NiallOK’s Blog

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I’d resisted for ages, but NOW I want one… It’s the announcement that a lot of people have been waiting for. Finally… FINALLY… Apple are catching up with the rest of the phone manufacturers out there, and the iPhone is going 3G. Therefore it will be able to browse the web at proper ‘broadband’ speeds of up to (theoretically) 3.6 Megabits (dependant on network coverage and capability of course). Not only that, but it’s a tri-band phone - so will work practically anywhere worldwide, and it has WiFi for connecting to your PC or other WiFi device and GPS (satellite navigation). More details here and here and, well, on various other blogs which are far more techie than mine. Oh, and it will be priced in the USA starting at $199 - HALF the current price. I don’t see any indication yet what the price will be here but I would still expect it to be more expensive here than in the States as the original version was. Also, it’s still only got a 2 megapixel camera (and no front facing camera built in for video calls), but that doesn’t bother me.

I do hope that they’re now allowing you to use any MP3 as a ringtone instead of having to pay extra to download ringtone versions of songs from iTunes… I want to stick with my CTU ringtone

It will be available in various countries (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the USA) from July 11th. It’s already mentioned on O₂’s UK site which says “come back tomorrow to find out more”. I only wish it wasn’t exclusive to O₂ as I’m with 3 and actually like their service. Ah well… my contract is up in September…

Went to McDonalds today (won’t say which one) for a quick bite to eat. So much for my new year’s resolutions, eh? Broke both of them fairly quickly…

Anyway, I was sitting down, near enough to the counter, starting to dig into my double quarter pounder with just cheese, ketchup and lettuce - a burger whose size I wasn’t quite prepared for to be honest - when an asshole with a thick Dublin accent (the sort of thick Dublin accent that made him sound thick, to be honest) went up to the counter and after a minute started hurling abuse at the staff there at high volume.

When he got no joy from that, he called for the manager and started hurling abuse at her, eventually calming down after about 5 minutes and sitting down again. A few minutes later, a staff member went down to the table he was at with his family with a burger or something and had abuse hurled at her briefly before she escaped.

I asked one of the staff members what the heck it was all about and she explained that earlier, this guy had slipped on a wet patch of floor while walking down to his table. He fell, and his tray - full of food for 4 people - went all over him and the floor. After cleaning himself off and while two staff members cleaned the floor, he went back to the counter to get the food replaced. What made him fly off the handle and start yelling was that he was charged for the replacement food.

The thing is, the wet patch of floor was clearly marked. There were two or three ‘Wet Floor’ signs standing there, - and to compound it all - only 3 or 4 minutes previously a blind man with a cane had noticed and navigated his way safely around the wet patch thanks to those signs!! This guy though, just wasn’t paying attention - he didn’t look and ploughed straight through the signs onto the wet patch, slipping and ending up on his ignorant arse.

Then of course the pure embarrassment sets in for looking like such a tit, and the natural way to react to that is to deny responsibility and take it out on someone else - blaming the staff, blaming the manager, blaming anyone but your stupid ignorant arsed clumsy self.

The thing that surprised me most though was the sheer amount of abuse that the manager allowed herself and her staff to take from the guy. Frankly, if I was the manager I’d have told him to get himself and his family the hell out of the place immediately and never come back. Nobody should have to put up with assholes like that and staff should be more prepared to stand up for themselves and forget the age old adage of “The Customer is Always Right” … as it’s complete bollocks, really.

Today is day 16 for me off the cigarettes. It hasn’t been all stress, coughing, headaches and mood-swings - although all of those have been there to some degree.

They say the first two weeks are the hardest (… don’t they?) - Frankly I’d extend that to 3 or 4 weeks - and I was never a heavy smoker. They also say that each cigarette is 5 minutes off your life (… I always used the excuse that those minutes were at the END of your life and were usually pretty shite minutes anyway, but that was a piss-poor excuse at best).

Anyway, this recent ad, from Nicorette - is VERY true… My own poor agitated brain has been jumping up and down like crazy - just like this:

… and it’s a hard thing to deal with. With the agitation and the craving comes occasional migraines and times where it’s hard to think straight. The main difference is that I do believe it can be done with will-power alone;- I’ve never used patches, gum or any other nicotine replacement therapy. I’ve just gone “cold turkey”, as they say.

Mind you, as I said, I wasn’t a heavy smoker to begin with - but after 13 years or so, I’d definitely build up SOME mental dependancy on them. On the up-side, after a week or two of having a pretty bad cough (my lungs clearing the crap out - I presume), I’m breathing much easier now and actually managed to take the dog for a walk yesterday without coming home breathless and tired.

Oh, and things taste better… although that can be a bad thing too - I was already about a stone heavier than I’d like to be at the start of the new year - now I’m 9 pounds heavier again!

Oh well, I guess resolution no. 2 will help there…

Wow… this is my 300′th blog entry…

A lot of people have trouble with New Year’s Resolutions and sticking with them - and usually, I’m not generally one for making them at all,- the reason being that I find them hard to stick with if I announce them to the world at large and pick a time like that to start them. Usually, I prefer to give up bad things at an arbitrary date and not tell anyone about it - thereby reducing the pressure on myself and making myself feel like less of a failure if I don’t succeed. This time, however, I’m making an exception and have decided to make two resolutions that directly impact on my own health.

So, firstly - I’ve decided to finally kick the cancer sticks - which have been a blight on my very existence for the past twelve or thirteen years. I’ve tried giving them up before and the longest I lasted was 6 months, back about 4 years ago, but I always ended up going back on them with the excuse that I didn’t really want to give them up in the first place or I just liked them too much - giving them up for health reasons instead of the fact that I just plain didn’t like them any more.

Now I’m at the stage where I realise I’m addicted (which is a bad thing), realise that they’re bad for me (I feel short of breath far too often and suspect I may possibly be asthmatic) and, if I’m honest, I no longer like what they do to me. It’s going to take a hell of a lot of will power, especially as I’ve no intention of using any patches, pills, gums or other nicotine replacement options - it’s cold turkey or nothing as far as I’m concerned.

It’s going to be a little harder still as my fiancèe smokes (and she’s got no intention of giving up any time soon), and I suppose there’s the concern that I might gain weight, the main reasons for that being:

the nicotine contained in cigarettes is an appetite suppressant

smoking can increase the body’s metabolism (smokers’ bodies have to work to remove the toxins from cigarettes)

smoking affects how you taste and smell food (people often rediscover the joy of food when they give up smoking)

some people put food into their mouths rather than cigarettes

… but resolution no. 2 should help combat that somewhat.

And what is resolution no. 2? … Well, since I started working in a store in a shopping centre, I’ve grown a little too accustomed to popping down to the all-too-handy food court and stuffing my face with either Burger King or KFC at lunch-time and I’ve put on a bit of weight. Not a massive amount by any means, but enough to make me occasionally feel bloated, sluggish and unattractive (and even more so with the recent Christmas splurge of over-indulgence!), and I don’t like where it’s leading - so it’s prompted me to decide to cut down massively on junk food. I’m not going to go cold turkey on this one, but will only allow myself junk food a maximum of once a fortnight (oh… and while I’m at it, I’ll be cutting down on butter too - it’s one of my worst vices - and just generally eating more healthily in general). This resolution will be harder for me to stick to than the stopping smoking one - and that one will be bloody hard itself!

Now I’m sure these are pretty standard resolutions that millions of people try every year (and a large proportion of them, I’m sure, fail miserably) but I’ve decided that this time, with the new year will come a new me;- a fitter, happier, more confident me with a better future in store.

I’ve already sorted out the new job, and that’s just one step towards feeling better about myself. I’m being selfish with these resolutions, yes,- no resolution for being less grumpy, none for being nicer to other people or giving more to charity. You really do have to look after No. 1 before you can go looking after anyone else.

Certainly, I’ll save money if I manage to stick to these resolutions. Fast food doesn’t come as cheap as it used to (rarely will I see much change from a tenner) and with a pack of 20 cigarettes currently selling for €7.45 (or €7.50 in a pub), hopefully these decisions will go some way towards my main problem at the moment - that being a financial one.

I’m curious as to what tricks people use in order to deny themselves these little “luxuries” such as fast food and cigarettes which they’ve decided to cut out… if anyone has any suggestions (I ain’t gonna pay for them!), I’d be happy to hear them. I’m going to be pretty strict with myself - it starts on the stroke of midnight tomorrow night and no later…