Just Rewards

Been out on site and really busy so the blog got left alone, which is a shame as I had something to mention. Our company gives rewards for time spent in the company, it has madated stuff for this, for example after 25 years you get a meal with collegues and friends and a free gift. There may also be a certificate. WHen you retired you also got a meal paid for by teh company with colleagues. However this has changed.

Now there are meals spaced throught the Year for retiring staff, so your meal is now with anyone else who retired in the last 3 months and the head of our area. Needless to say with some of the opinions of management from front line staff (Particularly as they're mates are no longer eating with them and the very well paid manager is getting 4 big meals extra a year) the number who will attend is very small.

This was obviously changed due to costs, however what cost morale. I remember when I was still a temp and we had one of the 25 year meals. At that time our managers could be a little more generous with company cards. well staff morale was at a bit of a low ebb as we were swamped and an unpopular department. However a meal and free booze up actually relaxed everyone and really perked up staff morale and cohesion. In fact so did most company bought drinking sessions. These were obviously stopped as the costs coudln't be justifed, but for a small bar bill I think you get better, happier and more productive staff.

Battlestar Galactica

Thought I'd cut form the innane ramblings of my general life to talk a little about Battlestar Galactica. I must warn you that spoilers will followI finished the 3rd season a couple of weeks ago, and even with a couple of slightly slow episodes (SOme of the cylon stuff as a little flat) its been cracking. We have Adama's crazy plan of allowing teh galactica to plummet though teh new caprican atmosphere to launch Vipers, we have the classic pan away with teh Galactica being pummeled by base stars right before the shots from teh pegasus fly in. and in teh last 3 parts we have the trial of Gius Baltar, plus the extra mystery of the music, a particulalry effective device where certain characters hear snaches of music, indeed at first you think its a ramdom piece of music written for teh show, until near teh end of the episode, where just as the affected cast members click, you suddenly realise the tune is "Along the watchtower" Brilliant stuff.Heroes has also been blowing just about everyting away, but I'm stuck at episode 11 as my downloads of 11 and 12 have no soudn and i'm having tod o them again. grr.Life in the Marvel universe continues to develop in the Post Civil war area, despite reservations of the series, I think most woudl be hard pressed to deny that the MU is a far more interesting place post Civil War. You can whine on about Iron Man being "evil" and how badly written Spider man is, but tehr aft of exciting new stuff like Mighty Avenegrs, The initiative, Omega FLight and Loners really offset this. Plus the cosmic side grows out of the secret massive event that was Anihilation, with teh new Nova title being top notch anc Conquest on the horizon.In real life, my social calender continues to be full.Destiny has brought me a festival of beer. The paisley beer festival is a week on friday, and fate has destined me to go, see I have a trining course on Friday, in Paisley, so as well as a lie in I'm literally accross teh road from teh festival. Now all I need is some company, as the great Shatner said "Drinking alone is alcoholism"

Happy Birthday to Me

Yes, celebrations for it is National Pie Man appreciation day. I am told that in fact this day is now so sacred that not only is the UK Government planning a national holiday on that day (They say it’s the signing of the Magna Carta but we all know)

Also, and more importantly, City of Heroes have decreed a Double XP weekend. Now all I have to do is find time between drinking and partying to actually play some CoH.

Thought I'd ramble a bit about ageing. See I know people who often make great efforts to ignore their birthdays, as if shunning cards, presents and celebration will hold back the passing of another year. Now, letting off hugely deep personal information on the off chance that anyone apart from people I know actually reads this, I'm 28. Perhaps I don't understand the feeling of death rolling every closer that is rumoured to come with 30, or perhaps I'm just that narcissistic that I really like a day where everyone is there for me, or perhaps I like presents. But I've rarely had a down birthday. 19th and 20th were at most a bit of a non event but then sitting between 18 and 21 do that, but otherwise I tend to use it as an opportunity to enjoy the fact that I've survived another year. It could be related also to the fact that I'm in not a bad place at the moment, I own a flat, have a beautiful, patient loving soon to be wife and a job that has its downs but still may actually be going somewhere.

Commuting on trains: The Unwritten Rules written

I travel daily on trains, and there is a set of unwritten rules regarding how to travel in a way that causes the least inconvenience to you and other passengers and in generally allows things to actually run. The good thing about these rules is that they're applicable on just about every mode of transport.

When boarding the train:

Wait for people to get off the train. How the hell do you think you're going to get a seat, or some choice standing area if you don't let people get off the damn train. Wait to the sides of the doors because, unless you have the power to become insubstantial, such as a ghost or The Vision, people leaving the train can't step through you.

Seating:

You do not deserve 2 seats. I have an arse that can contest many in both size and weight, I know that I don't deserve 2 seats, I know that my rucksack or my shopping has not bought a ticket and is frankly lucky it's getting a free ride at all. You can not reserve a double seat using any of the following actionsSitting in the outside seat and not moving aside when someone wants to sit at the windowPutting bags/shopping/pets on the seat next to youGlaring (Particularly if there are 2 of you on either side of a 3 seater and someone has the audacity to sit between you)If you want any control over how much space you get, space is always dictated by the person at the window, on the outside you have a walkway to occupy, they can't move any further into the wall.When sitting down, fill up empty rows before parking next to strangers, seriously we won't talk to you and will ignore any attempts at conversation regardless of how uppity you get, sit on your own.

Standing.

The door area is fine if there are a few people standing, but if its getting crowded, move into the walkway, I don't care if you're stops the next one, let the other people on and negotiate your way to the doors once the train is moving.

Leaving the train:

At a normal station, pay attention, particularly on a crowded train, you know you’ll have to get through a packed train before your stop, so make a start early, be polite and don't push, and standees, let people past, they don't want your spot, they want off which with the crowding is only a good thing.

At a terminus.

When all is changing, standing passengers get off first, no arguments, no whining, I don't care how short the trip was, you had a seat, they didn't, they get the clean run to the ticket barrier, you wait for them to clear then stand up. Standing up as you're pulling into the platform, or in the case of Glasgow Central, when you're crossing the river doesn't qualify you as standing. Stop barging in front of the poor blighters who have been on their feet all trip just because you don't want to be caught in the throngs of the ticket barrier.

At the ticket barriers,

both ways have your ticket ready, it speeds things up, also, if you can't find your ticket, don't stand at the barrier rummaging through your handbag/pockets there are people who thought ahead wanting to get on with their day, stand aside, get your ticket then approach the barriers. A hint, the human barriers at Glasgow central are manned by the hardiest of the Scotrail staff, like terminators they cannot be reasoned with or stopped. They don't care if your train is leaving shortly. Your assurances that you'll buy a ticket on the train will fall on deaf ears. You don't get past them without a ticket.

Escalators:

The London underground has this right, in London standing two abreast on an escalator so others can't pass is a crime punishable by 2hrs in the stocks. I have days where I just like to take things easy and see the world pass by; I also have days where I'm in a mad panicked rush. So be considerate and leave space for people to pass.

Finally some Do's and Don’ts

DON'T: Play your music through your phone speaker. What the hells are you thinking? I have this MP3 Player on for a reason Cr@pwit. I don't care if you're playing the Best of Pie Man's favourite songs of all time. I don't want to hear it and neither does anyone else. Naturally the norm is duff techno, because the mindset who thinks that this is acceptable behaviour also thinks that white Kappa tracksuits look really good.

DO: Turn your walkman down when the train is packed, its good manners to try and limit your noise output when in a cramped pressure cooker. It prevents you being beaten to death by a copy of the DaVinci Code.

DO: Fold your paper, it’s cramped, and anyway, last time I checked the Independent doesn't have centrefolds, there is no actual reason for you to have to hold your paper fully open, unless you’re a tit who wants everyone to know how much better you are than them by the choice of quality paper you're reading.

DON'T: Get snippy when the person in the seat next to you reads your absurdly open paper with you, even asking for page turns and comment, you're the one trying to occupy an entire 3 seats with arms and broadsheet.

DO: Chat quietly, I don't object to conversations, even if I'm not involved (See earlier comment regarding MP3 player and book) you can talk on your phone, to your friends its all good, just at a volume that doesn't broadcast to the entire train

DON'T: Shout. Just don't.

Follow these rules and you're much less likely to be bludgeoned to death by an aged Creative Zen MP3 player (Those things are really robust)

Super Heroes

Watched the heroes finale last night, and what a corker. I may discuss spoilers later on, but I'll do this in the discussion thread to allow those who want to keep life surprising to do so. Needless to say there is good reason why this has been the hottest new series out there.What made it so, well all the things taht go into a great series like Battlestar Galactica and even the flagging Lost, good, well roudned characters, with personalities. Not cyphers or steriotypes, no "Angry" one or "Weak but really strong" one. Instead these are people who seem like people you may meet on the street (Although usually better looking) and this is where the series gets its main appeal, take fan favorite Hiro. How many of us are office drones dreaming about not only super powers but having some sort of higher purpose, largely to distract us from the possibility that we are, and only ever will be a tiny cog in the huge machine of life. Hiro gets to live these dreams for us with all the enthusiasm we would throw into it.So, Like Galactica it has excellent scripts, fine acting and a well devised plot. Will it win any recognition beyond the SFX Robbie? Probably not. For even like its stranded cousin Lost, or the challanging, topical Galactica, its not about "Real Life" well real life with no imagination. From what I see on Eastenders real life can perfectly legitemately be a small square in London where evenryone's life is one constant humourless slog to death. It can't be good fiction because it doesn't involve a hard bitten police detective in London finding ever more innovative and warped serial killers. Why does Sci-Fi and fantasy still get bandied about as kids stuff. Galactica has not only given one of the most mature approaches to the Iraq occupation, terrorism, class and religion seen in TV drama, but does it recieve any mainstream regognition? DOn't eb stupid, its that daft thing set on a spaceship, what in the world could it have to do with stuff going on in real life, 24 is real life, its set in the present day with US presidents and things. The Fact is that TV SF is in a great place, there are some great writers, great actors, great scripts and stories on the go. However in order to win critical acclaim they apparently have to do "Real World" stuff. so apparently imagination isn't important anymore.To my mind there has been nothing produced in the Mainstream that can match the Imagination and the storytelling of Series like Heroes and Galactica, or like their departed predecessors Babylon 5 and Farscape.

Perils of getting from A to B #1 - The 40mph Man

I have been driving for around a year and a half, and have picked upa fair amount of experience with teh roads in central scotland both through worjk and general driving. I also walk to get to places often and commute daily using trains and busses. In short I see a lot of travel, just not to particularly varied places. Thsi does aloow me to identify various strange behaviours amongst fellow commuters/drivers/pedestrians though.The 40mph man is usually seen on the national speed limit A and B roads much like those all over Scotland often interrupted by villages where the speed limit will drop from 60 to 30. The 40mph man has decided to play averages, and keep his speed at 40mph, regardless of posted speed limit or terrain. He is different form the timid low speed motorist in that the low speed motorist will slow down for a populated area.Danger - Like the outside lane pootler and the elderly crawler the 40mph man is the direct cause of all frustration led mistakes by other drivers, usually through botched overtakes, however his habit of barreling through small villages at 40 means he's a danger to the residents of the village. Worse still the 40mph man thinks he's the safest driver in teh world, after all, you don't see him rushing at 60 on those backroads, no he's staying at 40 and so is everyone behind him, up until he hits the village at which point the better drivers slow down, partly because of our legal responsibilty to obey the posted speed limit, which is there for a reason, and mostly because the police like to speed trap those roads. Not 40mph man, due to the pig headed thought that he's in the absolute right in all situations, 40mph man will be an absolute pain and will always refuse to accept responsibility when he finally flattens someone or causes a crash.Annoyances - 40mph man's habit of belting through the small villages and towns means that whenever you hit the national speed limit you'll keep having to catch him up, this means opportunities to overtake safely are few and far between. It can slowly drive you mad.40mph man does not prefer one make, model or even type of car, and indeed the term man does not nececarily assign to a gender, in general though the driver will be middle aged and will be the sort of person who will not let simple facts shake a snap judgement.40mph man is very hard to deal with, be a bit bold on overtaking and don't be afraid to push the speed limit a little to get past him, he won't catch you up. Failinga ny opportunity to do this, just try to relax and hope you don't have to be anywhere soon, and hope to see him caught at the next village speed trap.

Fog on the Tyne

Well was away in newcastle this weekend, off ofr a stag weekend along with the rest of the UK. FUn was had by all but, due to the only thing resembling an ale in the stag doo quarter being Newcastle brown I had a fairly major hangover on Sun, and due to knowing that I had about 3 hours of travel ahead of me I broke one of my cardinal rules and took Ibuprofen to get through a hangover. This isn't a problem with Ibuprofen, but I'm a general believer of "Doing the Time" for my evenings trasgressions.

However I was somewhat unsurprised to learn that out Glorius leader to be has already been making marks that if anything he'll be worse than his predecessor, so he wants to try and battle through the legislation to allow 90 days holding without trial. frankly 28 days is too long, bring in the judicial review he wants and what you in fact have is existing legislation with sloppy extras that leave it rife to abuse. Under the old (pre 28 day) legislation you could hold someone indefinitely providing you could majke a convincing weekly case to a judge taht it was necesary. He's also been clearing out the records in teh hope that no one will realise the governments record in IT projects before his next push to get the unnececary ID cards pushed through, after all if we end up paying 5 billion and get anything like any other government IT system I think we may feel conned, just before our identities are plundered by teh first script-kidde to bluder into the system and we're all locked up for 90 days without charge because our ID shows us to be near where some terror was being planned, despite the fact that we have several hudnred witnesses denying this.End of the day for the past 5 years the police, with no extra powers have successfully held off all but 1 and a bit terror attacks. We shoudl be celebrating our very well trained and efficiant police force rather than introducing draconian legislation that plays into the hands of both terrorists and power mad government.

4 Wheels Driving

Well thats us back from our long weekend away. both Muasdale (on the peninsula of which campbelltown is at the end) and Bowmore (On the fair island of Islay) were lovely and remote and just the thing to get away from it all. Thanks to our hosts who were so generous in hospitality. Wood fired Barbeques are the way forward, it used an iron plate over a wood fire, the plate (as opposed to a grill) gets hot and is more flexible in what you can cook. The approach of covering the plate in olive oil and seasoning it with Garlic was also a fine addition to teh piles of cooked meat brought before us.I don't believe I've ranted about 4WD cars before on this Blog, but I'm sure I will in the future. However I have now driven one, and on Islay, where most roads are single track and many are broken dirt tracks (Although work seems to be going on to improve this). You can get around islay in a normal car but your suspension won't like some of the surfaces you may have to travel over and while I never needed the 4WD it was sunny and dry weather and I did need the ground clearence. Notably on this island there are a lot of 4WD vehicles. However the majority are mainly heavy rugged beasts with few mod cons such as Land Rover Defenders, Mitsibushis and Isuzus. What you don't see many of at all are the hulking BMW Z3 and 5 and its Ilk, you know, the ones which are so popularised by those with little taste and huge amounts of money. The ones that drink fuel like its tapwater, take up huge amounts of space, spew out tonnes of Co2 on the school run and, most notably, can't actually cope with rough roads let alone dirt tracks.Banning all 4WDs is foolish as tehre are those that need them, and those that need them should have exemptions from the heavy taxes soon to be imposed. It was good to drive one where it belonged, in the countryside, not on a school run.