Good News!

...As of tomorrow I'm back at work! :D It's only temping again (as before, with British Gypsum through Pertemps), but this time they estimate six weeks or so, which should take me most of the way to Christmas. And I can't complain at that. This time around it's with their Head Office team, meaning it's shirt, tie and keyboard skills at the ready, which I count as a good thing. It's what I'm best at, after all.
Birthday was great- went to Alton Towers for the fireworks, and while we spent most of the early part of the day getting drenched and having rides close on us, the afternoon was great. Rode Air and Rita, both of which rock. Nemesis was out of action for most of the day, so I couldn't drag Vicki onto that, and we didn't get around to Oblivion, but the fireworks were amazing and, all in all, I had an excellent time.

Random Quizzage

This one stolen from Becci/Vixel:

RAVEN EYES

You have Raven Eyes!
Positive Traits: Intellectual, Wise, Experienced, Honest, Trustworthy
Negative Traits: Pompous, Condescending, Withdrawn, Pessimistic, Depressed

Your eyes are the windows to your soul. What type of eyes do you have?
brought to you by Quizilla

I'd argue the toss on 'Pompous', but otherwise it's fairly close to the mark.

Three Feet Under

Funerals are never pleasant, especially not when it's a relative. In this case, my father. His ashes were laid to rest this morning, in the grounds of a church out in the village his second wife (now widow) lives in. I attended, less for his memory than to show solidarity with the rest of my immediate family present. It's particularly bad for my grandparents- one gradually comes to terms with the fact that you'll have to bury your parents one day, but to bury one of your children, no matter how old they are, must have been exceptionally hard.
I suppose, to an extent, I got off light. I didn't really know my father- my parents split up when I was nine, and for most of the time previous to that my father had worked abroad, meaning I rarely saw him at the best of times. I'd heard pretty much nothing from or of him in fifteen years. I'm often reminded that my parents' breaking up was probably one of the better things to happen to me- if they hadn't, I wouldn't have ended up in the Netherlands, wouldn't have schooled at the ISH, wouldn't have got my IB diploma, most likely wouldn't have gone to University, and wouldn't have met all the wonderful people I count as friends wherever they are on the globe. And, most likely, would have grown up without a father-figure present. My parents splitting up gave me a father, ironic as it may sound.
I suppose the big question left for me to find an answer for is where to go from here. Even before I heard of his death I'd convinced myself I wasn't going to make the same mistakes as my father, and that still holds true. I've wondered occasionally if he thought of me, and now I'm unlikely to find out. I can't say I though of him much, or thought much of him. Still, he was my father, and I guess, somewhere along the line, I have to give him credit for that. Sayonara, Oduu-san.

Disenchantment

It's been quite a busy time over the past few days. Where to begin?
The first RockSoc event of the year had a bit of a false start. First the committee were late, then there were issues with the room booking, and problems getting the bar open. Due to the lack of publicity the vast majority of our usual clientele were absent, so when we rolled round to my set it turned out the only thing that would get people on the dancefloor was old-school eighties metal, of which there were about half a dozen serviceable tracks in the RockSoc collection. In all I felt my set went down like a bit of a brick parrot, so not the greatest start to the RockSoc year for me.
Closer to the present, Rob turned up over the last weekend and convinced a load of us out to Leicester to see Corpse Bride. I've never seen a bad movie with either Johnny Depp or Tim Burton involved, and this one certainly didn't break that mould. Some great macabre humour and solid voice performances alongside stunning visuals- Burton's crew are on an equal footing with Aardman for stop-motion animation, I have no doubt.
The next day (Saturday) saw Rob, Vicki, Vicki's very Northern coursemate Stacey and myself trawling into Nottingham for the CAMRA beer festival. I like beer festivals, even if this time around I was somewhat conservative with my choice of drinks. Beer is good.
This Monday saw another chapter of the Decline Of RockSoc- the AGM. The chair was late, the room wasn't booked (and was in use) and the vice-chair didn't show at all. Great start. The committee didn't have an agenda for the meeting, and failed to keep any semblance of order throughout. Add to that the fact that Jake and PunkMatt pretty much took over, tried to vote on a new committee position (Freshers' Rep) and put PM in the role (a bloody stupid idea in my book- the job description was pretty much what the rest of the committee should be doing as a matter of course), and it pretty much ended up a debacle. It was painful to watch, and more and more I'm beginning to feel ashamed to be a part of the society. It's in a worse state than it was when I came to Loughborough, and that's saying something.
Did a trawl of the agencies today, mainly to remind them that I'm still more than interested in work. Two were somewhat helpful- mainly because they actually had jobs listed that I could express an interest in- though JR Personnel told me rather bluntly that they didn't have any jobs for people without personal transport. It's a vicious circle- I really need to be able to drive to get a decent job, and I can't afford to even think about learning to drive, much less acquire and insure a vehicle, without a job. I've been out of work for over three months now, and my financial reserves are steadily petering out. If I don't get a job soon, it's going to become difficult to countenance staying here in Loughborough. I can no longer afford to go with the Japan plan, probably not for a good two or three years (assuming I got a job with a salary like the one I used to have for the duration), so the future looks somewhat bleak at the moment.
In short then, aside from good times with great friends (who, between them all, are the biggest ray of sunshine in my day), there's a fair degree of suckage in life at the moment, and it's taking its toll. Ah well, it's my birthday this weekend, for which we're going to Alton Towers (a happy coincidence). Hopefully that'll give me something to smile about for a change...

Cassiel By The Letters

Well, another quiz to fill the time. This one pinched from Vix, Rob and Bee (as usual).

A is for age: 24
B is for booze of choice: Kriekbier, Port, Gin
C is for career: Still unemployed, Administrator/Helpdesker by trade and experience
D is for your dad's name: Ruud (stepfather)
E is for essential items to bring to a party: Rucksack with change of clothing in case I wake up not knowing where I am...
F is for favorite song at the moment: Covenant - Bullet
G is for favorite game: Shadowrun (RPG)
H is for hometown: Gods, that's a hard one... Coalville, The Hague, Loughborough, dependent on how I feel and where I am
I is for instruments you play: None- I have no musical talent whatsoever!
J is for jam you like: Strawberry, unless you count other preserves in which case it's whisky and Seville orange marmalade
K is for kids: Smaller and more annoying versions of adults. :P
L is for living arrangements: Ex-Student house with two others
M is for mom's name: Jackalyn
N is for name of your crush: I prefer smoothies. ;)
O is for overnight hospital stays: None that I can remember, though I think they kept me in for a couple of nights just after I was born
P is for phobias: Spiders
Q is for quotes you like: See Here
R is for relationship that lasted the longest: About half a year
S is for sexual preference: Female, though I'm pretty picky.
T is for time you wake up: Normally anywhere between 6am and 10am, or when the sun comes up (whichever comes first)
U is for underwear: Yep. ;)
V is for vegetables you love: Potatoes, parsnips, beans
W is for weekend plans: No plans yet, though it'll probably involve movies, cheese and port. ;)
X is for x-rays you've had: About half a dozen, most on teeth
Y is for yummy food you make: My bolognese and tiramisu both have pretty good reps
Z is for zodiac sign: Scorpio

Rock@LSU tonight, and I'm DJing 1am-2am. Already burned a disc of stuff, though haven't decided exactly how to approach the set yet. Guess I'll just see what the crowd likes at the time, and play it by ear.

An Upward Turn

Well, I'm at work again, albeit only for a few days. Got a call from Pertemps this morning saying they had some sickness cover work in East Leake, and could I start at lunchtime? Damned straight I could. :D So I'm spending this week logging the arrival and completion of loading of trucks at British Gypsum. Not my ideal job, though a fair wage for work that a chimp could do can't be sniffed at- money's money at this stage.
I'm pleased I signed on with Pertemps- they actually seem to have their heads around the 'want to work' thing, which is more than I can say for the other agencies I signed up with.
Other than that, business as usual. Had a great time in Holland with Vixel- nine days with wonderful company and no pressure whatsoever. Part of me came back thinking I ought to find a job back there, though the rest reminds me that would only be viable if I could take all my friends from Loughborough with me.
Anyways, for the quiz-lovers out there...

1. Name someone with the same birthday as you:
Gavin Rossdale (thanks, IMDB!)

2. Where was your first kiss?
Town centre of The Hague, at the close of our end-of-exams celebration.

3. Have you ever seriously vandalized someone else's property?
Nope.

4. Have you ever hit someone of the opposite sex?
Not that I can remember- to be honest I can't remember hitting anyone.

5. Have you ever sang in front of a large number of people?
Yep- did a solo in a play once.

6. Whats the first thing you notice about the preferred sex?
Legs, face, hair, eyes (order is interchangeable).

7. What really turns you on?
Physical contact- I'm not normally very tactile.

8: What do you order at Starbucks:
I don't- never ordered anything at Starbucks. Quadruple espresso with sugar is the favourite at similar venues, though.

9. What is your biggest mistake?
Letting the darker side of my imagination get the better of my common sense.

10: Ever hurt yourself on purpose?
Nope.

11. Say something totally random about you:
I've never lived in one social setting for more than seven years.

12. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celebrity?
Not to my knowledge.

13. Do you still watch kiddy movies or tv shows?
Pixar, Ghibli and Dreamworks animated movies, Invader Zim, and a hell of a lot of anime- does that count?

14. Did you have braces?
Nope.

15. Are you comfortable with your height?
Yep- it saves me bashing my head on low ceilings. ;)

16. What is the most romantic thing someone of the opposite sex has done for you?
Been there when I've needed company.

17. When do you know it's love?
When you realise you can't imagine a world without each other. When you don't need words to communicate.

18. Do you speak any other languages?
Yep- I'm more-or-less fluent in Dutch (when I can be bothered to use it), have a GCSE in Spanish and have taken evening classes in Japanese.

19. Have you ever been to a tanning salon?
Nope.

20. What magazines do you read?
I don't read any regularly, but I've been known to flip through or even buy issues of PC Gamer and Safezone occasionally.

21. Have you ever ridden in a limo?
Yep- one used by a taxi company one year going to (IIRC) Pinkpop.

22. Has anyone you were really close with passed away?
My father, though as we hadn't had any contact since I was nine I'm not sure he counts as 'close'.

23. Do you watch MTV?
I used to occasionally, though TMF's rock show was much better at the time.

24. What's something that really annoys you?
Having my word questioned.

25. What's something you really like?
Writing, though I don't do nearly as much of it these days as I used to.

26. Do you like Michael Jackson?
Nope.

27. Can you dance?
Many will say I can't, but it's never stopped me when the mood's taken me before.

28. What's the latest you have ever stayed up?
Record stands at 42 hours.

29. Have you ever thought that you were honestly going to die?
Not as in -life-and-death situations, though I've been panicked by the concept of my own mortality before.

30. Have you ever been rushed by an ambulance into the emergency room?
Nope (touch-wood it'll stay that way).

31. Do you actually read these when other people fill them out?
Yep, though most people I know will have found the quiz elsewhere...