aprilfoolery

IKEA ahoy!



It has recently come to light that Stuart has never in his entire life been to IKEA (a fact I find almost incomprehensible!). I have grown up with IKEA, from being taken there as a small child (including being encouraged by my mother to lie about my age till I was a good 8 or 9 years old to get into the little kids ‘ball room’ during school holidays), to furnishing student digs with odds and ends, to now wondering at the ingenuity that is IKEA Hacker.

Tonight, however, is the dawn of a new era. We are going to IKEA Croydon, having carefully planned our trip so that we arrive at 10pm (the store closes at midnight) to hopefully avoid all children and most of the big crowds. I’ll let you know how we get on tomorrow…

Look what Stuart brought home for me today!



I've always wanted to have a go at carving a pumpkin, so I started by making some drawings...



And here's the finished product - a Sunday afternoon well spent, I think!

Weekend plans.



I have always wanted to go to the Affordable Art Fair, not in the least because it is held in the wonderful Battersea Power Station (which you can see from our bedroom window if you stand on tip toes!). Our new flat has high ceilings and conspicuously blank walls marked only by numerous empty picture hooks, so I might wander down this weekend for a browse.

Hmmm.
I've been thinking about studying again.

When I negotiated the contract for my new job I made sure that they would support study towards a CIPD qualification (Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, the professional body for HR in the UK). I've almost finished my three months probation at my new job, which means that if I want to start a qualification then now is the time to go for it...but do I really want to be a student again? I want to do the full MCIPD which is equivalent to a masters degree, and will take about two and a half years. It will mean about 260 assignments, 9 exams, and studying most evenings and/or weekends. It will also mean better career prospects, and if I can get my new company to pay for it, an investment of £8,500 (about $20,000AU) in my development.

Hmmm. Any thoughts?

Sweet.



Recently discovered this guy on Flickr (linked to by the infamous dooce) and have fallen in love with his series of photos Entopic Phenomena. Each shot is of someone jumping up in the air while covering themselves completely with a piece of fabric. I really like the way they kind of look a bit like giant weightless jellyfish casually taking over suburbia.

What's that, another post?!
Yup - I'm going to try and post every day for the next week, cos I really want to get back into the habit.

In fact, today I am going to blog about something that happened a few months ago. When I was trying to get insurance for Fernando, I was filling out a bunch of online forms to get some quotes. For some reason, they wanted to know my occupation - I'm guessing because it has something to do with how safely I drive?! - and was presented with probably the most comprehensive list I have ever seen (more amusing choices below). I hate to think that someone, somewhere has had to calculate the specific effect of each of these on my premium...

Abattoir worker
Aircraft buyer
Amusement arcade worker
Art critic
Artificial limb fitter
Bacon curer
Balloonist (what is this exactly, anyway? Someone who flies hot air balloons? A children's party entertainer?!)
Bingo caller
Butler
Cartoonist
Chicken chaser (now they're making these up!)
Chicken sexer (eww!)
Clay pigeon instructor
Croupier
Embalmer (even more eww!)
Evangelist
Gambler
Hypnotist
Ice cream vendor
Inventor
Knitter (now you're talking! how do knitters drive?)
Kissagram person (at least they are not sexist about it...)
Lampshade maker
Milkman
Milk Lady (...spoke too soon)
Mobile disco owner
Nun (are they even allowed to drive?)
Opera singer
Philatelist
Pig man (again, what is this?)
Junk shop proprietor
Shepherd
Show jumper
Tea Taster (tell me, how do I get to be one of these!!!!)
Weaver

phew!
It's been a while since I've posted. I've got no real excuse - mostly a mix of smaller excuses like laziness, lack of broadband (will save that rant for later!) and trying to figure out my new camera phone. But here I am, and a lot has happened in the last month or so:

- I've moved house in with Stu, and waved the fluffy kittens of Klea Avenue goodbye (they now have a lovely big backyard to play in with Mummy Abby in Shoeburyness)

- I've settled into my new job and am really enjoying it, doing lots more interesting stuff

- I've started riding Fernando to work just about every day (saving myself £90 a month in travel!) and going to the gym (though not quite as often as first planned)

- I've purchased the greatest invention ever:

The 'Bath Bridge'.


I can tell you that I have always had a soft spot for baths, but this thing has changed my life - now I have somewhere to put my glass of wine/bowl of ice-cream/sudoku book without fear of anything falling on my head!