2 good 2 bad

I had 4 interviews this week. Never had that many interviews in a week...ever. 2 of them went badly and 2 of them went well. we shall see what happens with them. 3 of them are investment banks and 1 of them was a company that supplies information and indexes for banks related to complex derivatives and other financial instruments. It was quite funny but one the banks that interviewed me is in the building that i work in at the moment. It was weird waiting in reception in my own building and going to a different floor.

The interview with them was one of those that went well and at the end of it the manager asked for my email address so that he could contact me direct. Recruiters usually take the candidates contact details off a cv so that the companies can’t get to candidates directly and bypass them. i don’t give a shit about recruiters and gave the guy my details and i would like to think it was a good sign that he was thinking he would want to contact me again. He was also really selling the place to me saying they were a close team and people never left because they really enjoyed working there and he actually seemed like a really nice guy as well. hopefully he gets back to me.

The other interview that went well was at the derivatives place. Actually it went very well indeed and they have asked to see me again. I don’t want to sound shallow or like a money grabber, but they aren’t paying the benjamins like the other bank and if it came down to it, i would have to take the extra paper. Sorry but thats the way it goes.

Today i have mostly been listening to timbaland – the way i are.



I heard it on the programme ‘the hills’ on mtv. Another of my guilty pleasures that i would never admit to people who know me. I don’t want much tv at all and when i do its BBC news24, CNN or Bloomberg..........and the Hills on MTV. Its sad but its true. Lauren seems OK on the show but she hasn’t had much luck with the fellas, and Whitney seems like a very level headed sensible girl as well. Heidi doesn’t come across that well at times and her finacee, Spencer is an idiot. Also he comes across slightly......er.....how shall i put it........gay!!. one day after she gets married she is going to come home early from work one afternoon and find him dressed in leather pants with the ass cut out, bent over and with another guy dressed up a cowboy hanging out the back of him. Mark my words!!!.

....and on that rather disturbing note, may i wish you a good weekend.

Take care V. Its hot in phoenix, its drizzling in London...again!. Would rather be there than here.

glasvegas

there is a TV show in england called 'later with jools holland'. its a music show and has bands performing live on it. they have a mix of big famous artists and some new up and coming artists from all over the world. it can be a bit hit and miss and the audience does tend to be full of cats that think they are a bit too cool for school sometimes.

anyways you sometimes discover a little gem on there and a couple of weeks ago they had a band called glasvegas playing and they were awesome. this is a great song. have a look and listen. take care V.

memorial day weekend

Being in a job is preventing me from getting a job. Thats seems to be the way it works for contractors and i have seen some good roles but they only want people that can start immediately. Its frustrating. My manager is off this week and next week on holiday but i will tell him soon after he gets back that i won’t be staying. It gives them time to find someone and it also means i won’t be able to change my mind. I don’t want to pussy out at the end, and renew my contract and end up staying here taking their money. Its time to see if we have got the stones (balls) to take that jump into the unknown.

.....and there is still the prospect of a road trip thats still on my mind. That makes 2 good reasons to go and half of one reason to stay (money and safety).

Was supposed to have an exam today as has been my usual routine recently of having one on a Friday, but i hadn’t done enough study and i think i would have almost certainly failed it if i did it today, so i moved it to next Friday. That gives me the long weekend to study and also 3 evenings after work and that should get me ready to take it next Friday.

have just heard a conversation over my shoulder between one of the senior guys in the engineering team and some guy who is junior and asking for help about configuring something. the senior guy is steadfastly refusing to help the guy and not even giving any ideas how to deal with the issue. he has spent 10 minutes talking to the junior guy giving him reasons why he won't help him. " i already spoke to you about that", " i don't have time for this", "talk to XXXXX and get him to help you", " just figure it out, you won't learn anything by me showing you". 10 minutes this went on for. shit!, you could have shown him how to do it by now. so unhelpful its not even funny. i have to get out of here. i don't want to turn into that guy and become an asshole..........or become a bigger asshole than i already am. :-)

Today i have mostly been listening to Don Henley – boys of summer.
out on the road today
i saw a dead head sticker on a Cadillac

You can tell i am still thinking of the road trip across the states. i suspect it will be reflected in what i am listening to for the next few weeks.

Take care cali girl. have a good memorial day weekend. we got a long weekend here in england to. its not memorial day here. i don't know what its for actually, but i will take it.

plans for the summer

Work has been busy this week. For a lot of it i have been on my own having to deal with all manner of crap. I know i complained about doing nothing most of the time and to be honest there was not enough work when we had 4 people but when there is only one person (me) there is more than enough to do. its still not too bad but it means i have done no study during the day. Yes, its true, i have been working at work.

Am still planning on leaving when my contract is up and i spoke to a couple of friends about whether they would be interested in a road trip in august when i will be free of this place. Actually not just A road trip, but THE road trip, driving across the US from the east coast to California through the heartlands of America. I have always wanted to do it and i think i will have a window of opportunity to do it after this contract.

I have already been doing some research about different routes and places we could go to.............................and then yesterday i got a couple of calls out of the blue for interviews at a couple of banks. I can’t turn them down. I need to sensible and pragmatic and as amazing as the road trip would be, i can’t turn down a good job just for it. Anyways, we shall see how it goes and i could very well be still going on a road trip because i have had lots of rejections in the past and it would be no surprise to get rejected again. This time i won’t mind so much.

....i had even started thinking about putting together a ‘driving across america’ playlist. Something with themes of summer, cars, highways and America. Maybe some songs by, bruce springsteen, bob seger, the beach boys, the eagles, guns’n’roses, neil young, stereophonics, audioslave, incubus, the cars............etc.

Anyways we shall see how the next few weeks pan out. Either way, there is a new adventure awaiting.

Today i have mostly been listening to America – ventura highway

Take care flower..........maybe i will look you up, if i end up passing through your town. :-)

blink and the cure

And i thought my job was not very challenging. I went to one of the banks other datacentres yesterday and there is a guy there whose job is to decommission servers. He does the paperwork and removes the monitoring and then switches them off and takes them out of the rack. Thats all he does. Oh my god!. How dull is that. it makes my job look good. Dude, get out of here and start using your brain a little. He has been here years doing what he does. I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t.

Had an interview this morning. It went ok but i got a bit worried when he asked me how my excel skills were. i am a server engineer and i don’t do excel pal!. I didn’t say that but i did give the impression that excel was not something i have any skill in or am interested in. If you want someone to fill in spreadsheets all day you have got the wrong man here and you should interview someone else.

We’ll see how it goes. Not bothered about it really. Got an exam this Friday. Would like to back up all these exams with some good experience and exposure now. Some guy in the other office yesterday was taking loudly to the guy that works with me, about all the exams he was doing. He had his certificates posted up in his cubicle and was showing off his transcripts. thats not cool dude.

“yes, i have passed 3 now, and am going to do the next one in a couple of months”.

the guy that works with me then said, “you should talk to (me) about exams as he is always doing them”.

“oh yeah, how many exams have you done?” he shouted across to me.

“Errr....19”, i replied. He quietened down a bit, after that. :-)

Something good will come through soon. I was still at the internet company this time last year. We have come a long way and there is a little further yet to go but we are hopeful.

have noticed something else recently at work. seems like the other guys seem to have gotten used to me being around and trust me so i have noticed that they have started to come into the office less. they tend to plan to work from one of the other offices closer to where they live, one or two days a week or they work from home sometimes. they can also go missing for hours at a time during the day when they are in.

its up to them if they want to do that but sometimes i need to ask a question about stuff and they aren't around when i need to know something. have been quite a few occasions when i am the only one here in the office. its turning into a little annoyance at the moment but its fine. only 5 weeks left till i tell them i won't be staying. enjoy it while you can fellas.

Today i have mostly been listening to blink 182 – all of this. Robert Smith from the cure does the vocals on this song. 2 of my favourite artists on the same song. it was always going to be good.....and it is.

Take care flower.

next please

nearly delayed my citrix CCA exam that was scheduled for today but am glad i didn't because i went to take it at lunchtime and passed it. thats one more thing to cross off the list. up next, its the cisco CCNA exam, but that is going to be a lot of hard work and could take me quite some time to do.

my boss asked me how it went and also mentioned it was my 4th exam in 5 weeks. it seems he is keeping score. i think they know that i am interested in exploring new horizons as i am doing exams for things that aren't involved in my job day to day and its not going to be a shock when i tell them in a few weeks that i won't be staying longer.

had a couple of calls about jobs that might be coming up in a couple of banks. they also sounded fine about the fact i am on 4 weeks notice and the are both back in the city of london which is miles better than canary wharf. will find out in a week or so if they want to call me in for an interview but its not disaster if i don't get called up because i got a plan for all eventualities.

have a good weekend V. don't work too hard and definitely not at 100%. you can get away with 50% effort today and you will be fine. trust me. :-)

today i have mostly been listening to bob seger - hollywood nights. hollywood weather in london today. its dry, warm and hazy sunshine.

10 weeks

I have started looking around with a little more vigour this week. Am really making an effort and you never know, something might come of it soon. As always i am very hopeful.

Am going to run out of exams that i want to do soon, and the reality of my job will set in then. Its too easy to come in and pick up pay cheques and have an easy life. My job is all i have at the moment and so i feel i have to have a good one and one that makes me better and improves me. i don’t want to waste my time and just settle for what i have now. its not a money thing either. I am not chasing every dollar and pound like my life depends on it because it doesn’t and i am lucky to be in the position i am in. Don’t get me wrong, i would hope to get more money in my next job, but i also want to do some good work because i am interested in this stuff. That has always been a constant for me and that feeling has not diminished, and besides, my job is so dull and just not challenging at all.
i am unable to do this for any significant amount of time otherwise i would go crazy and i don't want to end up like the guys here that are scared of change. i used to be like that, but i don't feel like that any more.

Anyways i still have the idea to not renew my contract when its up for renewal again. That means my last day will be july 22nd and i hope to have landed something before then, and if not, i am planning to go away somewhere for a week or two.

That leaves me 10 more weeks here. It sounds like a long time, but i can get through it. i will let them know my plans in about 6 weeks which is a month before my contract ends. if i wanted to, i could just run my contract down and leave suddenly but i don't want to do that. i don't want to put them in a spot or leave them short staffed, and it will give them a month to find someone to replace me. that sounds fair to me.

Indications are that they see me here for quite a while longer. Am getting introduced to more and more people and i am visiting one of their other offices next week. I will just play along and i think i am doing a good job of concealing the fact that i feel this is just temporary for me.

i think they will be surprised when i tell them i am going. i will have to come up with a decent story as to why i won't be renewing. can't tell them the truth " its a boring easy job and i don't see what i am doing as any type of career and i was only here to get a name on my resume". i need a reference from these guys so will just say, i am going away travelling for a little while, or my old company have asked me to come back for a project. actually, the going back to do a short term project with my old company, was the excuse i used last time when i left my last job and it worked well and allowed me to leave on good terms. i think i might go with that one if i can't think of anything better. :-)

Its beautiful weather today. Not as hot as Arizona but hot for London.
All the best for this weekend and next week V. i'll be thinking about you.

Today i have mostly been listening to cold war kids – we used to vacation.

dropping bombs

Its always crowded on the train in the morning but a little less so when i am working on the late shift and starting my journey at 9am. I am on the train for about 45 minutes which is quite a long time. I put my headphones on stand to one side against the doors or the window, close my eyes and drift away to another world in my mind.........or thats what i try to do.

today some guy in a suit gets on the train and was standing right near me. after about 10 minutes i could smell something strange in the air and then like 10 seconds later the full force of it hit. This dude did the worst fart you have ever had the displeasure to smell. It was so bad i am sure some people might have mistaken it for a terrorist attack using a chemical weapon or poison gas. Had the train not stopped at a station and opened its doors a minute later, i think i may have reached for the emergency alarm in the carriage, it was that bad.

So the smell dissipates, the doors close and the train carries on, and then guess what?. He drops another one and its just as bad as the first one. Dude!, what did you have breakfast?, a large bucket of baked beans, branflakes, a kebab, some extra hot chilli burritos and all of it washed down with 4 pints of cider and a 2 litre bottle of coke???.

That fella was dropping bombs on the train today. I know its not something you can directly control, but that is just wrong to almost suffocate a carriage full of people. I could have sworn i saw one guy turn to the person next to him and say “ tell my wife i love her.......i don’t think i am going to make it”. Other people were frantically writing wills on newspapers whilst some of the other passengers figured that paper might be destroyed by this putrid smell, started scratching messages to loved ones on the glass windows of the carriage using their keys.

i suspect the scene was reminiscent of the titanic and the minutes of panic after hitting the iceberg and the ship going down slowly, although in this case the soundtrack wasn’t crappy celine dion, but incubus – pardon me from the album, make yourself, which was playing on my headphones at the time.

as i struggled for oxygen i saw the images of loved ones before my eyes and my life flashed before me, i saw my mum dropping me off on my first day of school, i saw myself playing football in the summer with the kids i grew up with, i saw heartbreaks and kisses, i remembered bits of holidays i had been on, random concerts i had been to and sitting around joking and laughing with my friends.
oh lord don't take me now. i am too young and have so much more life to live. as the seconds ticked by i could feel my body getting cold and i could see a bright light in the distance slowly coming towards me. this must be it i thought. this must be the end coming towards me............and then the train stopped at the next station the doors opened and this person, this walking weapon of mass destruction, disembarked and probably went to his respectable job in the city completely unaware of the devastation left in his wake and to possibly terrorise another carriage of people on his journey home.

apart from my near-death experience this morning :-) its been a quiet friday. work has been dull. i'll be honest in that i haven't done that much study at work today and thats probably why its been dull today. the last month hasn't felt that bad at work but it was because i was keeping myself occupied with exams. today has given me a glimpse of what my job is really like. at this moment i would say there is a greater than 50% chance i will not renew my contract if i get offered an extension in july. I will have done 6 months here by then and thats more than enough. i think my brain may slowly turn in to a useless empty grey mass if i stayed here for a long time.

no major plans for the weekend but its supposed to be nice and warm this weekend and its also a public holiday on monday. have to work for a couple of hours tomorrow (saturday) but should be done by lunchtime and will try and get out in the nice warm sunny weather we are forecast.

Today i have mostly been listening to incubus – pardon me
Pardon me, whilst i burst into flames

Have a lovely weekend V. Take care and keep smiling. :-)

its been constant rain and showers all week. its not really nice except when its makes a rainbow.