Why no Cliff?

The thing is, I’ve never bought any ER DVDs from Amazon… I think it’s turning psychic again.

Bit random, methinks.

(Sorry to spoil the story for anyone who hasn’t already worked it out)

Turns out we elected Robert Kilroy-Suntan in those elections. For the record, I didn’t vote for him. Mainly because I wasn’t 18.

Fortunately Kilroy isn’t standing in Rushcliffe this time. We have his representative instead… Daniel Moss, education spokesman for Veritas (the Europhobic party with a, umm, Latin name).

Anyway, let’s face it – Ken‘ll win.

The way I reckon it, it can only have got here so quickly if they sent it before I ordered it.

Are they using some sort of super-advanced customer profiling, so they can predoct what we want to order before we actually do? Even if it’s something completely random that you’d never guess I’d order in a million years?

Huh?

On the other hand, the two DVDs I ordered from Amazon.fr a fortnight ago still haven’t arrived – despite being dispatched 10 days ago. Hmmph.

Maybe they’re only slowly rolling out this customer guessing software across their international sites…

Anyway – 5 things that I have on my desk that I can’t work without.

Well, first off – here’s a photo of my immaculately neat and tidy desk:

1. My computer! Pretty obvious, I suppose. I’ll lump the monitor, keyboard and mouse all together here. My super-duper new mouse is pretty cool – it’s a Microsoft Optical Wireless jobby – gadgets!

2. Post-it notes on monitor. Very important! Brilliant as Outlook is for managing tasks, nothing beats small neon-coloured sticky notes for reminding you to do things. That said, most of the notes on my monitor have been there for a while…

3. Photos. There are several on my desk – some that have disappeared behind/under things. Yes, I’m probably the only Old Nottinghamian sad enough to have a picture of Chris P on my desk*. There’s also Tom and me on Nemesis, and the Castle Freshers Photo. And others.

4. Food! And water. I can’t work without a bottle of water. In the Jelly Beans jar at the moment are Mini Eggs… but Minstrels work just as well.

5. iPod, Speakers, other audio stuff. Writing essays or otherwise working requires a soundtrack. I don’t really care what – but I can’t stand the noise of a keyboard on its own.

Incidentally, the bear is wearing a University College hoody, and the party hat on his head is left over from the Birthday Party.

And the mess on the desk is only because I’m in the middle of so many things at the same time. I’m usually very tidy. Honest.**

So – what 5 things can’t you live without on your desk? Answers in the comments, or in your own blog (if you have one – trackback to me so I know you’ve posted!)…

*It’s not just Krusty the Headmaster. It’s also got the rest of my family on – from Founder’s Day in Year 7.

**Gary Martin once said that I was the most ridiculously well-organised person he knew. And Gary never makes stuff up. So it must be true***.

***For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of Gary’s company, he is an English teacher at NHS who comes out with the most incredible bullshit. For example, apparently he once sailed around the world single-handedly on a boat called the Miss Levi****.

****Actually, we think this one may very well be true. He’s written a book too.

You are a good old-fashioned six-sided cube, otherwise known as a d6. Others know you to be plain, predictable, conservative, average, ordinary, and downright boring. You prefer to describe yourself as dependable, honest, practical and trustworthy. People usually know what to expect from you, since you rarely hold any surprises. You hate to make decisions, and if forced to decide, you’ll always fall back on how it was done in the past. You always order the same thing at your favorite restaurant, and your jokes, while funny, are never too offensive. It seems that you are well liked, but maybe that’s simply because there’s nothing to hate.

Take the quiz at dicepool.com

Hah, Rob – there is a d6…

Nottingham, the city of the Robin Hood legend that became a textiles powerbase during the Industrial Revolution, now struggles with a reputation for drugs killings and teeming with binge drinkers on lawless Saturday nights.

(BBC News)

For the record, I have lived in Nottingham for 18 years, and have never once been the victim of any sort of crime in the City Centre. My old school is bang in the middle of the “dodgy” areas (St Ann’s, Hyson Green, etc), and the only real trouble they have experienced is have iMacs nicked repeatedly (although I would argue that it was the school’s fault – placing them in front of an unreinforced, unalarmed ground-floor window…).

That said, I would definitely not be comfortable alone in Nottingham on a Friday night. But then again, I never feel particularly safe walking on my own through Durham at night…

That’s right, peeps – it’s the Archers! Ain’t the BBC Radio Player great?! They’ve redesigned it, to make it easier to use – you can now close the player and come back to it days later, and it will remember where you were.

Now all we need is the TV version… (I wish)

Apparently, the Archers are doing something fun for Comic Relief: Victoria Wood has written special episodes, and the public will get a chance to vote for the scene they like best with a celebrity chosen from the following distinguished list – Lisa Tarbuck, Ian McKellen, Stephen Fry and Ewan McGregor.

Should be a laugh!

So, for the next few days the blog will be in a state of flux… until I get everything working. At the moment, the linkdump shows all the entries, every day, not just the ones for that day. Need to sort that out. Any MT experts willing to give a hand? And the sidebar needs reformating. Hopefully, when it’s all finished, it will look something like this.

Bear with me. Normal service will be resumed shortly. I promise.

Oh, and don’t worry – the link buttons will be returning. But for the meantime, here they are for your edification and delight: