Flops' Friday mini blog

[crazylegs]

Again looks like your in luck Mr Flopp's!!

http://www.game.co.uk/Games/Xbox-360/Action-Adventure/Naughty-Bear/~r345974/?cm_mmc=update-_-wk2410a-_-topPicks-_-naughtybear

Enjoy..

 

[floppybootstomp]

I went to Bromley (Kent, not Bow) this morning.

GAME had three used copies of Naughtybear at £25.00 and one new copy at £28.00; CEX had a used copy for £28.00; Gamestation had one used copy at £25.00 and one new copy at £38.00.

Hmm. This tells me that the game is possibly not any good as it's only been out a couple of weeks at the most.

So, time to search for a few reviews methinks.

Thanks for the link though mr wobbly pins, apreciated.

And I haven't seen Red Dead Redemption anywhere cheaper than Argos yet, even CEX were selling a used copy for £35.00. Or trying to...

 

[jubilance]

It is very good.

 

[crazylegs]

Ahaa Mr Flopp's we have Red dead redemption at under 30 quid with free delivery...

Linky

Can you still resist! God I'm good..


Alan Wake at £17.93

CEX are doing trade in at £18 quid on Alan Wake...Play it and trade it for your money back..

 

[crazylegs]

Well did you succumb to any of my deals, or did you hold out for a better one to come along..

 

[floppybootstomp]

Well did you succumb to any of my deals, or did you hold out for a better one to come along..

I haven't as yet, no.

I've been reading reviews though and it looks as if Naughtybear is a one trick pony, initially fun but after an hour or so repetitive and dull. So unless I see it uber cheapo I'll pass for now.

Red For Dead: Redemption, on the other hand, seems on the verge of being voted the best Xbox 360 game ever so I will buy that one at some stage, definitely.

Thanks for all your links CL, apreciated

Whilst we're talking about the MS Console, I've just bought an interesting little game called Deathspank, bought it online with Live Arcade points and it's 1200 points which works out at about £10.60. Bargain! Love it, played it last night for 2.5 hours. Good fun and recommended.

As I said, I've been reading game reviews of Xbox 360 games, mostly at Gamespot, and with one exception, all the games I own for the Xbox 360 score between 7 and 9. The one exception is NIER, which only scored 5 out of 10 at Gamespot, which I like a lot and have been playing a great deal.

Maybe I'll get fed up with it but so far I like it a lot.

I spotted a game named Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad where scantily clad Japanese girls chop Zombies to bits. Sounds good dunnit? It isn't. In fact it's possibly the worst game, computer or console, I've ever played in my life. Gamespot gave it one of their lowest ever scores of 2.5 out of 10. Shame, really, cos them cartoon girls in the game do look well tasty

And I tried The Darkness, got it for a fiver. It looks like a great game and it received good reviews but I just can't get the precision I need for an fps with a Joypad. I've tried, I've got better, but after a very frustrating hour trying to play The Darkness on the Xbox 360 with a joypad, I gave up.

I can just about get by playing Gears Of War 2; Call Of Duty 3 and Halo 3 on the Xbox 360 though , and they're all fps's.

So both Onechanbara and The Darkness are going to be P-ex'd at a GAME store.

Had a little work come my way for next week, a school is having a building knocked down so I have to isolate and bypass the loudspeaker line cables and fire alarm break glass points. I do get all the good ones don't I? Still, mustn't look a gift horse in the mouth, this probably means I can eat beans all the way to the end of September now.

Not a lot, but enough. And a body can't really complain at enough.

Pip pip!

 

[floppybootstomp]

Ok, I seem to have run out of steam, can't keep up the quality forever, lol

Things buzzing aound my brain...

Windows 3.1 doesn't see the optical drive as it needed a driver to recognise it, I remember now. It's possible I may have that driver somewhere but without it I'll never be able to 'upgrade' to Win 95 and try and load the game 'Little Big Adventure 2'

Have recently loaded, played and completed Quake 4 on my XP setup. A bit repetitive and no comparison to the first two Quake games, they were brilliant. Still fun though.

Currently playing vinyl version of Van Morrison's 'Astral Weeks' and knowing that this is probably one of the top five albums of all time.

I had a disco booking this Saturday, 50th birthday, peeps coming over from Dublin. But the organiser forgot to invite anybody so the governor of the pub where it was going to be has cancelled. Now, I'm of Irish descent, I'm really quite fond of Irish folk but in this instance I'm going to utter '****ing paddy, lol).

The pub governor has said he's going to try and get a fifty quid cancellation fee for me. We shall see.

Rotten thing is, I had just changed mains socket on coffin, repaired the lights and gathered current top 40 for this Saturday. Gurr gurr Still, pub governor said he'd continue to use me. I should hope so too, weren't my fault, lol

Had this idea about starting a thread here 'List the motors you've owned, with or without pix' What d'ya think?

Have been working at a school, got rained on today. The main man premises manager is on holiday his young assistant is running the show. Odd, he has a whole new personality whilst boss is on holiday, Mr Good Guy is now Mr Pain-In-The-Bum.

He also appears to suffer from severe flatulence. When I have walked into his office several times now I've had to make excuses and leave immediately cos the place stinks of rotten eggs, seaweed at low tide and burning rubber all at the same time. I swear the air is coloured green around his person. Poo.

I am enjoying the X-Box more and more and also becoming increasingly frustrated with mainline PC games. Why? Simple answer - Xbox games are easier and in most cases more fun. There are exceptions, of course, but mainly with RPG's.

My favourite genre - FPS - seems most latest PC games are just becoming too hard. Or I'm getting too frickin' old, I'm not sure.

Severely dissapointed no invite for acupuncture yet, if not shortcoming then will ask for details of treatment to be passed to my mate's wife who runs her own acupuncture clinic at Crystal palace and pay her to treat me.

I read that retirement age has now been extended beyond age 65. Not sure whether this is good or bad. For sure I need the work but at age 66 do I still want to be clambering up a ladder and drilling holes?

Now there's a question.

PC REview.co.uk has recently been suffering an amazing amount of spammers. The crew has phasers set not to 'stun' but to 'kill'. I don't like those spammer people.

I'm sure there was something else I was going to mention but the Merlot is making it's presence felt.

I do hope you're all well Goodnight.

 

[crazylegs]

Flopp's I read a lot of blogs on my travels around the intermaweb and always enjoy reading yours, it is quality mate and never fails to make me laugh!

I love it!

Hmm trying to remember the win 3.1 proceed on the install of drives, I take it you have it on floppy, I'm sure I used to install mine under dos 6.11 forgot all the bloody commands now though.. you don't use it you lose it , thats what they say innit!

Bummer on the booking, hope you get something out of it if it not your fault you been let down.

Like the list ya Motors thread ...Do it you know you want to! lol

Sounds like mr pain in the bum can't handle the responsibility, have seen this happen to a few people over the years, its an instant transformation in most cases, sounds like he's letting it all hang out in his office, including his wind..pmsl

Yes the retirement thing is not good in my opinion, and I think the government are using the current economic downturn to bring in some of there not so popular policies and using this as a smokescreen, carry on like that and this coalition government will lose what hope we have in them very quickly indeed!

Our forefathers fought bloody hard for the right to retirement and a pension and this government seem to be dismantling those things put in place to protect some of us.

Acupuncture could be costly on the private Tony, sorry to hear you not been given the go ahead yet, hopefully that'l happen sooner than later mate!


As for the Spammers I thought when you said "you didn't ban him" that Mr Muck's wouldn't have thought twice, sodme christ he was there and had done it in a jiffy.. 6 gunmucks indeed!

Sleep tight now..

 

[EvanDavis]

As you all know I am new to this forum. But I have to say I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this thread. Floopybootstomp you tell a good story. Absolutely brilliant. You should write yersen a book...

 

[Taffycat]

Things buzzing around in my brain...

Them is bees!

Had this idea about starting a thread here 'List the motors you've owned, with or without pix' What d'ya think?

A good idea, and for some of us who have fond memories of the less than salubrious rust-buckets, owned in our youth, t'would make a nice "memorial." Might just be me, but some of those "oldies" made for interesting and sometimes inventive driving, just to get 'em to the top of a hill, or to keep going at traffic lights

Re the flatulent assistant manager chappie... mega eew! Drop him a hint by wearing one of those fume-mask thingies when you enter his office.

Aww... I was wondering why you hadn't mentioned anything more about acupuncture, didn't realise you were still waiting Sounds like you might be on another waiting list(?) Perhaps it would help to give the Appointments Department a call, just to get an idea of where you are on their list, before you make other arrangements. As CL says, it can be quite expensive privately - besides which, you are entitled to be treated and shouldn't really have to think of digging deeply into your own piggy-bank. That said, I can understand that you would want to get started on the treatment sooner rather than waiting endlessly. Good luck, hope you can get something sorted soon.

Re the retirement age extension... I don't think it can be generalised as being "good" or "bad" can it, because so much depends upon the individual. Folk's health and fitness levels can vary enormously at any age, let alone in their later years. (My grandad worked right up to his seventies - driving a crane in a steelworks. He moved large vats of molten metal around (from about 60-odd feet up in his cab. That was way back in the 1960s, btw.)

Some people enjoy their jobs and don't want to retire; it can be useful to have workers with experience and maturity, but I don't think it should be compulsory to continue working. There needs to be some leeway and choice, surely?

As for you running out of steam... I reckon your steaming away nicely Flopps! As others have already said, it's always enjoyable to read your musings

 

[nivrip]

Re the retirement age extension... I don't think it can be generalised as being "good" or "bad" can it,

This is a real problem to which there is no satisfactory answer. When the Old Age (or Retirement) Pension was introduced in 1908 hardly anyone lived long enough to collect it. Then, gradually, more and more people lived to the age of claiming it and now, of course many, many people live well past 65. More and more claim the pension for 25 years or more.

Problem is that the money comes from the people who are actually working now and whereas a few years ago four workers could pay for one retired person there are only three workers per retiree now. There are just SO MANY retired people now that the baby boomers have reached 65. And, in general, people are much healthier and therefore will live longer. Retiring at 65 just doesn't seem sustainable.

Can't think of any other way out of it.

 

[floppybootstomp]

I'll probably have to work til I drop anyway, at this stage in life ex-wife # 2 made sure I ain't got no nuffing

No, I'm not bitter, I was, but not any more, life's just too short to harbour ill feeling and hatred.

That's just the way things pan out sometimes, one day you're up, next day you're not. C'est La Vie mes amis.

So, just hope this body of mine holds out for a good few more years yet

On another note, I found the CD ROM driver for DOS & Win 3.1 on a floppy, installed it and Windows 3.1 now sees the optical drive. Yowzah! Now I just have to get a PS2 mouse cos it's a bit awkward navigating Win 3.1 with just the keyboard (it doesn't see my USB Logi G500, even with an adapter).

And I started the motor verhicle thread, I called it 'Wheelz'. Clever eh?

 

[troy614]

Very entertaining, Sir.
But then again you always had the gift of gab.
I know all to well the pro's and con's of self employment.
Hope you be finding enough work to keep you out of trouble.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Not had much to say lately, guess we all go through times like that, most of the time, really.

This morning rose at 5am (something I try to avoid) to have all three daughters at Gatwick for 7am check in to spend a week in Crete along with two friends of theirs. Girls just want to have fun indeed.

Still no work coming in. Scary.

Last Friday via facebook I had a mini reunion with friends some of which I hadn't seen for over 25 years. Apart from trying to chat up me mate's ex and probably making a complete pillock of meself the night was fabulous, we should do this again.

I also realised I was about 8 years older than most gathered cos they wuz all mostly friends of ex-wife # 2, which made me feel like the oldest bugger there. Whatever, we laughed and drank a great deal.

Here's some pix:

Gary and 2 whose names I forget:

Sue & Brendan:

Cob, Kim, Karen & Bridget:

Cob, Kim & Gary:

Colin, Karen & Cob:

Colin & Karen:

Me & Bridget:

Me & Kim:

And now for a couple of contrasts.

Me & Colin Glastonbury Festival 1981:

Brendan working with me on a pipeline, Surrey, UK, late Summer '82:

 

[floppybootstomp]

Still no Acupuncture, I'm told early October now Back in July when asked which times we could attend the course I said anytime, lunchtimes or evenings, no holidays or committments, thinking it would get me seen quicker.

It had the opposite effect as I was so flexible I kept getting shunted around to suit everybody else's arrangements. Which possibly makes me a bit of a mug. Oh well, I just hope I do at least eventually get the treatment.

And here's an update on The Shard:

These were taken August 10th:

Apart from the Shard there are also a few pix of the surrounding environ near Guys Hospital, which is where I go to see my Consultant and Dentist.

And these were taken about a week ago but only with my mobile phone which is quite poor quality. Some of these pix were taken on the 26th floor of Guys in the dentist’s reception area, through a very grubby window:

 

[Taffycat]

Great pix Sir Flopps! That building is going to look pretty impressive when it's finished, methinks. But isn't all that construction work a bit noisy for the folk who are in-patients of Guys? On the other hand, I guess it provides some interest to be able to look out on the bods with the hods!

Sorry to hear your acupuncture hasn't been forthcoming yet, but reckon you're correct about being a tad too "flexible." We tend to be like that too - and with exactly the same results... as was proved recently.

We were getting a house repair done and specified a time by which we hoped it could be completed. Hey-presto, it happened! But then, with another job, not wanting to seem unreasonable, we went back to our usual, more laid-back attitude and ... wotta mistake to make! A couple of months have passed, and we're STILL waiting! Don't mind a bit of give-and-take, but don't think we shall be quite so "flexible" next time.

Fingers crossed that you'll hear from the acupuncture department and get a firm appointment soon.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Boat

I know I've posted pix of this thing before but to me it's still quite an odd occurence to wake up, look out one's lounge window and see an ocean going yacht parked up.

Soon though a building development will block my view of the river so I best make the most of it. Sky high building developments going on in great density around here, and they all sell as well, I remember a time when you couldn't give a property away round here, it was generally considered a bit of a crap area.

Oh how times change.

Anyhow, took these pix last Sunday on my way to the comedy festival/beer tents in the grounds of Greenwich Uni, when I walked there about 5pm and when I walked back around 8.30pm.

 

[V_R]

Awesome sight that must have been Flops.

Thanks for sharing. Shame your going to loose the view of the river...

 

[Taffycat]

Great pics Flopps - that yacht looks beautiful, particularly when it's lit up. Pity you're going to be losing that view though.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Had my first acupuncture session yesterday evening

Five of us, all of whom had gone through the same thing as me.

Nobody spoke to me so I didn't speak to them, I'm not one for starting a conversation but I'll always respond if somebody talks to me.

I did listen to them though and I noted that they're all still banging on about their experience 3 or 4 years after the event whereas I honestly rarely bring it up in conversation now.

Also noticed how some said it was a truly dreadful experience. Well, yeah, it weren't no fun but considering what we beat, it weren't that bad.

Bit of an eye-opener really. Also noted that some could eat sandwiches with plenty of sauce or mayonaise - I can't.

Yet another observation was that some were at least ten years younger than me but spoke and acted as if they were ten years older than me. There were ten of us initially, five for an oral hygiene course, the other five for acupuncture, that's why there was such varied conversation.

After the acupuncture I get the oral hygienne course but I'm kinda curious as to what they can teach me. I clean my teeth three times a day with an electric toothbrush, use a fluroride mouthwash and floss - what else is there to learn? We shall see.

There's a fine Irish lady giving us the acupuncture, I had 8 needles inserted into me, two in each ear, one each under each eye and one each in my forefingers. And in case you're wondering, yes, they do hurt, lol

Two minutes after insertion I felt very dreamy, relaxed and kinda happy. After ten minutes the acupuncturist twisted them around and after twenty minutes she removed the needles. No improvement in increased saliva generation yet but early days yet.

Some may recall I wanted to play an old Windows 95 game called LBA2 (Little Big Adventure 2 - Twinsenn's Oddyssey) and was trying to install Win 95 on my socket A machine. I had installed Win 3.1 but it wouldn't recognise my usb mouse. I bought a PS2 optical mouse from Maplins today for a tenner and after installing files from Win 3.1 floppy disk 2 the mouse worked.

I installed Win 95 from my upgrade disk within Win 3.1 but it would not start, I kept getting an error message saying Windows Protection Error - please reboot. It did start in safe mode but that no good.

I wiped the hard disk, re-installed DOS 6.22 and attempted to load the full version of Win 95 Abarbarian sent me an ISO of. No go cos DOS 6.22 didn't recognise my optical drive.

I know the drivers I need to make DOS 6.22 recognise optical drive, I used to have them, but can't find them now. I have 4 CD drive drivers on floppy disks but none of them worked. Abarb's disk would not install from Win 3.1

Which leaves me pretty much snookered. Even if I did get Win 95 installed I doubt very much whethere I'd find drivers for the DFI motherboard's onboard sound or the AGP ATI video card.

So basically I've given up on Win 95.

I have, however, found LBA2 on an abandonedware site and there's a patch, apparently, to make it work within XP. Watch this space.

I have landed a nice medium sized job but can't start until the builders hand the new building over to the school they've built it for. They won't let me work in the building until they've finished as they don't like sub-contractors other than those they appoint working there.

The reason being, probably, is they lose a nice commission if the school employs me direct.

Male builders eh - sometimes just like big spoilt kids.

I've been quite idle, lost track of time and thought Monday was Sunday, but all in all, nowt really exciting here but all is as well as it could be I suppose.