"There are three kinds of love:'Love' that takes 2 months to get over;'Big Love' that takes 2 years to get over;'Great Love' that changes your life.Which one are you?"
Win a Date with Tad Hamilton (2004) [DVD]
Monday, April 30, 2012
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Why trying something new can actually be good for you
Two things are probably evident if you read much of this blog (well maybe three).
1) I'm interested in the arts. Drama, books, films, music, writing, games. Everything.
2) I'm stuck in a massive rut. Hell, I just read the Harry Potter series today for probably something like the 20th time.
(and 3) if you're interested - I'm a grumpy git full of moans and complaints)
It's the second one that I'm so trying to change at the minute. Trying to discover my forte and really experience everything out there. I've reached the age where I realise life's too short to stay on the shore. It's time to get out there and explore.
We have so much out there to experience whether it be places, cultures and people to meet, or whether it's the exploration of other's imagination. We were made to be unique so why stick to the same old same old when there is so much to do out there and so much to take in.
I am always angered when I hear people say 'there's nothing to do'. Because that couldn't be more wrong. Even without money there are endless possibilities. Billions of books to fit your interest; films to open your eyes about places and environments you'll never see; and songs which introduce you endless new melodies just when you think you've heard everything. And this is why I love art. As a quote says that sums up everything I believe ' "There's no other place where you could be in all four corners of the world at the same time". It refers to, of course, a library. But it could be applied to almost everything daily. From your bed, with a laptop, you have access to the world. It's part of my motivation to teach, to breathe this sense of freedom and possibility into new generations and minds so they can go on to create more opportunities.
I'm sure there is some quote from a literature fanatic about words being words, but regenerated in different ways to recreate and conjure different things. And this is life.
Unfortunately my life, which consists of breathing space of around 12miles, means that I'm trapped and cannot explore. It's made me blissful ignorant of many things and I hate this. It's why I spend so much time in a book, almost becoming someone else. And it's also why I can fully appreciate what's out there and be genuinely fascinated and can admire unique things such as the Liverpool puppets only last week.
However, aside from this, this is just one example where I've broken the mold. To try and explore more new things I decided to watch more films. And to do this I tend to download off of Sky Go (other providers are available) movies that are about to go off and make it my mission to watch them. This time it was Moulin Rouge. Immediately I despised it. A musical? Noooo. I had this immediate preconception that musicals are just a happy go lucky storyline full of random music that is misplaced. This was born from having to watch The Sound of Music as a child. They just annoy me. So I left this film to stew for a while. But today was its last day so I took a deep breath, remembered my promise and started playing it. And I was gripped. It was fantastical. It was highly imaginative. And it was moving. This reinforced just why I'm doing this. To try different things and have an open mind.
I suggest you try doing something different too. Don't let the world become a single room.
Monday, April 23, 2012
The Normal One.
The following clips are why I genuinely love the Royals. I can't help but smile at how normal and humorous Prince Harry is in these.
Prince Harry on the London Marathon:-
"It's just my 10 year retirement plan" - Admitting you have a problem.
is apparently the first way to get over it. Well I do have a problem bloggers. Spending.
I'm guessing it is usual for a girl of my age to be spending more than their fair share in shops but I envisage that by that it means a bit of retail therapy. And by retail therapy I mean clothes, shoes and bags. Well I haven't bought a single item to add to my lacklustre wardrobe since my extravagant expenditure on my boots at Christmas (I just wanted dry feet!). Instead I have lost pounds and pounds on books, games and more books.
This is the life of a non-student.
I've discussed the fact that I seem to spend far too much on games but lately this has spread to my need to buy every book that's going. Partly this isn't my fault (I try to tell myself anyway). I'm used to buying books left, right and centre from the moment I could read and appreciate that a good new book with that new book smell was a far greater purchase than loaning one from the library and dealing with those delightful yellow mysterious stains on each page. [Those that have read Mr Bean's book will appreciate what I mean...]. Since that moment I have more space dedicated to books than my actual living space. In fact I've got so many of them my parents devilishly exported some of them up to my grans house while I was away hoping that I'd not notice. Well I did. And ever since I've been buying new books to replace the old ones. But it seems that my greatest downfall is the Kindle (other e-readers are available).
The Kindle is a marvelous invention, made to fit a whole library on a small device the size of a book. It also offers many many free and cheap books, all heavily cut down from the original retail selling price simply because they've been wonderfully digitalised and can be made available to us at a touch of a button. This doesn't help an avid reader like me who is also seemingly prone to throw away money at any old thing. And this last sentence is a true statement (an author added me on Twitter and I almost immediately bought his book before realising how irrational that was...but that's a tip for other authors out there - advertising on social networking sites do actually work!)
Due to this necessity to spend, spend, and spend on books (seriously my mission is to read every book ever printed ... welll aside from textbooks and mathsy books because that's enough to give anyone a headache), I was forcibly reminded of my own mother. She used to spend hours in crafts stores looking at cross stitch patterns, leaving the shop only to come back later to buy something. After I'd had enough of all this standing looking aimlessly at some pretty coloured thread for a few years...I began to think that she never has time to do all them. In fact all she does is, at the time, work, do the tea, then collapse on the couch whilst trying to watch TV. Even in her weekends she didn't do anything. She'd maybe do 15 minutes here and there before dozing (to be fair that would have the same effect on me too). So I finally piped up as every young inquistive child (read: brat) does...I questioned it.
"Mam, why do you keep buying all these when you don't have time".
"It's all part of my 10 year retirement plan" She replied whilst burrowing through another line of patterns.
"But you haven't even finished the one you're on and you've been doing it for years".
"Go and find your dad".
And so I was dismissed. But now I quite understand her. Apart from noting the glaring genetic resemblance to my mother in that respect, I can see where she's coming from.
Perhaps I'm saving all these books for a rainy day when I have oodles of time to sit back and relax. Or for when I, too, retire (in more than 40 years...). Or maybe I do have a problem and need to go cold turkey on looking at deals and interesting books....
I'm guessing it is usual for a girl of my age to be spending more than their fair share in shops but I envisage that by that it means a bit of retail therapy. And by retail therapy I mean clothes, shoes and bags. Well I haven't bought a single item to add to my lacklustre wardrobe since my extravagant expenditure on my boots at Christmas (I just wanted dry feet!). Instead I have lost pounds and pounds on books, games and more books.
This is the life of a non-student.
I've discussed the fact that I seem to spend far too much on games but lately this has spread to my need to buy every book that's going. Partly this isn't my fault (I try to tell myself anyway). I'm used to buying books left, right and centre from the moment I could read and appreciate that a good new book with that new book smell was a far greater purchase than loaning one from the library and dealing with those delightful yellow mysterious stains on each page. [Those that have read Mr Bean's book will appreciate what I mean...]. Since that moment I have more space dedicated to books than my actual living space. In fact I've got so many of them my parents devilishly exported some of them up to my grans house while I was away hoping that I'd not notice. Well I did. And ever since I've been buying new books to replace the old ones. But it seems that my greatest downfall is the Kindle (other e-readers are available).
The Kindle is a marvelous invention, made to fit a whole library on a small device the size of a book. It also offers many many free and cheap books, all heavily cut down from the original retail selling price simply because they've been wonderfully digitalised and can be made available to us at a touch of a button. This doesn't help an avid reader like me who is also seemingly prone to throw away money at any old thing. And this last sentence is a true statement (an author added me on Twitter and I almost immediately bought his book before realising how irrational that was...but that's a tip for other authors out there - advertising on social networking sites do actually work!)
Due to this necessity to spend, spend, and spend on books (seriously my mission is to read every book ever printed ... welll aside from textbooks and mathsy books because that's enough to give anyone a headache), I was forcibly reminded of my own mother. She used to spend hours in crafts stores looking at cross stitch patterns, leaving the shop only to come back later to buy something. After I'd had enough of all this standing looking aimlessly at some pretty coloured thread for a few years...I began to think that she never has time to do all them. In fact all she does is, at the time, work, do the tea, then collapse on the couch whilst trying to watch TV. Even in her weekends she didn't do anything. She'd maybe do 15 minutes here and there before dozing (to be fair that would have the same effect on me too). So I finally piped up as every young inquistive child (read: brat) does...I questioned it.
"Mam, why do you keep buying all these when you don't have time".
"It's all part of my 10 year retirement plan" She replied whilst burrowing through another line of patterns.
"But you haven't even finished the one you're on and you've been doing it for years".
"Go and find your dad".
And so I was dismissed. But now I quite understand her. Apart from noting the glaring genetic resemblance to my mother in that respect, I can see where she's coming from.
Perhaps I'm saving all these books for a rainy day when I have oodles of time to sit back and relax. Or for when I, too, retire (in more than 40 years...). Or maybe I do have a problem and need to go cold turkey on looking at deals and interesting books....
Saturday, April 21, 2012
World Heritage Weekend
Today it was World Heritage Weekend at Durham. A day to celebrate the area which surrounds Palace Green being labelled a World Heritage Site. From 10am there were free walks, tours and children's activities. And whilst I didn't participate so much in the latter I went on two free walks based on the Lost Buildings of the city and the architectural gems down the medieval bailey before heading on a Cathedral tour.
Whilst my feet may well be dropping off at this point and my body exhausted from dreaming yet again that I had inadequate defense mechanisms in my city (damn you games!) I can say I did thoroughly enjoy myself today. And I learnt something.
It's is very little that we contemplate our surroundings and think of the history of the place. We may occasionally peruse for clues about old buildings, noticed the marks on the edge of walls of a building that's long gone, but our investigation would probably end there. It is with these kind of walks that this insight provides an overwhelming sense of belonging to the area as you get to know more about it, like an estranged relative that you've recently become reacquainted with.
So today as the guide pointed out the structures that have gone missing from gigantic gatehouses designed to protect the wealthy and the houses that no longer exist, as well as what the current buildings tell us about an area today - some you've walked past many years and never really noticed - you really did feel the site come back to life. You could almost see the medieval people worming their way down the street and the army in the background getting ready for attack. Even the tour of the Cathedral is one that I found illuminating despite not being religious. Noticing subtle things in the architecture and understanding where things came from brings a whole new light to the place.
I can honestly say that today has been worth it, and should the opportunity arise to do this in the future please do take it.
Friday, April 20, 2012
The Unconventional News - 20/4/2012
Wow, art never fails to surprise at times. This would be so beautiful to watch, even if I can't help but think of Being John Malkovitch.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-17777090
Whilst I disagree that freedom of speech is becoming less and less apparent, I believe this is completely in the right.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17784229
So it's alright for hundreds of art works depicting the sinking of the Titanic to be sold worldwide but this is frowned upon?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17756036
I love that to make money you must spend money. However, not looking forward to being in contact with these coins if it's true!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17773007
In the 1800's the Luddite's formed in the belief that machinery would cut jobs. Guess they'd be turning in their graves what with self-serving tills and the technology of the 21st Century.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17770171
I see Psychologist Professor Dunbar has moved from dating ads to mobile phone research. Wish I'd thought of this for my dissertation!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17729478
Africa's water problems are solved....well if they were allowed access to it...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17775211
Looks like Louis Theroux doesn't like being on the other end of the questions...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17773774
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-17777090
Whilst I disagree that freedom of speech is becoming less and less apparent, I believe this is completely in the right.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17784229
So it's alright for hundreds of art works depicting the sinking of the Titanic to be sold worldwide but this is frowned upon?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17756036
I love that to make money you must spend money. However, not looking forward to being in contact with these coins if it's true!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17773007
In the 1800's the Luddite's formed in the belief that machinery would cut jobs. Guess they'd be turning in their graves what with self-serving tills and the technology of the 21st Century.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17770171
I see Psychologist Professor Dunbar has moved from dating ads to mobile phone research. Wish I'd thought of this for my dissertation!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17729478
Africa's water problems are solved....well if they were allowed access to it...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17775211
Looks like Louis Theroux doesn't like being on the other end of the questions...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17773774
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Today, I
I thought this image would sum up my feelings on life.
I couldn't help but add this picture to the blog. Here is my Sim. She is earning little more than 300 simeloens (can't spell that!) a week. She's trying to make it as a rising star. All she owns is what you see and a fridge, cooker and counter. She can't afford to pay the weekly bills. Her cheap sofa was stolen by a burglar and her bin kicked over by a random man. She does Sing-a-grams all day and even interrupts her sleep to cater for the population. She is single, and doesn't even own a pet.
Here she is having made her dinner on an oven she replaced after having a house fire whilst sitting on a blocked toilet.
This is my image of everyone's life just as they're starting out. It starts out rubbish, but hopefully with time you'll find your place in society, lay down the bricks and mortar and build your life to something you can be proud of. And then you can reflect on your low times and smile.
I hope this is true, and I hope I end up doing that!
Games may just be ruining my life...
I have spent no less than 48.8hours on games in the last two weeks.
Yes, you read that correctly.
That's over 2 days. Two solid, non-stop playing of games I've racked up.
I'm not sure what is more sad. The fact that I'm addicted to something that's fantasy or that I had nothing better to do to fill my time up.
My dreams have evolved from the psychotic (based on my reading of psychopaths) to ruling empires. I seem to possess the qualities that all world leaders seem to possess right now. I can't sleep without dreaming that my province is being continuously attacked by my neighbours or that my exports aren't matching my expenses, and did I really build enough houses to remove the shacks from my streets?
In essence my life is completely rotating around the fictional world that is on my laptop. Somehow I need to get out of this spiral and do something new!
However, to spice this post up from the sad, lonely world of being a gamer, to something of laughter, I have popped in a clip from a movie I just watched When In Rome (2010). Despite the stupidity of it I generally found I laughed out loud throughout the movie especially at this...
Yes, you read that correctly.
That's over 2 days. Two solid, non-stop playing of games I've racked up.
I'm not sure what is more sad. The fact that I'm addicted to something that's fantasy or that I had nothing better to do to fill my time up.
My dreams have evolved from the psychotic (based on my reading of psychopaths) to ruling empires. I seem to possess the qualities that all world leaders seem to possess right now. I can't sleep without dreaming that my province is being continuously attacked by my neighbours or that my exports aren't matching my expenses, and did I really build enough houses to remove the shacks from my streets?
In essence my life is completely rotating around the fictional world that is on my laptop. Somehow I need to get out of this spiral and do something new!
However, to spice this post up from the sad, lonely world of being a gamer, to something of laughter, I have popped in a clip from a movie I just watched When In Rome (2010). Despite the stupidity of it I generally found I laughed out loud throughout the movie especially at this...
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Spending and Failing in life
I've just spent the last day deliberating over purchasing a game for £29.99. It seemed such an extravagant price, especially considering I have around 50 games waiting to be played in my games library as it is. But there was something about the game I wanted and couldn't put it to the back of my mind, yet equally a part of my mind was telling me that there was nothing that I wanted and I wouldn't miss it. But my impulse won through and there it is currently downloading...
A part of me though was sensible. I performed some sort of mental spreadsheet which calculated my expenditures over the last month and the future requirements I'll need. I weighed this against the hefty £9000 tuition fees of my course next year followed by the increasing debt of my current student loan of the last three years and I felt guilt. The debt has this uncanny omnipresence, yet it's also never there. It's hard to explain unless you're in this situation yourself. When you go to university and take on a loan it's not from your personal account, you don't see your own money in the red, you see what you've got without thinking that there is money elsewhere to worry about. Therefore it's so easy to forget how much you owe the company. So much so that it doesn't even worry me, not like the thousands of people who say that they can't stand it being around their shoulders, the stress of not paying it back. But that's the thing, I've come to except that I may never pay it back, and if that's the case, on my death day, that loan will be released without me having paid it back at all. Then again the realisation that I'm in £20,000+ worth of debt floods back in bouts and I panic. I'm never going to get anywhere in life while having to pay that back. All the dreams of economic security with a degree are tarnished by having to have paid for that degree in the first place. To get that well paid job I have to pay off that high debt. And sometimes I think that the degree would perhaps have best been forgotten, that I should have gone straight into the career world rather than stressing for three years.
However, the vast majority of the time this doesn't even blemish on my conscience. I even considered taking the maintenance loan so I could live out next year, regardless of what it adds to my mounting debt. And so when I make extravagant purchases (in my eyes) I just think 'well that's one mornings wage gone-easily replaced'. But I forget that that job won't be there forever. From September I won't be earning to the following year - and this scares me. I need to put a break on my spending.
Not to mention I had a mini wake up call yesterday. A grandmother of one of my old classmates stopped my mother to inquire into what I'm doing and to boast about what her grandchild is doing.
The grandmother seemed to look down on my degree, the fact is wasn't law but psychology, that it was only 3 years and not 4 years. And just as my mother was about to say I was going on to do a teaching degree, the woman went 'She wants to become a teacher but I've discouraged her...anyone can be a teacher'.
This made me feel inadequate beyond belief. Angered that yes, my degree subject is laughable, that everyone believes it's toilet paper, that the job I'm going for is one that 'anyone' can do and that I've spent three years wasting my life and wasting my money.
I feel this low *puts thumb and finger together*.
I feel that I have no direction in life, and the directions I have taken are pointless.
What's more, I'll probably go nowhere. Even looking at my jobs now - pretty much a shelf stacker and a receptionist - jobs that anyone could do without paying £21000 for a bit of paper.
At the same time I'm also angry. Angry that everyone seems to demand an explanation for everything. Angry that I can't live my own life without people telling me what I can and cannot do. And hence why all my posts lately seem to be grumpy. I'm 22 yet I scream 'grumpy middle aged woman'. My life seems over when it only should have just begun.
I started this post about a game. I've ended this post about my anger.
Dramatic much?
A part of me though was sensible. I performed some sort of mental spreadsheet which calculated my expenditures over the last month and the future requirements I'll need. I weighed this against the hefty £9000 tuition fees of my course next year followed by the increasing debt of my current student loan of the last three years and I felt guilt. The debt has this uncanny omnipresence, yet it's also never there. It's hard to explain unless you're in this situation yourself. When you go to university and take on a loan it's not from your personal account, you don't see your own money in the red, you see what you've got without thinking that there is money elsewhere to worry about. Therefore it's so easy to forget how much you owe the company. So much so that it doesn't even worry me, not like the thousands of people who say that they can't stand it being around their shoulders, the stress of not paying it back. But that's the thing, I've come to except that I may never pay it back, and if that's the case, on my death day, that loan will be released without me having paid it back at all. Then again the realisation that I'm in £20,000+ worth of debt floods back in bouts and I panic. I'm never going to get anywhere in life while having to pay that back. All the dreams of economic security with a degree are tarnished by having to have paid for that degree in the first place. To get that well paid job I have to pay off that high debt. And sometimes I think that the degree would perhaps have best been forgotten, that I should have gone straight into the career world rather than stressing for three years.
However, the vast majority of the time this doesn't even blemish on my conscience. I even considered taking the maintenance loan so I could live out next year, regardless of what it adds to my mounting debt. And so when I make extravagant purchases (in my eyes) I just think 'well that's one mornings wage gone-easily replaced'. But I forget that that job won't be there forever. From September I won't be earning to the following year - and this scares me. I need to put a break on my spending.
Not to mention I had a mini wake up call yesterday. A grandmother of one of my old classmates stopped my mother to inquire into what I'm doing and to boast about what her grandchild is doing.
The grandmother seemed to look down on my degree, the fact is wasn't law but psychology, that it was only 3 years and not 4 years. And just as my mother was about to say I was going on to do a teaching degree, the woman went 'She wants to become a teacher but I've discouraged her...anyone can be a teacher'.
This made me feel inadequate beyond belief. Angered that yes, my degree subject is laughable, that everyone believes it's toilet paper, that the job I'm going for is one that 'anyone' can do and that I've spent three years wasting my life and wasting my money.
I feel this low *puts thumb and finger together*.
I feel that I have no direction in life, and the directions I have taken are pointless.
What's more, I'll probably go nowhere. Even looking at my jobs now - pretty much a shelf stacker and a receptionist - jobs that anyone could do without paying £21000 for a bit of paper.
At the same time I'm also angry. Angry that everyone seems to demand an explanation for everything. Angry that I can't live my own life without people telling me what I can and cannot do. And hence why all my posts lately seem to be grumpy. I'm 22 yet I scream 'grumpy middle aged woman'. My life seems over when it only should have just begun.
I started this post about a game. I've ended this post about my anger.
Dramatic much?
Thursday, April 12, 2012
The Unconventional News - 12.04.2012
This is why children should learn to drive earlier! Also shouldn't the AA be using their time more wisely instead of generating pointless statistics?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17682694
Another Little Mix moment...? Californian band desperate to claim profits after claiming that they own trademark name One Direction. I'm sure 1D's fans will have something to say about that...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/17673948
Most likely object to get smashed into smithereens within one week of use..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17678605
Goes to show that movies with the good old kidnapping storyline is just not plausible anymore..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17677269
For some reason I find this storyline unbelievable...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17685969
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17682694
Another Little Mix moment...? Californian band desperate to claim profits after claiming that they own trademark name One Direction. I'm sure 1D's fans will have something to say about that...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/17673948
Most likely object to get smashed into smithereens within one week of use..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17678605
Goes to show that movies with the good old kidnapping storyline is just not plausible anymore..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17677269
For some reason I find this storyline unbelievable...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17685969
The Incompetent Worker
I no doubt refer to myself with this title.
Here I am, sat in the cold confines of a working hotel castle (the room that used to be a gym I'm reliably informed by an alcoholic alumini guest a few weeks ago) not knowing exactly what to do. Instead I thought I'd use my time to write about how frustrating it is being on the other side of the counter.
My mother yesterday was irrate when she contacted a company regarding our boiler breaking down. She was affronted that the person who was coming out to do the annual check was unable to do it because there was a fault with the machine rather than the routine check he expected. Instead he told her that an engineer will be with us shortly who will know more about what to do with the problem. My mother couldn't comprehend why the guy that does the routine checks and is meant to pick out suspected faults, couldn't manage a little leak. And this got me thinking. We expect such a high level of competency from businesses and we're annoyed when they can't do the job they're being paid to do. Then this got me worried, because no matter what job I do, no matter how long I've been at it, there's always something that I don't know, something that I need someone else to help with.
For instance, innocently covering a lunch time shift the other day, I was asked a question that I'd spent the last month trying to work out an answer to - what do I do if a customer asks for a print. All I got from everyone I asked was 'play it by ear'. And that day, 10 minutes before the end of my shift someone wanted a print. Nightmare. This caused 10 minutes of humming and harring and 'would it be possible to come back in 10 minutes time?'. The queue was mounting up and the woman behind this customer looked much put out by the wait. This simply is not fair. I wasn't given the information to deal with the customer no matter what length I went to even before the situation arose. And plus I'm only casual staff popping in every so often so it's quite hard to keep a grasp of things. In another scenario, I thought my life had been made easier by a till update on items instead of spending 2 minutes endlessly searching criteria just so someone can have a 50p postcard only to find out the option on the til wanted me to charge £2.50!! "Dear me, all this for one postcard!" exclaimed an old man, but all I could do was plaster a sympathetic smile on my face and wait for the till to get a move on. This is what technology has brought us, reliant on machines to the point that when it goes wrong we're actually helpless. Forget about robots it's already controlling us. Working in a customer environment all we seem to get is complaints and 'why can't you just answer my question' - it's simply because I don't know or we don't know, or we're not even paid to do that.
Therefore, to end my rant, I have utter sympathy with the man that my mother spent the rest of the evening blasting about that he can't do his job. We are, afterall, only human. Next time a retailer has problems ringing up your product or they don't have the answer to your question, relax, you were in that position once.
Here I am, sat in the cold confines of a working hotel castle (the room that used to be a gym I'm reliably informed by an alcoholic alumini guest a few weeks ago) not knowing exactly what to do. Instead I thought I'd use my time to write about how frustrating it is being on the other side of the counter.
My mother yesterday was irrate when she contacted a company regarding our boiler breaking down. She was affronted that the person who was coming out to do the annual check was unable to do it because there was a fault with the machine rather than the routine check he expected. Instead he told her that an engineer will be with us shortly who will know more about what to do with the problem. My mother couldn't comprehend why the guy that does the routine checks and is meant to pick out suspected faults, couldn't manage a little leak. And this got me thinking. We expect such a high level of competency from businesses and we're annoyed when they can't do the job they're being paid to do. Then this got me worried, because no matter what job I do, no matter how long I've been at it, there's always something that I don't know, something that I need someone else to help with.
For instance, innocently covering a lunch time shift the other day, I was asked a question that I'd spent the last month trying to work out an answer to - what do I do if a customer asks for a print. All I got from everyone I asked was 'play it by ear'. And that day, 10 minutes before the end of my shift someone wanted a print. Nightmare. This caused 10 minutes of humming and harring and 'would it be possible to come back in 10 minutes time?'. The queue was mounting up and the woman behind this customer looked much put out by the wait. This simply is not fair. I wasn't given the information to deal with the customer no matter what length I went to even before the situation arose. And plus I'm only casual staff popping in every so often so it's quite hard to keep a grasp of things. In another scenario, I thought my life had been made easier by a till update on items instead of spending 2 minutes endlessly searching criteria just so someone can have a 50p postcard only to find out the option on the til wanted me to charge £2.50!! "Dear me, all this for one postcard!" exclaimed an old man, but all I could do was plaster a sympathetic smile on my face and wait for the till to get a move on. This is what technology has brought us, reliant on machines to the point that when it goes wrong we're actually helpless. Forget about robots it's already controlling us. Working in a customer environment all we seem to get is complaints and 'why can't you just answer my question' - it's simply because I don't know or we don't know, or we're not even paid to do that.
Therefore, to end my rant, I have utter sympathy with the man that my mother spent the rest of the evening blasting about that he can't do his job. We are, afterall, only human. Next time a retailer has problems ringing up your product or they don't have the answer to your question, relax, you were in that position once.
Monday, April 9, 2012
The Unconventional News - 8/4/2012
The Titanic memorial ship is launched - to follow route followed by Titanic 100 years ago. How time has changed (and hopefully when they say they're 'Unsinkable' they mean unsinkable).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17649500
(Man at the end is worth a listen to!)
Oh the Tory government haven't escaped the mockery that Labour has in their power...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17650230
"It's his laptop I'm worried about" - a bad day at work much?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17649105
A few LOL's on the BBC1's Odd Box this week
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/17392661
Always makes me smile when a flashmob goes to plan
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-17649950
And finally some clips to put a smile on your face :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv_gOBi8Wpk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT--h2GjaAU
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17649500
(Man at the end is worth a listen to!)
Oh the Tory government haven't escaped the mockery that Labour has in their power...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17650230
"It's his laptop I'm worried about" - a bad day at work much?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17649105
A few LOL's on the BBC1's Odd Box this week
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/17392661
Always makes me smile when a flashmob goes to plan
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-17649950
And finally some clips to put a smile on your face :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv_gOBi8Wpk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT--h2GjaAU
Sunday, April 8, 2012
The Striking Thing About The Titanic
As you will all be aware of, no doubt if you've turned on your TV or ventured out to buy a paper or browsed on the internet, is the impending 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking.
The Titanic sunk on 15th April 1912. The gigantic vessel was the largest moving thing on the plant and was dubbed as 'Unsinkable' and yet it now lies deteriorating rapidly in it's cold watery grave somewhere on the Atlantic sea bed. It was the news that shook the western world as reports filtered through that more than 1500 of the 2200 passengers on board had met their demise out in the middle of an ice field in the early hours of the morning. It was a set of unfortunate coincidences that made the highly praised masterpiece strike it's final agreement with death: the forgetting of the binoculars in the crow's nest; the ignored ice warnings from surrounding ships; the want to get to New York in record time (possible myth); the ice sheet dumping the giant icebergs into the water at an unexpected time; the lack of lifeboats (20 lifeboats to be shared among 2200) and countless others.
We are all aware of the extraordinary events that happened that night; the dazzling array of famous First Class passengers that lost their lives or cheated their way to safety whilst the steerage and Third Class were plunged into the icy water; the band that played until the end; the engineers that sacrificed their lives to do what they could; Captain Smith watching his livelihood crumble before him; women and children only and the distress call S.O.S.. But nothing is more remarkable than what happened afterwards - the countless artistic impressions of the sinking ship.
It is rather an odd thing to point out and it had most certainly escaped my attention for the whole 16 or so years that I've been intrigued by the historic event. But the depiction of the sinking on postcards, on mantle piece artwork, and more remarkably, the graves and memorials of the passengers and stewards that had lost their lives on board the Titanic is quite an odd thing to grasp. It is the sinking of the finest ship ever made at the time; it is also the sinking of 1500 people; it is one of the greatest remembered disasters of all time. And this image has been used as art.
I may not be putting my point across here well, but what I'm trying to say is that, would you have a print of 9/11 with the Twin Towers coughing out black smoke and the planes flying around it? Would you have a picture of the tsunami hitting Japan in 2011? Would you have these on your wall? I highly doubt it. Yet for some reason this was acceptable in 1912 and probably still is now. There are so many digitalised or artistic paintings of the Titanic floundering and a lifeboat full of people in the foreground watching the dismal scene. I find this very odd. This is not to say that I find it outrageous, I just find it odd that I have never noticed how candidly it's used especially when we are considering that we are effectively admiring 1500 people dying!
But that is the striking thing about the Titanic, it is a story that ticks all the boxes. It was a remarkable twist in a story of legend. That the ego's of the ship builders and manufacturers were trashed that their unsinkable ship had actually sunk. That technology wasn't as infallible as suggested. That this great liner had almost signed it's own death warrant before even leaving the harbour with it's lack of life boats. It was a lesson to the world. We are not as indestructible as we think. And hidden within this legend is the individual stories of the 2200 people on board that continue to inspire movies and books. It has it's heroes and it has it's villains. And it will always capture the world's imagination and hearts. And this is probably why we accept the image of the sinking ship.
Articles of interest:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17511820
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/titanic/building-titanic-interactive-timeline/?source=link_TW_02
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Titanic
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-17649557
The Titanic sunk on 15th April 1912. The gigantic vessel was the largest moving thing on the plant and was dubbed as 'Unsinkable' and yet it now lies deteriorating rapidly in it's cold watery grave somewhere on the Atlantic sea bed. It was the news that shook the western world as reports filtered through that more than 1500 of the 2200 passengers on board had met their demise out in the middle of an ice field in the early hours of the morning. It was a set of unfortunate coincidences that made the highly praised masterpiece strike it's final agreement with death: the forgetting of the binoculars in the crow's nest; the ignored ice warnings from surrounding ships; the want to get to New York in record time (possible myth); the ice sheet dumping the giant icebergs into the water at an unexpected time; the lack of lifeboats (20 lifeboats to be shared among 2200) and countless others.
We are all aware of the extraordinary events that happened that night; the dazzling array of famous First Class passengers that lost their lives or cheated their way to safety whilst the steerage and Third Class were plunged into the icy water; the band that played until the end; the engineers that sacrificed their lives to do what they could; Captain Smith watching his livelihood crumble before him; women and children only and the distress call S.O.S.. But nothing is more remarkable than what happened afterwards - the countless artistic impressions of the sinking ship.
It is rather an odd thing to point out and it had most certainly escaped my attention for the whole 16 or so years that I've been intrigued by the historic event. But the depiction of the sinking on postcards, on mantle piece artwork, and more remarkably, the graves and memorials of the passengers and stewards that had lost their lives on board the Titanic is quite an odd thing to grasp. It is the sinking of the finest ship ever made at the time; it is also the sinking of 1500 people; it is one of the greatest remembered disasters of all time. And this image has been used as art.
I may not be putting my point across here well, but what I'm trying to say is that, would you have a print of 9/11 with the Twin Towers coughing out black smoke and the planes flying around it? Would you have a picture of the tsunami hitting Japan in 2011? Would you have these on your wall? I highly doubt it. Yet for some reason this was acceptable in 1912 and probably still is now. There are so many digitalised or artistic paintings of the Titanic floundering and a lifeboat full of people in the foreground watching the dismal scene. I find this very odd. This is not to say that I find it outrageous, I just find it odd that I have never noticed how candidly it's used especially when we are considering that we are effectively admiring 1500 people dying!
But that is the striking thing about the Titanic, it is a story that ticks all the boxes. It was a remarkable twist in a story of legend. That the ego's of the ship builders and manufacturers were trashed that their unsinkable ship had actually sunk. That technology wasn't as infallible as suggested. That this great liner had almost signed it's own death warrant before even leaving the harbour with it's lack of life boats. It was a lesson to the world. We are not as indestructible as we think. And hidden within this legend is the individual stories of the 2200 people on board that continue to inspire movies and books. It has it's heroes and it has it's villains. And it will always capture the world's imagination and hearts. And this is probably why we accept the image of the sinking ship.
Articles of interest:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17511820
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/titanic/building-titanic-interactive-timeline/?source=link_TW_02
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Titanic
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-17649557
With age becomes the meaning of self?
Some say that when you reach a certain age in your twenties you begin to get over the angst and complete self-infatuation you had as a teenager and begin to adopt an introspective viewpoint of yourself. You begin to understand that you're not the centre of the universe, your flaws are not unique to you and nor are your strengths. You are in fact a statistic. You also start to think that, yes, you are at a point that you have to choose which direction you are going to travel in. Some psychologists describe development as a ball rolling down a hill; it can follow a channel, and every now and again it will change direction and choose between an intersection which determines which line you will ultimately end up in. Life is nothing but a continuous rolling of never-ending choices, and it's up to you which one you choose. And here I am, supposedly sat in that age of knowing where I'm going but instead sat on the verge of uncertainty.
I mean look at the educational system. From the age of about 3 or 4 you're in a compulsory structure of education. By 16 it's your choice (or was until the interfering government) whether to continue education or to withdraw and go straight into working. I saw only one channel for me; to got to sixth form, to go to university, to come out of it with a qualification that will put me in good stead. But like so many, I failed to plan forward which is why I'm in the predicament of spending a gap year before going back for more education. But I still don't know if teaching is the right profession for me. I just do not know. I am barreling along in life with no set plan, but instead some sort of rudimentary rough draft of what I'm going to do until I decide.
I mean look at the educational system. From the age of about 3 or 4 you're in a compulsory structure of education. By 16 it's your choice (or was until the interfering government) whether to continue education or to withdraw and go straight into working. I saw only one channel for me; to got to sixth form, to go to university, to come out of it with a qualification that will put me in good stead. But like so many, I failed to plan forward which is why I'm in the predicament of spending a gap year before going back for more education. But I still don't know if teaching is the right profession for me. I just do not know. I am barreling along in life with no set plan, but instead some sort of rudimentary rough draft of what I'm going to do until I decide.
So I sighed when I reached 22 on Friday. I feel content within myself and have mature to the point that I could be independent if needed. Yet I still lack introspect on the career side. When one birthday message asked me if I'd gained the introspect and wisdom that the twenties promise people I was left wondering what to reply. After taking a day out for recuperation (it seems what my 22year old body, can do, if lack of introspection, is not do what I could do in student life and party all night!) I replied with this:-
I feel so old that I've taken a liken to staying in on a night and watching documentaries. I was even musing today that I'd quite like to be a lawyer! It appears that being this old still hasn't made me content with where I am/any closer to knowing where I want to be in life.
But I'll still be in ____ next year doing a PGCE and wasting my life until I do know exactly what I want to be! So maybe if you ask that question in a year I can give you a better answer.And that's exactly all I can provide. That I have matured. That I am suddenly aware of all the options out there that I'd never considered. That I'm following some sort of road and I don't know where it's going. And I'm fine with that kind of life, only if you watch enough horror movies as I do, you'll know that actually travelling along a road you don't know can lead to disastrous consequences...
So I'm guessing this time next year when I get asked whether I have wisdom and have deep introspection of life I'll be able to give them a clear answer. But as of yet I can't, and maybe we're never meant to be able to.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
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