Journal Entries
Looking for jobs and silly comics
Posted Sep 22, 2004
Anyone who actually pays attention to my ramblings may recall that I'm looking for a job, having failed to get any money to do a PhD (um, I did mention that, didn't I? I forget). Unfortunately I still have little idea of where to apply, so getting as far as sending off my CV or an application form or whatever you do seems beyond me. Or at least I get a headache before I get that far. Now why didn't I study medicine or computing or something that obviously leads to a job?
Oh yeah, they didn't sound very interesting compared to mathematics.
Another problem may be that job hunting on the internet has obvious distractions. My tendency is to flit between areas of interest and at the moment it's webcomics, which is strange as I haven't generally been into many comics apart from the Beano, but here's the Bagpuss stuff I read when job-hunting is hard list:
http://www.thewotch.com/ - About a schoolgirl who does magic. It'a got a bit of a Buffy-esque setup, with extra Buffy references thrown in, but still manages to be original and, most importantly, funny.
http://www.elgoonishshive.com/ - Surely a classic. Contains aliens, magic, shapeshifting squirrel girls (well ok, just one, but she's a pretty major character), people getting hit with hammers and Manga jokes that go over my head.
http://www.damonk.com/ - Home of Framed!!!, a comic about people trapped in a comic. Or something. Basically it's just weird.
http://www.scarygoround.com/ - I got fed up with American comics, so searched for a British one. It's about supernatural stuff mostly. Again pretty odd and funny, but I keep losing track of the characters.
http://www.zortic.com/ - There's too much magic in comics so I found a sci-fi one. Rips off all sorts of stuff. If you've ever played Space Quest, it's like that, but with less plot.
Discuss this Journal entry [13]
Latest reply: Sep 22, 2004
Conversation and pool do not mix
Posted Aug 25, 2004
Just to prove that I'm still around, I thought I'd add to my journal.
Last night I was playing pool down the pub whilst having a very important and intellectual discussion with someone who wasn't playing. I forget what the conversation was about now, but it's not vital to the story. What happened was I became aware of people saying, "Who's on next," and tossing a coin to decide (we play doubles, so when there's an odd number of people we end up having to split up the previous pairs). I looked at the table and saw four reds (our colour), so I asked, "Did we win?" (oh, the wit).
"No," was the reply.
Then one our the oponents lined up to take a shot - clearing some of the left over balls, I assumed, so when he missed I gave the ball a helping hand.
Just as I'd let go of the ball, I realised that it wasn't red, but black; someone must have been stood in front of it earlier. I had just picked up the 8 ball during the game and dropped it in the pocket. We hadn't lost before, but we certainly had now.
The moral of this story is that you should pay attention to the game you're playing. Here ends the lesson.
Discuss this Journal entry [43]
Latest reply: Aug 25, 2004
Please call back in 41 years
Posted Feb 26, 2004
I got a letter the other day from the Revenue. They wanted to tell me that I hadn't paid enough national insurance while I'd been in Canada (okay, they didn't know I'd been in Canada). So I tried to phone them, but got a recorded message telling me what hours the line was open.
Today at work I tried again. "That's funny," thought I, "this letter says they're open until 8pm, so why couldn't I get through before?" Anyhow, the lass I spoke to seemed to think the two years I was away wouldn't count towards any future pension, but gave me a number for the department that deals with people who're abroad. Not expecting much, I called the number, only to find it was unobtainable.
Then I thought to look in the little booklet they'd sent me, which gave an enirely different number for the international enquiries line thingy (to be fair, it was a local call rate number, which probably forwards to a normal line or something), which I realised was the number I'd called the other day that hadn't been available outside office hours. Anyway, the lass I spoke to there sounded a bit more hopeful that my Canadian Pension Plan contributions could be transfered to be NI contributions and asked me to hold. After a bit of classical music got played at me, another lass came on the phone (are government call centres staffed entirely by women, I wonder) and explained that, yes, I will be able have my CPP payments considered as NI payments, but I'll have to wait until I've retired.
Now, I ask you, given that the whereabouts of my A-'level certificates from 1997 is currently a mystery, what are the chances I'll still have documents proving that I lived and worked in Canada when I'm 65?
Discuss this Journal entry [5]
Latest reply: Feb 26, 2004
Please call back in 41 years
Posted Feb 26, 2004
I got a letter the other day from the Revenue. They wanted to tell me that I hadn't paid enough national insurance while I'd been in Canada (okay, they didn't know I'd been in Canada). So I tried to phone them, but got a recorded message telling me what hours the line was open.
Today at work I tried again. "That's funny," thought I, "this letter says they're open until 8pm, so why couldn't I get through before?" Anyhow, the lass I spoke to seemed to think the two years I was away wouldn't count towards any future pension, but gave me a number for the department that deals with people who're abroad. Not expecting much, I called the number, only to find it was unobtainable.
Then I thought to look in the little booklet they'd sent me, which gave an enirely different number for the international enquiries line thingy (to be fair, it was a local call rate number, which probably forwards to a normal line or something). Anyway, the lass I spoke to there sounded a bit more hopeful that my Canadian Pension Plan contributions could be transfered to be NI contributions and asked me to hold. After a bit of classical music got played at me, another lass came on the phone (are government call centres staffed entirely by women, I wonder) and explained that, yes, I will be able have my CPP payments considered as NI payments, but I'll have to wait until I've retired.
Now, I ask you, given that the whereabouts of my A-'level certificates from 1997 is currently a mystery, what are the chances I'll still have documents proving that I lived and worked in Canada when I'm 65?
Discuss this Journal entry [2]
Latest reply: Feb 26, 2004
Jokes and airport security
Posted Jan 21, 2004
Well someone else is in gaol after joking about having a bomb in her luggage. Whilst I'm amazed that anyone still believes customs and airport security men might have a sense of humour, I wonder if the security guys have thought things through. Presumably they imagine the following scenario:
SECURITY: What's in your backpack, sir?
TERRORIST: Three Kalashnikovs and some semtex.
S: I beg your pardon, sir?
T: I said three Kalashnikovs and some semtex.
S: Aha! That was your big mistake. Look, here come the armed coppers now.
T: B****r, they warned me about this at terrorist training camp, but did I listen? Nooo. I'll never be a martyr at this rate.
Discuss this Journal entry [10]
Latest reply: Jan 21, 2004
Bagpuss
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