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100 Truths

No, don't get excited, this is not me coming back to blogging. I just needed somewhere to post this 'cos Facebook is rubbish.

LASTS
1. Last beverage→ Cup of Tea (How British!)
2. Last phone call→ The GF
3. Last text message→ The GF, which isn't unusual as only about six people have my new mobile number, lol.
4. Last song you listened to→ 'Sounds from the Past', by a chap called Mindthings. Look him up on Jamendo.
5. Last time you cried → Oct last year, When I thought my GF and I were breaking up. Big softy that I am :smile:

SIX HAVE YOU EVER:
1. Dated someone twice → No
2. Been cheated on?→ Yes
3. Kissed someone & regretted it? → Yes
4. Lost someone special?→ Yes
5. Been depressed?→ Once or twice...
6. Been drunk and threw up? I’m Scottish – we’re born with Whisky glasses in our hands and vomit on our little pot-bellies.

LIST FOUR FAVORITE COLORS:
1. Blue (Dark)
2. Blue (Light)
3. Indigo (Blue with a bit of red mixed in, also a fab line of Fantasy novels)
4. Azure (Another word for Blue)

THIS YEAR HAVE YOU:
1. Made new friends → No (Don’t need any more, ta)
2. Fallen out of love → Love? no. Bed? yes.
3. Laughed until you cried → Yes
4. Met someone who changed you→ Yes, thank god: my nappy was a bit ripe that day.
5. Found out who your true friends were→ Yes, and got rid of the falsies.
6. Found out someone was talking about you→ No
7. Kissed anyone on your friends list→ Err, one?
8. How many people on your [Facebook] friends list do you know in real life → Most of them (As it should be!)
9. How many kids do you want to have→ Kids? *Runs*
10. Do you have any pets → No. I'm not good at keeping living things...living.
11. Do you want to change your name→ Yes. To “Megatron”.
12. What did you do for your last birthday→ Not much, actually. Just another day.
13. What time did you wake up today→ 7-ish
14. What were you doing at midnight last night → Sleeping / dreaming my trademark odd dreams
15. Name something you CANNOT wait for → Software updates. I know, GEEK.
16. Last time you saw your father→ Xmas.
17. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life – Being poor. Money would let me explore some ideas I have and design my perfect dream house with its very own AI housekeeper.
18. What are you listening to right now → Stuart at work being very American (He’s Scottish, or so he tells us)
19. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom → Yes. He’s good people.
23. What's getting on your nerves right now? → Stuart (see above)
24. Most visited webpages → Digg. RockPaperShotgun. Hotmail. eBay.

ABOUT YOU
1. What's your name? Grant.
2. Nicknames→ Depends on who you ask. “Granty” seems to be the most common one (girls, tsk)
3. Relationship Status → Happily entwined, but not yet in a legal sense
4. Zodiac sign→ Gemini
5. Male or female or transgendered→ Omnigendered. I am ALL genders. At Once. Fear me.
6. Elementary→ Coldstream Primary
7. Middle School → eh?
8. High school → Milnes High School
10. Hair color → Black, growing whiter by the week.
11. Long or short → Short
16. Height → Not quite 6 ft
17. Do you have a crush on someone? – Not currently, which is unlike me...
18: What do you like about yourself? → Everything. Nearly Everything. Some things. My ability to mimic voices and accents.
19. Piercings → Not any more, thankfully!
20. Tattoos → No, thank you
21. Righty or lefty → Politics, or my physical handed-ness? Left for both.

FIRSTS :
22. First surgery → Removal of 1/3rd toenail bed from big toe of left foot, to prevent more Ingrown-toenails.
23. First piercing → Ear (I know, but all the guys were doing it at the time!)
26. First sport you joined → Golf. I was rubbish.
24. First best friend → Steven
27. First pet → Smudge, a rabbit
28. First vacation→ That I can remember? Isle of Skye
29. First concert → Never been to one. No, seriously.
30. First crush → The lovely Shona Borthwick, who ran a mile when I told her. I later learned what a close escape I’d had.

RIGHT NOW:
49. Eating → Nothing.
50. Drinking → Nothing
52. I'm about to → Explode (Just like NeoTokyo!)
53. Listening to → Nothing
55. Waiting for → DELIVERANCE / RESCUE

YOUR FUTURE :
58. Want kids? Not really, but I might enjoy it if one comes along and idolises me.
59. Want to get married? It’s not a great desire atm, no
60. Careers in mind? Writer / Galactic Overlord

WHICH IS BETTER WITH THE OPPOSITE (SAME) SEX?
68. Lips or eyes → Eyes
69. Hugs or kisses → BOTH
70. Shorter or taller – Shorter
71. Older or Younger → Younger
72. Romantic or spontaneous → Both – just one would be incredibly dull
73. Nice stomach or nice arms → Odd choice...arms.
73b. Breasts or Bottom? Breasts every time. Wheeeeee!
74. Sensitive or loud → Sensitive.
75. Hook-up or relationship → Relationships generally suit me better
77. Trouble maker or hesitant→ Bit of both is always fun
78. Comical or Serious: Comical. Gotta have a sense of humour!

HAVE YOU EVER :
78. Kissed a stranger → Only if he offered a lollipop/puppies first
79. Drank hard liquor → See: 'Have You Ever' No #6
80. Lost glasses/contacts → Yes. Little buggers!
81. Sex on first date → Yes. We Scots are sluts. :wink:
82. Broken someone's heart → Yes
83. Had your own heart broken → God, yes
85. Been arrested → No. But I'm always eager to try new things
86. Turned someone down → In what sense? I turned down a pair of bloody gorgeous Mormons girls once, when they wanted to come to my house and discuss the prophet, Joseph Smith. If only they'd suggested an evening of rampant 3-in-a-bed debauchery instead, I'd have cheerfully obliged them. Does this count?
87. Cried when someone died → Yes
88. Liked a friend that is a girl? → Most of my friends are girls

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
89. Yourself → Yes, ‘cos nobody else will if I don’t
90. Miracles → Yes (My parents not having killed each other after 30 years of marriage)
91. Love at first sight → It’s happened to me twice, so yeah
92. Heaven → Yes and No
93. Santa Claus → Only when he brings cool stuff and quits judging me
95. Kiss on the first date? → If that’s what both of you feel like doing, then why not?
96. Angels → Yes and No

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
97. Can you see yourself with someone you know in the future? → I don’t know anyone from the future
98. Had more than one boyfriend/girlfriend at one time? → Yes, but it’s generally not a good idea. This is what some may call ‘Wisdom’.
100. Posting this as 100 Truths? Possibly...ok, yes

End of a Long Road

It's Boxing Day in Scotland, as it is in many parts of the world. The presents have been opened, Xmas dinner devoured and repackaged for days' worth of meals to come, wines and spirits consumed by the litre, TV watched and families loved.

After months of build-up, it has finally passed for another year, and hopefully the experience of the Grand Day will have been as good for all of you as it was for me.

I was at my parents' home again this year. My father retired so this was an important Xmas for the family, not least because this was one of the few times he's been home to celebrate with; life in the Merchant Navy means long trips abroad at any time of the year for months on end. Him being home is a big deal. We have an Uncle and a couple of Aunts here too, members of our family I rarely get to see, which is nice. One of my brothers didn't make it up, but seemed to have a nice day just him and his girlfriend in his flat in Edinburgh, so I'm not too worried about that.

Personally, I enjoyed the day very much. Work was particularly brutal this year – thanks for the bastard huge order at short notice there, Bulldog – needing lots of energy and concentration to get done, and all at the very last minute, too. Add this to the last-minute present buying and hosting a wee party for some friends and I have to say my energy stores were at their lowest by the time I finally got the bus up to MacDuff, never mind having to then socialise with everyone for a few hours. Energizer Bunny, I am not. But Xmas Day...well, that was a different story.

I got loads of sleep the night before and awoke much as I did in my childhood years – early and full of excitement for the festivities to come! It was a grand day, in every way. Relaxing, fun, exciting...I got some lovely presents. Not least from my beautiful girlfriend who utterly spoiled me. I'll be thanking her properly the next time I see her, oh yes indeed.

Dinner was awesome. Not in the cheapened American meaning of the word, where 'awesome' applies to everything from Hot Dogs to some senseless buffoon hurting himself in an amusing way, but in the classical meaning such as one might feel the awe and grandeur of watching vast living galaxies sparkle and whirl before your eyes, or one of God's miracles in action...or my mother at work in a kitchen. After many years of practice, my blessed progenitor has Xmas dinner down to a fine art. She prepares most things the night before, so all she has to do on the big day is cook it, merely a matter of setting the oven and not letting anything burn. None of us particularly favour the traditional bird for our Xmas meal, generally finding it to be too dry a meat to be really enjoyable, so by way of compensation get to choose from practically every other meat you can find strutting its stuff in a farmyard. This year there was Pork, Beef, Ham, Duck, Lamb and Chicken: good thing none of us are vegetarian! This is accompanied by a bewildering array of vegetables, trimmings and long-time Xmas favourites such as her special festive Chicken Noodle Soup and her glorious, timeless Sherry Trifle. All home-made, of course. None of that shop-bought rubbish for this family, no!

After my Mum's fabulous cooking we settled down for a game of my brand new Trivial Pursuit: Genus Edition. If you've never played TP let me just say there's no such thing as a quick game of it; even with eight people in four teams of two. It took most of the night, and was a blessed relief when it finished. Happily, justice was well served as my parents snatched victory at the least probable moment, claiming their fifth and, by common consent, final slice of pie after a frustrating run of the most appallingly obtuse and difficult questions. However, this was entirely preferable to yet-another round of Mum's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire DVDs, which I shall take great delight in scouring from the Earth with cleansing flame should the opportunity ever arise.

Hmm. I have to go soon. I've just been told we have another brace of board games coming at us so my presence has been specifically requested. Before I disappear for the delights of more dice, questions, improbable rules and familial battles over who goes next it is time to deliver one final piece of news.

Emphasis on the word 'final'.

* * * * * * * * * *
I've been blogging the inside of my head for over three years now, here and previously on two other sites, writing thousands of words which, if collected in one volume, would provide a unique insight into my life and times unparalleled in my history. No-one is claiming this would be the most interesting, gripping or entertaining book ever published, much as I take pride in my particular brands of humour, wit and story-telling abilities, but for myself I am proud of every word I've written be they purely for amusement or soaked in the blood and emotional marinade of my tempestuous heart.

Sadly, the decision has been made to bring an end to my blogging activities. As in, completely. I've run blogs before on other sites and these ended merely to move to another venue, with another snazzy title. This time, however, is the end of all that, for the foreseeable future anyway (I'm loath to say 'forever' for I firmly believe there are no absolutes in this life). This very post, as fun as it has been to write, is therefore my last official post. I intend to remain around for a while – I still enjoy commenting on the blogs of the few friends I've made here. But this means no new material will appear here as of 1st January 2009. Which is kind of a shame as I've some big plans for the New Year, as I did this time last year, but it has become painfully obvious to me that my commitment to this enterprise has dwindled to almost nothing. I had great plans for the Paris trip and the hundreds of pics I took over there but they have singularly failed to materialise and I doubt they ever will at this point.

No, it's time for me to move on. Blogging is fun, and I've met some wonderful people over the years doing it, but it's time to channel my energies into new pastures (he says, mixing metaphors like cheap spirits in a cocktail glass). My last duty, then, is to thank everyone who has ever dropped by and read my self-indulgent ravings, who has ever left a kind word or topical comment, and particularly those who have made this place one of their frequently visited sites and, by extension, one of my favourite sites to return to.

I hope you've all had terrific Festive holidays and I'd like to wish you all the very best of fortune, love and happiness for the coming year. As the old Irish Blessing goes:

May the best you've ever seen be the worst you'll ever see.



Brought to you with a lump in the throat,
Grant xx

Oo Baby Baby

,

Ok, here's the sitch. I'm back at work after a fabulous 5-day trip to Paris, and 4 great days spent at home doing very very little apart from defrosting my freezer, spending a night with my GF and attending Austen's excellent 34th birthday soiree on Sat night. When I wasn't being social I had piles of comics to wade through, a loaned box-set of the much-funnier-than-Family-Guy American Dad and 90 odd episodes of the Justice League cartoon to keep me amused, all exactly what the Doctor would have ordered if he were responsible for keeping my soul happy, bless his corduroy jacket and comedy stethoscope.

Paris was WONDERFUL but very tiring. I was moving constantly for those five days and was accompanied for most of it, meaning my poor Introvert batteries were very low by the time I got back into Aberdeen late on Wednesday night: for someone who requires solitude to recharge spending five days being social is a big deal. Thankfully my hosts were the most charming and lovely people I could hope to have stayed with - Lucie is a darling and Ben did his very best to make sure I saw everything there was to see and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Cheers for that, Gazelle Boy! Much appreciated!

Oh yes I must mention the stress. I'm not a very relaxed traveller, folks; I tend to fret and angst over every detail, particularly when it comes to Airports/Trains etc, and there had been more than one occasion where panic set in during my trip....

...which I'd love to tell you about here but I'm going to have to ask you to wait a little longer. Sorry. :whistle:

Truth is, writing blogs has been about the furthest thing from my mind during my week off, and now that I'm back at work, worrying about the xmas presents I haven't yet bought and looking at a rather eventful social calendar coming up from now until, er, January there doesn't seem to be much time left for grand prose or breathless reports of my adventures. I also have 138 photographs sitting awaiting review, most of which I'd love to speak about but my goodness where am I going to get the time to sift through 138 jpegs, format and tidy them for upload and write amazingly witty captions for them all? :eyes:

:cry:

Ahem...Leaving aside my poor organisational skills I have another important, nay, life-changing piece of news I wish to share with the world at large. One of my very good Man-Friends has finally proven the potency and healthy functionality of his donated genetic material by initiating within his mate the most extreme period of biochemical manufacturing a woman can experience - the creation of another human being, typically assembled from raw material scraped parasitically from the poor mother and bolstered by double helpings of limescale-and-chips (washed down with beetroot vinegar). Yes, my long time drinking buddy Tony is going to become father to one of those mewling, screaming, puking, pooping engines more commonly known as a 'Child', ruining not only his health, his sleep, his social life and his bank balance1 for the next 16+ years but also putting severe strain on his scalp's ability to produce dark hair. (Not that he has much of that left anyway - heh. p:) Baby is already in its2 fifth month of construction and is the proud star of some extraordinarily clear medical scans, another of which is due this coming Friday. If I can I'll try to get pics to show here on t'blog.

[UPDATE] Saw Tony tonight, funnily enough, and begged this off him:



Awe-inspiring, isn't it? Baby is around 16 weeks old in this pic. I gazed at this for a long time until I saw it, but now I'm absolutely convinced: Tony's girlfriend is giving birth to The Schmoo! I'm sure that once you've glanced back and forth at the pics above and below a few hundred times you'll have no option but to agree with me - the resemblance is uncanny:


I have no idea what's happening in this picture. None whatsoever. Caption competition?
Interestingly, I was the last to be told about this joyous event by a margin of several months, apparently because Tony's reading of my blog seems to be the same thing in his mind as us conversing in a two-way dialogue. He knows what I'm up to so logically the reverse must be true, which finally explains why he never calls...*sniff*. awww

Tony WAS very cute about it though, despite me poking him verbally for signs of Dad-Shock. His first question to me, amusing in its naked desperation, was "Can you change nappies?!". Thanks to my three younger brothers, and my mother's odd predilection for adopting pregnant teenage women, I am an old hand at nappy-changing and thus responded firmly and as comfortingly as I could in the affirmative, which seemed to relax him suitably. How lovely a thing it is to see the future, and to know that yellow-and-blue baby poo is waiting for me within it.

But let not my blatant irreverence cloud the sparkling wonder of this glorious affirmation of life, no! I, for one, welcome this new addition to Humanity's genetic pool, and will be checking for satanic numerals on the child's humourously large cranium as soon as it emerges into the gray light of our fragile little world. Hmm, come to think of it, I wonder if they'll be visible in the scan...


* * * * * * * *
1Babies have a habit of doing this, and not just to their parents. My very first interaction with my colleagues this morning was Elaine frantically beckoning me over to her desk, NOT to debrief me on my fabulous week away but to beg £5 off me to celebrate the birth of another sprog little miracle fathered by one of our database guys. Bloomin' cheek. When baby Emilia turns 16 and enters a bar for the first time I'm going to be there waiting for her to reciprocate with a nice cool pint. Oh yes, we Scots have long memories when it comes to money...
2Gender TBA

Vin Rouge, sil vous plait?

So this is...almost...it. So close now, so very very close...

In 5893* seconds I depart my place of work, turn left leaving the building, walk through the mulit-storey car park to the concourse and into the train station to await the train that will take me to Edinburgh where I will catch the flight that will magically transport me...to Paris.

It's been a long time coming, and I'm not talking about the enormous amount of work I've had to do this week to get ready for it (although I will - at length - if anyone is interested). No, it's been on my mental To Do list for at least three years now; always a 'nice idea', never a reality. But thanks to the pushing and prodding of people closest to me, Debbie and others, I got off my large buttocks and organised it. And now it's happening.

It feels almost like a dream. A proper dream, of the kind you have during sleep, rather than one of those ultra-important goals people are supposed to chase in their lives, although I suppose it's become one of those too in recent months. To be doing this at all feels so completely unreal, as if it was never meant to happen to me. 33 years living comfortably within the confines of [relatively] small geographical areas and suddenly I'm about to smash through the boundaries and step into another land, another freakin' culture. How awesome is that? :D

It's overwhelming. I've already admitted to a few doses of panic, and these only intensified as the the time drew nearer and nearer and details still needed to be finalised. So much to do, so little time to do it. But hey, it's done, or as near-as-dammit. Only an hour now to go (which I'm obviously using to write this, may the Gods of Commerce forgive me). 61 minutes. 60...

I just want to give a last big Thank You to everyone who helped over the last two weeks. Anyone who gave me an idea, gave the gift of their experiences, loaned me odds and ends, or even just listened to me bitch about work and/or the things I still needed to organise - THANK YOU (A huge shout has to go out to Debbie, without whom this trip would probably never have materialised. Love you, babe). I realise I've been a pain in the butt, hopefully you'll be just as patient when I return laden with hours of holiday photographs that you MUST SEE. And for anyone who still reads this overly-indulgent personal tripe known colloquially as my 'blog', I'll have plenty to talk about and show you, too.

I'll be back Thursday-ish. Au revoiur, 'til we meet again...wine

Preparation for Paris

My first trip abroad approaches, excitement and apprehension furiously bitch-slapping each other in the war to be my strongest emotion:

So exciting - squeee!!!
vs
So much planning to do - aiiieee!!!
FIGHT!!!

I’ve only just made the arrangements for getting myself to Edinburgh and back, eschewing my usual dirt-cheap Megabus for the comfort, speed and convenience of an Open Return rail ticket; I was stressing a little about the plane being delayed and me then missing the bus and having to book another ticket at great expense, and the timing of it all...so spending that little bit more has neatly sidestepped my prospective descent into gibbering insanity.

The nice thing about travelling by rail is that it lets me spend a few hours in Edinburgh with my brother, Rory, who is graciously lending me his spare room overnight before my flight first thing on Saturday morning. I figure the best way to say thanks is beer and food in charming surroundings – ain’t I cute? :wink:

Now, to the packing! So many fiddly little details to consider: camera and mobile phone need to be in full working order and able to charge in France – the cam needs a new battery, I think, in order to cope with the five million photgraphs demanded by a trip to Paris, while my chargers will need an adaptor for the alien 2-pin sockets they have on the continent. What clothes am I going to wear? My god, how much of it still needs ironed?? What liquids can I pack? (Hey, what about my contact lens solution?) What size of bag is suitable for hand luggage on the plane? How exactly does check-in work for international flights? Where do I get Euros from, and how much will I need to buy for five days? Will I need to clear some room on my visa for emergencies while I'm out there? Oh, And French! How about buying a small guidebook of handy phrases so I can avoid making a complete fool of myself shouting slowly at people in English? Do I have time to do a little study this week?

There’s a lot to do! :insane:

The deadline is 2.30pm Friday. That’s the point of no return when I’m officially On Holiday and unable to change anything (much). I need to be ready. READY, dagnabbit!

Squeeee!! Aiieee!! Squeeee!! (etc...)

Soiree Internationale

,

As one ages, one's tolerance for the finer things in life undergoes a sad decline. It's a sobering Fact of Life that us thirty-somethings do not have the same energy or stamina of our twenty-something peers. Nights out on the town are more of a challenge than in days of yore; we tire faster and take longer to recover afterwards, a slightly depressing reminder of our fading mortality (for the deeper thinkers out there, the rest of you just carry on staring at the shiny things).

So it's always nice when a night slips through that bucks the trend.

My good friend Deborah enjoyed her 26th birthday last week but failed to celebrate it in any significant way. So last night, her friend, colleague and fully-paid-up Frenchman, Alain, held a soiree back at his rather impressive batchelor pad and shoe-horned her belated celebration into the proceedings, cake and all. On the guest list were a random and eclectic collection of Aberdeen University's continental contingent; two beautiful French ladies: two lively German girls: one larger-than-life German male: one Scots student of Herring Penises and her Brussels-born fiance: one unlawfully* handsome and charming male of indeterminate origin and staggering linguistic capability...and yours truly. :cool:

I arrived late to the party - not fashionably (Fashion and I ceased communicating years ago), just rather later than intended due to my getting my own close friend and colleague, Suzanne, curiously more inebriated than I'd ever seen her. Suzanne had bravely accepted my offer to keep me company in town while I killed an hour or two waiting for the party to start, but her empty stomach was not best prepared for a full bottle of red wine flowing smoothly over her deliriously happy taste buds. wine

Once again my reputation as a Corrupter of Innocents (:devil:) had emerged from the abyssal darknesses of my character, but I was happy to learn later that she arrived home safe and well...and had promptly fallen in her bath (as relayed to me via the medium of text at ohmygodgobacktosleep O'clock this morning).

Moving on, with much-needed rapidity...:whistle:

I arrived in deepest, darkest Tillydrone - one of Aberdeen's wilder, less-civilised suburbs - by the good graces of one of our fair city's genial taxi-herders, the bus services looking less than convenient at only 8pm. Alain's place was a mere hop, skip and a jump from where I was dropped off, sparing me the potential nightmare of hunting, alone, in such a notorious neighbourhood. People have died for less.

No, seriously.

As to the party itself, what can be said that won't have been said about every other party in existence? We drank, we ate, we laughed, we mocked, we danced, the girls straightened Alain's unruly-but-rogueish blonde hair...


Allo. Je m'appelle Alain, and I love ze UK ladeez...call moi?
until, as individuals, we felt we could do no more and headed home to our nice, warm beds. I heard the call around 2am, and walked home - for my own home was a mere fifteen minutes away - in the driving, billowing snow:


Peaceful, tranquil, not as cold as it looked...
I'm sorry, didn't I mention that? Yes, November 21st saw the first strains of winter beginning to arrive in North East Scotland as Aberdeen was blanketed by a carpet of crisp snowfall which affected us not a jot, contrasted amusingly with our foppish English counterparts for whom a few flakes scattered here and there heralds the grinding, panicked halt of civilisation itself. :rolleyes:

A Good Night, then. One that amused me, entertained me, and re-affirmed my ability to drink quantities of alcohol serious enough to damage younger friends, while remaining personable and intelligent company. Here's to growing old gracefully. :cheers:

* * * * * * * * *
*The Laws of Ego generally require that members of my gender better-looking and more socially-adept than I are killed on sight. Somehow this one was permitted to live leading me to suspect I may be mellowing in my old age...Bah! :irked:

Robotic Life!

I'm Going to Paris!

I've been talking about it for ages but it has finally finally become a reality...for my first ever trip abroad I'm going to Paris!

:D flirt :hat: :drunk: :cheers: :jester: :sing: wine :lol:
I got my passport two weeks ago and just needed to find a suitable time to go, preferably when my old friend Ben would be around to show me the sights. What's that? Last weekend of November, you say? That'll do nicely. :yes:

I fly out with Easyjet on Sat 29th and arrive back in Edinburgh on Wed 3rd, just in time for a few days relaxation at home before trooping back to work the following Monday. This gives me nearly five days in Paris (four nights) to hang out with my old flatmate and explore. In preparation, I'm even going to dig out my old high school textbooks and brush up on my incredibly rusty French language skills; Ben's girlfriend is a native Frenchwoman who teaches French to English-speakers for a living - obviously some effort will be required if I don't want to make a total idiot of myself!

This is going to be magnifique!!! :headbang:

Thx, Vgn!

An indication of how much I use my mobile phone: the £20 call credit I got with the phone on the 26th August has only just run out today...9 weeks and 4 days later.

This cheapness pleases my thrifty soul. As does Virgin texting me to say I now have Free texts [to all UK networks] all weekend thanks to my top-up! Hurrah! :D

President Obama

So that's it. It's finally over. Only the so-called 'Honeymoon period' to endure now before the world can sleep soundly without millions of Americans obsessing over the names 'McCain', 'Palin', 'Paul', 'Biden'...although I suspect there will be some adoration forthcoming for the name 'Obama' for some time to come. :rolleyes:

My sincerest congratulations, President Obama. Now please don't screw the world up any more than your Republican counterparts have done over the last eight horrible years.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy to see Obama in the top job. I'm also ECSTATIC to see his predecessor leave (I can't even bring myself to type his name). But I'm old enough and savvy enough not to get swept along in the tide of hyperbole and rhetoric spewing froth from Obama supporters in veritable torrents. He's decidely NOT the second coming, folks. And just because he's ticking demographic boxes that presidents don't usually tick DOESN'T mean he's not a politician at the core. As tonight's timely Guy Fawkes celebration reminds us, politicians are most definitely not to be trusted:

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder, treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.


Or as popular wisdom has it - Guy Fawkes was the only person who went into Government knowing what he was doing. (I'm trying not to see Obama's ascension on this date as some kind of omen...:right:)

Personally, I believe that the distinction between Republican and Democrat is only a few atoms thick, and all too easily breached by the application of large sums of money (Google the terms 'Republicrat' or 'Demolican' to find others of a similar opinion). Obama, therefore, may only represent a different colour of collar on the same ruling-class dog we all know and despise. Cynicism aside, he must be applauded for his commendably honourable campaign, in stark contrast to McCain and even his Democratic (and I use the word here loosely) opponent Hilary Clinton, who both apparently, and as it turns out erroneously, believed that treating Truth as a dangerous abstraction was the path to power. In my opinion Obama has it all to prove to live up to even a fraction of his much-touted, and admittedly encouraging, potential. But hey, at least he's able to say the word 'Nuclear' properly. We're already better off than we were yesterday. :up:

Time, as always, will tell. :wait: