I am officially addicted to The Sims 2, and I’ve not even installed any expansion packs that I’ve got yet. Plus, I have the most awesome house, ever.

I’ve been looking at purchasing a new laptop for my partner. Yes, he has a super-dooper fast computer for all the games that we play but I’d love to get him a nice, reliable laptop for when he’s just wanting to sit and browse the internet, or even for when we’re out playing pool in his garage. There’s often a reason for us to jump online and check something when we’re out there and I usually do it via my iPod Touch, but that kills the battery a bit.

Saying that, I have just bought the pool table so he’ll have to wait a little while for a new laptop! And before I get him one, I need more ram for my laptop so that I can play The Sims 2 without it crashing all the time. Grr, so annoying!!

I’ve always been lured towards playing in online casinos, probably because I don’t fancy getting all dressed up to win some money. As I’ve mentioned before, I like gambling on horses from time-to-time and I’m a mean poker player, so I guess that online casinos were the obvious next step.

There’s always one problem however - what online casino website to pick from? There are literally thousands online - there are over 66 million results when you search Google! So how on earth are you supposed to know which ones are good, who takes what as payment and which ones are out to scam you? The answer is the Online Casino Bluebook which reviews online casino’s for you to help you choose the right one to sign up with.

The site is really simple and easy to use, showing results ranked by bonus size, payout percentage, customer service, game features, # of games, software graphics, and ease of use. If you’re just starting out with playing online I highly recommend checking out this site first to help clear the fog a little when deciding. It’s makes one decision a little less of a gamble!

So it appears that my friends are idiotic, pathetic non-friends.

Last night we all went 10 pin bowling and had a complete blast, it was the typical story of we all go bowling and play amazingly bad in the first game (I got 90 points in 10 frames, that is cringe-worthy. Although I did manage to throw a size 8 ball at 16.2mph), get drunk and play brilliantly in the second game. About half way through the second game I gave up playing, I’d been trying to perfect spinning the ball down the lane instead of it just rolling and hurt my wrist. I ended up putting about £10 into a driving arcade game and winning 4 games of that while the boys took my go at bowling. Suited me just fine, as I don’t go in for the whole getting-so-drunk-you-can’t-stand-up thing that they were doing.

Midnight rolled around and the bowling was closing so I called the taxi company to order a cab but they didn’t have any hackney cars on, so I just ordered two cabs to take us back to the boyfriends - there were 5 of us and Scottish taxis are only licensed to carry 4 persons unless they have more than 4 seats (three in the back, one in the front). Boyfriend & I jumped in the first one while the our friends waited on the second car. Everything was going fine until they showed up at the boy’s house about 20 minutes after us - since they had to wait longer on the second car they’d been caught in the snow and were cold and moody. Understandable, but we had to take the first car since we had to let them into the house!

Throughout the night more drinking is done by them and tempers are fraying over the silliest little things. They want the windows open, I don’t since I’m sitting right under them and it’s snowing outside, so obviously it’s rather cold. Around 2.30am I start hinting to the boyfriend that I’d like to go to bed soon…I’m never nasty or evil about doing this, usually just whispering in his ear that it’s nearly bedtime and he’ll get lucky if we go soon! Anyways, one friend hears me saying this to my boyfriend and starts saying that all I ever do is try to throw them out of a house that I don’t even live in. I ignored him, but he says something rather evil and nasty to me about 10 minutes later and my boyfriend tells him not to talk to me that way. Cue shouting and fighting between the boys, and boyfriend’s mum shouting through the wall since she’s up for work in a few hours. Understandable, right?

Then at about 3am one of the boys, who I consider to be my closest friends, says something and then says “Oops, shouldn’t tell Mel that” while the boyfriend face goes sheet white. This gets my heart racing and I calmly asked “Don’t tell Mel what?” about 12 times before I’m told that a few weeks before Christmas my boyfriend was at said mate’s house and his girlfriend invited one of her friends over. The boyfriend fell asleep (he’s prone to do this on work days) and all my so-called-friends thought it would be funny to try and get this girl to try and kiss, fondle and whatever with my boyfriend stating “it’s ok, his girlfriend will never know”. I don’t think I’ve ever felt such anger towards my friends. I wasn’t angry at the boy, after all he was asleep and nothing happened, but I am furious at my friends. The reason that my boyfriend hadn’t told me was because he knew I’d fly off the handle. Which is exactly what I did. I called a taxi, gathered my things together and got ready to leave. In the end I canceled the taxi and sat downstairs crying, listening to my boyfriend and friends arguing until he threw them out his house 10 minutes later and came and hugged me for an eternity.

So now? I’m not talking to any of my friends. It appears that the boy isn’t talking to them either and I can’t believe that they would go behind my back for their amusement. Am I over-reacting? Possibly. But it’s made me realise that finally, I trust the boy 100%. And that I cannot trust my immature friends.

Damnit, why is life always so screwed up?

I don’t know if it will be picked to be published, but this is my entry for BehindEveryBlog.com, the website that focuses on the author of the blog!

1. Who was your very first crush?
   I believe that it was Henry Ramsey from Neighbours (AKA Craig McLachlan), although looking back at pictures now I have to wonder why! I liked him that much that I named my pet rabbit after him, even though she was a girl. She quickly became Henrietta though! Thankfully, my taste in men has changed a heck of a lot since I was 4 years old!
2. If you could undo one thing from the last 24 hours, what would it be and why?
   Probably going to bed before 8am this morning, as I’m now not tired even though I need to sleep for work in the morning. Unfortunately, it’s a theme that seems to occur every weekend these days…staying up all night and sleeping all day. It’s playing havoc with my body!
3. In the room you’re in right now, pick out your most treasured item (your computer, people and pets don’t count). What makes it so special?
   Since people don’t count, I guess that I can’t pick my boyfriend! My most treasured item in this room (said boyfriend’s bedroom) is either going to be my brand new digital camera - which I love with a passion and seem to be taking more and more pictures every day - or our Nintendo Wii, if only because I rock at driving games and it makes me want to pass my driving test even more than standing at a bus stop at 6am every day in the pouring rain!
4. You’re given $500 to spend for a good cause. Assuming you actually have to spend the money rather than donate it to charity, what would you buy, and what would you do with it?
   . I think I would find the lovely man who stands outside the shopping center in my town selling the Big Issue and take him on a shopping spree to buy warm, waterproof clothing and boots. And a pack of cigarettes and a nice warm cup of tea. He stands outside for around 10 hours a day, opening doors for people and trying to sell the magazine. He deserves to be warm and dry!
5. What’s a quick pick-me-up?
   A Starbucks Java Chip Frappe and a newspaper to read, lounging on the big floppy sofas at the front of the shop, watching people walking by.
6. What made you start a blog?
   I honestly cannot remember, it was that long ago. My first websites started as a base to share cartoon dolls and music lyrics (hey, I was 12 and it was 1998!). From there I progressed to writing into a LiveJournal account and then changing my websites from rubbish content sites to an actual blog. I think I just wanted to be cool!!

TakeMyTech.com are giving away free tech stuff! For every blog entry there is an item being given away (recent items include Burger King Xbox games, Wireless card, Adobe Photoshop…). Once the comments for that blog entry hit 100, a random commenter is picked out to receive the prize.

The aim of the website?

Last night I was trying to think of something cool to do and I got to thinking about some of the stuff they have been doing to get rid of excess gear at Engadget.

I decided to do something similar, and cross it from time to time with some of the stuff Gizmodo is doing. The concept is simple, and as long as the ads pay for it, I’ll keep doing it.

* I just give it away. I post a new item that I am wanting to give away, when the comment number reaches at least 100, I will generate a random number and that commenter gets the gadget. I’ll even pay the shipping. I’ll email asking for an address so be sure to fill in your email when you leave the comment.
* I will have a contest something similar to the “Show me your desktop” or “Show me your gadget bag” that I have been seeing lately and the one I like best will win it. This will be more common on the higher valued items I am guessing.

After spending over £100 on a ticket for T In The Park I didn’t think that I’d spend most of the weekend inside the fun casino that was there instead of watching bands that I love. I started off with £20 and quickly racked it up to over £750 playing poker, roulette and blackjack. I’d gotten the bug, man! Such a shame that the money wasn’t real.

As soon as I came home I decided that I was going to play for some real money but since I don’t fancy trekking into town every time I fancy a quick game I scoured the internet for a good, British online casino. Finally, after some searching, I came across Bet365 which combines all the games that I love playing.

The offer lots of different types of betting opportunities, on sports such as baseball, boxing, tennis, rugby - even lotto draws. But the best of the site is the casino area. The offer up to £100 free chips when you first sign up (which, by the way, takes mere minutes) which was incentive enough for me. I chose to download the software, but you can play from your browser if you prefer.

My favourite part of the site is the live dealer games - instead of playing with a computerized dealer there’s an actual person dealing the cards. For me, it makes me feel like I’m really in a casino without having to shell out membership fees.

Wow, what a few days I’ve had. I had this weekend off so it was spent with the boyfriend in his bed for most of the weekend watching Shameless, Skins and CSI. It was really strange because I didn’t kiss him the entire weekend due to him having a cold sore and me being too vain to risk kissing him and getting one myself!

On Friday I left work early because I felt rough as anything. My head was pounding and I kept getting rather dizzy so I called my assistant manager and got him to come in a cover the four hours until the manageress came in for her shift that night. I was surprised that he came in, he usually says no but I’m so glad that he did because I passed out in my boyfriends later on that afternoon from sheer exhaustion.

I ended up spending quite a lot of money over the course of the weekend even though we didn’t go out at night! I bought a gorgeous gray and black striped hooded jumper, a cute little fitted top, underwear with stars all over it and 3 pairs of girl boxer shorts out of Primark as well as a tshirt for the boy to cheer him up with ‘Sci-Fi High - Roswell’ on the front of it. It’s a lovely tshirt and only cost me £6! Also bought 4 XBox games and £15 of magazines to make him smile. Don’t get me wrong, it’s pretty much his Valentines’ day present early just because he was feeling so blah over the weekend. Aren’t I a good girlfriend?

Last night was spent listening to Elyse’ radio broadcast on K-IRB and chatting the night away in the chatroom which was awesome fun. She was trying to find bands I hadn’t heard of before and could only manage to come up with a handful including the Wild Colonials who I really liked the sound of :)

Oh, and I dyed my hair midnight blue - you can see it in the photographs page. What do you think?