You may have noticed via the big gaps between posts on this blog that they come along in pops & farts, and I don’t post on my blog that often, then post sh*tloads at once like I’m doing right now.
On 20th March of this year (2009) it was my 30th birthday, it wasn’t really that much to shout about really… was kinda hoping to go somewhere like Scarborough or York on the bus or something, but my Dad wanted me to go to the flamin’ bank for him. As usual I didn’t have a party either.
Anyway, enough of that… I suppose more interesting would be blabbering on about the presents I got instead.
If there’s any thieving little twats reading this, such as the ones who nicked my Nintendo DS + 1st Nokia N-Gage a couple of years ago, don’t even think about it unless you want to be hung, drawn & quartered.
In the weeks leading up to my Birthday, I started looking up presents to buy just for me with my own money (seeing as I rarely get given anything I actually WANT by relatives these days on Birthday & Christmas, unless it’s money… in which case the more the better)…….. in particular I started looking at Binoculars.
I eventually opted for a pair of Meade Travelview 8-24×50’s for £40 from Telescopehouse.com – there were cheaper models, such as the 10×50’s from the same range for about £22.50 but I figured if I did get the cheaper ones from the same range I’d then regret not opting for the 8-24×50’s with it’s greater variety of options, as they can be used as, with the tweak of a lever:
- 8×50’s
- 10×50’s
- 12×50’s
- 14×50’s
- 16×50’s
- 18×50’s
- 20×50’s
- 22×50’s
- 24×50’s
They arrived something like 10days or so before my birthday, and impressions so far are that they’re bloody brilliant….. better even than the 10×50 Carl Zeiss things from East Germany my Dad bought me for my birthday (out of my own pocket money!) around the late 1980’s, and I kinda accidently broke so only one side of them has been usable of the years.
I’ll try remember to write some more about stuff I’ve done with the new binoculars in a later blog post, otherwise this could end up being a very long post.
On the actual day of my birthday, I got £25 in cash… a big plastic toolbox / tacklebox I don’t have much use for (or space to put it) + some UMBRO branded showergel/deodorant.
After much consideration, I spent the £25 on these things….
Dogtanian (Series1) on DVD
I used to watch this show as much as I could when I was a kid, summer holidays when I was still @ Primary school wasn’t complete without seeing this in the mornings (usually followed by Inspector Gadget, if I remember correctly)… and I’d recently found the series on YouTube (with bits missing), so thought I’d get the DVD while I still could. With a bit of luck I might even have time to watch it one day.
The Simpsons: Hit & Run (PC)
I already had this game for my Gamecube since around 2005 (in fact it’s what prompted me to buy the Gamecube in the first place) , and been considering for the past year or two to get the PC version of it so I can play the game even when I can’t use the Gamecube (can you tell I like this game?).
Race Driver: GRID (Nintendo DS)
I’d been waiting a while for a decent racing game for my DS, only having MarioKart DS to race with on that, and that didn’t really feel aggressive enough compared to, say McRae Rally 2005 on my Nokia N-Gage or GP2 / GP3 on the PC, or Gran Turismo 3 on my Playstation2. This game seemed the best bet, especially with the track designer, even more so now I’ve pretty much figured out how to work it.
After the Saturday & Sunday that followed my birthday, I’ve had an extra £40 of Birthday money come in from a couple of late stragglers, and right now I’m trying to decide what to get with it. I also won £20 on the THUNDERBALL draw of the National Lottery on 1st April, which I guess means I now have £60 to spend….. only trouble is I can’t decide what to get with it, as there’s so much stuff I want right now (and can’t bloody afford), including:
- A new fishing reel to go with the Shakespeare MACH1 8ft Quiver rod I bought with last year’s birthday money.
- Professor Layton (Nintendo DS)
- Lego Indiana Jones or Star Wars (Nintendo DS)
- iPOD Nano (but not enough)
- Fuji F50fd / F60fd / F100fd / F200fd Digital Camera
- Fuji S100fs Digital camera (not enough for that)
- Fuji S5 Pro digital camera (definately not enough)
- To start driving lessons again (not enough for that)
- Abu Garcia Esprit 13ft Match rod (mk1 or mk2)
- Abu Suveran Feeder rod (too much money)
- BERKLEY M1 Barbel rod (too much + seemingly no longer available)
- A new watch
There’s also many other things I want that’d take even longer to list, but I guess you get the idea by now. I was also hoping to have a bit more to spend after the 2009 Grand National, but if you’ve already seen the post for that, you probably know by now that that idea didn’t quite work.
For the reel to go on the rod, I’ve seen 2 for around the £25 – £30 mark, but only trouble is deciding which bloody one to get….. either the “Shakespare MACH2 rear drag” (in 035 size), or the “Mitchell Avocet Gold II 2000 rear drag”. I’ve also seen the budget version of the “John Wilson Avon Quiver” rod (I’ve always wanted a John Wilson Avon rod since I first started watching his Fishing TV shows such as “Go Fishing” in the late 1980’s / early 1990’s) for about £38.95
I also kinda want a new watch, since the Casio EDB-701 e-Databank watch I bought a couple of years ago is in nearly as bad a condition as the watch I bought it to replace (+ the battery appears to be getting low, and the backlighting won’t work as a result).
Guess I’ll just have to keep on thinking about it.