Caffeine... bringer of so much joy, and as such I enjoy a nice cup of coffee and read my daily dose of Bovine News and yet again I stumble across an arbitrary piece of "shock" journalism that really should be no-news but as its Fox News thats reporting it, I had to laugh.
The article can be here and as far as stating the obvious goes, it does it pretty well. I could've told you years ago that young women were going out and intentionally getting pregnant but I'm not going to say "I told you so" because I think a lot of us knew this.
The thing I want to build on from this article is the very last comment below the advert of "Neal's comments come as figures show England and Wales have the highest rates of teenage pregnancies in Europe — with the biggest growth among girls under 16.". This is quite a worrying statistic...
I mean why is this just Europe.. surely its then true of the developed world too, I mean what other first world countries are there outside of Europe that have a high rate of teenage pregnancy? I would think even the Chinese (questionably second world) and the educated Indians (again, Second World really...) have curtailed their rutting for their teenage years in favour of a better life so why in the UK are we doing so much fucking?
The simple answer is the welfare state. Most girls can see they are infinitely "more independent" with child so why not have one young and continue spitting them out throughout their lives so they never have to work, and constantly get support from the state. Hell, its got to be better than working in McDonalds... just ask the guy who impregnated them!
I had to laugh that the slag wagon got pregnant on the "first try" with her 13 year old boyfriend... pretty good going as far as I'm aware! Better reporting that than she had a gizzfest with 5 of the local chavs with any one of them potentially being the father, I mean we might be having a lot of teenage pregnancies, but don't make us out to be promiscuous to boot.
The sooner this Labour government gets the chop the better; a government that started with so much promise and potential and has consistently failed to delivery year after year, consistently shafted the British public year after year, and in actuality, just been spouting hot air for almost three terms now. Somehow the tabloid buying masses haven't cottoned on to this and this pretentious prick is still the voice of the UK.
The only man who has ever really had my vote ended up being an alcoholic (we smell our own I guess!) and the current wave of ball bags are laughable at best. David Cameron has my vote at the next election, but even he reminds me of that "wannabe cool guy geek" from school that everyone laughed at behind his back because everyone knew he was secretly a douche. The one with all the "radical ideas" that are so painfully middle of the road it makes you cringe. The guy who got drunk a few days before his 18th birthday and was now a "rebel". The Robert Aide of the Conservative party... (if you didn't go to high school with me you won't know who he is but just think David Cameron with Milky Bar kid white hair and you'll be on the right lines).
I died a little more inside today...
Monday 26 February 2007
Tuesday 20 February 2007
The Cock and Balls Project
Well London has now 100% fallen through... what a shit load of fuck! It has been one thing after another really and in some respects Im glad it has. They showed as much compassion as Adolf Hitler with a bus load of Jews holding a firebomb to my sob story of why I couldnt make it for my first day and needed some extra time to you know, relocate to the shithole that is London.He is my sob story:
Dear Adolf,
Well it really has been a weekend of despair and madness, and of plans changing and changing again. Essentially I have been let down by both my places to stay in the London area and in turn, am not going to be able to start without a little help/after a few days of house hunting.
Having only let me know yesterday that my family can no longer put me up, my friend in Northampton let me know he will be away on business for a week, I have been frantically searching for a viable solution all day.
If I had money to burn I would've quite simply drove down this afternoon and found a short term B&B until I could find a decent place to rent, but knowing i will undoubtedly need every penny I have for a deposit etc I did not feel this was a great solution. Knowing nothing of London I do not know what areas are good, and what are not, and I would really like to get a thumbs up before jumping into something, even in the short term.
So I'm left with a dilemma, no place to stay and am open to suggestions! I really will need to be in the area to look for a flat, but at the same time I can't afford to be traveling back and forth to view properties. I really am drawing blanks when it comes to London now as its so expensive, and although Ill be ok once I have a place sorted in the right area, if Im not able to preview anything before hand, or discuss with people experienced in the area (i.e. people at work!) Im a bit lost!
Which leads me to ask for some advice in this scenario. I want to get down as soon as possible but Im a little inexperienced when it comes to renting/relocating and am just out of ideas! I need something cheap and short term, and don't mind traveling a bit to get in within reason. I hate to have to bring this on you, but I really don't know what else to do.
I seem to recall you mentioning you are not in tomorrow so I will call to confirm the theme of this email with the number I have, and I'll hope to hear from you soon. I will do my uttermost to minimise the amount of time it takes to find somewhere to stay.
Kind Regards,
David Brown
Not too weak, not too anything other than you've given me a week to relocate to London, plans have changed and are out of my control. This was sent on Sunday night, when I knew there would be no way of me making it.
On Monday I contacted them and spoke to probably the rudest man I have ever had the displeasure of speaking to, their MD.. a supposed Upper Echelon of their team, but he was nothing other than a giant vagina with sand in. Three of the comments that left me with a severely bad taste in my mouth included "We are not a Housing Agent", "I don't see how where you live is in any way our problem" and "We have set up a computer for you, that was a complete waste of time".
To which he left the conversation by telling me Adolf would be in touch and left me know what is going to happen. I immediately contacted my recruiters to let them know what this giant douche had said.
Low and behold, today at about 12pm I got an email off Adolf to let me know the following:
As Paul pointed out, this was a reply to the previous email... doesnt take a genius to realise my no show wasn't in any way shape or form unannounced! His "ripples through management" comment is pure class... it makes my joining their team sound like a world shattering event, and by not doing so I may have caused the Earth to implode!
David,
Your unannounced no-show on your first day of employment has sent ripples through the management here at the Cock and Balls Project. This has not only disrupted schedules but also wasted time as various people have been making preparations. This firm has now lost faith in your relationship with us.
Unfortunately, due to the gravity of this situation, we are withdrawing our offer of employment at The Cock and Balls Project. We feel that this is the best route for the both of us.
We wish you all the best for your future.
Best,
Adolf H.
So I'm back to the drawing board on the job front... not the best news Ive ever shared but its probably (definately) for the best. Which now leaves me with this...
Day off work... £70... Diesel...£35.. M6 Toll Road... £8...Subway in Shithole London...£7... Starbucks Coffee... £2
Getting out of a dickhole company before you start work for them... priceless!
Getting out of a dickhole company before you start work for them... priceless!
Fuck Yahoo in the Ass
Hi Pop Pickers... I've moved my blog from Yahoo 360 to Blogger for several reasons:
ps. I amending the template to make the blog look more me, and if you are using a resolution less than 1024x768 then be prepared to have to use that scroll bar... Im not punishing my visitors because you cant read small text/are blind.. damn 800x600 websites piss me off!
- It allows me greater control over my content, formatting and what I can and can't do with my works
- It's a lot more powerful than Yahoo 360 in terms of content
- MySpace is only used by 13 year old kids, paedos and the internet retarded... their interface is horrid and I don't need a bunch of sycophant faux friends telling me how cool I am, that my work is amazing or asking if I want to buy Viagra.
- Yahoo are a bunch of money grabbing bastards... Google are less so!
- Did I mention I hate Yahoo??
ps. I amending the template to make the blog look more me, and if you are using a resolution less than 1024x768 then be prepared to have to use that scroll bar... Im not punishing my visitors because you cant read small text/are blind.. damn 800x600 websites piss me off!
Wednesday 14 February 2007
BBC News Bullsh1t spin machine
God Bless the BBC, and their totalitarian control of the TV Licensing market in the UK, ruling with an iron fist and demanding their pay. I know of very few other systems where you can demand a subscription fee for an arguably unasked for service (WoW addiction is somewhat like this!). Not really... eff them in the A, the buch of cocklords!
I was having my usual caffeine break this afternoon when I picked up on the usual spun bullshit that most news networks put out, one that the BBC is usually pretty good a weedling out. I hate the concept of University topup fees at the best of times, and whilst it doesnt immediately affect me, Tony Blair and the Labour government do piss me off. Anyway, I found this article :
Applications to university rise
To which I really had to respond. The Higher Education Minister, Bill Rammell proves himself to be a pompous arsehole, typical of these kind of positions. His comment of :
..is cringeworthy at best. These figures in no way prove critics of the new system wrong! How does a system with only one solution that has an increase in popularity instantly justify the new system?! Is this not called Communism?!!??!
Given we are in a "like it or lump it" situation, how are the critics proved wrong? Please, Bill.. just put me straight on this one! I wonder how many students would opt to go to University in other countries given a better choice. All this study goes to show is that University is now easier to get into that Paris Hiltons knickers...
In any case, I had to respond. I have posted my comments just in case the BBC don't publish them...
As ever, I don't have all the answers, but Ill voice my opinion when something retarded like this has been slipped into the general stream of palatable media. Thanks Tony, thanks a lot for stinking up the Universities of this country with the idiots that should be serving me my McDonalds at lunchtime. Ill have to make my own butties soon.... geez!
I was having my usual caffeine break this afternoon when I picked up on the usual spun bullshit that most news networks put out, one that the BBC is usually pretty good a weedling out. I hate the concept of University topup fees at the best of times, and whilst it doesnt immediately affect me, Tony Blair and the Labour government do piss me off. Anyway, I found this article :
Applications to university rise
To which I really had to respond. The Higher Education Minister, Bill Rammell proves himself to be a pompous arsehole, typical of these kind of positions. His comment of :
"These highest ever figures show that tuition fees are not putting students off applying to university, as many predicted. The critics of the new system are being proved emphatically wrong."
..is cringeworthy at best. These figures in no way prove critics of the new system wrong! How does a system with only one solution that has an increase in popularity instantly justify the new system?! Is this not called Communism?!!??!
Given we are in a "like it or lump it" situation, how are the critics proved wrong? Please, Bill.. just put me straight on this one! I wonder how many students would opt to go to University in other countries given a better choice. All this study goes to show is that University is now easier to get into that Paris Hiltons knickers...
In any case, I had to respond. I have posted my comments just in case the BBC don't publish them...
This study proves nothing about the popularity of tuition fees or the "new system", it is just yet another indication of the slow decline of standards in our secondary schools and colleges. Exams have become easier over the years (thanks to a mixture of dumbing down questions and teaching pupils how to pass the exams rather than educating them) and thus we are left in a predicament where the bovine masses all want to go to University thanks to their 6 AS Levels at grade D.
Giving the false hope that you will be better off by gaining a degree whilst accruing thousands of pounds of debt is ridiculous. I am fortunate enough to be employed on the back of my solid Software Engineering degree; I wonder how many Travel and Tourism Bachelors graduated, only to end up back in a job in something soul destroying?
As ever, I don't have all the answers, but Ill voice my opinion when something retarded like this has been slipped into the general stream of palatable media. Thanks Tony, thanks a lot for stinking up the Universities of this country with the idiots that should be serving me my McDonalds at lunchtime. Ill have to make my own butties soon.... geez!
Tuesday 13 February 2007
London Part 2 : Expensive to get to... I mean WTF!?!
London; the city of dreams.. a place of big business, high flying jobs, vibrant city life and brilliant prospects. What a load of bollocks!
Just getting to the place is an absolute joke! Ive been pricing up the train (thinking about the environment and all..) and its an hour journey from Northampton to Londons Euston Road so logic would suggest that a train would be cheaper than owning a car and driving that distance... and you know what, you'd be dead wrong!!
My good friend James lives in Northampton you see, and rather than jump into any old shithole (as Im sure there are many in London) I asked him if I could stay with him until I find Amy and I a nice 1 bedroom apartment that wont involve me having to subsidise my salary by giving handjobs on the subway to afford. I know it will be a ballache but as its short term (and half the time I spent on the road getting to and from Leeds) I know I can cope.
But the sheer expense of the train journey is shocking. I emailed Silverlink yesterday to inquire to the pricing of a pass for the "season" which range from week passes to a full year and here was the response...
I knew London was expensive, but I assumed the transport to it would be relatively cheap.. you know, to encourage people to visit the capital! A weeks railpass for the whole of the Japanese rail system is about the same as that, and I can travel the length of Japan on that!!! This is extortion of the highest degree..
So... why is the UK promoting the use of public transport when it is far cheaper for me to own and drive a car that distance (maybe not into London thanks to congestion charging, but Im talking about distance wise)?? Diesel, even by UK standards would be a maximum of £5-7 a day, plus car insurance, the car, maintenance etc so why in the hell is a train that holds hundreds of people going to cost £19.85 a day?!
Not to even mention the overall inconvenience of trains... I mean UK trains are dirty, smelly, full of chavs and terrorists, and the winner of all, always (and I mean always) delayed/cancelled/late. The UK has some of the worst public transport in the world... why oh why is it the most expensive. I have to walk to the train station in the morning (the UK is hardly Spain or Italy where this might actually be pleasant at 7:30am... and its probably 15 minutes) and then from Euston Road I can get the subway for 4 stops (more expense) or walk approximately 20 minutes to Regent Street... fuck the environment, give me my nice, comfortable, cheaper car any day of the week.
I died a little more inside today... this country... i mean jeez!
Just getting to the place is an absolute joke! Ive been pricing up the train (thinking about the environment and all..) and its an hour journey from Northampton to Londons Euston Road so logic would suggest that a train would be cheaper than owning a car and driving that distance... and you know what, you'd be dead wrong!!
My good friend James lives in Northampton you see, and rather than jump into any old shithole (as Im sure there are many in London) I asked him if I could stay with him until I find Amy and I a nice 1 bedroom apartment that wont involve me having to subsidise my salary by giving handjobs on the subway to afford. I know it will be a ballache but as its short term (and half the time I spent on the road getting to and from Leeds) I know I can cope.
But the sheer expense of the train journey is shocking. I emailed Silverlink yesterday to inquire to the pricing of a pass for the "season" which range from week passes to a full year and here was the response...
Thank you for your enquiry,
Season Tickets between Northampton and London Terminals (for Euston) will cost £92.70 for one week, £356.00 for one month, £1068.00 for three months and £3708.00 for one year. You can purchase your season ticket online, or at any staffed mainline station. To purchase a season ticket, you must have a photocard. These can be obtained from any mainline station, by taking along a passport size photograph.
regards
Barry Cochrane
Season Ticket Helpdesk
£92.70 for a week?!?!?!?!? What in the living piss is that about?!
I knew London was expensive, but I assumed the transport to it would be relatively cheap.. you know, to encourage people to visit the capital! A weeks railpass for the whole of the Japanese rail system is about the same as that, and I can travel the length of Japan on that!!! This is extortion of the highest degree..
So... why is the UK promoting the use of public transport when it is far cheaper for me to own and drive a car that distance (maybe not into London thanks to congestion charging, but Im talking about distance wise)?? Diesel, even by UK standards would be a maximum of £5-7 a day, plus car insurance, the car, maintenance etc so why in the hell is a train that holds hundreds of people going to cost £19.85 a day?!
Not to even mention the overall inconvenience of trains... I mean UK trains are dirty, smelly, full of chavs and terrorists, and the winner of all, always (and I mean always) delayed/cancelled/late. The UK has some of the worst public transport in the world... why oh why is it the most expensive. I have to walk to the train station in the morning (the UK is hardly Spain or Italy where this might actually be pleasant at 7:30am... and its probably 15 minutes) and then from Euston Road I can get the subway for 4 stops (more expense) or walk approximately 20 minutes to Regent Street... fuck the environment, give me my nice, comfortable, cheaper car any day of the week.
I died a little more inside today... this country... i mean jeez!
Tuesday 6 February 2007
London: Expensive and dirty, I expected nothing less!
If you didn't know, I had a job interview in London on Regent Street (yes, very lar di dar) yesterday so I had to travel down for it early doors to make it for my 2:40pm appointment. I set off at 7am and was surprised to only really hit 2 patches of traffic on the way down, taking a total of 4 1/2 hours to get to Edgware.
Edgware is one of the outer regions on the subway into London, and this rather dismal and dirty town was what I expected of an outer London town; a relatively innocuous place with nothing of real interest there. The houses pretown center were rather nice though, and I felt secure leaving the Bora on a street with houses with Porsche 4x4s and 3 Mercs up the drive.
So I got to the Subway and the ripoff began, being charged £6.75 for a 40 minute return subway journey (although I am to believe with an Oyster card its half that, but thats still far too expensive). The tube station was filthy, the seats on board were grimy and in need of repair, and the comfort factor was just non-existent. For the price of the subway I would've expected it to be the best in the world (it must surely be the most expensive) but compared to other big cities I've used (Hong Kong and Seoul being the other 2) this was a big let down. It was functional, but considering both HKs and Seouls subways are younger, and far cheaper (40-80p a journey maximum) London really does need to do something about this.
In any case, I arrived at Oxford Circus at about 12:30, so I had so time to kill. I took a right out of the subway (which proved to be the wrong decision; Regent Street is LEFT out of the subway!!) and walked down Oxford Street in search of the building. After about 10 minutes I decided I'd headed in the wrong direction so grabbed a coffee in Starbucks (for a city it was standard price in fairness, £1.99 for the largest Standard Coffee) and pulled out the Sat. Nav for directions.
It couldn't get a signal at all, so I just used is as a glorified map and found that I had indeed gone the wrong way. No harm, no foul... I still had at least an hour to get to the interview and it was all of about 4 streets away, so I just relaxed in Starbucks to the always chilled grooves, enjoying my coffee and my favorite pastime in cities of people watching.
It always amazes me, the colourful array of people in the city, from the Businessman in his Suit and Tie, to the tramps with crumbs in their beards, they all look like they have a story to tell. I wanted to pull out the D70 and take a few snaps, but felt it was a little inappropriate, plus I didn't want it getting nicked so it stayed in the bag. I spotted this little Eskimo guy holding a billboard that made me think about Ben, and whether he had a decent job in London yet.. lol.. or whether he was still doing something as soul destroying at the little Eskimo dude.
He looked so sad in his parker and big mittens, with his hood firmly up. I wanted to take a long shutter speed photo of him stood there with people walking by him, it would've been a perfect example of workers being exploited for commercialisation in a busy world, but again, I was in a Starbucks and didn't want to be clicking away with my (expensive) camera.
So after finishing my coffee I walked to Regent Street; the place I was being interviewed at was 3 stores down from Hamleys, so I killed the rest of the time I had wandering in there! If I was a spoiled brat its the kind of place I could imagine running riot in, certainly a place where childrens dreams are made from. I had to laugh as there were no sale items at all.. not surprising really, so I didn't bother buying anything.
After that I went to stand outside the place for 10 minutes or so to get some fresh air and prepare myself for the interview. I was approached by a gypsy woman with some fake flowers, which she put in my top pocket of my blazer. She proceeded with some kind of sob story about giving money "for the kiddies" and when I gave her the shrapnel I had (all of 30p) she tried to kiss me. She had warts, boils and a beard, which wasnt the only reason I pushed her, but it was enough to try and prevent myself getting some disease. She said most people are giving about a fiver, which I LOLed at and gave her the flower back. *shudders* ... dirty bitch!
So I went into the interview relatively confident; I'd done my Space Invaders demo for them, which they were very happy with so I had a good grounds to sell myself from... which I did to the best of my abilities. It went well in my opinion, and I left pretty pleased with doing all I could to try and secure the job.
Which they have JUST this second offered me!
As I was blogging this, they called to offer me the position. They're emailing me the details now and all I have to do is say yes! My fingers are crossed that the proposed accommodation isnt too scrubby, and that all the details and good, but I could be officially working on Regent Street sometime soon!
London, here we come!
Edgware is one of the outer regions on the subway into London, and this rather dismal and dirty town was what I expected of an outer London town; a relatively innocuous place with nothing of real interest there. The houses pretown center were rather nice though, and I felt secure leaving the Bora on a street with houses with Porsche 4x4s and 3 Mercs up the drive.
So I got to the Subway and the ripoff began, being charged £6.75 for a 40 minute return subway journey (although I am to believe with an Oyster card its half that, but thats still far too expensive). The tube station was filthy, the seats on board were grimy and in need of repair, and the comfort factor was just non-existent. For the price of the subway I would've expected it to be the best in the world (it must surely be the most expensive) but compared to other big cities I've used (Hong Kong and Seoul being the other 2) this was a big let down. It was functional, but considering both HKs and Seouls subways are younger, and far cheaper (40-80p a journey maximum) London really does need to do something about this.
In any case, I arrived at Oxford Circus at about 12:30, so I had so time to kill. I took a right out of the subway (which proved to be the wrong decision; Regent Street is LEFT out of the subway!!) and walked down Oxford Street in search of the building. After about 10 minutes I decided I'd headed in the wrong direction so grabbed a coffee in Starbucks (for a city it was standard price in fairness, £1.99 for the largest Standard Coffee) and pulled out the Sat. Nav for directions.
It couldn't get a signal at all, so I just used is as a glorified map and found that I had indeed gone the wrong way. No harm, no foul... I still had at least an hour to get to the interview and it was all of about 4 streets away, so I just relaxed in Starbucks to the always chilled grooves, enjoying my coffee and my favorite pastime in cities of people watching.
It always amazes me, the colourful array of people in the city, from the Businessman in his Suit and Tie, to the tramps with crumbs in their beards, they all look like they have a story to tell. I wanted to pull out the D70 and take a few snaps, but felt it was a little inappropriate, plus I didn't want it getting nicked so it stayed in the bag. I spotted this little Eskimo guy holding a billboard that made me think about Ben, and whether he had a decent job in London yet.. lol.. or whether he was still doing something as soul destroying at the little Eskimo dude.
He looked so sad in his parker and big mittens, with his hood firmly up. I wanted to take a long shutter speed photo of him stood there with people walking by him, it would've been a perfect example of workers being exploited for commercialisation in a busy world, but again, I was in a Starbucks and didn't want to be clicking away with my (expensive) camera.
So after finishing my coffee I walked to Regent Street; the place I was being interviewed at was 3 stores down from Hamleys, so I killed the rest of the time I had wandering in there! If I was a spoiled brat its the kind of place I could imagine running riot in, certainly a place where childrens dreams are made from. I had to laugh as there were no sale items at all.. not surprising really, so I didn't bother buying anything.
After that I went to stand outside the place for 10 minutes or so to get some fresh air and prepare myself for the interview. I was approached by a gypsy woman with some fake flowers, which she put in my top pocket of my blazer. She proceeded with some kind of sob story about giving money "for the kiddies" and when I gave her the shrapnel I had (all of 30p) she tried to kiss me. She had warts, boils and a beard, which wasnt the only reason I pushed her, but it was enough to try and prevent myself getting some disease. She said most people are giving about a fiver, which I LOLed at and gave her the flower back. *shudders* ... dirty bitch!
So I went into the interview relatively confident; I'd done my Space Invaders demo for them, which they were very happy with so I had a good grounds to sell myself from... which I did to the best of my abilities. It went well in my opinion, and I left pretty pleased with doing all I could to try and secure the job.
Which they have JUST this second offered me!
As I was blogging this, they called to offer me the position. They're emailing me the details now and all I have to do is say yes! My fingers are crossed that the proposed accommodation isnt too scrubby, and that all the details and good, but I could be officially working on Regent Street sometime soon!London, here we come!
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