New addition to the shitlist

Hooray! New job! New income! Money coming in again! Except that it isn't because the useless fuckwits at the recruitment agency who placed me in my new job have had "technical problems" with my user account on their swanky online timesheet submission system. This means that despite entering my timesheet three times onto their system (and getting it approved each time by my supervisor) they were not able to get me on the payroll on time which means that my first week's wages (that would be the week starting Monday 19th March) will not clear in my bank account until next fucking Thursday.

Considering the complete lack of support I got from my previous agency when I mentioned that I had been harassed and slandered by a permanent employee of the council for the best part of six months then you'll maybe understand why rectruitment agencies are not my favourite organisations right now. If there are any temps reading this then please remember that if it ever comes down to a choice of your agency supporting your needs or maintaining their relationship with a big, juicy client then be in no doubt that it will be you who gets fucked over.

Trend-setter... not...

Sad to report that, after six months, the new literary genre I coined - "faux-noir narcissism" - has yet to be adopted by the masses.

Finally...

... got a job. Well, it is technically still only a temp job but I have been contracted for at least twelve months. Actually, I'm not a temp; I'm a "contractor" now. Amounts to the same thing but "contractor" sounds more impressive.

The job itself isn't especially exciting: computer stuff, blah blah, document management system maintenance, yadda yadda yadda; not too stressful or mentally exhausting but not totally mindless either. Plus, I can catch a bus right outside my house and don't start work until 9.00am (as opposed to my council job which involved a twenty minute walk just to get the bus, a half hour bus ride and getting to work at 7.30-8.00am). And I've been there a week and nobody has accused me of gross misconduct or harassment yet: bonus. I've even got my own office. I've never had my own office before - it's quite a novelty.

Talking of the council, they finally advertised my old job after I left. I think my supervisor was hoping that I would change my mind and still apply for it. Yeah, cold day in hell, flying pigs, monkeys flying out my butt, etcetera. No fucking chance would I ever, ever consider going back to that job. I'm still in touch with some of call centre girls and a woman from the flooring contractor the council used. They were hoping I'd go back too. It's nice to be popular.

So, things are back on track, settling down and I am quite content at the moment. Hopefully I'll soon feel inspired to blog about something interesting.

For your consideration... or the puppy gets it

Here are a couple books that you may like to consider purchasing lest I send the boys round to acrimoniously divorce you from your limbs...

First up is A Gentle Axe by R.N. Morris who is none other than Roger Morris, author of last year's Taking Comfort (you all bought that, right, because you know how angry I get when people don't take heed of my recommendations - I have a basement of dead puppies to prove it).

A Gentle Axe is a murder mystery set in St. Petersburg, 1867 and features the character of Porfiry Petrovich, the detective who investgated the Raskolnikov case in Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. If that isn't enough to convince you then I'll add that the novel involves a murdered dwarf packed into a suitcase. Come on, what more do you want from your fiction?

The second book is Rachael King's novel The Sound of Butterflies. Set in 1903, the novel tells the tale of Thomas Edgar, an enthusiastic butterfly collector. He embarks on a scientific exhibition to the Amazon in the hope of finding a mythical butterfly that he can name in honour of his wife, Sophie. When he returns, however, he is haggard, gaunt and his experiences have rendered him mute. He gradually attempts to tell Sophie the truth of his voyage, an expedition that descended into a lurid tale of wealth, greed and murder.

Rachael is not only a lovely women who I have had the pleasure of meeting but she also dropped a sprog a few months ago and needs the extra pennies to keep her newborn in nappies. So click on the cover and buy the book or else.

The Steve Kane comedy spectacular (not)

This blog isn't funny enough. I'm a funny guy so why isn't this blog funnier? I used to write funny stuff, I'm sure I did.

Now would be a really good time to prove how funny I am.

So... um...



















































































Bollocks.

Ugh

I was going to blog about all the things that I couldn't be bothered to blog about over the last six months... but I can't be bothered.

Instead, please go and read this blog, if only to piss off the author. Thanks.