security checks

I was meant to write about this a few weeks ago, but it wasn’t until last night that I remembered. I was talking to Alice about the security checks that are being done for her new job and I was saying how stringent the checks were that I went through… well kind of.

For my new job I had to go through checks for the FSA, which are fairly stringent to stop fraudulent activities etc. Well the external company employed by my employer to undertake this task seemed to do so quite quickly. Within only a few hours of providing them with the details about my history and personal referees they had already contacted them.

However they started to phone me up quite regularly quizzing me about my gap year and also querying my A Levels results, as they couldn’t get in touch with my old sixth form due to it being summer holidays. Anyway, they phoned me up once again and asked me to fax copies of all my certificates and my passport stamps to prove I had been where I said I was in my gap year. I said I would, but I didn’t. I had honestly forgotten.
The following week, another consultant from the firm phoned me again requesting all the information and even followed up the phone call with an email, to which I responded acknowledging my delay in faxing the information. – These phone calls had started to become quite annoying by now.

Well the end of the story is, I still have yet to fax any information and they have stopped contacting me AND I still have my job.

I would like to point out that I actually don’t have anything to hide. I’m just a tad lazy.

X-Factor II

X-Factor gets better every week. I didn't know there were so many people who *thought* they could sing. Shame the auditions have finished, that's the only good bit of the show; watching people making birks of themselves.

X-Factor was always a cult evening at Uni, everyone (including our house) used to delay going out in the evening just to watch it. Just isn't the same watching it mum and dad.

thursday already

Hopefully by Monday or Tuesday myself and Mark should be moved into our new flat in Forest Hill. That will be tremendous stuff, not only is the flat really nice, but it will also cut my daily commute by 90 minutes in BOTH directions. Jurassic Park!

Last weekend I popped to Dartmouth for the annual South Coast Rowing Championships, which was a fantastic weekend away and was certainly what I needed. The rowing was excellent; we came 2nd in our invitation event, which was far better than expected as I have been out of training for easily over two months.
Dartmouth was also a lovely venue for the racing, the river is calm and the town of Dartmouth itself is very inviting and quaint. I really enjoyed last weekend, and wish I could do it again this weekend. Spending a few days away from home makes the weekend seem longer and being surrounded by friends who all share the same enthusiasm for rowing that I do, really did make for an extremely enjoyable time.
(Although I still feel sorry for Sam’s mum after what me and James did in their house!)

This week has been just full of work, but has meant that the week has past quickly and it’s hard to believe that tomorrow is Friday, where I have a ‘graduate’ day at work, which should be highly enjoyable, or maybe not, but at least a free lunch is thrown in.

Also this week, I went for a walk after work on Tuesday where we managed to find the only bowling green in the city! However, next to the bowling green is what can only be described as an old cricket pavilion which has been chopped in half next to the green, which at first looks like a club house for the green, but as you get closer, it turns out it’s actually a wine bar. The inside of the bar was full of suits and people were pouring out of the door onto the path around the green with their drinks to take advantage of the warm evening and it was such a nice thing to see. It reminded me why I really enjoy being in London and hopefully I’ll get to visit that bar soon.

Also lets not forget my very nice, but short stop over in Portsmouth on Sunday night a la Kester and Matt. Thanks for the fully fledged roast dinner.

Current song on the pod: Ferry Corsten – Punk

winter II

I posted something about my warm thoughts in cold times a few days ago, but since then I’ve had another ‘warm thought’.

I remember when I used to go to London on a Friday night to meet Alice, I used to get the same warm feeling whilst sitting on the train (normally with a can of Strongbow) listening to some classic trance on the iPod, looking out of the window onto a cold dark night with illuminated houses and villages flying past, then arriving at Waterloo with the mayhem and excitement of people trying to get home for their weekend. It made me feel so content with everything that was going on.

I’ll probably never forget these memories that filled my time at University. They are also getting more surreal as they progress further into my past, especially now that I am in London everyday. But I think it is memories like this that made University what it was.

There is just something about a cold, dark night that makes me feel warm.

It’s already September, so not long until the dark and cold nights arrive.

X-Factor

Whilst eating breakfast this morning, I had the repeat of last nights’ X-Factor on. I wouldn’t make the habit of watching it, but if it’s on, it does normally provide some light hearted entertainment.

Anyway, Simon Cowell actually had me laughing out loud when he commented that one man

"couldn’t win the competition even if he was the only one in it"

I thought that was genius.

run

Took full advantage of my lunch hour today especially as it was sunny, and went running. – It was extremely good fun, not only did I enjoy the run, but I also got to see some sights.

The best thing though is runlondon.com, which provides detailed routes to run and you can also plot your own route to measure the distance. I ran from Liverpool street to Tower Hill, along the Thames to Embankment, over the bridge to Waterloo, back along the Thames to London Bridge, then back to Liverpool Street via Tower Hill, a journey of 8.73km.

One thing though, there are plenty of tourists ambling around the sights to slow down the trek, so don't get annoyed if your minutes per mile rate is slower than average (although it is very frustrating!).

working

Almost 3 weeks have passed and I’m still loving it.

I couldn’t wish for a nicer bunch of people to work for. It’s odd as when I thought about joining the corporate world, I always presumed people were hard-going and always stern, but it appears that isn’t always the case.

The two-hour commute to and from London each day is wearing thin and makes the day really long, but I think it’s definitely worth it.

I still have a lot to learn, but I feel that I have settled into my job really well.

I’m currently sitting on the train, on my way home as I write this.

Current song on the pod: Ernesto – Dark Side of The Moon (classic trance)

Time taken to do my daily SuDuko: 9 minutes (finished it before the train even left the station!)

Lovely stuff.

response

Just watching a documentary on 9/11 and they have given me an amazing statistic. Within the first 15 minutes of the awful events unfolding, 235 fire fighters had already arrived at the World Trade Centre. That's phenomenal.

(That's 1 every 4 seconds)