Rum-te-tum-te-tum-te-tum...

OK, enough is enough, tonight I crossed a line that I'm not entirely sure about.

I'd pretty much had enough of work from the moment I got out of the car this morning so heaven knows why I was still sat there almost two hours after everyone else had gone home. Then the realisation hit me:

Sod it. Go home. You're not going to clear your inbox, let alone your desk tonight so call it a day. What's more, if you leave now you can catch The Archers again on the way home.

It really is time to start scanning those job pages a little more closely.

Oh, and for those of you who were worried, Clarrie Grundy's preparations for the Christmas fair are coming along quite nicely since Fallon offered to help out...

Tifino...

This isn't the first time on here that I've admitted that I don't know anything about sport. In fact it wouldn't be too great a stretch of the imagination to say I don't even know that much.

For some reason this evening, the young lad on the supermarket checkout wouldn't take my word for it as he tried to engage me in conversation:

Him: Do you need any help packing?
Me: No I'll be fine thanks
Him: So who do you think will be the next England coach?
Me: To be honest, I've no idea. Although it probably won't be me...
Him: I think I could do it. I'd have a good go for the money.
Me: Yeah, I know nothing about football but might qualify for a 1/4 million pay off
Him: So you must have someone pegged for favourite?
Me: No really, I've no idea, I don't really follow football at all
Him: So who do you support in the premiership then?

How many clues did I have to give? There's a lot to be said for self service checkouts...

The years go by...

Tonight I'm celebrating my 3rd Blogday. Woohoo!

I'm quietly proud actually that I've strung out enough tenuous meanderings to keep this thing ticking over so long.

Today also saw my old workmate Stuart leave the office for the last time which is an occasion of mixed emotion. Sure, we're all sad to see him leave; he's been with us for 17 years, I've worked with him for 12 of them (ouch) and he was the one responsible for me applying for a job there in the first place. On the other hand he's a superb bloke who's been given a tidy sum and the opportunity for a fresh start so in that respect I'm quite envious.

So rather than my usual Friday night in the Tap, it was a couple of pints of shandy with the guys from the office and then driving home for a quiet night.

But if I'm supposed to be celebrating I figured I should at least ring out for a pizza which is a treat I've denied myself for a few weeks. Oh and while I'm at it, might as well open a nice bottle of red to wash it down with. Cheers...

More Travel Tales...

I got an email last night from my old college mate and recent travel companion Pete Frenzy to let me know that St Louis is now only the second most dangerous city in the U.S.A. I know it's been a couple of months now, but I don't remember any adverts declaring their number one status while I was there. What's more, I hope there's no connection between my leaving and it becoming a safer city to live in.

He also sent me a video clip from our trip to the Titan Missile Museum in Arizona and reminded me of the most unbelievable question I've ever heard. Unfortunately, it's too large to share on here but basically, the guide was showing us the jet propulsion system of a Titan Nuclear Missile and explaining the various safety precautions, including a remote controlled butterfly valve to turn the fuel supply on and off. Much to our amusement at this point, someone asked "So these were manned flights?"

Now that would be a really lousy job...

Social Not Working...

During a conversation with Little Sis this afternoon, she told me about a funny video she'd seen through one of her friends on Facebook, but adding that I'd probably have to sign up if I wanted to see it. Now I'd like to think I've done my bit for the blogging community over the last few years, but I've failed to get to grips with these social networking sites.

I set up My Space some time ago and recently discovered a number of Tap regulars have set them up too, but quite honestly, it takes me all my time updating the blog anything like regularly so My Space gets somewhat neglected. The same goes for my pages on Yahoo Geocities, MSN Spaces, Bebo, YouTube and Flixter, although it always makes me smile when I wander onto one of these pages to be greeted with "Welcome back Seany, you currently have no friends"

Call me old fashioned, but think I'll keep my social networking where I'm far more comfortable, interacting with friends in meatspace...

All in a good cause...

Last night was race night in the Tap which provided the excuse to a) be there in the first place and b) flutter a few quid to support the pub football team. It was certainly a busy night and everyone seemed to be taking part enthusiastically, so I hope that the overall night was more profitable for the team funds than it was for me personally. I guess my "system" wasn't as reliable as I'd hoped.

I'd already bought the new Janet and John CD so I felt no guilt whatsoever in recording the nights proceedings on BBC1 for Children in Need. As usual it didn't fail to impress with all manner of celebrities putting their pride to one side and providing some excellent entertainment; my personal highlight being newsreader Fiona Bruce's outstanding performance of "All That Jazz".

I suspect some of the artists had more questionable plugging motives than others (e.g. re-formed just for tonight - oh, by the way we've enjoyed it so much our tour tickets are on sale from Monday) but the end result of raising over 19 million quid is astounding all the same. It's a shame I had to read about the total on the news seeing as Virgin Media decided to re-arrange my channels during the night which meant I missed the last two hours.

Back to the subject of plugging, I have no shame whatsoever in recommending the new Janet and John Reloaded CD. I was happy to encourage you all to buy the first volume and the second one is every bit as funny, plus there is a bonus CD full of other goodies. As before, all proceeds go to Children in Need so please click the picture below to go to the TOGs website where you can order a copy and find out for yourselves...

When you're chewing on life's gristle...

I'm afraid I really let standards slip tonight and crept out of the office an entire minute early, although my unpaid overtime tally now sits at almost seven weeks so I doubt anyone will complain.

I tuned into the Chris Evans Drivetime show as I usually do if I'm leaving at the right time and tonight they'd invited one of their favourite guests back on; a guy called David Morris who is the World's Whistling Champion. After only a few excerpts it was crystal clear to me why he held the title as he has an extraordinary talent and I'm sure I was one amongst thousands who were trying to whistle along on their journey home. Aside from his desire to entertain, he is also keen to get the human whistle recognised as an "instrument" in it's own right and it was then I realised how rare whistlers seem to be these days. I wonder how many people even remember Roger Whittaker?

Personally, I have rather modest whistling skills. I have never mastered the two-fingered taxi-hailing sheepdog-calling screech that many of my schoolmates did but I can hold a tune. A skill probably inherited from my Dad seeing as from as far back as I can remember, he has always whistled away as he potters around in his workroom or out in the garden.

Grandma always used to say that "a whistling woman and a crowing hen are neither good to God nor men" and although I'd never have argued with Grandma, my mate's wife Jo can whistle better than most blokes I know and seems to have done alright for herself.

By stark contrast there is someone else I know who has perfected the "through-the-teeth, rhythm-is-kinda-there-even-if-the-tune-isn't" technique and quite frankly, I'd rather he forgot it.

But what for the future? I can't ever recall Little Sis or her other half whistling around the house (even though he is a postman) so there's strong likelihood that it's a skill that may completely elude my young niece and nephew. Personally I think it would be a shame to see the art of whistling dying out all together.

Well that's my opinion anyway and if you don't like it, you can whistle. Or perhaps you can't...

Driven to distraction...

Duty calls this weekend I'm afraid so I got the obligatory few beers out of the way last last night allowing me to focus the rest of my time trying to get on with the mountain work I've brought home.

While taking some time out this evening I stumbled across a website on a topic very close to my heart. I've spent enough time on here wittering about some of the drivers I encounter during my daily commute and at BetterDrivingPlease you can actually do something about them.

As I haven't actually memorised the vehicle registrations of any recent offenders, I busied myself playing with some of the tests on there instead. I'm pleased to say that I did pretty well on everything I tried, although my mock theory test was a bit too close for comfort.

Fortunately, I have another 29 years to practise before I'll be tested again for real...

Keeping busy...

There's little chance of getting much sleep around here right now as we enter our third consecutive night of aerial bombardment in war-torn North East Lincolnshire. Well at least that's what it sounds like.

Funnily enough, mere mention of the word "bombardment" last weekend would have had my three year old nephew throwing furry dice at all and sundry based on something he saw on The Simpsons once, but that's another story.

I cheated on Friday night by availing myself of a few long awaited ales to aid the cause, but with the festive season fast approaching, there had to be a more cost effective alternative. So yesterday and today I've spent a couple of days at home busying myself with some of the jobs I've been meaning to get out of the way.

So here we are on Sunday night with everything ticked on the list and the best achievement of the weekend? All of the Christmas presents are bought and on their way. Result.

Next job is to decide what to busy myself with next weekend...