Life Spugs because...

[Dandontdare]

ORAC IS DEAD!!!!

My faithful old slow laptop is no more... Or rather I cannot use "Him" because the pins at the back of the main's power cable have snapped.
And the chances of finding a useable one for an 8 year old Packard Bell EasyNote M£ is impossible...

Did it make that eeeuuuuurrr noise that the original Orac did when they switched him off?

Sorry for the loss of an old friend, but if your last six months of posts are anything to go by, a nice fresh upgrade may be just what you needed.

[The Doctor Alt 8]

That was the PC... Apocolips Box... Orac was my back up....

He had the coolest start-up sound effect too.....


"Orace what are your capablities...."

[Roger Godpleton]

A workmate has breast cancer.

[The Doctor Alt 8]

Damn that's bad.

[Peter Wolf]

ORAC IS DEAD!!!!

My faithful old slow laptop is no more... Or rather I cannot use "Him" because the pins at the back of the main's power cable have snapped.
And the chances of finding a useable one for an 8 year old Packard Bell EasyNote M£ is impossible...

Did it make that eeeuuuuurrr noise that the original Orac did when they switched him off?

Sorry for the loss of an old friend, but if your last six months of posts are anything to go by, a nice fresh upgrade may be just what you needed.

If the last six months of posts are anything to go by then an upgrade is going to result in at least another 6 months of the same.......

[Noisybast]

Life spugs because I walked face first into a situation that's made be look like an arsehole.

I was invited out with my girlfriend and her workmates yesterday for an after-work drinking sesh. Went along, met the people, got on OK with most of them, apart from one guy who we'll call J. J kept needling me all night, taking the piss when no-one was listening and generally being a boorish idiot. I pretty much just kept my distance from him, and got on with the business of having a nice night.

Later on, we ended up going to a club. On the way in, my girlfriend went up the stairs ahead of me, and J leaned over and quietly made a very inappropriate comment about her to me. Stupidly (drink had been taken), I gave him a half-hearted gentle slap on the head and told him to show some respect. I stress at this point I did not hit him. It did not hurt him in any way. It was intended as a good-humoured but meaningful warning. It's the kind of thing I'd do if I was out with my mates and one of them was being an arse. Only I wasn't out with my mates.

Ten minutes later, one of the other members of the party (who we'll call A) came up to me and started drunkenly demanding that I apologise to his friend immediately. When I responded by saying I'd nothing to apologise for, A punched me in the face. Luckily, he was pissed, and his drunken flail didn't actually hurt, but still, came as a bit of a shock. I stress at this point - I didn't hit him back. I could have done(easily, repeatedly and with great pleasure), but I was in control enough to know that it wouldn't help the situation.

The respective girlfriends broke it up and I left the club with my girlfriend. I've since emailed the A girlfriend, who seemed like a nice girl) to apologise. I explained what happened, and even offered to buy them a drink and talk it over. She replied a few hours later saying that A told her I'd been repeatedly hitting J in the head and face all night, and that when A asked me to stop, I'd threatened to beat the pair of them up. Apparently that's why he hit me. Clearly not true, but who's she going to believe?

To make matters worse, as well as working with my girlfriend, all these people work with my sister and her partner, so no doubt tales of my (fictional) thuggish, violent behaviour will get back to them sooner or later.

So - help me get some perspective on this, because It's been playing on my mind all day! 

[locustsofdeath!]

You behaved with much more restraint that I would have, especially if I'd been drinking. And then you had the decency to apologize for showing that restraint. I wouldn't worry about it - I'm sure your girl, sister and her partner will speak to you about it if they have concerns and you'll be able to explain exactly what happened. Ah, you should have beaten the shite out of him since he's claiming that anyway!

[Richmond Clements]

He's a cunt and a bully- but you know that already.

Still:

To make matters worse, as well as working with my girlfriend, all these people work with my sister and her partner, so no doubt tales of my (fictional) thuggish, violent behaviour will get back to them sooner or later.

These people know you and know you're not a bully or a twat. And I'm sure that enough people will know this other guy and know what he's like when he's drunk, and be able to figure out the truth.
But I think you've done the right thing by contacting then to apologise... and surely the guy's girlfriend is not stupid enough to not be able to figure out when he's lying and when he's not?

[Noisybast]

Hrm. She's a nice girl, but she does give him a lot of leeway. The last time my girlfriend went out with them, he flew into a rage and screamed at both girls because they were singing and dancing and he felt embarrassed. He later apologised to them and tried to smooth thing over by buying them drinks, but my gf pretty much worked him out from that episode. When he turned up last night she told me "That's V's boyfriend. Watch him, he's a bit of a knob". Never a truer word.

[Emperor]

Well what a run do that is. If you think it is going to be the talk of the office then it might be worth speaking to your sister and getting your spin on this. That way she can nip things in the bud if someone comes up to her and says "do you know what your brother did??", rather than leaving her wrong-footed and defensive but not in possession of all the details.

I now a few people like that, they'll just keep needling someone until they break and somehow if fists get thrown they tend to walk away unharmed, unlike other people who got caught up in it. He clearly targeted you because of your weaker links to the rest of the group, they can always spot an angle like that. He's a classic wind-up merchant and if you do take a swing at him he can always claim the moral high-ground which makes things increasingly messy. I think you handled yourself about right, with commendable restraint even

Fortunately, I'd eat my over-sized hat (and the over-sized head in it) if this was the first time he'd done this. Normal human beings don't suddenly start acting in such a manner without some kind of brain injury or a rapid onset of madness (and I've seen people with both and it is usually a lot more public and obvious). Once word of this gets around people aren't going to be saying "That Noisybast sounds like an unpleasant character," they will be saying "Oh yes JJ is a dick, he tried the same thing with a friend of mine last year."

You have the cast iron, Imperial Standard guaran f'ing tee on that.

[SuperSurfer]

What a wally.

Coolness is always the best option so you did well not to retaliate. Unfortunately idiots like that tend to percieve restraint as a sign of weakness. Probably not helping with that comment but those kinds of morons often get their comeuppance when they try it on with someone who is not as level headed as you.

[Noisybast]

Thanks guys. I feel a bit better about the whole thing now.
Still not looking forward to hearing about my GF's day in work on Monday, though...

[Richmond Clements]

Still not looking forward to hearing about my GF's day in work on Monday, though...

Be honest though... you think that everyday.
Am I right men?

Eh? Eh?

[Noisybast]

Well, yeah

[Peter Wolf]

To make matters worse, as well as working with my girlfriend, all these people work with my sister and her partner, so no doubt tales of my (fictional) thuggish, violent behaviour will get back to them sooner or later.

So - help me get some perspective on this, because It's been playing on my mind all day! 

I would have thought that your sister would know you better than they do and will also believe your account of what happened rather than the word of A who is obviously a liar.

I wouldnt worry about any of it as it will all blow over.

Clearly not true, but who's she going to believe?

If you dont know her yourself then it doesnt really matter if she doesnt believe you but it does sound like she is undecided and the fact she was willing to hear you out or that you didnt get an angry reply is positive and the fact that you sent the email means that you are not a violent thug.Hopefully you can all apologise to each other and move on from it and if A doesnt want to apologise then in the nicest possible way bollocks to A as there isnt much else you can do.