The Patent Dragon's Zone of Soul Retraction

Well, here it is - the first proper day of the Christmas hols. A weekday with NO work... and I'm unable to inspire myself, or even summon up the energy to relocate upstairs. It's really NOT good enough, I have to admit. Tonight, I change that.

Today is apparently a "Bank Holiday", and I guess that means that the next postal delivery is likely to be tomorrow. Will I see the missing Amazon consignment, or should I just call it quits on that? It's annoying little things like that - and too many others - that gnaw away on my concentration...

...gaaaah - I'm just not used to this holiday stuff any more. Kenny's dad in South Park pretty much hit the nail on the head when he said "When you're unemployed, weekends are meaningless", and this is like a big weekend. Yeah, I'm working now, but I've only had a couple of extended weekends since I started, and by those I mean May for Kiss, July for CLAN, August for Seasick Steve and October for Doctor Who Live, none of them a proper getaway. A serious lynch-pin for the whole mess is, as always, The Move, and I'm thinking that will be delayed and delayed, and that uncertainty will gnaw and gnaw... and gnaw.

I'm starting to think that, in order to get ANYTHING moving, I may have to make The Move unilaterally, and relocate to Site B even if I have to do it on my own. I think I know the reason for the delay - a promise a certain member of the family is going to have to keep when The Move takes place. A little something to do with a certain health issue that's something of a thorny matter...

Right. I'm going to do a few bits of business once I post this, then I'm logging off until 1) I've completed some writing, 2) I've finished watching last night's football, and 3) I have watched Die Hard 2 in its entirety.

Advice to interface designers for anti-virus software - do NOT make your End Live Support Session button look like a SEND button, and DON'T put it in a place where it can easily be clicked by accident! I just wasted a whole HOUR of my precious 'net time trying to address a (hopefully) non-critical problem, and in the end it all came down to Big Shiny Button Syndrome...

And now I'm too pissed off to do pretty much anything this evening.

Oh, and I utterly HATE Windows Vista (file under Work Related "Where The Fuck Is (insert program name) On This Piece of Sh8?" Incidents).

This is just the wrong time of year for this kinda crap. And tomorrow, another viewing - which means I have to "clear the decks" before I go to work. Great.

Update! Sod it. I'm watching Dogma.

This Just In! Just received the final components of the "Seven Gifts of Patent Saturday"!

( Recommended for the adventurous and open-minded only! )

Guess that'll be me finished spending for this year...

...but then there's the VAT hike in January. I may have to do my audio-visual purchases for The Move before New Year. Grrrr...

Ugh. Weather-wise, today has seriously sucked. Cold, slippy, snowy - now windy (Siberian, apparently), and tomorrow's not going to be any better, by the look of the weather reports. I'm giving serious thought to not going in to work tomorrow; hooray for flexible working!

So, what's the score today? Presents arrived = 0. Phone calls received re: delivery plans for auction items = 0 (mobile reception at work is dire). Need I say more? I bloody hope not, 'cause that's all there is...

Oh, there's still development ongoing for Mane-of-Night: Flight 102 Is Overdue", and another chapter due for posting tomorrow - probably for bed at this rate.

Ah, sh8. All this snow down South - there's barely an inch on walls and car roofs here - is bound to delay the more expensive elements of the Seven Gifts of Patent Saturday plan. Guess I should be glad I was able to get gifts 4 to 7 in town, and my "stocking" won't be empty on the day.

Heavy snow is expected by/during tomorrow. Maybe work will be "snowed shut" this week, but I'm not counting on it. The current weather looks to be curtailing Move-related activities today - I have an unpleasant history with icy pavements...

It's "Yay!" Time... So, I'd thought I'd won a £10 prize off the Lottery a couple of draws ago. Today, I remembered to go and claim it...

Actually, it turns out my Lucky Dip on the same ticket was so similar to my main numbers that I ended up with two three-number prizes - £20 in total! Not my luckiest day, but the good fortune is most welcome.

Move News... The general opinion is that The Move won't be happening as soon as planned, which is annoying. If we're going to do this, I'd rather have it over and done ASAP - guess I'm going to have to indulge myself to make up for the protracted chaos. Patent Saturday isn't very far off, but I don't think I have time for any truly "extraordinary measures" (high-end hotel weekends and the like)...

Development News... Chapter 7 is GO as MoN-205 Flight 102 Is Overdue moves into its next phase. Some of our cast are still to "report in", but that's about to be rectified in the next few chapters as this particular train keeps a-rolling!

Following on a railway-related theme, the success of MoN-205 has rather derailed plans to get Season Six of The Darkhawk Diaries completed by year's end... BUT if the current story gives me a real creative kick-start, it'll be a small price to pay. It's not as though the world will end if I miss this target, which was wishful thinking rather than a set-in-stone do-or-die deadline. It would've been nice to start 2011 with a clean slate, but given the upheavals there have been, and will be between now and the New Year, it's really not achieveable - unless I surprise myself yet again. Hey, it could happen...

Uh Oh... I'm three weeks and three days away from Patent Saturday 2010, the first of two that qualify for a particular Mission 101 task

65 - Celebrate each and every Spiritwalk (May 22) and Patent Saturday (December 1) like they really mean something (which they do!) (1/3, 0/2)

- but so far, I have nothing particularly special on the cards. Again, The Move influences things, even though the actual relocation may not happen this year - but I certainly have the funds to make something above and beyond the norm happen. I do have some Move-related luggage in mind, but that's hardly exciting...

Again, I'm surprising myself by wishing The Move was progressing a whole lot faster than it is. Work still needs done at "Site B", and our success rate with workmen keeping their appointments isn't that great so far, and there just seems to be one or two "key-stones" that need to be shifted before the present "log-jam" gives way. Somebody get their finger out so I can start getting things in order - there's a whole heap more needing done... and I've lost count of the number of comic boxes that'll need shifting!

Meanwhile... Ye gods, the trophies for the Brazilian Grand Prix are bloody awful...

Okay, here goes...

There we go - the official "The Move" header icon, depicting the first thing I hung up in my office-to-be. This cheery face represents a heck of a lot - embracing the key event of The Year Of Change, letting go of the only home I've ever known...

Intense stuff. Moving some stuff in has changed the nature of the whole business, but there's still going to be some difficult moments, and a whole bunch of shipping stuff from one place to another. They say "get one room totally sorted before you do anything else", to give yourself some kind of refuge - well, that's not going to be the office, not by any stretch of the imagination. The bedroom is a better option in that respect...

Meanwhile - on the Mission 101 front... Remember

88 - Create usable stage/screen/cosplay props of three pieces of costume or equipment from my own projects

- well, I'll pushing something special into high gear...



This is going to be fun.

And Finally... Purely by chance, I came across an excellent cover version of Frank Marino's "World Anthem" - the anthem of Dominion!

News From THE MOVE... Guess that's it absolutely official now - stuff has been moved to "Site B", and half a cupboard here is now empty(-ish). There is still a loooooooong way to go - I mean, I haven't even touched on the books and comics yet...

This, of course, means that there are going to a be a whole bunch of "Busy Saturdays" between now and completion - and that means a whole bunch of writing opportunities set aside between now and whenever this comes to its conclusion.

At least there isn't a danger of me getting a dose of whiplash from this endeavour, unlike sitting at my computer and falling asleep at the keyboard.

In Today's Episode... The Pandemonicum Symphony: First Movement draws to a close, and the battle is, in part, decided. Some have paid a heavy price; others leave the field of conflict burdened by the knowledge that this struggle is far from over, and far more complicated than it first seemed...

Release Notes... Stay tuned for an epilogue. Trust me, this one matters.

Elsewhat... Right now, I'm busy avoiding the Korean Formula 1 Grand Prix result. Oh, the joys of "Create and Craft"...

...talking of which, I'll be hunting down all kinds of projects to carry out using the modest supply of 550 paracord I just got - I really need a new "keychain" - and I'll be continuing my furniture hunt. The Bedroom needs shelves, The Office needs... oh, a decent office chair, that non-metal computer desk I've been wanting...

87 - Get a decent computer desk that DOESN'T have a metal frame!

...stuff like that. A "wish-list" is on the cards, I'm thinking.

But first, it's time to master some more knots - I've already had a few goes at the "monkey fist"...