Offensive

Posted: Wed 30 April, 2008 | Author: | Filed under: Customer Services, Cynicism, Thoughts | Leave a comment »

The BBC has a piece today about 2007’s most offensive adverts (in this case ‘most offensive’ equals ‘most complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority’).

What I find interesting is that out of the ten cases, in only three and a half (one ad had ‘some complaints upheld’) cases did the complaints actually come to anything. Which is only something like a 37.5% of complaints are upheld.

Mind you, I didn’t think most of the adverts were offensive, so I can understand that, too.

Ah well.

On Off On Off

Posted: Wed 30 April, 2008 | Author: | Filed under: Cynicism, Driving, Weirdness | 6 Comments »

Out of interest, has there been a law change that I’m unaware of? Is it now illegal to use indicators while driving?

I only ask because today in my forty mile drive to work (at least 75% of which is on dual carriageways) not one driver indicated before:

  1. Pulling out in front of me
  2. Pulling back in to the inside lane
  3. Leaving the dual carriageway
  4. Getting on to the dual carriageway
    or
  5. Going round a roundabout

So it’s become illegal, right?

147

Posted: Tue 29 April, 2008 | Author: | Filed under: Cynicism, Thoughts | Leave a comment »

I managed to see Ronnie O’Sullivan’s latest 147 break (on TV, obviously, rather than ‘live’) last night, and I do think it’s a joy to watch when someone is that on form. The entire frame was just about perfect.

But it also annoys me – because O’Sullivan really is a stunning player when he’s on form, but when he’s not on form he’s a spoilt brat who storms off in temper tantrums, ‘retires’ on a regular basis, and really is just a pain in the arse.

I know there’s all the clichés about ‘fine line between genius and madness’ and so on, but still, I just wish he’d be more stable when he’s on a bad streak, and use that amazing talent to come back from bad streaks rather than succumbing to them.

Still, it was a fantastic frame, and a pretty stunning way to end a match, too. (I would think that the £157,000 prize for a 147 break came through as a pretty good motivator as well, of course.) I think O’Sullivan’s a fantastic player – I’d just prefer it if he also wasn’t quite such a complete cock.

Recruitment

Posted: Tue 29 April, 2008 | Author: | Filed under: Customer Services, Own Business, Work-related | 2 Comments »

Hello, is that Lyle?
Yes.
Hi, It’s [x] from [y] Recruitment. I’ve got this position that I thought you might like, it’s a six month contract that needs a lot of knowledge about PHP development in a LAMP environment, paying around £35 per hour. Would you be interested?
Yes.
OK, I’ll send you forward for it.
OK, no worries.
By the way, is Glasgow an OK location for you?
Um, no, not really. I’m based in Norfolk. It could be done, but it would be difficult…

You’d think that by now agencies would know enough to at least look at locations (and/or discuss them) first, wouldn’t you.

*sigh*

*Splut*

Posted: Mon 28 April, 2008 | Author: | Filed under: Animals, Domestic | Leave a comment »

Yesterday, I mowed the grass for the first time this year. It really should’ve been done a couple of weeks ago, but the weather at the weekends has been so wet that it just wasn’t feasible to do it.

Which, of course, meant that the grass was high enough it was almost obscuring the dog. It certainly obscured a lot of her toys – and some other “presents” she’d been leaving in the garden. You can see where this is going, can’t you?

At least the mower started up first time (well OK, on about the third or fourth pull of the starter) which I really wasn’t expecting – I know my technical abilities all too well.

But it worked, and once I knew it was working, I went round the garden on poo-patrol (or shit-shovelling, as it’s also known) so that I didn’t hit anything too sludgy. I even picked up most of the dog toys that were visible – they have a nasty habit of buggering mower blades, among other things. (They also cause the dog to get all stressy – she’s not a fan of losing toys) Fairly successfully, I thought – a full bag of poo, for one thing.

And yet still, while doing the grass there was that *thunk* noise of a dog toy (this time a rubber ball) as well as the far-too-familiar *splut* sound, as freshly-laid dog-egg hit the spinning mower blades.

Interviewage

Posted: Sun 27 April, 2008 | Author: | Filed under: Charm School, Thoughts, Work-related | Leave a comment »

So yes, the interview on Friday went (I think) pretty well. Personally I don’t think I’ve got some of the relevant experience for the job (it involves a lot of project management and recruitment guff) but i gave it my best shot, and at the end of the day, that’s what counts.

It also involved giving a presentation first, which I hate. It’s not that I’m bad at them – according to feedback, I’m actually pretty good at them – I just don’t like standing up and giving a presentation, particularly to people I don’t know and have never met before. To me, they’re ust something I have to do, simple as that- and that’s the attitude I’d also have to them if I had to do them as part of a role. Mind you, it might be a bit easier if I actually planned them, as opposed to pretty much winging it. Yes, I know roughly what I’m going to say, and the rough order in which I’ll say it – but that’s as far as I go. I prefer to talk to people, not read from cue-cards or scripts.

So as far as I can tell, it all went OK. I doubt I’ve got the job, but that’s through holes in the skill-set, rather than bad interview.

I’ll find out more on Tuesday – all told they interviewed eight people in the one day, and a decision will have been made by Tuesday.

Meltdown

Posted: Fri 25 April, 2008 | Author: | Filed under: Domestic, Geeky, Music | Leave a comment »

When it was announced that Massive Attack would be the curators of this year’s Meltdown Festival at London’s South Bank Centre, I knew it’d be interesting.

And indeed it was – if I lived closer to London, there were three or four things I’d have liked to go and see. As it is, though, the big thing was that Massive Attack themselves would be doing two shows – one at the start of the festival, and one at the end. (as well as a remixing of the Blade Runner soundtrack with live orchestra, which I would’ve loved to see)

Tickets went on sale at 9am today – at which time I was, as mentioned below, in an interview. I doubt I could’ve got away with saying “Oh, can I start it a bit late, so I can try and get tickets for a concert“, so instead I just had to hope that all would be well.

As it turned out, I’ve been lucky – a ticket to the show at the end of the Festival is now mine! The start-up show is already sold out, but the finale should be a pretty good one too, so I’m happy.

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