Excitement At Lofty Heights

Finally finished clearing and insulating the loft, and with only minor fatigue around the thighs this time. The force 10 gale that blows up the hall whenever a neighbour sneezes or closes their door hard, or a car drives up the road (it’s drafty, and I’m again too tired to try and be clever so shoe horning remains the order of the day) will soon be sorted and my home will finally be a warm and snug place. Actually, it won’t. That’s a big fat lie. When I’ve decorated, got new carpets, re-sealed the windows, re-decorated, got newer carpets, replaced the central heating; replaced the insulation and the 1,001 other things that as home owners we have to do and re-do to keep the never ending upkeep going so that one day, maybe, we can lie down and die, then it will be warm and snug. Ah, life! Forever a work in progress.

So, in good news I’ve ordered my new gaming PC. Got a bit of a bargain so am kind of expecting one of those “we made a mistake” e-mails and “if you want to hand over another bundle of cash we’ll think about it!” offers. Assuming that doesn’t happen, I’m excited at the prospect of playing Bioshock (PC) as it was meant to be seen. Of getting decent frame rates in Crysis (PC) even if the game is just a better looking Far Cry (PC) but with all the fun removed. I might even have yet another run through S.T.A.L.K.E.R (PC). Then maybe get my hands on Call Of Duty 4 (PC) and Gears Of War (PC). I might go crazy and book some time off work so I can have another crack at Oblivion (PC). On top of all that PC goodness, I’m ridiculously excited at the prospect of finally getting my hands on Super Mario Galaxy (Wii). News that Deus Ex 3 is in the works and the Ghostbusters trailer for the game that is in development are too exciting for words, see

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Mixing Bowl

Mixed week. On the one hand I’ve had the absolute pleasure of Portal (PC). Talk about sliding in under the radar. Anyone who says they knew this was going to be the purest slice of gaming cake in the history of gaming is a liar. No-one could have expected this. It’s a pleasure to have handed over hard earned cash for. Log in to your steam account now and get it. Sod reading this rubbish anymore, go now.

Also in the Orange Box, which when purchased through Steam comes sans box of course, is Half-Life 2: Episode 2 (PC) and Team Fortress 2 (PC) along with Half Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode 1. As someone who already owned HL2 & Ep1 it’s a touch galling having to buy them again for Ep2, TF2 and Portal, but with the current exchange rate being what it is it wasn’t galling enough to stop me. TF2 I’ve played a few times as with getting it through Steam I could play the Beta, and as nice an online shooter as it is, at the moment I much prefer Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (PC). That’s not to say TF2 isn’t great, it is, it’s just not as great. I’ve also finally started playing Fahrenheit (PC) which has sat on the ‘to play’ shelf for far too long. All in all, a week of gaming happiness.

On the other hand, I took some time off work to finally clear my loft and get it lagged. I figured it would take Thursday and most of Friday to clear and Saturday morning to lag. That would then leave me clear to watch the football and rugby, waving my flag of St George in true armchair fashion. Thursday went well, got a lot of rubble and plaster cleared. One thing I hadn’t considered though was that being an overweight, unfit, desk jockey, come Thursday night my thighs would turn to lead. Friday morning I could barely walk, and when I did get motive I looked like I’d done the mother of all shits in my pants. A haemorrhoidal, saddle sore, John Wayne, who’d just walked 10 miles through blazing desert sands, barefoot, would have looked better in control of his limbs than me. So that was Friday scuppered. Saturday and I’m a little more mobile. The Deep Heat I put on clearly doesn’t like me, having left my inner thighs bright red, and in the case of the left thigh, surprisingly blistered. Today I’m almost walking normally. This is a good thing because I’m off to Manchester tomorrow to watch The Police. Or at least I was until I got an e-mail from the MEN Arena at 17:00 to advise that Sting has a sore throat. Most of the evening has been spent trying desperately to find something else going on in Manchester, because I’m not wasting the days booked off work and the hotel room paid for!

So, mixed week.