.: Xiphi’s Website :.

Cor blimey! What a week! So, here’s the story …. hope you’re sitting comfortably ;o)

First off, there was another Women in IT day to run on Monday morning, which seemed to go well. It was a school that I’d help run the event at last year, but running it is an entirely different thing! Then, rushed back to work to get my organising shirt on for the IBM Hursley technical exchange conference.

Busy with the conference all week - lots of cool activities including playing cricket against Hawkeye, and loads of funky talks(my personal favourite from a completely techy point of view was from Matt Irvine who spoke about the history of special effects in tv, including his work on Blake’s 7 and Doctor Who) Also got the chance to meet Robert Llewellyn who was a really top bloke, and even humoured me by saying ’smeg’ when I asked. His talk was also amazing - had me in stitches for most of it.

Another busy DIY weekend, finishing off the shelves in the cupboard, covering the glass above the door, burying the light switch cable in the wall, applying more polyfilla than is healthy, and painting one of the four walls in the room(the rest still had wet polyfilla, so are going to have to wait) Then off to see XMen 3 with Si, followed by dinner at Pizza Express.

And finally …. today was the 40th anniversary celebration event for the clubhouse, and a few of us from the huc.it team headed down with our discs to play a demonstration match of Ultimate for people to see. We all had a great day - there were loads of people there, there were bouncy castles(one for kids, one for adults :o) ) and there was a hog roast(mmm, pig in a bun), quizzes, more demos, live music. All in all, an excellent day!

So……the new thing for this week …… well, it’s a toss up between two really, so I’ll show off and put two things for this week. First new thing was meeting Robert Llewellyn - absolutely great if you’re a huge Red Dwarf and Scrapheap fan like me. Second was Mike teaching me how to pull my first pint behind the bar at the clubhouse in the week - and it wasn’t a bad one :o)

Quite a few DIY firsts this weekend ….. let me explain what I did. Firstly, fitted a new light in the bedroom, then moved the light switch in the room to the other side of the doorframe and fitted a new dimmer switch to it. Pulled out the fitted wardrobes/built in cupboard ‘things’. Took the door off, bought a new one and hung it and put new handles on it. Then built a ceiling-high cupboard in the corner of the room. Now, I’ve got lots of prep stuff to do, the top of the doorframe to sort out, and lots of tidying up etc before I can choose a colour and go crazy and paint the room. Then I need to think about underlay and carpet.

…….but I think I’m going to claim this as my favourite new first :oD

Hi! What you are supposed to do is copy (not forward) this entire email or paste it onto a new email that you’ll send . Change all the questionnaire answers so they apply to you and then send this to a whole bunch of people, including the one who sent it to you. Put your name in the subject line. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little things about your friends, if you did not know them already!

1) what time did you get up this morning?
7:30am (too bloody early if you ask me)

2) Diamonds or Pearls?
Diamonds

3) What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Prime

4) What are your favourite TV shows?
Desperate housewives, Spaced, Green Wing, etc etc

5) What did you have for breakfast today?
Toast and Nutella

6) What is your middle name?
Jane

7) What is your favourite cuisine?
Anything that there’s a nice lot of
What foods do you dislike?
Shellfish(for it makes me spew), baked beans

9) What is your favourite crisp flavour?
Thai Sweet Chilli

10) What is your favourite CD at the moment?
10 Years Gone - The Very Best of Everclear

11) What kind of car do you drive?
Fiesta (a blue one)

12) Favourite Sandwich?
Pickled onion

13) What characteristics do you despise?
People who love themselves (because they need to understand that I’m clearly better than them)

14) What are your favourite clothes?
Any of my sock collection

15) A place you would like to holiday?
Niagara Falls

16) What colour is your bathroom?
Purple (blimey, haven’t you seen the pictures? ;o) )

17) Favourite brand of clothing?
Does sock shop count?

18) Where would you want to retire to?
Somewhere nice, how about Clacton-on-sea….

19) Favourite time of day?
Breakfast time, lunch time, dinner time, tea time…..

20) Where were you born?
Margate Hospital

21) Favourite sport to watch?
Any of them except golf

22) Who do you least expect to send this back?
Well, they’re not going to send it back are they?

23) Person you expect to send it back?
See answer 22

24) Coke or Pepsi?
Coke - and don’t mess with it. No low fat, with added vanilla, made from arabian goats. Just coke. Red label all the way.

25) Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Depends

26) Any new and exciting news you’d like to share with everyone?
Yes

27) What did you want to be when you were little?
Bigger

28) What is your best childhood memory?
Not entirely sure - too many to choose from

29) What are the different Jobs you have had in your life?
Paper round, sandwich maker, newsagent worker, off licence worker, salesperson at Comet, burger flipper at Burger King, software tester at IBM, team leader at IBM

30) Nicknames?
Hmmm. Liz, Fanny Anne, Fanny Adams, LizzieBear, Liz of Beth, Xiphi, I’m pretty sure Lesley used to call me Moosh, Peter’s called me a streak of pi$$ before now as well …….. I’m sure there are others I’ve forgotten ;o)

31) Piercings?
Ears and top of right ear

32) Eye Colour?
Hazel Brown(just like my sister…… :o) )

33) What colour underwear are you wearing?
I’m not at the moment

34) Been in a car accident?
Yup. Hit by a car when a small person. Car accident whilst in 2nd year of uni that left me in a neck collar. But by far my favourite was the one I was in where my front bumper got dinged by one of my neighbours while I was asleep in bed in my flat.

35) Favourite day of the week?
All of the ones ending in ‘y’

36) Favourite restaurant?
KFC \o/

37) Favourite flower?
Self raising. No seriously, they’re all just posh daisies, aren’t they?

38) Favourite ice cream?
One with a big fat dollop of clotted cream on the top

39) Favourite fast food restaurant?
Damnit …… KFC again \o/

40) How many times did you fail your driving test?
None

41) Before this one, from whom did you get your last email?
Martin

42) Which store would you choose to max out your credit card in?
Is KFC a valid answer here too?

43) Bedtime?
Not right now, no

44) Who are you most curious about their responses to this questionnaire?
…..any of them really

45) Last person you went to dinner with?
Si

46) What are you listening to right now?
A poor attempt by me to get my fingers round ‘Street Spirit’ by Radiohead

47) What is your favourite colour?
Blue

48) How many tattoos do you have?
Just the two

49) How many people are you sending this email to?
None, because it sounds like effort

……. after weeks of titting about with it, I’m proud to be able to unveil this

It’s taken a while to get finished, what with the wall being replastered and the flooring and the generally being busy and not getting round to it, but it’s pretty much 99.9% done now. Just that bloomin’ loo roll holder to sort out now …… ;o)

This week’s first was a garden related one ……. Si decided that he wanted to completely re-do his back garden, so we’ve been messing about with it for a little while now. This weekend, however, we turfed. Can’t say I’ve ever been a turfer before, so it was definitely a first! Once the lawn was laid, we sat and watched what can only be described as an excellent cup final!!

Come on you reeeeeeeeeeeeeeds!!!!

Ooooh, a luvvie week! I went to see J in Bye Bye Birdie in Woking, and had a great time. Went for a meal first with christine, mark and em (good food, crap service), then legged it to the theatre(via kfc 3 times)

Play was great fun (we looove yoooooooou coooooonraaaaaaaaaad, oh yes we doooooooooo), then off to the after show party with loads of the young’uns from the play. Had a good chuckle and a sing song or 5, then back to J’s at a silly hour of the next day to go to bed. Up the next day to a bit of fry up action, and series 1 of Spaced, then off home to eat a huge mcdonalds.

In other news, went to the gym again today - more work on the cardio machines and managed to get more reps of some heavier weights in, which I’ll no doubt pay for tomorrow, but might make me a bit less of a scrawny git.

Back to Ultimate practice again this week, and now the weather’s brightened up a bit, we’re outside every wednesday from 5:30 to 7ish. Means a bigger pitch, longer training, and the potential for me to finally learn to lay-out. Also realised how impossible it is to play outside without spikes/blades, so out shopping for a pair tonight. All this should help to increase the fitness, although today I’ve got an achey back and achey elbows. Elbows of all things. Go figure.