I’m hoping to actually have a bit of a weekend today, at last. I left for work at 10am yesterday and I got home at 11pm. I hadn’t realised quite how long I would end up being at work for and my head of unit was keen for me to go in today as well, but I have other things to do this morning and so wouldn’t be able to get into work until mid-afternoon. I was talking to the other person I was working with and saying that if I never got to have a bit of spare time I wouldn’t have any food etc because there is no-one else to go and sort those things for me. I wasn’t saying this in a “woe is me” type way, just talking about how, practically, this wasn’t very helpful for me. I do actually need some time to do some normal things like washing and buying food and so on. What it is to have such ambition in life.
So, unless I do end up going into work, I am going to try and think of something nice to do this afternoon and to just spend a bit of time existing and hopefully not thinking about work. There’s an exhibition I would quite like to go and have a look at and there are a couple of other things I can probably think of to do. My muscles feel very tired at the moment though so I might have to do something that doesn’t involve having to move very much. Here’s hoping for a peaceful and stress free day ahead.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Saturday, July 08, 2006
It's off to work I go
Yesterday was a strange day. I felt really tired all day, mainly because it has been a long week at work. On Thursday night I was at work until gone 10pm and then went and stayed in a hotel around the corner from my office. I was very amused that when I checked into the hotel the receptionist seemed to be under the impression that I was going to be sharing a room with the colleague I was with. I think he’d sort of overheard our discussion about whose credit card to charge the rooms to and assumed we were a couple. I guess that is the closest I got to taking advantage of it being National Kissing Day.
Anyway, usually I sleep pretty well in hotels but I was woken up at about 3am by a bloke banging on someone’s door and shouting to be let in to the room. This went on for a while and I should have phoned reception, but I didn’t have the energy to do it. So when I dragged myself back into work yesterday morning I was really tired.
My announcement of the two-minute silence seemed to be spot on in terms of time. This is despite the first thing my head of unit said to me was that she had wondered if there had been a technical fault as it was late. But according to one of my colleagues, as soon as I had announced it was midday, Big Ben chimed on the TV, so I got the timing exactly right. This was no mean feat as there was no clock in the room where I made the announcement so I was relying on someone’s watch to give the exact time. We realised about 11.30 that the watch was showing the wrong time so we spent the next thirty minutes trying to get the precise time and this included phoning the speaking clock. But it was worth it because the silence went off without a hitch.
I had a really hectic day at work but managed to lave work at 6pm, as I went to St Martin’s in the Field to hear Mozart’s Requiem Mass. It seemed an apt thing to do given the day and as it turned out it was in support of the London Bombing Charitable Relief Fund, which I hadn’t realised when I booked it. It was really lovely to sit there and wind down after a hard week and listen to some music in tribute to those who died last year.
Having said that though, I have to go back into work shortly. I’ve been doing some particular work all week but the person who it is for refused to even look at it until this afternoon and, as the bulk of it has to be finished for Monday, there’s no choice but to go into work.
In her most condescending tone my head of unit told me that things are changing and we have to accept that working long hours and at weekends is the way it is likely to be for people from now on. I am hoping this isn’t the case as part of my normal job and this is just the exception. Because of working so late all week I didn’t have time to arrange a second viewing of the place I saw last weekend and another offer has been accepted, so I am even less pleased at having worked the hours I have. But who am I to naively want to have a life outside of work or to actually have time to buy somewhere to live? Let’s hope the end of this is in sight or I’ll be a homeless workaholic before I know it.
Anyway, usually I sleep pretty well in hotels but I was woken up at about 3am by a bloke banging on someone’s door and shouting to be let in to the room. This went on for a while and I should have phoned reception, but I didn’t have the energy to do it. So when I dragged myself back into work yesterday morning I was really tired.
My announcement of the two-minute silence seemed to be spot on in terms of time. This is despite the first thing my head of unit said to me was that she had wondered if there had been a technical fault as it was late. But according to one of my colleagues, as soon as I had announced it was midday, Big Ben chimed on the TV, so I got the timing exactly right. This was no mean feat as there was no clock in the room where I made the announcement so I was relying on someone’s watch to give the exact time. We realised about 11.30 that the watch was showing the wrong time so we spent the next thirty minutes trying to get the precise time and this included phoning the speaking clock. But it was worth it because the silence went off without a hitch.
I had a really hectic day at work but managed to lave work at 6pm, as I went to St Martin’s in the Field to hear Mozart’s Requiem Mass. It seemed an apt thing to do given the day and as it turned out it was in support of the London Bombing Charitable Relief Fund, which I hadn’t realised when I booked it. It was really lovely to sit there and wind down after a hard week and listen to some music in tribute to those who died last year.
Having said that though, I have to go back into work shortly. I’ve been doing some particular work all week but the person who it is for refused to even look at it until this afternoon and, as the bulk of it has to be finished for Monday, there’s no choice but to go into work.
In her most condescending tone my head of unit told me that things are changing and we have to accept that working long hours and at weekends is the way it is likely to be for people from now on. I am hoping this isn’t the case as part of my normal job and this is just the exception. Because of working so late all week I didn’t have time to arrange a second viewing of the place I saw last weekend and another offer has been accepted, so I am even less pleased at having worked the hours I have. But who am I to naively want to have a life outside of work or to actually have time to buy somewhere to live? Let’s hope the end of this is in sight or I’ll be a homeless workaholic before I know it.
Friday, July 07, 2006
A Year On
I look back on the events of a year ago and in some ways nothing in London changed and in other ways a lot did.
On the morning of 7 July, it was one of those rare days when I didn’t get the tube to work, so I have no story of how I could have been at one of the scenes or what a lucky escape I had. I was in Bromley when someone said to me that something had happened on the London Underground but they didn’t know if it was power surges or maybe something more serious than that.
I was in Bromley with someone else from work and when we realised it was something serious we then had to drive back into London because we had the work car with us. So as everyone else was trying to leave London, we were heading back in. As we drove in we were listening to BBC Radio London which was asking for people to call in and say what they had seen. They didn’t want any speculation, just for people to say what they knew. People were phoning in and given what they were saying it sounded as though this was going to be something really bad. Emergency vehicles kept going past at high speed with their sirens on and it was fairly obvious that something very serious has happened.
By the time we got to Central London the bus had blown up in Tavistock Square and all the buses had stopped running and we could see lots of buses pulled over at the side of the road and the disembarked passengers standing there not really sure what to do next as there was no public transport in London. We made really good time back to work because there were actually very few vehicles on the road and then we watched Sky News in the office and saw the events of the day unfold. Over the coming days we realised the scale of what had taken place, with perhaps some tinge of relief that, whilst any of the 52 people being killed by the bombers was an absolute tragedy, it wasn’t more people.
The impact on those caught up in those events whether because they were on one of the tube trains or the bus, or knew someone who was, is hard to imagine and I don’t suppose their lives will ever be the same again. I think there was far more wariness from people travelling on public transport in the short term and I know a couple of people who avoid travelling on the tube even now. But most people have probably returned to their normal commute to work - ignoring fellow commuters and not wanting to be troubled by anything other than listening to their iPod or reading their paper. Clearly illustrated by me journey home on the tube last week. In some ways it is good that people just carry on as normal but I hope that people have at least learnt to keep an eye out for other people a bit more and have a willingness to take action if they think there is something suspicious.
So at midday today I shall pay my own tribute by announcing the two minute silence over the voice address system across the building and will remember those who were killed, injured or otherwise caught up in those tragic events. We will remember.
On the morning of 7 July, it was one of those rare days when I didn’t get the tube to work, so I have no story of how I could have been at one of the scenes or what a lucky escape I had. I was in Bromley when someone said to me that something had happened on the London Underground but they didn’t know if it was power surges or maybe something more serious than that.
I was in Bromley with someone else from work and when we realised it was something serious we then had to drive back into London because we had the work car with us. So as everyone else was trying to leave London, we were heading back in. As we drove in we were listening to BBC Radio London which was asking for people to call in and say what they had seen. They didn’t want any speculation, just for people to say what they knew. People were phoning in and given what they were saying it sounded as though this was going to be something really bad. Emergency vehicles kept going past at high speed with their sirens on and it was fairly obvious that something very serious has happened.
By the time we got to Central London the bus had blown up in Tavistock Square and all the buses had stopped running and we could see lots of buses pulled over at the side of the road and the disembarked passengers standing there not really sure what to do next as there was no public transport in London. We made really good time back to work because there were actually very few vehicles on the road and then we watched Sky News in the office and saw the events of the day unfold. Over the coming days we realised the scale of what had taken place, with perhaps some tinge of relief that, whilst any of the 52 people being killed by the bombers was an absolute tragedy, it wasn’t more people.
The impact on those caught up in those events whether because they were on one of the tube trains or the bus, or knew someone who was, is hard to imagine and I don’t suppose their lives will ever be the same again. I think there was far more wariness from people travelling on public transport in the short term and I know a couple of people who avoid travelling on the tube even now. But most people have probably returned to their normal commute to work - ignoring fellow commuters and not wanting to be troubled by anything other than listening to their iPod or reading their paper. Clearly illustrated by me journey home on the tube last week. In some ways it is good that people just carry on as normal but I hope that people have at least learnt to keep an eye out for other people a bit more and have a willingness to take action if they think there is something suspicious.
So at midday today I shall pay my own tribute by announcing the two minute silence over the voice address system across the building and will remember those who were killed, injured or otherwise caught up in those tragic events. We will remember.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Celebrations
On the 6 July last year London was awarded the 2012 Olympics. I remember I had gone out to get something just as they were about to make the announcement and I knew that London had been awarded the Olympics because I heard some cheering from a nearby building site. There was much celebration across London and the news started to report on the plans for making sure that everything was ready for seven years time.
But less than 24 hours later the celebrations came to an abrupt halt when bombs exploded in London. I’ll say more about that tomorrow, but I’ve had to put a bit of preparation in to planning for tomorrow because I am announcing the midday two-minute silence at work. Given that on Remembrance Day last year the person who was meant to do it didn’t make the announcement at work, I had a discussion with a couple of people and agreed to do it this time. Every Friday we test the fire alarm and someone has to make an announcement to say it is going to happen, so last Friday they asked me to go and announce it over the voice address system so that I could practice for tomorrow. It was very nerve-racking, over 2000 people work in the building so that was in the back of my mind and I could feel my hands shaking when I made the announcement, even though all I was doing was reading off a sheet of paper. I found it much harder to do that than to do my normal public speaking, I’m not sure why, but I was much more nervous. But I used my best BBC English and tried not to trip over my words. I did actually used to make quite a lot of the announcements at work, as part of some things that I do that are in addition to my normal job, but I haven’t had to make any announcements for over a year so I am a bit out of practice.
I don’t generally worry about travelling on the tube. I am usually more concerned about having a quick kip or reading a book. But tomorrow I think I will plan to be off the tube before 8.50am (the time the explosions happened on the tube). Not that I think anything is going to happen, I would just rather have finished my tube journey and be back in the open air. I suspect the tube will be much less busy than normal anyway, as I think a lot of people will either travel in at a different time or have taken the day off. We’ll see. Although having said that I may have to stay in a hotel tonight I might be working really late and then have to be back in work early tomorrow morning. So I may not be on the tube at all.
But on a more light-hearted note and perhaps one that I should take more to heart ‘just in case’, apparently today is National Kissing Day. I’m not sure if that means you’re meant to just approach anyone and give them a quick peck or if you could use it as an excuse to kiss that person you’ve fancied for ages but have never plucked up the courage to pursue before. Mind you “how about going out for a drink?” might be less risky than trying to kiss them in the stationary cupboard, but maybe I’m just showing my risk averse nature. Most of our stationary is actually kept in a filing cabinet drawer and that could just get plain complicated if you tried to kiss someone in that. Anyway, use the day wisely and there are probably some wise words about kissing a few frogs, but I wouldn’t recommend it as someone might call the RSPCA.
But less than 24 hours later the celebrations came to an abrupt halt when bombs exploded in London. I’ll say more about that tomorrow, but I’ve had to put a bit of preparation in to planning for tomorrow because I am announcing the midday two-minute silence at work. Given that on Remembrance Day last year the person who was meant to do it didn’t make the announcement at work, I had a discussion with a couple of people and agreed to do it this time. Every Friday we test the fire alarm and someone has to make an announcement to say it is going to happen, so last Friday they asked me to go and announce it over the voice address system so that I could practice for tomorrow. It was very nerve-racking, over 2000 people work in the building so that was in the back of my mind and I could feel my hands shaking when I made the announcement, even though all I was doing was reading off a sheet of paper. I found it much harder to do that than to do my normal public speaking, I’m not sure why, but I was much more nervous. But I used my best BBC English and tried not to trip over my words. I did actually used to make quite a lot of the announcements at work, as part of some things that I do that are in addition to my normal job, but I haven’t had to make any announcements for over a year so I am a bit out of practice.
I don’t generally worry about travelling on the tube. I am usually more concerned about having a quick kip or reading a book. But tomorrow I think I will plan to be off the tube before 8.50am (the time the explosions happened on the tube). Not that I think anything is going to happen, I would just rather have finished my tube journey and be back in the open air. I suspect the tube will be much less busy than normal anyway, as I think a lot of people will either travel in at a different time or have taken the day off. We’ll see. Although having said that I may have to stay in a hotel tonight I might be working really late and then have to be back in work early tomorrow morning. So I may not be on the tube at all.
But on a more light-hearted note and perhaps one that I should take more to heart ‘just in case’, apparently today is National Kissing Day. I’m not sure if that means you’re meant to just approach anyone and give them a quick peck or if you could use it as an excuse to kiss that person you’ve fancied for ages but have never plucked up the courage to pursue before. Mind you “how about going out for a drink?” might be less risky than trying to kiss them in the stationary cupboard, but maybe I’m just showing my risk averse nature. Most of our stationary is actually kept in a filing cabinet drawer and that could just get plain complicated if you tried to kiss someone in that. Anyway, use the day wisely and there are probably some wise words about kissing a few frogs, but I wouldn’t recommend it as someone might call the RSPCA.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Exchanges
I finished reading ‘We need to talk about Kevin’ yesterday and it left me rather speechless (a rarity I assure you). It took me a bit of time to get used to the style of the book but I found it really engaging and was a bit stunned when I got to the end of it. I suspect it is one of those books where you ‘pick sides’ in it - probably coloured by your own past. Really interesting read though and it quite cleverly intertwined real life events with a fictional story, which given that the book was about a high school shooting must have been a challenge to write. Anyway, I would recommend it, but it is perhaps not for the faint-hearted - or anyone with access to weapons who is feeling a bit disgruntled.
Work has been really busy. I finally got home from work about 9pm last night. My head of unit has hardly been about so it actually hasn’t been too bad and today she is due to be on leave, so I am hoping for a day of being able to get things done. I am slightly concerned that whilst I am doing lots of work, I am not really bringing much to a conclusion and there still seems to be an awful lot to do. I hope it just means that things will suddenly start to progress rather than just unravelling in front of me. My head of unit seems to think she will have to work at the weekend though, which therefore means that I will have to as well, but if I have to go in, it will just be to appease her rather than to do anything constructive. Anyway, it looks like it will be another late night tonight. I just need to focus on the fact that at some point this will end and I can return to normality.
My landlady has some exchange students staying at the moment. The first turned up late Monday night and the second late last night, so when I go downstairs in the morning there is an ever increasing number of strange people there to be polite to when all I really want to do is operate on auto-pilot and then walk out the door and go to work. When I was really young my parents used to have exchange students to stay and one day at school I’d had to paint on a black beard for some reason and for some even more inexplicable reason refused to wash it off. I then went with my mum to collect two poor unsuspecting students from the station with full beard still in place. I think they probably thought I was just some weird English child and I confirmed every odd story they had ever heard about the English. I haven’t been tempted to do this to try and welcome the exchange students. The things you can get away with when you’re young.
Work has been really busy. I finally got home from work about 9pm last night. My head of unit has hardly been about so it actually hasn’t been too bad and today she is due to be on leave, so I am hoping for a day of being able to get things done. I am slightly concerned that whilst I am doing lots of work, I am not really bringing much to a conclusion and there still seems to be an awful lot to do. I hope it just means that things will suddenly start to progress rather than just unravelling in front of me. My head of unit seems to think she will have to work at the weekend though, which therefore means that I will have to as well, but if I have to go in, it will just be to appease her rather than to do anything constructive. Anyway, it looks like it will be another late night tonight. I just need to focus on the fact that at some point this will end and I can return to normality.
My landlady has some exchange students staying at the moment. The first turned up late Monday night and the second late last night, so when I go downstairs in the morning there is an ever increasing number of strange people there to be polite to when all I really want to do is operate on auto-pilot and then walk out the door and go to work. When I was really young my parents used to have exchange students to stay and one day at school I’d had to paint on a black beard for some reason and for some even more inexplicable reason refused to wash it off. I then went with my mum to collect two poor unsuspecting students from the station with full beard still in place. I think they probably thought I was just some weird English child and I confirmed every odd story they had ever heard about the English. I haven’t been tempted to do this to try and welcome the exchange students. The things you can get away with when you’re young.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Injuries and independence
I survived my first day working for my head of unit, each day that I make it through without suffering any injuries is counted as a good day – whether they are emotional batterings from my head of unit or otherwise.
As I type I can see an injury sustained at work last week. One of my colleagues was messing about and clipped my arm as I was walking along holding a freshly made cup of tea. So freshly made that I hadn’t even put any milk in it. It went all over my hand and despite running it under a tap, I ended up with painful blisters on a couple of my fingers. I hadn’t realised quite how hot the water was but it must have not been far off boiling. The pain was quite considerable until the following day but now the blisters have pretty much gone and there is just some redness to my fingers where they got burnt. Have no fear though, it hasn’t put me off drinking tea, I will just have to wear protective gloves every time I fancy a quick brew.
It is of course Independence Day which is something to do with some people setting sail for America and sticking two fingers up at us Brits – and look where that got them. One of the richest nations in the world with pretty much everything life has to offer, including the ability to elect a president who gets less votes than the other candidate and then re-electing him four years later. Yes, they made a true victory for democracy when they left these shores a couple of centuries ago.
It is also three years since Barry White died. May you remember the Walrus of Love - and on your journey home why not make someone’s day by serenading them with “Can’t get enough of your love baby” or “You’re the first, the last, my everything”? Maybe try it on the bus on the way home- it doesn’t matter if you don’t know them. Mind you if you try “What am I gonna do with you?”, you might get some surprising answers in return. You never know your luck.
As I type I can see an injury sustained at work last week. One of my colleagues was messing about and clipped my arm as I was walking along holding a freshly made cup of tea. So freshly made that I hadn’t even put any milk in it. It went all over my hand and despite running it under a tap, I ended up with painful blisters on a couple of my fingers. I hadn’t realised quite how hot the water was but it must have not been far off boiling. The pain was quite considerable until the following day but now the blisters have pretty much gone and there is just some redness to my fingers where they got burnt. Have no fear though, it hasn’t put me off drinking tea, I will just have to wear protective gloves every time I fancy a quick brew.
It is of course Independence Day which is something to do with some people setting sail for America and sticking two fingers up at us Brits – and look where that got them. One of the richest nations in the world with pretty much everything life has to offer, including the ability to elect a president who gets less votes than the other candidate and then re-electing him four years later. Yes, they made a true victory for democracy when they left these shores a couple of centuries ago.
It is also three years since Barry White died. May you remember the Walrus of Love - and on your journey home why not make someone’s day by serenading them with “Can’t get enough of your love baby” or “You’re the first, the last, my everything”? Maybe try it on the bus on the way home- it doesn’t matter if you don’t know them. Mind you if you try “What am I gonna do with you?”, you might get some surprising answers in return. You never know your luck.
Monday, July 03, 2006
Patience required
I have what I shall tactfully call a “challenging” week ahead. Basically I have to do some work for my head of unit, H, all week and she keeps reminding me that it is going to involve working long hours and so on. Having said that, this may turn out to be for three weeks according to some e-mail I saw, which is definitely not what I agreed to. My head of unit is one of the most picky people I have ever dealt with but is far more concerned with presentation than content. I once spent about three days altering a chart because she kept wanting the margins to be moved and the colours to be changed, but the content was of little interest to her.
When I was asked to do this I told my boss that I really didn’t want to work for H but couldn’t come up with a legitimate excuse to get out of it. Although I could have said that I couldn’t work really long hours I suppose. There is someone else doing this work too and she has said that, as she is more senior than me, she will try and be a bit of a buffer between me and H. In fact H was not in the office on Friday and although I spoke to her a few times on the phone, basically I was able to get on with the work and just dealt with the other person in the team and that was a really good day and we got loads done. However, our pace is likely to drop considerably despite us having huge amounts more work to do this week.
H has also been taking the opportunity to have a dig at the people in my section. She got my boss to send out an e-mail to tell us that we were not following the travel rules properly. So my boss sent us this edict saying that we had to ensure we travelled by the most economic means possible etc. I sent a reply back saying that people of particular grades are entitled to travel first class for train journeys etc and that I wasn’t going to prevent them from doing so because it was part of their conditions of service. My boss spoke to me in a sort of apologetic tone to say that he’d had to send the e-mail because H had told him to and I said that I understood that but he couldn’t take away people’s entitlements. Then he sent me another e-mail of three abrupt bullets telling me to sort it out and make sure that people travelled by the cheapest fare possible. I sent back a very qualified response agreeing to remind staff of the rules but not being willing to give him the assurances he wanted when they were unreasonable. We now have a section meeting this morning and it will be discussed then.
The thing is that my boss is a nice bloke but is incredibly two faced. He will send out threatening e-mails to please my head of unit but then apologise for it – and then promptly kick you in the teeth again. So, for example, he even copied the e-mail I sent him back to my head of unit. Thanks very much.
The thing is that when he became the head of section a couple of months ago he said that his real skill was making sure that he took everyone with him when decisions were being taken. I did comment to someone else that if that was his area of expertise that it was a real shame that it didn’t apply to his own section who basically have no respect for him and think he is totally ineffective. I am hopeful that things will change when my head of unit leaves in the next few months. Maybe then it will mean that we don’t spend the whole time trying to appease our head of unit and can just get on with doing our jobs.
Anyway, it’s going to be a fun week.
When I was asked to do this I told my boss that I really didn’t want to work for H but couldn’t come up with a legitimate excuse to get out of it. Although I could have said that I couldn’t work really long hours I suppose. There is someone else doing this work too and she has said that, as she is more senior than me, she will try and be a bit of a buffer between me and H. In fact H was not in the office on Friday and although I spoke to her a few times on the phone, basically I was able to get on with the work and just dealt with the other person in the team and that was a really good day and we got loads done. However, our pace is likely to drop considerably despite us having huge amounts more work to do this week.
H has also been taking the opportunity to have a dig at the people in my section. She got my boss to send out an e-mail to tell us that we were not following the travel rules properly. So my boss sent us this edict saying that we had to ensure we travelled by the most economic means possible etc. I sent a reply back saying that people of particular grades are entitled to travel first class for train journeys etc and that I wasn’t going to prevent them from doing so because it was part of their conditions of service. My boss spoke to me in a sort of apologetic tone to say that he’d had to send the e-mail because H had told him to and I said that I understood that but he couldn’t take away people’s entitlements. Then he sent me another e-mail of three abrupt bullets telling me to sort it out and make sure that people travelled by the cheapest fare possible. I sent back a very qualified response agreeing to remind staff of the rules but not being willing to give him the assurances he wanted when they were unreasonable. We now have a section meeting this morning and it will be discussed then.
The thing is that my boss is a nice bloke but is incredibly two faced. He will send out threatening e-mails to please my head of unit but then apologise for it – and then promptly kick you in the teeth again. So, for example, he even copied the e-mail I sent him back to my head of unit. Thanks very much.
The thing is that when he became the head of section a couple of months ago he said that his real skill was making sure that he took everyone with him when decisions were being taken. I did comment to someone else that if that was his area of expertise that it was a real shame that it didn’t apply to his own section who basically have no respect for him and think he is totally ineffective. I am hopeful that things will change when my head of unit leaves in the next few months. Maybe then it will mean that we don’t spend the whole time trying to appease our head of unit and can just get on with doing our jobs.
Anyway, it’s going to be a fun week.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Competitions
I decided not to put in another offer on the place I was interested in. It just didn’t feel right and I think I should go on my gut instinct on this one. It just don’t want to put in a higher offer on somewhere that I had some serious reservations about. It’s not that I am unwilling to compromise, it just needs to be in a way that doesn’t make me feel nauseous.
An estate agent phoned the other day and left a message saying he had some really “interesting news” for me. Seeing as I had never spoken to him before I was slightly sceptical how interesting this news could be beyond him having a new property on his books. Anyway I returned his call and had to leave a message for him and then he never called back, so maybe it wasn’t all that interesting after all.
Yesterday I went to see some more properties and two of which were really nice. One was a ground floor maisonette and it had a very decent sized main bedroom and a really nice garden. The chap who was selling it is all set to move because the original buyer suddenly pulled out of the deal a few days ago even though all the conveyancing etc had been done. I’d want to go and have another look at it before I put in an offer and I don’t think I am going to have time before next weekend so it might well have been sold by then anyway. The other place was a first floor maisonette and was nice, but I preferred the other one, but it is maybe one to keep in reserve.
There seem to be a few places about at the moment and one of the estate agents said to me that because of the World Cup the market had been really quiet, as people didn’t want to be bothered about buying and selling houses while it is on. Mind you, given yesterday’s result in the football, things may pick up more now. I did actually watch the match yesterday and England did play pretty well in the second half, when they had gone down to 10 men. But then when it came to coming up with the right result, they couldn’t do it and, as ever, it was a toe-curling experience watching it, reminding me why I usually avoid watching England play. But I did my duty *thinks* unless it was me watching that made them lose...
But just to illustrate how my brain works the thing that I remember most from the match was the montage that the BBC ran at the end which was of the highs and lows of the England teams World Cup competition this time and it was set to “Numb” by The Pet Shop Boys and I thought that was really great. I am often really impressed by the way the Beeb put together all the different clips and then find a really great piece of music that just sums up the moment. I don’t know quite what that says about me, but despite the unimpressive result by England I thought the BBC summed it up really well and I’ll remember that much longer than the match.
An estate agent phoned the other day and left a message saying he had some really “interesting news” for me. Seeing as I had never spoken to him before I was slightly sceptical how interesting this news could be beyond him having a new property on his books. Anyway I returned his call and had to leave a message for him and then he never called back, so maybe it wasn’t all that interesting after all.
Yesterday I went to see some more properties and two of which were really nice. One was a ground floor maisonette and it had a very decent sized main bedroom and a really nice garden. The chap who was selling it is all set to move because the original buyer suddenly pulled out of the deal a few days ago even though all the conveyancing etc had been done. I’d want to go and have another look at it before I put in an offer and I don’t think I am going to have time before next weekend so it might well have been sold by then anyway. The other place was a first floor maisonette and was nice, but I preferred the other one, but it is maybe one to keep in reserve.
There seem to be a few places about at the moment and one of the estate agents said to me that because of the World Cup the market had been really quiet, as people didn’t want to be bothered about buying and selling houses while it is on. Mind you, given yesterday’s result in the football, things may pick up more now. I did actually watch the match yesterday and England did play pretty well in the second half, when they had gone down to 10 men. But then when it came to coming up with the right result, they couldn’t do it and, as ever, it was a toe-curling experience watching it, reminding me why I usually avoid watching England play. But I did my duty *thinks* unless it was me watching that made them lose...
But just to illustrate how my brain works the thing that I remember most from the match was the montage that the BBC ran at the end which was of the highs and lows of the England teams World Cup competition this time and it was set to “Numb” by The Pet Shop Boys and I thought that was really great. I am often really impressed by the way the Beeb put together all the different clips and then find a really great piece of music that just sums up the moment. I don’t know quite what that says about me, but despite the unimpressive result by England I thought the BBC summed it up really well and I’ll remember that much longer than the match.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Alarming
What a relief to have made it to the weekend. It was a very busy week and looks set to be even busier over the coming weeks. I was hoping to get home at a reasonable time last night, but ended up getting home much later than normal. There were huge delays on most tube lines because of “communication problems” and lots of parts of the tube weren’t running. However, I thought of a route home that would take a bit longer than normal but I’d still make it home at a decent time. Alas this was mere conjecture on my part and hadn’t taken into account the ‘human factor’.
I was making decent progress but as the tube moved off from one station I looked up from the paper I was reading and there was a black rucksack totally unattended. I turned to the woman next to me and said something inane like “do you think that bag belongs to anyone?” and she looked at me kind of blankly and said that it probably didn’t. I asked the bloke opposite if it was his and he said no. No-one seemed terribly bothered and my brain started whirring – was it just making a fuss to do something about it? What if it was something and I just ignored it?
Anyway, we got into the next station and I walked to the door and spoke to a woman about to get on to see if she had seen a member of staff on the platform because there was an unattended bag. She said she hadn’t seen anyone and then just pushed passed me and got on the train and sat down. Then the doors started to close on the train and despite a voice in my head saying “it can’t be anything. Nobody else is concerned by it. Think of all the delay it’s going to cause” and so on, I pulled the emergency alarm.
All the doors reopened on the train and after a few seconds the driver’s voice came over the speaker and asked what the problem was. I said there was an unattended bag and he said “Ok. I’ll come and have a look”. Unfortunately I was in the very end carriage so it took him a while to amble down the platform but when he finally got there I pointed to the bag and he looked at it and then said he’d get the station supervisor to have a look. The supervisor then turned up and I explained that at the previous station a bloke had got on the train and then rushed back off just as the doors were closing. I didn’t know if it was his bag but I hadn’t seen it there before that.
The bag was totally sealed and there was no way to find out what was in it without opening it. The train driver said that he thought it was a very bad idea to even consider opening the bag, so the supervisor walked off and the next thing I knew there was an announcement saying the station needed to be evacuated immediately. I wasn’t really sure if someone might want to speak to me about it but the station staff seemed kind of busy so I just wandered out of the station and found a bus to connect to another tube line to go home.
The staff at the station were good. I suspect the events of last July changed the attitude of a lot of London Underground staff. Before the bombings there were various stories of people finding unattended bags and pulling the passenger alarm and train drivers telling them they had delayed the service and should have sorted it out themselves. But now I think the attitude is very different. More sober.
The thing is that if I hadn’t done something, I’m not sure that anyone else would have. I think I even heard someone make a comment about how it seemed a bit extreme to delay a whole train because of a bag. I have no idea if it was something serious or not, and the whole time I knew that chances were that it was nothing. Just someone carelessly leaving their bag behind. But what if it wasn’t? What if I had got off the train at my stop and it turned out to be something and my ignoring it meant people got killed or injured? I suppose in a lot of ways I am just surprised how apathetic people were. How unconcerned they were by the bag. Not that I thought people should have been running around panicking but that no-one was interested because it was too much trouble to care.
I was making decent progress but as the tube moved off from one station I looked up from the paper I was reading and there was a black rucksack totally unattended. I turned to the woman next to me and said something inane like “do you think that bag belongs to anyone?” and she looked at me kind of blankly and said that it probably didn’t. I asked the bloke opposite if it was his and he said no. No-one seemed terribly bothered and my brain started whirring – was it just making a fuss to do something about it? What if it was something and I just ignored it?
Anyway, we got into the next station and I walked to the door and spoke to a woman about to get on to see if she had seen a member of staff on the platform because there was an unattended bag. She said she hadn’t seen anyone and then just pushed passed me and got on the train and sat down. Then the doors started to close on the train and despite a voice in my head saying “it can’t be anything. Nobody else is concerned by it. Think of all the delay it’s going to cause” and so on, I pulled the emergency alarm.
All the doors reopened on the train and after a few seconds the driver’s voice came over the speaker and asked what the problem was. I said there was an unattended bag and he said “Ok. I’ll come and have a look”. Unfortunately I was in the very end carriage so it took him a while to amble down the platform but when he finally got there I pointed to the bag and he looked at it and then said he’d get the station supervisor to have a look. The supervisor then turned up and I explained that at the previous station a bloke had got on the train and then rushed back off just as the doors were closing. I didn’t know if it was his bag but I hadn’t seen it there before that.
The bag was totally sealed and there was no way to find out what was in it without opening it. The train driver said that he thought it was a very bad idea to even consider opening the bag, so the supervisor walked off and the next thing I knew there was an announcement saying the station needed to be evacuated immediately. I wasn’t really sure if someone might want to speak to me about it but the station staff seemed kind of busy so I just wandered out of the station and found a bus to connect to another tube line to go home.
The staff at the station were good. I suspect the events of last July changed the attitude of a lot of London Underground staff. Before the bombings there were various stories of people finding unattended bags and pulling the passenger alarm and train drivers telling them they had delayed the service and should have sorted it out themselves. But now I think the attitude is very different. More sober.
The thing is that if I hadn’t done something, I’m not sure that anyone else would have. I think I even heard someone make a comment about how it seemed a bit extreme to delay a whole train because of a bag. I have no idea if it was something serious or not, and the whole time I knew that chances were that it was nothing. Just someone carelessly leaving their bag behind. But what if it wasn’t? What if I had got off the train at my stop and it turned out to be something and my ignoring it meant people got killed or injured? I suppose in a lot of ways I am just surprised how apathetic people were. How unconcerned they were by the bag. Not that I thought people should have been running around panicking but that no-one was interested because it was too much trouble to care.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Professional
My talk went pretty well on Wednesday – once I got past the slight issue of being told by the IT chap that there was nothing on the disc that was supposed to have my PowerPoint presentation on it, the presentation I was relying on so that I wasn’t speaking from notes. I tried to look totally unphased, like the professional I am, the professional who had failed to copy their presentation on to the disc.
Fortunately my lack of efficiency also meant that I had left the disc with the presentation from last week in my work bag, so I found that and used it instead. Always pretend to have a back up plan so that inefficiency looks like super-efficiency and then you can bluff your way through most situations.
I am, however, more fortunate than one of the other speakers. He set off in plenty of time for the conference but only arrived at 3.30pm – 20 minutes after he was due to speak. They did actually still give him the chance to talk but he had to rather cut it short. The train he was on had broken down at some backwater station and so he decided the only viable alternative was to get a taxi. What he hoped was a relatively short journey turned out to take an hour and a half with a taxi driver who seemed never to have ventured beyond the small town in which he normally worked. Still he must have made a good bit of money from his journey, particularly as he seemed to need financial incentive to drive above his normal 25 miles per hour.
Whilst an arduous journey for him, it was perhaps safer than mine to and from the station. I was later informed that the driver had recovered well from his recent stroke and could see reasonably well out of his one eye that still had vision. But I am living testament to the value of kerbstones and rumble strips. No wonder a couple of people shook my hand warmly and wished me well before I set off for the station.
Fortunately my lack of efficiency also meant that I had left the disc with the presentation from last week in my work bag, so I found that and used it instead. Always pretend to have a back up plan so that inefficiency looks like super-efficiency and then you can bluff your way through most situations.
I am, however, more fortunate than one of the other speakers. He set off in plenty of time for the conference but only arrived at 3.30pm – 20 minutes after he was due to speak. They did actually still give him the chance to talk but he had to rather cut it short. The train he was on had broken down at some backwater station and so he decided the only viable alternative was to get a taxi. What he hoped was a relatively short journey turned out to take an hour and a half with a taxi driver who seemed never to have ventured beyond the small town in which he normally worked. Still he must have made a good bit of money from his journey, particularly as he seemed to need financial incentive to drive above his normal 25 miles per hour.
Whilst an arduous journey for him, it was perhaps safer than mine to and from the station. I was later informed that the driver had recovered well from his recent stroke and could see reasonably well out of his one eye that still had vision. But I am living testament to the value of kerbstones and rumble strips. No wonder a couple of people shook my hand warmly and wished me well before I set off for the station.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Offers
I bit the bullet and put an offer in on the place I’m thinking of buying. I actually didn’t put it in until reasonably late in the day, as I had a couple of questions that I wanted the answer to first. Anyway, the owner rejected the offer, which I wasn’t surprised about. I chatted to the estate agent and he said that she reckoned that she would get just about the asking price, so he thought that it would be advisable to go back with my best offer and he would see if she would accept that. I’m not decided on what to do next, but might put in another offer later, but I really don’t want to pay the asking price because I think the size of the kitchen doesn’t make it with that amount and I am not so sure that the owner’s confidence is not a touch misplaced, not that I am an expert on these things.
My mum went to Cadbury World last week and came back with various freebies including a Cadbury Double Decker, which is my favourite chocolate bar and she also bought 40 packets of Murray Mints for £2.50. Bargain. However, Cadbury has had to recall something like a million chocolate bars as there is a risk that they have salmonella in them. The thing is that it must be a pretty old batch of chocolate as some of it was used to make Easter eggs. If you’re normal i.e. not me, then you’re Easter eggs will be long gone and I don’t think there has been an outbreak of salmonella in the country, so I think the risk is likely to be minimal. Obviously it could be serious for some people if they came into contact with it, but the thought of all that lovely chocolate being melted down and disposed of just seems criminal. I think if Cadbury were wanting a quality tester, I would be willing to give it a go at seeing if there were any side effects of eating it, but given my history of being a slow chocolate eater, I reckon it would take me quite a while to eat that much chocolate.
I’m off up to the Midlands later so won’t be in the office tomorrow. I might blog when I get back tomorrow night but I don’t actually know when I’ll be back yet. Someone new joined my team a few weeks ago and he’ll be there, which I feel a bit self-conscious about. It’s funny that I can stand up in front of loads of people that I don’t know and that’s fine but if there is someone that I know I feel kind of intimidated by that. I’m going through a phase at the moment where I’m speaking without notes and just rely on a few sentences on some PowerPoint slides as a prompt because I think it makes the talk better and more engaging. So, hopefully I’ll manage to get through the talk without losing the plot.
There’s a dinner tonight but I am hoping that at some point while I am away I’ll find time to engage my brain and get some thoughts together on some things I want to blog about that have been rattling round in my brain. We’ll see. Anyway, have a good couple of days.
My mum went to Cadbury World last week and came back with various freebies including a Cadbury Double Decker, which is my favourite chocolate bar and she also bought 40 packets of Murray Mints for £2.50. Bargain. However, Cadbury has had to recall something like a million chocolate bars as there is a risk that they have salmonella in them. The thing is that it must be a pretty old batch of chocolate as some of it was used to make Easter eggs. If you’re normal i.e. not me, then you’re Easter eggs will be long gone and I don’t think there has been an outbreak of salmonella in the country, so I think the risk is likely to be minimal. Obviously it could be serious for some people if they came into contact with it, but the thought of all that lovely chocolate being melted down and disposed of just seems criminal. I think if Cadbury were wanting a quality tester, I would be willing to give it a go at seeing if there were any side effects of eating it, but given my history of being a slow chocolate eater, I reckon it would take me quite a while to eat that much chocolate.
I’m off up to the Midlands later so won’t be in the office tomorrow. I might blog when I get back tomorrow night but I don’t actually know when I’ll be back yet. Someone new joined my team a few weeks ago and he’ll be there, which I feel a bit self-conscious about. It’s funny that I can stand up in front of loads of people that I don’t know and that’s fine but if there is someone that I know I feel kind of intimidated by that. I’m going through a phase at the moment where I’m speaking without notes and just rely on a few sentences on some PowerPoint slides as a prompt because I think it makes the talk better and more engaging. So, hopefully I’ll manage to get through the talk without losing the plot.
There’s a dinner tonight but I am hoping that at some point while I am away I’ll find time to engage my brain and get some thoughts together on some things I want to blog about that have been rattling round in my brain. We’ll see. Anyway, have a good couple of days.
Monday, June 26, 2006
It's the start of Wimbledon, so it must be raining.
On the tube on the way into work this morning the driver said “London Underground is state of the art. It is also state of the Ark and therefore does not have air conditioning. Remember to carry a bottle of water and to get off the tube at the next station if you feel ill” I bet it took ages for him to think up that one.
I ended up spending most of yesterday afternoon changing bedrooms. My landlady’s son sorted out the power supply in the room so that I could plug things in and then basically there was no reason for me not to get on with moving my things. So, whilst not the same as moving house, it’s another move to add to the list. Still, it keeps my landlady quiet. Apart from her wanting to sell the house, she has also got some exchange students coming to stay during the summer and me moving rooms is part of some grand plan to do with who ends up with which bedroom. They are due next weekend, so it was best to just get on with moving my stuff. Puts me in good practice for if I actually move properly again. The only problems so far are that I did almost go into the wrong bedroom yesterday evening but remembered just in time that it wasn’t my room any more (her son is staying at the moment so it is now his) and I can’t get a very good signal on my TV. In case you are wondering, I do still sleep with my feet in a wardrobe, it's just a different wardrobe.
I’m still rather indecisive on the housing front but I think I am going to put in an offer today anyway. It will be reasonably low, so I would be very surprised if it gets accepted, but I’ll see how it goes and as long as I keep the upper limit in mind that I am willing to go to, I will hope that somehow this will turn into a plan and I might end up having an offer accepted. Of course, someone else may have put in an offer by now, in which case this will all be academic.
I ended up spending most of yesterday afternoon changing bedrooms. My landlady’s son sorted out the power supply in the room so that I could plug things in and then basically there was no reason for me not to get on with moving my things. So, whilst not the same as moving house, it’s another move to add to the list. Still, it keeps my landlady quiet. Apart from her wanting to sell the house, she has also got some exchange students coming to stay during the summer and me moving rooms is part of some grand plan to do with who ends up with which bedroom. They are due next weekend, so it was best to just get on with moving my stuff. Puts me in good practice for if I actually move properly again. The only problems so far are that I did almost go into the wrong bedroom yesterday evening but remembered just in time that it wasn’t my room any more (her son is staying at the moment so it is now his) and I can’t get a very good signal on my TV. In case you are wondering, I do still sleep with my feet in a wardrobe, it's just a different wardrobe.
I’m still rather indecisive on the housing front but I think I am going to put in an offer today anyway. It will be reasonably low, so I would be very surprised if it gets accepted, but I’ll see how it goes and as long as I keep the upper limit in mind that I am willing to go to, I will hope that somehow this will turn into a plan and I might end up having an offer accepted. Of course, someone else may have put in an offer by now, in which case this will all be academic.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Hair raising
I had a very nice day yesterday, it was reasonably busy and I even got to take a dog for a walk. I really need to hang on to the lead better. Fortunately the dog was kind of scared of his own lead when it came hurtling after him so he didn’t escape too far.
Anyway, I survived having my hair cut yesterday and don’t have to wear a balaclava. The thing is that I specifically said to the hairdresser that I only wanted my hair to be washed and cut but not be blow dried. I’d said this when I booked the appointment and she confirmed that was what I wanted when she started to cut my hair. When she’d finished cutting she said “Do you want me to just roughly dry it a bit, so it’s not quite so wet?” and I said that would be ok. However, she then seemed to fall into the same mindset that all other hairdressers do when they are drying my hair. They start by saying “isn’t your hair lovely and thick?” followed by “isn’t it nice and wavy” both of which are true but it then means that if they are blow drying my hair they decide either to make my hair very curly or they really straighten it. The hairdresser yesterday decided to make my hair straight and I just sat there thinking that I don’t now why I bothered to say anything at all. It’s not that it looked really awful, I just didn’t want it done like that. Hopefully I’ll be able to go to my usual hairdresser next time.
My landlady was her usual self yesterday when it came to preparing for a viewing of the house. She was going round at high speed tidying every aspect of the house. To the degree of removing the rug from my bedroom again and this time putting a different duvet cover on my bed because my single colour duvet cover was obviously not up to the job and instead a duvet cover with flowers all over it replaced it. Much more tasteful. She also wants me to change bedrooms, to one that is slightly bigger, which is nice enough of her but is motivated by her wanting me to put my stuff away in the cupboards in that room so that if other people come round and view the house the place looks a bit tidier. She has an ‘open house’ coming up in a couple of weeks (which is basically a time for people to come round and view en masse, which I am not very impressed about) so I would have to tidy my stuff up really well for that anyway. I think she wants me to move rooms this weekend but the problem is that there is a serious lack of plug sockets and her son was meant to be wiring some in for me yesterday but he hasn’t done it, so it isn’t going to be happening if I can’t plug anything in. Maybe by the end of today it will have been fixed and it will be more viable to change rooms, not that I particularly want to go through the hassle.
I still haven’t made up my mind what to do about putting in an offer on the place I am thinking about buying. There are points where I think I’ll just go for it but then I wonder if I am convinced enough about it. I reckon I could quite enjoy living there, and maybe that is as much as I can expect. We’ll see what I think by tomorrow as the estate agent isn’t open today anyway.
Anyway, I survived having my hair cut yesterday and don’t have to wear a balaclava. The thing is that I specifically said to the hairdresser that I only wanted my hair to be washed and cut but not be blow dried. I’d said this when I booked the appointment and she confirmed that was what I wanted when she started to cut my hair. When she’d finished cutting she said “Do you want me to just roughly dry it a bit, so it’s not quite so wet?” and I said that would be ok. However, she then seemed to fall into the same mindset that all other hairdressers do when they are drying my hair. They start by saying “isn’t your hair lovely and thick?” followed by “isn’t it nice and wavy” both of which are true but it then means that if they are blow drying my hair they decide either to make my hair very curly or they really straighten it. The hairdresser yesterday decided to make my hair straight and I just sat there thinking that I don’t now why I bothered to say anything at all. It’s not that it looked really awful, I just didn’t want it done like that. Hopefully I’ll be able to go to my usual hairdresser next time.
My landlady was her usual self yesterday when it came to preparing for a viewing of the house. She was going round at high speed tidying every aspect of the house. To the degree of removing the rug from my bedroom again and this time putting a different duvet cover on my bed because my single colour duvet cover was obviously not up to the job and instead a duvet cover with flowers all over it replaced it. Much more tasteful. She also wants me to change bedrooms, to one that is slightly bigger, which is nice enough of her but is motivated by her wanting me to put my stuff away in the cupboards in that room so that if other people come round and view the house the place looks a bit tidier. She has an ‘open house’ coming up in a couple of weeks (which is basically a time for people to come round and view en masse, which I am not very impressed about) so I would have to tidy my stuff up really well for that anyway. I think she wants me to move rooms this weekend but the problem is that there is a serious lack of plug sockets and her son was meant to be wiring some in for me yesterday but he hasn’t done it, so it isn’t going to be happening if I can’t plug anything in. Maybe by the end of today it will have been fixed and it will be more viable to change rooms, not that I particularly want to go through the hassle.
I still haven’t made up my mind what to do about putting in an offer on the place I am thinking about buying. There are points where I think I’ll just go for it but then I wonder if I am convinced enough about it. I reckon I could quite enjoy living there, and maybe that is as much as I can expect. We’ll see what I think by tomorrow as the estate agent isn’t open today anyway.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Decisions, decisions
So I went to see the place I’m thinking of buying again last night and now I’m in a dilemma. I do think it is a really nice place but the kitchen is very small. Very small. So very, very small. Can you see that I have an issue to resolve about how very, very, very small the kitchen is? 7’ by 7’2” is not actually really small for a kitchen but it somehow just is. I’m almost tempted to put a link to the place and then you could see a photo of the kitchen, but despite rumours to the contrary, I am not actually that daft nor therefore all that tempted. In fact the kitchen doesn’t look quite so small in the photo. I think a lot of the problem is that the fridge is in kind of a prominent position and makes it seem smaller. So I’m thinking – is it a matter of setting a limit of what I would be willing to pay for it or do I think it is enough of a problem to put me off putting in an offer at all. I’m thinking. You’ve probably picked that up already though, haven’t you?
I’m having my hair cut this morning. I usually have my hair cut by the same person and have done for about twenty years, with just a few exceptions when he wasn’t available. He’s also a trained social worker and counsellor and just cuts people’s hair on a Saturday so it’s pretty good value for money to get your hair cut by him because he can sort out your social and psychological problems at the same time. Anyway, today I am having my hair cut by someone else as it has been really difficult to find a suitable time to get my hair cut as normal. So I’m going to have to think of how to describe what I want done because I’m usually able to say “the same as usual” – not that I have had the same hair cut for the last twenty years. I’m hoping that I’m able to communicate what I want and don’t end up with some really awful haircut and then have to wear a balaclava until it grows out. I’ve got kitchens to be thinking about, I can’t be worrying about whether I need to be broadening my somewhat limited knitwear range. Why do so many big issues happen at the same time?
I’m having my hair cut this morning. I usually have my hair cut by the same person and have done for about twenty years, with just a few exceptions when he wasn’t available. He’s also a trained social worker and counsellor and just cuts people’s hair on a Saturday so it’s pretty good value for money to get your hair cut by him because he can sort out your social and psychological problems at the same time. Anyway, today I am having my hair cut by someone else as it has been really difficult to find a suitable time to get my hair cut as normal. So I’m going to have to think of how to describe what I want done because I’m usually able to say “the same as usual” – not that I have had the same hair cut for the last twenty years. I’m hoping that I’m able to communicate what I want and don’t end up with some really awful haircut and then have to wear a balaclava until it grows out. I’ve got kitchens to be thinking about, I can’t be worrying about whether I need to be broadening my somewhat limited knitwear range. Why do so many big issues happen at the same time?
Friday, June 23, 2006
Weddings from Hell
I still have various things rattling round in my head and need to find some way to tap into them and blog them here. They’re just slowly coming together inside my head and some of it may escape here in the not too distant future.
Anyway, last night I was avoiding watching the football so had ITV on in the background which was showing “Weddings from Hell”. I’m not really sure what I thought the programme was going to show, maybe people being upset that the wrong colour flowers were delivered, or guests getting drunk and having a bit of a punch up. But no... these were weddings from the deepest bowels of hell. They spent a lot of the first half of the programme focussing on a couple’s story where the bride had decided to go to the church on a trike (it’s a sort of motorbike thing) and fifty yards from the church fell off it and sustained such serious injuries to her legs that they had to be amputated right there in the street. Or a couple who had actually got married but the groom and a friend got stabbed by a complete stranger when they were standing outside the evening reception. I couldn’t help but be horrified by the awful things that people went through on what is meant to be the happiest day of your life.
Fortunately no wedding I have been to has ever proven to be such a disaster. However, despite my sister specifically asking him to be well behaved my father got so drunk at her wedding that he passed out in the gents toilets and was unable to walk or talk and someone had to basically drag him out of the toilets. My sister was so angry with him about that and I don’t think he even apologised when he had sobered up. A few years before that one of my uncles had got married and his mother in law is a bit of a dragon. My sister was a bridesmaid (I had politely declined) and my uncle’s mother in law told her off for putting her suitcase on the bed because it creased the duvet cover. We then got told that it was inconvenient that any of my uncle’s family had been invited as if we hadn’t gone she could have invited more of her own friends. Yes, his mother in law was terribly charming. I don’t think my uncle sees her too often and we’re all hopeful that it isn’t genetic for the sake of my uncle and his children. But in comparison to the programme I saw last night any wedding I have been to has been remarkably tame. I haven’t been to a wedding for a couple of years and I’m kind of relieved given what could have happened.
*Draws up list for attending any future weddings* Outfit – check. Card and present of a toaster – check. Bullet proof vest – check. Paramedic – check. Life insurance – check. Crime scene evidence bags – check. Weddings really are getting far more complicated and more expensive these days.
Anyway, last night I was avoiding watching the football so had ITV on in the background which was showing “Weddings from Hell”. I’m not really sure what I thought the programme was going to show, maybe people being upset that the wrong colour flowers were delivered, or guests getting drunk and having a bit of a punch up. But no... these were weddings from the deepest bowels of hell. They spent a lot of the first half of the programme focussing on a couple’s story where the bride had decided to go to the church on a trike (it’s a sort of motorbike thing) and fifty yards from the church fell off it and sustained such serious injuries to her legs that they had to be amputated right there in the street. Or a couple who had actually got married but the groom and a friend got stabbed by a complete stranger when they were standing outside the evening reception. I couldn’t help but be horrified by the awful things that people went through on what is meant to be the happiest day of your life.
Fortunately no wedding I have been to has ever proven to be such a disaster. However, despite my sister specifically asking him to be well behaved my father got so drunk at her wedding that he passed out in the gents toilets and was unable to walk or talk and someone had to basically drag him out of the toilets. My sister was so angry with him about that and I don’t think he even apologised when he had sobered up. A few years before that one of my uncles had got married and his mother in law is a bit of a dragon. My sister was a bridesmaid (I had politely declined) and my uncle’s mother in law told her off for putting her suitcase on the bed because it creased the duvet cover. We then got told that it was inconvenient that any of my uncle’s family had been invited as if we hadn’t gone she could have invited more of her own friends. Yes, his mother in law was terribly charming. I don’t think my uncle sees her too often and we’re all hopeful that it isn’t genetic for the sake of my uncle and his children. But in comparison to the programme I saw last night any wedding I have been to has been remarkably tame. I haven’t been to a wedding for a couple of years and I’m kind of relieved given what could have happened.
*Draws up list for attending any future weddings* Outfit – check. Card and present of a toaster – check. Bullet proof vest – check. Paramedic – check. Life insurance – check. Crime scene evidence bags – check. Weddings really are getting far more complicated and more expensive these days.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Home
Alive and back in one piece. I didn’t really get to see much of Hampshire (or Portsmouth to be more precise). My talk went well though and they were a good audience who just seemed to want to engage with what people were saying.
Back to work tomorrow, but I think my mind will keep wandering off to the fact that I am going back to look at the place I am thinking of buying. I think I feel a bit nervous and kind of wish I had got to view it again before Friday night because Saturday is often a major viewing day for properties and it would have been handy to get an offer in before the next round of visits. Anyway, my mum is going with me, not that either of us know anything about property particularly, so I’m not sure how much she will be able to suggest in terms of making better use of the space in a kitchen, but she wanted to see it so she’s coming with me. If I put in an offer, I also need to think about what offer to put in because you have to go through the whole “what’s a reasonable offer but not looking too keen? If the first offer isn’t going to be accepted (which it usually isn’t) then what am I willing to go up to?” and so on. Wow, this house buying thing is complicated.
Back to work tomorrow, but I think my mind will keep wandering off to the fact that I am going back to look at the place I am thinking of buying. I think I feel a bit nervous and kind of wish I had got to view it again before Friday night because Saturday is often a major viewing day for properties and it would have been handy to get an offer in before the next round of visits. Anyway, my mum is going with me, not that either of us know anything about property particularly, so I’m not sure how much she will be able to suggest in terms of making better use of the space in a kitchen, but she wanted to see it so she’s coming with me. If I put in an offer, I also need to think about what offer to put in because you have to go through the whole “what’s a reasonable offer but not looking too keen? If the first offer isn’t going to be accepted (which it usually isn’t) then what am I willing to go up to?” and so on. Wow, this house buying thing is complicated.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Easter comes but once a year
As promised, it’s time to update you on the Easter Egg eating situation. I did finally eat a bit of an Easter Egg last night. It was a Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut Egg and there was even fruit and nut in the shell. So there you go, I threw caution to the wind and finally unwrapped one of my Easter Eggs. There is still a lot of it left and there are also two whole Easter Eggs still to eat. Obviously I can’t rush such a momentous thing, so maybe by the time winter draws in I’ll finally have eaten them all. But no promises.
I am actually meant to be on a bit of a health drive at the moment. A health drive is probably too grand a phrase for it. I am just trying to be disciplined and not eat any of the biscuits that are in the office. We seem to have a constant supply of biscuits, as people bring them back from meetings and if it’s not that, people are bringing in cakes or biscuits. So I am trying to avoid eating them. However, I seem to have an ample supply of various unequally unhealthy things at home so it isn’t that easy to be disciplined. I also did things like eat some very nice New York baked cheesecake the other day, so there have been a number of lapses. Oh well, one can but try.
I am off to Hampshire later because I am speaking at a meeting tomorrow. There is some kind of dinner tonight (which will probably mean more unhealthy food!) so I am leaving mid-afternoon. However, I am not sure if I am coming back Thursday or Friday. The organisers seem to want me to give another talk on Friday but as they haven’t given me the remit of what they want me to talk about and on Friday they have someone else who I reckon could give a suitable talk there anyway, I am trying to get out of being there on Friday as I think it will be a complete waste of my time. Whilst it is nice to be out of the office, I’m not really into sitting at conferences for the sake of it. I’ve spoken to someone several times to ask them to let me know what is happening but they seem to think that this morning they will know what is happening and will let me know. Most kind. Anyway, I might be back tomorrow night and blog then or it will be Friday at some point.
I am actually meant to be on a bit of a health drive at the moment. A health drive is probably too grand a phrase for it. I am just trying to be disciplined and not eat any of the biscuits that are in the office. We seem to have a constant supply of biscuits, as people bring them back from meetings and if it’s not that, people are bringing in cakes or biscuits. So I am trying to avoid eating them. However, I seem to have an ample supply of various unequally unhealthy things at home so it isn’t that easy to be disciplined. I also did things like eat some very nice New York baked cheesecake the other day, so there have been a number of lapses. Oh well, one can but try.
I am off to Hampshire later because I am speaking at a meeting tomorrow. There is some kind of dinner tonight (which will probably mean more unhealthy food!) so I am leaving mid-afternoon. However, I am not sure if I am coming back Thursday or Friday. The organisers seem to want me to give another talk on Friday but as they haven’t given me the remit of what they want me to talk about and on Friday they have someone else who I reckon could give a suitable talk there anyway, I am trying to get out of being there on Friday as I think it will be a complete waste of my time. Whilst it is nice to be out of the office, I’m not really into sitting at conferences for the sake of it. I’ve spoken to someone several times to ask them to let me know what is happening but they seem to think that this morning they will know what is happening and will let me know. Most kind. Anyway, I might be back tomorrow night and blog then or it will be Friday at some point.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Grievances
A new chap joined my unit a couple of months ago and now works in my section. He has always seemed a touch highly strung but beyond that a nice enough chap. However, his manager has come to speak to me a couple of times because she is so stressed at his behaviour.
They’ve had to arrange a couple of big meetings recently and this chap has proved to be more of a hindrance than anything else. He had to be sent home from the meeting a few weeks ago. It was being held in a hotel and he got some room upgrades basically by lying and then kept pilfering everything in sight – he filled his pockets with humbugs and biscuits and anything that technically you could have but are not really meant to take by the handful.
Last week he came and spoke to me because he was really upset that he wasn’t invited to the lunch part way through the meeting taking place the next day. I said to him that numbers had to be cut so people within the unit would always be the first to be crossed off the list and it was more important that the delegates and speakers were fed than people who worked in the unit who could just do whatever they normally did at lunch time. But he just couldn’t understand this and was still going to complain to his manager (who was the person who had made the decision) until I persuaded him that it really wasn’t the best time. I did also have to tell him in no uncertain terms that it was entirely inappropriate to ask the delegates to bring him gifts. I had to explain to him how badly that would reflect on the organisation to do something like that. Is that something that really needs to be pointed out??
Anyway, he’s now thinking about putting in a formal grievance against his manager for discriminatory behaviour by not inviting him to the lunch. He thinks the decision was based on his grade (whereas some might argue that it was to ensure that there was enough food for everyone else). His manager is feeling really miserable about it because she knows she has done nothing wrong but it is threatening nonetheless. Yesterday she looked through his employment file and realised that he has put in grievances before, which makes it more likely that he will go through with it. I have tried to reassure her that she has nothing to worry about, various people have commented on how odd his behaviour is and would be happy to speak up for his manager, but it’s never a pleasant thing. He went home sick yesterday with stress, so we’ll see if he comes in today.
On the housing front, I can’t go and see the place again until Friday so I have to hang on nervously until then. At least the owner knows I am interested and so is unlikely to accept an offer in the interim (I hope). I just don’t think I can put in an offer at the moment without feeling really comfortable with what I am doing and going back to look at the kitchen again is key to that. So let’s hope the next few days go by quickly and then my plans to become a property owner become a reality.
They’ve had to arrange a couple of big meetings recently and this chap has proved to be more of a hindrance than anything else. He had to be sent home from the meeting a few weeks ago. It was being held in a hotel and he got some room upgrades basically by lying and then kept pilfering everything in sight – he filled his pockets with humbugs and biscuits and anything that technically you could have but are not really meant to take by the handful.
Last week he came and spoke to me because he was really upset that he wasn’t invited to the lunch part way through the meeting taking place the next day. I said to him that numbers had to be cut so people within the unit would always be the first to be crossed off the list and it was more important that the delegates and speakers were fed than people who worked in the unit who could just do whatever they normally did at lunch time. But he just couldn’t understand this and was still going to complain to his manager (who was the person who had made the decision) until I persuaded him that it really wasn’t the best time. I did also have to tell him in no uncertain terms that it was entirely inappropriate to ask the delegates to bring him gifts. I had to explain to him how badly that would reflect on the organisation to do something like that. Is that something that really needs to be pointed out??
Anyway, he’s now thinking about putting in a formal grievance against his manager for discriminatory behaviour by not inviting him to the lunch. He thinks the decision was based on his grade (whereas some might argue that it was to ensure that there was enough food for everyone else). His manager is feeling really miserable about it because she knows she has done nothing wrong but it is threatening nonetheless. Yesterday she looked through his employment file and realised that he has put in grievances before, which makes it more likely that he will go through with it. I have tried to reassure her that she has nothing to worry about, various people have commented on how odd his behaviour is and would be happy to speak up for his manager, but it’s never a pleasant thing. He went home sick yesterday with stress, so we’ll see if he comes in today.
On the housing front, I can’t go and see the place again until Friday so I have to hang on nervously until then. At least the owner knows I am interested and so is unlikely to accept an offer in the interim (I hope). I just don’t think I can put in an offer at the moment without feeling really comfortable with what I am doing and going back to look at the kitchen again is key to that. So let’s hope the next few days go by quickly and then my plans to become a property owner become a reality.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Child's Play
Right, today I need to speak to the estate agent to see about whether I can go and have a look at the property again I might be interested in buying. I’m going to try and arrange it for tomorrow night because I am away with work a couple of nights this week. Despite my usual indecisiveness about such things, time is generally of the essence when it comes to buying property, so I need to get on with it and hope that no-one puts in an offer before I make up my mind about what I am doing.
Yesterday went ok. There was no hassle from anyone about not giving my father a card yesterday, although mum did (jokingly) try and encourage me to phone Magic FM to make a Father’s Day dedication. I politely declined.
Before my nephew went to bed yesterday he wanted my father to read some books to him. So he kept giving books to my father but dad would just leave my nephew to turn the pages and seemed to find it impossible to interact with him at all. My nephew is 15 months old so can’t read and I was saying to dad that he should just point out things on the page “look there’s a cat” and maybe give a quick meow or “look there’s a dog, woof” but he just sat there in silence seemingly unable to describe anything on the page. I just have no idea what goes on in my father’s mind. He’s not a stupid man but over the years seems to have lost his ability to interact with people even on a normal level. I think in some ways he is just so self-conscious that he doesn’t want to do something that he thinks could embarrass him. By contrast, I see messing about with my nephew as a great excuse to get away with acting like a bit of a kid and nobody thinks anything of it because they’re you’re alibi! You can’t normally do animal impressions, sing stupid songs, build things with toy bricks or just chuck a ball about even if you’re really rubbish at most sporting things. It’s marvellous! I think you miss out on loads of the enjoyment of kids if you just worry what other people will think. I guess if dad doesn’t want to do such things it gives me more opportunity to do it instead.
Enough of acting like a child for now and time to pretend to be an adult and make some enquiries about the place I might buy. Gulp.
Yesterday went ok. There was no hassle from anyone about not giving my father a card yesterday, although mum did (jokingly) try and encourage me to phone Magic FM to make a Father’s Day dedication. I politely declined.
Before my nephew went to bed yesterday he wanted my father to read some books to him. So he kept giving books to my father but dad would just leave my nephew to turn the pages and seemed to find it impossible to interact with him at all. My nephew is 15 months old so can’t read and I was saying to dad that he should just point out things on the page “look there’s a cat” and maybe give a quick meow or “look there’s a dog, woof” but he just sat there in silence seemingly unable to describe anything on the page. I just have no idea what goes on in my father’s mind. He’s not a stupid man but over the years seems to have lost his ability to interact with people even on a normal level. I think in some ways he is just so self-conscious that he doesn’t want to do something that he thinks could embarrass him. By contrast, I see messing about with my nephew as a great excuse to get away with acting like a bit of a kid and nobody thinks anything of it because they’re you’re alibi! You can’t normally do animal impressions, sing stupid songs, build things with toy bricks or just chuck a ball about even if you’re really rubbish at most sporting things. It’s marvellous! I think you miss out on loads of the enjoyment of kids if you just worry what other people will think. I guess if dad doesn’t want to do such things it gives me more opportunity to do it instead.
Enough of acting like a child for now and time to pretend to be an adult and make some enquiries about the place I might buy. Gulp.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Some progress. I think...
I’ve had a good weekend so far, I went house hunting yesterday and saw four places. They were quite mixed but really gave me a feel for what I want. I did almost have to put in an offer for one of the places just because the friend who went with me trod on the cat of one of the owner’s. But fortunately the woman, and slightly less so the cat, was forgiving. But... I think, maybe, I have found somewhere that I might want to buy. It’s a ground floor maisonette and as I walked round I felt myself thinking that I could live there. The problem with it is that it has a really small kitchen and I don’t see a way to fit a freezer in there and the way it is set up at the moment the fridge is positioned kind of oddly and makes the kitchen look even smaller than it actually is (it’s 7’ by 7’2”). But there’s a recess in the kitchen where the washing machine is currently and I am wondering with a bit of building work if it might be possible to come up with something much more workable. I spent a while talking to my landlady yesterday afternoon and she took me to MFI to look at various options of what can be done to maximise space in a kitchen and then when we got back she got out some graph paper and was trying to plot the kitchen to see what ideas she could come up with.
Anyway, the plan is to talk to the estate agent on Monday and say that I am kind of interested but have serious reservations about the kitchen. I’ll then probably try and arrange another viewing and take my landlady along who hopefully will come up with a magic solution to the kitchen problem. The place has actually got lots of plus points – a nice living room, two decent sized bedrooms, a nice garden, its own drive, big hallway, a good location, peaceful etc. The bathroom was fine but could do with a repaint and a general brightening up, but that is nothing too significant. So I’m feeling kind of hopeful about this one and am just hoping that no-one puts in an offer before I have a chance to work out if it is viable.
I went out for dinner yesterday evening to celebrate a friend’s birthday and that was really nice and a few of us just sat there and chatted and enjoyed ourselves. I seem to have eaten out for every meal over the weekend except breakfast. The trend continues today because I am meant to be going over to my sister’s for a barbecue today. The barbecue is because it was my mum’s birthday a couple of days ago but, unfortunately, it also coincides with Father’s Day. I haven’t given my father even a card in years. It just seems very hypocritical and meaningless to give him a card, so I don’t bother but it normally isn’t highlighted particularly, as we don’t see each other on the day. This year I wonder if I might get a bit of a lecture from my sister about not giving him a card, but we shall see. Some time I’ll try and explain why I don’t get on with my father. It’s not a particularly exciting tale and as the years have gone I seem to have become more immune to him, but I’ll write something about it another time. Anyway, I shall go and prepare myself for a day of family fun...
Anyway, the plan is to talk to the estate agent on Monday and say that I am kind of interested but have serious reservations about the kitchen. I’ll then probably try and arrange another viewing and take my landlady along who hopefully will come up with a magic solution to the kitchen problem. The place has actually got lots of plus points – a nice living room, two decent sized bedrooms, a nice garden, its own drive, big hallway, a good location, peaceful etc. The bathroom was fine but could do with a repaint and a general brightening up, but that is nothing too significant. So I’m feeling kind of hopeful about this one and am just hoping that no-one puts in an offer before I have a chance to work out if it is viable.
I went out for dinner yesterday evening to celebrate a friend’s birthday and that was really nice and a few of us just sat there and chatted and enjoyed ourselves. I seem to have eaten out for every meal over the weekend except breakfast. The trend continues today because I am meant to be going over to my sister’s for a barbecue today. The barbecue is because it was my mum’s birthday a couple of days ago but, unfortunately, it also coincides with Father’s Day. I haven’t given my father even a card in years. It just seems very hypocritical and meaningless to give him a card, so I don’t bother but it normally isn’t highlighted particularly, as we don’t see each other on the day. This year I wonder if I might get a bit of a lecture from my sister about not giving him a card, but we shall see. Some time I’ll try and explain why I don’t get on with my father. It’s not a particularly exciting tale and as the years have gone I seem to have become more immune to him, but I’ll write something about it another time. Anyway, I shall go and prepare myself for a day of family fun...
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