Little Time

Hello again, yes I know it’s been days since I last showed my tired face, but it's been a fun few.

Wednesday 8th September: Today I had organised a meeting with the guy who organises and monitors ICosnet, the online database with which we communicate with other people working on the project. I had uploaded some drawings with the wrong information and all hell broke loose. I had people commenting on them saying ‘yet again the wrong information’. All of this after my first time uploading anything, let alone having never seen the website before. So I get a call from Stuart who very kindly agreed to come in and sort me out. He spent an hour of his time taking me through the procedure of uploading correctly and made it all clear. So now I can do it!

I also had a meeting today as the internal elevations of the school project I’m working on are taking longer than expected. Don’t get me started! I’m not the greatest CAD Monkey in the world but good god I can draw a straight line! Something the person who originally drew the drawings couldn’t.

Thursday 9th September: The slog of a day. We had an internal deadline for the elevations to be uploaded. This would prove a hard task. They're taking ages. It would appear that when surveyors draw plans from an existing building they only consider the room to be from one metre below. This is fine most of the time but when you have sky-lights this becomes a problem. As so many people have been working on the project over the last few months, only a handful of workers have ever actually been to site. So we're all working from the original plans and some dodgy pictures someone papped on their iphone on the way around, being careful not to catch any school girls in the process. We have discussed the prospect of me going to site as the chances are I will be working on this project for the foreseeable future. This was met with mixed opinions. You see school has started and the thought of me wondering in taking photos sends shivers down the spines of the directors. One architect actually asked whether I had a criminal record! So it may or may not happen.

Time draws ever closer to the deadline and as I had previously informed them I would be taking this Friday off stress levels were soaring. In the end Richard (project leader) gave in and said we would have to clear up this shit storm next week. So it rolls over. I’m tired as it’s been a four day week. Don’t laugh! So tomorrow I have the day off. Well when I say off I mean I’m going to Siobhan’s graduation ceremony at UCL and I’m actually looking forward to it as there’s little stress for me and I get to see her receive the congratulations she deserves.

Friday 10th September: The day of the Graduation. We're in a hotel, as ridiculous as that seems. But it was booked before we could guarantee we were going to stay in London for another year. So we had moved in last night and the conditions are very nice. En-suite and breakfast included, it certainly made the weekend that bit more special as though we were away from home on holiday. The ceremony went well with the standard robes looking as ridiculous as ever and some dodgy canapés at the after party that were suspicious in colour. Had a few glasses of champagne and Pimms. They couldn’t seem to want to get rid of the stuff any faster. This prepared us for what was to be a very boozy day. Pint with dinner, pint in cafe, two pints in pub then by the evening I lost count of both the number of drinks and also the amount of money I was spending drinking myself into an early grave. At some point in the middle of all this I managed to sit through a showing of Chicago at the theatre and laughed my head off. What a preposterous show! Loved it!

Saturday 11th September: Nursing the worst hangover I’ve had in months I gobbled up the rest of the chips still festering in the paper bag from the night before. Yes we had gone to Burger King at about 01:00 and had quite the eventful trip. I was desperate for a piss as per usual so I raced to the bogs. Only to be restrained by a burly arse who proclaimed that entry to the Burger King Lavatories and all the splendour within was restricted to paying customers only. Riled up, bursting, desperate and tanked this made me furious and regrettably I let loose a tirade of abuse more suited to an east end dog fight that a respectable establishment such as the King's Burger. Luckily he wasn’t being paid enough to give a shit and soon wandered off to ogle some comatose fourteen year-old and snuck down to the water room. Upon my return I greeted him with a jovial pat on the back and made my way to the counter (Christ knows why he put up with this I'll never know, but I’m not proud of it, I better than some should know the uselessness one can feel being trapped between management and the customer). Still, as those who know me will testify, I paid them three fold and upgrade my order to the Optimum (super) size. Totally unnecessary but I like to show off in these places as it makes me feel big to order the most expensive thing on the menu, even if this brings me change from a fiver! So Saturday morning, afternoon, evening and night was spent nursing a hangover and the social stab wounds I had received from the night before. I hate alcohol and the bastard it makes me become!