Archives for December 2003


Friday, December 26, 2003

Work was not as bad as it could have been today we were the only shop to open at 9am and I did think it was going to turn into one of those days when we had to get a suite out of one of the storage containers and put it on the shop floor. I did manage to stay in the bedroom department most of the day but many of the people in the shop were just looking around and not buying.

One good thing were the ladies who were in the store, there were two that I liked the look of and both of these were completely different which makes it even harder to work out the “type” of girl I am attracted to in fact I don’t think anyone could like a certain type of person just because of one or two features! I know during school when everyone else was talking about the ‘blondes’ it was always the girls with the long dark hair which interested me but that sounds shallow to be attracted to someone because of there hair colour or style and it has never been like that with me there has always been something extra something hard to explain such as a twinkle in the eyes.

No Sins


Friday, December 26, 2003

Christmas is over for yet another year and I have to say I am so tired, it did not help that I stayed up until 4am on the internet yesterday and was woken up by one of my brothers at 5am asking if he was able to go downstairs and open up his presents, to which I said no!

I was a couple of hours later when I was awoken again and there was no getting away with it again as he had some how managed to wake my other brothers up and they were finally allowed downstairs just after 8am. As always they were like wild animals and within half an hour all there presents had been unwrapped and they were eager to return to their rooms with their various gifts. I decided to keep the presents I had for later that afternoon.

I got a digital camera for Christmas of my mother and as you can see I have already got it working, I don’t get dressed up like that for no particular reason and now that I have the camera I can really make headway with my photo CD idea.

Watched a load of DVD’s yesterday and I am glad that I did not spend a great deal of time online, from now until next week I am unsure how often I will get access because of work and I will only stay at my mothers for a few more days.

Not sure what work will bring today, I will have to get off to bed as it is going to be a long day and I only hope that everyone has had the chance to cool down over the Christmas break and be ready for the sale


000_0017 (25k image)
No Sins


Thursday, December 25, 2003

Just before midnight as I am writing this so by the time I have finished it will be Christmas Day, So Merry Christmas.

I got my base unit up to my mothers house and connected it to her monitor and for the past couple of hours I have been downloading all the latest updates from Microsoft for the computer and sent emails out to most of the people in my address book just to see if they are still about and much have already deleted ten addresses which were returned as undelivered. I hate doing this as a lot of the people I had to delete I would have classed as good friends at one point but I guess that is the problem with the internet and friends, so there is no point in being sentimental I have enough of a problem keeping in contact with people who write to me on a regular basis without having to worry about the ones I have not heard from since I left my mothers house over a year ago now. I have sent out these emails and hope to hear back from every one at the moment I have over 100 email addresses and must only contact a handful of those but with each passing hour as more failed emails messages arrive that number gets reduced.

It was yesterday now that I went up to Swansea to see Lord Of The Rings - Return Of The King and what a good film it was, I will not go into detail about the plot in case readers have not yet had the chance to see the film but I found the first film boring, the second film better and this last instalment the best, so good in fact that I think I will get the DVD of the first and second parts just to give them another chance as I saw the first film late at night and would have been over tired. I did not get the chance to look around Swansea to see if any of the sales had started on DVD’s but today was hectic as I went up to Llanelli first to do some last minute shopping in ASDA, well if I am honest it was to see if any of the people I gave cards to on Sunday had one in return for me, they did not and that does not mean I will leave them off my card list next year - I will just make sure I get my cards delivered sooner!

Talking about Christmas cards I think my final total was about 12 cards, there is still the chance that I will get some more after Christmas.

No Sins


Wednesday, December 24, 2003

xmas

Merry Christmas One and All

It was the night before Christmas and all about the house…

The kids were going nuts waiting for Santa Claws to call!

Christmas is finally here and this past year sure feels like it has flown by and no doubt next year will soon arrive and leave just as quickly. Today I am going to Swansea to see the Return Of The King I do feel that this is a bit of a waste of Christmas Eve as most of today I will be stuck in a cinema but I suppose that is better than being stuck in front of a computer in the library. Later I will take the base unit of my computer up to my mothers house and with any luck I will be online later tonight, there are many reason why I want to use my computer mainly it is to update essential files and also make sure that my address book is up to date.

Down in Pembroke Dock yesterday and boy did the women down there look good!
No Sins


Tuesday, December 23, 2003

Test the nation was on last night with questions all about the year 2003 and I could not resist taking the test and got 55 out of 70 which was pretty good and classed as brilliant and in the top 10% of the UK. I will be down in Pembroke Dock today visiting my grandparents and of course tomorrow I am going to Swansea to see the last of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.
I don’t think they are going to be delivering any post tomorrow so today looks likely to be the last opportunity to get any pre-Christmas cards after getting another one yesterday my total is at eleven but I have not had the chance to check the post at my mothers house yet, not that I am really expecting to get any more again I shall talk more about this over the next few days.

It does look like the shops in town are hoping to get as much money before the sales as possible as there does not seem to be a huge sale underway which is unusual as in previous years they have put the sales on just before Christmas which gives me an opportunity to check out the sales before Boxing Day when I will be working non stop for ten days.

The Mystery Movie game has been correctly guessed by Emily again and she really does know her movies as she has had quite a few correct guesses over the past few weeks.

No Sins


Monday, December 22, 2003

Complete idiots seem to be employed by the local authority to work in the library, there is one bloke who has always irritated me and today was no exception as he thinks he knows everything about computers and the Internet and throws around terms such as “I think it is going down” referring to the internet and how slow it has been. I have been here for over four hours now and the Internet has not gone down!

So what have I been doing online for the last four hours to be quite honest I have no idea I have been surfing the net and during that time I have also spoken to a few friends on Yahoo Messenger which they have installed on to some of the library computers. I spent most of this morning on the computers as well writing out my review of the last twelve months which I still have a little more to finish but I will get there and then ventured into town which was manic but loads of nice looking girls about.

No Sins


Sunday, December 21, 2003

Well Michelle won Pop Idol last night but one of the things I hate about the show is that they don’t say what percentage of the votes each contestant got so how well did Michelle win? Pete Waterman was not happy and I have heard reports that he did not stay after the result was announced but he made it no secret that he did not want Michelle to win.

I am off work now until Boxing Day and even after all the stresses and strain over the past couple of days at work we got the shop laid out as the area manager wanted and he did not insist on me putting out the remaining new beds which I had but he did reduce the clearance beds some more as well as other items in the store. The next few days are going to be a little hectic as I think I will go down to Pembroke Dock tomorrow to visit my Grandparents tomorrow and today I have been to Llanelli to ASDA to give Christmas cards out. I had cards from work and called up my mothers yesterday to collect my post and that has pushed up my “Card Total” to nine, so only a few more days before Christmas.

No Sins


Friday, December 19, 2003

I saw the last ever episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer last night, I know that the series finished ages ago but it has only been during the last few weeks that the BBC have been showing season seven. I have to admit that I have missed recent seasons and missed most of season seven; I would have missed the one last night if I had not recorded it but they are going to be showing the season again uncut in January so I will record it then.

Yesterday was not as bad as I thought it was going to be but it was no easy day as shortly after I walked through the door the manager told me that we had a lot to do and the only speed we would be working is fast, she then gave me a few things to do. It happens every year just before Christmas when the shop has to be ready for the Boxing Day sale and this is not helped by the fact that we are still waiting for a lot of the new ranges to turn up. To cut a long story down we managed to get through the day and last night was our Christmas dinner but Liz (manager) decided not to go and maybe that was for the best as she was so wound up. Today could be just as bad as the area manager is due in to check that everything is ready for the sale - I am a little concerned he may want things moved in the bedroom section, just have to wait and see.

Swansea was good on Wednesday but it did feel like a wasted day as I set off early and got back late after watching Master And Commander, I could have gone to see Lord Of The Rings - Return Of The King but for some reason we decided to wait and could not be bothered to get any food shopping, I will probably wait for Sunday when I go up to ASDA to give cards out to my friends who still work there. My Christmas card total has increased to five now as I got a card in the post on Wednesday and should get a few more from work today and tomorrow.

New Years is fast approaching and even if I don’t make resolutions I still like to set myself goals for the coming year so I have been thinking of what I will aim to do next year and also think about the goals I set this year and whether I have achieved them, I will be talking more about this when I do my Review of the Year which is coming soon.

Working late tonight so next update should be on Sunday and after that things get a little more uncertain as I will have to visit family at the start of next week, I am planning on taking my base unit up to my mothers house over Christmas so I can update things and will be sending out an email to everyone in my address book just to see which addresses are bouncing and can be deleted. From Boxing Day (26th December) onwards I very much doubt I will get to post again until at least the 12th January because of a combination of work hours and library opening hours but if I do get the chance I will post.

No Sins


Wednesday, December 17, 2003

As predicted not much time to post an entry today as I was on my way to Swansea before the library opened and I will not have a great deal of time to spend online at my mothers and tomorrow will most likely walk to work which will mean I will have to leave a little earlier so will get no access at the library. Walking into work as the staff Christmas outing is being held and I will not be able to drink if I take my car with me, so I can grab a lift with one of the other drivers. I say outing it is really just a dinner being held at a pub in the middle of nowhere and already Becky has said that she will not be going, she gives a different reason every time. At first it was having to drive down the country lanes, once she was told that she could get a lift the excuse changed - basically she does not want to go as Christine had suggested the venue.

It really does not feel like Christmas at the moment, I went out for a walk around town the other night to look at the Christmas lights and have to say I was pretty disappointed, especially as this year the organisers have spent so much getting an outside company to set up the lights. Don’t get me wrong the lights are good but the coverage is poor so hopefully next year they will get it right.

I did have to phone work to remind them to do something and was not happy with the response I got so more on that on Friday.
Expect me back on Friday.
No Sins


Tuesday, December 16, 2003

I got some of my presents wrapped up last night and also used that as an opportunity to sort out my room and finish off putting my DVD’s and CD’s back on there various stands. On Sunday when I got home the girl in the room next door had obviously run out of electric and it can’t have been a few minutes before I heard a knock on the door with two girls explaining about the loss of electric and asking if I had any spare candles, I have plenty in fact but offered an electric card which is worth a £1 and asked them if they had a pound to give me in exchange (I am not a charity, especially to people who keep me up with there constant noise) They had no money on them and told me that they would give it to me the next day, I told them to just put the money under the door.
A few minutes later I heard a bloke turn up and them talking about money needless to say when I woke up this morning there was no pound coin on the floor by my door and it was the same sight which greeted me when I got home from work. Annoyed, only slightly but I will not ask for the money as I should not have to instead I will remember as I know this is not the first time she has run out of electric and next time I will not even bother to open the door.

I mentioned yesterday that I have only had four Christmas cards so far well out of those my favourite so far must be from Marie and I suppose that is because she hand made it but the quality is so good at first I thought it was a bought card - I will scan it and display for you all to see.

Going to Swansea tomorrow so not sure if I will get the chance to post anything and Thursday will be the staff Christmas party (dinner)

No Sins


Monday, December 15, 2003

Yesterday was a very slow day at work and as I mentioned yesterday was Kelly’s last day and I have to admit that I did feel a tinge of sadness that she was leaving, this was not helped by the fact that she when she went out for dinner she brought back a box of chocolates for the staff – this was totally unexpected and I know the other members of staff were starting to feel a little guilty about not getting her anything for leaving or for her birthday which is in two weeks. It matters not what we did as it has now past and there is no way to turn the clock back I reminded the manager how angry she had been when she thought Kelly was pulling a fast one with her sickness over the summer. Kelly spent most of the day upstairs in the bedroom department I think she cleaned or at least she attempted to and I did notice other things that she had done and could find no fault.

I did look, convinced that she would leave some lasting reminder of her employment with us such as adding a false order on to the system or amending an order just to get her own back. All the things I could have asked her I decided to play it safe and ask her what she thought about the time she had spent with us, a question which she did not really answer! Yes I can admit that I fancy her and loath her just as much, I will talk more about this in the coming weeks.

My Christmas card collection is at a measly four cards with only eleven days before Christmas but I have never really had loads of cards even at school I can remember being one of the people with the fewest cards and used to hate both Christmas (where there was a post box and a daily delivery of cards to find that my desk was empty of cards) and Valentines day.
All my cards were sent out on Saturday so I can only hope that they reach their destination before the big day. Andrew knows why I leave posting my cards until the last minute and I do think there may be some truth in it, which I will go into more detail in the New Year.

It was good to talk briefly with Renee last night and I am only sorry that I did not get the chance to speak to Ashland hopefully I will catch up with both of you as well as my other friends over Christmas.

Congratulation to Emily for correctly guessing the Mystery Movie Game
No Sins


Sunday, December 14, 2003

The day has finally arrived and I think my entry tomorrow will have a lot more to say about Kelly’s last day. I have been trying to work out what I would say to her, do I ask her for the truth about her numerous sick days and in particularly about her pregnancies? Or do I keep quiet; I will let you know what happened tomorrow.

The final two contestants on Pop Idol are Mark and Michelle with Sam being voted off. I have to admit I really did expect the final to be between Sam and Michelle and I think the reaction from Mark proved that the fact he had gone through to the final was a surprise. I suppose the public voted and Sam was one of the contestants brought back into the contest by the judges using the “wildcard” which they introduced this year. So the two in the final are both contestants that originally won there heats.

I still have a feeling that Michelle will win.

I know in previous entries I have said that I was going to limit the amount of time I spent talking about work but over the last few days it has been very busy with a cabinet road show on Thursday evening which meant closing the shop early to travel up to Newport. A little annoyed as I had to drive and it was not the best road show I have ever been to but it did make me realise how much I have changed over the last few years - a couple of years ago and I would have just wondered around with the other members of staff from my store not really interacting with anyone else. Thursday without noticing it I was spending time talking to people from other stores and did see a young girl from another store who reminded me of myself a couple of years ago as she was very quiet and staying with her sister who also works for the company.

Yesterday I was told that the bedroom furniture which is at the front of the shop would have to be taken upstairs to the bedroom department and this annoyed me as it had to be taken back up and a home found for it in an already over crowded bedroom department. I think what made it worse was the fact that the store manager simply said that it had to go upstairs and it was my problem where it went. They were not going to mess up the floor plan for one bedroom range Again when things like this happen I do question what being “Bedroom Manager” actually means as I don’t manage anything and it is only my higher rate of pay which distinguishes me from a normal sales person. Take today for example the store manager tells me to stay downstairs as we are short staffed so I have to leave Kelly upstairs in the bedroom department, why Kelly could not stay downstairs and I work in “MY” department.

No Sins


Thursday, December 11, 2003

sonw (1k image)

That is why i don't spend loads of time on fancy layouts!!!
No Sins


Wednesday, December 10, 2003

Ask Me A Question?

Pretty cold day today and I was up early to get to the hairdressers before they got to busy and got my hair cut. I honestly can’t remember when I last got it cut and each time I finally do visit the hairdressers I vow to return in about a months time. Next stop was the post office where I sent off some Christmas cards, I know I am quickly running out of time for last posting overseas but I do want to include a little note at least with each card, I will just have to see how much I can get done but all the cards will get posted next Monday at the latest.

Big thanks go out to Karl and to Renay for leaving comments, they are always good to get as it lets me know that people are visiting the site.

I got another review completed by All She Said Reviews so a big thank you to them, you can see the review under #182 I will of course add it to the site section in the near future.

No Sins


Tuesday, December 09, 2003

Ask Me A Question?

I arrived in work yesterday to discover that Kelly had handed her notice in on Sunday, in fact it was when I went upstairs to my desk that I found a note that she had left me telling me that next Sunday would be her last day working, at this moment I was hit with a wave of two emotions firstly I felt smug that I had known this was her intention back in October when she went to working only on Sundays then I felt sorry that she was leaving – which beggars belief after what I have said about her on this site. I will see her on Sunday so it gives me a couple of days to decide what I am going to say to her.

When I left work yesterday I actually felt that I had achieved something, not that I really got a great deal done yesterday as I had to deal with a lot of fiddly things which were time consuming but at the end of the night the bedroom department looked tidy and as the store manager is off for the next few days I can move things around without having her question everything I do.

Okay, so I have spent sometime telling you all the boring things about my work life and I did say I was going to cut back on that. Last night I actually finished another letter so Christina keep an eye open for the postman/woman. Also started on my Christmas cards and will be sending a few emails out today to check on some addresses for a few people.

I actually got my first Christmas card yesterday so I finally got around to taking down the cards I had last year and fingers crossed I will get more cards this year compared to the amount I received last year.

Talking of Christmas I am hoping to take my computer up to my mothers over Christmas and us it to go online so that I can use the opportunity to clean up my email address book and get all the latest downloads, who knows I may even get to speak to a few friends over the festive season.

1 Sins


Monday, December 08, 2003

I did go shopping yesterday to Llanelli where I was looking for some new jeans, not a Christmas present but something for myself. I did however get something for my mother and for my younger brothers so I can see light at the end of the tunnel and I should be able to make a start on wrapping them this week but first I will need to get my Christmas cards written. I have been putting this off for weeks and if I don’t get them posted this week it is unlikely that the ones destined for Australia will arrive there in time, I have the stamps so there is no excuse.

I forgot to mention yesterday that the Record of the year content was held on Saturday night at Westlife won again with Mandy. I don’t mind the song, in fact I think it is pretty good but do find it rather annoying that a cover managed to get the title when there were other original songs nominated.

Last night I went out for a few drinks as one of my friends was back for the weekend, so it was good to catch up with his news and just have a quiet drink. I say quiet but I have been known to get a little vocal.

Song: It’s My Life By No Doubt
No Sins


Sunday, December 07, 2003

I actually found that article I was talking about on Friday about the number of friends we make in a lifetime so I should clear up a few points, it is the average Briton who makes 396 friends during a lifetime but lose 363 of them for various reasons, so I am still left wondering what a friend is? Is it someone whom you email every so often or is it something more?

It must be something about this time of year but things are getting more stressful with each passing day, maybe because this time of year is always so hectic with customers concerned that they will not get there goods in time for Christmas, most of the beds need to be sold off so it is left to me to pack them up and move them up and down the stairs so I think deep down it is the resentment building up inside me that I am doing all the donkey work while Kelly is able to come in on Sunday and have six hours of “easy” work with the opportunity to sell these clearance beds leaving me the job of packing them up during the week.

What is the point of being a manager if you have no one to manage!

Eighteen shopping days left before Christmas and I still have not bought all my presents so still got to get something for my younger brothers, step father and my mother plus I still have to wrap them all up.

It has been reported that Kylie Minogue has criticised pop stars for sexing up their images and videos and using this as a tool to sell albums. She does have a point as nearly every time you see a music video today there is a lot of flesh on display, admittedly it does seem to be the female artists and that does not really bothers me! Back to the subject of Kylie I could not help but laugh as the last few videos singles she has released have seen her with very few clothes on - the pot calling the kettle black or what?

On the subject of pop stars Chris was voted off Pop Idol last night which was no real surprise so with only three contestants left it is hard to say who will actually win, I have a feeling that it will be Michelle the last of the "Big Girls". Both the people I wanted to win have both been voted off and I have to admit that my reasons for wanting either Kirsty or Roxanne to win did not have much to do with there vocal talents.

1 Sins


Friday, December 05, 2003

Rather annoying yesterday morning as the internet was down at the library so I was not able to check my emails. Of course I should not complain as they don’t charge for the use of the computers and most days they have a few computers free - without them I would not be able to maintain this site.

There was an article in the paper a few days ago which said that in a lifetime the average person would have over 300 friends with less than 20 of them lasting and only a few being classed as best friends. I tend to agree with that, as it has been about four years since I have been online and in that time I have sprung up friendships with many people from all over, some of these friendships have never really evolved past a few emails but those that have survived the initial few weeks only to disappear at a later date do sadden me and maybe I do get a little too sentimental about such things.

No Sins


Wednesday, December 03, 2003

I took a walk late last night and was thinking amongst other things this web site and came to the conclusion that I write about nothing of interest - as it is always the same thing I talk about and that is work! Okay work does make up a substantial amount of my time but I promise I will try and write about other things which I find of interest.

Meanwhile talking of work yesterday would have been fine, except for the manager being in one of her funny moods and taking it out on everyone. I am guessing that the pub quiz has finished for this year, I don’t know for sure as I did not go to the pub again last night, this must be the third week running that I have not gone to the pub. The first week I had a good excuse and that is I wanted to get started on a letter which I have been promising a friend for ages but since then have not really done that much on a Tuesday evening.

I had a walk around town this morning as a few of those shops which seem to pop up just before Christmas appeared and most of the time they have nothing of any use but on the odd occasion you can find that something useful. On this occasion there was nothing that really grabbed me.

A visit to MVC to look at the Dvd’s on offer were tempting with so many new releases that I was spoilt for choice and once you add to that the 3 for £25 offer on slightly older releases I could have spend a fortune. I did however show a little restraint and left that shop. My bargain for the day however was the Bedknobs & Broomsticks Dvd for less than £6, which is a fantastic price for a Disney Dvd and a great film.

I suppose you would call today a traditional December day with the winter sun shining and the streets all dressed with there various lights and decorations, and a general ‘buzz’ with all the people doing there Christmas shopping – I was one of those people trying to get presents but not having much luck so I shall try and make a list this week as to shop without a list or some sort of idea of what you are looking for can quickly become very expensive. As I walking around town there were a lot of people sitting in doorways with handmade cards with the word “Homeless” on and I have to admit that I am not someone who walks through life with rose tinted glasses on but this was the first time I had noticed so many beggars on the streets of Carmarthen, they don’t seem to be around in the summer but then again maybe the police move them along so that visitors to the area don’t get to see them. I also noticed today the amount of young women that were pushing prams around the town, I am not suggesting that they are not old enough to have children but they do seem rather young to be tied down and that got me thinking about how many of them actually planned to get pregnant and how many of the fathers are still around as it does take two to tango!

I was reading an article in the paper the other day that rated both Holly Valance and Kylie Minogue to work out which one was better. They are both ex soap stars who have gone on to work in the music world and I think I would be unfair to judge them on this as one is relatively new to this so instead I will ask who is the more attractive? It will be interesting to see what you think so please leave a comment.
No Sins


Monday, December 01, 2003

Ask Me A Question?

A rather annoying day yesterday as it was so quiet in work, I had really hoped and expected to sell some of the clearance beds that I have. Selling these beds off display is needed to make room for the new stock but because of the way I have included the additional insurance into the costs of the beds I really want to make sure that it is me and only me who sells these particular beds as it will be me who has all to do all the work to pack them up, plus it will help boast my sales figures for the additional insurance. I have the rest of the week to try and make sure I get the beds sold and hope they have gone before next Sunday when Kelly will be in.

And also remember to try you luck at the Mystery Movie Game, do you know what movie this image is from?

No Sins