R.I.P Iron Lady

Margaret Thatcher died today at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke.

Can't say that I was a Thatcherite or that I agreed with all of her politics but she was a woman in a man's world and in that, I really admired her.

I really can't be arsed with all the hatred or 'glee' that's come out on the news of her death, but then, nobody in my family was a miner, nor in any occupation that could go on strike. In fact, my folks did well during the Thatcher years and for that, I thank her.

R.I.P

Class

According to a recent survey, the old traditional classes of working, middle and upper class are outdated, and that there are now 7 classes of society in Britain:


Elite, Established Middle Class, Technical Middle Class, New Affluent Workers, Traditional Working Class, Emergent Service Workers and Precariat.



Using the old rule, I would have put myself between working and middle class, closer to working than middle.

Apparently, I'm in the third group, Technical Middle Class, which is
"A small, distinctive and prosperous new class group, that mixes socially with other people similar to themselves, work in research, science and technical fields and enjoy emerging culture such as going to the gym and using social media."

I don't work in research, science or technical fields, I'm in finance! And I wouldn't count myself as prosperous although I guess owning property and having some savings means prosperous these days.

Check out the Class Calculator here - it's not serious, just a bit of fun.

Exceeds Expectations again...

Gosh, months have flown by already, so let's start with my annual appraisal at work where I was marked as 'Exceeds Expectations' for 2012 so that's two years in a row now - not bad, considering I didn't think it was such a great year for me work-wise.

As usual, no team bonus for me but....I'm going to be eligible for 2013! I think I was a little dumbstruck when my boss broke the news to me as I never thought that the powers that be would ever change their stance on this.

I asked why the change of heart/policy - apparently, they decided  to "reward me" because despite my knowing that everyone else got a bonus these past few years and I didn't, I continued to graft without complaint,   actually increasing my work output, which hadn't gone unnoticed - that was the bit that shocked me more, that anyone actually noticed! So a great result for me, quite unexpected, I'm well happy about that, though will be happier when I see that bonus in my bank! Next....ask for a pay rise but that might be hard with the economic climate as it is.

So, the coldest March in a long time - been snowing in bits here but as usual, missed out on the big snowfall everyone else is getting, although it's bloody cold.

Not been up to much these past couple of months - been on a few dates, wined and dined in posh restaurants but nothing more than that; I'm not certain I could cope with more than that right now.

I've been catching up on a lot of tv/dvd watching - 'Walking Dead' is probably my favourite programme at the moment, closely followed by 'The Following' (hehe!)

Been out a couple of times both with the usual girlies and also the gym girlies - I swear my hangovers are getting worse with age!

His Master's Voice

The first bad news of the year relating to the British economy came with the high street camera retailer Jessops announcing closure of all their stores in the UK.

I was sad for the loss of all those jobs but I wasn't overtly bothered, having never really been a customer of Jessops.

However, the news that HMV, the last music 'giant' retailer on the high streets, has gone into administration has really saddened me.

Like many customers, because of cheaper prices, I've shopped less at HMV and more at other online places but I can say that I've always shopped and purchased something from HMV - just not as often as I used to.

And soon, I may not be able to shop there at all. Gutted that I have some vouchers still but that's not the point. I recall spending many a happy hour or two browsing in various HMV stores, looking at CD album so obscure bands, often buying their 3 for £10 deals.

Hopefully, some deal can be made to keep some of the stores on the high street.

Books 2012

Here's the usual list of books finished last year:

(I'll sort links out at some point)

1.   2666 - Robert Bolano (Crime/Thriller)
2.   Knife of Dreams - Robert Jordan (Fantasy)
3.   Sanctus - Simon Toyne (Crime/Thriller)
4.   The Good, the Bad and the Undead - Kim Harrison (Horror)
5.   Fever of the Bone - Val McDermid (Crime/Thriller)
6.   The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss (Fantasy)
7.   Die Trying - Lee Child (Crime/Thriller)
8.   Serpent Mage - M Weiss & T Hickman (Fantasy)
9.   Voyage of Elysian - Paul Vincent (Sci-Fi)
10. By Schism Rent Asunder - David Weber (Sci-Fi)
11. A Storm of Swords - George RR Martin (Fantasy)
12. Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer (Horror)
13. The Retribution - Val McDermid (Crime/Thriller)
14. Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins (Sci-Fi)
15. The Monkey's Raincoat - Robert Crais (Crime/Thriller)
16. Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson (Sci-Fi)
17. The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi (Sci-Fi)
18. The Gathering Storm - Robert Jordan (Fantasy)
19. The Snowman - Jo Nesbo (Crime/Thriller)
20. The Phoenix Conspiracy - Richard L Sanders (Sci-Fi)
21. The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco (Classic)
22. Flashforward - Robert J Sawyer (Sci-Fi)
23. Tripwire - Lee Child (Crime/Thriller)
24. Perdido Street Station - China Mieville (Fantasy)
25. Fatal Voyage - Kathy Reichs (Crime/Thriller)
26. The Desert Spear - Peter V Brett (Fantasy)
27. Sphere - Michael Chrichton (Sci-Fi)
28. Cell - Stephen King (Horror)
29. The Japanese Devil Fish Girl and Other Unnatural Attractions - Robert Rankin (Fantasy)
30. A Feast For Crows - George RR Martin (Fantasy)
31. Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds (Sci-Fi)
32. Baptism - Max Kinnings (Crime/Thriller)
33. The Honour of the Knights - Stephen J Sweeney (Sci-Fi)
34. The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins (Non-Fiction)
35. To Ride Hell's Chasm - Janny Wurts (Fantasy)
36. Action: PUlse Pounding Tales Vol 1 - Matt Hilton (Crime/Thriller)
37. Attack of the Bacon Robots - Jerry Holkins (Graphic Novel)
38. Gardens of the Moon - Steven Erikson (Fantasy)
39. Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman (Fantasy)
40. The Fall - Garth Nix (Fantasy)
41. Blackout - Connie Willis (Sci-Fi)
42. The Short Victorious War - David Weber (Sci-Fi)
43. The Way of Shadows - Brent Weeks (Fantasy)
44. Peace Warrior - Steven L Hawk (Sci-Fi)


Broken down:

Crime/Thriller- 11 books
Fantasy - 14 books
Sci-Fi - 13 books
Horror - 3 books
Non-fiction - 1
Classic - 1
Graphic Novel - 1

Compared to last year, broken down as:

Crime/Thriller- 13 books
Fantasy - 11 books
Sci-Fi - 9 books
Horror - 6 books
Fiction/Other - 1
Non-fiction - 1
Classic - 1

My reading is still pretty balanced, so not really one genre more than another. Goodreads helps me keep it that way!

A new record of 44 books. See if I can beat it this year!

Another year over...

So...a week into 2013, yet 2012 seems so long ago...

I had a fabulous Christmas, celebrating it in Hong Kong for the first time with the family. It was a very short but sweet trip.

One big difference I noticed was that unlike in the UK, people were not out in shopping centres in their hordes, madly looking for bargains in the sales, because there were no sales.

I also went to a shopping centre the day after Boxing Day and it was...virtually void of people, a first for me!

Another first was nearly missing my connecting transfer back to the UK - running through Zurich airport and being the last one on the plane! Phew!

So what's new for this year? I don't know really. I haven't made any resolutions, but I guess I will 'resolve' to do / not do stuff at some point.  I don't seem to have a lot of motivation at the moment so the year hasn't started with me invigorated - I think I'm suffering from jet lag and lack of exercise has made me feel lethargic!

Looking after the pennies I guess will be a big factor, as I have another trip planned soon so I can see me being in  Skintsville for the first half of the year at least. All my utility bills have gone up, or rather, all the direct debit payments have increased - bummer.

Since I've pretty much been to all the gigs I want to go to over the last few years, I guess I could save there (ie not go to any), although going to Leeds again is still on the cards, depending on who's headlining.

Keeping up this blog? I don't know that I'm ready to definitely call it a day yet but we'll see how inclined I am to update this. Maybe give this another year, dunno.

I'm still playing WoW but not so much these days. Must be starting to lose interest as I started to play another game recently, The Secret World, another MMORPG but which has no subscription fees.

Top voice characterisation (although the 'Londoners' speak like bad extras off 'Eastenders' or from 'Mary Poppins'), fantastic storyline and creepy music means I get kinda scared playing it (and there are zombies to kill), so I'm only playing it for short periods at a time (or during the day at weekends lol - I'm such a scaredy cat!)



Anyway, all the best to all for 2013!