One achievement from yesterday requires me to tell you a saga in the form of another flashback. In this case, we return under three months to the beginning of July.
Chrissi and I were going on a holiday to both America, and as we were heading in that direction, we wanted to go to my cousin Mark's wedding in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Now, flights in that direction are expensive - so much so that when analysing the cost, it turned out to be about £500 cheaper between us to fly into Minneapolis, rent a car and drive up to Winnipeg. We could drive back again, drop the car off, no issue whatsoever - and would be considerably better off, with the inconvenience of an 8 hour drive the only downside.
When looking more closely, we realised that it was only flying in to Winnipeg that was the problem. Flying on from Winnipeg meant only another £15 compared to the flight from Minneapolis, and saved an 8 hour car journey. A quick check that there were rental car companies that would allow drop off in Canada from a hire in the US - there were - and we booked the trip.
So far, so good, you might imagine, and so it was. However, when we arrived in Minneapolis on the 4th July we reached the rental car desk - after having already been travelling for 16 hours at this point - we were greeted with the news that contrary to the information on Expedia, there would be a $650 drop-off charge for returning it in Canada. This took us slightly by surprise.
Several phonecalls with Expedia later - who despite the cock up, I have to praise for their superb help in actually getting us sorted and keeping us sane - and a trip to the Delta desk to see if flying up cheaply was an option (at $750 per person it wasn't). After discussing for about an hour and a half, several phonecalls back and forth, we worked out the problem was on Expedia's end. They said that as this was their mistake and we had a proof of booking that had no fee, we should pay the fee (and associated taxes) and they would reimburse us. Once we had written confirmation of this, we got the car and off we went.
Skip forward three weeks and we've gotten in touch with Expedia to reclaim our money. We go through one round of explaining, and a second round later - after many emails trying to explain exactly what we're reclaiming (there were $205 of various fees and taxes on top as well, plus some things we'd included that we weren't claiming for) - we thought we had it sorted. By mid-August they were reimbursing the money into our account in full, including both the drop-off charge and the associated taxes.
Except they didn't. They only reimbursed the money for the drop-off charge, and didn't mention this. At the beginning we probably would have taken this, but while getting the $650 back was huge, we weren't going to give up on the other $205 that was only paid because of their mistake. So back to the phones! We got back in touch with the customer service desk, who explained that they couldn't reimburse the taxes and fees as they could only handle the reimbursement of the drop-off charge itself. While ludicrous as this was, the saga was then passed on to their complaints department to handle the rest.
At this point I was fairly confident of a positive resolution - as they had already accepted it was their fault that had caused the charges, and the fees and taxes were the sole result of the charges, it would've been very difficult for them to argue against this. To their credit they didn't, it just took ages to get it sorted. The 28 days for normal resolution had expired when I sent a prompting email on Friday enquiring what would happen.
So the phone rang on Saturday from an American number, and Chrissi answered it, was surprised it was for me - and passed it over to me with the information that it was Brandie from Expedia Head Office calling. Brandie kindly informed me that the money had been reimbursed two weeks ago, and they hadn't bothered to tell us.
So after a quick scout around the accounts to confirm it had gone back in where they said it had, it was over. They'd even given us an extra cent, rounding up the $205.69 we had claimed for reimbursement to an even $205.70.
While the saga has a happy ending and is mainly a long complaint about Expedia, I must actually say that while they made a mistake, they were honest about it, they dealt with it properly and correctly, and every single person I spoke to was helpful and exactly what you wanted to deal with. They come out of this with flying colours, despite the mistake, and I'm more impressed with them as a result of this.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Backlog
With my Dad and Gill down here for two days, and surprisingly lazy and unproductive evenings that didn't result in blogs for either Friday or Saturday, I have several things that I had planned to post but never did. I've cheated and filled them in for the relevant days, hopefully you won't feel to offended.
Today was due to be a relaxing day that would possibly involve me getting into Mists of Pandaria as it was the first day I had a chance to review it. However, there was a mistake with the pre-order from Amazon which meant it was never sent - namely, that the order of just over the total of my gift certificate left me with a amount requiring payment of about 50p. My bank took issue with this payment, the entire order was cancelled and I didn't notice any of the emails about it because I don't monitor the email hooked to my Amazon account too closely.
I did re-order, this time juggling gift certificates so that I was under the limit and wasn't at risk of cancellation - but it's not due to arrive until Monday, Tuesday or perhaps even Wednesday. I'll just pick it up when I get round to it I suppose!
Today was due to be a relaxing day that would possibly involve me getting into Mists of Pandaria as it was the first day I had a chance to review it. However, there was a mistake with the pre-order from Amazon which meant it was never sent - namely, that the order of just over the total of my gift certificate left me with a amount requiring payment of about 50p. My bank took issue with this payment, the entire order was cancelled and I didn't notice any of the emails about it because I don't monitor the email hooked to my Amazon account too closely.
I did re-order, this time juggling gift certificates so that I was under the limit and wasn't at risk of cancellation - but it's not due to arrive until Monday, Tuesday or perhaps even Wednesday. I'll just pick it up when I get round to it I suppose!
Friday, September 28, 2012
Evening of Culture
A rare detour from the normal routine for my blog, but I must actually comment on an occasion of interest last night - in cultured form last night we went out to see a play, and not merely a play but a Shakespeare play at the Globe Theatre.
This being obviously an event far above our station, Chrissi and I made ourselves appear more common by grabbing a pasty on the way to the theatre and eating this sheltering from the rain outside Southwark underground station - the timings were such that we didn't have time for a proper meal before the play started.
The play in question was The Taming of the Shrew, which was not one I was familiar with, and while I knew the name I couldn't have named any of the plot or events. It was entertaining and well performed, and the setting is fantastic and intimate.
The play itself is perhaps somewhat dated in terms of its slight element of sexism introduced from time to time; to wit, the entire concept of the taming of a wife to be obedient and whose purpose is solely to serve her husband. There is huge debate as to whether the play is indeed genuine, or a satire, or a work of exaggeration to mock such attitudes - and I'm not best placed to add my opinion to that body of work!
This being obviously an event far above our station, Chrissi and I made ourselves appear more common by grabbing a pasty on the way to the theatre and eating this sheltering from the rain outside Southwark underground station - the timings were such that we didn't have time for a proper meal before the play started.
The play in question was The Taming of the Shrew, which was not one I was familiar with, and while I knew the name I couldn't have named any of the plot or events. It was entertaining and well performed, and the setting is fantastic and intimate.
The play itself is perhaps somewhat dated in terms of its slight element of sexism introduced from time to time; to wit, the entire concept of the taming of a wife to be obedient and whose purpose is solely to serve her husband. There is huge debate as to whether the play is indeed genuine, or a satire, or a work of exaggeration to mock such attitudes - and I'm not best placed to add my opinion to that body of work!
Thursday, September 27, 2012
At Work; One Phonecall
So to follow on from yesterday's blog about two messages, the second part in this two-part show came with a phonecall at work around 10am. The call was from Dad, as he and Gill had been staying with us last evening (and this one) - and I already suspected what the call would be. Sadly I cannot report it verbatim.
In short, both Chrissi and I had gone to work that morning, and had locked the door behind us. I'd like to share the blame, but as I left first, me leaving it locked or unlocked wouldn't have made much difference. This locked door cannot be opened from the inside without keys.
After a couple of messages to Chrissi, as she works closer, he had called me. Fortunately I managed to guide him to the spare keys kept in case of such an emergency. They let themselves out of the house and managed to get on with the day. A considerable amount of chuckling was had, however!
In short, both Chrissi and I had gone to work that morning, and had locked the door behind us. I'd like to share the blame, but as I left first, me leaving it locked or unlocked wouldn't have made much difference. This locked door cannot be opened from the inside without keys.
After a couple of messages to Chrissi, as she works closer, he had called me. Fortunately I managed to guide him to the spare keys kept in case of such an emergency. They let themselves out of the house and managed to get on with the day. A considerable amount of chuckling was had, however!
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
At Work; Two Messages
So this day I received two messages while at work from Chrissi, as follows:
Message 1: They sent me home again because I had a coughing fit.
As she had been off ill the previous day, this wasn't good - although she had been better in the morning. Three hours later I received a second message:
Message 2: I going to be a panda!
Oh no! The sickness has forced her to upgrade to Mists of Pandaria to pass the time. And yes, she did create a Pandaren monk, and it's actually quite amusing, despite my wish to think otherwise. Still caused me much amusement though.
Message 1: They sent me home again because I had a coughing fit.
As she had been off ill the previous day, this wasn't good - although she had been better in the morning. Three hours later I received a second message:
Message 2: I going to be a panda!
Oh no! The sickness has forced her to upgrade to Mists of Pandaria to pass the time. And yes, she did create a Pandaren monk, and it's actually quite amusing, despite my wish to think otherwise. Still caused me much amusement though.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Flashback: The New Job
A few mentions recently have meant that the next flashback to follow the job hunt should be about my new job - particularly as I'm referring to it a little more.
Role-wise, my position is still the same; I am still a business analyst and what I do is similar enough, although naturally different as befits a change in company, when all things will differ. I'm part of a small programme team of two business analysts, two project managers and one contractor project manager.
The company is a digitial marketing pseudo-agency operating in the automotive sector, and supplies software to vehicle manufacturers for their vehicle remarketing programs. If you understood that, you're a long way ahead of where I was several months back when I joined.
The target market is car, van and other vehicle manufacturers. Unbeknown to me, in addition to their new car lines, all of these companies spend a significant amount of money and time on reselling used cars in their brand. There are many reasons for this - in addition to controlling brand standards and brand prices, it also helps to makes a profit for their dealers.
To help sell their used cars they have a variety of tools - predominantly online now - and practically all manufacturers have sites advertising all their used cars across the country, as well as dealers' individual websites. These are the tools that the company I work for designs, sells, supplies and supports - both the online 'used vehicle locators' and the behind-the-scenes tools for dealers to manage and upload their vehicle stock.
It's not a sector I anticipated working in - I have often joked that I am touring the country's most loved industry sectors, having moved from recruitment to used car sales - but it is interesting and, when you get down to it, the role is fairly similar. Although there is something to be said when you're working on the product and get to use nice luxury cars as your test data as opposed to random candidates!
Role-wise, my position is still the same; I am still a business analyst and what I do is similar enough, although naturally different as befits a change in company, when all things will differ. I'm part of a small programme team of two business analysts, two project managers and one contractor project manager.
The company is a digitial marketing pseudo-agency operating in the automotive sector, and supplies software to vehicle manufacturers for their vehicle remarketing programs. If you understood that, you're a long way ahead of where I was several months back when I joined.
The target market is car, van and other vehicle manufacturers. Unbeknown to me, in addition to their new car lines, all of these companies spend a significant amount of money and time on reselling used cars in their brand. There are many reasons for this - in addition to controlling brand standards and brand prices, it also helps to makes a profit for their dealers.
To help sell their used cars they have a variety of tools - predominantly online now - and practically all manufacturers have sites advertising all their used cars across the country, as well as dealers' individual websites. These are the tools that the company I work for designs, sells, supplies and supports - both the online 'used vehicle locators' and the behind-the-scenes tools for dealers to manage and upload their vehicle stock.
It's not a sector I anticipated working in - I have often joked that I am touring the country's most loved industry sectors, having moved from recruitment to used car sales - but it is interesting and, when you get down to it, the role is fairly similar. Although there is something to be said when you're working on the product and get to use nice luxury cars as your test data as opposed to random candidates!
Monday, September 24, 2012
Ten Minutes
So in ten minutes' time as I post, the next expansion for World of Warcraft, Mists of Pandaria goes live, and the servers will almost certainly descend into chaos. I was on a little earlier, and there were huge numbers of people on, waiting and milling around the main cities mostly.
Unlike last time, I'm not going to be joining in as the clock strikes midnight in Europe. A busy week means that I wouldn't have the time to play anyway, and to ensure this I pre-ordered the game from Amazon so that it would come in the post later in the week, averting temptation. [Although I realise I could give Chrissi the copy that came in the post, but anyway!]
To be honest, I'd rather wait a week before playing anyway. The zones will be crowded, people will be yelling and screaming, nothing will be enjoyable, the servers will be unpredictable in their performance - so instead I think I'll pop on and go through old zones when I am on in the next week, and apart from that wait until it arrives in the post and maybe give it a go at the weekend. By then likely everything will have calmed down a little!
Unlike last time, I'm not going to be joining in as the clock strikes midnight in Europe. A busy week means that I wouldn't have the time to play anyway, and to ensure this I pre-ordered the game from Amazon so that it would come in the post later in the week, averting temptation. [Although I realise I could give Chrissi the copy that came in the post, but anyway!]
To be honest, I'd rather wait a week before playing anyway. The zones will be crowded, people will be yelling and screaming, nothing will be enjoyable, the servers will be unpredictable in their performance - so instead I think I'll pop on and go through old zones when I am on in the next week, and apart from that wait until it arrives in the post and maybe give it a go at the weekend. By then likely everything will have calmed down a little!
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Weekly Recap
For the second time this week, I'm recounting an event that happened much earlier in the week but was never written about at the time. As I'm not ready to intrude on my 'Flashback' concept with such short-term topic revisiting, this can perhaps best be viewed as the 'previously in my life' summary at the beginning of an episode of a long-running series.
This Tuesday I was out of the office for a meeting in the morning - what is actually a rare occurrance. I thought on this somewhat and realised that the most recent time that I had to visit somewhere for work was almost a year previously, while still working at my former job.
The difference was stark. Then I was dispatched to Norwich as a token sop to a fussy but senior business manager whose branch was bedevilled by IT issues, which while I was there seemed to mainly be the sort that occur between the keyboard and the chair. The manager was ill on the day I visited to make my appearance even more pointless, and I spent the majority of my time doing normal work and wondering why I had been sent 100 miles away for this.
However, my visit on Tuesday was to the home of Jaguar Land Rover, which was a slightly more impressive proposition. Their offices are what is technically known as the arse end of nowhere, reinforcing their luxury British brand concept by basing themselves in the Oxfordshire countryside. This was a pain to get to, but more amusing was their on-site security.
First you must park, and check in at the visitor point. From there you are given visitor badges, sent by bus to the main site (whichever building you are headed to), and then you must go through the same check in process at the building you returned to. This seemed to be entirely pointless, as the little of the building we saw between the reception and the meeting room was mainly just office floors where people were doing dull tasks on computers. Perhaps there was something highly secretive going on there unbeknown to me.
The meeting was dull and the majority of the day was taken up with travel to and from the site, but overall it's something worth recounting because it sounds far more impressive than the reality!
This Tuesday I was out of the office for a meeting in the morning - what is actually a rare occurrance. I thought on this somewhat and realised that the most recent time that I had to visit somewhere for work was almost a year previously, while still working at my former job.
The difference was stark. Then I was dispatched to Norwich as a token sop to a fussy but senior business manager whose branch was bedevilled by IT issues, which while I was there seemed to mainly be the sort that occur between the keyboard and the chair. The manager was ill on the day I visited to make my appearance even more pointless, and I spent the majority of my time doing normal work and wondering why I had been sent 100 miles away for this.
However, my visit on Tuesday was to the home of Jaguar Land Rover, which was a slightly more impressive proposition. Their offices are what is technically known as the arse end of nowhere, reinforcing their luxury British brand concept by basing themselves in the Oxfordshire countryside. This was a pain to get to, but more amusing was their on-site security.
First you must park, and check in at the visitor point. From there you are given visitor badges, sent by bus to the main site (whichever building you are headed to), and then you must go through the same check in process at the building you returned to. This seemed to be entirely pointless, as the little of the building we saw between the reception and the meeting room was mainly just office floors where people were doing dull tasks on computers. Perhaps there was something highly secretive going on there unbeknown to me.
The meeting was dull and the majority of the day was taken up with travel to and from the site, but overall it's something worth recounting because it sounds far more impressive than the reality!
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Smashing Stereotypes
So after months and years of procrastinating and prevaricating, this weekend I finally got back into learning to drive and took my first driving lesson in nearly nine years. This went better than I expected considering how long it was since I have last gotten behind the wheel.
What is more amusing to note is my instructor, who I suspect originally hailed from north of the border. He had a Scottish accent, and when we swapped for me to do the driving, I noticed he had a tattoo on his right arm with the legend 'Scotland' and what appeared to be a thistle. At a later point I realised that he was also wearing tartan shorts.
To complete the picture, towards the end of the lesson his phone rang. It was playing bagpipe music. Sometimes people don't help themselves by playing up to the stereotypes.
What is more amusing to note is my instructor, who I suspect originally hailed from north of the border. He had a Scottish accent, and when we swapped for me to do the driving, I noticed he had a tattoo on his right arm with the legend 'Scotland' and what appeared to be a thistle. At a later point I realised that he was also wearing tartan shorts.
To complete the picture, towards the end of the lesson his phone rang. It was playing bagpipe music. Sometimes people don't help themselves by playing up to the stereotypes.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Look, No Biscuits!
While I increasingly attempt to be far better behaved about what I eat and in my general pursuit of healthiness, I do have one enemy which is hard to beat. The nefarious biscuit tin at work.
This is admittedly a self-inflicted enemy, as all the finest creations in tragic literature are; my Frankenstein's monster, if you will. Back in February I bought a biscuit tin on lunchtime as we often had biscuits which we shared between our small team. This has since become an instution, with a donation pot beside it and the majority of the office now will wander past the project team desks once or twice a day and take a biscuit.
As I sit close to the biscuit tin, I am especially vulnerable to its seductive charm. I am a fan of most biscuits, so will regularly help myself - not assisted by the fact that it sits in my eyeline on my return from the kitchen to my desk with a cup of coffee, suggestively winking at me that I do want a biscuit to go with my drink.
Anyway, today I resisted its charms entirely, something that's rarely done. All it took was willpower, enough distraction and actually having a lot of work to do that meant I wasn't wandering around as much!
This is admittedly a self-inflicted enemy, as all the finest creations in tragic literature are; my Frankenstein's monster, if you will. Back in February I bought a biscuit tin on lunchtime as we often had biscuits which we shared between our small team. This has since become an instution, with a donation pot beside it and the majority of the office now will wander past the project team desks once or twice a day and take a biscuit.
As I sit close to the biscuit tin, I am especially vulnerable to its seductive charm. I am a fan of most biscuits, so will regularly help myself - not assisted by the fact that it sits in my eyeline on my return from the kitchen to my desk with a cup of coffee, suggestively winking at me that I do want a biscuit to go with my drink.
Anyway, today I resisted its charms entirely, something that's rarely done. All it took was willpower, enough distraction and actually having a lot of work to do that meant I wasn't wandering around as much!
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Four Days Behind
With all the other exciting events that have been taking place and that I've been reporting, I actually have a backlog of events from the past week to report.
The first of these should be a note on Sunday - Chrissi and I went to Teddington to see the recording of this week's show Comedy World Cup. I hadn't seen the show before - it's essentially a quiz show but about comedy - and it wasn't too bad. One of the main draws is that it was presented by David Tennant, and for Carisa's benefit, I will point out this meant that we were within 100m of him for well over two hours.
The show was quite entertaining - while I will avoid any spoilers as to who wins (oh no, the tension!) - I was surprised that Alan Carr was much funnier than I expected; Kevin Bridges was much quieter than expected, and Micky Flanagan has a superb laugh and seems to laugh at everything. Clive Anderson was also amusing - and his knowledge of Monty Python was impressive!
What was curious was the token older comedian (maybe this isn't how it works, but they had Nicholas Parsons on last week) - this week it was Stan Baldwin - and so much of his comedy seemed very dated. He was funny in parts, but made several jokes not just for shock value, but ones that just wouldn't be acceptable nowadays - or at least not funny.
Overall though it was entertaining. Will have to watch the show this Friday and see if we can see ourselves in any of the crowd shots!
The first of these should be a note on Sunday - Chrissi and I went to Teddington to see the recording of this week's show Comedy World Cup. I hadn't seen the show before - it's essentially a quiz show but about comedy - and it wasn't too bad. One of the main draws is that it was presented by David Tennant, and for Carisa's benefit, I will point out this meant that we were within 100m of him for well over two hours.
The show was quite entertaining - while I will avoid any spoilers as to who wins (oh no, the tension!) - I was surprised that Alan Carr was much funnier than I expected; Kevin Bridges was much quieter than expected, and Micky Flanagan has a superb laugh and seems to laugh at everything. Clive Anderson was also amusing - and his knowledge of Monty Python was impressive!
What was curious was the token older comedian (maybe this isn't how it works, but they had Nicholas Parsons on last week) - this week it was Stan Baldwin - and so much of his comedy seemed very dated. He was funny in parts, but made several jokes not just for shock value, but ones that just wouldn't be acceptable nowadays - or at least not funny.
Overall though it was entertaining. Will have to watch the show this Friday and see if we can see ourselves in any of the crowd shots!
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Ahoy Me Hearties!
Arrrrr! Today, landlubbers, be International talk like a pirate day. I shared this information with my colleagues and much pirate banter was exchanged, including asking whether projects were shipshape and noting that someone working from home was working in their rowboat. I also returned home this evening to a pirate day card from Mark, possibly the best card anyone can receive.
Also Today: Award for blissfully unaware irony goes to the person who on the train this evening had Blink 182's What's My Age Again? as their ringtone. Now, while they can still be entertaining - and I will admit that the the turn of the century's premier purveyers of puerile pop-punk are one of my guilty pleasures to listen to occasionally - having it as your ringtone is going to far in 2012.
In Other News: On my walk home from the station I was amused to see a flash sports car - it looked like a Lambourghini but I didn't quite catch it - driven twice at speed round a mini-roundabout. The driver - stereotypically wearing shades and staring at his reflection in the mirror - was, I am sure, imagining he was in a scene straight out of an advert, spinning in dramatic circles across the desert, speeding towards distant horizons as onlookers gasped in awe at his magnificent machine. In reality he was repeatedly circling a mini-roundabout in Surbiton looking like a tool.
Also Today: Award for blissfully unaware irony goes to the person who on the train this evening had Blink 182's What's My Age Again? as their ringtone. Now, while they can still be entertaining - and I will admit that the the turn of the century's premier purveyers of puerile pop-punk are one of my guilty pleasures to listen to occasionally - having it as your ringtone is going to far in 2012.
In Other News: On my walk home from the station I was amused to see a flash sports car - it looked like a Lambourghini but I didn't quite catch it - driven twice at speed round a mini-roundabout. The driver - stereotypically wearing shades and staring at his reflection in the mirror - was, I am sure, imagining he was in a scene straight out of an advert, spinning in dramatic circles across the desert, speeding towards distant horizons as onlookers gasped in awe at his magnificent machine. In reality he was repeatedly circling a mini-roundabout in Surbiton looking like a tool.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Something Random You Don't Know About Me I
A conversation at work recently - about a meeting icebreaker about random facts that people don't know about you, or tell something interesting about yourself - inspired me to appropriate this idea for my blog.
So, a random insight into my life - I have set music that I listen to in the shower on a daily basis.
In fact, not only do I have a song that I will listen to and sing along to (Tom Petty's Free Falling, since you ask) in the shower, but a separate song that I will follow on from this with a second song that I will play while towelling myself and getting dressed (Tom Petty's Learning to Fly, as you persist in being so curious). I have no idea precisely why these two songs ended up here, but they have both become part of my daily routine for the last few months.
I don't know if I'll have enough amusing facts to keep this going, but I'll try to return to it occasionally.
So, a random insight into my life - I have set music that I listen to in the shower on a daily basis.
In fact, not only do I have a song that I will listen to and sing along to (Tom Petty's Free Falling, since you ask) in the shower, but a separate song that I will follow on from this with a second song that I will play while towelling myself and getting dressed (Tom Petty's Learning to Fly, as you persist in being so curious). I have no idea precisely why these two songs ended up here, but they have both become part of my daily routine for the last few months.
I don't know if I'll have enough amusing facts to keep this going, but I'll try to return to it occasionally.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Handwritten
On Monday I did get around to listening to one of my new albums, Handwritten by The Gaslight Anthem - and have listened to it a couple more times since for good measure.
As a genre it's hard to correctly categorise, but after much thought I decided to term it wistful rock. It lacks the cutting edge of much of indie music nowadays, while also resisting the opposite indie pole, the tendancy to sink into mournful whining. The album is a confident echo of their most recent two offerings, The '59 Sound and American Slang, and many songs sound as if they could be direct continuations picked up from their predecessors.
Their sound is a comfortable, subtler ensemble - the nostalgic guitar parts in Keepsake, Mae (added to the long list of tracks named after a girl) and the title track Handwritten are particularly striking, while the lyrics are strong throughout, channelling simple, down-to-earth themes, and conjuring up an easy-to-relate-to mid-century small town America. It's this as much as the music that makes you feel their roots in Dylan, Springsteen and a nod to the blues tradition.
The only complaints are the length - at 11 tracks it feels shorter than the 41 minutes that it runs for, and that it mostly stays in its comfort zone - a solid basis, but it doesn't stretch much further than their previous albums and could almost be packaged as an expansion pack for them.
Well worth a listen.
As a genre it's hard to correctly categorise, but after much thought I decided to term it wistful rock. It lacks the cutting edge of much of indie music nowadays, while also resisting the opposite indie pole, the tendancy to sink into mournful whining. The album is a confident echo of their most recent two offerings, The '59 Sound and American Slang, and many songs sound as if they could be direct continuations picked up from their predecessors.
Their sound is a comfortable, subtler ensemble - the nostalgic guitar parts in Keepsake, Mae (added to the long list of tracks named after a girl) and the title track Handwritten are particularly striking, while the lyrics are strong throughout, channelling simple, down-to-earth themes, and conjuring up an easy-to-relate-to mid-century small town America. It's this as much as the music that makes you feel their roots in Dylan, Springsteen and a nod to the blues tradition.
The only complaints are the length - at 11 tracks it feels shorter than the 41 minutes that it runs for, and that it mostly stays in its comfort zone - a solid basis, but it doesn't stretch much further than their previous albums and could almost be packaged as an expansion pack for them.
Well worth a listen.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Weekend In Review
Despite the suspicious time, this is actually a blog posted at precisely this time - by an urge to get this done before midnight, and nearly succeeding.
Yesterday saw Rachel come over for the evening for dinner, a chat and theoretically a movie. We'd originally planned to go out to see something at the cinema, but as there was nothing actually worth seeing, we decided that an evening in would be better. As it turned out, it definitely was - we had a long conversation veering from serious to trivial matters, from holidays to the past, and was good company, a pleasant time and not the least bit therapeutic. The fact that we had been talking for two hours before we remembered to put the food on is probably a good sign!
Having done that, we thought it was too late for a film but did decide to watch the evening's Doctor Who episode, A Town Called Mercy. As a proposition - frontier town besieged by a lone gunman - it was both a nice nod to the Western genre, and almost a token reference for the American audience. It was also a nice set of sci-fi homeages - Doctor Who! Cyborgs! Ben Browder from Farscape!
While the plot seemed moderate, and the riff on the alien doctor being someone different was nicely laid out, for me I struggled to take it seriously from the halfway point - the reason being that Adrian Scarborough playing Kahler-Jex looked remarkably like Edward Hibbert, better known as the actor who plays radio restaurant critic Gil Chesterton in Frasier. This took the edge off his menace - but on reflection it was a much grittier episode full of a lot more moral puzzles than an initial glance.
We also see a much darker side of the Doctor this season, with two consecutive episodes now where he has been seemingly dismissive of his foes and tires of mercy. This seems a build-up to the mid-season point, likely around the departure of the Ponds.
A final aside though, for which I cannot take credit but instead borrowed from the Guardian series blog, is a comment on caps lock which I will now remorselessly appropriate: "WHEN YOU WRITE IN CAPS! I READ IT LIKE A DALEK! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"
Yesterday saw Rachel come over for the evening for dinner, a chat and theoretically a movie. We'd originally planned to go out to see something at the cinema, but as there was nothing actually worth seeing, we decided that an evening in would be better. As it turned out, it definitely was - we had a long conversation veering from serious to trivial matters, from holidays to the past, and was good company, a pleasant time and not the least bit therapeutic. The fact that we had been talking for two hours before we remembered to put the food on is probably a good sign!
Having done that, we thought it was too late for a film but did decide to watch the evening's Doctor Who episode, A Town Called Mercy. As a proposition - frontier town besieged by a lone gunman - it was both a nice nod to the Western genre, and almost a token reference for the American audience. It was also a nice set of sci-fi homeages - Doctor Who! Cyborgs! Ben Browder from Farscape!
While the plot seemed moderate, and the riff on the alien doctor being someone different was nicely laid out, for me I struggled to take it seriously from the halfway point - the reason being that Adrian Scarborough playing Kahler-Jex looked remarkably like Edward Hibbert, better known as the actor who plays radio restaurant critic Gil Chesterton in Frasier. This took the edge off his menace - but on reflection it was a much grittier episode full of a lot more moral puzzles than an initial glance.
We also see a much darker side of the Doctor this season, with two consecutive episodes now where he has been seemingly dismissive of his foes and tires of mercy. This seems a build-up to the mid-season point, likely around the departure of the Ponds.
A final aside though, for which I cannot take credit but instead borrowed from the Guardian series blog, is a comment on caps lock which I will now remorselessly appropriate: "WHEN YOU WRITE IN CAPS! I READ IT LIKE A DALEK! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"
Friday, September 14, 2012
Still Voting Bartlett
As the American election season rolls around again, it's interesting to watch bits of the coverage on TV and in the papers - and I find myself following more than I should do, as it is somewhat transfixing.
The first thing that this made me want to do was pick up some of my West Wing DVDs and watch them. I've watched a couple of episodes from the beginning of the 4th season, which is not by particular coincidence the run-up to the election at the end of the first term. Comparing the politics and characters you see in the TV show, it's a disappointment to come back to real life afterwards and see the same shallow, self-serving characters. Even the ones I approve of are rather feeble by comparison.
So, if I could vote - which I can't - my vote would still be for Bartlett.
The first thing that this made me want to do was pick up some of my West Wing DVDs and watch them. I've watched a couple of episodes from the beginning of the 4th season, which is not by particular coincidence the run-up to the election at the end of the first term. Comparing the politics and characters you see in the TV show, it's a disappointment to come back to real life afterwards and see the same shallow, self-serving characters. Even the ones I approve of are rather feeble by comparison.
So, if I could vote - which I can't - my vote would still be for Bartlett.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Don't Overdo The Content
Yesterday's blog was a bit meatier, so time to redress the balance with a fluff blog instead.
The odd thing about working now where I used to go to college is that there are so many strange realisations that happen occasionally. Earlier in the week was one that came to mind, as I found myself listening to music while at work (this is useful to isolate myself from background noise and focus on my actual work) - I typically pick random albums on my phone. I picked an old album, and had the thought that I'd probably picked it up at the local record shop, Record Corner, while I was in college here - the odds are good as the majority of my CDs were purchased that way.
It's odd to think that when I was buying that, that I wouldn't have imagined that within ten years I'd be sitting within 100m, busy at work listening to the same CD.
This also reminds me that I had two new CDs come through this week from an Amazon order - Handwritten by the Gaslight Anthem and Valtari by Sigur Ros - and have yet to listen to either of them. I should try and correct this tomorrow!
The odd thing about working now where I used to go to college is that there are so many strange realisations that happen occasionally. Earlier in the week was one that came to mind, as I found myself listening to music while at work (this is useful to isolate myself from background noise and focus on my actual work) - I typically pick random albums on my phone. I picked an old album, and had the thought that I'd probably picked it up at the local record shop, Record Corner, while I was in college here - the odds are good as the majority of my CDs were purchased that way.
It's odd to think that when I was buying that, that I wouldn't have imagined that within ten years I'd be sitting within 100m, busy at work listening to the same CD.
This also reminds me that I had two new CDs come through this week from an Amazon order - Handwritten by the Gaslight Anthem and Valtari by Sigur Ros - and have yet to listen to either of them. I should try and correct this tomorrow!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Flashback: Job Hunt
When I resumed the blog last month, I was determined to start to fill in some of the gaps that had been left between October 2011 and August 2012, with my patented 'Flashbacks' approach to blogging. The 'Flashbacks' approach means that I leave a gap, then spend time writing what happened in the gap, and need a further set of flashback blogs to cover what happened when I was writing flashbacks. A mention of work on Monday's blog makes this a logical starting point.
The main thing that happened over this period was probably that I changed jobs - although this is something that was going on while I was still blogging, but I hadn't wanted to mention until I had something secured. I'd actually started my job search in August, although it properly began in September - and started my new job on return from holiday at the beginning of December.
The reason for my search was an increasing frustration at my old job - my role had changed somewhat, I had reduced input and all my potential paths for development or promotion had been blocked earlier in the year and were unlikely to be reopened. However, this had been the case all year - it took a couple of frustrating review meetings to kick me into action.
The scenario was 'you are doing the job of someone more senior as well as yours on this project and it's not being done as well as it should be' - yet this was phrased to me as 'why are you not doing as well as it should be' as opposed to 'hang on, why are you even doing this at all?'. Clear that my performance was going to be reviewed on the basis that while dragging the project forward myself with no involvement from those who should have been doing the dragging, and immensely frustrated with the complete lack of support for this scenario - this inspired me to put my CV up that evening, and it went from there.
I received a few calls the first week, about various positions. I attended a couple of interviews as discreetly as possible - including a couple of impromptu doctors' appointments, one involving a change from dress down to dress up back to dress down for an interview in the middle of the day. I also managed to arrange two telephone interviews into a single lunch break - and took so many calls throughout the day at work that it was surely obvious to eveyone around me. A colleague who I knew was also looking around seemed to be playing tag with me, as one of us would return from a more private place in the office to have a phone conversation, and meet the other heading in the opposite direction on the phone with the same purpose!
One of these that I had applied to led me into an interview, and then a second interview, at the place where I now work - and I was able to hand in my notice at the beginning of November, a little more than six weeks after I'd started my search.
The main thing that happened over this period was probably that I changed jobs - although this is something that was going on while I was still blogging, but I hadn't wanted to mention until I had something secured. I'd actually started my job search in August, although it properly began in September - and started my new job on return from holiday at the beginning of December.
The reason for my search was an increasing frustration at my old job - my role had changed somewhat, I had reduced input and all my potential paths for development or promotion had been blocked earlier in the year and were unlikely to be reopened. However, this had been the case all year - it took a couple of frustrating review meetings to kick me into action.
The scenario was 'you are doing the job of someone more senior as well as yours on this project and it's not being done as well as it should be' - yet this was phrased to me as 'why are you not doing as well as it should be' as opposed to 'hang on, why are you even doing this at all?'. Clear that my performance was going to be reviewed on the basis that while dragging the project forward myself with no involvement from those who should have been doing the dragging, and immensely frustrated with the complete lack of support for this scenario - this inspired me to put my CV up that evening, and it went from there.
I received a few calls the first week, about various positions. I attended a couple of interviews as discreetly as possible - including a couple of impromptu doctors' appointments, one involving a change from dress down to dress up back to dress down for an interview in the middle of the day. I also managed to arrange two telephone interviews into a single lunch break - and took so many calls throughout the day at work that it was surely obvious to eveyone around me. A colleague who I knew was also looking around seemed to be playing tag with me, as one of us would return from a more private place in the office to have a phone conversation, and meet the other heading in the opposite direction on the phone with the same purpose!
One of these that I had applied to led me into an interview, and then a second interview, at the place where I now work - and I was able to hand in my notice at the beginning of November, a little more than six weeks after I'd started my search.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Unusual Nicknames
A brief comment tonight based on a bizarre one-liner at work, just because it's the rare chance I'll have to document something so peculiar.
While attending a mostly-impromptu meeting around a desk, and realising that we could be spending a little while there, I retrieved a chair from nearby and wheeled it back slowly into place. This resulted in the effect of slowly reversing into the meeting from the side and gliding backwards into the discussion and coming to a careful halt, which earned the utterly random comment of 'Casual Davros'.
It's not an expected nickname, but I like it.
While attending a mostly-impromptu meeting around a desk, and realising that we could be spending a little while there, I retrieved a chair from nearby and wheeled it back slowly into place. This resulted in the effect of slowly reversing into the meeting from the side and gliding backwards into the discussion and coming to a careful halt, which earned the utterly random comment of 'Casual Davros'.
It's not an expected nickname, but I like it.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Notable Dates
I was walking back to the station from work this evening when I recalled that today neatly marked eleven years since I started sixth form college. The reason for this recollection was that I now work in Godalming, which was where I went to college all those years ago, and so it was a familiar route.
The actual reason for prompting my thinking was seeing trails of broken eggs and some flour on the road down to the station - it used to be a tradition, and apparantly still is, that the students from the upper sixth would politely welcome their younger co-students in such charming fashion. Makes me somewhat glad I was running late this morning and missed the college rush trains, as with my youthful looks I could probably still be mistaken for a college student.
In other, perhaps more significant date notes, today also marks nine years since Chrissi and I started dating - although as I was discussing with someone at work the other day, because of the way our relationship started online, it was less that we started dating and more that we decided that we were dating. Still, nine years is a decent amount in any case!
Since you ask, the ninth anniversary gift is traditionally pottery in the US, and copper in the UK. Considering I am living in the UK as a Brit married to an American who I married in America, I have no idea which is the one I should be using, but either way we went with chinese takeaway, which is a far better anniversary gift than both!
The actual reason for prompting my thinking was seeing trails of broken eggs and some flour on the road down to the station - it used to be a tradition, and apparantly still is, that the students from the upper sixth would politely welcome their younger co-students in such charming fashion. Makes me somewhat glad I was running late this morning and missed the college rush trains, as with my youthful looks I could probably still be mistaken for a college student.
In other, perhaps more significant date notes, today also marks nine years since Chrissi and I started dating - although as I was discussing with someone at work the other day, because of the way our relationship started online, it was less that we started dating and more that we decided that we were dating. Still, nine years is a decent amount in any case!
Since you ask, the ninth anniversary gift is traditionally pottery in the US, and copper in the UK. Considering I am living in the UK as a Brit married to an American who I married in America, I have no idea which is the one I should be using, but either way we went with chinese takeaway, which is a far better anniversary gift than both!
Sunday, September 09, 2012
Oh, And That Too ...
One thing I didn't mention in my tale of yesterday's accomplishments was that Chrissi and I finally got around to sorting out our Christmas present to each other from last year - which was to go away on holiday together - and finally booked the long-planned and oft-procrastinated weekend break to Europe. We're heading to Barcelona at the beginning of October.
This is handy, as the close proximity to our wedding anniversary means it can double up both as a Christmas present from last year and a joint anniversary present from this. Not quite how it was originally planned, but I'm confident it will work!
We've both taken the Monday off work, so it means that we will have the majority of three days relaxing in the sunny Mediterranean sun - and exploring slightly more of the city than I did on the last time I was there in April 2011 (summarised on my blog as "last weekend I was in Barcelona for a colleague's stag do, more of which will be told in time" - and of course, it wasn't told).
This is handy, as the close proximity to our wedding anniversary means it can double up both as a Christmas present from last year and a joint anniversary present from this. Not quite how it was originally planned, but I'm confident it will work!
We've both taken the Monday off work, so it means that we will have the majority of three days relaxing in the sunny Mediterranean sun - and exploring slightly more of the city than I did on the last time I was there in April 2011 (summarised on my blog as "last weekend I was in Barcelona for a colleague's stag do, more of which will be told in time" - and of course, it wasn't told).
Saturday, September 08, 2012
Relaxing Saturdays
Today was another not-much-accomplished-but-then-it-didn't-need-to-be-we-can-sort-it-out-tomorrow Saturday. The most successful normal thing accomplished was several loads of washing and some cleaning - but a fun day for relaxing and doing not much.
Main highlights were Doctor Who in the evening - which I will avoid spoilers on for Isa's benefit (Dinosaurs on a Spacecraft!) - and a new game purchased yesterday which Chrissi and I played and enjoyed. It's a little odd that I need to clarify that the game in question is a board game - in fact, I've bought four board games since the last time I bought a computer game. Surprising!
The game in question was titled Cyclades, and is set in Ancient Greece as you battle for control of various islands with the aid of triremes, hoplites, mythological creatures such as Pegasus, the Minotaur or the Kraken (release the Kraken!), and the intervention of gods such as Athena and Zeus. It was a fun game, although I think the second run through when we actually know the rules will be a huge advantage - having to change how we were doing things halfway through because we didn't actually know what we should be doing.
All in all, a successful day.
Main highlights were Doctor Who in the evening - which I will avoid spoilers on for Isa's benefit (Dinosaurs on a Spacecraft!) - and a new game purchased yesterday which Chrissi and I played and enjoyed. It's a little odd that I need to clarify that the game in question is a board game - in fact, I've bought four board games since the last time I bought a computer game. Surprising!
The game in question was titled Cyclades, and is set in Ancient Greece as you battle for control of various islands with the aid of triremes, hoplites, mythological creatures such as Pegasus, the Minotaur or the Kraken (release the Kraken!), and the intervention of gods such as Athena and Zeus. It was a fun game, although I think the second run through when we actually know the rules will be a huge advantage - having to change how we were doing things halfway through because we didn't actually know what we should be doing.
All in all, a successful day.
Friday, September 07, 2012
Half Marks
So last week I commented that I had sent out some messages to people I hadn't heard from for a while - from various places, but mainly old university friends - who I have since lost touch with, or if not touch with - Facebook being so prevalent - simply not been in touch with.
A week later, I've not had a terrible response rate. I sent out six messages, and got two proper responses back. There was also one half-response with a promise to write when not on a phone that never materialised. More disappointing is that I know all the others have been on Facebook this week - I've seen various messages or posts - and not responded.
On posting that it seems more selfish than it should do - me, pay attention to me! Particularly as I've not been most attentive in that respects. But it is still disappointing.
A week later, I've not had a terrible response rate. I sent out six messages, and got two proper responses back. There was also one half-response with a promise to write when not on a phone that never materialised. More disappointing is that I know all the others have been on Facebook this week - I've seen various messages or posts - and not responded.
On posting that it seems more selfish than it should do - me, pay attention to me! Particularly as I've not been most attentive in that respects. But it is still disappointing.
Wednesday, September 05, 2012
Five Years
I was going to add something more insightful today, but instead it's an amusing note that approximately five years after Chrissi and I both started playing World of Warcraft - and it is somewhat confusing to refer to her as Chrissi and not by her character name - today for the first time we actually raided together at a maximum level raid.
I've always played more than she has - pesky things like masters degrees getting in the way, plus time zones being a bit of a bother on the European servers as an American, and being at work when events were taking place. We played at weekends, but it was only in July that Chrissi got up to maximum level. Typically when we've played we've often gone to old places instead out of interest as opposed to levelled - so she has been more sluggish in her journey to 70/80/85 as the level cap became with successive expansions.
Of course, this means we have three weeks with her at maximum level, able to raid, until the next expansion, Mists of Pandaria, hits - and we have to persuade her up the levels again to join in! But it was nice for an evening at least!
I've always played more than she has - pesky things like masters degrees getting in the way, plus time zones being a bit of a bother on the European servers as an American, and being at work when events were taking place. We played at weekends, but it was only in July that Chrissi got up to maximum level. Typically when we've played we've often gone to old places instead out of interest as opposed to levelled - so she has been more sluggish in her journey to 70/80/85 as the level cap became with successive expansions.
Of course, this means we have three weeks with her at maximum level, able to raid, until the next expansion, Mists of Pandaria, hits - and we have to persuade her up the levels again to join in! But it was nice for an evening at least!
Tuesday, September 04, 2012
Help Report
A detail I meant to add on Saturday, but forgot to include, was a note to commend the support staff at PC Specialist, who were helping me with my computer issues. I bought the machine from them two years ago - it's a small company, but with an excellent reputation. It is very well regarded in particular for its technical support and customer service.
This was something I was able to deal with on Saturday - and surprisingly for a helpline, not only are you put through to someone quickly, but you're put through to someone polite and competent. It's hard to explain why it was such a good experience - but they listened to my problems, tried to work out how to do it, were clear and honest in their assessments of what was going on - and throughout the call, I got the impression that they were actually interested in helping me and weren't just reading from a script reminding them how much they were allegedly caring. It was simply genuine.
It's sad that what should be such a routine event requires praise - however, I thought a note on my blog was at least deserved for this, as it is not as common as you would hope!
This was something I was able to deal with on Saturday - and surprisingly for a helpline, not only are you put through to someone quickly, but you're put through to someone polite and competent. It's hard to explain why it was such a good experience - but they listened to my problems, tried to work out how to do it, were clear and honest in their assessments of what was going on - and throughout the call, I got the impression that they were actually interested in helping me and weren't just reading from a script reminding them how much they were allegedly caring. It was simply genuine.
It's sad that what should be such a routine event requires praise - however, I thought a note on my blog was at least deserved for this, as it is not as common as you would hope!
Saturday, September 01, 2012
Turning the Page
Today's blog is focused around stopping a slip from becoming a slide - as I have not posted since Wednesday, it would be easy to revert to type [or rather a lack of typing] and stop posting altogether. Which would be a shame, as I do enjoy writing.
Thursday's blog was postponed because ... actually, I forget why. Possibly I didn't have anything interesting to say and decided to actually not share it as a result. Friday I had the page open to write, but as my computer crashed (see last week's blog) before I had time to write, it never got written. Today it simply hasn't happened yet.
Today was tiring but unproductive - what I did achieve was getting my haircut. In addition to that, I watched the first episode in the new Doctor Who series - not bad, will see how the series goes I think - and Chrissi and I also watched the majority of the Angels vs Mariners baseball. This was the first time in months that I think we watched a game that the Angels ended up winning - it's a nice change.
The game tomorrow is on at a UK-friendly time, so hopefully we can continue our streak.
Thursday's blog was postponed because ... actually, I forget why. Possibly I didn't have anything interesting to say and decided to actually not share it as a result. Friday I had the page open to write, but as my computer crashed (see last week's blog) before I had time to write, it never got written. Today it simply hasn't happened yet.
Today was tiring but unproductive - what I did achieve was getting my haircut. In addition to that, I watched the first episode in the new Doctor Who series - not bad, will see how the series goes I think - and Chrissi and I also watched the majority of the Angels vs Mariners baseball. This was the first time in months that I think we watched a game that the Angels ended up winning - it's a nice change.
The game tomorrow is on at a UK-friendly time, so hopefully we can continue our streak.
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