work is ok. have just been getting my head down and trying to get through each day and to be honest i am counting the days till i finish up at the beginning of september. as is always the way, there are some good potential contracts out there but i cant be laving this one quickly. it will look bad and i just need to do my full term.
i am pretty sure i wont get extended because i am the only contractor in the department and all the other guys are permanent employees. also, once they finish their current project in 3 weeks there wont be enough work to justify having an expensive contractor there. it would be good to finish in september and then go to cali and then come back and see what else is out there. i am in the support team at the moment and its been a long time since i have had to deal with support requests and its not something that i would want to do for a long time. on the plus side, i have gotten exposure to NetApp storage which has been good. i know more about it than i did before. it might come in handy in another of my contracts in the future.
if in september i have nothing to go to and if the market looks dead and if they offer me an extension then i will have to take it. thats a lot of ifs. will put the word out at the end of july and see what happens.
its been just over a month since my dad passed away. he is in my mind every day but in the first couple of weeks he was in my mind every minute of every day. people tell you things will get better and life more bearable and its true. there is still a big presence missing and it will always be like that, but life goes on.
today i have mostly been listening to ben howard - old pine. a song about summer. we havent had a summer in london this year. its one big long autumn. the wettest april on record has been followed by the 3rd wettest june on record, and the month is not over yet and there is more rain forecast for the weekend.
Tuesday 26 June 2012
Thursday 14 June 2012
VRT51?
had my dad passed away before i got the job offer from my new place, i would have passed and stayed at my old contract and just had 3 months of no stress. i had done the difficult part, and believe me it was very difficult, where you learn all the systems in the first month or two and you start to feel a bit more comfortable. anyways, things didnt happen like that and i had resigned and accepted the new contract and it was after that, when my dad passed away.
the hassle of a new contract is not something to take lightly. there is a reason why there are so few people like me out there. there are thousands of contractors in london, but most of them get a contract and tend to stay, whereas i tend to move on every few months. usually its because i am bored and not learning anything and the hassle of working with new people and systems is something does not put me off, although its very difficult at the beginning.
today was one of those particularly difficult days. to be honest my heart is still heavy from all the stuff with my dad, and the weather is shit and it gets you down, but even aside from me not being at 100% enthusiasm and alertness, the guy at work who was explaining the NetApp infrastructure was being a bit of a cunt, if you will pardon my french.
he has been there 3 years and i dont think he appreciated the fact that 1:i have not really done too much netapp stuff before, 2:i have been there 5 days and 3:he has the handwriting of a 4 year old with a crayon using his wrong hand. it was shockingly bad. how the fuck he got through primary school is anyones guess. its utterly illegible. its like a fucking secret code. forget 3DES encryption, his handwriting is uncrackable. after asking him a couple of times to tell me what he had written in front of me, he did say "yeah, i know, my handwriting is bad". its not bad mate, its fucking illegible. its just scribbles. your U's look like V's. your K's look like R's, your F's look like T's, your S's look like 5's.
err, is that VRT51
no!!!, its UKFS1!
oh yes, ofcourse it is......
anyways, it was a bit frustrating and when someone is being cuntish with me, i tend to either get annoyed or just switch off. i switched off. i am not here to play games and i am not there to steal anyones job or put any one down. i just want to learn the shit and dont worry fella, i will be on my way in a few weeks/months so your job is safe. i wouldnt want to do your job permanently even if they offered it to me. this is all just about picking up new skills and experience for me and then moving on to the next contract.
today i have mostly been listening to janes addiction - whores. i usually read on the train to and from work. am half way through a book about pol pot and cambodia but i havent been in the mood to read about horrors inflicted on people. heart is heavy already. instead i have put my mp3 player on shuffle and have been re-discovering songs i hadnt heard in a long time. this came up the other day. i had forgotten how awesome it was.
the hassle of a new contract is not something to take lightly. there is a reason why there are so few people like me out there. there are thousands of contractors in london, but most of them get a contract and tend to stay, whereas i tend to move on every few months. usually its because i am bored and not learning anything and the hassle of working with new people and systems is something does not put me off, although its very difficult at the beginning.
today was one of those particularly difficult days. to be honest my heart is still heavy from all the stuff with my dad, and the weather is shit and it gets you down, but even aside from me not being at 100% enthusiasm and alertness, the guy at work who was explaining the NetApp infrastructure was being a bit of a cunt, if you will pardon my french.
he has been there 3 years and i dont think he appreciated the fact that 1:i have not really done too much netapp stuff before, 2:i have been there 5 days and 3:he has the handwriting of a 4 year old with a crayon using his wrong hand. it was shockingly bad. how the fuck he got through primary school is anyones guess. its utterly illegible. its like a fucking secret code. forget 3DES encryption, his handwriting is uncrackable. after asking him a couple of times to tell me what he had written in front of me, he did say "yeah, i know, my handwriting is bad". its not bad mate, its fucking illegible. its just scribbles. your U's look like V's. your K's look like R's, your F's look like T's, your S's look like 5's.
err, is that VRT51
no!!!, its UKFS1!
oh yes, ofcourse it is......
anyways, it was a bit frustrating and when someone is being cuntish with me, i tend to either get annoyed or just switch off. i switched off. i am not here to play games and i am not there to steal anyones job or put any one down. i just want to learn the shit and dont worry fella, i will be on my way in a few weeks/months so your job is safe. i wouldnt want to do your job permanently even if they offered it to me. this is all just about picking up new skills and experience for me and then moving on to the next contract.
today i have mostly been listening to janes addiction - whores. i usually read on the train to and from work. am half way through a book about pol pot and cambodia but i havent been in the mood to read about horrors inflicted on people. heart is heavy already. instead i have put my mp3 player on shuffle and have been re-discovering songs i hadnt heard in a long time. this came up the other day. i had forgotten how awesome it was.
Sunday 10 June 2012
drive
started my new job on thursday. it was ok in my first 2 days there and they havent just left me sitting on my my own at a desk with no information, which makes a nice change. saying that though, it just reminded me how difficult it is starting a new contract. i have moved a lot over the last few years, and been through this process 6 or 7 times, and its gotten a little easier but its still a massive pain in the ass.
as always, as soon as i start a new job, i get calls about lots of other jobs all at the same time, and have had to turn them all down. i accepted my contract a few days before my dad passed away and in all honesty i would not have left my old contract for my current new role had it come up after my dad passed. i really could do with out the hassle of trying to learn all the systems of a new place, but this is the situation i find myself in now and its hard but i guess i just have to get on with it. anyways, in the last 2 weeks there have been jobs at 3 other banks come up and also the job in qatar that got postponed a few weeks bank, came up again. the recruiter rang me from dubai and asked me if i would still do it, but i told him i would pass. its not the right time.
things seem a bit chaotic and jumbled up, the weather is complete horse shit and i have the stress of a new contract. just need to power through the next few weeks and it will be ok. am hoping to go to california (and maybe NY) in september. i reckon around september 8th. my contract is initially for 3 months and thats roughly when my 3 months is up. they will either let me go, or if they have any more work for me to do, offer me another 3 months till the end of the year. either way, i want to get out of london. this city is grinding me down. i need to breath for 10 days. after that, i can take whatever comes up over the next few months.
today i have mostly been listening to kavinsly and lovefox - nightcall. this is from the soundtrack to the film 'Drive'. its a very good film. i like the video someone made for this as well, and i also uploaded some random pics i took while driving in LA on my last couple of trips. when things get shit and stressful this week i shall try and remember how peaceful and relaxing i find it driving around in the city of angels.
as always, as soon as i start a new job, i get calls about lots of other jobs all at the same time, and have had to turn them all down. i accepted my contract a few days before my dad passed away and in all honesty i would not have left my old contract for my current new role had it come up after my dad passed. i really could do with out the hassle of trying to learn all the systems of a new place, but this is the situation i find myself in now and its hard but i guess i just have to get on with it. anyways, in the last 2 weeks there have been jobs at 3 other banks come up and also the job in qatar that got postponed a few weeks bank, came up again. the recruiter rang me from dubai and asked me if i would still do it, but i told him i would pass. its not the right time.
things seem a bit chaotic and jumbled up, the weather is complete horse shit and i have the stress of a new contract. just need to power through the next few weeks and it will be ok. am hoping to go to california (and maybe NY) in september. i reckon around september 8th. my contract is initially for 3 months and thats roughly when my 3 months is up. they will either let me go, or if they have any more work for me to do, offer me another 3 months till the end of the year. either way, i want to get out of london. this city is grinding me down. i need to breath for 10 days. after that, i can take whatever comes up over the next few months.
today i have mostly been listening to kavinsly and lovefox - nightcall. this is from the soundtrack to the film 'Drive'. its a very good film. i like the video someone made for this as well, and i also uploaded some random pics i took while driving in LA on my last couple of trips. when things get shit and stressful this week i shall try and remember how peaceful and relaxing i find it driving around in the city of angels.
Monday 4 June 2012
eyes wide open
had the worst few days of my life last week but the human soul is resiliant and things are getting back to normal. funeral stuff has been done and no more people coming round the house comiserating. everyone is getting to living their lives and i am doing the same.
its a long 4 day weekend for the queens diamond jubilee, which means its been 60 years of unelected office for her and her oligarchy. why is it democracy is only for arabs?. why cant we follow the example of the brave egyptians and tunisians. oh well. maybe one day we will catch up.
weather has been horseshit. i cycled to the gym on saturday and there were people in winter coats and scarves. can i just remind you london is in the northern hemisphere and june is supposed to be summer, unlike argentina or australia where it is their winter. beunos aires was warmer than london yesterday.
anyways, i was supposed to be starting my new job on wednesday but because i was dealing with the stuff after my dad passed, i barely checked my email and i didnt sign my contract or fill in any of the forms the agency had sent, so i dont know if wednesday is my first day. i will call them in the morning and tell them i will start on thursday. it was my last day at work on friday and its like most last days. said goodbye to a few people and that was it really. low key, just how i prefer it.
weather forecast is for rain for the rest of the week. am going to try and get myself to california in september. i need it bad and given the shit weather and my dad passing, i really could do with getting out of london for a few days. i might try and also go to new york as well. i dont know why exactly, but i miss that place.
today i have mostly been listening to gotye - eyes wide open. wicked tune.
its a long 4 day weekend for the queens diamond jubilee, which means its been 60 years of unelected office for her and her oligarchy. why is it democracy is only for arabs?. why cant we follow the example of the brave egyptians and tunisians. oh well. maybe one day we will catch up.
weather has been horseshit. i cycled to the gym on saturday and there were people in winter coats and scarves. can i just remind you london is in the northern hemisphere and june is supposed to be summer, unlike argentina or australia where it is their winter. beunos aires was warmer than london yesterday.
anyways, i was supposed to be starting my new job on wednesday but because i was dealing with the stuff after my dad passed, i barely checked my email and i didnt sign my contract or fill in any of the forms the agency had sent, so i dont know if wednesday is my first day. i will call them in the morning and tell them i will start on thursday. it was my last day at work on friday and its like most last days. said goodbye to a few people and that was it really. low key, just how i prefer it.
weather forecast is for rain for the rest of the week. am going to try and get myself to california in september. i need it bad and given the shit weather and my dad passing, i really could do with getting out of london for a few days. i might try and also go to new york as well. i dont know why exactly, but i miss that place.
today i have mostly been listening to gotye - eyes wide open. wicked tune.
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