Not a spectre yet

I fixed my monitors so that I now have some sort of ridiculously high-tec CTU setup in my room, with the press of a button I can switch between the 360 and secondary PC monitor with sound from both simultaneously playing through the same speakers. Loading up Forza 2 as I browse through my Initial D soundtracks collection with everything so perfectly laid out is not something I believe I will get used to soon.
I took the useless splitter back to Stevenage yesterday, my brother wanted to buy some things so we bounced between GAME and GameStation, the queues were so ridiculous that we must have ended up spending about an hour queuing in about three shops alone. I came home with Just Cause though, so I did gain something from the ordeal.
I was also reminded that the Emperor does watch over us all, as I stood outside something white flew over my head and landed right at my feet, so close that at first I thought it was a little screwed up piece of paper that rolled over my hat. But upon closer inspection I discovered that it was bird shit, which must have flown millimeters from my forehead. It may not sound like much, but the distance at which it flew past my face was so absurdly close that only the hand of the Emperor could have possibly shielded me from that.

At home I am falling deeper into the world of Mass Effect, and I couldn't love it more. The sheer depth of the game is amazing, with codex entries explaining the back story and providing additional information about every possible object and feature you come across, giving it more depth than many books of the same genre. Mass Effect also gives you more than enough to occupy yourself with, it clearly outlines what you need to do to progress the main story, but beyond that you remain completely free to talk to the many inhabitants of the galaxy, most of which will have their own personal problems and issues that you can either completely ignore or go out of your way to involve yourself in. This is one of the best parts of Mass Effect, all of the characters you meet have very individual personalities and all have excellent voice actors, along with the fantastic graphics you can happily walk around having brilliantly immersive conversations with people for hours on end.
The game does unfortunately have its downsides, most of which seem to be in the awkward and bug ridden combat. It is nicely streamlined with infinite ammo (explained in the codex) and automatic retrieval of items from downed opponents, meaning that you aren't left looting bodies for five minutes after every battle, and once the enemies are killed you are immediately free to move on. Even with the lacking combat sections all is quickly forgiven once you are back in the busy cities, when you get back into the negotiation mindset and begin involving yourself in all the adventures and dramas that the plethora of characters have to provide, you will quickly find yourself up until the early hours always going to do 'just that little bit more' unable to put the controller down.
Mass Effect is everything I hoped it would be and so much more, I can easily see myself years from now looking back on ME with the same fondness as Knights of the Old Republic. But for now I never want it to end.

I finally had another driving lesson today, and I find myself quickly getting used to driving. I am of course still not completely used to it and have a lot to learn, but I feel as if I am making quick progress and already find myself limited by the 30 speed limit in some of the area I am driving around. One thing I think I need to do is calm down with the gear changes, while I don't drive too fast or recklessly in any way, I do shift gears like I'm on the Nürburgring.