Items will either need collecting from Orpington, BR6, or if they’re small enough, I’ll take them to work so they could be collected from the St Paul’s area.

Anyway, the list:

• NetASQ F50AV hardware firewall.
• Buffalo Linkstation (NAS) – 100Gb (I think) – Boots to Debian.
• Tesco digital bathroom scales (EB9002).
• Linksys WRT54g – with either Sveasoft or OpenWRT firmware.
• Linksys WRT54g – with either Sveasoft or OpenWRT firmware.
• Linksys WRT54g – with either Sveasoft or OpenWRT firmware.
• Linksys WAP11b – default firmware.
• Buffalo HD-HB250U2 250Gb USB2 external drive (has power block, needs lead to the block + USB A-B cable).
• Buffalo HD-HC250U2 250Gb USB2 external drive (has power block, needs lead to the block + USB A-B cable).
• BeBox Speedtouch ADSL2+ modem.
• APC AP9212 remote (IP) power switch.
• iPhone 3G 16G – unused, officially network unlocked. (£225)
• SPV M5000 Mobile phone – unused.
• GlobalSat Bluetooth GPS model: BT-338
• Canon Ixus 500 + spare battery. CF flap broke so a little tape holds it in place, otherwise fully working (need cable to battery charger, figure of eight power cord jobbie).
• Sipura SPA-2100 – POTS -> SIP adapter.
• Canon EOS 300V (film) SLR. Body only, rarely used.
• SCSI Ultra 320 36.6Gb (internal) HDD.
• PC Games: Doom 3, Unreal Tournament, HL2 EP1, Settlers 3, Dungeon Keeper 2.
• HP Deskjet 5552 printer. Unused for 4 years, but had been working.
• ‘Discrite’ 120ish CD holder.
• Samsung mobile phone

There’s also my old desktop PC. It’s an AMD machine (can’t remember the chip, was very good at the time), has a Radeon 9600 GFX card, 1Gb RAM, Soundblaster Audigy Z2 card and breakout box, firewire, 802.11g PCI card, 160Gb hdd.

I’d stopped using it because it developed a fault: the machine would run for a period of time (sometimes an hour, sometimes many hours) then the screen would freeze and a continuous tone would emit from the machine. A reboot resolved. It’s possibly just because it needs a good clean on the inside (it’s very dusty) or perhaps there is a faulty component. Either way, I’ve no time or interest in identifying the fault so the machine’s free to someone who wants to collect it. It comes with the original Windows XP CD and license, but the HDD which was in the machine has been securely wiped, so it’ll need a fresh install. It comes with 5.1 surround sound speakers, but I have a vague memory one of the tweeters wasn’t working, so perhaps it’s 4.1? Again, drop me a mail if you’re interested in collecting.

The good:

• Sorted pictures, frame and small gifts to package up and send to the USA in time for it to be delivered for Valentine’s day.
• Managed also to arrange delivery of some roses to the USA too.
• Quotes are in for the new kitchen.
• Nearly up to date with Two and a Half Men.
• Read, and loved, Born to Run. Now reading It’s not about the bike.
• Started running again. Switching to Forefoot Running, legs adjusting slowly.
• Have been socialising! Only single people at a time, but will soon move up to small groups, hopefully without associated anxiety.
• Started Chiropractic treatment. My spine’s out of shape, but loving it being cracked back into place. Neck cracks are the stuff orgasms are made out of.
• Emma flies back over in less than a month!
• Antibiotics appear to be helping my stomach!
• Zachary’s been really well behaved and a joy to be around the last few times I’ve seen him.
• Getting an Xbox 360 this week.

The Bad:

• Sleep’s still not regulating. Have taken sleeping tablets 5 times in the last two weeks.
• Anxiety isn’t resolved. Slight improvement, and no full on panic attacks, but still not where I want it to be. Will be requesting additional or a change in medication on Wednesday.
• This month away from Emma has been really hard mentally and emotionally. Need to make a concerted effort not to get too down waiting for her flight in March.

I saw the psychiatrist last Thursday afternoon. He’s happy I have no underlying psychiatric issues (clinical depression, etc) and has referred me back to my GP for further treatment. He’s requested that I come off the zopiclone (sleeping medication) and diazepam (anxiety med), which I have done over the last 5 days. I’m to remain on the citalopram ongoing as the anxiety element is having a positive effect.

For management of anxiety I’ve been provided with a thorough
information pack and have purchased a workbook to go through. I
understand, although the letter’s not been received yet, that I’m to
be referred for counciling for CBT. I’ll find out more during my next GP appointment.

I saw my GP today and while she’s pleased with the progress on the
anxiety front, she’s not happy with my sleeping schedule – I’m
averaging 3-4 hours a night, despite being in bed for 8-10. She wants me to continue with the citalopram for the next two weeks alone in an effort to improve my sleep, if that doesn’t work then she’s prescribed 10mg zolpidem which I’m to take occasionally if necessary. This should enable me to return to work at a functional level.

I requested to return to work this coming Monday, but she would like to give the meds another few weeks to start working properly. So I’ve been signed off for a further two weeks.

On the gastro front, I spent Monday and Tuesday at the Biolab clinic in London having lactose and lactulose tests done to assess bacteria levels in my gut. I get the results tomorrow at the London Bridge Hospital. If the results are abnormal, then long-term antibiotics can be prescribed to keep the levels down (and therefore hopefully the wind and other associated nastiness). If the results are normal, then we’ll move to MRI or other imaging techniques to scan the remainder of the intestine to find out what on earth is going on.

So it’s been a busy few weeks. Tomorrow I’m seeing the dentist and the doc and Friday I pick up my wounded soldier for the weekend. Until then, I foresee some Two and a Half Men in my future, and perhaps some more Modern Warfare 2.

I gave that up and watched the last three episodes of Entourage before heading to the land of nod (and inadvertently cheering up a colleague with my last facebook status of the night.

Despite some odd dreams (one involving Alex!), woke feeling refreshed. The neck ache of yesterday has gone, along with the joint tenderness and overall ‘feeling under the weather’ that I’ve had since the flight back from Ozora.

The morning’s started well, have finished reading the topic I started on Saturday, meaning I’m now ahead of my lessons, and am making progress through the other book I purchased recently too.

It’s going to be a long day as I’m likely covering both the early and late shifts.

• Prince of Persia
• Resistance 2
• Killzone 2

Prince of Persia is great, am enjoying the story, the amusing conversations the characters have, and, as always, the awesome acrobatics.

Resistance 2, the sequel to ‘Resistance: Fall of Man’, is very samey. Have played for a number of hours and it’s not evolving. Turning, shooting, turning, shooting. *Yawn*

Killzone 2: More of the same ala Resistance 2, except even the bad guys never change here. But it is far more challenging, and will be satisfying to complete on that basis alone.

I think, really, I’m just waiting for the next Half-life 2 to come along. That game, even though it’s years old, really set the bar high. Speaking of which, I should open my Orange Box and start playing HL2 ep2 – I’ve owned it for over a year and it’s still in the wrapper. Same with Civilisation: Revolution.

Making a comeback to the playing circle soon will be:

• Mirror’s Edge – Great concept, fun to play, haven’t see anything like it before. Awesome game, but sidelined at the moment for the above three.
• Fallout 3 – After an extended period of playing went back and focused on work for months and didn’t get back into it. Want to complete it.

In hand-held news, they’re making excellent progress with the Pandora. It’s shaping up to be a great machine, and I’ll be excited to receive the finished article. I think it’ll end up replacing my current hand helds (psp, ds).