Had to get up at 4.15 today, and tomorrow will have to be up at 3.
Will update tomorrow pm when I'll have finished the shift and will have a couple of days off
-J
Monday, 12 May 2008
Saturday, 10 May 2008
A bit nervous
I've woken up this morning feeling a tad apprehensive about work tomorrow, being my first day without anyone to correct my mistakes/supervise me and all that. I know for a fact that I'll be asking colleagues left right and centre about all kinds of stuff, so hopefully they'll all be in nice patient moods. Otherwise it could be a long day. Oh well. You live and learn.
Fantastic weather again today. Hopefully I can think of something to do outside so I can get my pre-summer tan going.
Yesterday was good fun; spent all day drinking in town. Started off at some nice Samuel Smiths pub near Tottenham Court Road with Gareth and his legal buddy, then Chrissy B came along. Ended up in Russell Square enjoying the rays and sipping some Strongbow. A pretty comical moment came up when I decided to take my shirt off, and literally seconds later a group of about 200 girls walked past. One pointed and laughed apparently, but looked a bit sheepish when Gareth pointed and laughed back. Thanks mate.
Later on we ended up in the RE and in the Manor, which was good actually. We had a 100% turnout from all the boys, which is a rarity and a pleasure. For the first time since I was 18 we actually danced in there, and that is normally a major no-no.
Alas, today I have a hangover. I will battle on.
Ugh, work tomorrow.
Ciao for now.
-J
Fantastic weather again today. Hopefully I can think of something to do outside so I can get my pre-summer tan going.
Yesterday was good fun; spent all day drinking in town. Started off at some nice Samuel Smiths pub near Tottenham Court Road with Gareth and his legal buddy, then Chrissy B came along. Ended up in Russell Square enjoying the rays and sipping some Strongbow. A pretty comical moment came up when I decided to take my shirt off, and literally seconds later a group of about 200 girls walked past. One pointed and laughed apparently, but looked a bit sheepish when Gareth pointed and laughed back. Thanks mate.
Later on we ended up in the RE and in the Manor, which was good actually. We had a 100% turnout from all the boys, which is a rarity and a pleasure. For the first time since I was 18 we actually danced in there, and that is normally a major no-no.
Alas, today I have a hangover. I will battle on.
Ugh, work tomorrow.
Ciao for now.
-J
Thursday, 8 May 2008
Not a trainee any more
So that's the training finished at BA, I'm now a proper member of Customer Services. I have three days off now before I start on Sunday, which will be out there on the front line, staff versus passengers. The beginning of a long war, which will soon become bloody in summer. I feel nowhere near ready to be thrown in the deep end, but apparently this feeling is natural. C'est la vie I guess.
On the bright side (literally) the weather is brilliant. I hope I haven't just given it the kiss of death. By this time last year the rain had already started, and it didn't stop. So hopefully this sunshine is a good omen.
Today I might venture out and actually get some jeans and trainers, which will be my first clothes purchases in years and years, which is ridiculous.
I weighed myself today, and since I started at BA (six weeks ago) I've lost over a stone. That's good, because I was pretty chubby when I started. All those months of unemployment had led to an abundance of drinking, eating crap and not doing much else. Now I hardly eat at all because I've already lost my staff discount card, which is probably a good thing because there's a lot of cake etc about at the aiport and I can never be bothered to sit in the canteen and have a proper meal.
So, in my days off I would quite like to indulge in as much outdoor chilling out/drinking as possible, but my mates all have stuff on like exams and other BS which is a shame. What am I going to do? We'll find out soon.
That's all for now
-J
On the bright side (literally) the weather is brilliant. I hope I haven't just given it the kiss of death. By this time last year the rain had already started, and it didn't stop. So hopefully this sunshine is a good omen.
Today I might venture out and actually get some jeans and trainers, which will be my first clothes purchases in years and years, which is ridiculous.
I weighed myself today, and since I started at BA (six weeks ago) I've lost over a stone. That's good, because I was pretty chubby when I started. All those months of unemployment had led to an abundance of drinking, eating crap and not doing much else. Now I hardly eat at all because I've already lost my staff discount card, which is probably a good thing because there's a lot of cake etc about at the aiport and I can never be bothered to sit in the canteen and have a proper meal.
So, in my days off I would quite like to indulge in as much outdoor chilling out/drinking as possible, but my mates all have stuff on like exams and other BS which is a shame. What am I going to do? We'll find out soon.
That's all for now
-J
Tuesday, 6 May 2008
Day shift beckons
I'm working 11-7.30 today. I woke up pretty tired this morning, so I put my head under the shower with the taps on cold, and I'm quite awake now with a coffee at my side. Tomorrow I'm doing the early shift so I'll have to get up at 4.30, which I can see is going to be carnage.
My hayfever is also worse today. My nose is itchy as well as my eyes and I've already sneezed a few times.
Thanks for the advice from whoever commented yesterday. I didn't see the Irish girl so I'm still safe from temptation!
That's all for now
-J
PS. I slipped a bit on the junk food front yesterday; I had two teacakes that someone offered me. I'm still doing well though.
My hayfever is also worse today. My nose is itchy as well as my eyes and I've already sneezed a few times.
Thanks for the advice from whoever commented yesterday. I didn't see the Irish girl so I'm still safe from temptation!
That's all for now
-J
PS. I slipped a bit on the junk food front yesterday; I had two teacakes that someone offered me. I'm still doing well though.
Monday, 5 May 2008
Late shift beckons
It's Bank Holiday Monday but I'm still working today. I don't mind at all, in fact it's good because I'll get more money. It is a late shift though, 2-10, so I won't be back in the house until pretty late. I can't remember what time I'm working tomorrow, so I should probably check that.
So I'm on my final three days of shadowing, then I'm officially no longer a trainee. A fully-fledged member of BA Customer Services. Whoopeee. My roster immediately starts with three days off, so I'll be free for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I feel Wednesday night drinks might be on the cards, I'll try to get that organised.
I bet there'll be a final sting in the tale though - maybe I'll hit one more low in the next three days and think properly about quitting (again). At the moment however, I am in good spirits.
Betfair settled my lay of Arsenal to win the Premiership yesterday, which was nice. I think I might engage more in these long-term bets.
My hayfever is starting up early this year. The weather looks good for the next few days; who knows, we might even get a summer this year. Last year all the rain meant that there was no pollen in the air and I had no problems, but my eyes are already itchy this morning. I just have to remember DO NOT TOUCH THEM!!!!!!
Yesterday evening I played a bit more poker and won back about half of what I'd lost earlier. Was going to play a bit more now, but I don't feel like it any more.
Right then, must be off. Thanks for reading
-J
PS. I worked with a nice Irish girl at the airport last week, maybe I'll see her again today.
PPS. I haven't had one piece of junk food since my 'setting goals' post the other day
So I'm on my final three days of shadowing, then I'm officially no longer a trainee. A fully-fledged member of BA Customer Services. Whoopeee. My roster immediately starts with three days off, so I'll be free for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I feel Wednesday night drinks might be on the cards, I'll try to get that organised.
I bet there'll be a final sting in the tale though - maybe I'll hit one more low in the next three days and think properly about quitting (again). At the moment however, I am in good spirits.
Betfair settled my lay of Arsenal to win the Premiership yesterday, which was nice. I think I might engage more in these long-term bets.
My hayfever is starting up early this year. The weather looks good for the next few days; who knows, we might even get a summer this year. Last year all the rain meant that there was no pollen in the air and I had no problems, but my eyes are already itchy this morning. I just have to remember DO NOT TOUCH THEM!!!!!!
Yesterday evening I played a bit more poker and won back about half of what I'd lost earlier. Was going to play a bit more now, but I don't feel like it any more.
Right then, must be off. Thanks for reading
-J
PS. I worked with a nice Irish girl at the airport last week, maybe I'll see her again today.
PPS. I haven't had one piece of junk food since my 'setting goals' post the other day
Sunday, 4 May 2008
Running bad
Just been playing some poker, with poor results. Lost 2 buy-ins on one site, and dropped 25 big bets on another. I was playing alright too. Got outdrawn a few times, people making flushes on the river versus my set on the flop etc. Last hand I played I got it all-in pre-flop with KK against AJ, the river was an A, so I thought I better quit.
End of post
End of post
Saturday, 3 May 2008
Setting Goals
Ok, I've been getting the impression for a while that I've just kind of been floating around in life, cruising along without any true idea of what I want to do. This could be traced back to the last year, most of which I was unemployed. However, it could also be traced back to my three years at univeristy. While I was at Durham I had no idea what I wanted to do once I'd graduated, and had absolutely no targets for myself whatsoever. Looking back on those years I can see that I made a huge mistake and totally wasted my time, though I won't dwell on that too much because what is done is done. Going back even further, my floating around could be traced back to my days in sixth form. Those were some of the best days of my life. I always knew that I'd get the grades to get into a good university without putting much effort in, and that allowed me to chill out a lot and do a lot of socialising etc... basically I did nothing productive in those two years, and really if I had done even a bit of thinking about the future, my life could have been totally different today.
Reading some of my favourite blogs out there, I see a lot of goal-setting that takes place. This applies to both gambling and life. Apparently, if you want to achieve something then writing it down makes a big difference. I'll get one down straight away - I want to stop eating so much junk food, so expect updates on that battle for a start.
So, using the example of university again, I had no personal targets whilst I was at Durham. In my Freshman year I did a lot of sport and accelerated on the partying front in the summer, then literally put no work in towards the exams and scored 1% below getting a 2:1. This set a stupid benchmark for me, and for the rest of my uni career I knew I could just wing it and get by. In my second and final years I still had no targets and continued my existence of drinking / video games / playing about five different sports / lifting a lot of weights. At least I was consistent - I graduated having needed only 1% more to have got a 2:1.
In light of all this I think it's high time I set myself a few goals, and put some proper effort into achieving them. All of my life I've had deep aspirations to be rich, even when I was a little boy. That will probably sound pathetic and naive and shallow to a lot of people, but that's simply the way it is. And obviously in the last five or six years, I've done absolutely nothing to give myself a head-start on achieving that goal. So hopefully I can start doing something about it from this moment; even if it's purely a change of attitude for the time being.
My group at work was given a talk yesterday from a Chief Staff Manager at Terminal 5 (a very senior position), and I asked him what his career progression had been through BA. He looked very young and I was interested to know. He told me he had been at the company for 12 years and had started in my position, changing position every couple of years, each time moving another rung up the ladder. So, a long-term goal is to gradually scale the heights of BA, knowing that it is possible to reach the upper-echelons in a short space of time if I truly apply myself (something I haven't done since my early days of high school).
To continue plugging away at building my poker bankroll is another, and I honestly believe that over time I can do this successfully. I have been doing it for a while already, though with the limited time I've had recently to dedicate to it, progress has been slow. Profit is profit though, so I just need to be tenacious on this front and keep on learning.
Sports betting. A month or so ago I became pretty disillusioned at my personal ability to be a profitable trader. This is probably an issue for another post, but I know that I'll always bet on sport until my dying breath, but maybe I shouldn't hope for too much from it at the time being.
I know that I haven't actually set any explicit goals here. However, putting my life into some kind of perspective has helped me clear my mind and I feel better just for writing this. This blog is something I can look back on in times ahead (probably with amusement), and hopefully one day I will read this back to myself and recongnise it as some kind of turning point.
Right, this has been long, so good job if you made it this far. I have to go now and buy my mum a birthday present (I can actually afford to get her something now that I've received my first pay packet). I also really need some new shoes and jeans, but that's been the case for years and I doubt I'll get that done today.
Thanks for reading amigos
-J
Reading some of my favourite blogs out there, I see a lot of goal-setting that takes place. This applies to both gambling and life. Apparently, if you want to achieve something then writing it down makes a big difference. I'll get one down straight away - I want to stop eating so much junk food, so expect updates on that battle for a start.
So, using the example of university again, I had no personal targets whilst I was at Durham. In my Freshman year I did a lot of sport and accelerated on the partying front in the summer, then literally put no work in towards the exams and scored 1% below getting a 2:1. This set a stupid benchmark for me, and for the rest of my uni career I knew I could just wing it and get by. In my second and final years I still had no targets and continued my existence of drinking / video games / playing about five different sports / lifting a lot of weights. At least I was consistent - I graduated having needed only 1% more to have got a 2:1.
In light of all this I think it's high time I set myself a few goals, and put some proper effort into achieving them. All of my life I've had deep aspirations to be rich, even when I was a little boy. That will probably sound pathetic and naive and shallow to a lot of people, but that's simply the way it is. And obviously in the last five or six years, I've done absolutely nothing to give myself a head-start on achieving that goal. So hopefully I can start doing something about it from this moment; even if it's purely a change of attitude for the time being.
My group at work was given a talk yesterday from a Chief Staff Manager at Terminal 5 (a very senior position), and I asked him what his career progression had been through BA. He looked very young and I was interested to know. He told me he had been at the company for 12 years and had started in my position, changing position every couple of years, each time moving another rung up the ladder. So, a long-term goal is to gradually scale the heights of BA, knowing that it is possible to reach the upper-echelons in a short space of time if I truly apply myself (something I haven't done since my early days of high school).
To continue plugging away at building my poker bankroll is another, and I honestly believe that over time I can do this successfully. I have been doing it for a while already, though with the limited time I've had recently to dedicate to it, progress has been slow. Profit is profit though, so I just need to be tenacious on this front and keep on learning.
Sports betting. A month or so ago I became pretty disillusioned at my personal ability to be a profitable trader. This is probably an issue for another post, but I know that I'll always bet on sport until my dying breath, but maybe I shouldn't hope for too much from it at the time being.
I know that I haven't actually set any explicit goals here. However, putting my life into some kind of perspective has helped me clear my mind and I feel better just for writing this. This blog is something I can look back on in times ahead (probably with amusement), and hopefully one day I will read this back to myself and recongnise it as some kind of turning point.
Right, this has been long, so good job if you made it this far. I have to go now and buy my mum a birthday present (I can actually afford to get her something now that I've received my first pay packet). I also really need some new shoes and jeans, but that's been the case for years and I doubt I'll get that done today.
Thanks for reading amigos
-J
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