test please delete

[norrahe]

Afternoon

[norrahe]

Interesting times - might well be lined up for some repeat business from an old clientco I worked at three years ago. I hope so - loved it there and got on pretty well.

Rates not stunning but steady work and a fun office? Sounds OK to me for now.

Any port in a storm, is better than none!

[norrahe]

Pimp contacted me about a role.

Got then sent some blurb that they needed me to have a UK limited or using their umbrella both of which are not feasible.

Replied back saying I had a cloggy limited so would use that, if that presented a problem then they would not be representing me for the role.

Also asked for two references



They were stupid enough to tell me the name of the company.

[covbob]

Any port in a storm, is better than none!

You're right! The alternative seems to be a stint at Radbroke Hall.

[NickFitz]

<meldrew>
Today's exciting news is that people are up the scaffolding on the house in the next street, removing the appalling cladding that's been making it such an eyesore for months

I suspect I may have indirectly played a part in this, as I raised it at the Neighbourhood Watch meeting the other day. My point was that, as all work stopped months ago and the scaffolding has been in place ever since, it posed a security risk, as we couldn't close the gate that controls access to the rear gardens and parking areas. In the past, leaving the gate open for just an hour in daytime has been known to have resulted in a burglary via the back of one of the houses, so it's a real problem; and, of course, it's where I park my fleet, which has also suffered various depredations when the gate has been open.

The woman who organises the NW group revealed that, when the cladding was originally being applied around October or November last year, it was she who tipped off the planning department, who ordered the work to be stopped immediately on the grounds that you can't pull a stunt like that in a conservation area, and the chances of getting permission for it even retrospectively were zero.

She declared her intention of getting on to the planners again and asking them to do something about it, citing the security risks I raised. And here we are, a week later, with workmen up the scaffolding for the first time in about five months, taking the whole lot off again!

The cladding in question looks like this:

Photo from some builder's site

and, once complete, would be covered with a plaster render of some kind. As the wall to which it was being applied was this:

Photo from Google Street View, August 2015

it would definitely affect the appearance of the road, so you can see why nobody wanted it

(They also put it on the back wall, but that's probably allowed - round the back is like the Wild West, you can put satellite dishes there and everything. I don't know if that will be staying. The satellite dish you can see on the front of one of the houses in the Street View photo above has been removed by order of the council.)

Anyway, with a bit of luck, this all means that in a week or two the damn scaffolding will have gone and we can close the gate again
</meldrew>

[covbob]

Pimp contacted me about a role.

Got then sent some blurb that they needed me to have a UK limited or using their umbrella both of which are not feasible.

Replied back saying I had a cloggy limited so would use that, if that presented a problem then they would not be representing me for the role.

Also asked for two references



They were stupid enough to tell me the name of the company.

I'm sure the level of pimp stupidity is going up.

I have one who I suspected was playing a long game when he phoned me yesterday - wouldn't give a client name, very generic job description, rate much better than I'd normally expect... finishes the call with "the client always wants references before we can submit any candidates..." - I gave him the usual "referees have asked me not to, references after interview etc" spiel and he took it. Lo and behold - this morning I get an email telling me that the client is really interested but he can't proceed without references and would I supply them.

No answer yet to my question about how many references/what period and a confirmation that they're only for SLA and compliance purposes. I smell fish.

[norrahe]

I'm sure the level of pimp stupidity is going up.

I have one who I suspected was playing a long game when he phoned me yesterday - wouldn't give a client name, very generic job description, rate much better than I'd normally expect... finishes the call with "the client always wants references before we can submit any candidates..." - I gave him the usual "referees have asked me not to, references after interview etc" spiel and he took it. Lo and behold - this morning I get an email telling me that the client is really interested but he can't proceed without references and would I supply them.

No answer yet to my question about how many references/what period and a confirmation that they're only for SLA and compliance purposes. I smell fish.

I have a couple of LinkedIn contacts who actually work at the company, so may contact them directly.

[NickFitz]

I have a couple of LinkedIn contacts who actually work at the company, so may contact them directly.

That's the way to do it

[zeitghost]

Well some of the curiosities with ZeitBigClock(tm), such as the clock chip not starting, were eventually traced to the SDA and SCL lines being interchanged at the clock chip, due to the linking wires being soldered in by a cross eyed lizard of little patience.

That's cross-eyed as well as cross eyed, by the way.

[WTFH]

Night all - bedtime here, having said fair well to a Permie who has completed 2 weeks here and is going home to USA. His call on dinner, so a few pints at the bar in the hotel, then off to Buff (aka Bafu) for more Wagyu.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am replete.