Month: August 2006

Ok, not done one of these for quite a while so here goes :

Thirteen things about people …

1. Some people you love, some you adore, some you trust, some you hate.
2. We’re lucky to have the communication abilities that let us find friends.
3. Friends pick you up when you’re down and share in your successes.
4. People can do horrible things, I’m so glad that the terror plot of today did not end up in deaths. World 1 : Terrorists 0. Sure there’s been inconvenience but there’s been no martyrs. And that’s a sure sign that sanity has won.
5. People make you laugh or make you cry. Sometimes both, depending on the joke.
6. Friends let you talk things through. And we often need that.
7. A person can be very smart but crowds can be incredibly stupid. (Got that from Men In Black)
8. People can surprise you by doing wonderful things for you. Why should that be a surprise ?
9. Things are less fun when you’re on your own. Maybe that’s why I’m so addicted to an online game …
10. People are the reason for celebrations. I had 3 donuts today ! (Someone’s birthday)
11. People can be very cruel (pictures of the Middle East conflict just came over the telly).
12. People can cheat you, I think the garage where I took my car did stuff they didn’t need to, plus there’s a bit of money missing from the car. (I’ll get my own back by letting the work’s forums know)
13. Without a group of friends, there would be no place for love. And no love would mean this world would be a very empty and dull place.

[chuckle] This Thursday 13 partly inspired by the events on Guildlink earlier, where a couple of people have been thrown out because they complained very loudly over how our loot system works. Some unacceptable comments getting thrown around … We don’t need those people but they definitely need us.

However, it’s more inspired by me reading Craziequeen’s Thursday Thirteen and me thinking that she needs a hug. So if you read this (I know it’s not too many from my hit counter), then go to Craziequeen’s Blog (link on the right) and give her a BIGHUG! Because she deserves it and always will.

They’re important, they give people a sense of identity. I always know who I belong to when it comes to the England flag or the Union Flag and I also feel a bit of a lift when I see people running by on WoW videos with the guild tabard on. It’s part of the identity we’ve got for the guild. Here’s an example of what it looks like :

Mine’s the character in the middle and you can just about make out the gold coins that make up the pattern of the Mercenaries’ tabard. That’s Iceangel, the frost mage who has recently expanded her repertoire into having a bit of fun with fire. We’ve had that design for well over a year now and we’re getting a bit bored of it. We’re needing a bit of inspiration though on what we’re going to use, here are a couple of ideas so far :

That’s my warrior in something close to her latest thumping things outfit. Maybe it needs a different colour for the symbol there, although one theme we’re trying to bring out is “darkness”.
One from the guild leader :

Not bad … There’s been a couple more ideas done but I think we’re starting to lack inspiration. If you’d like to help out, there’s a handy tabard designer … However, to get the image on a character, you’d need to have World of Warcraft on your PC.
Oh, here’s my final effort as a bit of fun that will never happen :

Last week I had a week off to get a bit of sleep and relaxation in away from work … I also saw it as a good chance to get an overdue service and MoT in for the car.

Lesson number 1 – get things done in plenty of time.

Phoned the garage on Monday to book it in, earliest possible date was Friday. Fair enough … I’d be able to get it in on the morning and out and taxed on Friday afternoon.

Lesson number 2 – never take things for granted.

I’d made the fatal mistake of assuming because my Puma is pretty solidly reliable, there wouldn’t be much needing to be done outside of the exhaust needing fixing. WRONG ! Here’s the list :

70k service (expected)
Wiper blades (not expected – must have been sold rubbish ones 18 months ago)
Alternator belt – split (not expected, no funny red light signs)
Air con service (definitely not expected – was done 30 months ago)
Brakes replacement front (not expected but fair enough)
Exhaust (expected – it’s been noisy lately)
Power Steering pump (definitely not expected, although hindsight tells me I should have)

Lesson number 3 – Keep a reserve cash supply handy …

I was thinking about changing my car pretty soon but I think I’ll put that on hold in order to a) Pay off the credit card I used to pay for the repairs ! and b) Pay off a couple of other loans I have. It’s not quite that bad but it’ll take a couple of months to pay the £1150 repair bill and I want to get some mileage out of it.

Lesson number 4 – Never assume …

The most expensive my Puma has been before now was about £500 for an earlier service … It’s been far better and still is better than my last car, a Rover 420. That was terrible … The sheen of the Puma’s been dented now but it’s still the best option for me at the moment. The bodyshell has the flexibility I need, I don’t need the extra seats, it has the performance I like and it has excellent economy.