Sunday, 11th July, 2004

Hmm, if I'm not very careful, I'm going to end up having a totally wasted summer

Or at least, if I continue approaching each day like today then I will. Part of my problem is that I don't have anything remotely like a Plan. In general, I sit down infront of my Mac in the mornings, think "tra la la lots to do" then piss about on the web for hours, watch some TV, smoke lots of fags, and before I know it it's already the evening and another day has gone down the drain.

The worst part of it is that I delude myself sometimes into thinking I've done lots. Last week for example, I made one phonecall on Monday morning, and then used that as The Thing THat I Did That Week to convince myself that I'd been productive.

I guuess the truth of it is, that I don't want to do any work I want to just swan round the house all day in revealing dresses, drinking coffee then switching to wine in the evening.

Although actually, it would be quite nice to do that then have friends round for wine-in-the-garden at night. But I'd have to change back into a boy, or the neighbours would see

(Today is making no sense BTW — I'm just typing with no real purpose)

...

Something's been troubling me for a few months. In about 4 weeks time, it'll be time to renew my Sky+ subscription, and I'm in two minds about it. On the one hand, I love being able to do all the things that the Magic Box lets me — pausing telly, saving the rest of a programme if I'm about to go out, recording a whole series — but it still feels like a luxury that I could probably do without. I mean, is £40 a month really good value for hundreds of channels of shite?

Ack, I dunno

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One thing I MUST do today is shave my legs. I did them the other night, when Kath did my hair, and they're starting to get a bit stubbly. Now, in all honesty, I'd rather let them grow just a little bit more so I can wax them, but I might just give them a few weeks of shaving first. Either way, I've got to get down and dirty with a loofah for to stop them all becomming ingrowing hairs.

Isn't it crap when that happens? You end up with nasty little red spots all over your legs, and a horrible itchy thing going on. I've found that a loofah can really help (as can something else, which I'm not going to divulge cos everyone will laugh at me and wonder where in the hell I got the idea from)

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Sorry about today — this isn't exactly the most witty, inciteful and well written thing I've ever done — I'm just a bit frustrated at stuff today. It doesn't help that the crossword is currently beating me (although inroads are gradually being made), nor does it help that my bedroom is in a bit of a state...

...just remembered something About a year or so ago, I (shock, horror) bought myself a school uniform (well, I'm allowed to aren't I?) and I must confess, it slightly annoyed me. Not in the way that the French Maid's uniform annoyed me (it was too big), but the skirt of the pinafore was really wierd.

tries to explain It was stitched funny at the bottom, and rather than being all princessey, it made me look like I was wearing a baloon.

Thing is, Kath pointed out to me the other day that when pleated things get sent in the post, they have the bottoms tacked so that the pleats don't fall out and get crumpled. So all this time I've been looking daft, and all I need to do is unpick the stitching round the skirt.

...

Shall I just stop talking utter bollocks here, and go and drink coffee? Yeah

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Oh, and just to further exasserbate my grumpiness today, I missed the start of the British Grand Prix

Arse

...

Oh dear, I am not a popular mother this evening.

Let me explain ... a few weeks ago, I noticed some dirt around George's neck. LIttle black clumps of dirt. Now, had I not been knowledgable on the subject, you would have forgiven me for mistaking it for just dirt. But, I'm well versed in things around cats' necks, so I knew exactly what it was.

George had fleas

Fleas are horrible little things. I think they probably rank in the same league as wasps — absolutely pointless creatures who should be systematically wiped out by big cans of insecticide

Anyway, over the years, my cats have had fleas every now and again. FUnnily enough, it's not been every year. But when it happens, it's always in the summer. I gather that central heating means that flea-season is all-year round these days, but when it happens for my lot, it's only in the summer. I've tried a lot of things on them — powder, spray (and I really wanted to try those bomb-things that you set fire too), but the only thing I've found that really works is a combination of Frontline and Nuvon Staykill

("Staykill" — gotta love it "Kills the bugs, and keeps them killed" — I should be in marketing...)

The problem with sprays is that they make the hissing noise that cats hate — Biscuit would run a mile if I even took the lid off an aerosol. And the problem with powder is that it's shite.

Before I discovered Frontline, I used to do what I could with powder, but I inevitably ended up pulling hundreds of fleas off Biscuit with a comb. Yuk. I used to do it next to a bowl of boiling water, just to make sure they were all dead.

The problem with fleas is that they're really hard to kill — you can't just swat them with your hand. One year, it got so bad that the minute you put your foot down on the floor, there would be at least five that would jump on your ankle. Seriously, it was gross. BUt if you swatted them, they'd either just jump out of the way, or you wouldn't have hurt them at all.

So yeah, where was I?

I realised George had fleas, and it was a pretty good bet that Biscuit and Tish had them too (actually, it's been bloody obvious that Biscuit has them. She's taken to spending a lot of time on my bed, and has been leaving the tell-tale little black spots — ie. the flea-poo — everywhere). Kath's just Frontlined her cat, so she gave me three of those sachets that you put on the back of the cat's neck, and this evening I did Tish and Biscuit (George is hiding)

So that's why I'm not popular. Even though it's for their own good. But isn't that the way with a lot of things in life?

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WHoah — wierd! The minute I finished typing that, there was an advert on telly for Frontline. THat's been happening to me a lot today. Strange