2012: A Retrospect

December 30th, 2012

So, here we are again for another annual retrospective review. As I am too lazy to wax lyrical about 2012, I’ll bullet point a few things which stood out in my memory-

Highlights

  • I finally got a job!
  • Norris, who I thought had died, came home!
  • Seeing mountain gorillas in Uganda
  • Getting to tick Cuba off my ‘hit list’

Lowlights

  • I got robbed in Lisbon
  • My iPhone 4s was liberated from my possession earlier this month while on the commute to work

Looking ahead to 2013, my aim(s) are to not get robbed, especially of any more iDevices, tick off more countries on my ‘hit list’ (when I’m finally reunited with my passport), finish PADI and perhaps take up krav maga again.

Ahola!

November 23rd, 2012

Normally when I don’t actively blog, I do have ideas for blog posts, but these days, not so much.

Interesting factoid – Sainsbury’s iced coffee cake is unexpectedly dry. Disappointing.

Fireworks

November 5th, 2012

Remember remember, the 5th of November… how could I forget what with all these fireworks going off!!

So it begins, my annual series of fireworks associated grumpyness.

One Too Many

September 26th, 2012

I started off with one cat, then Norris returned and now there’s a third interloper. Looks like Cici’s friend got in. Cici’s fine with him around the house but still continues to be mean to Norris who seems very non fussed. Anyhoo, I’ve sent Cici’s friend off on his merry way. He’s a very meaty and heavy cat, more so than Cici.

I’m pretty sure this one isn’t ours

Vagabond Feline

September 23rd, 2012

What’s better than a human interest story? A feline interest story!

Last week, a letter came for my parents from a vet saying that they had come across a cat, scanned it and found that it’s details lead to us. It was Norris. We had adopted him years ago. I remember returning from Singapore after a month’s stint and there was a black and white cat sitting on the couch staring back at me. We had him for about a year or two before one day he left and never came back. From his adoption pack, he was taken in as a stray, I figured that perhaps he got fed up of domestic life and fancied something more off beat and adventurous. He was always a bit of a wild one and just never understood the etiquette of not helping himself to human dinner on the kitchen counter or table. When he didn’t return after a week, I thought he was dead, mangled under the wheels of a passing vehicle.

A year or two passed and Cici became part of the household. Unlike Norris, he had always been pampered having belonged to an elderly person before she had to give him up due to poor health.

So, upon learning of Norris’ existence, I later found out that he was now residing in Dustable having been loitering around the neighbourhood for about a year. Yesterday, I went up to collect him, he was being looked after by a middle-aged couple who already had two cats and Norris (who now went by his street name of “Scoobie”) hung out with them. Apparently, he was sort of being looked after by a family a few doors down who had lots of other animals and didn’t look after him very well (it conjured up images from those documentaries of animal hoarders with animals living in squalor). He was loitering around, looking gaunt and nervous so these kind Samaritans enticed him in and fed him along with their cats. It wasn’t until they had to take their own cats to the vets for their annual check-up that they took Norris along too and discovered his details.

It’s definitely Norris, he never did travel well and the hour drive back to London was traumatic for all involved. I had to wash him when we got home. Cici came in and wondered what all the hubbub was all about. They sniffed each other out and as expected, Cici was none too pleased. A fight didn’t break out, there was just a lot of disgruntled meowing.

Norris spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening sitting and cleaning himself in the darker recess of the laundry room while Cici just went about his business in the house with the occasional growl and hiss whenever he passed Norris. I wonder how long, if ever, it’ll take for them to live harmoniously together. This morning at breakfast, Cici didn’t want to eat in the same room as Norris. Norris on the other hand, didn’t seem to care and continued chowing down. He seems to be settling in well despite Cici’s protestations, and has been scratching at the door like he used to when he wanted to go out.

What I want to know is how he managed to make his way up to Dunstable. I suspect he jumped into a van while exploring and accidentally got locked in. There is still 5 years which I can’t account for. If only he could speak.

Norris

Cici

How very appropriate

September 23rd, 2012

Canon Powershot G12

August 26th, 2012

Pimped.

No Canon’s, mine!!

What is important in life?

August 23rd, 2012

Money! Lots and lots of money!! And photography and travel and a tricked out Bugatti Veyron.

Comfort and time?! Phrtt, I like to be gr££n. :-D

Doraemon kicks ass!!

TubeFi

August 23rd, 2012

So, we have wifi on The Underground. It’s easy enough to sign up to and fast enough on the iPad. However, it only works when you’re at a station so it’s a race against time when you stop to try and get what you want downloaded etc… Nice idea, but impractical when you’re actually on the move.

Of course, now that there’s a way to connect to the outside while underground, I haven’t hit upon any serious delays on my commute.

Cookies

August 13th, 2012

On the way home today, I stopped by Sainsbury’s in search of doughnuts, dinner and lunch items for the week ahead.

There were no doughnuts but cookies were reduced to 24p a pack of 5. A middle-aged woman took made the most of it and pretty much filled her trolley, clearing out the shelf. A pair of teenagers come along looking at the full priced cookies (£1). The middle-aged woman then asks them if they want one of hers because they were cheaper. They accepted.