Trains

Posted: Mon 25 September, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: Travel, Weirdness | Leave a comment »

Amazingly, the journey to Cambridge today went really smoothly. Although I have to say, I was right when my now-ex-employers moved to the London office, and I really truly couldn’t handle the commuter train to get in to London before 9am. OK, getting on where I do helps, as there’s normally still seating, but then halfway through the journey it’s still jam-packed like the Black Hole of Calcutta. Fuckin’ horrible.

All the same, though, it was OK. I got to Waterloo, onto Tubes that were busy but nowhere near full, in to Kings Cross, and then up to Cambridge. All on time, (in fact I even got an earlier train to Cambridge, and thus arrived at 9.30 instead of the planned 10.00am) and no problems at all.

No-one is more surprised than I.

Starting Off

Posted: Mon 25 September, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: D4D™, Domestic, Getting Organised, Travel, Work-related | 2 Comments »

By the time this post goes live, I’ll be on a train to Cambridge, starting off my new job.

In lots of ways I’m really looking forward to it. Although the Monday morning start is going to be a bastard for a while. Ah well.

In others, it’s going to be weird. Being away from home for four nights a week, for instance, isn’t something I’m overly looking forward to. (And, in fairness, neither is Herself) But it’s a means to an end. It’s the start of getting us up to Norfolk and so on.

I suspect I’ll be doing this for at least the next month, possibly even two months. Once we’ve moved I’ll still be commuting to work, but it’ll be a daily thing, rather than up on Monday and back on Friday.

Of course, there will be benefits to being away too. It means that I’ve the time – and most likely the inclination too – to get a couple more websites written and sorted out, including the one for my own photography. Yeah, the ImageKind gallery is OK, but it’s only a stepping-stone towards where I want to be with it all. So that’s likely to be Site No 1 on the list, with a couple of others clinging on tightly behind. It also means I’m going to be doing a lot more writing work in general of an evening, which should also be good, and might even let my brain cool down a bit, if it doesn’t have to remember every bloody thing all the time.

But anyway, it’s the start of a new chapter, and I’m looking forward to it. Obviously there’ll be more posts as and when I get chance (and remember any necessary relevant passwords!)

All done

Posted: Sat 23 September, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: Travel, Work-related | Leave a comment »

So yes, my final visit to the London office of my now-ex employer came yesterday. It was only a fairly brief visit – a couple of hours to hand over passwords and the like, and discuss how my final piece of work had gone (migrating one of the sites Arsehole Boss had ‘created’ over to the company webserver set-up, instead of the shonky stuff he was using) along with some other small discussions and so on. And then lunch with the (also leaving) Finance guy.

All went well. The project I’d been involved in had gone fairly smoothly – and more importantly, on schedule – with only a couple of problems along the way. And those have been sorted, and documented for when someone else has to do something similar. But when all’s said and done, it went well.

And now I just need to prepare myself for Monday…

Travelling again

Posted: Thu 21 September, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: Animals, Domestic, Travel, Work-related | 1 Comment »

Depressingly, I need to go into London tomorrow in order to finalise a couple of things with work. Bit of a bummer, although it does mean I can go and have a drink with the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) who’s become a good friend over the last year, as it’s his last day with the company too.

It’s actually been quite surprising to me just how much my stress levels and so on have dropped this week since sorting out leaving the company. This week has been almost a holiday, particularly in comparison to the last couple of months. I’m still getting up at the same time and so on – no point getting in to bad habits when I’m only doing this for a week, after all – and I’ve still been doing a lot of work, but at the same time, wow, it’s just nice to not be stressed or annoyed by dealing with idiots.

And yes, having Hound around has (in general) been quite relaxing too. OK, she can be a barky pain in the arse on occasion, but for the most part this week she seems to have quite enjoyed having me around as well, and she’s been calm, sleeping under the desk or in the corner of the office, and been very little trouble at all.

Hound asleep under the desk

Organised

Posted: Mon 18 September, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: Domestic, Getting Organised, Travel | Leave a comment »

Ye Gods, this domestic lark can be a bit worrying sometimes.

I’ve just booked a holiday week for us. In March next year. That’s just scary, planning stuff for six months time.

I know, maybe one day I’ll grow up enough that planning six months ahead doesn’t faze me, but for now, well, live with it.

To Do

Posted: Mon 18 September, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: Getting Organised, Thoughts, Travel, Work-related | Leave a comment »

So – a checklist of things I need to do in preparation for the new job…

  • New laptop
    • Install Office/OpenOffice
    • Install Outlook / Thunderbird
    • Install text editors
    • Move some music over
    • Copy addressbook etc.
    • Web browsers + bookmarks etc.
  • Book train tickets
  • Find accomodation
  • Check out some of the wireless access places
    • Research wireless places
    • Subscribe to one of the services?
    • Find good places to work from
  • Check out good food places ( and add them to WheresGood )
  • Pack bag for week – remember phone charger, laptop charger, etc. etc.
  • Look at courses, further education etc. – may have to wait ’til I’m there
  • Join library – may have to wait ’til I’m there

And I’m sure there’s other stuff I still need to do too – it’s just that right now I can’t remember what.

Bureaucracy

Posted: Sat 16 September, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: Getting Organised, Sweary, Travel | Leave a comment »

Because of the work I’ll be doing in Cambridge, and the fact I’m going to be there from Monday-Friday for at least the next three to six months, I was looking at joining the library in Cambridge, rather than lugging books around all the time. Saves weight, time, and money. So I check out the page on the local authority’s website about the requirements for joining the library. OK, groovy.

You can join the library at any age if you:

  • are a permanent resident of Cambridgeshire
  • work or study in Cambridgeshire
  • are visiting Cambridgeshire

Great, I’ll be working there, so that’s cool – and I fill in the online form to get it sorted before I get up there. Blah blah, Section Two “For those not living permanently in Cambridgeshire” – so is this address the same as my permanent one, or for where I’ll be staying? Not much point being the latter, as it’s only a B&B…
Get a response back from the library service…

Dear [Lyle]
Thank you for your application to join Cambridgeshire Libraries
I regret to inform you that we cannot process your request owing to the fact that you are not resident in Cambridgeshire or one of our adjoining counties
I refer you to our web page “can anyone join the library?”

No shit, that’s why I filled in the fucking section called “for those not living permanently in Cambridgeshire”.

Needless to say, I’ve sent back a snotty reply explaining this. Should be fun to see the response…

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