manicmadman blog on Absolute Radio

Camping in a £140K Tent

manicmadman — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 09:00:00 +0100

Whilst not as bad as some people, the last few days have been like camping in a tent made of bricks and mortar.

The mains water is off, it has been since late Sunday. Yesterday, the power went off at 06:35 and didn't come back on until 23:15 last night. At least it was a nice change to be doing everything by candle light. There is such a difference in the type of light from light bulbs to candles. Luckily, we have a gas hob so were able to cook basic things using matches to light the gas, but there is only so much you can do with out water.

We are lucky in that we have not been flooded, but the water is up just round the corner from us. It peaked last night at 4.9m apparently on the River Severn, just a few inches short of the main power station that would have sent 500,000 people in to darkness for a lot longer than we would have been.

I am at work at the moment, but have been told that we will have to go home soon as there is no water and hence they cannot have us in the office for health and safety reasons (lack of sanitation, no toilets etc). On the plus side, I should still get paid. Julie has been told that she is also off work, but is unlikely to get paid.

No matter, things could be worse. We dont live in Tewkesbury (12 miles up the motorway). They are completely flooded out with no power or water and up until this morning have been cut off by road as well. In comparisson to them, our problems pale into insignificance. We wish them well in getting things back into order.

I'm off now, have to fill in some insurance paperwork. I will catch up with you all later. Hope everyone else is well.

Thats the boys birthday done for another year. Some advise - Shrek the Third is dull!!

manicmadman — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 10:06:00 +0100

Yesterday was the boys birthday. Not a bad day overall, except for an influx of the family at dinner time to see him. If we had anymore people in we would have needed a health and safety certificate for running a club.

We went to see Shrek the Third as the boy wanted to watch it. Compared to the first two movies this one was dull. If you have seen the trailers on the TV or online you have seen all the funny parts. I really cannot rate that film, I would not even recommend it for purchase when its out on DVD (which will probably be in December so that parents can buy it as a present for their kids - prepare for the calls of "Dad, I want that please!")

On the plus side, a birthday was a chance to indulge. Cake, lots of it. A chocolate catapillar. Seemed almost a shame to eat it but it was soooo nice. Theres more left to. And if we dont want cake, there is a huge pile of lego at home. I dont know who will have more fun, me or the boy?

We survived the eye!!

manicmadman — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 22:41:00 +0100

Given that I am not one for heights, I had wondered how I would react the the eye, but surprisingly I actually enjoyed it. (Having said that queueing for over an hour, despite having pre booked tickets was a bit of a bore).

The rest of the day was also good. Experiencing breaking on a train from 125MPH to 0 in not to long a distance was remarkably unnoticable (just a lsight smell of buring on the brakes) after someone in a lorry hit a bridge at reading bringing everything to a halt.

They boy enjoyed his birthday treat though. Hopefully he will enjoy his birthday tomorrow too. I will put some pics up in a while. Just one question though.

Why, when the rest of us are tired does the boy get a second charge of energy and start bouncing around like a ball?

The Boy (in the style of Homer Simpson)

manicmadman — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 20:26:00 +0100

Is it unfair to tell the boy to mow the lawn as a punishment for being a muppet, a bit like Homer did in the early seasons of the Simpsons?

The demon is slowly driving me insane! For someone who is already mad thats quite a feat!!

Dr Who song stuck in my head

manicmadman — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 20:16:00 +0100

In the last episode of the recent series we hear The Master (portraid by the superb John Simm) call for track 3 as he runs down the stairs and starts pushing the "aged" doctor around in a wheel chair.

The lyrics went along the lines of "I can't decide whether you should live or die".

Since then, that song keeps popping up in my head (whether or not this is my thoughts on the person that usually makes it come up is anyones guess) and I cannot find out who it is by and what it is called.

Guesses anyone?

What to do?

manicmadman — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 19:46:00 +0100

Does anyone have any suggestions what to write here? Theres not much to say I suppose.