London London London

Well, Just to annoy Andy....
Anyhow, one week into my new job in London. So time for some observations...

1. On the whole, people in London are ugly.
2. People in London who are ugly, think that by having a natty bit of facial hair/wacky 'designer' glasses (delete as appropriate) makes them into the most beautiful person in the world. Twats!
3. Food/Drink in London is overpriced and overrated.
4. London is badly polluted (yeah, I was as shocked as you).

So I can hear you crying, 'so how's it all really going'. Actually not too bad. Good team, good work, not a bad commute. It's just all the bad things about in London are kind of biggies. The worst thing is not being able to make it through a whole day without getting a splitting headache, which I have come to attribute to the shocking air quality. Although reading my latest copy of Men's Health (if you read it you don't need to do any exercise, fitness by osmosis - scientific fact), they had Bristol only just behind London in the air quality stakes.

To summarise; the work is hard, the team is cool, London is crap, the money is..... Yeah, I knew there was a reason for going there. Once I've paid off my debts I'll be getting a job in the middle of a nice green field. I wonder how much Wurzel Gummage earnt.

Once a month

Well, my blog seems to have turned into a once a month activity. I do promise this will change, but as I said in my last post, things have been kinda hectic.

In the last month I have been doing all manner of things associated with going contracting. The most time consuming task seems to have been thinking up a name for my new Limited Company. It's like trying to think of a good pub quiz team name, that also sound professional. No

My Wife is crap at wrestling but you should see her box Ltd

here!

Hopefully all those tasks are now in hand, and tomorrow is my last day at work. Despite saying I'm going to leave for several years, tomorrow is tinged with sadness and a little regret. At the end of the day it's a well paid job, close to home, flexible hours, and some (albeit the minority) of my workmates are all round good guys. Fuck, what am I doing! No, sorry, I forgot about the money. Not being greedy, but the debts of a 30 year old with two kids, paying for a mortgage, two cars, all the bills and a wife that works part time have all taken their toll over the last few years. I somehow got into the situation where what was coming in didn't cover what was going out. When I then considered that I'd been shafted with payrises and people of similar grades and skills are on a lot more within the company. As my mate Dave would say... QED.

Today, to cater for those who couldn't (be bothered) to come to my leaving drinks tomorrow, we went to the local Indian for lunch. You may think that an Indian for lunch is a weird idea, and it was strange, but it isn't as weird as the Indian we went to. Now our office is slap bang in the middle of a business park. A big one. There is no housing near us, no shops, and certainly no through roads. Yet next to our office, with no passing trade, and hidden from view, is an Indian restaurant. Surely, as we have speculated since moving to this office 6 months ago, a money laundering operation! On our arrival, the empty restaurant came to life. They dusted off the obligatory Indian music CD, found some menus and went into waiter mode. We were, as expected, the only diners over lunch. The food was good, although slightly luke warm, and it took a while to arrive. Almost as though they had to dial out for it. Hmmmm.......

Remiss

Well I must apologise. I have not posted for over a month. In my defence though, I do have an excuse. Well actually a have a few, and they are real gooduns.

Firstly It was Christmas. I was busy wrapping presents, decorating a tree and consuming too much food and drink. Then I did all of the aforementioned in reverse order. Nice!

I have also been busy finding myself a new job. Woohoo. I've been saying it for ages, and it's been quite a step as I'm now off to London contracting. No job security, no holiday pay, no sick pay. On the other hand more money, more money, more money. I'll probably fall flat on my arse and be begging for my old job back in 6 months, let's hope not though. This process did involve visits to London, technical tests, and old school interviews. Needless to say this was all moderately time consuming.

my final excuse is the most embarrassing. I forgot my Blog password. I guess that makes it quite secure if even I can't guess it. Anyway, after several days of trying to remember bingo!

I will post properly tomorrow, if anyone one wants something mildly entertaining to read I point you at Andy's mobile blog that he set up for his (and Dave, Richard and Robins') trecking and camping (hello ducky) weekend in Dartmoor. This went predictably and entertainingly wrong. Just goes to show that watching hours of Ray Mears doesn't guarantee success in such ventures.