You're Gonna Have To Face It, You're Addicted To...

... Farmville (apologies to the late Robert Palmer for adulterating his lyrics there)...

Damn game should come with a Government Health Warning!

If you are worried that you may be becoming addicted, here are some of the warning signs to look out for... If you can identify with any of these, you may need intervention:

- First thing you do in the morning is log on to Facebook to see if anyone left you any gifts.

- If no one did, you are in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

- You are seriously considering creating a fake persona on Facebook just so that they can become your neighbour so you can expand again.

- You buy a chicken coop for your TWO chickens.

- Your real world (and if you say "what's the real world?" then there really is no hope for you) friends (assuming you still have some) start avoiding you because all your conversations start with "When are you going to accept my neighbour request? You don't have to play after that, I just need another 6 neighbours so I can expand".

- You spend 65,000 farm coins to buy a (pink) tractor, a seeder AND a harvester... and you've only got 6 plots!

- You start organising your day around when your dog needs fed.

- You finally tear yourself away from the computer at 2am, with everything fed and harvested, once you've double checked that you have no pending gift requests.

- 10 minutes later after logging off at 2am, you're logging back on, just in case someone sent you a gift request in that time.

- You ignore your best friend when you meet in Tesco, just because they haven't sent you a gift request for the last 2 days.

- Despite the fact you live in a rural community, when you overhear someone saying, "I must go home and see to my chickens", your first thought is to run up to them and say, "Add me as a neighbour!"

- You have been heard shouting "Not another bloody nail! I'm not building anything!" at the computer.

- You rate your friends according to their Farmville level.

- When you hear someone say "I'm level 16 now", your reply is "Oh, bless! I remember when I was a Newbie too".

- The merest mention of "Farmville" overheard makes you prick up your ears.

- You're sitting in a cafe having a coffee, and you can hear 2 people a couple of tables away (close enough for you to earwig, but too far away for you to "casually" join in the conversation) discussing the Farmville Phenomenon... and you are so desperate to ask, "Need another neighbour? I only need one more to get a super plantation".

- You put a request out on a community-based forum you use for anyone who plays Farmville to add you as a Facebook friend, just so you can add them as a neighbour.

- You get palpitations every time there are new items available in the market.


Now, did you blush and laugh nervously at any of the above? (And, yes, I did). Then you could be in danger of becoming an addict.

However... before you book yourself into Farmers Anonymous (which may not exist, but really SHOULD)... gonna add me as a neighbour? Please? I just need 2 more to expand! I'll send you gifts regularly... and fertilise your plots... and feed your chickens... Go on... PLEASE???"

Today's Burning Question....

How does a cat know that rubbing your thumb and index finger together means "come here, puss"?

Who tells them?

Finally I Can Post This! (2)

OMG! Songs you've been waiting for ages to appear on YouTube are like buses - wait ages for one, and then 2 come along!

Apples In Stereo and "The Bird That You Can't See"...

Finally I Can Post This!

This is one of my favourite songs, and finally it's on YouTube (no video, but I don't care)...

Prince and "7"...

"I am yours now and you are mine, and together we'll love through all space and time"... lovely lyric!

Well, At Least They'll Have Good Teeth!

That's it! That's the last time I take pity on our putty tats and let them sleep inside when it's raining...

Why? Well, I came through this morning, wondering why they weren't begging for their breakfast as usual - and then I saw this:

That is what is left of the tub of Whiskas Dentibit treats that we bought them yesterday! They'd only had half a dozen or so out of them yesterday afternoon, and now it's empty!

I can't even give them a row, because I don't know if it was Leia or Gizmo to blame, or if it was a joint effort.

Naughty, sneaky putty tats!

Mind Your Language...

Viki, my flatmate from Hungary, speaks excellent English, but every so often she comes up with something that really makes me laugh (eg. "if someone says "can you get me flour?" how do you know if they mean for baking or a daffodil?").

However, a few days ago, she asked a question that I kind of begrudgingly admit was a good point...

It all stemmed from the fact that the Hungarian language doesn't have a "th" sound like we do, so it doesn't come naturally to her (I still like to get her to say "thistle" so I can giggle when she says "sissle" (sorry, Viki)), and one of the words she finds hardest is "booths".

Well, she came up with a new way to pluralise booth, following another rule. Her logic?

One tOOth, two tEEth
One gOOse, two gEEse
One fOOt, two fEEt

So... it's now...

One bOOth, two bEEth!

And I kinda had to admit she had a point!

Reversal Of Roles...

If you look in the tank containing our two turtles (and fish), you will most commonly see Aristotle and Atlas sitting on their stone, basking under the lightbulb... generally looking something like this:

Well, that was until recently, when it seems Aristotle has got fed up of always being on the bottom of the heap... as sometimes now when we come to the tank they are sitting looking something like this:

Judging by the expression on Atlas' face, he's none too impressed with this new arrangement - no wonder, considering Aristotle is about 3 times the size of him, and considerably heavier!

Look To The Right...

... and down a peedie bit, and you will see a bright, shiny new link in among the Orkney stuff.

All About Orkney is a new website that does exactly what it says on the tin - It's All About Orkney!

Well worth a look...

Ooo...

... my StatCounter counter reads "030030"... I should make a wish!

Seriously, though, it means my humble little blog has chalked up its 30,000th visit sometime over the weekend... Congratulations to you if you were that lucky visitor - your prize is in the post!

I Could Have A Criminal Record...

... and, no, I don't mean "Engelbert Humperdinck's The Dance Album"!

I went shopping tonight at our local supermarket (I won't tell you which one, but I will give you a clue, because - ahem - "Every Little Helps"), and as part of my shopping, I bought two plastic storage crates for keeping handbags and shoes in (2 females sharing a house = a lot of handbags and shoes). Anyway, I got to the checkout, put all the shopping on the checkout, and decided once it was all gone through, I would put all the groceries IN the storage crates (one inside the other, I didn't have THAT much shopping). Packed all my shopping, paid, and off I went outside.

And that was when I noticed...

... all the groceries were in the storage crates, except for a carton of Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice with EXTRA Juicy Bits (no, not just the normal Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice with Juicy Bits, this stuff was more expensive @ £1.93), which was sitting in the trolley.

"Funny," I thought, "Why did I put all the rest of the stuff in the storage crates (one inside the other), and then put the carton of orange juice just in the trolley?"

And that was when the feeling of dread came over me... and I checked the receipt...

AND THE CARTON OF ORANGE JUICE WASN'T ON IT!!!!!!

Yes, people... for the first time in my life, I am guilty of (inadvertantly) shoplifting!

But, by that time, we (my brother & I) had left the-supermarket-who-will-remain-nameless, and I couldn't exactly go back and say "Here's £1.93 for the carton of orange juice I just accidentally nicked from you"!

I've got to go there again tomorrow night... What if they've reviewed the security cameras and the cops will be waiting for me? Or I'll be walking around the store and suddenly the security guard will clap me on the shoulder and say "Do you mind coming with me, madam?"?

I'll try to keep blogging from jail, if they let me...

Thanks, Kasia & Marcin...

Viki & I were invited to stay with a couple of Polish workmates of Viki's last night, as a kind of housewarming since they'd moved into a flat of their own. And, as it was through in Stromness, and there were no buses going back after about 9pm, we slept on a couple of sofas in their living room.

It was a great night. To start with, we had bigos (which is absolutely delicious, by the way), and some alcohol (tea with rum for the other 3, and rum & coke for me, because I hate tea). And later we went out to the pub (where there was a karaoke night on, but I swear I didn't sing... I wouldn't do that to people).

Lol... to begin with I felt a bit "normal" - it was a very international party - one Hungarian, 2 Polish, a Lithuanian girl, and a Nigerian! And me just a simples Orcadian! I never imagined 5 years ago that I would have such exotic friends!

So, thank you Kasia & Marcin for the hospitality & the sofas... It was really good fun.

Just a final thing, though... I don't think I will ever risk Polish beer again!

The Cartoon Spot...

Here's a Tom & Jerry I don't ever remember seeing until a month or two ago, but it's really cute and funny...

Pecos Pest

I just love Uncle Pecos... his moustache with a life of its own, and his dance has me in stitches every time!

Viki says her dad loves this one too...

A New Simon's Cat...

I missed this one a couple of weeks ago!

Evil bird...

And, horrors... another one I missed!

Simon's Cat: Hot Spot

Woah....

...it sure has been a long time since I've updated the blog, hasn't it?

Well, I guess this first new post should be to update you on what's happened in the last 4 months... So, here goes...

A Month Of... Taking A Few Months Off

Well, the daily videos were the first casualty - They might come back at some stage... I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Turtley New Arrivals

On 31st October, Viki & I welcomed a new member to the family - a yellow-bellied slider terrapin, who we named "Aristotle" (named after Telly Savalas, and so I could make the "Aris-turtle" pun). Here he is on the first day we had him...

And then, on the night before Christmas my brother gave to us (to be sung to the tune of "On The First Day Of Christmas")... not 2 turtle doves, but a map turtle who we christened "Atlas" (Atlas? Maps? See what we did there?)... Again, here's the new addition on day 1...

Now, Aristotle is much bigger than he was... Atlas is getting a wee bit bigger... and this is how the brothers like to sit in the tank...

(in fact, looking behind me, that's how they are sitting right at this moment).

I will admit I was a little unsure when we got Aristotle, mainly because I'd never had reptiles as pets before, or even handled them, but Viki kept them back home in Hungary. But now I love our little guys (er... we've decided in our own way that they are boys... We can't really tell for sure yet, cause they're too peedie, but we always refer to them as "he", and "brothers", so I guess we might be in for a bit of a red face if we discover in a year or two that one or both of them is/are female).

Oh, they've also got company in the tank... When we got Aristotle, Viki said that live food is good for terrapins, so we bought a peedie fish for him to catch and eat... except he decided that the fish is "friend" not "food" - so Findus (as he's been christened) lives happily (if a little warily at first) with them in the tank!

So, what else has been happening?


End Of An Era

After almost 15 years of working in the same building (10 years for one company, and then nearly 5 years for another), I am now in the position of being unemployed. My boss declared the firm insolvent, and we were closed down on 11th November. I'd known it was going to happen for a few months, and couldn't say anything to anybody, and I made the decision to hang on til the end and collect my wages as long as I could, and then my redundancy (15 years' worth, since when I started the last job, I was employed under TUPE legislation). However, there have been some problems getting the money I was entitled to, which are still ongoing to a certain extent - so the last few months have been hard financially, and very stressful. Now I'm back to claiming Job-Seekers Allowance and searching for a job, along with everyone else who has become a victim of the recession. I'm finding it very hard to keep motivated and upbeat, which is pretty much why the blog has been on ice for months.

Snow Longer Funny

Speaking of "on ice" - god, I am sick of this winter! Up here in Orkney, we seem to have had ice and snow and sleet and frost solidly since around Christmas time. Our last lot of snow was just starting to go yesterday, and this morning I looked out the window and saw big, white, wet flakes drifting down. Then, later this afternoon, and now again this evening, there have been showers of more sleety stuff, meaning that it's once again white outside! I am just so fed up of going slowly and carefully all the time, worrying that I'm going to fall and break an arm or a leg (bearing in mind that I still have a bandage on one leg to try and heal a peedie ulcer I have and, as a result, am having to wear shoes that are too big, and one had to be cut and has to be held on with micropore tape - and they've not got the best grips in the world for dealing with ice and snow). I swear I'm going to hibernate for the rest of winter if this is going to go on much longer!

Christmas & New Year

Even with no job and not much money, Christmas and New Year were pretty damn good this year. The house was decorated for the first time in years (I never bothered latterly... I just didn't see the point, and just wanted the "Festive" season to be over with as soon as possible). However, with Viki here, it was so different. We followed the Hungarian tradition, and put the tree and decorations up on Christmas Eve, and it was such fun. Then Christmas dinner was had at my brother's. We didn't go and see the Ba's on Christmas Day (both went up anyway, so least said about that, the better). Then, the day after Boxing Day, we (my brother, Viki & me) were all invited out to my sister's for tea.

New Year was good too. Viki & me went up to Broad Street for Midnight, and I don't really remember too much else, so I guess it was a good night (mind you, it was 2 months ago, and I'm getting on a bit now, so maybe it's just general old age that's made me forget). Had a spot of good news on New Year's Day, as the Mens Ba came doon for the first time in god knows how long, and Viki got to see it! I think her scream of "Yes!" as the ba went in the harbour was louder than everyone elses! Boys Ba still went up though, but it was a start! New Year's Day dinner was Hungarian Bean Soup... doesn't sound like much, but it was thick and warming and full of smokey ham. Delicious!

Other News

Not really too much other news, I don't think. Just celebrated Viki's *ahem* 29th birthday on Saturday. Friday night her & me went out for a meal, before David joined us for some drinks. Then Saturday night one of her workmates came through from Stromness and we went out drinking. Fun at the time, but I think I'm getting too old for serious drinking now!

So, I think that's enough to be going on with. I'm feeling a little light-headed after all this typing, so I think I might have to go lie down in a darkened room for a while. Promise it won't be so long til the next update, although I won't make any rash promises about when it'll appear.

Oh, and please feel free to comment, although I'm having to turn the comment moderation on again, because I'm getting a few spam comments being posted. I promise all genuine comments will be approved, whether positive or negative (although obviously I'd prefer positive). Or why not sign the guest book?

Okay... that really is all for now... Bye bye... x