» Job Interviews

The Thing
Interviewed a guy for a place on one of the training courses we run last year. A great candidate, who had previously worked with the British Antarctic Survey as an engineer at one of their polar bases, stuck there at the bottom of the world in perpetual darkness and raging blizzards for 3 months at time.

I couldn't resist asking him in the interview wether they watched videos and DVD's to while away their non-work time, and following up with asking him wether they had watched John Carpenter's 'The Thing'.

It turns out they had.

I offered him a place on the course because of that.
(Thu 20th Jan 2005, 14:30, More)

» Teenage Parties

A proper teenage party ...
My bestever party was at my pal Gina's house c1998.

All the gang hooked up for a special prayer meet to welcome Iain who was new to 6th form. We started about 6PM with a nice chilli that Gina's Mum had cooked before she and Gina's Dad went out bowling.

There were only the eight of us, anyway, after tea and a few soft drinks and done the washing up, we cracked into the meat of the evening which was a few rounds of prayers. We decided to push the boat out a bit and do it 'Quaker style' which means you all go round and say a prayer for the group or whatever in turn, which if you've never done it before, feels quite hardcore and out there.

Anyway, Iain, bless him, goes and asks the Lord (in front of all of us, right) to bless Gina for inviting him to our party and because he knows that's something special, wishes that they'll develop their friendship into something 'more'.

They ended up getting married in 2002!
(Thu 20th Apr 2006, 1:12, More)

» Childhood Ambitions

First
I wanted to be a journalist.

This first post is the pinnacle of my writing career.
(Thu 29th Mar 2007, 11:05, More)

» Food sabotage

Doughnuts
Friend of a friend worked in a bakery supplying supermarkets, injecting doughnuts with jam from a big comedy syringe.

When bored, they'd inject the occaisional doughnut with mustard instead.
(Wed 24th Sep 2008, 12:57, More)

» Running away

Fourth time lucky ...
#1: Caught smoking aged about 13. Ran away to the woods to avoid the hell to pay when Dad got home. Built a Ray Mears type bender and hid in it all afternoon and evening. Heard my Dad calling and trying to track me down but held out hidden until hunger saw me creeping home to face the music later that night.

#2: School mate and I called the French Foreign Legion recruiting office in Marseille and attempted to join up one lunchtime. They saw through us.

#3: Age 17. Slept in the garage to avoid consequences of after a particularly heavy night out. Crept in after I thought everyone had left for work, only to find them still round the breakfast table. Cue fireworks, and dramatic 'get out of this house'. So I did. Hitch-hiked down south, got a bedsit and a job, neglected to tell parents where I was for a couple of weeks. Refused to come home, ever. That taught them.

#4: Ran away to Spain to go fruit picking forever. Spent all my money and had a fight with some Spanish military police. Crept back to the UK in shame.

Length? It's not that long, but it's very wide.
(Fri 11th Aug 2006, 14:31, More)