Telephone

It was a long day at work. At least after today I am off work for a week. I'm really looking forward to it.

On my way home I stopped and got some groceries and, when I got home, I realised my landline phone wasn't working. It said it was something to do with the phone line, and I've checked the connections and they seem fine. It's not a huge problem though, because I've got my cellphone.

Telephone Fixed

Last night I went out for a drink with my friend Alan, which was nice. I was off work today because someone was to come and fix my main telephone line. They came fairly early and it was all fixed up quite quickly, which was good, and the phone seems to work okay now.

Afterwards my mum called and we went to the Scotch Whisky Society for lunch. I had a burger and some beer. Mom had brought me a T-shirt she had bought in a sale at the Art Gallery. It has a quotation by Andy Warhol on it reading "Land is Really the Best Art." Also the free DVD of Ordet, which I got for renewing my subscription to Sight and Sound finally came, so that was good. Later this evening I'll be going out to my class.

Atonement

Last night I chatted on the phone with Emily for half an hour or so, which was very nice.

I took the day off work again today, because the guy was coming to measure the windows in my living room, bathroom and bedroom for double glazing. My mum came around as well, to make sure that all the specifications were correct. He was scheduled to come between ten and midday and he arrived at around quarter past eleven and was only here for a very short time. The windows were measured up and everything. They should be installed sometime before Christmas.

After the guy had left, my mum and I went along to the Omni Centre, which is a big entertainment centre including three bars, a gymn, a cinema and about five restaurants. Also, it's only about fifteen minutes walk from where I live. We went to a restaurant called Frankie and Benny's, which is kind of a 1950s New York Italian themed restaurant, decorated with photographs of famous American stars of the fifties, and posters advertising Frank Sinatra concerts, and rock 'n' roll music. I had an American Hot pizza, which was a thin ten inch pizza topped with tomato, melted mozarella cheese, spicy pepperoni and jalapeno peppers, with a Crunchy Cinnemon Waffle for dessert. That was a cinnemon flavour waffle, topped with two scoops of vanilla ice-cream, with toffee sauce and crunchy toffee flakes, along with a pint of beer. It was really, really nice. As it was a weekday lunchtime the place wasn't too busy, but there were still a fair few people there.

After our meal, we went to the Vue Cinema at the Omni Centre. Originally we had planned to see the two o'clock showing of Michael Clayton, but it turned out, when we wnet to buy the tickets, that the two o'clock screening had been cancelled to make way for a software convention. The next screening was in the evening so we ended up seeing Atonement instead. The film Atonement, directed by Joe Wright, was based on a novel by Ian McEwan. The film opens in England in 1935, in a large mansion in the country. The stroy revolves around a thirteen year old girl, and aspiring writer, who sees her sister (Kiera Knightley) and her sister's boyfriend (James McAvoy). Unable to understand exactly what she sees, the girl's overactive imagination causes her to make a horrible mistake which leads to tragic consequences, for which she spends the rest of her life trying to atone. The film's first half is set during a hot day in 1935 and the second half during World War II. The film is a very dark and very complex story. It was a really good film.

On my way home I stopped off at the supermarket and bought some cheese and onion sandwich spread for the rest of the week.

Fixing the Telephone Line

I didn't go into work at all today because of the guy coming round to check over my telephone line. The telephone guy came round about twenty to midday. It took about half an hour all told, but he was only in my place for a couple of minutes. It seems to work fine now, anyway.

This evening I'm going out to meet Michele, which will be nice.

Appointment

I was up quite sharp today because I had a dentist's appointment at quarter past nine. It was just a check-up. I have a dental check-up every six months. The next appointment is on 21 November, which feels ages away, although I know that it really isn't. The check-up went well, and my teeth are fine, more or less, although one has come in slightly crooked and will probably need to be removed at some point in the future.

Work was more or less the same as usual. I am off work tomorrow though because someone is coming by to fix my home telephone line. It'll be good when that's done, actually. I have to say, that I actually wish I had thought to take Friday off as well, because it seems annoying to be off one day and then in for one more day before the weekend, but I didn't want to use all my annual leave, without any real reason.

Phone Trouble in the Twilight Zone

I found out yesterday that there was a problem with my home telephone line. I'm not getting a dial tone and can't make or answer calls. Luckily it's not a major disaster because the only people who ever call me on my home line are my parents, and they know that it's not working so they can use my mobile telephone until then.

I watched a few episodes of the orignal series of The Twilight Zone last night. The first episode ("Perchance to Dream") involved a man with a weak heart who was determined to stay awake because he was convinced a woman was trying to kill him through his dreams. The second one ("Judgement Night") was set in 1942 and concerned a German man who finds himself aboard a British freighter with no memory of how he got there, but a strong sense of impending doom. The final one ("When the Sky was Opened") involved three astronauts who discover that, one by one, they are being erased from history. They were really good episodes. What I liked about watching The Twilight Zone was that you really never knew what you were going to get. Some episodes were funny, some were scary, some were science-fiction, some were horror, some were westerns, some were just outright fantasy. Some episodes were among the best things ever on TV, and some were just plain rubbish. however, as Stephen King once put it, "there was an acceptable ratio of trash to treasure".

Work was the same as usual. Very dull.

Afterwards I went to a bar on George Street called Le Monde, which I had never been to before and had a really nice 1920s style look, to meet Michele. She had recently come back from a holiday in Jamaica and had had a really nice time. It is always great to see her, and we had a really nice time. It seems like ages since I last saw her.