Monthly archives: July 2002


Now, I may have put a variation of this piece up already. If so, my apologies-

DWEM

The building was shiny and new and had rooms named after famous painters. The canteen was the Matisse and the ground floor open plan the Turner. They were running training out of the Picasso, which had been decorated based upon his little known IKEA period. Paul was desperately tring to find the Duchamp room before his bladder burst.

Right after the reception desk, he had been told, but that corridor had led him to the Lowry room. On his way back he spotted it, a little alcove off to the side.

He couldn’t help but sigh with pleasure as he finally got to let go into the urinal. Then his phone rang.

He could ignore it. It rang some more. He couldn’t ignore it. “Yes.”

“Where are you?” Marie Daley.

He could just hang up. “I’m taking a piss.”

There was silence on the other end of the line. Paul could afford to smile as he cradled the phone between shoulder and chin and zipped up.

Back in the corridor, Paul stared with disgust at the phone in his palm, hoping to transmit the emotion even after disconnection. Turner was closer than Picasso, so he might as well go straight there. He selected Owen’s number and auto dialled.

“You got lost didn’t you?”

“Only a little. I’m just too lazy to climb the stairs and tell you I’m going to find a free PC.”

“Why you doing that? We do have training on.”

“Well the Bitch Queen wants me to get in my car and drive all the way back to Manchester. They’ve got some problem or other.”

“You’d get there at, what, ten o’clock? Does she expect you to start fixing things at that time of night?”

“Probably. That’s why I’m ignoring her and doing it over the network. There’s the added benefit of not having to see her ugly face.”


Just a quick mention for Resurrection Day, the book which kept me trapped in the house (well, that and waiting for the call back on interviews) for the last two days. It’s been a long time since I’ve sat down and devoured a book like that. It’s a ‘what if’ ten years on from the Cuban Missile Crisis escalating to a nuclear exchange, with secrets and conspiracies only just being revealed.


The amount of space I’m taking up on my server has mysteriously dropped by 4 megs. A quick check confirms that the files I was worried about losing (my online backup of some of the Ten Years Asleep stuff which I desperately need since the computer smoked) are still there. I wonder what has gone.

If it isn’t obvious, as I do most of my art on the PC, seeing as I’m computer-less at the moment DEx is going to be delayed a bit. I’ve got the layouts about two-thirds done and when I’ve finished those< I think I'll script it. Very Marvel method.


The interview keeps getting postponed, which strikes me as a bit suspicious. I’ve just spent half an hour on Totaljobs scanning for anything likely looking, and discovering that the only one on there I could apply for had already been filled and was just being randomly re-posted. (Plus, I think I applied for it when it first went up and didn’t get a call back.)


I’m free! FREE!!! Bah-ha-ha-ha.
Anyway, that’s my time at The Gas over with, now I’ve just got to get another job. I’ve already got one interview lined up on Monday, if the guy at the agency can remember to send me the map, and maybe another for Tuesday.
off to schooldisco tonight. I don’t think the dress code allows me to put on a dirty mac and ask the little girls if they’d like to see some puppies.


The Guardian has put together a list of weblogs they like, though somehow they forgot to include me. Very remiss of them.

With only the rest of today (which could end up as a late one) and tomorrow to go, I think I can finally admit something. I work in a Sales department, and I hate salesmen. If they phone me up I’ll keep them on the line for a while and then hang up, just to waste their time. Likewise I’ll keep them on the doorstep if they turn up. This hatred is fuelled by running the payments system and seeing how much money some of them earn for persuading little old ladies that they’re not just signing for information. [Oh, okay, that doesn’t happen anywhere near as much as it used to- at least not with The Gas- thanks to improvements I helped make in tracking down the culprits.]

Of course, with my particular experience, I’ll probably end up in another sales department when I get another job.

I’m going to get very drunk tomorrow and then do my tax return with a hangover.