Just peeking in here...

More than two weeks into the job now. It seems I’m slipping into one of my older routines where I would live by the clock from Monday to Friday evening and then freak out over the weekend or sleep through it. That’s the pattern over the past couple of weeks. With Christmas a few days away, work is sluggish. Everyone is keener on getting out than anything else. To top it, it’s been really cold the past few days, with the occasional bursts of snow – last evening being the most recent one. Not that anyone does mind that. Some in fact, are hoping for a white Christmas. Nothing quite as heavy as the one earlier this year which brought London to a standstill but enough to allow for a snow fight J However, today has been bright and sunny with mild cold spells. Feels good from the glass confines of work at Kings Cross, but out there it’s cold enough to numb the old self. Anyways, it seems to be turning into more of a weather update, so I shall sign off now, while I look forward to an evening out with colleagues.
Cheerio

A Start

Half the week has gone by. I started at my new job. The induction was at Birmingham for a group of 10. The first two days were pretty much easy flowing with the induction. Listening to talks and learning about a few things to get around in the firm is all that was done. Having put us up at the Hilton Metropole (Don’t raise that eyebrow, it’s only a business hotel), perhaps the best bit was the evening out at Jimmy Spice, Solihull for dinner, followed by drinks at a nearby Wetherspoon pub. Now in case one intends to get around to Solihull in the future I do recommend Jimmy Spice as a dinner, but do ensure you have a large enough apetite else you might be sorry not to have tried half the stuff on the menu. It’s a buffet spot, with the menu ranging between Chinese, Thai, Indian and Italian. Quite a mix I daresay, but well worth the money. I digress!!

The revelry carried on well past midnight, and yet by 10 all were at their respective desks on Tuesday. Sharp? Not really. But then that’s just part of the game I suppose, Work hard, party harder. Wednesday, I reported at the base office in Leatherhead and managed to start my stint by getting lost in the town and harking up the wrong road searching for an elusive road which as per Google maps should have been easy to find. Luckily, a fellow I knew hadn’t made it yet and managed to pick me up on the way to work. I’m sure this would be something to laugh about in years to come, but as of this morning did make me feel like a prize ass. Wading through the documentations and other procedures to land a project, while meeting up with a few other folks from office, the day comes to a lazy end in the early winter dusk.

The journey back was quite interesting as I observed the number of people of who commute from London to work in nearby locations, while catching up on a bit of sleep. I dare say, sleep would be a luxury now except for weekends. Anyhow as I sign out for the day I look forward to making a good start to the second innings of my career. Cheers!!

A world of advertisements!!!

The past couple of weeks have been really busy, and I mean over the top busy. Festivals, birthday, luncheons, job applications - the works. Not a moment went by which one could term to be extremely dull, though at times the lack of a notebook did bug me. Well moving on from lamenting about the loss of my favourite gadget, I discovered there was more to life than the internet, and there's a lot of thing that the internet makes it easier to deal with.

To start with, thanks to the internet I can submit applications from the comfort of my favourite couch or even while I'm lazing about in bed, stay in touch with a huge crowd which frankly in the era bygone was not that simple or cheap an option, twitter about (not much a fan yet), watch movies, and access vital information from simple things like "How to make lasagne?" to mundane stuff like the "How to travel from Harrow to Luton?". And yet, thanks to the internet and the gadgets which are associated with it, one used to spend a lot of time on it. In fact, last time I checked I used to log in first thing in the morning and would be at it on and off all day. Addiction?? May be!!

Anyway, with the loss of the beloved notebook, what I discovered that I did have a few things to do when am done borrowing it off my flatmate. I could read a lot more, practice guitar, take up tennis again, cook, actually call people up rather than just promising (must thank O2 for the free minutes though, not that am not paying but the scheme is simply great!!), go over to friends and have a face to face chat... the works. Reminds me of life before internet.

Speaking of calls and stuff, I'm strangely reminded of an advert which I happened to dig out while studying a particular firm for my applications. It made a strong impression because it was simple and did say something very meaningful. Check it out here: BT Frustrating. There have been more such like the Man in the Pint Glass. Now if you happen to look it up, it was done by Department of Transport and in my opinion it does reflect the creativity and corporate social responsibility of the advertising firm which came up with that brilliant idea. The idea was to let people know about the consequences of drinking and driving, and in effect deter people from actually doing it. The campaign carried out just before Christmas sure did deter a few I'm sure. Take look at it here:

Independent

Friends over coffee, originally uploaded by ConfusedSam.

A warm kiss to start the day, a hot cup of coffee to chase the sleep away, the gas company to keep the house warm, the electricity firm to get the toasts done, the saucepan to get the eggs done, or maybe say the microwave, the laptop to check the emails, the tube to take you to work, the janitor to clean the office for you start working, the client to keep the money rolling, the banks to fund the firm's growth, the secretary to handle your appointments, the starbucks lady for your coffee, the subway guy for your fav sub, the coffe shop to meet your friends over, the pint to bring on some cheer, the superstore helper to hunt down your fav sauce, the pot to make your pasta, the tv to chase boredom away, the clock to tell you time's ticking away, the phone to let you talk from confines your room, the bed to crash onto everynight, the duvet to snuggle in on a cold night, and finally the blogger to let you all know about this... and they said we are independent?? funny, eh?

Road to heaven??

Road to heaven??, originally uploaded by ConfusedSam.

With a future unknown, the traveller moves on hoping to have a better picture at hand at the next stop. The path seems to be clear till the top of the hill, but the road beyond is still unknown. And... and the clouds loom large upon the horizon. What secrets they hold the traveller shall never know. Despite the fear in his heart, his destiny is to keep moving towards what he perceives to be his goal. The truth is yet to unfold with miles to go before it unveils. Such a juncture may not have been foretold save only by the wisest of mankind, for the common man lives a life in predictability. Its the unknown adventure which scares him. The beaten track is what throws him off guard. Perhaps he should have taken the road less travelled. Should he change now? Should he finally search the road to his heaven? Should he?