… And The Living Is Easy
Posted: Mon 27 March, 2006 Filed under: D4D™, Thoughts, Weirdness Leave a comment »Sorry about the title, I just couldn’t resist.
Anyway, yesterday the clocks went forward, so now apparently it’s summer. Or at least Spring. Or something where the clocks have gone forward an hour anyway.
And I have to say, I really do like systems where the clocks change automatically. Usually my alarm clock does it too, being one of the “radio-controlled” ones that links to some International Time Signal or other. Rugby, I think. But this time it didn’t which led to a bit of confusion. Maybe it’s time to get some more batteries for the thing. I’ve had it about seven years now, and only changed batteries three times, so yeah, maybe it’s getting to that time. Or – gasp! – perhaps I should buy a new one. Nah, see how this one does first.
Anyway, the mobile phone changed automatically, so did the landline, all the computers, Sky+, TiVo, etc. But there’s always a couple you forget, aren’t there? I didn’t remember the WordPress clock (for d4d™) and can’t be arsed to change it anyway, and then there’s things like wall-clock in the kitchen, and central-heating. In fairness, Herself has changed the ones that need changing manually – I completely forgot – but I still find it surprising just how many things we have in everyday life to tell us the time. It’s like an obsession!
Brain Music
Posted: Mon 27 March, 2006 Filed under: Weirdness 1 Comment »Sometimes I wish I understood how my brain works. Hell, most of the time I wish I understood it. (Of course, if the human brain were simple enough for us to understand, we’d be so simple we still couldn’t do it)
Every so often, my mind will just carry around a completely random tune. Sometimes I can figure out why it’s there (say, if I heard it the day before) and sometimes I can’t. Even more annoying is when that tune stays with me overnight, and infests dreams etc, and then I wake up with it in my head too.
Last night, for some reason unknown to science (or me) it was TaTu’s “Friend or Foe” single, which also has the added “benefit” of being utterly repetitive and catchy.
However, this morning my brain appears to have travelled back in time, and has been going mad for “California Über Alles“, originally by the Dead Kennedys.
And I have no idea why…
Sirens
Posted: Sat 25 March, 2006 Filed under: Weirdness 3 Comments »One thing that struck me as very odd when I came to Bracknell was the sirens. Every Monday at about 10am (but rarely on a completely regular/punctual basis – I suspect it has to be set off by hand, and is thus reliant on people not doing other stuff) the area is covered by a wailing two-note siren, eventually followed by a one-note ‘all clear’ siren. It took me ages to find out (OK, ask) what it was, and it turns out that because we’re close to Broadmoor (BBC Profile here and WikiPaedia here) and it’s a siren that gets sounded should anyone escape from there.
What surprises me more now about the entire thing is how little anyone reacts to it. Yes, OK, it’s a regular test signal, but for the most part people don’t seem to react to it at all, not even looking round to see what the hell it is, or anything. To me it always sounds like the cliched “Three Minute Warning” siren, so you know, if I heard it and didn’t know what it was, I’d at least ask, or try to find out where it was coming from. (Oh yeah, I did, didn’t I?)
Maybe it’s yet another instance of “it won’t happen to me” or “it’s not happening” syndrome. I don’t know.
Short-Term Memory…. Um?
Posted: Wed 22 March, 2006 Filed under: Thoughts, Weirdness Leave a comment »On occasion, I’m beginning to worry about my short-term memory.
A few times now I’ve been looking at a webpage, and thinking “Oh yeah, I need to go there, haven’t looked at that in a while”, I open a new tab in the web browser, and then *blank* can I remember what I was just thinking? Can I hell.
I’m sure there was something else I was going to say here…. *grin*
Asking For It
Posted: Tue 21 March, 2006 Filed under: Cynicism, Security, Thinking About..., Weirdness 1 Comment »In today’s “local” news on the BBC, it appears that police are warning drivers not to leave sat-nav units in their cars when unattended. To me, this really isn’t rocket science. Apparently to a lot of people it is.
When I walk anywhere, I tend to notice what’s in cars. I don’t know why – I guess I’m just nosy, really – but I do pay attention. And it’s quite amazing the number of people who do leave expensive stuff out on view when they’ve parked up. Now yes, maybe it is “only for a couple of minutes” – although a lot are at least overnight – but still, you’ve got to be pretty bloody dumb to leave the sat-nav in it’s cradle, with only a window to “protect” it. Same applies for the people who strong leave their phones in their cars, and even their wallets.
All in all, the “don’t leave valuables in the car” message has now been circulating for at least a decade, if not two. As we carry more and more valuable stuff around with us, it would seem sensible to be more aware, but instead people seem to still make use of the “It’ll never happen to me” mentality that drives me utterly bananas.
So far as I’m concerned, if you leave valuable stuff like sat-nav, mobiles, money, cameras etc. visible in the car – and a lot of people do – then you should be prepared to lose it. And of course if you’ve been a numpty and left it there visible, the insurance won’t pay out for it either – in fact, it’s like a tax for idiots. Works for me…
Reversal of Fortune
Posted: Mon 20 March, 2006 Filed under: Thoughts, Weirdness 2 Comments »OK, picture this scenario…
You’re driving in a carpark, and have just gone over a (slightly) raised walkway when you realise there’s a parking space behind you (back over that walkway). Do you…
- Ignore it, drive forwards, and park in the free spot that’s about three car-lengths in front of you (although in fairness you haven’t spotted this one yet, as you’re so focussed on the one behind you)
- Check the mirror, and drive backwards slowly, checking for pedestrians on the walkway or
- Slam the car into reverse, and go backwards as fast as possible without checking for anything at all, and not even looking in the mirror
Knobby today, of course, did c) . So I slapped the back of his car with my hand, to let him know I was there, and not quite prepared to be run over. The dumb fuckwad hadn’t even seen me.
Mind you, the look of shock on his face when he realised was really quite amusing…
Increasing Weirdity
Posted: Thu 16 March, 2006 Filed under: Cynicism, Weirdness 8 Comments »Sometimes I get spam mails that are just too weird for words. In this case I can’t even see what the catch is – I must be missing something…
Dear Sir/Madam
My name is Mrs. Jenny Brooks, I am a dying woman who have decided to donate what I have to you/ church. I am 59 years old and I was diagnosed for cancer for about 2 years ago, immediately after the death of my husband, who has left me everything he worked for.I have been touched by God to donate from what I have inherited from my late husband to you for the good work of God, rather than allow my relatives to use my husband hard earned funds ungodly. Please pray that the good Lord forgive me my sins. I have asked God to forgive me and I believe he has because He is a merciful God. I will be going in for an operation in less than one hour.
I decided to WILL/donate the sum of $2,500,000 (two million five hundred thousand dollars) to you for the good work of the lord, and also to help the motherless and less privilege and also for the assistance of the widows.
At the moment I cannot take any telephone calls right now due to the fact that my relatives are around me and my health status. I have adjusted my WILL and my lawyer is aware I have changed my will you and he will arrange the transfer of the funds from my account to you.
I wish you all the best and may the good Lord bless you abundantly, and please use the funds well and always extend the good work to others. Contact my lawyer (Barrister Parker Brown) with this specified email: [dodgy@email.com] and tell him that I have WILLED ($2,500,000.00) to you and I have also notified him that I am WILLING that amount to you for a specific and good work. I know I don?t know you but I have been directed to do this. Thanks and God bless.
NB: I will appreciate your utmost confidentiality in this matter until the task is accomplished as I don’t want anything that will jeopardize my last wish. And Also I will be contacting with you by email as I don’t want my relation or anybody to know because they are always around me.
Regards,
Jenny Brooks (Mrs)
Now, isn’t that just amazingly bizarre?