Why does everything seem worse at 4am?

Been awake since 4am - it's 08:20 and there's no sign of sleep, although I *am* tired!

I often wake at about 4 - it seems to be the time where my brain comes out of its deep sleep and launches into the lighter sleep that you need for dreaming.

Last night/this morning I woke at 4 and, instead of just looking at the time, turning over, and going back to sleep, as happens most nights, my brain launched into a million thoughts. I could understand if I had things to worry about, but I don't!

The things that I was dwelling on, and which were keeping me awake were so mundane and trivial that, if I'd have thought them during the day, I wouldn't have given them a second thought - but somehow at 4am they seemed to be serious, and worrying and made my mind race.

Things that were going through my mind

1. Plans for painting the downstairs loo (I'm not even bothered about this!)
2. Not doing the garden (Well we don't - that's why we have a gardener)
3. People I've not heard from in years

Bizarre isn't it?

Yo!

Can't have Dan's blogging overtaking mine - so I'd better post something new PDQ.

Last Saturday, after working for most of the day, we took a fit of the head staggers and decided to try out Yo! Sushi in Leeds. I'm SOOOOOOO glad we did!

Firstly, it's on the top floor of Harvey Nichols - right next to the bag section (always a good thing) so you have to wander through the store to get there. We arrived at about 4:30, just as the shoppers were beginning to leave town - and there was loads of space in the restaurant, before the Saturday night crowd started in.

The manager came over and settled us into a booth, beside the moving conveyor belt of colourful plates of exquisite little morsels. He explained how it all worked. Water, tea and miso soup are all 'bottomless'. Cold sushi/sashimi dishes are all on the belt. Pictures & descriptions of all the dishes are in the little book - you look and then work out what it is. Hot dishes you have to order - you do this by pressing the button on the table and your waitress comes to take the order.

The final part is that you pay by them adding up the plates you've eaten - each plate has a coloured rim, indicating the price of the item on the plate. 3 greens, 2 purples, 4 blues. You pay at the desk! Fantastic.

Great Song - Great remix

Cry - Great video

I remember this from years ago as being a classic video. Just seen it again and it just gets better.

Bob who ?

I read this article and it made me chuckle.

Southsea parking woes - No more !

How many wheels

17 again with "Heaven 17"

I'm not really one for the posed photo. I find it really annoying when people start with the "right, all stand over there, watch the birdie, hold it, hold it, smile" so I never subject others to it - hence the photos I've got here of our friends Sue and Pete are surreptitiously obtained! Dan would say 'unauthorised'! They're both looking off to the right, where a group of people old enough to know better were getting so blathered that by the end of the night, 2 had fallen off their chairs into the picnic table, and one had fallen headlong into the bin!

What was the occasion for all this raucousness in so many 40-somethings? It was the "Back to the 80's" party at Tatton Park.

SUPERB! An excuse to remind yourself that you know all the lyrics to 'Circle in the Sand' by Belinda Carlisle, and an opportunity to fall in love with Martin Fry (from ABC, as if you didn't know) in his silver suit, all over again.

5 bands/acts were on the bill - Heaven 17, Go West, Belinda Carlisle, ABC and topping the bill were the Human League. Really superb.

Each band came on and did their top 4 or 5 songs - the ones you remember - and then off again! It started at 7 and ended about 10:30 with some lovely fireworks over the lake.

We had 'priority parking' which meant we were only about 10 cars from the entrance to the event, brilliant for not having to carry the pic-nic gear very far, and therefore almost the 1st back in the car at the end. Unfortunately, this meant that we had to weave our way through the largest crowd of absolutely mega p*ssed people I've seen in a long time, on their way back to the pleb carparks or out along the track to the Knutsford entrance to the park where taxis and lifts were awaiting their wobbly arrival.

A really superb evening and thanks to Sue and Pete for inviting us! Who's up for next year?

Antisocal Types

I've worked in IT for 22 years, and, I suppose that means I've come in contact with many hundreds of people; probably a few thousand. Until 3 weeks ago, I would have completely disagreed with the stereotype of the IT geek - the socially inept, typically male, awkward person, who lurks around in their dark little dungeon of an office.

Well, I can tell you now that they still exist.

I've been working on the customer site next to an office where they lurk. They sometimes come through the room I'm working in - but even when confronted face to face with a cheezy grin and an "Hello!" from me, their eyes slide down to the floor and they sidle past, trying to pretend they haven't seen me. It's too bizarre. Even when they come and work in the room I'm in, they steadfastly refrain from eye contact, and never speak. Odd.

I know that there is a correlation between people with Aspergers and IT jobs - and I think that's because the 2 mindsets have matching qualities; attention to detail, interest in "things" not people, focus. Mutually beneficial, I'd say. However, I'm just shocked that (a) I've not really seen this before (b) they all work in the room next to where I'm currently sat.

Quite alot more tills

The final 100 tills have arrived making a total of 200. There's quite alot of stuff in there.