Fed up with my machine continuously shutting down all my applications I finally took the plunge and backed up everything of any use, then formatted my hard drive. It did not do any good though. Ok, applications seem to be running ok under Windows 98 but there was some hassle configuring my hardware and even more getting my PC to play VCDs. Something that it will not do no matter how hard I try. I think the Matrox card may be faulty. I was going to build a better PC anyway and turn this one into a Linux box, I guess I have no excuses now.

Its kinda been a relief not having a working PC at home. I know if your career is based on computers you expect to be using themn lal the time. The last few weeks though have allowed me to catch up on some light reading and other interests that did not require me to boot a PC. Its allowed me to rediscover that theres more to life than can be found within a machine.

JP forgot to book the skiingfor Saturday so we are going today. Its oir third and fainl lesson. I have been looking forward to it all week. I'm not great at it but its still new enough to provide the right amount of longing associated with anything new.

We fall on our asses again as was expected and we got to go on the big hill, albeit from only half way up.But we had fun and it won't be long before we are baack un-supervised and with pointy sticks taaking out all the other skiis as we snowball slalom style. Me and Hing have been practicing our moves on the Playstation using Cool Borders 3. The big hill has a ramp but I'm thinking medical insurance right now.

To wind down the day we check out Random hearts at the cinema. Not to bad for what it is. I guess harrison ford is getting on a bit and maybe steering away from ro;les that require a lot of aaction sequences.

Shopped till I dropped today. Bought some of that fahrenheit that my sister keeps going on about. I was getting sick of Lynx and Gillette anyway. Maybe that could be my new thing to try today? Naw, had a Burger King also for the first time in my life. A few pence more than McDonalds but definetly more tasty. The meat actually looked like it could be real aas well. I think its Burger King from now on with a McDonalds chocolate Milkshake on the side. At least they have taht going for them.

Caught Ed TV at the cinema. Decided I was going to review it afterwards like every other film I see these days. Then thought.. not. It seems like every other internet site and homepaage is doing this these days. Who is going to go watch something just coz i said its great? I've been thinking about ways to make this homepage more me and I've come to the conclusion that the journal should be the maain paart of the site with links from it if I think they aare worth talking about. don't know if that means abandoning the design or just optimising it a bit more.

Skiing lesson 2. Fell on my ass at last after laffing at JP and Hing all week. It was their turn to laugh only they fell more times than I did. We decided not to mention it to much after that. We will get better, oh yes we will if it kills us.

Boy was I pissed at JP today. I could not believe how pissed I was. He told me he haad paast this sites URL to a girl at our agency and that she had become paranoid that I was talking about her. Not sure what she was on about I re-read the entire journal and found no references to her at all. JP winding me up did not help. I ws so pissed I just left him in the cafeteria with that smirk on his face. I think he realised how pissed I was laater.

I took the journal off-line and checked through it. Is there anything in it that couyld be contrsued as offence to someone? Do I menton anyone by their full name? Not that I could find other tahn my laate relatives. I gotta think about this. The Jurnal was desgned to help me improve my writing to convey better how I view and interact with the world. It has gotten a bit mundane and sometimes I can't bring myself to write anything. I mean, I don't want to get into the haabit of saying "Haad dinner tody, read book X,watched TV went to bed" as thats just boring. I have some ideas where I want to go with this and I'm going to steer this thing around soon enough.

Started thinking that if the site is on the internet then others are going to find it eventuaally. It was the fact that people I know that have nothing to do with what I write are being told thaat this is my site (I use an alias here) and they should read it. Why? Mybe I should not be mad at JP. I don't hold grudges to long anyway. Ahem.

I wake up and I am very very cold. So cold. Stumbling out of a bivi-bag I try to figure out where I am. Now I remember, JP's. After a hard week of nothing but testing computer systems we decided to hit the town last night. Avoiding the neon glow and loud noise of the nightclubs we headed for the local metal bar to check out the goth chicks. There's something about black lipstick..

Grabbing my leather coat I braved the cold morning air stopping only for a cereal bar at the local corner shop. Maybe we will see a white winter this year I considered as I watched the drunks stagger home while thinking of an excuse for their wives.

In my continued pursuance of new things to try I hit upon "skiing" after driving past the local dry ski slope one morning. Convincing JP and Hing that they really needed to try something new we three donned faded jeans and warm jumpers and tried to look like we fitted in.

Contrary to popular belief (or at least mine) you can not just grab your ski's and head down the side of a steep hill at full speed. First you must undertake some lessons, which is what we did today. Lesson 1: Watch JP and Hing fall repeatedly upon their asses while you remain standing. Accomplished with just a touch of sniggering.

The lesson was fun though, if a tad painful in the calves and ankles. God do those boots grip and limit movement! Controlling ski's is not as easy as it looks but when you've mastered the basics of stopping and steering you are allowed on the bigger slopes. Lesson 2 is next weekend and I am looking forward to it.

Later on we found ourselves being seated in a recently opened Chinese restaurant that JP and me had heard about over the car one morning. They were promising all you can eat for £8.90. After we left I think they will impose a time limit. JP wanted to tell them that we'd recommend their establishment to all our friends but hey, they'd only just opened and we were not that vindictive! JP managed one more plate than I did and Hing won by an extra bowl of soup. He was still hungry as we later entered the cinema.

Deciding that the day was not yet over we grabbed a quick beer in the cinema bar before heading in to see American Pie. I gotta say that I must recommend this film. I was pissing myself laughing all the way through it. If you are a Buffy fan then you'll enjoy Willow's part in this film. "What's my name bitch?". I'll never look at apple pie the same way again.

Still with some life in us we decided to go and see the late showing of The Sixth Sense. I think I'll stop reading film trailers because there's nothing like going into see a film knowing next to nothing about what it is about. There are far too many spoilers available today. God was this film good. Creepy as hell. And the plot twist, jesus that deserves an Oscar! I had to replay the film in my head to verify that one. I heartily recommend this film to everyone. Just don't go alone.

I fell asleep as dawn started to creep onto the horizon.

Yesterday I completed a gym supervisor's course and now I'm qualified to supervise a gym! Apparently. Yep, I spend so much time in the gym these days that someone suggested I become a supervisor. Not only do you get to give something back to the club but the gym is never closed to you. If you fancy a workout and the gym is closed, you open it.

Tonight though I'm on duty after work. I have enough time to hammer my legs into the ground before I have to go into supervisor mode. Luckily tonight is a quiet night and when the last exhausted member leaves I drop the music level and work on my abs. It could be kinda cool having access to a gym when you need it. There's no excuse for me now not to get the perfect bod.

I really can't be bothered to continue this anymore. I'm so tired. I work work work then sit in front of the box and watch Christina Aguilera and Britney coz nothing else is ever on MTV these days. Then I ignore my list of jobs and pass out.

The PC is still fucked. I really really hate Windows now with a renewed loathing. Today I have this need to destroy something. God am I pissed off at the world. No idea why, just am. What do I want to be doing on the eve of the millenium? Sitting on the beach sipping a Pinacollada and smoking a cigar watching the world explode so I can say "Told you so".

Staggered home from a party. My PC is dead. Fuck this. Oh yeah, Red Bull and Vodka gives you rings.. around the eyes!

Today is one of those days. Nothing really goes right so put off all big tasks on your "to do" list until tomorrow. I can't be bothered to pay at the kiosk so I figure that my new thing to try today is to pay at the pump. After the card juggling I am rewarded with zilch and indicate so to the girls in the kiosk watching me with bored expressions on their faces. Still nothing so I select pay at kiosk. I explained to one girl inside that the pay at pump method did not work. She told me it was because none of them could be bothered to validate me. I gave her my best fuck you stare. Story of my life.

I arrive home to a smashed front door window. Thinking we had been burgled I was still unhappy to discover my housemate had locked himself out.

Long day at the office today. I finish at 10:45pm and drive home down a quiet motorway. I can't be bothered with the radio tonight. I just sit back and listen to the hum of the road. A life is definitely on order; its just gotten lost in the post.

We arrive back in Ipswich to discover that JP's place has been turned over. Thieves have stolen anything of value downstairs. Sometimes I just think as a species we suck.

Driving down the motorway eating sweets and sipping pop we hum along to Britney, S Club 7 and Billie.

The object of young Wes's affection is 24 today and is in for a big surprise. Ya see the romantic sod has decided to invite a load of his and her friends over for a little party. Nothing major, just enough to cause a little destruction and maybe alienate them from their neighbours. Not to worry though, as she'll appreciate it he says while loading the Bounty and stain remover into the shopping trolley.

Exit light.. enter night.

A barbecue got under way and the booze started flowing and the atmosphere became quite relaxed. Too relaxed in my case as the 8-year-old whiskey I was sipping turned into a pint of lager I had to down in 5 seconds. It went straight to my head and I laid off the whiskey for a while. Damn those pass the parcel forfeits.

A quiet day at the office today. Maybe too quiet. The need for a caffeine fix makes me wonder where JP is so we can go for our usual walk to the coffee machine while discussing the problems with regards to stockpiling computer chips or commandeering telecommunications satellites for our own use, or whatever the current topic is.

He arrives later on that day with a sad tale to tell. Apparently he managed to get on the radio but only as a warning to fellow motorists. You see while driving to work this morning his front tyre blew out causing him to spin out of control and smash into the central reservation of the motorway. The car was totaled but luckily JP was fine.

After being stressed out lately for no apparent reason I was amazed to wake up this morning all relaxed without a care in the world. Time did not seem important for some reason today. I hummed a tune I picked out of nowhere while I merrily went through my shaving routine. Since I gave up using the "convenient" electric shaver for the more practical razor I've noticed that my skin is smoother and by the end of the day my stubble is back and thicker than ever. Glancing in the mirror I consider my profile with designer stubble. Hmm.

Still feeling great I took my time selecting a tape for the car. I opted for Vanessa Mae's "The Violin Player". The drive to work, usually long and boring was quite relaxing as the Saab purred along the motorway through the pouring rain with me all nice and warm inside listening to classical gas.

Knowing that my usual car park would be full I parked away from the office and fastening up my long overcoat tightly, I strolled through the pouring rain with not a care in the world and a smile on my face.

Getting back to the hotel last night proved harder than I would of thought. I don't know if any of you have been to Coventry but the road markings at the actual junctions are when you find out that the lane you are in does not go the way you want to. Luckily the Vectra accelerates from 0-30 in 0.9 seconds. I don't think the engine bay is supposed to smell of burnt rubber though so I'll ease off on the wheel spins.

I'll just like to point out that the Coventry ring road is like a mini racetrack. Southend-on-sea eat your heart out.

Today was boring. Another mind numbing day of doing the exercises, and then reading the newspaper while everyone else caught up. I could not face eating out alone so I settled on a meal at the hotel. The hotel I was staying at was the Forte Posthouse. I've never stayed in one before. The rooms are laid out one after the other down long hallways. I guess they are a popular place to stay. Luckily the company would pick up the tab because even with the discount we get, business class proved a tad expensive.

The rooms have double single beds in them and loads of furniture leaving no room to walk around. The fake marble bathrooms are pretty snazzy. There's even a phone jack by the toilet. I hate people who call you from the bathroom. Maybe somewhere someone is logging int a chat room on the net and the conversation goes something like:

Technology eh? Who says it makes you lazy?

I booked a meal for 7pm and then headed for the swimming pool. It was hot and inviting so I did a few lengths before relaxing in the spa. I headed into the sauna next and sat back and listened to some haulage company owner's chat about the price of making their lorries road legal today in the UK. These guys really hated our current system. One guy who they referred to as Dastardly Darren kept adding cup full's of water to the hot stones causing me to almost pass-out. I made my excuses and was amazed the hot pool felt freezing as I collapsed into it.

The hotel was kind enough to provide me with a copy of Traveller magazine in my room so I took that with me to the restaurant having experienced the delays between servings in such places countless times before. Why can't they be as fast as mother? There's almost 5 seconds between the main meal and pudding at home. Any longer and you start singing the "Why are we waiting?" song.

The meal was rather nice. I ordered a pork meatball starter followed by New York style sirloin with fries and onion rings (and the biggest mushroom I've ever seen). All washed down with a nice cabernet sauvignon and shiraz labeled as "Oxford Landing" which I could not finish so I took it back to my hotel room, as you do.

This was more my style. I squandered the rest of the evening by sitting in my room's comfy armchair, sipping my red wine while watching The Bill on the hotel TV.

One question I'd like to ask hoteliers. How the hell did you arrive at £1.25 for a can of coke? I stayed clear of the room bar. £1.95 for a kit-kat snack was decidedly ridiculous. I also resisted the canny offer of £6.95 for the porno channel. If I was that desperate, the pictures of the air stewardess's in Traveller magazine would have sufficed.

It's still dark as I load my luggage into the Vectra. I go through the rigmarole of getting all the settings just right. Then I curse the delivery guy for parking it so tight in between 2 cars. A 15-point maneuver soon gets me under way. Jesus! Just touching the accelerator pedal slightly sends the car off at high speed. Must watch that.

The drive along the motorway is uneventful unless you count the fact that a truck driver changed his mind about making the A14 turn-off at Cambridge forcing me back onto the motorway heading for Bedford. Ditto for the Kettering turn-off. Oh, and the countless traffic jams. Still I made good time and was only 15minutes late.

As predicted the course was boring but I was hooking up with me old mate Ben (aka Stelf) afterwards for a bit of a natter and catch up. Ben now works for Eidos in Birmingham and was not far away by train so I'd agreed to meet him at the station. As it happens we'd both changed so much since we last saw each other IRL (about 4 years ago) that we nearly missed each other. "Ben?" I inquired? "Dave? Where's your pony tail?" was his reply.

We ended up taking a stroll around Coventry. Not by choice you understand, but because there was fuck all half-decent eating places open. We decided on a place called BROWNS which I vaguely recalled reading about on the Coventry tourist info web site before coming here. The bouncer recommended the meals and by the look of him, he'd sampled a few.

It turned out to be a kinda mom and pop diner with a barman suffering from delusions of style. The Ming sideburns and beard was definitely a no-no.

After placing our order we grabbed a few beers and sat down for a long catch-up session. It appears that Ben is doing well at Eidos. So well that he was sporting his free Soul Reaver T-shirt. He said he'd get me one too. I'd prefer a "Dave you're the best" Lara Croft T-shirt, but I'm not fussy.

The meals arrived and we continued our conversation. I had rather foolishly ordered the fish. I got a bone stuck in my throat and had to excuse myself while I went to the gents to remove it. After failing to remove it with the 'cat verses the hairball' sound effects (sorry to the guy in stall 3 whose concentration I probably broke). Sticking my finger in me gob located the bone trapped in the side of my tonsil. I had to stick 2 fingers in to grab it like pincers and yank it out before I gagged. I hit upon the idea of doing restaurant reviews on my web site there and then just so I could slate this place.

Ben is only 20 but he sounded older as he discussed life, his New Zealand girlfriend that he met over the web, and how good a deal he got on his mortgage. I must be doing something wrong because at 27 I have neither a life, current girlfriend nor my own home. Over desserts we caught up on what we had been up to since we last met at Koony's old London digs. If you are reading this Daz, Ben recalls fondly you waking up and saying "Who the fuck is that?".

The night was still early and I had no plans to go back to my hotel room yet so we found a pub with a more pleasant atmosphere and ordered up some cokes. The drink of sensible men! Its strange these virtual friendships. Ever since I got into the Amiga scene years ago it was hard to describe all these friends you have that you either never physically see or see maybe once in your life. Here we were chatting like long time buddies and this was probably only the 5th hour we had spent in each other's company. The other thousand hours would be made up of phone calls, email and snail mail letters.

I started to feel old as Ben told me of his achievements to date and of those of people we both knew. True I have the job that I've always wanted and 27 is not old so why did I feel like this? Was all this domestication and adult socialization dampening my spirit? Only a few months ago I was writing here about doing something new every day and reading everything I can get my hands on. These days it's a daily routine of work, TV and domestic duties. I made a mental declaration there and then that this would be no more! First chance I'd get I'd look at what I wanted to do next with my life and seize the opportunity!

Promising to stay in touch I drove him back to the train station and then walked back into the cold night.

I am being sent to Coventry tomorrow. Yeah that's right, no one wants to talk to me anymore. It's a course I have to take even though I taught myself the module months ago. I have to officially sit it. Here's to 3 days of boredom.

So I'm sitting here in my front room finishing off a rather dull Pinot Noir rose and watching some drivel on the box when my letterbox goes "ker-chink". Wahey! It's a nice envelope from National. So what have they delivered this time? An Astra, Escort? Maybe a Xara or my favourite, the 306. Nope, it's a Vectra. Woo haven't had one of those before. A quick stroll outside locates the silver beauty. A brand spanking new V-reg Vectra. Insert the key, activate the central locking and marvel as the interior lights go into slow illumination mode. I sit myself down in this clean vehicle and take a sniff of that new car smell. Inserting the key in the ignition activates the dash and information panel. The radio controls are on the steering wheel. Nice touch. The digital speedo tells me that this car has only done 117 miles. Gunna have to christen this baby tomorrow. Things are looking decidedly better.

I have decided that coffee is not good for you, especially if you drink it 20 times a day while working in front of a computer. I've been so stressed out lately that I can no longer calm down by sitting in the take-a-break-area anymore. My heart is racing when I'm reading boring corporate emails or when I'm typing up a report. It's as if I've somehow over-clocked my body and it will not slow down.

Reminder to self: Lock nescafe in bottom drawer and take green tea in to work tomorrow

My sister has started a college course, which involves IT, and so she has gained access to computers and the internet. I am no longer the only wired member of our family. However, this means she has access to these very pages and is probably reading these very words. She actually told me that my diary needs updating! And she has started calling me a hopeless romantic. She must have the wrong URL, that does not sound like me at all.

The agency that contracts us out to companies decided to take us all out for a night of free food and drink. I won't go into detail about this night other than to say that I made 2 observations. One is that I do like a drink but if you stop just when you are getting tipsy and don't drink much more, you enjoy the experience more. I no longer see any point in getting completely drunk. I like to be in control of my actions and words too much. The other thing I learned is that if you observe others around you that do not obey this rule you get to see another version of them that is rather less inhibited and more prone to voicing their hidden opinions. Although they may learn to regret it by tomorrow, you will have no doubt learned something interesting about them or the way they think.

The Inland Revenue released an update on the internet today. It looks like IR35 is going ahead starting from the next financial year. This means that people like me with small limited companies are going to be totally screwed on tax from April 2000. I hate the British tax system.

JP suggests that we head on over to the local beer festival after work today. I agree after my plans for tonight involve a bottle of beer and Buffy on cable. Well, I could always preset the VCR.

I turn up late *again* after fielding phone calls from friends and business associates since arriving home. They were all calls to the mobile but I took them at home due to not wanting to take the mobile with me.

After paying an entrance and glass fee I located JP and steered him towards the nearest keg of stout. I planned on doing some serious drinking tonight. The first one I tried was called Edwin Taylor's Extra Stout which according to the information booklet, was "A rich, smooth, roasty beer" at 4.5%. It tasted of liquorice.

I met some friends and several work colleagues as I checked out the place. We stayed upstairs mainly where the main hall was filled with revelers surrounding a makeshift rectangular bar set into the middle of the room. Behind this construction was scaffolding that had racks and racks of metal beer kegs on it and guys with zebra hairstyles walking back and forth tipping kegs and replacing empties.

I headed downstairs to see if there was anything vaguely resembling Guinness. I was greeted with names such as Fox's Nob, Gravediggers, Doctors Orders and Invincible. I opted for a light mild and went back upstairs to find JP. I think he was starting to get a bit tipsy. He was swaying in his chair to the music emanating from the Jazz band on stage and he doesn't like Jazz. Boasting about having drunk more than me I headed over to the Adnams counter and asked for a pint of their Oyster Stout which was supposed to be smooth with a delicate finish. I was informed that they were out but Tally Ho! was popular so I bought a pint of that. I looked it up in the leaflet only to find that it was 7.5%! It tasted of raspberry as well and was barely drinkable. I started getting slightly dizzy.

After that I have vague recollections of JPs challenges that resulted in the both of us drinking Skullsplitter and Ripper both at 8.5%. JP stood up to leave and promptly threw up. I started to feel embarrassed but there was no need. Everyone else around us was so wasted that they started cheering! One guy thought it was funny to slide back and forth through JPs lunch. Yuck!

I do recall walking home via JPs. I left him on his front room floor after he failed to hold on to the sofa. Tricky things sofas. You never know when they are going to stop being inanimate. Getting home proved to be a combination of pointing myself in the general direction of home and keep walking only to stop occasionally to inspect street signs rather closely.

When I did arrive back I decided that I would rather stay awake for a bit than throw up which is what usually happens if I try to go to sleep while the world is turning so fast. I vowed never to drink again as I finally started to sober up.