More bad news

2 pieces of bad news today.

1. I seemed to have lost be beloved Oakley Sunglasses, I haven't seen them since the weekend. It's possible that they got 'tidied' into an unexpected place in preparation for dad's visit last weekend (things often go missing when I tidy up, I never lose anything when it's a mess). I will have to have a good look around for them tonight before thinking about buying some more because those glasses where great for walking and driving and lasted donkey years compare to other sunglasses I've had in the past.

2. The most heinous news of all, Big Brother started last night which means that we have now got 10 weeks of muppets shouting at each other because someone left the toilet seat up and 10 weeks of people discussing the arguments at every opportunity.Maybe I should start thinking about taking holidays out of the country around this time of year.

Phone Call from Hastings Direct

30 May 2007 11:57

Yesterday I wrote an email to the customers complaints department at Hastings Direct because there seemed to be no progress on my claim and I was stuck in the ridiculous situation where I couldn't get my motorbike serviced (which it is in desperate need of - especially the brakes) because of a claim for some body panels which although ugly were safe.

Today I have had a phone call from their customer service department and I have now got a named person who is going to be responsible for chasing my claim through and getting the bike work authorised. I was seriously considering getting a small second hand motorbike to cover myself while the repair work was going on because the MOT on the Deauville is due in June and if the service work isn't carried out by then it would be illegal for me to ride it. *1

With some luck, the bike repairs will be authorised soon and which point I can get the bike serviced - hopefully I can get the service done before the repair work because it's the service which is important bit, not how the bike looks (no one's ever accused me of being vain).

Hooray for letters to Customer Complaints departments.

*1 - I might still do this even if/when the Deauville gets repaired because it would give me a) a backup bike incase of breakdowns b) a bike to practice bike maintainance on without risking my main bike c) a potentially much cheaper bike to run - I was thinking of something like the Honda CBF250 which is a single cyclinder, four stroke bike which should be easy to keep on the road.

Pub Quiz

28 May 2007 06:32

Last night was pub quiz night.

The ride over there was very wet and very windy, there were puddles stretching across the road, branches all over the place. It was great fun.

The pub was packed. I guess that was a combination of the weather and the bank holiday.

We came about 4th again, as we always seen to do. The final score was really close and the top 6 teams were only sepealed by 6 points.

Then I had to ride home again so I went the long way home so I could see the damage that had been done. The backroads had a lot more branches down but I felt safer on those roads because there was no one else around which meant I could leave the highbeam on all tho time.

Dad's Visit

Dad, Christine and Annie was up today.

I spent all morning cleaning the house but in the end they only spent about 15 minutes in the house because we went out for a walk at Little Paxton Pits.

At the Pits, the mayflies were just coming out which was interesting if you like creepy crawlies, which I do :)

After the walk we went to The Rivermill for a meal both they headed back to Sussex.

I've got nothing else to do for the rest of the weekend so I'll probably just play some web games.

Yo ho ho and a bottle of lemonade

26 May 2007 00:01

Tonight me, Matt & Martina went to see the latest Pirates of the Caribbean which was pretty good, maybe not quite as good as the first 2 bit very enjoyable.

I think the problem with the film was it was a bit long winded and they were definatdy some scenes which could have been cut without loosing any of the story.

Before the film we went to our favourite Indian except it's been turned into a Thai, as it happens it was or very nice Thai and I reckon we will make that our regular fool before a filn place from now on.

Done the deed

25 May 2007 10:49

I have handed in my resignation using a template letter I found at http://www.i-resign.com

My manager took it quite well which is to be expected since she has known that I've beer looking for a job for about 2 weeks and has been approving 1 day holidays left, right and center.

My last day here will be 22 June and I will start my new job or Monday 25th.

Yay Me

24 May 2007 22:56

Today has been a day of interviews again.

I had a third interview with a Cambridge based company who makes Animation software and I had a first interview with a company that makes encryption software.

By the time I got out of the last interview I had an offer from the first company which I have accepted.

Yippee !!

As I have mentioned on this blog before I sometimes sing to myself, on the way hone tonight, the two songs stuck in my head were ''I am the one and only" by Cheesy Hawk and ''Working 9 to 5" by Dolly Parton.

Worryingly I think make a better Dolly Parton

Favourite Links

22 May 2007 11:50

I've decided to start building a list of small websites and blogs which I enjoy reading and which other people might like. The links can be found in the right side menu area my blog.

For the time being there are 2 links there.

Get Rich Slowly

Tight-fisted? I prefer to think of it as Frugal living, and it is something very close to my heart. I don't know why but it always has been and now I found a website for people who feel the same way that I do (actually it's a bit like an alcoholic finding the Campaign for Real Ale website).

It's an American site so the details are not directly relevant here in Blighty but the general principals still apply.

Post Secret

I've mentioned Post Secret on this blog before but I still find it fascinating. People anonymously make postcards that reveal a secret which then gets scanned in and posted on the blog.

Note: the site is not always work safe although this week seems quite tame.

Who knew I would be voyeuristic?

BMF Bike Show

19 May 2007 23:10

Today was the BMF motorbike show in Peterborough.

I had booked a car from Tim Britons in St Neots, this is the second car I've booked a car from them and the second time time that they didn't have a record of me doing so :-(

Last time, the phone call got diverted to Marshals Peugeot in Cambridge who own
Tim Brinton but I didn't realise that at the time and so I got a phone call from marshals after I had picked up a car asking when I going to collect the car. This time there was no record of any booking either at Tim Brintons or Marshals. While the pape work was being perpared I checked my phone log and I definitely rung the number for St Neots branch of Tim Brinton on the 14th at 11:45.

I picked Matt up at his house in Cambourne then we drove over to the Peterborough show ground.

Since I am a member of the BMF, I got my ticket £2 cheaper than a standard ticket, such are the many benefits of being a member of the BMF.

It took us about 4 hours to walk around the show, I sat on a couple of bikes that i'm interested in; the new Honda Deauville, the honda VFR, the triumph Sprint (i liked that one alot), the truimph Tiger. Unfortunately Suzuki were not at the show show I was unable to try the two VStroms on for size whiich is a shame because they are currently my bike of choice (but I really did like that Sprint).

While I wa at the show I found a couple of really cheap helmets which I could use as a backup in case my helmet is ever damaged or lost, this would mean that the I could carry on riding the bike unti I could find a decent repacement at the right price instead of being force to buy what ever the local bike shop has.

The weather was great, the roast pork roll I had for dinner was delicious and the show had lots of stalls for me to browse even if not all the manufacturers were there, as well as Suzuki, Kwakaski were not there either.

A great day out for anyone interested in bikes, 2 thumbs up although if you are looking for all the manufacturers in one place then the NEC show in November is better.

Zombietastic

16 May 2007 22:35

Tonight I went to see 28 Weeks Later at Cambridge Cineworld with Matt.

For some reason the girls didn't want to come which is a shame because they missed out on Zombie attacks, snipers shooting zombies, snipers shooting everyone and helicopter pilots saving the day as in all good zombie movies.

On the way out noticed I loads of cars had been clamped for parking in the car parks of some nearby business's even though all the business's dosed at 17:00 and the car's must have parked there after 18:40 because that's when I arrived and the car parts were empty then. Why enforce parking restrictions like that when there is no other use for the space?

Interview-a-go-go

16 May 2007 14:39

I've been having a busy couple of days on the interview front at the moment

Yesterday I took the whole day off as holiday.

In the morning I had an interview with a computer animation company based in Cambridge. The application looks interesting and the interview must have gone reasonably well since I have been asked back for a second interview tomorrow afternoon.

In the afternoon I had a second inteniew for a financial software consultancy based in Harpenden, I would be the First tester on site and could effectively run the test effort as I saw fit. A fantastic role but I am corcerned about the commute distant involved which would be about go miles cads way.

I have also arranged a first interview with a company that makes security software based in Cambridge for next Thursday although I'm hoping for an offer that I can accept from one of the other companies before that interview goes ahead.

Not a good day

10 May 2007 05:59

Yesterday was not a good day for me.

First there was the much anticipated appraisal which had been delayed from April by the need to arrange more finances from the city.

Last year after having only joined the company 5 months earlier I received a £1000 payrise on account of the good work I was doing as a tester and after another month or so I was made team lead for the SNAZ project, and I took on the role of administering the Software Groups file Server. There was also talk of making me test manager, if I just put the effort in, although it was a role which didn't really appeal to me it did encourage me to put extra time in.

My first project as team lead severely over ran due to issues with the hardware and I had to put in alot of overtime split between the testing project and trying to keep the file server up and running to make any progress. I remember one occasion when my sister was visiting Cambridge for the first time in 3 years and we had arranged to meet at 18:00 but because I got stuck at work I didn't arrive until 21:00.

My second project was completed on schedule which is the first project at work which I have seen completed on time and which I needed to do a little overtime to complete but nothing on the scale of the first project.

So I was expecting a reasonable review this time around given the extra responsabilities and workload I had taken on in the last year.

Boy was I wrong, my new manager really doesn't rate me as a tester at all, scoring 2/5 in almost all categories.

When I asked about the overtime I had done the director just stared blankly at me and asked what overtime despite having worked side by side with him on the project and always giving him a verbal report of progress before going home at night.

Apparently the effort to keep the file server up and running was also considered a side role which bearly rated a mention.

Part of the problem with the review is that it was done by my new test manager who has only worked directly with since I had given up on the company after the snowday holiday decision which effectively tried to steal a days holiday from me despite that fact that I had gone out of my way to help complete the second project on schedule after I had fallen off my bike trying to get to work.

Sometimes I am too cynical but there is that little voice at the back of my mind which says, "well done trev, you've put in a load of extra work for vague promises of reward further down the line at exactly the point when it was needed by the company without actually getting anything for my effort."

Just to top the day off, there was a ramblers pub meet in Peterborough which I had decided not to go to since it was raining, and it's a long way for me to travel just to sit in a pub for a couple of hours but decided some company would probably be good for me and rush to get there on time through the 30 mile of driving rain, unfortunately no one else from the ramblers decided to turn out in their cars for that taxing 5 mile journey. I 've double checked the program, I was in the right pub on the right day at the right time and I gave them 40 minutes before leaving.

Insurance Claim

08 May 2007 20:04

I've just spoken to the insurance company about the bike claim but it turns out that the garage haven't forwarded the estimate on yet which has really annoyed me because it must mean that any decision is at least a week away.

Mean while the brakes are getting worse and I not going to get any work done on them until I have heard what's going to happen with the insurance claim because if it does get scrapped any money I spend getting the brakes sort out would be waste of money.

Grrr

Freeloader Portable Charger

I have just brought a Freeloader Portable Charger from Maplins which I can use to charge my phone/PDA/iPod etc using solar power.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?criteria=N23CX%20%20&source=15&SD=Y

I've been looking for one of these for a while but Maplins currently have a sale on and so I thought why not.

Once it's arrived I'll play around with it for a few days and then rewrite up a review.

Account Cancellations

01 May 2007 19:17

Today I have been cancelling things.

I have cancelled my lovefilm account, I've been a member for over 2 years and I have run out of things I actually want to watch. That combined with what I see as a deteriation in the quality of services as Lovefilm got bigger and bigger spelt it's doom (ok, that might be a little dramatic)

Then I downgraded my broadband sevice from an 8GB download limit to one with a 1GB download limit because I'm not using my internet connection any more, although I might need to upgrade it again if I ever buy myself a PS3.

Unfortunately the one company I really want to get rid of, T-Mobile, can't be cancelled until September. I have made a note in my PDA to remind me because if I don't let T-Mobile know that I'm leaving by the 05th September then I'm going to be stick with them for another 18 months.