darc_kitty
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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "darc_kitty" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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03:22 pm
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My World
I like My World. It's full of magic and mystery and fantasy. Yet, at the same time, it is safe. Sometimes though the 'Real' World overwhelms My World. I don't like the Real World. It is not safe. I want to return to My World, but before I can do that I have to move it. I don't want to move My World, but I know I must. If I move it, it will become better, I hope. Maybe there will be someone who will want to join me in My World. Maybe My World will stop being so lonely. But, in order to move My World, I've got to go out into the Real World, and that is scary. Maybe I can carry My World with me?
Current Mood:  lonely
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02:48 pm
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I ain't dead (yet)
Just in case anyone ever actually reads this, I thought I'd better post as I haven't in ages and you may well be worried about my absence ... then again, if nobody reads this, no-one will know.
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03:39 pm
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CASC
I am thinking of starting a 'Campaign Against Self-Contradiction' (CASC)!
I really enjoy watching anime and reading manga. The fact that within the fantasy worlds created in these stories various 'unusual' things can and do happen doesn't bother me. If ninjas can make themselves invisible or turn into logs, it doesn't bother me so long as they can all do it. The key to the world being believable is consistency. As soon as one thing becomes inconsistent, the entire make-believe world comes crashing down.
The problem however is what happens when the real world becomes self-contradictory??
Here is a perfect example for you:
The government has realised that many (especially young) people are spending all the money they earn rather than saving it. As a result of this many people are getting into large amounts of debt rather than saving up for the future and, if anything goes wrong, they have major problems because they have no reserves.
In an attempt to combat this, the government started various schemes to encourage young people to save, parents to save for their children, etc. The government is also constantly encouraging people generally to save more money.
Whilst I was working I took the government's advice and saved some of my money each month. It wasn't much, say around £250 per month, but despite the fact it wasn't much it would often be hard to pay rent, bills, etc and still save the money. This resulted in me sacrificing evenings out, and the like, but that was OK because at least I felt safe in the knowledge that when I got older I wouldn't be poverty stricken.
However, after 7 years continuous employment, I was made redundant.
No worries, I thought, after that long I'm sure to get a reasonable level of benefits until such time as I sort myself out!
Yeah, right!!
I get a grand total of £57 per week! That doesn't anywhere near even cover the rent. And the reason I don't get any more than that? Yep you've guessed it ... because I have 'savings'!
If I had gone for those nights out, bought those new clothes, manga, anime, and whatever else and hence not had any savings, I would get enough money from the government to pay my rent. But because I followed the government's advice I get b*gg*r all!
This is just such a perfect example, the government wants you to save for your old age, but if anything happens those savings are not protected for your old age.
If a lack of self-consistency leads to a make-believe world crashing down, will a lack of self-consistency in the real world cause it to implode?
Or maybe I should just start a Campaign Against Self-Contradiction and point out all the examples I find?
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05:09 pm
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Explanations ...
... are not always necessary ... but sometimes they help!!
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01:55 pm
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A political question for you ...
If there was such a thing as the 'Apathy Party', would anyone vote for it?
Current Mood:  curious
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01:30 pm
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'Personality Disorder Test'
I was wandering around the internet & found a 'personality disorder test', it's supposed to tell you if you have a personality disorder ... errr, duh!
Anyway, I've often noticed myself doing rather OCD kinda things, but despite answering all the questions truthfully, I ended up with this:
I wonder if I should get my head examined or something?
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04:55 pm
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I'm FROZEN!!!!!
It's late autumn / early winter here in England, and though it has been rather mild during the daytime lately, as soon as the sun goes down the temperature drops like a proverbial stone. This wouldn't be so bad I guess if: a) the sun didn't go down at 16:00, b) the office didn't face North, c) I was moving around more and not stuck at a desk all day and, last but by no means least, d) there was actually some sort of heating in this office!!!!!
So I'm stuck warming myself up with endless cups of tea (which goes cold so fast you wouldn't believe it) and occasionally running up and down the corridor to try and warm up a bit.
In other news:
I'm hoping to buy a car soon. This will make the quest for employment somewhat easier. However, the guy I'm buying it from is even less organised than me, which makes sorting out insurance, etc rather difficult as I could just suddenly get a phone call telling me to come and collect it, but I could also end up waiting 6 weeks as he's going out of the country shortly.
Still no news on the job front. I'm hoping to get a phone call sometime soon to tell me that my references have been checked and I can start soon. This however is further complicated by the fact I'll have to move house before I can take up the position. Last time I moved house it took around 6 weeks to sort everything (not including packing). Since it's only 6 weeks until Christmas, this could easily further complicate matters.
So all I can do is try to pack up any stuff I can live without in case I have to move suddenly and start buying Christmas presents so I don't have that to worry about on top of everything else.
Oh well, at least I can go home soon and warm up a bit.
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03:34 pm
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Permaflu
I have invented a new word ... 'permaflu' ... it's for when you get a cold / dose of the flu / whatever, then just as you've got over that, you come down with another dose of cold / flu / whatever.
I think I've had permaflu for about a month now and it's driving me nuts!! Everytime I think I'm finally getting better, I seem to come down with something else!
And yesterday, I went through a whole (large) box of tissues in one day. I've got to remember to empty the bins sometime this evening.
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03:10 pm
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Meme thingy
Brought to you by Animation@About.com
You Prefer: Epic Adventure Animations Whether it's swords-and-sorcery or shoot-'em-up sci-fi complete with giant robots, you prefer animated stories of adventure with long-spanning storylines and complex plot threads. Like the Dark preference, you probably like to watch dubbed and televised Japanese anime, or even import series from overseas. You probably also have a fondness for older American cartoons - things from the late eighties and early nineties. Take this quiz and find out what type of animation you prefer.
Actually, I far prefer to watch things in their original language with subtitles ... but then I'm just picky!
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01:58 pm
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A Challenge!!
Here's a challenge for you ... for a whole week eat only food that has been grown in your area (you can extend that to your county if you live in a city).
I swear it's impossible. Guess it could be done if you lived near a 'pick your own' farm and were vegetarian or could buy your food at a local farmers market (though they might not take too kindly to being quizzed about where exactly the goods were grown by a person with a map). But I live in the middle of a city, the local 'market' sells CDs and fabric and the local supermarket (the only place that sells food after 16:00) just doesn't have anything local ... in fact you'll be lucky to find anything British!! The only British fruit they had were 'English Apples' (I've no idea what variety they are, they are just called 'English Apples') which are so small you can eat them in two bites!
When I was younger we grew fruit in our back garden, I remember pinching apples and plums off the trees rubbing them on my trousers and munching them, still warm from the sun. My parents didn't seem to mind so long as we didn't take them all, I guess it was far better than stuffing our faces with sweets. This, I suppose, proves that you can grow fruit in England, so the question is; why can't you buy it? Why do all the plums in the supermarket come from various parts of Africa and the apples from New Zealand?
And that's just the fruit! Of the vegetables only the lettuce was even vaguely local (from Lincolnshire in fact) and most came from foreign countries. The meat either didn't say (on the label), was Danish (bacon) or proudly stated it was 'British Beef' (looked lovely, but on my budget was far too expensive).
So my dinners this week have been potatoes and leaks which I bought from a vegetable shop after skiving off work early and pork chops of unknown origin in addition to far too many 'English Apples'. All very tasty, but I'm not sure I've successfully completed the challenge.
So why do the challenge then? Well, simple really, one of the major contributors to general pollution (and global warming) is vehicles, and one of the biggest users of these transport vehicles is the food industry (up to about a third in fact) first taking the food to packaging plants, then to distribution depots, then to supermarkets, etc ... it's called 'Food Miles' and is a measure of how far the food on your plate travels to get there. So, if you can eat food which is grown locally, not only will your food be fresher (and hence have more vitamins, etc) but you'll be doing good things for the environment as well!!
There is a reasonable reference on 'Food Miles' here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/food_matters/foodmiles.shtml
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01:45 pm
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Divine unemployment
You know, this whole being unemployed thing is weird.
Whilst I was working full time I had a routine which I stuck to each day: 0830 - get up, get breakfast, etc. 0900 - leave house & walk to work. 0930 - arrive at work, check who's booked to come in, switch on the kit they want to use. 1000 - open lab. 1230(ish) - go for lunch. 1630 - start throwing people out of the lab. 1700 - throw stragglers out of lab. 1730 - switch everything off & pack up. 1800 - start walking home. 1830 - arrive home, make dinner. 1900 - eat dinner whilst watching the news, wash up, make tomorrow's lunch.
But now, that routine has totally gone to pot.
When I was working, I never had any time to do things. So I wrote things down on a long list of 'things that I will do once I have some time', some of things things are rather boring (ie 'clean the bath out'), whilst some are rather necessary (ie 'sort contents of hard drive, delete rubbish and back up'), and others may well assist me in my future career (ie 'write papers').
But now I have loads of time, I'm just not getting anything done!
The stuff I brought home from my office is still in heaps on my sitting room floor. My computer hasn't been even switched on in over a week. And the notes for those papers could be anywhere! Added to this my body seems to have decided to run on Tokyo time just like it did when I was a student.
So here's a question, my dear hypothetical reader, how do I get myself into a routine that will make me actually do all the stuff on my list? There must be people out there who work from home or are self employed who can give suggestions on how to motivate myself.
So any (sensible) suggestions will be gratefully received.
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05:03 pm
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So long, and thanks for the fish ...
OK, for those who don't know, today is my last day at work. Tomorrow I will be going down the dole office to sign on and hopefully get some temporary work until I can get a proper job.
The main problem with this is that, at home I have no internet access. Hence, I will not be updating, talking, etc for a while.
Hope you all have fun whilst I'm not here.
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03:45 pm
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Stock taking
1st Paper = Sent to IEEE Trans on EMC, no response as of yet.
2nd Paper = Characteristic Impedance. Apparently missing some vital data files. Will try to find them when I tidy up my machine this / next weekend.
3rd Paper = With Supervisor for proofreading, no response as of yet.
4th Paper = Dependancy of measured parameters on chamber configuration. Not yet started.
5th Paper = With Supervisor for proofreading, no response as of yet.
6th Paper = Comparison of methods. Not sure if I have sufficient data to even start this one!
7th Paper = Comparison of three methods. Don't know if there's any point doing this, but will keep data files just in case.
8th Paper = Antenna position vs antenna type. Need to get this one done now I have a majority of the data.
9th Paper = Cable measurements. Need to find missing data.
10th Paper = Box. Not yet started. Need to move box and redo tests.
11th Paper = With Supervisor for proofreading, no response as of yet.
12th Paper = Magnitude and phase. Got preliminary results and nothing else.
And I've only got 2 more weeks until my contract ends, so I've got to find a job too!!
Urg!
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10:25 am
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Happy Birthday Daddy!
It's my Father's Birthday today ... so ... Happy 60th Birthday Daddy!!
It's also the 9th Anniversary of my graduating with my MEng.
Guess that's two reasons to celebrate. Now, where did I put that chocolate?
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05:06 pm
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Interviews
There is something, I feel, fundamentally wrong with job interviews. You spend hours each day searching various places on the internet for suitable positions, then applying for them. Then, several weeks later, you get told to come for an interview. At this interview you are expected to bare your soul for everyone there present to laugh at. And then you get rejected! Everytime I can't help but feel that there must be something wrong with me, that they have seen something which is incompatible with normal human working. Maybe there is ... but if you ever ask for feedback what do you get? 'No evidence of recent teamworking', hmm, didn't I spend half the interview talking about that? Or 'lack of customer skills' ... I'm a teacher for *bleep*s sake! And yet, every time I get my hopes so high ... this job would be perfect for me ... and every time I enthuse my little heart out ... and every time I end up utterly exhausted ... and every time ... well, hopefully once at least I'll be offered the job, else come the end of this month, I'm gonna be on the dole! Let's keep our pingies crossed shall we?
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11:27 am
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Proofreading of God Eaters
The awesome Jesse Hajicek, author of God Eaters, asked for people to proof read and spot plot holes. This is my contribution. Please note that some of these may well be addressed in the text somewhere, I was simply writing notes as I went along.
Chapter 2:
Since all the people with talents in Churchrock are male, are there no female talents?
Chapter 15:
How did Shou-Shou get Kai's gun? I assume he was using it when he and Shan got shot and he got arrested, so how dod Shou-Shou manage to retrieve it?
Chapter 16:
After they get the horses in Smith (where they rob the store) the water jug they got from the Native woman disappears. If they left it in Smith could the watch trace the woman they bought it from?
The use of the word 'wizgi'. You first use 'wizgi' to mean 'water jug', however you use it later as 'corn liquor wizgi' (beer or whiskey?) and later still as 'No darkie. No wizgi' (by the woman in the shop they rob in Smith).
Chapter 19:
After Kai gets shot they end up at a Priest's house in the desert. This Priest has a 'wanted' notice for the pair of them.
1) Who was 'Jinnie Harkes'? Ash never does ask Kai.
2) Given that Ash's Aunt still works with the rebels, is it likely that she will eventually see a copy of this and hence realize that Ash is still alive?
3) Since Kai is famous and his death was widely reported (as a victory for the Watch) wouldn't publishing the fact he's escaped prove that the Watch is up to something? And lied about his death?
Chapter 31:
Burns - Since Ash and Kai absorbed the power held in the ward inside the jail, could they absorb the power in this new Burn created by Thelyan's death? If they did, would this mean that when Thelyan was reincarnated he would be powerless?
Epilogue:
Ash (who previously burned easily) is walking around the desert with no shirt or shoes!
Kai says that they need to get some food, water, etc before heading to the city, but they never do. This results in them going into the desert (possibly for an extended period) with no supplies.
Is the winged girl clothed?
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10:19 am
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Places I've been
create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide
I feel utterly ashamed ... I will have to get my passport out and dust it off!
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02:31 pm
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Smile & you get confused looks ...
I was up early this morning and hence ended up watching the morning 'news' on TV. The 'newsreaders' were interviewing a woman who, from the look of her anyway, was a singer of some kind. The only bit I saw was a conversation about smiling at random strangers and how they look really confused at you if you do. It's soo true! They look confused and slightly suspicious I find, as if they can't figure if they know you or not and/or are trying to work out what you want.
Next time you're walking down a street, try it (but only on main streets in broad daylight, anywhere else would probably be asking for trouble!).
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05:44 pm
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The price of everything
I found this one someone's journal page & started playing with it:
| If you were intending to buy a Car for GB£3995.00, you could instead buy: | - three hundred and four milliseconds of TV advertisement during the Superbowl
- nine thousand, four hundred and eighty-one packets of itching powder
- three kilograms of marijuana
- eight hundred and seventy-six litres of Red Bull energy drink
- one twentieth of a terraced house on an English council estate
- nine long leather duster-style coats
- seventy-one felt bowler hats
- forty-nine second-hand 28" CRT televisions
- one hundred and thirty-three thousand, six hundred and twelve 5mm light-emitting diodes
- one hundred and forty-two years of electricity running an average fridge under normal conditions
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| If you were intending to buy a Fake 7 for GB£4.19, you could instead buy: | - three grams of marijuana
- four pints of horrible beer at some sort of happy-hour thing
- a hand buzzer
- twenty-four minutes of chart music on CD
- three hundred and six grams of fair trade organic ground coffee
- one half of a haircut
- eight minutes of massage
- thirty-three minutes of movies on DVD
- one two-thousandth of an elephant
- one sixth of a cast-iron wok
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| What are you thinking of buying? | |
The kinda weird thing is that I actually do this anyway, generally with Mars Bars or something similar. Whenever I'm thinking of buying something I'll calculate how many Mars Bars I could buy instead then, if I'd rather have the chocolate, I don't buy it. It's the Mars Bar method of accounting!
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03:49 pm
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Suspension of disbelief and self consistency.
I really enjoy reading fiction books. Be they science fiction, fantasy or manga, I really enjoy reading about the other worlds which the author has invented. I consider it in many ways as a privilege, an invitation to wander into the world that exists solely inside the author’s head and have a look around.
The whole idea that these alternative universes don’t necessarily conform to our laws of physics has never particularly bothered me. The fact that a creature the size of two elephants can fly doesn’t trouble me, they just do, nor does the idea of artificial gravity generators. These things exist in those worlds, who am I to argue?
I guess it’s all a matter of suspension of disbelief. I *know* these things don’t exist, but for the sake of the story my unconscious mind is willing to pretend they do. The problem comes from a lack of self-consistency on the part of the author, be it accidental or deliberate. If the secondary hero can punch through walls, then why does he just sit in a prison cell awaiting the arrival of the primary hero? Why doesn’t he save himself? If I could punch through walls, I wouldn’t wait; I’d at least try to get myself free. Or, even worse, group A can jump 3 stories but group B can’t, with no explanation why. Or why is a guy who can jump from the top of a tower block and land safely afraid of heights?
A lack of self-consistency at any point in any plot cancels the whole ‘suspension of disbelief’ thing by waking the unconscious mind to the fact that dragons and anti-gravity don’t exist and hence calls into question the entire story. This questioning then ruins my enjoyment of whatever book I’m reading and yours truly gets upset.
I wonder, does everyone have this problem?
Maybe it is a problem, not with a lack of consistency on the part of the author but with my analytical mind? The fact that, as an engineer, spotting and solving problems is simply what I do? Does everyone else just skim over these contradictory facts without them causing any problems? Maybe I should offer to proof read the books? Or just send the author my copies, complete with copious quantities of red ink (yes, I teach, how could you tell?)?
Hmm, there’s a thought … if there are any authors reading this who would like me to proof read their stuff and point out the errors, please get in touch. I can’t guarantee I’ll be quick, but chances are I’ll spot errors, inconsistencies and plot holes.
How’s that for a engineering solution?
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