w0ngswr on Xanga

Wonder Years

Monday, 16 June 2008

It’s been quite a while since I have last updated on Xanga. So what have I been up to since then?

Gym:
A month on after cancelling my £80 joint gym membership, I am starting to miss going to the gym. I do lift the weights in the garage and do the odd press at home but what I am really missing is the running machine.

Work:
It had been a stressful month at work. We failed to meet the objectives of a project that I was involved in and because of that we had to extend the go live date by a month. On a plus point I can say that the failure of the project was not my fault but due to poor project management.
Apparently they have a few projects lined up for me in the coming months. I wonder what they will say when I tell them that I am ‘HK-ing’ in November. I plan to give them the news sometime in August, 3 months before departure and then submit an official resignation letter at the end of September. I think this way they can’t say that I am leaving them in the lurch.

I am still working in the takeaway over the weekends and I guess I do enjoy working there. This is probably because I get bored at home easily and I rather go and make so money instead of lounging around. It is unfortunate that the money I bring in is slowly being eroded by the cost of getting to the shop – each week make 3 trips to the shop and do total of 225 miles.

General Stuff:
It seems like I don’t do anything else apart from work nowadays. My life is actually quite boring now. I work 9 to 5, Monday to Friday and in the takeaway Friday to Sunday. After work I go home, greet the wife, eat, do the washing up, do the occasional house chores like hovering and cleaning the toilets and when it is sunny outside I’ll go and mow the lawn (Bloody grass don’t half grow fast in the sun!). Work, work and more work and add in the odd stress days. No wonder I am seeing more and more white hair on my head nowadays. Sometimes I sit back and wonder if this is all there is to life.. I certainly hope not.

I think I need a short break but I don’t think that I can afford to take one because at this moment in time I am only thinking about saving money for the HK move. There had been suggestions of going to Barcelona but with the soaring Euro and fuel surcharges I don’t think a trip into Euro is as enticing as it used to be. Anyway, I think I would much rather go on a beach than a city break. My last and my only beach holiday were to Cyprus when I was 16! That’s 16 years ago! Another 16 years time I’ll be 48! Nothing beats a beach holiday for relaxation. Anyway, I got to snap out of this beach holiday talk because I know that it isn’t going to happen.

In my previous post I was moaning about how I mistakenly filled up a tank of super unleaded for £52 (116.9p) when the price of unleaded is 113.p. This morning the price of unleaded at my local garage was 120.9p. Fuel price rises are so common now that although the price increase does annoy me, I have come to accept it as ‘the norm’. I hate it but I have to live with it.

I haven't posted any hotties on this site for ages now.. so here a new one for you all to look at. Gary Linekers girlfriend! Money goes a long way.....

Tuesday, 06 May 2008

Moaning about petrol

Moan 1: £52 for a full tank of petrol!!!!
Moan 2: Mistakenly filled up a full tank with Super Unleaded at 116.09p!!!!!! ARRGGHH FOR FECKS SAKE!

Friday, 28 March 2008

I read this article from Timesonline and i thought it was quite interesting..
Goodbye to rip-off Britain
There is a guy, does business up town, doesn't use his car much, bit of a novice when it comes to scooting around London. Anyway, a few weeks back he has complications with late meetings so, for a couple of days, he drives in. First time, schoolboy error, he forgets to pay the congestion charge, incurs a £60 fine right there. His parking for the day comes to roughly £40 in an NCP. Next time, he remembers the congestion charge, but leaves his car on the street, doing the parking meter tango, feeding it, moving it, feeding it, moving it, £8 here, £6 there, until finally he gets really busy, overruns by five minutes and, bang, a £100 penalty. He reckons the whole experience, with petrol, of two days' motoring will have cost close to £300. He's a wealthy man, he can afford it; but suppose he was an ordinary working stiff from the sticks, bringing in the average wage? That could be his disposable income, after the mortgage, gone. For two innocent, pretty harmless, mistakes. This is why Gordon Brown is in trouble.
The economy is false. The economy is a lie. The economy is a fictional set of numbers cooked up during a boom period that is almost over, and six months from now nothing will add up. The cost of a parking ticket grew to be completely disproportionate in relation to the offence committed because everyone was sawing it off, so nobody cared. Some twerp slapped a sticker demanding one hundred notes for a minuscule oversight on your windscreen and you knew it was preposterous, but you could afford it. And now you can't. And now you are going to realise how overpriced and bogus the minutiae of British life are, and Gordon is panicking because there is no way he can make this sustainable; yet the artifice of commerce and government relies on your expanding wallet.
If, while waiting for the clampers to arrive, having paid your £100 release fee plus £60 fine plus VAT, you pop into Starbucks for a cup of coffee, you will be charged close on £2. For coffee. Think about it, because so few have. We read about sub-prime mortgage markets and global credit squeezes and receive the deep thoughts of financial experts that have caught a cold in every recession for the past 50 years, which is why the benefits from your endowment mortgage will just about cover a self-assembly greenhouse from Homebase, but nobody notices the details. Coffee, two quid. No rationalisation. No justification. In a recession, nobody can drop two quid for a hot drink three times a day, five days a week. Bottled water the same: £1.60 for 500ml to take away at Caffè Nero on Monday. And everyone has a sip. Our lives are full of inflated expenses that are propping up Brown's fairyland economy and, when the penny drops, this crash will be the mightiest ever. No wonder he looks scared.
For so long we have not given this stuff a thought. My favourite football club charges a £1.50 booking fee on each ticket, so if I take my three boys we pay an additional £6. These tickets will be placed in one envelope and sent to one address, so the charge cannot cover postage or packing. I am actually paying a ticket office extra to sell tickets. It would be like a greengrocer applying a levy for dispensing fruit and vegetables. Yet as this nonsense was introduced in high times, nobody quibbled.
When a booking fee is demanded, we should ask the person on the end of the line to send round a cheese sandwich instead. You know, do something that is not part of the job, because that would be worth a tip. Clean the windows? Yeah, I'll pay extra. But applying a surcharge so a ticket office can provide tickets? I'm not seeing the value.
Brown got away with murder because he was Chancellor in the days when chimps could make money. In May 1999, he sold half the country's gold reserves during a 20-year low in the market at an average price of $275 an ounce. Yesterday morning the price of gold was approximately $946 an ounce. Brown bought euros instead, which have done well, but even so the cost to the nation of this mistake is measured in billions; and the only reason it has not been immortalised as a catastrophe in the same way as, say, Black Wednesday is because the population has been too busy hiring personal trainers and eating fancy crisps (chardonnay wine vinegar flavour, firecracker lobster flavour, patatas bravas, have you people gone nuts?) to care.
It costs more to download music from the same supplier in the United Kingdom than it does in the United States. Consider that. No shipping, no additional overheads, no reason the cost of the service shouldn't be identical. We are so used to meeting inflated prices, it barely registers anymore. The top-of-the-range Lexus hybrid costs £83,000 in the United Kingdom and £54,145 in the United States. The wealth that keeps Brown's economy ticking over is a mirage; it cannot survive the recession. And neither can he.
Not long ago I made a reservation at my favourite Chinese restaurant in town. Bit pricey. A special occasion place, not your average local. They wanted credit card details in advance with the right to charge £35 per head in the event of any alteration to the booking. I refused. They would not reserve otherwise. I very politely asked it to be explained to the manager that there was a recession around the corner and the number of people looking to drop six figures on noodles could be about to change quite dramatically. He might want to keep those that do onside. The reservation was accepted, no credit card. He knew, you see. So does Gordon. That is why he looks worried.

Anyway.. heres some pics
Taunton Tarts Birthday

Birthday boy and Lemon

Cake with a pic of some chav princess on it

Hired actors were called in to be his friend

Notice the fake smile of the actors?

Missus and I

"Pob"

The cast

Lightweight

Twycross Zoo

Some kid the missus kidnapped at the Zoo

"Rats"

Monkey magic

Another monkey

ALAN LAW!!! (on a good day)

another "rat"

Pussy

Ass hoooole

Pen is

Monkey with 'tash

We too this monkey home

London (Smoke City)

Above: Bloody tourists!

Theatre to watch Phantom

Heights of Abraham (Matlock Bath)

Cable car up to the Heights

Cable car next to us

View on the way up

We climbed that rock!

I can see my house in Matlock from here :)

This is what i see from my bedroom window

View from inside Matlock tower

I waited age to get this shot of the cars going pass

View from the cable car

View of the Peak District from the Heights

Me

Wife

I pulled!

She didnt pull

We went caving

The roof was very low.. for once i wish i was a hobbit

Cave 1

Cave 2

Cave 3

Outside the caves.. Ski lodge in the background

Tuesday, 25 March 2008

Woohoo...I am finally back at work after a week off. Its so strange how sometimes when i am working, i wish that i didnt have to go to work. Yet when i am not at work i wish that i am! It's quite sad when i think that there were moments last week when i wish i was back at work. I even log on and reply to my work emails at home.
My Week off:
- Watched The Other 'Bowling' Girl at the cinema. It was an alright film.... got nothing to do with bowling though .
- Bearing fresh fruits and flowers, the wife and i made a trip to Matlock to visit an old neighbour of mine. Many moons ago, after i swam over to the UK from HK, old Eva watched me grow up in Matlock. She even sent me money upon hearing that i got married.
- Took two kids to Twycross Zoo to see the primates on show. The highlight of the day must be capturing a giraffes member and backside on camera (I'll post the pics up sometime).
- Watched The Phantom of the Opera (again). Great show but I have seen this show too many times now so my love for it had been diluted.
- Went to B'ham for yumcha and the had spit soup (steam boat) at WingWah. The quality of the food was poor and i dont think i'll ever go back there again.
- Watched 10,000BC and thought the film was pants.. but the leading lady was pretty hot!
- Went to the Heights of Abraham in Matlock Bath to go on the cable cars and do some caving.
Grumpy Old Man:
- Got annoyed with train ticket prices. The missus and I missed our train from Notts to St Pancras so had to pay £100 for two new tickets at the counter. If the goverment want people to get off the road and use public transport then they must do something about the cost!! £100 for 2 tickets is a joke. I would understand if it was peak hours or if there were high demand for seats and there weren't many trains available but it was NOT peak hours and there were lots of empty seats on the bloody train! Rip off Britain alert!
- Watched Meet The Spartans. I cant remember when i last watched a film as crap as this. In fact, come to think about it, i dont think i have ever watched a film as stupid, pointless, and as shite as this! Before going to this film, i heard that it had been given 1 star rating from several newspapers. After watching this trash, i think that even 1 star is being too generous. Its not like i dont like watching funny films but i do feel that the quality of comedy films had deteriorated dramatically through the years. Why did i watch this? well... the missus wanted to watch it and i only said that i'll take her if she go and watch the footie at the pub with me
- StarCity had taken away the MJ tables!! The only we goto StarCity now is to play MJ and now that they had taken the tables away there is no point going there ever again. StarCity is just ah-cha city now.. the place is a complete dump.

Wednesday, 20 February 2008

Time for an update.. Not much had happened since my last post on Xanga. I 'attempted' to cook a 3 course for Valentines Day but failed miserably. The scallop salad with crunch bacon flakes for starters went well but the seafood pasta for the main course went kaput! I got rather grumpy as i spent ages slaving away in the kitchen that day. Still, at least i tried huh? The whole cooking episode taught me not to cook anything that i had not tried cooking before as well as never attempt cooking more than one course! The missus was happy though, she got her flowers, card, colouring book and crayons and £75 (best seat in the house) tickets to watch Phantom of the Opera in London in March.
Since the England v Switzerland game I have been betting a quid here and there on the football. Football is always so much more fun to watch when you have a small bet on. Since i had deposited money into my WilliamHill account at the beginning of this month i had managed to quadruple my initial outlay. From an initial outlay of £10, my balance now stands at just over £40. Okay that may not seem like alot but then i am only betting small amounts so a x4 return isnt too bad right? Obviously i had had a few losses along the way and now that i am ahead, i vow not to dip below the £10 initial outlay. If my balance does dip to £10 then i will just withdraw the cash and call it evens between me and William. Anyway my best few bets are: Jenas to be first scorer against Switzerland at 34/1 odds (50p stake), England to beat Switzerland 2-1 at 8/1 odds (£1 stake.. this was in fact Vanessas pick), a double on Liverpool to beat Inter Milan AND Olymipakos to draw with Chelsea at 8/1 odds (£3 stake). I'll probably stick £3 on another double tonight for the ManU and Arsenal game but i haven't quite made up my mind on how i will bet...
Enough about the bookies. I am looking forward to my week off in a months time! wooooohoo. I have taken Mon 17 Mar to Thur 20 Mar off and as Fri 21 and Mon 24 is Good Friday and Bank Holiday Monday, i am having an extended break. One of those days will be spent in London to see the Phantom but i am not too sure what i wanna do with the rest of the days. I guess it would be hanging around in B'ham or just drive somewhere.. also maybe Stratford for afternoon tea to go with my scone? I guess the activities will depend on the weather.
Can be seen from 3am to 4am
Total Lunar eclipse in the UK tonight.. Your chance to see a blood red moon until the next eclipse on 28th Sept 2015.

Wednesday, 13 February 2008

No prize for guessing who the guy in the picture is!
Whats he got on his head?!?!!
At least put some gel on it!
Martin and his women
Love the hair Mr Lee! .. and yes, although i had curtains when i was a lad but at least mine didnt look like THAT! :)

Friday, 08 February 2008

Firstly, "Happy New Year" to you all. I know i am a few days late but better late than never huh? Its Friday and the weekend is on our doorstep once more. As usual, i will be spending the weekend helping out at the shop. I quite like working over the weekends as i do tend to get really bored at home. There is only so much you can do online, while TV is pants and PC gaming can get boring after a while when you play alone *peers at Martin*. I go to the shop, eat, work a few hours and get paid for it. Time is money and money is my friend.
I am running further and faster at the gym nowadays and with the regular abs work i am beginning to see signs of abs muscles coming through. However i am struggling with the lower abs as they are so hard to develop! I guess maybe a chat with Mr T is in order sometime. Saw an advert on the BBC website about Sport Relief miles. Its about using sport to raise money for good causes. I really enjoyed doing the 10k run for Cancer Research back in September, i am really tempted to go and do the Sports Relief run. My only problem is finding people that wanna run with me. I am sure that i can better my time of 52min as i walked a bit of the run last time round.
Must make a note to visit Costco this weekend to buy some fruits for the out-laws on Monday. I am going to be popping round for a CNY dinner so i cant turn up at the door empty handed.
For those that like watching Heroes, theres a film out next week called Jumper which is very Heroes-like. I am looking forward to watching that as well as a film called 'No country for old men' as its got quite a few Oscar nominations. Also while that we are on the subject of films, you should go and watch 'Atonement'. Its "bloody good"..

Tuesday, 05 February 2008

Pancake Day

Chinese New Year coming up and for the first time in my life i have to start handing out 'lai see'. So far i have handed out around £550. It may seem like quite alot but £500 of that went to my parents. Its only right to give them a bit of 'ma tong chen' (Hakka as sweet money) but knowing them, they'll probably spend it on a plane ticket to and from HK. I expect the £550 figure to grow in the next few days but i do believe that i will get some of it back from the oldies - so far i have received £60 back. I guess i can never beat my record of £450 in lai see money which I set a few years ago .. But then i shouldn't dispair, in a few years time i am sure that my children will help daddy make it all back .
Yesterday a colleague of mine gave me a £40 virginwine voucher and I thought that it would be nice to go and order some bubbly from the website in time for Vday. Unfortunately my nosey wife managed to find the voucher after my lame effort in trying to hid it failed. I guess it was my fault as i shouldn't have taken it home with me let alone hide it in a draw that she opens every day! I went onto the website today to try and order some expensive bubbly but ended up leaving the site without a purchase. Seems that in order to qualify for £40 off, i first have to order 12 bottles of wine valued at £100!
The work integration project went live yesterday and we only had to make a few minor alterations. Its day two today and so far everything seems to be going as planned so lets hope that it stays that way.

Friday, 01 February 2008

Lately I had been pestered to update this thing my the missus. I knew she'll start pestering me to update every so often as she did this in the past. Anyway, i just wanna say that i will update only when i have time or when i can be bothered...(or when shes in a mood with me and i need to do something to keep her happy).
Anyway since my last post my mood had certainly improved. With Chinese New Year over the horizon and approaching fast, i expect a good year of the Rat - i think its rat, you have to correct me if i am wrong. Apparently Dragons (me) get along well with Rats so i do hope to have a new good year. So much to look forward to this year and the most eagerly anticipated event must be the Lam Tsuen (Dar Jie), once every 10 year, Festival in November. Theres going to be quite alot of people going to HK around that time so it would be great to meet up and all go BBQ-ing at Sai Kung or Tai Mai Tuk or even hire a boat out and go saltwater/squid fishing. Tin had already stated his desire to move back to HK for good come the end of the year and he had already started making plans to do so. I too would like to move over there and i am in the early stages of my plan. I have started by making further cut backs on my spending and moved my savings to a higher savings account. My next step is to wait until April and review what i wanna do with my ISA savings. In preparation for the move, I have also asked Vanessa to not waste money on Valentines Day but if she really would like to get me something then maybe she could contribute a little towards an online course to further top-up my skills. Vanessa had already a few months into an online English teaching course that i had set up for her. So she is well on her way in the preparations.
I am currently suffering from abdominal pains as i had been over doing my abs at the gym. I have decided to try and go for a nice six pack as i had never quite manage get one before. I now run 20mins on the treadmill at least 4 times a week followed by abs work on odd number days and general weights workout on even number days. What is spurring me on is that i only have until the end of May to achieve my goal as after May i will be cancelling my gym membership. Currently i am paying £84p/m for a joint membership deal and i would like to save this money for HK instead. Come June i will join the local gym owned by the council and do the odd workout with the local chavs for £12p/m.

Tuesday, 22 January 2008

Feeling the blues once more. I feel that i have lost focus and i am slowly losing that drive and determination to do something with my life that i once had. Times had changed, people had changed. I guess life can never be like it used to be and we can only hold on to memories of what i now call 'the wonder years'.
Not too sure what is wrong with me. I go out and sit among friends quietly observing, nit picking on every small thing of thiers, of ours, of our surrounding. Then total gloom fulls upon me... I think i need a holiday. Yes. A holiday to somewhere nice and warm, somewhere with a white sandy beach. I think i need to get away from it all for a while. However, in order to go on holiday i need money and at the moment, thats a stumbling block to my plans. With so many bills to pay off, and the need to save money for the HK trip later on in the year. A holiday now is completely out of the question. I guess there is one way out of the gloom.. well two ways to be honest but the other one i dont expect to happen for many years yet.... Anyway back to the way out, sleep, when you sleep you dont need to think about anything and sleep is something i like to doing.
Could the blues that i am experiencing due to my advancing age and the huge weight of responsibilities that is now on my shoulders? or could this be something else...? ... or could it simply be down to the ultra shitty weather that we have had for the nth week?! In order to help lift the gloom, I am going to write a list of five things i should be looking forward to doing in the coming weeks.
List:
1) Valentines Day
2) Possibilities of taking 17th - 20th March off work (excl. Good Friday and Bank Hols)
3) Mid April i will contemplate going into a contracting role (?
...