waldo_jeffers

Woo-hoo. I see the new site is live!

So hows it all going everyone? What have you all been up to? Things are ok with me.

I have recently read The Da Vinci Code. The book was lots of fun to read but the thing about conspiracy theories is that there are so many of them to choose from that really I just dont know which one to choose! Heh heh! Actually, reading The Da Vinci Code made me want to reread, Umberto Ecos The Name Of The Rose, so maybe I will do that in the future. I have also been making gradual progress through Robert E Howards The Complete Chronicles Of Conan (ok I know the Conan stories are a bit cheesy but I loved the film so much that I have meaning to read the stories for years).

Filmwise, I have recently watched Azumi, a an entertaining martial arts film about a young woman who also happens to be an assassin. The film is set in Japan during the reign of Tokugawa. While it has lots of great fight sequences, it is also very silly at times (hence, when Azumi is fighting several people, they all seem to stand around her in a big circle, politely waiting for her to finish fighting whichever one of them she is fighting instead of all piling in at once. However, this is a flaw common to most big fight sequences in most films.

I have also recently rewatched Chronos. This film is great and represents a really original spin on the interpretation of the notion of vampirism. All I have to say is watch this film.

Meanwhile, the little black currant cane, which I planted a few years ago, is turning into a small bush and is hung with lots of berries (albeit lots of green berries as they have not yet ripened). I have just viciously culled it of some leaves to put in a cup of black currant tea. Yum!

I have now started my new job. It doesnt seem too arduous at this stage but from conversations with my boss and his boss it is apparent that they want me to come with ways to improve the way things are done, to improve our management reporting so I am expecting to find more work coming my way soon. At the moment, I am finding it hard to believe that they are paying me as much as they are paying me to do what I am doing.

My new employer uses random drugs (including alcohol) testing, so its a good job that, due to my bizarre mystical beliefs, I dont use drugs. Has anyone else here ever worked anywhere where employees are tested for drug use? I suspect that this is something which we will see happening in more and more workplaces over the coming years. I remember discussing this with my mates when I was at university (back in the first half of the 1990s) and we were convinced that it was going to be practiced by most large corporations by the 21st century. I guess we were a bit premature in our predictions as there are still plenty of places where it is not practiced but just give it time. It would be interesting to compare the situation in the UK with the situation in other countries.

However, as regards to intercity commuting to work each day, after an initial period of enthusiasm for learning to drive, my commitment tapered off a bit mainly due to the hassle of having to find the energy for driving lessons during the evenings after work. Hence, by the time I started this job, I had not yet finished learning to drive. This is not a problem as I can commute by train but this does mean spending a significant amount of my day traveling. It also means getting up at the unfeasibly early 4:30 am every morning!! Really, given that I am only commuting about 30 miles, there is no reason why I should have to be getting up at such a silly time each day. Its simply the result of train times not the actual duration of the train journey.

I had thought that I could catch a train to arrive at approx 8:00 am and then make my way to my new workplace to be there in time to start at 8:30 am. However, having rethought this, I realized that this wouldnt work and I would in fact be late for work. Hence, I am now getting the earlier train. The only snag is that the earlier train arrives an hour earlier. Fortunately, my boss has agreed to let me start work half an hour earlier. Meanwhile, I have to catch the train at 6:15 am. At that time of morning the few buses run, so instead I walk to the train station. Because I am a bit out of practice with walking and my feet are a bit soft and susceptible to blisters it is taking about an hour each day to walk to the train station. Once I get used to it and my feet harden up I expect it to take about 45 minutes.

Unfortunately, because I am getting up at stupid oclock, by the time I get home in the evening I am a bit knackered and I cant be bothered with driving lessons! Hence, I may be stuck in this situation for a while.

Still, it all builds character!!