After much ado (about something), the RSPCA finally decided to make their job offer official. I was supposed to start on Wednesday of this week, but since they phoned on Tuesday, I said I couldn't - I needed a day to take care of stuff. My new manager's away next week, so my start date will be 4th July: I have 10 days more to bum around. Wheeeee!
I just found a couple of plugins for MT that (finally!) allow me to do what I want: Close2 sets old comments and trackbacks to closed (or open, incidentally), while SpamLookup gives much, much better options for dealing with spam. Which probably means everyone is now shut off from saying anything, knowing my luck...
I'm employed now!
I just had a call from the guy at the agency and he was very pleased to tell me that the RSPCA want me to go and work for them as soon as possible. Apparently, a load of people applied and went for interview, so I should be well-pleased with myself. They want me to start on Monday if I can, although there's some paperwork to fill out, so it might be delayed a day or two. It looks like I'll be working on CRM software again (cool, no need to think too much) and in a team where a suit and tie are not considered essential (even better). I'm really quite looking forward to it, although I'll miss bumming around.
This is excellent, of course, although it leaves me wondering how Psycho will get to her appointments without the car around!
In other news, Psycho had an interview with Mencap today (no, Scary Ross, not for me to become a patient...) which went very well from what I can tell. I'm terribly proud of her: a good first interview for starters, but also in a foreign country and her second language! We're hoping she gets that as it would be a great experience (working with people with Down's syndrome and so on) and a nice 'foot in the door' position for finding psychology contacts. Fingers crossed: she should hear towards the end of the week.
I think it might be a night for some fish 'n' chips, a bottle of wine and a good film. Not to mention copious congratulatory sex, of course.
I feel like today's interview was the first I've ever done: it's been over eight years since I last had to sit through all the questions and ask someone for a job. Thankfully, the two people interviewing me (for the RSPCA, which is cool) were nice and the job sounds like the helpdesk work I started with at Cisco. Exactly what I was looking for.
Their site is about forty minutes' drive away and is very pleasant, the pay is pretty good for helpdesk work and for once I'd be working for a company doing something worthwhile, rather than just making lots of money.
I should hear their decision on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. Fingers crossed.
Things have moved a little since my last entry: this weekend, I found the wet patch in the garden had become worse. Looking closer, there was water running under the fence from next door, constantly. I dropped a note through, but there was no reply, so after two more days and a small river running in the garden, I called the water people and they came and had a look.
I was really worried that maybe I'd busted a pipe with my digging around, but the guy who came was even taller than me so he could see over the fence. They'd left a hosepipe running. He shut off the water since - apparently - no one lives there. Cool.
I also have an interview tomorrow for a job. Scary.
I was just out back and thinking that the garden's pretty much finished now: we just need to wait and see what comes up. I've had a bit of an 'oops' moment and added one new item, though.
Way back when, I was changing the rat cages and wondered what to do with the wood chips and poop and so on. "Natural compost," says I, tipping it onto the garden and digging it in.
Now, what do rats eat?
Yes, the young lady on the right... no, not unbaptised children... ah , the young man at the back... no, not everything that carries bubonic plague - that's rattus rattus; I'm talking about rattus norvegicus here... yes, you over there?
That's right - everything humans eat and... grain.
You guessed it - suddenly, one corner of the garden starting sprouting loads of green things. Thinking this was a good sign, I left them for a little while. Unfortunately, it turns out we had maize, corn or something similar growing all over the place! Nightmare. The dwarf broom suffered badly, but I got most of it out and things seem to be returning to normal now. D'oh!
So, what's it like now?
Well, here's the back wall which looks cleaner now. The rhododendrons are doing well, the Welsh poppy has flowered and even the columbine has recovered! A couple of the bulbs are coming up over on the right, but are still struggling as the soil is a bit clay-heavy over there. Our strawberry plant has also flowered now (never seen that before!).
You will notice the little house on the left: when I was in Paris, I grabbed some bits of wood out of the Ikea wardrobe in the old appartment and shipped them over here. Biscotte now has a little kennel that is - given my ability at DIY - surprisingly solid and neat. She loves it! Protection from the rain and wind, and close enough to the grass that she can chase birds. :D
The side wall has also come up nicely since being weeded out. I haven't changed this much, but it's good to see pink and mauve flowers coming out! The blackberry vine (or whatever one calls those) is growing nicely behind all the plants, so we're hoping to have some fruit there.
Out by the front wall, some bulbs are growing on the right section. The buttercups there need to be controlled, but are pretty nonetheless. The area under the tree on the far left is also much cleaner now: there was a TON of grass growing there that I got rid of.
The side hasn't changed much, but one flower has come out now - very pretty.
And there you have it!
Me!
MovableType had been acting very strangely since I upgraded to v3.16. Editing entries caused their categories to disappear, for example, which was very annoying when going back through old stuff to switch off trackbacks. That's one of those spam-reduction things I've been doing.
I posted a note on the MT forum and had a reply that I should re-upload the template for creating entries. Oho, a plan. Firing up the FTP client, I have a look at the templates. Me no understand! They all oldie! What going on here?!
Yes, you guessed it: when I upgraded the installation, I uploaded all the changed cgi files. And nothing else. I forgot to upload the other seven megs of changes.
All together now: "D'oh!"
Yup, I'm back from Paris. The wedding was lovely, the sun was out, there was too much pollution, the hand-over of the keys for the old flat went well, the journey was long and tiring, the car didn't break down, the shopping was done, fresh air was breathed upon return and I'm knackered.
I'll post something coherent soon.