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By Threelight, 11 March, 2010 9:24 pm

Well, I ‘m back. I’ve been back since Saturday, but have only now decided to put a post together. I am off work until Saturday, so I’m happy I have more free time other than my holiday in Spain.

The holiday went fine, and the time went really slow. I suppose that’s probably because I was so relaxed over the 15 days. The weather was kind, and I managed to get a small tan, which is now doing it’s best to vanash. The most important thing is that you can tell that I’ve caught some sun, which to me was very important throughout the holday. When it was sunny, it was really warm, so I managed to get some rays at every chance I could.

I met a few new people that I hadn’t met at other times I’ve been there, and went to a few new restaurants, some good and some particularly bad. In the past we went to a few Chinese restaurants in the area, but in the end we only went to one: the evening I arrived. I suppose there’s a number of reasons why that happened: getting sick of Chinese food, or not many of them being around the area like there used to be, or maybe because eating habits change over a period of years. Saying that, I mostly ate fish and chips. The fish was good, but the chips varied from restaurant to restaurant.

I also drank a lot more beer on this holiday han what I have in the past. Normally I like my usual drink of Southern Comfort, but, as this is in fairly short supply in restaurants these days, I was sticking to beer. Also, when with friends, out came the beer (not to the falling down stage and drunk, but just enough to relax). At one stage you couldn’t even buy Southern comfort anywhere in the shops of the area, but the local shop now stocks it. That’s mainly because the area is changing to give the people of the area (mostly ex-pats and holiday-goers) like their home comforts, after all.

I have also read all the books that I took with me, thinking that I wouldn’t do a lot of reading this holiday, but reading I did (mini reviews of two of the books definitely coming up in future posts – hopefully). Shows again that it was a relaxing holiday.

When i got home, I had my work shift rota to have a look at, and oh dear, it’s going to be a particularly bad year time wise, I have loads of early shifts, and probably an equal number of late shifts.

Over my holiday, I did think about the future of this here blog, and the good news is that I’m not giving up quite yet. I plan to continue my posts on “DVDs In My Collection” and also branching out a bit with books. Posts about work and how crap it’s going will be few and far between now, but I do want to mention a few people I see and talk to, but it will not be a bitching session that this and that happened. Probably, in the past I’ve wanted to say something about how the work’s going, but always change my mind, hence very few posts.

So, welcome to the first post of March.

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By Threelight, 19 February, 2010 12:13 pm

Finally, the day when I fly out has arrived. Catch y’all later.

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By Threelight, 1 February, 2010 11:15 am

Five posts over January, which to me is shocking. Compared to what I had in mind. But the best-laid plans never seem to go as you want them to.

I can go on blogging about the work I do, but that would only bore you, and at the same time depress me a bit. Something yesterday that happened at work (which I’m going to keep personal – very personal) made me realise that there are better things I can do in my working life rather than the work I am doing now (or supposed to be doing).

What I really need is a holiday. And that’s precisely what I’m doing. In 2 1/2 weeks time I am flying out to Spain for 15 days, and then after that I have another full week off (the type of office I work in allows that sort of thing: if you can get the time off by holiday and swapping shifts with your fellow work-mate, then you can).

I think I need it. 2009 was a blur, and something that, based on what I now know of the organisation and the area I used to work for, should not have happened. What is becoming clear is that I am not suited for this type of work. It doesn’t help that the work I was doing was work I absolutely loved. But that’s the usual way. You like doing the work, and someone pulls the rug from under you.  

And I moved over to the new business area because I thought the any job is better than no job at all.

But it’s good to get new skills and experiences, innit?

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By Threelight, 19 January, 2010 1:05 pm

A process that started last Thursday, I am now half-way through a time when I’m working 8 out of 9 days. I had a day off yesterday, but it’s back to work today, or should I say this afternoon. I start at 3:30 and finish at 11:30. This is the first such shift I’m doing since I joined that nice place (sarcasm indeed intended) 4 months ago.

I suppose I can’t complain about it: at least it’s not an early 6:00 in the morning shift. I’ve managed to do shift swaps for those, for all except one, where I couldn’t even get the day off.

So, I’ll have to see what happens. The weather is supposed to be turning from the thaw that everybody is experiencing to colder more wintery weather. As the work I do can sometimes depend on the weather, I’m expecting it to be quite busy as it has been the last few weeks. A Customer said to me the other day that because we’re busy there is no chance of being made redundant or anything like that. While not worried that what he said may happen again shortly, I didn’t like to tell him that that I was moved from a place where we were very busy and doing quite well to a situation that is quite chaotic at times (as in dodgy computers and other such hardware problems).

Again, at least I can’t complain. I have a job to go to, even though it may be one that I absolutely hate.

Therefore, the posts may be a bit silent while I’m either at work, or fast asleep the next morning. I’ll see whether I can do any posts.

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By Threelight, 14 January, 2010 10:34 pm

It is nearly a full month since I bought my X-Box 360 (if I’m not mistaken, it was around 15th December). I was lent 6 games by Polyhex and Agent, and got 2 from them for Christmas. So, after only a month, I have completed one game, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

Lordy! It’s an absolutely brilliant game.It helps that I’m a Star Wars fan. And this, to me, is a very welcome addition to the canon. The story sucks you in, and the gameplay is absolutely superb, with the graphics out of this world (and the way they drew one of the characters: Juno Eclipse. Remarkable). X-Box 360 games centre around achievements – do something in the game and get a bonus type thing. Even though the amount I have for the game is slightly on the low side, at least I’ve finished it. Absolutely brilliant it is. It’s certainly kept me quiet.

WARNING: THE NEXT PARAGRAPH CONTAINS SPOILERS ABOUT THE GAME

My X-Box 360 avatar’s motto is: “You want me to do what?”. And that was precisely what I was thinking when the simple instruction came up on the screen: “Defeat Darth Vader”. I mean, what?? But after a while I managed to do just that…

Oh well, more games to go I suppose…

First X-Box 360 game rating: 9 / 10.

Footnote: Apparently this year, Part II is coming out! Mind if I go geek-crazy for a bit?

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By Threelight, 8 January, 2010 11:10 pm

This weather is beginning to get to me a bit.

When I last used my car 2 days ago after I finished work, I thought that it would be okay to drive tomorrow when I’m next at work. I went to check it today, and it will not start (turns over but will not start). As a result I have to wait in the morning for the breakdown service to arrive, and then I’m off to work for 2pm. Hopefully everything should be sorted out by then. Wih my luck, possibly not.

Whilst I laugh at the media’s panic because the snow has also affected them, when very little airtime was given to what was happening Up Norf, I’m at the stage where I just want it to be gone, or maybe a slight thaw to take place. Yes, it may be different, but at the same time, it’s just…irritating.

And now this thing with my car….

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By Threelight, 5 January, 2010 8:27 pm

This morning I was awakened by a rap on my bedroom door to look outside. Yes, snow everywhere.

My Dad managed to clear most of the snow off my car, and I had a reasonably smooth journey of not being able to see any lines in the road, and a traffic queue on the M60. My journey took an hour rather than the usual 20 minutes.

Right the way through my day in work, I was more worried about how the journey would be during my journey home. There were a few signs of worry, like having to be pushed out of the snow from the car park, and then on the motorway, I couldn’t see the lines in the road, because there were areas that were not cleared or gritted. And then coming off the motorway, in my lane was a gritter clearning the road, which I had to move deftly past. I am unable to park my car in it’s usual place on the drive, as my wheels roll when I try to move the car up a small ramp (more like a step actually).

Tonight they have forecast widespread frost. The roads are treacherous near to where I live: there are places that have not been gritted, and the side roads definitely have not. Because my car is in the situation it is, and because I have to leave quite early on in the morning, if I can’t move  the car away, or I’m slipping and sliding on the roads, I won’t be going in to work.

Which is all okay, I have no worries about that, because about 20% of the people I work with and about 50% of the total number of people on the office floor didn’t bother turning up today.

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By Threelight, 4 January, 2010 8:55 pm

Okay, my excuses are as follows:

1) I would have posted on Friday, but I was at work

2) I would have posted on Saturday, but I was dealing with another project, Polyhex and Ahent came round and I was working out my X-Box 360 co-op play

3) I would have posted on Sunday, but we had a power cut for some of the day.

So, no excuses today, even though I have been back to work today.

Happy New Year, Y’all!!!

Yesterday was fun in it’s own way. From about 3:45pm to 8:30pm, we had no electricity. Not just us, but a whole block. Now, I don’t know about you, but I find it weird that the power should go out in this the 2nd decade of 2010. Of course they’ll probably tell you that the actual cause was an abnormally cold spell (we are getting nightly temperatures of around -4 here), and sometimes the infrastructure in the ground would’nt quite be able to cope with temperatures that cold.

But still, you’d imagine they’d build in something to cope with the temperatures, wouldn’t you.It looks apparent that they haven’t.

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By Threelight, 31 December, 2009 9:50 pm

Now that we’re moving into a new decade (it doesn’t seem that long ago that I was celebrating the Millenium and waiting for all the world’s computers to malfunction, as everybody was telling us, and the fireworks can begin, even though I have to go to work tomorrow, I thought I’d write this post that I have been planning for a few weeks now.

There is one person for me who stands out, still does, even though he died this year, is Harry Patch. I remember watching a program called “The Last Tommy” about the soldiers of World War I who were still living. It seemed to make an impression on me. Probably as a result, I’m a bit more clued up on what happened in both World Wars, and also enjoying programs like “Band of Brothers” (I know, a work of fiction, but based solidly on fact), but from a different perspective. These people and the serving soldiers today did something that I could never do, I wouldn’t be that brave, and that is to fight for their country. Admittedly, the Afghan conflict isn’t a worldwide one.

Every time I saw him on television since then, I was interested in what he was saying, which from reading up (and not just on the ubiquitous Wikipedia), that war is bad, especially the war he took part in.

I know it’s a bit of an odd choice, and an odd post to end 2009 on, but there you go.

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By Threelight, 29 December, 2009 7:35 pm

I like this advert, never seen on UK TV screens apart from amusing clip shows, where I first saw it.

I’m employed by a well-known organisation which deals with a lot of cars and vans, and the end just makes me laugh every time I see it.