Dude, where's my towel?



Bad things recently



Having to pay Edinburgh bastard moneygrubbing council's tax, may they choke on every penny



Return to shift working as Evil Boss decrees even those now in stockroom must do late and early shifts, which is a waste of time for that post.



Xmas working hours brought in early - first shift now starts at 7.30 bloody am which is fucking ridiculous.



Evil Boss fucking me off by refusing my requests for a day's holiday on the 31st of December for my birthday and the first week of January off as I have taken for hte last few years. Nope, it's still to close to 'peak trading period'. As both are after Xmas and the 31st is a crap day for business as the whole of Princes Street is closed to traffic that day in preparation for the world's biggest Hogmanay party it makes no sense.



Evil Boss then has cheek to ask me to work one of the bloody bank holidays in the week he refused me off. Cheeky smegger. Said no.



Noticing he has put me down for one of those days anyway, the sandal-wearing bastard. Words will be exhanged - if he gives me my birthday off I will do his bank holiday day. If not he can kiss my magnificent Celtic ass, since it is voluntary.



Good Things



Entertaining ourselves in the stockroom by listening to the shiny new BBC CD audio books of the latest Hitchhiker's Guide radio series, which just finished on Radio 4 and was hugely enjoyable (not to mention somewhat nostalgiac for someone like me who is old enough to recall the original series coming out and still has the vinyl versions made by the original cast). Only problem is the Krickit Robots on the cover look at first glance like Clone Troopers from the new (and utterly awful) Star Wars films



Playing Star Wars Battlefront (see how seamlessly this all links? Just like the Frankenstein monster's stitches...). Amazing graphics - it is like being in the movie and is terrific fun.



Realising I can stomp those infuriating Ewoks under the legs of my Imperial Walker in the Battlefront and can shoot Jar-Jar in the back of the head. Very therapeutic.



Watching bizarre movie called Versus loaned to me by my drouthy cronie Tom. Samurai, sorcerors, Yakuza and zombies - bloody brilliant if incomprehensible. Finding the English language subtitle option didn't actually help as it was translated by someone who doesn't speak very good English, but you get the gist...



Books 3 and 4 in Tanya Huff's Blood series - old new to the US and Canadian markets but new to the UK. Small by my normal book scales and perfect little 'snack' books for reading on the bus. Enjoying them very much and the Toronto setting reminds me of Forever Knight, while having the bastard son of Henry VIII as the vampire chum of our plucky PI is brilliant!



More vampire fun in Sunshine. Wait ages for some neck-biting fun and several books turn up at the same time.



Lots of new Simpsons on cable.