Post Number 193.
I've been putting this post off as long as possible. I suspect I won't get another chance to write today or tomorrow.

So here I'm sat, on the day of the Queen's birthday, with butterflies in my stomach. Not literally mind. Just a mixture of nerves and excitement. Mostly the latter.

Everything is packed for tomorrow, most of my stuff is packed for when I find somewhere to live. All my files from Dad's PC are on CD and I've printed out all I'll need from the internet.

That's about it folks. Family and I are going out for a meal apparently. Should be good - I don't want to go anywhere special though. A nice pub will do lovely.

There's not a lot else I can say. The world cup song by Embrace has been released. It's a wee bit on the crap side in my opinion, but we'll have to wait and see if it catches on.

The blogs I usually would read are available from the newly updated "regular reads" link over on the left hand side. There's also some of my favourite websites that usually take up much of my spare time. Noise to Signal is a good one.

Enjoy the new series of Doctor Who - I know I will. I enjoyed the first episode apart from the 'gushing' at the very beginning. Oh, and I only noticed the big error once it was pointed out!

I'll miss the end of battlestar gallactica, so I reckon I'll just buy the DVD set later this year. I've already missed loads of episode. Not as many missed episodes as 24 though - I've missed half the series so far! Terrible eh?! Well, not on the grand scale of things.

Okay, that's it. Good bye, good luck and best wishes for all of you between now and July. Take care.

Progress Update.
Well it feels like this is really happening now. I've been in a bit of a daze over the past week and STILL haven't told everyone who I want to know.

To bring us up to date:
I've washed the necessary clothes and I've worked out a budget for the period whilst I'm in a B&B looking for a house. I have 4 weeks to find a place, I don't know if that's enough but I'm gonna give it my best shot! Hopefully I'll get paid at some point during this 4 weeks - that way I'll be able to have a proper meal (not joking).

Met Tracy today in the town of Crewe. It was an okay place - I'm not sure what I make of it though. We got accosted by a very drunk woman - friendly but verrrry, verrrrrry drrrunk - as is customary on our trips. Won't see Tracy again now for 4 or so weeks, unless I'm lucky.

I wanted to go and visit the railway museum in Crewe. The first hard bit was finding the ruddy place. When we finally did, we found it was shut. Still, at least I know how to get there now. Just being around some of the trains today recalled my desire to work as a volunteer in some sort of preservation society for steam loco's.

So we spent the rest of the day wandering around Crewe. It was a small place. We did a bit of window shopping and sat in the sun for a bit. Can't say there was a right lot to do there.

Well that brings us up to date. Now for the important future info...

As of Saturday my only access to the internet will be through my mobile phone. It takes me a good 20 minutes to set my phone up to send email / post to this blog; so for all intents and purposes you won't be hearing from me until I have an internet connection up and running.

I have what I call a roll-out budget. From the time I secure accomadation I have my major purchases and general cash-flow planned out. An internet connection should materealise within the first 2 months so you can expect sporadic updates between late May and July.

Bit more job info - though I'm hesitant to post too much. I have a job title - Engineering Technician. I'll find out more once I start. I get to wear a shirt and tie. Not too keen on ties, but I do look good in a shirt and I've been hoping for a job where I can wear a shirt and trousers. I'm going to have to go shopping for shirts and ties - I didn't budget for this so I'm not sure how I'll pay for them :-s

So apart from a little shopping, all I can do is wait. If there's one thing I hate it's hanging around! I get restless. I now can't get to sleep easily. So my eyes are itchy and bloodshot. My knees and back hurt - though this isn't helped by all the fence building I've been doing in Dad's back garden.

Well, the snooker is on. May as well watch that then.

I'll post again before I go. It'll be strange without the web (I'm not expecting web access at work).

Wheels; and Motion Thereof.
Today the planning begin. Though some play of a certain Worms 4 demo I downloaded yesterday may also occur.

I have this picture in my head of a rusty, heavy old train roaring into life. The steam flowing, like life blood, through the tubes and pistons. The fire getting hotter with the nice new coal bought specially for this occasion. There's people running around oiling the beast; ready for it to pull away from this station. Moving for the first time in years, it will creak into life. Begrudgingly allowing the wheels to turn.

Now that I know my start date I have arranged, with kind help of the company, some temporary accomodation. I've decided to leave it until I'm there to look round properties. Then I can look in the papers too. I could do it online but getting around to view the houses would be more awkward.

So the next step is to get a budget sorted. Then I can work out in what order things need to be bought. I want a new car for instance, but that will have to be much lower on the list.

Last night I did a bit of celebrating. We (3 of us) got through two bottles of champagne and a 4 pack of lager. Reassuringly expensive (and, by my standards, chuffin strong) lager. My head seems to be spinning. I shall have breakfast in a bit - that should help. Then I'm off to Coventry (again!) to pick up a key, to drive to Brum to unlock a door, search for a tape then lock said door again, then drive elsewhere in Brum to deliver said tape.

I think I'll play Worms 4 after I eat.

TTFN

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Got the job like didn't I. In Wales like.

Super.

Smashing.

Great.

Can't Think Of A Witty or Apt Title.
Well, day three of this week is now upon us. Day one was fun; a lot more fun than I thought it would be - I met some nice blokes and I sold myself well to people who were actually listening.

The journey there went to plan, I found the place with relative ease. The final island everybody went wrong on mainly due to the lack of signposting! 4 other candidates were there - I expected far more.

The day was split up quite nicely. I was relaxed, the environment seemed nice and the interviewers were nice and chatty.

There was a chat to start with; talking about me as a person to discover what my ambitions were and what my personality was like.

Then there was a technical test which I did well with to say I'd not been doing much electronics for a year. Anything I didn't know I managed to talk around and when I did know something I talked about it in some depth.

The final test was a commercial awareness test. I had covered some of this earlier in the day and I reckon I did okay. I showed that I understand business the depth of my knowledge should come out in the wash when all the interviewers collate their findings.

I left earlier than planned and managed to get back in time to go out for a birthday meal with family. Nice meal, wine was strong though :-s

Day two was far worse. It took 5 hours to get there as opposed to the 3 hours I was aiming for. So I only had an hour to eat. Ended up going to Kwiksave for some snacks. Didn't have a chance to use the toilet.

The view however - driving through Snowdonia was beautiful. I remember turning round this sharp corner, emerging from a foresty area and being confronted by three bloody huge peaks. I think they actually class as mountains - they were rocky and snow covered.

Anyway, back to the interview. I was kept waiting for half an hour before someone came to meet me, but these things happen so I thought little of it. The interviewers didn't seem as relaxed as me and at times I felt like I was causing a nuisance. There was minimal interaction too and I don't think they were listening all that closely. They didn't ask many questions either. I didn't have any questions to ask as they had all been answered and no-one knowing exactly what I would be doing made it a bit hard to ask about the job! I was also whisked off to different places and so didn't get a chance to use the toilet.

So the interview ended after a good hour and I left on a relatively happy note. Got back in the car and made good time on the journey back - took the three hours I aimed for. Finally got to use the toilet when I got near home cos I went to a pub for some food. And good food it was too!

Was absolutely shattered by the time I got back. So I went straight to bed. I'm still knackered now.

Another Interview Eve...
...and I'm still up at nearly 1am!

All day interview tomorrow. Good company, but don't fancy my chances against what will undoubtedly be all the fresh students who graduate this year. I'll go, be relaxed and hopefully enjoy the activities.

Interview the day after over in Wales. That is more promising but I'll be shattered. Hell, I'm shattered now, never mind Tuesday!

I can't be bothered going into it now, but an MD rang me last week and started asking silly questions. So he got silly answers. For some reason he still wanted to meet me for a longer chat on Thursday. Ye Gods!

Over on Biggedybong.com I have provided my £7 this year. Not a lot, I know, but I was concerned over the owners motives for the request. Plus I have precious little money as it is. Talking of Biggedybong.com I have finished my week as chaiman of the CCCC. Crap story, but some classy suggestions (even if I did have to look up the songs being suggested). It's now in the hands of someone far more capable and I look forward to business as usual.

I am tired. I have to be the other side of two large cities by 09:30 tomorrow. It's about 40 miles through some of the most clogged up motorway in the country. Nice. I'll be getting up at 04:00 then.

Well I'd best get some kip while I can then eh?!

Night all

One Minute You're Down...
The next, you're right back up again.

So I've heard back from the interview on the 17th March (or somewhere around then). They say no - because they don't have anything that would appeal to me.

Then I rushed around the West Midlands helping people. This I enjoyed - as I always enjoy helping others.

I now have copies of my graduation photo's to send up to my ex-land lady. I get to write a nice long letter now. If only I could remember her house number - was it 13 or 31?

So anyway, I heard back from a recruitment consultant who, to my amazement, has secured me an interview. The job comes extremely well paid and sounds just up my alley. One problem though, the interview is next Tuesday. The day after what I thought was my last interview. This week I've got the results of two interviews coming in. If I do get a job offer from them - do ya reckon I can hold them off till Wednesday?

Answers on a postcard.

A friend of mine has passed his driving theory test today - so things are looking up for him too.

What a kerfuffle!

Bugg'rit!
I've managed to bugger up two things in two days.

Firstly, much to my delight, I found I had won this weeks Cheesily Cheerful Chart Challenge over on Biggedybong.com. So the rules say that I get to choose the next story. Could I find a funny or even mildly interesting story? Could I heck as like! I'm sure the feeling of embarrasment will fade when this weeks round is over.

If you don't know what the CCCC is, then I shall point you to here to learn (just scroll down a couple of items).

The second thing I managed to bugger up was the preparation for today's interview because there was no preparation whatsoever.

Interview was okay though. It was what I expected, and it is definately a case of reaping what you sow (only it'll take a few years to get there).

Anyway, enough whinging. Do you like the picture? I took it over the weekend. It's one of the pansies that I bought for Mum for Mother's Day. But she needs a load more plants so I'm taking her plant shopping this weekend - I'm paying; well, it is her birthday.

I have a few things on my mind; nothing of great importance. I have a complaint about how "Head & Shoulders" seem to be moving away from their multisex shampoo & conditioner all-in-one product and splitting them up into multiple products tailored for individual genders. I have further complaints about the regions road network. And I'm bloody well finding it hard to get to sleep.

I need to ride my bike on the mornings again. Only stopped due to interviews and other such demands on my time. So tomorrow I'll ride over to Tracy's house I think.

Oh, unfinished business, the new game I bought was called Rise of Nations. Can't remember the other link. But I will mention Celestia - don't know if I did before. Top program. Dr Who is probably restarting on Saturday 15th April, though the BBC have since removed that info from their site.

This CCCC stuff is nagging at me. I was so excited and failed to deliver. Well, so far. Let's wait and see how it goes eh?

I'll shut up now.