Lathany

It's been quite a while since I wrote reviews of anything. So, I'd better fix that.

Also, a quick mention of my Easter week off. I went to Kew with Ryan (plus cake) and to Staines for shopping with Bea (plus waffle and pizza). Both days went very well and we chose the two days with decent weather. I don't have any shopping pictures, but here's a Kew one.



Over Easter Dom, Bea and I went to see Black Panther. I enjoyed it, but wasn't quite as blown away by it as pretty much everyone I've seen reviews from. In part, because my expectations were high and in part because I didn't know the source material. Dom did know the backstory and was much more impressed with how they had dealt with a cliched and racist background without throwing it all away.

I'm reading my way through my birthday books, two down and two to go.

• Want You Gone by Chris Brookmyre: It's a rather nice Jack story that also deals with Buzzkill and internet hacking. Worth a read, although possibly after the other Buzzkill/Jack stories (Dead Girl Walking and Black Widow).
• Sixth Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko: The sixth, and possibly last, of the Night Watch series. I thought this was a rather sad ending to a series that started well. Also, I do wish that the author would stop bringing people back from the dead and put more effort into creating new characters. Overall, not very impressed.

There have also been a couple of games.

• Wasteworld: This was a new roleplaying game that Martin wanted to try. It's a post-apocalyptic game in a future controlled by AIs with touches of Paranoia. I think it was an interesting background, but would like to see more before saying much about the system.
• Earthforce: Dom ran the first session of his superheroes one-off series. This featured John, Jon, David and Georgia. I really enjoyed it, but won't say much more as others will be playing.

So, overall, April's not been a bad month, although it definitely picked up when the weather improved.

I took the day off work today to spend some time with Bea as she had an inset day. We went out to Staines for a shopping trip and some lunch.

We usually do this in the summer during the long school holiday and go into central London. However, because of our America trip, we hadn't fitted it in last August. Central London wasn't as appealing in the cold, so we settled on nearby Staines. Fortunately, the temperature, whilst still low, was not the below-freezing level it had been earlier in the week.

The day included:

• Seeing a hearse drawn by two black horses on the other side of the road when waiting for the bus.
• Buying a sheep nightdress in M&S.
• The Body Shop (perfume, hand cream and lip balm).
• Accessories (scrunchies).
• Pizza Express.
• Bea falling over on the way home and bleeding everywhere (for the second time in two days) :-(
• A visit to the Ashford cake shop.
• Watching My Neighbour Totoro when we finally returned.

Apart from the falling over, it was a lovely day.

Today I have been trying to do as little as possible as I recover from my latest cold. This has meant a bit of Terraria with Ryan and a bit of Awakenings with Bea. And I cleaned the shower, but it needed it.

We've also started wrapping the twins presents and have planned food over Christmas.

Tired now.

It was the same last year - getting into the supermarket the week leading up to Christmas is a nightmare but today the car park was a third empty. If it carries on being like last year then it won't be a problem to shop again until a week before next Christmas.

It's been a good weekend. Yesterday morning chrestomancy took the duo birthday shopping and I tagged along. Ryan got a toy puppy on a lead and a plastic snake. Bea got a Rubic Cube, a Magic 8 ball and a pokemon game.

The day then become bateleur's horror game (gaining Alistair and TheHattedOne for the party) where we were jurors on a murder trial also involving black magic, a demon from the mines, some very weird house moving (literally) and identity swapping. The game rocked as it combined the murder trial and the horror plot feasibly, whilst giving the players plenty to do. Plus a bunch of rock-hard monk types turned up to rescue the situation when called. chrestomancy helped blow up the demon with explosives and TheHattedOne killed the sorcerer by running him over.

Today included putting up the tree and watching Blade II (although the film mostly sucked). I almost feel ready to face tomorrow's meeting.

Ryan has now picked up enough language to fill the gaps in his favourite songs. However, he doesn't always get it right - hence the pig with hairclips on.

Little things from the last few days:
* What sex is Demogorgon?
* I found my write-ups of the Final Fantasy prequel. They are here and here.
* Last night I watched Final Fantasy: Advent Children for the first time. ( mild spoilers )
* Due to a late parcel from Marks (and, thus, re-ordering) I have a choice of two swimsuits for Bea (and will then send the other one back). Which of the Stripy Tankini and the Rainbow Halterneck Swimsuit on this page looks better?
* I have just started my first packet of Machu Picchu coffee (first recommended by smiorgan) - decent (I'm reserving judgment on whether I consider it outstanding until I've drunk a bit more of it) and my sort of mild/medium taste. Ever since quisalan bought me a present of a set of nine coffees (the Kenyan was my new favourite) I've realised I need to try a few more types and expand my range a bit.
* To treat myself on the way home on Friday I bought some strawberries and asparagus (both of which had to wait until Saturday because bateleur had already bought tea), a pound's worth of each from the little market under Vauxhall station puts the likes of Tesco to shame.
* Bea and Ryan have each had their third and final egg today (presents from Uncle chrestomancy and Aunty TheHattedOne). Postman Pat and Spiderman. No prizes for guessing who wanted what.
* I now have a new backdrop for the summer months; 'Orchids' courtesy of leathellin. Up until now I've used the standard 'Autumn' and 'Tulips' pictures each for half the year - now I'll be moving to three pictures each for four months. I think I might plan to eventually go to a picture for every month of the year.
* bateleur and I have a difference of opinion on what is more stressful - a process that one can affect and a process that one can't. I go for the former (because - if I can make a decision, I can also make the wrong decision) and he for the latter (because - there's nothing he can do about it). Sometimes the difference is difficult to spot though; I tend to stress more than bateleur in general.

I'm thinking of getting myself a mobile phone for when I go back to work (so that I too can announce "I'm on the train!") However, I know next to nothing about how to choose one (I've never bought one before).

My criteria are:

Use : To ring out in emergencies and semi-emergencies. I'm not interested in deals that provide chat time, I have a land line for that (it'll normally be switched off).

Features : Just the whole "phone" thing. I don't care about cameras, ring tones, text messages, games, etc (although, I'm mostly interested in the cheapest option so if it's cheaper to get a phone with them, that's fine). I also want something that would fit in my bag, but frankly anything smaller than a brick works (also I find the really small phones annoying).

Main want : Something cheap.

Any and all advice appreciated!

Today I received an email from Amazon explaining that the book I ordered from them would be another 4-6 weeks. However, this is after... a considerable length of time and an earlier delay. Namely that I originally ordered it on the 4th November (2004) and the original delivery date window was 4th-22nd December. This went back to 28th December - 4th January and today has gone back again.

No, it wasn't supposed to be a Christmas present. It was a birthday present for my father. His birthday is this Friday and I've already let him know that his present will be (v) late (he's personally chosen it, otherwise I would find something else). Fortunately my father is a sweet man and doesn't mind at all.

Today the first (post-Xmas) Mother & Toddler group restarted. I was late and thus missed the painting. I can't say I'm sorry as there'll be some sort of equally messy activity at the other group tomorrow to make up for it. It was good to see everyone again (and a little like being back at school "what did you do over Christmas then?").

Oh, and Beatrice has lost one of her Baby Pom hair slides (although she had plenty of other slides to make up for it).

I had something of an unpleasant experience shopping in my local Tesco store today and I'm still wondering if I handled it right.

Now, I've always had a big thing about personal space and have never liked the people who move beyond the (cashier) end of the conveyor belt. The ones that particularly annoyed me were the people who stood far enough forward that I couldn't use the signing counter for signing. However, I've never said anything about it.

I will also add how much I hate the new pin machines in Tesco (and everywhere else). I don't feel that they are secure enough and always stoop over them in a protective fashion when typing in my pin. (Yes, I suspect you can already see where this story is going...)

Right, back to today. There were two men behind me in the queue and neither of them were staying back behind the stopping point on the conveyor belt. One of them was wandering back and forth around the aisle (the other cashier point behind me was empty) and the second one was standing right opposite the cashier. I handed over my card, heaved shopping into the pushchair and heard the cashier ask for my pin. I straightened up and looked around meaningfully. This worked, not at all. The one opposite the cashier still was. The other one was now standing directly behind me.

So, I asked them to stand back because I wanted to type in my pin. Needless to say, they were both very offended and rude (although they did actually stand back).

I felt rather guilty about the whole thing for several reasons (even though I keep justifying it).

i. They were both looked the sort of unshaved, unkempt types that television always portrays as the bad guys. (Although, I believe I would have said the same had they been anyone else.)

ii. I probably could have typed the number in without them seeing what it was. (But only probably; with them situated at different angles and both close it would have been difficult.)

iii. I was all but accusing them of trying to steal my pin. (Although, I really couldn't think of a better way of putting it.)

What would you have done? If it happens again, is there any other way of dealing with it? Or am I simply underestimating the security "sides" of the new pin machines?

Yesterday bateleur and I went into Staines to do a bit of shopping.

( A brief spot of spending )

Today I must do some of the things I planned for this week. Shelves and picture hooks perhaps. On the other hand I might wuss out and content myself with sorting out their bedroom.