My weekend

[andrewducker]

The weekend has been good, if busy.

My old friend Neil was in town for the afternoon, so I met up with him, went to the german market, ate bratkartoffeln with garlic sauce and pickled cucumber, and then wandered in search of home-made nougat while chatting about what we'd been up to and what movies we were looking forward to. It's nice to catch up with people even if I only see them very infrequently, and discover that we just slip into the same conversations we've been having since 1991.

The evening was spent chez lizzie_and_ari, for their Christmas Whimsy, which was ever-so-much more relaxed than a full-on Christmas Party. We arrived about 7:30, left about 2:30, and drank most of a bottle of Baileys between Julie and myself. We lost badly at Scrabble, discussed whether the UK is a Christian Nation*, the different accents found around the country, and whether "I thought it was crack!" is a good excuse to use when your friends find out you tried heroin**. It was a jolly good time, and I don't think I've lasted that long at a party in, like, forever - largely because there was only about 10 people there for a lot of it, which is about the number of people I can cope with before I'm overcome with noise and stress and am unable to have a coherent conversation.

Today we slept in until 12:30, watched a couple of episodes of season two of The Middle, and then wandered into town to have a friend breakfast at The City Cafe. Then on to Primark to find me some trousers, which we completely failed at***, and then into some of the cool shopping bits set up on Princes Street. The Ethical Fair was probably my favourite, even if we didn't buy anything. In fact it was a remarkably cheap trip, as Julie and I seem to have gone off buying lots of things. About the only thing I fancied was a 10" tablet, but as I'm not spending more than £120 on what is basically a comic-reader, the high-street is not my friend.

And then home, where I caught up on oodles of internet backlog, and posted this****.

Next up, looking at the paperwork for applying for one of the promotions at work. And then dinner!

Meantime, have a video about the post-modern shopping experience:

via pseudomonas



*Tip: It depends very much on what you mean by "Christian Nation".
**Tip: No.
***I would very much like whoever decided that button-flies were in this year to fuck right off.
****Well, by the time you read this, unless you're currently standing behind me watching me type it*****.
*****And frankly that would just be creepy, unless you're meaningrequired.

Comments

[lizzie-and-ari.livejournal.com]

Yay, glad you had fun. It was lovely to see you both xxx

[guybles.livejournal.com]

Primark? Euw. Myself and a friend once had a competition to find something that costs more than £10 in the Newcastle branch. Neither of us succeeded.

Not that I can comment - one of my favourite tops comes from Asda.

[andrewducker]

Why is "Cannot find expensive things" a problem?

(All I wanted was a pair of black combat trousers - I've now resorted to the internet, which is selling me them for £13.)

[guybles.livejournal.com]

It's not about the value, it's about the quality (and, certainly in the case of Asda, the customer base). I just find everything I've ever touched in Primark to feel cheap and nasty.

Oh, and a lingering suspicion about how they managed to get the price of everything so low.

However, I know what you mean about decent combat trousers, although I tend to go for beige rather than black.

[andrewducker]

If you know of somewhere that sells decent-quality black combats (or cargo pants) then I would love to know where!

[undeadbydawn.livejournal.com]

likewise. On the rare occasion I wear trousers - such as during Winter - I desire pockets. Lots and lots of pockets. My best trousers are by XDYE [who, as far as I can tell, no longer exist] and have 7 pockets incorporating such joys as mobile slot and pen holders. they fit perfectly, have a drawstring waist and were probably hand-stitched by some ancient Goddess.


those trousers frickin win every prize imaginable.

[undeadbydawn.livejournal.com]

ah. Xdye still exist. Their range now sucks, though.

[momentsmusicaux.livejournal.com]

Trapping one's foreskin in a button fly is a lot less painful, that's all I'm going to say.

[andrewducker]

I've managed 39 years without getting my penis caught in anything at all!

(That might, of course, be a plus for not having a foreskin.)

[poisonduk.livejournal.com]

I am caught between screaming Ewwwww or TMI at this entry!

[undeadbydawn.livejournal.com]

did you reeeaaaaally have to use the word 'entry'?

[undeadbydawn.livejournal.com]

overcome with noise and stress

awfully familiar.. I suggest you try a set of Doc's ProPlugs. You can get them from Scayles or Drum Central.
those are the earplugs that I previously mentioned making social situations bearable. You can still hear more-or-less normally, just without the shitty noise that drives you crazy.

they cost roughly £12 and may change your life, as they have mine.

[undeadbydawn.livejournal.com]

AHAAAAH

I misread *** as bottom-flies.

which was incredibly puzzling for a few seconds.

[undeadbydawn.livejournal.com]

Apple Store:

from what I've read, those stores are now so busy that Apple can't physically staff them enough to keep up - as in, more sales people would just take up more space and increase crowding.
As such, they've introduced a system that requires no interaction. Customers can just come along, pick up their order and go away.

I

a: have no idea how that works
b: wonder if it's necessary in any other shop, anywhere. Presumably it must be, and will be appearing elsewhere soon.