Don't you hate it when you've just spent an hour typing an email and you loose it. Grrr.
Anyway, the last time I sent one of these around I was in Guernsey. That was winter 98/99.
Firstly, I must apologise to those of you who received the hoax email. Sorry.
Well.. back in Feb 99 I left Guernsey and returned to London. There I slept on any lounge floor where I was accepted. It was actually quite a fun time as I stayed with a lot of kiwis that I hadn't previously spent much time with. So I got to know them a little better which was great.
For two months I was on the phone to employment agencies in Edinburgh, Scotland, and travelling up there for interviews.
By May I had a contract and shifted up north. Since then I have had 3 more contracts and I'm still here/there. All that time I've really been looking for permanent work but there isn't much at a high level with something challenging in there. They tend to recruit people with 10 years experience which definately counts me out!
I managed to find a cool 2 bedroom flat which I share with Stu who is from Scotland. We hardly see anything of each other, but have a laugh when we do.
So, what have I been up to?
Embarassing part 1
The other day at work I managed to break off a number plate from one of the cars in the work carpark. I had to confess but didn't know whose it was so Jean at reception sent out an email to everyone in the building (1500-2000) asking for the owner to come to reception.
Jean called me at my desk to tell me the owner was there so I went to meet him. Now, I'd told Jean what the problem was and that it was just the number plate. Yet, when I arrived at reception I found out that all she had said to Alan (the owner) was that someone had damaged his car.
He wasn't looking too happy. But cheered up a bit when he found out that it was just the plate. It only cost me £10 too so it wasn't so bad.
Embarassing part 2
Did you think that was it? No. On the same day I had a worse blunder.
When I was leaving the staff cafeteria I spotted and waved to Loreto who works in my department. She was with her spanish friends (she's spanish too) and waved me over. Now I don't know about you, but when someone from spain wants me to meet all her gorgeous spanish friends I move quick!
After the introductions and a little chat I went back to my desk (my lunchtime was over). Later that day I emailed Loreto this..
"So which ones are single?"
Now , a funny thing happens with the search tool on our email system when you type things in quickly.... You guessed it. It was sent to a big section within the company instead of Loreto!
Most of the replies I got were of the "What!?", "!!!!", "???" kind. One came from the IT department and said " I think this was meant to go to someone else?" They really are pretty smart in our IT department. We should give them a salary increase.
Another reply said "What is it to you?". Obviously she was not amused.
Ultimate
I've been trying to get back into training for ultimate. My only tournament last year was a beach one in Barcelona. This year there is a beach tournament in France that I want to go to. It is in .Bretagne I think. Looking forward to that.
Other sport
I took up volleyball a while back and was enjoying it for variety. Now I don't play much as the coach wasn't very good and neither was the standard of play.
I also took up Tai Chi. It's great! I do the Wutan style and find it very mentally and physically challenging which is something considering the number of sports I have played.
I've been doing it for 6 months which is enough to get the ground rules/moves sorted out. Now I can actually start learning Tai Chi itself.
This Weekend
On Friday I had a mental lapse and consumed far too much alcohol. This is not normally my thing as those who know me will attest. Every now and then however I become "invincible" and think I can drink forever with out any after affects.
After drinking too much too quickly on Friday I came home and have spent the weekend recovering. This wasn't helped by the fact that I also kept some very odd hours...
Sat 3am returned home and fell asleep in lounge whilst eating very soggy greasy chips. Woke up and went to bed. Got up about 12pm, just in time to watch the Grand Prix qualifying with Stu. Went to bed at 1pm. Got up 6pm and went out to met some friends.
Back 12 midnight. Bed 6 am. Got up 1pm Sunday to watch the Grand Prix and spent the afternoon playing ultimate.
Hang on? what happened between 12 and 6am Sun?
Well there is this PC in the lounge that talks to me each time I come home. It says "Mark you should check your emails. Mark you should browse the net. Mark you should play games on the net".
I haven't yet worked out how to turn this voice off. I've logged a helpdesk call with the people who sold me the PC so hopefully I'll just be able to go to bed like normal people.
Women
Hmm ... the Evil Ones....
Zuzana and I split last year. She decided (quite rightly I guess) that a long distance relationship was bogus. She remained in London when I came north so we were talking on the phone for ages and only met every now and then.
Since then nothing going. I've become celebate.
Actually there *is* someone I met who I really like. Problem? She is in London too. Bummer.
Well it's now 11:30. It was 10:30 in the original of this email so I'm really tired now! A couple more things...
Sweden
In case you do not know, one of the main reasons for coming to the northern hemisphere was to meet my Swedish and English relatives. In the first 2 years I was in Sweden every six months meeting tonnes of new relatives.
I've not been back for 18 months or so and I really miss them all. I'm going to make sure that I'm there for Christmas again if someone will have me (hint hint).
Contact
Needless to say I love to keep in contact and thanks for all the emails and messages from you.
Please keep in contact.
Keep well....
