Ginger DJ Rob

I realised I haven't had a proper holiday since last year in Ibiza so with the pressures and stress of the house move, job responsibilities and planning the actual holiday, I'm am so looking forward to it. Hopefully this will recharge me because as soon as we get back we're moving out of the flat and into the new house - the very next day we fly back. Not looking forward to the 11 hour jetlag from a 24 hour flight but at least I've sourced a cheap removal bloke by a chance meeting through ebay. Our landlord, Stav took the move out news rather well, in fact he should be nominated for the nicest landlord award 2007. We invited him out for a pub drink and agonized over how to break it to him with half an hour of cheery, subject-avoiding chit-chat. At least last weekend was an extended bank holiday one starting off with Trev's bbq party. Nice to see some different people including some German guy who worked on colour effects of movies. His latest work is on the new Batm...

Second week of work benefited from our own bed. Yes, we’re both finally in Brighton thanks to Kev and Karol lending a hand with the moving. No more Ocean Village and low flying aircraft. It’s slightly materialistic and sad to admit it but having a few more familiar thing and furniture around you cheers me right up, including our bed. The move was slightly hampered by the storage area having all the essential stuff at the back but by around 9pm Saturday we were eating a well-deserved local take-away curry to an almost settled flat. Still adjusting to the new job and new campus – it’s not quite as good Southampton I’ll have to admit. On Tuesday I decided to sort out my fitness regime and called the Brighton branch of GKR, my old karate club. Turned out that the class I wanted to go was about 12 miles away and was a ‘once only invitation’ from the regional sensei. Didn’t quite appreciate the attitude so switched to Capoeira (see the Wikipedia entry ). It was a bit unfair to schedule th...

I’ve noticed the last places of work were surrounded with birds, of the feathered variety! IBM had Canadian Geese, Uni of Southampton had common ducks and here at the Sussex uni, seagulls have taken residency which never (f#@king) shutup! From dawn they wake each other with their wailing chorus, fly over to the beach just to remind themselves that they’re ‘sea’gulls not inland gulls, come back and continue their squawking almost 24 hours a day – it’s like a landfill! Hopefully I’ll get used to it and they’ll stay away from our new house. New job going well with lovely, friendly people. Very sociable in fact with a lots of events, coffee breaks, a department cover band and a Christmas panto (slightly scared at that one). By the end of the week all the newness started to get to me with a lot work topics going straight over my head. Finally, as we made our decision to exit our Southampton flat and enter a 6 month contract, the estate agent calls to say the house chain had completed wi...

Not too much happening lately. The accommodation honeymoon period is over and I'm now worrying about where to live when I move to Brighton. Notice I've used 'I' instead of 'we' as playing with the idea of being a lodger or doing student digs which could be fun or not. Our uni harbour side flat can be rented longer helping the flexibility. House chain still stagnant and we considered being unfaithful to the Brighton house we love. Saw two places on Saturday and although they were cheap flirts they didn't match our high demands. We also saw a place for summer rent found on Gumtree but the lady jacked the price up to £1500 a month. Somehow I don't think she thought it through especially saying bills worked out as £300 a month! TV cold turkey Starting to deal with 5 channel tv tedium. I've actually found myself switching it off as if the addiction's wearing off. Rediscovered reading (Rant by Chuck Palaniuk) and playing the Gameboy (Pheonix Wright 2) ...

University of Southampton, my current employer came up trumps on Wednesday offering us a 2 bed flat for half the price. No curry smelling grothole for us, just nice Ocean Village living to look forward to until we move to Brighton. Thursday will certainly be a day to remember. Without Kerry's car, it was public transport all the way with only minutes to spare. The previous night I'd finished preparing for the Uni of Sussex interview with two written exercises to do. As I compared the email invite with the posted letter I noticed I had been sent a different document to base one of the tasks. Therefore I had to do the exercise on my laptop on the train journey there. Interview went really well even with 4 people grilling me. I had only 45 minutes to bus back into town and find the next place for interview. Typical PR agency which felt like the waiting room in Spaced when Daisy goes for an interview at Flaps. The MD wasn't really taking much notice of me but felt I had to ans...

Stress went up a gear yesterday. After a halfday at work we went to see some flats down at Ocean Village for our short-term rent. Their office was amongst the poshest restaurants of Southampton so our expectations for the price were high. The business owner drove us to the flats past all the expensive looking flats around the boaty area and towards the Itchen bridge , a less exclusive area. We entered the choice of flats and nearly all of them smelt like an Indian restaurant and one had a close view of the road bridge. It dawned on how much of a rip-off it was and how depressing it was going to be living there. We couldn't face the prospect of going back. At the same time I've been talking to the Accommodation office at my work who may have a spare flat but are waiting on some bumbling academic who doesn't know when he needs the flat. Its a lot cheaper and closer to work with more flexibility. Its just the waiting that killing us slowly. Left home for Brighton for interview...

Last Friday our plans to move out looked stable and secure. A company called Prestige okayed us to having a reserved apartment and we could use their address to forward post. Kerry had tried to visit their offices to pay the deposit but no-one was there so I left some messages to say we'd come in the next day. Storage was also sorted in Brighton plus two interviews to look forward to. I'd even managed to get a load of empty boxes from work to start packing. We started packing on Saturday until I checked my mobilephone messages. Prestige decided to let the apartment to someone else and were 'sorry' for letting us down! I rang them and spoke to some old twat of a duffer who had no sympathy or morals, and in the end had to pass the phone to Kerry after my blood reached boiling point. They wouldn't budge so we're now left without a proper plan. The local newspaper helped gain some useful phone numbers of landlords and thankfully sister-in-law/fairy godmother, Karol ...

One very lazy day for Saturday and a rushed evening to see old Uni mate James, who did the London marathon and Paul & Sarah in London. Met James in the Lizard Lounge with booze buddy 'Drunk' Jim who we discovered lives just two streets away from us! Good to see Paul & Sarah as well on a quick break away from their Ibizan home. Sunday isn't worth a mention and Bank Holiday Monday was an excuse to visit Beaulieu since we would be moving to Brighton. Motor museum was ok though not worth the £15 entrance fee. We saw Jason Orange from Take That with his four daughters(?could have been unshakable groupees?). Job news Another coulple of let-downs today. Looks unlikely that Plumbase will be hiring since the manager sounds like he hasn't found anyone to his satisfaction or the job's unfillable. The Boxharry job has gone to someone else so I'm left with just one interview next week to look forward.

The week started with a bump after confirmation of our moving out date. We exit our home for four years on Friday 25th May. Originally the new owners wanted us out within a week! Yeah right! Kerry, god bless her and her hardworking attitude, has found a weekly paid flat between the Brighton full-on move. The time we spend there will depend on when I get a job in Brighton. I had two interviews on Tuesday with a chance to look at our new house. The first was working for Plumbase, a trade retailer specialising in the very interesting field of plumbing (obviously). Can't quite contain my excitement with that one though it does pay well but after my Uni job it sounds hardwork. The second job was for a small web agency called Boxharry. Probably the best location ever for Brighton on the 3rd floor above Browns bar in the middle of the Lanes. Job slightly moving away from marketing but could be a great potential. Still waiting for any feedback on both plus I have another interview on the 1...

Today is Kerry's 31st birthday - ahh, Happy Birthday Mrs Coleman. A trip up to London later for a surprise and a meal, and maybe other things. Just a small note to remind me how bad the day went at work for me after organising an 80 strong seminar only to book a room on the wrong day! Plus someone screwed me over as the multi-room event went from bad to worse with double-bookings. There's been a strong smell of jobs wafting in the air lately. Another interview coming up on 1st May for Plumbase and a couple of agencies said they'll put me forward for 2 or 3 more. An email yesterday confirmed that the Cruiseline job has been shortlisted to two people which includes me. However, slightly worrying was the phonecall from the MD of Cruiseline last night as he stated that someone suggested he used Numerology to decide between us. At the time I thought he was getting mixed up with psycho-metric tests or some number test I would have to perform. But no, he next asked me what my mid...

After the psycho-metric wind-up and the kick-in-the-balls no 2nd interview prospect last week my confidence was knocked. The feeling didn't last long as out of the blue another interview invite came up. E-commerce Manager was the job title working for a travel agent specialising in Cruising...the big boat kind aimed at loaded old codgers. Quite weird really as we're moving away from the home of the cruise ships (as well as chavs and Transit vans). The interview went well spending over 2 hours there. The MD reminded me of my dad and bizarrely never uses the internet or email! Trying to convince him he needs to have a strategy of branding could be a challenge. The other staff were friendly and seemed happy there with no dress code and 9 to 5 hours. I'll know the result by Friday.

Would you answer the following questions in a job interview with only Yes/Maybe/No? 102. Would it take a definite effort on your part to consider the subject of suicide? 172. Is the idea of death, or reminders of death, abhorrent to you? 62. Do you often "sit and think" about death, sickness, pain and sorrow? 63. Do you remain upset for some time following an accident or other disturbing incident? 99. If you were invading another country would you feel sympathetic towards conscientious objectors in this country? 169. Would you stand by and fail to protect an animal from needless suffering? These were all asked in a psycho-metric test to apply for a job. Was it an SAS officer role, a CIA marksman, hired goon? No, it was the same job I was getting excited about in an earlier entry and thought I had the best chance after a really good first stage. Yet someone out there feels the results of such questions can define your personality.

Quite a tame one over Easter with the job interview excitement from last Thursday still buzzing. The first one was for a PR agency in the middle of Brighton. After the first good impressions of the location, the interviewer had discovered my blog and Flickr site which I'm not sure put me in a good light or not. Second interview went really well recommending me to go through to the second interview stage with the MD. The lady who interviewed me acts as the company's marketing consultant and would be the mentor to the role. It was a cosy, relaxed interview round her house and I must have made a great impression as she showed me her prized, rare chickens! I even got to feed them as a couple of teen-hens pecked into my hand at the seed. Watch this space for more job news. BBQ at Trev's with a pre-party play on his PS3. Very impressed by the graphics and the tilt control pads were a novelty. Motorstorm hogged the limelight but I stuill don't think its worth over £450 to buy....

So, no Sunday lay-in instead we prepared ourselves for the Glastonbury ticket lottery. The last time was 3 years ago when I discovered the nastiness of Spyware which screwed up our chances only to be saved at the last minute by a 'back-door' entrance to the ticket website. Although not on sale until 9am we tried the website at 8.45am with no luck. Nothing changed until around 11.00am with no luck on the phones. Radio 1 announced a rumour at 10.45am that they had sold out and that was that. Looking back at the organisation of this, Michael Eavis shouldn't have extended the registration deadline by another week which actually doubled the demand. Next time I think it should be scratchcards at £1 each with second prizes for cash and 3rd prize some Glastonbury milk! At least we've secured our Big Chill tickets. A BBC news web page states that when some people did get on to the site they were able to buy bulk! What's that about! Slightly better news: I have a job interv...

If you're a fan of mugging, car-jacking or shooting innocent people and you were rich enough (or mug enough) to buy a PS3 then you should be excited about the new Grand Theft Auto IV trailer just released. This next gen version is based in New York with some amazing detail and the best landmarks pixelated for HD. It sounds like the central character is an East European mafia type who's into human trafficking. Personally I'd rather wait until at least £100 gets knocked off the price and await some more positive game reviews. YouTube scum Over the last few weeks I have some w**nkers leave some non-supportive comments on my YouTube video of my karate tournament fight. Although I'm not 100% behind the club ethos it doesn't mean people can graffiti my site with anti-GKR slurs. I've removed them all now but it ticks me off when people disrespect web space with sh*tty comments. YouTube gold One good thing coming out of YouTube lately is Adam & Joe's BBC3 (or 4)...

Took a day off for a trip to Brighton to second view house and visit job agency. What was supposed to be a relaxed day turned into a race and a stress-athon as the agency rescheduled the interview and the estate agent mucked our offer about. The viewing was really to assess the damage and see what needed repair. The house was a bit more scruffy than I remembered but got on nicely with the vendors. Estate agent bloke floated about making small talk but obviously tip-toeing around yesterday's offer. After finishing, he dropped the bombshell that another higher offer was made for someone without a chain. Then the stress piled on as excuses of chain approval and not being able to contact our agent came through. If I'd been anymore switched on I would have accussed him there and then. We asked for a decision to be made by the end of the day. 4.50pm was the phonecall to finish it and trigger a fact finding mission to uncover the estate agent's reputation. A few ugly rumours and n...

So the first house we offered on fell through thanks to evil first-time buyers who have obviously got more more money than sense. We switched over to the other blowing away our budget and getting sucked into evil stamp duty territory at 3%. It's more than we need but after a long, long, long talk about it we need to do it. It's now a waiting game to speak to the Estate Agent though he's out showing other people the very same house! I'm hoping to second view it tomorrow to check again the damage from a leak and see an agency about a job. All this house stuff has let our anniversary trip slip our minds. We're off to Brussels this weekend and have nothing planned at all. Glimmers are DJing Friday night but with the out-of-town location and early start for flight etc. I've a feeling we'll be cosying up for an early one.

So Monday was the interview at 12pm. What a stupid time of the day that was with an hour's written test afterwards. I forgot to bring any food with me so my stomach did a little of the talking (moaning). It went well and thought I'd be in with a good chance. Director guy was rushed and kept butting in to my answers. The next day I received the call for the decision. Someone more suited to the role was chosen i.e. someone internal! At least I don't have to worry through Xmas of moving plus I had my doubts of the job (too much travel costs and campus a bit dull). So stuck in the office, holidays start in two and a bit days and boredom is kicking in. Whilst looking for Wii news, I found this game called Line Rider which you can play online. The movies section is excellent and playing it will make you miss deadlines! Apparently Nintendo loved it so much it will be repackaged for the Wii and DS. The Wii's online facility has properly started. We can get get nifty weather rep...

The day after my birthday (probably whilst writing my brithday blog) I had an out of the blue mobilephone message. The University of Sussex actually invited me for an interview for Monday 18th December. Now the nerves are really kicking in, not just about the interview but the whole move. Friday night we bought a needle shedding mess-maker then settled down to more wrist-flicking action (easy) with Zelda. After only a week the batteries to the Wii remote are almost dead! Habit-tat Saturday was a well-appreciated lay-in after Kerry's random working hours and after a Tesco's run our Wii addiction kicked in and the house got neglected from ever being tidied. We dragged ourselves away from it just in time to get ready for Trev and Viv's hat party. Preparations started mid-week after getting the Final Scratch working on Windows with a mini-set of new tunes. Also, Kerry already had some fancy dress accessories she'd acquired for a training role-play thing therefore contributi...

Started the working week with a 2 day course away from the office. After the hassle trying to claim for travel costs I arranged a lift with 'Bill' from my department. I'm normally quite a good passenger but after experiencing his driving habits I was close to slapping him a few times. Almost all traffic lights he stopped at he would turn the engine off (just mildly annoying), drive at 5 mph below the speed limit (quite annoying), constantly played classical chamber music that reminds me of Blackadder or listen to Radio 3(very annoying), driving back home he would avoid traffic by taking a different road only on guess-work then getting lost then arriving at an even worse place before therefore taking longer to get home without asking my local knowledge (biting hand to stop slappage), getting totally flustered when given directions and snapping at me to give one at a time (hand curling into fist but still being bitten) AND refusing to drop me off anyway near my house in case ...