One thing that's absolutely guaranteed to aggravate me is when people only want to take responsibility for certain aspects of their job. Let's say, for example, a Designer who will readily accept praise when it's given, but who will deny any involvement in something that didn't go down so well.
Or a Salesperson who instructs me to send proofs of an advertisement to them, so they can send them on to the client, only to later ask me if I had explained something to that client, or given them a clear deadline, or whatever.
Like today... Or, more accurately, last week, which is when I emailed a particular set of proofs to the Salesperson, as requested. I should mention that I object to this procedure on principle. At best, it's the cause of delays (Salesperson not in the office to react to client's emailed response, for example). At worst, it's simply stupid and obstructive. The salespeople have all been told that the Production Co-ordinator should deal with anything relating to Production - copy chasing, proofing, sign-off, and final upload to the Printers. And yet, last week, a client sent artwork to their salesperson which was obviously a bit duff. It was forwarded to me, I took a look at it and, as I have been doing for nigh-on twenty years, I fixed it.
But the Salesperson asked me to send proofs to her, specifically because it was her client and he wasn't 'technically savvy'. Kinda the whole point of my role is to communicate technical matters clearly with just that kind of person. When I'm asked to leave it to a Salesperson, and I have to listen to them spouting crap at a client who is already confused, my blood starts to boil. Worse still, when they start introducing out-of-context jargon that they've overheard and obviously don't understand. That just makes a confused person even more confused.
But when, a week later, that same Salesperson asks me if I explained something to a client, and adds "It's always helpful if you do that...", no-one should blame me for pointing out - loudly, so that her boss can hear (if, indeed, she's paying attention) - that, no, I didn't explain anything to the client... I've had no contact with the client because they asked me to send the proofs to them, not the client.
This particular Salesperson is full of this kind of crap. Just about every day, she's on the receiving end of exactly that kind of question about her sales calls to clients, and just about every day there's an important point of procedure she's ignored... like neglecting to tell a client whose account has been frozen that they'll have to pre-pay (or settle their account) if they want to advertise.
What makes it laughable is that she's always telling everyone else how to do their jobs, how to make complaints to their bank, or their landlords, or their boss. Oh so full of advice that she never follows, brimming with knowledge of procedures she never adheres to.
Several of the Salespeople at this one place I'm working are terrible, one way or another, and their internal communication is ridiculous... But this one in particular is very vocal in her complaints about all the others - behind their backs, of course.
I can't believe I almost seriously considered wanting to work in that place full-time. The other place isn't without its problems, but at least the work is diverting enough that I'm not constantly seeing/hearing/being subjected to them.
Thursday, 25 October 2012
Sunday, 21 October 2012
Six Years On
It only occurred to me quite recently to check when this blog started, and prepare something special to post, so I marked this date on my calendar as the 6th Anniversary of //ƒuƶƶy[løgic] and intended to come up with something profound and fitting of this most auspicious occasion.
Naturally, that which I laughingly refer to as 'real life' got in the way and so, gentle reader, this is all you're going to get.
//ƒuƶƶy[løgic] started for two main reasons:
Even so, learning from my experiences, I tended not to speak about my blog. I've kept to a fairly strict 'no names' policy except in very general instances and only a very few close friends and family know anything about this blog, while I'll chat about the others quite freely. No links between this and those, either - they're not even the same account. Even so, the very fact that I know that a few people I know 'in real life' can (and sometimes do) read this, does tend to lead to some self-censorship on matters I consider truly private.
Over the years, this blog has followed my rather skewed view of things, from complaining about my old job and the foolish people I worked with there, to the shock of being made redundant - that announcement coming a full nine months before the final departure - and on through my ongoing experiences of being out of full-time work, temping very rarely through 2011 and rather more frequently this year. It's covered the movies I've seen, videogames I've played, the events I've attended, family Christmasses, days spent in isolation, experiments in photography, weird dreams, and even a few things that only happened in my head when I've had 'flu.
Back in 2008, I bought a home of my own - a flat - with a good chunk of my savings as deposit, and a correspondingly more manageable mortgage. Since then, I've had many conversations with the Managing Agents about the leaking roof and the effects it's been having on my ceilings (and my ability to sleep) and, finally, after about four years, the landlord last week agreed to pay for the entire main roof to be replaced. I should mention that this is a year after I received notification of the intention to replace the first floor (balcony) roof, which still hasn't happened, and would have been of no benefit to me if it had. All it took to convince the landlord was the suggestion that his tenants and leaseholders could take legal action against him for (a) negligence, in not maintaining the roof and (b) any damage to their property coming as a direct result of that negligence. And it's been several months since that suggestion was first put to him. Some people, eh?
Moving out of home was a pretty big deal... I still think that, had circumstances been different, I might still have been living with my folks today. Certainly, one of my friends is still looking for 'the perfect place' - aiming for a maisonette or house, which will be bought with help from his parents - rather than 'settling', as I have done, for an easily affordable and reasonably spacious flat which is conveniently located for transport links, and has an awesome view from the front door/kitchen.
I guess, in part, the reluctance to fly the nest comes from the fact that I didn't go to university, so I had no experience of living away from home and family. I also have no experience of cohabiting, except briefly (on holidays, for example) so the idea of moving into a flatshare, or any situation where I was not the sole occupant of a property, was rather repellent... and yet I'm not such a hermit that I wanted to be completely isolated from friends and family. Obviously I still have the long-term goal of having a family of my own, but that seems ever less likely as years go by.
Thankfully, my sister had a daughter a few years ago, so I get to play 'Cool Uncle' and teach her all kinds of things that her mother will disapprove of. I'm still considering my strategy for getting her into TransFormers. I get the impression I'm the favourite Uncle but, all things considered, the competition ain't exactly strong.
The weird thing is, having a niece is simultaneously making me more broody and less broody. Moreso because - as I've been told for many years, and by many people - I do think I'd make a pretty good father, and the idea of raising a child, while daunting, is very appealing. Less so because, through my sister's experiences of motherhood, I'm getting a more detailed picture of how difficult it all is... and there's all the background stuff of "would I really want to bring up a child in a world like today's?" In many ways, it just seems unfair.
This blog has also recorded the death of one of my Grandmothers, and occasionally touched on the slow decay, through Alzheimer's, of the other. Both Grandfathers passed away many years ago (one before I was born), so these changes have been very strange. The former was a rather old-fashioned, well-travelled powerhouse, the latter was more friendly and outwardly lively. Now, I strongly feel the absence of the former, and ache as I see the latter becoming bitter and spiteful as her memory both fails and deceives her.
I can look back at my old posts and not recognise the writer. I recall the events well enough, but I don't recall the emotions attached in quite the same way. In much the same way that I can dimly recall the events I wrote about in my primary/middle school "What I Did at the Weekend" essays, the tone of the writing seems strangely alien. Have I really changed that much in recent years?
Of course I have, if I really think about it. Only a while ago, I met up with a former colleague, and bent her ear for about three hours - asking about her life plans, comparing our experiences of the jobs we've held since leaving our former common employer, generally shooting the breeze with her... I probably talked more in those three hours than in total, for all the years we'd worked together... and it only hit me weeks later that I'd actually seen surprise and bemusement on her face, but just didn't associate it with any changes in myself.
My folks observed that, at a certain point early in my schooling, I suddenly became quieter and more insular, though this eased off over the years... it was only a few years ago (relatively speaking) that I started really building up walls between myself and the outside world - most specifically with regards to my workplace. I've often surprised people by referring to "the office" and "the real world" as two very separate environments, but I've never quite understood why they find that so surprising.
And, even now, while I'm certainly chattier and more personable in my temping roles (my enthusiasm for the work is frequently commented upon), I'm still reluctant to get too personal, to be especially open, with the people I'm working with. I'd vowed that, whenever I returned to an office situation, I'd not slip back into the office personality I created for my last full-time job. It was colder and harsher than it really needed to be and, while I wouldn't tend to consider colleagues as friends, the people I work with these days don't tend to be quite such self-absorbed, self-entitled morons. Some of them are actually pretty cool. I don't meet many people who are like me, but I certainly meet more these days that I feel able to converse with on some vaguely meaningful level.
Likewise, while certain events which predate this blog might make me extremely wary of online friendships, I have made other acquaintances online. I guess it's a case of 'lessons learnt'.
I don't have a massive audience with this blog, or a particularly impressive view count... I believe I get about 20 visitors per day at the best of times. A couple of my postings have had significantly more viewers than the rest - the 'all time' top two postings combined account for about10% 20% of the total views this whole blog has had.
And, gratifyingly, the worst that's happened on this blog is that I've had an awful lot of spam comments, which are simply deleted.
I do wish I'd got more fiction writing done... It has been suggested that the idea of "writer's block" is just an excuse trotted out by folk who, like me, can't quite pluck up the courage to write something because of the nagging doubts over its eventual quality, or the 'validity' of the work, even though that's technically beside the point. All I've actually managed, really, is a couple of stories - normally written at the last minute (or later) - which were birthday/Christmas presents for a friend, and the latest one of those is already about half a year overdue.
In my heart, I know all I need to do is plonk my arse on a chair and start typing. The words will come. They may not be right first time, but the point is to write them out, then figure out how to fine-tune.
That isn't really something this blog can help with because, other than the semi-conscious self-censorship, I don't do a great deal of editing or refining. I might pop back into a post and correct formatting or typos, even sometimes insert addenda... but the posts stay largely as they were when I finished spewing my stream of consciousness.
So, to sum up, this blog has been going for six years today. My life has changed almost immeasurably since 2006, mostly for the better. I can't say this blog is a big part of my life because, on balance, it records quite a small slice of it, and I still take some pretty long breaks from blogging every now and then - sometimes because I'm doing other stuff, sometimes because I'm doing absolutely nothing - but it's going to carry on for as long as I enjoy doing it. It's equal parts creative writing and therapy, and it costs nothing but time.
//ƒuƶƶy[løgic] - a perpetual work in progress...
it's kind of like life that way.
Naturally, that which I laughingly refer to as 'real life' got in the way and so, gentle reader, this is all you're going to get.
//ƒuƶƶy[løgic] started for two main reasons:
- My erstwhile cyberstalker was no longer working with me - I'd had a kind of blog (little more than occasional random musings, written up in HTML) on my personal website, and removed it because he'd told people that reading it had become part of his weekend routine... Every Monday morning, when he arrived at work, his first action would be to enquire if I'd updated my website, and it just got creepy after I found out that he'd already know one way or the other... was he just asking in the hope of catching me out? Whatever, he was gone, I was free to start writing personal stuff again without fear that it would be twisted and used against me in my workplace. Even so, rather than reinstate my Ramblings, I figured I should take people's advice and start a blog, and make a rather more concerted effort than I had done with the Ramblings.
- I wanted to get back into the habit of writing, with a view to bashing out some stories. This hasn't been entirely successful - it's still just as hard as ever to concentrate and focus my ideas accurately and effectively enough to generate works of fiction. In these six years, I've only really written a very few stories. But, hey, I'm sort-of writing, sort-of regularly...
Even so, learning from my experiences, I tended not to speak about my blog. I've kept to a fairly strict 'no names' policy except in very general instances and only a very few close friends and family know anything about this blog, while I'll chat about the others quite freely. No links between this and those, either - they're not even the same account. Even so, the very fact that I know that a few people I know 'in real life' can (and sometimes do) read this, does tend to lead to some self-censorship on matters I consider truly private.
Over the years, this blog has followed my rather skewed view of things, from complaining about my old job and the foolish people I worked with there, to the shock of being made redundant - that announcement coming a full nine months before the final departure - and on through my ongoing experiences of being out of full-time work, temping very rarely through 2011 and rather more frequently this year. It's covered the movies I've seen, videogames I've played, the events I've attended, family Christmasses, days spent in isolation, experiments in photography, weird dreams, and even a few things that only happened in my head when I've had 'flu.
Back in 2008, I bought a home of my own - a flat - with a good chunk of my savings as deposit, and a correspondingly more manageable mortgage. Since then, I've had many conversations with the Managing Agents about the leaking roof and the effects it's been having on my ceilings (and my ability to sleep) and, finally, after about four years, the landlord last week agreed to pay for the entire main roof to be replaced. I should mention that this is a year after I received notification of the intention to replace the first floor (balcony) roof, which still hasn't happened, and would have been of no benefit to me if it had. All it took to convince the landlord was the suggestion that his tenants and leaseholders could take legal action against him for (a) negligence, in not maintaining the roof and (b) any damage to their property coming as a direct result of that negligence. And it's been several months since that suggestion was first put to him. Some people, eh?
Moving out of home was a pretty big deal... I still think that, had circumstances been different, I might still have been living with my folks today. Certainly, one of my friends is still looking for 'the perfect place' - aiming for a maisonette or house, which will be bought with help from his parents - rather than 'settling', as I have done, for an easily affordable and reasonably spacious flat which is conveniently located for transport links, and has an awesome view from the front door/kitchen.
I guess, in part, the reluctance to fly the nest comes from the fact that I didn't go to university, so I had no experience of living away from home and family. I also have no experience of cohabiting, except briefly (on holidays, for example) so the idea of moving into a flatshare, or any situation where I was not the sole occupant of a property, was rather repellent... and yet I'm not such a hermit that I wanted to be completely isolated from friends and family. Obviously I still have the long-term goal of having a family of my own, but that seems ever less likely as years go by.
Thankfully, my sister had a daughter a few years ago, so I get to play 'Cool Uncle' and teach her all kinds of things that her mother will disapprove of. I'm still considering my strategy for getting her into TransFormers. I get the impression I'm the favourite Uncle but, all things considered, the competition ain't exactly strong.
The weird thing is, having a niece is simultaneously making me more broody and less broody. Moreso because - as I've been told for many years, and by many people - I do think I'd make a pretty good father, and the idea of raising a child, while daunting, is very appealing. Less so because, through my sister's experiences of motherhood, I'm getting a more detailed picture of how difficult it all is... and there's all the background stuff of "would I really want to bring up a child in a world like today's?" In many ways, it just seems unfair.
This blog has also recorded the death of one of my Grandmothers, and occasionally touched on the slow decay, through Alzheimer's, of the other. Both Grandfathers passed away many years ago (one before I was born), so these changes have been very strange. The former was a rather old-fashioned, well-travelled powerhouse, the latter was more friendly and outwardly lively. Now, I strongly feel the absence of the former, and ache as I see the latter becoming bitter and spiteful as her memory both fails and deceives her.
I can look back at my old posts and not recognise the writer. I recall the events well enough, but I don't recall the emotions attached in quite the same way. In much the same way that I can dimly recall the events I wrote about in my primary/middle school "What I Did at the Weekend" essays, the tone of the writing seems strangely alien. Have I really changed that much in recent years?
Of course I have, if I really think about it. Only a while ago, I met up with a former colleague, and bent her ear for about three hours - asking about her life plans, comparing our experiences of the jobs we've held since leaving our former common employer, generally shooting the breeze with her... I probably talked more in those three hours than in total, for all the years we'd worked together... and it only hit me weeks later that I'd actually seen surprise and bemusement on her face, but just didn't associate it with any changes in myself.
My folks observed that, at a certain point early in my schooling, I suddenly became quieter and more insular, though this eased off over the years... it was only a few years ago (relatively speaking) that I started really building up walls between myself and the outside world - most specifically with regards to my workplace. I've often surprised people by referring to "the office" and "the real world" as two very separate environments, but I've never quite understood why they find that so surprising.
And, even now, while I'm certainly chattier and more personable in my temping roles (my enthusiasm for the work is frequently commented upon), I'm still reluctant to get too personal, to be especially open, with the people I'm working with. I'd vowed that, whenever I returned to an office situation, I'd not slip back into the office personality I created for my last full-time job. It was colder and harsher than it really needed to be and, while I wouldn't tend to consider colleagues as friends, the people I work with these days don't tend to be quite such self-absorbed, self-entitled morons. Some of them are actually pretty cool. I don't meet many people who are like me, but I certainly meet more these days that I feel able to converse with on some vaguely meaningful level.
Likewise, while certain events which predate this blog might make me extremely wary of online friendships, I have made other acquaintances online. I guess it's a case of 'lessons learnt'.
I don't have a massive audience with this blog, or a particularly impressive view count... I believe I get about 20 visitors per day at the best of times. A couple of my postings have had significantly more viewers than the rest - the 'all time' top two postings combined account for about
And, gratifyingly, the worst that's happened on this blog is that I've had an awful lot of spam comments, which are simply deleted.
I do wish I'd got more fiction writing done... It has been suggested that the idea of "writer's block" is just an excuse trotted out by folk who, like me, can't quite pluck up the courage to write something because of the nagging doubts over its eventual quality, or the 'validity' of the work, even though that's technically beside the point. All I've actually managed, really, is a couple of stories - normally written at the last minute (or later) - which were birthday/Christmas presents for a friend, and the latest one of those is already about half a year overdue.
In my heart, I know all I need to do is plonk my arse on a chair and start typing. The words will come. They may not be right first time, but the point is to write them out, then figure out how to fine-tune.
That isn't really something this blog can help with because, other than the semi-conscious self-censorship, I don't do a great deal of editing or refining. I might pop back into a post and correct formatting or typos, even sometimes insert addenda... but the posts stay largely as they were when I finished spewing my stream of consciousness.
So, to sum up, this blog has been going for six years today. My life has changed almost immeasurably since 2006, mostly for the better. I can't say this blog is a big part of my life because, on balance, it records quite a small slice of it, and I still take some pretty long breaks from blogging every now and then - sometimes because I'm doing other stuff, sometimes because I'm doing absolutely nothing - but it's going to carry on for as long as I enjoy doing it. It's equal parts creative writing and therapy, and it costs nothing but time.
//ƒuƶƶy[løgic] - a perpetual work in progress...
it's kind of like life that way.
Sunday, 14 October 2012
Clear Skies and... Brrrrrrr!
Following neatly on from the last posting, I took another of my shopping trips yesterday. Ostensibly to get myself some light/pale jumpers, as all the ones I have are either dark or red, which can cause laundry issues at the time of year when I most need jumpers. My devious side-quest was to go in search of new TransFormers: Prime figures, since it's now a couple of weeks since I found the Wave 2 Voyagers on sale.
The reason this follows neatly is that the weather while I was out was absolutely fine (up until I started making my way home, when a light drizzle started). Bright, mostly clear skies... but the beginnings of colder weather. Still... good weather can only mean success in shopping, right?
All talk of bonkers superstitions aside... it was indeed a successful trip. I returned home with two new jumpers - though I shall elaborate on that shortly - several pairs of thicker socks, and two new TF: Prime toys, meaning I'm now up-to-date with all the toys I actually want. Not only that, but the two new ones are unbelievably cool. I was feeling lukewarm toward Knock Out because the paint job is so lacking (seriously, if you thought TF: Prime Bumblebee was light on paintwork, Knockout is ridiculous, both in terms of the extent of the paintwork and its show accuracy) but, in hand, the figure is pretty awesome. It helps to see it transformed properly, rather than in the 'not-quite-there, saggy headlight boobs' form in which it appears most frequently online and, even then, it's not without flaws... but it's a great toy, and that's what matters. Vehicon, meanwhile, is a triumph of toy engineering - the way most of the car shell concertinas into the legs, rather than lurking around on his back in robot mode, is quite incredible!
So... The new jumpers...
Something I noticed while out shopping is that jumpers are invariably dark. Those that aren't are either hideous artificial fibre static generators, incredibly expensive forms of wool, or beige. I'm sure I've mentioned somewhere my feelings on beige.
I did find some jumpers in a sort of minty green but, since I own precisely nothing that would go with a jumper of that colour, I felt it best to move along. No way am I going to fork out for a whole new wardrobe just to match or complement one new jumper.
What I got was one sky/duck egg blue jumper and one in light grey that has that fake-shirt-collar thing. Haven't tried them on yet because I'm about to put my lights into the laundry, but the time will come soon enough.
In other news, it appears that I am now, effectively, in full-time employment until January, and one of my two regular employers is still in discussions about keeping me on after that for an additional few months. Since these are the same folks who procrastinated about putting me on a 12-month contract because they were closing down one of the titles I was working on, I'm not holding out much hope. That said, the title they closed is now back in operation... but only in digital form. Having decided to ditch the magazine completely, they've relaunched it as a (freely?) downloadable PDF title with the same production values as the print version. In fact, the process of putting the magazine together is essentially identical - the only difference is that the final PDFs are never sent to a Printworks.
Backpeddling, anyone?
Still, though it may appear to be a ray of hope, there are so many variables in the equation that it's just not worth getting excited about.
The best bit of news I've had in a while is that I've been able to transfer some money back into my savings. Only two grand so far (compared to the approximately ten grand I had to siphon off over the last 12 months), but it's a start... and it's a good start...
The reason this follows neatly is that the weather while I was out was absolutely fine (up until I started making my way home, when a light drizzle started). Bright, mostly clear skies... but the beginnings of colder weather. Still... good weather can only mean success in shopping, right?
All talk of bonkers superstitions aside... it was indeed a successful trip. I returned home with two new jumpers - though I shall elaborate on that shortly - several pairs of thicker socks, and two new TF: Prime toys, meaning I'm now up-to-date with all the toys I actually want. Not only that, but the two new ones are unbelievably cool. I was feeling lukewarm toward Knock Out because the paint job is so lacking (seriously, if you thought TF: Prime Bumblebee was light on paintwork, Knockout is ridiculous, both in terms of the extent of the paintwork and its show accuracy) but, in hand, the figure is pretty awesome. It helps to see it transformed properly, rather than in the 'not-quite-there, saggy headlight boobs' form in which it appears most frequently online and, even then, it's not without flaws... but it's a great toy, and that's what matters. Vehicon, meanwhile, is a triumph of toy engineering - the way most of the car shell concertinas into the legs, rather than lurking around on his back in robot mode, is quite incredible!
So... The new jumpers...
Something I noticed while out shopping is that jumpers are invariably dark. Those that aren't are either hideous artificial fibre static generators, incredibly expensive forms of wool, or beige. I'm sure I've mentioned somewhere my feelings on beige.
I did find some jumpers in a sort of minty green but, since I own precisely nothing that would go with a jumper of that colour, I felt it best to move along. No way am I going to fork out for a whole new wardrobe just to match or complement one new jumper.
What I got was one sky/duck egg blue jumper and one in light grey that has that fake-shirt-collar thing. Haven't tried them on yet because I'm about to put my lights into the laundry, but the time will come soon enough.
In other news, it appears that I am now, effectively, in full-time employment until January, and one of my two regular employers is still in discussions about keeping me on after that for an additional few months. Since these are the same folks who procrastinated about putting me on a 12-month contract because they were closing down one of the titles I was working on, I'm not holding out much hope. That said, the title they closed is now back in operation... but only in digital form. Having decided to ditch the magazine completely, they've relaunched it as a (freely?) downloadable PDF title with the same production values as the print version. In fact, the process of putting the magazine together is essentially identical - the only difference is that the final PDFs are never sent to a Printworks.
Backpeddling, anyone?
Still, though it may appear to be a ray of hope, there are so many variables in the equation that it's just not worth getting excited about.
The best bit of news I've had in a while is that I've been able to transfer some money back into my savings. Only two grand so far (compared to the approximately ten grand I had to siphon off over the last 12 months), but it's a start... and it's a good start...
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