Pablo's Mobile Blog

strictly, come…?

2011-12-01T19:04:00.001Z

donated by Xryz

doctor wilson does not wish to be pausefaced

2011-12-01T01:10:00.001Z

pauseface de rossi

2011-12-01T00:54:00.001Z

neil patrick harris fait bien le visagepause

2011-12-01T00:37:00.001Z

oh, barney

Karting for L-33's stag do

2010-07-17T17:22:00.001Z

Despite my never having karted before, and despite the fact I can't drive, I somehow managed to be on the winning team. Best time on the track was 1:04, with my best time being 1:20. Now off to get changed for curry and then dancing and drinking.

Popcorn

2010-06-18T08:25:00.001Z

In a wig

WTF?

2010-02-01T21:15:00.001Z

I've been a fan of the final fantasy series of games for a few years but got into them late and so did VIII, X and XII but never got round to VII. Most fans say it's the best one but I tried it a couple of times and even after 20+ hours I wasn't really getting into it. I recently got a PS3 and found you can buy it from the PS store for 8 quid, so decided to give it another try. I've got much further this time and am actually enjoying it. But was quite surprised over the weekend when one of the fiends used the remarkably named Spaz Voice attack on me. I've no idea how it ended up being called that, or what it's actually supposed to mean, but i'm quite surprised it's never been a meme.

Aldi are sorted for disco biscuits

2010-02-01T21:02:00.002Z

Spotted these bad boys in aldi and couldn't resist. But then I never could just say no.

A slug

2009-09-10T13:01:00.001Z

Being eaten by flies

My Lucky Day?

2009-07-28T07:50:00.001Z

This morning I was looking at a patch of clover, thinking about how you never see four-leaf ones. It occurred to me that I have never actually seen one and I started wondering if it was just a myth. Then I found this. An actual four-leaf clover. Only took 31 years to find one.

NPH pauseface

2009-07-15T13:07:00.001Z

Almost vinegar strokes from Barney, the erstwhile Doogie Howser

When sharks attack

2009-07-11T10:24:00.001Z

This work of pure genius is on/in a house in oxford, which is home for the next couple of days. Apparently it's been here years and the locals hate it, but I think it's cool

More garden

2009-07-01T11:14:00.001Z

Continuing my tour of the premises on my lunch breaks today finds me by the trellised walkway leading to the water feature. We as a nation complain whatever the weather - it's too wet, or too cold, or like today, too hot. But I personally love it. I remember as a kid summer seemed to go on forever and it's nice to once again have a summer that lasts more than a few days, and with epically good weather. Bring it on, I say, and long may it last.

Water feature

2009-06-30T11:12:00.001Z

Sat in the garden with swatts having lunch. The gentle trickle of the fountain sounds a bit like rain and reassures us by giving the subconscious impression of the weather we would usually expect at this time of year, so the particularly clement weather we are currently having is easier to accept.

The world is about to go mad

2009-06-25T22:43:00.001Z

I suspect this will be a day not soon forgotten. Michael Jackson, it seems, has died. He was 50 and due to begin a series of 50 concerts soon.

A different angle

2009-06-25T14:00:00.001Z

Decided to spend my lunch break in the garden again as it helped me chill out a bit yesterday. The horrible customer Who caused me so much trauma yesterday has been back on again several times today, though mercifully not to me, and has been singularly obnoxious with everyone she has spoken to, making complaints about ridiculous things and generally being a nuisance.

I found out this morning though, that if a customer causes genuine adverse effects on your mental wellbeing, it is ok to refuse to speak to them on health & safety grounds. A good example of H&S working as it should and protecting employees. I have therefore put a note on the case in question making it clear that I will not speak to this customer under any circumstances. This, and the knowledge that I am now looking for other jobs, has led to me being much calmer today, and knowing I don't intend to be here much longer takes a lot of the stress out of the things which usually bother me. I have seen things from a new respective over the last few days and have realised that although working here has mostly been rewarding, and I have made some very good friends, it is not the boost to my career that I had hoped it would be. The skills I have learned are definitely transferable and long-term it has opened up new doors, not to mention enabled me to do things with computers that I wouldn't have thought possible two years ago, I have reached a point where there is nowhere to progress to, little incentive to apply myself fully to my job, and a constant feeling me foreboding whenever I think about work. When a job starts making you ill, it's time to move on. Time to see some other angles and find out what else is out there

I should come out here more often

2009-06-24T14:48:00.001Z

2 minutes' walk from my desk is this garden. It's full of wildlife and far enough from the main road as to be quiet, but I only ever really come out here after a particularly bad call, when i'm stressed out and ready to kill. Had one such call today from a customer who felt I was being unreasonable by asking her to perform a 30 second task which we ask all customers to do, which could at best fix her issue there and then, and which at worst could prevent her getting a 170 quid callout charge. From the tirade of abuse I received in response you would have thought I had asked her to sacrifice her first-born. As I sit here it is with a sadness which is twofold - first that it is never far enough away from the next unreasonably irate customer, and secondly that the effect such customers are having on my mental and physical wellbeing means that I am left with little choice but to bid it farewell, in the hopes of finding a job more suited to my temperament, and where I am not routinely held personally accountable for things which are far beyond my control.

The love that dare not speak its name

2009-06-24T10:47:00.003Z

What greater tragedy can there be than the secret love between two R2 model astromech droids from opposing houses? One of them vital to the survival of the rebel alliance, the other in the employ of the galaxy's most feared leader, wearily repairing the blaster cannons he knows may one spell the end of his one true love. Like a modern day Romeo and Juliet, these star-cross'd lovers will never know aught but tragedy

This may not look like much

2009-06-24T00:32:00.003Z

But this is something I have been working towards seeing for about 4 years. Obtaining the mascot dresssphere on Final Fantasy X-2 has been the single hardest thing I have ever completed on any game. It has taken 6 plays through the game to finally meet all of the ridiculously specific criteria to get it. A full run through the game is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 120 hours. Suprisingly, in between the many hours i've spent playing this game, i've managed to also have a life and accomplish quite a bit too. But this, having been something i've attempted for a few weeks at a time about once a year for the past 4 years (maybe 5?) Is particularly satisfying. And the most bizarre thing? It's worth it. It really is that awesome. And I get the feeling it's going to open up a lot of new possibilities. Epic.

Hercules

2009-06-20T13:23:00.001Z

Just overheard a young girl patiently explaining to her mum, not for the first time by the sound of things, that Hercules is "not a real hornet, just someone dressed up".

I know I am in a minority

2009-06-20T12:28:00.001Z

But I love bagpipes. They are ace.

Norden Carnival

2009-06-20T12:18:00.001Z

Waiting for the parade. In the rain, unsuprisingly. Also listening un a remarkably good school brass band. Village life is grand

@swatts94 loves the purple ones

2009-06-19T22:25:00.001Z

Om nom nyom nom

Public Service Announcement

2009-06-19T10:52:00.001Z

Do not buy this toothpaste. It has been the bane of my dental hygiene routine for over a month. The toothpaste itself tastes ok, but is liquid and so as soon as you put the brush under the tap half of it flies off down the sink.

Of course, being almost liquid instead of paste, they've put it in a bottle. This was a mistake. In the length of time it takes for the blue slime to ooze all the way to the hole at the top of the bottle, completely unknown scottish OAPs can become international singing sensations and you'll still have time to watch then get destroyed by the press when they fail and go mad before you're ready to clean your teeth.

In order to avoid this delay, some time in week two I put the bottle on its head so that the pseudo-liquid could trickle down in its own sweet time. Thinking I had got the better of it, I was horrified to find the lid isn't watertight so for the remainder of the month the cap is full of blue gunge. Having paid over the odds for it to start with, the Yorkshire in me wouldn't allow me to get something else till this was all gone. Mercifully that time is almost nigh, and I can't express how relieved I am. Avoid at all costs.

The vending machine

2009-06-15T16:09:00.001Z

For the benefit of Martin, who walks past it every day, but did not know it was there