Party time

We had a real nice time at the works night out last night, marred only by shoddily constructed furniture ( a table collapsed under the feeble weight of my elbows ). The meal was in the Racquet Club, a rather snooty little pad in Chapel Street. Ended up sitting on a table with Wishart, Heidi and Andy ( and all of their respective partners ). Probably the exact right table to be on, even though I missed out sitting with my programming pals.

I know it sounds awfully arse-licky, but I'm really starting to love being at work. We're doing really well as a business, got a real team ethic and I'm not just talking about programming. Our boys are really cool. Joel ( the bossman ) is technically excellent with extensive knowledge of the Babylon 5 universe. John's lead singer in a local band, Dan's an electronics McGyver and really is one of the nicest blokes I've ever worked with. No-one can be told who Ken is - you have to meet him for yourself.

The team extends to the entire company. Everybody knows everybody and the traditional divisions between Creative, Technical, Support and Project Management just do not exist. I'm not saying that everything is perfect - disputes do occur, but its normally because of genuine differences in opinion ( say, over how something is implemented ), and not the result of ongoing internal feuds.

Better yet, we've just won a boatload of new business - which is a pretty rare thing for this time of the year. It's going to be hard work delivering it, but we're all really optimistic about the future.

Work Socials

Went to a Music Quiz last night with Binns and Rushell. It was organised by the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, and was a networking type event. Didn't really do too much networking, but we did manage some below-board quiz co-operation with the boys and girls from the Ambulance Service.

Despite being in the relegation spots after the 70s rounds, we managed to achieve mid-table respectability by the end of the night. Shouldn't have drunk those After Shocks though. I'm such a lightweight.

Anyway, I'm out again tonight for the company Christmas meal. Ginge is coming too, so it should be a pretty good laugh.

Productivity

Work elevated itself to "rather interesting" today. We had a big programmer's pow-wow to decide how we were going to do things for the next six months. Cue mucho research afterward testing. My head is spinning, which is always a good thing. I expect my brain to do its usual job of sorting all of the info at some point. Good old brain.

Secondly, we've won an exciting piece of business this week. Not really at liberty to say here, but I'm hoping to be part of that project.

Shroom For Improvement

Bill Hicks once described Magic Mushrooms as an evolutionary springboard. While I lack the comedic eloquence to describe them in such terms, I have found them to be very useful for getting some perspective on life, the universe and everything.

Did some Mexican 'shrooms last night. First time in four years, and the absolute first time I've gone Super Mario on my own. They're completely legal in the UK, meaning one can buy them in shops. I was a bit concerned about the solo effort, but my pre-drop anxiety was soon cancelled out by the end of the evening.

Don't think I've ever had the time to fully reflect on what mushrooms really do for you. The most positive thing about the experience is temporary detachment from your personality.
While this is the sort of thing that sets alarm bells ringing in those who have never dropped, it isn't as nasty as it sounds. The experience allows you to step outside your life, look at it objectively and make your conclusions from there. The lack of laughing co-trippers was pretty damn cool for introspection, let me tell you.

Of course, there are other effects. More interesting ceilings, for starters. And Grand Theft Auto : Vice City looks better than ever. Overall, a solid night. My perspective has been finely tuned, music sounded excellent ( my thanks for the Shiloh October 2004 Mix - available from hybridized.org ) and the house looked more interesting than ever.

Stamp it out

Kira is watching Big Cook Little Cook, which is toddler-oriented trash pumped out on CBeebies. I know I watched some stupid shit when I was a kid, but I never quite remember anything as crap as this.

The central premise of the show involves human sized cook Ben larking about in the kitchen with his six-inch tall counterpart, Small. I don't know how they have a six-inch cook - it's either camera trickery or good contacts with an agency dealing primarily with very small actors. I'd prefer to believe the latter case - if he is only six inches tall I can stamp on the bastard when he's out on his weekly shop.

He should be easy to identify - he will undoubtedly be driving a four-inch high automobile and will have to use a series of mini-ladders tied together just to reach the checkout. He is also likely to buy his clothes from the Action Man section. He must be stopped.

Shopping

Went out on my tod to town today. Ended up spending loads more on Charly's present than I planned, but it was worth it. Got some Mexican Mushrooms from the head shop in the Liverpool Palace. Been a good few years since I expanded the old brain in that way - looking forward to much excellent music and introspection.

Kira is mostly sorted. One more pressie to go, but it's reasonably cheap and shouldn't present me with the same dilemma.

One last note - the staff at Richer Sounds are top-notch. Yes, you have to wait. But the reason you have to wait is 'cos they're busy giving excellent customer service to the person in front of you. And you'll get that too.

Morning

Painful beginnings
Ouch. Woke up at six o'clock with a hangover. Shambled off to the bathroom to fill myself with water before returning to bed. Left the land of slumber at around 10pm, almost overfilled the bath and nicked some of Ginge's shampoo to scrub my mop.

The label on the shampoo bottle said it would give me extra body. I'd like to see it fucking try. My hair is a thick thatch of mousey-brown mediocrity, unmanageable after three weeks of growth. Extra body, in my case, means an afro.

Ministry
None of my friends like Ministry of Sound music that much. I give it a wider berth, recognising the need to have tunes you can dance to when you're not ripped to the tits on ecstasy. Also, since giving up the clubbing lifestyle, I've no idea what the devil it is you children are listening to these days. Anyways, I've been listening to the Dynamix mix on the MOS Annual 2005, and it's actually very good. The mixing can be a bit abrupt at times, but it's full of top tunes.

Can't really complain, especially as this blog entry has been interrupted by me getting my groove on :D

Long Weekend

Testing Blogger after spending over a year on Livejournal. So far, looks pretty nice. It's cool that they've found a Moz-compliant DHTML Editor. Saves much of the hassle I used to have with manual markup.

I can do this, and this, and even ( drum roll.... ) this!!!. Ok, I'll stop now.

Most of the country will be trundling off to work in the winter cold tomorrow morning. I'll be doing nothing of the sort. I have a long weekend, and I shall be laying in until, ooh, at least nine.

Haven't really got much planned. Roy is floating about tomorrow. Not literally. Unless he has a lot of helium. Might meet up and be geeky with him. Comic book stores, hemp shops, that sort of thing.

Ginge has indicated that she wants to do some Christmas shopping tomorrow afternoon, claiming it is the perfect opportunity. That would be the 'perfect opportunity' for me to hoist half the shit home. Women are cunning.

Retail awaits.