10.24.07
reassuring emails
Sometimes, just out of the blue, an email arrives:
Hi Rachel,
I have deleted all local files and directories which aren’t [version controlled]¹.
Cheers,
[Identity hidden to protect the not-so-innocent]
I’m sure that, just like me, you all *love* getting emails like this! Thankfully, there was nothing *too valuable* lost on this particular occasion (that I’ve discovered yet!)… but sometimes a little protocol-agreement can go a long way!
What I see here is the “delete-inform” protocol: irreversibly remove the files, then tell people you’ve done so 
Personally, I think I’d even prefer the “delete” protocol to the “delete-inform” protocol ‘cos at least then what I don’t know can’t bother me!
But by far my favourite has to be the “inform-delete” protocol (assuming a sufficient and communicated time-delay between the two events). To balance things up a bit, I had another email today doing precisely that – informing of an irreversible delete of potentially usable material, informing *what* the material was(!), informing of when this would happen, informing of the method of avoiding a delete should it be neccessary…
Maybe on a spreadsheet this doesn’t “add value” 
It’s just the same two events that are happening, after all!
But – somewhat selfishly of course 
– I think I shall continue to insist on the adoption of my own preferred protocol.
¹[Version controlling keeps a selection of saved-off copies of files, so if you eg delete a paragraph by accident, and save it, you could still go back to a previous version. Similarly, if you delete the file.]
10.19.07
doggy bags
My thanks to those who took home a portion of the rather overestimated sandwich-collection I made tonight
I’ll learn…!
Its quite satisfying having a clean-and-tidy flat too I’d never have believed I could have got so much tidying done in such a short time. *doesn’t want to think about opening some cupboard doors*
But, I’m tired… and when I’m tired, I haver (in case you haven’t noticed!)… and I have to be at my old flat at 9 tomorrow morning, so I should go to bed.
Do Saturdays have 9 o’clocks!?
I guess I’ll find out…
going gold
Sometimes our Chinese friends just have such a sweet way of putting things:
chinese friend [to one of my friends] : I complete agree. You have a golden heart. and think only good things.
my friend [to me]: *polishes heart*
10.18.07
total talking
Yesterday I got paid to talk all day…
Sounds like a skive 
but actually I got so tired I fell asleep face-forward on my keyboard last night earlier than I normally go to bed. So yes, it *was* work!
I was a rep at one of those fairs for graduate students who are looking around at which companies are offering jobs. We had a rather trickyish ‘brief’ as to the message we were trying to put across. Wouldn’t really want to discuss the details right here, but suffice to say we had sorta a couple mutually exclusive “images” to put across. A challenge to add to the excitement, I suppose.
At first I was a little nervous of speaking to people. Then I realised they were even more nervous to speak to me… so the only way I was going to learn this business was by picking on unsuspecting victims. Friendly smiles weren’t enough… I had to force an audible hello onto them to encourage them to feel welcomed.
It was a whole different kettle of fish when I tried having a surreptitious wander round the other stalls. Everyone wanted to know what degree I was doing, and if I wanted some junkmail… despite me sporting a company t-shirt of my own. All I wanted was just to nosy into what kind of company attends these events, how many I’d heard of, how easy it was to work out what they did from the stall branding, and all that kind of worky stuff…
An’ I only chored one freebie… I thought I was kinda entitled to that, after being prepared to listen to the guys sales pitch for a good half hour (at least!) It was a handy wee sim card reader… (Twice recently I’ve almost-lost my phone, and gone and got panic-attacks at the thought of losing all my numbers…) So, all in all, I was quite pleased with myself at managing to be an opportunist for once 
The most interesting part was pretending to be a corporate spy, and trying to get as much info out of the other exibitors as possible. I paid particular attention to another company that our company used to be part of, before we launched forth on our own.
Since joining, I’ve been reading up on quite a bit of our (joint) company history… so it was rather enlightening to see just how much two companies can diverge in half a decade. Enough that they have developed almost completely opposite recruitement strategies…
Curious!
But hey 
On the blogging front, its been quiet lately (as you may have noticed!), but having recently discovered my dearest Stephie has a blog… as does Ev , I may decide to motivate myself again, and start tackling the 30-or-so drafts I have on the go. :S That sounds awful! ‘cos it is, really! But I guess I just needed a holiday for a bit… and its not like I’m “pandering to the masses” anyway. I’m really writing it for me 
of course!
10.04.07
busing
It has puzzled me to have been singled-out by Edinburgh bus drivers for cheerfully friendly goodbyes. Well, I’m used to the goodbye part – in Glasgow the whole crowd of us often got a stream of “Cheers, hen” – but I’m not quite so used to being the only one to get a goodbye.
But tonight I made a discovery.
No one else says “thankyou”.
What is with that!?
I might prefer being a “hen”.
Hum ho tho’… bedtime methinks. Despite being tempted to spend all night sitting and re-sitting on my brand new sofa, regretably that probably isn’t the wisest choice. (I think I need a little dose of down-to-earth-ed-ness to balance things out a little… )
