Archetypal Weekend

It's just been a pleasant, relaxing weekend really. I could go into more detail, but I'd probably only bore you.

I could talk about my intense disappointment at discovering, on Friday evening, that the current run of South Park had finished on Channel Four. I'm hoping they'll come up with something equally as funny to keep me amused through the long, dark, wintry Friday nights, but somehow I doubt it.

Or I could write about my Saturday daytime, which I spent with all my sister, brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews. But personally, I hate reading those journals which just drone on and on about the author's kids and other family. Sure, everybody loves their family, and just occasionally they do things worth writing about. But by and large, it's not interesting to read about other people's kids cutting their teeth or potty-training or going to school or whatever. At least, I don't think so. Ditto for when people start talking about their dreams. If I ever do these things, you have my permission to slap me, OK?

Saturday evening I went out for a few drinks with Dave, who has just returned from the USA, where he's been working. He's employed by the same agency who offered me a job last week - yeah, the one I declined. This made me feel a little uncomfortable - Dave knew I'd applied for the position, and indeed I'd put his name down as a character reference. I was concerned that in giving my reasons for declining the job offer, it would sound like I thought his job was not as good as mine. But fortunately Dave is an intelligent guy, he knows that what is right for one person may not be ideal for another, so there was no unpleasantry, just a decent conversation between friends.

I was driving, but that was OK, as for once I didn't feel much like drinking. Indeed, I wasted more cash in the quiz machine than on drinks, which says as much for my poor performance as my alcoholic abstainance!

Today I finally gave in and went to help my mother's colleague who has been having problems with a PC. Initially I couldn't figure out hwo to solve his scanning problems, but just as I was about to give up and admit defeat, I chanced upon some incorrectly installed SCSI card drivers. I felt quite chuffed with myself; I'm not really a support guy, PCs are more of a hobby than a profession. So I was relieved and glad I could be of some help. Still wish my mother wouldn't volunteer me for such tasks, though.

I also spent quite a bit of time messing about on my own PC, surfing the web and adding some new pages to this site. All my new pages seem to use Cascading Style Sheets, they're such a joy to use. I adore being able to separate style from content, and it's an awesome feeling of power to be able to alter the look an feel of many pages just by amending a single style sheet. So, expect to see more of them around here in the future. And if you aren't using a 4.0 or greater browser, you don't know what you're missing!

I had a sudden and intense feeling of ignorance this afternoon, coupled with a memory block. I couldn't remember if Finland was a Monarchy, Republic, or whatever. This in itself didn't bother me as such, I was able to quite quickly find the answer, and I didn't need to know for any real reason. But once upon a time (probably during my A-Level General Studies revision) I would have known this, as well as all the capitals of Europe. Now I seem to know less each day. I don't really understand who we're liable to be bombing later this week, or why. And I don't fully understand what a hedge fund is, or why they have resulted in my investments plummetting. Some say ignorance is bliss, but I just find it really unnerving.

Listening to: Hole - Celebrity Skin