Saturday, 6th October, 2007

Transition

moving

You will have to excuse me over the next few weeks, if this blog disappears and reappears on an irregular basis. Yesterday's downtime was because of something that's started happening a lot recently — error messages like "erin kernel: proc: table is full" — and I wasn't around to reboot.

I wondered (incidentally) whether anyone had panicked that I'd in some way given in to the naive demands of Thursday's commenter, and pulled the site Or whether I was just in stiches at the idea of "the blunt end of a rag-man's trumpet"

But no, just the usual flakiness of a random individual trying to host something experimental on their ancient Mac, with a shitty DSL line.

But...

The other day, I applied for NTL Virgin. I trawled through all the steps involved, frustrated myself that I couldn't change their 'suggested' address for my bank (based on my sort code) to "Lancaster" from "Leicester" (which struck me as odd), then moped around for a bit because of the words "Credit Check" in big bold letters on the final page.

"Shit", I said. "There goes my plans for 10MB broadband"

But, this morning, whilst pottering around the new flat getting ready to come back to Lancaster for a couple of days, my phone burst into life with a text message telling me that everything was fine, and I'd be getting the kit in a few days.

Hurrah!

Later on though, at work (long story — went out for curry yesterday for a leaving do. Got absolutely smashed and left it too late to go back to the office to get my bag and laptop) there was an email for me from Virgin telling me to give them a call and pay the £150 installation fee for "V+"

Meep

"Er, hi. I had an email about an installation fee?"

"Yes, will you be paying that now?

"Quick question: what is 'V+'?"

"It's our television service, that lets you pause and rewind"

"And why would I need that if I only ordered broadband?"

"Um..."

Mild apologies later, they called back to tell me the stuff will be arriving on Friday — which means I might have fully super-duper-fast-cable internets¹ by next weekend

Which means that maybe I might have a more stable fucking blog in about a week

...

This whole moving thing is all a bit weird, to be honest. I'm really starting to feel a little 'at home' in the new flat — even after only a week. It's really nice and quiet (apart from the neighbours waking me up by showering at 6.45 every morning), it's a comfy and relaxing space, and I'm thinking that once I get all my Stuff™ over there (including the kittens) it'll really start to feel like 'mine'.

The to-and-from-work experiments are starting to yield results:

Train

Pros: quick, reliable. I like trains. Cons: queuing for ticket at Leeds station because the conductor was useless was annoying. Walk back to flat from station late at night was just a little too far for someone desperate for a wee.

Car

Pros: very very quick. Cons: car park is pricey. I got lost

Bus

Pros: easy, cheap. Bus stop at end of street. Cons: I don't like buses

The other cool thing is that our Uni do a special MetroCard deal, where we get 15% off, and they take the money out of our wages each month and sort out all the paperwork.

So that's good

The other thing I'm really enjoying, is how less 'detached' I feel from everything at work. Before — even with me having a much more active role in the School (and started to feel a lot more appreciated than I might have a few years ago) — the seventy miles between Lancaster and Leeds always left me feeling a bit of an 'outsider'.

It was stupid little things really — like not being able to drink with everyone after work, having to stick to coke. Or not being able to go to a lot of the activities that everyone else seemed to go to, without arranging weeks in advance for somewhere to kip over.

Take yesterday for example. I would never have gon eout on a Friday afternoon for curry with everyone before — knowing full well that they would have all got pissed, and I wouldn't have enjoyed it without being pissed myself.

But now I can go out with them all. And I'm loving it

...

At this moment though, I'm back in Lancaster, slightly disheartened by a complete failure of a mission to go out and get some boxes for the move. I Googled "cardboard boxes Lancaster" and found the web site of a local supplier — but I guess I should have rang them first before I drove off to Morecambe, and didn't manage to find them.

I'm hoping that by the end of tomorrow, there will be some sort of 'ordered pile' of things in the house, ready to be flung in the back of a van next weekend. And that by the end of Sunday week, I'll be in the new flat, internetted to the eyeballs, with Biscuit and Tish running around trying to lay claims to the territory.

In the meantime though, while I start unplugging things and taking stuff off shelves, I thought I might just return to that subject of Having Someone Else's Name™, and link to the little story about why I'm called Siobhan Curran — you know, just in case there are new people here or something.

¹ One internet in Leeds. One internet in Lancaster. Therefore: two internets. Ho ho

Do Leeds Metro cards give you the option to use trains as well as buses in the area?

Yes, they do I'm erring towards a train-in, bus-out approach

Do your supermarkets in Lancaster/Morecame have stocks of cardboard boxes for customers to use?

Apparently, they crush them into bales (I've just been told a few minutes ago). Otherwise I'd be lurking out the back of Sainsburys, with my boot open.

Opportunistic Sainsburys Conversations

random quip

"Hi Siobhan¹. Need any help with your packing?"

"Aye. Grab a box and come round to mine in a bit"

¹ Normally, I have this 'literary device' where I insert my girl-name when people use my boy-name, just to keep the old 'suspension of disbelief' thing going. But recently, I do get called "Siobhan" at the checkouts at Sainsburys. There is a hilarious story to explain why — but I think I need to be far away in Leeds before I tell it.