Step away....

Step away from the Nintendo!!

I'm trying to ween myself off from my Nintendo DS.

I don't have a problem with playing it twenty hours a day. I don't have a problem with falling asleep with it clutched in my sweaty palms and waking up to its tinny speakers playing some weird loop of music from an aquarium simulator that I was playing. I don't even have a problem with breaking out in a cold sweat when the low power light comes on and I am out of the immediate reach of a suitable power supply.

The reason(s) I am keen to ween are along the following lines:

I have a nine AM job interview on Friday this week. It would therefore seem logical that I try to get back into some sort of routine in a two day preparation ritual. I also need to spend some time doing "revision" to ensure that I at least know what the job that I have applied for entails, and some background info on the relevant organisation. (I will give more details about this job after I've either passed the test or embarrassed myself into oblivion later this week).

Real life things. Despite being cocooned in a soft, fluffy, cotton wool wrapped Nintendoland for more time than I would care to add up, there is no doubt that my time of "retirement" must come to an end soon.

Bike. If I had spent any fraction of the amount of Nintendotime actually riding my bike, in the real world, real air, rain, snow, hills, and mud, then I might not currently be two dress sizes bigger than my ideal size!!

Brain draining. Doctor Kawashima has a lot to answer for. The Brain Training game that came out (a long time ago) for the Nintendo DS did more than get us to sharpen our mental agility. The rash of "training" programs that followed it have resulted in a two hour door (I would normally call it a window but you can see through a window, this block of time is not transparent, it's solid, and a real daily obstacle for me) where I embark on a range of daily training activities.... Picross, Ninja Reflex, Maths Training, Brain Training, More Brain Training, Puzzle League.... I can't function until I have satisfied this unhealthy quota of training.

And so......

I must step away from the virtual aquarium.

In other news:

There must be a phrase that sums up a situation where you lose something, but find something of equal value? I've heard of losing a something and finding a something else, but it's usually an expression of gaining something...... Anyhoo, if I knew the phrase, then I'd be saying it in relation to the fact that for the first time ever, I appear to have a pair of sparrows nesting in my garden (following the tragedy of losing my robin nest in the snow and wind earlier in the week). I don't often get many sparrows, so it's nice that they've chosen to stay.

Customer service. Following on from yesterday's order for a new ISP (just twenty-four hours).... I have received no fewer than six messages to my mobile phone advising me that different phases of the process are taking place. Service indeed!! A nice touch is that they messaged me to say that my equipment arrives tomorrow and as a pre-emptive measure I can simply reply to the text with any one of a range of numbers to pick alternate delivery dates. Let's hope that:
a) When I need to speak to someone, they are in this country and know what they are talking about.
b) The "up time" of the new service can even partly compare to the current service provider.

(For the records: I was with Zen - they're fantastic if you can afford them, absolutely top notch.... I am now going with O2 - a mobile phone company which isn't Orange, but the negative vibes are spooking me!!)

Headlong.

Ever get that feeling that you're hurtling towards an immovable object with less than an unstoppable force to back you up?

I mentioned before that I was making preparation to change internet service provider. Having done the maths, I'm possibly going to get approximately five times my current internet speed (currently a meagre 512/256 ADSL) and it's going to be almost a third of the price that I am currently paying.

It all sounds brilliant doesn't it?

So why do I get the feeling like I'm losing something?

Customer service... I'm a stickler for it and my current provider has been exemplary in that respect. My phone call today to request my MAC key to leave their excellent service was friendly, helpful, and truly broke my heart to let them go. It seems a shame that I am reduced to leaving them purely on the grounds of cost. A sign of the times, and the fact that I have not received a single penny into my bank account for the last eighteen months!!

The other thing which completely goes against my grain, is that the new service provider is a twelve month contract, and that's tragic. My current service provider has a rolling monthly contract with no tie-ins at all.

I am sobbing as I type.

And so.... as of 2nd April 2008, I'll have a new "improved" service, or no service at all!! I'm nervous and completely unconvinced that it will be painless exercise.

Prepare to entertain yourselves in a fox-free zone for a while!!

In other news.....

I'm sorry that amaryllis cam has not been updating recently.... I'm downloading a Malcolm in the Middle torrent that's twenty five gigabytes..... net result..... no cam updates.

I don't think my weather widget is working properly?!?

Bowling season is open. The first official games were yesterday, so you can look forward to some new, improved bowling cam, coming soon.... as soon as I have the MITM torrent!!