so i just got told my contract was being extended. hopefully i will only be here for a few more weeks and i get something a little less boring in the new year. my agent asked me to come into to work as normal on friday, but i told him i had made plans and would come to work on monday instead. i really want a nice long 4 day weekend and apart from the couple of days i had off last week for christmas, i have worked every single day since i started. thats wouldn't really be a big deal under normal circimstances but turning up to work in the land of nonsense everyday is hard, believe me!.
and thats about it for 2008. i know i whine about work but when it comes down to it, it is my choice to work in these banks and take their money and so i have take all the shit that goes along with it. i did it to myself so i can accept it and if i am really honest, its not THAT bad, in that i don't work very hard and i have hardly any stress and my boss isn't looking over my shoulder at everything i do. the only problem for me is that it is soooo boring and silly the things we have to do. its not hard. just boring and silly.
anyways, as is the case with me at this time of year, i look forward to the new year with lots of hope and many dreams. some might even come true.
take care V. you are on my mind as always. look after yourself and best of luck for the 09.
today i have mostly been listening to screaming lights - GMN. have a listen.
Wednesday 31 December 2008
Tuesday 30 December 2008
may or may not
my contract ends on wednesday. haven't been told if it will be renewed or not. i don't want to stay but at the same time i would prefer to be in a job earning some money than sitting at home doing nothing. in the perfect world i will get a renewal and will spend january here and then quit and start that other job, which i haven't been offered yet, in february. that will be perfect. we shall see how it goes i guess as its out of my hands at this stage.
ended up working till 8 yesterday evening as the work i needed to get done by the engineer at the datacentre took longer than i thought. no bother though.
trains have been empty on my way to and from work this week and last week. its been really nice not being pressed up against strangers and breathing peoples exhaled air and farts for 40 minutes every morning. how very civilised. if public transport was like this all the time we would never need cars. unfortunately its not like this and thats why people have cars, so they can have the privelege of breathing in their own exhaled air and farts and not anyone elses. some people are so lucky!.
right well i could write about more silliness at work but i have done enough of that recently and so i will shut my cakehole on that subject for today.
tomorrow may or may not be my last day here in the land of no logic and redundant brains.
today i have mostly been listening to the bravery - unconditional.
keep smiling cali girl.
ended up working till 8 yesterday evening as the work i needed to get done by the engineer at the datacentre took longer than i thought. no bother though.
trains have been empty on my way to and from work this week and last week. its been really nice not being pressed up against strangers and breathing peoples exhaled air and farts for 40 minutes every morning. how very civilised. if public transport was like this all the time we would never need cars. unfortunately its not like this and thats why people have cars, so they can have the privelege of breathing in their own exhaled air and farts and not anyone elses. some people are so lucky!.
right well i could write about more silliness at work but i have done enough of that recently and so i will shut my cakehole on that subject for today.
tomorrow may or may not be my last day here in the land of no logic and redundant brains.
today i have mostly been listening to the bravery - unconditional.
keep smiling cali girl.
Monday 29 December 2008
don't leave me like this
a quiet uneventful christmas but it was a long weekend and i didn't have to go into work for 4 whole days. thats the best christmas present ever.
unfortunately i am back at work today and back in the land of nonesense. ozzy is sitting opposite me today and for some bizarre reason is breathing really heavily in a slightly perverted manner. i don't know whats up with that, maybe he is practicing for a few phone calls he is going to make later today. its really quite loud and quite annoying, so i have put my headphones on and am listening to my music. people can't even breath properly in this place!!. i told you investment banks were full of weirdos and idiots.
office is pretty dead again today like it was last week, but i have a bit of work to be getting on with so i will try and get something done. last week i mentioned i had to raise a change request to get someone to LOOK at the back of a server. this weeks idiotic task is that i have to raise a change request to restart a few servers. you can not imagine how many people have been involved in getting a few servers shutdown and restarted. i kid you not, when i say around 8 people and its probably taken around 12-14 man-days to arrange for the restart of a few servers. its absolutely astonshing. honestly, if i hadn't seen it for myself and been involved in the whole mess i would never have believed it if someone had told me. utter madness.
unfortunately i am back at work today and back in the land of nonesense. ozzy is sitting opposite me today and for some bizarre reason is breathing really heavily in a slightly perverted manner. i don't know whats up with that, maybe he is practicing for a few phone calls he is going to make later today. its really quite loud and quite annoying, so i have put my headphones on and am listening to my music. people can't even breath properly in this place!!. i told you investment banks were full of weirdos and idiots.
office is pretty dead again today like it was last week, but i have a bit of work to be getting on with so i will try and get something done. last week i mentioned i had to raise a change request to get someone to LOOK at the back of a server. this weeks idiotic task is that i have to raise a change request to restart a few servers. you can not imagine how many people have been involved in getting a few servers shutdown and restarted. i kid you not, when i say around 8 people and its probably taken around 12-14 man-days to arrange for the restart of a few servers. its absolutely astonshing. honestly, if i hadn't seen it for myself and been involved in the whole mess i would never have believed it if someone had told me. utter madness.
i saw that virgin atlantic have some cheap fares to LA and san fracisco for next year. am very tempted to book a ticket. will see how things pan out over the next few weeks.
i have my meeting next week about that other job as well, and i really am hoping it comes through. it would be fucking awesome and especially so, as it gets me out of this place.
watched the film HEAT with robert de niro and al pacino recently and there is a scene where one of the gang of robbers gets beaten up badly for information at his his house. robert de niro goes looking for him and finds him laying on the floor in a pool of blood. de niro says he is going to call an ambulance for him but the guys who can barely talk, whispers "i am not going to make it, i can't feel anything", "don't leave me like this". and so de niro shoots him to spare him suffering.
thats a bit like me at this bank but in a slightly less violent way and without the blood loss and beatings that preceded it. i might whisper it to the guy in my interview next week "i can't feel my brain","don't leave me like this". ha ha ha!!!.
speaking of things you should never say in an interview i had an interview with microsoft around a year ago. it was my second interview there and i was talking to a couple of the people that were hiring in their MSN/web and search division. one of the guys asked me what i did when i couldn't find a solution to a problem, to which i replied i tended just to "google it" and see what came back.
after being quite relaxed through the interview the guys expression visibly turned to a frown when i mentioned google. he replied "er, or you LIVE search it!". i actually don't use live search which is microsofts search engine because its lame, but after seeing his frown i replied "oh yes, live seach as well".
jesus, get over yourself dude. stop being so petty. google are bigger and better than you at web search. its a fact and there is no need to be hating on them. live search is shit at the moment and thats a fact as well, that microsoft acknowledges because they tried to buy yahoo a few months after my interviews there.
anyways, no surprises when i tell you i didn't get the job. they said it was because i hadn't worked anywhere big. yeah whatever!. some people have no sense of humour. anyways, thats a top tip for interviewing - don't mention their bitterest and more successful rival in an interview. another example would be going for an interview at boeing and saying how wonderful the new airbus super-jumbos are or maybe having an interview at chrysler and saying you like ford mustangs. anyway i don't care. thats just the way i am i guess. i wanted to see if they had a sense of humour and they clearly didn't. would have been a good job but you know what, i think i might have got bored of it after a while.
today i have mostly been listening to blind melon - no rain.
take care flower.
Tuesday 23 December 2008
wish upon a dogstar
i got a call just now from that media/games company that interviewed me a few weeks ago. it looks like they will need someone to come in around february as one of their guys is leaving. they asked me to go to their offices at the beginning of january to meet their team and if all goes well he made it sound like they would make me an offer to join them and start in february.
i have applied to this place 4 times in the last year or so, and through a combination of bad luck and bad timing it has not come off. i know there are people out there better than me but i know there aren't that many better than me, for me to keep missing out.
things are looking good although i shall not be counting my chickens before they hatch. its just nice to know there is a more than reasonable chance of escape from this bank, come the new year. the moral of the story is to be persistent and its not a question of how many times you succeed but more a question of how many times you can fail.
in the meantime i shall see what comes up in the new year. until i get a piece of paper saying they have offered me a contract i will carry on looking and see what i can see. have been close to a lot of jobs only to have missed out at the last second.
in other news work is same as always. frustrating, idiotic, non-sensical and dull.
have to stay late tonight which is a bit shit, but i am getting paid so i shouldn't really grumble. i remember the days i worked crazy hours for no extra money so it shows we have not totally regressed proffessionally although it does feel like it sometimes.
xx
today i have mostly been listening to satellite party - wish upon a dogstar.
perrfy farrell. you got to love him. rumours are that there might be a full janes addiction reunion. that would be awesome.
i have applied to this place 4 times in the last year or so, and through a combination of bad luck and bad timing it has not come off. i know there are people out there better than me but i know there aren't that many better than me, for me to keep missing out.
things are looking good although i shall not be counting my chickens before they hatch. its just nice to know there is a more than reasonable chance of escape from this bank, come the new year. the moral of the story is to be persistent and its not a question of how many times you succeed but more a question of how many times you can fail.
in the meantime i shall see what comes up in the new year. until i get a piece of paper saying they have offered me a contract i will carry on looking and see what i can see. have been close to a lot of jobs only to have missed out at the last second.
in other news work is same as always. frustrating, idiotic, non-sensical and dull.
have to stay late tonight which is a bit shit, but i am getting paid so i shouldn't really grumble. i remember the days i worked crazy hours for no extra money so it shows we have not totally regressed proffessionally although it does feel like it sometimes.
i ordered a couple of books to read as it had been a while since i have read anything new. the first book is all about hyper-v (techy geeky shit) and the second book is all about the band motley crue. i remember when i was at school one of my friends was really into them and he came to school the day after he saw them play and was proudly showing off a stain on his white jacket which was caused by nikki sixx spitting oh him. we were all very impressed and he was very proud of his stain. ahh, those were the days.
have a lovely day flower. don't work too hard.xx
today i have mostly been listening to satellite party - wish upon a dogstar.
perrfy farrell. you got to love him. rumours are that there might be a full janes addiction reunion. that would be awesome.
Monday 22 December 2008
ridiculous
START OF RANT:
back at work in the land of no common sense. i built a server last week and all was well but on friday it just dissapeared from the network. as i am not in the datacentre that the server is in, i asked if there was anyone that could check the server to see if there was a cable in the back of it and where this cable might lead.
i was told that i would need to raise a change request for someone to take a look at the back of the server. eh?. change request?. i don't want them to change anything yet. i just want them to take a look. was told that it constitutes a change and the form needs to be filled out. its a huge form asking for tonnes of information and justifications and business impact of the change and what you will do to roll back the change in the event it breaks something. how is anything going to break by looking at it?. you idiots.
i also have to arrange for the guy in the datacentre to be allowed into the datacenter. you see, the hardware engineers are not actually allowed to enter the server rooms with out justification and that is a seperate set of forms and is not covered by the change request forms i am filling in (even though its not a change!!!).
its absolute madness. these requests then need to be authorised by managers in the department, so basically to sum it all up, its taken 4 different people, 5 hours of phone calls and form filling and administration and we still haven't got to the stage where the guy can go in and look at the back of the server. i wonder if they know how ridiculous this is?.
END OF RANT:
added a few more photos from my trip across the states to my posts that i had written about it. i access my blog at work and i look at the photos and it reminds me of good times. its kind of sad to go through your own blog but hey, it makes me feel better seeing southern california. it also reminded me how annoying my friend was on the trip. my goodness he was annoying. i think i deserve a medal for having put up with him, though working in an investment bank does make you tolerant of unreasonable bahaviour and process and i have had quite a bit of practice this past 18 months.
it was the shortest day of the year yesterday. the days are slowly going to get longer. we are going from the darkness into the light. lets hope it metaphorically as well as literally.
have got a second telephone interview with a place that did a telephone interview with me a couple of weeks ago. i asked the recruiter if they would prefer to see me in person and he said no, they just want to have a chat with you about some projects they have coming up. i nearly replied, but i already chatted with them on the phone!, but i didn't say that because i really want the job. it will get me out of this bank and back in the world of the living so i am willing to go through their rather odd interview process.
anyways, thats all for now.
today i have mostly been listening to common - drive me wild
take care flower. have a good christmas.
Thursday 18 December 2008
paracetemol plus
was feeling really rough yesterday but feel much better today. 3 paracetemol plus seemed to do the trick yesterday evening after i got home. was tempted to take more but didn't want to risk doing a 'heath ledger'.
feel much better today anyhow. its bad enough working where i work but its even worse when you feel like shit all day. my tolerance for mindless process and bullshit has returned and i am ready for another day in the mental abyss.
am certain that i have got stupider since i have been here. working in an investment bank will make anyone stupider but the rate of decline is definitely greater where i am now. is it any suprise that we are in a credit crunch and these people have almost bankrupted their firms?. i shit you not when i say that common sense and logical thinking is actively discouraged at these firms. culturaly they are very starnge environments to work in.
i don't know, maybe its me. maybe i am the crazy one, the one that is not normal. everyone else seems to me to be content to not use common sense or logical thinking. maybe i should just resign myself to the fact that this is how it is. that they don't want you to use your brain or think about anything.
nah!, fuck it, that ain't me. i shall persist in being not normal.
had a call from a recruiter yesterday about a job that might be coming up in the new year. also had a couple of other mails from other recruiters as well. something will turn up......soon i hope.today i have mostly been listening to ida maria - oh my god.
Monday 15 December 2008
dodging shoes
forgot to set my alarm this morning and so got into work about 20 minutes late today. don't matter. its not like i am able to do anything productive or interesting. had a strange dream last night where i dreamed i was driving across america with a bunch of people and we were in virginia and we were all in the car and i was driving and no one knew where we were supposed to go next. it was all a bit odd. even stranger was the fact that one of the girls from the mtv show the hills, audrina, was there as was one of my friends from football on a thursday night. very bizarre.
also have got a bit of a sore throat this morning and i am not the only one. quite a few people on my floor coughing and spluttering today. am hoping for the next few weeks till the end of the year to be quiet. god, i hope so. i was at a japanese bank this time last year and that place was dead the last couple of weeks i was there in december. thinking about it, it feels like i was at that bank years ago though it was only 12 months ago. feels like a lot has happened and yet at the same time not very much.
what the fuck am i talking about?. i haven't got a clue. these dark winter days are making me lose my mind i think.
today i have mostly been watching george bush - dodging shoes. man, that was fucking funny seeing him cowering behind the podium. he threw a shoe at you!. they were all saying how a grave insult it is in middle eastern culture to take a shoe to someone. hey!, its pretty bad if someone does that to you in western culture as well. i think its pretty bad wherever you go. ha ha ha!!!.
that dude throwing the shoes looks he had very good fastball. i bet there are some major league scouts watching that thinking of maybe signing him. he should join the yankees as they need some pitching after missing the playoffs this year and a bit like bush, they too like spending lots of money to achieve nothing.
go redsox and padres!!.
also have got a bit of a sore throat this morning and i am not the only one. quite a few people on my floor coughing and spluttering today. am hoping for the next few weeks till the end of the year to be quiet. god, i hope so. i was at a japanese bank this time last year and that place was dead the last couple of weeks i was there in december. thinking about it, it feels like i was at that bank years ago though it was only 12 months ago. feels like a lot has happened and yet at the same time not very much.
what the fuck am i talking about?. i haven't got a clue. these dark winter days are making me lose my mind i think.
today i have mostly been watching george bush - dodging shoes. man, that was fucking funny seeing him cowering behind the podium. he threw a shoe at you!. they were all saying how a grave insult it is in middle eastern culture to take a shoe to someone. hey!, its pretty bad if someone does that to you in western culture as well. i think its pretty bad wherever you go. ha ha ha!!!.
that dude throwing the shoes looks he had very good fastball. i bet there are some major league scouts watching that thinking of maybe signing him. he should join the yankees as they need some pitching after missing the playoffs this year and a bit like bush, they too like spending lots of money to achieve nothing.
go redsox and padres!!.
Friday 12 December 2008
football finished for the year
sweet jesus, its friday!. the week started slow but the last couple of days have gone in the blink of an eye and now its just minutes till the end of my working week. one more week that i have survived in the god awful place, one more week closer to the end of the year and one more week closer to leaving this place and finding a brighter day.
work is frustrating as usual. issues with cabling in remote data centres, issues with people not getting approval for the amount of SAN storage that i tried to order for a server. its all just a mess and somedays i just really can't be bothered with it. i want to do a job working with computers again. we shall see what happens over the next few weeks. hopefully something will come up.
had football last night and it was bloody freezing. thankfully it didn't rain but i was freezing my nuts off as it is. it looks like that was almost certainly the last football we will play this year, as next week we are struggling for people and then a couple of the guys are going to ireland over chrismas and new years so numbers will be low. our season shall hopefully resume again sometime in january 2009.
plans for my weekend?. laundry, gym and cleaning. excting shit eh!?.
have a lovely weekend V.
xx
today i have mostly been listening to nine inch nails - 1,000,000. it was one of the first songs they played in knoxville when i saw them in the summer. i know i always reminisce about my trip last summer but its what get me through these dull cold days.
work is frustrating as usual. issues with cabling in remote data centres, issues with people not getting approval for the amount of SAN storage that i tried to order for a server. its all just a mess and somedays i just really can't be bothered with it. i want to do a job working with computers again. we shall see what happens over the next few weeks. hopefully something will come up.
had football last night and it was bloody freezing. thankfully it didn't rain but i was freezing my nuts off as it is. it looks like that was almost certainly the last football we will play this year, as next week we are struggling for people and then a couple of the guys are going to ireland over chrismas and new years so numbers will be low. our season shall hopefully resume again sometime in january 2009.
plans for my weekend?. laundry, gym and cleaning. excting shit eh!?.
have a lovely weekend V.
xx
today i have mostly been listening to nine inch nails - 1,000,000. it was one of the first songs they played in knoxville when i saw them in the summer. i know i always reminisce about my trip last summer but its what get me through these dull cold days.
Thursday 11 December 2008
everyday feels like wednesday.
we are in the midst of the winter blues. over the last few weeks the increasing darkness and cold has gone from an annoyance to a real pain the ass. thankfully its about 12 days till we have the shortest day of the year after which the days will slowly start getting longer and we can start emerging from this seemingly infinite winter.
if you compare it to a normal work week we are on the equivalent of wendnesday, which is usually a shitty day where you have lost your weekend high, and its another 2 whole days before the next weekend. everyday feels like wednesday these days and thats not good.
anyways gym and football are the highlights of my week these days which is kind of sad. i was in the gym last night and its usually pretty quiet when i am there which is around 9pm, and i am usually the only one in the weights room, but yesterday for about 20 minutes i was the only person in the whole gym.
just had a department meeting and they were talking about how much work was being backed up and how things were not moving as well as they should. they gave a big speech about all the workflow and processes they had updated and then asked if anyone had any ideas or suggestions.
there was a stony silence although one of the senior managers had taken my advice about putting her make up on with the light on, because she didn't look like the joker from the batman films or robert smith from the cure, today. maybe she read my suggestion on this blog....or maybe having spent years in this bank, in a technological bubble in a parrallel universe she doesn't know what the internet is, which is not beyond the realms of possibility.
today i have been wishing i was sitting in the sunshine at a restaurant on melrose enjoying a delicous burger and watching the human traffic.
right well i am off to the sandwich shop to buy an overpriced tuna melt and coke which i will then consume at my desk.
today i have mostly been listening to nine inch nails - head like a hole.
look after yourself V.
X
if you compare it to a normal work week we are on the equivalent of wendnesday, which is usually a shitty day where you have lost your weekend high, and its another 2 whole days before the next weekend. everyday feels like wednesday these days and thats not good.
anyways gym and football are the highlights of my week these days which is kind of sad. i was in the gym last night and its usually pretty quiet when i am there which is around 9pm, and i am usually the only one in the weights room, but yesterday for about 20 minutes i was the only person in the whole gym.
just had a department meeting and they were talking about how much work was being backed up and how things were not moving as well as they should. they gave a big speech about all the workflow and processes they had updated and then asked if anyone had any ideas or suggestions.
there was a stony silence although one of the senior managers had taken my advice about putting her make up on with the light on, because she didn't look like the joker from the batman films or robert smith from the cure, today. maybe she read my suggestion on this blog....or maybe having spent years in this bank, in a technological bubble in a parrallel universe she doesn't know what the internet is, which is not beyond the realms of possibility.
today i have been wishing i was sitting in the sunshine at a restaurant on melrose enjoying a delicous burger and watching the human traffic.
right well i am off to the sandwich shop to buy an overpriced tuna melt and coke which i will then consume at my desk.
today i have mostly been listening to nine inch nails - head like a hole.
look after yourself V.
X
Tuesday 9 December 2008
fight!
the other 2 contractors i work with are really struggling to work together in any capacity. ozzy is in a mood all the time and just sits silently at his desk zoned out to the rest of the world. the other contractor, i think i will refer to him as harry, is still his same hyper active, short tempered impatient person as before. they are just very incompatible personalities and tension was inevitable. they had another little argument this morning over email. both of them were wrong though in this case, ozzy was a little bit more wrong than harry.
me, i am just sitting here not getting involved and doing what every contractor should do, which is try and get on with everyone and at the same time not make any waves. i think there will be more fireworks between ozzy and harry in the not too distant future. i hope i have front row seats for when it all blows up as i have never seen a fight take place at work before. :-).
ozzy mentioned to me that he felt like punching harry in the face, because he was so rude and pushy. i did the mature thing and said he should take a deep breath and just walk away next time he feels like that. i should have said, dude don't hold all of that anger inside, punch his lights out......just make sure i am there to see it.
3 weeks till the end of the year. all things taken into account its been a good year but i just want to get 2009 started now. this time last year i was at a bank i hated and a year later ........i am at another bank and i hate it even more....., but in a strange way i am able to cope with it better. i do find my discomfort and frustration at work quite amusing in a strange kind of way. shit!, you have to laugh about it, even if it is happening to me.
on the postive side of things it does mean i have worked for 3 of the largest investment banks in the world in the last year, and banks that all survived the credit crunch and didn't go under like bear or lehmans. my resume is the shit!. i also did my trip across america which is easily one the best things i ever did in my life uptill now. i think about it everyday and things i saw and the people i met and it really does help me get through the day.
had a couple of calls from recruiters about jobs but nothing solid. one of the recruiters said i had a really impressive cv which was a nice boost for my ego and it shows its not completely a constant stream of rejections for me. just most of the time its rejections. :-). anyways, it looks like they are just getting things lined up for the new year and hopefully some roles come up. thats fine by me. i can wait another 3 weeks.
watched the film tropic thunder last night and it was hilarious. tom cruise is in it and plays one of the funniest parts i have ever seen anyone do. i was literally laughing out loud and had tears streaming down my face.
thats it really. got football on friday as long as no one drops out. forecast is for the temperature to be 3C during the day on thursday. at 10pm when we start playing it will be at, or below, freezing. ouch!.
am thinking of taking another exam soon. its just that i am so bored and i am looking at maybe doing the hyper-v exam or sql. will see how i feel. there are usually lots of good films on tv around christmas so i might not do the actual exam before the new year and just do some study till then. lame excuse but its true.
today i have mostly been listening to ladyhawke - delerium.
me, i am just sitting here not getting involved and doing what every contractor should do, which is try and get on with everyone and at the same time not make any waves. i think there will be more fireworks between ozzy and harry in the not too distant future. i hope i have front row seats for when it all blows up as i have never seen a fight take place at work before. :-).
ozzy mentioned to me that he felt like punching harry in the face, because he was so rude and pushy. i did the mature thing and said he should take a deep breath and just walk away next time he feels like that. i should have said, dude don't hold all of that anger inside, punch his lights out......just make sure i am there to see it.
3 weeks till the end of the year. all things taken into account its been a good year but i just want to get 2009 started now. this time last year i was at a bank i hated and a year later ........i am at another bank and i hate it even more....., but in a strange way i am able to cope with it better. i do find my discomfort and frustration at work quite amusing in a strange kind of way. shit!, you have to laugh about it, even if it is happening to me.
on the postive side of things it does mean i have worked for 3 of the largest investment banks in the world in the last year, and banks that all survived the credit crunch and didn't go under like bear or lehmans. my resume is the shit!. i also did my trip across america which is easily one the best things i ever did in my life uptill now. i think about it everyday and things i saw and the people i met and it really does help me get through the day.
had a couple of calls from recruiters about jobs but nothing solid. one of the recruiters said i had a really impressive cv which was a nice boost for my ego and it shows its not completely a constant stream of rejections for me. just most of the time its rejections. :-). anyways, it looks like they are just getting things lined up for the new year and hopefully some roles come up. thats fine by me. i can wait another 3 weeks.
watched the film tropic thunder last night and it was hilarious. tom cruise is in it and plays one of the funniest parts i have ever seen anyone do. i was literally laughing out loud and had tears streaming down my face.
thats it really. got football on friday as long as no one drops out. forecast is for the temperature to be 3C during the day on thursday. at 10pm when we start playing it will be at, or below, freezing. ouch!.
am thinking of taking another exam soon. its just that i am so bored and i am looking at maybe doing the hyper-v exam or sql. will see how i feel. there are usually lots of good films on tv around christmas so i might not do the actual exam before the new year and just do some study till then. lame excuse but its true.
today i have mostly been listening to ladyhawke - delerium.
Saturday 6 December 2008
great expectations
i went to see the gaslight anthem play tonight at the astoria 2 tonight. they were very very good indeed and they played with a lot of energy and sounded great. have said it before but its really nice to see new bands really giving it everything as opposed to seeing bands when they have had tonnes of success at which point they seem to just go through the motions when you see them live. U2 being a classic case of a band doing just that.
there are exceptions to that rule of bands with success just not trying hard, namely nine inch nails and janes addiction who give it 110% whenever i have seen them play live. saying that, they aren't quite on that stadium scale of shows like U2 are, and i am glad as it seems as if its kept the fire in their bellies when they play. highlights were when they played great expectations, old white lincoln and the backseat.
anyways, after tonights show i think the gaslight anthem might be at the start of something. am glad i saw them in a venue as small as the one tonight because i reckon they might need bigger venues next time they play. hope they have great success like some other american bands have had in the UK recently most notably kings of leon and the killers.
i forgot my camera and my mobile phone is lame but below is a pic of the show.
there are exceptions to that rule of bands with success just not trying hard, namely nine inch nails and janes addiction who give it 110% whenever i have seen them play live. saying that, they aren't quite on that stadium scale of shows like U2 are, and i am glad as it seems as if its kept the fire in their bellies when they play. highlights were when they played great expectations, old white lincoln and the backseat.
anyways, after tonights show i think the gaslight anthem might be at the start of something. am glad i saw them in a venue as small as the one tonight because i reckon they might need bigger venues next time they play. hope they have great success like some other american bands have had in the UK recently most notably kings of leon and the killers.
i forgot my camera and my mobile phone is lame but below is a pic of the show.
Thursday 4 December 2008
things you wish you could say
one of my favourite films is the breakfast club and there is a bit in it where the teacher lays down the rules to the kids in detention and then ask if anyone has any questions, to which one of the guys asks "does barry manilow know you raided his wardrobe". ha ha ha, its hilarious.
we just had a full department and management meeting where they were going through er....something or other to justify their jobs. it was things i have heard before a thousand times. manage expectations, communication, streamline the process, blah blah blah. anyways the meeting was conducted by one the senior managers here who was wearing a tonne of make-up. i mean it looked really ridiculous.
at the end of her talk she asked if anyone had an questions. i wish i had put my hand up and said
"its not so much a question but more of a tip really....next time you put your make-up on i suggest you turn the light on".
if only.......
today i have mostly been listening to the airbourne toxic event - sometime around midnight.
we just had a full department and management meeting where they were going through er....something or other to justify their jobs. it was things i have heard before a thousand times. manage expectations, communication, streamline the process, blah blah blah. anyways the meeting was conducted by one the senior managers here who was wearing a tonne of make-up. i mean it looked really ridiculous.
at the end of her talk she asked if anyone had an questions. i wish i had put my hand up and said
"its not so much a question but more of a tip really....next time you put your make-up on i suggest you turn the light on".
if only.......
today i have mostly been listening to the airbourne toxic event - sometime around midnight.
Wednesday 3 December 2008
conversation with ozzy
this is an accurate transcript of a conversation i had with the spaced out guy i work with, whom i refer to as ozzy. i asked him to install windows server on 4 servers last week.
ozzy: what are you doing there?
me: i am building some servers.
ozzy: hey, they look like the ones i did last week!. why are re-installing them!?
me: there is no operating system (windows server) on them, and i need to get them done.
ozzy: but i already did them last week, i sent you a mail.
me: but there is no operating system installed on them.
ozzy: check your mail, i am sure i did them.
me: mate, there is no operating system installed on them, here take a look. (i show him the screen of one of the servers and nothing is installed and its rebooting itself)
ozzy: so, why are you reinstalling them, you should have told me.
me: but you were sick yesterday and the day before, and i needed the servers so i installed them. its no big deal.
ozzy: you should have still told me.
me: ok, but there was no operating system installed on them and i needed them in a rush yesterday.
ozzy: check your mail, they were done. i mailed you on friday.
me: ok, so you installed them last week, but there is no operating system on them NOW, so i am installing them.
ozzy: well which ones did you install.
me: server1 and server2.
ozzy: but i did them already.
me: there was no operating system installed on them.
ozzy slopes back over to his desk.
how many times can you say to someone there was no operating system installed on the server before they understand?. do you get an idea of what i have to put up with. a lesser man would have broken by now, but not me. i still have my eyes on the prize and the prize is getting out of here from these people.
hope you are having a better day than me. ha ha ha!!!
ozzy: what are you doing there?
me: i am building some servers.
ozzy: hey, they look like the ones i did last week!. why are re-installing them!?
me: there is no operating system (windows server) on them, and i need to get them done.
ozzy: but i already did them last week, i sent you a mail.
me: but there is no operating system installed on them.
ozzy: check your mail, i am sure i did them.
me: mate, there is no operating system installed on them, here take a look. (i show him the screen of one of the servers and nothing is installed and its rebooting itself)
ozzy: so, why are you reinstalling them, you should have told me.
me: but you were sick yesterday and the day before, and i needed the servers so i installed them. its no big deal.
ozzy: you should have still told me.
me: ok, but there was no operating system installed on them and i needed them in a rush yesterday.
ozzy: check your mail, they were done. i mailed you on friday.
me: ok, so you installed them last week, but there is no operating system on them NOW, so i am installing them.
ozzy: well which ones did you install.
me: server1 and server2.
ozzy: but i did them already.
me: there was no operating system installed on them.
ozzy slopes back over to his desk.
how many times can you say to someone there was no operating system installed on the server before they understand?. do you get an idea of what i have to put up with. a lesser man would have broken by now, but not me. i still have my eyes on the prize and the prize is getting out of here from these people.
hope you are having a better day than me. ha ha ha!!!
escape
had a department meeting this morning. it was mainly just an update about all the new wonderful changes they are making that will make life easier and more efficient. it was mostly bullshit. do they think what they are saying is profound or new. its not fella. i have heard it all before with the same phrases and lame jokes every where i have worked. do senior managers all go on the same soft skills and management courses and get a standard script of phrases to use?. it seems like it to me. i just stood there thinking of the beaches in southern california and of driving through the desert on my way to las vegas from phoenix. those were good days....
had a telephone interview yesterday for a job that i really didn't want to do. anyways i don't need to worry about that because they don't want to call me in anyways. agents are always a little timid and worried about giving news of getting turned down. need not worry with me. i have been rejected more times .......than er......someone who has been rejected a lot of times. michael jackson has had fewer rejections to be a registered childminder than i have for computing jobs.
also turned down another job that might have been an option but it was a permanent role and i want to stick with contracting a little while longer. its coming up to the new year and i want to see what i can get in january. just need to make myself endure my current job for a while longer.
football got cancelled for tomorrow night. its december and we are struggling to get numbers. i think we will for the rest the year. am not too dossapointed because it bloody freezing this week and the forecast was for rain tomorrow as well. cold and rain. arrghhh!!!. this is just the worse time of year.
seeing gaslight anthem play on friday night and thats about it really.
anyways, hope you are well cali girl.
today i have mostly been listening to editors - escape the nest. it was on their last album but was not a single. wicked tune.
had a telephone interview yesterday for a job that i really didn't want to do. anyways i don't need to worry about that because they don't want to call me in anyways. agents are always a little timid and worried about giving news of getting turned down. need not worry with me. i have been rejected more times .......than er......someone who has been rejected a lot of times. michael jackson has had fewer rejections to be a registered childminder than i have for computing jobs.
also turned down another job that might have been an option but it was a permanent role and i want to stick with contracting a little while longer. its coming up to the new year and i want to see what i can get in january. just need to make myself endure my current job for a while longer.
football got cancelled for tomorrow night. its december and we are struggling to get numbers. i think we will for the rest the year. am not too dossapointed because it bloody freezing this week and the forecast was for rain tomorrow as well. cold and rain. arrghhh!!!. this is just the worse time of year.
seeing gaslight anthem play on friday night and thats about it really.
anyways, hope you are well cali girl.
today i have mostly been listening to editors - escape the nest. it was on their last album but was not a single. wicked tune.
Tuesday 2 December 2008
the little shithead
a few weeks ago i had an exam at a test centre that i have done around 10 exams at before. you are supposed to bring your passport but on this occasion i forgot it.
the guy behind the counter asked me for id and i showed him a couple of credit cards, my travelcard which has my name and photo on it, my microsoft certification ID and my ID card for the bank i work in.
he said he wouldn't let me take the exam unless i showed him a passport. i asked him to check all his records and it would show that i had done lots of exams there and that i could show him how i made the booking and also my online exam transcripts. he said that didn't prove anything and that i could easily be using someone elses usernames and passwords.
what!!!!???? and all my credit cards are fakes as well and my bank ID is a fake as well. you idiot!!.
the guy was clearly an asshole, so i decided to call the testing company that books my exams and after talking to them and giving them my password and address and testing id to prove who i was, they said they were fine with me taking the exam and asked me to hand the phone to the guy at the test centre.
my mobile is pretty loud and i could hear what the lady was telling him on the phone about letting me do the exam. he then started saying to her he was not satisified that i had provided proof of identity and that the testing company (lady on the phone) should have more stringent regulations.
getting annoyed i said to him,
"excuse me mate, if the lady at the test centre who runs the exams for microsoft it fine with it, then why are you arguing with her?. she is fine with me taking the exam, why aren't you?.
he then told the lady on the phone that he was refusing me entry to take the exam no matter what id i showed because i was being rude and aggressive and then he hung up on her.
i told him i had already paid for the exam and that i would like my money back to which he said he it too late to cancel it and that unless i went home and got my passport i would lose my money. "you what!!??" i replied in incredulity at his obstinance.
he then called building security and told them to escort me off the premises and not let me back in. what the fuck!!!!.
i told him, i hadn't shouted or used bad language (i didn't say "what the fuck" when i was there) and why he was being so obtuse and unco-operative to which he had no answer and just walked off. around this time a guy in a suit which may have been his boss walked passed and asked what was going on. i told him i was being refused entry to my exam despite showing half a dozen other id's and that the guy had called security to kick me out of the building. just to set the scene i was dressed in a suit as it was during my lunch hour at work.
the boss guy went back in and talked to the idiot i had been dealing with and 2 minutes later he said i was ok to take my exam. i went back in, sat at the terninal to do my exam, kicked its ass in 25 minutes with a score of 91% all the while seething at the nonsense that had taken place earlier.
i then went to reception and picked up my transcript from the idiot who was still sitting there. i nearly said to him "what was all that shit about earlier pal?". "you want to use your common sense a little bit and learn how to deal with people and situations a bit better and not call building security any time someone asks a question you can't or don't want to answer". " you might also want to stop throwing your weight around and remember your job is to process candidates for exams and not act like a bouncer at the door of a night club". i nearly said it but i didn't. i hadn't been rude or aggresive before when he accused me of being so, but i might have then. i just picked up my stuff and walked out and ignored the little shithead.
just for the record i haven't been in a fight since i was 8 and that was at school when victor, another little shithead, started cussing and saying things about my friends mum. i asked him to back off at which point he said shit about my mum. at that point i told him he better stop otherwise he would be in big trouble at playtime.
he didn't stop and carried on. maybe he was feeling strong that day, i don't know.
anyways, i waited for him in the playground and when he came out through the doors i bundled him into a corner and gave him a few good kicks and punches till i heard him start whimpering and crying. that was the last time i had a fight. shithead at the test centre was like victor. he could have ended up crying as well but we left that kind of behaviour in junior school.
the guy behind the counter asked me for id and i showed him a couple of credit cards, my travelcard which has my name and photo on it, my microsoft certification ID and my ID card for the bank i work in.
he said he wouldn't let me take the exam unless i showed him a passport. i asked him to check all his records and it would show that i had done lots of exams there and that i could show him how i made the booking and also my online exam transcripts. he said that didn't prove anything and that i could easily be using someone elses usernames and passwords.
what!!!!???? and all my credit cards are fakes as well and my bank ID is a fake as well. you idiot!!.
the guy was clearly an asshole, so i decided to call the testing company that books my exams and after talking to them and giving them my password and address and testing id to prove who i was, they said they were fine with me taking the exam and asked me to hand the phone to the guy at the test centre.
my mobile is pretty loud and i could hear what the lady was telling him on the phone about letting me do the exam. he then started saying to her he was not satisified that i had provided proof of identity and that the testing company (lady on the phone) should have more stringent regulations.
getting annoyed i said to him,
"excuse me mate, if the lady at the test centre who runs the exams for microsoft it fine with it, then why are you arguing with her?. she is fine with me taking the exam, why aren't you?.
he then told the lady on the phone that he was refusing me entry to take the exam no matter what id i showed because i was being rude and aggressive and then he hung up on her.
i told him i had already paid for the exam and that i would like my money back to which he said he it too late to cancel it and that unless i went home and got my passport i would lose my money. "you what!!??" i replied in incredulity at his obstinance.
he then called building security and told them to escort me off the premises and not let me back in. what the fuck!!!!.
i told him, i hadn't shouted or used bad language (i didn't say "what the fuck" when i was there) and why he was being so obtuse and unco-operative to which he had no answer and just walked off. around this time a guy in a suit which may have been his boss walked passed and asked what was going on. i told him i was being refused entry to my exam despite showing half a dozen other id's and that the guy had called security to kick me out of the building. just to set the scene i was dressed in a suit as it was during my lunch hour at work.
the boss guy went back in and talked to the idiot i had been dealing with and 2 minutes later he said i was ok to take my exam. i went back in, sat at the terninal to do my exam, kicked its ass in 25 minutes with a score of 91% all the while seething at the nonsense that had taken place earlier.
i then went to reception and picked up my transcript from the idiot who was still sitting there. i nearly said to him "what was all that shit about earlier pal?". "you want to use your common sense a little bit and learn how to deal with people and situations a bit better and not call building security any time someone asks a question you can't or don't want to answer". " you might also want to stop throwing your weight around and remember your job is to process candidates for exams and not act like a bouncer at the door of a night club". i nearly said it but i didn't. i hadn't been rude or aggresive before when he accused me of being so, but i might have then. i just picked up my stuff and walked out and ignored the little shithead.
just for the record i haven't been in a fight since i was 8 and that was at school when victor, another little shithead, started cussing and saying things about my friends mum. i asked him to back off at which point he said shit about my mum. at that point i told him he better stop otherwise he would be in big trouble at playtime.
he didn't stop and carried on. maybe he was feeling strong that day, i don't know.
anyways, i waited for him in the playground and when he came out through the doors i bundled him into a corner and gave him a few good kicks and punches till i heard him start whimpering and crying. that was the last time i had a fight. shithead at the test centre was like victor. he could have ended up crying as well but we left that kind of behaviour in junior school.
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