Month: February 2006

Just come back from the Mall …

I wasn’t really looking to spend any money, I was just trying to figure out how to stay awake !!! The launch day on Wednesday took a little more out of me than I’d like to admit I think. Plus, my back definitely didn’t appreciate the cold. If I’d come home, I’d have most likely plopped my head down on the pillow and slept ’till morning …. Which would have been a bad idea, seeing as I’m supposed to be inside a dragon’s lair in an hour.

Lots of pictures got exchanged at work today, which was fun. I wonder why they all tend to congregate at my desk when they’re looking at the pictures though … It’s not as bad as it could be, as my boss and his boss were two of the main people looking at pictures and keeping me away from the work I was supposed to be doing :-).

I may get published as well … My blog entry from Wednesday, with a few minor alterations, is going to get passed on to the Works’ newspaper. We’ll see if they put it in. Just remember – you saw it here first …

I’ve been a bit let down by my previous credit card company.

The first thing they did was to break their original promises by reducing the 0.5% (potentially 1%) cashback rate down to 0.25%. Bit irritated by that but shrugged and didn’t think it was worth changing just for that.

The reason they have let me down is Chip & Pin. Without a Chip & Pin card, I won’t be able to use the card in shops come 14th Feb. Which makes having a credit card pretty pointless. I prodded them about a month ago on this but have still not got the card. Makes me wonder whether they do actually want my business … My bank on the other hand, have given me a Chip & Pin card.

Ah well – byebye one credit card, hello to the new one :-). I’ll be hanging on to the old one until it’s time for the last year’s cashback to appear, then it’s gone. Now it’s time to tell off the bank for making it awkward to change a mortgage.

Up at 5am, up to Scotland for the launching of a ship. Currently writing this entry at 7.20 pm waiting in the airport for the flight back.

There’s been two very significant ladies in my life for the past few years and it was the turn of the faithful one to have her moment today.

It’s strange how an object you called ‘it’ suddenly takes on her own life as soon as you see her move on her own. (kinda) It was a very proud moment for me earlier, seeing Lady Daring go down the ramp. In fact I’m still rather emotional about it now, several hours later.

For this particular lady, I’ve invested 6 years of my life so far and she’s worth every second. I’ve put in heart and soul and, although I’ve only set foot on parts of her twice, I feel as if I know every inch of her from bow to stern. Seeing her there today, made her into something rather more real. Being able to see the sheer scale of Lady Daring was quite frankly, awe inspiring. There is a definite sense of strength there, she looks ‘the business’. And she hasn’t even reached her full height yet … I’m rather looking forward to the near future when she’s completed.

There were a heap of friends from the team there today, with the shared excitement making the moment even more special. The best thing about my project team is the people and how we come together and pull for each other. It’s one reason why I’ve stayed with the team for so long. I even managed to catch a fleeting glance at Miss L as she made her way to Lady Daring to take her launch station. I hope to have a few decent long range pictures too.

In fact, lots of pictures :-). What an amazing day !