Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Whahey!
Woot! The missus got me a copy of Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones for Christmas!!I'm loving it, even if there are times it makes me tear my hair out, e.g when his highness goes plummeting to his death inches away from a save point.
I think I'll get the previous two incarnations as well... once I finish this one, of course :)
Friday, December 23, 2005
Merry Christmas !
The shopping is all done, the larder is fully stocked and the presents are under the tree.
Time to sit back, put my feet up and enjoy a well deserved apertif.
** Merry Christmas **
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Goodwill to all mankind..
For all my cynicism and my occasional hippie-like fits about how The Man has commercialised Christmas to death, I'm still a Santa man.Change the name, change the weather, change Santa's appearance, ban the nativity play, do whatever you want.
But no matter what, as we draw closer to the big day, I find the seeds of cheer that that have lain dormant for the last year starting to germinate.
I find myself feeling... happy. Generous. Kind.
Today I didn't once have the urge to lash out at any of the Stupid Herd who meandered aimlessly around Waterloo Station. I said 'Excuse Me' to a particularly noxious example before stepping around rather than over/through them.
I even gave my change from buying lunch to a bergie.
I won't go as far as to describe myself as warm and fuzzy by any stretch of the imagination, but it's rather pleasant to be able to be nice for a change, and not feel awkward or self conscious about it (usually I feel nauseous for hours afterwards).
And the fact that other people around me are doing the same is just plain super.
And no, I'm not drunk.
Loved it.
:¬)
Monday, December 19, 2005
Eat your heart out Fossey
Ah man, I've got to go see King Kong this week. Every time I watch the trailer I get serious goosepimples. It also makes my nipples hard, but that's a story for another day.
I was planning on waiting for the crowds to thin out, but I don't think I can anymore.
I.Must.See.Kong.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Early present
This afternoon the marketing manager sent around an email inviting each staff member to make their way down to the boardroom to collect a gift from the Grande Fromage.Being the cynical lot we are, the first instinct was to ask if we should clear our desks and take our coats with.
But! We were most pleasantly surprised. When we got there, we were each presented with a hamper from Fortnum & Mason.
Just a little bit of a step up from the usual £2.99 bottle of Vin de Plonk they habitually dug out from Unwins' bargain bin.
We were suitably smacked in the gob.
Sweet! This is so far shaping up to be one most excellent Christmas in Casa Gecko :)
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Yes!!
Yebo yes!! - I got a call from the recruitment agency yesterday confirming that Posh Inc will be offering me the job I applied for. Yes! Fucking A!I should have the written offer in the post tomorrow morning- to be signed and posted back, then I can hand in my notice.
People in the office are worried-- both yesterday and today I've been walking around with a smile.
I suspect that they might think I've finally got my hands on that AK47 I've been writing to Santa about for the last couple of months.
Today we had a couple of meetings about the usual type of stuff, but also regarding the planned office re-shuffle that'll happen in a week or so's time. I was asked where I'd like to sit and it gave me immense pleasure to reply with a icily nonchalant "doesn't bother me in the least".
I do feel a bit guilty about leaving, after all is said and done. I've been there for over 5 years, and have made some good friends, and have had some really good times. They gave me my first 'real' job after moving to this little island.
Having said that, when they decided to stick me on the redundnacy list earlier this year, after all those years of hard work, and despite my clean record, it sort of kicked the loyalty factor in its crotch. And when the sense of loyalty is gone, all that's left is the lure of money and benefits.
My current benefits? Access to a fridge full of soft drinks. The money? Hardly earth shattering, and the increase they gave me last week was too little, too late- the same as what I would have been paid anyway had they not decided to suspend our bonus scheme for the last 3 quarters.
Sorry but no - you didn't think twice about screwing this gecko 10 months ago, so why should I stick around and wait for you to do it again? Its time to look after no. 1 for a change.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
The Long Wait
I had just written what I think was a nice post.. I wanted to link a story that I'd seen in the papers to the post, so I went onto The Sun's website.. It crashed my machine within seconds. I'm going to shut down and run a full virus scan.
If your suppressed White Van / yob genes are threatening to make you go browse their site, don't do it. Chew your mouse-hand off at the wrist if you must.
Anyway.
Here's the short version.
The 2nd interview yesterday went well... the agency agrees. I will hear early next week...
Work's still boring.
Am pissed off about how Christians are being forced to rename the most well known of their holidays in case they upset someone . What a load of greasy old bollocks. Sure, they say now that it was a misunderstanding, but if no one kicked up a fuss they would have been happy to carry spouting the same bullshit.
Can you imagine a local council telling the Muslims in their area to not mention or celebrate Ramadan in case it upsets the Christian community or July 7 survivors?
Yeah right.
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Gecko Claus rides again
Christmas shopping: Done !
Well, the xmas party has come and gone.
Sadly, it was quite tame this year, no doubt in part due to the fact our staff numbers are down by 60% from last year. But, it was fun, which is what counts, even if none of the ship's guns were operational.
And joy of joys, there was more than lager and cheap vino available from the free bar. I ended the night with at least half a bottle of Uncle Jack's fine beverage sloshing about my innards. Result!
I even danced a bit, which says a lot. The only real let down was the food, which was allegedly "a traditional christmas menu". It was average at best, and the after-dinner coffee was about as tasty as reheated dishwater. I had to resort to piling in sugar cubes to make it palatable.
But, it was free so it doesn't matter :)
I got there early and strolled around the ship... really quite interesting... learned a lot about what it must have been like to be seaman in the war.
I also learned that walking around a ship at night, with only a few dim overhead lights on and random mannequins leering from the shadows is very condusive to learning how to Walk Very Fast Whilst Ducking Under The Low Roof. *shudder*
Thursday, December 01, 2005
I alwaysh wanted to tell you I luff you, you know?
Tomorrow (Friday) night is the O C P.
Office Christmas Party.
This year it's on the HMS Belfast, which is pretty cool. I will no doubt revert to my inner war-geek state and spend a large percentage of the night exploring as much of the ship as I can without being arrested under the Terrorism Bill :)
Mind you, cannons + a free bar is not neccesarily a good idea.
This year I'm going armed with a camera phone that also features a low-light mode and video recording. If its anything like a couple of years ago I could be looking at a promotion if I'm in the right palce at the right time....
I know I get a bit silly when I've had a bit too much amber party beverage, but I like to think I keep enough common sense in reserve to know better than to give in to the somwewhat questionable notions/ ideas that pop into your head at times like these.
Thank goodness our old operations manager has moved off to pastures new... she had an unnerving habit of getting a bit... clingy... at the xmas do.
If you weren't careful you'd wind up spending half the night trying to shake her off your leg and the other half wondering if crabs could reach you through your trousers.
I have Barney from the Simpsons to thank for rescuing me last year. A full blooded ex-biker "Bulawayo" stopped her insiduous intentions in their coldsore generating tracks when she got too close.
Didn't really impress the other 30 or so people who had no choice but hear it but a mans' gotta do what a man's gotta do. Hey, self-preservation is the strongest instinct.
Anyway... it should be a blast- and with a bit of luck it'll be the last outing with my current crew.
I just hope I stay awake on the train home and don't wake up in Yorkshire or somewhere equally... exotic.
Hey..
Got a light?
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