Well, 2006 is officially complete.  It was a big, big year for me and my fiance, in more ways than one.

 

The first was the house.  We got the keys in Decemeber 2005, but we got some work done and finally moved in March of 2006.  We have been doing bits and pieces about the place throughout the year, but even a year later it's not totally home, but over the next 3 months we'll be working hard to totally finish the bathroom, kitchen, living room and office and then I think we'll definately have a house we can call a home.

 

Married.  It was due to happen.  Not simply because I proposed at one time, but because the date was set and thevenues booked.  I have never heard the same question asked so much in so little time, mostly when people were filtering into the church I was yarning with them, but no, I was not nervous.  Well, only a little but truth be told, I couldn't see the point in getting nervous as I knew the day would go fine.  The ceremony went grand not one hitch, the bride was late as expected and everything ran smoothly.  The meal was excellent, the Clandeboye Lodge certainly know how to put on a spread.  I didn't hear one bad word about the food or the service the newly married couple, or all the guests received.  The evening do/disco was excellent.  People filtered off into their own wee groups and chatted, but overall everyone talked and laughed (and some cried more than others) and chilled for the whole night.  No trouble and no hassle.  Excellent.

I do have to add though, people had doubts about my best man, Johnny, but why?  I think he proved everyone wrong on that day with an excellent speech and general goings on throughout the day.  Sickens you all to hear it, doesn't it!  LOL.

 

Christmas.  First one away from home.  Nothing short of 1st class.  The Wii I knew I was getting as I requested it, but the DS was a bonus!  Plus Charlene, the ham was bloody excellent!

Well I have been talking about it for sometime, but I think I'm decided that I want to emigrate to pastures new.  I'll not make any rash decisions, but I am fed up with the way this country is being run and feel that a new start somewhere might be the right thing to do.  Charlene and I have talked about it on and off and I have always said that I would like to go away to work abroad and live, so I am seriously going to look into the possibility of doing that.

 

It would be annoying having to start from scratch all over again, but it's a challenge that I would relish and enjoy.  Family would be the one thing that would be hard to leave behind, and would actually miss us if we both left, but that's one of those things that comes with the decision to go.

 

We just don't know what could happen, but all I know is that my love for this place has died.

You know what, I'm fed up with all this LAN crap.  We should all just arrange a day and all play online from our houses.  Then after countless hours playing online just go to the bar and have a few drinks.

 

I'm now getting to the point where I am going to put a gun to my head and pull the trigger simply because people are disagreeing with me so much and making me feel like what I said was a waste of space/time with the stupid trufax and yeoooooooooooooo comments.  And now the fact that there only seems to be one game ever coded in the world I may as well just throw my PC in front of a train as I'm never going to be allowed to enjoy any other game with people who I thought were my friends.

 

I've got to the point now where people aren't going to ask me "is everything okay", because I'll not get that I'll just get some quip thrown back at me ranging from "yeoooooooooooooo" to "rageburgers" or just told to shut up and and fuck off and told not to be a hypocrite.  Well you know what, I just don't want to play PC games anymore as it turns us all into completely different people.  I just go mental when I die, people get louder and more annoying, others just sulk in the corner when they don't get their own way and to be honest it's really getting to the point where I just don't want to go to the LAN's, ever.  Also coupled with the fact that I am being so paranoid I can see someone on here turning round and saying that the reason the LAN at Nik's was so good was because I wasn't there, so guess how that makes me feel.

 

The best nights I have had out with everyone (Ali, Scott, Nik, Jonny, Alex, Tony, Michael, Erinn and everyone who was there) was my stag do[s] and the evening do at the wedding.  There was no games, just beer.  There was no playing to win, just laughs.  Why can't we just go out every couple of months for a piss up instead?

Got to do the quickest personality test ever.  This was the result:

 

***Your Personality Profile***

You are dependable, popular, and observant.
Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness.
In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do.

You are unique, creative, and expressive.
You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while.
And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!

The World's Shortest Personality Test
http://www.blogthings.com/worldsshortestpersonalitytest/

 

Nearly perfect!  lol

 

::EDIT:: There's more, and this one is bang on!

 

***You Have a Melancholic Temperament***

Introspective and reflective, you think about everything and anything.
You are a soft-hearted daydreamer. You long for your ideal life.
You love silence and solitude. Everyday life is usually too chaotic for you.

Given enough time alone, it's easy for you to find inner peace.
You tend to be spiritual, having found your own meaning of life.
Wise and patient, you can help people through difficult times.

At your worst, you brood and sulk. Your negative thoughts can trap you.
You are reserved and withdrawn. This makes it hard to connect to others.
You tend to over think small things, making decisions difficult.

What Temperment Are You?
http://www.blogthings.com/whattempermentareyouquiz/

 

Last one.....

 

***You Are 32% Evil***

A bit of evil lurks in your heart, but you hide it well.
In some ways, you are the most dangerous kind of evil.

How Evil Are You?
http://www.blogthings.com/howevilareyouquiz/

Yo,

 

I know Alex is the man for this one, but anyone else that can offer suggestions I would be very grateful.

I need to get Broadband sorted for the house.  I want to get a good provider that is about £20 a month that is uncapped.  Any ideas?  I can only have up to 1Meg, but with the latest BT upgrades going on all over the UK, I might be able to get more soon.  Personally I don't care if I can only get 1Meg, that'll do for me.

 

Cheers.

Okay, I really want to get a hold of a Mega CD!!!!!  Does anyone know where I can get one?  I know that Gareth said he had one and I could have it, but that was like 5 years ago and I think we forgot to do anything about it.  Please help me with this, I want one so badly now.

Ali, can your brother help me with this one, I know he's big into retro consoles at times, would he be able to get a hold of one?

Hi everyone who actually cares, I need your help.

 

I am doing a website in work at the moment, and I need to get a little feedback on the design I have come up with so far.  Go to http://www.niamb.co.uk to see the existing site; it's not pretty.  I am working on a different design, with a first draft design online at present at http://www.niamb.co.uk/alpha/home.htm.  It should now be compatible with all browsers out there, even IE7's different beta versions (RE Alex, I got that sorted between the browsers formatting and compatibility).

 

Just general comments about what is good, what could be improved, but is nice and what is so poor it should be removed/changed etc.

 

Thanks.

Okay, this is a little message to anyone who bought both myself and Charlene an engagement present.

 

THANK YOU ALL!

 

As we are starting to get sorted with the house and getting moved in, today I decided to hunt out the engagement presents to get them brought round to the house.  There is so much that we can now use in the kitchen and around the house.  Thank you to everyone who bought us the Pizza cutting kits (2 the same), picture frame, duvet set & pillows, candle holders, set of glasses, bottle of champagne, set of pots and pans and everything else that I can't see and can't remember.

 

FYI too, I can remember who bought us what, but I don't want to list any names and what they bought in case I do forget someone and then they get offended.  So, to anyone who knows they bought us something, I am very grateful.  Charlene is also very grateful.  And eveything will get a good, safe and careful home.

 

Thank you all again!

YES!  I finally got the 2 bedrooms sorted with the carpet.  It looks well.  Just don't go spreading it about that I can lay carpet.

 

Going this weekend to get the wood for the bathroom floor and cardboard to make the templates for the tiles.  I need to get the wood so that the floor has a level playing field, so to speak.  It just means that the tiles will all be level when they are put down.  Oh yeah, have to buy spacers too!

 

Pics to follow!

Okay, I am getting annoyed by all the hassle of the AWP talk.  People who read the comments on Ali's space don't seem to get that I just don't like the AWP.  The reason being i that people just use it and it only, then the game just gets boring and frustrating for the fact that I run round a corner and get picked off from 3/4 the distance across the map.  And this is after I have just managed to buy a decent gun and been running about the map for all of 10 seconds.

 

It's only a friendly LAN, yeah it is, I am agreeing with you (Jonny), but I just don't want AWPing, that's all.  I am not trying to be selfish and to make the game all what I want it to be (Alex), it makes me sad that people think that.  I am trying to work out my agression issues, which I have done really well with (did I lose it at the last PES5 night; no).  But Jonny and Will quoting numbers (the buying menu stuff), saying that it's only friendly and Alex saying I am being selfish is starting to upset and hurt, not annoy and send me into a rage.

 

Look, if I have annoyed people with this blog, I am sorry.  I don't mean to, but you won't leave me alone, making fun of me just becuse I don't like one gun.  You would think by now everyone would know it's the only thing I don't want to see when I play CS.  Jesus, I am even willing to tollerate the auto over the AWP, as I think the auto is funny.

 

Please, please don't AWP, that's all I want from the next LAN.  I don't care if people ignore me and I don't get one kill to my name, I just don't want AWPing.  Please.

Okay, just a note, I edited the Pro Evo Night entry asking about a white sheet.  If you look there, you'll see what I mean.

 

But back to the task at hand, getting the house decorated so that I can go to the next AliLAN!  So far so good though.  I have just experienced my first carpet laying, all by myself!  It was tough, and at one point I thought I had totally screwed up when I cut the carpet, thinking it was too short, but it worked out grand.  I could have done a better job, but for my first ever attempt, it's pretty damn good.  It's flat with no ripples in it, so that to me says it's a good job.

 

That just leaves the back bedroom to carpet and the bathroom floor to tile.  The tiles I am getting on Saturday at about 12.  I am going to have to get more gripper rods for the carpet in the back room, but I have more than enough underlay to do me.  So, Saturday is going to be another busy day, but the fruits of my labour will be well worth the effort.

 

Pics of the front bedroom to follow.

Okay, so the PES5 Night has been arranged for Friday the 3rd of March.  That's this Friday.

 

Now, I have a thought, I was going to bring a TV, but I was thinking, how about getting the final played on a big screen?  Like a blank wall?  How about getting a projector on the go?  Ali, you got room in your house?  Oh, and a blank wall?  Or at least a wall big enough to display a screen of maybe 5ft in height?

 

That would be so pro!

 

::EDIT::  How about a white sheet?  If you have one of those we should be able to get it positioned and setup in the living room.  It would be a great screen to watch the thing on.  The projector isn't small though, but I'll be bringing it home on Friday so I will, and I'll get round and get it set up as early as possible.  BTW, Johnny isn't going, Johnny Kirk Johnny I mean.

Well well well, wasn't it an interesting few games on Tuesday and Wednesday.

 

Let's start with the Liverpool game, they were away to Benfica.  Okay, nothing really to say about this, Benfica won 1-0, which isn't a bad result, but Liverpool HAVE to put their chances away at home, and unfortunately they didn't look like doing it on Tuesday in Lisbon.  Cisse, Morientes and Fowler are all world class players, so why do they fund it so difficult to put the ball in the back of the net?  Good players before they move to Liverpool, crap once they get there (Morientes and Cisse)!  That said though, Liverpool will win at Anfield and progress to the next stage.  Juventus, Chelsea and AC Milan were all favourites going into the competition last season and all fell against Benitez and his Liverpool team.

Arsenal, lets face it, were fantastic.  For a team that has 9 first team players out injured, most of them defenders too, they didn't show it on the pitch.  Okay, Real Madrid were awful, truely terrible, but you gotta wonder are they going to be able to up their game for the return leg to Highbury?  Maybe not, coupled with the fact that their only good defender (Woodgate) is going to be out for 4 weeks with a hamstring injury.  I can't see any european silverware going back with Sir Beckham and co this year.

The Rangers v Villareal match was always going to turn heads, only for the fact that Rangers were going in as the total underdogs.  But for all that pressure on them, how did they start?  By conceding a penalty in the first 7 minutes!  It was the most obvious hand ball ever! lol.  But Rangers fought back, and their equaliser was pure quality.  First time hit, the bend on it was delightful; top corner!  Villareal then went ahead again with the most blatent offside, coming back onside and getting the ball I have ever seen.  It was very harsh on Rangers.  But if you thought that was harsh, the goal of the week was by Pena, who put the ball past his own keeper with a finish Best, Pele, Maradonna, Ronaldo, Owen, Shearer, Henry and Van Nistelrooy would be proud of.  At 2-2 the final whistle was blown.  Will Rangers progress?  Don't think so, but what a turn up for the books this would be!

Saved the best for last.  Chelsea v Barcelona.  Lets get right to it, the sending off of Del Horno.  Should he have been sent off, no.  Should Messi have been sent off?  Again no.  Should both players have been booked for being too scared to go for the ball?  Yes.  Both players backed out of the tackle and subsequently took each other out!  ROFL.  Okay, 10 men against 11 and what happens?  Chelsea force an own goal from Motta.  Donkey!  Next time communication between you and your goal keeper might be better for the team!  Then at the other end, Terry scored and own goal. but his was unlucky more than anything, the ball could have flicked off his head anywhere, just unfortunate it went into the back of his own net.  Then Eto'o gets the winner 10 mins from time.  Now the problem with this match was, the referee was so biased towards Barcelona.  He hardly gave Chelsea an inch to work with.  Olegeur or whatever his name is, fouled Robben off the ball 3 times, 2 of which were clearly bookable offenses!  Sent off, hell no, cos he plays for Barcelona!  But this is the thing, it's 2-1 to Barcelona, 2 away goals, for to force extra time Chelsea need to have the 90 minute mark whistle blow at 2-1 in the Nou Camp.  Will the match go to extra time?  No.  Do I think Chelsea will progress?  Yes.  I don't rate Barcelona, I think hard working players like Lampard and Gerrard lose out to showboating players like Ronaldinho in the world players of the year awards.  Chelsea went into the second leg with the same task, 2-1 down (okay they had one away goal to work with) and showed great character to win the game 4-2 and progress 5-4 on aggregate.  I think once that whistle in Spain blows, Chelsea will be 3-0 up after the first 37 minutes.  Barcelona will get 2 back and then force Chelsea to go forward, where they will stun the Catalan's by scoring another 2 and kill the game off.

 

And I'm a Man Utd fan!  Go on all Premiership teams!

 

Oh yeah, Henry better at Barcelona becuase he would benefit playing beside players like Ronaldinho and Deco?  Fuck off.  He should move to Barcelona because he wants to win the Champions League.......... what fucking guarantee is there that Barcelona will win it again before Henry retires?  None, no matter how good they are/thinking they are!  Remember what happened last year?  Oh dear, you went out before the quarter finals!  Asses!

I have to say I have started the ball rolling on the amount of comments made on the blog regarding Pro Evo.  Thanks for all the words of support and some that were not!  I will try and calm down, but I can't promise I'll have moved mountains before the next time we all play.

 

Also, why the fuck are you all commenting on my rages, but not about my lovely bathroom suite?!?!  lol

Okay, I feel that I have to post this as people have been talking about me behind my back.

 

The long and the short of it is, I am terribly competitive when it comes to playing PES games.  I hate 5 with a passion though, as I feel it does absolutley nothing I want it to do.  I have been posting feverishly about this in a couple of gaming forums I frequent and I know I am not the only one in thinking that the game is very, very "buggy".

That said, I feel I should be better than I am.  How many different formats do I play the game on?  3, the PC, PS2 and Xbox.  I am bale to play both the PC and PS2 versions more though as I own both.  Here lies the problem though.  No matter how much I play the game, when I get together with people to have a mini tournament, I always lose.  Always.  Now, I play the game at least 12 hours of my non working, non sleeping week, so I feel that I am well practiced in the game.  Now according to the people I play with Ali, Ben, etc most of them only play the game at the LANs or these mini tournaments.  Personally I think that is pure crap.

Gareth owns the game, it must be the only game he plays, as he's not bad.  He shows good movement on the ball and can take a shot when/if required.

Ali, has to play it more often than he says he does cos anyone who plays 5 every few weeks would not be able to show the amount of skill he does in running with the ball and making the passing moves he does.

Scott, was apparantly playing it over the space of a week, and subsequently got better at it, but he still lost miserabley.

Ben, I believe him when he says he doesn't play it much, as he's good, but ultimately gets the lucky goal he needs to progress.

Marty works in a fucking Game store, if he says he doesn't play it often, he lies.

 

The only people I play with that I can truely say would be good at the game cos they play it a lot are Johnny, Terry, Davey & Gareth.  They live and breath this game, so if they are able to beat me with silky skills and quick feet, then that is because they have practiced getting these little skills just perfect so they can show off in this way.

 

I may be a bad loser and I may be bad tempered, but there is no game in the world that has frustrated me enough to want to volley my PC around the room.  Fact.  But the one thing that annoyed me the most, was that when I said that I wasn't happy playing the in the tournaments we hold, I basically got told I was being stupid/daft.  Okay, no one actually said it, but that's how it felt it was being applied.  I don't like playing the game this way because I get easliy frustrated, then people will just make fun of me behind my back and say I start fights.  You can blame your brother for that bombshell Ali.  If you say that about me, what else do you all say?!  I just explained that if we were to play 2v2 for fun, I would be fine.  I would.  Please keep that in mind.

 

At the moment, I am just more hurt that you talked about me after being at Ben's house a couple of Friday nights past there.  I just need to talk about it here to vent my anger/frustration/hurt.  Thanks for listening.

Hi,

 

Got a load done in the house at the weekend.  The situation with the bathroom is getting better.  As you should be able to see from the pictures that are up, the bathroom started as a peach coloured mess.  The walls were done with wood panelling and that prickly plaster stuff.  Well, the walls were stripped of that plaster to take us down to the bar walls.  Then the wood panelling was removed.  At the weekend, the bathroom suite was replaced.  We got rid of that peach crap and put in a white suite.  Very nice.

 

It's not done yet, obvisouly.  The next thing to do is get the head end of the bath filled in, there is a gap of about 5 inches between the end of the bath and the wall.  All normal though.  This weekend coming, the flooring is being purchased.  Getting it from a tiling place in Bangor, just off High street, Prospect Road actually.  You'll all know the one, if you live in Bangor that is.  But the tiles are very nice, nice natural slate/stone look to them.  I'll be posting more pictures to the Bathroom album once I get sorted with the tiles are they have been laid!

The answer is quote flatly, NO.  But then, can your boss be friends with you?  Again the answer is a flat NO.

 

Subsequently, can you be friends with anyone you work with?  The answer is YES, but with a couple of specifics to clarify.  Basically, you can be friends with people you work with if they are on the same employment level as you.  In other words, if you are someone's supervisor, NO.  If someone earns more money than you or you earn more money than them, NO.  Even if you are in totally different departments, buildings or even countries, if you work for the same organisation, the answer is simply NO.

Mixing work and personal life is the recipe for disaster.  Never do it unless you are 100% satisfied that you can recover from any potential disaster that may strike.  You need to be strong, mentally I mean, because if you are not, you're beat I'm afraid.

 

I am not strong, at least not anymore.  I have tried to be something I am not.  I can't even do the job I am in at the moment.  Ha, figures that I am a failure.

Ah, yet more decorating was done over the weekend and last night.

 

The back bedroom in the house is near perfect.  The walls just need a little touching up round the skirting boards and door frames.  The main bedroom is done, wall wise anyway.  I am going to see about putting a coat of paint on the door frames and skirting boards tonight.  Plus the ceiling needs done, but there is no hassle in getting it sorted either.  The front bedroom, my office, is a different story.  There is a definate need for more coats of paint on the walls.

The living room now need a gap in the floor filled.  I think it's just going to be floorboarded, but as a temporary measure there is a bit of wood over the gap.  The reason it's there is, behind the wall that used to be there the old brick fireplace had been taken away and as it was put in with the house there is now a hole in the floor basically.  Easily dealt with.  Also all the crap in the living room, such as wallpaper and screws and dust and wires have been cleared away and dumped.  The room has been vacuumed and it now looks quite respectable.

The only problem we found out, it that the heating is in and commissioned by the installer.  But there is no hot water upstairs in the bathroom, compared to the hot water flowing from the kitchen tap.  Great, lets see am I able to troubleshoot a plumbed in, gas heating system!  Not likely.  Oh, and the toilet has been installed, nice and white and new compared to the antique thing that was there before.  But there is a faulty ballcock in the cistern, therefore it won't flush!

 

Oh well, all fun and games then.

Well well well, a little bit more of a cheery blog entry this time.  I spent the day at the house decorating.  Painted a room and removed a false wall from the living room.

The living room now looks so big compared to before!  It's fucking great.  Also, had Andy the spark round looking at the electric in the place.  What should have been a half hours job turned into the whole day, and he'll be back tomorrow!  Gonna have to give him something tomorrow for all his efforts.

I'll get some pics of the living room taken tomorrow, just to let you see the mess the place is in.  I have a couple of pics I took with my mobile before we even bought the house, so I'll post them to show the state of the place before we started work today.

 

Balls, I don't have them on my hard drive at the moment.  They are on the laptop, so I'll get them transfered off tomorrow and post them onto this entry after.