Day 600

Budget in the afternoon, fags up again (what does rolling baccy count as?) but nothing on spirits, luckily. So all those selfish bastards who voted Tory last year'll get their just deserts with all the extra VAT etc.

Got the presents I bought yesterday wrapped up, 3½ weeks before Christmas. Not bad planning eh?

Day 599

Bitterly cold today. Went into town for Christmas shopping and to sign on. Doubled spending to £20 this year - didn't even have to take money out of the building society. Such are the benefits of Temperance.

Day 598

Read the paper. In the evening the usual telly, last in the series of Lovejoy. Still not the same without Lady Jane.

Day 597

Thought about asking for that new OMD album for Christmas.

Have been thinking about apathy, which seems to've descended in May 1989 and been here for the last 4½ years, apart from a brief period around the finals. Wish it would disperse...

Day 596

Cold and foggy. More NPC's. Rather boring day again in fact, apart from the new Viz.

A Dr Who segment in the Children In Need thing.

Day 595

Did some NPC parties, tenuous job link admittedly but never mind. I must admit I'm sick of feeling everything I do is futile unless it's linked to the equally futile search for a job. But after 2 years 4 months it's hard to get excited about it.

Only a month till Christmas, hopefully this gloomy mood'll've lifted by then. Still, rather have gloom and futility than paranoia.

Pris soon. That's one thing I'm still interested in...

Day 594

Rediscovered discrepancies between Expert and Companion D&D deriving from the different editions and the fact that Expert tends to regard 14th level as tops. Also tried to sort out the spells, found 3 undescribed 5th level cleric spells which I'll try and deduce from White Dwarf.

The James Bulger trial finished. 'Thatcher's bloody Bwritain.' This is what the me-first decade and American cultural imperialism have brought about.

Day 593

Continued the database, typed up some of my own creations neatly with Word for Windows. Might possibly be useful for a gaming job...

Day 592

Completed my War Machine spreadsheet on the 386, started a monster database on my computer

In the evening the Lee Harvey Oswald feature-length Quantum Leap. Far too long and ended with a cop-out. Ah well, suppose any Monday telly's better than none, eh.

Day 591

Woke up to an inch of snow. Went to the shop as an excuse for appreciating the scene.

Read the paper, did a War Machine spreadsheet with PC-Calc. A good day for a Sunday.

Day 590

In 10 days it will be Winter. Christmas should warm things up, but then we will face an isolate winter which, unlike the autumn, was not foreseen. This year has been much like 1991, but 1994 will (unless things change) be different and much more isolated. Even if M does come back next Summer, I doubt things will be the same.

'Something better change...' On April 14th next year I'll've been on the dole as long as I was at uni. Surely something can happen before then?

Day 589

Went round to mum's in the afternoon, used the laptop to do a D&D War Machine spreadsheet.

Day 588

This foreseen isolate autumn's proving a bit dull but not as bad as I feared. Let's face it, I had a good 21-month run with M being here, it couldn't go on for ever. Ah well. Pris later.

Day 587

Bright and windy and very cold. England and Wales knocked out of the World Cup. Could take the edge off expected reminiscences of 1990 next summer.

Day 586

Passed the morning with FRP. Perhaps there are jobs to be had in game design. I'm way out of touch with the scene though. It's an idea.

Very cold today, had to shut my windows. Spent the afternoon trying to keep warm. That horrible torture/murder case of that burnt girl from Manchester came up today. The deed was done in mid-December last year and I remember being affected by it. The point is it was before the Green Man Crisis that Christmas. Obviously the hassle down there was just a last straw to the paranoia I was feeling already. Which in a way is quite encouraging.

Better than 2 days/page so far in this diary book, it could last me till October 1994! Unless some really interesting things happen of course

(12.35am). Myra is dead. Recquiescat in pace Myra.

Day 585

Didn't wake up till 10.50, so was ½ hour late signing on. No-one said anything though.

Nothing on telly at all on Mondays at the moment. At least Pris is back tomorrow, at last.

Day 584

Very windy and cold, rain too. More White Dwarf reading. It got so crap towards the end and judging by the letters its readers (and former contributors!) knew it. Wonder if it's still going.

Got to sign on tomorrow, hope the weather's improved by then.

Day 583

On the whole the Great Temperance has been a success so far.

Day 582

Went round to my parents' and got all my RPG stuff down from the loft for ideas, inevitably read old White Dwarfs all day. Why was it so good at first (40-49) and so crap by issue 80?

Attacked the probabilities-of-3d6 problem in the afternoon, which finally yielded to a brute-force program on my indispensable pocket computer.

Day 581

Watched the last Red Dwarf - a bit serious.

Day 580

Went round to the chemist's for cough-mixture.

Christiana rang up in the evening, talked for 20 minutes. She's living up on the new estate again, I could go and see her. Is this an unforeseen compensation for the foreseen isolate autumn? (Though often Christiana is something you'd want compensation for).

Day 579

Cracking episode of Pris last night: the mercenaries killed an extra but now Myra has got 1 minute to decide who'll be next. Pris won't be on for another week so as the announcer said, it'll be a long minute for Myra.

C's birthday today, so winter definitely coming soon.

Day 578

Put C back on the laptop. Had success with various programs, managed to understand useful pointer facts.

Pris on today, the first time on a Monday since they changed to Tue/Thur from Mon/Sun 3 years ago. Might cause dislocatory boredom tomorrow.

Quite a good day really, those C successes really built me up, plus S's encouraging words yesterday of course.

Day 577

Mixed the Christmas cake.

S. came round, she was very encouraging about improvements in me after the great abstinence. I wonder if her encouraging words will actually get me anywhere jobs-wise? You never know.

Day 576

Listened to Week Ending, watched The Bill.

Day 575

Listened to No Further Questions on R4, interesting series about court cases.

Mum lent me her laptop again - triple speed, 25 MHz!

Lots of firework noise, obviously gunpowder treason isn't being forgot round here. I've got very anti-European recently. Classic unemployment-based suspicion of foreigners. But it's us they'll be expecting to bale them out again when Germany next goes on the march. Let's hope the traditional quarrel with the Russians keeps Fritz occupied.

Day 574

No career moves yet: this is the time for arranging courses, I don't want to lose by default a third year in a row.

In the evening watched Red Dwarf - really good series this.

Day 573

Had a bath in the evening, practiced darts, videoed The Buddha of Suburbia which they've been trailing for weeks.

Government running into trouble over their attempt to dismantle BR, Tory scum. Sorry, bit of politics there.

Day 572

Investigated football statistics, found teams who play in blue are less successful and blue and white stripes more successful. Sort of.

I must say I feel better with the Great Temperance.

In the evening Naked Video. Pris later: the text listing gave away the plot again, I ought to complain.

Day 571

C was going to Harlow so I went along for the ride, came back to sign on. Misty cold day out in the flat countryside, beautiful autumn colours.

Got Pagemaker onto my computer, found it hard to work without a mouse though.

Victor Lewis-Smith on telly in the evening - not too funny.