Sorry if anyone takes offense to the title. I’m pretty upset about some news I heard today about my old team from my old workplace.

They all got escorted out the building today, made redundant as their jobs have just been taken over by an overseas call centre.

I feel so bad for them. I’m hoping they will get jobs where I am working at now. Fucking irrational business decisions.  No one can tell me that it’s a good thing when people lose their jobs like this. Even if we are in an employment boom.  I guess that means the rest of the call centre will be going soon.

If they weren’t offered jobs in the main call centre for customer service, I don’t hold out much hope for the rest of the people I have worked with over the last 4 years.  It hasn’t even been three weeks since I left.

I’m running on empty at the moment - new job leads to lack of brainage. On the plus side, I now get to fight it out, Eagle V Dockers for the next 6 months! Ahhh inter office rivalry. I can’t comment on work too much obviously, but let me just say, that I have seriously heard some of the most stupid people tonight when I was listening to calls. Word to the wise - don’t switch off your antivirus software when downloading with limewire; Don’t muck around with the MDF if you live in a block of flats in an attempt to do your own telephone wiring, and DON’T threaten to beat up telephone technicians.

Secondly, last night there was fire, but not in my flat. The neighbours below decided to have a BBQ with those smokey coals thingies. The BBQ caught fire, and I had smoke billowing upwards into MY unit; into MY flat; setting off MY smoke alarm. Stupid people. Next time they want portuguese chicken, they should go to Nandos.

Now, I use facebook, good to keep up with old friends and workmates, and less emo than myspaz. That being said, I am using the Ignore function to ignore many invitations, and the numbers of invites I get are dropping by the dozen every day. I found a 12 step fuck you about facebook, so I thought I would post it here. If I knew who wrote it, I’d say thanks.

To get you into the mood of this post. Here is some foamy, watch it - think Foamy.

THE 12 FUCK YOUS OF FACEBOOK!

Fuck You Number ONE

OK PEOPLE STOP POSTING GOODNIGHTS ON FACEBOOK. ITS NOT LIKE FACEBOOK IS UR FUCKING HUSBAND OR WIFE TO SAY GOOD NIGHT DUMBASS.

Fuck You number TWO

There is NO SUCH THING as a FACEBOOK Tracker.
It does NOT exist. So quit posting stupid bulletins like
“OH-MY-GOD this WORKS!!!”
No, it doesnt.

Fuck You number THREE

To the people who have like 25,000 friends;
Are you fucking serious?
You’re stupid.
Go play in traffic

Fuck you number FOUR

Don’t ever post pictures and say:
“OMG, I’m so ugly”
because if you were, you wouldn’t post them.
If you do you’re a fucking moron.

Fuck you number FIVE

NOBODY cares about threats over the internet,
so don’t try to act hardcore with the keyboard.
Fighting online is like racing in the Special Olympics;
Even if you win, you’re still retarded

Fuck you number SIX

Quit crying because you’re not on someones ‘Top 8′.
Who cares?!?
IT’S FACEBOOK!!!
If you really cared that much, you would
pick up the damn phone!

Fuck you number SEVEN

Who really cares if I don’t accept you as a friend?
MOVE ON!!!
Don’t send me another request or message asking
“What’s up with you not adding me?”
I don’t want you as a friend, that’s what’s up,
Asshole.

Fuck you number EIGHT

6th graders who have FACEBOOK and look like sluts,
and act like whores;
Go somewhere else because nobody wants you here.
And Parents -
Quit blaming FACEBOOK for your kid being a hooker,
she was a whore before FACEBOOK,
and she’d be a whore without it!
What does that say about your parenting skills?
Think about it!

Fuck you number NINE

If you open a MESSAGE OR SPAM and it says something like repost this in 100 seconds or a ghost will rape you tonight, or some dead bitch is going to rape your mom - quit being dumb

Fuck you number TEN

FACEBOOK was created to keep up with friends.
Quit trying to check up on your dumbass ex!!
Come on, now, people, its called stalking…you might as well be sitting in front of their house with binoculars.

Fuck you number ELEVEN

People who send you a million fucking application invites. Like fuck off I don’t want to be part of your goddamned zombie army or join your gay hockey fantasy pool. Lay the fuck off!!

And finally….

Fuck you number TWELVE

Stop Making groups saying facebook will shut down in 20 days if a million people don’t join. LIKE HOLY FUCK, GET A LIFE

I’ve had a pretty slack long weekend.

The weather had been in a word, Perfect. Just the right amount of heat, cool breezes and clouds in the sky to make you realise that we are now on the downward slope to a delicious winter. I for one welcome the winter, break out the doona, blankies and the hot water bottle!

All that aside, since it’s still not quite cold enough for all those nice wintery extras, I thought I’d comment on the geek meat I went to. I’ve been to two so far. One last week, and one this week. They have been pretty cool; met some new people, and some existing friends. This week included some from the furry community.

The only issue I have is that the venue for today’s meat, still slacked off on crap service and coffee. They can’t tell the difference between a mocha and a capuccino (which was all foam).

Also went to the new IKEA store in Innaloo, pretty impressed all round. The parking problem is still the same, apparently there are 900 bays, and that’s just not enough. I needed to park on the sandy block next door. The most enjoyable part of the whole adventure was having coffee in their cafe section. They use their own coffee, and it was delicious. I will definitely be going back there again. The 99 bus, for those of you who are in Perth, has a stop right next to IKEA, so you can use public transport. I recommend this to everyone in the city to avoid driving.

The new job starts in earnest tomorrow. I’m looking forward to the challenge.

update:: changed the theme, after much grumbling the one I wanted didn’t work out. So i fiddled as you do, and totally screwed it up. Nearly locked myself out of the blog; and thanks to a nice person from WP; fixed up a couple of extra bits and pieces

Sitting in a staff meeting watching someone in the team gobbing down a huge mouthful of wasabi, which was hotter than usual - and suffering in silence whilst it burnt the lining from his nose, throat and tastebuds from his tongue.

Being on the bus tonight thinking, wow no one is sitting next to me. Then having the world’s smelliest breathed man sitting next to me. Queue the breath mints, thank god I had some in my bag

I puchased a 4Gb Sandisk Cruzer USB drive, very nice - almost like a PC on a stick. It’s smaller and more portable than the macbook air

Month in a year

I just wanted to list what I got up to around the same time of month each year since 2001.

• march 01, unemployed again.
• march 02, owner selling the house i lived in with X
• march 03, ooh, freakychick.net domain is purchased and housed! it’s 6 yrs old!
• march 04, started my eating plan to lose weight
• march 05, comedy night with will anderson, he shredded my X (never sit in the front row)
• march 06, planning and preparation for my european trip
• march 07, discovered i worked in the same building as frugal bastard

Not too bad

When starting at a new company, it’s essential to figure out where the lie of the land is. Who do you need to get to know, how are you going to fit in? If you come in as a pleb, it’s easier to make friends, and get out there and find out what’s going on, and if you have a nasty experience, you can run back to your original posse. When you come in as basically, lower middle management, and you’re on your own - well that’s different. You basically eat lunch alone, go on tea breaks alone, go sit in induction with your fellow inductees (and that new boss) have a laugh, do some quizzes, then you’re left to your own devices.

I find this an uncomfortable place to be in. At my old workplace, when I became a team leader, many of the other TL’s weren’t that accepting of me. I still had my friends I’d made already in the call centre,  lucky for me, I did have a couple of other TL’s who were also friends, but I still found it hard to fit in. It took nearly a year for me to make friends with a couple of the TL’s and they ended up being pretty amazing women. I regret that it took so long for things to thaw between us. So, now I’m the new TL. I have to start to getting to know my co-workers,  I have to work on them, and depend on them. They have to get to know me. So, it’s off to the pub for free drinks! (looking like a good career move already) and then after a meeting where I was almost bored to tears, to a cricket match, involving of course, lots of alcohol.

Ultimately, I don’t want to be the spare wheel in one of those uncomfortable awkward social situations. It’s a peer thing I guess, I feel like reverting back to when I was a kid and wanting to belong, and that’s perfectly normal. I’m used to being able to wander around and sitting down with people and having lunch, having a laugh, or running off with friends because we’re up to something.

So I’ve become paranoid, I’ve changed my BO killer, just in case the other one would mysteriously stop working, I make sure I blow my nose before I go to work ever day, no one wants to go to the loo, look in the mirror and see one of those evil  nasal boogers swinging around each time you inhale and exhale. I try and minimise my worst features, make sure I smile alot, and keep my mouth shut unless the next thing I say actually does contribute to the conversation. I try not to be too witty, or sarcastic, or evil, just in case people think I’m arrogant.

GAH! damn peer pressure at this age, I don’t want the kids in the school yard to laugh at me!

I should have stayed in bed this morning! Then mysteriously been transported to work, call nice and lean, smelling pretty and looking hot. Instead, I got out of bed on time, got dressed on time, make up done on time, collating everything into one handbag on time OK. Not on time. It was at this point that it became a litany of small disasters leading up to one great big one.

I needed to log onto the bank website I use so I could get my BSB and account number - I reached into my bag for my diary and pen, and as I was getting ready to write it all down, I noticed my fingers were sticky.. I looked down at my hands, and they were covered in blue ink. I stared for a moment, not quite absorbing the meaning of blue ink. I then looked at the pen in my hands, and both hands were covered, and my filofax (which isn’t leather, its CHINO - so now the cover is ruined). [insert mental anguished scream]

OK no problem ,  I find the banking details, use the pen to write it all down, precariously switch off the laptop without staining it with blue pen  ink. I run to the kitchen and start scrubbing my hands with the green pot scrubber thingy and hot water and soap. Eventually I get enough blue pen off my hands and fingers and.. fingernails? how the hell did it get on those? I rushed off to the bus stop once I collected my bag, diary and everything else, only to find that as I was standing on one side of the road… the bus I needed to catch drove on by, without me. [(-&^k]

I waited and waited and waited for the next bus, due to swing on by at 8.08am, except it didn’t turn up until 8.18am. So I rang my new work, told them I was going to be up to 10 minutes late, and stewed about what a great (not) first impression that was. As I scuttled into the training room - kindly walked in by the Head of Training, I took my seat rather sheepishly. I was happy though, I made it, only 5 minutes late. Until I found out the man sitting next to me, was my new boss - doing induction training as well. God, someone kill me now.

Friday was great.

I left the building at 4.30pm, I walked down the stairs, to the bus stop. I waited 30 seconds, flagged down the 72 - got on and it was done. I didn’t even look at the building where I have worked for the last 3 years. It’s no longer my problem.

Now I just need to fill out the paper work for this new job, sign the contract and hand it all in when I start work on Monday. Gotta find the time to hand in the police clearance application. I just didn’t have the time to do it last week. I wonder if I can claim the clearance charge on tax?

I spoke to MM for a bit before he went off to his brother’s, and I got some fish and chips. I had some Skuttlebut, Sauvignon Blanc Semillion I think, can’t remember. Drank the whole bottle over about 4 hours. Wasn’t too pissed at the end of it. Had a dreamless sleep for the most part, except the part where I dreamt about my now X work. No worries, I just ignored it and slept more.

I do know the people downstairs got home about 1am, and started drinking more and had loud music playing. I fell asleep to the honking laughter of this chick, called Amanda. I know her name because her Boyfriend keeps screaming her name when she’s down at the pool, and he can’t be arsed going down there to talk to her. So he shouts from the balcony.