Saturday, July 5
NaS
I've found this new site on my travels, NationStates.net. You create your own country, and rule it as you see fit. You are given issues to deal with each day, which determine the political stance that you take, and in turn the happiness of your citizens. Your economy grows / declines with each decision taken on an issue as well. It seems to be a bit of a laugh, and it'll show me how succesful I will be should (surely when) I ever get my own country to rule.
The site itself is a promotional tool for a book called "Jennifer Government." It's a dystopian novel in the style of 1984, set a little further in the future. The basic synopsis I've gathered of it is that corporations rule the world, and that each person takes as a surname the name of the corporation it works for, hence the title. Marketing managers have all the power, and the workers have no say about anything. They also have a barcode tattooed under their eye at birth, evidence of the complete lack of individuality and control over themselves that the possess. Anyway, I've ordered the book from my local bookshop, to be picked up next Friday. That's next weekend taken care of...
Check the picture taken from the front cover, it looks really, really cool. As I said somewhat earlier, I like slightly abstract artwork, and this fits the bill...
Friday, July 4
P Diddy
Right, where did I leave it last night? *rereads his last post* Oh yeah, I got stopped by the police, not long after hitting the deer. (Note to Capt: the film I was referring to was Deer Hunter, not Taxi Driver. Good effort though) It was an unmarked car, the gits, but as I drove into Corsham, a local town, these blue neons switched on in their front grille. This threw me at first, because at work earlier that night, I was chatting with this guy who said he had blue neons in his front grille, and used to piss off his maters by pretending to be a police car and pulling them over. So, when I first saw these lights, my first thought was that he was messing with me. Not a chance, unfortunately. They'd followed me for a little bit, and when I got out of the car, they told me that they had me on camera doing 43mph in a 30mph limit zone. Generally, that means 3 points on your licence and a £60 fine. The 3 points I can cope with, because my licence is clean at the moment, but my finances are at such a low point that a £60 fine is just too much. For some reason, however, they let me off. No idea why, probably because it was 4.30am, and the roads were completely empty. That, and the fact that I don't actually drive like a maniac. They'd been following me for a while, so I think they saw that I don't drive like a lunatic, and am generally safe, if a little quick. Never mind, I got away with it.
Another downer though. The good news yesterday, passing my first year and all that isn't quite as good as I thought. Yes, I've passed, which is a good thing, but today I got my individual subject scores. From the four subjects that I did, I got a 2:1, a 2:2 and two 3rds. Just to put this into perspective, the grades system at British universities works as follows (best first): a 1st, a 2:1, a 2:2, a 3rd, a Pass and a Fail. I got 65, 56, 48 and 47 on my four subjects, each out of 100. I'm fairly disappointed with the two last ones, mainly because one of them is my favourite subject, and i thought that I'd done a whole lot better in it than that. The other low score is from the exam that was completely cocked-up. Oh well, at least I passed.
The rest of today and tomorrow is pure relaxation for me, I'm knackered after this week at work. Watching TV and playing on my computer, that'll do me just fine.
Thursday, July 3
Robert De Niro
Not a good day. Well, sort of a good day. Good News first: I passed my first year at university! Which means I can go back next year to run up even more debt. Fucking result. For me, rather than my bank manager. That's about all the good news, it's dowbhill from here.
Bad News (this could take some time): Bambi. He's cute isn't he? How about when he's lying on the road, legs quivering in the last throes of death? Because that's what I saw this morning. Yes, I hit a young deer on the way home from work. I didn't have a chance to avoid it, it just ran straight out in front of me. I hit it with a sickening sound, and it went under the car. I had a car full of people, so I stopped and we all jumped out. My first thought was for the car, because the front bumper is only about a fortnight old, after the last accident I had. There was a load of big cracks around the front number plate, which means another new bumper. Not good, mainly because I still owe my parents for the last one.
Then I turned round to look back down the road. Not a good idea. The little deer was lying on the road, with its legs pointing towards the car, shaking as the last bits of life drained from it. We weren't sure if it was even going to die or not. Eventually it just stopped moving, and a couple of the guys picked it up by the legs and threw it onto the verge at the side of the road. I am now having constant replays in my mind of it running out onto the road, and then it lying on the road, shaking. This is the first thing bigger than an insect which I have advertently killed, and it's resting heavy on my conscience. Nasty stuff.
Also, I got stopped by the police for speeding, but got off with a warning, thank God. A £60 fine and 3 points on my licence was something which I don't need.
I'll explain about that later, along with my parents' reaction, but I've got to shoot off to work now. See if you can guess the relevant title of a film in which Robert De Niro has starred in, connected with this post.
Wednesday, July 2
I Am Like A Chair
Firstly, a new competition-type thing. I've decided to start doing cryptic titles for each post I make from now on. Prizes (Note: there aren't actually any prizes) for the first person to spot the connection and post on the right. Mostly, I'll probably be using the name of a musician / band for the title, with the connection being a song by that artist. You can check out my musical tastes to get some inspiration for the answer. This title, however, isn't musically oriented...
You've got to love being in a situation where you can get out of bed at 3.30pm without being moaned at by anyone. Of course, this is because I'm not getting to bed until gone 5am, but still, it's all good. This is all because the job I've currently got through the agency I signed up to is on a night-shift in a warehouse on a nearby industrial estate. The job is fairly mindless, but it's pretty hard going, lifting heavy boxes all night long. Last night I was there for nearly 10 hours, which is a hell of a long time to be doing physical work. At least they pay our breaks. I just switch off and read my book for half an hour each time.
My book, incidentally, is turning out to be a great read. It's still Globalization And Its Discontents, by an ex-Chief Economist at the World Bank. I love how even the "leader of the free world," the USA, is completely hypocritical concerning trade agreements. Through the International Monetary Fund, in which the US is the major player, it pushes market liberalization on many developing countries throughout the world. This means opening that country's borders to foreign imports, in an effort to stimulate that country's own industries to compete more efficiently. What actually happens is that the foreign companies overwhelm the national companies with their lower prices and greater power. The US, on the other hand, does everything it can to stop cheaper foreign imports from flooding its own market by imposing quotas on their being imported, as well as subsidising its own products. You've got to love it.
Sunday, June 29
Random Drunken Thoughts
When I got in last night, a little worse for wear, I grabbed a pen and a piece of paper, and started writing some random stuff. This is what I wrote:
Becca (Litter): You fine! How? When?
Hannah: Where did they come from? And how are you so friendly, even when I'm drunk?
Lucy P: Love you to bits.
Becca (Litter): I thought you had finished with Eddie. And yet...
Mace: Were you drunk when you drove us home? I think so.
Div: Still as stunning as ever, but Dear God you were battered. White boob tube = :))
Eddie: Such a fucking lightweight it's unbelievable. That, and bending the truth / lying!!
Me: Buying Drinks for ppl, what the fuck was I thinking? I've got no money as it is.
Pool: I feel so ashamed. Deliberate foul to win money. We lost it again anyway, fuck it. So ashamed... She was a bird though. Lacy black thong, mmmm. An effort to keep your eyes averted. Had to have a look at some point though.
Me: Didn't pull, no worries.
Me: Yuck! Stink of ciggies.
