Gömböc lust!

2010/01/27 21:50

I want a Gömböc. I really, really want a Gömböc.

It has no purpose, two umlauts, and the lowest number of equilibria physically possible. It's machined from aluminium alloy to <0.1mm tolerances, and it's shiny. It's perfect.

It costs from £103 delivered, so I don't think I can actually have one right now, with all the non-frivolous expenses coming up. Still, that only ramps the lust up to levels reserved for the unattainable.

(Yes, I saw it on Q.I.)

The things I do...

2010/01/25 21:29
Usual deal - work is awesome, blah blah blah... so I've not been updating much for fear of sounding repetetive. Thought I ought to do something exciting.

So, Pip and I are buying a house.

A bit excessive, I know, and it turned out to be an expensive weekend, but it's not something I plan on doing every Saturday so I figure it's okay from time to time. Hmm, I sound like I'm talking about cocaine.

The mortgage is approved, so assuming the survey goes okay, There will be two housewarming parties.

Party 1: We'll have just moved in, and we're going to gut the place to redecorate anyway (what's the point in all these tools if I can't do up a house?). So we'll likely arrange some night of "fuck it, spill your drinks & write on the walls, just don't burn the place down" shennanigans early on.

Party 2: In 18 months or so, when the first wave of making the place not look like an ex-rental shithole, a nice wipe-your-feet-before-you-come-in housewarming that'll probably end in "fuck it, spill your drinks & write on the walls, just don't burn the place down".

Banter.

2010/01/22 23:28

Tutor - "After training, you're going to have to work as a team - to work well as a group"

John - "Are we going to have to do team building exercises...?"

Tutor - "What, head off into the woods to go paintballing or something?"

John - "We should definitely do that."

Tutor (looking conspicuously toward me) - "I'm not going into the woods when he has a gun."

I don't know what I've done to deserve this accolade, but I'm as proud of it as I am of any work-related progress. Go me! I'm competent AND intimidating

High Speed Toast.

2010/01/08 21:00

High speed rail is awesome. Whilst the rest of the south enjoys massive delays, I've been on time all week - well, ten minutes late yesterday, but only because I dropped a glove crossing Leicester Square and had to go back.

Work = still awesome. We're finally onto dismantling gear trains, and I'm dismantling the bridge side of a £1400 movement and reassembling it in twenty-five minutes from memory. It's like an overpriced Meccano kit, but 25 minutes is still bloody fast at this point going by the other folk in training. Yeah OK, I'm still smug.

We've been let out early for the last three days - they're really good for that. As soon as travel looks likely to become an issue, we're booted out early with pay. I'm further understanding why all the employees are as loyal as they are - nobody here actually seems to dislike their job! This is so, so alien to me!

Still, as I said, my travel remains unaffected so mostly I've been spending afternoons in galleries and cinemas. Harry Brown, incidentally, is a fucking brilliant film. Snowball fights in central London are also fun, and something I've never had opportunity to do somehow! A snowy London is really a postcard picture, and I actually feel pretty lucky that my work there is timed so well.

The papers today had an amazing satellite photo of a remarkably white Britain, and after some hunting I found a very high res version on the NASA website - that I shall be having printed and framing. Even whiter than around this time last year - see http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEMYDYVX3RF_index_1.html. I wouldn't have thought myself the sort to have a photo of this country framed, but this one's stunning, as well as a souvenir of what's fast working its way up the "best time EVER" rankings!

I've also just spotted the Prince Charles Cinema off Leicester Square, which shows current releases plus old classics for very little money. Most run too late for me to go midweek, but there's some great stuff coming up so check out the website & you may bump into me.

Prep prep prep.

2009/12/28 12:32

Today is the boring day. Today, we clear the decks, sweep the floors, I iron my shirts... I want to get the house clear & clean, then I want to spend the rest of my holiday out of it!

I have six clear days after this one, a season ticket from Ashford to London and everywhere in between, and another payday coming on the 31st. I shall not be sitting at home for the next six days still bitching about the fact that we live in a house covered in woodchip wallpaper.

Some things to do:

- See Sherlock Holmes
- Get over the disappointment
- Make some cufflinks
- Spend some quality time in the workshop
- Crystallise a plan for New Year's
- Tidy up my hard drive for Windows 7
- Relax
- SEE PEOPLE!!