I crashed my car on Tuesday evening.

Nothing serious, just a little bit of paint transfer on the rear wing of the other vehicle; a busted indicator cover for me; a sizeable dent in my front bumper where I likely impacted against the rear wheel; and a bit of dog slaver over my shoes.

I somehow never managed to see the other vehicle as it travelled around the roundabout, so when I pulled out to turn right; he was directly in front of me. As I was moving slowly myself, there wasn’t a bad impact; and no injuries. My car is just built to crumple; and seems to do it really easy.

The other driver was using a courtesy car, due to his own already being in the garage for being in a previous accident; which seems a little suspicious.

Contacted my insurance company, and they are going to sort everything out; and I have no excess to pay since I’m not putting in a claim for repairs, which is nice. I just need to wait for letters, and other pieces, to confirm what is happening.

I also found out the other week that my brother managed to total his car on the way to work, in which the driver in front braked hard; and he hit her whilst swerving. I’m the more fortunate I guess.

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During Saturday early-evening, I set about making a few twiddly changes to the router settings; up-dating MAC addresses in the filter; the access key; typical networkie admin st00fs, and then I left for the weekend. No texts or calls about “the internet isn’t working”; or “the page won’t load”; or anything else, so I feel all is well.

That is, until I come home. For some un-explained reason, I was un-able to connect from my main desktop. That’s okay, not a problem. I’ll just ‘repair’. Nope; still red. Even if the internet is down, the router can still be accessed. So I turn off the router; and try a re-start. Nothing. Scratching my head leads me to turn another machine on, which connects perfectly fine.

Confused? Most certainly. After a brief look through the access list, I see nothing wrong; so end up pulling the dongle out of the desktop, and jabbing it back in. I guess it became angry at that point, as it just wouldn’t connect. Having re-arranged my room slightly some weeks before, I thought the change of ports may have caused a hiccup; as, after booting up, the device would scan for a few moments before connecting. Something it never performed whilst in the back of the machine. This thought led me on to stuffing the installation disk in; but I had forgotten how annoying the damn thing could be. After un-installing; re-installing; preventing boxes popping up; setting XP to manage the network; fixing the XP log-on; and re-starting the machine, the stupid little icon was still red.

I was not a happy kitteh. Looking through the router settings again, I decided to turn off access control; and see what happened. Nothing happened. The next step was to turn off the access key. That changed nothing either. So I growled a bit; well, a lot. I also up-dated Ubuntu at this point, as it asked nicely for me to do so; and since the machine was on and connected to the router, I thought “Why not.”.

Making myself a cup of tea, I stood, rather confused, wondering just why one machine wasn’t connecting; when it had been perfectly okay two days before. My next thought was location. Since I had moved the XP desktop further away from the router, I decided to move the router closer. This yielded little results, and led to further pulling out and plugging in of the dongle. It began to become frustrating, until life sprung into the little red icon.

Yes. We had a green icon! But don’t celebrate too early. The green soon became red again, after I re-activated the filter list; and the access key. .. At least this act narrowed down the issue; or so I thought. Another half hour or so was spent disabling the key, and prodding the dongle; which allowed the little red icon to sit in the tray, mocking me. It wasn’t fair. :’(

Thinking about my options, which consisted of either running a fifteen foot Ethernet cable from the router to the desktop; or from the router to the xbox, I started to trouble-shoot step by step. I knew distance and location where no longer an issue, as I was picking up networks perfectly fine. The dongle just wouldn’t connect. I turned off the filter; and still nothing. I checked the key; and it was the same on each device. I turned off the key; and still the red icon laughed in my face.

I was ready to give up at this point. The thought of it being one really small; in-significant change causing all of the grief entered my mind. After I moved the router back; tidied up; and re-booted the desktop, I pulled out the dongle; and sat for a moment. Not doing anything. Around seven minutes past by, and I lazily plugged the now hated stick back in. To my surprise, the not-so-funny red icon is replaced once again by a green one.

Well, “This is great!”, I thought. But me being me, I wouldn’t be satisfied until I had figured out what the issue was. And me being daft, that is what I set out to do. Knowing there was no security on the router, I set about turning pieces back on. This was where I noticed a change. A weird change. The channel which the router was using was some-how set to eight. Hmm. .. Poking it back to eleven, I saved the settings; and watched the little green icon dis-appear, and then come back again. .. So far so good. Moving on to the MAC filter list, I turned it on; and re-saved. Everything was working well. The little icon was still green; and we where rolling along.

At this point, I looked at the dongle; and shook my head slightly. It couldn’t possibly be. Placing the eleven back on to eight, I re-saved the settings once more. My nice little green icon vanishes; but comes back red! .. NEVAR!! So, it seams, after countless time and seemingly pointless actions, I had painfully deduced that my wireless dongle does not enjoy utilising channel eight of the router. At this point, I just felt like screaming at it.

Having switched back to channel eleven, I re-saved; and the icon became green. Success. Turning the key back on prompted another save, and rewarded me with yet another green icon. Everything was now working as it should. Fantastic!

So, from now on, if I am ever in a rush to head to the hospital again; I will never; ever; ever, manage my network before I leave. .. I need a stiff drink; and an hour of Glee. Woo!

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Sunday night was a very interesting one for me. I had finally found a phone I was happy to purchase, satisfied with the small number of standard features and the ability to send and receive calls and texts. I am not one to buy the latest flashy model, but had settled upon the Tocco Lite touch screen from Samsung.

At least, I would have; if my order went through. I some-how managed to get caught up in my bank’s fraud protection when I attempted to use my card, three times.

Monday was spent on the phone during dinner time, having the usage block lifted. I spoke to Kay, from the fraud department, for all of three seconds. She was very sweet. The other idiot on customer services attempted to sell me things.

So as of today I have successfully ordered my shiny new phone. I’m hoping for it to arrive tomorrow, as it is my sisters parteh; and I wish to use it for photies, and random touch screenie-ness; and music when the disco is not so good.

I am working Thursday, all day, so I will likely miss the delivery if it isn’t here tomorrow.

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I am still yet to complete GTA4, mostly due to work taking over my free time. I’m just not motivated to do anything when I sit down at eleven at night. Making myself a promise to gamernate just fails.

Paying £24.99 for the two mini-games is a reasonable price for me, especially as it dropped £3.

Well, this entry is short; and point-less. I’m not writing a review or anything. Dum de dum. Maybe I’ll edit later, after playing.

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Firstly, a new bulb cost me £4. I need an e-bay account.

Having opened the hood of my car, I set to work un-screwing the cap and removing the rubber seal around the bulb and the socket it was connected to. Easy. The first bulb I replaced had blew, but this one simply rattled.

I can only guess the rattle was due to the forcefulness of my step-dad fitting it. One of the pins had snapped, which I had to pull out of the socket with pliers. With everything out; un-screwed; hanging; e.t.c. I re-positioned the rubber seal, which had been put back wrong the previous time.

After plugging in the new bulb, the issues with the clip began. The theory behind it is to let it hang loose; place the bulb into the light case; push the clip into the case, tightening around the bulb; and locking the clip into holes either side. The theory is nice. The practical is not. After a lot of time and swearing and moaning and prodding and pulling and finger pain, I took everything apart to try and figure it out. This is the moment I under-stood the theory.

Round two. I managed to half lock the left side of the clip into the hole. However, the right side wasn’t playing fairly. The bulb still jiggled about, and I managed to remove it. Not good. Sighing heavily for a moment, I tried again. After many more moments, and pulling and prodding and finger pain, I had finally managed to position the clip relevant to the bulb. With one big push, I locked the left side of the clip into position. Success!

Partially. I still had the right side to lock. Pushing against the clip yielded little results. So after several attempts I have left it as is. The left side locked, the right side un-locked.

Damage it your-self job complete, I topped up my washer fluid. Two litres. The reservoir took two litres of fluid. I know I wash the wind-screen on occasion, but that is ridiculous.

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First of all, I thank each of you for your emails; and for using the skin. It means a lot.

As I now work full time as a Chef, my activity on the web has drastically decreased; which has meant a rather saddening halt in any projects I may have been working on during the time I was un-employed. This covers the WLM skins; forums skins; and the websites themselves.

On a lighter note, I have recently up-dated to the latest messenger version myself; and have made a start on up-dating the skin for it. (I actually managed to crash it trying to open a conversation window, yay!). However, I do not have an actual date for when it may be finished.

There will not be a beta version at this time, since I have not modified any layout files; so you won’t see anything different, other than an icon or two. I have to re-learn the layout files slightly, since bits have most possibly changed between versions.

I do have the intention of up-dating though, but it just won’t be now. Paid employment is a little more important for me at this point in my life, so everything related to the internet has been pushed to the side. I’m also heading back to college next week, so I no longer have a day off to relax.

I hope you can all understand, and thank you again for your support.

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The visual action reminds me slightly of Stranglehold, with the slow motion; points for kills; reticule targeting; and acrobatic type dives. Although a martial arts master isn’t all that acrobatic.

The last three videos on the site where trailers for the game, which I am yet to see on television. Out of the three, the final one is the funniest; and worth a silly YouTube embedment:

I have since added the game to my wish list, and will keep an eye on it after release. It might be slightly enjoyable.

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Over the past five weeks I have been in full time employment at a hotel / restaurant / bar; where I am working as a Chef.

The time has been enjoyable; but it has impacted on my already lack of sleep. So much so the past three days have held very little hours of shut eye. This has caused me to stress out a little; with the added fact that on Fridays I have to peel and quarter three large bins of potatoes and one bin of carrots for Sundays. This is repetitive; tedious; and takes four hours.

For some un-known reason tonight; I have realised every single one of my issues relate to my on-line activities. I no longer have issues in my life, other than being single I suppose. Because I’ve already mentioned it three times to three separate people, I’ll just paste it:

I have a large number of projects that I will just never finish, yet I don’t want to ditch. I was happier giving support as a member, but if I leave the bl00s, I will leave for good. I only visit two sites frequently (support and hnz). Having to put up with the odd argument, or Nicola’s “oh, I have a job so I can’t do this” posts every three days is getting to me. There is little to no communication from the three reds I volunteer my time for; and have done for the past four years. It basically holds no significance anymore. I feel the internet is just not important.

Re-reading that, I’m tempted to correct the icky grammar. But I won’t. It’s authentic; un-edited; and what I said originally.

All of the issues I had with Zathyus Support shortly after the promotion still stand now. And I’m still disappointed.

Since I am now working, any projects I have started will be on hold, and I likely won’t finish them any time soon. Thank you to those of you who have emailed me, but I have to apologise again. The website and weblog won’t be up-dated either. And the community forums will just continue to die. My newest foodie board won’t be going anywhere I would like it to .. basically everything will stop. If it’s linked from here, or my profiles, don’t expect any changes.

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So far I have had two interviews this week, the first on Monday, and the second today. This mornings chat was nice and in-formal, but I still wore a shirt.

To see how I cope within a busy kitchen, the Chef has asked me to work this coming Sunday, which is the busiest day of the week. Well I’m all for that. And I earn myself around £40 for the trouble.

If taken on full-time, I will be required to assist in any one of their other businesses; such as a seasonal restaurant in Whitby. That means mini missions trying to find a parking space. .. I will have my petrol paid for though, so if anyone’s in the area . . .

It’s likely, now that I’m almost in a job, that other places will start responding to my letters; and I’ll have to look into which one I’d like to work for and train with.

Either way, I’m still planning on college part-time again for my pastry course.

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That’s the current status of Planet ZB. ¹

Ha!

Although I must say, Ben’s postings out-way mine in every aspect; except awesomeness.

Ooo, Ben! If you appear; can you change my avatar link?

1: Everyone else needs to start randomly posting rubbish on web-logs again.

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Oh my gawd!

This is my first this year. When I had loads last year. This recession thing is getting old now.

There are, I think, four other interviewees tagging along for the same job, which is a massive shame; and really stupid. I also have transport to the interview, which sucks. I would prefer to drive.

I’m taking my recent certificate with me, to show it off; and will be mentioning my return to college for a Pasty Course in October ¹.

Wish me luck if you see this before I leave, at 2:20pm.

1: when I en-roll.

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I had decided the day before to head to town and partake in a bit of grocery shopping; popping to the veg shop; the butchers; the card shop; a few game shops; a few book shops; the fruit stall; and the supermarket.

What. A. Day. Gahh! Never again. From now on I shall promise to go when I need items, and not all at once. It’s a good job I have a car. My boot was seriously full.

How much had this day of suffering cost me? £89.50! I had £1.20 off my supermarket bill due to parking. Worst part? I never managed to find a cake tin!

Oh, I never bought a book either. I did find a set of knives I liked the look of, at £49.99. I shall ask Pertemps if they will buy them for me; but that may only be after I find employment.

Someone employ me so I can have a shiny new thirteen piece set of swexi knives!

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Yay.

It has the names of each module I studied ( all seventeen ) and is slightly different looking to the other certificates I have.

After finishing the course, I was able to keep my log-book; which is great, as I can look back through it for nostalgia stuff and what-not.

Hmm, I require a frame.

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Amidst the number of other items I had to do today, I took the time to visit my local library. .. I know!!!

The main reason for going was to borrow 1984 for the Zathyus book club. Guess what. There wasn’t a copy available, so they have to order one in for me; which I need to pay £1.20 for. It better be a blooming good read!

Whilst there, I perused the shelves and came across three books I liked the sound of; after skimming through a number of separate pages. I’ll list them:

• Point Blank by Richard Stark
• Fire in the Blood by Irène Némirovsky
• Contact Zero by David Wolstencroft

Yes, only three; but I’m a slow reader; and I can always go back for more . . .

I’m likely to post a tiny review of these books, but do try and remember; I suck at reviews; so they will be what they will be.

If you have already read these three books, leave a little comment about it; and the same if you have a recommendation. My library card needs wearing out.

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My head kind of feels itchy now.

Ah well, at least I can slop some gell on.

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Over the past few weeks I have been playing the latest in the series of Grand Theft Auto games, and I’m disappointed. I’m all for advancements in technology and games, but when you start removing things that other people like; and work so well, it becomes an issue.

Yes, up-date the game engine; give those hex shape thingies rounded corners; enhance the colours; use sharper images; *insert more technical stuff here*; but don’t take away the original, and classic, game play. A handful of people complained about the Flying Rats, and the fact you gain practically nothing from shooting 200 of them. I have to agree; where are the stashes of weapons?

If the aim was to mirror realism, then where are the co-ordinated police roadblocks; the swapping of insurance details; the ability to find paid employment; the paying of bills; everything else that is real? It isn’t there because it isn’t realistic. It’s a game. So it should play like a game. Like the old games.

I’m one person who enjoys side-missions, as I hate completing something and never playing on it again. So why are there no paramedic missions; pizza deliveries; taxi drop-off’s (that count for something); bus drop-off’s; fire truck missions; buying businesses (vice city stories); the army on six stars; ice-cream deliveries; I’m missing a few, but you get the idea. Everything here is real, they are real jobs, people do them daily. I suppose if someone was causing enough destruction, and killing all your swat dudes, you would call the army in.

On top of the above, what’s with the character movement? Who the fudge walks like that?

I’m hoping, albeit not too much, that an up-date is sent out to add all of this back in. Somewhat a downloadable content package, for free; and optional since some people hate side-missions.

/me looks around the empty party. /me starts to dance.

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Whilst I was doing this, I made a small number of changes to some of the files; which meant I had to up-date the tabindex attribute on most of the links. Ever since I began using them I have hated them. They are nothing but a pain in the rear to organise. Every time I add a link into the middle of others, the tabindex below has to be increased to avoid conflict. For some reason, I end up needing to add new links every now and then.

I do have an idea on how to avoid this level of up-dating, but it’s finding the motivation to edit the damn things again.

Also, if anyone knows of a way php can be used to auto-magically increment the number every time a tabindex attribute is found throughout a page, let me know! I had tried to do this some time ago, but failed. It would be nice to be able to use that idea instead.

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During this time, I used the three main comparison websites to narrow down my search. Now, for many people, these websites can be useful; as there renewal price is a couple of hundred pounds, or even less.

But for those of us (un-?)fortunate to be freshies, quotes are hitting above £700 or even over £1000. Some people are smart when it comes to saving a bit of money; but some people aren’t.

Whether you know or not, what you need to realise about these comparison sites, is they use something of a ‘best guess system‘ for some of the details in the forms they are retrieving quotes from. Take, for example, the number of years a named driver has held a licence. On the comparison site, you have a limit of 12+; but on a companies site that limit may be higher. Whether or not that higher limit saves a few pounds is open to experiment; but there are other instances where not every field is set to the correct value.

For those people who click the buy button and input their card details, take a look through the companies form for your next re-newel, either by amending the quote; or go directly to the site and start fresh.

Performing this my-self, the quote I received from the comparison sites was over £994. Using the companies site directly, the quote was under £799. Amending the quote from the comparison gave me a quote under £793, saving £4..ish ¹.

So as you can see, I saved £200 just checking details. And this includes an incident; zero no-claims; licence for less than a year; on comprehensive cover, with a named driver and £150 voluntary excess.

It’s a shame I only have less than £5 in my account.

So now you know, if you didn’t already. Amend your quotes!

If you have anything to add to this entry, leave a comment below.

¹ Maybe this is because I went back to the quote after a few days. It would need experimentation.

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