Posted: Wed 24 December, 2008 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Charm School, Festering Season, Work-related |
And that’s it, out of the office now ’til Monday.
Yes, I could have taken time off over the Festering Season – but to be honest, I don’t really see the point.
- It means I’ve got more holiday time for the relevant stuff when we actually want to be away
- Herself is going to be working most of it too, so *shrug* it’s not like I’m being overly antisocial in that context
- The office is going to be lovely and quiet – most people are taking the time out to be with family/children/pets/whatever, so I can get on with stuff without being disturbed
- That’s it, really
Still, it’ll be good to have some time away from work. (Although of course, me being me, I’ve still got plenty of my own stuff to be getting on with)
Posted: Tue 23 December, 2008 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Customer Services, Cynicism, Own Business, Thoughts |
It’s interesting to see today that supposedly Whittards of Chelsea is apparently also close to going into administration. Following on as it does from yesterday’s news where Woolworths announced the full schedule for the closing of all their shops (come Jan 8th, they’ll all be closed) it’s interesting to see which other chains are apparently due up against the wall.
Personally, I’m not really surprised by Woolworth’s demise – I’m more surprised that they’ve hung on as long as they have, to be honest. They’ve tried for a long time the “stock a bit of everything” approach, and in face of competition from other stores (and particularly online stores for CDs, DVDs and games) well, it just really wasn’t a surprise.
For myself, I wouldn’t be surprised to see WHSmiths go the same route as Woolworths during 2009 – again, they’ve got a huge amount of competition from the online stores for the great majority of their business. In fact, the only thing that you can get in WHSmiths that you can’t get online (for the most part) is magazines – and maybe greetings cards. Even most of the newspapers now carry an online version, which takes away yet more “core business”, although I guess there’ll be people who want to read papers “properly” for a while yet.
I wonder which other retailers will go to the wall in the current economic climate?
Posted: Mon 22 December, 2008 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Festering Season, Work-related |
As it comes closer to the Festering Season, the header image for D4D™ has done it’s usual (automatic) change.
And that’s it for decorations, so far as I’m concerned.
In the office, it turns out that there’s some kind of bizarre competition for “best decorated” section, with some kind of prize. So the entire place (with a couple of notable exceptions) looks like some fucked-up version of Santa’s bloody grotto. There’s trees, tinsel and tat all over the place as well as some frankly weird things – papier mache camels are a prime example – just for variety.
Of course, round me there’s chuff-all. And that’s fine. I suspect I may end up with recognition for making least effort, or somesuch rubbish. That’s fine. I haven’t grouched about any of the other decorations, so people shouldn’t grouch about my lack of effort/decoration/festive tat.
All the same, roll on Jan 6…
Posted: Mon 22 December, 2008 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Charm School, Customer Services, Cynicism, Work-related |
On Friday, I got an email from an agency I must’ve signed up with once, and who I’d then never heard anything from.
Basically, the email said that “My CV was more than twelve months old on their records, so I really should update it”
It doesn’t appear to have occurred to the agency that actually, if I haven’t been in touch with them for 12 months – and they haven’t contacted me about any positions at all – that maybe that means they’re either
- not getting in the types of role that would be suitable for me
- not really getting in much business at all
or
- not really all that good at all
I think I might have to send a reply letting them know those things…
Posted: Fri 19 December, 2008 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Charm School, Festering Season, Health, Work-related |
I’m coming to the conclusion that either December doesn’t like me, or I don’t like December. It could even be both.
As it is though, just in the last two weeks I’ve:
- Had one day off sick through puking and generally being unwell
- Had Herself be off for three days through puking and generally being unwell
- Picked up a lovely cold
- Turned into a streaming snot-production facility
And finally
- Now ended up with a hacking cough, and a load of phlegmy shit in my lungs.
This is after not being properly ill for ages.
Of course, I’m still going in to work – my head’s still in “contractor” mode, and while I did go home post-puke, I’ve not done the same while having a cold. I just don’t see “a cold” as reason for being off sick – I tend to stick with the kitchen ethos (and the contractor ethos) of “If you can stand, you can work“.
Maybe this all means I’ll be OK for the Festering Season (this time next week and it’s all over!) but time will tell on that one. I normally end up crashing and burning over the Festering Season simply because it’s a few days off, and that gives me the chance to relax. I don’t know if it’ll be the same this year, considering what I’ve already been hit with.
Regardless though, I’ll be glad when I’ve stopped coughing lumpy bits out of my lungs on a regular basis.
Posted: Mon 15 December, 2008 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: D4D™, Own Business, Work-related |
I don’t know exactly when the last time was that I didn’t write anything on D4D™ for a day – let alone two, as happened this weekend. But we should now be getting back to normal.
Basically, last week bordered on nightmarish, particularly with regard to work. We’d released the first application/module that I’d written, and while my side generally worked fine (a couple of bugs and issues, but nothing earth-shattering, or non-fixable) the customer side was a total hellhole, involving umpteen changes to the live data as they realised that their records were horrifically incorrect.
Let’s just say that during the course of the week, I amended at least 50% of their records, as more and more errors were found. It was that kind of week. My phone just didn’t stop ringing.
Now though, that module is over and done with, and it’s just about dealing with any further fallout.
But what with “normal” work being like that, and having a deadline on some private stuff that needed completing and releasing, I just didn’t have either the time or the inclination to write here as well. For once in my life, once I’d completed the work side of things, I just didn’t want to even look at a bloody computer.
Anyway, all’s done now, and normality is slowly resuming. (Thank Christ)
I’ve still got some bugs to fix, and more ongoing work, but the two big bits are out of the way for the moment. Happy, happy day.
Posted: Thu 11 December, 2008 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Charm School, Work-related |
Here’s a hint :
If you call me on my work phone, and I don’t answer it, it means either :
- I’m not at my desk
- I’m neck-deep in some other bizarre problem
Or
- I’m talking to someone else, and dealing with some other query
So, in any of those contexts, don’t fucking ring me straight back again once the phone’s gone to cunting voicemail. Take the fucking hint, you cuntburger fuckwit arselick.