Chopper, Schmopper

I was supposed to be on a chopper home today, but due to the progress we're making on fixing the system, I cancelled it half an hour before the flight. Now I'm stuck on a platform and they tell me the cabin I was in is booked, and so are all the others. Hmm, looks like a few nights on the office floor then. If they put me back on Millennium I'll sulk badly. No chance of early/late working, and more importantly, no gym!

While we're on calamity, congratulations to Sandy (aka Master of Chaos), whose birthday celebrations seem to have ended up with him locked in his own porch. He's coming to my house for dinner in a few weeks, and I fully expect him to spend an entertaining hour telling us of his latest disasters. That guy could lose his keys/phone/wallet for a living.

Cartoons, there's a thought.

In other news (sorry Maureen this is dull - look away) I got weighed for the flight and I've lost 5lb. Mind you, 4lb of water probably needs putting back in after last night's grueller in the gym.

In other other news, what's happened to Odette, one of our main contributors until recently? I've messaged her on Facebook but got no answer. Somebody give her a poke please, I miss her.

***** Warning, bloke-talk ahead *********
In blokey news, I hear that Michael Schumacher will drive Masa's car while they rebuild Masa's head. That should be interesting. Never go back is the mantra, but the guy was head and shoulders above the rest. Who knows? Only the next race will tell.
***** End of bloke-talk *********

Who can believe it's the last day of July already? Soon the weather will turn bad. Oh yes, it already has. To quote No. 1 daughter Alex, "[Alex] seems to have slept for 5 months and woken up in winter. Tell me I didn't miss Christmas?!". Well put dear, very succinct. It's that damned jetstream in the wrong place again. Whichever jet is doing it needs to be grounded IMHO.

Has anyone else read Steven Erikson's Malazan books? Excellent, totally absorbing, pure escapism. Highly recommended. I'm on number 5 and I believe there are eight or nine, and he's still alive! Memories of 1973, when I read LOTR for the first of many times, went bounding into school to tell everyone about how great Tolkien was, only to be told he'd karked it the day before. Similar fates for those unfortunates who got into the lamentable Robert Jordan "Wheel of Time" books - he died without writing the 12th and last installment. My guess is he did it to avoid the impending backlash when poeple realised that no, he wasn't able to tie all his storylines together and his solution was to create more threads. Speaking ill of the dead, sorry. Anyway, read Erikson, you'll thank me.

I hear big brother is back on - more mundanity (new word). Exactly what is being celebrated there? What is the nature of the entertainment? Ask yourself these questions and look down in shame. It's lots of dull people desperately trying to be outrageous, just to stay on telly. It celebrates stupidity, it's excruciating and it sends bad messages. I hate it. There I said it.

By the way, going back to calamity, I got here having remembered to bring my phone charger because, although there's no reception, I use the phone as a music player to drown out the awful ching-chong music the locals play. Used the phone for the first day, went flat. No problem, got out the charger - pin broken. Bollocks. No music! Ah but all is not lost - I can stream 6music. Bliss.

More soon. Since I'm stuck here I might as well do some work.

Three weeks till home time. Bring it on. And if possible and where appropriate, be good.