LothedInJune&July

July. No. Ju lie. No, July. No, Ju Lie.

I am suffering sleep deprivation. As I wrote to Alex earlier, it feels like my head is trying to squeeze what's left of my brains out of my ears.

I've succeeded in thoroughly screwing my sleeping patterns this weekend. I've been reading Harry Potter. The thing is that it's really light reading, you don't need a lot of concentration, however, it's not the most fast moving of books, so I've ended up sitting till the small hours of the morning on Friday and Sat night reading it trying to make the story get a move-on through sheer perseverance. This is not to say that it's not enjoyable read, but that it just lacks the same charm as the prior books and isn't as well paced. The problem comes when as a result of being up late, role-playing on Sunday (design-testing a module for next Icon - already) and then moving on to work on Chris and my module, I was a little too hyped up to feel tired last night. Went to be at 12am - about an hour later than usual, lay there till 1:15am, Sat up and read for about 45 min (not Harry Potter, currently in the middle of the rather more heavy-going Neutonium Alchemist, by Peter F. Hamilton). Tried to sleep again, failed, eventually had to resort to extreme tactics (unfortunately I don't own or use sleeping tablets) and lit a candle to fool my mind into thinking it was twilight and thereby putting me to sleep. That finally worked and I managed to semi-surface just long enough to blow out the candle before passing out completely.

Anyway, enough of the blow-by-blow account of my night last night. My little blue tin-can ceased 'riding' on Friday afternoon and after much trials, tribulations and consultation it was eventually discovered that my battery had given up the ghost. So, after more trials, tribulations and being jump-started twice, Grant and I went and got a new one on Saturday morning, so it is all okay. Hopefully the service it's going in for tomorrow will ensure that it continues to be 'all okay'.

Dammit, why can't I go home and sleep?

I hate Microsoft PowerPoint.

Unfortunately, my job description involves a lot about working with it. Fortunately, we've been pretty much ignoring that aspect of my job description. As a result I've been doing a lot more 'real' design in my job rather than cleaning up the dog's breakfasts that get send to us by some of our idiotic clients. Except for every so often when I just can't evade it... like now.

Finally, my 'little blue tin-can' rides again. Yay, I am mobile once more. And if I turn up the radio and switch on the fan I don't even hear the fan-belt whining and the annoying rattle coming from somewhere around the front-right wheel. Ah, well, it was over-due for a service anyway. I also need to get the puncture in my spare tire fixed as well, it's going to be a while till I can afford to get a new pair for the back, plus get the large ding I put in the bumper before my smash-up fixed, and my car's rapidly approaching 100 000km's on the clock, which is about the time you need to start replacing all sorts of other bits inside. Sigh Havink a car, she is not cheep.

At least I can go out this weekend, and do my shopping on Saturday morning etc. There is something blissful about being able to choose when I do what I do and not having to rely on or bother anyone to get it done. Especially in Jo'burg where the public transport sucks! The shopping bit is especially important since I'm having a dinner party on Saturday for Grant's brother (and family) to say thanks for helping Grant partition off my room, and I've invited Roddy to say thanks for lifting my to work for the last 2 months or so. Thankfully, tomorrow is pay-day so I am going to be able to afford all this.

Apparently ICON left me with one more thing I failed to mention; Flu. I've spent the last two days sleeping and roving the house whilst battling it out with the dreaded ICON lurgie. Today I am back at work, for a variety of reasons, but mainly because; a) I'm better and b) it would have cost me about R100 to have stayed home (I'd have needed a doctor's note...)

I still don't have my car back. It's really pissing me off. I couldn't even phone them yesterday since Grant had unplugged his modem - and consequently the phone cables - and Alan's portable is a total enigma, which I failed to coax anything resembling a dial-tone from. When you've got flu, trying to mess around the back of someone else's computer is far too higher-grade for to deal with (well, for me). This morning I yelled at them a bit, but it'll avail me nothing in the long run. Sigh

Today has all the feeling of a spring-day, despite the fact that it's bang in the middle of winter. Blue skies, 21 degrees (higher inside), but the air still has that fresh nip and there’s a slight breeze. Mind you, it feels like a spring day in Cape Town. Despite having been in JHB last September, I don't know what a spring day here feels like. Best way to start a weekend, feeling like summer is on the way!

Oh, yeah, and Grant says 'thank-you' to the guys who stayed at our place over ICON for the nice prezzie (you got him chocolates, brownies and some nuts FYI). Also, be on the lookout for BobCon?. Should be happening in the second week of Feb next year, currently it's just a two day mini-con at Jabula, but considering that it's 50% organised and it's only July, it may grow a little... (this is what happens when you mention the 'lack of Con' to the right/wrong people).

ICON is over. In its wake I'm left with headaches, exhaustion, a costume that many people pray I will never wear again and a sense that something is missing from my daily life (other than my car).

Yesterday morning I woke up with a defined sense of disappointment. I have no Con to work towards. No LARPs or modules to write, no brochures and posters to design, no dodgy costume to create. Everyday at work I'm a slave to the deadline. I've become used to facing deadlines in the rest of my life as well and I'm feeling a bit lost without them. Which is decidedly odd seeing how much I hate deadlines. In fact, this insanity is so bad that I'm actually trying to figure out how to wrangle another Con for sometime in summer. My biggest dilemma so far is the venue/location issue. Where to have it, when can I afford to have it, and should it be in Cape Town or Johannesburg?

Fortunately, I think this insanity will fade as my life returns to its usual slacker state and perhaps, then I'll be able to shake the tension headaches that have plagued me for the last week. Owh.

I am now 24. It's just one short year till I hit that quarter century. Which, according to my car insurance, is accompanied by an instant improvement in my ability to drive. This however, will not be a relevant development, since I intend to have sold my car, left the country and to be partying it up in the Northern climes somewhere round London. For the fist time in my life I'll have birthday smack in the middle of summer - although with the weather in England being what it is, it'll still probably be rained out.

Tomorrow is the start of ICON. Yeegads, but I'm looking forward to it. Three days (plus one for the hang-over) of doing no work, having fun, drinking from far too early, partying late, basking in sunshine, spending time with friends, oh yeah, and role-playing. Whoot!

Oh, and the best thing is that I no longer have a house. Done deal. Papers signed, sent and deposit payed! One misery in my life down, now all I need it get my car back - hopefully in a decent working condition... And remove the two items of furniture Belinda left at the house (bookcases) for 'safe-keeping', since the bitch hasn't paid me what she owes...

Isn't he sweet? Ah, well, absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that shlock. It disturbs me slightly the number of people who believe that I've been in Joburg for more than a year. Nerine was asking me if I was coming back for my birthday like last year, except, I was still in Cape Town over my birthday last year. Can't remember if I had a party, but I was definitely there. So let me set the record straight; I left CT in September 2002 - most of you came to my farewell. There was a lot of scrabbling for photo's and much exiling me from my own room.

Anyway, the rest of my life is still an endless parade of suckage, pyschopths and too much work! Have to come into the office on Saturday for some 'team-building' thing. I'd rather sleep late and have time to continue making my costume for Icon.

Just to let you know that I am still alive. I will be making it to Icon, although what frame of mind I'll be in at the time is an unknown. It seems that I will not have a second house to pay rent on. It also seems that I will not have a car to get around in either. My car has been at the panel beaters for about three weeks now, I think - I'm losing track I've been without it for so long (it was with insurance for two weeks before that.). Apparently it'll be another ten working days. They're predicting I'll have it back around the 15th. I'm ready to cry. I was so looking forward to having my own transport over Icon, being able to keep my own hours and even get a chance to impress the Capetonians and Durbanites who need lifts with my knowledge of the back routes of this city. I told the panel beaters that I have a conference from the 11th to the 13th and could they please try hurry, but to no real effect. It's bloody depressing.

Other than more work to cope with, which I haven't been able to clear off my plate since I can't work overtime, my life has just been stress after stress. Nothing much nice to write about really, and not enough time to do it either. I've developed so much pent up aggression I'm definitely becoming a Gautengie. (thats Gautty, please! - YetiBe)

Well, my little blue tin can will ride again... Eventually. She is officially not written-off, in fact the panel-beaters have her at the moment awaiting the required spare-parts. Unfortunately, they can't tell me how long it wil take to get her back on the road again, which has me a bit twitchy since I very sick of not having my own transport. My greatest paranoia is that she isn't fixed by the start of next month, since I need her for Icon and Lara's coming up a week early to party and acclimatise.

I'm heading for Durbs tommorow. AlanKent (Fuzzy) and Laura are finally tying the knot in a fake castle upon the estate in Hillcrest called 'Camelot' - being where Alan's parent live. It's themed 'victorian' and I've spent the last couple of weekends, and lately every night, working on my costume for it. I now only have this evening and a little bit of time tommorow to finish.. but who need's sleep, that's what I've got a 5 or 6 hour car journey tommorow for. Which is bollocks, of course, since I almost never manage to sleep in cars and there's three of us in the back. The back of a Mercedes station wagon, but there's still three of us. I'm really looking forward to it, the durbs lot are always fun to see and it'll be nice to be somewhere not quite as dry and polluted. A long weekend like this is also a good escape from the hell of stress my life has been for the last few weeks.

All I need now is more money and my car back.

Polar fleece, the wonder product, everybody should use it!

Robyn's Tip for the Day (a regular feature in my life which doesn't usually extend to the wiki) is to all those boys and girls who are braving the cold and coming up to Icon in pursuit of the greatest role-playing and gaming event in SA. (Not that Dragonfire isn't fun, it just has far too much water and far too little alcohol going around.) My tip is: Polar fleece. It's wonderful stuff, just get mum to go out and get you a two meter piece of it from any decent fabric shop, or take a trip out to Station market on a Wednesday or Saturday and get some yourself. Alternatively you can convince the family that they need to invest in one of those fleece throws that Pick 'n Pay and Mr. Price are selling, although you'll get a lot less for your money, the throws being about R90 for a smallish one where as R50 or R60 at a fabric shop should get you the ideal sized piece (about 2m x 1.5m). Wrap yourself in this, throw your usual bedding over and you will warm up in a few minutes, and spend the rest of the night so toasty warm that the over-rated karoo temperatures of minus-something won? trouble you for a moment. Better yet, fold in half, cut a hole and you've got a snuggly warm costume for Russel's peasant LARP or wrap it around yourself as a cape in the farie Larp.

Icon this year, btw, looks like a bumper edition, not so much on the LARP side, but I've been putting the brochure together and I'm already having trouble picking what modules to play in what slots. Dylan's Deadlands or Perry's Delta Green, etc.? The only thing I'm certain on is that I will play Russel's final module in the L5R? trilogy and I will be playing Shosuro Imoko. Or else! And large pair of bolt-cutters feature heavily in the 'Or else!'

Anyway, my life still sucks, have to go phone my insurance again. They're taking their time, presumably can't decided whether my car is written off or not. Sigh

I do hereby, in the name of me, crown myself Lord Bob, Ruler of Nothing - and lot's of it.

I reckon that it's a pretty uncontested title and makes me the Ruler of the Universe on the grounds that well, nothing is the space between stuff, and there's a hell of a lot more space between stuff than stuff itself. This makes stuff a minority. It's a one woman one vote system. I'm that woman, I have that vote.

Any donations to my re-election campaign will be gratefully accepted.

And yeah, I reckon if Bob is short for Robert, it can be short for Robyn too.