Hate

I prefer hate.

When I love someone - be it a potential/current/former partner - I can be highly emotional, I worry about things too much, I drift off into daydreams.

But when that person does something so vile, so vicious, so downright evil to me, it all comes back in to sharp focus.

No more emotion. No more crying. Just pure, unbridled hate.

I feel better. I feel stronger. I cannot wait for the day when he realises the damage he has done and I can just walk away.

I think he must be mentally ill. I normally say "Oh I hope they get help so they can heal". No. He got himself where he is and he can stay and rot there.

I feel fabulous!

Adventures in the Business, Part 3

Thought I would dust off this old relic! This series never really took off because I could not be bothered to attempt to remember what we used to get up to but I am in a mellow mood tonight...

Working for a band, you would often be introduced to other celebrities.

This is going to sound horrible but I just didn't care...

(Employer, all excited) "Do you know who this is???"

"Yeah it's Gwen Stefani's old man"

"It's Jude Law..."

"Oh..."

Don't get me wrong; I will be civil to most people (unless they are asking for it...) but I could never get excited about someone who was famous.

I managed to offend more than a few over the years by not kissing arse but I like to think my down to earth nature kept them a little more grounded...

A few celebrities have managed to piss me right off over the years due to their rudeness *ahem* Miley Cyrus, Brittney Spears, Charlotte Church... but mainly they are just people I drifted past along the way.

I sometimes get asked to share celebrity stories but I just can't remember any; that is the number one guaranteed way to make my memory fail.

Oh, go on then!

Hollywood bar. Vacuous bitch from a certain heavily-scripted LA-based reality TV show that is no longer on the air. My martini looked so much better on her than in my glass. And she still owes me for the designer shoes she ruined when she randomly vomited on me...

Living the dream.

Ways to improve Newport, Part 1

Dog mess bins.

Seriously, there are none.

When I lived in Swansea, you had dog mess bins every couple of blocks plus there were places where you could get free bags along the beach so you could clean up after your hound. The streets were pleasant and the city looked cared for.

Newport.

Hmm.

I guess no one does care but still...

I once took my dog out for a walk and he performed about 10 minutes in to the adventure. I (obviously) cleaned up after him but there was no bin. I actually walked 3 miles before I found any bins and this was just a regular one at a bus stop, not a doggie one. No wonder the streets are filthy!

There are places I will not walk any more because it is just so dirty. In fact, the next street over from me is so piled high with crap that you can no longer walk on the pavements. People can't think this is acceptable!

The council need to invest in some bins and actually enforce the fines for people who do not clear up after their dogs. The revenue from that would easily finance the cost of the new bins. This little effort would create a city of responsible dog owners and make Newport look like someone believes the city is not going to die.

Come on, now.

I'll even sponsor a dozen bins if it helps.

Life in a call centre, Part 27

Been a long time, my dears!

The problem with this series is I lack inspiration now that I work in a totally different environment. The anger I felt at the call centre has diminished over time and I would not be true to the tell-all nature of this series if I tried to force it.

Today, however, I remembered one thing that haunts many companies these days.

Facebook.

On my first day at the call centre, I was warned to be very careful what I did on Facebook. As it happened, I was not actually on there at that time. I soon started hearing the stories, though...

Two newbies had joined the company in the induction before mine. End of day one, they both had a rather public discussion about how shit the company was. They were gone by day two.

Many long-term relationships were destroyed due to tagged photos from the staff Christmas party...

But that is all small and pretty standard for most companies.

The best involved one of the ladies from the finance department...

She was fucking rude. Plain and simple. That too. Hell, she had owned (and used) the same handbag since 1988. She would get on the phone and basically shout at you. She was also prone to making very serious mistakes but she had been there forever and no one seemed to want to do anything about her...

Until one day one smart guy decided to set up a Facebook tribute group for her. It was filled with all of her best quotes and a few unflattering photos. Oh how we laughed! But that is cyber-bullying and the company had to act. They were unable to find out who was behind it so they did the next best thing; any staff member that "liked" the group got presented with a stage one disciplinary. Yeah, that seems fair...

Eventually the group disappeared but only after a memo went out, stating that any further Facebook fun would get us fired...

Spoil sports, the lot of them...

Facebook ads

I cannot be the only person who has noticed that the Facebook ads that appear down the right hand side of your screen are getting more and more invasive. I am sure you only used to get two or three but they seem to be multiplying at an alarming rate...

Today's selection include a Capital One credit card that demands I APPLY NOW because THE CLOCK IS TICKING. No. Then we have O2 suggesting we make a Facebook poll to help us decide what smartphone to get. I assume this is aimed at people too stupid to do independent research on Google... Ooh then there is eBookers with their "Only 1 days to go". One days until what? Until you can hire someone that understands basic English?

Moving on...

"A diet trick that has helped celebrities lose 1 stone per week". Wow. That sounds... healthy... There are also ads for BBC learn Spanish (I am listed as fluent on my profile), learn to sail in Greece, and hair dye.

What I don't get is that Google are able to tailor their ads to suit your profile in gmail. As Facebook evidently cannot survive without the revenue, why can they not do the same? I mean, I would still ignore the ads but I find unsafe diets and general vacuousness annoying...

The classic one was this, of course -

Discover Fleurcup!

Discover the many advantages of the menstrual cup Flerucup for only 14,99 (around £13). Available in 6 colours and 2 sizes".

Umm... what? You insert it into your vagina. Why does it matter what colour it is? Are the dyes used even safe? Mooncup comes in one colour. You don't need more than that. It is not a fashion accessory, after-all.

I have never been one for adverts at the best of times but fuck me, Facebook, you can do better than this!

Get well soon Tony

Wishing all the best to Tony Iommi

Happy Birthday Coze