Ah, that was something...

The Mortgage.

So, having been pissed around for three months by Woolwich/Barclays, and having not had a call back from the folks who arranged that offer-that-wasn't, I contacted my current lender, Alliance & Leicester.

Within minutes, I had a new offer winging its way to me in the post, which I duly signed, got witnessed and returned.

Thanks to my parents, I'm paying off something like half the mortgage in one lump sum after the first of May, so my repayments are going to be far lower - they're currently affordable, but this gives me a good deal more spending money.

Excellent timing, considering the way work is going...

Blogged with the Flock Browser

So What's New?

Well, lots and not much.

Went to the Spring Memorabilia at the NEC a couple of weeks ago. Spring is traditionally 'Memorabilia Lite', both in terms of vendors and guests (the biggest name I recognised was John Saxon - undoubtedly a star, just not recently), but this one was actually reasonably impressive.

My companion and I still scooted round it in under two hours (we spent more time travelling to and fro than we did at the show), but we certainly didn't skip on the merchandise. Personally, I walked out with Human Alliance Barriade and Mudflap, Scout class Evac, Alternity Cliff(jumper), a couple of new Genki Gear & Retro GT t-shirts, and a couple of gifts for upcoming birthdays. Weirdly, it felt like a lot more... and by the time I got home, my haul seemed somewhat smaller than I'd imagined.

The route home included a detour to visit a friend of my companion, meeting two of her daughters and a pair of bonkers dogs: one small and hyperactive, the other a large Doberman/Rottweiler crossbreed that - against all the odds - took an instant like to me. Before we went on for lunch, she seemed to have adopted the role of my protector. I don't normally get on with dogs, and they usually don't like me. This one in particular is known for not making friends easily with strangers... Just goes to show, I really am a bitch magnet.

Lunch was in a nice little pub restaurant - normally I loathe those, but this place (can't remember the name, but one of the daughters was going to be working there in the evening) was all kinds of wonderful. The menu was a far cry from the sort of 'gastropub' slop typically served in London. Portions were generous, and the food was of a quite incredible quality.

The journey home was punctuated by a quick visit to a local farm shop, at which I picked up a couple of venison steaks for my folks.

Work-wise, not much more is known, other than that this 'proposal' is almost definitely a done deal, however much they want to assure us otherwise for the time being. We have what is essentially a closing date for our Production department and, thankfully, it's a long way off.

Even so, morale at work is at an all-time low, and most of us are having a hard time giving a damn. Broadly speaking, the Salespeople are quite supportive of us... but in that vague way they have of any kind of behaviour towards Production. They don't understand what we do, so they don't really understand what they're going to lose, or why they're not doing themselves any favours by continuing to work like morons. Still, there are clients who will no longer do business with the company if the London Production department is closed.

Out in the real world, I now have a Nintendo Wii, having been waxing lyrical about a YouTube Let's Play of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, it was bought for me as an exceptionally early birthday present. I immediately bought Silent Hill and, over the last few weeks, have increased my collection quite considerably - highlights include Ghostbusters, Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Sam & Max Season 1, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Tatsunoko vs Capcom (come on, a mental Capcom beat-'em-up? I had to!), Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Bully and The House of the Dead: Overkill. While certainly not the most powerful next-gen machine (is it me, or is that an utterly redundant term these days, when the 'next generation' lasts an average of a year?), it's easily the most fun... and the motion-sensitive controllers, while taking a lot of getting used to, are fairly intuitive and easy to use. Quite amusing that Sony are now coming out with a motion-sensitive controller.

We have a new Doctor Who... the youngest actor ever to play the role and, on the strength of the first three episodes, he's already far better than David Tennant. So far, in fact, the only disappointment has been Episode 3 - the Mark Gatiss-penned Daleks-in-World-War-Two story, and that was only disappointing because it was about an hour too short. It was a massive story, with huge potential... 45 minutes was just not enough to tell the story without far too much compression, to the point where plot points seemed to fall into place far too quickly and easily. No struggle, no story.

The thing that I see even more clearly in retrospect is that David Tennant was Russell T.'s wet dream of a Doctor, and that impaired the stories. Far too much time was devoted to pointing out that The Doctor is wonderful, and everyone (who was an extension of Russell T. in the story) loves him - and not just in the platonic sense.

The thing that amuses me is that the Daleks have now had a long-overdue overhaul... and now The Doctor's companion isn't a munchkin (sorry, Billie!) they're actually tall and imposing, rather than short and bulky. Not sure I like the colourschemes... Dayglo Daleks, almost... The Smarties/M&Ms of Intergalactic conquest... but I look forward to seeing what these new, genetically pure Daleks are capable of.

I'm sure there was lots more I wanted to write about, but I've taken so long over it all, most of it has slipped out of my memory... Oh well, can't have been that important...

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Bombshells

Not blonde. Not pretty.

Announced today was a plan by my employers to re-centralise production of all titles - not just those of the London office, but all the regional magazines - to head office.

The story goes that we are now in a period of consultation, to determine whether this is truly the way to go.

Of course, looking at it one way, you don't announce something like this unless it's a foregone conclusion, so it looks very much as though the company is attempting to cover itself legally.

It's a stupid idea - and one which has failed before - and the decision has been made for purely financial reasons. We aren't making enough money (read: the salespeople aren't selling enough at high enough yield) to 'justify' all these Production departments. It shows how little regard my employers have for the hard work we put in, both to the advertising and the Editorial. There is no genuinely compelling reason - other than money - for closing down local Production departments who build relationships with the local businesses who advertise with us. It's a recipe for utter disaster.

But here's the thing: Not only are Sales not functioning well enough, but we (specifically my office) are spending too much on Editorial. Most editors have two magazines, but a couple only have one. One of these has an Assistant Editor and numerous freelancers. She barely does anything herself (apart from phone her husband or child) during office hours, and only works a three day week. For almost three full weeks a month, she does next to nothing. During her press week, she does nothing but complain that her pages aren't being processed quickly enough.

But it's Production that are getting shafted.

And the Salespeople..? They get a liveable basic wage and terrible commission. That's the perfect recipe for coasters. Whether they hit their target or not, they get paid the same. If they're kicked out after three months for underperforming (and, in this place, it's an if, not a when), they've had three months' pay, and escape before the extent of their failure truly becomes clear. When they fill the magazine, they're not averse to increasing the pagination by 16, 24, 32 pages or more in a vain attempt to hit their targets. Increasing the pagination increases the cost of producing the magazine, reducing what little profit they might make. When they fill the magazine, they're not averse to cutting Editorial to accommodate more advertising... which reduces the impact of the magazine, making it harder to sell next month. When they fill the magazine, they've filled it with low-yield advertising, to the point where we actually make a loss on some of our titles. Some of the titles I've worked on for the last ten years.

But it's Production that are getting shafted.

Always the way, with this company...

I've finally got off my arse, and started sending out my CV, but what I really need to do is figure out what I want to do with my life.

Blogged with the Flock Browser