Oooh dat makes me mad

And yet another end of month passes where I don't get paid. B@stards! 2 outstanding invoices from the 11th of Feb and 11th March now. Better get a double whammy at the end of April, otherwise I'll be opening a can of whoop-ass on them, let me tell you.

Another interview this morning. And while the company would probably be a good, and interesting, company to work for, the job is pretty much what I've been doing up till now. Enjoyable for the first few months, then excruciatingly boring after that. I doubt I'll get an offer (there's another 2 on the shortlist apparently) as even I felt I was coming across with as much enthusiasm as a horse being dragged off to the glue factory.

Then the same recruitment agent as from the last JP Morgan fiasco was on the phone again, with another JP Morgan position they want me in for an interview for. Now, to be fair this role looks good. A wide variety of tasks for a large number of clients in a test environment rather than a live one. This would mean no out of hours work and a reasonable amount of travel meeting folk and getting requirements etc.

But the decision has been made. I am not enjoying this at all. Not one little bit. I used to love computers, and love working with them. But since they became a career rather than a hobby the passion has vanished. And, especially over the last month, any enjoyment I once extracted from them has completely gone. Now doing any computer work is a major chore, and most of the time at work is dreaming of doing something (anything) else.

So, I called back the recruiter, and said I was taking 3 or 4 months off when this contract finished at the end of April (about 176 working hours to go - not that I'm counting). I plan to at least have a go at some non-IT stuff and see what happens. If it all goes horribly wrong I'll start looking for IT jobs again in the autumn.

Got a couple of ideas (possibly a bit far-fetched) and a rough idea of what I could live off (possibly a bit low) but hey, gotta give it a go.

Now all I've got to do it stick out another month here. And that won't be a walk in the park....

A close call

First day back on the bike since Friday. Ouch. At least it wasn't the old legs feeling sore for a change. The whole situation probably wasn't helped by having a stinker of a hangover as well. Ugh!

Almost had an accident on the way in too. Well, two really. Both while I was zipping through the park like the Tasmanian Devil .. except not spinning. And without quite as much brown fur .. and without the teeth. Hmm .. not really like Taz at all then. More like Speedy Gonzales ... but without the Sombrero. And not really mouse-like at all.

So, anyway .. I was speeding through the park, like a speedy thingy on a bike with hangover (that's me with the hangover BTW, not the bike), and this squirrel darts across the path in front of me. A clever bit of braking and my finely honed avoidance skillz kicked in, allowing me to miss the squirrel and instead very nearly collide with a pigeon who had chosen a most unfortunate moment to fly across the path at a low level.

Fair enough, both the squirrel and the pigeon may have come off worse in a collision, but the lawyers and police would no doubt get involved, and the fact I was hung-over wouldn't have gone down well.

I suppose I could always blame it on the fact that the clocks changed on Sunday and as such I'm trying to acclimatise to the new light settings at that time in the morning. If I were in the US I'm sure I could sue someone for that.

Aaaaaaaand relax

I was intending to come into work yesterday, even though it was a bank holiday but in the end decided against it. The amount of work I did last week (work out with work that is) and over the weekend left me feeling like I'd just gone 10 rounds with Tyson. Although, I did still have both my ears intact.

So, you would think that since I wasn't being paid for the day (contractor and all that) that I would find something productive to do with the time. Maybe some DIY. Possibly a bike ride. Perhaps even penning a novel or painting a masterpiece. But in fact I did nothing. I know this may come as a shock to many of you, but I really think I did nothing.

In fact, I don't believe I even left the flat. Didn't so much as open the door. Oooh yes. It was a lazy Monday, and it was good. Kinda makes we want to go back to being an unemployed bum.

Unfortunately it made the coming into work today all the harder. Still, only 188 working hours left in this place.

Positive Change

The bike that is, not anything more fundamental. The ride in was most pleasing this morning. When I clicked the rear shifter the click was followed by a solid, positive clunk and the new gear was in use. I imagine you are saying to yourself Well, duh!, but this was not the case previously.

My bike is an old bike. Yes siree. This is my 3rd mountain bike, after the other 2 got nicked (oddly, 1 year apart to the week) and was probably purchased around 8 to 10 years ago. It has none of your fancy suspension and has a paltry 21 gears but it's solid, reliable and does the job.

It was out of use for a long period of time, and when I started using it again was in need of some TLC. So over the last year or so bits and pieces have been replaced. One thing that has needed looking at for a while is the drive chain. Front gears are fine, but changing the rear gear resulted in a few clunks and then a 75% chance that the chain would move to the right cog, with a 50% chance it would stay there.

A change of chain and cassette was in order, as the previous cassette had a splendid set of shark teeth, and this was undertaken on Sunday. A quick trip to one of the ample local bike shops and I returned with the require parts and tools (which cost more than I envisaged - sigh). After accidentally taking the freewheel apart (Oops. I should probably have re-greased it before putting it back together) things went smoothly. A quick re-adjustment of the rear derailleur and everything was looking good.

Now, you're expecting me to say everything went wrong, and the bike fell apart when I took it out for a test run. Well ... it didn't! So ha! See ... some things I can be bothered doing right .... usually ones that don't involve computers.

Thanks, but no thanks

There is something disheartening about receiving job rejections letters. Even if you applied for the job half-heartedly, or it was a job you really didn't want. Just the fact that they rejected you gets you down.

I seem to have accumulated quite a collection of these recently. A collection which is growing steadily by the week and shows no immediate signs of ceasing. I guess I should throw them out, but for some reason, best known to the inner part of my brain that I am scared to question, they get bunged in a folder and kept.

They're not just from IT jobs. They cover a wide range of subjects, although yes, most are IT related. The non IT ones I expect knock backs from. It seems tough to make a change, as any of the well paying non-IT jobs generally require experience in the field, and the non high paying (less skilled?) jobs claim that you're over qualified for the position.

Rejections from the IT jobs are worse. Especially ones you know you could do in your sleep but don't even get an interview for. Yes, that's probably cause I'm big-headed and I did go through a period of being offered every job I applied for. Typically, that was when I didn't really need a job and now that I am desperate to change I seem to be surplus to requirement.

Still, that doesn't mean I shall be giving up. I have applied for 5 jobs this week already, of which 1 is non-IT related and appears to be quite interesting.

Damn this money lark, eh?

Critical Mass

As a cyclist there are several things I hope, and expect, to avoid in my daily commute. From the fairly large (like getting into a argument with lorry) to the more mundane like traffic jams, or trying to find a parking space.

Not having a windscreen wipers, nor indeed a windscreen, I assumed I would be safe from leaflets being left for me when my bike was parked. Apparently I was wrong.

I returned to my bike yesterday to find a hastily printed leaflet threaded through the spokes of my back wheel, in a similar fashion to the rest of the bikes in the area. Fortunately it wasn't trying to sell me something, but was for the Glasgow Critical Mass. (The group have their own website too, but it doesn't really really tell you who they are or what they do).

The leaflet itself didn't explain who they were, it just had their name, a location and time (Friday 25 March, 5:30pm at George Square, in case you're interested) and a the WikiPedia URL for their entry.

To be fair, it looks like a good cause. Both for promoting cycling and the need for better cycle routes through the city, and also for the fact that it'll piss of motorists. ;) I think I shall head along at some point. Possibly not this month, but since it's same time, same place on the last Friday of every month, there's plenty of opperchancities.

Life sapping

Wednesdays' blood donation was postponed to Thursday, meaning I rode the ole' bike to work on Wednesday morning. Well, rode for the most part, as I had to swim the last 100 yards or so. And I thought Tuesday was wet.

I am normal by the way. And it's official. I am apparently in the control group for some test the The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service people are doing. And a control group is the normal lot, so there. Anyhow, a quick visit there followed by a curry to stock on up whatever they took out of me. Mmm.

And back to work on Friday. Gah! While the blood people take your blood, work does something even worse and removes all motivation from you, leaving you a babbling idiot (yes, that IS a change) who sits there counting down the seconds till you can run out the door like a school kid evacuating the school on the last day before the holidays.

I want an easter egg, dammit

I got soaked on the way into work this morning. Dried off during the day, and then proceeded to get utterly drenched again on the way home. If it weren't for the fact I'm writing this entry I think I may technically have classified myself as being drowned.

Forecast for tomorrow is again wet, so I may duck out of biking it and take the bus. Kill two birds, etc and go give blood on my way home too. Lightheadedness, rain, darkness, busses, busy roads and bikes probably don't mix too well. We shall see.

Spent today trying to see if the MS Office Assistant, Mr Paperclip understood any rude, or even amusing, commands. It seems not. Most disappointing. In the afternoon I tried it with the Office Cat (which is just the cutest Office Assistant evar!!1!) but to no avail. Think Microsoft missed a huge opperchancity there. May try the dog tomorrow, but I have a feeling it might possibly be a waste of time.

All change please

Ever get the feeling your stuck in a rut? Same old, same old. Day in, day out. Trapped in the large hamster wheel of life?

That's how I felt on waking up yesterday. Well let me say to you brother (and sister). No More! Not the life of drudgery for me. No more unbearable monotony. I though things will change, and was determined to make it so.

Breakfast was again toast, but only cause I ran out of milk. Not to worry, right after breakfast I'll start. Don't quite know how but somehow I will.

Considered going to a different supermarket, but had something to drop off on the way to the usual one, so ... went there. But that's where it started. The change has begun. The unstoppable landslide of new things has begun .. possibly just a grain of sand now, but as it goes it will pick up momentum.

I bought a different type of detergent!

Unsurprisingly, the rest of the day was pretty much the same.

*sigh*

What the world needs now

Is toast, sweet toast. Well, not sweet toast, as in with Jam or sugar or anything. Unless that's how you like it of course. Horses for courses and all that. But I meant sweet as in good. Obviously. But there is not enough toast, of this I am sure. If everyone in the world had more toast it would be a much nicer place to live. Trust me.

Last week kinda dragged in, and this week has more or less done the same. It's been a bit quicker, but still not super-zippy. Heh, and not Zippy as in George, Bungle, Rod, Jane, Freddy, etc. Last week there wasn't much to do, but this week has been the exact opposite. I know I wanted something to actually to, but this is ridiculous.

You'll no doubt be super-glad to know that the killer squirrels on the roof have not re-appeared, meaning there's been no mini exploding hand grenades to pick up. See, I knew you were concerned.

This is also the 1st week I've used my bike to get to work all 5 days, and already my legs are complaining. I'm sure it'll be good for me in the long run, but at the moment walking is a bit of a luxury. Think this weekend will be spent vegging out.

Happy no smoking day

Not that is seemed to make a jot of difference to people round the office. Still hordes of puffers gathered outside during the day. Still, least they had a good day for it.

And the dry, clear, sunny days have been most splendid for the ole' biking into work. The other day the Clyde was flat as a mirror and some of the mornings have produced picture-perfect views, most of them round the SECC / river area. I keep meaning to take my camera but naturally always forget.

And in other exciting news, there's now an image over there -----> which shows the progress so far. Aim is the 1000 mile mark for 2005. Hovering over will show you the actual details too, however, if you use RSS you'll need to actually fire up a browser to see it.

And won't be long till I no longer need the lights at all....

Blue arsed fly

Man, what a busy weekend, and preceding few days. Lots of work, freelance work, haircut, cycling, F1 watching, shower fixing, kitchen fixing, etc etc etc

The engineer dude came on Friday to fix the shower, which the plumber managed to break on Monday when installing it. Idiot. And I also managed to piece back together the kitchen after the plumber fitted the new stop cock. So the ole' homestead upgrade is complete, and things are returning to normal.

This week has kinda dragged in, even with being busy. Since just before Christmas I have noticed that the weeks have just flown in, and it seems like just yesterday I was thinking about buying Christmas presents. I dunno what it was about this week, but it seems like ages ago since last Monday. This is not a good thing. Possibly boredom is setting in properly....

Woah! A two headed goat!

So tomorrow signals the start of yet another week. Nothing special planned, but hopefully it'll fly by. I shall keep my fingers crossed. Also hope the weather stays nice for the whole cycling to work thing. It actually seems to provide me with a more motivated feeling arriving at work. Not that it lasts. Significantly better than sitting on a bus full of depressed people for 40 minutes anyhow.

Attacked from above

I think I am under attack. Not 100% sure, but something odd is going on. I suspect it may be killer squirrels with a bad batch of small hand (paw?) grenades. They don't seem to be detonating, but maybe they're just waiting till I'm least expecting it....

Allow me to elaborate. On returning to the ole' homestead after a hard days work I noticed some small red spheres on the floor in the lounge. They're hard, red, and about the size of a bit of un-popped popcorn. Having no idea where they came from I chucked them out and didn't give it another thought.

The next day there were more on the floor, so I had a hunt around, but found nothing. Most odd. And then I was sitting there, and heard a strange noise. On investimigation I see something coming down the chimney, bouncing off a log and flying into the room. About five of them come down and then it stops. WTF?

Since there's no one living on the roof, and the things are too small and light to be thrown in from a distance (not that there's anywhere to throw from) I can only assume it's those pesky killer squirrels having a laugh. I'm still debating what to do about it, but rest assured, when I figure it out I'll let you know.

Falling apart, literally

So far things have been going reasonably well. Don't get me wrong, maintenance has had to be performed, but it's all been short-term patches which have fixed themselves over time. Any other work has been proactive and preventative, rather than reactive.

I've had it for just less than 28 years, and so far haven't broken or damaged it significantly. And nothing has failed severely enough to warrant permanent intervention. It doesn't need glasses or artificial parts. It doesn't require regular medicating. It basically just ticks along, doing its job without making much of a fuss.

Until today.

Got my first filling this morning. The first permeate, non-natural maintenance has been performed. No longer is it a 100% self-healing machine. It has begun falling apart. Maybe only a tiny piece, but one which represents a major turning point. True. Mentally I may have been going downhill for years, but now also physically.

Won't be long till I'm walking up the road, look down and notice I'm missing an arm. Dammit! Why didn't I take out the extended warranty....