AshesFromStars

I only know one person who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. This person died recently and it broke my heart - they were the most helpful, kind and caring person I’ve known.

• This person looked after me when I finished school between the ages of 5 and 8.
• They picked me up and took me to their house until my mum finished work and could pick me up herself.
• They were full of great stories of life and people.
• They spent there whole life working in hospitals, as a porter and later as a bus driver for the children’s charity the Variety Club.

This person was my great-uncle. Because of him, I’m going Pink for October and I urge anyone who’s been effected by breast cancer to do so.

This is, by far, the worst week of every month for me as far as work is concerned. I work a two week rota, which means week 1 & 3 are the same and week 2 & 4 are the same. The fourth week I get paid on the Friday, which is greatly desired every single month no matter how badly I tell myself I won’t spend my entire wages in the first week!

The thing I hate most about week 4 of every month is that I work Saturday day shift, Sunday back shift and then Monday back shift. And back shifts are rubbish. I have no time to do anything at all, aside from the money (which gets done twice a day), putting out some ‘daily’ stock and running back and forth getting change and doing voids for my staff.

At least during day shifts I can do things like cleaning out my (I say my, obviously it’s the company’s but it’s my responsibilty) fruit and vegetable chiller, sticking out stock that doesn’t generally need to get worked daily, doing paperwork (you would never, ever believe just how much paperwork a little shop like mine generates)…you know, things that I can take my time over ensuring they are done properly. And it also means that I’m on shift with the boss lady, who is a complete sweetie and we have a laugh when we’re working.

I don’t even know why I’m complaining about it, I’m lucky that I only work a two week rota, some shops work a 3 week rota - one weekend off a month! I don’t think so, thank you very much. The weekends are the only time I get to see the boyfriend and it’s a hassle having to leave his house at 6am on a Saturday, only to be back 8 hours later by which time I’m knackered and just want to sleep.

Obviously on top of working my usual shifts I’m doing my course work; some of which I have no option but to do when I’m at work. I’m still really, really enjoying it and I can’t wait to move onto the next module - sad as I am - because it’s probably going to cover the office-side of running a shop and that’s one of the bits that I enjoy the most.

On top working full time, completing modules for my course and learning to drive I want to do a distance learning course at the college near my house which has just become a university. I’m really interested in doing their CertHE Business with Retail Management course. The only problem is that I don’t have the required qualifications to do it. You need a Higher in English, which I didn’t do because I wanted to learn things about life from working, not sitting in a classroom. Oh, how I regret that now.

I hope that I can maybe meet with the tutors and explain my situation and hopefully be allowed to do the course. It’s not a degree, so I hope that me not having Higher English isn’t a major problem. I have a Credit 2 Standard Grade English, which is essentially the same qualification!

So, people, what’s happening in your life? Any major changes? Or is life just the same-old, same-old?

Oh, and what do you think about this picture of Britney, modelling in the new advert for her new perfume, ironically called ‘Believe’.Britney hasn’t looked like that for years, there is no way on Earth that the picture was taken earlier on this summer. Maybe her face was, but they’ve so super-imposed her head onto her body circa 1999! What do you think?

It has always been my dream to buy a cheap car (obviously after either CJ or I have passed our tests!) and drive down to England, stopping off at Manchester, Liverpool and London before jumping onto the ferry to drive city-to-city across Europe for a few months. Don’t ask me why, I think I’ve watched too many road-trip type movies. Of all the cities I want to visit the most, I think London tops the list. As a British citizen, I’ve only been to our capital city twice in my entire life - that’s shocking!

There are a few places that I’m dying to visit now that I’m off age, and the famous London restaurant Gordon Ramsay At Claridges. Can you imagine, shopping til your feet are killing you (although, in my case it would be window shopping) and then stopping in to have something to eat, made by Gordon Ramsey? Ok, I know he doesn’t do the cooking but still! He’s a lovely, lovely man.

According to my favourite new website, TrustedPlaces.com nobody else in London wants to visit Gordon at Claridges! Surely I’m not the only person? Although one other person loves Claridge’s Bar going by their review! That’s what I love about trustedplaces, you get real reviews of real clubs, pubs, restaurants, sports venues..everything really, by real people! I don’t plan a night out without checking the website first.

You would think that with the amount of time that I’m spending online these days that I have time to waste with updating my site and posting on boards - wrong! I don’t think that I’ve ever been so busy in my life. And I love it.

Take today for example. I went to bed last night at about 11pm and woke up this morning at 5am, even although I’m working back shift tonight. Since I was already up I decided to work on some of my course work, I’m really getting into it - it’s only things that I need to take photographs for that I’m struggling with because I can’t find my digital camera (although on an other note I recieved a letter this morning from a company called ‘McIntryre & Dodds Marketing‘ saying that I could have won a £20,000 cheque, £250 premium bonds or a Sony digital camera - and it’ll only cost me £1.50 a minute to find out if I’ve won!) .

Anyway, I worked my little butt off, colouring in pictures of lottery machines, quoting the national lottery’s website..the works, until I fell asleep at my desk. I woke up about two hours ago with the imprint of the Lottery’s logo on my cheek from where I’d been colouring it in and promptly used it as a pillow! I’m so glad I noticed though and had a shower right away or else my gran would have thought I’d gone mad.

As well as all of this, I’m working tonight and my mum’s not working next door so I can’t get a run to and from work. I hate getting the bus home after I’ve closed the shop, it freaks me out slightly. Don’t get me wrong, I’m capable of closing the shop and whatnot but stuff goes through my head like ‘what if somebody’s over the wall and jumps us for my keys’ or something? Even though I work in a good area, there’s still the idiots who would try something like that.

On top of everything that I’ve done today I’ve also made up a black bag of clothing to take to the charity shop on my way to work, even although I took about 9 bags to the charity shop about a month and a half ago - I have far too many clothes but I keep buying more. Plus my mum bought me a gorgeous dress and a new pair of work shoes from Marks & Spencers the other day in their sale. And she moans at me for buying clothes I don’t need? Hah!

I’m so not happy with the navigation I have on the site at the moment, it looks completly out of place.. any ideas? I have a great idea for the navigation I’ll use on the content pages but that involves me using photoshop a lot when I get back from work. But the main navigation? I’m stuck!

So, I’m 21 on Saturday and I can’t wait. If only because I’m getting a new laptop. I’ve not been online much over the course of the last week or so because my laptop is dead. Not only is the screen absolutely screwed, but the power cord/adapter sort of..blew up, melted and now ceases to power up. So my mum surprised me with a new laptop, although it’s not been ordered yet as Dell’s website is crap! I’m getting a Dell Inspiron 6400. My current laptop is a Inspron 6000, so it looks the exact same, which means my pretty blue clip on cover will fit it. It’s got:

1. Windows Vista Premium
2. Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5200 (1.60 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 533 MHz FSB)
3. 15.4″ Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) Display with TrueLife™
4. 1024MB 533MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2×512)
5. 1024MB 533MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2×512)
6. Intel® Media Accelerator 950 Graphics Up to 256MB shared graphics memory
7. Intel® Pro Wireless 3945 802.11a/b/g Mini-PCI Card (for Core 2 Duo Processors)

Damn, I can’t wait til it’s delivered.

So, does anybody else play SecondLife? I think I’m addicted.

Smith and Jones was awesome.

That is all. More in-depth review after ‘Doctor Who Confidential’ is finished.

EDIT Spoiler-y.
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All photos were taken on my phone which is why they’re not brilliant quality. I totally forgot about doing this during work (probably since my manager was in here) but there wasn’t much to take photos of, except cages of groceries that were delivered!

I’m up at 5.28am, even though I don’t start work til 7am.

I make a cup of coffee in the best cup in the world - my ‘Best Girlfriend In The World’ cup that Chris bought me after we’d been going out for a month.

I check my email, feeds and stuff. Notice the HUGE cracks on my laptop moniter. Roll on June when I get access to my savings through work and I can replace it.

Put on my makeup… Hell I hate photos that are face on, I look so… huge!

My phone - I take all my photos with this since my camera is at Chris’ and I need to get batteries for it.

I stick my hat on (hey it’s cold outside) and take a picture of my eye. Because I’m cool like that.

Then I decide that ironing my uniform would be a good idea.

Can’t forget my badges, they’re the most important bit of my uniform (aside from my shop keys)

Man don’t I look happy?

My dog Abbi comes in the car with me and mum every morning when she runs me to work. Abbi waits at the door every morning for us.

Out to the carpark. It’s still really dark outside..

I goto the back to discover that I have no cash, just a tenner which I half with my mum since I pay petrol money.

This is my shop, well the first aisle anyway. The fruit and veg are my section and I’m glad to see it looking full and clean. Shame there’s no semi-skimmed milk left, I hope the milk delivery comes early.

The office. This is where the supervisors & manager hang out. Well I say that, today was only me and my manger who was in at 8.30am. We have a laugh in here, but work too - doing orders and money and paperwork and stuffs. Yes, stuffs.

I swear that the back shop is tidier than the shop floor sometimes. This is what I see as I walk out the office. I notice that some things will go out.

Go outside for a cigarette at 7.05am and notice that the papers have been left behind the shop again. Finish my cigarette and take them in to the shop to put out.

I do the money and it all balances out. Makes a change…

Super zoomed in view of my shop. Well the sign for the shop. To the right of that Spar sign is a hill and the shop sits at the top.

Waiting on a bus… is this it? Nope!

So when is my bus due? ‘Every 10 minutes or better’. My mum calls and says she’ll pick me up. Result.

I come home and crash out for 6 hours! Shocking. Wake up at some time during the 6 hours and the dog’s sleeping on top of me. Aww.

So, there we go. It’s just a shame I forgot to take pics in work. I will do this again soon though!!

Why are the photographs that I take with my phone outside always such a better quality than those that I take inside? It’s probably because of the light but inside pics always look really shitty and grainy. Grr. I took that picture of the bus because it was so old. It was like walking onto a time warp. But old things are good, they make me smile.

I can’t believe I actually took a good shot of it once I got off the bus and it was driving away. Not bad for a phone camera.

In other news I am getting all my hair chopped off on Saturday. I can’t wait, my hair is just about shoulder length at the moment and it’s far, far too long. I re-dyed my hair black tonight and its just so sexy. Hah, my mother hates it when I dye my hair black because she says that it makes me look really pale but I love it. It’s the sexiest colour in my book.

Oh, and I’m going to do a ‘Day In The Life’ thing tomorrow, because they’re too fun. Photopost a -coming!

Finally I have gotten around to actually setting up a web site again. As usual it was due to surfing the net and getting needy for a pretty website to write my thoughts too again (which, of course, isn’t my livejournal).A proper introduction is in need. My name is Melissa and I’m 20. I live in the (at the moment very snowy) wonderful city of Glasgow, Scotland and am a web designer working as a supervisor in SPAR 5 days a week to pay off my debts and keep my mind from rotting.

The soundtrack of my life includes Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails and Franz Ferdinand as well as a thousand other artists. Music=♥=life. I can’t play an instrument to safe my life but I make up for it with listening. My laptop is a huge MP3 player, backed up with my trusty iPod and o2 Ice phone for when the battery runs dead!I have a gorgeous boyfriend, whom will be referred to simply as C, of 4 years who is my rock. Most weekends are spent lying in his bed watching TV shows like Torchwood, Doctor Who, CSI and NCIS and smoking far too many roll-ups and drinking way too much coffee.

At the moment I’m using a pre-made theme for WordPress until I get my copy of PS CS2 back from my friend! But don’t knock it, I’ve messed about with it a little a lot!