Monday, June 28, 2010

The big 4 in Polska

OK this is definitely the farthest I've been to just to go to a gig.

Poland for a one day festival (on a Wednesday!) to see Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth.

There I stood in a field outside of Warsaw, a shinny warm day, in the middle of a sea of black t-shirts, getting my ears rearranged by some seriously loud music.

A good couple of days with cheap beer and some very nice (if meaty) BBQ takeaway food.

I went with a friend from work and ended up meeting another (ex-)work friend, who kipped on our hotel floor! It was a nice atmosphere and we got chatting to a couple of other English groups of people who we ended up going around with.

the music was great and you could really feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand up as Metallica launched into some of their classic hits.

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

RageFactor free thank you gig

It was brilliant. A whole festival feeling on a Sunday afternoon.

When we got there is some good support from Gogol Bordello and we had a few beers in the late afternoon sun (and a little rain).

It was amazing to me that I managed, in such a large crowd, to bump into 4 different people I knew.

So along with Colin, Joe and Jamie we got ourselves down into the mosh pit and got jumping. I managed about an hour before retiring to the back to watch the remainder of the show.
It's definitely a moment to remember. I was there when Killing in the Name was played out to the crown in a London park as the final song of the evening.

We made History!

and got the T-Shirt...

MOT

Yeap I finally had my annual review at week

There were many things I had thought about saying about my time here and the fact that I've not had any changes in my T&Cs since I got here.

I was going to point that the cost of living has gone up by about 3.5% per year while I've worked here so i fact I'm being paid less (in as the government like to say, real terms).

I also had a great quote from Malcolm Gladwell on job satisfaction.

"Those three things - autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward - are, most people will agree, the three qualities that work has to have if it is to be satisfying."

But what did I say, not alot, I got a mixed set of reviews so we talked about that I somehow have managed to be helpful and obstructive at the same time. and also being good at mentoring but not offering information unsolicited.

so I've got to be more proactive, which is like asking someone to juggle fog.
I've also got to try to be happier, no idea how they are going to measure that one!

and the CTO wants to push me towards handling one of less interesting clients and basically moving my role towards support work on a site we inherited from another company and client management meetings.

the subject of money didn't come up.