Ramblin' Man

I'm slipping badly. It's been over two weeks since I last posted anything here. To be fair, though, I have been quite busy.

Yet another hospital appointment yesterday, but a very encouraging one. It was the first time I'd been back since the frame was removed from my leg, and the x-rays are looking good. There's a little bit of movement in my ankle, which is also a good sign. The swelling in my leg has gone down a lot too - also good. I've to keep wearing the boot for a while longer - at least until mid-January, but that's hardly a problem.

Something happened at work that I wasn't expecting. Bear in mind that I went back to work in mid-September. And before that, the last time I set foot in the office was March 2004. And that, between those dates the company moved offices. So I wasn't really expecting any of my old stuff to still be around. But, whilst clearing out some old crap that was lying around the office, someone found a bunch of stuff that used to live on my desk. Mostly irrelevant now - some client files that are well out of date and other assorted odds and ends. A pair of earphones I bought about a week before the accident. I was just slightly amazed that none of the stuff had been tossed out, and had instead been carted halfway across town to wait for me to come back to it. Weird.

Rambling again, I think.

Work Is A Four-Letter Word

I have to do something about my working hours. Starting at 10am seemed, at first, like a great idea. The trains would be quieter at that time of day, I thought. No fighting over seats, I thought. Well, for the most part I was right. And not having to be up at some ridiculous time of the morning is also quite appealing.

Less appealing, though, is hanging around the office until 6:30pm, when most sensible people are at home watching the end credits on The Simpsons (and changing channel rapidly before Hollyoaks starts). Most people leave at 5:30, a few at 5:00, others at 4:30, and even a couple at 4:00.

If I got up a bit earlier, I guess I could the 7:55am train, which would mean (on a good day) getting into Glasgow at about 8:40, starting work at 9, finishing at 5:30, getting the 6:00 train home, and being home at about 6:50pm. I'd still have missed The Simpsons, but it's an improvement all the same.

Good Riddance

Today I officially escaped the evil clutches of the World's Worst ISP, and switched over to what appears to be one of the best. It's still early days, but I'm already noticing the difference. Massively improved download speeds, helpful customer support and no need to stay offline during 'peak hours' for fear of overstepping the miserly download limit imposed by that other bunch of shysters with their draconian 'Fair Use' policy.

OK, it's quite a bit more expensive, but I have a habit to feed here. So it's worth it.

Happy November

On account of my having been back at work for just over a month, this week I'm due for my one-month appraisal. Joy. Not too big a deal, though - the one-month appraisal is usually a fairly informal chat. After all, a month in a new job* isn't really long enough to have seriously screwed anything up.

The timing could have been better, though. My previous line manager is in the process of moving to another team within the company, and another guy from the project development team (i.e. my lot) is taking her place as team leader. This means that the next few weeks will be a sort of handover period from one to the other. Which, in turn, means that they'll both be doing my appraisal. Sigh.

I bet it's the usual questions though. Where do you see you yourself in the next 3, 6, 12 months? "Uh, how the bleedin' hell should I know" being the obvious riposte to that one. If I've learned anything** over the last few years, it's that things rarely work out the way you plan.

Am I rambling?

*OK, it's technically not a new job, but when you've been away from it for this long it might as well be.
**And I couldn't guarantee that I have.

Take Your Fair Use Policy, And Stick It Where The Sun Don't Shine

Guess what? A couple of days ago, I received my third and final email from my ISP regarding my allegedly excessive internet usage. This in spite of the fact that they don't actually say what constitutes 'excessive' anywhere. As a result, they have taken it upon themselves to throttle my access, with everything going along at a crawl, if I could connect at all. Time for a call to Customer Services, methinks. So, I spent over an hour on the phone to a call centre in India (actually, I was on hold for most of the time). Despite ranting furiously at the poor sap on the other end of the line, I got precisely nowhere.

I told them that I'd had a final email from them regarding their so-called "Fair Use Policy" (hah!), and the email also said that I could request a MAC code (the code which would allow me to take my custom to another provider). Surprise, surprise, the guy couldn't find any trace of this email, and it was obviously more than his life - let alone his job - was worth, to dish out a MAC code without proof. Not only that, he couldn't even see any evidence of me having exceeded their limits. Grrrrr.

Anyway. He gave me an email address to write to. So I did. I sent a somewhat caustic email demanding a MAC code, so I could get the hell away from this bunch of shysters as quickly as humanly possible. Much to my surprise, they complied.

So, I've now signed up to a new ISP, with no download limits, so no need to worry about that in future. And a helpful customer service department for a change. It'll take about a week for the migration to take effect, and it's a bit more expensive than the other lot, but I guess you get what you pay for. Pay peanuts, get monkeys, as they say.

Funny thing though. Even though I'm still with the old ISP for another week or so, the speed has gone back up. In fact, it seems faster than ever. How peculiar!

Free Lunch

...and they say there's no such thing. Well, they're wrong. I got one today. The occasion was one of the company's annual(ish) discussion days, where our department talks about what we do, how well we do it, and how we could do it better.

I've only been back a few weeks (and only three days a week, at that) so I felt I didn't have much to contribute to the proceedings, not having been there long enough to make any judgment. I was, however, quite happy to go along for a day out of the office, and the aforementioned free lunch (including one alcoholic beverage of my choice - drinking on the job, shocking behaviour).

Tomorrow though, it's back to normal. I'm getting my first crack at doing some project development work for a client since my return to work. And a chance to find out just how much I've forgotten while I've been away. Should be interesting.

Hello again

On my way into the station for my train home from work last night, a guy spots me (I guess I cut a fairly recognisable figure) and starts coming towards me. He says hi, and it takes me a moment before I twig where I know him from. Frequent readers (both of you) will probably have guessed where this is heading. That's right. He was one of the guys I know from the slammer. One of my close neighbours from D-Hall. I was Cell 8, he was Cell 6. Just a couple of (locked) doors along.

I guess it was bound to happen sometime. He's the first of the gang I've met since I got out. Wonder if I'll run into any more?

The Boot

The frame may be gone, but in its place I have one of these to give my leg a bit of support over the next few weeks. It's what they refer to around the hospital as a 'moon boot'. You can see why.

The good news is that it's considerably more comfortable than the Ilizarov (not difficult), making walking a whole lot easier. Also it's removable - so I don't have to sleep on my back anymore. It's a lot less scary looking than the frame too.


I'll probably have to wear this for about six weeks, after which, perhaps I'll be able to wear a normal shoe (which I haven't done in 2-and-a-half years).

And another thing. I noticed in my notes that the orthotist at the hospital who fitted me for the boot wrote that I had been 'instructed in donning and doffing of the boot'. Until then, I'd never realised that 'doff' was the opposite of 'don'. I suppose it's obvious when you think about it... don/doff... on/off... I just never made the connection. Wow. You really do learn something every day. Not always anything useful, but still...

...Gone

This morning I had the op to remove the Ilizarov frame which has been my constant companion for the last thirteen months. It was a pretty quick procedure, taking less than an hour. At the moment my leg is bandaged up, although they might put a cast or a support boot on later. With any luck they'll do that quite soon, as I still hope to get out of here no later than tomorrow. More good news: for a limited time, hospital internet access is free. Wish I spotted that before I forked out for a £10 PatientLine card. Ho hum.

Going... going...

Hurrah. Finally, after thirteen months, I'm getting the Ilizarov frame removed next week. This news put me in the best mood I've been in for a long time. So good, in fact, that not even another snotty email from my ISP could spoil it. These guys, incidentally, are obviously taking the piss. But that's another story.

The plan is for me to go into hospital next Monday, have the frame removed on Tuesday, and get sent packing on Wednesday. No hanging around, then. Suits me - it was a different matter a few months ago, when I would have been leaving hospital and going straight back to you-know-where. But it's a different story - I don't want to have to be cooped up in hospital for a second more than is strictly necessary.

Now That's Service

About three weeks ago, I placed an order online for some perfume. As a present for my mum's birthday, you understand. This was a whole week before her birthday, thereby allowing - or so I thought - plenty of time for delivery. One week passed. No sign of the perfume. The order tracking page on the website still showed the order as 'Being Processed', whatever the hell that means. My mum's birthday came and went, the order was still 'Being Processed'. A further two weeks passed. Still the order was 'Being Processed'. WTF do these guys have to do to process an order, that takes three frickin' weeks?

In desperation this morning I phoned them. It turns out the perfume I ordered is out of stock, but should be back on their shelves in 'about three weeks', although they couldn't make any promises. Jeez, thanks for frickin' telling me, guys. The guy on the phone offered to cancel the order for a full refund, which I promptly accepted.

So I Google the name of the perfume (well, to be more accurate, I Froogle it). And top of the search results is a stockist, right here in the town where I live. Who knew? At approximately 10:20am I placed the order. When I got home from physio, just before 4:30pm, I checked my email. There's a message from the stockist saying that the stuff is out of stock in the size of bottle I ordered, but they could offer me a different size of bottle. And for the inconvenience, they'd waive the delivery fee, and deliver in person. Wow. I emailed back to say that would be fine. I sent the email at 4:31pm. At 5:20pm they turned up at my door, with the perfume. How's that for service?

The Same, But Different

So my first day back at work went pretty much as I expected. A mix of the familiar and the not-so-familiar. The job itself is the same - the same products, more or less the same development tools. On the other hand, there's a new office full of new people along with a smattering of old faces. It was a bit strange, but I guess after a few days I'll be back in the saddle.

I started at 10am today, which meant I was able to get a later - and considerably less busy - train than I would have otherwise have had to take. Tomorrow, I'm starting at 10 again, but working an hour later to compensate for that. Still, it beats being crammed like a sardine on the early train. I think.

Last Night of Freedom

Can't quite believe I'm going back to work tomorrow. It's been two and a half years since I last did a day's work in the office. Technically, I've never done a day's work in the office, because they've moved since the last time I worked for them.

Anyway, starting at 10am tomorrow, so at least I don't have to get up just at the crack of dawn. Just an hour after the crack of dawn. Incidentally, I used to know a girl called Dawn. But I never.... ah, forget it.

More Hospital Fun

Another trip to see the orthopaedic consultant in Edinburgh today. Once again the x-rays are looking good, and it looks likely that the Ilizarov will be removed sometime mid-October. In the meantime though, I had the final remaining wire removed from my foot, along with the bottom ring of the frame. It hurt a bit at the time (more so than the last one), but what a difference now. For the first time in ages I can climb stairs without any discomfort. Well, in my foot anyway. The pins through my foot were always the most troublesome of the lot, so I'm glad to be rid of them.

I go back in three weeks time, when hopefully they'll confirm the date for removing the rest of the frame.

Back At It

It's official, then. On Saturday morning I received the letter I had been waiting for - the one offering my me job back. There was a gap of over two weeks between the 'interview' and the arrival of the letter, and although I'd been verbally offered the job, the amount of time was starting to concern me. All being well, I start again on Tuesday.

But, oddly, they asked for the names and addresses of two people who could provide references. This is a company I worked with for nearly four years, FFS. Ah well, I guess it's just standard procedure.

It's a gym, Jim

Had one of my twice-weekly sessions of physioterrorism at the hospital this afternoon. For the last couple of weeks, instead of having a fixed appointment time, I've been attending the gym class held each Monday and Thursday afternoon. The advantage being that as soon as I arrive at the hospital, I can go straight through to the gym without any hanging around in the waiting room, thereby minimising the size of the chunk of the day taken up by the whole process.

The other advantage is that being a gym 'class', there are a number of other people present. Get a reasonable number of people present, and statistically there's a chance of there being some eye candy to take my mind off the pain/boredom. Today, the law of averages worked in my favour. Although being a red-faced, sweaty lump probably did not.

Freddie

Just been watching a rerun of the 1992 Freddie Mercury tribute concert on VH1. Today, believe it or not, would have been Freddie's 60th birthday. Another one who went too soon.

It's A Library Thing...

This is possibly a little bit sad, but I couldn't stop myself from checking out the LibraryThing website after reading a write-up in one of the Sunday papers. It basically allows you to catalog your own book collection, write reviews, and compare your collection with those of other users. So far I've added 89 books from my collection, with loads more to go. If you're one of those obsessive types, it's fascinating to see which other users share your taste in books (and to what extent). Er, told you it was sad.

MiPod

Hurrah! Big Al steps smartly into the 20th century with the arrival of his brand-new 60GB video iPod (in black, don't you know). This should make the 40 minute each-way commute to work a little more tolerable. So far I've put over 3000 songs onto it, plus about 100 photos. Oh, and Pulp Fiction. And it's still not even 1/4 full. Quite an impressive bit of gadgetry, really.

Welcome To Pedantics Corner

Actually, that should probably be "Pedants Corner". Or "Pedant's Corner". Or perhaps "Pedants' Corner". Erm, anyway, I noticed that the "All-Day Breakfast" sign in the pub has been amended to read "All-Day Brunch", which is at least slightly closer to the truth.

Isn't it amazing what can be achieved with a bit of whinging over minute details?