New Gadgets.... tale of an Xbox widow...

'Arrrgh...you've stabbed me in the ******* neck!'

Imagine the concern of my client who heard my husband screaming this, clear as a bell, from the living room whilst we were talking the other night....

Client: Is he ok?
Me: Yes, he's just learning how to play Black Ops, Call of Duty on the Xbox with his 30 something friend from work... apparently he keeps running up and performing random kills on him.
Client: That game will be responsible for the underage teenage pregnancy rate being halfed for the 1st half of next year...
Me: most probably...


So there it is, we have a new gadget (and I now have to think of something else for Christmas for hubster). A black shiny Xbox now resides under the TV in the living room ( and my HD cable has mysteriously been plugged into it's back rendering TV useless again !) and we have, so far, two shiny new Xbox games... the first, as I said, Call of Duty: Black Ops - see the trailer here (and I thought only films had trailers!)

Apparently a black operation or black op is a covert operation typically involving activities that are highly clandestine and, often, outside of standard military protocol or even against the law. The playable characters are special forces operatives conducting black operations behind enemy lines. Ok - at this point, if you are like me, you've nodded off onto your keyboard, however interesting to note that within 24 hours of going on sale, the game sold more than 7 million copies, 5.6 million in the U.S. and 1.4 million in the U.K, beating all game records by millions. I have to say the graphics are fantastic, but it's way to noisy for me (that and I was bloody useless with the controller thingy - generational I think)

So now every night I listen to my husband killing people / things and laughing.. and that right there is why I'm happy to be a Xbox widow, because its an obvious stress reliever and I'm all for that... I know that he'll get bored of it eventually (hope), its all new and shiny right now and demands to be played with...

The upside... Netflix on demand, Zune on demand.. hmm things are looking up and of course I'm now holding out for one of these for Christmas ...

Someone tell Santa for me please!

I'm back and in shock!

OK firstly... sorry.. I haven't been blogging.. I could blame my busy schedule blah de blah however truth be told my blogging juices dried up. I was happy being a 'lurker' on my friends blogs and just generally mooching around on the Internet. Then today a friend told me she missed my blogs.. I mean its not like missing chocolate or something, but she missed my blogs.. so I had to make a decision, either get back on the bus or pack my blogging bags and leave town.... so here I am back on the bus...we'll see how it goes..

Anyway, what stirred me into action was a headline on the BBC website today (for all my American readers it's where you can go to find out what is ACTUALLY happening in the news around the world... its very informative and I don't watch the new here anymore)

Great white sharks in Mediterranean made 'wrong turn'

Errrrrrrrrr double take....

There are Great Whites in the Med? Eeeeeeeeek

I have a shark phobia... numerous trips to Australia give you a sense of foreboding about this magnificent fish.. especially on each of my trips this year someone has been attacked whilst I've been there (and died!) My swimming in Australia is limited to swimming pools and knee high wading in clear sea water.. and that's it period! But surely I was safe whilst I was snorkeling on all my French holidays..?

In the Mediterranean Sea there have been 31 confirmed attacks against humans in the last two centuries, most non-fatal... err MOST?

OK  I need to do some investigation

OK the Med seems relatively safe..The most recent attack took place on June 15, 1983 near Riomaggiore (Italy), where a scuba diver Roberto Piaviali was molested by a 3-meter long aggressive white shark while diving 5 meters down. Piaviali fled to the next submersible where the shark was driven away with wooden poles.

But Florida seems a different prospect altogether!



The odds of me dieing at the beach are pretty slim (2000 figures below)

Drowning and other beach-related fatalities 1 in 2 million

Drowning fatalities 1 in 3.5 million
Shark attacks 1 in 11.5 million
Shark attack fatalities 0 in 264.1 million


However Volusia county (Florida... where we would sometimes go to the beach) is apparently shark attack capital!

Volusia shark bites

2001 22
2002 18
2003 13
2004 3
2005 9
2006 12
2007 5
2008 24

at some times of year in Florida swimmers are warned out of water because the sharks are feeding on migrating fish... shudder

I love sharks... by that I mean i find them fascinating.... but I am now even more scared of frolicking in the sea... I think I'll have to stick to the pool... (plays out to JAWS music!)