November 2002 Archives
It's well and truely time for bed...... after an enjoyable mammoth session of backfilling SparklyTrainers. I'm sure it's not The Done Thing, but hey.
Which reminds me, I got my first Christmas card today - from Fiona, Greg and Ewen. Those anglo-aussies, they always get in ahead of the last posting dates!
I know I know I know that I should have made a will by now, but the fact is that I haven't. But as and when I do, I'll definitely use the resources available here at WillAid, as pointed out by Alastair. I've printed off the planning pages and will cogitate on my collected earthly possessions, and what to do with them (so as to achieve maximum tax efficiency and inheritance planning, of course) over the weekend.
Hmmm, except that the weekend is looking pretty full, with Christmas shopping scheduled for Saturday day (getting hold of things for people who'll need to receive a little something to keep them going until we get back from Cambodia...Phil), with carpet threshold edging laying and disused curtain rail holders removal fitted in sometime before heading back into town for Bridget's Birthday. That's scheduled to start off in a relatively civilised style at Pasta Browns in Covent Garden, and in all likelihood descending into drunken mayhem in a bar thereafter!
And on Sunday I'm set to spend the afternoon with Tom and Jo, Barney and Rosa. Here's hoping I won't have a hangover - I've not suffered too greatly for a while - if you discount the grogginess which featured the Saturday after the Danny's Here! drinks the other Friday. I only had 4 bottles of beer!!!
Had an excellent night's sleep for the first time in days (nights?) last night after a really nice evening with Phil and his sister Sue. That said, things started off badly, due to my tardiness and tiredness, but by the time Sue arrived everything was heading back towards normality and my guilty/emotional/over-tired tears were dry. And I was the proud owner of a Richer Sounds brochure.... DVD player or VCR? What should I go for.....?
Japanese crispy shelled peanuts (I must find out the technical term for them) and olives from Phil's corner store set us off on the right track, and our chef got to work on a scrummy rissotto courtesy of Nigel Slater as Sue told us all about her holiday to the Falkland Islands - penguins penguins and more penguins. Plus a few sheep and people for good measure.
Indulged in a TV dinner, watching Celebrity Big Brother for the first time, and celebrating the votes for Anne Diamond. Finished off the evening with a videoed episode of Buffy - one of the weird info-filling ones where the episode's plot is sacrificed to the greater series storyline.
I'm sitting in the library writing up my idiot's guide to setting up and running an email newsletter. Usually it's as quiet as the grave up here, but there's a trainee receiving a refresher course on doing company research.... which is a bit distracting :( so I'm taking time out to check my email, catch up on some Sparkly Trainering - and to sit up straighter. I've been getting twinges in my back over the past few weeks, and sometimes I'm conscious that I'm walking strangely to avoid putting any pressure on the pain points. Not A Good Thing. So I'm trying to get into good posture habits.
Another late night due to insomnia until 2am. pah. Although I don't feel as bad today as I did yesterday. Maybe that's due to the impact of a second day's heavy morning caffeine intake.
I spent last night with Hazel doing her appraisal and my values etc grid. And then reading, trying to sleep, reading some more, getting up to finish off the pineapple, reading some more and then finally snoozing off sometime after 2am. On the plus side, at least it gave me an excuse to finish off Paul Aster's [Tales of American Life], which I thoroughly enjoyed - even the spooky stories.
It's annoying that I can't figure out what's causing it - I'm not cousciously worrying about anything :( The only things I can think of is that it might be early anticipation of the trip to Cambodia, or perhaps the work situation is niggling away beneath the surface still.
Whatever the cause is, I wish it would GO AWAY!
I had a really good weekend with Laura visiting, but am feeling a leeetle tired today as a result. Two late nights and both partyish nights at that. Friday with Phil at Stef's 30th+3, with snail's pace bus journeys as the traffic crawled through the Old Street/Shoreditch road works and lots of waiting in the stairrod rain, and then drinking and dining and then drinking some more on Saturday evening through to Sunday morning with Laura and Hazel. Discovered a great Italian restaurant about 5 minutes from Clapham Common tube, which we shared with a raucous table of italian ladies on a hen night (definitely a good sign!!), and that SoshoMatch on Tabernacle Street is open to 3am, and only charges £3 for the priveledge, plus no queue. Definitely a bonus compared with other places we check out on our walking tour of Trendy Shoreditch bars.
And we really did induldge ourselves on the gastronomic front, being ladies who lunch at Fortnum & Mason's on Saturday lunchtime (We walked it off around Bond Street and the other expensive shopping areas before heading home to CJ though), and a restorative Banana Leaf Canteen at 3pm on Sunday (after slowing coming to with the help of Hollyoaks and a double helping of Dawson's Creek.
I've not really done much navel gazing on the career front, but I plan to tonight. and to do boring minutes for our freehold co meeting before R.I.T. gets on my case.
And if I get chance I'm going to buy a signal booster from argos for my telly. I'm planning on this one by LabGear. Selected on the basis that it sounds like it does what I need, it looks nice, and it's cheaper than the other one.
Met Kate and Janette for a veggie lunch at The Place Below, which is the place whose recipe book I raised for last night's luxury comfort cuisine created for me and Phil. I'll freely admit that I'm a poor cook - a legacy of not being in a position to practice my Tudor Grange Home Economics skills at university, and not really being interested in cooking for one thereafter. Still, Ragout of Wild and Field Mushrooms proved simple and relatively speedy to create - handy given that Phil made it to my front door before I did....
"Me and Mary with palm trees and an exploding volcano"
An early piece by Barney Cuba Angell Loosemore, 2002
Part of a private collection, currently on display at Simmons & Simmons, CityPoint, London.
Monday ended up on a lighter note, as Janette and I went to a corporate sponsors' private viewing of the Gainsborough exhibition which included access to the Turner Prize 2002 exhibition at Tate Britain.
The exhibitions were ok, but I wouldn't bother paying to see them with the crowds. The gainsborough in particular doesn't live up to it's marketing hype. Well, unless you're an art historian, I suppose.
I got spam at [personal email address deleted to prevent further use by spammers] from "Peter Beadles ([personal email address deleted to prevent further use by spammers])" and in my agitation went through the yahoo spam notification routine (I pick up my [domain deleted to prevent further use by spammers] mail at work using Yahoo's popmail service), which I fear now means I and possibly Tom and dad's will be blacklisted by Yahoo :( and possible more widely :[
I've mailed them via a feedback form, but it looks like they only really care about impersonations which use a yahoo address. and I recall Cait being less than impressed by their customer service. bummer.
I know the title sounds like a porn movie, but I'm referring to the new Norman Foster designed "skyscraper" which is emerging amidst the City cityscape.
Walking to work this morning, on a gorgeous crisp, sunny, albeit slightly fog-hazy morning, I could see the fish scale cladding gleaming in the sunlight, a few layers higher up than this time last week. It makes a welcome focal point for my morning constitutional.
Until I googled for "gherkin london" and found this BBC Online article I hadn't realised that it was being built on the site of the bomb-blasted Baltic Exchange. Sadly, Foster And Partners' own site isn't very informative on current projects - the most recent date I could spot was 2000. Oh - I tell a lie - a little more random mooching and I've found the Gherkin Project aka Swiss Re Headquarters.
Myles, gent that he is, sat through my hands-at-the-ready-for-hiding-behind performance during the 2 hour film by Alex Garland (storyline - The Beach) and Danny Boyle (director - Trainspotting). Excellently shot, with some nice cinematography (strobing the "Rage" attacks) and amazing scenes. In particular the early ones of a deserted London were amazing, not just in showing Westminster Bridge, the House of Parliament, Picadilly, Trafalgar Square and the City all devoid of any sign of life, but also because of the lengths the crew must have gone to shoot these scenes. There can't be many hours of daylight when central London isn't awash with humain activity!
It gave me nightmares on Saturday night too. Although possibly aided and abetted by the most MSGy chinese meal I've had in years. The nightmares have since been superceded in the 4am graveyard slot by futile fretting about work/career.
I'm just not cut out for horror movies.
A long long time ago, during the heady days of the World Cup, before England suffered their knock out defeat at the hands of ?Denmark? (don't bother telling me if I've got it wrong, I'm no footie fan!), I arranged an appointment for a B&Q Double Glazing Windows survey. The appointment was specifcially made for a Saturday, so that I wouldn't have to take any time off work. This meant 4 weeks elapsed between making the appointment and the appointment itself - but that wasn't a problem, I understood that Saturday slots would be in short supply.
However, I'd not reckoned on Eng-er-Land getting though to the Xth round, and on the crucial match being at lunchtime on that Saturday. The surveyor phoned me at 11.30 to tell me that his other appointment for the day (what, only one....) had cancelled and could he reschedule me for an evening in the week. At My Convenience. Recognising (but not understanding) the importance of The Match, and the fact that rescheduling to Monday or Tuesday night would not be a problem for me, I agreed.
More fool me - that was the last I heard from him.
Aggrieved, I phoned B&Q to complain and to chivvy. But to no avail. They did not return my calls and ignored my letter, leaving me fuming at their lackadaisicla attitude to customer service (a common theme in my rants you'll find) and the duplicity and unprofessionalism of the surveyor.
Instead I turned to Yellow Pages and the Sunday colour supplements looking for a Double Glazing Company that would be prepared to do just a single window. And on 15 Oct I was treated to a somewhat petulant visitation by Antoinette X (I forget the surname), the pushy saleswoman from BAC Windows. Disliking her quote (£850), her approach and the woman herself, and having drawn a blank elsewhere, I decided to give B&Q another go.
On my return visit to the B&Q website I was more impressed than I had been before, as the Double Glazing business seemed to be aiming at single installations, and provides online tools for estimating the cost of the work you want done, showing you the different types of windows (and doors) you can select, and lets you log a call to arrange a visit by the surveyor (haven't we been here before?)
So I merrily mooched around, trying out different fittings for the junk room window, and was very impressed. So I put in a request for someone to call me to arrange a survey, and sat back and waited. Despite the fact that the site says "We will contact you within 72 hours to discuss a suitable time for your no obligation survey." (that's 3 days) it was more like 7, but the lady who phoned me was pleasant enough and we were able to set up an appointment for 10am on the following Wednesday (13/11) when I was working from home so as to be able to visit the Doctors to sort out my holiday jabs and prescriptions.
At 10:25 Geoff turned up. Scarred by my previous experience, I'd phoned the B&Q line at 10:15 asking if they could find out why he was late and if he'd be turning up at all. As it turns out (according to Geoff, who I'm inclined to believe), the appointment is for the hour, ie the surveyor will turn up at some point between 10 and 11, but the call centre team don't always mention that.....
A very pleasant and professional chap from Swindon, Geoff measured up, advised on and priced my study window, cast an expert eye over my problematic kitchen windows and suggested I sweet talk the installers into rebalancing the tilt and swivel one, and that I'd only go �100 over the minimum order fee if I got the other kitchen window replaced along with the study one. Sounded like a Good Plan to me (always keeping an eye on the pennies, but not one to miss a bargain!). He left me with my copy of the Survey-cum-Order and advised that I could place my order, if I decided to go ahead with the work, in person at a B&Q store, or by calling the Windows number.
So, 29 hours after the survey, I called 0870 220 0718, only to be told that the survey wasn't showing up in the sysem yet; "try this time tomorrow". That was yesterday.
Today, Friday, I phoned 0870 220 0718 again. It's a BT NationalCall number, and everytime I've ended up talking to someone in a call centre with a lancastrian accent. Today's lovely lady assured me that she could now see my survey in the system, but that their call forwarding system was broken which prevented her from putting me through to the department which deals with order placing and payment. BUT, I could phone them directly and make my payment. But not, it transpired, arrange a date for the installation. This step required the appropriate B&Q call centre person to call me in 5 days to make these installation arrangements. Bearing in mind "3 days" on their website equates to 7 in reality, I asked her to confirm that I would be hearing from them 5 days after I'd paid..... echoes of SJ's kitchen experience here.... Yes, 5 days it would be.
This second number was for another call centre, further north: 0191 41 88 265.
And after going through the boringly familiar recitation of postcode, name, title correction ("Miss, not Mrs") - clearly no systems integration chez B&Q/H&W Installations/Call Centres galore - the charming lady (a mature "Bubble" would be my description) expressed her consternation over the fact that 2 orders were showing up against my name! We identified which related to Wednesday's survey, and Bubble confirmed that she could see it in system..... but unfortunately it wasn't not ready for processing yet; "Try again on Tuesday or Wednesday next week. It should have come through by then."!
All of which leaves me thinking that so far, this has been an incredibly disjointed experience, and this suggests that everyone involved is following an equally disjointed process with multiple service centres and businesses handling constituent parts. It's been very unimpressive, and indeed, I feel that I ought to be feeling more concerned..... except that because I only have a titchy two window order I haven't found anyone else willing to do the replacement work. If I could have gone elsewhere for a reasonable price (cf Antoinette's bunch) I would have done. Will I ever get to place my order? Will the double glazing installation be this painful??? Or Worse......
Weekdays on Silverlink:
dep West Brompton: 21:18 21:45 21:48 22:18 22:43 23:47 (last train)
arr Clapham Junction: 21:26 21:53 21:56 22:26 22:51 23:58
(wish I could get those times to display in a proper table format.... but that's beyond me at the moment!)
A great little line! West Brompton is handy for Earls Court, west to West Kensington and Barons Court and east to the Fulham Road and Chelsea.
Info courtesy of the Railtrack Travel Timetable.
Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox for November 11 landed in my inbox today - discussing Intranet Usability, and the costly implications of the lack thereof.
Nielson's Summary:
The average mid-sized company could gain $5 million per year in employee productivity by improving its intranet design to the top quartile level of a cross-company intranet usability study. The return on investment? One thousand percent or more.
On my To Do list is the plan to review the S&S intranet against the findings of the Nielsen Norman Group study
Still recovering from a weekend looking after Barney and Rosa, with the latter applying full throttle to the Terrible Threes.
After Blue Peter-esque craft on Saturday morning, we ventured out to Moorgate to see the Lord Mayor's Show parade, which I've not seen before. There was hardly anyone about, which might be the norm, but must be pretty soul destroying for the people in the parade, and seems rather at odds with the figures bandied about in and the impression given by the british media.
The best were a brass band from Holland, in full national dress (billowing stripey skirts and lace caps), riding on matching black sit-up-and-beg bikes playing their tunes. Crazy people, and a real pity I can't find anything about them online.
I returned the cottage conveyance clio to easyCar Barbican this morning (necessitating 6.45am rise and shine. URGH) and Luis R had the temerity to say it was dirty!!!!!!!! I told him that the only reason it appeared dirty was because I'd washed and hoovered it, and that highlighted the bits I'd missed. I refused to sign the form, and suggested that if he gave me a cloth I'd happily polish up the clio for easyCar, but we ended up agreeing to differ and I didn't sign anything..... and wishing I'd looked more closely at the option he'd circled.
So who knows.... only £10 if easyCar say it wasn't clean, but it's The Principle; the car was dirty inside and out when I picked it up, and I did clean it over the weekend.
I did go over the mileage allowance a bit, not much though. So if we'd not taken the north circular, or gone on the tile treasure hunt around Hereford we'd probably have been ok. Next time I'll hire for 6 days.
Total cost, including diesel:
Basic Rental Cost (5 days) - 30.85
Transaction Fee - 2.00
Extras - 0.00
Insurance - 0.00
Loss/Damage Waiver - 18.75
Diesel - 32.50 (returned with tank half full - or empty, depending on your perspective)
Total Cost so far - 84.10
Plus Unknown Extras:
Additional mileage @ 0.20 mile
Cleaning - 10
TOTAL: c - 100.
Not quite the bargain you think you're getting! and not a patch on Edinburgh Europcar .
Rachel VW sent me this today - and I'm a sucker for these psychological profiling quizzes....I've deleted all the repetitive crap about forwarding "to everyone you know"; "this is a real test given by the Human Relations Dept. at many of the major corporations today" etcetcetc
1. When do you feel your best?
a) in the morning
b) during the afternoon & and early evening
c) late at night
2. You usually walk
a) fairly fast, with long steps
b) fairly fast, with little steps
c) less fast head up, looking the world in the face
d) less fast, head down
e) very slowly
3. When talking to people you
a) stand with your arms folded
b) have your hands clasped
c) have one or both your hands on your hips
d) touch or push the person to whom you are talking
e) play with your ear, touch your chin, or smooth your hair
4. When relaxing, you sit with
a) your knees bent with your legs neatly side by side
b) your legs crossed
c) your legs stretched out or straight
d) one leg curled under you
5. When something really amuses you, you react with
a) a big, appreciative laugh
b) a laugh, but not a loud one
c) a quiet chuckle
d) a sheepish smile
6. When you go to a party or social gathering
a) make a loud entrance so everyone notices you
b) make a ! quiet entrance, looking around for someone you know
c) make the quietest entrance, trying to stay unnoticed
7. You're working very hard, concentrating hard, and you're interrupted; do you ...
a) welcome the break
b) feel extremely irritated
c) vary between these two extremes
8. Which of the following colours do you like most?
a) Red or orange
b) black
c) yellow or light blue
d) green
e) dark blue or purple
f) white
g) brown or grey
9. When you are in bed at night, in those last few moments before going to sleep, you lie
a) stretched out on your back
b) stretched out face down on your stomach
c) on your side, slightly curled
d) with your head on one arm
e) with your head under the covers
10. You often dream that you are
a) falling
b) fighting or struggling
c) searching for something or somebody
d) flying or floating
e) you usually have dreamless sleep
f) your dreams are always pleasant
POINTS:
1. (a) 2 (b) 4 (c) 6
2. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 7 (d) 2 (e) 1
3. (a) 4 (b) 2 (c) 5 (d) 7 (e) 6
4. (a) 4 (b) 6 (c) 2 (d) 1
5. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 3 (d) 5 (e) 2
6. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 2
7. (a) 6 (b) 2 (c) 4
8. (a) 6 (b) 7 (c ) 5 (d) 4 (e) 3 (f) 2 (g) 1
9. (a) 7 (b) 6 (c) 4 (d) 2 (e) 1
10. (a) 4 (b) 2 (c) 3 (d) 5 (e) 6 (f) 1
Now add up the total number of points.
OVER 60 POINTS: Others see you as someone they should "handle with care". You're seen as vain, self-centered, and who is extremely dominant. Others may admire you, wishing they could be more like you, but don't always trust you, hesitating to become too deeply involved with you.
51 TO 60 POINTS: Others see you as an exciting, highly volatile, rather impulsive personality; a natural leader, who's quick to make decisions, though not always the right ones. They see you as bold and adventuresome, someone who will try anything once; someone who takes chances and enjoys an adventure. They enjoy being in your company because of the
excitement you radiate.
41 TO 50 POINTS: Others see you as fresh, lively, charming, amusing, practical, and always interesting; someone who's constantly in the centre of attention, but sufficiently well-balanced, not one to let it go to their head. They also see you as kind, considerate, and understanding; someone who'll always cheer them up and help them out.
31 TO 40 POINTS: Others see you as sensible, cautious, careful & practical. They see you as clever, gifted, or talented, but modest. Not a person who makes friends too quickly or easily, but someone who's extremely loyal to friends you do make and who expect the same loyalty in return. Those who really get to know you realize it takes a lot to shake your trust in your friends, but equally that it takes you a long time to get over it if that trust is ever broken.
21 TO 30 POINTS: Your friends see you as painstaking and fussy. They see you as very cautious, extremely careful, a slow and steady plodder. It would really surprise them if you ever did something impulsively or on the spur of the moment, expecting you to examine everything carefully from every angle and then, usually decide against it. They think this reaction is caused partly by your careful nature.
UNDER 21 POINTS: People think you are shy, nervous, and indecisive, someone who needs looking after, who always wants someone else to make the decisions & who doesn't want to get involved with anyone or anything. They see you as a worrier who always sees problems that don't exist. Some people think you're boring. Only those who know you well know that you aren't.
Before heading over to Forty Acres for the weekend, Phil and I went up to TJBR's for dinner. After I'd judged the Tooth Brushing Competition (my prize - FTP 6's set of Vamprie Teeth - were not deemed an acceptable alternative to the items identified in the Argos catalogue with a turned down corner), Barney wanted to know which of his cars was the fastest, and what was the fastest car in the world...... I displayed my complete lack of Guiness Book of Records (and popular scientific) credentials by claiming it was the Bluebird (in which Donald Campbell set the world water speed record in December 1964 - 276.3 mph on Lake Dumbleyung in Australia)
So my mission this lunchtime was to do some research on the web...