Rush rush

Just 2 days left. As expected I've not done much of what I needed to do. So tomorrow starts the big rush. In my defence Royal mail messed up my schedule. Taking almost a full week to deliver a couriered letter. And upon delivery of the registered courier letter the guy didn't even bother to have it signed or anything. He just popped it thru the letter box... might as well have paid regular post.

Also spent a day round Greyboys. Had a great time karting at Thruxton. Managed to post a best lap at 54.1 was pretty happy that during the 2nd round I managed to post very consistent times. Shame I was still the slowest on the grid. Guess it's something to be said about driving thru instinct rather than technique and training. Just need to pratice... shame it will be a VERY long time before I drive anything note worthy again. Also a big thanks to Grey for helping me to transfer my xbox data to my new 120 Hdd and for the HDTV advice. Not to mention for letting me stay round etc.

Also completed mums security exam today for her because she keeps failing it (3 times already). Just couldn't believe she could fail them as much as she had. With questions like,

where should you keep your security ID when at work in a restricted zone?
1) in your wallet
2) in your pocket
3) on display at chest height
4) at home

The rest of the questions were pretty much on par. I just think she was just too lazy to read the questions. She has been like that in the past. Well got a long drive ahead not to mention lots of packing and other errands to run. Just 48 hrs till I gotta fly.

Lord knows when I will be able to get back online again. But safe to say it won't be in the UK. Prob KL or SG when I next get online. And so another adventure begins...

Not alot

Suppose I better do a lil blogging cos I have no clue when the next time I will be able to get back online. Supposed to be moving off to East Asia on the 28th. So only a few days left here. Way too little time. Could have really done with another week. Every single day is filled with meeting some one or other. Still I have my bags to pack and things to tidy up at home but yet only half is done.

Plus Mum keeps wanting me to spend time. Shame I don't feel the same. Think I have only a day or so free to do all the stuff I need to at home. Guess Mum will have to share that time.

Not much to say on this post really. Just sad time passes so quick here. would have loved to drive my RX8 about a lil more and hang out with friends a lil longer. Just a pain that everything is on such a short deadline.

Fingers crossed and heres to hoping the next contract works out to be a good one.

Subarashii Crash-O!!!

Now that I am out of the land of sand I can safely make the following statement.I have never had a single accident/prang/scrape/crash while at the wheel out there. There I said it. Cos you know how it is. If I said that even on my final day out there it would be SERIOUSLY tempting fate. Thou needless to say my car has had some damage. But all done to the vehicle while it was parked up and I was away from it. Like the fateful scrape that led me to becoming good friends with that charming American chap. Also sustained some stranger bumper damage and a scratched hood, but all done when i was no where to be seen.

Anyway nuff rambling bout pap. Here is the meat of the post. My grand collection of car smashes taken during my time out there. The locals sure have a talent there. SO many times I have look at those crashes n thought to myself "HOW??? HOW??? How is that even possible. I could have never even done that if I tried..." It almost makes you want to walk up to the driver, pat them on the back and say "Well done, well done"

Going home?

Well its my last evening in this apartment. Been my home for around 2.5 years. Thou at the start it was always a temporary place. But the months dragged on and despite the less than desirable global location it really did become home. And now the time has come to leave. Not a surprising turn of events but what was surprising was how much I have actually become attached to this place. Almost had a tear squeeze past as I took a last look at the place. Especially when I saw Wifey's half drunk cup of coffee sat at her computer table. All the memories of the good times we had within these walls coming back.

All the memories of the pool parties in the early days. The hours spent watching Arirang and discovery before falling asleep on the sofa. Also the dear friends I've left behind in the building. I can only hope that I will see them again 1 day.

Carrying my bags out of the apartment I took 1 last look down the hall way of what was my home. It felt so sad that I will never see this place again. Standing in the lift on the way down I carved wifey and my initials in the lift door just as "V" and "K" had done when they left.

So used had I become to this place that as I left I didn't even think twice when I locked the door and drove to the airport with the house keys in my pocket. Just hope the watch man has a spare set or clearing up my apartment could be rather inconvenient... D'oh

Cunting Bastards

WARNING!!! Long and swear filled post WARNING!!!

Well it was inevitable. Loads of people told me so, but I went ahead anyway. Call it pure stupidity, call it doing it my way, call it what ever you want to. Because when you come down to it, even I don't know what to call it. I suppose the best description would be called, looking for a good shafting. As that best describes what happened.

Against the overwhelming advice of EVERYONE I asked, I handed my notice in. As opposed to doing the normal, skipping the country n never showing up at work again. And here's how it played out for me...

Gave my month's notice. All seemed fine n good. Till my very last shift. 1st thing, got a told by the evil HR manager I owe the company money. Because I took more leave than I should have. To the tune of £800. Was not really surprised as they pulled the same shit on "J". Was ravingly pissed off but a little surprised since I was told I had to take 3 weeks unpaid in order to have enough leave to do my A320 course a couple months back. So how could I owe them time?

Needless to say I disputed it. So a further meeting was arranged 2 days later, as it was the on set of the weekend. So passed 2 frustratingly long days. Made even longer by the fact that my wife's & my passport which I had to hand over to the evil HR was still not back to me, despite being told cancellation takes 2 days and by now it was 5 days later. Methinks they are using my wife's & my passport as bargaining chips to force me into paying. But no proof, so what can I say eh?

So 1st working day comes. And the shit slowly works its way thru the whirling blades of the fan. Now they spring it on me that that £800 was a low figure there were rounding off. Keeping it lo because they were playing nice. Now because I have questioned their benevolence, they will start to work things out more precisely, starting by adding in a portion of my annual tickets as I had not yet completed a years work yet. So I said ok fine but still does not explain the so called days I owe them, plus I pushed for my right to a repatriation ticket for the wife n me. Which they obviously weren't having. So by the end of all that pushing and shoving I was now being done for £1100. Of cause demanding that if they were gonna do that I would insist they paid me all the pay they refused to give me even thou my contract stated I should be paid it. So again they adjourned it till the next day. Only good news that day was I managed to get our passports back by stating that the British embassy would be promptly called if passports were not swiftly placed in my hand.

So now comes the final meeting. Final more because today would be the day Wifey flies off and tomorrow would be the day I fly off so I can't really drag it out any longer. Now they call into question a bunch of other "owed days", plus the portion of my annual ticket, I now owed them the quite literally grand sum of £2,256.39.

HOW!!! HOW!!!!How did this get worked out you might be screaming, cos I certainly was.To keep it short n simple. Main thing they did me for was 8 days no pay leave I apparently agreed to take but got paid 4. Next, my annual leave slip said 0 days leave left but in reality I was told that the number was negative. Just that the company policy only shows negative when the employee leaves(a lil suspicious??) And the sum of money owed cos of my advance ticket allowance. Finally I had to payback 6 days leave because I took my 2008 leave allowance, but of cause 2008 has not ended yet.

And needless to say a big NO WAY from them to my duking it out to get the money my contract says I should have gotten. Sensing I was going to push this further, they casually mentioned that 3 weeks are in question following my training in Switzerland where they had no record of me being at work. Despite me signing in daily and having work I preformed stamped and signed by myself as well as counter stamped by colleagues, they, needless to say had no record of any of this. So if I wanted to push further they would bring those 3 weeks into play. But they weren't cos they were, I quote Evil HR man here, "being reasonable". BTW the sum they were going to push for was £7100!

SO I dropped it. Banked my losses at £2,256.39. Sure I could have taken it to court and disputed it further. But It was my wifes last day in country, and I still had moving and packing to do, and I am flying tomorrow. And If the lawyers came into play. It would drag out for a good portion of the next year, maybe even beyond before I saw any result. So if it played out in my favour in court I would get a bunch of cash. But on the other hand a big black mark by my name, lots of bad blood and a good portion of my free time in the coming year taken up by the headache of court proceedings. End of the day people around me know the deal and what is really going on here. That Is more important to me.

Still cant believe that when I paid the £2,256.39 sum. The local currency had some coins I had to pay. The coins came to around 6p. When the accountant counted the cash he made sure that 6p was in the envelope, as did the Evil HR. For Fuck Sake, penny pinching is supposed to be a saying not a literal act. But I suppose it does sum this lot up.

And people know the deal here. My Shift leader who I never was too fond of and really thought of as an arsehole to me has come right around and in sympathy granted me my final shift off work. That really has changed my feeling toward him. Goes to show a final impression is just as important as a first impression. He's alright in my books. Also in light of my situation it seems that the general school of thought of stealthily jumping ship has been reinforced to become the correct thing and safer thing to do.

Believe me I am spitting blood and foaming at the teeth over this. Every fiber of my being is raging over this Arse fucking I have been dished, despite being one of the only guys who has left the company by the book since it 1st opened its doors for business. But it's resentment, hatred and bad feeling like this that can consume you. Leaving you a grumpy bitter old man, swathed in an aura of negative karma. I chose to leave it be and put the money I paid out as the price of the A330/A340 course I recieved and forget about it. Live and learn, move on with your life.

Crash Pics

Was getting a lift back home in "T"s car recently. Noticed his bashed up helmet from the accident lying in the back seat. Asked if I could borrow his lid for a while to get some piccys for the blog. As such got talking again about that rather painful evening. A few more bits of his ordeal were mentioned which I hadn't heard before.

Was kinda shocked to learn from his gf that the docs actually fed him out of date medication cos none what they had was in date. What was even more frustrating was that the meds could have been bought over the counter (I assume) cos his gf had a stash at home. Plus they chosen not to mention anything till his lips turned blue and his gf questioned them why.

Also he mentioned that during the CAT scan, despite not being able to move his arms to above shoulder level they grabbed his arms and dragged him on his back onto the CAT scan table. And when that wasn't sufficient to get him fully on the table they started shoving his arse in a bid to get him on. During the scan they were more fixated at the swelling in his stomach region. Not even bothering to check him for spinal injury, which I think... would be pretty high on the list in a bike accident. Bearing this in mind do you really think you should be forcefully shoving and dragging a fresh bike crash victim onto a bed? BTW if they bothered to look they would have seen on the CAT scan he had compressed vertebrae.

Also was relayed several stories of the disdain both him and his gf were held in by the hospital staff. Probably part (just a SMALL part) of the reason for the shitty service. It seemed to be the consensus that if you were riding a motorbike you DESERVE to be in a smash like this. Bike riding SCUMM!!! That's prob what they were screaming in their heads.

"T" also gave me a few pics of the scene of the accident and of his mashed Buell. Shame, his bike was definitely a fave outta all the bikes that I've seen. Its just the way it is so subtitle in how it went about being different. The integrated fuel tank in the frame, the hidden exhaust, the rim mounted discs. Was a engineering work of art to me. Only thing which I didn't quite dig was the belt drive... But... small thing on a great bike really. IMO shaft drive would have turned cool into sub-zero for me.

Remembrance

Lately work has been pretty ok. Was given quite a few interesting jobs. Actually began to feel like an aircraft engineer. Started to think how typical this, life, was. Just as I start to leave I start feeling happy bout the place. Was even starting to wonder Y exactly I was going thru all the hassle of moving inot a new job, country, all for a few extra K a year...

Then today the reality of the reason slapped me in the face again. I checked my bank account. they had not paid me at all. Payday was 5 days ago. EVERYBODY on my shift and every other shift I spoke to had been paid, not just on time but actually 1 day early!

But because I am leaving the company next month. The admin decided to be super efficient and remove me already. Hence I recieved no pay slip and no money. Hell, my name has already been removed from all rosters and paper work.

So tomorrow morning, on my day off, after a 12hour night shift I have to go into the office and kick some ass to get my money. It always seems to be like this. I got to fight and bitch and yell for every penny I work my ass off for. Where as everyone else who slacks off and pisses about doing sweet F.A. gets twice the allowances I do and their pay is regular as clockwork. Why was I leaving again?

Feeling better?

Its been said many times how Bad the NHS in the UK is. Well, as with all things on this Earth, there is always something worse. My work Colleague "T" recent life is testimony to that fact.

Around 3 weeks ago he was involved in that ubiquitous physical trauma called the bike accident. He was in the outside lane approaching a roundabout when the vehicle on his inside decided to swerve off at the 1st roundabout exit. Forcing "T" into the rear quarter of the idiots big ass 4x4. Surprisingly to me the driver was a Brit. Just goes to show idiot drivers come from all walks of life. The last things "T" remembered was landing on his head, ricocheting back into the air and then slamming ribs first into a lamp post. Injuries sustained were several broken ribs, a punctured lung, deeply gashed open knee, missing skin on his thigh and back and severe swelling on his legs, arms and face.FYI his full face helmet had 2 puncture holes in it as well as the jaw portion of the helmet broke clean off . The shell was so crumpled that the foam inside had come totally loose. And 1 side of the helmet had been scuffed all the way down to the inner foam lining. Helmet was an AGV. £250 worth of helmet, £250 well spent! So for all U bikers, real life proof, if you want your brains kept in your skull, an AGV will keep it that way.

Now the real trauma starts. He awakes in an old building, rusty steel supports poking thru the crumbling concrete walls, dried blood stains caked into the ceiling tiles. But the visual horror of the hospital was nothing compared to what he would face with the staff that worked there. I shall surmise in point form what he had to endure as story telling it is gonna be an experience on par with typing a novel.

1st.Xray staff FORCED him to lift himself off his bed and onto the Xray machine, bear in mind he was in a serious bike accident just a couple hours ago.

2nd Staff only decided to treat his deeply gashed open knee 7 hours later and only when his gf grabbed a passing doctor and forced him to treat "T"

3rd following the knee operation they refused to administer antibiotics, assuring both "T" and his gf that a deep wound filled with glass, grit and sand left open for 7 hours with no treatment had no chance of being infected.

4th In an attempt to stop the wound going septic following point #3 his gf tried for 5 hours to reach his attending doctor to get him to administer antibiotics.Doctor actually told her that giving "T" 2 panadol would be just as effective!

5th when "T"s attending arrived he proceeded to rip... yes RIP off every bandage on "T" to inspect the offending wound "T"s gf was on about. Bear in mind that scabs had stuck to those bandages! Guess he was pissed off at being told to do his job by a woman. Dispite the agony on "T"s face, he only stopped when "T"s gf yelled at him "if you even did your job you would know the operation was on his knee!"

6th Not being able to move. "T" was on his side unable to sleep due to the pain."T" requested the attending nurse to move him onto his back so he could feel more comfortable. Nurse refused, saying he would have to wait till morning.

7th no doctor during "T"s 5 day stay ever saw to "T" for more than 10 mins. And as such no doctor ever knew what work had been done on "T". So most of the docs ended up doing things over and over.

8th A VERY fat doc was checking on "T"s condition one day. Explaining to "T"s gf what he was looking for when feeling "T"s leg. Having finished inspecting "T"s left side he started to move over to "T"s right but the bed was a little too close to the wall. Thus the fatty didn't have enough room to move over to "T"s right. So after 5 secs of trying to squeeze into the gap he said "nah I'm sure everything is ok on that side too" and proceeded to walk away.

9th on the day "T" was finally able to transfer to a private hospital, they refused to release his medical paperwork to the new hospital, because they weren't happy he was leaving for another hospital.

10th Upon admittance into the new hospital as they gave him his sponge bath the nurses were shocked to find in his back were still stones and glass embedded from the 1st night of his accident. The previous hospital staff never bothered to wash him down during his whole stay.

11th Docs at the good hospital questioned "T"s gf as to the injuries to his ribs. She said she was told different numbers of broken ribs by different docs at the crappy hospital. Some said 4 and others as many as 11, as well as docs that stated any number in between. But at least all were said to be on the"T"s right side. So at least that must be right?Nope. The good doc said yeah he has 4 broken ribs on the right side but the xray also shows just about every rib on his left was cracked... So either docs at the previous place were too lazy to take a good look at the xray or had no clue as to how to read one.

Thankfully The new hospital "T" checked into was a million miles better.Also in spite of the injuries he sustained. 2 weeks later he was healthy enough to go home.