Man, I love the sales that Steam has on.
The one currently is the "Summer Camp Sale" it's final day is Sunday (10th July).
So far I've been quite tame, I've only bought a few games, the latest one being Amnesia. Great game, the atmosphere and suspense is amazing. I was genuinely scared while playing it. Which is quite rare for games these days.
Also in the sale there is a thing where certain achievements you earn each day give you tickets in the Steam store, kind of like a carnival. You can spend the tickets on items such as DLC, exclusive offers on games etc (Each items costs 3 tickets). It's really quite good and gives something back for playing titles and also acts as an incentive to play new ones.
In other news and slightly off topic, I'm really hyped for Battlefield 3!
Friday 8 July 2011
Monday 4 July 2011
Now we are the world and we are the people. We are the world and we are the people and we will be heard.
Each nation used to provide its country with security
With factories providing arms for their country
Now multinational companies compete in the arms trade
to serve any customer, maximising the money to be made
So just as farms compete to provide fruit for other countries
So people can live to enjoy the taste of nature
National warehouses compete to provide arms around the world
To aid death
And all hell unfolds.
Our gracious queen
Should grasp her crown
And take a good fucking swing at Blair and Brown
For leading her countries to illegal warfare
And trying to pass it off that we're doing 'cause we care.
Now prudence of wars are a redemptive cause
I've never heard such nonsense under international laws
We think we have the right to enforce democracy
When we're weakening ours everyday
What hypocrisy.
With factories providing arms for their country
Now multinational companies compete in the arms trade
to serve any customer, maximising the money to be made
So just as farms compete to provide fruit for other countries
So people can live to enjoy the taste of nature
National warehouses compete to provide arms around the world
To aid death
And all hell unfolds.
Our gracious queen
Should grasp her crown
And take a good fucking swing at Blair and Brown
For leading her countries to illegal warfare
And trying to pass it off that we're doing 'cause we care.
Now prudence of wars are a redemptive cause
I've never heard such nonsense under international laws
We think we have the right to enforce democracy
When we're weakening ours everyday
What hypocrisy.
Wednesday 29 June 2011
FML! 1080
http://www.livestream.com/1080t/video?clipId=pla_5b47663d-5c58-4829-8052-95b1f41102d1
Watch this, hear me rage. etc.
Take care.
Watch this, hear me rage. etc.
Take care.
Tuesday 28 June 2011
Last weekend!
First of all, sorry for lack of blogging. I've been pretty busy the past few days but I'm off today and tomorrow so I'll take the time to blog.
Saturday!
Everybody loves weekends, right? Well last Saturday I had a feeling of "dislike" (I'm always told hate is a strong word). This is because I was doing my usual shift at the pub and it was busy...
Everybody loves weekends, right? Well last Saturday I had a feeling of "dislike" (I'm always told hate is a strong word). This is because I was doing my usual shift at the pub and it was busy...
By busy I mean it was packed. Good from a point of view that my mates pub is taking a fair bit of money but bad when there's only 4 of us behind the bar and one of them is in and out of the kitchen cooking. We had a private function in the lounge, a birthday party. We had roughly 80 guests. Upstairs we had another party and we also had ladies in for a hen night, as well as the bar and its regulars. Add all that up and it equals chaos.
Myself, Chris, Zoe and Jess ran our socks off all night. Serving drinks, cleaning up and at one point we ran out of glasses! They weren't coming back so we had to get as many in as we could while the bars were "quiet".
It was quite stressful for us all and we called last orders earlier than normal, served everyone then closed the bars and had a break. During my break I went outside for a smoke then came in and sat down with a pint with the regulars and chatted with them until we had all chilled out and then began to start the clean down.
I was working until 1:30 easy, it was madness.
Sunday!
Sunday I spent with my girlfriend Nic, we decided to meet up before I had work and go for a meal. We had our meal and a few drinks and then I decided that I was a bit too drunk to turn into work.
You know the deal, one pint turns into two, and two turns into 3 and before you know it you're sitting in the sun drinking them like there's no tomorrow. Graham ended up covering my shift and since I wasn't working I called Ash and James and got them down. We had a good day just chilling and then we all went back to mine and watched the new episode of Top Gear.
All in all it was a busy week and an even busier weekend! It was fun though. I'm next in work on Thursday night so I'm just going to enjoy my days off and also try and get some blogging done.
Until then! Take care.
Monday 20 June 2011
DLC
I'm sick of games over using DLC (Downloadable Content). When DLC first started out it was an occasional feature which offered extra levels, missions etc a few months after the release of the game. Adding extra lifetime to a game which is say a year old. I mean who doesn't want extra stuff in your favourite game, right?
The problem is now that games are coming out half finished or with content missing and then a week after the game's release there's DLC released at extortionate prices. Downloadable content seems to be the latest "cash in" thing with the industry. More and more broken games are released with every month. Triple A titles full of bugs with content that was hyped up and promised when it was first shown is then added as DLC for an additional fee.
"Why make an update and add new areas and content to games for free? That's old school, an let's be honest 2 of these maps should have been shipped as part of the game an the other 2 are late because they're pretty average. You know what? Let's just go ahead an release them as a map pack and you know what else? While we're at it lets charge them £12 to play them. Oh and before I forget tell Tim to finish off the rest of these maps an we'll release a new pack every 2 months."
It's pretty crazy, coming from a PC gaming perspective, looking at the Black Ops Steam page. (Sure, Steam generally seems to be more expensive but that's to be expected with them being "Direct to drive" service and Valve's cut in the whole thing blah blah) but the game is down as £39.99 and then the "First Strike" and "Escalation" pack are both down as £11.49 each. If my math is correct that's £62.97 for an average title. Yeah the single player was good. Sure the multiplayer was fun for 10 minutes but is the game worth £62.97?
I feel for the Console gamers though, I moan about £62 for a game. At HMV they have Black Ops down as £42.99 for the Xbox 360 version. If the DLC is priced the same (as it should be) then that's £65.97! An extra £3? £3 FOR WHAT?!
Going back to my view...
£62.97 of my money? My hard earned money... No thanks, I'll pass on DLC until it provides something more than 4 maps. Until DLC means I benefit from purchasing it, not the guys down at the studio fancy a new Mercedes.
Ask yourselves what you could do with £60. (or in some cases £65) then ask yourselves is the content worth it?
The problem is now that games are coming out half finished or with content missing and then a week after the game's release there's DLC released at extortionate prices. Downloadable content seems to be the latest "cash in" thing with the industry. More and more broken games are released with every month. Triple A titles full of bugs with content that was hyped up and promised when it was first shown is then added as DLC for an additional fee.
"Why make an update and add new areas and content to games for free? That's old school, an let's be honest 2 of these maps should have been shipped as part of the game an the other 2 are late because they're pretty average. You know what? Let's just go ahead an release them as a map pack and you know what else? While we're at it lets charge them £12 to play them. Oh and before I forget tell Tim to finish off the rest of these maps an we'll release a new pack every 2 months."
It's pretty crazy, coming from a PC gaming perspective, looking at the Black Ops Steam page. (Sure, Steam generally seems to be more expensive but that's to be expected with them being "Direct to drive" service and Valve's cut in the whole thing blah blah) but the game is down as £39.99 and then the "First Strike" and "Escalation" pack are both down as £11.49 each. If my math is correct that's £62.97 for an average title. Yeah the single player was good. Sure the multiplayer was fun for 10 minutes but is the game worth £62.97?
I feel for the Console gamers though, I moan about £62 for a game. At HMV they have Black Ops down as £42.99 for the Xbox 360 version. If the DLC is priced the same (as it should be) then that's £65.97! An extra £3? £3 FOR WHAT?!
Going back to my view...
£62.97 of my money? My hard earned money... No thanks, I'll pass on DLC until it provides something more than 4 maps. Until DLC means I benefit from purchasing it, not the guys down at the studio fancy a new Mercedes.
Ask yourselves what you could do with £60. (or in some cases £65) then ask yourselves is the content worth it?
Sunday 19 June 2011
Dear Agony.
I will find the enemy within
'Cause I can feel it crawl beneath my skin
Dear agony, just let go of me
Suffer slowly, is this the way it's got to be, dear agony?
Suddenly the lights go out
Let forever drag me down
I will fight for one last breath
I will fight until the end.
'Cause I can feel it crawl beneath my skin
Dear agony, just let go of me
Suffer slowly, is this the way it's got to be, dear agony?
Suddenly the lights go out
Let forever drag me down
I will fight for one last breath
I will fight until the end.
Saturday 18 June 2011
My Dad
Me and my OLD man, have pretty much been to hell and back... all through me. Hes always been there and even though we clash sometimes we'll always move on and I'll always be his son and he'll always be my dad.
I'm so much like him its unreal. I honestly don't mind though because he's an awesome man.
I went downstairs to get food as I had oatcakes left (My tea from yesterday) so I opened the fridge an noticed where 3 of my oatcakes would have been there was an empty space. I ranted and raged at my mum who told me that my brother had ate them to which I replied "It's not good enough, they're mine, he ate his and mine. It's bullshit" or something along those lines. Then my dad said "Yeah like someone drank a bottle of my beer as well" which made me stop and think about what I'm doing.
My dad knew I'd done it same as I knew my brother had ate my food. We're exactly the same but he's a lot more wiser and because we're the same there are things which he does (probably on purpose like the beer thing) to make me realise what I'm doing and keep me in check.
Thanks Dad.
I'm so much like him its unreal. I honestly don't mind though because he's an awesome man.
I went downstairs to get food as I had oatcakes left (My tea from yesterday) so I opened the fridge an noticed where 3 of my oatcakes would have been there was an empty space. I ranted and raged at my mum who told me that my brother had ate them to which I replied "It's not good enough, they're mine, he ate his and mine. It's bullshit" or something along those lines. Then my dad said "Yeah like someone drank a bottle of my beer as well" which made me stop and think about what I'm doing.
My dad knew I'd done it same as I knew my brother had ate my food. We're exactly the same but he's a lot more wiser and because we're the same there are things which he does (probably on purpose like the beer thing) to make me realise what I'm doing and keep me in check.
Thanks Dad.
Thursday 16 June 2011
1080° ?
Ok, so 1080° is a bit of a weird name for a blog so I guess I should fill you guys in as to why its called 1080°.
1080° comes from the video game 1080° Snowboarding. It was a 3rd person racing game and was developed and published by Nintendo. It was released around the Christmas of 1998 I think, so about November/December is when I first picked it up.
In 1080° there are 6 modes, 3 racing modes and 2 trick modes (Yeah you could do quite a lot of tricks in it and it was actually released before the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater *If I remember rightly*) and of course a training mode.
Race Modes:
Match Race: This was the equivalent of a "career" mode or whatever but to be honest It was more of an Arcade mode. Easy, Medium and Hard settings effected the style of courses as well as the AI. On Hard you had to race through all the courses as well as deal with a rather decent AI snowboarder. You also have a health meter so bail to many times and you lose a "life" you have 3 chances or "lives" throughout the mode and you'll have to retire and its game over if you lose them all. It was the kind of norm back then as well to have AI that "cheat" and caught up with you an this was a game that did that. One bail or bump an the AI was zooming past you as the speed of light in a matter of seconds.
Time Attack: This one is pretty self explanatory... Race the courses, beat the times.
Multiplayer: I included this in here because it's actually a race mode, just instead of beating the AI you're beating your mate. Same courses, same choice in characters, same boards. It's just good old fashioned split screen multiplayer racing. (Yes I can't remember losing a game of Multiplayer on 1080°)
Trick Modes:
Contest: is similar (in a really weird way) to time attack only you pass through slalom gates on your way around the course to build up your time (Instead of trying to complete the course as fast as you can). Tricks earn you the points you need to succeed and it actually becomes quite hard sometimes if you miss a gate. Also about half way through Trick Attack you go to a new course which is like a bonus level. It's a giant ramp on a slope which you go down, jump off and do some serious 900° and 1080°'s
Trick Attack: in all fairness I hated Trick Attack but I loved the tricks. Imagine Time Attack but add the fact that you have to do a certain amount of certain tricks as well as racing. Also I should point out that some tricks like the 1080° required you to do like 9 actions or inputs like spinning the stick and pressing the R button etc. It was chaos.
Training Mode: is was actually really cool. The course was a totally different one to that of the other courses in the game. It had a half pipe as well as an area with ramps of varied size so you could get used to movement and also nailing the ticks. I spent so much time in the half pipe... 'cause lets face it, half pipes are cool.
Characters:
The characters in the game were varied, there were 5 to choose from.
Japan ( Kensuke Kimachi and Akari Hayami )
USA ( Rob Haywood ).
Canada ( Ricky Winterborn, he was my favourite )
Dion Blaster ( UK ).
Bonus Characters were included in the game but had no specific names, they were announced as various hits and "tings" on metal. Fans have dubbed these characters, Ice Man and Gold Boarder (How original?) There is also a pretty funny Panda character which you could unlock as a replacement for Rob Haywood after you completed the Time Attack and Trick Attack modes in 1st place. This also unlocked a few new ticks that only the Panda could do.
Boards: What's a Snowboarding game without a decent choice in boards? Nothing. There were a load to choose from and were actually real life boards which were for the 1999 collection. They all had varied stats the same as the characters did depending on what you wanted to do with them. There was also a Penguin Board unlock which saw the Character race standing on the back of a Penguin.. Hilarious.
Summary: This isn't or wasn't actually meant to be a review of the game but It kind of turned out like it. There's actually so much for me to say about a game which to be perfectly honest will bore or seem generic to some people. Personally, I'm not too bothered. It was my childhood, it was something I spent hours and hours a day on. It was something that kept me going even when I'd raced ever race and nailed every trick a thousand times. I still play it every now and again for old times sake a mere 13 years after its release. If you don't have it or have never played it then buy it.
Wednesday 15 June 2011
Echo
So basically I started playing APB again.
I've actually just come off it. I had a pretty hardcore gaming session with Dan and little Tom. It was good to game again, I've missed it. I really haven't had time since starting my Job. I sleep during the day and go to work an finish in the early hours. So most of my friends either can't be bothered or are asleep. It sucks.
This isn't the point of the blog though.
Lately I've been thinking about what Baz said to me a few days ago. He asked me to go to Australia next year with him. It's been on my mind now ever since and I've come to the decision that I'm going to do it.
From now on I'm saving all the money to go Australia (and hopefully Japan) next year.
It will be an amazing trip to see the world and an awesome experience in general.
The only downside is that I'll have to leave Nic behind. I wish she could come but I highly doubt she'll be able to.
Things with Nic get better an better everyday. She's amazing. It's going to suck so bad when I leave. She said she'd wait for me but I honestly don't want her to. I couldn't ask someone to put their whole life on hold an wait for me. It's not fair on either of us. I'll have to let her go...
That said though, I'm enjoying the now, and the now is awesome.
Love life.
I've actually just come off it. I had a pretty hardcore gaming session with Dan and little Tom. It was good to game again, I've missed it. I really haven't had time since starting my Job. I sleep during the day and go to work an finish in the early hours. So most of my friends either can't be bothered or are asleep. It sucks.
This isn't the point of the blog though.
Lately I've been thinking about what Baz said to me a few days ago. He asked me to go to Australia next year with him. It's been on my mind now ever since and I've come to the decision that I'm going to do it.
From now on I'm saving all the money to go Australia (and hopefully Japan) next year.
It will be an amazing trip to see the world and an awesome experience in general.
The only downside is that I'll have to leave Nic behind. I wish she could come but I highly doubt she'll be able to.
Things with Nic get better an better everyday. She's amazing. It's going to suck so bad when I leave. She said she'd wait for me but I honestly don't want her to. I couldn't ask someone to put their whole life on hold an wait for me. It's not fair on either of us. I'll have to let her go...
That said though, I'm enjoying the now, and the now is awesome.
Love life.
Saturday 11 June 2011
Life.
So the other day I finished work at 6. I decided to go home and get changed and go back to Work to have a few beers with my mates who were in the pub. It was Nicola's friend Beth's birthday too so I spent some time with them and had a laugh and ate cake. It was awesome!
I went home at 10 to have my Insulin injection and was on my way back to Nic. I got a text saying her Dad had turned up. I totally shat a brick. Her Dad didn't know about us being together and he's rather protective of her. To say that I was scared would be a bit of an understatement. I kind of know her Dad, Andy because he is mates with Kenny and Hoppy. I spent a while being quiet and apparently Hoppy had told him that I "was trying to get in his Daughter's knickers" which Andy didn't take too well, I don't think.
I had already spoke to Nic's Mum briefly and I knew the score, if I ever fucked her around then I'm pretty much dead meat. I turned around and told her that she was worth it.
I was sick of waiting around though and just thought "Fuck it" I really care about Nic and as scary as it was I went to Andy and asked to speak with him outside. I basically blabbed the whole thing to him. At first it was a kinda no. Then I told him that I'd been spending time with her and that I really liked her and she liked me. I told him I would always do right by her and protect her. He turned around and said yes but If I ever hurt her then I was pretty much fucked. I understand this and said It wouldn't happen.
After we were finished saying our pieces Nic's Mum shook my hand and said that she respected me because not many people would say what I said to Andy and have the guts to be completely honest. I was so relieved I got a yes and that Andy respected me for telling him.
Thank fuck.
I went home at 10 to have my Insulin injection and was on my way back to Nic. I got a text saying her Dad had turned up. I totally shat a brick. Her Dad didn't know about us being together and he's rather protective of her. To say that I was scared would be a bit of an understatement. I kind of know her Dad, Andy because he is mates with Kenny and Hoppy. I spent a while being quiet and apparently Hoppy had told him that I "was trying to get in his Daughter's knickers" which Andy didn't take too well, I don't think.
I had already spoke to Nic's Mum briefly and I knew the score, if I ever fucked her around then I'm pretty much dead meat. I turned around and told her that she was worth it.
I was sick of waiting around though and just thought "Fuck it" I really care about Nic and as scary as it was I went to Andy and asked to speak with him outside. I basically blabbed the whole thing to him. At first it was a kinda no. Then I told him that I'd been spending time with her and that I really liked her and she liked me. I told him I would always do right by her and protect her. He turned around and said yes but If I ever hurt her then I was pretty much fucked. I understand this and said It wouldn't happen.
After we were finished saying our pieces Nic's Mum shook my hand and said that she respected me because not many people would say what I said to Andy and have the guts to be completely honest. I was so relieved I got a yes and that Andy respected me for telling him.
Thank fuck.
Saturday 4 June 2011
To see the world.
To travel to the other side of the world would be amazing. I spoke to Baz just and he said I should go back to Australia with him next year. (He's coming back to England around December then going back out there later next year) I would love it, I really would.
That said though I have a really good deal here, I have a full time job, money and an amazing girlfriend, Nicola. I could not give her up for anything. I would love to see the world with her. If she can come with me then it would be the best thing ever. I would love to spend a few months with her in Australia just living our lives and traveling. Perfect.
Being without her would tear me apart, so If I had to choose then I would stay here with her, I love her so much.
Shes the best thing to ever happen to me.
That said though I have a really good deal here, I have a full time job, money and an amazing girlfriend, Nicola. I could not give her up for anything. I would love to see the world with her. If she can come with me then it would be the best thing ever. I would love to spend a few months with her in Australia just living our lives and traveling. Perfect.
Being without her would tear me apart, so If I had to choose then I would stay here with her, I love her so much.
Shes the best thing to ever happen to me.
Thursday 2 June 2011
$8 haircut? FUCK YOU!
Man I love The Killing Tree. Such an awesome band.
My day today has been shit to be honest. I kept fucking up at work. I couldn't concentrate at all. I felt like utter shit. Why? 'Cause I miss the girl I love. It's horrible going from two of the best days of my life, spent with the perfect girl... to this. She text me all the time while I was at work counting down the hours until we got to spend time together. It made me sad. Oh and to top it all off my eyes itched like fuck and my cold is getting worse.
Nicola is perfect, everything about her is perfect. Her amazing personality and the fact that we can talk for hours without getting bored. She understand me and I understand her, its nice. The fact that we have the same interests and stuff, such as music. Her gorgeous eyes and her soft skin. Her tender lips and her soft hair. Shes beautiful. Ohhh yeah and shes fucking hilarious.
I hate not being with her, it depresses me. I miss her when we're not together and I think about her all the time. When I go to work I can't wait to just hold her again. I'm absolutely crazy about her. Shes my whole world, my everything. I couldn't imagine my life without her now and to be honest I don't want to.
I love her so much.
My day today has been shit to be honest. I kept fucking up at work. I couldn't concentrate at all. I felt like utter shit. Why? 'Cause I miss the girl I love. It's horrible going from two of the best days of my life, spent with the perfect girl... to this. She text me all the time while I was at work counting down the hours until we got to spend time together. It made me sad. Oh and to top it all off my eyes itched like fuck and my cold is getting worse.
Nicola is perfect, everything about her is perfect. Her amazing personality and the fact that we can talk for hours without getting bored. She understand me and I understand her, its nice. The fact that we have the same interests and stuff, such as music. Her gorgeous eyes and her soft skin. Her tender lips and her soft hair. Shes beautiful. Ohhh yeah and shes fucking hilarious.
I hate not being with her, it depresses me. I miss her when we're not together and I think about her all the time. When I go to work I can't wait to just hold her again. I'm absolutely crazy about her. Shes my whole world, my everything. I couldn't imagine my life without her now and to be honest I don't want to.
I love her so much.
Wednesday 1 June 2011
The past two days...
The past two days have been amazing, I spent them with Nicola.
Day one:
The first day I spent with Nic, we did nothing! We went for a walk and sat on a bench for hours. I love the small things in a relationship... holding hands, hugs, texts etc. Things that make you smile and make you know that the other person is thinking about you. Spending time with Nic makes me feel alive, my heart feels like its about to jump out my chest and I get that feeling in my stomach. I met her by my old high school and we went for a small walk holding each others hands, it felt so nice to just be with her. I'm crazy about her. We sat on this bench for hours and talked about stuff, time flew. I held her close to me and I felt so happy, it felt like nothing else could touch me and I never wanted her to let go. After a bit we went to the park and walked around talking and having a laugh, she makes me so happy. Being with her is something special, we work together so we dont have much time to just be ourselves and hang out and spend quality time together.
We ended up sitting on the grass in the park an watching the diggers work on the old skate park. We sat there for ages and talked more about things, we held each other close and it felt amazing, her hands and skin felt soft and it made me smile. We kissed and it felt amazing. We lay on the grass and talked while watching the clouds move. She put her head on my chest and cuddled me as I played with her hair and to be perfectly honest. I wish that moment lasted forever. She is actually perfect.
Day two:
The second day we spent together we went to the lake. We held hands, stopping every so often to hold each other close while our friend Beth took photos of the ducks on the lake. I wanted Ice cream from the shop but by the time we eventually made it back around the lake it had closed. I was mildly disappointed but overall spending time with Nicola made me so happy I forgot all about the Ice cream we said we'd have. We ended up walking to ASDA which was a short walk away from the lake, we stopped off in a small fish shop on the way there to look at the fish inside, Nicola wanted to get the clown fish like Nemo from Finding Nemo. I actually thought about saving up and getting two for us. They were rather cute. We got to ASDA and we bought crisps, chocolate, milkshake and energy drink and sat outside on the curb eating them. We talked about some more random stuff, we held hands, hugged and kissed. She is perfect.
We eventually made it back to where we parted ways, we held each other and she put her head on my chest and felt my heart beat, it was the best feeling ever. We kissed goodbye and started to walk away, but she called me back we hugged and held each other for a few more minutes. It felt nice because I cant bare to be without her, when we're not together I miss her so much. We said goodbye for a second time and I turned back to watch her walk away. It actually crushed me, It felt horrible to let her go and watch her walk away from me. We text each other for the rest of the night.
She is perfect.
Day one:
The first day I spent with Nic, we did nothing! We went for a walk and sat on a bench for hours. I love the small things in a relationship... holding hands, hugs, texts etc. Things that make you smile and make you know that the other person is thinking about you. Spending time with Nic makes me feel alive, my heart feels like its about to jump out my chest and I get that feeling in my stomach. I met her by my old high school and we went for a small walk holding each others hands, it felt so nice to just be with her. I'm crazy about her. We sat on this bench for hours and talked about stuff, time flew. I held her close to me and I felt so happy, it felt like nothing else could touch me and I never wanted her to let go. After a bit we went to the park and walked around talking and having a laugh, she makes me so happy. Being with her is something special, we work together so we dont have much time to just be ourselves and hang out and spend quality time together.
We ended up sitting on the grass in the park an watching the diggers work on the old skate park. We sat there for ages and talked more about things, we held each other close and it felt amazing, her hands and skin felt soft and it made me smile. We kissed and it felt amazing. We lay on the grass and talked while watching the clouds move. She put her head on my chest and cuddled me as I played with her hair and to be perfectly honest. I wish that moment lasted forever. She is actually perfect.
Day two:
The second day we spent together we went to the lake. We held hands, stopping every so often to hold each other close while our friend Beth took photos of the ducks on the lake. I wanted Ice cream from the shop but by the time we eventually made it back around the lake it had closed. I was mildly disappointed but overall spending time with Nicola made me so happy I forgot all about the Ice cream we said we'd have. We ended up walking to ASDA which was a short walk away from the lake, we stopped off in a small fish shop on the way there to look at the fish inside, Nicola wanted to get the clown fish like Nemo from Finding Nemo. I actually thought about saving up and getting two for us. They were rather cute. We got to ASDA and we bought crisps, chocolate, milkshake and energy drink and sat outside on the curb eating them. We talked about some more random stuff, we held hands, hugged and kissed. She is perfect.
We eventually made it back to where we parted ways, we held each other and she put her head on my chest and felt my heart beat, it was the best feeling ever. We kissed goodbye and started to walk away, but she called me back we hugged and held each other for a few more minutes. It felt nice because I cant bare to be without her, when we're not together I miss her so much. We said goodbye for a second time and I turned back to watch her walk away. It actually crushed me, It felt horrible to let her go and watch her walk away from me. We text each other for the rest of the night.
She is perfect.
Tuesday 31 May 2011
So Far, So Good...So What!
Hey,
I figured I should give you an insight as to who I am, my life so far, where I am right now and my interests and what I get up to... So here goes.
In short:
My name is Tom. I'm currently 20 years old and from Stoke-On-Trent, UK. I'm a total geek, I always have been, and I probably always will be. I still currently live in Stoke-On-Trent and work in a local pub. I was diagnosed with type 1 Diabetes roughly 5 years ago during a family holiday in the USA. It was a pretty crazy event. It changed my life forever.
In depth:
Growing up, I guess I was pretty spoiled if I'm honest. I had it easy. My little Brother came along when I was 5, we never used to get along but then again which siblings do? I went to a Roman Catholic primary school which was about 5 minutes from my house. There I met some friends I still speak to today. It was alright.
In my last year of primary school I was taken pretty seriously ill and had to spend a bit of time in hospital. I developed and abscess on my leg which gave me blood poisoning, it wasn't the best of times but that said I got time off school and sat around playing the Nintendo 64.
Speaking of the Nintendo 64. That console used to be my life, most kids would have gone out and rode bikes or played football but I would have rather had played Goldeneye or Zelda. Most of my childhood revolved around that console... which is kind of sad really and its probably why I'm so geeky. I still have my N64, its in the box under my bed. I can't throw it away...
Starting high school... I went to another catholic school. There was where my life changed. I remember bricking it on the first day and walking to school with 3 of my friends from primary school. It was rather scary, you go from being a big fish in a small pond to a tiny fish in a giant pond. In high school I met some of my best friends and my life really started. Your real personalities start to come through and I learnt a lot about myself over my time at high school.
Meeting some of my best friends in high school was probably what helped me get through the later years. I had a close circle of friends but got along with most of the other people in the school and I used to hang out with a few friends of friends and people I remembered from primary school. Baz, Chubba, Mike, Respa, Andy and his older brother Chris were the guys I hung out with pretty much all the time. Outside of school we recorded small videos and kept ourselves occupied with that, skateboarding and video games. Reskats and KFC man will probably be memories that never fade, we had so many laughs.
Later years in high school were tough, GCSE's and all that. Then when I was about 14/15 I took a holiday to the USA. I was so hyped, America seemed like a totally different world to what I'm used to in the UK. Funnily enough even though both countries speak english, the yanks have a tough time understanding us. While on holiday we stayed in the middle of Nevada, in some town that consisted of 1 main road. It was in the middle of no where and there was a bridge just a short trip down the road, if you crossed it... the time zone changed... Naturally being the geek that I am, I found it amusing to go "back in time". I started to feel really tired and thirsty during the holiday, but staying in the desert and the day trips, traveling and flight over. I don't think that anyone thought much of it. It seemed logical that I would be tired and thirsty... It was bloody hot.
Few days before the end of the holiday I was in Las Vegas on a day trip. I felt terrible and I started to lose weight, my body felt so weak. We went to the Harley Davidson cafe... I was so thirsty I drank 2 super sodas.... They tasted vile. My taste was completely off, everything tasted wrong and I got hints of pool water or chlorine. It was really strange. I finished drinking them and felt so sick. I remember going to the toilet and puking my guts up, it was seriously wrong it felt acidic and slightly burnt me. I remember going outside and throwing up all over the concrete wall onto a construction site. Everyone was watching but there was nothing I could do. My whole body started to shut down and I was in serious trouble. I was tired and started to get faint. I don't remember much of that but apparently I managed to make it to a walk in clinic and have tests there, I then remember "waking" in the back of an ambulance being rushed to hospital. First time I'd ever been in an ambulance...
Turns out I had developed Type 1 Diabetes and Ketoacidosis... basically...I was dying. Yaaaaaay what a holiday! I was in serious trouble for a few days but eventually I was stable and improving. I didnt feel like eating and I could barely move or anything. I had stages where I couldn't see properly due to hypos and stuff it was quite bad. Whats worse is what I had caused my parents to go through. I still feel guilty to this day about putting them through it but they feel just as bad for not spotting it sooner. It actually breaks my heart when I think about how much it must have hurt them and my brother. I remember him asking if I was going to die, it was horrible. I had a crash course in looking after myself and injections for a few days while I fully recovered and they taught us enough to get us home safely, several days after we originally had planned to fly back to the UK.
Fast forward a few hours and I was home in the UK... For all of 5 minutes, I barely got time to sit down until I was back to the hospital, I'd just got out, an now I'm back in! I was no stranger to hospitals though now, cuts bruises, bangs, scrapes, blood poisoning and my adventures in america. By now though I was sick of the sight of doctors, needles, pamphlets and books. I just wanted to get into my bed and die quietly. I was sick of everything and so depressed. What made it worse is over the next few days bill after bill would arrive in the post. Medical bills. I felt so guilty, because in america you get charged for everything. My parents were that financially fucked that they had to re-mortgage the house. As if I didn't already feel bad enough it made me feel worse. That said though, once I eventually snapped out of my state of depression and sucked it up. Its one of the reasons I have to keep going, for their sake. Don't get me wrong there are days where I can not be bothered with diabetes but I couldn't let it all defeat me and over power me because I would be letting down everyone that pulled together to keep me alive in the first place.
As a result of being constantly up and down in terms of blood sugars for the first 6 months or so of having diabetes I was pretty vile, I didn't know how to cope with the aggression I felt when ill and lashed out a lot when I felt sick and pushed most of my family and friends away. It wasn't good. Going back to school was pretty nuts. I was glad when it was all over really. I messed up on some of my GCSE's because I had to cram missed work in and drop subjects as well as doing extra bits and pieces to some how make it all work. I did ok though given the circumstances but no where as well as I was expected or predicted.
With high school over I started the stage of parties, drinking and all that fun stuff during the summer holidays, meeting new people and all that stuff. I started college in September which was a short bus ride from my house. I decided to do things differently though, I went to a different college to most of my friends because it was better for me. If I'd have gone to the same college as my friends, I'd have just messed around and would have been too tempted to not turn up instead mess around with mates. Though that said, Me, Baz and Andy ended up going the same college and later on I found out so did Respa. During college I studied motor mechanics, doing 2 years and starting but never finishing the 3rd year. I met some friends for life during that time. Ash, James and Brad were awesome and we still keep in touch and me and Ash still party or hang out at weekends.
I was still playing video games but I had a bit more of a social life... Until I finished college that was. I was unemployed an bored as hell. I had a small part time job through my time at college doing a few hours in a supermarket working for a merchandising company. It was boring but It got me beer money and video games! I started to play Call of Duty 4 more seriously and spoke to a guy called Dan who went to my high school. He then became another good friend and later introduced me to competitive play. After a year or so my team was formed and we started to play pro pro leagues in Call of Duty 4. It was kind of short lived to start off with, there was too much bitching sometimes! Dan, Alex, James, Mike, Little Tom and Little Chris are guys who I talk to pretty much every day. They're my team and my best friends. They're great. We've had our fair share of falling out over the years but we always managed to sort stuff out eventually and get on with it. After a few months of "dole dosing" and some heavy video game sessions. I got a job working in a call center.
Working at Elmfield was fun... Easiest job i'll ever have. I had to make calls on behalf of the NSPCC. It was easy and most of the time me and everyone in the office spent more time chatting to each other than we did to people on the phone. I think my group was probably the worst group to ever work at Route 2 in terms of calls and targets met. At work I met and made friends with Dale, Jess, Salina, Matt and my manager Shaun. All of which are awesome people. Shaun was a great manager and hes a good friend too which made working there enjoyable and fun. After my 6 month contract was over at Route 2. I had another stage of playing lots of video games and doing pretty much nothing with my days.
Few weeks later the pub was being re-opened by one of my best mates Chris who I met through another 2 of my best mates Kenny and Hoppy. Past few years hanging out with Kenny and Hoppy has taught me a lot and I've met a lot of people through them. They've been good to me over the years and I'm grateful for it. We always watch Stoke play football at the weekends. We've been absolutely leathered, shouting an screaming at the TV, jumping for joy and high fiving each other from across the room and damn near close to smashing the TV up! I'm always guaranteed a laugh though when I'm with them and I can talk to them about stuff I cant with a lot of people. They're a lot older and for the most part wiser so through them I've picked up quite a few lessons in life and learnt a certain type of ethic when it comes to my life and how I live it.
Which pretty much brings me to where I am now. I started working for Chris at the pub when it re-opened and I'm saving up money to buy a car and move out an continuing my life and taking it to the next step. I also met this girl called Nicola, shes totally awesome and I like her a lot, and believe me when I say a lot! I've had relationships, love, heart break and all that throughout the years but this is different, I can feel it and I'm actually the happiest I've been in a long, long time right now. I have no idea where my life will take me but thats the biggest events in my life and the people most important to me who have been there through the years and will probably continue to be there in the future. I've missed out smaller parts purely because Its a blog not an autobiography but you get a rough idea of who I am and what has happened so far in my life.
Take care.
I figured I should give you an insight as to who I am, my life so far, where I am right now and my interests and what I get up to... So here goes.
In short:
My name is Tom. I'm currently 20 years old and from Stoke-On-Trent, UK. I'm a total geek, I always have been, and I probably always will be. I still currently live in Stoke-On-Trent and work in a local pub. I was diagnosed with type 1 Diabetes roughly 5 years ago during a family holiday in the USA. It was a pretty crazy event. It changed my life forever.
In depth:
Growing up, I guess I was pretty spoiled if I'm honest. I had it easy. My little Brother came along when I was 5, we never used to get along but then again which siblings do? I went to a Roman Catholic primary school which was about 5 minutes from my house. There I met some friends I still speak to today. It was alright.
In my last year of primary school I was taken pretty seriously ill and had to spend a bit of time in hospital. I developed and abscess on my leg which gave me blood poisoning, it wasn't the best of times but that said I got time off school and sat around playing the Nintendo 64.
Speaking of the Nintendo 64. That console used to be my life, most kids would have gone out and rode bikes or played football but I would have rather had played Goldeneye or Zelda. Most of my childhood revolved around that console... which is kind of sad really and its probably why I'm so geeky. I still have my N64, its in the box under my bed. I can't throw it away...
Starting high school... I went to another catholic school. There was where my life changed. I remember bricking it on the first day and walking to school with 3 of my friends from primary school. It was rather scary, you go from being a big fish in a small pond to a tiny fish in a giant pond. In high school I met some of my best friends and my life really started. Your real personalities start to come through and I learnt a lot about myself over my time at high school.
Meeting some of my best friends in high school was probably what helped me get through the later years. I had a close circle of friends but got along with most of the other people in the school and I used to hang out with a few friends of friends and people I remembered from primary school. Baz, Chubba, Mike, Respa, Andy and his older brother Chris were the guys I hung out with pretty much all the time. Outside of school we recorded small videos and kept ourselves occupied with that, skateboarding and video games. Reskats and KFC man will probably be memories that never fade, we had so many laughs.
Later years in high school were tough, GCSE's and all that. Then when I was about 14/15 I took a holiday to the USA. I was so hyped, America seemed like a totally different world to what I'm used to in the UK. Funnily enough even though both countries speak english, the yanks have a tough time understanding us. While on holiday we stayed in the middle of Nevada, in some town that consisted of 1 main road. It was in the middle of no where and there was a bridge just a short trip down the road, if you crossed it... the time zone changed... Naturally being the geek that I am, I found it amusing to go "back in time". I started to feel really tired and thirsty during the holiday, but staying in the desert and the day trips, traveling and flight over. I don't think that anyone thought much of it. It seemed logical that I would be tired and thirsty... It was bloody hot.
Few days before the end of the holiday I was in Las Vegas on a day trip. I felt terrible and I started to lose weight, my body felt so weak. We went to the Harley Davidson cafe... I was so thirsty I drank 2 super sodas.... They tasted vile. My taste was completely off, everything tasted wrong and I got hints of pool water or chlorine. It was really strange. I finished drinking them and felt so sick. I remember going to the toilet and puking my guts up, it was seriously wrong it felt acidic and slightly burnt me. I remember going outside and throwing up all over the concrete wall onto a construction site. Everyone was watching but there was nothing I could do. My whole body started to shut down and I was in serious trouble. I was tired and started to get faint. I don't remember much of that but apparently I managed to make it to a walk in clinic and have tests there, I then remember "waking" in the back of an ambulance being rushed to hospital. First time I'd ever been in an ambulance...
Turns out I had developed Type 1 Diabetes and Ketoacidosis... basically...I was dying. Yaaaaaay what a holiday! I was in serious trouble for a few days but eventually I was stable and improving. I didnt feel like eating and I could barely move or anything. I had stages where I couldn't see properly due to hypos and stuff it was quite bad. Whats worse is what I had caused my parents to go through. I still feel guilty to this day about putting them through it but they feel just as bad for not spotting it sooner. It actually breaks my heart when I think about how much it must have hurt them and my brother. I remember him asking if I was going to die, it was horrible. I had a crash course in looking after myself and injections for a few days while I fully recovered and they taught us enough to get us home safely, several days after we originally had planned to fly back to the UK.
Fast forward a few hours and I was home in the UK... For all of 5 minutes, I barely got time to sit down until I was back to the hospital, I'd just got out, an now I'm back in! I was no stranger to hospitals though now, cuts bruises, bangs, scrapes, blood poisoning and my adventures in america. By now though I was sick of the sight of doctors, needles, pamphlets and books. I just wanted to get into my bed and die quietly. I was sick of everything and so depressed. What made it worse is over the next few days bill after bill would arrive in the post. Medical bills. I felt so guilty, because in america you get charged for everything. My parents were that financially fucked that they had to re-mortgage the house. As if I didn't already feel bad enough it made me feel worse. That said though, once I eventually snapped out of my state of depression and sucked it up. Its one of the reasons I have to keep going, for their sake. Don't get me wrong there are days where I can not be bothered with diabetes but I couldn't let it all defeat me and over power me because I would be letting down everyone that pulled together to keep me alive in the first place.
As a result of being constantly up and down in terms of blood sugars for the first 6 months or so of having diabetes I was pretty vile, I didn't know how to cope with the aggression I felt when ill and lashed out a lot when I felt sick and pushed most of my family and friends away. It wasn't good. Going back to school was pretty nuts. I was glad when it was all over really. I messed up on some of my GCSE's because I had to cram missed work in and drop subjects as well as doing extra bits and pieces to some how make it all work. I did ok though given the circumstances but no where as well as I was expected or predicted.
With high school over I started the stage of parties, drinking and all that fun stuff during the summer holidays, meeting new people and all that stuff. I started college in September which was a short bus ride from my house. I decided to do things differently though, I went to a different college to most of my friends because it was better for me. If I'd have gone to the same college as my friends, I'd have just messed around and would have been too tempted to not turn up instead mess around with mates. Though that said, Me, Baz and Andy ended up going the same college and later on I found out so did Respa. During college I studied motor mechanics, doing 2 years and starting but never finishing the 3rd year. I met some friends for life during that time. Ash, James and Brad were awesome and we still keep in touch and me and Ash still party or hang out at weekends.
I was still playing video games but I had a bit more of a social life... Until I finished college that was. I was unemployed an bored as hell. I had a small part time job through my time at college doing a few hours in a supermarket working for a merchandising company. It was boring but It got me beer money and video games! I started to play Call of Duty 4 more seriously and spoke to a guy called Dan who went to my high school. He then became another good friend and later introduced me to competitive play. After a year or so my team was formed and we started to play pro pro leagues in Call of Duty 4. It was kind of short lived to start off with, there was too much bitching sometimes! Dan, Alex, James, Mike, Little Tom and Little Chris are guys who I talk to pretty much every day. They're my team and my best friends. They're great. We've had our fair share of falling out over the years but we always managed to sort stuff out eventually and get on with it. After a few months of "dole dosing" and some heavy video game sessions. I got a job working in a call center.
Working at Elmfield was fun... Easiest job i'll ever have. I had to make calls on behalf of the NSPCC. It was easy and most of the time me and everyone in the office spent more time chatting to each other than we did to people on the phone. I think my group was probably the worst group to ever work at Route 2 in terms of calls and targets met. At work I met and made friends with Dale, Jess, Salina, Matt and my manager Shaun. All of which are awesome people. Shaun was a great manager and hes a good friend too which made working there enjoyable and fun. After my 6 month contract was over at Route 2. I had another stage of playing lots of video games and doing pretty much nothing with my days.
Few weeks later the pub was being re-opened by one of my best mates Chris who I met through another 2 of my best mates Kenny and Hoppy. Past few years hanging out with Kenny and Hoppy has taught me a lot and I've met a lot of people through them. They've been good to me over the years and I'm grateful for it. We always watch Stoke play football at the weekends. We've been absolutely leathered, shouting an screaming at the TV, jumping for joy and high fiving each other from across the room and damn near close to smashing the TV up! I'm always guaranteed a laugh though when I'm with them and I can talk to them about stuff I cant with a lot of people. They're a lot older and for the most part wiser so through them I've picked up quite a few lessons in life and learnt a certain type of ethic when it comes to my life and how I live it.
Which pretty much brings me to where I am now. I started working for Chris at the pub when it re-opened and I'm saving up money to buy a car and move out an continuing my life and taking it to the next step. I also met this girl called Nicola, shes totally awesome and I like her a lot, and believe me when I say a lot! I've had relationships, love, heart break and all that throughout the years but this is different, I can feel it and I'm actually the happiest I've been in a long, long time right now. I have no idea where my life will take me but thats the biggest events in my life and the people most important to me who have been there through the years and will probably continue to be there in the future. I've missed out smaller parts purely because Its a blog not an autobiography but you get a rough idea of who I am and what has happened so far in my life.
Take care.
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