Dreacat's diary

A little quiz

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:21:28 +0100

1. WHO WERE YOU NAMED AFTER?

No-one. I was nearly named Roxanne after The Police song. Thank goodness for my mother's common sense.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?

When my cat got put to sleep in August.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?

Only when I have time to do it neatly. Otherwise it looks like I've been drinking.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?

Erm, chicken?

5. DO YOU HAVE, OR HAVE YOU EVER HAD, PETS? HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD PETS?

I've had too many goldfish, rabbits and guinea pigs to mention when I was little. Until August I had a cat that looked like Hitler (on my profile pic)

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?

Yeah, I'm a hoot expecially when drunk

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
No. Never.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?

Oui

9. WOULD YOU JUMP OUT OF AN AIRPLANE?
My best friend teaches skydiving so I might be forced into it

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CEREAL?

Special-k. No, seriously!

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?

Yes

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?

Haha, no,

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM?

Phish food

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?

If they can out talk me

15. RED OR PINK?

Red, it goes with my hair

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOU?

I like to have things done right now. Sometimes good, sometimes very bad.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?

The uni girls

18. WHAT COLOUR TOP AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?

Red fleece and I don't have any shoes on but I did have brown walking boots on earlier

19. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?

Spaghetti and meatballs

20. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?

TV as Mam has it on

21. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE?

Green!

22. FAVOURITE SMELLS

Food.

23. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?

A client (God my life's so exciting)

24. FAVOURITE SPORTS TO WATCH?

Sunderland beating Newcastle, hurrah!

25. HAIR COLOUR?

Red

26. EYE COLOUR?

Grey.

27. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?

Yes, and glasses. Big up all specky four eyes!

28. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?

Oh, scary.

29. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?

Burn After Reading. Brad and George, what more can I say. No idea what happens in it.

30. WHAT COLOUR TROUSERS, JEANS OR SKIRT ARE YOU WEARING?

Jeans in light blue

31. SUMMER OR WINTER?

Winter as I don't have to do night work

32. HUGS OR KISSES?

Hugs. Hugs from anyone. I'm a big hug whore.

33. FAVOURITE DESSERT?

Anything with chocolate in

34. WHAT'S OUTSIDE YOUR WINDOWS RIGHT NOW?

Erm, (looks out window) the car and the dark.

35. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?

Nothing. I'm on a laptop

36. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?

Nothing. I went to my friend's house and spend most of the night chasing her ponies around the field to get them back in.

37. FAVOURITE SOUND?

Owls

38. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?

Neither, too young to be into either!

39. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?

South Africa

40. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?

Yes. I'm missing a knuckle on my left hand so my finger is a bit bendy. Haha

41. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
In a hospital

Comments

A cold day on site

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:57:20 +0100

Have been out on site today in the freezing cold. All day. It's at times like this I wish I was hairy!

I went to one site to supervise some works only to find out that in the time it took me to get there (about 20mins) the job had been cancelled and they were having to pack up all of their equipment! Could have been back in the nice warm office much sooner.

I was quite pround of myself though. I was out with the Head of Ecology and I managed to out ecologise her on birds. The bird specialist I was out with looked suitably impressed. I wouldn't normally blow my own trumpet but I don't think I'm particularly good at birds so I did feel genuinely pround. Also I'd told the Head of Ecology that I didn't think a building needed a full bat survey and she agreed. Always nice to have a specialist agree with you.

And now, as it's cold, my Dad has just come in with a big sponge pudding and custard as comfort food. Yummy!

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Lovely day

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 20:07:15 +0100

Went for a walk through Chopwell woods today and it was lovely. The trees had all started to change colour and lose their leaves. Only wish I hadn't needed a wee and could have stayed longer. I don't do weeing in bushes!

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Pay rise day!

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:20:44 +0200

Well today was pay rise day. I managed to get 6%. Now I know people will say that's good but I think it's distinctly average for the private sector.

I know people who work for the Government only get 2% but they also get a larger contribution from their employer into their pension by quite a considerable percentage and don't work as much unpaid overtime as I do (I know my other half is a nurse and my parents both work for the police). I've worked it out and I will get about an extra £60 a month once tax and my pension contributions come off. Still it's a week and a halfs worth of petrol (for now). Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick though.

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Mal Maison by name, Mal Maison by nature

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:01:34 +0200

Went to Mal Maison in Newcastle last night for food and drinks with one of the project teams, paid for by our client. That makes my job sound glamorous, doesn't it? Not when you take into account it's only the second time it's happened in 2 years and the first time resulted in our boss argueing with the client and then driving back to the hotel while very drunk. Basically, I avoid these like the plague but I got ambushed at work and couldn't think of an excuse quickly enough.

Anyway back to Mal Maison. We were supposed to be eating at 8pm but we didn't get seated until 8.30 but no big deal. By 9.30 we'd only just finished our starter as it had taken ages to arrive. By 11pm we were just finishing dessert. Well, what I actually mean is everyone else was finishing their dessert I was still waiting as the kitchen hadn't made enough. Well by that point I wasn't hungry and I'd been at work since 8.15am so I left before it came. I have to say I was thoroughly unimpressed especially for the prices. Glad I wasn't paying.

Also a colleague who shall be known as Mr. Strange made a complete prat of himself in front of senior management. This involved throwing food at the girl next to me and pretending to be a pirate by putting himknife between his teeth. Lets see what happens at the Christmas party...

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Autumn

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:51:28 +0200

I have just seen the first forecast for snow on the news! Fair enough it was in the Alston area which is not particularly near me, but still. In honour of the snow I have curled up early with my PJs on.

Also does anyone know what's happened to the traffic in the Newcastle area in the last two weeks? It's gone mad!

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Bare Minerals

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 20:51:17 +0200

Yesterday I decided to take the plunge and buy some mineral foundation. I usually use Chanel Teint Innocent but I have dry skin and it jusy makes those bits look drier. I thought powder might stop this and not look or feel as heavy. I did some research on the internet and Bare Minerals have had decent reviews so I decided to go with that.

When I spoke to the sales person she said that the best thing to get would be the starter kit as that had 2 colours of foundation, make-up brushes and other bots and pieces including a dvd showing you how to put it on. The starter kit is £50 but thought I'd give it a go.

I put the dvd on when I got home and me and mum watched it. The sales person warned me that it was cheesy and it definately was. We then had a play with it and it was really easy to put on. It also felt nice and light. However, the real test will be it's staying power. If it doesn't stay on all day I won't be using it.

So today I put it on and went out shopping. Hardly a difficult test compared to the stressful meetings and field work that it will have to stand up to but nevermind. I have to say despite my misgivings it has stood up to the first test remarkably well. I'm impressed! I shall wear it to work tomorrow and see what happens. I can't believe it's Sunday already, it only feels like Saturday. Boooooo...

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Masquerade ball

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:49:01 +0200

I am looking forward to the weekend as I'm attending a masquerade ball. I'm looking forward to breaking out my ball dress which I haven't worn for 2 or 3 years (I hope it fits). I also bought my mask today so I'm ready to go!

If anyone in the north east is interested it's at the Centre for Life, tickets are £35 and includes a 3 course meal and the money goes to cancer research.

I've also heard that hurricane Ike is blowing through the Caribbean, I hope they clear up in the next week as I'm off to the Dominican Republic!

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Bad day

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:45:12 +0200

Well I have just arrived home having left at 5am this morning. There have been several things that have gone wrong today but the one that has annoyed me the most is the oil light coming on in the hire car. I obviously pulled over and checked it and found that it was at the minimum leve. Now I guess this could be down to one of two things: an oil leak or the level not being checked before it was given out.

I would usually give people the benefit of the doubt but considering there was mud on the rear view mirror and the dashboard and dials were dusty, I am guessing it's because whoever has sent it out hasn't checked it properly.

While I was at the garage buying oil I thought I would also check the tyre pressure as I wasn't sure what else they had neglected to check. Guess what? One of the tyres had a pressure of 15psi, less than half the recommended pressure!

Maybe the car has a oil leak and a puncture but surely that would be noticed if it was checked regularly? You would notice if oil was leaking out that fast.

So basically I am very annoyed with the incompetence of Hertz Newcastle branch. I am going to phone them at 8am tomorrow morning and demand that they bring me a new one. That doesn't really help though as I was supposed to be in Worcester for 8.30am so I'll only be 4 or 5 hours late.

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Wedding fun

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 19:42:47 +0200

Yesterday was the wedding of a guy who I did my MSc with. I wasn't really bothered about going as it was quite far away but how could I not go when he'd asked me? Besides there was 3 other people from the course going who I hadn't seen for about a year.

I am so pleased I went. What a laugh!

We got sat with 2 other couples who it turned out were equally as stupid as we are. We spent most of our time thinking of photos that we could take on the disposable camera. This included such highlights as reinacting the cutting of the cake but using a bread bum and putting party poppers in our ears (and half of us were sober).

Then the groom turned up and told us that the photographer, who was like Michael Palin on speed, had made them put sheets over their heads and pretend to be ghosts. Not exactly a traditional wedding day picture. So, obviously, we wanted a go. The photographer was more than happy to do it and was taking it very seriously. He took us outside the castle and made us put sheets over our heads so we started doing the Thriller dance while the photographer snapped away. He was also making us run around and jump in the air. It's a little tricky to see where you're going with a sheet on your head in the dark so we crashed into each other quite a lot. The other guests were a little gobsmacked.

Once we got back inside we decided to do disco dancing moves but with the bottles of bubbles we'd been given. Don't feel like dancing by the Scissor Sisters will never be the same again!

We also thought it would be nice to write a random fact in the wedding book. Not sure if the happy couple will find it as funny as we did...

I think I might invite the random people to my wedding!

Having that much fun made me realise how much I didn't want to go to work today. However, I am feeling slightly proud of myself as one of my deadlines suddenly got moved forward by two weeks to the end of today! Fortunately I'd been one step ahead (which I have to celebrate now as it doesn't happen often) and I had 95% of it complete. Tomorrow I have to be down in north Wales for 9am which means a 5am start. Oh joy!

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Hello (again)

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 21:32:47 +0200

Hi,

Well I'm a bit rubbish at this blog thing. I must confess I forgot my password. Oops.

Well what has changed since I left wrote? I'm now working in Newcastle after being told that I had to relocate to Cheshire or take redundancy in November.

My new job is ok but very corporate. We're expected to do things like ethics training because obviously we don't have nay and need the company to teach us. Also we're expected to do unpaid overtime every night although they won't give us that in writing ;-)

I've just been working on a horrid project. Basically the site is surrounded by designated sites (and is also realaly nice) but the client wants to extend their site. I doubt it'll ever get planning permission but we have to humour him. I did get a ride in a private jet out of it but don't tell the boss, I'm not sure riding in jets is on the Risk Assessment!

I'd be interested to know if any other environmental consultants get perks from their job. They seem to be few and far between. Also another job I'm working involves working on a police dog training field, that is quite exciting although the Risk Assessment is about 100 pages.

Also I would like to know any good corporate speak that's turned up in people's offices. A friend at another consultancy told me this week that they aren't allowed to use "brain storming" now, they have to use "thought showers". WHY???

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Hello world!

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:33:00 +0100

Well hello everyone! I thought I'd give this blogging lark a go as everyone seems to be doing it

I guess now I need to write a little about me... Well I'm 23, living in the northeast with my parents and working as an ecologist. I have a lovely bloke who I've been with for 4 years and we're planning on looking for a house together just as soon as he finishes his uni course.

Last week I was told that they were closing my office and I could either relocate to Manchester or Edinburgh or I could be made redundant so I'm going to take redundancy as I don't want to move for what is, frankly, a really low wage!

I'm not sure what else there is to say really.

Gotta go, heroes is on! Byeeeeeeeee xx

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