The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

Fishies and sponges
23:14 Apr 29 2007
Times Read: 852

Today was good. Didn't have to go far to clean today's pond - woman was a pain, she didn't want pipes running across her lawn, she wanted me to carry water bucket by bucket along the path!



Hmmmm 3m x 2m pond and we skimmed off top 50cm - that's 3 cu m of water or 3 tonnes of dirty water up the path and 3 tonnes clean water back !!! So I was very diplomatic and suggested I ran the hoses along the path - she wasn't happy but the job must get done.



Anyhow it all looked really nice when I left and her husband was well chuffed when got back.



Came back to watch (and stir) a little fight in the VampBox - the main person wouldn't stand a chance in my debating society because he was anchoring his statements with generalities:



"people say" yeah right, you say but you don't have the guts to say its just you and maybe one or two others



and "I do more than that" in this case he couldn't know just how many that was, so he can't make that statement



In debating circles he would be called a sponge, dunno why, but that's what we call them

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BIRD BOX UPDATE



Looked inside today, there's a spider's web ... that is all

The game is on :)
15:56 Apr 29 2007
Times Read: 869

OK there's a challenge been made on my 'game' -



I think the key has to be to capture the 'procurator' on the line



This has nothing to do with why I have been going on and off lurk since I have got back home hehehe

Fish
18:17 Apr 28 2007
Times Read: 877

Back from Oxford, did you miss me ?



Got up way early but it only took about 90 mins to get there because the motorway was empty.



The customer was really nice with endless cold cans of coke cos it was a hot day.



He'd just bought the house and the pond was like pea soup. Its so big we can't drain it without risking collapsing the walls, so I start to vacuum it through the filters and haul out the big stuff with a hook on a rope.



After about six hours I am now brushing the filters along the bottom of the liner, all the silt has gone - I have mounds of foul smelling gloop and buckets of slime all along the pond edge - but the water is cleanish



The filter is working a treat and, as the water clears, I see a fish !!! Living in that mess of a pond was a sole survivor



Anyhow we stretched a canvas across the end of the pond for fishie and left the guy to go buy some plants - I think he really just wanted a plant pond, but now he's stuck with a fish

Fishies
20:23 Apr 27 2007
Times Read: 882

First day working on a Saturday cleaning ponds tomorrow. I have to get up really early 5am (!) because we're working in Oxford and thats a long way away ... wooooooo



So I've rated the new stuff, looked over the forums and answered my post - now at 8pm I'm off to bed



Night night reader

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BIRD BOX UPDATE

Still nothing but there was some bird crap on the roof of it ... its a start

Bird Box Update
21:44 Apr 25 2007
Times Read: 887

It's dark, checked it with a flashlight just now - nothing ... stay tuned

Firefighter!
12:45 Apr 25 2007
Times Read: 895

Long lunchbreak break out today and boy did we deserve it !



Today we went to a Fire Station, to look at firefighting things ... started out boring enough, learned about the fire triangle just as we had in science, learned all about the different type of extinguishers and smoke detectors as we had in science ... *yawn*



Then this instructor guy 'Dom' arrived and announced "This is boring, let's go set fire to stuff". Awesome, he lit a lot of different fires and we had to get the right extinguisher for the job and put it out ... way kewl, and we all had to put out a fake chip pan fire with a fire blanket.



Then he drove out a fire engine. Its a long way up I can tell you, we pressed the switches and played with all the lights and noise - I spoke to someone called "Andy" on the radio. Mark got to sit in an old car while the real firefighters cut the roof off.



I went up in a sort of hoist. That was OK but I wouldn't have been able to do anything that involved letting go of the sides while I was up there. Dom said the turntable ladder is 4 times higher but it was out, just as well or I would have been first to the top .... maybe :)



Just as we thought it couldn't get anymore fun, he started uncoiling hoses ... So two of us hung onto the end and tried to knock a bucket off the top of a wall with the jet ... LOL we can put out fires so long as they're really high up or really low down, we just couldn't get the darned water to go where we wanted it



Then we went into a smoke chamber. Now this smoke isn't like bad, you can breath OK in it, it just stops you seeing far. The chamber was a small L shaped room with a door at each end and stairs leading up them, all we had to do was find a lifesized dummy and get it outside.



Jodie and I were OK til they shut the door, then we found a bed, then we bumped into each other, then we found the bed again, after a while we found the 'body' in a corner and tried to pick it up. Strewth it was heavy, so we grabbed a leg each and dragged it towards the wall, then around and around a lot of walls until we found a door.



When we came to the stairs there was this sort of *bump* *bump* *bump* *bump* *bump* *bump* as we dragged body down the stairs (I don't think the professionals do it like that). Jodie had to go back up the stairs to get our dummy's head - we then burst out through the 'in' door but eh ... mission accomplished.



Lunch in the car park of Stonehenge on the way back, but we're all back now, stinking of smoke and dried sweat ...



gtg more food beckons

При́п'ять (Pripyat)
23:22 Apr 23 2007
Times Read: 907

I'm betting most people won't remember what happened tomorrow morning or even heard of Pripyat, but I'm putting this on here today so its in place for the anniversary

---

The harm was done in my parents day, long before I was born,

So very long ago but still the people mourn



The experts, they came and went, so proud of their design,

returned to mother Russia, to live in homes so fine.



They sat so many miles away, knowing it wasn't right,

but the need was great and people there didn't know just how to fight.



The city was Pripyat, Ukraine, still no-one knows its name,

the monster was built, the experts left, none to bear the shame.



A lot of faults, a lot of problems, no system without a quirk,

some people complained but were sent away with orders to make it work.



One brave man complained so hard, he even wrote a letter,

This man was sacked and replaced so fast with one who knew no better.



One cold night, a switch was thrown, a chance to run a test,

No fear was felt for everyone trusted those who must know best.



The test it failed so very fast, at worst it should've lost power,

but none would know that those poor souls would die within the hour.



They fought so hard to save the monster, the flaws exposed too late,

they knew the price of failure, but they couldn't stop its fate.



The men reacted very fast and skilful things were done,

but in 43 short seconds their fight was overrun.



No-one would praise these brave men, their memories would not linger,

the designers, to hide their shame, were quick to point the finger.



For those who went to work that night, could not argue from their grave

the experts would lie and cheat, their reputations to try and save.



The truth came out, the world would know, the monster should not have breathed,

the monster died that very night, but its not its death that's grieved



No-one knows of Pripyat, that empty city, so mournful,

but everyone knows of that monster, that monster called





















....Chernobyl.



© Artemka Pannat, 2007

A great day
11:20 Apr 21 2007
Times Read: 934

My Sunday fish pond job is great, I really like it - it's a mixture of technical stuff, knowledge, experience and skill - where you're mostly on your own happily working away letting your mind wander while the fishies swim around you.



My Saturday job is washing cars. It's really hard work, pretty simple and the boss keeps watching you and lining up the next car when he sees you're nearly done with the first one. Your mind can't wander, you sorta let it go numb



My fishpond boss had offered me to work Saturdays and any other holiday I wanted to. Today I was going to tell the car wash boss that I was quitting.



The fishpond job pays slightly less than car washing but I figure more hours doing something I enjoy will be better all round.



I was really nervous and chickened out from telling him when I first got there. Anyhow HE called ME over and said he has sold the business and the new owner might not want part-time people.



I managed to look sooooo hurt and said that I only wanted to work for him not some other guy and maybe I should go [allowed my voice to crack up a little towards the end]. I finished the car I was doing and left.



Boss paid me for the whole morning and gave me an extra £20 !!!! woooooooo



So I called my fishpond boss and told him that I was going to work for him more and he was really happy.



An awesome start to the day, going to go into town now and buy ERAGON on DVD

---

BIRD BOX UPDATE



Nothing yet, stay tuned

Database
14:19 Apr 20 2007
Times Read: 949

LOL 14 days after I said I had just put the database over 1,600 entries - today I just put it at 1,700 :)



Considering the very best rate of adding stuff must only be about 10 an hour - thats 10 hours + of work in just under 14 days - not bad at all



Well I'm happy, even if no-one else notices :)

---

BIRD BOX UPDATE



No bird in there yet, stay tuned

withdrawal symptoms
09:55 Apr 19 2007
Times Read: 959

eeek couldn't got on VR at all yesterday afternoon/evening, in fact couldn't get on the net much at all.



Everything overran and I had to straight to the swim meet without going home. I had the compelling urge to click things and bash keys with my fingers - was horrible

---

BIRD BOX UPDATE



Still nothing :( Beginning to wonder if its broken LOL

Torquay
22:49 Apr 17 2007
Times Read: 964

Today I went on a trip to Torquay.



On the way back I saw something worth mentioning: sorry if some people don't understand UK road stuff.



Minibus is moving along at about 80mph on the motorway. There's a roadside box flashing lamps and a big '40' showing. Then another ... then the overheard signs are flashing lots of lights and '40' in every lane ...



By now we're respectfully avoiding looking out of the windows in case there has been an accident - yeah right



About three more sets of flashing overhead lights and '40' on all lanes



Then the overhead signs show two lanes closed and ordering everyone to move over to the right hand lane, the remaining lane now has a '20' in it



A second overhead sign then, in the distance is a lot of orange flashing lights.



We crawl past a truck, covered in flashing lights towing a large sign showing two lanes closed and right hand lane only open.



Next there is a truck with a HUGE flashing arrow directing traffic to its right - on its left is a truck with some sort of barrier on the back looking like its there to stop people trying to pass on the left



Next is a man wearing an orange coat clearing a drain with a shovel



Next is a small roadside sign saying 'end'



There has to be a more efficient way to do that ...

Lama
11:05 Apr 16 2007
Times Read: 983

hehehehe

17:26 Apr 15 2007
Times Read: 995

I spend a lot of time on my profile, I check its not too much, loads quickly, as good as I can get it - people seem to like it and I get good rates.



Yup I get my share of downraters, usually short-lived whelp accounts - but I just had my lowest 'sensible' rating ever from a level 22 Firebrand, no comment just a really low rate - I had rated them ages back a well deserved 10. I messaged them asking what was wrong, they've logged on since but no reply pfffft, at least I'm 'professional' enough to avoid downrating in revenge.



A quick stalk seems to have revealed the problem ... they've been rating the database and clearly don't like the speed that I'm adding stuff.



Oh well .... I have my paperclips

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BIRD BOX UPDATE



Still nothing

English for May
22:20 Apr 14 2007
Times Read: 1,001


'Write a poem in rhyming couplets, no more than 400 words, describing an important event in your parent's life'



Thats not easy ....

---

BIRD BOX UPDATE



No birds yet ... stay tuned

Bird Box: the sequel
20:24 Apr 12 2007
Times Read: 1,016

Pigeon has gone, box still looks empty

Bird Box ... cont
10:14 Apr 12 2007
Times Read: 1,022

Pigeon was sat on top of it first thing this morning



.... its a start

Woooooo
23:43 Apr 11 2007
Times Read: 1,030

It took a week or so of checking then waiting for the server move URL thing to settle down, then worrying if I was duplicating stuff or upsetting folk but my third member's article is now online :)



Luckily Billy spotted one stupid mistake [its contests not competitions] and put my missing full stops (periods) in for me :)



Worth waiting up for that one .... night night :)

Mouse Murder
18:56 Apr 11 2007
Times Read: 1,038

I live in a really small country village, so we get our share of mouses (I refuse to call them mice). They can stay outside and do mouse things, we stay inside and do other things.



Last night at about 1am I get woken up by a mouse going through stuff in the kitchen. I go down just in time to see it rushing under the cooker. I find the mousetrap and put some chocolate on it and just put it on the floor near the cooker.



About 1.30 it occurs to me that no-one else knows that I have left the mousetrap out on the floor, so I go downstairs to move it into a corner.



I switch on the light and walk over to the trap. There is a mouse sat on a drawer handle so I pick up a spoon (as ya do). It sees me coming and jumps down to run away.



There is one heck of a crack and Mr Mouse dragging the trap across the floor, stoopid thing had landed on the trap. I pick up the trap and flick the mouse out of the door.



Just on a hunch I rebait the trap and push it in the corner. Go down this morning and got told there was a very dead mouse in it when the family work up.



Looks like we have an invasion going on ...

Bird Box
20:59 Apr 07 2007
Times Read: 1,053

Work today was good, I washed a man's porsche boxer and he gave me a £5 tip ! wooooo so I bought a £2.99 wood bird box on my way home with it



Decided I could put it up myself but had to ask dad the following questions



*how do you know what size a drill bit is

*how do you know what plastic plug to use

*how deep do you drill the hole

*how do you know when you've drilled that far

*how do you know what size screw to use

*does this screwdriver fit this screw

*how do you get the drill bit in the drill

*where's the extension lead

*which side is east



So dad put it up :D



Its been up there well over an hour and nothing has gone in it yet, except a wasp



Anyhoo its a flying visit today, rated the new profiles and portfolios, answered my mail and looked over my House's forum



A party is waiting with my name on it, catch y'all tomorrow :)

VR database
17:20 Apr 06 2007
Times Read: 1,064

On March 9th the VR database topped 1,500 items - today I just pushed it over 1,600



SatinMist sent me a vampire author site, I go back and forth from there to Amazon - hoping to add 10 a day, I think its the photo cropping that takes the time



2,000 here I come LOL

April 6th
00:03 Apr 06 2007
Times Read: 1,072

I waited up to midnight just so I could reach a personal milestone.



It has been three whole months without a nightmare, without bursting into tears, without a panic attack ...

awesome

Names
22:04 Apr 05 2007
Times Read: 1,077

One day



XXgoddessXofXtheXnightXX

watrixtheholylordofdarkness, and

gothANGELofTHEunderWROLD



Dude it's underwORld btw



are going to arrive on the 'who's online' page side by side and blast the sides of the page through my little screen

Paperclip dolls
22:08 Apr 02 2007
Times Read: 1,093

OK who wants to know about voodoo dolls?



If I get mad with someone online, I make a paperclip doll of them and flick it across the desk - I really don't think its anything voodoo but it makes me feel better



Anyhooo today I was talking to someone and I mentioned the shredder - this thing is supposed to accept staples, CDs and all - it now accepts my victims



If you ever feel your legs getting chewed, it probably because you've upset me LOL

A fool and his money ...
16:26 Apr 01 2007
Times Read: 1,103

Felt well enough to go to work yesterday and today, little queasy and with hot / cold moments but I need my money !



Anyhooo reader, you know that I clean fish ponds on Sunday - when a pond gets so bad the customer asks for it to be drained it costs a bundle and here's how the routine goes:



Boss gets trailer close to pond, then lifts a sewer cover and chock it just enough to get the pipes under, we drape a thick damp blanket over the whole area to keep any smell in. Boss then leaves. Start pumping water into sewer. Take a few bucketfuls of pond water through strainer into large pool. Walk round and round pond with jet wash blasting gunk off pond as its pumped out. As the pond gets shallow enough catch and bag fish, pull plant containers into pool. Keep diluting the pond gloop until the pump has all but cleared it, scoop last bit out. Spray the surfaces with a fluid stuff, while that is drying I repot the pond plants and clean out the pump and filter. Wash all the surfaces with jet wash and pump it out again. Refill with measured water adding chemical for every 100 litres. Put the plants back and put the fish back in. Its a lot of work to complete in a day and it costs the customer a lot of money.



Usually I can walk around inside the ponds to wash them out, stand in the bottom and use a shovel for the last little bit. Sometimes we have to leave it filling overnight.



We arrive this morning ... I could actually stand astride the pond and reach in and touch the bottom. Our pump drained it completely in 4 minutes, it was a race to catch all three of the fish. I had the whole thing done in less than an hour. The pond held 175L I actually did some weeding around the pond edge while I was waiting for the boss to come back from his breakfast.



This bill for that was £200 !!! and, really spookily, the customer was really really happy with it