Frustration
Posted: Wed 19 January, 2005 Filed under: Geeky, General Leave a comment »Part of the problem with going between MySQL and SQL Server is that certain datatypes and so on are very different.
I’m now re-doing the database for the third time, because also SQL Server doesn’t let you alter datatypes once they’ve been entered.
Grrrrr. Microsoft. Grrr.
Alternate Convenience
Posted: Wed 19 January, 2005 Filed under: General, Weirdness 5 Comments »My new employer currently rents office space – although that’s going to change this year. Where we are though there’s a very strange layout.
Toilets are in the main entrance lobby for each floor – that’s fine. It can’t be a nice sight on occasion for visitors, their first glimpse of the company being someone going to/from the bog, but that’s another matter. The odd thing is that each floor has either mens or womens toilets – they alternate per floor. So if you’re female and work on level 3, you’ve got to go up or down one floor to get to a toilet. If you’re male on level 3 all’s cushy, but if you’re on level 4 you’ve got to do some stair-climbing.
I assume there’s a logic to this concept, but gawd only knows what it is. The really funny bit is when the toilets are being cleaned, and people have to (potentially) go up or down by two floors in order to use the facilities.
All very strange.
Reliant No More
Posted: Tue 18 January, 2005 Filed under: General Leave a comment »Following on from yesterday’s post regarding waiting for other people to do stuff, I’m now sorted and working on my own projects again.
Much, much happier now I can simply sit down and get writing these pages so that the work can start being done.
I can’t deny, in some ways the current project is hugely daunting, doing the documentation, site maps, procedures etc. for twelve systems I’d never even seen at the start of the year, but it’s also the kind of thing that I enjoy, being dropped in at the deep end and having to figure it all out from scratch.
Of course, I may end up swearing lots (hey, that’d be a shock) and Visual Source Safe is a nightmare for writing/editing code in, but that’s the way it’s going to be for now, so I can live with it no worries.
Reliant
Posted: Mon 17 January, 2005 Filed under: General 1 Comment »Anyone who knows me will be aware that I’m really not all that good at relying on other people, nor am I exactly great at being tolerant when those other people don’t come through with what I’ve asked for and need done.
Today is one of those days – I need log-on details for certain sections of the stuff at work, and I’ve asked several people how to get it sorted. “Oh, I’ll do that in a couple of minutes” is the answer- and it’s not happening. I actually want to get on and get working on these projects and ideas, yet I can’t ’til I get the log-on and passwords sorted out. Yet I’m still waiting.
In another section, I’m waiting for feedback from a couple of people in what needs doing and altering in a couple of places, and that’s not happening either.
I’m pretty much in limbo, and that’s a place I don’t want to be. It’s frustrating, and I’m really not handling it all that well.
Ouch
Posted: Mon 17 January, 2005 Filed under: General, News Leave a comment »Sometimes I must admit that I find it incredible just what the human body can tolerate, and apparently not even notice.
Today’s story in the BBC of a man who didn’t know a nailgun had backfired and sent a nail through the roof of his mouth is one of those instances. A mixture of “ick” and “how?” thoughts went through my head while reading it…
Memetastic
Posted: Sun 16 January, 2005 Filed under: D4D™, General 4 Comments »via Karen at Uborka, a musical Meme.
1. What is the total amount of music files on your computer?
A disturbingly paltry 24.8Gb. Although there’s another 8Gb on the laptop…
2. The cd you last bought is:
The last one I bought was Wake by Dead Can Dance. Very strange Australian band who play very traditional music. Not what you’d expect me to be into at all. Last album someone bought me is “Who Killed The Zutons” at Christmas. Bloody excellent.
3. What is the song you last listened to before reading this message?
Um – something on the radio last night, I think. No idea what though, we’d just done four and a bit hours on the motorway…
4. Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you:
- Nine Inch Nails – Something I Can Never Have. Always reminds me of some odds and sods that were going on a long time ago.
- Alabama 3 – Peace in the Valley. A kind of closure for the things that I’m reminded of by Something I Can Never Have.
- Cowboy Junkies – Trinity Sessions album. Bit of a cheat, but the entire album is filled with memories and thoughts.
- Tom Waits – Bone Machine album.
- Faithless – Reverence album. Their first album, and they still haven’t managed to beat it, so far as I’m concerned.
5. Who are you going to pass this stick to? (3 persons) and why?
No idea – whoever reads it and thinks “Oooh, that’s cool”.
Right Proper Charlie
Posted: Fri 14 January, 2005 Filed under: General, News 1 Comment »OK, he’s been the centre of various controversies over the last couple of years, but really, is Prince Harry wearing a Nazi uniform to a fancy dress party that shocking?
It seems to me that the headlines should read (or would,if the media could get away with it) “Harry is a tit. Again.”. Not a shocker, not a revelation.
In fact, as with many other “controversies” it seems to be proving to be a great excuse for red-tops like the Sun to print pictures of swastikas – immediately causing more offence – and to a far wider audience – than the original transgression did. The entire thing has a kind of bitter hypocrisy to it, along with a “you should be shocked by this” undertone that I find deeply unpleasant.
I’ve never been a great fan of the media telling me what I should be thinking/doing – and let’s face it, that’s seems to be the raison d’etre for most of the tabloids. This appears to be another example – yes, Harry was a twat, but that appears to be a bit of a family trait anyway. Other than that, the people that should be had up for offending public decency or whatever are the editors of the papers that seem to delight so in showing that photo as many times as they can get away with.