All is quiet, on New Year's Day...

Christ.

Now that took ages. Oops, hang on, let's not start the new year blaspheming shall we? The way religion sways people at the moment I can already feel the hairs on my neck tingling with the expected lightening blot from on high.

What I'm referring to is the set-up process for creating this virgin blog of mine.

"New years resolution" he thought "I know, a blog! Should be simple enough to get going."
Or so you think.

Firstly:
Chose your username. Bugger. It's already taken. Go through tens of alternatives until you find one that isn't.

Then...
Personal details. Okay, easy enough. I mean, how many British Ingmar's are there in the world? Suprisnlgy few.

But just when everything was going so swimmingly...

Your blog address.
Try your first idea. Denied. Try tens of others. They're taken too. Bugger. Fling idea after idea into the ether... They're all bounced back. Most annoyingly about half the blogs that do have your desired address were last updated with their first and only entry back in 2002 or even longer ago. Hopefully my run will last a little longer than that. Anyway, you try all sorts of clever wordplay and Latin thinking that you'll land an address that hasn't been taken. Still denied. People really do think of everything! Try almost the last idea in your head until you give up the whole blog idea completely out of sheer frustration. Suddenly [angelic chorus] it goes through!

The rest really was a breeze.

Anyway, granted that was all a bit melodramatic, but you'd be surprised what gives you headaches these days.

In related news, Bono was right. All is, and has been, "quiet on New Year's Day". Thankfully I have the day off work, though you wouldn't believe how many of my colleagues have to head in today. One guess where all the managers are. Yep, and still there at three o'clock in the afternoon no doubt. Spent most of the rest of the day clearing out stuff, recycling and generally dejunking my life on all levels in anticipation of the promise of the new year.

Before finishing this entry however, I looked up the meaning of the word upon which I settled my blogspot address:

es·tab·lish (?-st?b'l?sh)
tr.v., -lished, -lish·ing, -lish·es.
1.
a. To set up; found.
b. To bring about; generate: establish goodwill in the neighbourhood.
2.
a. To place or settle in a secure position or condition; install: They established me in my own business.
b. To make firm or secure.
3. To cause to be recognized and accepted: a discovery that established his reputation.
4. To introduce and put (a law, for example) into force.
5. To prove the validity or truth of: The defence attorneys established the innocence of the accused.

I couldn't have put it better myself.