| Eurosnail |
[Jun. 1st, 2012|12:42 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  frustrated | ] |
I think that has to have been one of the longest train journey I've endured.
The train stopped just outside of the tunnel. We were initially told this was because of congestion. This seemed an odd excuse. After 10 minutes or so we were told that there was a problem with the points. After another 20 minutes this story was changed to a problem with the signals and the points. We'd been waiting for well over an hour before we started moving. Veeery slowly. Apparently we were going "signal to signal". Meanwhile trains were whizzing past us on the other line. Apparently they'd switched to the other tracks which was fine.
Missed the last train to Preston Park. Queued up to see what my options were. Eurostar seemed to only be able to manage to persuade 2 people to put in the overtime.
So, we eventually arrived at St. Pancras, 3 and a half hours late. I think the only upside is my next return ticket is free. Oh, and I guess I managed to get round to seeing an episode of Planet Word.
Somewhat annoyed to have forgotten the USB cable for my phone as well. Otherwise I would have called people and whined at them. |
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| Shopping list |
[May. 28th, 2012|01:10 pm] |
This place seems to have everything I need but not everything I want. I need:
A large chopping board
Decent set of knives
A jug
Plastic slice
Washing bowl
Also need to collect from home:
wi-fi router
Popcorn hour
Unlocked phobile moan.
This post may be dull. It's more for my reference. If you do want to comment and tell me what else I need, I'm listening. |
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| The convenience of flying. |
[May. 24th, 2012|06:51 pm] |
Eurostar isn't quite as efficient as I feel it should be. While it does get from London to Brussels in 2 hours, there's also the need to check in 30 minutes early, and the hourly service means I actually have to get there 80 minutes early.
If I had the option, I'd fly, but Heathrow is harder to get to than St Pancras. I would go from Gatwick, but the flights suggested by cheap flight websites don't seem all that practical. I could take the Lufthansa flight LH897. That gets me to Frankfurt in 1 hour 40 minutes. Then I just have 5 hours to kill at the airport before getting on a flight to Brussels. A short trip on the train and I'm in the city centre. For just a little over £1000, BA will send me there in less than 9 hours, via Manchester,and Air Baltic will get me there via Riga.
So, train it is.
Sometimes I really wish the UK would sign up to Schengen. Iceland has. Even Switzerland has, and they're not exactly known for open borders. Not sure why the UK is so paranoid about this. There's nothing we can do to keep the French out any more. |
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| Belgium update to update. |
[May. 22nd, 2012|08:42 pm] |
Sooo.... Finally got myself a place sorted. Initially for a month. I should be able to extend it though if I like it and I'll be able to work that put in a couple of weeks. Not actually been there. Maybe I should have wandered down and had a look. Have decided to join some meetup groups so I can meet up with people:) One of them seems to like beer. I like beer.
Am finding the rail system here a little tiresome. Tried buying a pass. Was given a form to fill in. This required an address amongst other things - my French isn't that good and didn't have time or patience to translate. Went for a key card instead, which gives me 10 journeys for €20. Fine, but I need a new one each week and the ticket office is very slow. People always seem to have very complex enquiries. I would have bought one from a machine but they don't take my card and I can't pay by cash. And the trains are old, shaky, and frequently late.
Current hotel is interesting. Located conveniently for both the railway and the red light district. Rooms are equipped with a double electric hob, which would be nice, except they didn't provide any pots or pans. Decided to pay €6 for breakfast the first night. Really not worth it. Crappy coffee. UHT milk. Very limited selection of food. They don't have tea and coffee making facilities and the walls are paper thin. Wi-fi connection doesn't block SMTP though which is nice.
Not sure how people feel about me at work. Still feel a little like the retarded cousin. There's not a lot I can do by myself though. Too new. Too much to learn. Not got a clear understanding of the big picture. Do feel I'm being a bit needy with needing to be assigned work.
Will have to find somewhere that's likely to be showing Eurovision this weekend. |
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| I went a touristing! |
[May. 17th, 2012|07:01 pm] |
Had a day off, so I decided I'd go up to the Atomium, and see what this odd building was. Built as part of the 1958 expo, and made as a cube of 9 spheres (including a central one). It's become a symbol of Brussels.
After getting there, which required negotiating the Metor system (easy enough once I worked out there was a metro), first thing is you go up in the elevator to the top. Look out the windows. See a bit of Brussels. It's not a particularly high observation point but you get a good view of Heysel. The rest of the space is general display space. The spheres are reasonably large and there was a permanent display about the 1958 expo and another display about water usage. They're connected via stairs and escalators. The last escalator has this cool red and blue lighting thing going on.
Having seen all there was to see, I wandered around a bit. Peeked into town. Note to all Europeans - if you're tired of tourists coming and remarking on how quaint everything is, don't make it so quaint.
Next stop was Mini-Europe - a collection of European buildings built in 1:25 scale. It's a very nice model railway set they have there, although it was odd to see a Blue-grey Inter City 125 representing a British train. It's all very cute. Boats are pulled around on wires and other bits and pieces move. Buttons play national anthems, and near mount Vesuvius, trigger a shaking earthquake floor. Westminster Palace is an absolutely vast building. Probably the largest one there. El Escorial was close to the same size but didn't have the huge tower.
It was pretty to look at, but the whole thing felt like a marketing exercise for the EU. Lots of statistics about the countries, and actually a certain amount of prominence for the EU itself. |
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| Brussels update |
[May. 15th, 2012|09:22 pm] |
Still here. Still alive.
Seem to be actually doing some useful stuff at work.
Have settled on somewhere to live. Letting agents haven't got back to me yet though. Hope I can get the place I like the look of. It would be nice to have somewhere to call home.
Think Stag Do is arranged.
Have provisionally booked a week off to deal with Brighton pad. May arrange a proper leaving do then.
Need to cancel cable.
We have a day off on Thursday. What shall I do with my day off? |
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| Week 2 - In Brussels itself this time. |
[May. 13th, 2012|10:05 pm] |
So, that was another 5 hours travelling, much of which involved waiting. Need to get to St Pancras at least 30 minutes before the train leaves. The train from Preston Park gets there 27 minutes before the train leaves (if it's on time, which rarely happens). Not sure how strict they are about the check-in time but it's not something I want to risk. And the train will be delayed. So, I had substantially over an hour between check-in and train leaving.
Was also a much more hectic affair this time. Lots of kids whizzing all over the place, and a rather confused seeming group of Koreans who seemed to take a very long time to get through any of the various checks.
Still, arrived, and am right in the city centre. This gives me a convenient base to look for somewhere more permanent, and allows me to establish how long it takes to get into work from the centre. I know in terms of minutes, but that doesn't really give me a feel.
Whether I find a spare room or rent a place outright is something I have to decide. Spare room gives some level of human contact, and is cheaper. Own place gives me a lot more space, room for guests, and room to entertain. The big problem is that all the serviced apartments seem to have a 3 month penalty clause for terminating the contract early.
Still worried they might realise I'm a fraud who doesn't really know Java. |
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| Day 1: Getting lost in Brussels and Zaventem. |
[May. 7th, 2012|09:21 pm] |
So, I arrived in Brussels. Loved Eurostar. Way better than flying.
I had a choice I could go back to the hotel and be miserable and lonely, or I could explore. Decided to explore. Got the train into the city centre. Got lost trying to find the station. Getting lost is the way I learn an area. Eventually got to Brussels Nord. Chose a direction at random, guessing it was probably south. Turned out it was north. Took a very long time to work that out. Have now explored the north of Brussels and decided it's a bit grotty. Also accidentally managed to find the red light district. It's bizarre. You have prostitutes in windows. Illuminated by red fluorescent tubes. I never knew you could window shop for prostitutes.
The hotel I chose was a really awful choice, Expensive to get to from Brussels Midi, and while it is only 1.5km from work, I can't actually walk there. There's an impassable road, which is a shame because Zaventem proper is actually quite nice. I will be getting the bus this week. Decided to get a pass. Took forever. Queue at the travel centre and people always have complicated queries. Eventually got it. Then looked at the timetable. Seemed I had 40 minutes to get the train. Was irritated until I heard Zaventem mentioned on an announcement. Rushed to the appropriate platform and got on the train just in time. Yay!
Then found I couldn't work out which way the buses were going, and lost the bit of paper with bus numbers on. Couldn't find a taxi rank either. After traipsing around the city for several hours I just wanted to get back to a comfortable hotel. I pretty miserable by this stage. Asked for directions in a bar. Barman called for a cab. I ordered a beer in return. This made the evening immeasurably better. It was a very good beer.
Not sure how I feel. It's hard to maker a proper judgement when I've just arrived. I'm going to be a bit grumpy this week though. |
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| My Life: In Boxes |
[May. 1st, 2012|12:50 pm] |
Rate of packing seems to be going through exponential decay.
Books and DVDs were easy enough. Now I'm dealing with stationery. But then I'll have all those irritating odds and sods like used hard disks (I still find uses for them occasionally. 12GB is functional storage space - can store a couple of DVDs or heaps of pictures.)
Not sure what to do with my PC. Core 2 Duo with 2GB is getting a little old now I guess. Lost track of Intel's processor range a long time ago though. |
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| Moshi Moshi Sushi Sushi. |
[Apr. 30th, 2012|06:14 pm] |
So, for my birthday, many moons ago, my parents bought me a gift voucher for a Sushi making workshop at Moshi Moshi.
I finally manager to get round to using it. My mum decided to come along too to keep me company. Sat opposite a lovely couple (Stuart and Saverica). I fell in love with Saverica since she was fun, liked food, and had a good sense of humour Sadly she was also married.
The sushi lesson started. The wizened chef politely instructed us in making sushi. She was ever so polite. Every instruction was prefaced by "please".
So, made some hand rolled sushi, gunkan maki, nigrisushi, california roll, inside out roll, and thin rolls. Learned that the knife should be wetted. This is achieved by wetting the tip and letting the water flow down the blade. Also learned how to prepare the rice. This was verbal instruction, not practical. Takes too long. But it's a case of wash the rice 3 times. Drain. 1.2 cups of water to 1 cup rice. Soak 15 minutes, bring to boil. Simmer until the water disappear. Steam for 15 minutes.
There was some left over so had a go at making another hand rolled sushi.
And we had a complementary glass of Saki or Asahi.
All a lot of fun. |
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| Another TO DO list. |
[Apr. 30th, 2012|09:08 am] |
Things to do:
Sort out storage Done. Hopefully 35sq ft is enough. Sounds kinda small. Edit: went for a 50sq ft instead. Still mildly concerned about size but I should be able to squeeze. Buy a new computer. Might get a few other bits and pieces too.Contact umbrella company. Sort out a bank account. Almost. Need to be actually working there before that's established.Book tickets to Brussels.Pack books.Take out rubbish.TimesheetsExpensesAcquire some boxes.- Pack everything else - Almost done.
Still can't decide on a computer. Lenovo seem to get some good reviews, and I like the look of the z575 but the one oin PC world looked a little flimsy. I like the look and feel of the HPs but so many people have warned me I don't want them. Toshibas look nice, but the ones in my price range are only two cores (although that is 4 hardware threads so shouldn't worry too much). Dell I have mixed opinions on. Are Acers any good?
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| Hair necessities |
[Apr. 29th, 2012|09:54 am] |
Want to do something else with hair.
A while ago I thought maybe black would work. Was kinda cool. Later on it grew out a bit. Bleached chunks. Went over with red. Redder that expected but I rather liked it.
But that grew out. Thought I'd try something black and white. Pondered briefly what white hair would look like. Not me at all. Wasn't expecting it to. Added some other colours but couldn't get the effect I wanted. Gave up, and went for some blue-black. It just seems rather drab.
Feel I should try something else. Not sure what. |
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| Stress failure! |
[Apr. 27th, 2012|10:42 am] |
After a couple of stressful weeks, I was geared up for another really hectic one. It seems the biggest disasters of this week have been that I just ran out of biscuits, and the inexplicable transformation of some Stilton and Broccoli soup into Leek and Potato. The first is quite galling. The Fair Trade Stem Ginger biscuits they sell in Oxfam are fantastic. For the latter, presumably I need to pay more attention to labels. It could have gone worse. I whacked my wing mirror pretty hard and wasn't able to properly fix it at first. Thought I might need to replace it. Turns out that after 5 minutes of fiddling it works. Also left my bag behind on Monday. Leaving after 7:00 usually means spending ages in traffic, but had a total of 15 minutes of delays. Have sorted out a place to stay for the first week in Belgium and have a good idea of where to stay longer term. And the campsite for the stag party is booked! Still need to sort out the other activities there. Will solicit advice from those good at interactive stories. Everything went better than expected. Apart from running out of biscuits. |
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| Have I got a Spare Ticket For You |
[Apr. 26th, 2012|05:00 pm] |
So, one of my friends cancelled on me. This means I have a spare ticket for Have I Got New For You.
Next Thursday (3rd May) nominal time is 6:45 but if we arrive then we'll not get in. Best to get there as soon as possible after 6.
So, if you can get to London Waterloo, by 6:00 or shortly after, let me know. |
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| Things to do |
[Apr. 24th, 2012|01:15 pm] |
Belgium contract:
- Find somewhere to stay.
- Find somewhere to live longer term.
- Decide how to get there. Plane or train?
"Somewhere to live" is a real pain. Sony is out in the sticks, near the airport, slightly into the Flemish area. I think I'd prefer to live a bit closer to the City. I don't want to keep changing buses though, so need somewhere on one of the bus routes. De lijn (Flemish) doesn't seem to travel far lot into the city. STIB (French Brussels city bus service) doesn't go anywhere near where I work. I think there are one or two buses that will work. What I want is a map where I can overlay bus routes and overlay the locations of accommodation.
Contact at Sony gave me a useful website though. Serviced flats are a little pricey but low hassle, and I can afford it. Just a question of picking where.
Moving out:
- Give notice on Brighton pad.
- Cancel utilities.
- Pack.
- Find storage company. Annoyingly, most of them, don't give online prices. What size do I need anyway?
Parts of this are on-hold for now. Am still slightly apprehensive about this contract. Not going to do anything that requires commitment .
Other stuff:- Campsite hire or work out alternate plans.
- Properly plan activities.
A lot of the legwork has been done by ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2) erestania, to whom I'm exceedingly grateful. May have left this too late. Wondering what to do if we can't get anywhere.
So still busy. Less stressed though. Things are sort of working out. |
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| Tired, stressed, cranky and nothing I can do about it |
[Apr. 16th, 2012|09:48 pm] |
I'll be fine after a good night's sleep, but it's been an irritating tiring day, and I'm just going to have to be irritated for the rest of the evening. All first world problems. Doesn't stop them from irritating, so shall new rant.
Started off okay. Until I got stuck in traffic. There's always a bit on a Monday morning, but enough to add 50 minutes to my journey is very tedious.
Agent is constantly harassing me about this contract. Yeah, sorry I can't rush things while working at a full time job. Still, have decided on an umbrella company. Probably not the best deal, but declaring that I work for a Bulgaria of Gibraltar based company and I'm just being deployed to Belgium tends to go against my innate honesty. Of course it's all "compliant" with the law, but seriously, this does seem kinda shady. That, and my vague sense of social justice tells me that taxes are actually a social benefit. Taking advantage of what a country has to offer sort of suggests an obligation to give back. Seems I'm about the only person who actually thinks that way. Maybe I'm an idiot.
Needed to get code doing what I actually wanted it to do rather than what colleague made it do. Managed the main part of it but the levels of abstraction drive me nuts. Piles of code that does next to nothing, apparently out of a desire to make it maintainable and adaptable. Except it isn't.
Was sent an email telling me I need to renew my TV licence. Except that will give me a week's TV viewing before I leave. Perhaps I shouldn't actually bother with that. Disconnect TiVo. That will mean dealing with TVL though, which is itself a hassle.
Too much noise in the office. No idea whether I'm going to Bristol next week, and I like to be able to plan ahead. Also would like to actually get this final working version in Bristol and doing what we want. |
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| Is Brussels where I want to go? |
[Apr. 15th, 2012|11:56 am] |
This is one of those things where I simply don't trust my instincts. My instincts say I want a nice safe easy life, and shouldn't do anything adventurous. From experience, and a couple of improv classes, I have learned that "Yes" is nearly always the right answer. Still, I'm feeling the stress is getting to me.
So here's the rundown. Job in Brussels. With Sony. 12 month contract. Good pay (probably. Taxes are hard to work out). Far enough away and long enough contract that it makes sense to relocate.
On one hand, it's an opportunity. I haven't worked in another country before. The company speaks English, and it's not too far from England. Hell, in terms of travel time it's not much further than Bristol, and I go there all the time. I've been quite keen on the idea of working in another country for a while. And they have nice beer. Plus I feel I'm risking getting stuck in a rut. I'll be moving out of my place in Brighton which will save me a fair bit, and the pay is good so I'll be saving up a hefty chunk of cash for a deposit.
On the other hand, I was looking forward to having a month or so off. I really do love Brighton. I love the people here. I want to do a few gaming sessions. I don't know anyone in Brussels. I love this house I'm renting. And this is a lot of work with very little time to arrange anything. I have a lot of other things that I wanted to spend time on. Brussels would be interesting but it's never really been a place I've felt I absolutely must live in. Australia appeals to me, and so does Sweden for some inexplicable reason, but Brussels I'm not so sure about. And i don't speak much French.
Gripping hand is, I've absolutely no idea whether I should actually accept this. |
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| Am now crazy busy |
[Apr. 12th, 2012|12:01 pm] |
I thought this contract ending would reduce stress. I have enough cash in my account not to need to worry about another contract for a few months. I wasn't actively seeking a new contract. Just thought I'd do an interview for the practice. I was really hoping that I'd have some me time before I get round to stressing about not having any work.
Then they go and offer me a job and I feel I'd be making a mistake turning it down. Even though currently the idea petrifies me.
Contract will require me giving notice on my rented house, cancelling all the utilities, tidying up, cleaning, arranging transport, arranging storage, working out where to stay at the start of the contract.Sorting out a new umbrella company (one that specialises in overseas contractors)
I have a stag do to help arrange. Anyone know of a decent place to camp in the vicinity of Reading? I have absolutely no idea how we go about organising this even or who to ask. Have activities to arrange as well. And the actual Best Man duties for the wedding.
And I need to use this voucher for a sushi course my mum got me (if other people want to do this, let me know. It's £30-35 on a Sunday evening).
I'm sure I have other things to stress about. Any suggestions? |
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| New contract. New headaches started already:) |
[Apr. 11th, 2012|10:35 am] |
So, I have a contract offer.
It's with Sony in Brussels. So I guess I should probably take it.
Wondering if I know anyone there. I think my closest friend to there is in Antwerp. Also it's been a long time since I met her and back then she was wearing a pink wig.
€55 an hour is a really good rate. And I won't be maintaining a place in Brighton. Commuting once a week simply wouldn't be worth it. Downside is that I'd be moving away from Brighton, and have to go through the immense hassle of finding somewhere to live. Plus I've accumulated several years worth of junk so I'll need somewhere to store it. (Anyone want a rocket pack (non-functional)? Extended loan of a sewing machine?)
Looked at flights to Brussels. Seems there aren't any direct flights from Gatwick. Getting to Heathrow is such a pain. Wondering if the train is a more convenient way of travelling. Sadly, I'll most likely be travelling up on a Sunday when there's no direct service to St Pancras from Brighton. |
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| Things to do for a masquerade entry. |
[Apr. 6th, 2012|04:49 pm] |
Would like to do Edward Scissorhands costume as a masquerade entry. But really want to do more than just walk in and walk off. Would do a live action version of that cartoon with ES and The Thing but nobody has a handy golem costume.
Anyone in Livejournal land have suggestions for a simple thing to do on stage. Doesn't need to be complicated. Just a line or two to say.
Probably not since you're all either at Eastercon or Maelstrom. |
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| Stand Up Science! |
[Apr. 4th, 2012|09:59 am] |
I've mentioned the Geek Chic - Science singles - meetup group before.
This time I went along to Science Show Off. 10 science acts. Performers have 9 minutes to impress us with science. We had
- A talk on rocket science.
- An experiment to measure gravity.
- A song about sexual reproduction.
- A talk on STIs.
- A talk on geology.
- A talk on quantum physics and personal relationships
- A talk about how youTube videos go viral.
- A ramble about science, Yetis and BRIAN BLESSED!
- A bohemian rhapsody parody
You know, I can't remember what the other one was about. Which is a shame, because all 10 of them were great!
And people stayed around after for drinks. Even some of the women.
Can't decide if it's my imagination or a nice polish lady seemed to like me. On one hand, I'm pretty bad at spotting these things but she did seem to show some vague indications, on the other hand, I have low self esteem and she's stunningly pretty. Should have asked for her number. Could say hi through the meetup message service. Trouble with technology is social conventions are so poorly defined.
Really must go along next month. |
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| HIGNFY again |
[Apr. 3rd, 2012|10:16 am] |
I have 4 tickets again for Have i Got New For You recording on the Thursday 3rd May.
Anyone wish to join me? Apparently Jeremy Clarkson is the guest host. Requirements are that you can get to the ITV studios near Waterloo by 6:30pm
Sold out... Sorry guys
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| Geekest of the geeks |
[Apr. 2nd, 2012|10:48 am] |
Went to the Geekest Link quiz last night.
This month it was Ed's birthday so to celebrate, this was Star Trek themed. Rounds based on Klingons, Jean Luc Picard, the movie trilogy (Star Trek 2, 3, and 4), Starships (picture round), and General Nerdage. Extra poitns for teams that came in costume. There was an awesome team that had a Borg, a Tolosian, a Star Fleet officer, and what I think might have been a Vulcan robe. We came 5th, which wasn't too bad. One team got every question right (first time ever), and another dropped a single point. Also the mystery prize round went to a tie-breaker. Closest answer won. What Stardate was given at the start of Star Trek 2? The winner knew it!
These are the questions we didn't get. Have screened comments so you can have a go yourselves, and will unscreen them in the next day or so. If anyone gets all of them right, they are hereby invited to join my team next month. (Downside is this is on a Sunday evening and it's usually a school night).
Comments unscreened. answers in comments
Klingons: - Who played Chancellor Gowron
- Kor, Koloth and Kang appeared in the DS9 episode Blood Oath. What were the original series episode that they first appeared in? (We had to name two of the episode for full points)
- Apart from the J J Abrams movie, which is the only Star Trek movie not to feature a klingon on screen?
Jean Luc Picard:- In TNG: Jean Luc Picard oversaw the Rite of succession and became the only non Klingon ever to receive which title?
Movie Trilogy
- Which phase had the Genesis program reached?
Pictures round:- Which race's ship is this?
General nerdage
- Which regular character, except for Q has their name in most episode titles?
- What was the name of 7-of-9's parents ship?
- What was the name of the zone of space featured in Star Trek: Insurrection?
- Which episode of DS9 did Q appear in?
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| Irritting day, then board games |
[Mar. 31st, 2012|10:17 pm] |
So went to London for gaming with the geek chic crowd.
No convenient trains from Preston park
Got muddled over the ticket choice at Brighton and got the wrong ticket.
Victoria line wasn't running.
No information on anything except the next train on circle/district line. No idea if circle line was running or not.
Took forever finding the venue.
Set up a settlers game. Realised I'd forgotten the cards.
After that things stopped annoying me and had a nice game of Dominion, Carcassonne and Apples to Apples (speedy rules - first n-2 cards count where n = number of players).
Still need events that attracts more of the ladies. Also odd that there were one or two that came, chatted a bit to each other and left. |
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pensive