Travelling Man (Again)
Posted: Thu 21 February, 2013 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Customer Services, Public Transport, Travel, Work-related | 2 Comments »Yesterday was another Devon run – I didn’t get to go down (Fnarr!) last week due to feeling ill, so it ended up being this week instead.
I was doing the trip with my direct boss, and he suggested that instead we went by train instead of driving. I’m not quite sure of the reasoning – except it meant we didn’t do stupid mileage – but all told it wasn’t an experience I wish to repeat.
The journey down was OK – as much as train journeys ever are – but it took just over four hours when the drive takes three. So leaving home at 5.45, train at 6.30, into the Devon office just after 10:30. (Usually if I leave at 6 I’m in the office at 9 – 9.30)
To be fair, we got a bundle of stuff done, several meetings, and some very happy customers.
For whatever reasons, we stayed overnight at a local hotel (well, pub with rooms) and came back this morning. And that journey was a pig.
We’d forgotten it was half-term, which meant the train back was absolutely packed. It had eight carriages, with three “First Class” carriages which were utterly empty. (No idea why – I assume that Devon -> London has a lot of First Class passengers usually) The other five carriages were all full, every seat with a ‘reserved’ ticket on it.
So instead I ended up standing all the way from Devon to Reading, where I finally got a seat for a whole 20 minutes.
The journey back to Milton Keynes took three and a half hours (which wasn’t too bad) and then another half-hour to get back to the office.
All told, it’s been a long journey. I feel like the time’s been a little bit wasted – particularly today – and could’ve been much better used if I had the long one-day trip instead of splicing it between two days in this way.
Still, it’s done, and I’m home now.
Health, Water and Waste
Posted: Mon 18 February, 2013 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: 1BEM, Cynicism, Health, People, Work-related | Leave a comment »In my office, there’s a number of people who’ve been on a bit more of a health kick so far this year – one aspect of which is that they all drink a lot more water.
Work supplies a lot of the ‘standard’ drinks for the company – primarily tea, coffee, and bottled water, as well as a bundle of other odds and sods. It’s not a bad workplace, all told, and they’re pretty reasonable.
Sadly though (in my opinion) some of the people are somewhat less reasonable. As a result, they drink the supplied water, and piss and moan when it runs out. But they only ever drink the bottle of water, then chuck the bottle away and get another one. It’s about as anti-Green as you can get.
I’ve also been drinking more water (as detailed previously) but I have one 750ml bottle that’s now lasted me three months. I just refill it each time, rather than needing (or more accurately, feeling I need) a new bottle every time.
I don’t really care, to be fair. It just annoys me on occasion when other people a) can’t be chuffed to provide their own stuff, or b) take the piss.
Hire Car
Posted: Sun 10 February, 2013 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Commuting, Domestic, Driving, Getting Organised, Reviews(ish), Thoughts, Travel, Work-related | Leave a comment »While Mondeo was knackered, I ended up getting a hire car from Enterprise for a couple of weeks.
As it turned out, they gave me a brand new (as in 9 miles on the clock) Renault Megane, which was interesting. Not great, but interesting.
Personally, I really didn’t like the car – I found it deeply underpowered (dangerously so, when it came to overtaking) although once it got up to speed, it stayed there. I’m actually really surprised by it, having looked at the spec and the pricing.
From the look of it, the engine isn’t much less powerful than the one on the Mondeo – so frick knows what it’s doing with it, because the acceleration on it was dirt-poor. When overtaking, you could actually watch the digital speedo click up mile by mile, and by God it took it’s time. The fuel-consumption was also well below the advertised/specced 40.9mpg – the best I got was an indicated 36, which is the same as I’m getting on the Saab.
Finally, it’s been a long while since I felt actively nervous driving a car, but this one managed it. In particular, the drive back from Stockport on Tuesday was decidedly nerve-wracking. The weather was vile, and the car itself felt like a skittish little lightweight tin can, with no protection or security.
I’m glad I’ve tried the car, but I’m also massively pleased to have given it back. I certainly wouldn’t consider buying one.
Travelling Man
Posted: Tue 5 February, 2013 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Driving, Travel, Work-related | Leave a comment »This month has started with a trip up to Manchester, visiting a work client. It’s been fun, even with having to use the piece-of-shit hire car to get to and from there.
Next week I’m down in Devon, so it’s all a bit mileage heavy.
No idea yet what the rest of the month will bring, but all the same, it’ll also give me chance to shake down the new car once I’ve got that tomorrow.
Anniversal (One)
Posted: Sat 2 February, 2013 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Bankruptcy, Domestic, Work-related | Leave a comment »[This is the first of a number of one-year-on thoughts that are running through this year. Live with it]
I only just realised, I’ve now been in my current job – well, working with my current company – for a year. (A year last Friday, to be exact)
Of course, within that year I’ve started off as a contractor, then been paid as a direct contractor, and then taken on full-time, so it’s kind of been three jobs all told, but all with the same place.
It’s quite surprising really – that time has flown by, I’m still enjoying the work and the new challenges, so I’ll stick it out for a while longer. The plan is to be there ’til at least August, and probably for this year, but we’ll see how things go.
Changing Passwords
Posted: Thu 31 January, 2013 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Domestic, Technology, Thoughts, Weirdness, Work-related | Leave a comment »Last week I had to change the password on my work computer – that’s no problem, it’s a vaguely regular occurrence anyway.
I also log in to my work computer from home – various reasons, none of which I can be chuffed to go into for the moment.
But one thing is very weird. Why is it that when I log in from home I remember the new password with no problem, but when I’m at work, I still always type the old password first, then remember and do the new one?
It’s almost like the typing muscle-memory is location-based, from the way these things work out. Maybe that’s true. I don’t know. It’s still weird, though.
Sign Typography
Posted: Sat 12 January, 2013 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Driving, Geeky, M1, Thoughts, Work-related | Leave a comment »I’ve already written about the M1 on my commute, and the new “use the hard shoulder when the road’s busy” policy.
This week I’ve noticed something odd about the typography on the signs, particularly when viewed from a distance.
When you can’t use the hard shoulder, the text reads like this :
Hard shoulder
Emergency
Use only
When you can use it, it looks like this :
Congestion
Use
Hard shoulder
What’s interesting to me – and probably to absolutely no-one else – is that when the lane is open, the typography looks like an X, which would imply it’s closed. When it’s closed, it looks like an arrow, implying the lane is open.
I don’t know if that contributes to why people don’t use the hard shoulder when they can – I doubt it, but who knows? – but it’s still something I find interesting, regardless.