ALGO RANT: I should have stayed in bed... this week.

Turning into a tough week this one - just when I was feeling good as well.

It started out looking peachy, I was offered extra work on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, which is quality - BUT!

Sunday was Mrs Algo's birthday - NO MATTER! Says I, since I still have four days in hand thanks to kind hand of fate.

So things were looking good for a busy but profitable week. Now I feel like Wil E Coyote just after he's run off the cliff, but before he starts falling. Do I really want to get out of bed and see what new "fun" happens tomorrow?

Anyhoo... read on and you'll understand why I rant.



Shock horror, the Monday and Tuesday work is cancelled. No harm done, me and Mrs Algo decide to visit the Museum In Docklands the relatively short trip it is away on Monday. BUT! Mrs Algo loves the DLR - it is cool - and we decided to go on that. I hit on the idea of strolling along the river from London Bridge to Tower Hill to get the DLR from there. The station has been shut for ages. I am a fool. So we think again and try the boats for the Thames view - they're expensive, yes, but fun. Oh... we just missed one and the next one is in half an hour. Damn.

Ah well... we walk to Bank and get on the DLR there. It doesn't move.

The man closes the barriers for people coming down to the DLR. Still it doesn't move.

Man says a train ahead has broken down. Will take 30 mins to sort out.

We go back to London Bridge and just take the Jubilee line.

Time of trip if done the way we meant? 30 minutes. Time it took us on Monday? 2 HOURS and 30 minutes. ARGH! At least we were so late for the museum (only an hour and a half before closing) they let us in for free. Must go back there.

Ah well, I think, at least I still have two days work on Weds and Thursday!
(note me trying to look on the bright side)

BUT! then at 6:30 ish on Tuesday night, my Wednesday work is ALSO cancelled, leaving me with a single days work on a well known police based TV show on Thursday. I was almost willing that to be cancelled too, so I could curse the world as being completely against me (a good moment for anyone who thinks I am a sinner to pipe up), but I got to spend 11 hours in the company of a wonderful bunch of extras/supporting artists/background performers (delete as appropriate) and be in the background in two shots. In eleven hours. Oh, and despite only being on set for an hour in total (in two half hour "bursts") it is during one of these periods that my agency text me to say they may have some work and would I please call them. I do after filming (just 25 minutes after he text was sent) and they have already filled the job. AAAARGH!!!

Now, I was still trying to feel ok and philosphical about all this lost work - after all I get to go to my games club on Wednesday instead of cancelling the exciting game of Through The Ages we have planned, and I was looking forward to trying something new with the rise of my Empire...

...only to botch a very basic part of the game and cripple my civilisation for a third of the gameplay. I was not amused, but kept soldiering on stupidly in the face of the adversity in question. It's such a good game that I didn't have a bad time playing it, I loved the challenge, but oh damn was I humiliated in final scoring!

And to cap it all off my venerable old 20 gig Creative Zen Touch (carbon dated to 2004) has finally given up the ghost - during playback it started playing bits of other songs and skipping (a VERY bad sign with digital!) and a quick inspection has revealed an ominous rattle from within - it is my guess that a problem has arisen with the spindle or arm in the hard drive and it can't read properly any more. It is now stuck in a permanent reset loop. I am waiting for the battery to run down, and it feels like watching a pet go to sleep (in the permanent sense).

This piece of archaic technology is like a fifth limb to me, and has seen me through countless hours of what would otherwise have been abject boredom. I am going to try and save it, but I don't hold out much hope. If anyone has any ideas please help me save my little Zen!!!

So all in all, this week (well, Monday to Thursday) can F**K OFF. And tomorrow we have to go explain our financial woes to the benefits people. What fun.

Bring on next week.

Hope your week has been better!

A