Uno, Opportunity & Rock. Also featuring 'Interesting News About Mice'

I was telling Kieran today that life is like a game of Uno. I use Uno as the example, as I don't know, nor care to know, any other card games (with the exception of snap!). You get dealt the hand youre dealt, you take a hit when you have to, you take a win when you can and, even if youre down to your last card, it's never over. It's an analogy I've used in the past and I'll continue to use it well into the foreseeable future.

I've been co-located in two (occasionally three) offices lately, it's making me grumpy, (more) cynical and just generally not happy, also exhausted. Kieran's happy go lucky rants have kept me a little more sane than I feel I would otherwise be in this kind of situation, it was good to throw some back at him.

I stop into 'home base' on the way home from other locations most nights, mostly to collect packages (see: eBay addiction story not yet told), but also as a way of holding on to my desk there and to shoot out some emails in peace. Tonight's pit stop proved eventful and, if I were an astrologer I would phrase it like this: "an opportunity may present itself this week. or next. also, avoid cereal". So guess we'll wait and see what happens on that front, but its been a glimmer of hope in an all together dreary week.

One of the few positive things going on this week, has been the constant rotation of the new Deftones album, "Diamond Eyes". I jumped on the Deftones bandwagon circa "Around The Fur" and have always rated "White Pony" in my top albums lists. I lost them, or maybe they lost me, with "Deftones" & "Saturday Night Wrist", but this album is not only amazing but a return to form of the Deftones I know and love. From chaotic, intense passages of hard rockin goodness, to floating beauty, it is one of those albums that takes you somewhere.. I have been making the most of the longer commutes to work getting to know this album more intimately and with each listen it seems to reveal new layers. Anyone who enjoys a bit of hard rock / alt metal / rock or whatever should check it out.

Did you know that mice don't like the smell of peppermint? I sure didn't, that is until this week when Sarah gave me the low-down. Apparently what we humans mostly find delicious and fragrantly beautiful, is repulsive to mice, to the point where they will knowingly and willing jump into rusty old traps with no bait just to avoid the thought of even seeing a peppermint crisp. A few drops of peppermint oil on some strategically placed tissues will deter or possibly repel mice. A pleasant side effect is that your house will also smell favourable to dentists world wide. An unpleasant side effect is that it will smell SO minty fresh, that your eyes will water in every room of the house.

Well, I'm off to channel some frustration into the drumkit...and maybe the distortion pedal.

Note to Facebook: I left you because I couldn't say any of this in 400 characters or less.