...must...control...fist...of...death...

It's one thing when I have to try to justify the system to people whose councils are nety contributors to the subsidy regime (ie they pay us rather than vice versa), but I find myself at a loss when faced with complaints where we pay them and have increased their allocations above inflation.

I shall be spending the next few minutes suppressing my sarcasm glands before preparing a response.

...must...control...fist...of...death...

It's one thing when I have to try to justify the system to people whose councils are nety contributors to the subsidy regime (ie they pay us rather than vice versa), but I find myself at a loss when faced with complaints where we pay them and have increased their allocations above inflation.

I shall be spending the next few minutes suppressing my sarcasm glands before preparing a response.

the week winds down

It’s awfy quiet here today in the office. I may try and sneak off around 4 or just after.

This weekend I don’t have to be up at sparrowfart to get to another city and that means that I can have my lie in. I have House s5e01 torrented and ready to burn, last Sunday’s opening episode of Tess of the Durbervilles on tape ready for sampling and some horror featuring Ann Widdicombe that Furtle expressed an interest in. Not sure about that, but I can watch last week’s Stargate Atlantis on the computer while she’s watching that, if necessary.

We are taking delivery of Furtle's brand new custom-built PC on Sunday, though we need to pick up a keyboard for it. I’ll take the opportunity to look in Maplins in the West End on my way home for a wireless keyboard/mouse combo, I think. Also see if there’s any new comics out at the same time, though I have (courtesy of Amazon,) a hard back copy of Ultimate Fantastic Four vol 5 in my rucksack, which I must not let a comic shop see lest they try to make me pay for it again¹.

Last night in the quiz we came third. Again. With the exception of the poor showing a month or so ago where we managed a measly 13 points, we seem to be almost perennial third place. This puts us neatly one place shy of the prizes every week and to add insult to injury, we are the most consistent team at the moment. Each time we have come third in recent weeks, teams one and two have been completely different (and usually loaded down with players unlike the pair of us!).

Last night was partially spoilt by the fact the quiz master’s mic stopped working four questions from the end, so those questions had to be given to each of the teams in turn and the final results were almost inaudible.

Since no-one has won the jackpot for ages, the roll over put it well over £550 last night. Next week it will be close on £600. I rather hope someone wins – we are now at the stage where ringers are coming in with huge teams hoping to win a wad of cash. I’d prefer one of the regular teams² to pick it up, but all in all I hope it does get won soon and then interest will recede back to the usual faces. The problem is, that even if you win the quiz (and that’s worth a £25 bar tab in its own right), there is only a one in five chance of selecting the winning envelope, so it tends to build up.

I think I must have had a neon sign over my head last night visible only to idiots and drunks (especially idiot drunks). One bloke in particular, a not very bright and possibly the most aggressively friendly person I have met for many moons insisted on telling us that with the vast jackpot available it must be rigged and the quiz master is making a killing by telling his friends the answers so they can win and split the money with him. It escaped him entirely that it would be an awful lot of effort to gain a 20% chance of winning the jackpot and that anyone capable of pulling off the required level of organisation to get an ever-changing roster of quizzers along would probably be bright enough to go for something rather bigger than a few hundred quid in a pub quiz.

¹Note to self: fish receipt out of waste paper bin and put inside flyleaf of book!

²Furtle and me by choice, but frankly any regular team would do.

the week winds down

It’s awfy quiet here today in the office. I may try and sneak off around 4 or just after.

This weekend I don’t have to be up at sparrowfart to get to another city and that means that I can have my lie in. I have House s5e01 torrented and ready to burn, last Sunday’s opening episode of Tess of the Durbervilles on tape ready for sampling and some horror featuring Ann Widdicombe that Furtle expressed an interest in. Not sure about that, but I can watch last week’s Stargate Atlantis on the computer while she’s watching that, if necessary.

We are taking delivery of Furtle's brand new custom-built PC on Sunday, though we need to pick up a keyboard for it. I’ll take the opportunity to look in Maplins in the West End on my way home for a wireless keyboard/mouse combo, I think. Also see if there’s any new comics out at the same time, though I have (courtesy of Amazon,) a hard back copy of Ultimate Fantastic Four vol 5 in my rucksack, which I must not let a comic shop see lest they try to make me pay for it again¹.

Last night in the quiz we came third. Again. With the exception of the poor showing a month or so ago where we managed a measly 13 points, we seem to be almost perennial third place. This puts us neatly one place shy of the prizes every week and to add insult to injury, we are the most consistent team at the moment. Each time we have come third in recent weeks, teams one and two have been completely different (and usually loaded down with players unlike the pair of us!).

Last night was partially spoilt by the fact the quiz master’s mic stopped working four questions from the end, so those questions had to be given to each of the teams in turn and the final results were almost inaudible.

Since no-one has won the jackpot for ages, the roll over put it well over £550 last night. Next week it will be close on £600. I rather hope someone wins – we are now at the stage where ringers are coming in with huge teams hoping to win a wad of cash. I’d prefer one of the regular teams² to pick it up, but all in all I hope it does get won soon and then interest will recede back to the usual faces. The problem is, that even if you win the quiz (and that’s worth a £25 bar tab in its own right), there is only a one in five chance of selecting the winning envelope, so it tends to build up.

I think I must have had a neon sign over my head last night visible only to idiots and drunks (especially idiot drunks). One bloke in particular, a not very bright and possibly the most aggressively friendly person I have met for many moons insisted on telling us that with the vast jackpot available it must be rigged and the quiz master is making a killing by telling his friends the answers so they can win and split the money with him. It escaped him entirely that it would be an awful lot of effort to gain a 20% chance of winning the jackpot and that anyone capable of pulling off the required level of organisation to get an ever-changing roster of quizzers along would probably be bright enough to go for something rather bigger than a few hundred quid in a pub quiz.

¹Note to self: fish receipt out of waste paper bin and put inside flyleaf of book!

²Furtle and me by choice, but frankly any regular team would do.