So, when I took my headlamps off for the TV show promo, I should, perhaps have looked a little more closely. They’re not sealed beams at all. In fact, they appear to be ‘mini’ headlamps – which I find slightly ‘disconcerting’ because I paid for them as new… and if they were new… why did I get mini ones. But at any rate, they needed replacing – the rust had eaten away at the metal at the bottom which is what’d caused the silvering to go all manky.
So in the end all I bought that I didn’t need for the MOT was two spare headlamp bulbs – which is not exactly too painful.
I managed to get the energy to fit them just as the light started to fade outside. It’s fracking cold out there. Having spent yesterday under the lift at Kwik Fit – who’ve resealed my exhaust (did I mention that yesterday? Apparently we’re not that good at fitting exhausts. The guy pointed out our mistake – we put the clamps on too far away from the start of the split in the pipe which means that instead of clamping them shut they form a sort of V shape allowing the gas to escape from near the start of the slit) I now really want to have a lift – when I own a house I think I’m going to have to see about buying a lift – as long as I’m looking after my car the whole time myself. Anyway, he resealed them so *hopefully* the MOT test shouldn’t be too traumatic. I hope. I hope it’s gas-tight in the engine bay – I can’t smell fumes in the car so…
Apparently I didn’t ramble about this yesterday.
Anyway. Other more interesting stuff, potentially
Yeah, so I spent last night online – killing time trying to stay awake and trying to find people to chat to because I’m still down, although not nearly as down as I have been, and chatting to people keeps me feeling much more cheery. That, and I like chatting to people. I also wanted people to chat to because having been up since 5:30 am and done an 8 hour shift, then spent the day running around like a maniac – I managed to have a dissertation meeting (which meant leaving my shift an 2 hours early and then me finishing my meeting earlier than expected – in that hideous period of time where I felt guilty about not going back – but also realised that if I did go back I’d not do anything worthwhile); dash back, get to Kwik-Fit, go home and eat (‘cos it was half 3 and I’d not eaten since 5:30), post the package for my mum, get to pick up the video recorder, get back to the car-parts place and pick up new lamps, get home and cook (a not very exciting dinner), watch Life on Mars and The root of all evil, and yeah, so I was beginning to feel a little tired.
Anyway, so I posted that sarky remark on my LJ and on my website journal about everybody sucking – and suddenly I gained a person on my IM list. And I was struck, today, by the oddness of it all. Particularly, when, in a fit of boredom I googled her (I hope she doesn’t mind!). Just to see, and found a really interesting journal also by her – or at least by someone with the same name and profession.
Which made me wonder, what happens if you google me. And I’m really anonymous. It helps that my name is… common (and the name of an author too), I guess, but even adding various search terms about me (e.g. dyke, lesbian, bristol) doesn’t help. I still don’t appear. Sadly, if you put in Kate Elliott Morris Minor Bristol I do finally appear. I still only make the 4th link on Google. Which I find interesting.
It’s amazing how the internet has changed my life though; I mean, I’m lousy at meeting people irl; I just don’t seem to have the gene for ‘meeting people’. I meet people online, that’s how I meet people. This has kind of lost it’s thread, this post.
It was kind of a flow of conciousness, and if I carry on, it’s not going to get any better. Anyway, it basically came down to the weirdness of talking to someone in an entirely other country (who it turns out seems very interesting – and looking at her journal far better at expressing some of the opinions I share). – finding you share some opinions, and yeah, generally the oddness of the internet and how small the world can be.
Of course, also how…big it can be. One of the things about living in a country is you fairly quickly get to know the major political parties – because they’re ubiquitous. They pervade the media environment, you may not know who the leader is, but you know roughly who they stand for.
I know that Tories are right wing, Labour are less right wing but now god-squad too, and Liberals are in what used to be the centre. BNP are a bunch of racists (don’t worry guys, I plan to leave…); Greens are just that and the Monster Raving Looney Party is filled with raving looneys…
I even, thanks to the fact that America is big – powerful – and alledgedly our ally – know a small amount about US politics – The Democrats who are vaguely leftish but who are about as much use as that paper you get in a Bath’s public toilets; and the Republicans who are a bunch of funamentalist christian rightwingers.
But even despite having a prod at various Canadian election sites, I still didn’t really have a handle on the Canadian election at all – because without spending a lot of time reading about each party I couldn’t easily get a fix on what they each stood for. But after my 2 hour chat, I kind of understand (at least superficially) the Canadian politcal landscape. Which is nice. Although concerning.
The general rightward shift in politics appears to be a western phenomenon, not limited to just the UK and the US – which I find, as a left-leaning political creature, a worrying trend. Anyway. I’ve just noticed it’s 20 past 5, so I’m going to head off and do some work before lunch*.
*Yes Lunch. I’m working nights, so it’s coming up to lunch time, although I’ll eat something ‘dinner’ like now, becuase then I can eat something ‘lunch’ like in the middle of my ‘day’ which won’t involve me having to warm stuff up at work.
