D'oh

One of my sites has been hit by an SQL injection exploit. They rather helpfully DROPped the main database for me, very kind. I'm going to have to fix it tonight. I feel quite stupid now, I should have seen this coming really.

Rats

On Sunday, Liz and I welcomed two new pets into the flat: Derek and Hansel (named after the lead characters in the film Zoolander) who are two Rex rats. They are both fully grown having spent the first 6-7 months of their lives in pet shops. They are lovely friendly creatures, and they're both bloody huge. They dwarf Minsk, that's for sure.

I suppose I ought to also mention that I've started my new job. Well, I say "job"; At the moment we've got nothing to do so it's mainly a case of sitting around waiting to be given some reading to do.

HSBC Love Me

Not sure where this originates from but Liz sent it to me earlier today. Very fitting, me-thinks. They've "upgraded" my account to a Graduate Account, telling me that I get to make use of all the excellent new features. I'd like to see something new but it looks exactly the same to me, except for one difference: Now whenever I exceed my limit, instead of sending me a letter telling me I've exceeded my limit, they ring me and charge me £20 for the privilege. Wankers.

HSBC Mastercard are no better. I didn't receive a bill last month and now they've charged me a late payment fee and keep ringing me and bugging me for money. Once I get my finances in order I think I'll tell HSBC where they can shove their shite account and I think I'll go have words with NatWest instead. It'd make a pleasant change to be with a bank that actually gives a shit - oh and that hires staff who can actually speak the same language I do. I'm sick of trying to have conversations with their Indian call centre staff. They can't understand me and I can't understand them. What is the point of hiring telephone operators with whom we cannot communicate?!

Anyway I start work on the 5th and I can look forward to my first pay-cheque some time around the 23rd. Just the thought of an income makes me salivate. Before then, though, I plan to have words and get myself a graduate loan. I want enough cash to pay off my credit card and my overdraft. Most of my money is currently being eaten by HSBC; every time I get a little bit of money they take it off me in the form of intrest, which leads to my account going over-overdrawn again which leads to them taking another "account misuse fee". So once I pay off the overdraft and the credit card I'll be able to get on with a normal life again, without the fear that Mastercard are going to send round the bailiffs.

Rest In Peace, Boo

Boo died yesterday. We're not sure why, he seemed to be getting better, but obviously there was something more serious wrong than his teeth being crooked. We drove out into the countryside to find a hedgerow to bury him under as we don't have anywhere to bury him here. Eventually we found a pretty little orchard overlooking a green valley near Ecchinswell and we buried him under a tree there.

I Am Not Dead

No not dead, merely very slow in updating the old blog these days. Thought it was about time I caught up, so here goes:

Boo went to the vet. She looked at his teeth and remarked that the bottom-right tooth needed cutting. We explained that we'd only cut it a few days before and it was too long once again. She suggested that seeing as it was growing so damn fast that it would be best to operate and remove it. At the same time she would be able to deal with the vast abcess on his cheek. I drove us home, except that the car refused to start at first; acting as though it had a flat battery. Second time it started fine. Very odd. We took him in the next morning for the operation. That night when I spoke to them they said that he wasn't fit to be picked up yet, he'd need to stay in for the night and be kept under observation.

The next morning we picked him up and he was in a sorry state. He was sitting with his nose facing into the corner of his cage and his mouth looked very sore where they'd removed the abcess. We were given antibiotics and instructions on what to feed him, then we arranged to take him back for his checkup a few days later. He looked a lot perkier when we put him back in his carry case, clearly recognising the scent. The same thing happened when he got back to his cage, he knew he was home.

At some point during all this we went to see Rammstein play in Cardiff. They were absolutely incredible. Very loud, very angry, lots of fire. Having seen Rammstein play I now have a desire to build a face-mounted flame thrower... The car was difficult to start again. Something was clearly wrong. A few attempts and it eventually coughed into life. Then we just had to navigate the ridiculous road signs in and around Cardiff.

I took Boo for his check-up visit to the vets. I ended up walking as the car point-blank refused to start that day. I explained that we were very worried about him as he seemed so devoid of life. The vet had a look at where the abcess had been removed and remarked that it was infected, and his digestive system clearly wasn't working right as the baby food we had been instructed to feed him was coming out the same way it went in. She gave him a 50/50 chance of survival. On the way back home I nearly punched some old bloke who said "Tomorrow's lunch!" was I walked past carrying a clearly not-well Boo.

We followed all the additional instructions we'd been given (making absolutely sure he was swallowing his medication, adding a probiotic to his water, bathing the wound, etc) and took him back for his next check-up a few days later. The vet gave him the all-clear and all was well again, despite the fact that he was still not full of life.

Around this time I took on some temporary typing work for a mortgage debt collection agency. That was incredibly dull, incredibly depressing work, but it paid (relatively) well. While I was there I got a phone call from an agency saying I had been offered an interview with Fujitsu. Excellent. The next day I had a phone interview during my lunch hour for a programming/consultancy role near Ascot. They liked the sound of me and so invited me to an interview too. I had that interview first.

In order to do the interviews though, I had to have a working car. With a little help from some local kids we push-started the car and I took it to a garage. They tested everything and the only thing at fault was the battery. One new battery later and I was back on the road.

The first interview was last Wednesday, for the programming/consultancy role. It lasted a rather long time but then I was told that I'd be required to come back for a second interview... D'oh! Ah well. The next day was the Fujitsu interview for which I had to drive to Warrington near Manchester. 3 and a half hours driving to sit in a waiting room for half an hour, then spend 10 minutes filling out some paperwork, followed by a 20 minute interview before being pushed back out of the door. Then another 3 and a half hours on the road.

When I got home there was a letter from Endsleigh about my car insurance. It was dated August the 1st and said "we've not been able to reinstate your direct debit," (it'd bounced too many times so the bank had cancelled it for me) "therefore you need to contact us by the 26th of July or we'll cancel your car insurance." Now, on the 26th of July I had contacted them and paid the amount I owed via credit card. I rang them the next day and found out that they'd cancelled my insurance on the 2nd of August. It was, by then, the 5th of August! I'd been driving around for 2 days without any insurance! Worse still, I had to get to Nottingham that night as we were going to go and visit my parents.

Basically, Endsleigh will only allow payments to be made to the insurance as long as they are by direct debit. They will take a one off payment by credit card, but must then reinstate the direct debit, otherwise they cancel your insurance. Nice of them to explain this to me when I rang them. So when the bank had refused to allow them to reinstate the direct debit, they cancelled my insurance - despite the fact that I was up to date with all of my payments. What a load of bastards.

So, I then frantically searched around for some more insurance and found that Norwhich Union could insure me for about half as much as Endsleigh were charging me anyway. I now pay £30 a month more, but it's only for 4 months. Splendid.

That same day I got a call back from the agency representing Fujitsu to tell me that they'd like to offer me the job. Splendid.

We drove to my parents where we had what seemed like a very long weekend. My parents have bought a scooter for my sister to get to college on and they took it up to an abandoned airfield for her to have a go on it before she goes off to do her C.B.T. etc, so they let me have a go too. Excellent fun, never thought they had so much acceleration. You get a real feeling of speed on them too. I was hairing down the little road on the airfield thinking to myself "I must be doing about 60," then glanced down at the speedometer to see it was just coming up to 30. "...oh."

We left after lunch on Sunday. I borrowed my mum's unused bike carrier to bring my bike back to Newbury. It's great to have it back, I've missed riding. I went to the wildlife sanctuary in Thatcham on it to throw some mouldy bread at the ducks. I'm so out of shape it's not even funny, I nearly had a heart attack en-route. Plus the bike needs a little work doing to it, the pedal cranks move from side to side and sometimes the gears stick. I've had to buy a D-Lock and a cable-lock and chain it to the railings opposite the flat as we have nowhere else to keep it. I doubt it'll get nicked: it was cheap when I bought it and that was 6 years ago.

Earlier I called the agency and accepted the job offer. I didn't get the £20-21k I had been hoping for: I got £23k.

Now my services are required in cleaning the flat. Duty calls...

Graduated

Did the whole graduation thing on Friday. The photos will probably be crap though as it was so bright outside that I couldn't keep my eyes open. I've found out what my mark was overall: 68.1% which means I missed getting a first by 2%. Damn. Ah well. My Dad has helped my re-re-re-work my CV and I submitted it to all the big job sites over the weekend, and I'm now fighting the agencies off with sticks.

Boo (the rat) is going to the vet later as he has a really sore looking cheek. It's huge and black. I can see that being lanced, and if it is then I don't want to be in the room. I've got him an appointment for 2:20 at a vet not far from the flat so hopefully he'll be less stressed by the whole business.

G8 Summit Fails ... Big Surprise

Once again the G8 summit has failed to do anything much. They've doubled their aid to Africa after the "pressure" placed on them by the Make Poverty History campaign and the Live8 concert, but that's an empty gesture really. The money will go straight back into their accounts because they are throwing money at the problem rather than tackling the underlying issues.

But then I'm not surprised. I think that anyone who truly, honestly thought that Tony Blair and his cronies would crumble under the pressure of a concert is very naive. Besides which half of the problem is the fact that the African leaders do not direct the money to where it's needed. The pockets of rich African politicians doesn't strike me as a just cause for aid money.

What really winds me up about the whole thing is America's continued ignorance and selfishness regarding global warming. The entire world is at stake, and so the entire world should be putting as much pressure on the USA as possible to get them to start tackling their emissions problem. They're one of the biggest pollutors in the world and they act as if it's their right to do so. If it only affects the US and then yes, it's their right to do so. But when it affects the entire world it's not, and the rest of the world needs to make them aware of this.

His ignorance astounds me. Science is inconclusive by definition: Theories that are considered sound and valid today may be completely disproved in 50 years time as new theories and discoveries are made. Everything indicates, right now, that by exercising a little control we can vastly reduce emissions and control the damage we are clearly causing the planet. Climate change is inevitable but not at the rate at which it is currently taking place. By continuing to refuse to sign the Kyoto agreement, Bush is continuing to show America's stupidity and ignorance.

Just Got Pulled Over

Liz and I have just been to see Newbury registry office to see what it's like. On the way back a police car was behind us in the queuing traffic which always makes me feel slightly on edge. I just don't like it when they are following: everyone makes mistakes and I don't want a cop car following me in case fate should decide that it's at that very moment that I should make a daft mistake. After queuing for about 5 minutes with the copper directly behind us we finally got onto the road back home when he stuck his lights on. I pulled in, thinking he merely wanted to get past, but instead he pulled up behind us and started getting out. Fan-fucking-tastic.

I wound the window down and he came across and asked me for my name. Then he asked if the car was mine. Then he asked how long I'd had it. I explained that we'd only bought it last week. Then it turned out that he'd been running checks on us while he'd been following us as he said that the car wasn't yet registered in my name - which is, technically - an offence. I fail to see how it is an offence, I'd filled out all the relevant paperwork. Just because the DVLA haven't put it on their database yet doesn't mean I'm doing anything wrong. Then he asked to see my licence which is always an uncomfortable thing to be asked: I've still not sent off for the full licence. It's perfectly valid but it looks a bit dodgy handing over a learner's licence. So off he goes to his car to run a check on the card to make sure I have indeed passed my test and that it is still valid.

When he came back he said it was okay but pointed out that I'd moved since I'd registered the card. I said that yes, I'd moved from Aberystwyth to Newbury. He then said the card was registered for Nottingham (I'd used my parent's address for the card simply because it was easier than applying for a new card every year I was a student) and that too was an offence. He finished by saying "get it all changed over, yeah?" before going back to his car.

How smegging nerve-racking? Very smegging nerve-racking. I've done nothing wrong: I filled out the relevant paperwork for the car (it's actually more legal than my old car which is still registered to my mum) and I transferred my insurance across. Fair enough, I really ought to get my full licence sorted out but it's perfectly legal to drive on the provisional licence for up to 2 years. But no matter how innocent you are, being pulled over makes you feel like a criminal.

London Bombings :(

I can hardly believe this has happened. Tony Blair and his cronies all said after previous attacks that it would never happen to the UK. The underground was always an obvious target and yet they didn't take adequate precautions, and now this has happened. What makes me angry the most is that they are as responsible as the terrorists yet behave as though they had nothing to do with it. They poke an angry bear with a stick and then, when it turns and mauls someone, they shrug it off as if it was nothing to do with them.

This world is such a fucking mess. Sometimes I really wish I could get off the planet and live away from all this. We supposedly live in civlised society and yet we see reports like this all of the time.

New Car!

I've got a 1994 Rover Metro, 1.1L. Compared to my Peugeot it's like shit off a shovel (says a lot about the Peugeot). It's got a 4 speed gearbox, which is a little odd, but I'll get used to it. I couldn't find a single thing wrong with it apart from a tiny dent on the bonnet, a minor scratch on the boot, and a tiny bit of rust on one of the wheel arches. The engine is quiet, there are no knocking sounds. It has never had any major problems, it has a full service history and it sounds like it's been very well cared for. It was a good price too.

The trip to Aberystwyth for graduation should be a much more comfortable one now. Which brings me onto my next point. I got my degree result: a high 2:1. The tickets for the ceremony arrived this morning and I got all 4 of them, so everyone will be accommodated for.

Now that I have a working car again I can start broadening my search for a job. And my god I need one. Since Wednesday I've been doing some temporary work in a warehouse just down the road from the flat. It's tedious hard work and very long hours for not a great deal of pay, but it'll help get the bank of my case for a short while so I can find a job.

Basically my job is to take a small flat-packed cardboard box, stick sellotape on the bottom of it, put a pack of "detox clays" in it and then zip the top of it with sellotape. That then gets a label put on it and placed on a pallet. It's almost impossible to sellotape the boxes quickly when sitting, so I have to stand for about 10 hours a day. The most exciting moment is when the sellotape gun runs out of tape and I have to frantically scrabble for another roll before the backlog of clay-filled boxes becomes too great to deal with. Still, mustn't grumble. It's putting money in the bank, which is all I care about right now.

Liz and I are planning the wedding. It's incredible how expensive weddings are. We're trying to cut costs as much as possible, we'd much rather spend money on things that we can do together, and things that will last. A wedding is one day where all your family bicker while drinking booze that you paid for, so we're not planning on throwing money at it. That said, we do want to have a nice wedding too so we're trying to balance costs against "niceness". :) I was shocked by the prices of engagement rings, most of them look hideous and yet are extortionate. Wedding rings on the other hand look nicer and start at sensible prices. We're both really looking forward to it. Current plans are to have it in Autumn 2006 but we've got to find a venue before we can confirm that.