politics

so, there's an election going on today. that's all very exciting. this year, for the first time since i've been able to, i won't be voting. rather than a overdose of voter apathy it's really because right now, as far as the electoral register goes, i don't exist. i guess i chose the wrong time to move if i wanted to get involved in the whole democratic process. having said that though, i don't really think i'd know who to vote for. i don't think i could ever vote tory, there's no way i could vote labour and let mister blair think his arrogant administration they can get away with it, and lib deb, well, apart from that fact if they got into power they'd not have a clue what to do, i don't think i could bring myself to vote for someone who called his son donald. i guess perhaps i could have turned up and drawn a comedy cock all over the ballot, just to register the fact i care but aren't keen on any of the options. still, electorial limbo means i'm outta the democratic process this time around. anyway, more pressing at the moment than the comings and goings in westminster are the office politics where i work. now, i've got myself a new job, in the same company but a different department. i was never happy about the prospect of certain people higher up the food chain not relishing the opportunity to screw someone over in order to avoid having to readvertise my old position. well, it turns out my suspicions were pretty close to the mark, cos rumour has it that if i'd have gone through certain managerial channels when applying for the new position, they would have headed me off at the pass and stopped me getting it. as it is, once they found out that i'd been offered it, i think they were planning on making it difficult for me to move. althought thankfully they seem to have realised i'm not the sort of person that would have sat back and let them screw me over like that. as a result, my notice period has been extended and it seems a lot as if i'm a pawn in the middle of an overly elaborate and complicated argument between different departments and levels of management. if it wasn't for the fact i'd got the contract in the post and signed the day before all this kicked off i'd be starting to worry. but the fact is, i'm still moving, the exact date of the move doesn't matter too much. and they way things are at the moment the sooner i'm out of my current department and in the art studio the better, although not for my current colleagues, cos i have a sneaking suspicion that the pursestrings'll be tightened right behind me and my seat's gonna remain empty for a while. it's all fun and games.

close encounters

yesterday i was sat quite happily in the sun in trafalgar square with my head in a book while i waited to meet a mate. it was fairly busy cos the sun was out but there was a bit of a gap between me and the person sat next to me. although then one of his mates came along to fill the gap. all very well and good, i just go on reading my book. then i begin to notice a few things. like the way he's sitting, the uni course he's talking about, his funny brown shoes. after about a minute i realise it's someone who a matter of about 8 months ago i was 'dating' for a while. i say dating, but it would seem that we each had very different takes on the situation. anyway, there we are sat next to each other and the question has to be asked whether he's not noticed/recognised me, or has just decided to pretend he hasn't - exactly the same way that i was with him. but to be fair, he had a pretty good chance of seeing me, to be honest i can't imagine he could have avoided it. whereas i was sat with my head in a book. so i guess that means that it's a pretty safe bet that he had seen me and chosen not to say hi. which is fine, we'd established a fairly long time ago that, despite my initial opinion, he's a bit of a dick - and i wouldn't have thought we'd have a great deal to say anything, which is a shame i suppose, but then it's his fault for being a dick. aaaanyway, i guess it just goes to show what a small world it is. out of the hundreds of people in trafalgar square, and the load of places i could have sat, i happen to have settled down next to one of his mates and he just happened to have wandered along and met him. there are people i would have rather have bumped into and plenty of people who i'm glad i haven't crossed paths with, but fate really shouldn't take the piss like that - it's not fair.

this is not a competition

the story of my new job's just thickened a little. I'm going to be one of two graphic designers working in our art studio here. And i've just been introduced to the new junior graphic designer, who'll be joining us. whilst I dunno a great deal about him, he doesn't look especially junior. i guess it shouldn't be a problem seeing as he went through the whole application process the same way that i did, and i'm the one they gave the graphic designer position to. but now the pressure to raise my game and come up with the goods is increased. if johnny junior (who's got a 3 week head start over me) hits the ground running, it wouldn't look good if i falling short in the creativity stakes. need to wake up that part of my brain and have 3 weeks to brush up on things.