Now I have a job offer, I'm in mortal fear of waking up and finding it was aaaaallll a dreeeaaam. Despite my non-superstitious general cast of mind, I find myself unconsciously trying to Karmically balance myself out so that the pendulum of fate doesn't swing back into "bad luck" with a vengeance.
How do I do that? By watching Michael McKintyre's Comedy Roadshow. By forcing the terrible misfortune of Michael McKintyre on myself, I ought to have something really nice happen to me as recompense.
I bloody 'ate Michael McKintyre. How he has a TV show, I do not know.
Saturday 28 August 2010
Sneezing and Giggling
Today I am unusually cheerful, all the more so, since I seem to have developed a cold.
Earlier in the month I applied for a C# programming job and was asked in to take a technical test. The test itself turned out to be a general programming aptitude test with a made-up language, so the week of C#/.NET revision that I'd done wasn't particularly useful, although I thought it might be handy for any subsequent interview and kept at it as I was sort-of getting in to the whole C#/.NET thing, mostly because Visual Studio 2010 is an absolute joy to use compared to the tools I'd been used to in my old job.
Basically, I was getting carried away with the way autocomplete meant I only needed to type about a third of the code, but I digress.
At the beginning of this week, I got a call back saying that I'd done well on the test and that they would like me to come in for an interview. The strange thing was that when the email confirmation arrived for the interview, it was saying that I'd be interviewing for a Java role. I queried this, and was told that it was indeed a Java position, and was I okay with that? I was, because I've done Java Micro Edition before (this isn't Micro Edition work, mind) and I was getting a little tired of the way a lot of C#'s keywords are in there not to help the compiler compile, but to prove to the compiler that the programmer isn't a complete idiot and actually understands what it is that their code is doing (for example having to explicitly add the
The only problem with the sudden shift to Java was that I wouldn't have time to do any Java revision, and Java Micro Edition is a massively cut-down version of Java, especially in the CLDC/MIDP profiles used on phones. I was worried that any technical questions would deal with aspects of Java that I simply hadn't needed to deal with on mobiles, such as the collections framework. I know it's there on Real Java, I know what it does and how it uses generics, but I can't say I've ever written code with it. On a mobile, you have to use the rubbishy old Vector class and the like, which isn't type-safe and therefore makes baby Jesus cry.
Aaaanyway, I went to the interview without any massively high hopes and had a good long chat with the two chaps I'd be working with on a daily basis. I explained where I was at with Java, answered a couple of technical questions, and they said that with the amount of C++ experience I have, it won't be an issue. After an hour or so of that, they went outside "for a chat" and asked me if I wouldn't mind sitting another test, this being a language-and-number-skills fifty questions in fifteen minutes sort of thing. I didn't mind, sat the test and was then asked if I had time for a chat with the Boss of Bosses. I agreed and he talked me to death for an hour before they let me loose with the reassurance that I'd done "really well" on the second test and that I'd hear from them by Monday.
It wasn't until I got home until I remembered Monday is a bank holiday.
Friday afternoon, as I'm walking in through the front door after having gone out for some dog food for the idiot dogs, my mobile goes. It's the people I interviewed with and I immediately think they're ringing me up to tell me that they won't be proceeding etc, etc, etc. Instead, they offer me the job!
The paperwork is in the post and once it arrives, I'll be arranging a starting date. No more dole posts! (hopefully)
Earlier in the month I applied for a C# programming job and was asked in to take a technical test. The test itself turned out to be a general programming aptitude test with a made-up language, so the week of C#/.NET revision that I'd done wasn't particularly useful, although I thought it might be handy for any subsequent interview and kept at it as I was sort-of getting in to the whole C#/.NET thing, mostly because Visual Studio 2010 is an absolute joy to use compared to the tools I'd been used to in my old job.
Basically, I was getting carried away with the way autocomplete meant I only needed to type about a third of the code, but I digress.
At the beginning of this week, I got a call back saying that I'd done well on the test and that they would like me to come in for an interview. The strange thing was that when the email confirmation arrived for the interview, it was saying that I'd be interviewing for a Java role. I queried this, and was told that it was indeed a Java position, and was I okay with that? I was, because I've done Java Micro Edition before (this isn't Micro Edition work, mind) and I was getting a little tired of the way a lot of C#'s keywords are in there not to help the compiler compile, but to prove to the compiler that the programmer isn't a complete idiot and actually understands what it is that their code is doing (for example having to explicitly add the
override keyword to functions that override a virtual function in the base class. The compiler doesn't need it- C++ manages just fine without it- but it forces programmers to acknowledge that they're masking an inherited function by hitting them with compile errors if they leave it off).The only problem with the sudden shift to Java was that I wouldn't have time to do any Java revision, and Java Micro Edition is a massively cut-down version of Java, especially in the CLDC/MIDP profiles used on phones. I was worried that any technical questions would deal with aspects of Java that I simply hadn't needed to deal with on mobiles, such as the collections framework. I know it's there on Real Java, I know what it does and how it uses generics, but I can't say I've ever written code with it. On a mobile, you have to use the rubbishy old Vector class and the like, which isn't type-safe and therefore makes baby Jesus cry.
Aaaanyway, I went to the interview without any massively high hopes and had a good long chat with the two chaps I'd be working with on a daily basis. I explained where I was at with Java, answered a couple of technical questions, and they said that with the amount of C++ experience I have, it won't be an issue. After an hour or so of that, they went outside "for a chat" and asked me if I wouldn't mind sitting another test, this being a language-and-number-skills fifty questions in fifteen minutes sort of thing. I didn't mind, sat the test and was then asked if I had time for a chat with the Boss of Bosses. I agreed and he talked me to death for an hour before they let me loose with the reassurance that I'd done "really well" on the second test and that I'd hear from them by Monday.
It wasn't until I got home until I remembered Monday is a bank holiday.
Friday afternoon, as I'm walking in through the front door after having gone out for some dog food for the idiot dogs, my mobile goes. It's the people I interviewed with and I immediately think they're ringing me up to tell me that they won't be proceeding etc, etc, etc. Instead, they offer me the job!
The paperwork is in the post and once it arrives, I'll be arranging a starting date. No more dole posts! (hopefully)
Wednesday 25 August 2010
Idiot Detection, CERN-style.
So, I'm filling out a job application at the CERN website and I click on the drop-down box for "How did you learn about job or training opportunities at CERN?" and what do you suppose the first two options are?
Oh, that wacky Dan Brown!
- Angels and Demons - Book
- Angels and Demons - Film
Oh, that wacky Dan Brown!
Tuesday 10 August 2010
Button Man
Today, I have been putting new buttons on my trousers. With a hammer.
I've been economising on the clothing budget by not buying any, so the slow march of entropy (and being a fat pig) has taken its toll on my trouser buttons. After my trouser supply fell down to the critical threshold of one pair of trousers that don't fall down, I scraped together the cash for some new buttons.
In the past, I'd bought blister packs of sundry sewing supplies from supermarkets, a pointless exercise as the buttons in question are really meant for shirts and tend to break under eh... load. This time I went to a hobby superstore and bought a pack of proper "Jeans" buttons that you basically rivet into place; hence a happy few minutes this morning hitting my pants with a hammer.
It also seems that the Dole Diet is doing me some good as I had to rivet the new buttons a bit tighter to keep said pants in place.
I've been economising on the clothing budget by not buying any, so the slow march of entropy (and being a fat pig) has taken its toll on my trouser buttons. After my trouser supply fell down to the critical threshold of one pair of trousers that don't fall down, I scraped together the cash for some new buttons.
In the past, I'd bought blister packs of sundry sewing supplies from supermarkets, a pointless exercise as the buttons in question are really meant for shirts and tend to break under eh... load. This time I went to a hobby superstore and bought a pack of proper "Jeans" buttons that you basically rivet into place; hence a happy few minutes this morning hitting my pants with a hammer.
It also seems that the Dole Diet is doing me some good as I had to rivet the new buttons a bit tighter to keep said pants in place.
Monday 2 August 2010
It's a Gas
Today's latest Catch-22 situation is with regards to paying the gas and electricity, which I get from the one supplier. If I don't make a payment by the end of today, I get hit with late payment charges, so I ring to make a payment.
Their payment system is down.
Do I get until tomorrow to make a payment to avoid late charges? No, it has to be made today. But the payment system is down...
Their payment system is down.
Do I get until tomorrow to make a payment to avoid late charges? No, it has to be made today. But the payment system is down...
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