Grrrr.

For the first time ever, I've done something I thought I would never do. I've actually emailed my MP.

I've asked him to address the UK Online Safety Act. This was brought on by the fact that I've recently been asked for a third time to verify my age/identity with a third verification platform in order to play games.

The thing is, I play games on like 6 different platforms. I listen to music on two platforms. I am an active member of a number of social media sites. I regularly watch videos on YouTube. I am infrequently active on three different online dating applications.

And, yes, I've watched porn. My Jenni Lee and Mindy Main appreciation didn't appear out of thin air. But I do agree that it should be tightened up. However, that's what the age restriction on my ISP should do, right? 

This shit mounts up. Do I want my face or official documents to be potentially hacked? Errr... no.

So, yeah, I emailed my MP. I've distilled it into the below bullet points in case any passers by are interested in emailing their own MPs or want to add to the list about why this implementation is bad for the individual.

• Excessive Data Sharing: The Act pushes ordinary people to hand over sensitive documents or biometric data just to access everyday online services. 
• Conflicts with UK GDPR: Data protection law requires data minimisation, yet this Act forces citizens to share far more personal information than necessary. 
• Multiple Verifications: With no single trusted provider, people would need to repeat the process across platforms like Spotify, Netflix, Steam, and Reddit. 
• Increased Breach Risks: Each extra disclosure raises the chances of leaks, identity theft, or surveillance. 
• History Repeats: Equifax (147m people affected), TalkTalk (150k UK customers), and even the NHS have all suffered major breaches — why expect smaller platforms to fare better? 
• Fraud Opportunities: Scammers will exploit the situation by creating fake verification sites, tricking users into uploading passports and IDs. 
• Vulnerable Groups Targeted: The elderly and less tech-savvy will be the easiest victims of such impersonation scams. 
• Disproportionate Measures: Millions of adults’ privacy will be undermined, while safer and simpler ISP-level parental controls already exist, or should. 
• Chilling Effect: Mandatory ID checks risk discouraging free speech and lawful online activity, conflicting with rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. 
• Unbalanced Approach: The stated aim of child protection is important, but it should not come at the expense of the privacy, security, and freedoms of the entire population.

 And I might be wrong on some of these, but I am just a nerd, I am not a lawyer, so there's a lot of my own interpretation in there. But it's a GREAT email.

And why not have a picture of the aforementioned Jenni Lee while I'm at it, yeah?

Phew.

I always take some time off around this time of year. I never have anything planned, but it just seems like a decent time to take some time for myself. The kids are back at school, so it's quieter during the day. The weather's usually decent and all-in-all well worth taking a week off work.

But I've been side-tracked this summer. Work's been super busy. Family stuff has occupied my time outside of work and I just haven't gotten around to asking my boss for a week off. I'll do that this afternoon though. Not next week - I have work commitments that I can't avoid. But the week after, for sure.

And I've also fired KfW2 a quick message demanding that we do "something" soon. Hopefully that'll kick off a conversation or, even better, actual arrangements.

Figure it out.

I'm pretty sure I've blogged about this before, but having recently come across the below pictures, I thought it was worth sharing again. 

Elizabeth Hurley did a spread in UK lad's magazine Loaded in, I think, 1995.

I was always taken with the specific image in the bottom right of the collage image. I always got a CAB vibe off that picture - the hair, the vague shape of her face and, let's not beat about the bush here, her figure. I'm not suggesting for one second that CAB was as attractive as Elizabeth Hurley.

CAB was not, though, a lingerie woman. She was a jeans and t-shirt woman. Yes, the jeans and t-shirts hid a killer figure, but it was not something she was interested in showing off. A bit like CC in that regard.

And another reason for posting is that I always remember that single image from that shoot, the one of Hurley lying on the bed. I don't remember the others. I don't know of they were part of that shoot or unused shots that have now made their way onto the internet.

I'm...

I can't remember the dream from last night, but I am convinced it involved me having sex with FBS. Or maybe I didn't have a dream at all and I just woke this morning, horny as hell, with FBS on my mind for some reason?

Regardless, I woke this morning, horny as hell, with FBS on my mind.

Birthday Season

My Facebook feed is full of upcoming birthdays. I blogged about MMBF (and MM) having recent birthdays. It's my sister's birthday today and it's CH's birthday tomorrow.

I'm always reminded of the evening CH sat on my knee at a work event, was surreptitiously tactile before leaving for her bus home and sending a series of sweet text messages telling me how awesome she thought I was.

And for a brief moment, when I remember that evening, I miss CH. Until I remember how our friendship ended, how she played the victim when I called her out on her flakiness and her general inability to take any kind of criticism.

Great rack, though. 

Also... MMBF posted pics of her birthday weekend, and there's now actual evidence that M's assertion that MMBF is really high maintenance is true.

Time flies.

It was MMBF's birthday yesterday. I have memories of a night when MM invited me out for drinks with her and MMBF and it being a really good night, but that must easily be over ten years ago. I sometimes wonder if MM had ulterior motives, but I never saw any evidence that MMBF was romantically interested in me. I do semi-recall her being quite tactile that night, though. I also recall MM chatting about some guy that was showing interest in MMBF - an ex of some description - and her disapproving of it. But they both asked my advice, which I gave (and MM approved of). 

I had already made some effort at trying to bed MMBF at M and MM's wedding, but again, saw nothing to indicate she was interested in anything, and she left the wedding at the end of the evening despite my invitation to the resident's bar to carry on celebrating.

So, Happy Birthday MMBF. 

 

Wait, what?

I can't remember the entirety of the dream I had last night, but I do remember isolated portions of it.

So, in one portion, I was having dinner and drinks with UK TV celebrity Jeremy Clarkson at the restaurant of some celebrity chef. Gordon Ramsey maybe?

In another portion, an attractive woman, wearing pyjamas, was sitting on my lap. I can't remember who it was but she was known to me and we were super comfortable with each other, hence the lap-sitting. My sister's university friend, maybe? I got that vibe that it was her or someone like her. Anyway, people were making a big deal of her sitting on my lap and giving me hugs and cuddling. We both informed crowd that we were just friends, which was true within the dream.

There was another portion where I was in an action film with aliens in it. Or maybe it was "real" and I was battling aliens. It was hard to tell.

Anyway, I woke this morning, remembering those three isolated incidents but not really having a grasp on the overall dream. Very weird. I've not seen SUF on Facebook or online dating in ages. 

Sigh.

It's been two years since FP passed away. I can't remember the exact date, but it was today or yesterday. It was definitely this date that Mrs FP called to give me the news. It wasn't unexpected. He'd been ill for some time, but it was still difficult news to take.

I'd lost people close to me before, but FP was different. We'd see each other frequently, we'd message nearly daily and, with KfW2 and USHW, he was one of few people who really knew me. He was my sounding board, offering advice when needed. And the gap he left hasn't yet been filled.

And it might go without saying after the last paragraph, but I still miss him.

Facebook memories around this time are difficult as we'd been to a few gigs and taken more than a few pictures.

I really should get in touch with Mrs FP. I feel kin da guilty that I've not been in touch even though I always got the feeling that she didn't like me but was glad that I occupied FP so she could spend time with her family. She was extremely close to her family to a point that felt wrong to me.

Fly me to...

After last night's intense burst of... I don't know what it was, I woke this morning feeling very lonely. And the wanderlust was back, too. Couple those with the fact that a few days ago I'd seen an all-inclusive holiday in a travel agent's window for Lanzarote in the first week of September for what seemed a reasonable amount of money.

"I should see if CC fancies this," I thought to myself.

That was swiftly followed by:

"Are you fucking mad?" 

For starters, it really wouldn't be my kind of holiday. Second of all, do I really want to spend a week in CC's company? I've had experience of that, and it wasn't my thing, even if I did get to rub suntan lotion into her skin and see her in a selection of bikinis.

And I think Sports Girl lives in Lanzarote these days. Do  I really want to bump into her (even though it's really unlikely)? 

So, yeah, I put that idea to bed sharpish. 

Oooof.

For some reason, I just had this massive wave of missing KfW2. Like REALLY missing her. Or us. Or what we were ten years ago. Actually, I think that's it rather than just KfW2, though I would like to see her again, soon. 

But I miss the closeness, the being in the pub chatting, neither of us feeling awkward and able to just talk. The suddenness of this feeling has completely surprised me in its intensity. I wasn't even thinking of KfW2. I was thinking of a conversation I had a few weeks back with Quiet Girl about work. Why my brain made that jump is beyond me.

Let's do it.

I promised Nerdy Girl when we next did a walk that we'd try our old, longer route. It's been ages since we did it, so I'm looking forward to it. I'll be honest though, I liked doing the shorter route and sitting in CB Pub for an hour afterwards with a soft drink or non-alcoholic beer and chatting.

But I also want to see how well my foot has healed. It's two months since I got a clean bill of health and it's been pain-free for longer than that. So, yeah, let's do it.

Go me!

The glorious weather continues. I've done more gardening, I've arranged for the council to collect some big items for recycling, I've chatted with Nerdy Girl (we're meeting tomorrow) and I'll try and give KfW2 a call once I post this, and that's all on top of doing a full day's work.

A full day's work with me staring out of the window at my back garden, wishing I was there. But a full day's work nonetheless.

Sigh.

Thanks to the continued good weather and my work on Friday afternoon, today has been a really chilled day. I walked to the nearest shopping centre and bought a coffee (it's just over a mile away) and walked back, drinking it.

I did a few more bits and pieces in the garden before sitting down for a few hours to read a book and listen to music and it's done wonders.

Back to work tomorrow, sadly, but I should be meeting Nerdy Girl this week.

Let's go?

The group chat with D, FBS and Friction Guy has been busy today. I sent a message suggesting we meet for drinks soon. FBS was first to reply. She's busy. It could be late October or even November by the time we get something arranged. But at least the suggestion is out there and the conversation trundles on.

I should contact KfW2 and arrange something with her.

YES!

It's amazing how a spell of good weather just increases the mood. I feel like I've been sleeping better, I've got more energy and despite being super busy at work and some family stuff going on, I'm in great form.

I took this afternoon off from work and have spent an hour doing some work in the back garden. I think I'm a little sunburned, but only a little.

Urgh.

My back has been giving me grief for the past few months, sporadically. I really need to get back into my yoga. But last night was a particularly bad night. I feel asleep quite quickly, but I woken less than an hour later, then spent nearly two hours trying to get back to sleep.

Additionally, I had to start early this morning,  so that meant waking an hour earlier and boy am I feeling it this morning.

Lots of coffee, I think. 

...will be friends.

I was trying to get Nerdy Girl out for a walk this week, but she's busy with a couple of funerals. Friends, I think, but I didn't press the matter when she replied. I probably should have, but I'll reach out at the end of the week to see if she wants to meet for a drink or something. Maybe some company will help.

Sigh.

I was meant to do some family stuff today. I have a deadline of this time next week to fill in a form, but I don't have the information nor can I get the people with the information to assist.

But I'm also snowed under with work, to the point where the phone calls I wanted to make today, I simply couldn't. I was also expecting a message from my sister with some kind of update relating to the same thing, but I heard nothing. 

I'll have to find some time tomorrow, but I'm not optimistic and it's stressing me out.

Oh?

One thing that I meant to call out in last week's work event with Stalky Guy and Quiet Girl was Quiet Girl being quite tactile. For the record, I'm not suggesting anything untoward, just calling it out because in the years that I've known her, she's never been overly tactile with anyone that I've seen.

And yet, last week, she was sitting closer at times. On more than one occasion, she was resting her head on my shoulder. It was this action that made me realise that something was different.

Sure, we've hugged before. She's a hugger. But this? This was different. 

Out of the blue

Out of the blue, Quiet Girl messaged me last night. She was in a pub and spotted a co-worker. Not just any co-worker, but a guy that we used to work beside, pre-Covid. He was an awful bore. One of those people who used to read Wikipedia and the proclaim himself to be an expert on the subject.

He would corner people and then talk at them for ages. Like a proper long time. Up to an hour, and this would be during the work day.

I've been properly rude to him, too, berating him for having zero social skills - interrupting conversations so he could pontificate on whatever topic he wanted to talk about. People have been shocked, but you need to be blunt to people like that. Tact doesn't work. I tried that.  

Jobsworth

So, not only did work piss me off over the past few days but I had to deal with a jobsworth yesterday. And public transport let me down.

So, the story is that I called up some people on Thursday and asked for help to fill in a form. I can fill in forms, fine, but I have a specific form that needs done by next week and I simply don't have the information. The people I called have the information. And there are a lot of questions that need answered.

I explained everything, the girl on the phone said she'd book some time in the relevant person's calendar and all was good.

I took a half day off work, jumped on a bus, which was late, then a train. Then I got off the train because it was delayed indefinitely due to another broken down train on the tracks. I walked to the bus stop and got the bus instead. 

I was an hour late. I despise being late. I should have been 15 minutes early, if my first bus had been on time. 15 minutes late if the train had left on time.

But I knocked on the woman's door and introduced myself.

The first thing she said was...

"I don't fill in forms"

"I'm not asking you to fill in the form. I'm asking you for the information I need to fill in the form"

"I don't do that"

"How am I meant to fill in this form then?"

"I can escalate it if you want?"

"Yes please"

"I'll call you on Monday"

"Thank you"

Now that's the gist of the conversation, but imagine the beginning of the conversation going round in circles when she tells me she doesn't fill in forms and me explaining that this feels like an impossible task if she won't fill in the form nor will she give me the information I need to fill in the form, which needs to be completed, posted and delivered within 7 days.

I am fucking livid. Time and money wasted, and a jobsworth.

HB, AK.

Apparently it's Anna Kendrick's 40th birthday today. Any excuse to post a picture or two, eh?

 

Gah!

Work's pissing me off. I'm working on a high-visibility project and they've arbitrarily decided we're going to release it next week. We're not finished. It's OK, they explained, we'll release what we've got "dark" (i.e. turned off) then when the rest is done, we'll release that and turn it on.

I said I wasn't happy.

My co-worker said he wasn't happy.

Still, they persisted.

So now, not only do we have to finish the work and hope that it's up to scratch, but we have extra chores to do to prepare for next week, as well.

And all to save a week.

For a fancy new user interface that's (IMO) awful to look at. But we're not doing that bit. Nothing legal. Nothing that's going to cost the company a lot of money. Nothing compliance related. Just an arbitrary date so someone can look good.

Maybe I'll do EuroMillions tonight. 

Wait, what?

I had a dream last night that involved FP and Jessica Alba. We were at his holiday home in America and after a hard day's work painting his apartment. After showering and changing, we hit his local blues bar.

After propping up the bar for an hour or so,  this stunning brunette stood beside us and ordered drinks. FP chatted to her as my eye was drawn across the room to another woman. Eventually he tagged me into the conversation and the stunning brunette was Jessica Alba.

Within minutes of us chatting, she got very tactile and it was clear she was interested. She took her drinks and went back to her friends.

Long story short, during the rest of the evening, we kept bumping into each other, but I never took my chance. I woke this morning extremely frustrated. 

The dream really reminded me of the night I met Recruitment Bird for the first time. A similar thing happened, except I did take my chance that evening.

Planning

The thing about going out to the pub last Tuesday and the work party on Friday is that it's given me a taste again for going out, chilling with good company, having a few drinks and people watching.

KfW2 is back from her holidays, and we kinda agreed to do something when she came back. A day out with her kids, or an adult evening. I don't mind either way. I've posted before that I think her kids are great company. I would nearly always lean towards an adult evening out, given my lack of opportunity to do that these days, but I'll take anything at the moment.

Zzz.

I bought a new smartwatch at Xmas because I was planning on trying to up my exercise and lose some weight this year. I've also started keeping it on at night to track my sleep. I've been convinced that my sleep has been awful for a long time - years, in fact.

So over the past 2 weeks, apparently the average sleep I'm getting is just shy of eight hours a night. But it doesn't feel like that.

I'll need to dig into the details a bit more to see what the quality is like, and how exactly the smart watch is recording my sleep. There are still a lot of days where I wake and I feel awful. Today was one of them. Yesterday was not. But yesterday I supposedly got 9 hours.

These boots were made for walking.

I got a couple of drunken text messages from KfW2 last night, around midnight. I was already asleep, and only picked them up this morning. She must have been quite drunk because they made no sense. I texted back and eventually got a more detailed explanation out of her. Long story short: she was at a friend's house, got drunk and did an Irish Goodbye. We have our own slang for it.

She's massively hungover today, poor thing. 

Just talking.

The work event was great fun. Even Stalky Guy was less Stalky Guy than usual, which helped. I spent most of the evening chatting to Quiet Girl, though. Her friend didn't show up - she was travelling for work. 

Both QG and another woman, who comes out with us regularly, were quite tactile last night.  That's not unusual for the unnamed woman, but it is for Quiet Girl. She's a hugger, but never anything more. Until last night that is.

Other than that, nothing strange or startling occurred, but it was still a fun evening. Quiet Girl is always good company.