So another year, another Christmas been and gone.
Now is it just me or do you find yourself really eager for that week off work for absolutely months and then are sick to shit of it after Boxing Day’s been and gone. Speaking of my own experience I’ve had enough of Turkey, chocolate, mince pies, and the sheer absence of anything good on TV. There’s been a couple of things to look forward -- I enjoyed watching Pirates of the Caribbean last night -- and the Little Britain special was good but I could’ve watched either of these after a busy day at work. I’ve got no interest in the post Christmas rush to the sales because (1) the sales are miles from where I live and (2) I know there’ll be nothing I want and I don’t see the point in buying something I’m not going to use simply because “usually it’d be £30 and for this week only it’s £15!!!!”
Now I’m no fool -- I know that I’ll be willing myself back to work and then a couple of days later wishing I was still on holiday. It’s sods law. I’ve spent the last couple of days surfing the internet between Myspace and the forum, with the occasional trip to Amazon and Ticketmaster.
But I’m afraid Christmas has lost a bit of it’s shine for me -- part of it is down to age. I’m afraid Christmas isn’t as much fun as it was when I was 6 because I now know what my folks had to do to prepare that special day, tackling shopping traffic on the high street, getting a trolley rammed up my …… heels, and having to fight a pensioner for the last tin of Celebrations. But the biggest part of it is down to bad experience. I’d call it a trauma but that’s just over-dramatics, but 3 years ago my Dad passed away smack-bang in the middle of the festive period -- Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! So as you can imagine, Christmas is a bit, well, tainted I suppose. I know that kind of thing can’t be helped but I also know it’ll get better -- this year was better than last year which was better than the year before that …… but still I’ll go through the motions again next year and then bemoan the fact that there’s nothing on TV, I’ve got heartburn and that Christmas and Sale shoppers are a nightmare.
Roll on Christmas 2007!!! Lol!!
Wednesday 27 December 2006
Sunday 24 December 2006
One Day I'll Be Funny ......
Well I got a bollocking today. May be 'bollocking' is a bit harsh. Let's call it 'a word in my ear' and this word was regarding my timekeeping (which I know I'm shit at!!! I think I'd better dig out my alarm clock!!) and my use of email and the internet at work. WTF?!?!
I am the first to admit that I tend to have my personal email up in the background while I work, and I do take the very rare trip onto Myspace/PK Forum (OK, so that may be a bit less rare lately, but see, Paddy if you sent me a message occasionally I'd be joyous for a bit and less likely to do stuff that would get me in trouble. You don't phone …… you don't write …… where's the love??? ) but surely if I manage to do everything I need to where's the harm?!?! I swear it's turning into a police state at our place. It's not as if I'm accessing the old Internet Porn – I mean, I stumbled on Britney sucking something in the course of my seemingly not-so-covert forum modding duties (I hate spammers!!!) but that's it. It's all come a bit out of left field as far as that's concerned. They were quick to add it wasn't just me but y'know …...
It's not as if I'm one of these people who spends all day tossing it off on eBay or doing my shopping on the Tesco website. The ones that do that are those who are paid obscene amounts of money for doing naff-all all day, or those that just plain get away with it!! The claim is that there are a lot of errors in the work that our department produces, but when everything is made so damn complicated, people external to us keep setting up and providing the wrong information, they're always moving the goalposts, and no f***** knows how to fill out a timesheet correctly what exactly do they expect?!?!? I'm afraid the requirement of a crystal ball was not mentioned in my job description!!
My timekeeping is another matter. As I already said I know I'm shit at it and the chaos we've been living in for the past couple of weeks has just exacerbated the problem. The thing that's f***** me off most about it is the double standard. It's supposedly come from on high – which I doubt because I think they're more concerned with their end-of-year bonuses than what the support staff get up to!!! But anyway, apparently I have been turning up 10 minutes late every day (I think not!!! I'm going to check that little claim tomorrow – I work on BBC News 24 time so …… there!!! If the company lives in it's own little timezone that's their problem!!) and also, and I quote "It's different for me (my manager ) and X coming in late as we work late, through lunch and at weekends!" I mean, WTF?!?!? Again!!! I can't remember the last time I finished at my contracted hour of 5pm. And to top it all off, just the other week the same manager (who you will note has just said "It's different for me and X coming in late as we work late, through lunch and at weekends!") was saying to me "It makes no difference if you work late in the evenings." Is it just me or does that sound like a contradiction. I'm not a clock watcher in the least – I'm not racing out the door as soon as the clock hits 5. Maybe that's where I'm going wrong. There's just no give or take in the place!! It gets on my tits!!!
It probably doesn't help that I have possibly one of the most monotonous jobs going with the exception of the guy who puts the jam in doughnuts. I take it many, if not all of you have seen that video that does the rounds on the internet every so often illustrating That Monday Feeling through the use of a Polar bear? Well that's me DAILY!! I think they'd be f***** if I left because I reckon no bugger's fool enough to do my job!!! In the meantime I've dusted off the ol' alarm clock and set it for bright and early tomorrow …… well, early anyway!! They'll be lucky if they get Bright!!
And think, just the other day I was saying how much better work was. On the plus side it didn't last as long as it would've done previously. It was gone and forgotten and we carried on regardless. Except me. It's still pissing me off. I'm afraid it's in my nature that I don't forgive easily. I'm too much like my Dad!! Definitely my fathers daughter ……
I am the first to admit that I tend to have my personal email up in the background while I work, and I do take the very rare trip onto Myspace/PK Forum (OK, so that may be a bit less rare lately, but see, Paddy if you sent me a message occasionally I'd be joyous for a bit and less likely to do stuff that would get me in trouble. You don't phone …… you don't write …… where's the love??? ) but surely if I manage to do everything I need to where's the harm?!?! I swear it's turning into a police state at our place. It's not as if I'm accessing the old Internet Porn – I mean, I stumbled on Britney sucking something in the course of my seemingly not-so-covert forum modding duties (I hate spammers!!!) but that's it. It's all come a bit out of left field as far as that's concerned. They were quick to add it wasn't just me but y'know …...
It's not as if I'm one of these people who spends all day tossing it off on eBay or doing my shopping on the Tesco website. The ones that do that are those who are paid obscene amounts of money for doing naff-all all day, or those that just plain get away with it!! The claim is that there are a lot of errors in the work that our department produces, but when everything is made so damn complicated, people external to us keep setting up and providing the wrong information, they're always moving the goalposts, and no f***** knows how to fill out a timesheet correctly what exactly do they expect?!?!? I'm afraid the requirement of a crystal ball was not mentioned in my job description!!
My timekeeping is another matter. As I already said I know I'm shit at it and the chaos we've been living in for the past couple of weeks has just exacerbated the problem. The thing that's f***** me off most about it is the double standard. It's supposedly come from on high – which I doubt because I think they're more concerned with their end-of-year bonuses than what the support staff get up to!!! But anyway, apparently I have been turning up 10 minutes late every day (I think not!!! I'm going to check that little claim tomorrow – I work on BBC News 24 time so …… there!!! If the company lives in it's own little timezone that's their problem!!) and also, and I quote "It's different for me (my manager ) and X coming in late as we work late, through lunch and at weekends!" I mean, WTF?!?!? Again!!! I can't remember the last time I finished at my contracted hour of 5pm. And to top it all off, just the other week the same manager (who you will note has just said "It's different for me and X coming in late as we work late, through lunch and at weekends!") was saying to me "It makes no difference if you work late in the evenings." Is it just me or does that sound like a contradiction. I'm not a clock watcher in the least – I'm not racing out the door as soon as the clock hits 5. Maybe that's where I'm going wrong. There's just no give or take in the place!! It gets on my tits!!!
It probably doesn't help that I have possibly one of the most monotonous jobs going with the exception of the guy who puts the jam in doughnuts. I take it many, if not all of you have seen that video that does the rounds on the internet every so often illustrating That Monday Feeling through the use of a Polar bear? Well that's me DAILY!! I think they'd be f***** if I left because I reckon no bugger's fool enough to do my job!!! In the meantime I've dusted off the ol' alarm clock and set it for bright and early tomorrow …… well, early anyway!! They'll be lucky if they get Bright!!
And think, just the other day I was saying how much better work was. On the plus side it didn't last as long as it would've done previously. It was gone and forgotten and we carried on regardless. Except me. It's still pissing me off. I'm afraid it's in my nature that I don't forgive easily. I'm too much like my Dad!! Definitely my fathers daughter ……
Wednesday 6 December 2006
So ......
It's been a busy couple of weeks the last, er, couple of weeks.
It kicked off on 21 November with a night out with the Scissor Sisters -- not literally obviously, I'm afraid I don't really rub shoulders with the rich and famous -- you won't catch me down the pub on a Friday night with U2 ...... unfortunately!! ;) What I mean is I took me and my mate down to Sheffield to watch them live at the Hallam Arena. 'Twas a fab night -- they were surprisingly good!! The crowd was a bugger but then most times they are!! I don't fancy queuing for 20 mins for some chips, and also I think that is the first and last time I spend £15 on a programme no matter how posh it is!!! Well, 'til next time anyway!!! Lol! 'Twas a very long night and a midnight finish on my doorstep and having to kip on the sofa, meant I spent the next week getting steadily more knackered -- but it was worth it!! I've already posted the whole 3 pictures I took in my 'Pics' section but they're on Photobucket too.
Then the following Sunday, 26 November I took myself over to Bolton to watch Dave Spikey switch on the Christmas lights in Victoria Square. Was another fantastic night with Dave on great form. As you'd expect it got chilly during the evening so on the one hand I was happy to be wedged in a massive crowd, but on the other I spent the night being bashed from pillar to post, and with a variety of both fat- and tall-heads in front of me!! Wasn't all for nought though as I got some cracking pics which you can have a look at if you're that way inclined. As per they're on the ol' Photobucket. That was a relatively early night for one of my jaunts -- I was home and reporting by 8:30 pm -- not that I was speeding or owt though. I'm a good girl, me!!
On the Tuesday -- that would be the 28 November I was back at Doncaster, with the same friend who came to Sheffield with me, to watch the fabbo Jason Manford (and special guests) do his thing. The first act up was Andrew Bird who was really good, then we had a couple of newbs who weren't bad, and then our Jason who, as per, was fab!!! Was a great night, and not even the embarassment of my mobile going off in the middle of his set took owt away from it -- in fact he integrated it very well!! Paddy O'Shea heckling him 'from the beyond'!! Good on ya Jase!!! Although it wasn't totally my fault -- another friend of mine was at Little Britain and was filling me in with goss!!!
30 November, better known as Thursday was a jaunt over to The Lowry in Salford for Barbara Nice. Now, I'm going to divide the audience here, but, I'm not sure what to make of it -- it was funny, but I don't think a 'character' comedy routine appeals to me. Janice Connolly was fab and she had some corkers, but it wasn't up there with good ol' fashioned standup for me. It may be that I was feeling rough and wondering where my mate had got to so my full attention wasn't on it. I'll most likely go again and give it a second chance - don't get me wrong. I enjoyed it and don't regret it for a minute (even though I got stood up!!! ;)) it just wasn't quite my thing ......
Friday and Saturday were practically identical. Took myself off to Leeds to go and see Little Britain Live at The Grand Theatre (which is actually quite small!!!) with the mate who caused my phone to heckle Jason at Doncaster!! ;) Now, in recent times I've been very hard on the lads -- the third series of Little Britain didn't do it for me the way the first couple did, and I hadn't been overly impressed with David Walliams reported treatment of people, so I went in there a little off. But my GOD!!! I swear they turned into a couple of the best nights I've had at that show. I'd been a couple of times previous with the same mate and we've always been miles apart in the audience so not really got that whole 'camaraderie' shit going on, so for us to have seats next to each other just took it to a whole other level for the pair of us. The crowds on both nights were a bit, well, DIRE. They really weren't getting into it. The pair of us were like "Why pay £40 to see a show and not even crack a smile -- it's not as if you don't know what you're getting into?!?!?" so there we were trying to encourage the lads for the entire auditorium. On the plus side, the pair of them noticed and once or twice even corpsed on stage which just made it funnier. But it also meant we, or rather said mate, got picked on by Marjorie Dawes -- not just once, but BOTH nights!!!
I'll also say that David seemed a lot more engaging than I've witnessed previously, and while I'm being cautiously optimistic about his demeanour, it was nice to see. So let it be a lesson that a) if you're a comedian whose show is dying on it's arse and me and my Leeds mate are in the crowd having a blast we'll do our best to help you out with the audience, and b) if you act like an arse I won't be impressed in the least!!
Here endeth the, er, Blog ...... ;)
It kicked off on 21 November with a night out with the Scissor Sisters -- not literally obviously, I'm afraid I don't really rub shoulders with the rich and famous -- you won't catch me down the pub on a Friday night with U2 ...... unfortunately!! ;) What I mean is I took me and my mate down to Sheffield to watch them live at the Hallam Arena. 'Twas a fab night -- they were surprisingly good!! The crowd was a bugger but then most times they are!! I don't fancy queuing for 20 mins for some chips, and also I think that is the first and last time I spend £15 on a programme no matter how posh it is!!! Well, 'til next time anyway!!! Lol! 'Twas a very long night and a midnight finish on my doorstep and having to kip on the sofa, meant I spent the next week getting steadily more knackered -- but it was worth it!! I've already posted the whole 3 pictures I took in my 'Pics' section but they're on Photobucket too.
Then the following Sunday, 26 November I took myself over to Bolton to watch Dave Spikey switch on the Christmas lights in Victoria Square. Was another fantastic night with Dave on great form. As you'd expect it got chilly during the evening so on the one hand I was happy to be wedged in a massive crowd, but on the other I spent the night being bashed from pillar to post, and with a variety of both fat- and tall-heads in front of me!! Wasn't all for nought though as I got some cracking pics which you can have a look at if you're that way inclined. As per they're on the ol' Photobucket. That was a relatively early night for one of my jaunts -- I was home and reporting by 8:30 pm -- not that I was speeding or owt though. I'm a good girl, me!!
On the Tuesday -- that would be the 28 November I was back at Doncaster, with the same friend who came to Sheffield with me, to watch the fabbo Jason Manford (and special guests) do his thing. The first act up was Andrew Bird who was really good, then we had a couple of newbs who weren't bad, and then our Jason who, as per, was fab!!! Was a great night, and not even the embarassment of my mobile going off in the middle of his set took owt away from it -- in fact he integrated it very well!! Paddy O'Shea heckling him 'from the beyond'!! Good on ya Jase!!! Although it wasn't totally my fault -- another friend of mine was at Little Britain and was filling me in with goss!!!
30 November, better known as Thursday was a jaunt over to The Lowry in Salford for Barbara Nice. Now, I'm going to divide the audience here, but, I'm not sure what to make of it -- it was funny, but I don't think a 'character' comedy routine appeals to me. Janice Connolly was fab and she had some corkers, but it wasn't up there with good ol' fashioned standup for me. It may be that I was feeling rough and wondering where my mate had got to so my full attention wasn't on it. I'll most likely go again and give it a second chance - don't get me wrong. I enjoyed it and don't regret it for a minute (even though I got stood up!!! ;)) it just wasn't quite my thing ......
Friday and Saturday were practically identical. Took myself off to Leeds to go and see Little Britain Live at The Grand Theatre (which is actually quite small!!!) with the mate who caused my phone to heckle Jason at Doncaster!! ;) Now, in recent times I've been very hard on the lads -- the third series of Little Britain didn't do it for me the way the first couple did, and I hadn't been overly impressed with David Walliams reported treatment of people, so I went in there a little off. But my GOD!!! I swear they turned into a couple of the best nights I've had at that show. I'd been a couple of times previous with the same mate and we've always been miles apart in the audience so not really got that whole 'camaraderie' shit going on, so for us to have seats next to each other just took it to a whole other level for the pair of us. The crowds on both nights were a bit, well, DIRE. They really weren't getting into it. The pair of us were like "Why pay £40 to see a show and not even crack a smile -- it's not as if you don't know what you're getting into?!?!?" so there we were trying to encourage the lads for the entire auditorium. On the plus side, the pair of them noticed and once or twice even corpsed on stage which just made it funnier. But it also meant we, or rather said mate, got picked on by Marjorie Dawes -- not just once, but BOTH nights!!!
I'll also say that David seemed a lot more engaging than I've witnessed previously, and while I'm being cautiously optimistic about his demeanour, it was nice to see. So let it be a lesson that a) if you're a comedian whose show is dying on it's arse and me and my Leeds mate are in the crowd having a blast we'll do our best to help you out with the audience, and b) if you act like an arse I won't be impressed in the least!!
Here endeth the, er, Blog ...... ;)
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