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Bullet point update, as it's all my brain is capable of right now....

+ I discovered yesterday morning that there is something worse than training a class at 7.30am in the morning, and that's disciplining the apprentice who fell asleep in middle of the video presentation which forms the bulk of the 7.30am training class. Not fun, particularly when he answered me back with all the reasons he fell asleep (in til 8pm the night before, not home til late) and trying to wiggle out of doing the course again next week! (Joke was on him though - I was straight on the phone to his foreman, who proceeded to ream him up one side and down the other and sent him up to my desk to apologise for being so disrepectful! Good times!)

+ Then I got a phone call in the office from my cousin who had a computer issue - that was grand, but given that she's very very pregnant with a due date of last Saturday, and her husband works on my site (where the mobile reception is rubbish in the buildings!) the heart went crossways on me when I saw her name on caller ID!

+ Haven't been posting much about Strictly here; I think part of the problem with that is I feel quite disengaged from the show this year. I like some of the competitors and still love most of the pros, but I don't have a favourite couple this year. Added to this the fact that Judy Murray has well overstayed her welcome (seriously, she dragged Andy out last week. She got to Blackpool. Can she go now?) and that the judges scoring is more bonkers that ever this year - James Jordan and Camilla Dallerup's twitter feeds are interesting given what they think and how the judges score! I'll keep watching, but the sparkle isn't quite there for me last year. (Especially after last Saturday's shenanigans of the Daily Fail's hatchet job on Ola. Producer manipulation is high this year - if I wanted that, I'd watch the X Factor!)

+ As ever, am behind on my shows. However I have seen up to episode 4 of Scandal, and think I will be having a marathon of 5- 8 this weekend - from what I've seen, Bellamy Young is just stealing the show as Mellie (or "eff it Mellie" as Bellamy christened her on Twitter). My unpopular opinion is that I like Jake with Olivia, and I loathe her and Fitz and indeed Fitz in general. He is a horrible human being and what people see in the Olitz romance is just absolutely beyond me!!

Holy Moly, this has been a long week. I was in work on Thursday and couldn't believe that it was only Thursday; it felt like it should be next Wednesday!!

That said, work is good - crazy busy, but I have to say that I'm finding being in an open plan office is doing wonders for my productivity!! Am developing a nice project that will not only keep me nice and busy and give me something to stick my teeth into; but also has the potential to raise my profile in the company, so that's kind of exciting!

In other news, I bought a new car today! Current car is 3 years old, and once it hits 4 years old here it has to go for an NCT test every 2 years..... plus my dad is big on changing cars every 2-3 years so you get the maximum trade in value out of it..... And of course I brought him with me as he drives a very hard bargain (last time out he almost made the salesman cry!) so I wound up with a very nice deal! Should have it in 10-14 days - very excited!!

Is it wrong that I'm developing an interest in this years American Idol because Keith Urban is on the panel?

And because I just posted on leobrat's LJ about this - I am SERIOUSLY LOVING Elizabeth and AJ on General Hospital! They are so sparkly and awesome and displaying some serious chemistry - it's a real, old-fashioned slow burn of a romance (as opposed to the insta-romance we've become accustomed to seeing on GH!) and I am so enjoying it! (And crossing fingers and toes that the writers don't eff it up!)

Today was a bit of a shocker on site - 3 of my foremen got called in by the General Manager (aka theColmBoss, as opposed to S, the on-site Contracts Manager) and were given a choice of either taking a temporary leave (of 13 weeks) until work picks up, or they could take redundancy and finish up this Thursday. No word on the grapevine about their decisions (I'd say they're sleeping on it) but it was a bit of a shock for a Monday (our work week runs Friday to Thursday, so no-one expects the bullets to fire on a Monday).

And tomorrow, one of the HR girls is coming out to speak to the lads about the new Stress Management Policy. Great timing - we're all staring redundancy in the face, what other way could you be but stressed????

So, in order to distract myself from the crapness of it all, I've been surfing the internet:

Another World Today has it's second episode up, plus an interview with the fabulous Linda Dano!!

It's offical, Rick Hearst is back at B&B as Whip: http://daytimeconfidential.com/2009/05/its-official-rick-hearst-back-at-bold-and-beautiful 

In other surprising news, Jordan and Peter Andre have announced they're seperating (LINK )  I'm kinda surprised at this, although when helsinkibaby and I saw them on Paul O'Grady a few weeks ago, he was redefining the term "hen-pecked husband"

In less surprising news, (which will mean absolutely nothing to 95% of the people reading this) RTE announced that Ryan Tubridy is going to be the new host of The Late Late Show. http://www.rte.ie/arts/2009/0511/latelateshow.html Again, slightly surprised, as I thought Miriam O'Callaghan was a shoo-in, but if they want to re-invigorate the LLS and bring in a younger audience, Tubridy is your man!!

Anybody got any happy news???

I am not having a good day today, mainly because stupid people in the office either don't answer the question I ask them or their answers are so vague as to be no bloody use at all!

I knew I was on trouble when one of the sparks (one of the nicest lads you could meet, lucky for me!) knocked on the office door and the response he got was "WHAT?!" That was at 8 this morning, we start at 7.30...

And it's not getting better - have had to send another spark in with a request to one of our subbies to mail me across a doc I need to modify - whenever I ask this guy for something I have to hound him before I get it; the request comes from one of the lads I get it in five minutes! Which leads me to think that this is one of those guys who doesn't believe in having women on a building site, and is not even smart enough to hide that fact!

And with that off my chest, I shall go back to work...

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

There are times when I love the people I work with, and there are times when I really don't!! First day back at work was yesterday (freezing cold office, frozen pipes which meant there was no water which meant there was no way to make tea at 7.30 in the morning - not good people!!). So mid-morning saw me upstairs in one of our sub-contractors offices, both of us bemoaning the chest infection we'd been afflicted with over Christmas. And as I'm about to leave, he goes "Did you get your present?"

I looked at him "No, there was nothing on my desk....."

So he looks in the foreman's desk, and there's a small gift bag there with my name on it. Thanked him, and waited til I was in my own office to open it - in an industry where the standard "thanks for all your help through the year" gift is either a bottle of wine or box of chocolates, (not that there's anything wrong with wine or chocolate!!) thiscrowd got me a bottle of perfume - Coco by Chanel! To say I was flabbergasted is an understatement - particularly as this is the company that I'vehad screaming fights with over the last six months because of their complete refusal to DO WHAT THEY'RE SODDING WELL TOLD!!!!!! 

Flip side came today - still haven't shaken the chest infection, and I have a fearsome cough that is quite honestly freaking the lads out. There were a queue of them in my office today when I took a coughing fit, the ferocity of which prompted one of my foremen to ask if I'd prefer pine or mahogany for my coffin!! I couldn't even give a smart answer back - just coughed some more!!

Some of you may know that I took 2 weeks holidays from work after the Infinity con - first day back was this Monday. I was hoping that YerMan would be gone by the time I got back, but this was not to be. (He was supposed to be working a months notice, or staying til they found someone else. As with everything else he did, it was very hard to get a definite answer out of him as to when he'd be going).

So I went back on Monday and was told that he was finishing this Friday (as in tomorrow) and that C, one of the other girls in the department, was taking over his role. Which is great, because you're not bringing in someone brand new and also she's actually competant!! And C, being the type of person she is, has been really nice all week, even going as far as to suggest we go out for a leaving meal after work some evening. It didn't come to pass (not that I would have gone, I would have been having a fitting for my bridesmaids dress whichever evening they picked!); eventually it was decided we'd go out for lunch tomorrow. 

Today, he was just a complete prick from the moment he came in. C was asking questions, being perfectly nice and reasonable, and all she was getting back was attitude. Snide, nasty, really confrontational tone. Aand we all noticed it - worst part is, because C is the one member of the team who hasn't had much to do with him on a day to day basis, she thought she'd done or said something to upset him! Myself and E spent half of lunch telling her no, it's not you, it's him!!

So, the point of the story my friends, is this. I left the office at 4, as usual. Battling my way down the carpark that is the M50 (supposedly a motorway, it has a severe identity crisis) my phone beeps with a text message. And because I'm stuck in hellish traffic, I flip it open and read the text. 

From E, it's telling me that YerMan is finishing at 5 today, and will not be in tomorrow. He is GONE people, he is gone!!!!!!  I will never have to look upon that smug, sneery, condescending face again!!!!

Dance Numfar, dance!!!!

And because today keeps on getting better and better, I come home and find a torrent online for the 24 season 7 trailer!! Not to say too much (don't want to spoil people) but I was a very happy girl!!! It made me want to watch it (and considering the clusterfuck that was season 6, that is a major feat!!!)

How's everyone else doing???