More wine dear

I can't remember the first sip of wine I ever had, however I do remember being given a small glass of white wine at Christmas. The wine was to celebrate the season, and cleanse my palate between bites of Christmas turkey, gravy and stuffing. I may not have realised that at that young age, but this single glass of wine each Christmas day helped shape my ideas about alcohol.

I know that a glass of wine is best enjoyed with a good meal. I do not drink alcohol purely to get drunk, and in my teens I never hung around street corners swigging from a bottle of cheap cider, or stood outside the off-license begging the over-18's to buy some alco-pops. I have had my moments, mainly in University when I've gone over the top, but I can count those times on the fingers of one hand. On the whole I have a relaxed, well-adjusted, sensible attitude to drinking.

So when I heard about this story about banning parents from letting their children under 15 years old consume alcohol, even with a meal, I'll admit my hackles got a little raised. I understand that binge drinking among the younger population is becoming more and more common, but isn't that a sign that we need to change their way of thinking? Teen, and pre-teen pregnancies are rising at an alarming rate despite the legal age of consent being 16, so what makes people think that a blanket ban of alcohol for under 15's will work? How will it be policed? Why can't (sensible) parents make an informed decision about their own children?

In my opinion this idea will not work. To beat binge drinking, attitudes about alcohol must change. If parents want to they should be allowed to introduce the child to alcohol, as I was, at a young age. In this way we can teach how alcohol should be treated with respect. I often think that under 15's are so desperate to start drinking because they see it as a grown up thing to do. If they're used to having a glass of wine every now and again, is it such a grown-up thing to do anymore? Education about alcohol will be more successful than bans will ever hope to be, just look at 1920's prohibition in America and you'll see what I mean.

The best chat up line ever

I promised MB in my comments about my Grand National post that I would reveal the best chat up line I have ever heard.

Unfortunately this isn't a chat up line that was directed at me, a dear friend of mine (and old housemate) had the pleasure of this line. She was sitting down in the University courtyard waiting for a friend when this guy shows up and begins chatting to her. He starts of with the general uni chit chat, and their conversation goes something like this.

"What course are you doing?" he asks.
"Mathematical physics."
"What? With tits like that?"

For some reason this guy believed that intelligent women couldn't have a fantastic pair. How wrong he was.

As for chat up lines directed at me, I don't tend to get any unless I'm in uniform and drunk people are about.

999 Ambulance Lottery

No doubt those of you living in the UK will have heard about this story. A rather one-sided look at ambulances, paramedics and technicians. For those of you over the pond, basically the program is criticising the lack of paramedics on ambulances, and implying that the use of ambulance technicians is putting lives at risk, a very one-sided, sensationalist piece of journalism (Sir Trevor, I'm very disappointed with you!). Ambulance technicians are not unskilled, as you claim. They are not bumbling side-kicks waiting for "Super Paramedic" to come and save them from themselves. There are a few rare situations when a paramedic would be able to administer a drug to better treat the patient, but these situations are not the norm. I would rant on more about this, but Reynolds has already said it a lot better than I could, so here are his words on the topic.

Finally, I just like to say a few words of condolence to those caught up in the tragedy at Virginia Tech, and their families. My thoughts are with them all.

Grand National 2007

Well, the big day of the Grand National arrived, and I blew the dust off my high vis jacket and went along to do some first aid.

Over the course of the day I got hit on seven times, only one of these people was sober. I'm not sure whether that boosts my self esteem or not yet. The chat up lines weren't the most original this year, just the usual "oh I feel faint" or "I need some mouth to mouth". Lads, although Lola isn't really one for chat up lines, a good original one will have her chuckling for days.

I got rather worried when a fight broke out right next to us, we scarpered to a safer spot, although we couldn't actually get out of the enclosure the fight was in. Luckily security contained it quite quickly, leaving us to deal with the first aid related aftermath.

The most pointless job of the day was being called upstairs by control to a lady with a cut foot. As control had sent us, as a response team, we imagined there would be a fair bit of blood. We got there after a bit of directing by stewards, to find a lady who smiled at us and said, "My foot's fine, I just need a plaster." Why she couldn't have gone down to the first aid post and gotten one herself was a bit beyond me.

Despite being an aed and medical gases team, we didn't get called to anything that would require those skills, thank goodness. The weather was lovely, although I found it quite difficult to cope in the heat. Just imagine that the past three grand nationals I have spent freezing cold, in the rain in some years and this year is lovely and I still complain. There's no hope for me.

One of my horses came in second, the problem being that I bet on 4 of them. Ah well, Bewleys Berry was in the lead when it fell, again I'm not sure if that's more annoying than it is anything else. It just goes to show the evils of gambling, I'm sure it won't stop me doing the same thing next year.

Finally on the way home, a couple of gents gave up their seats for us on the train so we could sit down as we had been on our feet all day. Yes, the gents were steaming drunk and sang to us for most of the train journey, but they were nice drunks, and it brightened my day.

Oh Lola, your geekiness is showing

I'm finding myself getting more and more obsessed with Doctor Who. It's a little worrying as obsessions of mine have been known to take over a large part of my life. Previous obsessions have led to me almost constantly thinking about the subject of the obsession, getting fangirl-ish (I can range from crazy to sane fangirl), and the ultimate sign of being obsessed with something, writing fanfiction (yes my fanfiction is online, no I'm not posting the link).

So as you can imagine, I'm trying to keep my cool about Doctor Who (it helps that Mum tells me how sad I am for watching it...). Of course this new interest in the show has nothing to do with David Tennant, or his quirkiness, or his attractiveness, or how good his legs look when he's in drag ahem.

You're not buying any of this are you?

New Blog

I've set up a new blog for UK restaurant reviews, and I've been getting to grips with Wordpress for the set up of it. I like blogger, but if I'd used my blogger account to create it, then people I know in real life whom I wouldn't really want in my little cafe would have been able to find it easily. As I've said before, I'm only semi-anonymous. Anyone I know who finds this blog knows it's mine instantly (a few people I know have already found it through various internet searches). So call me paranoid, but I don't want to link my real name with this blog.

I'm actually quite impressed with Wordpress, but at the same time I really don't have a clue about it. I think I'm safer sticking with blogger for this one.

For anyone who's interested the link is http://goodrestaurantfood.wordpress.com

I'll be linking to it on my page here, but no mention of the cafe will appear on there if that makes sense.

Next post: Is Lola really becoming a Doctor Who geek?

Lonely, I'm so Lonely

Well, virtually lonely that is. Out here in the real world I'm not lonely, but on this little computer screen I am.

Back in the day, well maybe around 4/5 years ago, I had tons of internet friends. People whom I'd met through various internet sites I was on, or through friends. People from all over the world. Now, I don't have so many internet friends. There are a few who are still with me, but the vast majority I have lost touch with.

So, I'm feeling a little lonely right now.

Glorified Cleaner

My dog went for the hat trick yesterday. I came downstairs first thing monday morning only to find a nice pile of dog poo right by the kitchen door. I was late to work as you'd imagine.

When I returned from work, I wasn't long in the kitchen when I realised the dog had peed all over the floor, another lengthy clean up by yours truly.

This morning Dad went downstairs and he found that the dog had been sick. At least I didn't have to clean it up.

Let's hope this isn't a sign of things to come in the dog senility world.

Values are genetic

People generally get their basic views and values from their parents. What brought this home to me more than ever this week was two incidents.

The first was a colleague at work describing how he thought no one should buy things such as furniture unless they already had the cash. He is the sort of person who is deathly afraid to get into debt, and he mentioned his parents were the same. This got me thinking about myself and how I see things.

I have a difficult time accepting things from people. When I first atarted Uni I wouldn't let anyone buy me a drink even (although people who know me now, know that's not the case anymore), and I nearly had a fit when a dear friend of mine spent what I deemed to be far too much on my birthday present.

This brings me to the second incident, this same friend mentioned buying a bottle of champagne at some point and showed me a rather expensive bottle. I said it would have to be for a special occasion and he just laughed at me, asking me if I wasn't used to being spoilt. The truth is that I am rather spoilt, by my parents at least, but when it comes to other people it's a different matter. From a young age my parents encouraged me and my sister to be thankful for any gifts we may get but to never seek them out. Also to say things like, "you shouldn't have" and so on. This lead to utter confusion for my friend who thinks I should just let myself be spoilt.

Maybe I'll loosen up in the future, but for the mean time at least I'm a cheap date!

Lola's Guide to Pooing in Work

1) Pick a time when the loo is at it's most secluded.

2) Get your business *ahem* done in there as quickly as possible.

3) Flush straight after, but before wiping. This is commonly known as a courtesy flush, and is a lifesaver if your poo would horrify (not Dr) Gillian McKeith.

4) Wipe and flush again.

5) Remember the loo brush is your friend, no one wants to see your skid marks.

6) Hopefully by following these steps then there should be no one around, and the toilet shouldn't smell (much). So take your time washing your hands, and head back to work.


Yes, as neurotic as I am I managed to poo in work (well I was desperate). I don't think I'll be making a habit of it, but it is kind of funny to think that while you're on the toilet you're still getting paid. The only thing that could be better is an overtime toilet trip. I sure hope my employers aren't reading this...

Where does the weekend go?

Well here I am, the night before I have to go back to work for another week, wondering what black hole steals my weekend away from me? It all goes so quickly.

I haven't heard anything about an interview for that job I sent my CV to, so I feel a little unemployable (despite the fact that I'm currently employed). I'm going to go back to the drawing board on this CV of mine, initially it got me some nice results, but now it doesn't seem to be working at all. There is the fact that it's four pages long and the recommended length is 2 pages. I want to delete some of my past employment, seeing as it is irrelevant to the jobs I'm looking for.

On a lighter note after my last post I'm glad to say that people in work do seem to be using the toilet brush now. I've definitely won the battle on this one. Next up I plan to tackle women who just walk out of the toilet without washing their hands, yuck.

Let's talk about poo

Warning: this post contains a lot of talk about poo.

I'll admit that whenever I'm in work, I spend a fair bit of time in the loo (toilet). This is mainly because I seem to have a tiny bladder, and whenever I try to drink water I need to go almost constantly. On a somewhat sneakier note though, we're not allowed to use our mobiles in work, and the toilet trips do provide an opportunity to check my messages, and maybe send a particularly important text. I'm sure everyone does it.

Anyway, that's not really my point. This week it seems, I've been going into the toilets after someone has had a poo (purely coincidentally, I'm not some sort of poo fetishist). Now, I realise not everyone is as neurotic as me (I refuse to go for a number two in work) and fair play to them if they need to do this and can. I don't mind the smell too much, in fact a few people open the window too so that's quite nice of them. What I do mind is walking into a toilet cubicle and seeing poo smeared around the toilet bowl. Have these people never heard of a toilet brush? There is in fact one sitting right next to the toilet and it wouldn't take much to use it. All I'm asking for is a little consideration, it isn't nice cleaning up someone elses mess.

And I thought women were meant to be the clean and tidy ones...

New Job?

I had a phonecall today about a job. It's closer to home, so it could mean no more travelling an hour to get to work. It pays more money, which is money in the bank for fees for my next degree. It appears to be a similar type of work to what I'm doing now, and much more than that, it's permanent. I should be excited and looking forward to applying, but I'm not. I'm actually happy in my new department. I like the people I work with, and I feel part of a team, with goals to work towards. The work may be dull at times but the people definitely make up for it. I will apply for this job, don't get me wrong, but I'm not completely happy about it.

PS. It's pancake day! Go on, have a pancake, you know you want to. My personal recommendation is a bog standard pancake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and maple syrup. Mmmmmm.

The real pick of the fornight

As per my last post here is my blurb about a blog. I've decided on a fortnight because I think I'd be too lazy to do it once a week.

Very recently I discovered a rather unusual blog. I've put it in my links under "personal blogs" but this blog is different from the normal bog-standard personal blog.

L'undone is a blog detailing a specific time in the blog writers' (Lolas') life. It's a rather unusual episode which she has decided to focus on, and although it mustn't have been entertaining to live through, this blog certainly leaves you needing to know how the whole thing ends. I wont give anything away as to the details of this incident, because there's no way that I could write it anywhere near as good as Lola has already done. She's an excellent writer, which makes me a tad jealous. So go and check it out and see how it all began.

If you're not already convinced then I will leave you with some of Lola's own words about her story; "Here is a tale of high-weirdness, big love, cyber-crime and the mutual insane obsession of two people that never even met. This blog is the true story of how it happened."

Pick of the [insert time limit here]

Recently I'm finding myself browsing a lot more blogs than I ever have done before and occasionally I come across some really fantastic blogs. Now, while I do add these to my links at the side of this blog, I thought it may be fun to write a little blurb about some of them, as other than the categories I've put them in there is no real way to work out what they're about other than going and seeing for yourself.

So as a bit of inspiration for me (for when my life is so dull I couldn't possibly blog about it) I thought I'd take a pick of some good blogs and write about them in a post. I'll probably start with some of the blogs in my links, but if anyone wants to recommend a good blog to read, then I'm all ears.

I found me

I found me, or rather I found my blog on a review site. Here is the review if you fancy a read. I agree with the comments made and hopefully shall take some of them on board in the near future.

I'm quite pleased now.

The Biscuit Theory

While working in my new department at work I've developed a little theory. Take today for example, we had a workshop day over at our training building. Being at the training building invariably means tea (or coffee, for the weird ones among us) and biscuits are laid on in abundance for our breaks there.

So on to the theory. I feel that the optimum number of biscuits per cup of tea is three, making the cup of tea to biscuit ratio 1:3, plus or minus 2 biscuits, depending upon circumstances such as amount of biscuits on the tray in the first place. There were three opportunities during this day to have a cup of tea and biscuits, so taking the optimum number of biscuits this would equal nine biscuits consumed for the day (with a possible range of 3 biscuits to 15 biscuits).

My conclusion from this theory is that I'll never lose weight if I keep working here...

Just a quickie...

Please vote for Merys (I'm not a drain on society) in the love to lead competition for a brand spanking new laptop. As she is a poor student, she is currently in great need of one of these, so please get voting for her!

That friday feeling

Yesterday afternoon at about 15:45 (for those not in the know, that's when my working week finally comes to an end) I found myself wishing that my life could be a musical. Now, I'm not thinking that someone should make a musical of my life, because to be fair, that would be pretty dull, maybe apart from the poledancing bits...

No, what I mean when I say musical, is that I wish that songs would randomly play when I'm doing certain things. This friday I found myself walking down a corridor at work, on my way out of the building. The song I had stuck in my head was The Nolans, I'm in the Mood for Dancing. I couldn't help but think how cool it would be if people would start popping out of their offices to sing "do do do do do de de do do"

Well, share that friday feeling with me (despite it being Saturday) and have a listen to the song!



By the by, I'm hoping to get a new computer (not that there's anything wrong with my old one apart from it running Windows 98) but I'd like a new computer. Can anyone who knows a bit about computers recommend something? I've been looking at www.pcworld.co.uk, and I'm looking for something with 1gb of RAM, at least a 160 gb hard drive, costing around 500 quid give or take a few pounds. I've seen a few and can't make up my mind between them. Also I haven't a clue if I should get Vista or not, because I remember all the security flaws that were discovered when XP first went live. Help!

Zombie-fied

I am so knackered right now. It's been a long day. I've just finished putting together a powerpoint for a teaching session I'm doing tomorrow, which I agreed to do at last minute (i.e. today), so it probably makes very little sense right now. I'll have to check it again when I'm more alive.

Also I passed my AED requal, depsite forgetting to call for an ambulance, but suffice to say that if (god forbid) I ever had to use the defib in real life, I would be pooing myself so much that the first thing on my mind would be calling in the professionals.

I'm too tired to write more, so night night.

PS. I just had a thought, the entire country is braced for snow tomorrow, wouldn't it be funny if it didnt happen, hehehehe.