gloom today, doom tomorrow?

i've just glanced at my water bottle and realised that i haven't had even a sip of water all day!

rumours (if you afford them any weight) are that tomorrow might be d-day for a "closing" announcement. might be "fitting", given that the bulk of the company will be on 3 weeks of unpaid leave after tomorrow. *sigh*.

having problems with the doro playing nicely with adsl on the same line at home. low volume plus the odd crackling. and why would you make the the hands-free speakerphone half duplex? even the speakerphone on our old analog cordless (which got along well with adsl) was full duplex. some design decisions i just don't understand...

oh well. there's nothing like a spot of retail therapy to give you that boost of buying power. bought my monitor (a 17" flatscreen samsung syncmaster 785MB) yesterday, much nicer on the eyes though there are a few niggly things with the picture that make it not an 100% satisfactory purchase. also it's the first time that union shopper has really failed me by not being able to source a cheaper price - this time round the best they had was $65 more expensive!

they also couldn't beat $395 for a sony mzn710 md recorder that my dad was after. his previous unit has started playing up after almost two years, and isn't recording properly anymore. hence the requirement for a replacement. it came in a promotional bonus pack, from which i scored the backpack, cos all he wanted was the recorder :) gotta say the bonus headphones look pretty stylish - pity i don't go portable audio-ing often enough ;)

so another season of survivor is over - i'm reasonably happy with the outcome (not so much who won, but who didn't win). no matter how much you try to separate the game from real life, i believe you're still accountable for your actions, regardless of the situation/circumstance in which you find yourself. now that my monday nights are emptying fast (with the departure of alias and survivor), i've latched onto the new show on friday nights "our generation" (called American Dreams in the States). i like the premise (the tie-ins with 'american bandstand' are quite clever), and find it to be pleasant and enjoyable viewing. plus i like the period music :)