Fasthosts fail to amaze again
Friday, November 23, 2007 9:22:41 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
I don't know if any of my readers are familiar with Fasthosts' recent security problems that hit the press a couple of weeks ago but I couldn't help but laugh at a conversation I had with them the other day. Baring in mind they had a breach in their security which meant that all passwords had to be reset I was astonished to get this email about an FTP login issue.
Is it just me or is that a little nuts asking a user to send their username and password in clear text just after a major breach in security? I thought my response was very measured:
The office to end all offices
Tuesday, November 20, 2007 6:31:46 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
Some of you have already heard about my miss fortune with the office flooding. It's thrown things up in the air somewhat at a time when I could really do without it.
The bonus however is that I get to have a nice new office fitted (hopefully on the insurance) but that's turning out to be a saga in itself. As with any large expenditure we've gone out and got a few quotes from companies such as Sharps, Neville Johnson and some other smaller companies to get an idea of costs etc. To say there is a wide range in the price is an understatement -they range from £1,000 to over £16,000! The office is only 9ft x 9ft which means it'd be £1,777 per square foot! How nuts is that!!
Anyway, I thought people might like to see what I'm thinking about having fitted atm.
Now that Stacey is soon going to be working with me we ideally I need to cram (and it is a matter of cramming) two people into the office space and I think the solution of having the two terminals sitting back to back but offset like this will work nicely. The other problem I have is the size of my screens, at the moment they measure 115cm wide and my old desk meant I was sitting too close to them and would end up with screen burn but this design should allow me to sit far enough away.
I'll probably remove it shortly but the program that I used to layout the room has a 3D export that you can checkout at: www.thesitedoctor.co.uk/office/
25% discount at Florame organic aromatherapy
Monday, November 19, 2007 10:53:21 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
Ahh Christmas is fast approaching again -and for once I've actually got a few presents (I usually buy them all on the 24th of December) -not that I can take any credit for that, it's all down to Stacey. Anyway I wanted to share this 25% discount for www.florame.co.uk with you all just in case you were in the market for organic aromatherapy gifts this Christmas :)
And if you're thinking about treating someone to a hamper full of luxury food and wine why not check out www.WineAndHamperGifts.co.uk. Oh and don't forget Miss Mays for some festive fun ;) haha, ok that's all the pimping I'm going to do this year.
Well perhaps not!
Yey 2007's first snow has fallen!
Sunday, November 18, 2007 10:53:21 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
This is one for Cyan over at FreelanceSwitch more than anything else but I thought I'd share Birmingham's first snow with the world :)
Doesn't look like much there but it started this afternoon
Slowly but surely it fell over a few hours until there was this...
It's only November and it's snowing...
...I think it's going to be a cold one this year. That and the Russian swans are already over ;)
The morning after the day before
Saturday, November 17, 2007 10:53:21 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
So it's done :) Stacey's out, though it wasn't easy. Her boss made her explain her reasons for leaving to the Finance Director and basically justify herself for leaving.
After talking about it we think that's because there's more to this than they're letting on as it seems really odd she needs to justify leaving but that's not for discussion here :) so YEY the clocks ticking! We're waiting for a leaving date at the moment but be sure there'll be a ticker at the bottom of my blog soon!
Good on Stacey for sticking up for her cause! Now to tell the friends and family who'll be more than discouraging I'm sure.
Friday - crunch time
Friday, November 16, 2007 10:53:21 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
So today's Friday and saga of Stacey's rejected resignation is about to climax, I don't know about you but I'm excited ;)
Who thinks she'll cave in and accept their silly offer? And what'll that wizard be I wonder ;)
Tune in tomorrow for an update!
I don't think she'll cave in, I think she'll stick at it...
Amy Winehouse - the Birmingham gig
Thursday, November 15, 2007 10:53:21 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
Ever since Amy Winehouse hit the UK music scene Stacey, her father and I have been wanting to see her live because there's no doubt she'll be entertaining so when the opportunity to go see her just down the road from here came up there was no turning it down!
If you're like me and don't have enough time to follow the latest celebrity gossip headlines you'll not know that her husband has been jailed, I'm not entirely sure why still but I think it's got something to do with her beating someone up and then him trying to pay them off to drop the court case. Anyhow I digress.
I spent the entire week looking forward to the gig as we don't get to see many gigs (the last was a superb gig by Jack Johnson in the NEC) though despite my celebrity news ignorance even I knew the gig would be controversial as the first time I saw her on Jools Holland's show she was wasted out of her mind swaying on the stage and the second time she was just as wasted at Glastonbury but I wasn't expecting what we got.
After turning up 40minutes or so late for her performance she was clearly in pain. She started rushing through her set, from past sets I've seen her perform she tends to introduce her band before starting but that didn't happen and even her songs seemed to be rushed. Within two songs I had a feeling was wrong.
After 4 or 5 songs she stormed off stage without any explanation and we were left wondering whether that was it or not -a few people got up and left but after a while she came back on stage and started again but she was in tears though most of it. I can't say her words were overly legible and at times it sounded like a bag of cats.
It was one of those historic gigs that was awkward to be at but I'm glad I was even if it was just to see what everyone was going to talk about the next day. I really hope she sorts herself out (or as much as possible!) but I really disagree with her management who IMNSHO were out of order getting her up on stage.
If you ever get the chance to go see Amy Winehouse I really would because the band alone is worth seeing and her two dancers come backup singers are great. If you want to see photos of her gig you can check out my photo album of the gig here.
Day 2 - Did she or didn't she?
Wednesday, November 14, 2007 11:12:11 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
Ok, so the attempt at drama failed! Believe it or not Stacey had the guts to do it, she handed in her resignation so it's only a matter of months/weeks before she's working with me full time right? Well we're not sure...
Turns out that when she handed in her letter of resignation her boss refused to accept it (being the diligent worker that she is I can completely understand that!) and instead he told her that he was going to put it in his drawer and not mention it to anyone to give her time to re-think and discuss it on Friday.
So the question is, will Stacey give in and chose the route of more money and/or less working hours over working with me? Well the suspense is killing me -probably more than you but I doubt she'll stay as she's already made up her mind and has started to get excited.
As far as the risk element goes -which is what I think would put her off- she's realised:
- There's enough work for her to do here
- If there isn't she can get another job
- She's chartered which means companies are screaming out for her skills so she can do agency work...
All good in my books but we'll have to wait until Friday to find out!
I can only imagine how the conversation went:
Stacey: "Please accept my resignation, here's a letter explaining why"
Boss: "No, sorry, I won't. Nope, no way, you can't"
Stacey: "Well I am, it's not you, it's me"
Boss: "Tell you what, lets hide this letter and pretend it wasn't written, I won't tell if you don't"
Stacey: "I'm still leaving"
Boss: "Tell me what you want that'll make you stay -more money? Fewer hours? Less work..."
Stacey: "Nothing, I'm leaving"
Boss: "Well, have a think, lets not rush into anything"
Stacey: "I've been thinking about it for months, I'm leaving"
Boss: "Lets discuss it on Friday, have a think about what you want/need and I'll sort it"
Stacey: "Fine whatever makes it easier for you. I'm still leaving"