DerekWilson_1968

Not sure yet, though I managed to get through work today, am off tomorrow afternoon though and have a lift sorted. Just a case of wait and see pal. KtF, Derek.

plank

I've got an interview. For a proper job. A week on Monday. One draw back, it is in Essex. Not sure if I fancy it to be honest, but I am still going to go, then I can meet up with Kets for a post interview beer in the smoke. I have to go on the tube too, so could probably do a little frottaging! KtF, Derek.

Pre-conceptions of people. I know, I know, we have done this before as well. Is there anything that hasn't been covered in the real biggie? I'm not going to do it the same way as last time, though others should feel free to chuck in their ideas of what we are all like; though this time I am going to do it about people you have to interact with that you will never meet. With this new (well not so new now) job I have to speak with people all over the world who are Colgate materials suppliers. Sometimes I just see the number and cringe whilst others I just plain enjoy speaking to. Whichever way they make you react, does anyone else start to build up minds eye pictures of those they have to deal with on a day to day basis? I am going to use a couple of examples to demonstrate the good and the bad. I have to do a lot of work with an out-sourcing manufacturor in Preston, so while materials and schedules are being planned I have to speak with Angi (as she likes to call herself) everday a few times a day. Every time she rings me her opening gambit is 'Derek, it's me'. What is that all about? How bloody rude not to say hello first. My minds eye picture of her is as a big, fat, greasy, ill mannered billy no mates for whom if (and how very unlikely) a bagful of interpersonal skills hit her between the eyes she wouldn't know what to do with them. I have similar encounters with a few blokes from Germany (I don't have to deal with them very much thankfully) but I just imagine them to be Hitler and Hess. Now, those of you that know me will know that I am far from a shrinking violet and have been known to vent my spleen, but in a work situation whilst working with other companies, it just wouldn't happen. With those in the same environment, certainly once in a while, but those that you rely upon to get your job done; well absolutely never. On the flip side of the coin, I have to work with some, what I imagine to be, wonderful people as well. There is a girl who works for BASF in Germany who is just so sweet on the phone. She is obviously English, and sounds very posh in a Thames Valley girl kind of way, but every time she rings she always says hello, asks how I am, says please and thank you constantly, asks how things are and what are my plans etc before getting to the actual point of the conversation. No matter how big the problem she has never ever rung without having used those few inter personal skills before getting to the point. Just because of her niceness I always imagine her as slim, dark haired and very pretty. The ones I am more impressed with though are the people that are obviously none English speaking natively. They try so hard to understand me, but never ever would turn round and expect me to speak to them in Italian or German. Aurelio is a fab bloke, and everything I have ever asked of him he has tried to do, he is always polite and he reminds me in the way he speaks of Gianluca Vialli. I sort of imagine him to be a bit of a cheeky chappy sort of in the Nik mould who I would certainly get on with over a beer or several. Now to my favourite person that I have to deal with, sometimes twenty or thirty times a day. Every week I have to order somewhere in the region of a half a million tonnes of materials from her. Daniela is fab to get along with, and despite the fact that my German has been on the decline since I was 6 or so, I still try to say my greetings to her in her native tongue. Her English is obviously far better than my German, but she appreciates the small effort I make so much so it makes her laugh on the phone, and I have to say that no matter how much I love this job, it is a little duller without having spoken to her. To be truthful I don't even have a minds eye picture of her other than one of those smiley, happy people that everyone likes to be around. She is lovely and a pleasure to work with. This position is a little strange for me, as I am a temp worker, but I have built up some great relationships with people, customers, suppliers and colleagues. In the few months I have been there I have come on leaps and bounds skills wise, but I know there will be some people I am going to miss when it ends. There are loads of others too, the people in Oz always sound happy whilst I am waking up as they are about to finish their day (Colgate is a massive company and the prestige that accompanies being a supplier means you keep people working until 10pm to sort problems in the UK) whilst the people in the States are always grumpy whilst my day is winding down. If no one else gets this post, I reckon Stipey will. Just a minds eye thing. KtF, Derek.

I have been a deputy best man, and I have to say I really enjoyed it. The groom asked me to do it to arrange all the male friends that were going from Rochdale and Edinburgh, first to Durham for his stag do (where he was at Uni) and then the following week to Edinburgh for the wedding. He and his then wife to be both worked with Rach and we used to spend a lot of weekends going out and getting drunk either down here or up there, and even four or five times on holiday. Some on here will even know Howard. In a very short space of time we grew to be very close friends. Once the date had been set, I think it was the weekend before the Lashers game about 5 years ago, they came down and Kath asked Rach to be bridesmaid. They had known each other for years. Needless to say she was over the moon and we all went out and got bevvied. Kath was working in Manchester for the week and Howard in London. By the time the following weekend had arrived the girls had gotten less angry at Howard for wanting a day out watching the match (I was always going to be a no show for whatever plans they had on Saturday afternoon). So off we trundled, first to Preston to see the National Footy Museum and then off to Blackers to watch the mighty blues. We were on the train from Preston to Blackpool when he asked me to do it, but also asked me to say nothing to Rach. It was going to be a surprise for her, I was to help organise everyone and then give a little speech at the wedding, it was solely Howard and Kaths idea. I have to say I was honoured. We went up on the Friday night and a few of us took him out, nothing too dramatic, I was in charge of him as his Best Man (John) was up from the south coast with his wife and child so couldn't have a late one. We were back at the house by midnight. Got up the next day and met lots of the male guests for breakfast, we did a pub that served us a fry up whilst all the girls had champagne breakfast in the hotel the wedding was at just off Princess Street. It was fabulous. Since John knew very few people at the service it was left for me to usher folk around, I managed though and we all took our seats and the service began. Needless to say the Bride and bridesmaid looked radiant and everything was going smoothly until Kath asked to say a few words. First she thanked everyone for turning up then she just said 'I would like to invite one of our best friends to say a few words on our behalf. Wil, you can come up now but you're no to swear, my Mum is here'. Rach started laughing but then when I looked at her face from the top of the service area she was crying, but with the biggest smile in the world on her face, before I started speaking she mouthed 'You steward of the bars' at me. I don't think I have ever felt so proud in all my life. It really did mean a lot to her that I had been asked to speak. I just grinned back. Really is an honour to be asked to play a big part in the biggest day of your friends lives. I even managed 5 minutes without swearing got my round of applause and then we all went off and got pathetically drunk. They went off on honeymoon and we returned to Rochdale, only to fly out a day later to meet them in Rome. We then went our seperate ways for a week then met up again on the Amalfi Coast at Sorrento. Really, really good friends. Despite the fact that times have changed and me and Rach have now split up, I still speak to Howard and Kath quite often and I am glad I do, maybe I will even be able to get him to come down and watch the lads for a weekend again sometime in the near future. KtF, Derek.

Flip it. I was going to ask if smugness is allowed on the big 'un and if Auntie Gill would bollock us for talking footy if she hadn't already done so, but through some dim and distant memory I remembered who I am. So smug it is. WE ARE TOP OF THE LEAGUE! I nearly fell out of the Lookers celebrating the goal, I thought it was a good idea to stand on the wall and jump around in a reckless manner. More fool me. I was very poorly this morning, then looked through my phone and discovered I had phoned John Breckin last night to gloat. I haven't a clue what I said though. Then I phoned Beckett to laugh at him, at least he saw the funny side and was congratulatory. Nice fella LB. We are still top though, and have that Ronnie you toilet brush! KtF, Derek.

I can't believe you missed the best celebration of the afternoon Sean. Me, jumping up and down on the wall of the Lookers upper, threatening to jump down on Titch et al whilst being bollocked by stewards. Ronnie, remind me of the score ;) KtF, Derek.

Well it is a good job I don't give a Flip about how mysteriously the lord works (forgive me Jimmy Reade). Just Fliping deck her and have done with it. KtF, Derek.

Just give her a good smack in the gob (learn how to punch first though), then spit on her while she is sobbing on the floor. KtF, Derek.

How strange. I was commenting this morning to FMS whilst on the way to work how one no longer sees windscreen breaking hot water being poured over, well windscreens, anymore. It is one of those things that I miss from being young, nowadays people are happy to put chemicals on icy windows and pollute the atmosphere with propellants (says the man who bought 20 tons of the bloody stuff today ;)). I miss plumes of rising steam in the morning and the odd expletive when the owner of the motorised thingy me bob realises the water was too hot. Anyway, the pre interview interview went well. I never twigged that it was with the same woman that got me the interview at Caterpillar a few months back. I had only spoken to her in the past, so I got a bit more feedback from that one. Surprisingly Caterpillar are still in touch with them about me. As the REAL big threaders know, I got some excellent feedback, I have found out tonight how good it was. They are still in touch because once a permanent vacancy comes into being they aren't going to interview, it is apparently just going to be offered to me. I had a pretty :censored:ty second half to the year just gone, and to hear comments like 'He stood head and shoulders above the other two candidates, I just wish he could bloody drive' is bloody great. I have always said I would relocate for the right job, and given the choice between Caterpillar and the place in Cambridge (though it is a great opportunity) I would chose Cat every time. Of course it means I can stay in the NW too. Only time will tell what happens though, I am being put forward for three vacancies next week. They want me to pare my CV down a little and put some numbers in. Anyone got any suggestions to which ones I should use? As an aside I got to bollock a Belgian man this morning over the phone. I was chasing a delivery yesterday (after double checking I had sent the order) I found they forgot to put the order in their hauliers system. Last night dental cream production was stopped because of lack of materials and this morning mouthrinse stopped to. For Colgate this is a tragedy, thank god I sent that mail and got confirmation. Before leaving last night I let every man and his dog know that a supplier had let us down. This morning I went to see the head of procurement for CP Europe and expected a bollocking. Not my fault I know, but new boy and all that. I mumbled something along the lines of 'Sorry Tony, blah didn't turn up with yadda last night as they promised, I forwarded you the e mails I sent to them.' He replied ' I have seen them Derek, not even anything for you to apologise about, I rang them last night and told them 8.30 am latest, find out if it is here for me.' Needless to say it wasn't. It was due in at 12.30 and arrived at 3.30pm. He was going ballistic and asked me to ring them, explain our displeasure (and tell them to expect a bill) then call him a Fliping hairy palmed fiddler. I wasn't remotely annoyed about it (as my arse was covered) but I did it anyway, it made me laugh. It made Leander and Cath laugh too, I don't think they have ever heard me swear before. That's unbelievable that I haven't uttered a swear word in there yet except under my breath! Anyway, better get off to bed, got a 7.30 meeting tomorrow with another supplier who has let us down. I'm proper important I am. KtF, Derek.

Just put my media player into random mode, my MP3 player is resting. I'm going to put 10 to catch up. Suedehead - Da Moz The Cemetry - Architecture in Helsinki A Hard Days Night (Ain't it just) - The Beatles Bless his Ever Loving Heart - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds How Can I Hide It From My Heart - Maxine Darren (never even heard this before, too much music) It's a Shame - The Detroit Spinners Mrs Hutchinson - Madness I Don't Know What to do With My Life - The Buzzcocks Song for Sunshine - Belle and Sebastian See about Me - Diana Ross & the Supremes Thats a pretty good lot. KtF, Derek.

Ooh, I work in Altrincham. Whereabouts is your interview? As for the road rage, yep definitely picked that one up early in my lessons. It was always the other drivers' faults for being in my way whenever I veered onto the wrong side of the road. How do know whether you're near an 00 on this board? The Grafton? It is just an employment agency, I have been there before though, so I do know where I am going. As for the 00 thing, how about looking how many posts have been made in the Taproom menu? Just an idea like. KtF, Derek.

Were they the twelve inch versions? My what a big head you have to be able to stick a record player in your lugholes! KtF, Derek.

Flip off! I got an pre-interview interview on Thursday in Altrincham. I should be getting good at them by now. Still waiting for the one in Cambridge to come up, this one is for a job in Bratfurd. I have been in that good a mood tonight I even did some tidying up, going to get some grub now then get my ironing done for the morning. I have a feeling it may be a difficult one on the roads tomorrow. What the hell Mac is enjoying what little snow there is. KtF, Derek.

If I take it by your user name that you were born in 68 then yes we will be somewhere around the same age. If it be so, by your reaction I take it you see a car and a licence as a neccesity. My parents never had one and up until getting the job I am in now I have always worked close to home, I have never wanted or needed a car. Time will see, if one of these jobs comes off I will be happier to relocate rather than learn to drive, if not then driving may become one of those things I need to do. KtF, Derek.

I'll tell you what, I'm going to shock you all now. Trains were all cancelled again tonight, so I didn't get home until gone 7. Apparently there had been a signal failure on the Manchester to Rochdale line. I ended up getting the bus home, had to find the Fliper first though, that took me half an hour after leaving Victoria station. I am actually considering learning to drive. Just considering, but it is more than I have ever done before. I am fed up of attempting to rely on public transport. Oh, since I have started at Colgate people seem to be impressed with my CV again. Had two enquiries today about potential full time jobs. Though the lateness of my arrival home caused me to be in a position not to be able to ring them back, I do have the numbers and fully intend to speak to them tomorrow should I get the time. KtF, Derek.

Well we all like our music don't we? So, type in the name of a band and let us see what other people think of them. Don't go mad on this otherwise we will have a list pages and pages long without any structured analysis, put a comment on about a previous band before nominating one. If you don't know anything about their work, then don't comment, it is an idea to let people get a semi-appreciation of the type of music others like and maybe an insight into something that perhaps they will enjoy. I bet there are a few on here who have tried to second guess me on the first nomination. Alas no, ladies and gents, I nominate Massive Attack. Say your words. KtF, Derek.

I plucked one out of the air once and ate it alive. It's heart was still beating as it slipped down my gullet. Yum Yum!! BTW, did you try ringing me earlier to rant about traffic? If you did my phone isn't working to well. I suppose I should pay the bill! KtF, Derek.

Anyway all you Johnny come latelies. The REAL big thread is a labour of love, it has been going for well over three years now. Sometimes it can be weeks before you are even able to get on it (unless you have a gormless sap to do your sweary editing, eh Gillian?)- I haven't managed to get on for an age, and you have to edit to swear, that is if you know how to get around the filter and can actually do it without using three dozen edits (that's right isn't it IM and Gillian?) This one could end up being thousands of pages long, but it is easy to get into and probably always will be. You will all get bored of us anyway eventually and it will be the same lot that post on here. Has anyone actually decided what the prize is yet? Last I heard it was a night out with Nuttall, runner up got two nights out ;). B'dum tish! And the weather, only took me three Fliping hours to get home from Salford tonight. I could have walked home Fliping quicker. Anyone would think that armageddon was taking place, it is a bit of wind you soft twats, get the Flip on with it. KtF, Derek.

What the Flip are you lot on about? (sweary padding - whatever that is) KtF, Derek.

I dunno, what is the world coming to? I try and help the less fortunate and all I am rewarded with is insults. I give up on the youth of the 60s. Foul mouthed sods the lot of 'em ;). KtF, Derek.

Err, try the quote button and just delete the bits you don't want ;). Don't delete any of the coding though, that's the bit in the square brackets simpleton! KtF, Derek.

Depends if the explosions were Saturday or Sunday. If they were Saturday they could have been in my front garden, I was very drunk. We had a bit of a night out in the Gallows post game. I'm trying to get the big thread loaded up then I can find t'other post. KtF, Derek. Edit: There you go G. I remember playing cricket with a certain Mr. S. Stainrod when we were kids and him smashing a window of a house near the 'little field', as opposed to the 'big field' where we went to play football. Talking of smashing windows, there used to be a right grumpy sod live across the road from us, and if a ball went in his garden he would pop 'em. I saved me milk round money up, bought a cheap casey, blew it up so it was fit to burst; then stood on his drive and booted it through his front window and shouted pish off at them before running away. I wasn't an intelligent child, I forgot I lived across the road, me dad booted me up and down the street for weeks after he got the bill. I didn't get a season ticket that year. KtF, Derek.

Are you waiting for the football/window/pish off incident to be posted again with that subject G? Oh, and a rant. The Fliping water board. Couldn't go into work this morning on time as I had no water, so no brew and no shower - not sure which is the most important in those two, but both definitely needed. I then had a power cut, so when the water came back on I had no electric to solve the the kettle/shower conundrum anyway. No work today, means no pay - which is rubbish. Apparently though there have been a couple of explosions in the area over the weekend, I don't know anything about them; but maybe that is the cause? KtF, Derek.