How the hell did that happen?!

I always swore I'd never drink snakebites.

But then again I also used to maintain that I didn't drink to get drunk... which was completely untrue.

Too many snakebites at the Swan last night have led to some rather inexplicable happenings. Firstly, where the hell is my Oyster card? More importantly where the hell is the ?40 I had in my wallet (did I really wee it ALL up against the wall)? Why the hell did Damien and I switch beds? Why where my shoes left under the sink in the bathroom? And why the hell is there a big puddle of water in my room? I'm dredging my brain for scraps of information but am unfortunately getting little to work with here.

What counts though is that it was a rocking night worthy of MeSkanky recognition. There was much skanky dancing (some of it even with girls... ooooooO), loads of beer drinking, so many laughs... and photo's taken to prove it all. Yet again there was a brilliant cover band playing downstairs, followed by a RHCP cover band upstairs.

Between coda and I we showed a Brit mate of mine how to rock Saffer style, whilst he showed us how to be a man-whore Pom style by going home with some random of Czech origin.

By the end of the night we were so wankered that Damien couldn't stand properly and I had to leave him propped up against a bus stop while I went to buy greasy late night food to feed the army of Ethiopians in my stomach. I came back 10 minutes later to find Damien still in the same position against the bus stop... but asleep. So much for trusting him to keep an eye open for our bus then.

I love nights like this. I met some really great people and generated some unforgettable memories. It's the stuff of life I tell ya.

London in winter

So it's a little after the fact, and just about every single other London weblogger has already mentioned it, but 'the big freeze' hit us the other day. Snow snow snow more snow. I walked to work in it because I'm a daft South African and snow is still a novelty for me. The novelty wore off halfway to work when I lost the use of my fingures after texting too many people and trying to take photo's in sub-zero temperatures.
But I have to head to work, so instead I'll just leave you with a few of these pictures.

Today is good

This whole running in the morning thing is really working out well. This morning, at about 7:45, I headed out to Wimbledon Common for a couple of miles of fitness training. Although to be completely accurate it was more a case of jogging over to the common, panting and stretching my legs for 10 minutes while I fought to ragain control of my lungs, and then jogging back home. I'm not quite at the level yet where I have enough juice left by the time I get to the common to carry on running on it... although the idea is nice... and motivating. This morning I had quite a breakthrough though. Jogging, like hiking, is very much about mindset. in fact I'd go as far as to say that running is 50% fitness and 50% mental. When you can get to the point where you're no longer thinking about running itself, when your mind starts to wander along other avenues, that's when you're most comfortable. I got there today. I regard it as an important milestone.

Yesterday was manic. I went out to St Pauls to meet Tam at Paternoster for a couple of drinks as she was flying back home that evening. She called at 13:25 to say she couldn't meet me there... after we'd agreed to meet at 13:30. Arg. So I got back in the tube (after a quick pint) and headed over to Chalk Farm to see her there. It was a good good-bye. She's a good drinking buddy, as well as a confidant. She's one of the few people who have been there for the entire rollercoaster ride that has been my love life since that fateful evening spent drinking tequila shooters and cocktails at La Med so it's easy to talk to her about that stuff. She's a good listener to boot, although we tend to have differing opinions on a number of subjects and she's not shy about sharing hers when she thinks I'm wrong. Anyways.

On my way to see her Sarah called and said she had arrived in London too, so after a few 'good-bye' pints with Tam and Cails I headed over to Baker Street to meet Sarah. She's not too familiar with London, and was staying all the way out in North Harrow. I can hear you wondering now... 'Where the hell is North Harrow?'... exactly what I thought. Sarah and I tend to have alot of, what I regard as, uncomfortable silences... especially for two people who dated for a number of months. I don't really know what that's indicative of. She probably still harbours some deep seated resentment for me. What can I say, we broke on really bad terms and barely spoke for a week... which was difficult to achieve when you consider we worked together. In the end we cleared alot of that shit up and I think we've managed to salavage a friendship out of the ashes of a relationship, although I still tend to think that she doesn't get me sometimes.

I'm weird. You either get me or you don't. Of my girlfriends to date, in chronological order: Janine definitely didn't get me (which explains why we fought the way we did); Natalie got me completely (she's pretty much me, but without the dangly bit); Kat... was a mistake (in a good way) and I didn't get her at all (I think I was too scared of her religion); and Sarah, I don't think she got me (but I'm not hundreds on that). Still, I'm proud to say I'm still friends with all of them.

On the work front, I'm still plugging away at the job thing. I called the marketing controller twice yesterday, but both times went through to voicemail. So I left 2 messages and left it at that. Kudos to him though, I have an e-mail this morning apologizing for missing my calls and asking me to call back after 3 today (out the office all day), or tomorrow. That's professionalism for you.

I thought it was time...

IAN ROBERT WILSON, you have purchased the following:
-----------------------------------------------
Event: Limp Bizkit
Venue: Carling Academy Brixton
Seating: STALLS STANDING
Time: Monday, March 29 at 7:00 PM
Quantity: 2
Delivery: By Post

Jeez I'm looking forward to this! I missed so many good bands playing in London while I was away in Dorset and I've been wanting to catch a good show for a while now. LB can't really fail to dissappoint can they. Now if only Dashboard would come back and play soon. As I've missed them in London about three times to date I've actually gone and joined their mailing list, so this time I'll get a decent heads up before they arrive.

Hockey

I've been doing some research into hockey teams to join [when I get the time] and I think I've found a winner. The Wimbledon team embodies everything I've missed so much. The comraderie, the competitive spririt... and of course the drinking. Rugby players think they're hardcore drinkers, but those in the know, know different.

WHC 500 Pint Challenge Social 31st Jan @ the Club
After the hugely successful Halloween and Christmas Socials, WHC presents the eagerly anticipated 500 pint challenge.

The objective is to drink 500 pints of alcohol between us in the evening. The team consuming the most pints will win a prize. The smart money is on the Super 5s or Safa 6s. Chances of the 1s performing well have weakened as Jimmy is away on an intensive hairdressing course in Bognor and Bella has taken a silly T-Total bet with Monkey.... however Stoner and Kelv will no doubt support the rest of the team.

Exact details will be announced soon.

Hold me back!

Are you feeling this?

This morning I actually managed to put the final new years resolution into effect and went for a run. Nothing to hectic to start with - 3 miles - because I didn't want to kill myself. But even so, by the 2 mile mark my legs where begging my brain to let them give up, while my brain was begging my body for some of those endorphins everyone talks about.

My conclusion. They're a myth. Someone lied to me.

But so far my resolutions are looking good.:

Start running again: check
Get new career: in progress (meeting the marketing director next week)

Complain

I'm sure there's either a crackhouse or a brothel on the 13th floor of my building, it's the only reason I can come up with to explain the number of traffic that must go to that floor. Everytime (and anytime) I come home the lift is stopped on the 13th floor, which is rather annoying anyway as I have to wait for it to come all the way down before getting in and taking it up to the 9th floor. The people who run the crackhouse/brothel are probably also the people responsible for the recent graffitti that has appeared downstairs in the lobby. Remind me to pop a cap in their ass next time I see them...

And as for Michael Schumacher wannabe bus driver who took me home today... I kid you not, this guy was straight from either Parrow or Athlone, and drove like it to boot. I should have been suspicious when I saw him slouched against the glass driving cubicle like it was the tinted window of his '89 Ford Cortina.

Rats

Dammit! I've left my Shreddies in the milk too long and now they've gone soggy. I hate that.

Sex Ed

Love London. Walking home from the station in the rain nursing a hangover from the night before. It was a suprisingly enjoyable experience actually. It would have been romatic... except I was by myself. On the tube I did come up with a good reason to invest in the new 4 gig Ipod Mini though... to drown out the slurpy sounds of the idiot next to me chewing his gum with his gob wide open. I have nothing against chewing gum really, but there are a couple of rules one should abide by when masticating. First up, no one needs to see your tonsils when you're chewing. I find that I can chew equally well with my trap shut as I can with it open. Of course I can't speak for the general population out there. Secondly, chew quietly. If I can hear the vacuum between the wad of gum and you molar breaking with each successive chew then you're putting far too much effort into it. Calm it down a bit baby. But anyway.

Last night was spent quaffing pints of Courage with Tam at the Worlds End in Camden. We spent the first half of the evening just chilling in front of an open fire [sic] talking arb crap. Then we discovered that the Worlds End is in fact not the quaint little pub we initially thought it was. It is, in fact, massive. By far the biggest pub I can remember ever being in. By the time we left it was too late to catch a tube home, and the idea of catching busses from north london all the way down to SW18 was off putting to say the least. So I woke up this morning at Tam's place with super dry mouth and an aching brain. We had one of those funny hungover conversations sitting on her bed. I'm going to miss that when she goes.

Checking my e-mail this morning gave me something to smile about.

Hi Ian

Thanks for the note and yes, I do have the details.

Can you give me a call next week (this week is fully booked up) and we could
arrange to meet up.

Cheers
george

George ******
Marketing Controller
***** & Co Brewery PLC
***** Brewery
************
London
**** ***
Direct: 020 **** ****
Mobile: ***** ******
Office: ******* ****
Email: *****.*****@*******.co.uk

End of disjointed hungover post.

More news on the job

Ok. So there's good news. There will very likely be a position opening in the marketing department of my company in March. Yay.

But there's bad news as well. They'll most likely be looking for someone with a more actual experience in the industry than am I able to offer them currently. So not so yay.

But (there's always a 'but') I am going to e-mail the head of the department and try to sell my self (mind, body... soul... whatever it takes really) for this position. I'm going to mention degrees, marketing theory, knowlege of the industry, the fact that |I am qualfied for the position in theory, and that essentially I'll work for nought. Or almost. I mean, on one hand there's Mr Experience who's going to want thirty odd thousand or more per year. And on the other hand there's me, who's quite happy to carry on on his current salary and just wants the move really. If I can't find myself a niche in this company then it goes to show that often intelligence, motivation, hard work, and loyalty will get you nowhere.

But don't get me wrong. This is not a 'I have given up hope' post. I am still in contact with the hiring and training manager and she has mentioned another avenue I could take if my current move doesn't come about, and which also interests me. It's still in the same department from what I understand, although it's more of a sales position really.

I think is going to be a case of try. Try harder. Try even harder. But I'll keep you all updated as it unfolds.

The last couple of days (weeks?) have been pretty mediocre. I've been flat sitting in Wandsworth and have achieved sweet 'eff all besides to work my way through a good number of DVD's, including all 3 parts of the Godfather series (so good!). I also started playing The Getaway... which is pretty much like an uber-violent version of Grand Theft Auto, but set in London in such a fashion that you can actually recognise places you've been. But I'm stuck. Got to hate that!

Tonight, even though it's my night off (my ONE night off) I've agreed to go back to work at 22:45 to close down all the computer systems... because someone has to. Why I agree to this crap is completely beyond me. I suppose it builds a good work reputation... which had better go someway to getting me the move that I want otherwise I may cry. And that's just not pretty.

K Bye.

Post interview thingy

You know what I hate about me? No matter how confident I am. And I am, trust me. Interviews, even informal chat like interviews, never fail to make me nervy and on edge. But still, I think that one went quite well. I mean, I'm pretty sure that I came across reasonably intelligent and friendly, and that combined with my excellent (impeccable even) history with the company will hopefully be enough to book me a place on the career train. My interviewee (we'll call her Fiona... because that is actually her name) even made the gesture of calling the head of the marketing department while I was in the room to see about positions there. Ok, so he was in a meeting at the time, but she left a voicemail. And besides, it's at least an indictation that I didn't bomb out completely.

So while we were discussing things a couple of points came up, and they were all pretty good. Firstly, the marketing department is under a bit of pressure at the moment so there could well be a option for me there. Add the fact that our major competitors in London, who shall remane unnamed, are slightly more successful than we are but have 3 times as many head office staff have convinced our new CEO to boost HO numbers. And then combine that with the fact that it's just about the end of the fiscal year for the brewery, which means new budgets that need to be spent, and you can see why my timing seems to be pretty much spot on right now. Shock horror. Perhaps my luck is finally changing.

Other interesting facts are that most HO positions come with a company car, laptop, and mobile phone. Of which none are reasons for me wanting to move within the company, but all of which are nice perks to have anyway.

Still, I refuse to get my hopes up. My relationship thing is hard enough to face up to right now without me having more hope shattered on top of that. But hold thumbs for me. I need this... for my sanity.

No time

This is my second dash home in like 4 days. Just picking up some stuff and heading out again... drinking... what else? I'm kind of house-sitting at the moment for my boss, whilst similtaneously working my way through his DVD collection. Oh my God! I've always regarded Any Given Sunday as a great movie. But the directors cut... fucken superb!

Anways. Like the header said.
Bye.

Post New Year

New Years resolution No 1: To think more before I talk.
New Years resolution No 2: To think more before I act.
New Years resolution No 3: To get my career on track, thereby preventing any further brain atrophy.
New Years resolution No 4: Star jogging again in anticipation of career change. A career change will mean evenings and weekends off (just like the rest of you), thus allowing me to start playing field hockey again, which I miss intensely.

Actually, in regard to NYRNO3, today I received a reply to an e-mail I sent requesting a meeting to discuss a move within the brewery. You see, I'm in a bit of a weird situation. I really enjoy working for the brewery, I like the company ethic, I like the people at the top, I like the way it's remained very traditional with many old skool values still held in high regard. The problem is that the position I fill in said brewery isn't a long term career option for me. Hence I feel like I'm wasting time better spent doing something I want to be doing for what could very likely be rest of my working life. Thankfully 'the brewery' is pretty large, and established, with many departments, and it's into one of these that I would most like to be moving. Also, having spent the better part of the last 18 months working in this trade I've managed to pick up a massive amount of 'working' knowledge of the industry and the products. So really, if you consider all this knowledge of said trade, and the experience I have in it of managing bars and hotels, I see my best chance of a career change to be within the company. That will allow me to use what I've learnt so far by applying it in another field, a field which will require me to dust of my brain and fire it up again. But I'm rambling. The date for the meeting is Monday the 12th. Hold thumbs that I get some positive feedback.

What else is there to say really? Not much. New years was alright. I've had better and I've had worse. I worked, I went out, I drank too much, and then I went to work again the next morning at 10am feeling like a small rodent may have slept in my mouth. So nothing too extreme this year. A mate went all the way to Edinburgh for the festivities... and then they were cancelled. *LAUGHING* "Sorry, DENIED!" Damien went to central London but can't remember any of it. So that was probably quite good then.


This is so the most aggressive, yet strangely stylish (??) toothbrush I've ever owned. It even has little rubber arms to 'massage my gums'. Now if only I could organise some little human arms to massage my back that would be just great. Cails??

Anyways, just under a month and a half till my holiday back home! It'll be good to feel that African sun on my skin again!