UK Watercooler 32: Fall Into The Meaning Gap

Iron age fart = one of those beardy blokes who goes on archaeological digs, drinks real ale and listens to folk music

DON'T TALK ABOUT ED THAT WAY!!!

sing that in his voice
http://www.geocities.com/homni_ca/somerville/somerville.JPG

Ha ha, we do a cover of one of his songs, actually. (For A Friend)

he's in Show of Hands, right?

is this walk April 13th?

I think the best way for me to get to Wendover is to get a bus to Aylesbury, then a train from Aylesbury to Wendover.

which will take aaaaaaaages. BUT IT WILL BE WORTH IT!!!!

12 APRIL!!! It's a Saturday walk. This is confusing everyone, I know.

Please let me know details as soon as we've decided them, so I can invite people.

Shall we aim to get the 11am train for a noon walk starting time? Or aim earlier?

10:57 then?

Sounds good to me. Where does it go to? i.e. what station? If I need to tell people to meet us by car.

Wendover 11:44

Ah, apparently Wendover was the birthplace of astronomy Cecilia Payne (no relation to our lot) who disovered that the sun is made from hydrogen!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecilia_Payne

It's on the Grand Union Canal, too! Does that mean that Liz can sail down?

OK, thee headhunters have started calling again. GOodness!

I barely understand a word of this job description. I'm not sure if that means that it would be an interesting challenge and an opportunity to learn new things, or if it means it's totally over my head and I shouldn't even bother applying for it.

LAST DAY OHMIGOD, MY LAST DAY HERE, HELP ME CELEBRATE, LA LA LA LA LAAA AS I DANCE UPON THE GRAVE OF THE NHS!!!

Hooray! Best Friday ever!

I worked for the NHS 1995-7. It was not an especially pleasant experience. My colleagues were odd people who made no secret of the fact that they didn't like me. I would have easily erased most memories of this from my brain were it not for the fact that my batty former landlady who made life quite difficult for me when I was buying my flat (by evicting me three weeks prior to my moving-in date, basically) suddenly "discovered" a pile of my post two years after I moved out and deigned to forward it to me yesterday in a big envelope and one of the letters is about my NHS pension. I was momentarily "WTF?" as I had forgotten I even *had* one. It'll prolly buy me a cola cube and a box of matches come retirement age, that's if I'm lucky.

this morning I got an email from one of the directors of my new employer. They want to send me on a week long training session in Santa Clara, CA at the end of the month. My current boss was all "yeah, we might not be able to move yr leaving date but we'll be flexible as yr like abt meetings etc at the new place before that, without making you take the time off as leave". Now is the time when I find out if he means it.

x-post

No, supposedly the benefits are great, which is why people stay here.

It's not always like this. I did a spell at the NHS in 2003 which was lovely, the people were great, the boss really enthusiastic. Nothing like this.

I finally finished watching my miniseries last night, and was very relieved at the big tearful finale where it was revealed the NH had NOT actually died in The Great War after all, and had spent most of the war in a coma with amnesia in a hospital in Germany. But was shocked back to sensibility by the reappearance of his friend, the Liberal MP, looking to give him a (posthumous) medal. Hurrah! And he kicked the property developers out of The Valley and donated all his war profiteering ill gotten gains to charidee.

You only get endings like that in miniseries. Seriously.

Santa Clara is great, it was the location for The Lost Boys. You gotta ride the roller coaster - scariest roller coaster in the world, mainly because it's rickety and old and WOODEN and you think you're going to fly off at any moment.

(Argh, I just remembered, last night I dreamed about going on a rollercoaster by accident. I thought it was the train.)

OK, it's my last day. Dude who I'm supposed to have been training to take over my job is STILL out on sick leave. Leaving me with naught to do. Again.

At last! I'm having a meeting at 1.30 today. So someone has actually noticed I'm leaving. As if they ever noticed I was here in the first place.

Today is going to be a very long day. :-(

Garfield Minus Garfield

I think Kerr posted that before, but this is looking particularly like my life right now:

http://data.tumblr.com/fSymsOGXO7adgd17jDkzuKRV_500.gif

Or was it the random Garfield generator?

mine might be but i take an inordinate amount off pleasure from my rubber band ball. bouncy.

OK, I've handed over.

Now I have to try to get my timesheet signed when MY boss isn't here, and the IT boss (the IT department are technically paying for me this week) is not here. I've left it with the IT department, but can't leave until it's signed off. Bah!

Three. More. Hours. And then I am free.

Since I'm talking to myself, where should I eat supper? I've got to get to Deptford by 9pm, but that means I could have supper in, well, Covent Garden or Charing Cross or anywhere between here and there, either. I quite fancy pizza.

And now I'm getting the terrible fear that I won't get my timesheet signed at all, which means I'll have worked for these bastards for FREE for a week - OR I have to come back next week. ARGH!

I hate this place SO MUCH I never want to see it again.

Go have Messcan at Wahaca, if you're early you won't have to queue, they explain anything obscure and/or make adjustments for dietary stuff and all the veg options are good, meaning I ate them when I was with a veggie and didn't moan about NO MEAT.

I has timesheets! Hurrah! Don't know this Wahaca place, but you have actually just reminded me of a really good veg place in ... uh... oh, where is it? I can see the street, but can't think where it is.

Something to do with a pump. Where on earth is it?

Grumble, I can go home early today, however this is because i am expecting a support call from india which is scheduled for 5pm, but judging on past performance could be anytime up to 9pm. Grr.

But isn't 9pm UK time, like, 2 in the morning Indian time?

There is never any logic to support calls from India. (also this is TV and it is often easier to do things in off hours)

http://www.mildreds.co.uk/

Mildreds on Lexington Street! That's the place I was thinking of. The pump is the pumphandle on Broad(wick) street that was removed to stop a cholera outbreak.

My brain works in strange ways sometimes.

I am now drinking my last cup of masala tea. That timed out well!

TWO. MORE. HOURS.

http://data.tumblr.com/fSymsOGXO5v5is1v1viuKME7_500.jpg

Oh Kate i dunno if you read new Terrorizer (ok I do know you wont have), but there's a two page article on Nadja and apparently Leah Buckareff (Bassist & Aidan's partner)recently gave a lecture at the Toronto Arts Festival on the maths of hyberbolic crochet - knitwear design based on Pythagorean geometry

How'm I gonna read it when they don't send me staff copies? I've still never even seen my Hawkwind review. :-(

They just asked me today if I wanted to review Merzbow.

Um, NO.

But ha ha, Ed, you and Lisa gotta get working on the pythagorean knitwear now!

Tzr has vasically beome the wire now, hasn't it?

I think I will celebrate this support call at home with a pink gin.

ARGH don't insult me like that. I'd never in a million years write for The Wire. I only keep writing for Tzr coz the live editor is so charming.

I was commissioned ages ago to write a review of Lionheart Bros/Kontakte for Plan B but seeing as how I've not heard from anyone since I quit (which is actually pretty freaking depressing) I have no idea if they are still expecting it or not. I suppose it can't hurt to write it.

If you do get off yr support call before midnight, come on down to the Deptford Arms - I'm going to South Eats London.

I like The Wire.

Argh, again the thameslink pulls out of wimbledon as the tram pulls in.

Welcome to the life of a Sarf Londoner.

I DON'T HAVE TO DO THAMESLINK ANY MORE!!!

::DOES HAPPY DANCE::

Well, not until I find another job, that is.

I don't much like the wire these days, it's pretty dry whenever I look at it. It's OK to have fun sometimes, you know?

I was going to get tzr, but it had boris on the front, YAWN.

The Wire purposesly DOES NOT DO FUN because so much of their readership is abroad - especially in Germany - and humour simply does not translate.

I'm still cross about the Boris cover. You would have liked it if it had been *my* Boris cover, that I was going to do, Pash.

A kate cover *has* to happen!

ONE! HOUR! LEFT!!!

ONE!!!!! HOUR!!!!!! LEFT!!!!!!

I don't think I will ever have been so happy to leave a job!