There's one at every public computer workstation

We have this little.. well, teenage snot that comes into work to use our public computers. He offers a plethora of reasons to get away with using the computers without paying (for internet use); "he's only using media player and the playlist he wants is only on the internet login" (as opposed to a restricted login), but we all knew damn well he knew how to get around it. I have told him before to stop trying to weasel his way out of paying, just use them properly like everybody else and that I was now watching him like a hawk.

The last straw came today when I had to have ANOTHER word with him today - about the media player again. I just stood my ground while he was hoping I would go away and leave him to it. He heaved this big sigh, narrowed his eyes and muttered "You're a real killjoy, you know that?" Meh, whatever: "I don't make the rules, dude - pay up or off." He offed.

That would have been okay if what happened next didn't happen - as soon as my back was turned, he was back on the computer - using Word to print out multiple copies of "Fuck you" large enough to fill an A4 sheet - which another customer picked up. By the time it had dawned on me what this lad had done, he was out the door before you could say "you little bastard!". I want him trespassed.

On a brighter note - it was the first day of registrations for our annual summer reading programme (remember those, Violet?!) Out of 150 places, we filled 40 in the first day... fantastic!!

I like that there's balance in the world.

Oh...

and my headaches have dramatically subsided. Go figure.

The assholes of the world

I had one living in my house! Although to be fair, I didn't realise this until I found snuggly pictures of him on his computer with a girl that wasn't me - and realised this was the one he'd been MSNing for hours on end each night... as if THAT was put-uppable-with by itself.

Deciding to play The Woman Scorned was quick, not thought out, but in the end, very carthartic. When my marriage ended, I Maintained a Dignified Silence and this time I thought, "What the hell?". So he came to pick up his stuff (with Mummy, no less) on Wednesday just gone and carried home: a computer less 400-odd music files, all the photos of me bar one entitled `One to remind you what you lost', and a beautiful mink blanket with a rather large hole in the middle. This was all carried out after I outed the pair of them online. And left all his stuff out in the rain.

The Nice Girl in me felt rather guilty at wreaking all this distruction, but it was largely overshadowed by the most delicious feeling of... shadenfreud, I think it is called? That wickedly lovely feeling of satisfaction you get over someone else's misery. I'm not normally the sort of woman who would resort to such despicably immature behaviour (honest, I'm not!), but I swear I would not be as far along the road to recovery if I'd just let him off the hook.

So, while donning my Evil Ex hat this time around, I don't think it would be a costume I would want to wear every time. It was nice for once, but I'll be reasonable next time... I promise.

WAHOOOOO!!!!!!

I FIGURED OUT HTML!!

I now have things in my sidebar. ~preen~

My foray into the world of neuro-nasties.

For the last 6 weeks or so, I have been plagued with cluster headaches (like being smacked in the face with a hammer) and "hemiplegic" migraines; the type that, instead of an aura, one gets pins and needles/numbness down one side of the body. They came out of nowhere; in fact the first one I had, I thought was a stroke, as the numbness went into my face and gave me a droop.

After two weeks of this, with no sign of them subsiding, I went to my GP and got a lovely pile of pills. These stopped the cluster headaches straight away, but these nasty hemiplegic jobbies continued. I took the morning off work last week to visit the neurologist, where I spent an hour and a half getting tickled with cotton wool, bopped with reflex hammers and poked with pins. I'm booked in for an MRI scan in about a month.

I am hoping now I won't need it. During this bout of headaches, the in-between times have always had a minor throb in the background, with a general sense of fragility. Well, I haven't had a headache for nearly two weeks and I am feeling very robust. But I'm not going to stop taking the pills.

I'm only just trying to figure out the point of this story now and I've decided it's "headaches suck".

PS - the bears were for a road safety video being filmed here.

When mass-emailing your coworkers doesn't prove helpful

The post I sent out:

"At lunchtime, I got groped by a life-sized teddy bear (who'd have the luck??!!) who was one of 3 coming out from Countdown, THEN saw a Panda bear somewhere else in town.
Does anyone know why there are bears running around the CBD?"


A response:

"Please send us some of your drugs, we could do with some fun."