So, a rundown of recent events for those of you not keeping track via Twitter/Facebook/whatever.

late-August: Ruth leaves for Hertfordshire before going to France
3rd Sept: Joey moves in
7th Sept: Me and Ruth have a argument over phone, I break down
8th Sept: I went incommunicado
8th Sept (11:30pm): I give in to Ruth's constant phoning of other people and have another argument with her
11th Sept: I go to Maelstrom, Joey has house party
13th Sept (11pm): I break up with Ruth on way home from Maelstrom
14th Sept (2am): I get home to find out that Joey had a house party and the people he had round walked off with around £1200 worth of stuff including my laptop as well as trashing the place and wrecking my bed and the coffee table - AND JOEY HADN'T NOTICED
15th Sept: I finalised the break up with Ruth
16th Sept: I practically broke down in Cineworld
18th-20th Sept: Southern Regional
24th Sept: I tell Joey the rent is due
25th Sept: I go to Shetland for a week
28th Sept: I go swimming in the sea!
31st Sept: I ask Sam to get Joey to pay rent into bank
1st Oct: It emerges that my benefits haven't come in in anywhere near time, and Joey doesn't have the rent money
2nd Oct: I get back from Shetland
4th Oct: I tell Joey that either he pays the rent and deposit by the 7th or we're evicting him
6th Oct: Joey moves out (leaving a fair amount of clothes and other stuff behind)

So yeh, that's how my life's been.

I love having the threat of bankruptcy hanging over me...

Really makes me feel wonderful and secure in life...

My confidence is shaky, my nerve is failing.

Running round in circles, wondering what I've done wrong.

No way to be certain, no way to be sure.

Only sign of my wasting is I feel insecure.

Time to smile, put on a happy face.

But inside I'm crying, can't find my place.

World isn't cruel, we make it seem so.

Only wish is that I knew right from wrong.

No idea what I've done or where I went wrong.

Seems to late to tell me, I feel too far gone.

I want to be wrong, I want to be well.

But the thoughts inside me don't sit very well.

Time to play happy, time to play dumb.

No need for people to know I feel numb.

Well I guess I didn't want to be reading LJ today anyway...

ETA: subject referring entirely to myself.

I am now the proud recipient of Jobseekers Allowance. This makes me happy. And means I momentarily have money. And that I can keep myself afloat until I have another job.

Thing is, I sent the manager at McDs an email asking if I could maybe get my job back. Two hours later the DWP phone me back and tell me the first payment would be in my account yesterday (ok, so I'm late posting this - sue me).

This made Yoda much happy.

In other things, my Mortals reports are finally done - yay for 5-page long reports... and I've managed to hit the cinema recently. So in rankings of how much I liked them...

1. Star Trek
Simply blew me away from start to finish. There were a few points where I umm-ahhed, but they were few and far-between. I am not ashamed to admit that I had tears on my face after the beginning scene with Kirk's father. The film was fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.

2. Doghouse
More a horror than I expected from the blurb. You don't expect films with "zombirds" to be quite so scary. But it was. Comedic as well, with space for laughs and adventure, but my arm was dead from Ruth's death-grip...

3. Transformers: Rise of the Fallen
Classic plot, classic bad guys. Fantastic action and special effects. But there were just a few elements that made it somewhat... less than it could be. The "twins" weren't necessary, but did provide a good amount of comic relief which worked well. As much as I like that humans can beat Transformers, I dislike bringing in classic characters just to kill them off again. Like Devastator and the Constructicons. On the other hand, where's Hot Rod? Have to say I did like the new Arcees. They worked nicely.

Job-seeking is the reason I don't get my paperwork done at the moment.

I spend so much time filling in application forms and "skill set" sheets and all the other nonsense they bring out, that I can't be fucked to sit down and write a summary of the games I run.

Having to write down every job-seeking activity I do, but only being given 9 spaces for two weeks is likewise depressing. I'm fairly sure I had to be doing at least 10 every two weeks...

Not to mention the long, depressing, soul-destroying waits at the Job Centre. Waiting 20 minutes for a 5 minute sign-on is just... ...and that's if I'm lucky.

I've had one interview in 5 months. And that was for the job that ended up killing me.

I'm still waiting to hear about my benefits claim, so I have no idea if I'm getting money or not. And if I'm not, I'm so screwed it's not funny.

I rarely if ever get replies to my applications. And when I do, they're always a "sorry, but your application has not been progressed at this time..." or "you don't meet the minimum requirements for any of our open positions at this time..."

I'm going to the Job Centre to sign on today. I will once again be asking about my benefits claim. If they tell me that it's still being processed (4-6 weeks processing and this is the end of the 5th week by my count), I'm going to have to turn around and say "Well, I'm going to have to go back to McDonalds again then." Because if I don't do that, and don't get the benefits, then I will be so screwed it's not funny because I won't have a hope in hell of paying my bills never mind my rent. I currently have £1.41 in my bank account. £1.41. And that's the bottom of my £2k overdraft. I also got a phone call this morning saying that I was going to be getting £45 charged to my account soon. Oh, and I need to sort out things with Lothian Buses before my Ridacard stops working due to the bounced payment this month...

So yeh, not having the best time at the moment. And if it keeps up like this... well my parents can't afford to bail me out again. And neither can my flatmates. And besides that, I've borrowed too much money off of people to borrow more until its all paid off.

The five things meme where you get given 5 things to talk about then commenters on it get given 5 things and so on...

( Islands in the North, Kilts, Reb, Fire, LARP )

Must have been a couple of months…

I’m enjoying myself in general at the moment - apart from the uni stuff and work.

Dissertation’s going to pot - really need to pull my finger out over the hols. Work just plain sucks. But if I stick with it, I might get a managerial post (maybe) which is a better position to apply from.

Need to read more. Need more books to read. Need more money to buy books… And to play for a flat deposit…

Cam stuff is fun. I’m muchly enjoying Changeling and now Forsaken as well. They want me to run a Mortals venue in Edinburgh too… I’m thinking I might. I also seem to be going to be playing Promethean with [Rebel].

I spend far too much time on Facebook. Not actually doing much though… Also spending lots of time on IRC with the Cam lot. Not that that’s a bad thing!

Also still watching lots of anime - need moar!!! Seen lots of films too - Unlimited cards are useful things!

Laptop still broken - still need to get it sorted.

Originally published at DoC 3.0. You can comment here or there.

Right, update time now I have 5 minutes. Well actually, I don’t but I need to make some sort of update…

Laptop is fucked. Again. Borrowing Trenchcoat’s at the moment (Thanks!) so have internet again.

Wii won’t connect to router, so no internet for Wii. I’m going to try changing the router security, see if that helps, but if not, there are other solutions.

Dissertation first deliverable got mixed response. Turns out it’s a crock of shit. Basically. Have to re-do a lot of it in the next couple of weeks.

In other news: coursework coming out of my ass; back is royally fucked - painkillers are being taken fairly regularly now and I have to add co-codemol to the mix if it gets bad (note to self: get more co-codemol); game is going well, I think - players may or may not currently hate me - this remains to be seen; McD’s suck, but other jobs seem to not exist for me; oh and elections are coming up again.

Elections… the bane of my year. Once again, I shall be campaigning for the position of President of the Association. With all of the afore-mentioned problems. Great

Still, at least I have anime again. And Ugly Betty.

Also, thinking of giving DoC another makeover. Any opinions?

Originally published at DoC 3.0. You can comment here or there.

By a giggling maniac wielding make-up!

Look!

It’s alright - I got in a pre-emptive strike! I used my current idiom of “Do unto others quickly, before they can do it to you!” and attacked her with make-up first. I do like the rose

though!

( Read the rest of this entry » )

Originally published at DoC 3.0. You can comment here or there.

And I don’t have that much to say really…

WoD game is going well - possibly too well… I mean [Sam] advanced the plot!

Been to cinema lots recently - definitely getting the use of my card. Ratatouille, Stardust, Res Evil 3 have all been seen this month and I’ll likely go again on Wednesday

Work sucks. Don’t think I’ll be getting anything out of McDonalds I don’t already have, so am considering applying other places. I mean if I’m going to have a dead-end job for the next year, I’d rather have one I enjoyed more. Waterstones perhaps, or The Hive…

Been watching much anime. Am now watching Black Lagoon which has pirates, Gundam 00 which is new, Rental Magica, Hero Tales and a few others as well as the staunch favorites. Also read Book 1 of A Song of Fire & Ice by George R.R. Martin - need more!

Still partially deaf and back hurts like hell at times but am surviving. Have only skipped one day’s work due to back so am being good.

And now, since I want to see how peoples’ views have changed, a meme.

( Read the rest of this entry » )

Originally published at DoC 3.0. You can comment here or there.

So what have I been up to since August you might ask…

Well, not a hell of a lot really. I had my resits, got my results (E for Langs & Defs, F for Comp Comms) and managed to get into 4th Year.

Now if only I had Dissertation ideas…

Haven’t had any shifts all month, discovered it was down to a misinterpretation. Also managed to talk my boss into giving me a bigger pay-rise which also means I can go for a promotion which will give me another pay-rise.

I’ve not done some things I was supposed to do, done things I wasn’t.

Downloaded and watched lots of anime. Including Ikkitousen Dragon Destiny (which seems essentially to be fighting hentai. It’s continual fan service…), D.Gray-Man, Night Head Genesis and Innocent Venus as well as more Kenichi, Zombie Loan, Bleach (and the movie!), Naruto, Devil May Cry…

Also started watching Stargate Atlantis again. Due to torrenting problems, only have half of seasons 1 & 3 so far, but I’ve seen 1 & 2 before so big deal. Watched what I have of season 3 then moved on to season 1 again. Definitely interesting watching it over.

Read many books (as usual). Finished the first 5 Horus Heresy books, the 2nd and 3rd Temeraire books, Grey Knights, Neuromancer (again), Good Omens (again) and am vaguely wondering what to read next.

Which reminds me! Went to the GEAS murder mystery pub crawl last week. Met people I met last year, met new people, got a few drinks in and left with an extra book. I now have a copy of Machiavelli’s The Prince which I should read at some point.

Also discovered a couple of new webcomics. First up, [DM of the Rings] - which covers what Lord of the Rings would have been like if it was a roleplaying campaign instead of a book. I found DMotR through [Irregular Webcomic] Then we have [Chainmail Bikini], the new webcomic written by the guy who did DM of the Rings. It’s just started and it’s about roleplayers.

Been to see Shoot ‘Em Up, Superbad, Evan Almighty, Rush Hour 3, Run, Fat Boy, Run and Knocked Up recently. Didn’t manage to see Stardust or Day Watch at the festival, but they’re out soon enough anyway. Also been through most of my DVD collection. With the laptop issues I was having, having something to watch while laptop recharged was a good thing.

I’ve joined Nick’s (Turelio for LARPers) Shadowrun game this summer as well. It’s run by my flatmate, in my flat so I figured it was worth a shot. Also joined back in with my Earthdawn group since that’s been held here over the summer as well and with no work, I have Sundays free again.

I have a plan for a campaign to be run at Gamers, and will be looking for players. Not decided when I’ll be running it, but I have a cunning plan which hopefully Gamers as a whole might implement.

There’s also been LARP geekiness, especially in the wake of Xanthe’s death. I’m working on IC documents at the moment for House Vel and the Sapphire Court and it’s all part of a devious plan! I also have my backup ready to roll for when people decide my new character’s gone crazy.

Laptop still fucked up, but not as badly. Well, it’s worse actually but I found a way to control it. Kind of. I found out why it crashes. It crashes when the fans are on “normal” mode as opposed to “silent” mode and the power is plugged in. Since the de-facto mode is “normal”, this meant is was crashing all the time. Now, it only crashes when I forget this. Though it may be getting quite hot…

This post is a real mess. I mean I go rambling all over the place about all kinds of things.

Oh, I joined Facebook should anyone care and not already have me added. I’m using a ‘pseudonym’. Have to say, the Facebook Mafia game is addictive.

I’ve also revamped the [Watt Gamers] website with new stuff. Not that people can tell most of it’s there.

Unicorn Parliament dates are confirmed. The 2nd - 4th of November. Booking form out by the end of the week hopefully.

Oh and [Kit] had me half-naked last week as well, but that was all perfectly innocent.

I think I might be done rambling for now. Back to your regularly scheduled nonsense?

Originally published at DoC 3.0. You can comment here or there.

But this is remarkably more special.

The laptop works fine. Honestly. Even with 128MB of RAM dead or missing.

The problem is that when I plug it into the mains, after a few minutes (occasionally longer), it crashes. No reason that I can tell other than the fact it’s charging while switched on.

So if anyone sees me randomly disappear and then reappear 1 or 2 hours later - that’s probably the reason. The laptop needs the battery charged to work after all…

Originally published at DoC 3.0. You can comment here or there.

As an aside, I just looked at my MSN list. Two people - just two - were people I didn’t know through Warbird Wing.

I found that vaguely interesting. Chances are the majority of people reading this will have no idea what Warbird is/was - even if they follow the link.

Such is the nature of things that they do eventually change, mutate and move on. I think I started to fall out of Warbird around the time I went to Australia (July 2004) and it was cemented when I went to uni for first year (October 2004).

But still, I have the people I know and the friends I made from my 3 years among the Warbirds - even if we don’t speak as often as we might.

/nostalgia

Originally published at DoC 3.0. You can comment here or there.

I’m on train tomorrow morning and and won’t have net access before Thursday and even then it might not help. Would someone be able to keep me posted on the floods and how they’re affecting train travel south of Edinburgh please?

I’ll be asking at stations and stuff, but I don’t want to find myself stuck in the middle of England somewhere. Especially not with a 13-year-old in tow. From what I can tell, they currently don’t have any alternative transport arranged - I’m hoping something’ll be sorted by Friday or I’m fucked for getting to the Moot.

Phone no is 0 7 7 5 8   2 2 4   5 2 8.

Thanks.

Originally published at DoC 3.0. You can comment here or there.

Because it’s brought to mind the discussion I tried to have with some people a couple of months ago about alternative power sources. (Cut for rant)

( Read the rest of this entry » )

Originally published at DoC 3.0. You can comment here or there.

“Being blind’s not that bad. More excuses for groping…” - Me. a few minutes ago.

Edit: Because people are idiots, the context was a conversation involving phrases such as “Porn’ll make you go blind.”

Originally published at DoC 3.0. You can comment here or there.