I've found my home

using my power for evil

1.  My god, you are competitive.  :) *

Yep, I really, really am. My mum used to say (probably still says it): If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well. Except, because I am like that, I heard: If you can't do something well, don't do it at all. Unfortunately, what I heard probably worked in a negative way with me. I didn't apply myself. I don't like failure. I don't like not quite succeeding.

I have eleven O Levels. These are the exams you take when you are 16 in England. A C is a pass, an A is a very good pass, and an A* is excellent. However, I learnt that people are more impressed with the quantity of qualifications, rather than the quality. I have 11 of these things. To the disappointment of my parents, my teachers, nine of them are at grade C, two are grade B (in fact, if you want to be really pedantic William, you only have nine O Levels and two AO Levels). I have two A Levels. A pass, at A Level, is achieved with a grade of E or higher. My two A Level grades are E and D. I have a degree with Honours. There are four different grades for an Honours degree: A First (1.1), a 2.1, a 2.2, and a Third. I have a Third. You see, it's not the taking apart, it's the taking part. If I'm going to do something, and I know that I can do it well, don't stand in my way. Seriously, when I get involved, when something takes my fancy, I am more determined than a T-1000. I am waaaay too competitive for my own good.

Oh, some stuff I have managed to rein in. I don't play Monotony Monopoly to win any more. I'm having a really hard time trying not to win at Scrabulous when I play with Maria (or play with Alan and Maria) - I'm learning to just enjoy it for the fun of it. I've been through my "competitive dad" streak. I've realised that my children didn't learn by being beaten at sport/games/anything I could come up with, they just learned to sulk (Maria's kids are having a much easier time). As age has descended on me I have become more mellow.

Except I haven't.

And I blame it all on neil h.!!!

Before I go any further I should mention that we love neil h. He's our type of person. Does what he wants, is who he is, he's brilliant! Gotta lurve neil h. So, you have it in your mind - neil h. is a luvverly person, wonderful guy. He's the guy you'd want to spend several hours with. He is well read, in that way that he reads things that you've never thought of. He likes so many things and talks about them with such enthusiasm that you want to do those things. He is just brilliant. We love neil h.

neil h. is destroying my life!

It started with Desk Top Defender. DTD is crack cocaine for the non-console owner. Hours/days/weeks have been spent on becoming good at this - and, if you want to log on to the casual collective and check your scores against mine, I own you!

It has moved on. Somehow my competitive nature has sucked me into joining Mixclub. Because I know, I KNOW, that I can produce the bestest ever CD.

However, all of these things are done in the confines of our flat. On the whole, I am not going around and forcing my DTD results in anyone's face. Nor am I forcing anyone to listen to my music. And I am definitely not forcing anyone to go to Casa de Adobe.

No, I'm not! Just because every other week I mention that you should click on the site, doesn't mean that I am forcing it upon you. Except, I am competitive. I really want to succeed at this. Hell, it's nothing. It's just clicking on a site and having the counter convert clicks into people. But I'm competitive.

So I told my 6th Grade class about the site. Yep, I used my powers for evil. Suddenly I have a bunch of kids building their own mini-cities and visiting mine. And look! I have risen into the 300s. I am knocking on the door of being in the top 200 biggest cities in Mexico.

I am a bit sad really. I am that worst kind of person. I am terrible.

Please help me. Please, I have the kids at school improving my population, I just need help with my transport and industry. I am this crap :^)

* thanks Vanessa

benevolent dictator

One of the problems with being on holiday is that I don't have access to the school's IP address. This means that I can't add to the population of Casa de Adobe.

Now, I realise that you have far more important things to worry about, but, seriously, it's just a click. One small click. Increase my population and I can break into the top 300 cities in Mexico.

Go on. You know you want to. And where else am I going to retire to with all my squillions of GBP?

Casa de Adobe - Population

Casa de Adobe - Industry

Casa de Adobe - Transport

Thank you. I will remember you in the New Year's Honours List.

A click a day keeps something away.

Dictator Will

been a long time

Yeah, like, I'm a bit crap.

But enough about me [oo, oo - quick joke: Why do the French only have one egg at breakfast? Because to a Frenchman one egg is un oeuf (enough - geddit!!??)] and a bit more about:

Casa de Adobe

Yes! The population has hit over 100. Unfortunately I have slipped down the rankings and am now only the 478 biggest city/town/village in Mexico. Thanks to those of you who have been hitting the industry link my employment stills holds at 100% but my transport is falling! I now have a new link for transport! Yes, you can improve my transport, improve my industry and increase my population. Bet you've never felt so useful!!

got me a tower block!

Hope you are all still visiting Casa de Adobe. The industry is coming along well and look, no pollution!!!

Thank you!

[and obviously you are visiting Pogwood - but the transport needs some help]

thank you

It means so little - and then it means so much!

Eight (8) new factories have opened in Casa de Adobe! Eight factories! Considering there is only a population of 55 that's awesome! Hopefully I will avoid neil h.'s problem of everyone doing a "Noman Tebbit"and getting on their bike and leaving the place.

But, thanks to you (yes, both of you) clicking on my industry button and my population button - Casa de Adobe is still a thriving community. [If only I could get you to send me money! That was a joke!!}

meanwhile, back at the ranch

I've slipped down the rankings. At one moment I was in the top 300 but now I find myself at the low 400s. Casa de Adobe just isn't one of the beeg cities in Mexico.

However, with a population of 50 (yep, that means that both of my readers have been clicking on the link) I can now qualify for some industry. What does that mean? Who knows.

But if you click here I might get some factories going (although as they are Mexican factories I can't vouch for their "green-ness") as opposed to clicking here which just improves my population.

Go on...you know it makes sense...you're at work...use their internet!

[Of course I should ask you to also click here and here....but I won't. Can I take time to gloat that neil h. is nly in the to 900? Nah, that would be petty. So, make sure you really click here and here.]

2007 - how was it for you?

And so it comes to pass, that moment when you review the year just past and look forward to the year ahead. 2007 - how was it for you? On the surface it was a terrible year for me. Mainly because of the last couple of months, which are at the forefront of me mind. It was the year that life caught up with me. I've always been fortunate in the fact that I look young and I can, therefore, act young. But 2007 was the year that my life caught up with me and suddenly I was old. I ended the year having to wear glasses to read, I played my last game of football, I took a day off work because I was ill. The breaking my foot was a whole "oh fuck" maybe I am not as young as I thought moment. Plus, although I am normally up with what the kids are getting down with, I realised that High School - The Musical was not my thing and I really, really don't get Hanna Montana. Damn, I'm old. Worse, 2007 will always be remembered as the year of the crash. This led to the worst night of my life, the night Maria spent in jail. Obviously this night was a lot worse for Maria but it is a night that still has repercussions several months later. It is an event that hangs over us and affects the way we think and live. Sometimes I think that the faster we get out of 2007 the better.

That said, for the sake of (both) my readers I will now present a list - one of those lists that tell you everything I thought was great (or not) about 2007. Everything I liked (or hated) about the year that has just passed.

Film:

I have got to see an inordinate amount of films this year, thanks to the fact that Maria has got over the fact that she lives with a man who works for Sony and therefore has become a lot more liberal in her belief in downloading films from the internet. True, most of these films have been classics. However, I am going to pick from films I have seen this year. Special mention has to go out to Little Miss Sunshine, which I saw at the beginning of the year. I loved the Bourne Ultimatum and Live Free Or Die Hard. Stardust gets a mention as best adaptation of a book I've read (whereas The Golden Compass gets a mention because it is the worst adaptation I have seen). 300 just rocked. Pan's Labyrinth was a film you you have to see (but just the once). However the film of the year goes to:

Michael Clayton

Well thought out, well executed and a film that kept me enthralled from the first moment to the last.

Turkey of the Year: Could have gone to The Golden Compass or Ratatouille but, for reasons that are totally and utterly mine - Spider-Man 3. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I hate this film.

Book:

I haven't read as many books as I would like to have this year. Some of it has to do with the fact that I lost my eyesight earlier in the year and some of it has to do with I started to read some awful books that made me pause...and not read as much as I should. I realise that most of the books that I have read aren't published this year but, what the heck, there are millions of books out there and I'm just catching up. Anything by Chuck Klosterman is an excellent read - mainly because it cause so much conversation between Maria and I. Fatty Batter took me back to my childhood and made me laugh out loud many times. I loved The Life of Pi and The Amazing Adventures of Kavelier and Clay. And The Dancer Upstairs really rocked. However my book of the year goes to:

Perfume by Patrick Suskind

I can nominate this book because I finished it in January. Don't see the film - read the book. This is not a visual story, this appeals to your understanding of the written word (and oh, how I wish that the makers of The Golden Compass had left the book alone). Mr. Suskind also wrote Mr. Summer's Story which is one of my all time favourites and if you can get a copy, read it!

Turkey of the year: Could have gone to the books I couldn't finish but instead goes to a book I did finish and wondered why I bothered: Hanging out with the Dream King: Interviews with Neil Gaiman. I really wanted to like this but....

Television:

Special mention should go to Heroes. This was a series that grabbed my attention in 2006 and I loved it through the early part of 2007. Unfortunately it dipped in quality at the beginning of the second series and really only got going, again, as the writer's strike kicked in. I have spent a lot of this year watching The Gilmore Girls from the start, Six Feet Under and The Sopranos. I have also watched the whole of Rome - which was brilliant. And, it is because of my love of Rome and the fact that they have cancelled the series (whether it is writer's strike induced or because I am the only one who loved it) that this year's nomination goes to:

Journeyman

Basically a Quantum Leap for the 21st Century. As there will never be more than the 13 episodes we have watched I can say, I miss it! It never got bad (which might happen to Life - our other favourite).

Turkey of the Year: House - this has moved from being a "medical" programme to being a "Hugh Laurie" vehicle. I'm not sure that this is a bad thing, just a difficult thing to grasp.

Sport:

The thing about sport is that it has so many highs and so many lows - and if it doesn't I really don't care. The lows reached their depths with Sheffield United losing the last game of the season and being demoted. This affected me a lot more than I expected, I ended up crying and missing my dad. England losing the World Cup Final, England losing at cricket, England losing at football - sometimes it isn't good to be English. But, sporting wise, the whole year has had a high with the mighty Santos Laguna only losing two games all season. The highlight of the year has to be:

Santos beating Team America 4-0

Team America are the Chelsea/Man Ure/Arsenal/New England Patriots of Mexican football. They always win - so to actually beat them was wonderful. To totally humiliate them by winning 4-0 (and it could have been 10-0) was just sensational.

Turkey of the year: Sean Bean and all those other Blades supporters who presented a petition at the House of Commons demanding Sheffield United's re-instatement to the Premier League. [please note: I am totally avoiding the fact that I have played my last game of football EVER]

Alcohol:

My basic staple has (and will probably remain) Dos Equis but I have occasionally wandered away. Special mention has to go to the Tijuana Brewery for their "blonde" beer which is very cheap and very cheerful. I had a fantastic margarita in Red Lobster and I do enjoy a pint of Fat Tire. But this year's winner is:

Casillero del Diablo

A Chilean cabernet sauvignon which is wonderful. However, wine in Mexico can be expensive (compared to the price of a good bottle of wine in England). But this is the year that Costco got themselves a job lot of Cassillero del Diablo and started selling it at 100 pesos a bottle. We now have a wine cellar! Instead of just buying a bottle when we feel like it, we actually have several bottles just laying on their side waiting for the moment we fancy one.

Turkey of the year: Bud Light. Is there anything more depressing than that moment when someone offers you a drink and then places a Bud Light in your hand? I don't think so.

Game:

As Santa didn't bring me a Wii or an XBox I am limited to games I might have played on the computer. There is only one. So, by default:

Desktop Tower Defender

Addictive beyond belief.

Food:

I still enjoy tacos - I adore tacos. They are still a novelty, each time I bite into one it is like the first time and they are wonderful. Carl's Jnr still serve the best burger and Dominos pizza still disappoints. There is nothing on earth to match the wonderfulness of buffalo wings served at The Fisherman's warf in San Clemente - oh, there is one thing:

Filete Balsamico

Mandolinos has become our favourite restaurant - the service is good, the waiters are friendly and when the place is packed [Feb 14th] and we turn up unexpectedly [Feb 14th], they still find a table for us. We haven't had a bad meal there - often we have been served with dishes that are not on the menu, they like to know our opinion. But my all time fave is the steak cooked in a balsamic sauce. It melts in the mouth.

Turkey of the year: Tamales. I try, I really try - but they are a Mexican dish that I just can't enjoy and, for some reason, most people find this as an insult to their country. Worse, this then inspires them to feel that I haven't had a proper tamale and so try to force another one on me.

Place:

This year we have visited Disney twice. Both times have been wonderful. I know that there is the chance to be cynical about Disneyland but the fact is, it is an escape. A break from the real world and all its problems. Also I get to share it Maria and it makes it so much better. Again we have visited San Clemente pier several times, and each time I have proposed to Maria and each time she has accepted. It is difficult to pick a favourite place because I go everywhere with Maria and she makes every place wonderful. But my favourite place has to be:

Bed

To fall asleep every night beside Maria, to wake up every morning beside Maria. This makes my life perfect.

Turkey: Jail. I never went, Maria did - neither of us want a night like that again.

2007

A year of some great highs and big lows. But, as I have typed this I realise that it has been a year with Maria, a year in love, a year being loved. No matter how bad the year has got I have still be happy, much happier than I have been before.

I hope that 2007 was a good year for you (both of you) and that 2008 is better. I will still be here, I hope you will still be there (but do note: you are always welcome to visit).

Peace and Love.

casa de adobe

All the cool kids are doing it, so I am too!

One of the great things about being a teacher is the holidays! Yay me!!! I don't have to work again this year! Hell, I don't have to go to work again until January 7th.

So, how am I intending to spend all this free time?

Will I be posting more regularly? I'll say yes now...and if it turns out to be a lie, I'll apologise later.

Will I be learning Spanish, you know, because my New Year Resolution 360 odd days ago was to learn Spanish? Nope, probably not - I'm a bit crap that way.

Will I be spending a lot more time laying around the house scratching my belly? You betcha! I will be lord of my domain and all that I survey (if Maria lets me)!

As part of this "if I ruled the world" scenario I have decided to build my own world. Yes, I will be master of a city. A city in Mexico. And, because I love you gentle reader (both of you) I am offering you the chance to be a part of this new world order, this brave new world, this social experiment (this bit of me laying around and scratching my belly).

I have built my own little city, Casa de Adobe and you can become a citizen of this city! All you have to do is click on the link Casa de Adobe and you become part of the population. But, here is the wonderful bit, you don't just have to be one person - why no, if you click once a day, every day, you can become many, many people - all living in Mexico!

So join me, come live in my city. Just click away, once a day and I soon will have a much bigger city than anyone else in Mexico!! (not that I'm competitive or anything!)

P.S. If you want you could always go live in Pogwood but I hear they don't have a decent Taco shop!