BHP

BHP is one of the biggest companies in the world. Their helpdesk is currently outsourced to IBM, and run by about 5 or 6 guys in India. It seems this is upsetting the high level staff that work in the London office.

The Lengthening Shadow

Or shortening, I'm not sure? Anyway. It seems the longer days are almost here again.

Am I just being massaged?

The other week, my boss pulled me outside and discussed a few things with me. This came after a team meeting the day before, and a chat i'd had with HR before that. Essentially he told me he was working me towards managed services - more server side than desktop side. Great, I thought.

Ruby Blue

Apparently rubies are blue. This came about because at th end of last year, we splashed out £30 on a Taste Card. The Taste card gets us 50% off or 2-4-1 offers at a huge number of restaurants around London and, we believe, other places in te UK. We'll test this in Bath.

Bath !

We don't have one of these in our apartment. So we're off to Bath for the weekend. Of course, that doesn't guarantee we'll have a bath in our hotel room. However, some of the Hilton rooms do have baths, so we've asked if we can have one of those. We may strike out.

New Years in London

So, I'm getting old, stodgy and boring. I tend to find places with loud music a little uncomfortable, because I can't distinguish properly between the background noise, and conversation.
Crowds also piss me off. And we were both unwell

so different, yet the same

So rather than read a local newspaper like the Times, or something distinctly London based, I read the Age online. And this morning, an article made me realise that while it's so different, it's still all the same.

I quote for you:

Christmas Presents

So we had earlier decided that we weren't going to bother with christmas presents for each other - we've spent rather a lot of money this year. So apart from our christmas lunch, christmas was fairly uneventful.

Singularity Christmas

While it may be far from the first christmas we have spent together, this year was the first christmas we actually spent alone. Figuratively speaking. It doesn't mean we couldn't eat up a storm though.

I'm dreaming of a white christmas...

Well, not dreaming so much, because it's looking like becoming a reality. I got up this morning at around 10am, it was snowing. It continued to snow for at least 3 hours. And not just a light shower.

Not so wintry

Today is our planned trip to Winter Wonderland. I was really looking forward to this - outdoor ice skating rink, skating around in the snow, little snowwy thinggies falling on our faces and stuff.
Unfortunately, all the snow has gone away. There's actually a nice, clear blue sky out there.

Rhiannon doesn't agree

(In fact, she thinks i'm kind of nuts) but this is possibly the coolest, Ever. We've been hearing for days about how it's going to snow. It was supposed to snow on Saturday, etc. It's now Tuesday.

And I'm disappointed, because by the time we woke up, there was already white outside, so we actually missed the first snow of the year. (Incidently, it's not even December yet.)

Oxford St Christmas lights

Today, coincidentally, coincided with the American Express VIP shopping day on Oxford St here in London. Basically, they closed the street to through traffic, and only allowed pedestrians.

We needed to buy a proper winter jacket for Rhiannon - her leather jacket is not only old and sullen, but also not really keeping her warm. So despite the cold weather, the threat of the first snow of the year, 1 blocked nose, 1 chest cold, 1 head cold combined with spacey, out of this world feeling, we ventured down to Oxford st, leaving our warm, comfy abode about 2:00pm.

Weather's here, wish you were fine.

As you may recall, we left in February. At the tail end of yet another Melbourne heat wave. It was kinda cold when we got here, but we adjusted, then it became a lovely, warm, sunny summer, not just here, but also in Europe.

It's now November.

More Chip Flavours

So I see that recently, my post on Chip Flavours has been quite popular. (Yes, that's right, I'm a little man, sitting in a server room, looking at everything you do. I can also Read Your Email.)

So, I thought I'd write another post on chip flavours. This one refers to chicken flavoured chips, and is quite pleasing, while saddening at the same time. So let's crack on chaps. (See how I dropped some english-speak in there ?:P)

A French Dinner...

As Rhiannon was working it the city this week, we've been travelling in and home together. Except last night, I finished at 7. So she met me at work and we went out for a bit before heading home.

Ahhh unions

Last time, it didn't bother us so much - we weren't getting round so much. But today was the next in a series of strikes orchestrated by London Underground employees. If you're not aware, London Underground runs what is colloquially known as the Tube, moving more than 1 billion people a year. It's a vast network, with heaps of interconnecting lines, so you can almost _always_ find a way to get where you're going.

Anyway, this week, Rhiannon had to work in the city, meaning we can catch the Tube together, which is fun :) Until the union workers strike, throwing the entire transit system, and likely the city, into disarray

More work!

It is with great interest that I can report on the status of Rhiannon's job hunt - she has been offered a role that she starts on Monday with a recruitment firm in Watford. It's exactly the sort of role she wants, and is very excited about it.

So yay, we can do some more travel next summer.

bah, it's just money.

Once we got back from Paris, we sat down, worked out how much money we had, and a budget. Last night, we set a definitive date when we would have to pack up and run home with our tails between our legs.

That date was defined as October 31st. It's about the only point where we can afford to get back, and still have (some) money to try and settle back in Melbourne.

Down and out in London...

is actually a biographical story by George Orwell. Things are looking up on the interview front for both of us, so it's just a matter of time now. In particular I'm getting much more interest than I was previously. So, we're not down and out yet.