Curiosities
I got to Q-Party in the end, thanks to Gareth and Liz and their various cars that actually work. Mine was fixed in the end- found a really good garage who didn't overcharge me and offered a top notch pick-up-drop-off service, actually turning up when they said they would. I didn't think garages like that existed in the real world- if by chance anyone in Runcorn with a snapped cambelt reads this, they're called Electromec. My car is now running like a dream.
Q-party itself... well, people more eloquent and less tardy than myself have covered it. Suffice to say that an evening which I wasn't expecting that much from (in the fashion of these sort of things), turned out to be a corker- a really good night with close friends, and surprisingly emotional, especially the speeches. Oh, and I've had emails from the Travellodge, but I've managed to calm them down, and in the end only Beth was banned for life- me and Jen were let off the hook.
Work continues. Today we were shut for 5 hours of an 8 hour shift because of refurbishment works cutting off all the power to everything. I was outside cleaning around (read: trying to pass the time) and a woman shouted at me for being closed: "Disgraceful! Unbelievable! You're a *motorway service station!*". Like that makes us above the problems of mere road-side petrol stations, and gifts us with pumps and tanks that last forever, never needing to be replaced. Even when open we only have two pumps on for the next few weeks- the others have been replaced with giant holes in the ground, cueing questions of the "what happened to the pumps? Someone ROB THEM??? LOL!" variety from the dear general public. Each time I work a public service job I swear it'll be the last, but I never learn. Actually, thinking back, I've never sworn that. Maybe that's why I keep getting the jobs.
Brewing/silly projects news: I'm making perry as soon as I finish building my new pear press- the muslin arrives later this week, post-strikes permitting. Had to prune the tree in the garden so we've got a glut to use, and I like both pears and alcohol, so it seemed the obvious thing. Thanks to whoever sent me that PDF of the homebrewing book- gave me a recipe to use, only slightly adapted because I don't want to wait a year before I can drink it. I'm also collecting various bits of electronica for the mark 3 still (for water only, obvlol), with thermal cut-off switch and fancy LED temperature displays. Or, more realistically, an old kettle element and a car battery.
Bought my round-the-world tickets last week! Nutshell styley: London to Bangkok (2 months) to Sydney (2 months) to New Zealand (6 weeks) to New York/ Canada (6 weeks) to London. What I do on each leg is still completely open, but Buddhist retreats, full moon parties, touring the outback in a bought van, visiting friends in Melbourne, going to the Lord of the Rings movies' sets, and canoeing down arctic rivers all look likely. Ace.
And finally, I'll (probably) be in Aber the first weekend in November. Got the week before that off to use up my holidays and go to a careers fair in London, and I've got my day off for the next week on Sunday, so I'll probably be down for a couple of nights, rolling into town armed with homebrew beer and perry. Drinks on that friday anyone? Tequila? Bay?
Bed.
Q-party itself... well, people more eloquent and less tardy than myself have covered it. Suffice to say that an evening which I wasn't expecting that much from (in the fashion of these sort of things), turned out to be a corker- a really good night with close friends, and surprisingly emotional, especially the speeches. Oh, and I've had emails from the Travellodge, but I've managed to calm them down, and in the end only Beth was banned for life- me and Jen were let off the hook.
Work continues. Today we were shut for 5 hours of an 8 hour shift because of refurbishment works cutting off all the power to everything. I was outside cleaning around (read: trying to pass the time) and a woman shouted at me for being closed: "Disgraceful! Unbelievable! You're a *motorway service station!*". Like that makes us above the problems of mere road-side petrol stations, and gifts us with pumps and tanks that last forever, never needing to be replaced. Even when open we only have two pumps on for the next few weeks- the others have been replaced with giant holes in the ground, cueing questions of the "what happened to the pumps? Someone ROB THEM??? LOL!" variety from the dear general public. Each time I work a public service job I swear it'll be the last, but I never learn. Actually, thinking back, I've never sworn that. Maybe that's why I keep getting the jobs.
Brewing/silly projects news: I'm making perry as soon as I finish building my new pear press- the muslin arrives later this week, post-strikes permitting. Had to prune the tree in the garden so we've got a glut to use, and I like both pears and alcohol, so it seemed the obvious thing. Thanks to whoever sent me that PDF of the homebrewing book- gave me a recipe to use, only slightly adapted because I don't want to wait a year before I can drink it. I'm also collecting various bits of electronica for the mark 3 still (for water only, obvlol), with thermal cut-off switch and fancy LED temperature displays. Or, more realistically, an old kettle element and a car battery.
Bought my round-the-world tickets last week! Nutshell styley: London to Bangkok (2 months) to Sydney (2 months) to New Zealand (6 weeks) to New York/ Canada (6 weeks) to London. What I do on each leg is still completely open, but Buddhist retreats, full moon parties, touring the outback in a bought van, visiting friends in Melbourne, going to the Lord of the Rings movies' sets, and canoeing down arctic rivers all look likely. Ace.
And finally, I'll (probably) be in Aber the first weekend in November. Got the week before that off to use up my holidays and go to a careers fair in London, and I've got my day off for the next week on Sunday, so I'll probably be down for a couple of nights, rolling into town armed with homebrew beer and perry. Drinks on that friday anyone? Tequila? Bay?
Bed.