flown by

this week has flown by. i can remember waking up on a cold and dark monday morning and thinking that friday was a long way away, and now here comes friday and its the weekend in a few hours.

work is ok and maybe its because my resistance is low, but for the first time since i got here, which is almost a year to the day, i got annoyed for the first time. have spent the last couple of days dealing with EMC and HP engineers in india, or wherever they are and i just keep getting sent round in circles. i hate chasing shit up like this and spending half my day listening to hold music. this is what i used to do all day at the last bank i worked at and i hated it.

i have little patience for this at the best of times but in january and february its just asking for trouble.

i am also having to deal with some guy here who keeps asking my about the SAP system we have in place. who fucking died and made me the SAP king all of a sudden. got off my back dude. sometimes you just do stuff to help people because its no bother and most of the time people are grateful, but this guy just keeps coming back to me over and over again about stuff. give me a break mate. i have got other shit to be doing.

anyways like i mentioned i have been here now for 1 year almost to the day. my first year here has not been too stressful or eventful and its been fine. if the last couple of days are going to be indicative of what the rest of this year will be, then i need to hope that i escape soon. i applied for another job this afternoon. i am constantly applying for other jobs if i see anything interesting.

nothing planned out of the ordinary for this weekend. gym and cycling mostly. have slowly been ramping up my training the last week or two. i peaked around the beginning of december and then i let things slide. am coming up to a good level again in the last couple of sessions. strangely enough it matches up roughly to the times i take exams and am studying. when i study, i train harder. when i don't read and study i tend not to train as hard. coincidence?. i doubt it.

have a lovely weekend.

today i have mostly been listening to angels and airwaves - hallucinations. this is the first single from their new album that comes out sometime next month. i don't think its as good as anything on their first album, but its a good tune.

cold forever

am on early shift this week and its freezing again. its been freezing for about 6 or 7 weeks now and its not funny any more.

weekend was quiet. cycling and gym and then home to stay out of the cold.

work is ok but as is usual at this time of year, am sturuggling to motivate myself. am also just doing lots of scraps of work and nothing substantial to get my teeth into. was almost thinking i might study for another exam soon to wake myself up a bit. january and february are never good months for me. resistance is low from being in perpetual cold and darkness for the last 3 or 4 months.

today i have mostly been listening to drake,kanye west, lil wayne and eminem - forever. something a little different to what is usually on my playlist, but its good to mix it up a little sometimes. this is song for a documentary film which was of lebron james and his high school basketball team.

velvet

still pretty quiet on the contract side of things. i haven't signed my new contract yet but they have sent it to me. it doesn't look like i will be moving on in the next week and a half so it looks like i will sign and stay here a bit longer than planned. i am being a bit picky about what i go for because i don't really want to get something new and then move on again 6 months later. we shall see what happens. i don't know what will happen but i think it will be good when it does.

today i have mostly been listening to the big pink - velvet

take care now.

ali in the jungle

a quiet weekend again. gym and home. have got that feeling you get after 4 months of cold and not seeing the sun, where you just can't be bothered to do anything. it rained all day saturday as well. all fucking day from when i woke up till i went to bed. it was nicer yesterday and i even got to see the sky. it was lovely and blue just like i remembered. cyclists were back out yesteday as well. saw a very nice bike by BMC. there were also some really nice cars out and about. saw a couple of porsche 911 GT3's as well as a lamborghini gallardo. its like drivers and cyclists were waiting for a dry day to bust out their nice rides.

my boss is off today. he said he is unwell. between taking 5 weeks holiday a year, half a dozen courses, seminars and now sick days, he really is out of the office quite a lot. doubt you would be able to get away with it elsewhere if you are a newbie. in one of my first contracts a new guy that was there for a couple of weeks, took a week off, and they got rid of him. when you are a contractor its not the same as being a permie. its a different set of rules. thats just the way it is.

thats it really. will really start to push on with trying to get a new contract. its easy to get comfortable and not be bothered, but we choose to do these things not because they are easy but because they are hard.

and if in these dark winter days you need some more inspiration, today i have mostly been listening to the hours - ali in the jungle.

outsiders

the last couple of days the snow had started to melt and things were getting back to normal, but last night it snowed again and now we have the return of dirty brown slush on the pavements. on the way to work this morning i was thinking how good it was i don't work for a bank at this time because my suit and shoes would be ruined in this mess.

work is ok at the moment. am entering that rather difficult time where you have your mind on escaping but nothing has happened and i have to concentrate on my current job. this is only going to get more and more difficult as the days and weeks and possibly months pass, and the shitty weather is not helping. still, what can you do.

anyways, when i do leave i doubt they will be surprised. i barely speak to anyone here. i bet tiger woods talks to his mother in law more than i talk to people in my department. the only people i talk to are the external consultants who are doing a SAP project and one of the incident managers. its strange that most of the people i am friendly with don't actually work for the company. maybe its because they don't know anyone here either and don't feel part of the group, that means you are more likely to be talk to people of the same kind. we are the outsiders.

that really is a shit movie trailer to be honest, but its a wicked film. anyways, this outsider just saw a call llogged saying that my system account which was due to expire at the end of this month needs to be set to expire at the end of april. that means they have decided to extend my contract, but haven't got the paperwork ready and so haven't officially told me yet. if i don't get anything else ofcourse i will have to stay. i have done it before where i have left with nothing to go to, but that was when i was very unhappy. thankfully i am not that at the moment.

today i have mostly been listening to marina and the diamonds - hollywood. good tune.

humankind

and the answer to the question, do i got the stones to go cycling in the snow?, is yes. both days, though saturday was icy cold, on sunday when the temperature was around 1 or 2C, it felt almost warm and comfortable. nearly dropped it a couple of times but thankfully i am blessed with skill, talent and strength and managed to stay up right. spun up the rear wheel a couple of times which is not a something you can really do on a bicycle very often.

even the hardcore cyclists seemed to have not bothered to come out and do circuits around regents park. i am running slick tyres, but when you are running skinny slick tyres on a carbon bike that cost 3 grand, you don't want to take the risk of dropping it. fair dues, i wouldn't have gone out either if i had a really nice bike. in the pic below is where i cross that canal at regents park, and it was completely frozen over. it looked like it was pretty thick as well.

aside from that its been same as always. my boss is back at work today but he has put his shoulder out and so its pretty much me flying solo again today. i do have someone to ask questions so its better than it was last week.

today i have mostly been listening to nine inch nails - the big come down. trent reznor gives away his music for free and he also started giving away high defninition footage from concerts away for free. you would think that if something is free that it would be shit but conversely this is the most expensive and intricate stage and lighting show i have ever seen (i was there in knoxville, tennessee to see it live).

in a world where rockstars are just about building big houses and buying yachts whilst at the same time lecturing us how we need to preserve precious resources and inequality, i have immense repect for what mr reznor stands for. he just doesn't seem to be obsessed about making as much money as he possibly can or about self promotion and he isn't obessesed with putting a monetary value on what is his passion. i am sure he has got a nice house in LA and is not short of a few quid, but u2 and madonna have more money than him and still whore themselves out to blackberry or gap and are only famous now not for the quality of their work but for how high they are in the top grossing celebrities list in forbes magazine.

for u2 and madonna and all the big greedy artists, i should have posted janes addiction - whores, but i will leave that for another time.

instead, just enjoy this and if you want to download a whole show edited by fans who took the free footage and edited it, and are distributing it for free, then just go here. bono must be thinking that trent could have sold that for 15.99 on DVD and with the money he made from it he could have added a tennis court to his property and also installed a wine cellar and a humidor for his cohiba's. i bet bono must be thinking that trent must literally have nine inch nails in his brain to do something so silly.

it gives you faith in humankind.

depeche

pardon my french, but its fucking freezing and it has been all week and it looks like its going to be like this for another week. still, we are not too bad in london as it only got down to -5C here, whereas they said it was -21C in scotland last night.

anyways, i have the prospect of cycling to the gym tomorrow and the forecast is for a maximum day time temperature of 1C, but with wind chill it will feel like -4C, and given the face i will be on a bike and giving it some, it will be even colder for me. i might take the bus tomorrow or we shall see if i got the stones to get out there in the cold and ride.

work has been busy. its my final day here on my own and we should have a full compliment of staff next week. it will be a bit of a relief as its a bit tiring dealing with a million things from random people. we also have various things each person in the team knows about and its a bit of a pain trying to figure out stuff you haven't worked on. still, no bother. we made it to the end of the week and there are only a few more hours left to get through.

not applied to any jobs yet as there doesn't seem to be anything out there at the moment. hopefully next week will see some activity on the job sites. my resume is upto date and just waiting to get out there.

got a mail from my accountant who gave me my tax bill. £11,000. happy new year.

today i have mostly been listening to depeche mode - useless. wicked tune. this was from their first studio album after dave gahan had cleaned himself up and got off the smack.

not like some publicity hungry celebrities and their rock star drug habits (amy winehouse, oasis, pete doherty), who despite their drug habits still manage to be up and about around town making sure they get photographed by paparazzi whilst stumbling through soho at 3am whilst coincidentally their latest album has just been released, our dave had a proper serious drug habit. he moved to LA, got tattoos and lived in a big house and spent a couple of years strung out on speedballs and with syringes in his arm.

he even died briefly but thankfully he came back from the dead, to make some very good albums. are they as good as the pre-death albums like songs of faith and devotion, violator and going back to music for the masses?, maybe not, but those are classics and there are very few bands in england that could hold a candle to the basildon boys,...... though the only candles held by dave, probably had a bent spoon held over them while he was cooking up another hit.

snows

snow and some more snow. i don't know what the big deal is, but people are making out its the end of the world. people who live in canada or sweden must be looking at us and laughing at the fuss people make over here when barely a few inches of snow falls.

some people in our office have not made it to work and a mail just went round saying that people can start making their way home from 3.30pm given that the journey home is going to be difficult. what a fucking drama.

you know, i think i will stay because its not that big a deal, and i have some work to do and seeing as the other 2 people in my department have inexplicably been allowed to take holiday at the same time, i am on my own and there is quite a bit of work to be getting on with.

have been looking on the various internet sites for any new jobs and there doesn't seem to be too much about yet. its the first week of the new year and i hope its just slow for now. who knows maybe all the recruiters are stuck in the snow. am hoping for a pick up in activity soon. i have a window till the end of january where i can leave, otherwise if i don't got nothing by then, i will have to sign a new contract here....if they offer me one. i will still keep looking but it just means i will be on 4 weeks notice.

anyways, a bit more work to do this afternoon but its ok because most people have gone home and i am not being disturbed so can get on with things.

today i have mostly been listening to bush - everything zen.

marmaduke duke

its like my body was reacting to the impending shock of going back to work, but i barely got any sleep at all last night and i just felt hot and uncomfortable despite the temperature being -4C according to the forecast.

anyways, its back to work with a bump today and its been pretty busy but not stupidly busy. the day has flown by with having to deal with various issues over the last week of the office being closed. i am also on my own for the rest of this week as well, so it looks like i could be rushing around for a few more days yet. i shall say it again but its a very poor showing for the other 2 to take holidays at the same time.

the weather is absolutely freezing today. i cycled to the gym over the weekend and i could feel the cold approaching with a vengence. just me and the hardcore are left cycling around regents park these days in the bitter cold. saw some lovely bikes made by pinarello, cervelo, felt and a new manufacturer that i had not seen called cube. i looked them up and i think they are a german company and make some great looking bikes. my bike in comparison is lame, but seeing as i have to leave it locked on the street, its the only choice. anything remotely nice will be stolen.

anyways, i strained my elbow and shoulder at the gym yesteday which might also have been the reason for no sleep last night. will give it some rest for a few days. am hoping football gets cancelled as well this week. forecast is freezing and possibly some snow and i really don't fancy being outside in it.

stayed home for the rest of the weekend and watched arsenal versus west ham on tv. we (arsenal) managed to scrape a win. best news was hearing that manchester united got beat and i love seeing a bitter and whining alex ferguson afterwards giving his reaction. he came out a couple of days ago and said they don't miss cristiano ronaldo. thats horse shit. they are playing manchester city this wednesday and its on tv. will tune in to hopefully see tevez knock in a hat trick and then run past ferguson pointing to the name on the back of his shirt. please let it happen.

also can i comment how nice it is to see a football match on tv for free. the only other way to watch football is to get satellite tv and then buy a subcription to sky sports, but i would rather not watch football than give my money to rupert murdoch and his evil empire. hence quite often saturday afternoons are spent listening to games on the radio. fuck you rupert.

anyways, will also be keeping my eyes open for any new interesting contracts that come up over the next few days and weeks. am looking forward to see what happens next. i am going somewhere, i just don't know where or when. i love a new year.

today i have mostly been listening to marmaduke duke - silhouettes.

2010

listening to the radio and they just played this tune. it came out last year and i think i heard it once before but i had forgotten about it. thank you to eddie temple morris on X-fm for reminding me how good this is.

tonight i have mostly been listening to enter shikari - juggernauts.