I hadn't forgotten, honest!
So, it’s been rather a long time, hasn’t it? Worry ye not, I am not dead (as you would be well aware if you follow my twitter), nor have I forgotten you (as you may be forgiven for thinking). I have just been crazy busy for the last three months. As you might imagine, moving house and starting a new job can be rather hectic, and I’ve been left with very little time or inclination to spend on anything else. I spend the whole day at work staring at a screen (well, two just recently) and the last thing I feel like doing when I get home is writing a long and protracted blog post (which, frankly, given the speed of my life right now, is what any update would be). The weekends haven’t been much better. I’ve been working for three and a half months and I’ve been home for birthdays five times, been to Cardiff once and had people coming to visit me twice. And in the weekends I’ve not been pinging about the country I’ve had a singing workshop, Christmas shopping, sung in a shopping centre and cleaned the flat. Oh yeah, and I’ve been away for work during the week 3 times (although one of those was to Crawley, so I stayed at home)
So, I guess, a long and protracted blog post is in order to tell you what I’ve been up to, isn’t it? (I haven’t forgotten that I still owe you two 30 Days of Film post - I’ll post them today and tomorrow and be finished in time for Christmas, how does that sound?)
First of all - work. I’ve just been reading back through my first impressions of people, which was tres amusing now I know everyone better. And I know some of their names. I was certainly right in the first place - my office is full of mentals. I get on with them brilliantly.
My boss is nice, really laid back, with quite a dry sense of humour. He’s not really been around all that much, because he is Technical Lead on a couple of sub projects, and the one that I’m not working on has become something of a nightmare, so he spends a lot of time trying to fix it.
This means that for the last month, two months or so, The Guy has been my sort-of boss. Anyone who has been following my twitter will know that The Guy is short for The Guy At Work I Have A Crush On, so as you may imagine, I greeted this news with a certain amount of trepidation. On the whole, I think it has been good, because having to talk to him on a daily basis has made me mostly get over my ridiculous crush a bit. Sort of. I am now only occasionally distracted by how cute and floofy his hair gets some days. And I only Facebook stalked his pictures once. When I was feeling ill and sorry for myself. And I can admit that he can be annoying, and he needs to learn to back off a bit when he’s managing employees. The big problem is, not only is he quite a bit pretty, but he’s also incredibly sweet sometimes. He bought everyone on the team Christmas presents, mainly of a DVD of a cartoon that he loves and wants every one to see. It took a month of being at work before I got my ID badge, and I was complaining about it one day. Five minutes later he drops something on my desk saying “here’s your new badge”. It was one he’d drawn on a postit note and stuck to an old lanyard. He does medieval re-enactment. He likes Pratchett. And comics. Did I mention he was married? And 37? Yeah, I’m clever sometimes.
The Other Grad and I have become firm friends. I think I nearly started having a crush on him in my first week which would have been all kinds of embarrassing, what with him having a girlfriend and looking like Edward Cullen, but for once sense intervened when I realised that what I needed more than anything was a friend. I love the guys in my office, but there are… hmm… maybe three other people under 30, and it’s great having someone who is in exactly the same boat as you and knows exactly what you’re going through. Plus he goes on all the same training courses as me and stuff. We have quite a lot in common; he watches House (even if he is a Huddy shipper!) and NCIS and I’ve convinced him to watch NCIS LA too. We are also both working on the same sub-sub-project, which is a little scary cos we kind of have responsibility for it, but it’s cool and I enjoy working with him. We go to lunch and tea breaks together, and chat over IRC during the day as well.
My Mentor was on sabbatical for the first month that I was working there, and when he came back I found him very annoying. I think it was because he sits next to me, and I had just settled in and then everything changed with him there. He is still a bit annoying, he has been in the business for longer than I have been alive and he likes to… give people the benefit of his experience. It’s all kindly meant, and sometimes useful, but there are only so many times I can hear stories of the “when I were a lad, all this was FORTRAN” variety.
Good Stuff Guy (whose name I do now know) is always very friendly, asks about my weekend and stuff, which is nice, because he is fairly high up the chain of command, and the fact that he takes the time to chat to me says a lot about the attitudes in my office. It’s one big, open plan office, and everyone involved in development sits there, and everyone is approachable if you need to talk to them.
The guy I described (and this is the one I found most amusing) as an older, much less attractive Billy from Doctor Horrible, is also pretty important in the pecking order, but again, is very friendly. He is waging a constant battle with HR and encourages people to be obstructive on pointless forms and enjoys mocking our corporate magazine.
No Shoes Guy has the most bizarre method of sandwich eating that I have ever seen, and I don’t think I could describe it in mere words. He’s an anime fan, and one of those people who knows their work inside out and back to front. You have a question about something he’s worked on and you know he will give you the right answer, no hesitation.
There is a guy who sits diagonally behind me who is quite quiet and shy, but the last few weeks seems to be coming out of his shell a bit. What I mean to say is; I think he’s one of those people who takes a while to get to know you before he’ll talk to you much. But again, he has a good sense of humour, and he’s started taking the mickey out of me a bit on IRC sometimes. And he seems to like grammar related jokes.
There is a guy who is just incredibly sweet. In a “I want to pat him on the head and give him cookies” kind of way. And I’m just not really sure why. He’s just kind of a sweetheart.
There is a guy who has a hat and beard. A proper Indiana Jones style hat. He is probably the person I get on the most with at work apart from The Other Grad. In fact, if the three of us happen to take tea breaks at the same time, they can end up going on for far too long as we get chatting. Every so often, I remember that he is an incredibly intelligent guy, has invented things to do with cryptography, has had several papers published and goes to conference quite a bit and I get a little intimidated and wonder why he talks to me. Then I remember that this is also the guy that I had a long and involved conversation with about what we should do if there was a zombie uprising whilst we were at work.
Thursday is Nandos day, and there is a little group of us who go to Nandos and eat chicken at lunchtime. There’s not really much to say about it, apart from to mention that they’re good guys, and we have some fun conversations.
Friday is pub lunch day, and there is a rather larger group of us who go to the pub and have lunch. Again, it’s quite fun, and a nice relaxed way to end the week (even if I generally don’t want to do any work when I get back)
There are also semi regular Whisky Nights which involve going out for a meal and tasting different Whiskys. I’m not a huge fan, but if I can develop a taste for bad Lidl vodka, I can develop a taste for good Whisky, and again, the company and conversation make up for it.
As you can tell, I work with a friendly bunch of people, and I get on with them well, both at work and socially. Despite the occasional bad day, I really enjoy my job and I definitely made the right decision.
I’ve joined a choir. Well, an all female barbershop chorus. I’m really enjoying formal singing again and we’ve done a few “sing outs” just recently, singing at shopping centres and a couple of Christmas parties. The ladies are all of a certain age and rather middle class, but they can only be described as lovely ladies, and they worry about me getting home and things, and I will admit that it’s quite nice being mothered a little. They, again, are all a little eccentric, but very nice and friendly. One lady reminds me of Diana Rigg playing Mrs Bradley in the Mrs Bradley Mysteries, and another reminds of Sharon Small as Sergeant Havers in The Inspector Lynley Mysteries. And yes, I have only just realised that they are both crime dramas and they both have “Mysteries” in the name.
Right now, I am home for Christmas and am off work until the 5th. I’m really looking forward to both the family Christmas and the time off work.
All in all, life is pretty good right now. I won’t say it’s all wonderful, I do have my bad days where I wonder why on earth I thought it was a good idea to move away from absolutely everyone I know, but most of the time, I’m thoroughly enjoying living in Cambridge.
I do still have my photo-tour of the city to post, which I will do, probably next week, I expect. Parents have gone to bed, so I am left without internet. Which means I’ll have to post this in the morning.
So, without further ado, moving on to the rather belated
· Day 29 - A movie from your childhood
Well, my childhood contained lots of movies. Isn’t Disney, like, the point of childhood? But there are a few that stand out. I’ve mentioned some of them before, like George of the Jungle (1997) and Gordy (1995), and The Lion King (1994). Some that just remind me of Sunday afternoons watching films with my stepdad, like Bond films, and Carry On films and Indiana Jones.
But the one I am going to pick is singularly appropriate for the time of year (not that that’s why I picked it).
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
I got it on video when I was about 4, and I think I damn near wore it out I watched it so much. I pick it because not only did I love it as child, but it’s stayed with me. It’s the one Christmas film that I have to watch every year, the one film that it doesn’t feel like Christmas until I’ve seen. In fact, I watched it today. The worst thing is that my sister’s don’t like it. They think it’s boring. Every year I watch it, and every year they give up about 20 minutes in and I don’t know why. I would say it’s because it’s a bit slow in the beginning, but I was much younger than them when I first saw it, and I adored it.
In case you couldn’t tell from the title it is an adaptation of A Christmas Carol. With the Muppets. Michael Cane plays Scrooge, Kermit is Bob Cratchit, and Gonzo plays Charles Dickens, and narrates the action. I realise that this fact is almost the sole reason why Gonzo is my favourite Muppet. All of the other familiar faces are there too, plus some new ones.
When I was wee, about 6 or 7, I used to stand on the stairs, yell “God save my little broken body” and launch myself off to be caught by my step dad. This was a reference to a line in the film, when Rizzo the Rat jumps off of a gate and lands in the snow. That is how much this film is part of my childhood.
I know the words to most all of the songs, and sing along when I watch. I know half of the dialogue as well. Now, bear in mind that for the last, probably about 10 years, I’ve seen this film basically once a year, and you get an idea of just how much I watched it growing up.
Watching it today, I discovered that they have cut The Love is Gone from my new DVD. Why?! I know no one liked the song, and it kind of dragged the film in the middle, but it’s an emotional enough moment to warrant it, and I think it marks a real turning point for Scrooges character. The movie makes a lot more sense with it in. Ok, so I could analyse all the reasons why I don’t think they should have cut it but mostly it’s “they changed something from my childhood. How DARE they!”
So, in tribute, here it is:
So there we have it, a movie from my childhood that I still love today.
And tune in tomorrow for the final day! :)
So, I guess, a long and protracted blog post is in order to tell you what I’ve been up to, isn’t it? (I haven’t forgotten that I still owe you two 30 Days of Film post - I’ll post them today and tomorrow and be finished in time for Christmas, how does that sound?)
First of all - work. I’ve just been reading back through my first impressions of people, which was tres amusing now I know everyone better. And I know some of their names. I was certainly right in the first place - my office is full of mentals. I get on with them brilliantly.
My boss is nice, really laid back, with quite a dry sense of humour. He’s not really been around all that much, because he is Technical Lead on a couple of sub projects, and the one that I’m not working on has become something of a nightmare, so he spends a lot of time trying to fix it.
This means that for the last month, two months or so, The Guy has been my sort-of boss. Anyone who has been following my twitter will know that The Guy is short for The Guy At Work I Have A Crush On, so as you may imagine, I greeted this news with a certain amount of trepidation. On the whole, I think it has been good, because having to talk to him on a daily basis has made me mostly get over my ridiculous crush a bit. Sort of. I am now only occasionally distracted by how cute and floofy his hair gets some days. And I only Facebook stalked his pictures once. When I was feeling ill and sorry for myself. And I can admit that he can be annoying, and he needs to learn to back off a bit when he’s managing employees. The big problem is, not only is he quite a bit pretty, but he’s also incredibly sweet sometimes. He bought everyone on the team Christmas presents, mainly of a DVD of a cartoon that he loves and wants every one to see. It took a month of being at work before I got my ID badge, and I was complaining about it one day. Five minutes later he drops something on my desk saying “here’s your new badge”. It was one he’d drawn on a postit note and stuck to an old lanyard. He does medieval re-enactment. He likes Pratchett. And comics. Did I mention he was married? And 37? Yeah, I’m clever sometimes.
The Other Grad and I have become firm friends. I think I nearly started having a crush on him in my first week which would have been all kinds of embarrassing, what with him having a girlfriend and looking like Edward Cullen, but for once sense intervened when I realised that what I needed more than anything was a friend. I love the guys in my office, but there are… hmm… maybe three other people under 30, and it’s great having someone who is in exactly the same boat as you and knows exactly what you’re going through. Plus he goes on all the same training courses as me and stuff. We have quite a lot in common; he watches House (even if he is a Huddy shipper!) and NCIS and I’ve convinced him to watch NCIS LA too. We are also both working on the same sub-sub-project, which is a little scary cos we kind of have responsibility for it, but it’s cool and I enjoy working with him. We go to lunch and tea breaks together, and chat over IRC during the day as well.
My Mentor was on sabbatical for the first month that I was working there, and when he came back I found him very annoying. I think it was because he sits next to me, and I had just settled in and then everything changed with him there. He is still a bit annoying, he has been in the business for longer than I have been alive and he likes to… give people the benefit of his experience. It’s all kindly meant, and sometimes useful, but there are only so many times I can hear stories of the “when I were a lad, all this was FORTRAN” variety.
Good Stuff Guy (whose name I do now know) is always very friendly, asks about my weekend and stuff, which is nice, because he is fairly high up the chain of command, and the fact that he takes the time to chat to me says a lot about the attitudes in my office. It’s one big, open plan office, and everyone involved in development sits there, and everyone is approachable if you need to talk to them.
The guy I described (and this is the one I found most amusing) as an older, much less attractive Billy from Doctor Horrible, is also pretty important in the pecking order, but again, is very friendly. He is waging a constant battle with HR and encourages people to be obstructive on pointless forms and enjoys mocking our corporate magazine.
No Shoes Guy has the most bizarre method of sandwich eating that I have ever seen, and I don’t think I could describe it in mere words. He’s an anime fan, and one of those people who knows their work inside out and back to front. You have a question about something he’s worked on and you know he will give you the right answer, no hesitation.
There is a guy who sits diagonally behind me who is quite quiet and shy, but the last few weeks seems to be coming out of his shell a bit. What I mean to say is; I think he’s one of those people who takes a while to get to know you before he’ll talk to you much. But again, he has a good sense of humour, and he’s started taking the mickey out of me a bit on IRC sometimes. And he seems to like grammar related jokes.
There is a guy who is just incredibly sweet. In a “I want to pat him on the head and give him cookies” kind of way. And I’m just not really sure why. He’s just kind of a sweetheart.
There is a guy who has a hat and beard. A proper Indiana Jones style hat. He is probably the person I get on the most with at work apart from The Other Grad. In fact, if the three of us happen to take tea breaks at the same time, they can end up going on for far too long as we get chatting. Every so often, I remember that he is an incredibly intelligent guy, has invented things to do with cryptography, has had several papers published and goes to conference quite a bit and I get a little intimidated and wonder why he talks to me. Then I remember that this is also the guy that I had a long and involved conversation with about what we should do if there was a zombie uprising whilst we were at work.
Thursday is Nandos day, and there is a little group of us who go to Nandos and eat chicken at lunchtime. There’s not really much to say about it, apart from to mention that they’re good guys, and we have some fun conversations.
Friday is pub lunch day, and there is a rather larger group of us who go to the pub and have lunch. Again, it’s quite fun, and a nice relaxed way to end the week (even if I generally don’t want to do any work when I get back)
There are also semi regular Whisky Nights which involve going out for a meal and tasting different Whiskys. I’m not a huge fan, but if I can develop a taste for bad Lidl vodka, I can develop a taste for good Whisky, and again, the company and conversation make up for it.
As you can tell, I work with a friendly bunch of people, and I get on with them well, both at work and socially. Despite the occasional bad day, I really enjoy my job and I definitely made the right decision.
I’ve joined a choir. Well, an all female barbershop chorus. I’m really enjoying formal singing again and we’ve done a few “sing outs” just recently, singing at shopping centres and a couple of Christmas parties. The ladies are all of a certain age and rather middle class, but they can only be described as lovely ladies, and they worry about me getting home and things, and I will admit that it’s quite nice being mothered a little. They, again, are all a little eccentric, but very nice and friendly. One lady reminds me of Diana Rigg playing Mrs Bradley in the Mrs Bradley Mysteries, and another reminds of Sharon Small as Sergeant Havers in The Inspector Lynley Mysteries. And yes, I have only just realised that they are both crime dramas and they both have “Mysteries” in the name.
Right now, I am home for Christmas and am off work until the 5th. I’m really looking forward to both the family Christmas and the time off work.
All in all, life is pretty good right now. I won’t say it’s all wonderful, I do have my bad days where I wonder why on earth I thought it was a good idea to move away from absolutely everyone I know, but most of the time, I’m thoroughly enjoying living in Cambridge.
I do still have my photo-tour of the city to post, which I will do, probably next week, I expect. Parents have gone to bed, so I am left without internet. Which means I’ll have to post this in the morning.
So, without further ado, moving on to the rather belated
· Day 29 - A movie from your childhood
Well, my childhood contained lots of movies. Isn’t Disney, like, the point of childhood? But there are a few that stand out. I’ve mentioned some of them before, like George of the Jungle (1997) and Gordy (1995), and The Lion King (1994). Some that just remind me of Sunday afternoons watching films with my stepdad, like Bond films, and Carry On films and Indiana Jones.
But the one I am going to pick is singularly appropriate for the time of year (not that that’s why I picked it).
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
I got it on video when I was about 4, and I think I damn near wore it out I watched it so much. I pick it because not only did I love it as child, but it’s stayed with me. It’s the one Christmas film that I have to watch every year, the one film that it doesn’t feel like Christmas until I’ve seen. In fact, I watched it today. The worst thing is that my sister’s don’t like it. They think it’s boring. Every year I watch it, and every year they give up about 20 minutes in and I don’t know why. I would say it’s because it’s a bit slow in the beginning, but I was much younger than them when I first saw it, and I adored it.
In case you couldn’t tell from the title it is an adaptation of A Christmas Carol. With the Muppets. Michael Cane plays Scrooge, Kermit is Bob Cratchit, and Gonzo plays Charles Dickens, and narrates the action. I realise that this fact is almost the sole reason why Gonzo is my favourite Muppet. All of the other familiar faces are there too, plus some new ones.
When I was wee, about 6 or 7, I used to stand on the stairs, yell “God save my little broken body” and launch myself off to be caught by my step dad. This was a reference to a line in the film, when Rizzo the Rat jumps off of a gate and lands in the snow. That is how much this film is part of my childhood.
I know the words to most all of the songs, and sing along when I watch. I know half of the dialogue as well. Now, bear in mind that for the last, probably about 10 years, I’ve seen this film basically once a year, and you get an idea of just how much I watched it growing up.
Watching it today, I discovered that they have cut The Love is Gone from my new DVD. Why?! I know no one liked the song, and it kind of dragged the film in the middle, but it’s an emotional enough moment to warrant it, and I think it marks a real turning point for Scrooges character. The movie makes a lot more sense with it in. Ok, so I could analyse all the reasons why I don’t think they should have cut it but mostly it’s “they changed something from my childhood. How DARE they!”
So, in tribute, here it is:
Click to viewSo there we have it, a movie from my childhood that I still love today.
And tune in tomorrow for the final day! :)