A quick one, and not the best title I know.  But there’s been a noticeable increase of late in police numbers onthe streets around the office, and in tube/train stations on the way home.  Over the last fortnight, I’ve noticed at various times during the week there being at least 20 or 30 (and possibly many more on platforms and other lines) police officers putting in a presence at both Green Park station, Waterloo and Twickenham stations.

One of the guys at work was stopped randomly was searched (padded down, emptied bags, etc) under the terrorist act (can’t say No, basically), in Green Park station on the way home the other night, nothing came of it, of course.  And completely unrelated, but the police have closed off a lane outside the office and are searching cars too.  Though that’s probably licensing, more than anything.

A completely unrelated sign I spotted whilst on my way to the rugby on the weekend

It really makes me wonder though, since I’ve been here (especially since attempted car bombings in June* last year) there’s been an on/off police presence, which in a weird way I find oddly reassuring.  But it begs the question, “Why the sudden spikes in activity, and then nothing for a few days?”. Are these really just random, routine acts in a way that could make the public feel safer and feel like the government/metro police are doing something?  Or is there something more sinister going on?

I’m no conspiracy theorist, but suspicious one inside me notices an alarming difference between one police/security officer whom you may see at a stationi entrance or patrolling the street, and literally an army of officers stopping/searching/charging people as they go about they’re daily commute.

I still can’t help but think these stop and searches could be better conducted in the problem areas, not the terrorism problem, but the problem that is still gripping London, and thats youth gang stabbings and warfare.  I’d have to guess and say you’d be far more likely to find a butterfly knife on a dodgy looking youth in Brixton, than anything of Terrorist nature in the bag of an otherwise innocent Software developer in Mayfair.  Priorities!

But, in the end, we’ve just got to forget about it and get on with the task of getting home, god knows I’m not going to walk the whole distance.

I remember a few months ago, I thought to myself, it’s nice to have everything in a rythym (spelling?!).  The money was coming in, and more was being saved than I’d managed to the previous 24 years of my life, I was embarking on some exciting new work prospects, and I was writing on this page over twice a week.

What the hell happened?

Falling into a rythym, out of rythym

As I said, for a period (probably a lot shorter than I actually remember), I felt like I was getting things done, and working towards some goals.  The last 2 months has shattered this, and I’ve now managed to fall into a new rythym or being completely out of the previous beat I was following.  I shouldn’t blame myself too much, there’s been a lot of time consuming, money draining things going:

• the Wedding (enough said),
• the quasi HoneyMoon,
• the 3 different visits of different groups of family and friends, spanning now over the past 6 weeks; and
• the 4 holidays (of various lengths coming up to Paris, Southern England and of course Russia)

With all the interruptions, I’ve managed to lose a fantastic work oppurtunity (don’t ask, big project, stake in company, yada, yada….), eat and drink (badly) constantly and quite frankly waste a metric f$#kload of money.  And with things not paid for, such as the holidays I mentioned above, I can’t see any easy way out of immediate debt.

Planning…

So here I am, preaching to Google crawl bot (possibly this posts only audience, given its less than exciting nature), and getting my thoughts down on paper (we’ll call it, the interscroll), to come to a quick as possible solution to the problem.

I’ve spent the last hour updating the C&S Income/Expenditure budget (yet another thing, I’ve lost track of), and whilst things ain’t as glum as I thought they might be, it seems something has to give:

• stop on the spot purchases (easy, I’ll stop scouring internet shops in downtime at work)
• cut back on drinking/going out (should be fine, now that the visitors have moved on)
• borrow more money (read debt) from the bank, not a good idea.  The way things are going at the moment, I’m probably one of their favourite small-time customers.
• cut back on one of the holidays (kind of hard as it was booked months in advance (not with our money, at the time).

I find myself in the money pickle again, something I’m no stranger to.  I’m comfortable enough that I know I can be clear and mostly debt free again by say… September, but its the now that I can’t handle.

Completely off topic, but the book I’m reading at the moment, Tripwire (my 6th novel since April!), starts with a CEO of a faltering U.S electronics business going to a loan shark for a large loan.  In borrowing 1.1 million dollars, he falls into the trap of paying back a high interest rate, and giving a rather large proportion of his fledgling companies shares to the shark who sells them all instantly for nothing causing the banks to freak and dump his enourmous loans off on a large mortgage recovery operation (ftonted in the Cayman islands, by the loan shark himself).  This has nothing to do with my situation at all, but geez, show’s what debt and stupidity can do in times of desperation.

Recoupling on the rail to success….

I’ve got a 7 point plan to rectify this little situation of mine, firstly:

• enjoy the holiday to Russia, no point in stressing about that
• get all debts on the way to be being repaid by September 2008, this includes costs for the wedding, the previous personal loan, and credit card debt
• write at least two posts a week to HD911, content is the key
• continue reading novels, but branch out into some different authors, 4 books by one author (Lee Child) and 2 by another (Harlen Coben) is proving a little too much
• continue good things at the office
• get off my ass and get this work started and flowing again; and
• and keep exercising as much as possible, the 15 mile week (counted 4 trips from the office to Waterloo station (3.5miles) and smaller trips between work and Trafalgar Square) was a step in the right direction.

Let’s do this thing…. Yea!

Damn, it’s been the better part of 3 weeks since I made that nutty 2am post about feelings and love and stuff, which sets a new standard in the life of HD911.  Yes, its the longest time between posts yet, and I’ll have to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

We’ll pick up where I left off last time.  The day of the wedding turned out to be a complete success, which could be caused by the fact it was planned rather quickly.  It’s weird, that I’d guess the more thought and planning that was actually put into the event, the more things that can possibly go wrong.  A win-win situation for us really.  And the room the ceremony was held in, The Rosetti Room (Kensington & Chelsea Registry Office), was really pretty, though probably not as nice as it seems, on the website. Damn those photographers and your snazzy cameras.

Most of the weddings I’d been to previously were the church ceremony type affair, with the waiting, and the preparation, and the priest, and the music, and the crying, and the flower girls.  This was nothing like that at all, simply a nice, quiet room with a few friends and family and a registrant in the corner.  No sooner had I walked in to the room and heard 3 seconds of Have I told you lately by Van Morrison, that I had a ring on my finger and was walking back out the front door again, marching down the stairs with my new viiife (the lovely Catherine).

The Apprentice

The day continued to get better and better as we arrived at the London Apprentice in Isleworth about 11:00am and the sun was out, bright and blaring.  There’s no other way of describing it, apart from, “bloody awesome”. The turn out was really good as well with a few family and friends from each of our places of business.

This was about 2:00pm in the afternoon, I was already a little weary.  Who’s that fella on the right?

But I won’t comment any further, as I really can’t remember much after about early afternoon.

It’s the night before my wedding, no, scrap that. Let me re-phrase, it’s nine hours and twenty minutes before my wedding.  I’ve only just had a chance to sit down and actually think about the whole thing, I’m not nervous, or scared, or overwhelmed.  I’m just… happy!  I can’t really explain it, thoughts are running through my head at 1,000 miles an hour, many at the same time, but I do have an outstanding feeling of contentment.  The rest of the clan are over at the moment, and its great to be able to see them after a year, though it feels like yesterday that I saw them last anyway.

Note: Not anything like the suit I’ll be wearing tomorrow

In my pensive state, I figured out something though, I’m sure its blatantly obvious to everyone else, but I feel like a genius anyway, and I’m not talking the same kind of genius I was when I invented the Bloody Genius.

Do you know the real reason why you’re not supposed to see the bride the night before the wedding?

The answer to this became very obvious when I walked into the bedroom at 11:00pm, and Cath wasn’t there.  I wasn’t expecting her to be, as she’s spending the night over at a friends to keep with tradition.  But it’s blatantly obvious to me that something’s missing, and not just that, but I’m lonely as well, why else would I be writing this post?

I think if you can make the decision not to see your partner for the point of not seeing them, and then instantly wish it didn’t have to be that way and feel as lonely as I do right now, then that’s a compelling reason to make sure it never happens again.  And if the opposite was to occur, and on your last night of ‘freedom’‘ as they say you feel nothing whilst apart, then maybe that’s a good reason not to get married.

See, genius!

But, (and I don’t want to sound corny here), I didn’t need to have this experience to know that want to spend the rest of my life with just one certain person, I knew that already.  I knew that soon after we met almost 8 years ago, though I can’t remember the point it occured to me.

Now I’ve just got to remember all the things I’ve got to do for the big day tomorrow, which thankfully isn’t much.  I’ve got the rings safely in plain view so they’re not forgotten, and the certificate, and my suit & shirt are pressed.  Hell, even my shoes are buffed and polished, that’s some forward thinking right there.

Rings

Despite the integral people who’ll be missing tomorrow (you know who you are), I’m looking forward to it, despite its low-keyness.  There won’t be a big ceremony, nor confetti (at least I don’t think), a bouquet, a priest, a first dance or an enourmous feast.  But there most certainly will be the couple, speeches, toasts, good friends, some immediate family, food and drink, all at a nice little pub with a fair bit of history in what must be the best city in the world.  And for that, I’m looking forward to it.

And then Sunday, we’re off to Majorca in Spain, which sounds fantastic, like a little holiday island, and another place I’d never heard of before about a week ago.  Cath and I, my parents and my brother in a villa on a sunny island in Spain for four days!  Once again, a little unorthodox with regards to the normal wedding/honeymoon situation, but I haven’t seen them all in such a long while, it’ll be great.

I’m in London Still*….. I’m getting married, and, I’m loving it!

* Weirdly enough the Waif’s song London Still just came on while I wrote the last line, and it really just seemed to slot into place.

You can ask anyone, I’m not usually one to pick up a book, and it’s even more unlikely that I’d be caught reading one.  In fact over the last year, apart from daily reads of websites (which often contain relatively large stories/articles), and various tech (read: geek) books, the only books I’ve read are:

• Tucker Max - I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell…
• Maddox - The Alphabet of Manliness

In the last ten days I’ve doubled this, and now I’m onto my third book.  This is amazing because, as we’ve already estabilished, I don’t read, so it takes something unusual to break the literary drought.  And I’ve definitely that something I think.  Lee Child’s alter ego Jack Reacher is just about the most interesting character I’ve ever read about, which tells me a) Child write’s f*&king good books, or b) I’m uncultured and haven’t read anywhere near enough books.  I’ll go with option a, because I know how cultured and cool I am.

So far, I’ve read too of Child’s books, One Shot, and Bad Luck and Trouble, which kept me glued from start to finish.  The former is about a seemingly random mass murder in Indiana by a trained sniper where the crime is completely faked and made to look like it was a retired army Marine who did the shooting, and the victim’s weren’t all completely random (shock horror).  The latter involves half of Reacher’s old Army group getting killed for uncovering a plot to ship new U.S missile technology to terrorists and Reacher meets up with the remaining four members of the group to bring justice to those taken down.  As usual, weapons, money and a whole lot of violence is involved.

One thing I really liked about the first book (that I didn’t notice as much in the second) is that the whole book plays out almost exactly like a Law and Order episode.  I’m a Law and Order nut, if its on I’ll watch it, and even episodes I’ve seen before rate pretty high on the re-watchability scale (as long as they’re not watched in close succession).  Apart from the abomination that was Trial By Jury, or Justice By Jury (something like that), I’ve liked pretty much every episode that I’ve watched in the past 18 series the original show has been running.  And I appreciated that about One Shot.  It plays out like any cop/military drama, and it keeps interest the whole time.

I’d had Lee Child recommended to me recently, and by coincidence, the newspaper The Evening Standard happened to have a free copy if you bought a copy of the paper.  So I guess advertising works, as I’ll now probably continue and buy the rest of his books, starting from the first of the series of course.

Anybody want to recommend me some good reading?

I’m afraid, I think I’ve been duped by April Fool’s Day again, and its not the first time.

One of my favourite sites back home is Whirlpool, for well over a decade now it’s provided a relatively unbiased view of the broadband situation in Australian, form the humble and mediocre beginnings of one way satellite, ISDN and others as a form of broadband medium right through to current technologies such as ADSL2+, WiMAX and Fibre technologies.  It’s owner, Simon Wright, has always stood heavily on neutral ground, and has a strong policy against defamation and vendor verdicts, despite the fact I’m sure there could be a lot of money in subtley pointing what is now “8.6 million people visit ninemsn each month, representing 73 per cent of active Australian Internet users” toward one of Australia’s bigger telco’s.

So when I logged on half an hour ago and read the front page, entitled “ninemsn acquires leading online discussion site” , I was appalled at the thought that Simon may have finally sold out.  So appalled that I wrote a reply to the discussion on the topic believing while I was writing it I was the first to reply as the the reply counter had been artificially set to 0.  That is, of course until I pressed post, and I’d realised I’d joined the masses, one of several hundred who’d logged on almost simulataneously to express their deep regret over this sad occasion.

The Dead Giveaway

Who’s the patsy now though?  I am…… again.

I can remember being fooled by April Fools Jokes on Websites on at least five occasions now, two of which I knew clearly it was April Fools Day and I was still so convinced by the writeup I’d instantly believed it.  One year comes to mind when the writer of a similarly sized Australian forum informed everyone that as of the start of May, all forum subscriptions would attract a monthly fee and a fee per message sent.  As you can imagine (like a cell full of stupids) this provoked uproar, aggression and upset an awful lot of people, especially once they’d realised they’d fallen one of the most obvious tricks.  Many were shamed due to their responses.

April Fools Day does seem to be a big event on the net though, with sites from all over the globe, large and small, making obsurd claims that people fall for year after year.  Some notable examples are:

• The Google Search Tool that can see into the future
• Googles TISP, providing mega broadband to the masses, via peoples Toilet and plumbing
• Google’s Paper - providing a free priting service to print all your incoming email onto hardcopy paper.. cheap.
• (see a trend happening here)?

Ever since learning the meaning the word Ubuntu on the National Geographic channel (or was it the new Tv show Life Is Wild, i admit it, i’ve been watching it), it’s been popping up all over the place. I’ve seen it on TV, in the newspaper, and even heard it the other day on the Tube. It almost seems like the perfect example of the Baader Meinhof phenomenom (this is where a person hears, see’s or really notices/understands something, then by sheer coincidence the person hears/sees/notices the word/object/saying over and over again). Of course, as the Damn Interesting article suggests, in all likelihood, the word Ubuntu is probably used/seen every day, which of course it is, given the huge popularity of the Ubuntu Operating System. But as the theory suggests, I think about the word differently now that I’ve put thought into it, it’s no longer a label, a thing but a story, all in one.

Yesterday, whilst perusing the highly dissapointing Covent Garden Lolly shop, Cybercandy, I discovered Ubuntu Cola, a fairtrade soft drink made with fair trade African sugar. Given I drink hardly any soft drink anymore, and my days of coke bingeing are all but over, I thought I’d give it a go. To say it was terrible would be an understatement, I’m just too much of a Coke snob I think. But I like what it stands for, and it has a cool name. Here’s hoping the bin enjoyed the other half of the can as much as I did!

Ubuntu Cola

 

Update 28/02: By some freak of Beider Meinhoff coincidence I saw an article on the morning paper about the word Ubuntu and this particular cola.

I was at our local weatherspoons, the William Webb Ellis, the other night, and they had an interesting sign on the counter comparing their prices to local pubs. This was all very interesting as some of the prices weren’t just less than others, they were a half for even a third.

Now I don’t drink redbull and vodka, but a double smirnoff and redbull for £3 is awesome, especially the rice elsewhere was £7 or more, and i can remember paying at least $10AUD at clubs for a single back in Perth.

When does this type of advertising become slander though? In this age of law suits and rules about vendor verdicts, why can a store hang a sign stating how much better their prices are than competitors? But i guess it happens more than i first thought.

I know, before I say anything, its been a long time between posts, and before my last it was a fair while between those. I’m in a definite state of limbo recently, in regards to pretty much everything and I’ve just let a few things slip. Like my bear for instance:

… Only Kiddin, it doesn’t look near this bad.

Anyway, I just worked out, within the last week that the British Home Office was in the process of tightening up their immigration laws, and as of March 1st 2008, its not going to be so easy to get the Highly Skilled Migrant Visa (HSMP) anymore. This sucks for me, as after July 1st this year, I’ll have used up my allowed employment time (12 months out of the 24 month holiday Visa).

I have earned enough, however to apply for the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, which allows me to work pretty much anywhere, and 5 years in the UK without restriction, and best of all the time counts toward residency. The rules change slightly after Leap Year Day Day (29th Feb, 2008) though, the main causes for concern being that the cost now rises by £400 pounds (from the already expensive £750), and you need to go back to your home country to apply for it. There are many other changes to, like the fact having an MBA doesn’t automatically qualify you for the Visa now, and some of the points for various skills have been reduced somewhat.

But then the story gets worse….

Not only will I have to go back to Australia (if I chose this path after the cut off date), I’ll have to wait 4 months killing time back home until my visa request is processed so I can come back again! So, on current flight costs I’ve worked out the total cost of getting a new visa at:

Cost Of Visa: £1150

Cost of return Flight: £900

Lost income in work time: ~£16,000 (minus £ lost to tax)

Time spent saving up now so I’ve paid my share of the rent and food, and general bills/expenses: at least 2 months

That hurts, it really does. So I’m in a mad rush now, to try and organise all the paper work and cash required for the visa application (I’m willing to pay the £200 person to person interview fee for obvious reasons) by the 28th of February. It just depends how quickly my university can send me over the Proof of Completion of Studies form. I have my degree, and my transcript, I even have my high school transcript. But to the British Commission, that’s just not good enough. You need a letter from the chancellor of your university stating that at the majority of your course work was taught in English.

The fact I went to an Australian university (and have a degree to show for it) doesn’t cut it. They need proof, and solid proof at that.

I will do whatever I can to avoid making the trip back home though, not that i woudn’t mind seeing friends and family, on the contrary. I’d love to, just it is a huge drain on time and money.

Visa time it is….

Yes, so I was bored the other day at work, and what do we do when we’re bored, unproductive and not doing something creative like inventing weekly drinking days? We waste time on the internetz, and the flavour of the day was taking pointless online medical tests, because in this age of hypochondriacal madness who better to diagnose my mental state than a two-bit test on the internet? The first of the two was the ADHD Test at PhsycCentral.com, and the second was the quirky and manic inducing OCD Test on the ADAA’s website.

PsychCentral.com’s ADHD Test

In this day and age where every kid has some form of this elusive condition, and care-free doctor’s are giving away far too many prescription pills to worry-ridden over-bearing mother’s (or at least to crafty teenage entrepeneurs) it seemed like a good idea to take this test, to guage where one might stand, you know, in the scheme of things. I’m of the opinion that my rapidly declining memory and cognitive ability, which I was once quite proud of, is due to the effect of age, decreased mental stimulation and alcohol abuse. But I’m open to interpretation, and there I thought there might be a slight chance that the reason my attention span, and general attention to detail is so poor may have something to do with with this magical phenomenon.

Upon taking the test, I was greeted by the usual standard questions, “I say things without thinking, and later regret having said them.”, “In conversations, I start to answer questions before the questions have been fully asked.”, “Even when sitting quietly, I am usually moving my hands or feet.”, “I am distressed by the disorganized way my brain works.” Check, Yes, Very much so.  Cool, I thought, I’m a total and utter head case.  Nope, I rated in the Low to Mild ADHD category, falling far short of the target Moderate Level ADHD, or indeed the coveted trophy prize Adult ADHD.

First test a failure (or success, depending on which way you look at it), seemingly I’d wasted 5 minutes.  This got me thinking though, I’m only 24, which would is considered young by most standards.  Is it out of the ordinary that I’m noticing myself getting old (never thought I’d say that), or am I artificially accelerating this to a point that I’m noticing it early?? Bah!

ADAA.org’s OCD Test

For my next short term time waster I chose the OCD test, for those not in the know that’s Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and really I think there’s a little in everyone of us.  From the simple need to alphabetically sort a DVD or Book collection, clean the house, or line the pegs up on the clothes line in Colour/Size order (yes, I’ve been guilty of all three, though not compulsively) through to obsessive cleaning of ones hands, OCD is a very real beast that affects… people.  Errr.

I’m not completely sure if the writers of this test were having a laugh (is he ‘avin a laff??) when they wrote this page, or if they’re just down right mean, but a certain element that is missing would send even the most sane of people into a manic episode.  They left out the Submit button.  Ha!

Just imagine it, x number of OCD suspects want a semi-professional opinion so before sectioning themselves for good, they consult the doctor in a box, and proceed to type in parts of their innermost thoughts and secrets.  When crunch time occurs, and they’ve completed the entry section they look forward to recieveing the answer and solving the problem once and for all, so they search for the Submit/Upload/OK button.  No button!  So what do they do?? Do exactly what I did, I suspect, assume its part of the test and click like a mad mescaline munching donkey until the answer could be found.

Only it couldn’t, because it wasn’t there, and there was no form, only inputs, radio’s and some random links that went nowhere!  That’ll fuck em, least that’s what I bet the ADAA were thinking.

So anyway, Shannon 1, work day 0.