Interviewage

Posted: Mon 22 May, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: Travel, Work-related | 3 Comments »

Well, the interview seems to have gone pretty well. The company it’s for is definitely huge ( and in the foyer of the office they have a column of blue water with bubbles going through it – readers in the UK can probably figure out the company from that clue…) which would be interesting, as I’ve never really worked for a giant corp before.

There’s a couple of bits where my technical knowledge let me down though – really, JSP (Java Server Pages) are only used by giant companies, so little old me, who works mainly at the smaller end of the market, has no hope of knowing them. Whether or not that’ll be the deal-breaker is a decision for the company, and there’s nowt I can do about it. Yeah sure, I can learn them damn quick, but if they want someone who already knows them, then I’m stuffed. Ah well.

But that really is the only stumbling block – all the rest seemed to go OK. I’ve been upfront about my lack of experience in working for big companies (and with about 6,000 employees, it sure as shit qualifies on that score) and was right back to my initial application, so they knew about it before asking me to the interview.

And if that comes down to being the thing that stops me getting the job, well, it says more about the company than it does about me…

We’ll see, anyway.

Good Food

Posted: Sat 20 May, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: Domestic, Reviews(ish), Travel | 2 Comments »

So yes, the Summer Good Food Festival at the Birmingham NEC. (the normal one is on in November, fact fans)

All told, it was OK. We’d paid for the “Platinum ticket” which supposedly got us priority entry to the cooking demonstration and wine-tasting sessions we’d booked, as well as a show guide, a bag, and a tasting glass. Which, frankly, would’ve been more use if there’d been many people actually giving away decent tasters of anything they provided. (Not that I’d have had any, as I ended up driving both legs of the journey) All told? Not worth the effort. The shows we could’ve seen anyway, and as for “priority seating”, don’t make me fucking laugh.

I’ve seen piss-ups that were better organised.

Other than that – and paying £7 for bloody parking, as well as the £30ish for the “platinum” ticket – it was a pretty good day. A fair amount to see (although not as much as the Christmas one we went to in London last year) and so on, and some decent offers – and marvellous cheeses.

I’d go again, but just get the normal tickets, and watch the shows etc. from behind the crappy little wooden barrier that they’d put in.

Away

Posted: Fri 19 May, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: Domestic, Travel | 1 Comment »

Very sparse on the updates today, I’m afraid, as we’re up in Birmingham at the NEC for the BBC Good Food Show.

More tomorrow.

Football

Posted: Wed 17 May, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: Travel, Weirdness | 1 Comment »

Ok, now here’s something that just befuddles me completely…

On the news this morning there was an interview (of sorts) with some of the fans going to watch Arsenal play [some other team] in the [thingy] cup/league/championship/whatever in Paris. Some of these fans had travelled overnight to see the match, but didn’t have tickets, and so were going to go and see it in a bar. Somewhere. In Paris.

Now, what is the point of going to Paris to see a football match – in a bar? Surely it’s easier/cheaper/saner to do that from your pub at home?

I can understand it if you’ve got tickets to the match, and you’re going to see it right there in front of you. Fine, I get that.

But to go off, and then still end up sat in a bar, watching it on TV – well, to me that’s more than a little bit silly.

Commution

Posted: Thu 4 May, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: Thoughts, Travel | 2 Comments »

I forgot to say yesterday, but one bonus of the journey in to London on Tuesday was that it reminded me of exactly why I don’t want to work there on a full-time basis.

One mistake I made was going via the “fast” route (Wokingham – Reading, Reading – London , which usually takes about 45 minutes on average) rather than going direct from Wokingham to London, which is a stopping service, and takes about 70 minutes. However, because I’m a cursed individual, the journey was slathered with delays, both on the Reading-London section, and on the Underground itself. So all in all it took 2 and a quarter bloody hours. Which is never good, when one is supposed to be meeting a prospective client at 7pm, you’ve left Wokingham at 5.15, and don’t get there ’til 7.30. Argh.

But it wasn’t just the journey, and the delays – it was also the people. I’ve never been a fan of the Underground per se – I don’t mind it in off-peak times, but in peak hours I loathe it. And well, I just loathe people in general – particularly rude ones with no goals other than their own. In other words, the majority of Londoners, and commuters.

Other than that, though, it was great. *cough*

Coincidence

Posted: Tue 2 May, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: Own Business, Travel, Work-related | Leave a comment »

Strangely, after years of not going to Islington, I’m there again tonight.

This time it’s a business thing, though, with the potential to bring me in a fair amount of work, and hopefully a semi-decent bit of income. Of course, the major part of that will be dependent on the first phase, and whether that’s successful. Should be interesting, anyway.

Automotive

Posted: Tue 2 May, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: Domestic, Thoughts, Travel | 4 Comments »

Over the weekend I was thinking a bit about the driving I’ve done since passing the test 8 months ago.

It’s actually been pretty interesting, because over that time I’ve done a fair number of miles (particularly considering I don’t actually drive most of the time, and don’t drive to work etc.) and also managed to do some things that other friends of mine (who have been driving a lot longer than I have) have still not done.

One of the last hurdles for me is/was driving in Central London. OK, I still don’t fancy doing it during a working week, or even at – say – lunchtime on a Saturday, but regardless of that, I’ve now done that one too.

Coming back from the gig on Saturday, I took a wrong turn, having forgotten that we’d turned to get on to that road, so I went straight on, which took us towards central London. Yes, it was my mistake – and it wasn’t helped by the fact that Herself couldn’t find the road we were on in the A-Z.

Fortunately I know that area fairly well, and so was able to navigate us back through to where we were supposed to be without too much hassle at all. But the main thing was that, despite it being still pretty busy (it was about half ten in the evening) I managed it all without a problem. It didn’t even stress me out – it was more about just getting on with it.

In fact, that seems to be pretty much my attitude with driving in general. I was a bit more phased by the recent journey I did up to Middlesbrough, but that was primarily because it was a shitload more driving than I’d done in one dollop, and also the longest solo drive I’d done, by a large margin. But again, it was more about just getting on with it, getting it done, and again, everything went fine with it.

So there’s very little that worries me now when it comes to driving. I still want to spend some time on a skid-pan, so I can know what I’m supposed to do when/if that happens, and over time I’ll get a lot more miles under my belt. But it has to be said, it’s all turned out to be a lot easier than I thought it would, particularly after so many years of not driving, and only being a passenger.

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