases? Christmasses? Christmi?]
I’ve had a bit of a sleep today, and am feeling okay for another night, but I’ve a feeling this one may be a bit longer than the first. And there’s the added of fun of no public transport tomorrow morning!
Merry Christmas everybody.
In: Local News / Crisis Open Christmas 2005 & Indexed & World News
2005 / 12 / 24 – 17:26 | Comment [5] | Trackback [1] | Top
2005 / 12 / 21 – 03:30 | Trackback [1] | Top
2005 / 12 / 11 – 10:40 | Comment [1] | Trackback [1] | Top
2005 / 12 / 08 – 11:31 | Comment [5] | Top
2005 / 11 / 01 – 09:39 | Comment [7] | Top
2005 / 09 / 21 – 11:28 | Comment [1] | Top
2005 / 09 / 09 – 09:46 | Comment [12] | Top
2005 / 09 / 07 – 09:07 | Comment [7] | Top
2005 / 09 / 06 – 15:50 | Comment [6] | Top
2005 / 08 / 31 – 16:03 | Comment [7] | Top
2005 / 08 / 23 – 21:21 | Comment [3] | Top
2005 / 08 / 23 – 06:49 | Comment [10] | Top
2005 / 08 / 19 – 13:35 | Comment [3] | Top
2005 / 08 / 18 – 16:09 | Comment [6] | Trackback [1] | Top
2005 / 08 / 09 – 20:27 | Comment [8] | Top
2005 / 07 / 29 – 12:29 | Top
Read the rest of “Things you don’t expect to be clearing up off your lawn [#574]”…
2005 / 07 / 17 – 21:31 | Comment [5] | Top
2005 / 07 / 04 – 23:39 | Comment [3] | Top
2005 / 06 / 18 – 00:23 | Comment [2] | Top
2005 / 06 / 17 – 20:40 | Top
2005 / 06 / 11 – 22:18 | Comment [7] | Top
2005 / 06 / 08 – 15:14 | Comment [3] | Top
2005 / 06 / 07 – 12:43 | Comment [14] | Trackback [1] | Top
2005 / 05 / 22 – 16:35 | Comment [1] | Top
2005 / 05 / 08 – 11:56 | Top
2005 / 05 / 03 – 20:04 | Top
2005 / 05 / 03 – 08:17 | Comment [7] | Trackback [2] | Top
2005 / 04 / 22 – 10:35 | Comment [3] | Top
2005 / 04 / 20 – 21:39 | Comment [3] | Top
2005 / 04 / 17 – 14:54 | Comment [13] | Trackback [2] | Top
2005 / 04 / 17 – 02:03 | Comment [6] | Top
2005 / 04 / 16 – 15:35 | Comment [2] | Trackback [1] | Top
2005 / 04 / 03 – 08:49 | Comment [2] | Top
2005 / 03 / 23 – 11:26 | Comment [2] | Top
2005 / 03 / 20 – 16:59 | Comment [5] | Trackback [1] | Top
2005 / 03 / 12 – 19:42 | Comment [9] | Top
2005 / 03 / 11 – 21:18 | Top
2005 / 03 / 09 – 08:31 | Comment [6] | Top
2005 / 02 / 16 – 21:20 | Comment [11] | Top
2005 / 02 / 09 – 14:53 | Comment [4] | Top
2005 / 01 / 21 – 16:10 | Comment [2] | Top
2005 / 01 / 19 – 13:40 | Comment [1] | Top
2005 / 01 / 02 – 00:04 | Comment [2] | Top
2005 / 01 / 01 – 16:47 | Top
Read the rest of “Kryptonite meteor shower update [amongst other things]”…
2004 / 12 / 23 – 22:32 | Top
2004 / 12 / 21 – 22:13 | Comment [3] | Trackback [1] | Top
2004 / 12 / 13 – 13:36 | Comment [4] | Top
2004 / 12 / 01 – 09:48 | Comment [10] | Trackback [1] | Top
2004 / 11 / 24 – 21:47 | Comment [6] | Top
2004 / 11 / 19 – 22:20 | Comment [1] | Top
2004 / 11 / 18 – 21:41 | Comment [1] | Top
2004 / 11 / 18 – 11:22 | Comment [8] | Top
2004 / 11 / 11 – 18:38 | Comment [5] | Top
2004 / 11 / 08 – 22:06 | Comment [4] | Top
2004 / 10 / 14 – 08:35 | Comment [5] | Top
2004 / 09 / 30 – 00:34 | Comment [6] | Top
2004 / 09 / 28 – 00:09 | Comment [3] | Trackback [2] | Top
2004 / 09 / 26 – 00:07 | Top
2004 / 09 / 25 – 10:29 | Top
2004 / 09 / 22 – 19:19 | Comment [3] | Top
2004 / 09 / 14 – 18:25 | Comment [1] | Top
Read the rest of “It’s my birthday and I’ll blog if I want to”…
2004 / 09 / 09 – 06:00 | Comment [9] | Top
2004 / 08 / 03 – 18:31 | Comment [2] | Top
2004 / 07 / 31 – 01:06 | Comment [2] | Top
2004 / 07 / 29 – 11:23 | Comment [2] | Top
2004 / 07 / 27 – 21:33 | Comment [12] | Trackback [2] | Top
2004 / 07 / 15 – 18:09 | Comment [3] | Top
2004 / 07 / 14 – 21:37 | Top
2004 / 07 / 10 – 13:29 | Top
2004 / 07 / 04 – 09:40 | Comment [4] | Top
2004 / 06 / 26 – 20:35 | Comment [4] | Top
Read the rest of “A plane, some trains and a couple of automobiles”…
2004 / 06 / 23 – 11:06 | Comment [2] | Trackback [2] | Top
Read the rest of “Now I remember why I avoid coming to Ireland in the summer”…
2004 / 06 / 16 – 11:21 | Top
2004 / 06 / 11 – 12:09 | Comment [5] | Top
2004 / 06 / 01 – 23:20 | Comment [2] | Top
2004 / 05 / 22 – 15:12 | Comment [4] | Trackback [1] | Top
2004 / 05 / 12 – 19:35 | Top
2004 / 05 / 10 – 17:56 | Comment [6] | Trackback [1] | Top
Read the rest of “Most entertaining conversation of the day”…
2004 / 04 / 29 – 16:32 | Comment [7] | Top
2004 / 04 / 28 – 14:17 | Comment [6] | Top
2004 / 04 / 23 – 20:17 | Top
2004 / 04 / 21 – 14:37 | Comment [9] | Top
2004 / 04 / 14 – 11:52 | Top
2004 / 04 / 10 – 15:10 | Top
2004 / 04 / 09 – 00:14 | Comment [5] | Top
2004 / 04 / 06 – 12:34 | Top
2004 / 04 / 05 – 12:10 | Top
2004 / 04 / 02 – 22:33 | Comment [2] | Top
2004 / 04 / 01 – 15:08 | Comment [14] | Top
2004 / 03 / 27 – 12:42 | Comment [1] | Top
2004 / 03 / 26 – 11:57 | Comment [6] | Trackback [1] | Top
2004 / 03 / 23 – 09:27 | Comment [