Well-Timed
Posted: Fri 17 November, 2006 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Work-related | Leave a comment »I discovered yesterday that it now looks like I left my old job at pretty much the ideal time.
Within a month from when I left, all the remaining developers were summarily sacked. They’ve been given a month’s notice, but that’s it. The last one leaves today.
Quite how the company will go on from this, I’ve no idea. And, if I’m honest, I don’t much care. It’s a shame, because the initial ideas and driving forces of the company were good – it was just that no-one was ever able to get rid of all the negative (and, frankly, insane) influences of certain people. And I know that Arsehole Boss will make out that it’s everyone’s fault but his own, and he will come out of it fine, regardless of how much shit goes flying around.
The bit of information that made me smile, though, was that it also looks like they’re going to have to give up the London office, because the company can’t afford the rent on it any more. All the sane people in the office (i.e. the non-management members) knew that the office they got was too expensive, not worth it, and that it was a stupid move, primarily driven by the vanity of Arsehole Boss wanting to say “We have a London office”.
How the mighty are fallen. It’s just a pity that when they fall, they take a whole bundle of other people with them.
Ah-Choo *sniffle*
Posted: Thu 16 November, 2006 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Health, Work-related | Leave a comment »It has to be said, this is the first day this week where I actually feel vaguely human.
All I’ve had is a cold, but it left me feeling utterly manky. My nose appears to have now stopped glowing, but is still scabby and gross. But at least it’s no longer doing an impression of a dripping tap.
It’s also the first time in a long while that I’ve actually been sent home (well, to the B&B) from work for being ill and generally crap. That happened on Tuesday. I hate taking time off work for being sick – my attitude tends to come down to something like “If you can stand, you can work”. And I hate it even more when all I’ve got is a poxy cold. I just feel guilty for not being at work when I could/should be there.
But anyway, I’m feeling better – although still not 100% – so all is well.
Waiting Around
Posted: Wed 15 November, 2006 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Getting Organised, Thoughts, Work-related | Leave a comment »Well, the interview went pretty well. All seemed to be OK although weirdly they did it as though it were applicants from outside the company rather than who’ve been working for them already. Why, I don’t know, but it made it all slightly surreal.
Still, I should know by the end of the week, so that’s a bonus.
Of course, there’s also the added minor hindrance of another job having come up away from this company, that would also be ideal, and pays rather more than this one will… Hmmm…
Permanent?
Posted: Wed 15 November, 2006 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Getting Organised, Work-related | Leave a comment »Since I joined the new place, there’ve been some changes, and some additions to the available funding. As such, they’ve now got the money and authorisation to hire someone from January to do the job I’ve been doing on a contract basis.
I’ve applied for the job – if nothing else it’ll make life a lot easier at the start of ’07 when it comes to fun like mortgage applications – and the interview is today.
So it could be interesting. Having done the job for nearly two months, I’m pretty much up to speed (except for a major problem with our versioning system over the last week, although that’s not been a problem of my causing) so it’ll be interesting seeing what else they can think of to ask me.
And in the meantime, well, fingers crossed (again)
Snotty Blackberries
Posted: Mon 13 November, 2006 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Thoughts, Travel, Weirdness, Work-related | 2 Comments »I got in to work fine in the end – and yes, the trains were a lot emptier than usual. All told, not too bad, and it meant I got to read through some of the OU Course material.
Anyway, while chumbling through a whole bunch of waffle and crap about Management, I was looking round the train carriage, and I noticed just how many people were using Blackberry machines. I really can’t believe that all these people are so important to their workplaces that they have to get their email pushed to them wherever they are. Of course, I know, Blackberrys are a “status symbol” that also supposedly says “look how important I am”, and as such it’s not something I’ve ever really bitten on anyway.
Personally I just wouldn’t want one. Hell, while I love a lot of the ideas on my little XDA, I’m almost certain to get rid of it next year when it comes to renewing my phone contract, and go back to a standard-type mobile. I simply don’t use the features enough on the XDA to make it worth my while to upgrade again, and particularly so while the poxy thing continues to crash on a regular basis.
But what I understand even less is the people who have both a Blackberry AND a mobile phone…
Another Step
Posted: Sun 12 November, 2006 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Domestic, Getting Organised, Travel, Work-related | Leave a comment »After a long day travelling round bits of Norfolk, looking at houses to rent. And we’ve got a top three, so it’s all looking promising. Now it’s “just” finding out what the letting agent needs in the way of paperwork, deposit, money, credit references and the like. Joy.
Some of the places we saw though, Jesus Christ, truly nasty. One we didn’t even go in, having looked from the outside, and one we rather wished we hadn’t gone in. Put it this way – mould, cold, storage heating, and a bathroom suite in a colour that can only be described as “Orange”. Blech.
Still, it’s another step along the way towards getting us where we want to be. Hallelujah.
Chill Factor
Posted: Fri 10 November, 2006 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Thoughts, Travel, Work-related | 1 Comment »I’ve mentioned before, I find that I’m pretty impervious to the onset of winter, and really don’t notice that it’s getting colder. I’m actually more comfortable in this type of temperature than I am in summer, although I’m far more tolerant (Hey, now there’s a sentence you don’t see me say often) of summer temperatures now. But all the same, given the choice, I like the transition from summer to autumn to winter.
I was walking in to work this morning, and wondered why I was getting some funny looks. Obviously the first paranoia is about zips and the like, but then it slowly dawned on me that people were looking at me a bit oddly because I was walking along dressed only in a short-sleeved shirt and t-shirt (and trousers/boots, obviously) while they were all wrapped up in big coats, scarves, gloves, and all the paraphenalia normally associated with some kind of sub-zero outing above the Arctic circle.
OK, there was some ice on the windows of parked cars and the like, but it wasn’t actually cold, you know?
I wonder what all these people are going to wear when/if winter comes?