In case anyone still checks this I've set up a new blog about my new job/life/mental breakdown called Musings from a Marginal which can be seen at the blogspot address of the same name!
Enjoy/Tolerate/Ignore at your leisure!
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
Monday, 16 July 2007
Signing off...
Alright all, this is the last installment which to be honest I should of written a while back but oh well, shit happens!
Well I last left you as I was about to embark on a visit to London town for an interview. Before the interview I was forced to kill several hours of time so I had arranged to meet a friend for coffee where she worked. Oh yeah, and it just so happened that she works at No 10 Downing Street. Yep, thats right No10-chuffing-Downing Street!!!
So it gets to the time I'm supposed to meet her and she's told me just to go up to the gates and say who I am. Simple. A little too simple to my mind... I mean where is all the security and bomb proof walls and shoot-first-ask-questions-later style policing that we're getting so enamoured with in this 24/7 News channel War on Terror?!?!?!
But she was right, I showed some id and hey presto I was through the gates and on Downing Street - there wasn't even a side door or something for staff, it was just a matter of walking through THE front door! How exciting can you get!!! I even had a chat with the Bobby standing on the front step!
THe place was quite a strange house to be in, bit of a maze to be honest but it just stank of history and scandal and self-importance, fan-fucking-tastic! I was shown where Thatcher and Cherie had had the decorators in at various points, where Blair shook hands with Noel Gallacher the staircase with all the photos of PMs on and the patio where Blair liked to have his meetings. I saw the entrance to the PMs Private flat as well which I was told 'used to be the PMs flat but is now the Chancellor's... oh no hang on!'
Bless her, she was virtualy the only member of staff at No 10 to survive the purge after Blair went so I guessgive her some slack, you could tell it was a hard time for her. We finished off having a coffee in the basement (yep thats right) in a coffee shop that may as well been a Costa Coffee shop- the only real difference being that BBC Parliament was on the telly.
After that it was to my interview in Portculis House - the newish building which houses MPs offices. The security here was top notch - as soon as you were through the revolving door you were confronted with a metal detector, bomb proof glass and security pass doors between you and the rest of the building. Just to add a real element of invading personal space everyone gets a free body search on the house as well!!! No 10 could learn a few lessons here!
That night I went out for a few pints with the friend I was staying with and saw somebody get thrown out of the Pub for smoking at the Bar... Top quality entertainment as he f-ing and blinding as he was escorted off the premises!
Since that week everything has been abit of a blur - travelling round for interviews, going to Strasbourg for a week and tying up loose ends here. I travel back to the UK tomorrow and bomb up to York for another Interview and then that's that - I'm back! So I guess this is it.
George in Brussels signing off...
Well I last left you as I was about to embark on a visit to London town for an interview. Before the interview I was forced to kill several hours of time so I had arranged to meet a friend for coffee where she worked. Oh yeah, and it just so happened that she works at No 10 Downing Street. Yep, thats right No10-chuffing-Downing Street!!!
So it gets to the time I'm supposed to meet her and she's told me just to go up to the gates and say who I am. Simple. A little too simple to my mind... I mean where is all the security and bomb proof walls and shoot-first-ask-questions-later style policing that we're getting so enamoured with in this 24/7 News channel War on Terror?!?!?!
But she was right, I showed some id and hey presto I was through the gates and on Downing Street - there wasn't even a side door or something for staff, it was just a matter of walking through THE front door! How exciting can you get!!! I even had a chat with the Bobby standing on the front step!
THe place was quite a strange house to be in, bit of a maze to be honest but it just stank of history and scandal and self-importance, fan-fucking-tastic! I was shown where Thatcher and Cherie had had the decorators in at various points, where Blair shook hands with Noel Gallacher the staircase with all the photos of PMs on and the patio where Blair liked to have his meetings. I saw the entrance to the PMs Private flat as well which I was told 'used to be the PMs flat but is now the Chancellor's... oh no hang on!'
Bless her, she was virtualy the only member of staff at No 10 to survive the purge after Blair went so I guessgive her some slack, you could tell it was a hard time for her. We finished off having a coffee in the basement (yep thats right) in a coffee shop that may as well been a Costa Coffee shop- the only real difference being that BBC Parliament was on the telly.
After that it was to my interview in Portculis House - the newish building which houses MPs offices. The security here was top notch - as soon as you were through the revolving door you were confronted with a metal detector, bomb proof glass and security pass doors between you and the rest of the building. Just to add a real element of invading personal space everyone gets a free body search on the house as well!!! No 10 could learn a few lessons here!
That night I went out for a few pints with the friend I was staying with and saw somebody get thrown out of the Pub for smoking at the Bar... Top quality entertainment as he f-ing and blinding as he was escorted off the premises!
Since that week everything has been abit of a blur - travelling round for interviews, going to Strasbourg for a week and tying up loose ends here. I travel back to the UK tomorrow and bomb up to York for another Interview and then that's that - I'm back! So I guess this is it.
George in Brussels signing off...
Monday, 2 July 2007
Ups and downs, sun and snow...
As I write this it is a nice sunny evening.
As it should be.
A few hours ago it was snowing.
Which I'm pretty sure - correct me if I'm wrong - ISN'T SUPPOSSED TO SODDING HAPPEN IN SODDING JULY!!! So there, Yorkshire and Wimbledon are not the only places to have crap weather in July, although no one has died yet here - unlike Wimbledon - poor Henman.
No matter, the straight was completed with the crazy thunder storms in between. Besides it doesn't matter, at the moment I'd quite happily sing in the snow as well as the rain, but I'm not going into why I'm so happy because I'm not so there! You'll get what you're given and if that snotty-nosed little bastard Oliver asks for some more he'll get a damned good thrashing!
Last week Chris and his friend Luke visited, which in turn led to meeting their friend Henri - who happens to work for a Luxembergen MEP who's in the EPP - which is worse as she used to be a Socialist and then turned to the dark side!!! An Apostate of the highest order to be scorned at every turn!!!
That said he was a nice bloke.
As you can imagine last week was abit of a drunken mess but most of the stuff that I did has to do with why I'm happy so sod off. Am just writing to let you know I'm still alive and out of my general funk! I will however have some shite to write later this week as I'm in London tomorrow for an Interview and am getting a trip round Downing Street with a friend who works there, not bad hey? And if we're all lucky maybe I'll be involve in some sort of exciting Terrorist activity, maybe they'll be hostages, and I'll be trapped in the same building, and then kick ass without my shoes on, and THEN HANS WILL PAY AN- Ahem - sorry Die Hard overload, the medication usually works but I missed my John Mclane addicts support group this week, apologies.
Anyway, then next week I'm in Stras then a week kicking back then I'm back in the UK. That's right your peace will be at an end, the Home Office has failed in their bid to make Belgium keep me, coming to a Pub near you soon!
You're screwed.
C'est la vie - gotta love those ups and downs hey?
As it should be.
A few hours ago it was snowing.
Which I'm pretty sure - correct me if I'm wrong - ISN'T SUPPOSSED TO SODDING HAPPEN IN SODDING JULY!!! So there, Yorkshire and Wimbledon are not the only places to have crap weather in July, although no one has died yet here - unlike Wimbledon - poor Henman.
No matter, the straight was completed with the crazy thunder storms in between. Besides it doesn't matter, at the moment I'd quite happily sing in the snow as well as the rain, but I'm not going into why I'm so happy because I'm not so there! You'll get what you're given and if that snotty-nosed little bastard Oliver asks for some more he'll get a damned good thrashing!
Last week Chris and his friend Luke visited, which in turn led to meeting their friend Henri - who happens to work for a Luxembergen MEP who's in the EPP - which is worse as she used to be a Socialist and then turned to the dark side!!! An Apostate of the highest order to be scorned at every turn!!!
That said he was a nice bloke.
As you can imagine last week was abit of a drunken mess but most of the stuff that I did has to do with why I'm happy so sod off. Am just writing to let you know I'm still alive and out of my general funk! I will however have some shite to write later this week as I'm in London tomorrow for an Interview and am getting a trip round Downing Street with a friend who works there, not bad hey? And if we're all lucky maybe I'll be involve in some sort of exciting Terrorist activity, maybe they'll be hostages, and I'll be trapped in the same building, and then kick ass without my shoes on, and THEN HANS WILL PAY AN- Ahem - sorry Die Hard overload, the medication usually works but I missed my John Mclane addicts support group this week, apologies.
Anyway, then next week I'm in Stras then a week kicking back then I'm back in the UK. That's right your peace will be at an end, the Home Office has failed in their bid to make Belgium keep me, coming to a Pub near you soon!
You're screwed.
C'est la vie - gotta love those ups and downs hey?
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