steamtech

nocturne_uk @ 10:35 am: Wow - someone did an about face!
I, just a moment ago, received this (company-wide) email.

Armistice Day - 2 minute silence at 11am today

To mark Armistice Day we will be observing a two-minute silence at 11am.

Armistice Day is a day to commemorate the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and of civilians in times of war, specifically since the First World War.

It is observed on 11th November to recall the end of World War I on that date in 1918. (Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.)

So, from "it may offend some people" to a last minute (almost) company-wide announcement to observe it. I'm surprised, happy, but surprised.
Someone much higher up the food chain than me must've complained.
I'd like to know who.
Then shake his or her hand.

diegoliger @ 10:32 am: Fuuuucckckk
Well, thats me feeling stabbed in the back, shat upon, skint and majorly fucked off.

My hours at the Museum have been cut from 12 hours (i.e. two days) to 3 with the odd saturday. Fucking great. I sort of really *need* that £80 per week to top up my shitty and sporadic income from the University job. I'd really like to make £200 a week which with the Museum and University job I do. Now I wont. Hello mega skintness, not being able to pay bills etc. Hoo fucking ray.

Apparently I am not cut out to be Font of House staff. I am "too enthusiastic" perhaps a bit too "intense" with people and don't tell them what they want to know. People come to Museums to see and learn what they already know or think they already know, rather than come and learn something new. Apparently it "reinforces" their sense of self and place...yes thats all very well but what is the point of learning olds or stuff that is wrong or not totally correct. Does not compute.

Also, apparently I am "too critical of British military traditions". I know I am in private and in my writing but not so in public as that would not be professional. Im too enthusiastic, too interested, too 'propriororial' and learned. Apparenetly other members of staff have hobbies and do flower arranging or similar, whereas I bring in to work massive books on the French Army in French or go away and do research on a teeny tiny point and in some cases know more than the curator; its not on that Ive published a book either.

So FUCK

Basically.

Fuck. Gym work really isnt my cup of tea these days due to my back. Obviously I'm not cut out for Front of House work in the Museum, my teaching hours are really low at the moment.....so fuck knows what Im meant to do work or careerwise. Ant is in a general malaise and panic over money. And is well fucked off.

Ant out.

Tags: career, money, work

nocturne_uk @ 08:10 am: Think I had a reasonable night's sleep last night.
Don't feel particularly rested from it :|
Stuff with the house is still getting to me. More than it ought to I think.
In an attempt to cheer up ... today is a comfort food day!
Starting with a bacon roll for breakfast!

sister_bluebird @ 11:26 pm: Putting art where it goes
There's a progress pic up over at http://gracedpalmer.livejournal.com , where it ought to be for once, for those of you who are interested but don't yet have that journal friended.

Tags: art

nocturne_uk @ 11:55 pm: Nitebytes Tweets
( Read more... )
Automatically posted by LoudTwitter

nocturne_uk @ 02:26 pm: DR Rehearsal
Today the technical and platform managers had a DR rehearsal.
This basically involved locking them all in a room for the morning and pitching an evolving 'disaster' situation at them .. then doing it again.
Thankfully I didn't devise the situations on account of them being ... well flawed.

While the boffins were in one room, I was in another taking on the role of every external contact they would need; this was to include SORG (director level staff for BIG descisions) right down to lowly reception staff.
The chance to roleplay at work was too much of an opportunity to not ham it up a little, along with sneaking some small amusement for myself.

So, situation 1:
Hurricane force winds lash around London, OBs in danger of cancelling, secondary tech locations taken out by freak weather, tape library flooded....
Yeah itw as a real - 'how can we fk these guys over any more?' situation. Totally unrealistic (yeah I know, we've had hurricane force winds here before, but even those didn't cause this level of hassle).

Among my many roles this morning, I had to be a skiving engineer phoning in sick to enjoy the glorious heatwave weather of the second scenario.
So I went and downloaded a 'seaguls by the sea' wav and had that playing while I 'phoned in sick'
"Oh Hi, yeah. Look this is really embarassing but I fell down the stairs and I've knackered my leg. I'm waiting for the amulance to get me to A+E at the moment, so I won't make my shift tonight.
"Ah, I see. Is that a seagull I can hear in the background?"
"Uh? Oh. Yeah I uh have the front door open to wait for the ambulance."

Telling my manager to 'Make it so' also brought a smile to my face.
I know - small pleasures and all that.

Other lines I managed to sneak in:
As you wish.
By your command.
They told me they fixed it! It's not my fault!

Well whilst the opinion of some was the the excercise was a waste of time, I enjoyed it.

Now to get back to some real work ... and to sorting out my house sale.

Oooh shit - there's the 'jacobs ladder' sound that tells me the networks failing ... so much for BAU.
Bye all - work calls.

diegoliger @ 08:19 am: Bible
You know I am really starting to wonder why the bloody hell I am still a Christian.

Ive been spending a lot of time in the Theology Department Library reading at Uni in between sessions with Daniel. And the more I read about the early Church and how and why and when the Bible came to be written, the less and less I am convinced about this whole Church thing.

For example, there is no way on earth, ever, at all, not now not ever that the Bible could be considered to be the word of God or even the revelation of God. Its a deeply political book, written around c.450CE by ONE group of Christians, those led by the Bishop of Rome who claimed to be the "officicial Church" (in one bit of the Roman Empire at least) to combat the "heresies" they perceived in the other major groups of Christians that existed at the time, in particular, the very popular group led by Arius - Arian Christians who didn't believe int he divinity of Jesus - which constituted Christianity in North Africa, Egypt and the eastern part of the Empire. There were two other smaller groups and at the time each of them had their own set of special stories written about Jesus or sayings of Jesus or letters from apostles and whatnot and the Bible was written to combat these "heresies" this differant groups of Christians who worshipped in differant ways, thought in differant ways yet termed themselves Christians. Similarly, most of the Councils such as Nicea were aimed at promoting only one form of the Church - that of Rome - against all the others. Not only was it aimed at other Christians but also non-Christians as well to try and convince them that their ancient Roman or Greek faith were wrong. As one Quakereress said about 1700 to her local Priest - the letters from Paul tot he Corinthians werent addressed to her, as she wasnt from Corinth so were meaningless to her. I have to agree. The whole thing is a political document, with specific aims; whilst some say yes its a good thing, God insired these bishops to write "his" book, to stamp out evil heresy and evil paganism, I have to disagree with that view. It was put together by powerful men to further their own socio-politcal-religious aims. I susepct they fervently believed what they did, but I also suspect God didnt have a look in and it was collated from various fragments to say what they wanted it to. The word of God my arse.

There are some great letters from the 4th century from Greek and Roman philosophers who say that the Christians are basically stupid, appeal to the lowest common denominators, are rabble rousers and hypocrits - condeming Greco-Roman religion and Judaism but the usurping those bits they like or cannot get rid of.

These Philosophers also claim that the Church even then was totally unscientific - they ignored and/or condemned the Greeks for saying the earth went round the sun, for saying it was a ball and for medicine and having books of learning. The early Church said only one book was needed and that all science and medicine was wrong and to get over a cold you needed to pray and have demons and evil spirts cast out.

I could go on, but the one more reads of how the church came into existance, the more and more one sees it hasnt changed, can probably never change and is just to my mind, increasingly irrelevant. It doesnt stop me believing in God but it does stop me believing in and seeing the relevance of the Church and all its paraphanalia.

absintheskiss @ 10:58 pm: Why I am glad I have banned myself from using the credit card.
( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

marz109 @ 05:01 pm: the usefulness of obits......
 in Nov last year i was trying to remember a series of books, today i was reading the obits on the bbc website (lesser known people who died recently)
and low
the author of said books has died!! W00t
now i know her name and the books i was after.
 Louise Cooper :-)

in other news

~Pete and i are engaged, have moved in together and life is disturbingly good, if poor

lady_ellinor @ 04:38 pm: Those wiser than myself (and repeat sufferers) have informed me that if I have lost my voice then it is *certainly* laryngitis, even if it doesn't hurt and I don't have blisters on my throat. So I might take tomorrow off work since it's actually an illness and not just, y'know, me abusing my voice. It's pretty dismal, I will say, but on the plus side Greg's going to have a significantly higher amount of free time for a couple of evenings! Those of you I licked might want to guard your throats well though.

Feeling more upbeat as I am assured that the Cryptic References are not anything I did, so here's a first draft hot or not

Hot
Monsters being keen, patient, enthused, and very very good
Crew
Chief Minion Stu being pretty much thrown in at the deep end and coping wonderfully
Emma, Voice of Lauren and Voice of Common Sense (first aider extraordinaire)
Licking players (now I own them)
Leander the Liger (so very cute with the little black nosey-wosey)
Nat getting Sunday sorted
DM running a great monster room
Malc. The guy is so nice, so helpful, and we had to practically force him to take anything for his trouble.
Port actuation
Keen players
Setup and security minions
Caterporium, and me not missing a single meal
Everyone lending radios
Lara, Max, Shaun, tent and plot rep wranglers extraordinaire
Brilliant crew
Full team of NPCs - Mr Page has been confirmed as starting his probation (or parole as I keep wanting to say)
Not getting too cold
Luminous hat, scarf, hobo gloves, hoodie, fleece, trousers and socks. Just undies and boots to go!
Luggage, her makeup jobs, her pants
The command team really pulling together and working as one
Greg
The long-threatened chorus of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" outside our tent. Suggestions on songs for vengeance on Sarah please... :)

Not
A few people giving the faction a bad name for safety so we had to pull fights
Not seeing one of my plotlines run out
Not seeing my friends
Going IC for a short time and having a shit time because I can't fight and couldn't cast or really be Romani without a voice, plus my Tepes hat and bunches confused people
Comments that I can't work out if they were roleplay or people being passive-aggressive about my OC actions
Losing my voice before Time In on Friday
People grabbing the will-o-whisp phys rep I was carrying and nearly breaking my fingers and my arm as they tried to wrest it from my grasp
Sense of humour failure (mine)
Issues

I'm not really sure where not having a radio goes on that list. It was both good and bad.

On the whole I think I had a good time. Only thought I'd be doing the faction a favour by quitting once, and saw that as and when I do go Stu will be perfectly capable of carrying on under pressure (not that I doubted it but it's good to have proof)

Form printed for Harts event, will post as soon as I have money. May yet make Lizzi and Andy's wedding. Would desperately like to.

Tags: friends, larp, life, plot, unicorns, win

nocturne_uk @ 03:00 pm: Today I get to play with sound effects files in preperation for something fun at work tomrrow.
yay.

diegoliger @ 08:38 am: Good Day
yesterday would have been mum's birthday. So we had a gathering en-famille at number 25. After a rather mad morning of Church, shopping and tidying up, a very enjoyable day was had. I havent seen Paul looking quite as relaxed as I did on Sunday afternoon giving a running commentry to Sally on the film "O what a lovely war" ( which by the end had all three of us in tears)and playing with the N gauge trains. I dont think he wanted to go when sally booted him out at about 8.0

Anyway Paul and Sally are coming over in a few weeks time for hte House Warming Party so we will be doing things in Manchester town such as going to the train book shop, Waterstones, looking at buildings and maybe the museum.

I felt dead chuffed AND got a well done from Paul so go me!

absintheskiss @ 11:03 pm: Does this work? Oh, it does
( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

bigbadg @ 05:04 pm: This Saturday 14th - No part at my house
So i've cancelled my housewarming next weekend, due to the fact that i'm the only one that is due to attend it.

It's probably just as well, the flat isnt realy ready yet (i've no propper tv or sound system and no web access) so i may instead host a part nearer to christmas instead.

absintheskiss @ 01:54 pm: I'll just make a hat she says, it will be simple she says...
( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Tags: mctavish, sewing

bigbadg @ 12:25 pm: digusted, in nottingham
Well, i'm sitting in work, watching the rememberance ceremony on the television here and i'm disgusted to see that not a single other person in the building is wearing a poppy.

i know many people here are not happy with the police action in Afganistan but the poppy isnt just a show of support for those who are currently serving (Like my brother) but also a sign of respect for those who hav bought what freedoms we have by placing themselves in danger and to those who lost everything so that we can remain free.

Some of you may remember that last year i complained about somebody bad mouthing the british military as murderers and it's bemoaning it's "war on Islam" during the minute's silence and yet again fuckwit has done the same thing this year as well.

If you want to live in an Islamic state then FUCK OFF and get the fuck out of my country. If you think our government is bad (and boy is it) then just wait until you get on the wrong side of an Islamic government.

Horsewhipping isnt good enough for some people.

bigbadg @ 04:04 pm: biten by a pig
So i've got the flu, quite bad but not, i suspect, the big Swine Flu.

Work have told me if i take another day of sick before feburary i lose my job


joy.


sorry i've been out of touch for the last couple of days

nocturne_uk @ 06:59 pm:

I'm silver smooth
Bathed ten times a second in an aerosol fire
Five thousand degrees in here
I course with electricity from my feet to my tongue
Where I vomit a torque-delivering spark

Written by a chap called Zachary Norman

It brings a smile to my face to hear poetry about cars and car parts.

sister_bluebird @ 12:07 pm: Rats Plus Angst!
Don't worry, the two aren't related. I completed a minor project last night, which had been waiting around for about six months, since the first time I flaked on it. So, of course, I hate most of it and went into the Art Angst Spiral. I've pulled out of the despair section (mostly) and have entered the grim "guess you'd better get to work" portion instead.

Let's see if it'll last through this day's quota of nonfic writing to become either fiction or visual art. At the moment, yanno, I'm a failure, and merely mediocre at everything, and I ought to have specialized and become really good at something, so as to be marketable. Also, I should be less of a flake. (No, I don't need anyone to come talk me down off anything. This is just a case of the hacks. They happen, usually immediately following completion of a project).

In rat news, I adopted a baby from the shelter about a week ago. He's my dominant-gene rat - standard coat agouti top-eared, or about as wild-type as a domestic rat can be. He's also half the sizeof my biggest older boy, shiny, friendly, and incredibly hyperactive. I have named him Aeneas, as he's a later, unrelated addition to Paris and Hector. Right now I have all three of them out, and have discovered that three rats constitutes a swarm. I have Lap: the Scampering. Photos if I ever remember to take and upload them.

Back to work!

Tags: angst: specific, art, rats

nocturne_uk @ 10:36 am: Sand - I hates it
Bit of a delayed post here.
I meant to post this AGES ago after sorting out some bits and pieces in the cellar.
I was only reminded last night when I was moving some stuff around to shift it at boot sale.
So, sand. It gets everywhere. My kit bag from my last Candlestone event has half a metric ton of sand in it - which means everything inside the bag has sand in it.
This does not bode well for the airsoft guns inside the bag - fortunately they're only springers so I'm not too bothered about those.
What I am bothered about it Tonya's MP5 (it was in a different bag and has since been rescused from said bag) but does show signs of sand contact. As none of the mechanisms have been used either at Candlestone or since I hope that just dusting if off will suffice and come the next airsoft event it'll fire nicely.
Need to AIrsoft again - been tooo long.
We have two airsoft clubs locally (fortunately), one comes across, to me, as being poorly organised but well attended, and has the added advantage of being able to use some MOD sites now and again (this is a good thing). The other one is much more local (like a 5 minute drive) and does some themed days that appeal to me; sniper / concealment, close protection, etc. I haven't yet been able to attend because they (annoyingly) organise them on date I have something else on .. but one day I'll get there! one day!.
The site I really want to hit though is about 2 1/2 hours way in a disused shopping mall. In fact it's called 'The Mall' it's in Reading and is frequently booked up within a short space of time of opening bookings for an event.

Also - I need more icons!
Want. To. Go.
Before I play again tho - I must clean Candlestone out of our weapons.
Gah!
I hate sand.