Friday, March 31, 2006

Late starts

I'm not sure if I overslept my alarm today or never set one in the first place - at any rate, I didn't wake up until 8:37 this morning. I'm not even sure what woke me up then - I guess I'm lucky, as I could've easily slept til 10 or 11.

Thankfully it was 'dress-down' day, so I didn't have to spend time putting on the costume that is normally required for office work. I simply threw on what I could find, grabbed a clementine and a packet of crisps for breaky, and jumped on the bus. I'm amazed that I even got here by 9:15.

In a somewhat unrelated note, I observed a sort of generation gap at work today which I thought was worth pointing out. While entering the new membership information into the computer, one of the ladies came across a member who had simply written her house number and street, followed by a town with nothing else. Now, on the computers here, we have an address database program (supplied, I believe by the Royal Mail) so normally it's not a problem to figure stuff like that out. However, in this case it was coming up short, and the ladies were fretting that we had this person's money, but no way to assign it to them. Essentially it would have just sat here until many months in the future, when the woman realized she hadn't received anything in the post yet and presumably would go into the store to complain.

So since we couldn't figure this out with the tools that we had, my first inclination was to punch the address into Google and see what came up. And after that, it was quickly sorted.

Now, by no means am I trying to make myself sound better, I just found it interesting to observe the fact that I immediately thought to check this wealth of information which is available to all of us, and to them, it didn't even occur. I guess 'Google' really is a verb in my vocabulary.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Langford: 1 PC Speaker: 0 !!!


I've been stuck in my own little corner again...a different one this time. If I'm lucky, I'll get to stay here all next week, cuz it's my bosses desk and she's on holiday.
However, with a new desk, comes a new computer...and new challenges.

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WARNING: SEVERE GEEKING ABOUT TO BEGIN
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So the computer at this desk doesn't have its sound drivers installed properly. This means that instead of using windows sounds when something happens, it defaults to the beep of the PC speaker. Unfortunately on this particular machine, the beep is rather loud. As well, the software I have to use to do my job has boxes popping up and beeping all the friggin time...I'm talking like 100 per minute (if I'm working hard).

Of course, the simplest solution would have been to properly install the sound drivers and then mute it all, but I don't have an XP disc handy.

So this morning I started poking around on the web and found a couple more simple solutions (check them out).

However, since the only login I have is a user account and not an adminstrator, I wasn't able to change any of the device driver settings, so those solutions didn't work for me.
I wasn't to be defeated though! I thought about other options, including a floppy boot disk, but in the end, I found a simpler solution in a quick registry edit! (Interested parties can find it here) A few taps of the keyboard and a quick reboot later, and it was quiet as a....well, something that doesn't make any noise. A giraffe or something? I don't know. What I do know is that I was victorious!

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Cross-Atlantic Lovin'

Would all of the Canadians who saw an Icelandic band at the Apollo Hammersmith in London tonight please raise their hand?

I was just poking around their website, and found out you can download a free, high-quality version of my favourite track by them. Get it here. Oh man, they played that in the middle of their set tonight, and had this video of a little girl with braids in the background, and it was all so beautiful that it made me cry.

I could say lots more about the gig but I gotta get up for work tomorrow.

Bon Jovi Addendum

Additionally: I have the song 'Always' by Bon Jovi stuck in my head and I have NO idea why. I don't even like the song, and I haven't heard it in ages. Actually, what likely happened is that someone said some words from the song and it triggered it in my head without me actively noticing. I find that often happens...I'll hear 3 or 4 words in a row that are the same in some song and then the music in my head starts and won't stop. Just a theory though.

I'll be there till the stars don't shine, till the heavens burst and the words don't rhyme...

Covert Posting


I'm updating from work, how naughty!

However, today they stuck me in a corner where no one can see what I'm doing, plus, I'm tired.
I'm not sure where I learned to do this, but I've found if you work really hard the first week (or two), you can get away with a lot more later on. Maybe it's because this way they know that you're capable of working hard should the need arise, so you're given more leeway during the rest of the time.

And besides, it's not like I won't get my work done....

Anyhow, it was great to see Pook last night. We went out for an Indian curry, and then caught the last 30 minutes of the Tottenham/West Brom match (I imagine that Matt is pleased with the outcome of that one!) We walked around Picadilly/Trafalgar/Leicester Square for a while, then settled down for another pint. We had some good chats, and then finally said our goodbyes (he's off to Spain for a week). I caught the midnight bus back, which got me in around 1:15. I was asleep by 2 and up for work at 7:30! And tonight, I'm going to do it all over again!
The doors for the Sigur Ros concert open at 7, so I figure if I catch a bus around 6, I should make it inside by 8, which will be more than enough time for the show. I do hope that they play a long set, on the other hand though, I wouldn't mind catching an 11:30 bus back to Oxford if they're all finished by then. I'm gonna be a wreck tomorrow morning! I've already had 3 cups of coffee this morning and it's not even 11 yet. Oy.

Sunday, March 26, 2006

Lazy bones

All right, so I will admit that I've been a rather lazy blogger lately. It's not that there isn't lots going on - in fact I've had several stories where I thought "oh, I should post about that!" but then never do.

I dunno what it is exactly...working a 9-5 job (or 8-5 as in my case) means a lot of my day is taken up either working or sleeping. Between grocery shopping, cleaning my room, making my lunch and other chores, the time I have left is spent seeing friends or relaxing. Not that I'm complaining by any means, just explaining why I haven't been as prevalent in my posting.

So, a quick update: after work tomorrow I'm taking the bus to London to visit Pookie for the evening before he flies out to Spain. I'm coming back to work on Tuesday, then heading back to London tuesday night to see a Sigur Ros concert at the Apollo Hammersmith with Matt, Jim and Martin. Not much on for the next couple weeks, but then Easter weekend I'm flying to Dublin to spend time with Erin. So there ya go.

In addition, I should add that it finally feels like spring here in the UK! Sure it was raining today but that's part of the season. It's supposed to be between 12 and 15 degrees all week long. Awesome. I can't remember if I posted this before or not, but in celebration I have been listening to 'Oleander' by Sarah Harmer. You can hear a low-quality version by following this link, which I recommend that you do. Check out her other stuff too!

Larks and Owls

I'm posting a link to this article, especially for my mom ;)

Here is an excerpt:

"...research carried out by his team in 2003 found that whether someone is a lark or an owl, when they want to sleep and when they are at their most alert is also determined by their genes."

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Funny or scary?

This video is currently the featured archive from Rick Mercer's Monday Report - it obviously first aired last year during the hockey lockout.

So without further ado, I present:


The Best Taiwanese Parliament Fights Of ALL Time


Sunday, March 19, 2006

A Weekend of People

Well, it is safe to say that I achieved absolutely nothing of what I wanted to do this weekend: the laundry is piled high, the kitchen cupboards are looking sparse, my face is scruffy and I've yet to read one page for my lenten book group tomorrow night. And now I'm back to work in 8 hours for another week at the office...

That said, it was a fantastic weekend! Friday night, Kyle and I had supper at Nando's, then bought some Guinness and rented The Boondock Saints from Videosyncratic in honour of St. Paddy's day. Afterwards we stayed up til 2am talking theology. Good shit.

Saturday afternoon I spontaneously went for a pint (and a half) with a friend from the coffee shop who I hadn't seen in what felt like ages and we discussed our current lives, as such. Later that day, I went over to Rich's place and he fed me supper. He showed me his pictures from the Czech Republic and then we wrestled with his computer for a while trying to get it to read the Downfall DVD, but it wouldn't, so we ended up watching The Motorcycle Diaries instead, which was an excellent film in itself.

Sunday afternoon I met Rich again at the Jericho Tavern, along with 6 or so other folks from hOME and we had lunch, looked through the papers and hung out. We went our separate ways for the afternoon but then met up again for the hOME eucharist service this evening (which Kyle fondly and lovingly refers to as 'technomass'). When I got back, Kyle and I went to the kebab shop around the corner and ended up watching Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back with Cody, the other Canadian who lives here.

Of course, the usually quiet introvert inside me is now screaming for some time alone, and there's some merit to that, however I am very grateful to be surrounded by such wonderful people and feel blessed to have had the chance to spend some time this weekend with each of them!

Monday, March 13, 2006

Reflections

I went to the lent book discussion group tonight which was attended solely by myself, Kyle and Jim. It quickly degenerated (in the best possible way) into a theological discussion and our observations of the condition of the church in the world. It was great, I need more of those in my life.

Tomorrow I'm going into work an hour early (7:30!!!) to help plow through some paperwork. Sure I'll get paid for the hour but I'm not sure the lack of sleep and extra effort is really worth the £6.50 I will receive for it - I think hours before 11am should be paid double time...or at least time and a half. I'm really only doing it to help them out.

I'm enjoying temping so far...I still come home tired at the end of the day, but at least I'm not sweating profusely and emotionally in tatters. It's nice to retain a semblance of myself after. Today I spent almost half the day doing change of addresses, which is exactly what it sounds like: I open up the database and delete the old address and replace it with the new one, check it off the list and move on. It would be better if I could listen to music while I work, but I don't want to push my luck yet.

As for the ladies in my department, well, they're mostly friendly but in a way I feel really sad for them. There's 4 or 5 of them and they've all got to be in their 40's or older and it's obvious that their job is their life. They gossip about other staff members and complain when they get more work and when the systems go down and generally act like if they weren't around to hold things together the entire universe would implode upon itself. And I think part of the reason I can say this is because I'm just a temp with no real responisibility or pressure and so there's not much for me to stress over, but honestly, these people are working in the financial department of an office, it's not like they're fighting injustice or negotiating world peace.

Maybe I'm just an arrogant, idealistic kid (well, no maybe about it) but I really want to make a difference in this world with my life. Which isn't to say that you can't make a difference from an office, there are certainly many people who do. But if I'm doing what they do when I get to that age, please folks, just put me out of my misery.

PS: I feel the growing desire to watch Office Space again...

Friday, March 10, 2006

WONDERFALL!

HOLY CRAP! I just discovered the series Wonderfalls. It is absolutely fantastic! It's about a 24 year old university graduate who goes to work at a tourist shop in Niagara Falls and starts hearing things from stuffed animals which tell her how to help people. Now, I'm sure this appeals to me for many reasons, not the least of which being the fact that my home is 15 minutes down the road from Niagara Falls, that I'm a 24 year old graduate who works a minimum wage job, and that I like stuffed animals (unfortunately, none of which talk to me). It pretends to take place on the American side (supposedly to appeal to the American television audience) but it's clear to anyone who's ever actually been that it's all on the Canadian side (indeed the whole series was shot in Canada, starring many Canadian actors) and it's fun to pick out the locations I recognize from real life. But on top of that, the writing is fantastic. Each episode I've seen so far has actually made me laugh out loud several times, which is no small feat! It can also be very poignant as well.

So why did I not hear about this sooner? Well, apparently Fox, in its infinite wisdom, only ever aired 4 episodes and then cancelled the series (as it does with so many good series - Family Guy and Arrested Development to name but 2....it's a well-documented fact that they nearly cancelled 24 during the first season) but thankfully they released the whole first run on DVD, so an entire 13 episodes are available. They're not available in the UK but thanks to the interweb, I've got em all! I will DEFINITELY be picking up this DVD set next time I'm home. I might even get a region 1 copy shipped over the pond. It is SUPERB! I can't recommend it highly enough!

PS: According to good ol' Wikipedia, it can be found in the UK on Sky One/Mix (that one's for you jim!)

New Job

I started temping at an office down Botley way. Here is a list of things I didn't have to do at work today:

  • spray, polish, mop or clean anything (including toilets)
  • deal with angry customers
  • stand
  • take less than a full hour for lunch
  • handle physical money
  • listen to the same music on repeat
Ok, so I'm not saying my new job is perfect by any means - I certainly wouldn't want to do it forever. That said, I'm getting paid more to sit in a comfy chair in front of a computer and do less. Most of my day consisted of entering membership info into a computer. I also moved around about £20,000 from peoples' pay cheques into their bank accounts. I'm actually kinda surprised that they let/made me do that on my first day...

Anyhow, now I've got the weekend off (like a normal person) but I'll be back on Monday morning. We'll see how I'm coping this time next week.

Ta.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Work

Who starts a new job on a Friday? Well, me, apparently....

I got some temp work for a couple weeks entering info into a computer (they couldn't stop raving about my typing skills at the agency :D). I start tomorrow at 8:30am, have the weekend off, then go back in again on Monday morning. I've already packed my lunch and everything. Man, I can't remember the last time I packed my own lunch.

I spent £40 on a pair of dress shoes today because they said I couldn't wear 'trainers,' which kinda sucks, but this job does pay £1.50 more per hour than the coffee shop, so I should make that up in no time. Plus, I won't have to deal with folks who are angry about their latte, or clean bathrooms that people have shit all over. Hurray!


(You think I'm kidding about the toilets? Click here to see a low resolution, moderately gross picture that I took with my phone's camera one day last summer. Cleaning that up deserved more than minimum wage!)

Monday, March 06, 2006

Hrumph

This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about.

How many people has bird flu killed? Oh, right 95. And a couple of cats.

Yeah, way worse than AIDS...

Saturday, March 04, 2006

Contrast

It was snowing a little bit in Oxford this past week so I hastily took the following snap outside my window:

Over here you can find some photos taken by Suzie with a little more artistic credibility.

But then today my uncle sent me this picture from back home:


I gotta admit, it made me a little homesick...

Birthday cards

My friends and family have a great sense of humour! Here are the cards I have received so far (note: the copyright on these cards belongs to the content creator or, more likely, the evil corporation they sold their soul to). As per usual, click on the card to get a bigger image.





24

beep-beep-beep-beeeeeeeeeeeep

The following takes place between 3:00pm and 4:00pm


So today is my birthday, and as I recall, I was born at 3:30pm (that is, as I recall my mother telling me, not actually remembering the moment of my birth)

24 really isn't that special as far as years go. If I was back home, I would be expecting gifts of two-fours of various kinds, but seeing as how I am in the good ol' Land of Eng, I will settle for pints. Several folks came out last night to celebrate my birth and to them I am grateful. I definitely had a good time.

When I was a kid, I used to wish that my birthday was closer to summer so that Christmas and birthday presents would be more spread out. However, these days I'm enjoying my date of birth. It reminds me of the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Much like the song Oleander by Sarah Harmer on the CD which my mother sent to me as a present. Check out that link and listen to the song, it's a good one. It can be found in the navigation bar on the right hand side of the page - be patient while it loads.

I'm not sure what else to say. Let the e-cards, MSN messages and comments commence (ha!) Props to anyone who is able to beat my mom to get the first comment ;)

Love you all,
Chris

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Pics from last night:


























































From left to right: Matt, Tom, Elaine, Martin, Jules, Gormless Rich, Me, Martin and Jules again.

For the last photo, Martin & Jules asked for an expression. I suggested "distinguished" but Rich insisted the outcome was actually more "uppity."

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

4

Rich has "tagged" me to complete a list of fours. So here we go...

FOUR JOBS I'VE HAD

1. Paper boy
2. Domino's pizza customer service representative
3. Skateboarding park supervisor
4. Coffee bitch

FOUR MOVIES/SHOWS I'VE BEEN ADDICTED TO:
1. Lost
2. 24
3. Family Guy
4. The Chumscrubber (ok so this one is relatively new, but I wanted to give it a link, check it out, it's fantastic!)

FOUR PLACES I'VE LIVED:
1. Burlington, Ontario
2. Kingston, Ontario
3. Hartfield, East Sussex
4. Oxford, Oxfordshire

FOUR COUNTRIES I WOULD LIKE TO VISIT:
1. India
2. New Zealand
3. Japan
4. Antarctica (does that count?)

FOUR POPULAR FALSE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT ME:
1. I play a musical instrument (guitar usually)
2. I'm a good source for weed (I honestly can't count the number of times I've been asked for it)
3. I'm a vegetarian (not any more!)
4. I graduated with some sort of film qualifications (it was actually just a BA in Religious Studies but I usually tell people I studied film as well because I took just as many courses)

FOUR PEOPLE I LOOK LIKE (according to some people):
1. I'm generally compared to anyone who's tall and wears glasses (people aren't very imaginative)
2.
3.
4.

FOUR THINGS (I HOPE) TO DO BEFORE I DIE:
1. Travel to every continent
2. Procreate
3. Publish a book
4. Become fluent in another language

PEOPLE I TAG NEXT:
1. Marypat
2. Kyle
3. Matt
4. Oria