Crohn's Disease, Ileostomy, Stoma...

W2b's recent post got me thinking. I go to all the trouble of pouring out all the crap (no pun intended) that I went through with this stinking disease thinking that no matter how hard it was to rake over the coals again, at least other people going through similar things might stumble across my blog and realise that they're not alone.

So I do a Blog search on Crohn's Disease... no sign of my blog. On Ileostomy... nothing. On Stoma... nada. All I get are the same blogs that led me to signing on to Planetostomy.

W2b does a couple of posts in which she mentions that she used to get a bit of a spanking by her Stepdad (who's a lovely guy by the way, I don't recognise him from the man that w2b describes to me of the past) and suddenly she's Madam Whiplash.

So I've tried to go a bit more blatant and put the search words in the title. That'll teach them.

By the way, if you have happened to find yourself here and you were hoping for some tips on living with Crohn's Disease or an Ileostomy, please feel free to read the archives. Truly though, the best things I can tell you are what I've found out:

1. You're not weird for having this bewildering array of feelings about yourself. It's natural even long after your diagnosis to go through strange feelings of guilt at the worry that you've brought on those people who care about you, to have a crushingly low opinion of your worth, to feel like you're somehow different to everyone around you and so on. You're mind's got a big shock to deal with and it'll deal with it in some odd ways sometimes.
2. You may not believe it, but if you meet someone who genuinely loves you they are not going to give two shits (there I go again) about whether or not you have different plumbing to them. Hell, if you're heterosexual then that would have been the case anyway. At least if you fart in bed they won't smell it.
3. Get used to talking about shit. It's gonna form quite a big part of your life from now on. Plus, get used to your shitting habits being the topic of conversation in all kinds of company that you wouldn't have expected.
4. Grow yourself a sense of humour. There's a lot of "there-there" websites and support groups out there. But they can often perpetuate the feelings of you being a patient and not a full member of society. The best thing you can do is grow some balls, try (no matter how hard it seems) to find the humour in what you're going through and if it gets really bad for God's sake get help. Camp out on your GP's doorstep if need be.
5. Don't compare your pain or suffering to other peoples'. Yes, knowing other people are having a hard time can help put things into perspective. But you need to know that other people's pain does not in some way make yours any less or more important.
6. It's not what happens to people that is important, it's how they react to it. Everything we go through helps shape the people we are. If you're lucky, one day you may even feel glad for (or at least have no regrets about) what you've been through as it has made you into who you are.

So anyway, let's see if that works. Come all ye Crohn's sufferers and people who poo out of their bellies.

Kind of another anniversary

I always get a bit soppy when w2b is away, even if it's for a relatively short period. Tonight she's taking advantage of our company's box at Old Trafford and watching Man Utd play Barnet. So in the mood of soppiness, I started to reminisce and realised that it's kind of another one of our anniversaries.

So when we left our story, w2b and I had passed like ships in the night. We'd got on well and there was the tiniest undercurrent of mutual attraction, but we returned to our daily lives unaware of there being any more.

For the month of October we had a bit of correspondence, but just the usual support-client stuff - nothing more. Then (and yes, this is a very innocuous and dry way for a relationship to start) I sent a Company Satisfaction survey out to all the users of the product that w2b was working with. The survey was all handled anonymously, so I had no idea who was saying what in the responses and a week after sending it out I sent a blanket email out to all potential respondents saying that the survey would only run for a short while longer... here's how the conversation progressed (thankyou to our CRM database here):

w2b,

The on-line survey has proved very popular so far, with results coming in thick and fast. If you have already responded to the survey, then many thanks. If you have not yet had the chance, then please be aware that the survey will be shut down at 5:30pm on Monday 3rd November.

Note that the survey has been run on a strictly anonymous basis, so if there are any issues raised in the survey that you need to discuss with us in person please contact us directly.

Regards,

mms

Hi mms,

I have completed the survey, I was probably one of the first :-) I have a couple of things that I need to discuss with you but I'll give you a call later... what is the best number to get hold of you on?

Regards,

w2b

Thanks w2b. Hopefully you said nice things. Ring me on #### ######.

I said ALL nice things about you ;-) and I even mentioned you by name (I hope my cheque is in the post :-)

I'll put you on the Christmas card list. Rumours about the kind of money we IT types make are vastly exaggerated.

I'll look forward to the card, as long as your number's on the back.

Such a smooth talker... such a minx.

So we talked. We started flirting. The calls got more frequent and more intense. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before. I went into this thinking that it would be a bit of fun - I'd been single for way too long and the attention was exactly what I needed. But I was starting to get really strong feelings for this girl.

We would talk first thing in the morning. We would email each other all through the day. We would talk and IM all through the evening and night. It got to the point where I knew w2b better than most of my friends.

But we always steered clear of the habitual "I love you" at the end of the call. Despite the feelings that we admitted to each other neither of us were naive enough to believe that we could fall in love with someone who we'd only met once and had only shared time with in a completely platonic way. I think we also had too much respect for the word and for each other to just throw it away in conversation.

So we started to feel like we should meet up. Whatever this relationship was, it couldn't go any further without some kind of physical connection. I started to get a bit scared. This was only around six months after Sid had come along and I wasn't particularly comfortable with myself. How could someone else accept him when I wasn't sure I had yet?

Luckily help came in the fact that when I had originally met w2b I had told one of her colleagues all about Sid. So I hinted and hinted and then finally told her to ask the colleague why I might be reticent about meeting up. She said she would and I waited.

She was fantastic. She didn't pretend it wasn't a big deal. But on the other hand she didn't act like it was some kind of terrible discovery. She was understanding and she asked questions. She said that if anything her feelings for me were stronger because I had disclosed this to her (admittedly in a cowardly way).

So we arranged for w2b to come up to Chester and visit. It would be a Friday night and she cunningly arranged to have to be back in London on the Saturday night - you've got to admire a girl for putting in place a pre-emptive exit strategy that would minimise embarrassment all round.

I needn't have worried. In spite of my inability to get food from plate to mouth without half of it going down my front at dinner and my misgivings about the prospect of being seen naked - bag and all - by a girl who wasn't a nurse it went fantastically well. We spent an amazing night together. There was passion, there was talking, there was comfort in being with someone who I'd grown to care so deeply about and being able to reach over and touch that person whenever I wanted. We spent a great day together, proving to ourselves that this wasn't just a correspondence thing and neither was it just a passion thing. When Saturday evening came and w2b had to head back I was both sad that she was going and wonderfully happy that she was even more than I'd hoped.

I could admit it now. I was completely, absolutely in love.

The following months were spent in feverish correspondence. Our phone bills were astronomical. Virtually every weekend was spent together (mainly her coming to see me, but also vice versa).

The more I got to know her the more utterly, bewilderingly blown away I was by her. She could hold her own in any company (she went to our Christmas dinner at work and I never once had to worry about whether she would be comfortable with my colleagues or what she might say to them). She was refreshingly, almost painfully honest. I never had to second guess what she was thinking or worry about what she was doing when I wasn't with her. Plus, she was one of the most beautiful girls I had ever met - with massive green eyes, a voice that could make my heart skip and... God I could go on for hours, but I'll only bore you and make w2b horribly embarrassed when she inevitably comes to read this.

Somehow we had become committed to each other wholly and unequivocally, without any discussion. We knew that this was something special. It was just after Christmas and already we could talk matter of factual about spending the rest of our lives together. I jokingly mentioned marriage and somehow it sounded right. From then on, without a proper proposal (that would come later) we simply assumed that marriage would be a logical next step for us. It was testament to a modern take on the old fashioned way that people used to get together - an extended, non-physical courtship followed only after getting to know someone truly intimately by a physical relationship. With the physical relationship merely supplementing a love that was already there but not fully accepted until then.

We had the odd bump along the way (which I or w2b may fill you in on at some point). But somehow everything seemed to find it's own way of fitting into place.

In May 2004, w2b packed all her belongings (a surprisingly large amount of belongings actually, when you think she'd arrived in London less than a year earlier with just one bag) into her little Clio that she'd just bought and we drove up to Chester to start our lives together.

Two dogs and a wrecked house that may never be finished later and I am still blissfully happy. I am also unbelievably thankful of the hand that fate dealt me.

Hi folks

Hi, long time no see. I seem to be saying that a lot recently. Need to either:

a) Improve my commitment to my blog.
b) Get over the fact that I don't update it every day.

So what's been going on since last week?

Well we finished the West Wing. Darned good it was too. We did kind of OD though. Was having strange West Wing style dreams. Normal situations, people I know, but all paced and acted out in a West Wing fashion. Most bizarre.

We got the cats back. They haven't changed a bit. Still as endearingly affectionate as before. They have kept us awake a bit (we've been crammed in one room a lot of the time as only the bedroom - which I'm sure you're familiar with by now - is even close to finished).

Deliberately didn't post anything on Friday night as I was feeling a little down about work. Won't go into it in much detail except to say it was a poorly handled pay negotiation that left me feeling pretty under valued and pissed off. Had another talk with my boss today and at least had a chance to vent my spleen. Don't think it'll change anything, but it at least left me feeling like I'd had my say.

So tata for now. I won't commit to being back tomorrow, but I will at least express an intent to get back to updating this in a more regular fashion.

Before I go though, don't worry, Zinnia - I'm quite prepared for others to admire w2b ;) If I think she's the most incredible person in the world, it stands to reason that others may think she's a little more than ok too. You can look, but don't touch - ok?

Just popping in...

Been away for a bit. This has been for two reasons. One was that we had a team building event yesterday followed by a meal (read: piss-up) and the other is that w2b and I have become hooked once again to West Wing.

Since we last spoke our bed has arrived. So we have (drum roll please....)

Moved In!

The new bed is lovely as you can see. Its big and chunky and wood. More than anything though, its not a caravan.

It does draw attention to the fact that the old bit of the house is very, very wonky. But we like to think that it's all part of the charm of the place.

Thankyou, by the way Zinnia for the comment. I have to disagree with you though. I think that w2b's butt is rather lovely. But then I think all of w2b is rather lovely.

Back to the team building then. It was actually pretty good. I think it went about as well as it could given the natural British reserve and the developers' lack of enthusiasm for anything that involves sunlight.

Sid made it through the day well, although he's a little bruised. One part of the day required our group to construct a platform out of logs and rope and dangle this above a "mine field". Although people in my group new of my condition, they seemed to forget about it and decided that I should be the one to lie prone on the platform and "clear the mine field" - due primarily to the fact that I was the lightest. Subtle hints about the kind of explosion that might ensue (yes, I'm referring to poo here rather than imaginary mines) were lost on them. My natural disinclination regarding backing out of anything due to my ileostomy meant that I just dived straight in. It was only afterwards when I said that maybe picking the guy who poo'd out of his belly wasn't the best idea in the world did the penny drop.

So he was feeling a little sorry for himself today. But I've changed him and he seems a lot happier now.

So anyway, where was that West Wing DVD.

(see you once we've sated ourselves)

Taking shape

It was another one of those back breaking painting days, but at least now it's starting to feel worthwhile.

The walls weren't in the best of states so we had to use a really thick paint that contains polyfila (and that's the spelling I'm keeping, so there). This means that each dip of the paint brush covers roughly a square foot of wall and a dip of the roller covers twice that if you're lucky. You've also got to be careful that the each stroke doesn't take off almost as much plaster as the paint covers.

But at least now that we've finished one coat, the room is starting to take shape and look like we intend it to. What you can't probably make it from the images is that we really need to do a second coat - which might be tricky considering that our bed arrives tomorrow.

By the way, the blur in the bottom right of this one is w2b bending over to collect another dollop of paint on her roller. Before you ask, yes I did do my fair share (I've realised when looking through these entries over time they tend to sound like "w2b did this and that hard work while I sat around on my arse and played XBox").


This last image is only included because we're really chuffed with our new windows - probably out of all relation to how chuffed we should be, but we've been starved of this kind of thing for a while now. If you look closely you can see the beginnings of w2b's butt cheeks in the bottom right of the image.

Such a tease ;)

We got to decorate!

Another one of those "unaccustomed as I am to physical labour" days.

Finally got a chance to start decorating our bedroom today, in preparation for... wait for it...

Our New Bed!

Yes, after over six months of living in the caravan we might be about to sleep in a real bed. Who knows what that might lead to... ;p

So today was spent sanding walls with an electric sander, wiping them down with sugar soap and then making a start on the painting (with thick, thick paint cos there's no way to make those walls smooth).

It's all very rewarding, but has left me feeling very achey. If only the bed had arrived already and I could look forward to sleeping in it. Roll on Tuesday.

Before I go, I've just got to add that the guy on that Jack Osbourne thing - I think his name is Mike - is an absolute dick. Wish someone would cut his rope.

Hey, long time no see

Howzit!

Yes, I know I've been away. I can assure you that it wasn't anything personal. There's no excuse really, I'm just a lazy git.

So what's been going on? Well something and nothing really. House is still continuing it's glacier-like progress towards being finished. We've got some windows in. We've got doors upstairs (you've got to see the door for the bedroom - it's so cute). This weekend will be spent sanding walls and if we're lucky painting them.

Yesterday one of w2b's friends and his boyfriend came over to visit. Admittedly, we couldn't be particularly hospitable (not having much of a house to have them stay) but luckily there's a rather nice, charming (well... kind of twee, but hey we were catering for foreigners) hotel down a little footpath from our house.

So last night we went out for a meal and once again I was blown away by just how great w2b's friends are. I always feel a little worried when meeting one for the first time. I am after all the one who is keeping her away from them in this dreary little country. So I'd better pass muster. This worry instantly fades when I realise that her friends are some of the warmest, most caring people you could ever meet. I have yet to meet one that has not impressed me with how quickly they feel like they are my friends too.

Anyway, I'm rambling as usual and The West Wing starts soon. God I love that show. One day I'll tell you just how obsessively in love with it we are and the DVD binges that we've had.

LoveYaBye (as my beloved so charmingly put it)

We're getting a house...

Its happening very, very slowly but out of the debris a house is emerging. Today was door and window day. The windows for the old part of the house arrived and Paul (builder) got to work staining them. We're so glad we went for hard wood windows. I never thought I could get excited about window frames, but these are beautiful. They're hand crafted out of gorgeous wood that's now been stained a rich brown that brings out the grain. They're stunning and currently hanging from the ceiling in our dining room as they dry.

While this was going on, Ted (weird, old carpenter dude) got to work on the interior doors upstairs. He's making a great job of them. They too are really well crafted. They are perfectly balanced, so no matter what level of ajarness (it's a word, honest) you leave them at they just stay there.

...

You can tell there hasn't been much noticeable progress for a while.

The TV and Amp arrived today too. The TV is *Fucking Huge*. It's staying in it's box for a while to avoid being damaged, which means we can't really walk around the kitchen. I'm hoping it acts as another spur for the builders - as in, please finish the room so we can watch this thing.

Still reading that Terry Goodkind book, still playing Morrowind. Now listening to a CD that my brother sent through. Sounds good so far, although w2b seemed to think that one of the hip-hop tracks sounded like something out of a musical and then proceeded to regale me with how she could write a musical, she really could. Apparently it would be set in Brixton and would be a hip-hop version of West Side Story... or something.

... tired of waiting...

Now that we've got through the initial going backwards period and things are going in the right direction, I'm starting to get itchy. It's just all going soooo slowly.

• The kitchen still has to be finished off. All the delays caused by our electricians being so useless meant that the fitter could only do so much before he went on holiday. He did a damn fine job, but now we want it to be finished.
• The bathroom... now yes, I know I raved about how well the Dolphin guy did. But we've got a bit of a leak when we have a shower. A leak that drips through the ceiling into the ground floor. Dolphin don't, as yet seem to give a shit.
• No other rooms are finished!!! Just please, give us one room. Just one. That's all I ask for.

A lot of this down to the date. Its October now. That's about seven months since we started this escapade. We started in summer so that we wouldn't freeze our nuts off in the caravan. Nut freezing time is approaching. But we have no bedroom to sleep in.

Not only that, but it is exactly two months now to our wedding. This puts me in a really difficult position psychologically. I want the day to approach really badly. I really can't wait. I'm sure w2b's mother would like a little more time [1], but hell - I want it to happen now! But on the other hand there just seems to be a mountain to climb with the house before we go. I just can't face the prospect of coming back from South Africa to a half finished house.

Last but not least, our tv arrives tomorrow. Where the hell are we gonna put it? The builders can't walk past a piece of furniture without getting plaster on it. What damage could they do to a 42" tv?

So pardon me for ranting. I just want this all done...

NOW!

Thankyou for your time.

[1] Just re-read that and I think I might have given the wrong impression. Mil2b (Mother-in-law to be, may have to rethink that - sounds like something out of American Pie) is really enthusiastic about our wedding. It's just what with her being in SA, she's been saddled with a lot of the wedding planning.

Stiff as a board

I'm really not accustomed to physical labour. Today was spent stripping the walls of the room that is going to be our bedroom. This took us from about 11:00am to about 3:00pm. Boy was it tiring.

This was followed by cleaning the bathroom. Its seemed like a bit of a fruitless task until now, what with the amount of dust and dirt blowing around the house. But after a bath last night where I wasn't sure if I came out cleaner or dirtier I decided to bite the bullet.

All in all quite a successful day. In spite of the aches and pains in my body, it being accustomed to work of a more cerebral nature (read sitting behind a desk), its good to have days like this. Not only does it make you feel more justified in slobbing out for the remainder, but it also feels like we are contributing in some small way towards turning this place into a home.

Off for a bath again in a second - as much to ease my muscles as to get clean. Hardly any XBox[1] today thanks to being too tired. So yes, w2b has done her magic once again in curbing my addiction. If you'll allow me to be sloppy for a moment, I'd just like to say that I would never have the inclination to do this kind of thing if it wasn't for her and I also wouldn't enjoy doing it so much if I didn't have her as a workmate. So no matter how frustrated I may seem while doing it, it all seems more than worthwhile at the thought of the home we are creating together and the many happy times we'll have in it.

So tired... so, so tired.

[1] For anyone who doesn't know ;) an XBox is a really nice, but getting quite old games console. I've had mine for quite a while now and am looking forward to the next generation one which comes out at the end of November. I'm looking forward more of course to having a decent living room to enjoy it in. Oh, and you need a tv to play it with Zinnia.

The obsessive/completist gene

I'm not one for sweeping generalisations about the difference between men and women. Maybe its something to do with the fact that I've got quite a few female qualities and w2b has quite a few male ones.

Woooah there! Let me just expand on that a little. What I mean by that is not that I walk around in a dress or am in any way camp. I certainly don't mean that w2b is some kind of hod carrying, short haired, comfortable shoe wearer. But the way we divide things between ourselves and the way we react to things is often against type. W2b throws herself into manual labour with a passion and has a disturbing love of power tools. I get choked up at sentimental reality tv shows and am very good at cleaning kitchens and bathrooms.

But there is one personality trait that is very, very male. Most men seem to have it to a greater or lesser extent and it only presents itself in small amounts in women. This trait is what I like to think of as the obsessive/completist gene.

We collect things almost purely for the sake of completeness. Its what leads men I think into things such as train spotting and the twitching type of bird spotting. When we find something we like doing we do it obsessively and repetitively, to the exclusion of everything else and almost to the point of not actually enjoying it anymore - just as long as we're still doing it.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think these tendencies are wholly negative. When channeled correctly and with a useful outlet, men with these tendencies can still be productive members of society. Its one of the reasons (coupled with a love of abstractions and a world dependent on logic) that leads so many men to working in IT. It also allows us to overcome our lack of ability when confronting household tasks like DIY and get the job done no matter what (and no matter how frustrated we get when doing it).

But when channeled wrongly they can turn us into rather stupid, unproductive animals. Take Games Consoles for example.

Usually my XBox playing is cleverly controlled by w2b. Either she will suggest things that we can do together or she will ensure that I have a set number of tasks to complete prior to switching it on. Unfortunately, with no real value to be gained from cleaning the kitchen or bathroom, no decent environment for us to watch a movie, no dogs to look after, no handy, small jobs for me to do and crappy weather outside the safeties were off today. So I ended up getting sucked in and the gene took over. To the extent that by half past two, when w2b returned from her horse riding lesson I had only just got properly dressed, had skipped lunch and by consequence had a headache developing.

It was time for an intervention. A haircut, furniture shopping and Nando's later I was back in the land of the living. But it was touch and go for a while.

W2b has seen the error of her ways - tomorrow we are stripping wallpaper.

My name is MyMateSid and I'm a Morrowind-aholic.

From a support manager's perspective

I know work related posts are a bit risky, but I just wanted to share this one with you...

A small group of our users have been having persistent, intermittent problems. These have been difficult to track down as we're supporting an internet system. So it was decided that the best way to resolve the problems was to create a series of standard questions that would aid us and the wonderful technical guys to track down what was causing the problem (they're IT infrastructure, our servers or something in between).

Here's an example of one of the responses we got to one of the requests for more information (bear in mind that these users are getting incredibly frustrated and want the problem solved NOW!):

Can you provide details of the exact error message that is shown - ideally a screenshot?
No

You can see why sometimes I just want to stay in bed?

Time flies

Time's going by pretty quickly now.

With so much going on, the wedding has kind of crept up on us. Now its getting close and its a little scary.

The funny thing is, I'm in no way nervous about the act of getting married. I could honestly state that I've never been more sure of anything than I am of wanting to marry w2b. Plus, everything seems to be ticking along quite nicely for the big event. I think its just that everyone is so sure its a big deal and something that you should be nervous about that you can't help having some of that rub off on you. You have to struggle quite forcibly to not get sucked up in the group hysteria that surrounds weddings.

So this weekend I think we'll be off to see BM (Best Man). As well as being a great friend he's also an oasis of calm who can cut through a lot of the crap. We'll get a second opinion on what we might have forgotten and what we might like to bear in mind. Plus, I'll enforce on him yet again that I don't want a stag do (mutter, mutter).

Can't wait till we can just fly over to SA and get this show on the road. What with builders, electricians, work and family disputes over the wedding we'll need a break.

All we need now is w2b to find out she's pregnant and I think we'll have got the full set of stressful events ;)

Currently Reading: Wizards First Rule by Terry Goodkind
Currently Playing: Morrowind (got to complete before Oblivion - at least I've stopped starting new games now)
Currently Listening To: Radio 1, still. Please God let us finish a room so that we can get a decent Hi-Fi in.

Becoming what you hate

Back when I was a bachelor I was endlessly annoyed by those couples.

You know the ones. They're so smug about how great their relationships. They spend so much time together that they are like one, single, two-headed entity.

Well, you know what?

We've become one.

We finish each other's sentences. We have this strangely amalgamated language that is a mixture of w2b's strange South Africanisms (well, her slightly odd babble anyway) and my northernness and unintelligible mumbled english.

At work, things that should be said to both of us are said to just one. People seem to accept a kind of symbiotic, telepathic link between the two of us. Half the time we're kind of interchangeable.

At home, we descend into a strange kind of babble. We'll turn to each other and make the same half-arsed comment about something we hear on the radio or see on tv.

The other day I caught myself nodding in time to some random humming that the w2b was getting up to. It wasn't even a real tune for Christ's sake.

Thing is, I kind of like it. I like to think of it as a sign of how easy life is with the two of us.

Have to say though, I pity our kids.

Its our anniversary

Well one of them, anyway...

Its exactly two years to the day since w2b and I first met. So I guess its story time again.

W2b was a newly appointed administrator for one our clients. Back in those days it was part of my responsibility to train administrators. She was in London and I was in Chester. So off I toddled with The Bitch That No Longer Works For Us (oh, now there's a story for another blog) the afternoon before for her training. We started drinking on the train. We then had a meal at a restaurant run by TBTNLWFU's friend in Covent Garden. She was getting drunk and becoming quite boring company so I phoned up my best friend from Uni, who lives and works in London to see if he wanted to meet up for a couple.

TBTNLWFU turned in around ten but I had quite a few months of catching up to do (remember this was the year that Sid was born). My mate and I eventually stopped some time after midnight in the hotel bar.

Then it was up at around seven to find our way to w2b's place of work. We struggled our way through breakfast and then stumbled into her office around nine. TBTNLWFU was so hung over she could barely focus on the monitor screen. I mumbled my way through the training, which luckily passed by pretty quickly (w2b's pretty bright, you know).

We got on. Conversation wasn't forced at all. TBTNLWFU commented afterwards that w2b and I chatted about things that she couldn't follow. Maybe it was just her hangover. Or the fact that she was thick as pig shit. I remember thinking vaguely that w2b was quite attractive, but had to admit to not being focused enough to think much more. TBTNLWFU was feeling pretty ill by the afternoon and had to go back to lie down. I got roped into some additional work by w2b's kind of boss. Somehow I ended up telling him about Sid.

After that, I went back to Chester on my own. Tired, feeling the usual sense of satisfaction from a successful day with a client.

Romantic, eh?

Little did I know that the hour or so I spent with w2b would change my life. But that's for a later date.

Suffice to say that the random nature of our meeting almost made me - Mr logical, atheist, rationalist - start to believe in fate.

It probably ranks as the most important day of my life.

I love the smell of pine trees in the morning

It might just be me, but it seems that things are progressing at hyperspeed now.

Not only do we have full electrics and a first coat of render on the house, but today we started to reclaim the garden. Or rather the nice heavy duty garden service did. Its incredible to see workers actually working. Especially when they do so at such high speed.

Within the space of just a few hours, we had done our bit for global warming and lost two massive trees. It makes a massive difference. We now have light flooding into the tv room and can see all the way from the bottom of the drive to the top of the house.

All of this must have made us a bit giddy. Over the course of about quarter of an hour I had bought a home cinema mag, found an article on a really nice sounding tv and then w2b (its important that its noted that w2b did this - just in case their are future repercussions) was onto the internet and we'd bought a Plasma tv. Must give a bit of a plug for Sound and Vision here. Damn good price, quick turnaround and no delivery fee - even across the border from Bolton to North Wales.

So the checklist for what we've ordered for sheer geekish couch-potato-dom now goes as follows:

Comfy Sofa - Check
XBox 360 - Check
Plasma TV - Check

The amp and speakers may well be bought tomorrow - cos I can't go back to the old ones with all this nice kit.

...

You see what a geek I am. I've been trying so hard to keep it all in check, but once I let it loose it just gets out of control. Ah well, my secrets out.

In the same spirit:

Currently Reading: Wizards First Rule by Terry Goodkind

Currently Playing: Morrowind

Currently Listening To: Happy Mondays on the TV. God that was surreal. Not a bad track though.

We bought the shop

If you've been reading w2b's blog (and yes, the reason for there only being one blog entry from sid and the pig yesterday is because I was earning the pennies while w2b followed the workers round with a crowbar and I therefore needed some escapism in the form of XBox) you'll know that our building site of a home has been transformed into a palatial picture of luxury due to the addition of a kitchen with working appliances.

So last night we tried and failed to grocery shop. We failed. Miserably.

It was just so difficult. We've not done this for ages and therefore just stumbled around the supermarket like those dazed students you see at the start of term.

So today, we tried again. This time we got it right. Oh boy, did we get it right. We started at one end and worked our way through buying up the place. If they'd made bigger trolleys we'd still be there now.

Ah, food that you can put in the freezer. Food that you can put in the fridge. Food that needs more than one gas ring. Food that you can cook in the oven. I think our bodies are going to go into shock.

As if that wasn't enough, we returned to a fully wired (well except for one spot light in the bedroom, but this is our electrician remember - you can't have everything). So I promptly went round and switched all the lights on. Even let Sid in on the fun by changing him, including a shave in our electrically lit bathroom.

I really don't know how we're going to cope when this place is finished. Maybe as with everything, you have to experience the bad before you can fully appreciate the good.

Continuing my habit of making a half arsed attempt at a regular theme, I'll now include a bit of info about my tastes at the moment:

Currently Reading: Wizards First Rule by Terry Goodkind
Currently Playing: Morrowind
Currently Listening To: The Radio (sadly no decent hi-fi yet)