Take a walk in my shoes

How much?!

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:27:29 GMT

So I just got my car Tax Disk reminder through the mail and they want £170 for the year!

Now consider my last pay check (which included a bonus) came to £130... yeah and the government big wigs wonder why people wrack up so much debt.

Having one shift a week really sucks hairy monkey balls!

Rant over!

This is Benji Dude asking you use my car tax money sensibly and fill in the damn pot holes!

Yeah! Another year older!

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:55:41 GMT

Tis my birthday today! Hooray! I'm 29! Yay! No, wait, that's not good. That's nearly 30! Oh shit I'm so old! Where's all the time gone? Why can't I be young again? With no worries and no bills?

Oh well, at least I got some cool stuff for the day:

Forge World Space Marine Apothecaries
Forge World Relic Contemptor Dreadnought with two assault cannons and a missile launcher
£20
An I.O.U. for a curry
And some Kromlech Marine legs and Power Glaives... that I brought the other week... shut up! It still counts as a birthday gift!

In other news, I found out that despite having experience coming out the wazu! I'm apparently not good enough to get a job working at Warhammer World, not even good enough to get an interview. It's a bit of a downer to get the news on my birthday but what really pisses me off is the total lack of an interview especially when they're only giving phone interviews.

Agh!

Still at least I've still got my job selling shoes.

And Birthday and stuff! Yay!

This is Benji Dude asking you to grow old disgracefully...

Christmas Time, the time of joy?

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 12:55:22 GMT

So another year and another Christmas, here comes the list of presents!

Transformers Tshirt
Nintendo Goomba Tshirt
Box of chocolates
Darksiders 2: The abomination Vault
An owl mug
A new Wallet
£20 M&S voucher
Jumper
The Avengers DVD
The Dark Knight Rises DVD
Offspring: Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace CD
Money tin

So there we are. First post in 10 months and not a lot to say, maybe more next time!

This is Benji Dude, wishing you all a happy new year!

POW! Right in the kisser!

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 11:32:55 GMT

Got t-boned on Sunday, just had it towed away, might end up being a right off depending on the damage to the sill... great.

Just as well then that the other party are paying the lot.

This is Benji Dude, asking you to always check your right side when entering a roundabout.

Once more unto the celebrations!

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 19:50:03 GMT

Another year, another birthday.

Lots of birthday wishes but the noticeable absence of one. Still it was a good day, even if it was spent working... making computer games! Bo-yeah!

List of pressies to come after the weekend.

This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes.

Well it's that time of year again...

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 17:45:05 GMT

Greetings one and all! Merry Christmas and all that!

So the only question anyone ever cares about at this point of the day... What did I get? Well sit down, shut up, and I'll tell you a tale about a boy who got some stuff...

Family Guy Season 10
Family Guy Season 11 (with free t-shirt and Big Bang Theory script")
Cauterize Disguises album
Pink! Greatest hits so far (don't judge me!)
Forgeworld Tau XV84 Battlesuit (it's a wargaming thing)
water bomb catapult
Old Speckled Hen gift set (booze and pint glass)
Dove for men shower set
Legend of Zelda themed t-shirt
Paint your own Stegosaurus money box
Table flickball
headphone wrapper
"I <insert image of heart here> my computer" mug
Transformers: Foundation graphic novel
socks! (gah! Again!)
various sugary treats

So there we go! Not a bad haul in all!

This is Benji Dude wishing good to all on this day.

I have a new phone!

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 18:27:07 GMT

I've gone and got myself a new phone! A Samsung Galaxy S2 to be precise and I'm finding it to be awesome!

That is all.

This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a gander at my new phone!

Yay for road rage tossers!

Fri, 06 May 2011 11:00:29 GMT

So last night I had my first experience with road rage, don't worry I wasn't the one raging, it was the other guy.

So there I was minding my own business, heading home after a long day at work (this would have been at about 10:45pm), just got onto a dual carriage way heading home, admittedly going faster than I should have been and thus I was in the outside lane, you know, going fast. When the guy behind me decides to ride my bumper for a bit then thinks it's a good idea to overtake me on some hazard lines, misjudges the distance before the central island separating the two flows of traffic, goes onto the wrong side of the road (so he's driving into the oncoming traffic).

Of course I just keep going thinking "What the fuck is he doing?" and come off the dual carriage way at the next roundabout, think nothing more about it and continued on my way home. This guy speeds up to catch up to me, tries blinding me with his full-beam headlights, no problem if the guy wants to be a twat I'll just dim the rear view mirror. Then as we approach my home village decides to ride my bumper again, while looking for a way past me. He goes really slow over the speed bumps through the village then speeds up to catch up to me, of course knowing what the speed bumps are like in this area I just casually go over them at an average speed. Unfortunately for me there's a bus in front of me by this point, the guy rides right up to my bumper (seriously, I couldn't even see his fucking headlights) and tries to pin me in up against the bus. However being the (reasonably) sensible driver that I am, I left enough room for myself to over take the bus, which I did once it had stopped at a bus stop.

Of course the guy quickly pursues me, rides my bumper again, then over takes me on a narrow stretch of road, I honk my horn at him for being such a twat, he then forces me into stopping in the road. Gets out of his car comes over to mine and then has the balls to claim that I was in the wrong and somehow forced him onto the wrong side of the road, oh and he ended up quoting the speed limit on the dual carriageway. Of course I pointed out to him that he was going well over the speed limit, he had to be, I was and he was going faster than me, of course that means nothing to him because I forced him onto the wrong side of the road.

It's worth nothing here that I just kept on going straight while on the dual carriageway and at no point did he actually get past or equal to my car, he was behind the whole time and could have easily slipped back behind me or even undertaken me. Granted that's as wrong as trying to overtake on hazard strips but there was infinitely more room on the inside than the outside.

Anyway, words were exchanged, another driver honked his horn (quite rightly too) as he drove by because this twat was standing in the middle of the road as he bared his grudge, once this other driver had driven by the twat got back into his car and drove off. Unfortunately for me, I was heading in the same direction he drove off in and so had to stick behind him, so what does he do? Periodically slammed on his breaks trying to get me to go into the back of him, or just trying to piss me off, either way it didn't work and a few yards down the road I was able to turn off at the mini-roundabout and continue on my way home, fuming at the fact that this guy was trying to put me in the wrong.

And relax. Breath in.... and out..... and in...... and out....

In hindsight what I should have done was driven him around the houses, seeing as he was so obsessed with following me, I could have made him go back and forth criss-crossing the village all night long. Then if he did eventually get me to stop, I should have just either not wound down my window or done a 3-point turn and drove off.

Oh well c'est la vie

This is Benji Dude, asking you to not be a dick on the roads.

GARH!

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 19:11:34 GMT

Why does life have to be so fucking difficult?!

Bailiffs are a pain in the ass!

Having more than one job makes life far too complex!

Throwing in a part-time course and things just get silly!

Today has been rather shit.

Understatement.

Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Benji Dude, walking, shoes.

Another year...

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:26:05 GMT

It's now March which can only mean one thing! I''ve gotten another year older!

For those of you not keeping track, that makes me 27 years old... I'm in my late twenties now... truly old... over the hill.... round the bend... downhill from now on...

It's been an odd birthday for me this year, there was no buzz, no excitement, all been a bit flat really but hey-ho I still got some presents:

Tau XV9 Battlesuit with Phased ion cannons
Tau XV84 Battlesuit
Samurai Jack Season 3 DVD (thus completing the set! Get in!)
Two bags of Haribo Starmix
Box of Celebrations
T-shirt
£10
£20 gift voucher

Oh! I asked a girl out the other week... didn't go too well, this one already had a partner, I sure do pick 'em!

Girls asked out: 2
Dates accepted: 0

This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my old and smelly shoes!

Off to a good start then...

Wed, 05 Jan 2011 14:15:36 GMT

So then five days into the new year and I've already been turned down by a girl and had windows loose my "local profile".

It's going to be a good year, I can feel it!

Thankfully with a little help from my good friend PJ I was able to get everything back to normal, well I say normal I've still got a couple of folders that are acting doolally but that's a whole other issue.

Anyway, girls! They seem to be everywhere these days...

I asked one out yesterday, only to be told that she already had a boyfriend, not all that surprising really but at least I asked her out, new years resolution and all that. Keep a look out in my posts for the dating tally.

Girls asked out: 1
Dates accepted: 0

This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my new 2011 shoes.

So long 2010!

Fri, 31 Dec 2010 21:47:57 GMT

So here we are final few hours of 2010, the heart monitor is barely registering the heart beat of this old decrepit sod. Meanwhile down the hall some poor lass is pushing out a fresh 2011 for us all to enjoy.

How are all these medical references going for you? Any good?

No I didn't think so, I'll stop now.

So new year! Yay! I figure that makes it about time to post about my Christmas haul!

T-shirt with Navi from Zelda saying, "Hey! Listen!" (tis blue and quality!)
Two pairs of Simpsons socks (So now over 70% of my socks are now Simpsons related)
XV9 Tau Commander model for Warhammer 40,000 (Pictures of the fully painted model coming soon hopefully)
Box of Toblerone (Mmmmm toblerone)
A set of small handheld screwdrivers and spanners (The power of spanners and screws in the palm of my hand!)
A set of pliers and clippers (Very swanky!)
A tube of Haribo Starmix (Because kids and grown ups love it so!)
A tube of Milkybar Buttons (Yes, I am the Milkybar kid!)
Ironman 2 Special Edition DVD (Yes, I'm also Ironman, and I kick ass!)
Extreme Drinking Straws (they're extreme and need cleaning thoroughly before use)
Top Gears Alternative Highway Code (I see nothing alternative about it!)
Simpsons Desk Calendar (It replaces my old one)
Two Cadbury's Selection trays (Mmmmm chocolate)
Two shower sets (Mmmm showery)
Bon Jovi Greatest Hits (2CD version) (Well, I do live on a prayer)

So then now that the Christmas haul is out of the way time for the other point to this post, new years resolutions. This year I've gone for something quite simple, namely:

To ask more girls out.

See simple, though I do suspect it could end with my face turning a darker shade of red than it is already, oh well, someone is bound to say yes eventually... right?...

Anyway rock on 2011!

This is Benji Dude, asking you to get shit faced because nobody's got work tomorrow! Yay!

Cars are a pain in the ass!

Sun, 28 Nov 2010 20:27:08 GMT

So life has been plodding along, new job is going well, recently had an, eventful, trip up north for a uni reunion. The weather is turning cold (winter is definitely here to stay folks!) and with Christmas just round the corner money is starting to get a bit tight, so what does my car decide to do?

Start making a rattling noise when I start the engine...

I called out the AA after dad had a look at the engine and suggested it was the timing/cam belt, the AA guy agreed and suggested getting my car towed to a garage. Unfortunately the garage I take my car to to get fixed is always closed on the weekend, so now my car is sitting in the driveway, waiting for the garage to open up and give me a time slot to bring it in for repair so I can ring up the AA again and get them to tow it for free (because they're nice like that).

"But dude" I hear you ask, "How much will it fix to repair?"

I'm looking at paying at least £100 to fix the belt, the damn thing isn't even broken, it's just loose but apparently it'll be £100 to tighten it up again... At a time when I don't think I can really afford to spend £100 on the car.

Considering its the festive season I don't feel too festive.

How can you deal with something like this?

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 13:11:15 GMT

Some of you may be thinking wtf was up with that last post, some of you know already. But basically last Tuesday (September 28th) my pet cat Tabs died. She was an old girl at 19 and thankfully she died peacefully in her sleep, I found her in the garage as I was on my way to bed at 1am-ish. I buried her in the garden Wednesday evening and today I've brought some flowers to put on her grave.

Every time I get up in the morning, or come home from town, I catch my self expecting to see her somewhere in the house and I have to remind myself that she's no longer with us. Even when I'm at work unless I'm actually serving customers I'll find myself thinking about her, either something she used to do or more often how I found her. Although she had died in her sleep she must have fallen to one side as I found her on her side in a most uncomfortable position...

I'm finding it really hard to cope with this loss, if you've got or had a pet no doubt you understand and sympathise when I say it's like loosing a family member. Because well, she was family, sure we didn't choose her, she just turned up and we decided to feed her one day and that was that.

I keep chastising myself when ever I think I'm doing alright, "Was being apart of my life for 19 years really only worth a few days morning?" of course she's worth a lot more, but then why do I keep telling people I'm doing ok? I'm clearly not, mum has seen straight through my façade.

I don't know, I've not had to deal with anything like this since I was about 7 when my dog died but then I knew when Eve was going to die because we were putting her down and most of my feelings of loss where transferred to Tabs who had turned up within the last year so I've never had an absence of a pet before.

My life just feels empty without some kind of furball to keep me company. But I don't want to just replace her, she was too important to me, too many shared memories. Besides I can't afford to buy another pet and the parents have expressed their reluctance to get another pet for the foreseeable future.

At the moment the only thing that does give me comfort, though it doesn't stop me from welling up (yes big boys do cry), is the fact that the night before she died she spent most of the night either sitting on my lap or just sitting next to me on the sofa. It was the first time in a few weeks she'd done it and I can't help but think she knew her time was up and wanted to show her love and affection one last time.

And I thank her for that, I shall cherish that last night for the rest of my life.

This is Benji Dude, trying desperately to get on with his life...

An ode to a friend

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 18:58:58 GMT

I had a friend
She was small
She was quiet
She was my friend

She never complained
She never moaned
She was always there for me
I was always there for her

My friend is no longer with me
She's slipped from my grasp
Never to be heard from again
She was the best anyone could ask

I had a friend
But now that friend is gone from me

Guess who went to A and E yesterday...

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:11:43 GMT

No not Buddy Jesus! It was me! Let me tell you a little story...

I got up at about 9:10am, got dressed ready for work (urgh) went to the bathroom and had my usual morning shave (this is after doing the call of nature stuff). I put my shaver down (at approximately 9:15) and felt an itch on my nose, so I did what any normal person would do, I ran my finger along the end of my nose to rid my self of the itch, next thing I know, there's blood on my finger and more of it dripping into the sink! A nosebleed! A bloody nosebleed! I hadn't had one of those in years.

So anyway, hand to nose, lean over to the loo roll and stuff some paper up the nostril, that should do it, these things usually only last a couple of minutes...

Ten minutes later (and a second load of paper) and it's still going strong. So I did what any young man living at home with the parents would do, I knocked on their bedroom door, in true typical retie style mum was still dosing, "I can't get it to stop" I said, that got mum up, "Stop what?" mum asked, "This nose bleed" I answered. A quick explanation of what's happened and I'm in the kitchen with a bag of ice on my nose. I ring work, well try to, there's no answer. And my nose keeps on bleeding. So I'm standing there in the middle of the kitchen, onto my third load of paper the clock quickly reaching the point where I should be heading off to work (9:30) and mum suggests the walk-in centre, sounds good there doesn't seem to be any signs of this bleed slowing down.

Get to the walk in centre and manage to ring work just before heading in at about 9:50, boss is cool with it, not there's a lot he could really do anyway but that's beside the point. Anyway I walk into the walk-in centre, "What's the matter with you?" charming, "I've got a nosebleed and it's been going for 40-odd minutes" took my name and other details and I sat down... in reception... with a bloody nose... five minutes later I get called through to see a nurse, where I recite what I told the lady at reception, only to be told to take a seat in reception again, well that's just awesome...

Another five minutes and a nurse comes along and take me off to an examination room (mum quickly following behind). Again I have to recite what happened, only to be told that 1. because it's gone on for so long I'll have to go to A and E and 2. they can't stop the bleeding at the walk-in centre because they haven't got the right kit, fan-fucking-tastic. So mum starts driving to A and E (after I ring work and tell them I'm heading off to A and E), only problem is, she can't remember the way! Cue diversion to the local supermarket to get dad, who's working.

Get into Leicester city centre and are navigating the many winding roads to the hospital, getting closer, when come 10:50 (or there abouts) my nose finally stops bleeding, never mind, should still go and get it checked out, just in case it starts up again. Park at the hospital, on the far side from A and E... thanks dad... walk through two buildings before getting to A and E, recite the story twice to members of staff before being admitted, quickly get seen by a nurse, where I have to tell the story again... (I'd got it down to a fine art by now) answer the usual questions (allergies, medical problems, etc) get my blood pressure taken, apparently I have a low heart rate, "do you do a lot of sports?", "not really", no response... the nurse disappears and a couple of minutes later a doctor appears, recite the story, "Do you do a lot of sports?" no... he has a little look around the nostrils. Tells me to go home, take the day off work and just relax.

So yeah, I had a mega nose bleed that lasted about one hour and thirty minutes, quite impressive I think you'll agree, the best thing of all though, 4 day weekend! \o/.

This is Benji Dude, asking you to talk a walk in my shoes.

Good news everyone!

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 11:55:46 GMT

I've decided to write a new blog post!

Nah only joking, the good news is that I'm gonna be a student again! Awesome cakes! I've gone and enrolled on a games artist and animation course with Train 2 Game an industry made and run learn from home style course. I'm really physced about it as it has an 18 month placement at the end of it (the course its self is 18 months). So hopefully (fingers crossed, touch wood) I'll be in the industry I've tried so hard to get into with in 2 years.

Yay!

In another news, work is still shit, I'm still single and I still haven't done anything about those holiday snaps from China... oops!

This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my student filled shoes.

Blocked ear grrr...

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:42:59 GMT

My left ear has been blocked since Friday, pretty sure it's just ear wax build up but it happened while I was swimming. I ended up getting some water in my ear (as one is prone to do when swimming) so as normal I stuck my finger in there and waggled it about a bit, pretty sure the water came but my ear has been blocked ever since.

Yesterday I went to my local GP to see if I could get the bugger syringed, only to be told that I'd have to have it blocked for three weeks before they'd even think about getting it syringed. what the fuck am I meant to do with a blocked ear for three weeks? It's driving me mad already, I've been using Otex ear drop stuff since Sunday and it's doing very little grr...

They used to say you only had to have a blocked ear for a week before they'd syringe it which is alright, but three weeks! What difference is another couple of weeks going to make? You'd have thought that after one week if shit ain't moving it's not going to move within the next two. Ludicrous.

So yeah, blocked ear so I'm semi deaf, it's uncomfortable so I'm irritated and it's stopping me from getting a decent nights sleep. And they want me to stay like this for three weeks!? Fuck sake.

This is Benji Dude, asking you to just do what I fucking want you to!

So, what really happened?

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:56:48 GMT

Yeah yeah yeah, that last post was a bit "wtf?!" but lets move on shall we?

So, yeah, Sunday was my 26th birthday, it was a good day as I spent it with my uni mates, as was most of the weekend, we got drunk, played some poker and a few computer games, a good time was had by all.

But what's better is that I got my presents today \o/, mainly because my parents decided that this last week was a good week to go on holiday... but I'm not bitter... so here comes the list:

Hammerfall, best of CD
Samurai Jack Season 2 DVD
Mini Glitter Lava lamp
Battlefleet Gothic Rule book
Battlefleet Gothic Armarda rule book
£40 cash
£25 gift card for Marks and Spencer
£25 gift voucher for play.com
Box of Cadbury's Heroes
Haribo Starmix (2 bags)
Cadbury's Mini eggs (2 bags)
Oh and Sunday lunch paid for by the guys

So yeah, good hoard, I am happy.

This is Benji Dude, asking you to talk a walk in my shoes.

Another year older...

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 23:50:10 GMT

Today I turned 26.

Today I aged another year.

Today is a good day.

Today I have good friends.

This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my slightly older shoes.

For someone very special... part 2: The plot thickens

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:10:58 GMT

So yeah still don't know who the card is from, the girl I txted on the day thought I was being sarcastic and had no idea I had actually received a card until I thanked her for it while we were both at work. So now I'm pretty much back at square one, I have two possibilities at the moment, 1. There's a new girl that started at work a few weeks ago, could be her, she seems very quiet and shy around me. But I'm probably reading too much into it. 2. It could be from a random customer.

To be honest with you though, I'm starting to get mixed feelings about this card now, I'm partly happy, paranoid and freaked out about it. I just wish the person who gave it to me would come forward.

More as it happens.

This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes.

For someone very special...

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:40:52 GMT

So today is Valentines Day (you did remember didn't you?) and like most years (well every year actually) I wasn't expecting to get any cards. So imagine my surprise when I turned up to work today and my boss no less told me that there was a "letter" waiting for me, initially I was shitting my self because I though it was a letter from the upper management or something but once he handed me the letter it was pretty clear it was a Valentines Card.

I have to admit that it has made my day, and bring s a smile to my face every time I look at it (it's currently sitting on my desk), certainly helped pass the time at work.

Of course the big question is, who is it from? I thought I knew who it was from, as you'd expect they didn't leave their name. Anyway I sent them a txt message as time was short before I started work *shakes fist* as yet, I have yet to receive any acknowledgement from the lady in question. Of course as the day has gone on and I've been left with no response my mind has been cracking up the paranoia and all sorts of possibilities have reared their heads, some more pleasurable than others.

More on this most curios case as it develops.

This is Benji Dude, asking you to take the risk on this special day for that special someone.

Achievement get!

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:28:55 GMT

I've sold my first car! Even managed to get the asking price for it. I r happy.

This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes.

Well, that was.... pointless

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 01:54:29 GMT

So me and Chloe, no more. Yeah just like that. Seems things weren't working out so she killed it.

That is all.

This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes.

The internet is a funny old place...

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:36:43 GMT

So there I was sitting at my PC a few weeks ago minding my own business when I got this email from a woman wanting me to do some Photoshop work for her, "No problem" I thought, quickly responded, oddly quickly got a response back. Bit of banter back and forth and before you know it we seem to have hit it off. It's still early days, obviously seeing as we've only been communicating by email and msn for little under a month now but... I'm quietly hopeful that things will really kick off.

Here's the girl in question:

Her name's Chloe and she lives in Montreal (the French talking side, can't have it all lol) and she's really quite cute, you know, for a French girl...

So, fingers crossed that this turns into something nice.

This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes.