Welcome to the July TIGF Contest, which runs from 00:00AM GMT on July 1st 2008, until 11:59 GMT on July 31st 2008. The focus of the contest for July is commenting. The rules this time are the same as last time, and I’ve tried to keep them as simple as possible. I’ve set them up this way so even people with low traffic blogs stand a chance of winning.

1. For every comment you make, you get 1 chance at winning.
2. For everyone you refer who leaves a comment, you get 5 chances to win.
3. Every comment counts, up to 1 per day. Any extra than 1 per day will be discounted. For example, if you leave 40 comments on July 2nd, then nothing for the rest of the month, I’ll count that as 1 comment (and quite probably remove the other 39). Retroactively commenting is allowed - if you miss a few days, and then comment on them afterwards, that’s fine.
4. If you refer someone to the site, and they leave a comment mentioning that you referred them, you get 5 points, and they get 1. Them mentioning that they were referred is important, because I can’t match up HTTP referrers to comments very easily. If that person has already commented, you lose 5 chances to win. No referring people who already comment.
5. Previously made comments do not count towards your total - this contest is for comments made in July 2008 only.
6. Comments can be anything - just to say “Hi” is acceptable, though obviously Id prefer something a little meatier than that.
7. At the end of the month, the names will be put into a hat. If you’ve left 20 comments, you obviously have more chance of winning that if you’ve left one.
8. The rules/prizes may be changed at any point.
9. My decision is final. Obvious spamming will get you disqualified. Etc.

Having read all that, I bet you’re wondering what you win, aren’t you? The prizes are as follows:

1. A set of 4 silicone (?) wrist bracelets, in different colours. One says “perfection”, another “courage”, another “balance” and the final one “peaceful”.
2. A set of 10 watercolour pencils and paintbrush.
3. A couple of articles I’ve snipped from magazines, that I’ve found useful.
4. A Green & Black’s cereal bar.
5. A set of 3 “gratitude stones”. It’s 3 stones, engraved with the words Prosperity, Abundance and Gratitude.

To enter, just leave a comment. The more days you comment, the higher your chance of winning. Even better is to refer someone, because you get more chances to win, and I get a new reader (hopefully). If you have any queries, or whatever, leave a comment below.

Good luck!

Solomon.

Today’s list of things to be grateful for or appreciate:

1. Getting a good night’s sleep.
2. I’m off work all day.
3. I have my job interview in a little while. I’ll be glad once it’s over, because hopefully my nerves will settle down then, and I’ll know more about my prospects.
4. Breakfast cereals.
5. A nice hot shower.
6. Being able to make myself look presentable.
7. My Amazon order arrived today. It’s a new set of hair clippers. I must learn how to use them.
8. Mom has ironed my clothes for me.
9. Rescue Remedy.
10. Getting everything I need sorted out last night.
11. Having everything I need, so that I could get it sorted out.
12. Not reversing into another car while on the shop car park.
13. The interview went well, I think. I’m optimistic.
14. Standing in the back door way, watching the weather go from hot sun, to pouring down rain making pretty patterns on the paving slabs, and back to hot sun with raindrop jewels all over the garden, in the space of 2 minutes.
15. I’m taking mom to the garden centre.
16. Hot Teeccino.
17. We got some nice plants at the garden centre for half price.
18. Safe driving. I was going down a hill at one point on the way back, when I braked, and the brake pedal went all the way to the floor. Thankfully, I managed to brake safely in enough time right afterwards.
19. My mechanic is going to get me in tomorrow to have a look at my brakes for me.
20. I’ve managed to cut my own hair with my new Wahl Hair Trimming Kit. I only paid £1.07 for it, after I used some Amazon coupons, and I managed to get 1 day shipping for free. It works much better than my old set, and it’s done a good job.
21. Watching a funny video.
22. Watching an episode of Ray Mears.
23. Avoiding the rain all day.
24. Playing with Wenna.
25. I have the whole day off work tomorrow.
26. Getting some books listed on ReadItSwapIt. It’s a book exchanging service that lets you swap books with other people.

Things I’ve laughed at today:

1. This lolcat. And this one.
2. This lolcat.

Things I want to manifest:

1. A successful job interview. HOPEFULLY MANIFESTED.
2. Calmness. MANIFESTED.

Things I’ve done for others:

1. Took mom to the garden centre.

Today’s list of things to be grateful for or appreciate:

1. Getting a good night’s sleep.
2. Weird dreams. I was with a family in WW2, and we lived on the side of a hill. They were Jewish, and were trying to hide from the Nazi’s. We were coming up with all sorts of plans to hide away. At one point, we were going to hide in the top of a chimney, a la Harvington Hall, but that plan fell through when I realised that if the Nazi’s saw smoke coming from the chimney, but there were no warm fireplaces in the house, they’d figure that something was up. It’s amazing what floats through my head sometimes.
3. Hot Teeccino.
4. Walking up the garden in the warm bright sunshine. :nearlyripe:
5. Realising before I made a very bad mistake.
6. Filling up the Ecover bottles. It makes me feel good to have something to do like this, that is also helping the environment.
7. Lovefilm have sent me another couple of DVD’s. I really love their service.
8. I’m off work all day.
9. Smodging on Wenna.
10. I’ve got another tub of treats for Wenna in my room again now, for when she’s good.
11. I’ve added a new thing to the top left of the blog. It shows you the RSS feed from my other blog, Random Blatherings, so you can keep up with what I’m jabbering about over there. Please let me know if it’s working OK.
12. For being able to sort of read HTML. It makes things much easier when I want to edit things.
13. Wordpress. It’s the software I use to run this site. I’ve had hardly any problems with it, and any that I have had have been overcome quite easily.
14. That my life is moving forwards in beneficial ways.
15. Realising that if I’m hungry enough to eat junk food, I’m hungry enough to have my breakfast.
16. Tasty chocolate cereal. It’s Aldi’s Harvest Morn Chocolate Crunch. Or somesuch name. Anyway, it’s very tasty, and cheap, which is always a bonus.
17. I placed an order on Amazon on Monday for an item, that was due to be delivered yesterday. Today, it still hasn’t been shipped. So I’ve cancelled the order, and reordered the same item from another seller. It now shows as “dispatching soon”, and should be here tomorrow.
18. Getting the hard drive in the computer cleared up a bit. I’ve deleted lots of old junk.
19. A very tasty evening meal - potatoes, cauliflower, cabbage and lamb with rosemary and lemon glaze. Very nice.
20. A scaldingly hot shower.
21. I’ve just had an email from Amazon to say that my item has shipped!
22. Akismet has caught 142 (that’s not a typo) spam comments today alone.
23. Watching some funny videos.
24. Doing a Sudoku puzzle online at WebSudoku.
25. Ribena.

Things I’ve laughed at today:

1. Since I mentioned the Zoobee Doo toy yesterday, 14 people have arrived at the blog by searching for it.

Things I want to manifest:

1. A fulfilling day off work.

Things I’ve done for others:

1. Complimented mom on her cooking.

Today’s list of things to be grateful for or appreciate:

1. Hot Teeccino.
2. Getting a good night’s sleep.
3. That I will be free of this situation soon. That I am aware that I will be free of this situation soon.
4. I’ve been paid back by another $11 on Kiva.org. I’m up to $455 now.
5. I only have to work 4.25 hours tonight, then I’m off for 3 days.
6. That I have the tools to make life better for myself.
7. That I have the determination to keep trying.
8. That I’m not spending money on junk like a Zoobee Doo. I think that must rate quite highly in a list of uselessness.
9. A nice hot shower.
10. My car. I can drive to and from work. Cheaply, too.
11. I’m starting to recognise patterns of thinking that are holding me back.
12. Safe driving.
13. Work went well. It didn’t drag as much today.
14. Laughing with my colleagues.
15. I’m off for 3 days now.
16. Having enough fuel in the car to get to and from work
17. I got a free Kakuro book from work, and a free magazine all about Openoffice.org.
18. Playing with Wenna. I had a lot of fun playing with her today.
19. My shoulder feels much better today. It was really stiff at work (I think I must have slept on it funny, or just been stressed out about going to work), but it’s much better now.
20. Watching Ray Mears on TV.
21. That I’m not as habitually cynical as Nat. I might be a bit too open minded, but I figure that that’s better than being too closed minded. At least I’m open to innovation.
22. A very tasty evening meal - hoi sin chicken with vegetables.
23. Tasty Devon ice cream.
24. Eve has given me some link love. She’s made a fantastic list of 13 things to be grateful for.
25. These two videos:
    
    and
    

Things I’ve laughed at today:

1. This lolcat.

Things I want to manifest:

1. A quick, simple, pleasant day at work. MANIFESTED.

Things I’ve done for others:

1. Served lots of customers.

Today’s list of things to be grateful for or appreciate:

1. Getting a good night’s sleep.
2. Hot Teeccino.
3. A book I ordered arrived this morning.
4. As did some DVD’s from Lovefilm. I’m really loving Carnivale.
5. That I live in a developed country.
6. Awareness of my emotional mood.
7. Dinky mentioned yesterday that A and J are both off for a week each in a weeks time. If I can get this job on Saturday, I can hand my notice in, and H will lose 3 members of staff at the same time. What a shame for him. There will only be 4 members of staff in that week, one of whom wont work afternoons. I probably should be above finding pleasure in the discomfort of others, but I’m not.
8. That I’m making life better for myself.
9. I’ve realised that in the days preceding the interview, I can practice my interview technique, and try to incorporate some of the tips from the book “How to Win Friends and Influence People“.
10. I’m off work for 3 days at the weekend.
11. Work went OK. A couple of schways. M not in.
12. Laughing with Dinky.
13. Not being out in the rain.
14. Chatting to some of my regulars.
15. I always have an out.
16. Safe driving.
17. Avoiding a traffic incident.
18. A tasty evening meal of fish fingers, chips, peas, baby sweetcorn, waffles and onion rings.
19. Playing with Wenna, lots.
20. Some very tasty peaches. Nice and crunchy.
21. Watching Carnivale.
22. I got an ebay item posted for me.
23. Oddly, spending some time with the family.

Things I’ve laughed at today:

1. This loldog. It reminds me of my aunt’s dog.
2. Mom and dad. I asked mom about a song that I could remember a few lyrics to, and mom replied with the name of the song, and dad chimed in with the singer. A split second later, the budgie flew out of it’s cage, and dad asked “What’s made it do that? Was it thinking about that song?”.

Things I want to manifest:

1. A quick, pleasant, enjoyable day at work. MANIFESTED.
2. Success at the job interview.

Things I’ve done for others:

1. Served lots of customers.

Today’s list of things to be grateful for or appreciate:

1. Delicious hot Teeccino. I love it. I can drink as much as I want, at any time of day, without worrying for my health or having problems sleeping.
2. I’m not in work until 1:15 today.
3. 5-minute snoozes. Awake at 9:00, up at 9:30.
4. A good night’s sleep.
5. Hot fruit tea.
6. A bacon sandwich. I haven’t had one in ages.
7. I can rely on my car to get me to work, since it is reliable and has half a tank of fuel.
8. Having time to myself before work.
9. I have more than enough change for the parking meter.
10. I’m feeling a calmness flow over me, about today. I will survive. It’s just a drop in a bucket.
11. Work went OK.
12. Being very aware of my emotional state. And also being in control of it.
13. I had OK-to-good customers all day.
14. I’ve been given a disciplinary, but I really don’t care. I’m to receive it on Monday, but will I give the slightest bit of a damn in a years time? 5 years time? 50 years time? I don’t think so, somehow…
15. Laughing with Dinky.
16. Hot Teeccino.
17. I always have an out. I have enough money to live on for about 4 months. Longer, if I’m careful.
18. Finding a couple of interesting looking jobs on the Jobseeker website.
19. I have a job interview on Saturday.
20. Watching the rain come pelting down suddenly. It has that rain smell, which is really nice.
21. I just realised - I’ve been through for worse things than a disciplinary at work. I’ve had suicidal episodes. The disciplinary is going to be a walk in the park.
22. More Teeccino.
23. The money from my Paypal account has finally been transferred into my bank account.
24. Cheering myself up.
25. My imagination.

Things I’ve laughed at today:

1. Mom cleaning to the hoover pipe in the sink.
2. This lolcat. And this one too.
3. Kelley. NSFW.

Things I want to manifest:

1. A quick, pleasant day at work, with a successful resolution. MANIFESTED, KIND OF.
2. Emotional strength & fortitude. MANIFESTED.
3. My desk tidied off.

Things I’ve done for others:

1. Served lots of customers.
2. Gave Nat a back rub.

Today’s list of things to be grateful for or appreciate:

1. Getting a good night’s sleep.
2. 3-minute snoozes.
3. I’m not in work for quite as long this week.
4. I’ve been paid today.
5. Breakfast cereals.
6. Work went OK.
7. Chatting to Dinky and L.
8. Laughing with M.
9. H has finally got his backside into gear and given me a letter inviting (what an odd choice of word) me to an investigation interview. Quite why he needed to put my name and address on it, I don’t know.
10. Know that the meeting tomorrow is, in the great big scheme of things, a nothing. It only has the value attached to it that I attach to it. Yes, it might go on my permanent record, but so what? It’s a retail job. I’m not aiming to move up the echelons of the company - I’m aiming to leave ASAP. I will get another job. And when I do that job, it will be a job I can enjoy doing. This meeting will not have any bearing on anything. Knowing that makes me feel good.
11. That I’m not married to any of my customers. In fact, that I’m not married to anyone. I love being able to come and go as I please.
12. That I’m not as braindead as some of my customers apparently are. I had a woman moaning today that she had to pay 1p (that’s 1c to USA folks) for a carrier bag. Then she moaned that the money wasn’t going to charity (a classic WTF moment), and then complained that the leaflet I gave her was a waste of paper. This coming from someone buying what is arguably a rather large waste of paper - a newspaper and a greeting card. I am astounded at the lack of logic that some people exhibit. I find it quite scary.
13. Safe driving.
14. My Teeccino arrived today. And the Vanilla flavoured one is splendiferous. Did you know that splendiferous is actually a word?
15. Finishing a book this morning that I started yesterday.
16. A nice nap.
17. Ice cream.
18. I’ve finally moved over £20 on ValuedOpinions, and I’ve claimed 2x £10 Amazon vouchers.
19. I’ve just ordered some new hair clippers off Amazon, because I broke my old set. Completely by accident. Anyway, I’ve used the £20 of Amazon vouchers, £1.92 in vouchers that was already in my account, got free one day shipping with a free trial of Amazon Prime, and only paid £1.07 altogether.
20. Pom-bear crisps. They’re really tasty. They also have a rather annoying SWF object on the page. Moral: eat the crisps, ignore the website.
21. Hazelnut Teeccino.

Things I’ve laughed at today:

1. Laughing with L and Dinky.
2. Some funny comedy videos.

Things I want to manifest:

1. A calm, peaceful, easy day at work. MANIFESTED.

Things I’ve done for others:

1. Set the ironing board up.
2. Served lots of customers.

I’ve realised that I’ve gotten very good at making lists of about 30 things I should be grateful for, and very naff at making lists of things that I actually feel grateful for. I’ve got caught up in my own dogma. So, I’m going to try listing only those things that I actually feel grateful for.

Today’s list of things to be grateful for or appreciate:

1. Being aware of the above.
2. I have a job interview in less than a week.
3. I have a fair bit of cash on hand.
4. Doing a few puzzles.
5. A nice big mug of hot Teeccino.
6. The blisters on my feet are much better.
7. I have the whole day to myself.
8. I’m only fetching the parents from the shops, not taking them.
9. Fetching them went OK.
10. Mom got lots of frozen stuff, and spent about half of what I expected her to spend.
11. Helping prepare the evening meal.
12. Being motivated to do the jobs I want to do.
13. Realising that I was just stuck in a rut. I’d got into the habit of listing the same things over and over out of habit. Hornbeam. Anyway, it seems to be cleared up now.
14. Getting the majority of the tidying up done. There’s a few bits left, but nothing of any great import.
15. Time to sit and mooch the internet.
16. A nice nap.
17. Finishing The Secret Garden. I enjoyed it more than I expected to.
18. Playing with Wenna.
19. Reading Women on Fire.
20. A nice long one-and-a-half-hour bath.
21. Reading a rather good novel.
22. Mom posted some stuff for me.

Things I’ve laughed at today:

1. This lolcat. And also this one.

Things I want to manifest:

1. My desk cleared off.
2. I want to finish reading The Secret Garden today. MANIFESTED.
3. I want the clothes pile sorted out. MANIFESTED.
4. A nice hot bath tonight. MANIFESTED.
5. Some Fregair done. MANIFESTED. Some, but not much. Sufficient, though.

Things I’ve done for others:

1. Found mom a list of TV show episodes she wanted.

Today’s list of things to be grateful for or appreciate:

1. Getting a good nights sleep in a comfortable bed.
2. I’m seeing Lush today.
3. Hot Teeccino. I’ve ordered some more, in the flavours of Vanilla, Hazelnut and Mocha, and I’m looking forward to it arriving so I can taste it.
4. A nice warm shower.
5. Nat is going to drop me into town to see Lush, which is going to save me the hassle of parking.
6. Reading some more of The Secret Garden. I think I resonate most with the character of Dickon.
7. I’ve been paid back by another $3 on Kiva.org. I’m up to $444 now. I’ve been on Kiva for one year and one month now. I think it’s great that I can help people in this way.
8. I’m off work all day today and tomorrow.
9. Having a couple more ideas for articles.
10. The weather is dry.
11. I can meet Lush, knowing that I’m not going to be shot at by snipers, or accidentally step on a land mine. I live in a peaceful country.
12. Nat drove me to meet Lush.
13. We had a really good time today - we went to the museum, walked around the town for a bit, caught up with an old work colleague, etc.
14. Going for a cappuccino.
15. Seeing a statue with what appeared to be 30 breasts - Lush exclaimed “look how many tit’s she’s got” in a rather loud voice.
16. I got a hardback copy of a book I wanted for 33p.
17. Getting some Maya Gold chocolate and some Whole Earth Organic Cola.
18. The weather stayed nice all day.
19. I walked home from town, giving me some exercise, and a couple of blisters that don’t hurt hardly at all. The weather stayed fine too, which was nice.
20. Laughing an awful lot with June.
21. Tasty food. I couldn’t quite finish it.
22. Catching up with The French was cool.
23. I did a fair bit of ranting while I was there.
24. I’m off work tomorrow.
25. Realising that this blog isn’t really cutting it any longer. Too much filler. Too much forcing. Where do I go from here?

Things I’ve laughed at today:

1. Laughed a lot with Lush.
2. Laughing some with The French.
3. This loldog. One of the creepiest I’ve ever seen.

Things I want to manifest:

1. A fun day off work. MANIFESTED.
   

Things I’ve done for others:

1. .

Today’s list of things to be grateful for or appreciate:

1. Getting a good night’s sleep.
2. Dreaming about elephants. Not just any elephants, but a purple one and a grey one, both of which were adults, and a blue one that was a baby, running about in The French’s garden. Then they were running into the next door neighbours garden, where she was breeding puppies. Wenna had 23. I was probably dreaming about The French because I’m going to see him tonight, and the elephants came from Wild China. But I don’t get why they harmonised in colour, or why Wenna had 23 puppies (though I must admit that that would be very cool).
3. Hot fruit tea to wake up with.
4. Gmail on my phone. If your phone has internet access, point it at http://m.gmail.com to try it out.
5. I have 2 days off work after today.
6. I’m hopefully going to catch up with The French tonight.
7. I’ve ordered some more Teeccino.
8. The Black Panther Streptocarpus has opened it’s first flower for the year.
9. I have time to myself before work.
10. I feel better to know that I’m moving up and out. I’m improving my life for myself, and that can only be good. I think that keeping this blog has helped me see, over time, what it is that’s important to me. Now I’ve worked that out, I can start moving towards it.
11. Tasty breakfast cereals.
12. A nice hot shower.
13. I have a car to get to work with. It saves me so much hassle.
14. Watching Wenna get excited about going for a walk.
15. Mom has given me some change for the parking meter.
16. I’ve had the details for another bank account, which means I earn another £45. Just for a few minutes work.
17. I have a fair bit of cash on hand and that makes me feel good.
18. Life is going my way again. Mainly because I’m making it do so.
19. Safe driving.
20. Work went well. Quick and quiet. H mentioned that he hadn’t forgotten our chat, but he’s just been so very busy (which is a load of crap) and he’ll get around to it soon. The earliest point at which he can do this now will be Monday, a full week after the incident. I am very rapidly losing any respect I have for this man.
21. Laughing with Dinky, J and R. Oh, and gaming about with J² this morning.
22. I finally bought some books, that worked out even cheaper than I expected.
23. Half price chocolate.
24. I have more ebay-able items.
25. Chinese food.
26. Organic melon. Half of. Mmmmm!
27. I’m not meeting The French until tomorrow night.
28. I’m meeting up with Lush tomorrow.
29. Reading “The Secret Garden”.
30. Getting an early night.

Things I’ve laughed at today:

1. Laughing with my work colleagues.

Things I want to manifest:

1. A quick, simple, pleasant day at work. MANIFESTED.

Things I’ve done for others:

1. Served some customers.