Ho Ho Ho

So here I sit, still at my desk on Christmas Eve.

My laptop has been given to Santa's Little IT Helpers so that they can upgrade it over the Christmas break to Windows 7. I think this is so that I can be bemused and bewildered in the new year via a more efficient and cutting-edge platform. Lovely.

The upshot of this is that I am now in this peculiar limbo where I can officially not do any work, but can't go home until the 'surprise' announcement by the gaffers.

But I care not one jot. I am full of Christmas joy and in a few hours I will be heading home to begin the blissful chaos that is Christmas.

Hoping you all have an ace time, my etherborne friends.

NDC

Rules For a Successful Working Day

1. Always be courteous
2. Make sure no-one sees you do it
3. Have an alibi

NDC

Falalalalalalalalaaaaaaaaaa.

Yes, 'tis.

This weekend we have been shopping like feck. We had a gazillion Christmas presents to buy and very little time, so we headed into the sprawling metropolis that is Leicester city centre on Saturday with the intent of knocking off as much as humanely possible in one go.

Now, I think as far as blokes go I'm pretty reasonable at this shopping malarkey. I can quite cheerfully wander round shops selling all sorts of shite that I don't understand for quite a long time in man terms* but I was bracing myself for the hell of mental Christmas people celebrating the season of goodwill to all men by getting irate with each other in huge numbers.

The day got off to a great start, the walk into the town takes us in via one of the less salubrious part of the city, lots of pound shops, pawnbrokers and a pornbroker. I suspect a marketing student from the DMU is working there part time - clicky on the pic if you can't read the sign at right:

We chuckled quite a lot and headed into town.

We shopped,

We shopped some more.

Whilst we were in John Lewis I stopped to have a look at the new Kindle Paperwhite. I'd got it in mind for a christmas present as I liked the idea of the lit screen, but after 5 minutes of prodding it about I've decided it's not for me. the backlight is not enough to justify the pricetag or even make up for the lack of proper buttons to cope with my suncream-coated fingers on holiday. Anyway, here's my ghetto fix for the lack of lighting on the original that has served me so well to date:

Yup that's a Petzl headtorch. I'll run you through the pros and cons.

Pros

• Crystal clear reading at all times with the added advantage of being able to use both hands to hold the kindle.
• No extra weight to hold,
• Nocturnal requirements for taking a leak don't require any lights being switched on. This is fun in a childish kind of way

Cons

• The IMA will, on sight, dissolve into hysterical laughter. Admittedly, this is probably just me but I suspect the reaction from your significant other will be similar.

Swings and roundabouts, really.

And the hordes of mental people in the town? well I think they were busy shopping on line via our tax-avoiding chums at Amazon et al.

NDC

* - Men are often compared to dogs by the fairer sex, which I generally feel quite disgruntled about. However, when it comes to shopping, the comparison bears weight. One hour of shopping for a woman feels like seven for a bloke.

Symmetry

My drive to work this morning was a little earlier than usual, but this unfortunate circumstance was more than made up for by a spectacular sunrise.

To add to my happiness, the illumination of the dash matched the colours of the skyscape beautifully. Somewhere in Munich an automotive design engineer was probably feeling very pleased with herself, but not quite knowing why.

NDC