January 2008 Archives
Facebook Rant
There are two things that really annoy me about Facebook.
The first thing being all the random applications that I keep getting invited to join. I’m not against the applications as such - indeed I probably spend far too much of my time playing Scrabulous - but I have no real desire to be a pirate, nor a zombie. I don’t need more than one wall, and I don’t want to compare my intelligence or good looks against my friends. And so, each time that I get an invite to one of these applications, I am now blocking it, so that it can never bother me again.
The second thing being the random facebook groups created by people who lose their mobile phone. Oh. My. God! Can they think of no better way of collecting numbers from their friends? What about an email, or a private message? Why does it have to be a public group, where people are invited to share their number with the world?
January 30, 2008
Not in my name
Just in case you’ve been following the unholy row erupting in the media lately surrounding the sale of rosary beads in St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin and a proposed visit by the Pope to Northern Ireland, then I would like to say - as a Protestant Anglican myself - that Wallace Thompson and the Evangelical Protestant Society he represents do NOT speak for me. As far as I’m concerned, his recent anti-Catholic rants have embarrassed all Christian people, and he should apologise (and hopefully resign) immediately. This kind of bigotry has no place in our society.
Pudding Party
On Saturday night I was invited to a party - one serving puddings and pink cocktails - and it certainly lived up to its billing. When I arrived, the dining table was already groaning under the weight of a myriad of different puddings (or deserts, if you prefer that word) - but they were just the cold ones. A whole load of other hot puddings would also appear during the evening, squeezed onto any scrap of space vacated on the table as people devoured the deserts.
Myself, I could only manage about three bowls before I was full, but as I was leaving I had a huge amount of bread and butter pudding trust into my hands by the hostess, much of which is still in my fridge two days later. It could last me all week!
Deadly
“We cannot consume more than 2 alcoholic drinks” the text message had said, which was fine by me. The idea was not to go out and get drunk, but to hang out and have a bit of a natter.
Indeed things started off quite well. We met up at 3.00pm in the hotel bar, and had a soft drink each. And if things had continued in the same fashion, then the night might have been very different. But at some point, near the end of my second cup of tea, a member of staff came by and deposited a wine menu on our table, and our meetup took quite a different turn.
“Well we could perhaps have one, and see how it goes.”
I can’t remember which of us said it, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. It was still only late afternoon, within office hours, and a bit early to be drinking. However, a single glass of white wine would be okay.
Unfortunately it wasn’t just a single glass. The first led to the second, which then led to the third (during which another friend briefly joined us). We then moved location, and began work on the fourth, fifth… and at this point I lost count. A second mutual friend also showed up a some point for another visit, but they had the good sense to have just the one and go home again.
Anyway, so the evening ended with a rather surreal conversation with some strangers - one guy from Slovakia, another from Portugal, and a third from America. I wasn’t capable of proper conversation at this point, but it didn’t stop me trying - no doubt to the chagrin of the multi-cultural gathering I had invaded.
But all in all it was a pretty amazing night… what my lovely friends here in Dublin refer to as “deadly”. I just wish I could remember more of it.
The Day Job
Up until the middle of December I had been working a fixed-term contract in the IT department of a utility company here in Dublin. It was good work, but the project I was working on finished, and they didn’t need me any more, so my contract was not renewed.
As it happens, the end of the contract came at about the same time that the musical commitments at the cathedral were ramping up for Christmas, and so it seemed like an ideal time for a break.
However, it’s now almost five weeks since I finished the day job. And although I have been enjoying my ‘gentleman of leisure’ status and long lie-ins, it’s probably about time for me to re-enter the job market. After all, my savings will only last for so long, and I don’t relish being thrown out on the street in a couple of months.
Anyway, so I put my CV online at the website monster.ie on Tuesday evening, and have been fielding calls from recruitment agents ever since. It seems to be the way that things work here in Dublin in the IT field. You post your CV online, and wait for the phone calls to come flooding in. On Wednesday morning, for example, I had fielded six calls before 10.00am, and the phone kept going for much of the rest of the day too.
The IT job market seems very buoyant at the moment, and there are lots of opportunities for experienced people. Indeed, I’ve already secured my first interview tomorrow, with a big multinational company. The role description sounds very interesting, and I’d probably bite their hand off if they offered me the job - but I have to caution myself about getting too excited about the first job that comes my way.
It’s all too tempting - especially when you’re between jobs like me (i.e. unemployed) - to get excited about the first thing that comes your way, even if it’s not entirely suitable. You get your hopes up, only to realise later that you came across as a complete idiot in your interview. And so, perhaps I should view this first interview as a practice - and not get too worked up about this role (even if it is a perfect match).
I also need to guard myself against accepting offers of jobs that I don’t really want. It’s all too easy to wooed by job offers, even if they’re utterly unsuitable. Indeed it wasn’t until quite recently that I realised that, just because someone offers you a job, you don’t have to take it.
In the last 2 years or so, my whole attitude to work has changed somewhat. I’ve turned down more job offers in that time than the total number of jobs I’d had in the proceeding 15 years of my working life - which is quite a scary thing to do, particularly when out of work (like I am now). But I feel that it’s better to take on a role where I’m going to be happy over the long term - which will be better for me and my employers.
Of course, I realise I’m incredibly lucky to be in this position - to be able to pick and choose between job opportunities. I understand that other people are forced to take on some pretty shitty work, just in order to make ends meet. And to a certain respect I can understand their situation, as I’ve worked some pretty dire jobs in my time, including shop work, and also some time working as a bin man (just don’t ask me about the maggots).
Anyway, I’ve got this interview tomorrow. And hopefully one or two other interviews will also be offered next week. And at this rate, I’m in serious danger of being fully employed again by the end of January. Which would be both good and bad… Good because of the money it brings in, and the interesting projects that than spark my imagination and creative juices. And bad because it indicates the end of my at-home holiday.
Face Fuzz
It all got a bit too itchy last night, so I shaved it off. However within just 12 days I had managed to grow quite an impressive amount of face fuzz.
It hadn’t been a planned thing. I had gone away for New Year, and had simply forgotten to pack my razor. And being a bit of tight-arsed penny pincher, I resisted the urge to buy a new one. So while I was away I let it grow - and then came back to Dublin and let it continue, to see if I liked it.
I must admit, there was rather too much grey in the beard for my liking. And with some (albeit well-meaning) comments from friends saying I looked ‘distinguished’, I felt it made me look even older than I normally do. Of course some other so-called friends also said that I looked like an axe-murderer - which wasn’t what I was hoping for either.
Anyway, so the beard has gone. I got home last night and realised that I had been scratching at my chin all evening. I had thought that if I just left it grow a bit longer the itching would stop, but it appeared to get worse over time. And so it went.
Twelve drummers drumming
As it’s 12th night tonight, I suppose I should extract my digit and finish taking the Christmas tree down. I already stripped the decorations off just before dinner, but I think I might leave the lights on it when I pack it away in it’s box (it’s a plastic tree).
This year’s timely activity on the last day of Christmas is a distinct improvement upon a couple of years ago, when the tree remained in the corner of front room till the end of February - and the garland on the mantelpiece stayed in place all year! Luckily they were both plastic too, else they would no-doubt have turned quite brown and started to smell.
NTL DVR Gripes
I’ve been using the NTL/UPC DVR (Digital Video Recorder) for a few weeks now, and although it seems to do the job of recording programmes quite well, I must say that the software implementation is quite poor. There seems to have been very little thought put into the user interface - which is shocking when competitor systems from TiVo and SKY+ have been around on the market for so long.
No dedicated button on the remote
With the record and playback functionality being so important to the unit, it’s a real shame that there’s no dedicated button on the remote control that accesses these features. Indeed the remote control is identical to the one supplied with non-DVR digital cable boxes, which seems like an unnecessary compromise, particularly as I have to do four button presses to access my list of recordings.
Backup doesn’t remember place in the list
If I select to watch a programme, and then exit back to the list of recordings using the backup button, the first show in the list is highlighted, instead of the show I just watched. And so, if I wanted to continue watching or delete the show, I’ve got to find it again on the list.
Poorly designed TV Guide
I must say the TV guide provided with the DVR is probably one of the worst I have ever seen, in terms of layout and design. Only about half of the screen is used to show listings information, meaning that you can only view 6 channels at a time, and 90 minutes of programmes at a time. From memory, the TiVo and SKY+ offerings are vastly superior, and a lot more intuitive to use.
No Season Pass
This is the huge omission, and my biggest gripe by far - the lack of a season pass feature, whereby in a single action you can tell the box to record all episodes of a particular programme. TiVo and SKY+ have had this functionality for years, but it is strangely absent from the NTL DVR. I do hope that the DVR manufacturers rethink this omission, and include it future software updates.
James & Fiona
Last Friday, the 28th December, was the wedding of James Hutchinson and Fiona Robertson in Old Saint Paul’s church in Edinburgh.
I flew over from Dublin on the morning of the ceremony, and arrived at the church about half an hour before the service. Those of us that had been asked to sing during the register signing had been asked to gather early for a quick run through. There would be no choir as such for the service, but instead a select bunch of James’s musical friends present in the congregation who would come forward to perform a piece - in this case Parry I Was Glad. The full harmony of the hymn tunes was also printed in the service sheet, in case anyone wanted to sing harmony.
The service was very beautiful, and very well attended. The bride looked wonderful, and walked very gracefully over the heating grate in the centre isle - which is well known to be just the right size to ensnare unsuspecting wearers of stiletto heels.
After the service, the reception was held in the Merchants’ Hall on Hanover Street. Guests were served a vegetable broth for starters, and pork for the main course. The food was all delightful, but a surprise lay in store for us. It seems that neither the bride nor groom are particular fans of fruit cake and as such had, instead of a wedding cake, cheese - and lots of it. A veritable mountain of different cheeses, complete with oat cakes, and a goodly supply of port too.
I was in seventh heaven, of course, as I’m a huge cheese fan (and rather like my port too). And so I ended up spending rather too much time returning to the cheese table.
Luckily, however, those of us that had over-indulged were also given the opportunity to work off some of our gluttony when the ceilidh started. The band played well, even if we couldn’t hear a word the caller was saying. The PA system wasn’t terribly good, so half the time you just had to guess at what dance you were being called forward for.
The evening finished with the traditional rendition of Auld lang syne, and the departure of the bride and groom.
They are presently honeymooning in Marrakech.
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