Quite a good, fun and interesting couple of days since last I wrote.
Wednesday night we watched Seven and enjoyed it muchly. A bit gruesome in places but a very good plot etc.
Yesterday started far too early in order for me to meet Claire from Norfolk on the 0737 train to London. That went smoothly and we found our way to Fenchurch street with ease (and saw two policemen on horses too!). Train out to Grays was also dead simple and the walk to the office was simple too (even if I did nearly get clobbered by the barrier at the level crossing).
Morning part of meeting was a bit tedious (in fact I had real trouble staying awake) as it was mainly a guy talking about information strategies that we all have to write. The same guy giving basically the same presentation as we had two meetings ago. Oh well. They did put on a decent buffet though and Claire and Davina (Cambridgeshire) and I spent most of the time planning our strategy for today's meeting (of which more later).
After lunch we wandered back round to the bus station to admire their kerbs (no, really) then on a bus to the Tilbury - Gravesend ferry. That took us across the river where we saw the highpoint of the day - the grave of Pocahontas. Not what you expect on the banks of the River Thames but there you go.
Train back to London was delayed when the power lines were vandalised but we made it for the 1700 train and thus got home at 1830 which was nice.
Today we were in Norwich discussing marketing for our regional Traveline. We have been a little disappointed by the manager so far, so went in all three in agreement with guns blazing so to speak and seem to have got the desired outcomes. I also got to claim 115 miles and lunch so that made the drive up there in the rain worthwhile.
Now to go home and sleeeeeeeeeeep cos I'm zonked.
Friday, August 09, 2002
Wednesday, August 07, 2002
Just been up to visit Ipswich Buses to sort out their stops when the gyratory system comes in and it is hot hot hot out there. So hot I had to have an ice cream on the way back. Mmmmm, Galaxy Caramel Swirls, very tasty. Such a hard life. And I'd only just got back from a wander at lunchtime in the sun too, where I managed to control my expenditure to some new films for the camera. Well, can't be out of the office in the summer and not take a few pictures now, can I?
Still, being hot makes me wish I could wear fewer clothes to work which reminds me I need to iron a couple of shirts tonight which in turn reminds me of this what I got sent the other day:
Reasons to go to work Naked
1.No one ever steals your chair.
2.Gives 'bad hair day' a whole new meaning.
3.Diverts attention from the fact that you also came to work drunk.
4.People stop stealing your pens after they've seen where you keep them.
5.So that - with a little help from Muzak - you can add 'Exotic Dancer'to your exaggerated CV.
6.You want to see if it's like the dream.
7.To stop those letches in IT from looking down your blouse.
8.'I'd love to chip in, but I left my wallet in my trousers.'
9.Inventive way to finally meet that special person in Human Resources.
10.Can take advantage of computer monitor radiation to work on your tan.
...and (drum roll) the number one reason to go to work naked:
11.Your boss is always yelling, 'I want to see your arse in here by 8am!'
Well, they made me smile at the time. Then again, the temp looking after the TraveLine this afternoon is displaying far too much wrinkly flesh for her age and I do wish she'd sit down and get out of my field of vision.
Smiles were good as we now have the job descriptions and they are not really smile material at all. Whatsoever in fact. They have as threatened taken my job and Gary's job and mixed them up to create two jobs that neither of us really want to do. If I go for the senior post I lose out on the Park & Ride bits that I like the best but in the junior one I have to do bloody roadside again. Part of me wouldn't object to that at this time of year, but I don't want to be going out in the rain all the time. I've done that and got out of it thankyouverymuch. Will have to do some good hard thinking over the next couple of days as to what I really want to be doing for the next few years.
It doesn't help that Gary is currently out of the office looking for sticker suppliers and taking some pictures of bus shelters and then when I go home I won't be back here until mid-afternoon on Friday. We won't get the chance to talk it over between us until then and they want some indication from us if we are more interested in one post or the other. Although technically neither of us can go for the senior post as we haven't got associate membership of the Institute of Logistics and Transport.
I did look in to membership back when I first started here but they wanted about £900 to put me through the graduate entry programme and then another £50 ish a year membership fee (none of which the Council would pay) all for a one scale point pay increase which would only just cover the £50. So I decided not to bother with that. After all, it would be of no value at all if I left transport.
I guess I could be barking up the wrong tree but I just getthe feeling they have already earmarked me for the junior position but don't want to admit as much. God, I hate all this crap and indecision, but it seems to consume me at times like this. One day I will be a positive person. Yeah, I'm positive I'll get the worse deal!
At least I can still enjoy music at the moment. When I had the real big downer before starting this job I couldn't even do that for much of the time. On the subject, finished off the Rutles at lunchtime and have now moved on to Kite by the much missed Kirsty MacColl. Why do the good die young?
Still, being hot makes me wish I could wear fewer clothes to work which reminds me I need to iron a couple of shirts tonight which in turn reminds me of this what I got sent the other day:
Reasons to go to work Naked
1.No one ever steals your chair.
2.Gives 'bad hair day' a whole new meaning.
3.Diverts attention from the fact that you also came to work drunk.
4.People stop stealing your pens after they've seen where you keep them.
5.So that - with a little help from Muzak - you can add 'Exotic Dancer'to your exaggerated CV.
6.You want to see if it's like the dream.
7.To stop those letches in IT from looking down your blouse.
8.'I'd love to chip in, but I left my wallet in my trousers.'
9.Inventive way to finally meet that special person in Human Resources.
10.Can take advantage of computer monitor radiation to work on your tan.
...and (drum roll) the number one reason to go to work naked:
11.Your boss is always yelling, 'I want to see your arse in here by 8am!'
Well, they made me smile at the time. Then again, the temp looking after the TraveLine this afternoon is displaying far too much wrinkly flesh for her age and I do wish she'd sit down and get out of my field of vision.
Smiles were good as we now have the job descriptions and they are not really smile material at all. Whatsoever in fact. They have as threatened taken my job and Gary's job and mixed them up to create two jobs that neither of us really want to do. If I go for the senior post I lose out on the Park & Ride bits that I like the best but in the junior one I have to do bloody roadside again. Part of me wouldn't object to that at this time of year, but I don't want to be going out in the rain all the time. I've done that and got out of it thankyouverymuch. Will have to do some good hard thinking over the next couple of days as to what I really want to be doing for the next few years.
It doesn't help that Gary is currently out of the office looking for sticker suppliers and taking some pictures of bus shelters and then when I go home I won't be back here until mid-afternoon on Friday. We won't get the chance to talk it over between us until then and they want some indication from us if we are more interested in one post or the other. Although technically neither of us can go for the senior post as we haven't got associate membership of the Institute of Logistics and Transport.
I did look in to membership back when I first started here but they wanted about £900 to put me through the graduate entry programme and then another £50 ish a year membership fee (none of which the Council would pay) all for a one scale point pay increase which would only just cover the £50. So I decided not to bother with that. After all, it would be of no value at all if I left transport.
I guess I could be barking up the wrong tree but I just getthe feeling they have already earmarked me for the junior position but don't want to admit as much. God, I hate all this crap and indecision, but it seems to consume me at times like this. One day I will be a positive person. Yeah, I'm positive I'll get the worse deal!
At least I can still enjoy music at the moment. When I had the real big downer before starting this job I couldn't even do that for much of the time. On the subject, finished off the Rutles at lunchtime and have now moved on to Kite by the much missed Kirsty MacColl. Why do the good die young?
I think there is a conspiracy afoot to stop Gary and I doing any proper work this morning. His computer has been playing up for a couple of days now. IT have compeltely rebuilt it from a formatted hard disk up and still it refuses to play. I've just finished my Newsletter with a load of stuff stolen from elsewhere, tried to print it and the darn printer is out of yellow toner. There isn't even any yellow in the document. Aaaargh. Plus other people's phones keep ringing when they aren't there and we seem to be the ones left to answer them. When I choose to be lazy I don't mind having nothing to do and obstacles to productivity, but when I'm trying to get things done it does get a tad frustrating.
Here's a list from Total Guitar Magazine of the top 20 guitar players as voted by their readers:
1. Jimi Hendrix
2. Jimmy Page
3. Eric Clapton
4. Slash
5. Brian May
6. Joe Satriani (soloist)
7. Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen)
8. Dave Gilmour (Pink Floyd)
9. Kirk Hammett (Metallica)
10. Steve Vai (soloist)
11. Carlos Santana (Santana)
12. James Hetfield (Metallica)
13. Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine)
14. Kurt Cobain (Nirvana)
15. Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits)
16. Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne)
17. Gary Moore (Thin Lizzy, others)
18. Jeff Beck (Yardbirds, Jeff Beck Group)
19. Stevie Ray Vaughan (Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble)
20. Angus Young (AC/DC)
Not too sure about the guy from RATM but I kind of agree with all the others. Although maybe not in quite that order.
And then there is this from the BBC. A story they've been featuring a lot on Radio Suffolk over the last couple of days and everyone seems to feel the same about it!
Protest over children's play bans
Children are to campaign against a "culture of caution", which charities fear is restricting youngsters' experience of play and stifling their social and physical development.
The protest will see the children make a giant daisy chain, play with yo-yos and ride skateboards and bicycles - activities which many schools and public playgrounds have banned, research suggests.
Survey of 500 children
45% can't play with water
36% can't climb trees
27% can't use climbing equipment
23% can't ride bikes and skateboards
Source: Children's Society and Children's Play Council
The survey of 500 children up to the age of 15 by the Children's Society and Children's Play Council found many thought public playgrounds were boring and unadventurous. The two charities also found that traditional childhood games from daisy-chain making to doing handstands had been banned for fear children might catch germs or injure themselves.
Now the charities are calling on every council and school in Britain to carry out a "daisy chain audit" to uncover the extent of bans and restrictions on children's play.
To mark National Playday on Wednesday, the two charities are asking play providers to look again at what is on offer in schools and parks.
If traditional games - such as tag and conkers - are banned, councils and schools are urged to consider whether this is in the best interest of children.
The theme for the fifteenth National Playday is "take a chance on play" and more than 100,000 youngsters are expected to take part in events across the country. Penny Dean, a director of the Children's Society, said: "We are asking councils and schools to look at what activities children can't take part in."
Should children be more exposed to risk?
"Where there are bans, or equipment removed, we want adults to question whether this is necessary. Children must be allowed to take risks in safe and well managed places," she said.
Tim Gill, director of Children's Play Council, added: "We are not pointing the finger of blame for a growing culture of caution at any one group, but individuals and organisations have an important role in making play exciting."
The campaign comes as experts grow increasingly concerned that restricting children's play may stifle their social and physical development and contribute to the growing levels of childhood obesity.
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I'm not sure what the real reason is for this trend. I think it is partly overprotectiveness but more likely the fear that parents will start sueing schools if their sprogs graze a knee or fall off a climbing frame. They tried to get rid of a lot of competetive sports and games a few years back too as it was bad for those who came last. OK, so I usually came last but I can't see that being the real cause of all my hassles and wories.
1. Jimi Hendrix
2. Jimmy Page
3. Eric Clapton
4. Slash
5. Brian May
6. Joe Satriani (soloist)
7. Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen)
8. Dave Gilmour (Pink Floyd)
9. Kirk Hammett (Metallica)
10. Steve Vai (soloist)
11. Carlos Santana (Santana)
12. James Hetfield (Metallica)
13. Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine)
14. Kurt Cobain (Nirvana)
15. Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits)
16. Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne)
17. Gary Moore (Thin Lizzy, others)
18. Jeff Beck (Yardbirds, Jeff Beck Group)
19. Stevie Ray Vaughan (Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble)
20. Angus Young (AC/DC)
Not too sure about the guy from RATM but I kind of agree with all the others. Although maybe not in quite that order.
And then there is this from the BBC. A story they've been featuring a lot on Radio Suffolk over the last couple of days and everyone seems to feel the same about it!
Protest over children's play bans
Children are to campaign against a "culture of caution", which charities fear is restricting youngsters' experience of play and stifling their social and physical development.
The protest will see the children make a giant daisy chain, play with yo-yos and ride skateboards and bicycles - activities which many schools and public playgrounds have banned, research suggests.
Survey of 500 children
45% can't play with water
36% can't climb trees
27% can't use climbing equipment
23% can't ride bikes and skateboards
Source: Children's Society and Children's Play Council
The survey of 500 children up to the age of 15 by the Children's Society and Children's Play Council found many thought public playgrounds were boring and unadventurous. The two charities also found that traditional childhood games from daisy-chain making to doing handstands had been banned for fear children might catch germs or injure themselves.
Now the charities are calling on every council and school in Britain to carry out a "daisy chain audit" to uncover the extent of bans and restrictions on children's play.
To mark National Playday on Wednesday, the two charities are asking play providers to look again at what is on offer in schools and parks.
If traditional games - such as tag and conkers - are banned, councils and schools are urged to consider whether this is in the best interest of children.
The theme for the fifteenth National Playday is "take a chance on play" and more than 100,000 youngsters are expected to take part in events across the country. Penny Dean, a director of the Children's Society, said: "We are asking councils and schools to look at what activities children can't take part in."
Should children be more exposed to risk?
"Where there are bans, or equipment removed, we want adults to question whether this is necessary. Children must be allowed to take risks in safe and well managed places," she said.
Tim Gill, director of Children's Play Council, added: "We are not pointing the finger of blame for a growing culture of caution at any one group, but individuals and organisations have an important role in making play exciting."
The campaign comes as experts grow increasingly concerned that restricting children's play may stifle their social and physical development and contribute to the growing levels of childhood obesity.
----------------------------------------------------------------
I'm not sure what the real reason is for this trend. I think it is partly overprotectiveness but more likely the fear that parents will start sueing schools if their sprogs graze a knee or fall off a climbing frame. They tried to get rid of a lot of competetive sports and games a few years back too as it was bad for those who came last. OK, so I usually came last but I can't see that being the real cause of all my hassles and wories.
I plucked up the courage in the end and made the call. And after a wrong number, looking him up in the book, leaving a message on his answerphone and waiting for him to call back I finally got to speak to the chap. Sounded OK and I have got an appointment to see him next Monday - which might just help me get in the right frame of mind for this interview thing. More details Tuesday morning I guess.
Dinner last night was good. Joan had bought a steamer and we gave that a try. All the veggies came out really well and were added to a very nice Chicken in white wine sauce she had picked up from M&S. Can't complain at all.
Currently listening to a couple of tracks from the Llamasoft game Tempest 3000 I was pointed to on the web. Quite uplifting they are too. In the car the Sprout has given way to Archaeology by The Rutles. Neil Innes & Eric Idle's spoof of the Beatles. Very well done and pretty funny too. Will have to give it a proper listen without traffic intrusions sometime. Some of the tracks appear to be spoofing one song musically and several others in the lyrics, which suits me fine.
Some more very strange dreams last night. One where I was walking through a bunch of terraced houses that all shared a common corridor across their fronts with no doors on. A bit odd - neighbours just waltzing through your front room ontheir way to somewhere else. There was also something to do with cycling in the dark but I can't work out/recall how that fitted in.
The other was even more bizarre. I was driving someone (never found out who as they always seemed to be just out of view) and we got caught up in a strange rally/treasure hunt type event. Lots of very flashy cars all with unusual occupants. We had to keep stopping and performing tasks, and if we failed them had to take some of a revolving group of passengers on to the next one. When I woke up we were trying to decide if small gold bars or a few ten pence pieces would be the more useful amount of currency to take on the next stage. Wish I could remember a bit more of it, but there you go.
Dinner last night was good. Joan had bought a steamer and we gave that a try. All the veggies came out really well and were added to a very nice Chicken in white wine sauce she had picked up from M&S. Can't complain at all.
Currently listening to a couple of tracks from the Llamasoft game Tempest 3000 I was pointed to on the web. Quite uplifting they are too. In the car the Sprout has given way to Archaeology by The Rutles. Neil Innes & Eric Idle's spoof of the Beatles. Very well done and pretty funny too. Will have to give it a proper listen without traffic intrusions sometime. Some of the tracks appear to be spoofing one song musically and several others in the lyrics, which suits me fine.
Some more very strange dreams last night. One where I was walking through a bunch of terraced houses that all shared a common corridor across their fronts with no doors on. A bit odd - neighbours just waltzing through your front room ontheir way to somewhere else. There was also something to do with cycling in the dark but I can't work out/recall how that fitted in.
The other was even more bizarre. I was driving someone (never found out who as they always seemed to be just out of view) and we got caught up in a strange rally/treasure hunt type event. Lots of very flashy cars all with unusual occupants. We had to keep stopping and performing tasks, and if we failed them had to take some of a revolving group of passengers on to the next one. When I woke up we were trying to decide if small gold bars or a few ten pence pieces would be the more useful amount of currency to take on the next stage. Wish I could remember a bit more of it, but there you go.
Tuesday, August 06, 2002
Oh Gawd, still nearly two hours before I can leave here and nothing left to sustain me but a Cadbury's Boost. Which I really want to eat but will then be left with nothing. OK, so technically I could leave at half past three, but I've finally got myself back up into positive hours after the time I had to take off and would like to keep it that way. Definitely a typical Tuesday. And still not got ourselves sorted to go back to Body Balance (and when we do the rest of the class will just be streets ahead).
I am also debating over a phone call I ought to make. The person Joan sees for aromatherapy has given me a recommendation of someone else to call. I did see her a couple of times last year for reflexology and also a full aromatherapy back massage - both of which were lovely - but we came to the conclusion that Joan and I shouldn't really be seeing the same person. I do want to get back into that area of "treatment" as it really helped me relax and I think I am in a better frame of mind to appreciate it now - back then I was more analysing how it was making me feel than just feeling it.
The debate is over the fact that the number she has given me is for a chap. I'm just not sure whether I want to submit myself to the ministrations of another bloke or not. Well, it won't hurt to call him tonight I guess, and he might just put me on to someone else anyway.
And now the corporate style police want a chunk of the newsletter changing. Great, time to track down a willing volunteer to write that for me I think.
I am also debating over a phone call I ought to make. The person Joan sees for aromatherapy has given me a recommendation of someone else to call. I did see her a couple of times last year for reflexology and also a full aromatherapy back massage - both of which were lovely - but we came to the conclusion that Joan and I shouldn't really be seeing the same person. I do want to get back into that area of "treatment" as it really helped me relax and I think I am in a better frame of mind to appreciate it now - back then I was more analysing how it was making me feel than just feeling it.
The debate is over the fact that the number she has given me is for a chap. I'm just not sure whether I want to submit myself to the ministrations of another bloke or not. Well, it won't hurt to call him tonight I guess, and he might just put me on to someone else anyway.
And now the corporate style police want a chunk of the newsletter changing. Great, time to track down a willing volunteer to write that for me I think.
Hmm, the sun has come out and my mood has lifted a bit. Must be some form of coincidence or cause and effect in action there. I wonder which. You decide (to quote the bloke off Big Brother). Had a bit of a mooch about at lunchtime which was slightly spoiled by having to make smalltalk with a colleague on the way in (I'm no good at that kind of meaningless chat, I just want to shout "Shut Up!" and run away). It was almost ruined by a screaming kid in Woolworths but fortunately I had the MD player with me and was able to drown it out.
Have finished the 80s discs and am now on to The Gunman and Other Stories by Prefab Sprout which is proving pretty good so far. As the title suggests there is a kind of country feel to it, and some of the songs were originally used by Jimmy Nail in his Crocodile Shoes tv shows/albums. So in some respects you could say the cover versions of those were released before the originals.
Oh, and it turns out I was both wrong and right about the pay deal stuff. We are only getting the original 3% straight away but it has to go through approval with unions and that will take six weeks so we won't get any back pay until the end of September. Then we get another 1% from October and a further 3% next year. So by next April we shouldn't be too badly off, but I don't want to wait that long so will still fill in the form.
Have finished the 80s discs and am now on to The Gunman and Other Stories by Prefab Sprout which is proving pretty good so far. As the title suggests there is a kind of country feel to it, and some of the songs were originally used by Jimmy Nail in his Crocodile Shoes tv shows/albums. So in some respects you could say the cover versions of those were released before the originals.
Oh, and it turns out I was both wrong and right about the pay deal stuff. We are only getting the original 3% straight away but it has to go through approval with unions and that will take six weeks so we won't get any back pay until the end of September. Then we get another 1% from October and a further 3% next year. So by next April we shouldn't be too badly off, but I don't want to wait that long so will still fill in the form.
Here's a bit wot I wrote last night but never got the chance to stick on:
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And now I am home once again. And Joan is out once again (Oh, they came out of the Bingo empty-handed once again too). Am just waiting for a bunch of Chumbawamba MP3s to finish copying over from Zip Disk before having a go at the latest demo release of Jeff Minter's marvellous Gridrunner ++. Hopefully this should have sorted all the bugs that were plaguing the earlier releases. The trouble with parallel zip drives is that while stuff goes on them pretty quickly, it takes ages to copy it off again. Oh well, it has saved me several hours of download time so a few more minutes won't kill me.
And just for a change I know what I'm getting is worth the wait. Having grabbed all the files off the net at work I was wishing the PCs weren't nobbled so that I could play them. They are all totally silent and we all assumed they had had their soundcards removed (or never installed in the first place). Then I happened to glance at the back of someone elses machine and spotted the microphone and earphone sockets. Why would they be there if the sound cards weren't? So I plugged in my trusty headphones that normally occupy the socket on the CD drive and fired up one of the MP3s. By Jimcrack, we had sound after all - just no internal speaker. So a swift bit of desk rejigging later (in order to reach the socket and have the earphones in use without a broken neck) I had a very entertaining afternoon finishing off the newsletter. I even hid the Chumblies web site in a word search I put in it just to express thanks in a subtle way! Why has it taken me three plus years of using that PC to think about trying that? D'oh!
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Extra! Gridrunner updated again while I was writing that. Even better than before!
And now I realise I haven't got time to post this tonight so it will be stuck on top of Tuesday!
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So now it really is Tuesday morning and I've got a slight attack of the tuesday syndrome previously mentioned. The weather isn't helping there either - yesterday was a mix of sunshine and serious showers but today is just drab and leaves me unenthused.
The newsletter is now going through all the corporate hoops it has to jump before I can unleash it on the public. I hope there are no major changes required as I hate having to mess with my words. Especially as I try to tell the truth and reflect reality rather than putting the official spin on stuff. Trouble is everything here has to be so political. I probably mentioned this at the time so apologies if this is a repetition but it winds me up something chronic. In a previous newsletter I had nothing to fill some space so put in a call for comments etc from the users. I finished it with something along the lines of "..and we want to hear what you think. Most comments we get at the moment tell us we have the best toilets in Suffolk and really ought to be running the Norwich and Cambridge schemes as well". Now I thought that was a clear indication of what the public were telling us not me trying to score points off other counties, and my colleagues agreed. However, the Public Transport boss at Norfolk thought we were running his service down and we had to send a grovelling letter out. It just frustrates me even more.
Today I have done a bit more designy stuff. An advert to go in a booklet going to every schoolkid in Ipswich. If it works we can always use it elsewhere too. A bit of a tough job though, how to persuade the people who have no say in their travel decisions to get on a bus.
News just in from the BBC web site is that the Unions have reached an agreement with the councils on our pay rises for the next couple of years. I don't think I will be any better off than I would have been if they had just accepted the initial deal, but it will help the people paid by the hour. All I have to look forward to now is 5 months worth of back pay at the end of the month (hopefully).
We have also just been told that Gary and I will be interviewed for the job clash situation next Tuesday. Another reason to not like Tuesdays! We are expecting to get the proper job descriptions and task lists today to enable us to prepare but I can't say I'm over keen on the prospect. From what we have seen so far neither job actually covers what either of us want to do full time but splits stuff between the two of us. Splendid. And I just get the feeling that however well I do in the interview I will end up with the lesser of the two posts which will be a real kick in the teeth. That could just be my natural negativity coming in to play but it just sits there nagging at me.
Mind you, I have got an application form sitting at home for a post with St. Edmundsbury council (as a refuse and recycling officer, which looks pretty interesting actually) that it won't kill me to fill in and post. Just finding the time to do it seems to be the major problem. I'd even be happy to spend more time travelling again if the ultimate prospect was better for me. And right now I'd jump at anything that would put make me happier more often.
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And now I am home once again. And Joan is out once again (Oh, they came out of the Bingo empty-handed once again too). Am just waiting for a bunch of Chumbawamba MP3s to finish copying over from Zip Disk before having a go at the latest demo release of Jeff Minter's marvellous Gridrunner ++. Hopefully this should have sorted all the bugs that were plaguing the earlier releases. The trouble with parallel zip drives is that while stuff goes on them pretty quickly, it takes ages to copy it off again. Oh well, it has saved me several hours of download time so a few more minutes won't kill me.
And just for a change I know what I'm getting is worth the wait. Having grabbed all the files off the net at work I was wishing the PCs weren't nobbled so that I could play them. They are all totally silent and we all assumed they had had their soundcards removed (or never installed in the first place). Then I happened to glance at the back of someone elses machine and spotted the microphone and earphone sockets. Why would they be there if the sound cards weren't? So I plugged in my trusty headphones that normally occupy the socket on the CD drive and fired up one of the MP3s. By Jimcrack, we had sound after all - just no internal speaker. So a swift bit of desk rejigging later (in order to reach the socket and have the earphones in use without a broken neck) I had a very entertaining afternoon finishing off the newsletter. I even hid the Chumblies web site in a word search I put in it just to express thanks in a subtle way! Why has it taken me three plus years of using that PC to think about trying that? D'oh!
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Extra! Gridrunner updated again while I was writing that. Even better than before!
And now I realise I haven't got time to post this tonight so it will be stuck on top of Tuesday!
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So now it really is Tuesday morning and I've got a slight attack of the tuesday syndrome previously mentioned. The weather isn't helping there either - yesterday was a mix of sunshine and serious showers but today is just drab and leaves me unenthused.
The newsletter is now going through all the corporate hoops it has to jump before I can unleash it on the public. I hope there are no major changes required as I hate having to mess with my words. Especially as I try to tell the truth and reflect reality rather than putting the official spin on stuff. Trouble is everything here has to be so political. I probably mentioned this at the time so apologies if this is a repetition but it winds me up something chronic. In a previous newsletter I had nothing to fill some space so put in a call for comments etc from the users. I finished it with something along the lines of "..and we want to hear what you think. Most comments we get at the moment tell us we have the best toilets in Suffolk and really ought to be running the Norwich and Cambridge schemes as well". Now I thought that was a clear indication of what the public were telling us not me trying to score points off other counties, and my colleagues agreed. However, the Public Transport boss at Norfolk thought we were running his service down and we had to send a grovelling letter out. It just frustrates me even more.
Today I have done a bit more designy stuff. An advert to go in a booklet going to every schoolkid in Ipswich. If it works we can always use it elsewhere too. A bit of a tough job though, how to persuade the people who have no say in their travel decisions to get on a bus.
News just in from the BBC web site is that the Unions have reached an agreement with the councils on our pay rises for the next couple of years. I don't think I will be any better off than I would have been if they had just accepted the initial deal, but it will help the people paid by the hour. All I have to look forward to now is 5 months worth of back pay at the end of the month (hopefully).
We have also just been told that Gary and I will be interviewed for the job clash situation next Tuesday. Another reason to not like Tuesdays! We are expecting to get the proper job descriptions and task lists today to enable us to prepare but I can't say I'm over keen on the prospect. From what we have seen so far neither job actually covers what either of us want to do full time but splits stuff between the two of us. Splendid. And I just get the feeling that however well I do in the interview I will end up with the lesser of the two posts which will be a real kick in the teeth. That could just be my natural negativity coming in to play but it just sits there nagging at me.
Mind you, I have got an application form sitting at home for a post with St. Edmundsbury council (as a refuse and recycling officer, which looks pretty interesting actually) that it won't kill me to fill in and post. Just finding the time to do it seems to be the major problem. I'd even be happy to spend more time travelling again if the ultimate prospect was better for me. And right now I'd jump at anything that would put make me happier more often.
Monday, August 05, 2002
Of course what I forgot to mention in all of that entered last night was the debacle of Saturday's lunch. We thought we would try the new Italian coffee and Sarnie place that just opened in Felixstowe - Pucinos. So I dutifully trotted in to town in time to meet Joan for her break at one. She didn't finally get out until nearly quarter past but that was OK as she still had an hour to play with. We went up and found a table. After 10 minutes we snagged a menu off the table next door and decided what we fancied, however that still didn't produce a waiter and as we were running to a timescale decided to move on after 15 minutes with no sign of life from the staff. Now, I acknowledge that the place was busy and that it was their first day open, but you would think that any sound business plan would anticipate being busy on your first day and arrange staff accordingly. At least someone to come over and say "we're a bit busy but will get to you eventually" would have been nice. When we gave up we met some friends outside who had waited 25 minutes just for a coffee earlier in the morning.
We settled on Bumpers after that as at least we knew lunch would be OK and prompt. Seems we were wrong there as well. After we had sat for 30 minutes with no sign of food we collared the owner and he discovered they had lost our order. We got our money back and left as Joan then had no time left to eat and had to go back to work instead. I was by this point in an equally mixed state of anger, frustration and general gloom. I only just kept myself in check until I got home where it all came flooding out for a few minutes. Not a great situation. Oh well, over and gone now.
So, the Springsteen album (The Rising) is superb. Nice to hear the full E-Street Band back in full flow and also the, dare I say it?, experimental bits. I.E. strings, eastern singers, hurdy gurdy, dancey beats and stuff like that. Will have to listen to it again very soon. Possibly even tonight as Joan is out getting aromatherapied.
And now I'm back at work for another week. At least I'm not stuck at the desk for 5 days - Thursday is an ATCO meeting in Thurrock and on Friday I have to go to Norwich for the morning. So far I confess to not having done very much today - a bit of tidying up on my Park & Ride Newsletter - really must get that finished this week - and one simple timetable change. Have also spoken to Joan at home and she has booked me in with the Doctor. Not until the 19th but at least I now have a target to monitor feeling tired until. And yes, I could use a couple more hours snoozing today.
Have also had a bit of a bad head this morning so took a stroll out in the sunshine after lunch (as well as a good dose of Ibuprofen!) and that seems to have sorted it out. That included a stop in the Library to take back last week's CD borrows and grab a couple more (Orbital and OPM) and one at HMV for the new Chumbawamba album Readymades which I am listening to a the moment. So glad we got PCs with CD drives in. Anyway, they have taken loads of samples from classic British folk tunes and added a danceish feel to them with a smattering of the usual Chumblie sound. Top notch so far.
We settled on Bumpers after that as at least we knew lunch would be OK and prompt. Seems we were wrong there as well. After we had sat for 30 minutes with no sign of food we collared the owner and he discovered they had lost our order. We got our money back and left as Joan then had no time left to eat and had to go back to work instead. I was by this point in an equally mixed state of anger, frustration and general gloom. I only just kept myself in check until I got home where it all came flooding out for a few minutes. Not a great situation. Oh well, over and gone now.
So, the Springsteen album (The Rising) is superb. Nice to hear the full E-Street Band back in full flow and also the, dare I say it?, experimental bits. I.E. strings, eastern singers, hurdy gurdy, dancey beats and stuff like that. Will have to listen to it again very soon. Possibly even tonight as Joan is out getting aromatherapied.
And now I'm back at work for another week. At least I'm not stuck at the desk for 5 days - Thursday is an ATCO meeting in Thurrock and on Friday I have to go to Norwich for the morning. So far I confess to not having done very much today - a bit of tidying up on my Park & Ride Newsletter - really must get that finished this week - and one simple timetable change. Have also spoken to Joan at home and she has booked me in with the Doctor. Not until the 19th but at least I now have a target to monitor feeling tired until. And yes, I could use a couple more hours snoozing today.
Have also had a bit of a bad head this morning so took a stroll out in the sunshine after lunch (as well as a good dose of Ibuprofen!) and that seems to have sorted it out. That included a stop in the Library to take back last week's CD borrows and grab a couple more (Orbital and OPM) and one at HMV for the new Chumbawamba album Readymades which I am listening to a the moment. So glad we got PCs with CD drives in. Anyway, they have taken loads of samples from classic British folk tunes and added a danceish feel to them with a smattering of the usual Chumblie sound. Top notch so far.
Sunday, August 04, 2002
I'm not going to start this off with some reference to it being a busy few days and use that as an excuse for my laziness in not putting anything on here since Thursday. I admit that yes, it has been fairly busy at times, but I have been more lazy than things have been happening. So there.
Anyway, Friday was a reasonable day at work. I had a meeting in the morning where we sorted out a few more design issues for the new Park & Ride site at Martlesham - mainly moving the windows in the Terminal building to somewhere they will actually serve a purpose other than letting light in. You would think that having the windows for a security office located so that the occupants could actually see what they were trying to keep secure (i.e. the car park) would be fairly obvious a concept. Not to architects obviously. Oh well, at least I got to see the plans in time.
Lunchtime I was forced to go up the town by the ruthless tactic of not making any lunch. Ended up with a very nice sandwich from Marks & Spencer but managed not to buy anything else. Then the afternoon just seemed to drag so I made my excuses and left early. Via Homebase to pick up a bathroom storage trolley we ordered two months ago and then Felixstowe Tourist Information Centre to drop some timetable books off. And thus ensure that the journey home can be counted as time worked and keep my hours up. Ooh, such a naughty person I am.
As well as having been on order for so long, the trolley has caused much hassle now we finally have posession of it. Not only does it not fit at the end of the bath where we wanted to put it (and only by a matter of a few mm) but when put in the second choice location between the other end of the bath and the toilet it prevents the loo from being flushed by being too tall for the handle to move fully. And as we have only had the bathroom suite since just before Christmas replacing the cistern with one where the flush handle is located elsewhere was not an option! In the end we took the wheels off and it does at least go in place b. Grrr.
Then in the evening we ate more Chinese food and watched You've Got Mail. I was pleasantly surprised by just how good a film it was. I know all the reviews raved over it, but I wasn't expecting them to be able to do another film as good as Sleepless in Seattle. Just shows a good team can repeat success. In fact the only downside to the whole thing was that it was a tape we had bought for Ernie's birthday that he never got to see. Which left a tinge of sadness.
Saturday was a nice and sunny day in the main, so naturally I spent most of it indoors. Partly through being absolutely zonked when I got up the first time. To the point where I had a spot of breakfast and went back to sleep for another 2 hours. I finally got up around 11 which I always thought was rare for me but seems to be becoming more prevalent. Really must see the Doctor about it soon. Anyway, I then spent most of the rest of the day clearing out the study (with help from Richard) in preparation for today. Which I will come back to in a minute or two.
The main aim was to get rid of the desk and one of the bookcases. Much to my surprise, not only did we manage that but he took the bookcase and Ma & Pa came round a bit in the evening and made off with the desk. Which was a bit of a result as I was expecting to have to pay the council to take them away.
Today I spent the morning (again with brotherly assistance) putting together the new desk and chair that are enabling me to write this in extreme comfort. A proper corner desk at last meaning I can finally (after 3 years) get the monitor a better distance from the keys and stuff like that. It all looks very nice and I just hope I will manage to keep it tidy. I don't hold out too much hope of that given my track record in the tidiness stakes, but Joan is threatening violence if I mess it up so fingers are crossed. Mum kindly made lunch then I came back here and spent the afternoon sorting junk out into neatness before it was time to fetch Joan from work. She has now gone off to Bingo with Helen so I thought it was only right that I give the equipment a proper test. Complete with help from Chasm, the second (and last) album from The Beyond. And now I must upload this, resist the temptation to check out the Llamasoft forums cos I'll be there for hours and go do some ironing - otherwise I'll have to go to work naked tomorrow. Which would probably make the office temperature bearable but not help in many other ways. So I shall listen to the new Bruce Springsteen album while I flatten some shirts and say adios for now.
Anyway, Friday was a reasonable day at work. I had a meeting in the morning where we sorted out a few more design issues for the new Park & Ride site at Martlesham - mainly moving the windows in the Terminal building to somewhere they will actually serve a purpose other than letting light in. You would think that having the windows for a security office located so that the occupants could actually see what they were trying to keep secure (i.e. the car park) would be fairly obvious a concept. Not to architects obviously. Oh well, at least I got to see the plans in time.
Lunchtime I was forced to go up the town by the ruthless tactic of not making any lunch. Ended up with a very nice sandwich from Marks & Spencer but managed not to buy anything else. Then the afternoon just seemed to drag so I made my excuses and left early. Via Homebase to pick up a bathroom storage trolley we ordered two months ago and then Felixstowe Tourist Information Centre to drop some timetable books off. And thus ensure that the journey home can be counted as time worked and keep my hours up. Ooh, such a naughty person I am.
As well as having been on order for so long, the trolley has caused much hassle now we finally have posession of it. Not only does it not fit at the end of the bath where we wanted to put it (and only by a matter of a few mm) but when put in the second choice location between the other end of the bath and the toilet it prevents the loo from being flushed by being too tall for the handle to move fully. And as we have only had the bathroom suite since just before Christmas replacing the cistern with one where the flush handle is located elsewhere was not an option! In the end we took the wheels off and it does at least go in place b. Grrr.
Then in the evening we ate more Chinese food and watched You've Got Mail. I was pleasantly surprised by just how good a film it was. I know all the reviews raved over it, but I wasn't expecting them to be able to do another film as good as Sleepless in Seattle. Just shows a good team can repeat success. In fact the only downside to the whole thing was that it was a tape we had bought for Ernie's birthday that he never got to see. Which left a tinge of sadness.
Saturday was a nice and sunny day in the main, so naturally I spent most of it indoors. Partly through being absolutely zonked when I got up the first time. To the point where I had a spot of breakfast and went back to sleep for another 2 hours. I finally got up around 11 which I always thought was rare for me but seems to be becoming more prevalent. Really must see the Doctor about it soon. Anyway, I then spent most of the rest of the day clearing out the study (with help from Richard) in preparation for today. Which I will come back to in a minute or two.
The main aim was to get rid of the desk and one of the bookcases. Much to my surprise, not only did we manage that but he took the bookcase and Ma & Pa came round a bit in the evening and made off with the desk. Which was a bit of a result as I was expecting to have to pay the council to take them away.
Today I spent the morning (again with brotherly assistance) putting together the new desk and chair that are enabling me to write this in extreme comfort. A proper corner desk at last meaning I can finally (after 3 years) get the monitor a better distance from the keys and stuff like that. It all looks very nice and I just hope I will manage to keep it tidy. I don't hold out too much hope of that given my track record in the tidiness stakes, but Joan is threatening violence if I mess it up so fingers are crossed. Mum kindly made lunch then I came back here and spent the afternoon sorting junk out into neatness before it was time to fetch Joan from work. She has now gone off to Bingo with Helen so I thought it was only right that I give the equipment a proper test. Complete with help from Chasm, the second (and last) album from The Beyond. And now I must upload this, resist the temptation to check out the Llamasoft forums cos I'll be there for hours and go do some ironing - otherwise I'll have to go to work naked tomorrow. Which would probably make the office temperature bearable but not help in many other ways. So I shall listen to the new Bruce Springsteen album while I flatten some shirts and say adios for now.
Thursday, August 01, 2002
Made the "mistake" of going in to Waterstones while I was out at lunchtime. Only bought 5 books, 4 of which were in the sale and together as a set so I guess they could count as one if I try to justify it properly. The 4 are Eric Thompson's Magic Roundabout scripts and the one is a serious investigation into computer games. Which seeing as how I have got right back into those of late was a must have. More details when they get read!
The meeting was OK - made some progress on the publicity for the Ipswich Gyratory but would still rather have been doing something else.
Am listening to a series of '80s compilations in the car at the moment and my unprovoked reactions to some of the songs got me thinking. Why does the memory work like that? If I was trying to actively think of certain places and events from the past I know I would struggle with some of the details but play me a song associated with them and wham - glorious technicolour. What got me this morning was Perfect by Fairground Attraction. That one (along with Love Shack by the B-52's and Sinead O'Conner's Nothing Compares 2 U) takes me straight to the bedroom m'friends Deborah & Marianne shared at Linden's lodge in College. Right down to the cheques for £1m and shrunken crisp packets stuck to the wardrobe doors. Kind of spooky that I can recall that much detail. I know I visited there on a regular basis but that was 12 years ago now.
Nearly time to go now. And to pick up some KFC for tea on the way home...
The meeting was OK - made some progress on the publicity for the Ipswich Gyratory but would still rather have been doing something else.
Am listening to a series of '80s compilations in the car at the moment and my unprovoked reactions to some of the songs got me thinking. Why does the memory work like that? If I was trying to actively think of certain places and events from the past I know I would struggle with some of the details but play me a song associated with them and wham - glorious technicolour. What got me this morning was Perfect by Fairground Attraction. That one (along with Love Shack by the B-52's and Sinead O'Conner's Nothing Compares 2 U) takes me straight to the bedroom m'friends Deborah & Marianne shared at Linden's lodge in College. Right down to the cheques for £1m and shrunken crisp packets stuck to the wardrobe doors. Kind of spooky that I can recall that much detail. I know I visited there on a regular basis but that was 12 years ago now.
Nearly time to go now. And to pick up some KFC for tea on the way home...
Ooooh, a couple of days worth of waffle to fill in! I know I could and indeed should have written some yesterday but just never got round to it. Lazy and busy at the same time!
So where were we? Tuesday evening. Can't remember doing anything spectacular. We haven't got around to booking back in for Body Balance as yet so didn't do that. I think we just sat out in the garden with our tea and then did a bit of tidying and ironing.
Yesterday proved pretty productive for me in the end. I got all the changes needed on the map and town plans to send them off for updating. Then I scanned in the recent Park & Ride pictures. Had a slight hiccup there when the scanner started playing up, but it seems to be working again properly now. And also got a good way in to sorting the accounts out. Might be able to finish them off soon and actually understand them. And to make things better than doing them here (a) the phone only rang twice all day, (b) I had the windows open and my shorts on, (c) there were no e-mails and (d) I had a decent soundtrack. That comprised:
Underworld - Live: Everything, Everything
Ned's Atomic Dustbin - 0.522 (a B-sides collection)
Ozric Tentacles - Strangeitude
Skyclad - Prince Of The Poverty Line
And also the in-game music, bleepings and so forth for a variety of old Arcade classics I was running under Mame for breaks every now and then. I've got a set of cds with over 3,000 games on for Mame and am gradually trying them out for size. Some of the old Japanese ones are very obscure and tricky to get to grips with, there are also an unseemly number of ones featuring people taking their clothes off in very bad graphics!
The afternon featured the long-awaited (but not looked-forward-to) trip to see Kirstie the hygenist to see if all the agony earlier in the year had been worth it. This was the poke the needle in lots of times to measure if the pockets have got any shallower stuff. Not fun, but not too painful in the end. And yes, all of them have got better than they were before we started. Not all of them by a great extent, but enough to have justified the treatment package. They will keep an eye on them and there are some other things they can try in the future if things start to go the wrong way again. And I didn't have to pay any money over yesterday either as I had been knocking a chunk off the bill on the earlier visits and actually went 12p over.
In the evening we had our feet sorted out then had a look at holidays once again c/o the good old Internet. Some wonderful tours around parts of the US and Canada that we really want to see. The prices look fairly horrendous at first glance, but we think we might just treat ourselves next year. We just need to get disciplined to save properly. Then we had a manic two player session on Puzzle Bobble. One of the few games Joan can really get into.
Got woken up at 5ish this morning by my right leg deciding it hadn't seized up with cramp for months and that now was the perfect opportunity. Quite painful at the time and still uncomfortable now. Still, got to work OK, have done some useful stuff and finally the morning is almost over once more. Time for a spot of lunch, a walk up the town and then back here for a meeting.
So where were we? Tuesday evening. Can't remember doing anything spectacular. We haven't got around to booking back in for Body Balance as yet so didn't do that. I think we just sat out in the garden with our tea and then did a bit of tidying and ironing.
Yesterday proved pretty productive for me in the end. I got all the changes needed on the map and town plans to send them off for updating. Then I scanned in the recent Park & Ride pictures. Had a slight hiccup there when the scanner started playing up, but it seems to be working again properly now. And also got a good way in to sorting the accounts out. Might be able to finish them off soon and actually understand them. And to make things better than doing them here (a) the phone only rang twice all day, (b) I had the windows open and my shorts on, (c) there were no e-mails and (d) I had a decent soundtrack. That comprised:
Underworld - Live: Everything, Everything
Ned's Atomic Dustbin - 0.522 (a B-sides collection)
Ozric Tentacles - Strangeitude
Skyclad - Prince Of The Poverty Line
And also the in-game music, bleepings and so forth for a variety of old Arcade classics I was running under Mame for breaks every now and then. I've got a set of cds with over 3,000 games on for Mame and am gradually trying them out for size. Some of the old Japanese ones are very obscure and tricky to get to grips with, there are also an unseemly number of ones featuring people taking their clothes off in very bad graphics!
The afternon featured the long-awaited (but not looked-forward-to) trip to see Kirstie the hygenist to see if all the agony earlier in the year had been worth it. This was the poke the needle in lots of times to measure if the pockets have got any shallower stuff. Not fun, but not too painful in the end. And yes, all of them have got better than they were before we started. Not all of them by a great extent, but enough to have justified the treatment package. They will keep an eye on them and there are some other things they can try in the future if things start to go the wrong way again. And I didn't have to pay any money over yesterday either as I had been knocking a chunk off the bill on the earlier visits and actually went 12p over.
In the evening we had our feet sorted out then had a look at holidays once again c/o the good old Internet. Some wonderful tours around parts of the US and Canada that we really want to see. The prices look fairly horrendous at first glance, but we think we might just treat ourselves next year. We just need to get disciplined to save properly. Then we had a manic two player session on Puzzle Bobble. One of the few games Joan can really get into.
Got woken up at 5ish this morning by my right leg deciding it hadn't seized up with cramp for months and that now was the perfect opportunity. Quite painful at the time and still uncomfortable now. Still, got to work OK, have done some useful stuff and finally the morning is almost over once more. Time for a spot of lunch, a walk up the town and then back here for a meeting.
Tuesday, July 30, 2002
Goes on, and the heat goes on... To adapt a line from the Talking Heads for a moment or two! It is still absolutely scorching out there, but it is now also raining which may help to cool things down a fraction (it will also probably mean our washing will need drying again when we get home if this persists as far as Felixstowe and lasts all afternoon). It might also encourage the girls of Ipswich to put a few more clothes on. I wouldn't mind so much if they were nice looking to start with. Better stop that thought now before it gets me into trouble.
Tomorrow I am working at home updating our maps and trying to whip the finances into some sort of shape. Trouble is I have been so good at getting stuff ready to do so that I'm now left with not a lot to occupy the afternoon. I might go home early and make a start - especially as I need to do some work related scanning too. Of course, given how the future of this department appears to be shaping up I ought to ignore the finances as they are likely to be split between different managers in the new milieu but it is still a better option than being here for all 5 days of the week.
Going back in time a bit, last night was reasonably busy for us. Jerry from next door brought a car round for us to test drive. A Vauxhall Corsa. It was quite nice and all that, but not really what I'm after as despite being small it had a large engine so that pushes up the tax, insurance and fuel costs and I'm trying to save on those. I do feel a bit sorry for him as he is lonely since June died, but I don't think I'm ready to be a substitute family for him yet. I also don't want to end up buying a car from his mate just to keep the pressure off and harmonic relationships on if it doesn't come with the right warranties etc.
After that we did a spot of shopping and then went on to see Helen & Bhupen for a bit. As a consequence of that we didn't eat until quite late (Chinese again!) and thus didn't really do much else. And we both had disturbed sleep (Joan was up for two chapters of a book) and strange dreams again. I think the disturbed sleep may also have been temperature related. And now the heavy eyes and yawns have hit me once again. I really must get a trip to the doctor sorted if I don't start being more awake soon.
Tomorrow I am working at home updating our maps and trying to whip the finances into some sort of shape. Trouble is I have been so good at getting stuff ready to do so that I'm now left with not a lot to occupy the afternoon. I might go home early and make a start - especially as I need to do some work related scanning too. Of course, given how the future of this department appears to be shaping up I ought to ignore the finances as they are likely to be split between different managers in the new milieu but it is still a better option than being here for all 5 days of the week.
Going back in time a bit, last night was reasonably busy for us. Jerry from next door brought a car round for us to test drive. A Vauxhall Corsa. It was quite nice and all that, but not really what I'm after as despite being small it had a large engine so that pushes up the tax, insurance and fuel costs and I'm trying to save on those. I do feel a bit sorry for him as he is lonely since June died, but I don't think I'm ready to be a substitute family for him yet. I also don't want to end up buying a car from his mate just to keep the pressure off and harmonic relationships on if it doesn't come with the right warranties etc.
After that we did a spot of shopping and then went on to see Helen & Bhupen for a bit. As a consequence of that we didn't eat until quite late (Chinese again!) and thus didn't really do much else. And we both had disturbed sleep (Joan was up for two chapters of a book) and strange dreams again. I think the disturbed sleep may also have been temperature related. And now the heavy eyes and yawns have hit me once again. I really must get a trip to the doctor sorted if I don't start being more awake soon.
Monday, July 29, 2002
Still hot today. And uncomfortably sticky too. At least the office isn't too bad, but I think I'd rather be elsewhere. Nothing to do with Joan being off today of course. Oh, no, nothing to do with that at all! Also very tired this morning again - must get an early night some time to try and catch up on missing sleep.
Had a nice evening of dinner on the new patio and just relaxed chatting, but it must have drained some of the energy reserves after all. And now sitting here trying to make sense of timetables without my eyes closing. Not easy.
Had a nice evening of dinner on the new patio and just relaxed chatting, but it must have drained some of the energy reserves after all. And now sitting here trying to make sense of timetables without my eyes closing. Not easy.
Sunday, July 28, 2002
So Kate won. But at least Jonny came second so we aren't too downhearted here. Mind you, we were both absolutely knackered when it come to getting up yesterday after staying up to watch the final and all that, but never mind. It was worse for Joan as she had got home late on Friday due to Saturday being the launch of the new catalogue. And the shop is just intolerably hot at the moment. I know from having worked there just how oven-like it can get at times, and yet still head office won't splash the cash on some air conditioning for them. A customer even passed out because of the heat in there today but I bet that still won't make a difference.
We finally got around to watching Scary Movie 2 last night. Not quite as funny as the first one but just as good as I remembered from seeing it in Canada last year. There are also loads of deleted and alternate scenes. Got through about half of them last night and was surprised that some of them didn't make the final cut. Especially as in places they have bits in them that are featured on the cover of the disc (and were thus on the posters for the original release) but didn't make it to the cinema version. Strange.
I also picked up my photos yesterday and I think some of them will do just nicely for the purpose I took them for. Others will be useful for joke stuff to go on www.b3ta.com so not all wasted. On top of that we got a new wooden table and chairs for the garden. Joan had seen them at work and liked them, but we thought they were a bit overpriced. While we were up north one of her colleagues spotted that they had gone down in price and ordered us a set in. They are really nice now, especally for what we finally paid!
Today Joan is at work once again, and I have been taking it easy up to now. Have sat in the sun a bit (including for lunch, nice) and finished the Dilbert book(s). Not sure what to pick next, but I do have a huge pile of magazines to read so the next actual book is a couple of days away as yet. Better do a bit of tidying up now before I go to pick her up.
We finally got around to watching Scary Movie 2 last night. Not quite as funny as the first one but just as good as I remembered from seeing it in Canada last year. There are also loads of deleted and alternate scenes. Got through about half of them last night and was surprised that some of them didn't make the final cut. Especially as in places they have bits in them that are featured on the cover of the disc (and were thus on the posters for the original release) but didn't make it to the cinema version. Strange.
I also picked up my photos yesterday and I think some of them will do just nicely for the purpose I took them for. Others will be useful for joke stuff to go on www.b3ta.com so not all wasted. On top of that we got a new wooden table and chairs for the garden. Joan had seen them at work and liked them, but we thought they were a bit overpriced. While we were up north one of her colleagues spotted that they had gone down in price and ordered us a set in. They are really nice now, especally for what we finally paid!
Today Joan is at work once again, and I have been taking it easy up to now. Have sat in the sun a bit (including for lunch, nice) and finished the Dilbert book(s). Not sure what to pick next, but I do have a huge pile of magazines to read so the next actual book is a couple of days away as yet. Better do a bit of tidying up now before I go to pick her up.
Friday, July 26, 2002
By George it sure is HOT out there today. Spent the last 6 hours out and about doing deliveries and some roadside publicity for that service previously moaned about. Only got lost once (but that did lead to an encounter with a nice Traction Engine in full steam, so it was a worthwhile diversion). But bloody hell am I glad to be going home for a shower soon.
Last night ended up being a tv and Galaxians fest rather than a film. Tonight is the Big Brother final so that will be required viewing then next week back to some sort of normality. Speaking of BB, Graham Norton had Dustin Hoffman on his show last night (not literally!) and they did a short BB sketch. Dustin as Jonny even going as far as to do a bit of a Geordie accent. Absolutely superb. And he was really funny as himself in the interview part too.
That's it for now. Just too hot to think straight.
Last night ended up being a tv and Galaxians fest rather than a film. Tonight is the Big Brother final so that will be required viewing then next week back to some sort of normality. Speaking of BB, Graham Norton had Dustin Hoffman on his show last night (not literally!) and they did a short BB sketch. Dustin as Jonny even going as far as to do a bit of a Geordie accent. Absolutely superb. And he was really funny as himself in the interview part too.
That's it for now. Just too hot to think straight.
Thursday, July 25, 2002
Been sunny all day, so I took the chance to get out twice. First off at lunchtime when I wandered up to the bank to pay that cheque in and then look at the shops. I'd been thinking for ages that I really ought to get a copy of Alice In Wonderland and read it again sometime and that popped back into my brain whilst I was passing The Works. So in I went and not only did they have a copy for £1, but for an extra 99p I could get an omnibus of everything Lewis Carroll ever wrote. So I took that option instead. Ok, so its a flimsy book that probably won't last me until my dotage, but it will do for the opurpose. Or indeed porpoise!
And now I have just got back from going out again. After a couple of requests for Park & Ride photos that didn't really match up to what we have on file I thought I'd go and take some more. So have been up to Bury Road and tried to get a bit interesting and also "arty". We shall see what comes out when I get them back. That also seems to be the nearest thing I've done to any real work today. Have mainly been reading through an avalanche of magazines and journals that have been building up in other people's in trays and not getting passed on to me.
Joan is having her back cracked tonight so I am meeting her there to do a bit of post-cracking shopping. Then it'll be healthy grilled food for tea and hopefully tonight we really will get round to watching a film. Last night we caught up on old episodes of Holby (although we missed two while we were up north). That is of course if the phone will stay silent. I used to get frustrated that whenever we started watching something it would ring, then that stopped but we still had to take a break around 9 every night for Joan to phone her Dad. Obviously that is no longer a problem, but since last week's events there always seems to be someone calling to check if we are OK. I am getting close to answering back with "we'd be better if you'd all leave us alone for a couple of nights" or unplugging them all!
And now I have just got back from going out again. After a couple of requests for Park & Ride photos that didn't really match up to what we have on file I thought I'd go and take some more. So have been up to Bury Road and tried to get a bit interesting and also "arty". We shall see what comes out when I get them back. That also seems to be the nearest thing I've done to any real work today. Have mainly been reading through an avalanche of magazines and journals that have been building up in other people's in trays and not getting passed on to me.
Joan is having her back cracked tonight so I am meeting her there to do a bit of post-cracking shopping. Then it'll be healthy grilled food for tea and hopefully tonight we really will get round to watching a film. Last night we caught up on old episodes of Holby (although we missed two while we were up north). That is of course if the phone will stay silent. I used to get frustrated that whenever we started watching something it would ring, then that stopped but we still had to take a break around 9 every night for Joan to phone her Dad. Obviously that is no longer a problem, but since last week's events there always seems to be someone calling to check if we are OK. I am getting close to answering back with "we'd be better if you'd all leave us alone for a couple of nights" or unplugging them all!
Didn't think to mention that last night was also pretty stressful for another reason. The estate settlement cheque came. And while it is obviously nice to get some money, the reason for it isn't and it was all a bit upsetting for Joan. I have brought it with me to pay in to save her the possible embarrassment of bursting into tears in the bank if she were to do it.
On a lighter note, I just found this in the BBC site and have to stick it in:
Thursday, 25 July, 2002, 02:46 GMT 03:46 UK
Barbie loses battle over bimbo image
Barbie must accept that being parodied is part of the job, a US judge has ruled after the manufacturer of the famous leggy blonde took legal action against a pop song which mocked her.
Danish pop act Aqua stormed the charts in 1997 with the song Barbie Girl, in which a female singer portraying Barbie refers to herself as a "blonde bimbo". She is also enticed to "go party" by a male singer representing Ken, Barbie's steady boyfriend.
Barbie's maker Mattel, in a lawsuit against MCA Records, contended that the song infringed copyright and sullied Barbie's image. But Judge Alex Kozinski said that the song was protected by the right to free speech in the US constitution because it was a parody and a social commentary. "With Barbie, Mattel created not just a toy but a cultural icon," he said. "With fame often comes unwanted attention."
He also noted that Barbie had heard much worse since her conception in the 1950s.
Tall, slim - yet curvaceous - Barbie has been the bane of feminists who want society to move away from conceptions of the female figure that do not correspond with reality. "Barbie has been labelled both the ideal woman and a bimbo," said Judge Kozinski. His court also upheld a lower court decision to throw out a defamation suit brought against Mattel by MCA over comments allegedly made about the record company. "The parties are advised to chill," said the judge.
However the news still comes as a blow to Mattel, being the second case it has lost over the Barbie mark in less than two years. In February last year, a court ruled that an American artist was within his rights to use Barbie dolls in his work. Some of Tom Forsythe's photographs depicted the blonde in sexually compromising positions.
A court had ruled on that occasion too that parody of Barbie was an acceptable activity.
What can you say about that?
On a lighter note, I just found this in the BBC site and have to stick it in:
Thursday, 25 July, 2002, 02:46 GMT 03:46 UK
Barbie loses battle over bimbo image
Barbie must accept that being parodied is part of the job, a US judge has ruled after the manufacturer of the famous leggy blonde took legal action against a pop song which mocked her.
Danish pop act Aqua stormed the charts in 1997 with the song Barbie Girl, in which a female singer portraying Barbie refers to herself as a "blonde bimbo". She is also enticed to "go party" by a male singer representing Ken, Barbie's steady boyfriend.
Barbie's maker Mattel, in a lawsuit against MCA Records, contended that the song infringed copyright and sullied Barbie's image. But Judge Alex Kozinski said that the song was protected by the right to free speech in the US constitution because it was a parody and a social commentary. "With Barbie, Mattel created not just a toy but a cultural icon," he said. "With fame often comes unwanted attention."
He also noted that Barbie had heard much worse since her conception in the 1950s.
Tall, slim - yet curvaceous - Barbie has been the bane of feminists who want society to move away from conceptions of the female figure that do not correspond with reality. "Barbie has been labelled both the ideal woman and a bimbo," said Judge Kozinski. His court also upheld a lower court decision to throw out a defamation suit brought against Mattel by MCA over comments allegedly made about the record company. "The parties are advised to chill," said the judge.
However the news still comes as a blow to Mattel, being the second case it has lost over the Barbie mark in less than two years. In February last year, a court ruled that an American artist was within his rights to use Barbie dolls in his work. Some of Tom Forsythe's photographs depicted the blonde in sexually compromising positions.
A court had ruled on that occasion too that parody of Barbie was an acceptable activity.
What can you say about that?
Big yawn time - feel absolutely washed out this morning and like I could drop off at any minute for no apparent reason. Went to bed same time as normal, slept all through (although with the obligatory strange and confusing dreams - seems I was moving into a house in Derby that kept changing street and also buying a mini at the same time that was then in need of major repairs) and woke up as required when the alarm did its stuff. Oh well, I'll just have to get some matchsticks from somewhere to keep my eyes open.
Until everyone else goes off for meetings, then I might be able to snooze under the desk a bit!
Slight changes of plan last night saw us getting our heads trimmed at Faith's place rather than ours for a change. I don't mind going there as she has a couple of nice dogs. And I don't normally like dogs, so that says something. Collie sheepdog things. Both mad as hatters and utterly cute. I think they could almost be used to persuade me to get a mutt myself sometime, apart from the walking and clearing up shite business of course. And I'm still not sure about the generall doggy smell they all seem to have - it seems to waft throughout a doggy household and I can't get used to it.
That meant we were not home until 7ish and decided a chinese was called for as we couldn't be bothered cooking by the time we'd showered. The Magic Wok was unexpectedly closed so I went up to the one in town we had been treated to food from at the weekend. They have a few different choices on the menu so I ended up with (and sorry to any Llamasofties reading this) Mongolian crispy lamb. It was lovely!
OK, time to see what the working day can do to keep me awake.
Until everyone else goes off for meetings, then I might be able to snooze under the desk a bit!
Slight changes of plan last night saw us getting our heads trimmed at Faith's place rather than ours for a change. I don't mind going there as she has a couple of nice dogs. And I don't normally like dogs, so that says something. Collie sheepdog things. Both mad as hatters and utterly cute. I think they could almost be used to persuade me to get a mutt myself sometime, apart from the walking and clearing up shite business of course. And I'm still not sure about the generall doggy smell they all seem to have - it seems to waft throughout a doggy household and I can't get used to it.
That meant we were not home until 7ish and decided a chinese was called for as we couldn't be bothered cooking by the time we'd showered. The Magic Wok was unexpectedly closed so I went up to the one in town we had been treated to food from at the weekend. They have a few different choices on the menu so I ended up with (and sorry to any Llamasofties reading this) Mongolian crispy lamb. It was lovely!
OK, time to see what the working day can do to keep me awake.
Wednesday, July 24, 2002
Stayed awake until we went to bed last night, which was nice. And we did do the toasted sandwich thing for tea too. Dunno what we will have tonight though.
Today has been in equal parts rewarding and frustrating. I finally got all the timetable changes from the last two weeks in and off ot the printers when, Kazam!, another one turned up. Ordinarily this would just be a cause for me to shake my head wearily and say something like "just when I thought it was safe" or "here we go again" but this one took the biscuit and finally spurred me into writing a stroppy email. It was for a service that started on Monday. Now, that would be bad enough, not hearing about it until after it changed but this is one we are sponsoring. Yup, not only had the information been in the office before today, we designed it. Accompanying the registration was a letter of support for the change dated the 19th. But did they tell us then? No. And knowing how the system works it will have taken them a couple of weeks to pull the whole thing together. It is actually a replacement for a commercial service that has been cancelled. Did they tell us they were going to look to replace it? No. Did they tell us when the tenders went out? No. Or when they were returned? You guessed it.
So that was just one step too far for me. I have sent this to their stand in manager (names not changed cos they ain't innocent and don't deserve protecting!):
I've been trying to get communications from your team about what goes on for 4½ years now so would welcome your input on the matter. The main issue is on letting us know what they are doing when it comes to sponsored services. I am continually finding out about things we are paying for from the final registration rather than in advance from the people doing it. This is made worse when it comes to supporting short notice changes.
I think the final straw has just come - I have received a registration in the last ten minutes for a service that started on MONDAY accompanied by a support letter from Ian dated the 19th. Now I know I was off for two weeks, but your people must have known they were doing this before the 19th and could at least have told someone something about what was going on. It would have been nice to get the roadside publicity done before it started, whereas now it won't be until Friday of this week.
Frankly, I've had enough of being left out of the loop like this. And after all, who's going to ride a bus if we can't tell anyone it is running?
There is also this email I sent to Mike, Chris and Charles before going off up North:
Chaps,
As I seem to have been lumbered with producing a leaflet to tell the plebs all about ticket interavailability between sponsored and commercial services, can one of you provide me a definitive list of what we do, where it is valid etc etc etc.
Ta,
Again, I have heard nothing. Not even a "we're busy but will get back to you". I can see I will be getting chased for news on the leaflet soon and will have to say that people are letting me down.
Any chance you can take them off somewhere and knock some sense into them? All the re-org stuff implies we should work together more but that's only what the publicity/marketing team has been asking for since before I started here.
All help gratefully appreciated...
He agrees the situation is not a good one, so has agreed to join us at our next team meeting to see what we actually need then sort them out. Hopefully the results will prove positive. After all, we are supposed to be getting closer to each other under the re-org stuff so there are some pretty huge walls to break through.
Better news is that we think we have decided on the holiday we want to take. Prague. Will see now how much money we end up with and if there are spaces for us.
Also wnet to the library at lunchtime so have four cds to listen to soon: Underworld - Beacoup Fish AND Live - Everything, Everything, Jimi Hendrix - Axis: Bold As Love and Blink 182 - The Buddah Album. The latter will fit on the same MD as another album of theirs I've got but the live Underworld will need some clever editing to fit on an MD unless I can find somewhere selling 80 minute ones locally.
Nearly time to get out of here for the day. Yay! Getting hairs cut tonight as they should have been done last week but we were on the A1 at the time.
Today has been in equal parts rewarding and frustrating. I finally got all the timetable changes from the last two weeks in and off ot the printers when, Kazam!, another one turned up. Ordinarily this would just be a cause for me to shake my head wearily and say something like "just when I thought it was safe" or "here we go again" but this one took the biscuit and finally spurred me into writing a stroppy email. It was for a service that started on Monday. Now, that would be bad enough, not hearing about it until after it changed but this is one we are sponsoring. Yup, not only had the information been in the office before today, we designed it. Accompanying the registration was a letter of support for the change dated the 19th. But did they tell us then? No. And knowing how the system works it will have taken them a couple of weeks to pull the whole thing together. It is actually a replacement for a commercial service that has been cancelled. Did they tell us they were going to look to replace it? No. Did they tell us when the tenders went out? No. Or when they were returned? You guessed it.
So that was just one step too far for me. I have sent this to their stand in manager (names not changed cos they ain't innocent and don't deserve protecting!):
I've been trying to get communications from your team about what goes on for 4½ years now so would welcome your input on the matter. The main issue is on letting us know what they are doing when it comes to sponsored services. I am continually finding out about things we are paying for from the final registration rather than in advance from the people doing it. This is made worse when it comes to supporting short notice changes.
I think the final straw has just come - I have received a registration in the last ten minutes for a service that started on MONDAY accompanied by a support letter from Ian dated the 19th. Now I know I was off for two weeks, but your people must have known they were doing this before the 19th and could at least have told someone something about what was going on. It would have been nice to get the roadside publicity done before it started, whereas now it won't be until Friday of this week.
Frankly, I've had enough of being left out of the loop like this. And after all, who's going to ride a bus if we can't tell anyone it is running?
There is also this email I sent to Mike, Chris and Charles before going off up North:
Chaps,
As I seem to have been lumbered with producing a leaflet to tell the plebs all about ticket interavailability between sponsored and commercial services, can one of you provide me a definitive list of what we do, where it is valid etc etc etc.
Ta,
Again, I have heard nothing. Not even a "we're busy but will get back to you". I can see I will be getting chased for news on the leaflet soon and will have to say that people are letting me down.
Any chance you can take them off somewhere and knock some sense into them? All the re-org stuff implies we should work together more but that's only what the publicity/marketing team has been asking for since before I started here.
All help gratefully appreciated...
He agrees the situation is not a good one, so has agreed to join us at our next team meeting to see what we actually need then sort them out. Hopefully the results will prove positive. After all, we are supposed to be getting closer to each other under the re-org stuff so there are some pretty huge walls to break through.
Better news is that we think we have decided on the holiday we want to take. Prague. Will see now how much money we end up with and if there are spaces for us.
Also wnet to the library at lunchtime so have four cds to listen to soon: Underworld - Beacoup Fish AND Live - Everything, Everything, Jimi Hendrix - Axis: Bold As Love and Blink 182 - The Buddah Album. The latter will fit on the same MD as another album of theirs I've got but the live Underworld will need some clever editing to fit on an MD unless I can find somewhere selling 80 minute ones locally.
Nearly time to get out of here for the day. Yay! Getting hairs cut tonight as they should have been done last week but we were on the A1 at the time.
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