:: Chris Turner's Journal ::

:: Monday, March 27, 2006 ::

Tired

After a busy weekend at home with my parents and Sally, I'm just about shattered. I've been ploughing through my application form and now have some examples for my competency questionnaire - now tonight I just have to write them up. I'm also getting up the motivation to go for a run - I don't think I've slept too well for the past couple of nights, so I'm really tired right now - even though it's only 8pm.

In other news, I've racked up £1.76 in library fines. Oh well. Still reading Samuel Pepys' diary and have extended the loan for another month. Good stuff - I highly recommend it to any historians of the 17th century. It puts a bit of life into documentary evidence.

:: Plod 19:59 [+] ::
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Image Gallery of Life

Sally

One of the first pictures I ever took of Sally, in typical silly beaming-smile pose. I was later responsible for losing her hat on the Underground that day, and she still hasn't forgiven me.

Wheeling Dealing

Wheeling and dealing with my father around Christmas time. Fans of 80's TV might recall the series "Lovejoy" about a dodgy rogue antique dealer...sometimes, when I'm out with my dad, it feels like I'm living the programme. In this case, we're in the back of a burnt out lockup somewhere in South East London looking at piles of shitty goods.

New Year Dinner

This dessert caused no small amount of sharing problems for me & Sally. We went for the biggest pudding on the menu at the Hungry Horse in Weybridge and somehow managed to eat it and not be violently sick afterwards. How anybody can eat much of the food at the Hungry Horse and not be ill is beyond me - and you can get a 10oz sirloin for £6.95. Insane.

Sally's Baking

Sally put some effort into baking some jam tarts, recently. Me, however, being a clumsy bastard, tried to steal one off the side and promptly dropped it on the floor, face down. She was not amused.

New Year Coziness

A nice one of Sally being rather comfortable on the couch with her hair in pigtails for a change. Very cuddly.

Sally

My girl. I have quite a few pictures, but this remains one of my faves...back from when she had her new TV delivered in December. It turned out to be a rather nice 28" widescreen jobby. Now, if only she'd get a decent aerial to go with it, we might get a decent picture!!!!

Caroline's 24th Birthday Bash (with Helen)

This was an occasion back in early January, if I remember rightly. It was a good night out, but poor old Sally was stuck opposite two of the most boring people I've ever met. They refused to make any conversation whatsoever with anyone around them!

Dylan

No particular reason for including this one right now - just that he's my dog, and I've missed him a lot since I moved to Ealing. This is a shot I took around Christmas of him in a typically dopey wagging-tail kind of mood.

:: Plod 20:36 [+] ::
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Flopped Out

Very tired tonight, even though nothing much has really been happening at work. I know I should go for a run later, but I'm really knackered. Maybe I'll find some inspiration later.

:: Plod 20:34 [+] ::
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Some of my guestbook entries

My guestbook is rather cluttered with spam and automated messages, but I've been having a look through for some shining examples of greatness. It's quite amazing to think of how revolutionary the internet has been, and how some people choose to use it!

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:: Plod 07:54 [+] ::
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Fitness

As part of my training to get into the police, I've been jogging more and more round Ealing Common, and have now managed two laps without stopping - quite an achievement for me! When I started over a week ago, I managed just one - then two, but with a break in between, then two with just a minute to recover - but tonight, I achieved my aim. On Friday I'll aim to repeat it to make sure it wasn't a one-off fluke, and then next week I'll see if I can do three laps. I've always hated running in the past, but I've been quite enjoying this - I'm starting to get to know every tree on the common, every path and every way round, so it's pretty good fun. It's also nice to be out in the open air after spending all day in a crappy office.

Have also had some major room re-organisation, and am now very happy with the results. Needed some help from Cass (who volunteered, since I cooked dinner last night and cleaned up 3 days' worth of muck in the kitchen), but everything looks smashing now, and have about 10x as much room as before.

Am heading back home tomorrow night for the Running Horses, so very much looking forward to that - then back home again on Saturday / Sunday for Mother's Day. Busy, but should be good - always nice to see family again, and the dog.

:: Plod 00:40 [+] ::
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Successful Friends

Just heard from one of my old friends from Rail Europe that he's now a branch manager at Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Not a great job by any means, but one that certainly means he earns more than me! Oh well. Payday is less than two weeks away, and should see more than £2000 put into my piggy bank, so long as everything comes through. The company owes me 2 months' car allowance, and the Inland Revenue owe me a hefty tax rebate. Add to that my commission, and it should mean I have some money to knock off various bills. Mind you, if I had a proper job, I'd be able to clear most of my debts within a month.

:: Plod 23:22 [+] ::
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Gambling Addict

Weymouth was great... I'm now officially addicted to gambling, having lost the princely sum of £6 in various 2p slot machines. This financial blow was somewhat lessened by winning £4 back on the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire machine. I've now also started religiously playing Banana Lotto every day. I won £10 on it a few years ago, so it must be a good idea.

Anyhoo, back to the weekend. Most of it was good, but Sally was ill after eating a curry in the Gurkha, but I reckon it was far more to do with eating some gone-off soup the day before. Mine was great - it was one of those "all-you-can-eat" buffets, with mountains of Chinese / Asian food. Bloody marvellous... I had at least 4 curries, and two big platefuls of chinese stuff. Sunday was a more pedestrian affair, but we had a rather good roast in some pub called the Hobgoblin. Hmmm. However, the bastards didn't give me any Yorkshire puddings. An extra helping of carrots and cauliflower does *not* make up for that.

The journey was pretty good each way - delayed on the way out by Mark (Sally's brother) breaking his hand by cleverly falling over at Waterloo station on his way home from work, but otherwise uneventful. And had to go via Southampton on the way back to drop Catherine off, so have now seen a great deal of the southern English coast.

Am now back in my smoggy home in London, where we've just been told that our landlady is in severe financial difficulties and wants us out of the flat - but unfortunately for her, we're signed to a 12-month contract - so the agents have informed us we won't be going anywhere until at least November. That is unless she serves us with a Section 21 Notice, declaring that this is her principal home here in the UK...which hopefully the people who run our flat will be too silly to realise. And they really are *very* silly people.

Have just fired off a practice police test in the bath (not ideal test conditions, and not 100% comparable with the real thing) and have scored a very modest 75% without being able to do any working out or reading beforehand. Since the pass mark is just over 50%, this bodes well. However, I'd like to really blow it out of the water by getting up into the 80's or 90's - but there are only 12 minutes for 25 questions, so I guess nobody's really meant to be able to finish it. Still, something to work on. Will get the (epic) application form finished this weekend, and hopefully post it on Monday.

:: Plod 22:03 [+] ::
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Work Shite

Work is crap. It's only a temporary thing, but the whole company is really aggravating to work for. Meh.

I'm trying to get myself an eye test for the police medical questionnaire - my corrected vision is fine (6/5++ - better than "normal" 20/20 vision), but my uncorrected vision needs to be 6/36. I think I meet the standard (I'm around 6/24 - 6/36), but it's worrying me a bit. Still, off to SpecSavers at Sally's recommendation, so that should settle things one way or another.

Went out to Bella Italia on Ealing Broadway last night - can't really afford all that much, but felt like having a nice night out. Kelly came along (one of Sally's friends), and a good time was had by all. A huge juicy steak was had by just me. Nothing much doing tonight - gaming was cancelled down at the Running Horses since Andy's ill, so will try and fill in a few more police forms.

Off to Weymouth tomorrow night for the weekend with Sally - meeting more of her friends (finally, next week, I should have some time to meet some of my own!), and looking forward to it very much - all really friendly people.

I'm off to eat a casserole that I've lovingly cooked myself for dinner.

:: Plod 19:39 [+] ::
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Year in Review

It has now been the best part of a year since I last wrote anything in my journal, and lots has changed. It's quite amusing to look back at things last May and compare them to how they are now.

Here is a (very) simple list of things that have changed:

1. I am happy. This has mainly been brought about by splitting up with Fay quite some time ago and meeting Sally, who I have now been with for several months. I finally know what it means to love and be loved. She's everything to me.

2. I have my own flat, shared with my long-time friend Cassie, who was at uni in Sheffield with me all those years ago. I live in Ealing, London.

3. I no longer work in the television industry. I'd had enough, after working on a few more shows. Last November, I decided to stop wasting my time with some of the most pretentious, arsey and generally horrible people I had ever met, and start earning money that somehow related to my abilities, and not being made to feel grateful for being given the chance to work for below minimum wage and 18-hour days. I am still enjoying writing scripts. Three weeks ago, the film "Antonio's Breakfast", on which I was an Assistant Director in 2004, won the "Best Short Film" BAFTA. This makes me rather proud, and I still intend to keep up with my writing.

4. I am through to the final selection phase of a couple of "graduate schemes". This surprises me, since I generally think they suck rather hard, but I seem to have done alright. I am also well under way with an application to the Metropolitan Police. Sounds like a massive change from TV, but it was the only other career I was seriously interested in pursuing when I left university in 2003. Now I've decided to do something about it.

5. I have lost goodly amounts of weight, and am now a healthy 12.5 stone. This is good, since it means I have shed 25% of my body mass and am now very much fitter and very happy.

6. I have met a great number of new people over the last year, have become good friends with many, and have managed to keep in touch with several of my friends from way back.

7. I am now a full member of Kent County Cricket Club. This means I never have to pay to see a match any more, and now have privileged access to the members' enclosure and all it's lovely facilities during a match. In a similar vein, I also have tickets to two of this year's Test Matches courtesy of my uncle.

Life is definately much, much better.

:: Plod 22:57 [+] ::
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