Holidays, concerts, and tiredness

Well, Stoupa was a lovely little place. Our apartments (Theoxenia Apartments, or studios, or something) were about thirty seconds' walk from the beach, which was a nice spot to be in, and the resort itself was tiny - you could walk the length of the place in a leisurely couple of minutes. No bars playing music, no rowdy gangs (think we were the youngest people there actually, apart from the babies some people had with them) and the perfect opportunity to catch up on reading and just relax basically. Managed to shift a few books: "Utterly Monkey" by Nick Laird, "The Last Family in England" by Matt Thorne, "My Dark Places" by James Ellroy, "Wonder Boys" by Michael Chabon, and most of "Screen Burn" by Charlie Brooker. The best thing is that in about ten more weeks we're off to Lindos! Eeeeee!

Back at work and I'm running SQL 2000 Admin this week. Monday was hell - we didn't get home until about 3AM, so by the time I'd got to sleep and the alarm went off at 7 I'd been asleep for no more than a couple of hours. SQL and sleep deprivation do not mix, I can tell you. Managed to catch up on a bit of kip on Monday night, but last night put us back again. Why? We went to see U2 at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Verdict: Disappointed. We'd wanted to see them for years, so maybe we'd expected too much, I don't know. Sure, they were great musicians, and yes, the stage was spectacular, but half of it was obscured by a tent on the pitch which we ended up being behind. It just didn't "wow" me though, and didn't feel at all engaging. At one point I found myself watching a fight, and later on a girl being pulled from the crowd, receiving medical treatment, then being wheeled away in a heap in a chair. I've seen U2 concerts on DVD and they've been great, but seeing them "in the flesh" so to speak was a bit of a let down. After it all finished we walked back into Manchester and found we'd missed the last train, and the last bus (brilliant - they want people to use public transport and then they stop it all at 11:15. Nice one. Cheers for that.) and all of the taxi ranks were packed, so we ended up waiting until 12.45 to get a taxi home. Nightmare. Today we do *not* feel good...

This Friday we're off to see REM. Hope that one doesn't let me down as I've wanted to see them for *ages* and I'm quite a fan.

Work is sending me from pillar to post for the next four weeks (Hinckley, Hinckley, Leeds and London I think - and yes, that puts me away on my birthday, which is always nice and lovely) then I'm back for two weeks and then away for three. Sigh... Will this madness ever end?

Oh, and a big hello to Stephen Bollard if you're reading this. Steve was a mate of mine back at Hope High (gulp - eighteen years ago...) and I've not heard from him since then, but while we were away he found my website thanks to my "Friends Reunited" profile craftiness and got in touch. Great to hear from him. Will meet up soon.

Nothing else to report at the moment. Off to get ready for work now - once Lou gets out of the bathroom at least.