Joy, oh joy! The teaser trailer for Spiderman 3 is out! Watch it here. It's a teaser, but you do see quite a few clips. As always, it made me want to weep. Tobey Maguire is so perfect as Peter Parker he gives it a real emotional centre for me. A new Spidey movie. Fantastic. Can't wait. You can keep your Superman. (Although the new trailer for that looks pretty neat and we WILL be going to see it.)
Bit of a gap since my last post and not much of a reason why. Been down in Winchester again this week for 3 days. The work was dull, I didn't have really that much to do. Trapper's last night on Tuesday and we watched the England v Sweden match at the Irish pub. Good atmosphere. Suffered a bit the next morning in the workshop. Human again by lunchtime.
Back in Coventry office Thursday. Spent most of it sorting stuff out of my desk and brought another boot-full home. The word went round that the project has been delayed until next April. This has been by far the worst project I've ever been associated with. The areas I've been involved with have been OK but as a whole, it just doesn't work. Although there have been technical challenges, I think clarity and communication of design from the front would have helped overcome most issues. The fact that a number of us on the team have put in our notice must have contributed to it's demise and if that causes the upper management some discomfort then I'm fine with that. After all, in playground-speak, 'they started it'.
On Wednesday our MacBook was delivered. What a beauty it is. Still getting used to the OS regarding installing applications and the like. Well impressed with the interface. Last night, showing my Dad the machine, we popped a DVD in and Jacq got the remote out for the first time. This launched the Front Row interface and I was knocked out. The browsing of movie trailers was fantastic. Really focuses the user on content rather than the technology involved.
Mom said he should get one for his birthday and I agree. He won't of course.
Worked from home Friday. Hope I can do a few more days at home during my notice. Don't suppose it will be an option when contracting.
What's really great about putting your notice in is that you are immediately immune to all the rubbish you had stressing about prior to handing it in. In one action I went from not knowing what I will be doing in a months time (and who I'll be working for) to knowing exactly what I'll be doing. Sometimes you just have to secure your own future.
Sorted.
When I got back from site tonight, as well as a house full of people, I had all the paperwork associated with my freelance career. Some interesting reading for the weekend. I definitely prefer the term 'freelance' to 'contractor', it's got a better ring to it.
Still managing to ignore the barrage of repellent mediocrity that is Big Brother. I'm so not interested in that crap. My new headphones with their 6m lead are keeping me insulated from the hideous television. Listening to Richard H Kirk's 'The Number Of Magic' brings back memories of 'ambient' club nights in the mid-nineties.
Tuesday was a mad day. What started out as a day booked off as holiday to spend time with my wife on our ten year anniversary turned into a day where we hardly spent any quality time together.
Things got off to a bad start actually the night before as Harriet developed tummy pains and we spent a couple of hours down in A&E getting her checked out. It turned out to be nothing. When we got home at 5:00AM Jacq said she'd been up with the dog crying while we were out. Not the best of starts. Knackered.
Jacq took Dylan to school while Harriet slept. Got a call from a company that Trapper had given me the nod about the day before. They were interested in my CV so I arranged to go see them in Stafford later that day at 4:00PM. I then went off for a couple of fillings and came back with a frozen lop-sided mouth which made Harriet laugh. Soon after we took Pebbles off to the vets for her first jab. The vet seemed pleased with her general health and condition.
Time then to head up the M6 a bit to Stafford and have an interview. It's been a while since having one of those. Seemed like a decent place. Offered a position there and then. Opened ended contract. Just the job. The journey both ways seemed fine. No worse than the trip to Coventry for sure. Think it could happen if the contactor side of things can be setup. Gosh. That all happened a bit quick.
Back home I continued building a new PC for Duggo. Bit of a mad rush. Stopped for a balti with t'wife. A brief moment together. Then back onto finishing off the PC. Delivered it to their house about 9:30PM and then dashed back home to catch Lost.
What a day.
Ten years. Blimey. It's gone quick.
Today I handed my notice in. What a relief. After weeks and weeks of trying to second-guess my future, I've gone ahead and secured it for myself. Sod 'em.
So goodbye to the long term plans and hello to the glorious uncertainty of contracting. Bring on the big wages!
Here she is! It's Pebbles! She is lots of fun and LOTS of work. She's charmed the kids and almost driven the wife to distraction. She is such a little cutie. We love her to bits.
It's been nearly a week since we came back from our holiday at Center Parcs and it feels like ages ago. We had a great week. The weather was kind and we found that we really enjoyed it. The kids raed it better than a 'normal' holiday. It was nice to be riding around on a bike. First time for years. Simple pleasures.
Lovely weather cast a beautiful spell over this weekend and even the normal routine events seemed to be slightly more enjoyable than normal somehow. Coming out of the house on Saturday morning into warm sunlight was a great start. With me wearing shorts we all walked down to the swimming baths. The kids did great.
In the afternoon we worked and played in the garden. Paul and Lyn popped in for tea and a chat about being self-employed. Interesting stuff he had to say but I think I'll stick with the umbrella company approach when I finally go contracting. They said they'll be over next weekend to have a cuddle of the pup when she arrives.
Sunday we shopped at Merry Hill for some holiday food and a bit of reading material. Jacq picked up Douglas Coupland's latest, jPod. We love Doug! I'm going to be sneaking a peak at this book while were away for sure.
Rest of day spent packing and organising for going away tomorrow to Center Parcs. The hallway is jam-packed with stuff ready to load into the car in the morning. How come there's so much stuff?! We're only away for 4 nights! I hope I can fit it all in.
Coming towards the end of what is possibly my last week in Winchester. I've been quite busy trying to help out with various tasks. Slow compiles drag out the process painfully. It won't be a quick getaway tomorrow as I don't want to leave things unfinished and drop others in it next week. But what a joy it will be to be home at the start of a weeks holiday.
Jacq snapped the above shot during a visit yesterday to Gullivers Kingdom. A great picture and rare for the fact that all four of us are in the frame. We managed to generally have a fun day even though poor Harriet was not feeling very well.
Today was a Bank Holiday complete with traditional rain. We went to see X-Men 3 which was OK. Nothing more than that. Harriet was feeling worse today and it's been hard trying to make her comfortable. A combination of a sore throat and a couple of very wobbly teeth has kept her on the edge of upset all day. Poor sweetheart.
Theresa popped in following a trip to Brum and we discussed plans for next week's holiday. Dylan spent a couple of hours playing with his mate David. I fetched him home as soon as I could. I'm torn between letting the kids play with their friends and having them around me on my rare times at home. I miss the kids so much during the week. I miss out on too much. It's not right you know.
Went to see Richard Herring at Artrix in Bromsgrove. Nice enough venue that I'd not been to before. Not many people turned up to see Richard which was a shame because he was excellent. Unfortunately the atmosphere was simply lacking. There simply weren't enough people there to achieve the rquired critcal comedic mass. In his blog about the evening it was obvious that it was a dissapointment for him. I will definitely go see Richard again. I really like him.
Back home from another week in Winchester to some nice post. A bunch of books from Amazon. The Taschen books are amazing value at just six quid each. Check them here and here. The Paul Morley book I've been meaning to get for ages so I might just take it with me on holiday. The Jarman book, Jacq got me for a penny! (plus postage) He is still a hero of mine.
Accidentally bought a MacBook this afternoon! Couldn't help myself. I saw the offer of 0% over 6 months on their website and decided to go for it. Got nearly fifty quid 'educational discount' just for saying that the kids would be using it. Bargain.
As for the working week. The big news is Phil handing his notice in. Fair play to the man for walking the talk. I'm trailing behind but I have at least sent out the CV and let's see what happens. I'm covering for the lead engineer who is on holiday which keeps me busier than I would like. It's hard to remain de-motivated and pissed off when you're busy with stuff.
I need t-shirts. I'm itching for my first Valleyschwag which apparently is being dispatched next week. In addition I've also ordered schwag from the Google Store. Soon I will be full-on geek-boy slash old-git.
Update: Google sent me advice of the shipping and taxes invloved in the order and it took it from $40 to over $100! So I cancelled the whole deal. I'll just wait for the Valleyschwag.
Trawling around the web tonight looking for info on the upcoming Scritti Politti album for Rough Trade, I discovered some cool stuff. First off, the news that they recently played live, that's LIVE, in Brixton under the alias, Double G And The Traitorous 3. Now, Green is famous for NEVER playing live so that's a big thing in my book. But also, I found out that they are playing another gig at the Hay literary festival on 2nd June. I SO want to go. The timing isn't great but my god, I love this band. I should go. I really should.
Probably won't.
I really fancy one of them new MacBooks. The white one looks real sweet. Jacq wants one too. This is a dangerous situation. We both want one. The cash is in the bank. If we accidentally find ourselves in the Apple store anytime soon then something naughty might happen. I'm scared.
Although working down in Winchester again this week, I came back up for Dylans birthday on Wednesday. Took the kids straight to Wacky Warehouse after school. They had a good time in there playing together. Mom and Dad turned up and we all eat there.
Phil had a good 'meeting' today. Sounds like he's sorted there. Nice one chap. I really must get my act together and get sorted also.
Mom and Dad just called in, they won't see us now for a month due to holidays. I'm a bit tired from this afternoons drive home. Good to be home though. Not much on this weekend, which is nice.
Dylans 7th birthday party on Saturday morning. He was so excited about it. He had a fantastic time in the Wacky Warehouse. The cousins came back to ours afterwards for lunch and playing.
Sunday morning we went to visit our new puppy at the breeders house. What a cute sight the puppies were bouncing around the place. Each one so very cute. Can't wait for June 11th when we pick her up.
The meeting with Juergen went well, but remains a pointless exercise. If he was still going to be my boss in a few weeks, then it would have done me some good. Oh well, whatever. Very little work news this week which is very fustrating as June gets ever nearer.
Phil and others on an evening shift in the workshop this week. This meant more company while working late plus an alternative meal opportunity. A pleasant change to eating in Winchester pubs and drinking beer.
Managed to fit in a few runs this week. This mornings was glorious. Instead of the park, I jogged into town and around the cathederal. It was a lovely sunny morning. When I got back to the hotel I felt great. I could get into this.
Managed to keep up with E3 news this week despite being with clients all day. Sony stealing Nintendos motion detection in controller idea really stank. I wouldn't mind a PS3 though.
Down to Winchester this morning and back up tonight as tomorrow is my meeting with Juergen. Mightily puzzled about this meeting. I'm hoping he will have something interesting to say but in reality I'm expecting a bland statement of the obvious. There are a number of people waiting to hear what he has to say to me so there will be plenty of chat when I get back down to Winchester after the meeting. This is bad timing as I'll have customers in tomorrow. Hopefully Lars can stall them for a while.
Phil is on the evening shift, just spoke on Google Chat. I like the sound of pizzas in the workshop. I'd rather eat my evening meal there. Earning money while eating pizza and no temptation of booze. That works for me.
Lovely sun this morning. Shorts on, first time this year. I love wearing shorts. Longish, baggy and loads of pockets are my favourites. So, we did swimming lessons and then came back home for relaxation and house/garden tasks. In the afternoon it got cloudy and rainy. We went out to our local balti house, Raja, for our evening meal. Unfortunately I had to swap my shorts for trousers. Too cold for shorts.
What an interesting post about weather and trousers!
