A very very yummy birthday cake by the extremely talented purple_peril. Conveniently I had it all finished before going to the dentist today. First half of root canal work complete, second half in another fortnight. Yesterday was a workshop on working with people who self harm. Cheery few days all told. :-)

Should keep Mr Heron going for a while once they stop hiding.

For anyone voting in London next week, Vote Match seems to provide a quick and easy way to work out who's nearest your own views on Stuff. Neat.

Dear Dell,
When shipping a new server with only a CD drive, it's not terribly helpful to ship all the server installation software on *DVD*. Just saying...
Yours in Ongoing Irritation,
Me.

I know there are some hereabouts...

Blue Room, Spirit Level
Shami Chakrabarti and Penny Smith
Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction at Southbank Centre

Tuesday 3 June 2008, 7.45pm

A discussion with the writers shortlisted for the Orange Broadband Award for New Writers. Shami Chakrabarti, chair of judges for this year’s Orange Broadband Award for New Writers, and broadcaster Penny Smith discuss the routes towards first publication with the shortlisted writers, whether creative writing can be ‘taught’ and the politics associated with today’s culture of prize-giving and awards.

http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/literature-spoken-word/productions/shami-chakrabarti-and-penny-sm-39610

I'm not sure why the BBC World Service has only just picked it up, but the stories about the healthcare lottery in Oregon remind me of a something said by a representative of the gambling industry the other week, to do with bookmakers starting opening over Easter, on a day when there was no racing in this country (Good Friday?) - that gambling was now a "mainstream leisure activity".

No.

Horse racing, football - they're mainstream leisure activities for which gambling is certainly an adjunct (significant for some people, admitted) but a mainstream leisure activity in its own right? OK, if you count in gambling in the form of the national lottery then maybe but I can't see that bookies should be allowed to use that as an excuse.

Just in case any of my extremely rich friends[*] wanted something to get me for my birthday, may I suggest these?



I'm the one on the left currently...

[* They'd be the imaginary ones, unless any of you have had a sudden winnings?]

Edit: I do of course have the T-shirt already, along with far too many other Drewisms

Apparently I've gone from using £6.11/month in electric to £7.95 or thereabouts. This is not the direction I'd been hoping to make it go in but still not too bad I suppose. Same volts, less current please Igor...

Or why I spent Saturday lying around on the floor of Liddington Village Hall near Swindon, in all my bike kit, being prodded and poked at and then prodding and poking (and trying not to rip noses off) in return. Not me being in an accident but Emergency Action for Motorcyclists.

As you might possibly guess from the name this is a first aid course aimed specifically at bikers and the type of accident they might come across (bike and rider parted company, possibly in spectacular fashion), especially if going on a group ride out or similar. (There was also a bit of a nod towards dealing with car occupants as well, just in case.)

I've done a few basic first aid courses in the past but compared to "here's a triangular bandage, this is what you do with it" this one was much more engaging because it was working with a scenario in mind and built up the various bits, from arrival on scene onwards. All this was done in a gradual fashion, repeating the most important steps a number of times during the day and with lots of practical work, in the stuff we'd be likely to be wearing at the time and working on a subject also wearing heavy, thick clothing with bits of armour and stuff, which is pretty much worse case for trying to prod, poke and move someone around, with helmets included where appropriate. At each point the possible decisions were examined so it could be decided what would be a reasonable thing to do at any point (e.g. move/don't move the casualty, do/don't remove the helmet) in order to best preserve life.

Do this course and chances are you'll know more about removing the helmet of a crash victim than a paramedic, since they'll have only done it for a very short while as part of basic training. They get paramedics and other emergency services types come on this course for that very reason.

If you haven't done a first aid course for a while and don't need the full four day HSE first aider for work thing then I'd highly recommend this (or the car version). Mark and Charlie were great instructors (and brought their own experiences of being accident victims!)

(The ripping off noses refers to the "piggy nose" effect when doing helmet removal. Ow!)

You've gone to the effort of showing how many of something you have in stock and have a note that if stuff is ordered by a particular time, it'll be with the customer by the next day. All very well but if you don't actually bother to ship the bloody stuff, what good is it? Yes, I'm looking at you Expansys and no, you didn't send me anything asking for more information so don't use that as an excuse. That's the third different company *this year* for whom it has clearly been too much trouble to actually send out stuff that has been ordered and paid for. And that's before the couriers / Post Office can have a go at breaking of losing anything.

This evening I have mostly been to see Noël Coward’s The Vortex. Apparently a new production by Sir Peter Hall which only opened last night, the trip was entirely unexpected, as a friend of a friend had to drop out at the last minute. I didn't even know it had the still lovely Felicity Kendal in. It's not for everyone but I enjoyed it immensely. If you can cope with a play about dysfunctional families and relationships, a huge ego and not wanting to grow old then give it a whirl. I'd be happy to see it again, if that's any indication.

I do much prefer the theatre to cinema.

Anyone read Reaper Man and thought the idea of a shopping centre growing like a hive, with trolleys as the bees, was a bit far fetched? The flyers with "words created by something that was not at all at home with words"? Well I have chilling news for you. I believe something similar to be occurring in the office environment. By way of evidence I offer the following:




This is clearly only in the adolescent stage but obviously trying hard. It clearly knows about writing but hasn't yet learned how to form the letters and words properly. However, given time I'm afraid it could pass as a normal archive box and then who knows what it might do...

I don't care how much of a sad, ageing geek it may make me, I think this has to be the funniest LJ icon I've seen for ages:




As used by ichigo_babe recently.

Apparently.

No, this page wouldn't be better if I'd had extra crap installed, all you're doing is stopping me clicking on that bloodly link I can see *right there*, under where you've just taken control to advertise the latest bit of rubbish. Bastards.

Looking for possibly the ultimate[1] challenge? There are a huge selection of exciting roles available RIGHT NOW with A.R.A.C.H.N.I.D. Global Enterprises - the world's 5th largest evil empire. More details including the simple application process available from here. Go watch.



And remember - DUCKK!



[1] As in possibly *last*

Well, the music is on at normal volume and I can't hear it for the racket on the roof so I suspect it's not a light shower.

Apparently this comic is unusual as such things go in not treating the girlfriend of the superhero as damsel in distress. I had no idea this was so unusual but it gives me a chance to pimp S*P so I mention it anyway.

This from here

"In six years they went, without the benefit of Excel OR Sharepoint, from bombers that could carry 2000lbs to Hamburg to bombers that could carry 22000lbs almost as far, and produced aircraft that could operate in daylight over one of the most intensively defended pieces of airspace the world has ever known, unarmed, safely, made of wood. Now, ask yourself this: why can't we do that today?"

On behalf of a friend, "A good friend and ex colleague is doing an MA in Graphic Design - she is looking for female participants for a survey - I know that Katrin would be most grateful if you could pass this on to your partner and any female friends that you think would consider filling in the survey. It is, as Katrin says, completely anonymous and literally does only take 5 mins."

More from the FOAF: "I am looking at swing tags (the paper tags on clothing, which you cut off after buying) and the fitting of garments. Later in my project I hope I can improve the information which is provided on swing tags in order to give customers a more satisfactory shopping experience."

http://FreeOnlineSurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?sid=ibtgejr8kl5jf3u375418

If anyone appropriate feels they can help you'd be considered most kind.