OCCUPIED COUNTRY

Too much information

I'm coming to the end of my first long weekend for ten weeks. Consequently I'm as depressed as depressed can be. Never let me forget just how much I hate this job. Never. And tomorrow? Rain. Heavy at times, but always there. Unremitting, soaking, dispiriting fucking rain.

Still, chin up.

"Oh mother tell your children
Not to do what I have done
Spend your lives in sin and misery
Posting junkmail as a pissed-off postman"

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I have been tentatively offered a job (that I can't do and I told them at the beginning of the interview I couldn't do), with a profoundly ploddish and dock-greened institution. After the main interviewer outlined the job on offer, I had to hold my hands up and say "I'm sorry but there's been a misunderstanding here, I may have read your advertisement wrong (I hadn't), but I don't want to waste any more of your time. I have no experience of administering Oracle databases; I thought I was here to be interviewed for a basic 2nd or 3rd line IT support role with experience of databases in general?"

"Errrrr....O.....Kayyyyy.......Hmmmmmm, well, let's do the interview anyway and see how we both feel at the end. What is your understanding of 'diversity'?"

An hour and half later I walked out into the beautiful Mancunian incessant rain and thought "well, no chance."

A week later I get a letter saying I was successful - subject to the vetting of my ENTIRE family - including my dead father and my feckless, criminal-record-as-long-as-your-arm brother.

So, we'll see. In the meantime......"Postman Pat, Postman Pat, Postman Pat and his black and white cat............."

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In the meantime, that pic of books to read above shows just what I need to do to get back up to speed with the technological malarkey required to shuffle through a typical day in IT support - wherever that support is required.

Ho hum!

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Balloons. Manchester City. Cock ups. What can you say? The urge for City fans is to say "typical City" - that's almost become Mantra over the years. Whatever can go wrong WILL go wrong. Roll on the "minute's silence".

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A few more pics. Thanks for all your kind comments.


Old bridge at a local beauty spot.


I have been dreaming a lot about trees just recently. Why? I haven't goat a clue. Any dream-analysts out there?


Fast car.


Shop window, Manchester January 2008.


As a kid I used to love reading these at junior school. Exotic, full colour photographs that took your breath away. As well as the superb photography there was also the opportunity to view bare breasted women from around the Empire. A fabulous combination of education and voyeurism. I was only 11.