(Wednesday 8th October)Did the most minging work tonight that I've ever had to undertake for BT! Due to a general shortage of work and a large number of people turning in for this shift, I was told to log into CFI - O2 customer surveys which are frankly, taking the piss! Not only are they extremely lengthy, but we have to ask people what they earn and whether they use their mobiles "driving on a motorway or an A road". It's full of questions like "Imagine a perfect world, with the ideal mobile phone operator .... how close (on a scale of 1 - 10) does O2 come?" etc etc. Really, the only challenging thing about the survey is establishing a rapport with the O2 customer, because if you don't, you haven't a hope in hell of keeping them answering questions for up to 40 minutes!
(Friday 3rd October)A recent conversation with my Learndirect tutor:
There is just one last thing that we need: An email from you, stating that you consider yourself to have completed your course. This is seen by the Government as the ultimate and irrevocable proof you have finished it.
LOL! That is so typical of government .... never mind exam marks, assessments, actual knowledge - the ultimate "proof" is an email, sent from me, stating that I consider myself competent in my chosen subjects!
(Wednesday 1st October)It's a well known fact that users tend to create insecure passwords. I think a very good demonstration would be to show them just how easily these passwords can be cracked by commonly available brute forcing programs! In fact it's a revelation. I've just seen how one such program found all our Windows logons within a matter of seconds. True, the kids had very simple passwords, but I was surprised how my own password was found within seconds, just using the power of my one computer. Although far from being the most secure password I use (as I don't reckon my Windows logon needs to be particularly "safe"), I don't use an English word and it also contains numbers. However, the program didn't even need to brute force - it found it with a dictionary attack.
It is truly amazing how many people pick passwords which consist of dictionary words, all lower case and then use that password for everything! People who really ought to know better .....
(Saturday 27th September)Some pictures from the recent Cheviots Challenge Anne and I did at the end of August can be viewed here. They're on a page with several other pictures, mainly of cheviot and the college valley, and in fact only the last two are relevant to August's event. I deliberately haven't put a home link on the page as it's original purpose was for a school reunion discussion board and I wasn't keen to expose the whole blog to people! In time, I'll get round to writing a report for Strider on the Challenge and will use these two photos as I rather like them!
I'm trying out a nearly new monitor Michael is hoping I'll buy from him, as he's getting a TFT screen. A bit of a luxury, I justify it on the grounds that with the amount of time I spend staring at computer screens, I deserve the very best refresh rate available, and there's no doubt this is a superior model, with a flatscreen.
(Thursday 25th September)A while ago, I wrote here about my feelings towards the proposal to police check choir members. Sadly, my comments about the likely attitude of the church if they discovered facts about a person which didn't reflect well on them seem to have been borne out. Instead of being the very place where you might expect to find support in a time of crisis, the reality is a community which will marginalize someone who doesn't "fit in" with the desired image.
(Tuesday 23rd September)People should check their assumptions .... don't think I can really expand on that at all, unfortunately. Except to say that keeping an open mind instead of arrogantly assuming certain facts or believing rumours is always better.
I was cursing on Saturday, having accepted an assignment to do a mystery shop at BHS in the Metrocentre. It took 1½ hours to get there, as I stupidly decided to go over the Redheugh Bridge and got stuck in match traffic, then stuck in traffic on the western bypass. There were no spaces in the green car park and after driving round for ages I ended up on the roof of the blue multi-storey - miles away from where I wanted to be.
Anyway, I was getting paid £20 to eat a meal, make some enquiries in the store, and buy something which I later had to return. This was starting to work out at less than £5 an hour, by the time you factored in traffic, petrol, time spent filling in questionnaires etc.
So I get a call from Grass Roots this morning and guess what? Turns out I should have been at BHS in Northumberland Street, not the Metrocentre! While I could swear the initial letter (which is long in the bin) said Metrocentre, I have to concede that the address at the top of my copy of the questionnaire says Northumberland Street.
I just can't understand how I didn't notice this! Rosie was with me, and neither of us realised we were in the wrong place. I was feeling rather cheesed off with the thought that I might have eaten a meal, the cost of which wouldn't be refunded and wasted precious hours only to find I didn't get paid - however, Grass Roots have asked that I do the original job on Saturday and will pay me for last week as well, fortunately.
(Saturday 20th September)Yesterday was two years to the day ..... and it just shows how time eventually fades even the worst of memories, because I didn't even mark the occasion on the site! Anyway, it was nice to hear from Ashley and catch up on bits of news.
(Thursday 18th September)Decided to put a link in to the page that contains my PGP public key. Part of my signature on a couple of forums, I realise I could link to it from here too.
(Monday 15th September)My AOL credit card statement arrived with "Good News! Your credit limit has been raised to £4,800!" It is indeed good news .... as I have commented before, maybe the solution to multiple debt is to just carry on funding it through ever increasing credit limits until you eventually come into some sort of inheritance which will pay it off :) Seriously, it does make you wonder about some of these companies. One minute they're slapping on an over-limit charge because you've exceeded whatever that card will allow you, then the following month they're giving you an unasked for, unaffordable increase.
No good kidding myself I don't mind about SF :( I'm really disappointed, to be honest. Disappointed in myself, that is, and I feel I've let down everybody why campaigned on my behalf. Yes, I was pissed off, but I could have handled things better than that. This latest move to delete all the chat relating to me in the IRC thread, feels a touch vindictive. There again, I might be simply misinterpreting things ....
(Saturday 13th September)Actually, no progress at all ..... whatever was wrong with the BB last night recovered when I booted up this morning. So much for "tech chat" who confirmed that AOL had downgraded the line. ****ing useless!!
(Friday 12th September)Well, that lasted a stunning week or something .... probably just as well, I'm spending far too much time on IRC. As I speak (10.30pm Friday) Derek has just taken a pile of unironed shirts back upstairs, after they'd sat on the ironing board for a week and I'm supposed to be going away for the weekend, but haven't packed a thing. Not that I necessarily subscribe to the theory that I ought to be doing all the ironing, but I haven't done ANYTHING other than chat on IRC it seems, for a long time.
STILL have an AOL BB line - as yet, they haven't taken any payment at all for September, but haven't cancelled their service either. Get your act together AOL/Plusnet, I need a new IP!
Update! I think the broadband line has gone .... looking hopeful anyway. The connection suddenly disappeared and the modem icon turned red, although both green lights were still glowing. Tech support confirm it (not that that's worth much in itself) and I'm still stuck with AOL dial up until I can get Plusnet organised, but it's progress of a sort.
(Thursday 4th September)Forgot to mention, I now have the SF ban lifted! Today is the second day since my AOL BB subscription ran out, and guess what? I still have a broadband line! Now why am I not surprised to find that?
You would think that doing work for a company at the cutting edge of communications technology, we'd at least have equipment that works! I've lost my headset foam cover and FDS are so useless, it's more trouble than it's worth to try and get a replacement. Half the time, the headsets are missing from the booths anyway. I have to laugh at some of the descriptions of their products. Would anyone reading this know what BT's "intelligent home networking product was"? LOL!
(Tuesday 2nd September)I'm well impressed with the SF channel stats for August, which have just come out. Rather enjoying my new op status and considering I spent most of August banned, to be 4th most active nick is quite something :)
Postscript! Didn't take ST long to remove the op status : (
(Sunday 31st August)Some major editing, as I've had to manually remove all the Ebuyerdotcon links, MisterX having decided in the end to pull the site, in the face of Ebuyer's threats. I've also added another link to the virus update page in the form of a Sophos banner, which is more obvious than the original one.
It's a pity Ebuyer have proved they'd rather spend £10,000 on suing an individual than on improving their service where it's needed, and over the last week 4,000 people have taken notice of that. It's also another example of how people are living in cloud cuckooland if they think the internet provides them with freedom of speech!
(Friday 29th August)Ebuyerdotcon is going through tough times at the moment ..... apologies for the number of broken links to the site which are on here. As soon as things settle down, I'll have these working again.
(Thursday 28th August)Back to work with a vengeance now .... although it was nice to discover I had a new TFT screen, mouse and keyboard when I went into FDS last night. The headset's still being held together with sellotape, but I suppose you can't have everything!
I can't get my head round all these cases recently where the internet's been blamed for teenagers being exploited by paedophiles - whatever happened to parents? Too many of them just don't seem to care what their kids get up to as long as they're out of the way! And not being computer literate is no excuse either - when we got the internet 5 years ago, I didn't know the first thing about computers, literally. We hadn't had the PC five minutes before my then 13 year old managed to format and subsequently doublespace the hard drive, and form an email relationship with a 37 year old pervert known as Spottyrock. It was at that point I decided I'd better get clued up a bit! In fact, owning a computer has turned out to be a fantastic outlet for intellectual stimulation, even if originally it started out as trying to keep up with the kids.
The point is, I can pretty confidently state that my 16 year old would never in a million years jet off to Europe with some guy she'd met in a chat room! For a start, her whole upbringing would make that a completely alien pattern of behaviour, but I also like to think I can keep on top of what she's doing on the net. Not by trying to restrict her use of it - far from it, and I wouldn't pry into her personal stuff unless I really had to, but it's not difficult to get a general "sense" of how the computer's being used. My kids have always had administrator privileges on XP and 18+ settings on AOL, because they've never abused them, and I believe that by showing I have enough trust in them to respect the computer I'm more likely to get the desired behaviour.
(Tuesday 26th August)What a busy weekend! But very satisfying to have completed the Cheviots Challenge, and well within the time limit for the event. In due course I'll write a report for Strider which will be posted on this site. Although an easier course than last year, my lack of preparation was noticeable towards the end, and even more noticeable the next day when I had to play at Billingham in the Mixed Open with Robin! The course seemed to have become so much more hilly than I remembered it, and the number of long par 4's and par 5's had increased! Our trip round the Centre for Life the next day was a little less exhausting and Anne and I enjoyed the 3D motion ride so much, we went on it three times!
I'm glad that Ebuyerdotcon seems to be getting plenty of support and has refused to be bullied into closing down the site!
Emily is a walking disaster when she goes abroad! Last year she went to France and managed to lose her luggage and her return ticket (although to be fair, Air France lost her luggage). A call from Tenerife this morning gave us the bad news that she's been robbed out there, losing all her money, plus mobile and sister's minidisc player. On holiday with Becky and her parents, at least there are competent adults to sort out the initial mess ..... a lesson in why holiday insurance is an absolute must!
(Friday 22nd August)Gee, thanks Richard! When I quickly checked my email over a bowl of coco pops before heading off to work, those rotten.com-at-its-worst photos were JUST what I needed first thing in the morning .... I know you're making an anti-war point, but mass mailing such sharp, excellent quality, graphic pictures is a particularly gruesome way of going about it.
Both Sandra and Ian took one look at my foot and said I'd be mad to even attempt Saturday's challenge - particularly if I hope to play golf the following day. Oh well .... just have to see how things turn out I suppose.
And another page archived - because if I don't do it now, I won't have time once full time work kicks in properly next week.
(Thursday 21st August)Some sad and rather worrying news for MisterX and Ebuyerdotcon. Anyone who feels they can offer some constructive comment or support, please visit the site where there is a contact email address.
Good GCSE results for Emily and she's off to Tenerife tomorrow with a friend and their family. Have had to suffer an unresolvable argument over her insisting on taking a hairdryer Rosie felt should be left here!
Well, my last day of sick leave. It would be nice to have had the 6 weeks off I was entitled to, but when you don't have a job which will pay sick leave, it tends to speed recovery .....
(Wednesday 20th August)Went back to swimming for the first time in 3 weeks and discovered just how much fitness I've lost due to an operation and 3 weeks of sitting in front of the computer! I intended making the most of still being able to stay up all night and enjoy a completely structureless existence for a short while longer, but I feel so knackered I just want to be in bed! The session could hardly have been easier either, as half the squad are off to Millau on Sunday for the European Masters, so we're tapering. In fact, I have difficulty getting my head round the sheer volume of work I used to do and consider completely normal!
To read more archive weblogs, click here which will take you to the previous archive, which in turn contains a link to the one before that.