With Glowing Hearts We See Thee Rise

My three-day weekend has now become a one-day weekend. There was supposed to be no system availability on Saturday. I was supposed to have Monday off as Annual Leave. This is a travesty. I have become totally unable to turn down double-rate overtime. My God, what has happened to me?!! 

"In Becks We Believe".

We have however organised our next big night out. Having completely exhausted Pub Golf, I was entasked with thinking up a genius new idea for a night out. Something ground-breaking. Something Medway hadn't experienced before. 

Pub Snooker.

This is very similar to Pub Golf in that it is a pub crawl with a scorecard. 

At each pub one must consume two beverages: a red and then a colour. For example, a pint of snake bite for the red and then any other colour.

List of available drinks:

RED (1 point) - any alcoholic drink of your choice
YELLOW (2 points) - White wine, larger, cider, vodka red bull, vodka orange
GREEN (3 points)- Apple Sours, Vodka & lime,
BROWN (4 points)- Baileys, Ale, B52
BLUE (5 points) - Blue WKD
PINK (6 points) - Pink Champagne, Pink Rose, Fruli
BLACK (7 points) - Guinness, Black Sambuca

So I now have our next big night out planned for Shepp's 21st. I may make it my Stag night again. I've already had two stag nights. Leigh and I tend to agree at the start of the night who is the Stag and who is the best man, and we get everyone in on the act. We tell the bar staff it's my Stag Do so I get free drinks throughout the night, and we tell women it's my Stag Do because for some reason women want what they can't have and they always try it on with the Stag or his best man. 

Is this slightly pervy? Maybe. Does it work? You bet it does. Try it one night. Pretend it's your Stag Do or your Hen night and see how much more attention you get from the opposite sex. 

If only I had this man's charisma. It would be legen.... wait for it... dary!!

I want to see 'Limitless'. I'm behind in terms of films. Films I still need to watch:

Shawshank Redemption,

Fight Club,

Green Mile,

Donnie Darko,

Napoleon Dynamite,

Casablanca,

Toy Story 3.

But it's okay because I have watched Cinderella Story, Ella Enchanted, Just Like Heaven, Raise Your Voice and Lesbian Vampire Killers. 

Seriously, I should be shot. 

Is Casablanca worth watching now? I'm a sucker for a romantic film, but have I missed the boat on this one?

So there I am, again thinking about travelling, minding my own business. I'm thinking about Australia, and then America, and then I began looking at entry requirements for emigration to both of them. And then all of a sudden POW!... This happens. 

Skilled worker self-assessment

Total point score

Your final score is: 69

Here is the breakdown of your total score:

Factor		Maximum Points	Your Score
1	Education	25	15
2	Language Ability	24	18
3	Work Experience	21	21
4	Age	10	10
5	Arranged Employment	10	0
6	Adaptability	10	5
Total Score		100	69

Pass mark

The pass mark as of September 18, 2003 is 67.

Did you pass?

If your mark from this test is the same or higher than the current pass mark, you may qualify to immigrate as a skilled worker.

If your mark is lower than the pass mark, you might not qualify to immigrate as a skilled worker at this time.

However, if you believe there are other factors that would help you to become economically established in Canada, you may still apply.

Send a detailed letter with your application explaining what these factors are and why they may help you successfully establish yourself in Canada.

Include any documents that support your claim.

_______________

In the words of Monica Geller, "It just got interesting!"

Luke

Buzzing

HEY! It's not all negative!

Yesterday I amazed even myself. I smiled, I nodded, I ignored and I proceeded. SNIP. Under unimaginable frustration. Let me explain.

--- RANT BEGINS HERE ---

My housemate is a domestic nightmare. Or maybe I am just a domestic Goddess. Regardless, last week I specifically asked Sean to make sure he was free on Tuesday the 26th as the landlord was coming round to fix the cupboard in the kitchen and I couldn't be in as it was my Brother's Birthday. At midday, he emailed me asking what time the landlord was due, as his mates were going to the cinema that evening and he wanted to join them. I told him the earliest I could possibly be back would be 7pm, so he just needed to watch the house from 6 til 7 and then he could go. This meant I had less than an hour round my parents for my younger Brother's Birthday. But hey. SNIP.

I got home at 7pm to find Sean in the living room with Chris and Si, just waiting there for me to get back. The landlord was on his own in the kitchen. Did anyone not ever teach Sean to offer guests a cup of tea? How about friendly small talk? ESPECIALLY the friggin' Landlord. But hey. SNIP.

After around three hours of hard grafting and some serious bonding, the Landlord and I were all done in the kitchen. I cleaned, I put the dishwasher on, I swept the floors and took out the rubbish. Sean got in from the cinema and sat on the sofa on his laptop. He also completely ruined the perfectly placed cushions on the sofa. THEY ARE PURELY DECORATIVE, they are not for sitting on! But hey. SNIP.

So I get up this morning to find that not only has Sean NOT emptied the pedal bin in the bathroom full of empty contact lens packets, but he has now started putting the empty packets ON TOP of the bin. But hey. SNIP.

--- RANT ENDS HERE ---

A year ago, I would have said something to him for any of the above instances. But with just ten months until I leave him to fend for himself, I really don't care. Ten months and I will be out of here and he will never find a more dedicated, knowledgeable housemate than me. I spent half an hour chatting with my Mum about travelling last night, and I also found out my company has offices in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne which makes significantly improves my prospects of getting a decent job in the Insurance field in Australia. I'm in the kind of mood right now that I really couldn't care who does what or what happens over the next ten months. I am literally wishing them away; I want next Summer to come around so quickly!

I like to use the word 'Buzzing'. Vickie, one of my housemates at University in Liverpool used to use this word all the time; it's not something we use alot in the South East. I wonder how Vickie is getting on. She was the kind of girl who I would not fuck with. In a fight, you would want her on your side, that's for sure!

My Top 5 Favourite Things Right Now:

5 - The fixed kitchen cupboard. And it's clean!
4 - The fact my hair is growing at record speeds.
3 - Ella coming home from Brasil earlier than expected.
2 - My new Underwear - Greatest. Fit. Ever.
1 - WWE Wrestling.

Yes, wrestling is numero uno right now. I have always been a huge wrestling fan, having watched WCW from 1996 until closure, and then WWF/E onwards, and I will go on record to say that I have not enjoyed watching wrestling this much since 1999. To put it bluntly, right now, WWE is shit hot.

I am looking forward to watching Beaver Falls tonight on E4. Three British lads on a Summer Camp in the USA; it sounds like the perfect show. I can see it being American Pie meets 90210. It's always nice to have new shows on TV.

My Top Favourite People Right Now:

5 - Anna, the bakery girl. Because bread products are my joint-favourite type of food along with dairy. I hope she comes home smelling of freshly baked bread. That's the greatest smell in the world.
4 - Diana and Julia, who I like to call my Charlie's Angels. Except I'm not Charlie. Pfft. Technicalities. I love all my Comments I get on my posts, so thank you so much!
3 - Martin - Because he is my fellow muscle-head, my best mate, my Broski and the only person who will embrace the fact that the gay bar is in fact crawling with beautiful single straight women and the pints are the best in town.
2 - Pixie Lott - Have you seen her new video? Wow. I would eat a whole coconut to spend a night with her. And my God I HATE coconut. I'd even drink the milk inside. Of the coconut.
1 - CM Punk - Single-handedly rekindled my love affair with Wrestling. An absolute hero right now.


"Imagine a future moment in your life where all your dreams come true. You know, it's the greatest moment of your life and you get to experience it with one person. Who's standing next to you?"
Am I allowed to say David Hasselhoff?

I don't know who she is. I mean, I can imagine who I want her to be (Pixie Lott), how she acts (slightly loopy, nymphomaniac), what she looks like (short blonde hair, cute grin, size 10), how she speaks (South African), but to borrrow a line from the charismatic enigma that is Michael Buble, "I just haven't met you yet". I've never met a blonde South African. Do they exist?

Do black Chinese people exist for that matter?

I am optimistic that I will have my laptop back by the weekend, which means my formatting, spelling and use of super cool images in my blog will be back to the exceptionally high standards that I set in... well... never. But pictures are fun. I'm working an 8-hour overtime shift on Saturday followed by 3 hours system testing on Sunday, which I believe will take my overtime total for July to 38 hours of double-time. That's 22 hours more than I need to do. I think I have an addiction to overtime.

"Hi, my name's Luke and I am a Workoholic".

"HI LUKE!!"

I guess it keeps me off the beer and puts money in the pockets. In the last year I have given up smoking, caffeine, dubstep and, apparently, sex, so I guess something had to give.


Luke

French

I'm home! Back to my all-too-familiar surroundings. My house, my bed (oh man, I've missed my bed!) and my neighbourhood. I feel absolutely disgusting. I have just returned from a week of solid partying and drinking and I am absolutely completely exhausted. I have a sore throat, a cough, a cold, my body aches, my right nipple has been bitten by a mosquito and swollen up, my skin is dry and my shoulders are peeling from the sunburn. So yeah, basically, I'm a complete mess right now. But boy, that was a fantastic week and exactly what the doctor ordered, although I can see myself having some serious holiday blues over the next week or so. I need to book up my flights to Boston ASAP so I have something to look forward to.

I have Death Cab to look forward to I guess. Although I haven't invited anybody, and I have two tickets. Part of me wants to invite Annie, because, well, it's Annie. Sure, she's a pain in the ass but at least I know it will be just two friends hanging out and I think she would really appreciate it.

So, my holiday was quite literally the most relentlessly fucked-up week I have ever had. From getting in a cab and driving half an hour away with two Dutch girls, to sleeping with a French girl I had only met half an hour earlier, to getting absolutely mortaled on the boat trip, to being dubbed the 'Virgin Slayer', it was one rollercoaster after another. And the 'Captain Cuddles' persona was born. See, there were a couple of girls I met on holiday who I didn't really want to sleep with, so we ended up just having a spooning session and chatting. Of course, the other lads mocked me, hence the moniker was born. 'Captain Cuddles'. Hey, I've had worse nicknames! And I do love a good cuddle.

So I got back today at around 1pm, and since then I have pretty much done nothing. Put a load of washing on, had a power nap and put the photos up on Facebook. I plan on spending as much time as possible this weekend sat on this very sofa. I have gaffer-taped the remaining cigarettes so I won't be tempted, and I'll pop round the rents tomorrow and give them to my Mum. No more smoking, and no more drinking, at least until the end of the month. I don't want to see a San Miguel ever again in my life.

So now Magaluf is all done and dusted, it is all about travelling. Monday I'm back in the office and it's back to working my socks off and saving as much as possible. I need to take it easy with the anxiety and everything, but the way I look at it, it's not so much the amount of time I spend in the office, rather the amount of time I don't spend relaxing or enjoying myself. There's nothing wrong with living hard, but I need to make sure I go out and enjoy myself. Work hard, play hard. May next year I'll be jetting off to Thailand and I'm hoping the time will fly by.

Leigh was absolutely fantastic this week. We are very similar and we got on like a house on fire. I think it could be the start of a great wingman partnership. We both wear our hearts on our sleeves and we both like to talk about everything and anything. He really made a great impression on me, so I think that this new friendship is one of the best things to have come out of the holiday. "ROOMIE!!"

Anyway, emotionally, I'm pretty much void at the moment. I don't really feel like I have anything on my mind, perhaps because physically I am in such a state, I don't have the energy to do anything. It's nice to go to bed and not sit there and ponder the world. I feel like all I want to do right now is sleep, sleep, sleep. I'd say the last week I've averaged around 4 hours a day, split over two sessions. So I probably didn't hit REM sleep at all throughout the holiday. That's seriously unhealthy. It's now 12:25am and I'm about to hit the hay, and I don't plan on getting up anytime before 10am. It is going to be pure bliss.


Luke