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By Threelight, 28 May, 2010 3:03 pm

Wow, something like 3 weeks since I last posted, and a corny joke at that, but a good one I think.

I had done that post whilst the bathroom was being re-done, re-tiled, and just about re-everythinged. So, in the 3 weeks since that post, let’s see what happened (don’t fall asleep please):

1. We have a new bathroom with an even bigger shower than before. And it’s absolutely fantastic. Completely changed, and very bright and cheery (if bathrooms are allowed to be bright and cheery).  

2. There’s now a coalition government. For once all the prediction polls were correct. Right, enough politics.

3. I am now nearing the end of an 11 day break. I go back to work tomorrow. Strange, but it feels a lot longer than 11 days, and ever now and then, I have to check the calendar to see whether it really was 11 days. And yes, it’s the last day today. I got a lot done in that time, which I’m particularly happy about. I went to see “Iron Man 2“ with Polyhex and Agent. And, with some spare time, watched “Avatar“. Reviews of both will come later on (hopefully not that much later on than Iron Man 3 comes out, and James Cameron begins to film Avatar II: The Return of the Blue People, or something like that.). Apart from that, did loads of sorting out, and filing and cataloguing of my DVD collection, as well as some of my vast music collection (change that to Various Artists compilations collection). All in all, it wasn’t particularly wasted, even though on 2 of the 11 days, I was marvelling at how slow the time was going, and how chilled out I was.

So there you have it. May not seem like much doing, but it was a welcome break all the same. Now I just have the hell-hole called work to contend with. Could be worse. Could have no job I suppose.

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By Threelight, 27 December, 2009 11:18 pm

Well, that’s Christmas over for another year.

This year it was a bit quiet. Just a tad (not a lot) bored on Christmas Day when we went to my Uncle’s house, which is something that we normally do anyway. When we came back – using Polyhex’s car – we discovered that the roads around where I live were similar to an ice-skating rink. As I got out of the car, I nearly slipped. There was a thick slab of ice there. But even more drastic, was that Polyhex’s car had a bit of trouble moving again, as it was stuck on ice. A couple of minutes later, that problem was solved, and Polyhex was able to go home.

The next day, we were supposed to be going back to my Uncle’s for a second day (myself, my Mum and Dad). But we never got there. I maybe should add, they never got there. I  chose to stay anyway, not wanting to be very very bored (I had the option to), so my Mum and Dad were going to go. But the weather conditions and the state of the roads were near enough the same as they were on Friday, so the decision was made not to go anyway.

A bit of the Groundhog Day with today, as nothing happened – the same as yesterday. So I was able to clear a level of the X-Box 360 game I’m playing, which is superb (maybe I’ll do a post later on this).

However, even though it’s a Bank Holiday for some, I’m off to work tomorrow. I suppose that’s the penalty for having 6 days in a row off, where I’m in tomorrow and for the rest of the week, including New Years Day, which I really wanted off, but was not able to. I’m still a bit angry about that, but there is nothing I can do about it at all anymore. In a way, I’m not looking forward to going back in to work after my Christmas break, but it pays the bills (the few I have).

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By Threelight, 30 November, 2009 9:27 pm

Over the past few days (since around about last Friday), my bedroom has been in a state of upheaval. In fact it’s in a mess. It’s in the process of being decorated from top to bottom, and I’ve finaly got a new wardrobe that I’ve been thinking about getting for the past 6, maybe more years, to replace the one I’ve had for the past 15-odd years. It’s been a faithful wardrobe, but it’s habit of listing to one side (luckily towards a wall) has meant that it was beginning to show it’s age. Therefore it had to go.

I can say that it put up a fight. I am helping my Dad when I’m not at work, so helped break it down. Took us about 10 minutes, when I thought it would be easy.

I’m jumping the gun a bit here. I had to take everything out of the wardrobe, and this is where I’ve realised how much crap I have around the place. I have the usual scarves, caps and files in the wardrobe, and of course, clothes. I like my extensive DVD collection and also my vast CD collection, but I also have magazines and X-Box games to be concerned about. Oh, and loads of books. I was beginning to run out of space a bit.

So tomorrow will involve putting a new carpet down on the floor, a new wardrobe up, and basically putting everything back to roughly where it was. And I’m very conscious of the amount of stuff I’ve been accumulating…

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By Threelight, 18 August, 2009 10:13 pm

On Friday night, a whole load of us from the department, past and present, went to a hotel and country club in Stockport for our leaving party (I suppose you can call it a leaving do, but I’m not calling it that).

The restaurant food was exquisite. It’s been a long while since I’ve last had food like that, and the chocolate creme brulee was a dessert to savour.It was the type of food that’s been prepared to perfection, and that they obviously have a really good chef at that place. I was very impressed with the restaurant. I made the point of mentioning to the person who organised the whole thing that this was the most civilised leaving party I had ever been to.

Afterwards, it wasn’t so successful.We all went into the club that was on the premises. I found after a while that it stifled the conversation that was flowing before we moved to the club. I spent around about 2 hours in there, when I decided I couldn’t take anymore and moved outside, surprised that a group of people were already out there. So, they thought the same as me then. By that time, I had decided to make my way home, so the “family taxi” was called, and I came away. Apparently, some left just after me, and others stayed until about 3am. By that time, I was in a semi-drunk slumber. But I wasn’t the first to leave, which is always important.

So, it was a farewell to people who I have worked with (well most of them anyway). There is one who I will particularly miss, as we seemed to get on well with one another, and could talk at length and joke about things whilst doing our work all the same. One personality I will defintely miss. All the people who said they may turn up and those who said they would not turn up if that person wasn’t going – well, they didn’t turn up. They clearly had their lives to live.

Out of the original team of 14, there are now 4 of us left, doing whatever work we have to do.I am stuck in a particularly mindless task, trying to get the info I need from a manager who has, up to now, not answered my calls or e-mails. So, it’s a tad frustrating, but should I really care? I’m leaving this job in 3 weeks time.

I have received my hours, which I commence at the end of next month. They really aren’t that bad, even though there are some late finishes (i.e. finish at 11pm), and early starts (i.e start at 6am), but at least they are liberally spaced about over the next 5 months or so. Now, I can’t wait to go there, because this job has now reached it’s end.

My thoughts about the job now will probably not change over the next 2 to 3 weeks. This was a job I absolutely loved doing. Without doubt, it’s the best job I have ever had, and it helps that I had a really, really good Manager (and I mean really good) who I will miss as well. I’ve learnt quite a lot in this job. I’m unlikely to lose the skills I’ve learnt in this job, but I will definitely miss it.

2 redundancy situtions in 3 years: one terminal, the other not, but could have been. Such is life.

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By Threelight, 12 August, 2009 11:29 pm

Today I was back where I’d spentlast week, doing stuff I should have done last week but had to do other things.

I don’t really mind that. The people I go to see there are friendly and quite kind to me. I know that everything that was done before by people in my department is now in safe hands. What worries me is that they have underestimated how much work there is to do. But such is the nature of the beast that I have heard twice from independent sources: they either sink or swim. In 3 weeks time it is no longer my concern when I start my new job, and also new shifts, which should be interesting.

I suppose I’m not giving too much away when I say I’ll be moving to a workplace that is quite close to the Newton Heath Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Football Club. It’ll be interesting to see what happens during match days, whether I have to camp out for a short time while the traffic clears. I’ll have to wait and see. I’ve been told it’s not that bad.

Last week while I was away, I got a few pointers from people who have been there, seen it, bought the t-shirt. It’ll be interesting, even though there may be a chance that I become just a number. That may be a good thing, as in this job and my last, I have always been the one that people turned to for help. I know that’s fine, and all okay, but it would be nice to go into a job where I’m “doing my own thing” and not having to rely on people, or people relying on you (even though I was never a manager).

On Friday, I get my shifts for the new job. Should be fun.

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By Threelight, 9 August, 2009 10:18 pm

I’m back from my week away for work. The work was okay. The people I met and worked with were fantastic.

I won’t name the hotel I was staying at, as it is situated too close to where I was working. A good thing was that it only took me about 5 minutes to walk to and from the hotel.

The service in the hotel was, and there is no other word for it, sh*t. Every day something happened to me or someone I was with. For example, I had a 4 night stay in this hotel and on 3 days I had to go and get my keycard re-activated because I wasn’t able to get into my hotel room. Indeed, the last time I did that, I had to give my name so they knew it was me. Bad! Bad! A fellow worker had that happen to her every single day.

On one of the evenings that we stayed in the hotel to eat our evening meal, the meal ran from 7pm to 9.30pm. The place wasn’t even a tenth full but we still had to wait far too long to get served. Especially if the waitress couldn’t remember a list of 4 things, and got stuck on 3. Also having to wait about 45 minutes for dessert, when it was probably pre-packaged.

And then there was something about an ironing board…

Thimgs were okay in the mornings, but diabolical in the evenings.

I was fairly happy to be back home and sleeping in my own bed.

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By Threelight, 28 July, 2009 9:05 pm

It was while I was taking a break from helping put some decking together on Saturday that I’d read that Harry Patch had died at the age of 111. He was the final link to the soldiers who fought, survived and died in World War One, this coming a week after the death of Henry Allingham  .

It was through watching “The Last Tommy” about 4 years ago that I, and probably the rest of the country first heard about Harry Patch, but it was his story, and he himself  I most remember. But that was one TV programme that was rare: it made a lasting impression on me, about the sacrifices of the soldiers fighting in France at that time. True, my own family history shows tragedy for relatives in both wars - at home and at war. I knew about what happened in World War Two, but it was only recently that I’d heard what happened in World War One (maybe some day I’ll do a post about both, but not right now).

I suppose it’s all about making the ultimate sacriface, in an age when that sort of thing was accepted of ordinary people, unlike now, where compulsory conscription would be frowned upon. But they did what they thought and knew was right, and for making that decision, that is surely honourable.  

The point of this post is not only to pay tribute to a departed generation, but also to point a finger at the present generation (or more to the point the current powers-that be). Just a few days after Harry Patch’s death, there are reports of the MoD wanting to claw back some compensation awarded to a couple of soldiers.. What the hell is going on? How can this happen. The rest of us are proud that oursoldiers are serving their country, but the powers-that-be do not appear to share that view. Other countries’ governments treat their war veterans with respect and dignity, but ours don’t. 

I’m ashamed.  

I’m off my soapbox now. I very rarely post things like this, about current affairs and politics, but it’s something I feel very strongly about.

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By Threelight, 30 June, 2009 8:27 pm

A few weeks of no posting. But then again, it has been a bit crazy around here.

First off, I have come to the conclusion that the company I am currently working for, does not have any interest in employing me further than whenever my present employ ends. After two ”interviews” (I use this term loosely – their doing, not mine), and then my applications rejected by them after “much serious thought”, I’ve come to the conclusion that, despite the work that I put in, that I’m getting nowhere. Therefore I’m looking outside the company. .

And last week, I had my second interview with another company. So, already it would appear I’ve made some progress, even though this one is likely to come up as another rejection. The fact that I’ve made it this far with an outside company speaks volumes.  I have had more positive vibes and positive feedback than I have at my current employ.

I’ve had 4 interviews in 3 weeks, which I suppose ain’t bad.

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By Threelight, 25 May, 2009 10:20 pm

As the day winds down, a very restful Bank Holiday was had by me.

The carpet mentioned in the previous post has now been taken to the local municipal tip and disposed of. I had a “small” sort-out of some things, and that is about it. Like the last Bank Holiday, it’s been nice and relaxing.

I’m just owndering what the next few weeks will bring in the life of Threelight. The time when we have to vacate the premises we are all presently working at is about 3 months away, and everybody’s carrying on the same as usual. A few people are beginning to leave the place (quite a few at the end of this week), but a lot are staying.

Watch this space. At least one day of the next ten I’m bound to be wearing my suit to go to another interview…

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By Threelight, 8 January, 2009 10:29 pm

A manic day at work, where I ended up going to 2 meetings, and actually getting a lot of work done for a change. I have much more of a workload than most people where I work (and i’m not exagerating), and I get a bit pissed off when a person near me seems able to go onto Facebook for minutes on end, while I’m there busting a gut trying to get through the tons of work. The powers-that-be know of my huge workload, and attempted to do something about it earlier on in the week, but to no avail: the person who was supposed to be helping got moved to another area of the department. So, I still have loads of work to do. Not to worry. I did what I had to do: suggest ways round it to deal with the situation. And it worked. One-nil to me, so early on in the New Year. There’s a Latin saying somewhere about that basically means “Don’t let the buggers get you down.”

Before I go, check out the best post of 2009 so far: over to Swiss Toni, and his post on this story. Very true.