AdTech
Posted: Wed 22 September, 2010 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Travel, Work-related | Leave a comment »Today’s been a pretty long day, and I’m fairly thankful that it’s over.
Work had asked me to go up to the AdTech exhibition / conference / thing in London, and today was the day. It meant getting up at 5.30, leaving the house at 6.30, getting the train to London – for £80 return (eighty fucking quid!) – and then to Olympia, hanging round loads of marketing twerds for the day, and then doing the return run. Joys.
What was worse was that (for me) it felt like a pretty wasted day. I didn’t really learn anything new – after all, I already knew that marketing droids are a dull bunch – and didn’t get any new ideas or new contacts that’d be useful.
One thing that did surprise me was how execrably bad a lot of these marketing companies were at marketing themselves – in a marketing conference, no less. So many of the exhibitors had exceedingly minimal stands, no information, nothing. Really very very strange.
Anyway, at least it’s over.
Security Nightmares
Posted: Mon 20 September, 2010 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Geeky, Work-related | Leave a comment »Work today was a swine.
For a range of reasons we had to change a number of passwords today – never the most fun – and I’ve also got some stuff to run tonight as well.
Except of course I forgot what I’d changed the site passwords to. Arse.
Fortunately I figured a way of getting them back – all I will say on that score is that Snadboy’s “Revelation” is an awesome bit of kit yet again – so everything went according to plan, but all the same, what a day.
Pigs Arse
Posted: Fri 3 September, 2010 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Art, Driving, Norfolk, Weirdness, Work-related | Leave a comment »Yesterday while driving home I had one of the more surreal driving experiences of late.
Pulling out in front of me was a truck with a load of topiary pigs. Yes, topiary pigs.
So half my journey home last night was spent looking at the arses of three green pigs.
Three Pigs Backsides
It’s not the best of photos – taken while waiting for traffic to sort itself out – but you get the idea.
The C Team
Posted: Tue 31 August, 2010 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Domestic, Driving, Work-related | Leave a comment »On my drive in to work, I regularly see vans from a courier company called “Team C“, and seeing them always makes me smile.
I don’t know why they chose that name, but it always makes me think that they’re the third option – like you’ve tried Team A and Team B, so now it’s time to go with the C Team.
Confusion
Posted: Tue 31 August, 2010 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Domestic, Work-related | Leave a comment »Bank Holidays always do this to me.
It’s Tuesday, yet it’s the first day back at work. Which makes it Monday.
Or something.
Bleh.
Weighty
Posted: Wed 25 August, 2010 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Business, Domestic, Health, People, Thoughts, Weight Loss, Work-related | Leave a comment »This week at work, I’ve broken the chair I’ve been using since October. Completely, categorically broken it. The central piston (for raising/lowering the seat) has cracked through the plastic baseplate, and now hits the floor. This has resulted in a chair that is politely known as “broken”. Or in my terminology, it’s “totally fucked”.
Thankfully the directors are OK about it – it’s wear and tear (and me being a weighty bastard) rather than that I’ve wilfully abused/broken the chair.
But because I know that at least some of the blame is due to being rather bulkier than most people, I had a look at the specs for some new office chairs as a replacement. And I know Argos isn’t exactly the centre of the office-furniture world, but it’s a useful reference point.
So looking through the chairs they’ve got listed, and all of them seem to have a ‘recommended max weight’ of 110kg – 17ish stone. You can see what I mean by looking at this one. And don’t just think it’s the cheap-ass ones – even this one for £150 has the same limitaton.
I know I’m not an average size – I’d need to lose four stone just to get down to that ‘max recommended weight’ – but equally I’m not massively obese. Fairly solid, I think it’s fair to say, but not supersized or owt. So why is it that chairs just aren’t available (in Argos, I know, I know) that are designed to support – or at least not fuck up and break – for someone my size?
Suited/Booted ?
Posted: Tue 17 August, 2010 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Geeky, People, Thoughts, Work-related | 4 Comments »Over the next few days at work, we again have potential investors visiting the office, and so the word has gone round to be as smart as possible.
While I don’t have any real problem with this, and generally look vaguely presentable, my main argument is that these visitors – Americans – aren’t expecting the techies to be suited and booted.
I wasn’t hired for this role because of how I look in a suit, or because I’ll be dealing with customers. I was (to blow my own trumpet briefly) hired for my brains and my skills in writing websites, databases and the like. Suited and booted is – for the most part, and unless I’m in an interview – irrelevant to my skill-set or reason for being employed.
Personally, I wouldn’t ever trust a techie in a suit. Sure, they/we can wear suits for other stuff – interviews, smart events, weddings, social stuff etc. – but in the office? A techie in a suit isn’t a techie.
What do you think? Would you trust a techie in a suit?