Monkey & Tiger

So I was washing up last night, with TW, when we heard Monkey & Tiger laughing like drains. We went through to the other room, and saw that Monkey (2 1/2) was shouting 'boo'! at Tiger, which Tiger (9 months yesterday) found hilariously funny. They kept at this for five or ten minutes. It made us smile...
TTFN.

All Good Intentions

Well, it's that time of year again when we make resolutions which are to be broken. Mine, unfortunately, is to post more to my blog.
How was Christmas, you ask? Very nice, thank you. Spent it with my parents, which was quiet and relaxed. Went to TW's Mum for Boxing Day, and got lots of prezzies for Monkey & Tiger.
We went to the sales yesterday, which was a good option, as we got lots of stuff in M&S for less than half price. We play a game, where we add up the full price of everything, and then compare it to the sales prices. I think yesterday we got £196 worth of goods for £78, which is nice - and the shops still make money, which is the odd thing.
So, looking forward to 2008? I start a new job on 14th Jan, which is Mum's birthday, incidentally. It should be good.
TTFN. And expect more of the same, more often...

We're in the Final

Well, I went to the bookies today. The odds on England to win weren't high enough - only 9-4. The odds weren't high enough. I knew we could beat France, but the odds weren't rewarding enough. So I've bet (at 7-1) that England are going to win the whole shooting match.
Yup, folks, you read that right. England to retain the World Cup. I only bet £3, so would win £20. It's the principle. Let's stand up fo England.
TaTa until I pick up my winnings.

England Beat Australia - Rugby Update

So, apparently the Aussies have been whinging about being beaten by a below-strength England rugby team. If England were 'below strength', what does that imply about the Aussie team?
Try again in 2011, boys.
TTFN.

Diet Day II

Only one glass of wine last night. Woo-hoo! I can feel the pounds dropping off - I shall be lithe and lissom, and I shall conquer the WORLD! And I shall succeed, too, unlike Pinky & The Brain - useless rats.
TTFN.

Diet Day I

So, TW and I are starting a diet today. Except I got drunk last night, so have had to rely on the restorative powers of Coke & Doritos. Not a good start. But I am a stone and a half overweight, so it's time to take action. I went to see the nurse last week and my cholesterol and blood pressure are both at the upper limit of normal, so if I can watch the weight a bit, and reduce my alcohol intake, I may get back to acceptable levels. Who knows?
TTFN.

O Internet! Save me!

So, Saturday evening while TW was watching an evening of Neighbours retrospectives on BBC3 I was reduced to trawling the internet in the hope of finding something interesting. Unfortunately, I found nothing.
TTFN.

Cricket Round-up: West Indies

So, the final tally:
Test Series: England won 3-0
Twenty20: Draw 1-1
ODIs: West Indies won 2-1.

Bring on the main course (I mean India, of course).

TTFN.

Waiting for the Man

Still waiting for Sky Broadband. It's not funny any more. Told them today that if they didn't get it done by the end of July, I'd be considering going back to NTL (Virgin).

England's Twenty20 Survival

Well, I am satisfied. Having beaten the Windies 3-0 in the normal form of the game, the Twenty20 side did okay. The Windies batted excellently on Thursday night, and played us out of the game. On Friday, we held them back and gave ourselves a chance, which we promptly took.
I'm looking forward to the first ODI later today - if it's not rained off...
TTFN.

Crackberry III

Sold it! Result!! For £45!!! Boo!!!!
Enuff of the exclamation marks. They're making my eyes bleed. It's odd, I rang O2 and asked if I could have a Blackberry payg sim, and they said no. I had the expensive hardware, all they had to do was charge me for calls and data transfer. But they weren't interested. I'm just not important enough to be given a company B'berry. I dream of annual bonuses and blue-sky thinking. And car allowances, and super wages. Still, there's always €uromillions tonight...
I'm on holiday for a week now. Have it!
TTFN.

Crackberry II

And now I'm trying to sell the Blackberry for £50. It won't sync with my work email without being on a Blackberry Enterprise Server, which is a bit of a shame, but will probably save me mentally from devoting my life to answering all the emails in the world, ever.
Unfortunately, no-one seems to want to buy it...
TTFN.

Crackberry

For some reason, I bought a Blackberry today. For £50. Still playing with it...
TTFN.

NTL Hell

I've finally made the switch away from NTL / Virgin Media to Sky. I reckon I'll save about £8 a month, and be able to set series reminders. And organise my reminders. And use the red 'active' button on Sky Sports. The only thing I am slightly concerned about is Sky Broadband - but I'm sure it will be okay.
TTFN.

Worthing I

So, we went for a walk in Worthing today. It was warm. We ate at the Denton Cafe, which is on Worthing Pier. It was a strange mix. Worthing Pier and Denton Cafe is frequented by old people, but in the theatre there was a web business seminar. It was drily amusing to see all these old dears sit down to eat their fish and chips and peruse 'own your website!' fliers. Hmmm.
TTFN.

Gosh! Isn't it Warm?

Well, sleeping is still a problem. I'm going back to work on Monday, and our two daughters are conspiring to deprive us of any chance of sleep. Having said that, at 12:45 now, both are asleep. Tiger sleeps until 04:00, and then feeds. Then Daughter #1 (Monkey) has been waking at 05:00 and screaming, which is fun. But this is probably due to the number of visitors we've had, and the fact that we've got a new addition (only 15 days old). Daughter #2, Tiger, has already been to hospital twice due to an infected umbilical cord, and the existence of 'group B Strep' in her umbilical swab. But apart from oral thrush and a lot of mucus (possibly a cold, but she doesn't have a runny nose...), she's okay. So, we'll see how things go.
TTFN.

Disappointing Outcome

I see England lost their Cricket World Cup match against Australia on Saturday. That's disappointing. Now they will need to win all three of their next matches. Will they rise to the challenge, or will they sag like a wet sponge? Only time will tell. Thank God I didn't choose Flintoff in the Fantasy Cricket though...

Beautiful Day I

So, for the past few days I have been acclimatising to having two daughters. It's tough. Up at all times of the night, and then Monkey normally wakes at 06:10. This morning she woke at 05:20, which was a real shock. TW got up with her and left me in bed with Tiger, who grunted and oomphed for an hour and a half until I got up. TW had been asleep downstairs for pretty much the whole time! I'm just destined not to get any sleep, I guess.
TTFN.

O Frabjous Day!

I'd just like to mention that our second daughter, hereafter known as 'Tiger', was born last Friday, 30th March, at 06:35 BST, weighing 11lbs 11oz, or 5,320g in new money.
Treb, TW and daughters are well but tired.

England - Commonwealth Bank Champions

Do you know, I am completely amazed. I am in awe. I am very nearly speechless. England have shown an amazing degree of resolve, and Australia seem to have become bored with winning.
I joked with my boss after England won the first match that all three games might not be necessary, but I was expecting a 2-1 victory for the Aussies. Admittedly, the game on Sunday was interrupted by rain regularly, not allowing the Oz to get a rhythm, but in the same breath, the English bowling and fielding was excellent.
And in the end, England have won their first major overseas one-day tournament for ten years. Just in time to go into the World Cup, with a rebuilt sense of purpose. Excellent.
TTFN.

Dry January Days - III

Well, my dry January days came to an end last night. Admittedly, this was the 30th January, so I didn't do a full month, but I did do over four weeks. I nearly buckled once or twice, but with the help and disdain of TW, I made it this far. I was planning on going out tomorrow night with a friend, but unfortunately he is otherwise engaged, so my plans fell a bit flat. And then I thought, 'why wait until Thursday?'. So two Buds later, my drought is over. I could have chosen a better way to finish.
I think I will aim for one week per month off the booze. I think this would be most beneficial. Now, where's that bottle of Jura whisky...?
TTFN!

Labour Declares War on Single Parents

Well, well, well. People always thought the Tories & Labour were amalgamating, even as far back as when Labour delinked from CND. But withdrawing benefits from lone parents because 'the quality of childcare is so good'? Tone should declare that he is 'New Tory' and be done.
TW and I have enough trouble fitting childcare for lickle Monkey into our days, and there are two of us. Christ knows how difficult, logistically, it would be for lone parents forced into work.
They should have worked out by now that the benefits pot is not bottomless, but I don't think they're focusing in the right area.
TTFN.

Well, Really...

Just when you think it couldn't get any worse.........
TTFN.

Quelle Horreur

There's only so many ways to say it. We are fucking shocking.
I am quite disappointed. The English Cricket team seem to be rudderless, drifting from humiliation in the Ashes to ignominy in the Commonwealth Bank triangular series. How inevitable is failure at the World Cup and a swift slide down the rankings?
TTFN.

We Lost Again, Boo!

Ho-hum.
Still, at one stage Australia were 4 for 48, which gave us hope. And then they were 108 for 6! Unfortunately, that was the last wicket to fall. And, in all honesty, we were kidding ourselves if we thought they weren't going to get 156 in 50 overs.
Good for Mal Loye, though, to get 36 from 36. Shame the others couldn't keep up. I can see us winning against New Zealand and ending up in the final against Australia, and getting royally humped. Just before the World Cup. Great (not!).
TTFN.

We Won, At Last, Hurrah!

FINALLY!
At last, England have won a game of cricket Down Under. It may have been against a lacklustre Kiwi side, and they may have made hard-going of it, but a win is a win - which is exactly what England needed at this point. Good work fellas!

Happy 2nd BlogDay!

Who'd have thunk it? Still, I did get rid of the first blog. This is Treb's Blog II. More to come.
TTFN.

It's Time for a New Watch

See what I did there? Here it is: the Klaus Kobec Challenger. I bought this from iBuy, a cable auction site which I find most entertaining. I am a bit disappointed with their customer service, as I will explain...
I bought the watch for £73 on 23rd December, and before they had despatched it, I found it on their website for £56. Despite the fact that the watch was still in their possession, and they had not billed me for it, they insisted on sending me the £73 watch. As far as I was concerned, at this point the transaction was not complete, and if they had any degree of flexibility, they should have sold me the watch for £56. If I had received the watch, and been billed, and then noticed the cheaper watch, I would have put that down to experience, and not even contacted iBuy. However, because (as I said) the transaction was not, in my eyes, concluded, I felt that I was being taken for a mug.
So I followed their advice and returned the watch, and then bought it a second time at the lower price of £56. As my Ma said, I wouldn't have enjoyed the watch if I had paid £73 for it. And despite the extra postage costs, I still saved five pounds - result!
I guess the moral of this story is, think twice before falling for the 'theatre' of these auction shows. The way they present these goods is very clever, though. Firstly, they show the item (watch, diamond ring, Gucci bag...) at its RRP. So it is presented as unattainable. Then they plunge the price, and all of a sudden it is within the consumer's reach. Then they stress the exclusivity of the item (iBuy tend to sell three or four of each item per sale). So the pressure is on - do you want to lose out? You'd better buy it, then! And all of a sudden, you're £70 or £599 worse off. But you do have a lovely watch/ring/bag.
TTFN.

Oh, England!

The worst defeat, then, in 85 years, looms. Oh deary me. It seems that winning the Ashes in 2005 was the worst thing that could have possibly happened. England have gone into this Ashes series woefully under-prepared, without the appetite for a win. After this, there are a couple of one-dayers against the Oz, then a triangular one-day series against the Oz and NZ. Then it'll be time for the World Cup. Only by some sort of miracle will England have any interest in playing cricket in the West Indies. By then, I expect their spirits will be broken and they will have been completely and comprehensively stuffed by the Antipodeans. I would not be surprised if England fall to Zimbabwe or Bangladesh in the first rounds and take an early bath.
It's a shame, because I think England have some good players, but they are just not functioning as a team. I think major improvements can be expected after the WC. Things can't get any worse.
TTFN.

Dry January Days - II

Well, I've made it to Thursday 3rd and am still dry. I've also dropped four pounds or so and am now pretty much exactly on 13 stone. If that's what happens after three days, think what I might achieve in 31 days! The wife reckons I spend more than £20 - £25 per week on booze, so will be even better off than I first calculated. I'm feeling quite tired, I think it must be the reduced number of calories. Even tho' booze calories are bad calories.
I'm not finding this temperance hard, but it's only been a couple of days, and I haven't got an empty weekend stretching out ahead of me (yet). Still, if I'm not drinking, I might actually get around to reading the newspapers which I buy every weekend, which then sit in a pile until the following weekend, which are then thrown out. I just don't want to be getting edgy in the early evenings. Still, if I haven't had a drink since last Sunday, I won't feel the need for more, will I?
TTFN.