Almost mid-week. Work Sucks; I know.

Today was the second day of getting up in the morning to head off to Hook. If you don't know where Hook is, which I assume none of you do, it's right about here
Lots of fun, an hour and a half each way of the train. I don't yet have a laptop from work (manager is hopefully looking into it), so I'm probably going to start taking my own one on the train. I'm kind of reluctent to do so because of the obvious risk of damage, but if I spend my time on the train productively I can hopefully manage to be home by around 8pm...
I'm working there for two months, at the moment. At the end of this assignment I'll definitely be voicing my strong preference for a new role.

I will be putting photos up eventually - when I finally have internet at home, when I finally find a place, which will be after I finally get paid.... - it'll just be a while.

And because I've screwed around so long getting it organised, it now appears as though my £110 flight to Hamburg for Christmas is no longer available and I'm going to have to pay a fair amount more than that.


I went rock-climbing on Sunday with Andrew (indoors). [I'll have to give Andrew a proper introduction at some point.] I've always been good at climbing things, but after a few goes up the wall my arms decided they weren't doing any more. They are still sore. I'll probably go again this weekend; hopefully I'll perform better.

What do I have to say today?

Well, the British government changed the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (the visa I need to get if I am to stay in the country for longer) requirements, altering the details about how many points you need to qualify and for what the points are awarded. The new requirements are basically as follows:
Need a total of 75 points to qualify.
Education
* Bachelors degree gives 30 points
* Masters degree gives 35 points.
Previous year's earnings.
* Equivalent of £26k - £28k gives 25 points
* £29 - £32 gives 30 points.
Age
* Being 27 or under gives 20 points
* 28 - 29 gives 10 points.

So.... I still qualify easily enough, but it implies that I need to do it now rather than later.
I haven't entirely considered the implications of my current position, but I'm sorting it out.

In other news, in the room I was staying in previously (I have since moved) there was an incredibly hot 18-year old French girl. I have avoided saying anything about women here, but, it has to be said, this girl 'is something to write home about'. Of course, being 18, and being French, she kind of has the odds in her favour to start with. Anyway, that isn't actually the point of my story, just something I wanted to put out there.
She is 18, she has just finished High School and has now come to London to spend some time (a year perhaps) improving her English. She says that due to her father's job she went on a number of trips while she was growing up, including: USA, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Greece, etc. The fact that she is from France makes it pretty easy for her to go to money of those countries anyway, but I still think that she is definitely doing pretty well for herself.
So much so that it makes me feel bad for my lack of progress in that department.
When she goes back home (presumably to go to University), she will have already been to a reasonably percentage of the Western World, and should have pretty good English (although she spends so much time talking in French instead of English perhaps that won't develop as much as it should)
I am ... a number of years older than her, I'm come out of university and I feel like I'm trying to catch up on what she has already done. I appear to be failing in the 'world traveller' department.
Incidentially, when she told me she had just finished High School, it made me feel so old. High School seems a long, long time ago (in a land far, far away...).

And now that I'm planning on stay here for some time, when am I going to get around to doing these things I claim I want to do?
... When I'm old and married and travelling around with my wife on a cruise ship? Not the kind of travelling I am interested in.

Sunday afternoon, 'relaxing'.

It's Sunday again, as it has a habit of being every 7 days or so.
I'm not doing a whole lot today, just kind of recuperating. I'm not hang over, just tired from work and kind of sick - a cold or something.
Went out and watched the game last night, of course. I went to one of the 'Walkabout' bars in downtown, which is kind of the hang out for Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans [ I went there last week for the cricket and rugby as well]. Although I've been trying to avoid 'going and finding my own' instead of living in London properly, when things like the rugby are on you kind of have to do it. It was interesting that the majority of the New Zealanders there who we spoke to were from Wellington. Oh yeah, I haven't explained the 'we' - when I walked into the bar last Sunday for the England game, as soon as I walked through the door this guy came up to me and went "ALAN!"... One of the guys I used to work with at DSE (Brendon) is living in London now. Even more amusing was the fact that Linda, a friend of my girlfriend in 5th form, who also on at least one occassion 'got cosy' with David [which I'm sure they're both appreciate my outing them here] was also there. I'm not entirely sure how Brendon and Linda knew each other but apparently they did previously.

So, Work... Well, I am getting this feeling that work is going to suck on a number of levels for the next two months. 1) From the 20th, I have to jump on the train to go somewhere one hour away (which is rather annoying after taking this job based in 'Central London'), and 2) My responsibilities are rapidly moving away from technical work and towards menial 'business' work. As a double kicker, this is what leads to 1) - if I was doing proper technical work (i.e. programming) I would be sitting in the office in London. Arse.

I'm still looking for somewhere to live, vaguely, but I've kind of accepted that I'm going to wait until I get paid in December to actually find/move into a place. I could transfer money over from the US, but I get the feeling that it might take that long to find an appropriate place anyway. Part of the problem being, I'm still not sure what 'appropriate' means. I think I'll end up going for the spending more money option because honestly, I'm not really willing to live somewhere that's beneath my standards.

I shifted hostels yesterday too (again). Hopefully I'll be staying where I am now until I move into a flat. We'll just have to wait and see about that.

Need a place to live; 1 month until I get paid.

First weekend after my first days working in 3 months.
However I don't get paid until the end of the month, so somehow I have to sort out accommodation without any money in my bank account. I'll probably end up sending my self money from the US to here. Went shopping today and spent money on things I don't need. There are A LOT of shops down Oxford street.

Ah, that reminds me: They have a new version of Monopoly out. I realise after looking at it in a bookshop that they've changed all the properties and prices to more accurately reflect today (Airports instead of railways, £600k, £1.2 million pounds, £4 million etc) however the most marked change is that there are credit cards you stick in a machine instead of paper money. Now that assuredly is more realistic, but doesn't it kind of take away from half the fun of Monopoly?

It appears as though my current job is going to be dramatically different than my previous one. My title here is 'Consultant', the office is around the centre of London, and on Monday (for a few months unfortunately...) I'm going out to a customer site. A bit of a change from being out in the middle of nowhere not talking to any 'outsiders'. Oh yeah, and I'm going to have deadlines at some point, and presumably will be expected to work long days when things are due. Sounds like fun.

Starting work tomorrow. Finishing work .... ?

I got the job that I interviewed for yesterday. I begin tomorrow.
And it's not intended to be a contract job, although it will be officially because of the visa. They want me to stay indefinitely. I don't know how I feel about that. I wasn't intending and sitting around here that long.

So getting the job I was a little unsure whenever I was happy about it or not. My goal ever since I got here was to get a job and work for some time, but why was I trying to do that? I should have done my travelling first, then come back and got the job. But anyone who saw my luggage would tell you I obviously wasn't intending on 'going backpacking', and it is Winter now anyway.
Apparently I really had no idea what I wanted to do. I still don't. I'll be staying here now for a while. I hope to be able to take off to various places for the weekend or whatever. I'll have to see how it pans out.

Still not completely happy with everything yet - I need to find a place to live. I don't particularly like where I am now, since there's not kitchen in which to cook dinner. The place I was at first (I moved last week because it was booked out) was much 'better', and I still go back there regularly because all my friends I've meet here so far stay there.

Interesting times. I don't know, whatever.
I'm going to see 'Spamalot' tonight. Should be good entertainment.

Oh yeah: You will all know how I'm never cold, always walking around in a T-shirt; Today it was bloody cold! Admittedly I was wearing my NZ shirt that is rather 'thin', but shit! It's only November. I'm not looking forward to what's ahead.