Random Thoughts from Grimmauld Place

Um, yeah. It seems I still *really* suck at posting... I hope this first quarter of 2013 is going well for you all.

As for me: meh. Eczema on the eyelids really isn't fun.

Much as I intended to post more, it really hasn't happened, has it?

So what has happened since mid-October?

* Eldest turned 18. Her 'party' day out to Alton Towers went well, though it was a bit cold
* Eldest also passed her driving test the day after her 18th birthday. She can't drive either of our cars, though, as they're company cars and not insured for anyone under 21 or who has held a licence for less than a year.
* Eldest also put in her University application form - and she's heard back from all of them! Five conditional offers to choose from. Now all she needs are some really good grades next summer.
* I've started the second year of the ADIT diploma - and boy, was the introductory course scary! I'm going into this feeling I don't really stand a chance of passing next June :-/ And since the course life's been so busy I have had virtually no time to study.
* Youngest has new Gok Wan glasses and is mighty pleased she can actually read the board at school again
* Hubbie's still travelling a lot with his job (though his Christmas break started last weekend, lucky man!) If he does a 49 hour week, then it's a light one...
* I've been starting to develop some back problems over the last couple of weeks, it seems. Today's not been particularly good: each time I go to stand up or reach down to pick something up my lower back (right side) is twinging/going into spasm. Perhaps I'd better find some ibuprofen.

I've been highly disorganised as regards Christmas too. All the overseas cards and presents only got sent on Monday, way after the last posting deadline, so it's highly unlikely that they will arrive until nearer New Year. And I'm still waiting on some ordered presents to arrive too. Maybe next year I'll manage better?

Thank you to aome for the card! It arrived yesterday :-) And I'm sure I'll be able to use the stamps - where would you like a postcard from? ;-)

To all my dear LJ friends, I hope you all have restful and happy holidays over Christmas/New Year!

My dear Youngest's phone contract comes up for renewal within the next month/6 weeks, and because there's a particular smartphone she wants that she can't get at a reasonable price with Virgin, our current provider, she's looking at maybe moving providers to get what she wants. Which means me having to deal with a company I've not dealt with before, as she's under 18.

What experience do my UK friends have of 3, which seems to have the best deal currently on the phone she wants? I've heard they're not very good at customer service. But I'd like to hear your experiences/ stories/ anecdotes before I make a final decision.

Here's my results for that meme that's been doing the rounds about writing style:





That was for this year's DearSanta fic, so I s'pose it's right...





And that was for the Doctor Who fic the year before (but I've never heard of David Foster Wallace?)

And finally, for one of my Dreamwidth/LJ entries I got this:





Not much consistency there, then.

This guy really seems to like water-related music as much as I do :-)

Anyone know of any decent, but reasonably priced hotels in central New York?

I finally got to see the new Doctor Who that aired at the weekend - and I was very pleasantly surprised by Matt Smith as the eleventh incarnation of The Doctor. He was far, far better than I expected him to be, to be honest.

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Call me a purist, but I'm not sure how I feel about the changes in the Scrabble rules to allow proper nouns:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8604625.stm

I can understand it for established place names, country names, etc, but to allow all 'people' names as well? That's pretty much saying you can justify any spelling that fits the letters you have, on the premise that someone somewhere may have a name spelt that way :-/

Just thought I'd share a good recipe with you, as I enjoyed it this evening:

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They do make a good substitute for chips if you're not a potato fan :-)

I'm currently doing a benchmarking exercise at work and am finding it difficult to find comparable companies: What I need are the names of companies that distribute chemicals, and in particular biochemicals, to UK universities and research establishments. No other details, just the distributors' company names. Can anyone help, or suggest where I could find that sort of information?