Christmas Eve

The train glides through fields dusted with snow. The sun struggles to be seen through the clouds. Trees shiver without their livery, standing tall in the middle of the frozen blanket.

I want a white Christmas - it's poetic.

Another day

Low.
not sure why.
perhaps cos I'm likely to be the only one at work tomorrow.
perhaps cos I don't get the extra holidays that everyone else does - I started in December so what do I expect!?
so, two weeks intro to the job then do what I want because there's no one around to ask. maybe I should be pleased by that vote of confidence but I'd prefer more of a break. I feel like I've been working non-stop. I know I've had breaks - a few days here, a long weekend there... I just want more.
I'm greedy.

On and on

Horses race towards the horizon.
Birds fly south.
Clever animals sleep through it all.
Winter.
We take careful steps through the  ice, trying to keep our footing.
Trudge through the sludge, hoping our toes stay dry.
It would be easier with hooves.

Cold and quiet

after a cold dry weekend, it's snowing tonight. Or sleeting. Either way it's cold and wet.

It seems like everyone is waiting to get on the next tube. Don't think I fancy trying for the next one. Might wait an extra two minutes and see how packed it is.

Today was extremely quiet at work. Lots of people on holiday already. It's likely to be a ghost town by Christmas Eve. But I'll still be at work because I have no other choice. The pitfalls of starting a new job in December!

Tiny tin cans

Are we moving forwards?

In the past we walked. We ran. We jumped.

Then we tamed animals. We rode. We led. We travelled more quickly.

Then we built machines. We drove. We rode. We flew. Even faster than before. Technology gave us the world. We could go anywhere. Do anything.

But still we line up to squash ourselves into tiny moving tins. We stand uncomfortably close to strangers. And we consider it normal.

Which way are we going?

Walking to work

Testing to see how this will look. What if I add two pictures? Will it still work? Or not...

Week two

Crowded tubes fill my evenings. I'm glad I have a seat. Body odour is never a pleasant thing in confined spaces.

Morning walks are going well. A beautiful start to my day. Minature sight-seeing tours for myself. I should leave earlier so I can explore more of the city.

Do you like exploring?

day two

lovely day to walk to work. clear blue sky and a crisp cold morning. no clouds - a nice change from Manchester. wonder how long it'll last. :)

Work-related rant

I was asked to see the Director before going home tonight. As it's unlikely that he'd be wanting to tell me how well I'm doing, I was a bit apprehensive. Had to interrupt his meeting, but none-the-less he came out to tell me not to wear headphones to work.

This morning at about 8.30am, I passed him in the (staff access only) stairwell. I had one earbud in from the walk from the station. Apparently, I'm one of the "faces" of MOSI whenever I'm out on the floor and shouldn't wear headphones when I'm in the building. Regardless of the fact that it was well before we open to the public (and before I officially start work), I had no badge or logo on to affiliate me with MOSI and I was not in "public space" anyway.

Why was I singled out? I am positive that many MOSI employees listen to music on their way to work and do not take out their headphones on reaching the museum grounds. Where does the "no headphones" start? On MOSI ground? Which could be 5 mins before I actually get to work. On the bus in the morning? Surely if I need to remove my headphones on the way to work then the trip counts as work.. which means I work an extra 5 or 10 minutes each day!

I find it ludicrous that I could smoke on MOSI grounds, should I choose (in a smokers area, where the public walk past any time) but I am not allowed to wear earphones to enter the building, walk up the stairs and to my office. It makes me want to rebel. Wear less-tidy clothes (I was told no jeans - so I can wear my "Damn Scientists" t-shirt.. wish it said something more controversial), dye my hair vibrant colours or not brush it for a week... suggestions welcome. What's the worst they could do? Fire me? Then they could have all the stress of multitasking multiple projects and making sure the museum runs the events it has said it will. No problem to me!

Two of the reasons I took the MOSI job in the first place have disappeared anyway. The opportunity to work on developing an exhibition disappeared when they fired Sean and the possibility of ongoing work disappeared when the Beacon post was advertised in March (rather than leaving it until near the end of my current contract). I truly wonder whether I made the right decision with this job. A job that would be great, except I'm only care-taker and I'll get 4 or 8 weeks notice before I'm unemployed.. which could be any time between now and December! Maternity cover jobs suck! Especially when the management don't appreciate the work you do but focus on the pedantic little details like whether or not you listen to music on the way in to work. It sucks!

Bad Omens

It's 6am and the train has just pulled away from Manchester Piccadilly station. The sun shines through the window, making it slightly more difficult to see the screen, but also suggesting it's going to be a lovely day. I hope the sun tells the truth, a number of other things are suggesting today's mammoth trip to Bristol could be a mistake.

It started this morning. The alarm screamed at 4.30am and I began to get organised. I know I should have done it yesterday or during the week, but I really just haven't had time or inkling. In most part, that's due to the organiser of the course got getting in touch until yesterday. So,

1. I'm unpreprared - we're supposed to take a part of a script or a small demo. If I was actually performing shows these days it wouldn't be a problem, but I'm not and it is. I'd prefer more than 12hrs to prepare something to "bring". I got nothing!
   
   
2. I couldn't find my train ticket details. I _know_ I booked this train and the one at 18:00 to come home but I cannot find any documentation that supports my claim. Maybe it ended up in the 'junk mail' folder, but I wouldn't expect that, especially when I booked another train for the weekend and it is in my inbox. Two things could have happened - it went through but the details didn't (so I've paid twice!) OR it didn't go through at all. I guess I'll find out when I have a chance to look at my bank statements. It could be that this trip costs me way more than it's worth..
   
   
3. I missed the 5am bus. I didn't miss it by much, in fact I saw it go past the end of the road. Unfortunately it had no reason to stop, so I missed it. It took me a while to realise that it was Saturday (feels like another work day), but that meant the next bus wouldn't get me to the station on time. The taxi driving past was a fortunate thing.
   
   
4. There was nothing open at the station. I didn't have time for breakfast or even a drink, so I could have done with a hot chocolate or a muffin or something. The taxi ride meant I had half-an-hour to kill before the departure time but there wasn't anywhere to buy something to eat (except a couple of vending machines and I really didn't feel like crisps at 5.30am!)

Since beginning this, the sun has gone behind a cloud and I'm wondering if I should have brought my rain coat. The course today sounded like a bit of fun - theatre skills for science communicators, I hope it IS fun and I'm not just wasting my time (and money).

Please be a decent day!!

I hate buses and postal services.

I'm running late for work again. This time on a Saturday. It's bad
enough that this is my third Saturday in a month and a half (is that
occasional?) and my predecessor didn't attend the events at all (I
don't think it's right to organise something then expect others to
take care of it along with their regular work) but that a Finglands
bus didn't turn up for 15mins is downright frustrating. Next week I
won't be getting their bus pass!

I'm tired of buses. They're unreliable, often crowded, and inevitably
they take longer than expected. *sigh*

--
Sent from my mobile device

Public transport sucks!

08:45
How am i meant to figure out how long it takes to get to work if the
buses are so god-damned erratic?! I catch a bus @ 8am and can be at
work by half-past. Fifteen minutes later and I'm lucky to be at work
by 9am. Some buses go straight through, others pause for 5min because
they're apparently early. It's rare that buses appear at the time
indicated on the timetable, so why is it always the random one i get
on conscientious?!

17:10
A manic day, late for my own meeting, tied up in other meetings.
Nightmare! And to top it off I'm running late to let exterminators in
to my flat. There are mice in the flats and i had every intention of
being home in time. But of course that didn't happen. A bus pulled
away just as I arrived at it. I'm on the way now. I just hope that
"after 5pm" has a little leeway, otherwise I'll definitely be making
use of the traps. Today has not been a good day!

Testing a new offline program

Going to have to find a program that will let me update offline and then will upload everything once it finds some internet.. AvantGo does it.. well, kinda did it on the palm but I wonder if there's a better application for the netbook. could be something as simple as Thunderbird or another email client.. something that lets me write email/journal entries and then sends/updates them when there's a wireless connection. Since I CAN update using email, maybe that's the best way to do it..

Anyway.. I think if it was easy - something I could do in a cafe like I am now.. then I'd do it more.. As it is, I'll have to copy this into my journal.. and backdate it appropriately. It does mean that I'll be able to include a photo.. If i want..

Tags: offline, blah blah, random