Way's World

Friday, 30 April 2004

Busy, busy, busy...

Today was the last day of the financial year at my place of work, so everybody was running round, doing the year end bits & pieces. As I moved over to the Purchasing Department a few months ago, I was now actively involved in in the dreaded STOCK TAKE!!!

In previous years this has been done over a weekend, but David (my manager, who also runs the warehouse) was confident it could be done in a working day, provided the necessary preparation was done beforehand. I don't actually think anybody believed him when he originally said it but he was determined it was going to happen, and so first thing this morning around half a dozen or so people (myself included) went out to the warehouse to begin the count...

Now if someone had said six months ago that not only were we going to do a stock take during a working day, but also that we weren't going to have to go in over the weekend to at least enter the count onto the computer, even David would have thought they were joking, but today we did exactly that - we had finished the entire stock-take process before 5pm, enabling us to go home pretty much on time. Everybody worked bloody hard, but we did it.

Not only that, we get our entire weekend to ourselves - and it's a Bank Holiday! It doesn't get any better than this!

Saturday, 24 April 2004

I have a nephew!!!

I've just had a phone call from my Mum to say that I've become an uncle again!

Julie (my sister-in-law) gave birth to Adam James Way at 8.59pm - he weighed 8lb 5oz. Mother & son are both well, and my brother Andrew is delighted as you can imagine, although I'm not sure how Lucy (my niece) will feel - she ideally wanted a sister! 8-)

More news and pictures as soon as I have them!

Friday, 16 April 2004

Webcam Update!

If you're a viewer of my webcam, you'll be pleased to know it no longer shows a static image every five seconds or so, it's now a live video stream! Take a look and see what you think!

Sunday, 11 April 2004

Film Review - Kill Bill (Volume 1)

As the cinematic release date for Kill Bill (Volume 2) draws ever nearer, I thought it was time to see Volume 1, and fortunately my local cinema had a special one-off screening today.

The premise of the story is that an entire wedding party has been slaughtered. As the Sheriff examines the pregnant body of The Bride (you never find out her real name - it's actually 'bleeped' out on the two occasions it is used!), he realises she's not dead but merely unconscious, having been shot in the head by Bill, leader of a group of assassins that The Bride used to belong to.

In a coma for four years, when she finally regains consciousness and remembers what has happened to her (and also discovering that she's no longer pregnant), she wants revenge - she wants to kill Bill, along with the rest of the assassins in the team.

In true Quentin Tarantino style, there is blood and gore aplenty - this is probably the bloodiest film I've ever seen, but it's so over the top as to not be terribly offensive. The bloodiest parts are actually shot differently, perhaps to tone them down slightly - one is shot in anime, the Japanese cartoon style of animation, and the other is filmed in black & white. That's not to say that you don't get to see plenty of the red stuff - if that's your cup of tea!

There are also various comedic moments - at the beginning of the film, The Bride is fighting assassin Vernita Green in the latters home - furniture is being broken, fists are flying and knives are clattering. The camera pans round to show a school bus pulling up outside the house, and Vernita's four year old daughter walks in - the two adults quickly hide their knives behind their backs and begin to chat as if they were old friends. As soon as the child goes to her bedroom, the fight resumes!

I really enjoyed this film, and I'm looking forward to Volume 2 out later this week. If you don't particularly like violent films then stay away from this one, but if you've seen Tarantino's previous efforts you really ought to know what to expect...!!!

Friday, 09 April 2004

Frequently Asked Questions from the Etch-a-Sketch Help Desk

Q: My Etch-A-Sketch has all of these funny little lines all over the screen.
A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: How do I turn my Etch-A-Sketch off?
A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: What's the shortcut for Undo?
A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: How do I create a New Document window?
A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: How do I set the background and foreground to the same colour?
A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: What is the proper procedure for rebooting my Etch-A-Sketch?
A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: How do I delete a document on my Etch-A-Sketch?
A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: How do I save my Etch-A-Sketch document?
A: Don't shake it.

Powerballs!

I bought a Powerball the other day - basically it's a ball with a gyroscope inside. You hold it in your hand, start it spinning with the cord and then depending on how strong/stupid you are, you steadily build up speed until the gyroscope reaches ridiculous speeds!

I've managed to get it up to 9476 rpm at the moment, but according to the Powerball website, the current world record is 14535 rpm!! That's gotta hurt!!!

Friday, 02 April 2004

Film Review - Dawn Of The Dead

Saw this tonight and thoroughly enjoyed it!

It's your typical zombie-flick, and of course it's a remake of the 1979 original, but this time the zombies can run (and at great speed!). I always wondered how you could really be afraid of a zombie when you could outrun them even if you were on crutches...

Anyway, as I said it's a thoroughly enjoyable film - the premise is that some unknown disease has struck mankind, turning them into zombies. The film follows half a dozen or so survivors, who find themselves holed-up at a shopping mall, which (obviously) becomes surrounded by the zombies. Some tense scenes follow, interspersed with great comedy lines - for example, at one point the survivors, besieged by zombies, take refuge in a lift in the mall - you can hear the music being piped in to the lift, and one of the survivors cheerfully announces how much he "loves this tune!"

If you do go and see this film though - stay until the end! It continues after the credits have finished, and you'll miss the proper ending otherwise!