14:53

i worked saturday as usual and it turned into a longer day than we thought it was going to be, but we got through it. feel absolutely shattered and sooo tired. god, i miss having 2 day weekends. i keep reminding myself to keep thinking of the money and california is just over a month away. 


no news on getting a new contract at my current place. people have said they are going to give me a new contract but nothing has been put down on paper for me to sign. also no news from the other hedge fund i interviewed at last week. am thinking they probably dont want me. they asked the agency for more cv's to see who else is available and if they can get a better fit. no bother, if there is someone available with more knowledge and talent then by all means, they should take him or her on. i would like to think there are not millions out there that are better. also i suspect they are making the classic mistake of wanting a specific set of requirements which i think they will struggle to find. windows server 2008 is common, exchange 2003/2010 is also prevelant as is SQL 2005/2008 and HP Hardware is ubiquitous. 


where the skills set get a little less common is they wanted someone who has used Hyper-V. everyone uses VMWare. i have never worked anywhere that runs Hyper-V. i have studied it and done the exam, but not used it any of the places i have worked at. they also wanted SAN experience and i said i had used and been in places with EMC Clariion, NetApp, 3PAR and HP EVA. unfortunately they use none of those. they use Equalogic and Compellent. now from an operating system perspective, the exact SAN a server is connected to is not that important in most cases. its all much of a muchness. they seemed like they were looking for those 2 particular manufacturers. same as with Hyper-V, i have never been anywhere that runs Compellent or Equalogic SANs. talk about going against the grain of what everyone else is doing. they are using a virtualisation and SAN platform that NO ONE is running. still, i would still work there if offered as it will be interesting to fill in the gaps of my knowledge. there are lots of gaps. 


was still feeling ill yesterday at work which made work even more harder. slept for 10 hours last night which is not a normal occurence. if i can get 7 hours of good sleep i am thankful. anyways, today i was still a bit sniffly but i thought i had to go to the gym to wake myself up a bit. i was also going to ride slow as i was not feeling well and i knew i would have no chance of breaking my record while ill. after a couple of minutes and catching some traffic lights perfectly i felt pretty good and so increased the pace to see how far i could go. turns out i could go pretty fast because i rather inexplicably ended up smashing my record. 14m 53s which broke my previous best by 23 seconds. at one stage i thought something might be wrong with the gears on my bike because my bikes gear setting was indicating a gear higher than the one i usually ride in, on some sections. i figured it was on the lower gear but my chain had slipped down or something. clearly it was not. 

above is a pic from my ride back home. it was a beautiful crisp winter day. december is almost here and we have yet to have a prolonged period of shit, wet horrible weather. not complaining, just saying. 


back to work tomorrow, and for how much longer?, i dont know. 


today i have mostly been listening to the maccabess - pelican. so new, it has not got a video. it doesnt need one though. wicked tune. 

the same deep water as you

thats another reason why i hate winter. i have a fucking cold. headache, blocked nose, sore throat and feeling shit. i havent been to the gym because i am too tired when i get home from work but i will make a point of going on sunday and get a long session in the steam room. it clears your head. football got cancelled tonight as well, as we couldnt enough people together. not dissapointed. i really shouldnt be out there in the cold. 


tomorrow its my usual friday of starting at 2pm and finishing late though hopefully we should be done by 10. then its back in on saturday morning. these 6 day weeks over the last couple of months are really taking out of me. only 3 more weeks to go and only 2 more weekends to go. need to keep thinking of the money. keep reminding myself that i will be in socal in a few weeks. 


one of the senior pms took me to one side yesterday and told me that i was going to get a 4 month contract extension taking me up to april. i also got a call today from the agent representing me for a role at the other hedge fund i interviewed at and he tried to convince me to drop my day rate. i told him that it was looking more likely that i would get an offer from my current place and so there was no incentive for me to leave if i was going to get the same money elsewhere. i might as well stay, working with a good team and knowing all the systems. told him i didnt feel the need to drop my rate. will see how it goes. i dont think i shot myself in the foot...but you never know. if my current company doesnt come through with the new contract i could be fucked. dont matter. 


bought a new book to read. its about patrice lumumba, the first elected presented of post colonial congo. have just read the first few pages of the lumumba book as i am reading the autobiography of fidel castro at the moment, but both books are fascinating. if you have the means i cant recommend the highly enough. i might read it on the plane if i havent finished it before i go on holiday. 


today i have mostly been listening to the cure - the same deep water as you. this is from what is probably my favourite album. epic. 

free

it looks like most people got told that they were not going to have their contracts renewed. chancer pm and his team of 3 chancer sys admins are not being renewed. a few other project managers are also being let go as well. one of them was quite good, so thats a shame. neither i, nor the other guy in my project has been told anything. i was told verbally that they might want to keep me for the beginning of next year, but i still have not been told officially or been given a contract to sign. 


by all accounts the ring leader of the chancers has not taken it well, that he is being let go. oh well. also chancer pm came round to my desk and said he wanted to have a chat with me about everyone being let go and if i had been told. i played dumb and said no one had spoken to me and i was planning on leaving in 3 weeks. he then started talking about the project and how hectic it had been and so on. 


it probably didnt need to be said, but i said it anyway. i said he should have fired the ringleader of the chancers as soon as he came in, because he was unprofessional and disruptive and he tried to undermine anyone and everyone that became involved in that project, including me and the chancer pm. chancer pm said he was reluctant to let him go as he didnt want to risk the other 2 chancers leaving as well. i told him, in that case he should have let them all walk away. good riddance. they didnt contribute anything and just bled money from the budget. 


still, its all over now. maybe he will learn the lesson for next time, or maybe not. anyways, i still dont know if i will be staying. for that reason i had applied to another job and at lunchtime i went to an interview at another hedge fund. its only a fixed 6 month contract like the one i have just done now, but i will take it if i get offered it, because i was told that even if i get offered a new contract at my current place it will only be for another 3 months. besides, this other place runs some stuff i havent used before and its always good to learn new stuff. 


i only have 3 more weeks remaining and thats me done. am thinking of my holiday in cali more and more. my brain is tired, my body is tired. i just need a break. not sure if i will have anything to come back to, but its fine. have been saving my money and not being extravagent or taking things for granted. will be fine. 


today i have mostly been listening to twin atlantic - free. 

ghosts

its been a long week and i am still tired all the time. the week didnt get off to the best of starts after i made a change on a database cluster and it ended up crashing over night. when i got to work on tueday morning it was just a barrage of mails. i got onto the server and fixed the problem and then let everyone know it was my screw up. everyone was fine with me and it wasnt a live production server so it was not too bad. i got an email from the head of trading development, who's server it was and he said everything was ok and appreciated me being honest and fixing it. 


after that happened i just tried to keep a low profile for the rest of the week and do my own work and not try and fix other stuff that is not directly part of my project. the rest of the week was fine after that. had to work late on friday night till 11 and had another saturday at work yesterday. only 3 more weekends to go and that should be us done. actually, that will be me done as well, as my contract finises in mid december.


i had a telephone interview for a job at another hedge fund on thursday and they want to call me in for a face to face on tuesday. i still have not officially been given a new contract by the firm i am currently at so i can only assume i wont be there next year. will be good to know i have a contract to come back to after i get back from cali and to know i will be earning, where ever it may be. 


we didnt have football on thursday and i didnt get to go to the gym after work last week either. too much work and too tired when i get home. i am gasping for a holiday. am on my knees. not long to go now. please let it be nice weather in cali. have already started to put a good playlist together for the hours i will be behind the wheel. 


today i have mostly been listening to laura marling - ghosts. 

radioactive

had a weekend off work which was needed. i had to work late on friday till about 11.30, but it doesnt feel so bad when you know you dont have to work on saturday or sunday. also on friday, one of the head project managers took me to one side and said that he was looking to renew my contract in the new year and that there was another project coming through. he said he was waiting for the budgets to be signed off and also for me to not tell anyone just yet, because some people were going to be told this week about whether they were staying or going. 

its good news that they want to renew me, but like i said before, till i get a piece of paper that is official i am not going to assume its going to happen. for the reason, i applied for another job at a hedge fund/asset manager elsewhere. it was more money so if i end up with 2 offers i will have to take the other place. i dont want to come across like a money grabbing whore, but the increase per month is roughly the same as my mortgage and thats not something inconsiderable. i dont want the extra money to buy a flashy car, or an expensive watch. its all going on my flat. every penny.....almost. :-)

i heard back from my friend in san francisco and she said she was around at the beginning of january, so i extended my ticket by a couple of days and am going to drive up and stay with her and her family. it does mean one very long day of driving because i will be driving from las vegas to los angeles in the morning to drop my friends off at the airport and then i will have to drive 6 hours to frisco. still, its only one day and i like driving on the freeways, with my music playing on the stereo and stopping off at random small towns for food in small diners. i hardly drive at all in london so i dont mind being behind the wheel on holiday. i dont get sick of if if its just one or two long days. itnerary as it stands is

thursday - arrive in LA

friday - meet my friends who arrive in LA, do some sightseeing. 

saturday - sightseeing LA and then drive to Las Vegas in the evening

sunday - Las Vegas

monday - Drive to LA from LV and then drive to San fran

tuesday - san fran

wednesday - drive from san fran to san diego. 

thursday - san diego

friday - san diego

saturday - short drive to LA and fly home. 

in all of that i am going to try and go to the beach in LA and san diego. go to balboa park in san diego. maybe see a band play if there is anyone interesting playing and maybe visit the wild card boxing gym in LA where Manny Pacquiao trains. and the rest of the time i shall be mostly chilling. even on the days with long drives i will break them up and stop if i go through anywhere interesting and if the mood takes me. 

we shall see how it goes. best laid plans and all that. 

today i have mostly been listening to marina and the diamonds - radioactive. wicked tune. 

louder

got messaged by one of the project managers whose project i work on (not the chancer PM) and he told me that he had heard that i was in the plans being drawn up for various other projects next year. i had told him about a week ago that i was finishing up in mid december and was looking for new projects, and he had said he would try and find out if i would be needed. looks like i might well be. 


he also told one of the guys in my team that he would be needed in the new year as well. he replied it was good news only if he didnt end up working on a project with chancer pm, to which the reply was that over the next 3 weeks people are going to be spoken to about whether they will be staying or whether they are "surplus to requirements". looks like the chancers and possibly including the pm, are in that group. there has been a definite shift over the last week or two to not give them any new bits of work to do. they should be able to see it coming, especially as they are aware that there are big deadlines and applications going live over the next few weeks. 


hope you saved your 14 grand a month pay cheques. hope you dont end up regretting spending 8 grand on some speakers and 7 grand on a watch. hope you havent got a big thirsty german car and a huge mortgage. hope you havent been living beyond your means. hope you dont you really believe you are worth 14 grand a month because you might be in for a surprise. 


anyways, it good news for me as it means i wont be moving on.....again!, and i really could do with a bit of stability. i also enjoy working with everyone else there and am familiar with their systems so it will be a relief not to have to learn a whole bunch of new processes and people at another place. am waiting till i get told officially and there is a piece of paper with terms written on it and will not assume its a done deal. will still update my cv and send it out for anything interesting. i still might be out of work in the new year when i get back from cali, but i dont have a big car, expensive home cinema system and a flash swiss watch and instead have the money saved, so i will be fine whatever happens. 


today is one of the rare times in recent weeks when i have not had to work on saturday. i get 2 whole days for my weekend. did all my laundry and shopping and went to the gym and cleaned up, so i have no idea what i will do with myself tomorrow. it will be like a 24 hour holiday. 

cycled to the gym today. was fast but not quite fast enough. 14 seconds outside my record. got held up again at some lights and behind some slooowww drivers. weather is not too bad considering its november. slate grey skies but at least it wasnt raining today like it did during the week, and its not very cold yet. any dry mild day, allbeit with slate grey skies, is a bonus in november, as its usually shit. aboveis a pic from my bike ride going home. 


today i have mostly been listening to DJ Flash - Louder. they played it my gym and i thought it was a good song and a good video. not what i would usually listen to, but its a nice change. 

found out

am back in mayfair at the hedge fund this week. officially i am supposed to be there all week but i might try and swing it so that i do my usual thursday and friday back at the head office. i stayed behind a little bit longer this evening and finished off some work that is due in a couple of days time. have not told chancer pm that i have finished early but i gave it to the application teams to check it over. hopefully its all ok and i can have a relatively easy couple of days, unlike the last couple of months. my plan of sidelining the chancer pm is working well. have found myself getting less stressed out and annoyed. i talk directly with all the teams now and keep him well and truly out of the loop. 


am not working this friday night as we have a break week in our datacenter migration project. better enjoy it because it looks like it will be 6 days a week after that until just before christmas. LA trip will be close by then so even when i am on my knees it will pick me up. 


one of the guys in my team has heard from the chancers in the head office and said they are all pissed off. they usually bill for saturday and sunday because they say they do a lot of 'work' over the weekend. basically its a piss take because i have seen them do fuck all during the week on a regular work day and probably less when they are at home on a saturday afternoon. they were just taking advantage of having a weak manager (chancer pm) who knows very little. anyways, this week they were told that they were not to do any work this weekend, which actually means, we are not paying you for weekends any more, so dont even bother lying about working. looks like their gravy train has hit the buffers. 


one of the chancers also said that he was almost certainly going to be leaving in the next few weeks when his contract was up. dude, you should have been gone long ago. you are shit at your job. i cant believe you have been IT for 10 years. you are proper shit at it and you know fuck all. the other day one of the guys had to explain to one of the chancers after they had moved a server to a new vLAN and changed its IP adress, why they were now not able to access it immediately with its name. the concept of mapping IPs to names (DNS) was news to them. £450-500/day!!!. 


actually it kind of makes sense why they were giving me dirty looks at the end of last week. they had clearly been told not to do the weekend and were losing out on that money. i let it be known i thought the work they were producing was horseshit, and the fact i am in mayfair 3 days a week is testament to that. i dont speak to any of them at all and i pretty much told them a while back to their faces that i thought they were doing it all wrong. if it hadnt been for me they might still be secure and hitting it for 14grand a month. oh well. its a good think i dont give a fuck. if they do get let go it does also reinforce what i have always thought. everyone gets found out in the end.  


cycled to the gym and did it in 15.37, which is 21 seconds outside of my record. i got held up badly in a couple of places. shit, a new record was on and i missed it. if it stays dry this weekend i will cycle both days. saturday is a good warm up and then sunday is when records can be set. will check the forecast and hope for a clear day with no wind. if it is, then its on. 


bought a new book to read. its about the dirty war in argentina and the legacy of it and am currently reading the fidel castro autobiogaphy. its fascinating. he is an intellectual and humanitarian and political giant. 


today i have mostly been listening to noam chomsky.