Tuesday and Wednesday I was working again at the factory site in Newark, and it was pointed out that one of the guard positions would no longer be required according to a change made by the client (Lauren's Patisserie - I don't care about name dropping the place because, well I just don't give a stuff). Until last night the position has stayed pretty much, but while I was off yesterday I was contacted by work to inform me that the position would be finished from when I came back to work this morning.
Now I have received my shifts for the week ahead and noticed a site that I know nothing about and, after some investigation (asked a fellow guard), I found out that it is a demolition site where I would have to sit in my car all night as there is no actual cabin to be based from. Since my rota says I have two shifts there, then I will assume that that will be two extra days off on top of the other three days off that I have. Almost like I am being punished for them losing yet another post (the company apparently lost a multi-manned site somewhere the other week as well). I'll be contacting them over the weekend to explain that I will not be sitting in my car for 12 hours wasting my fuel for a lousy minimum wage. Then we'll say what their response is. If I may be so bold, they can screw themselves if they think they're getting me to do that! That was a lighter response than I originally thought.
Thursday and Friday were days off but, after being contacted by my solicitor's on Wednesday, an appointment was made for Friday, and Thursday was spent running here, there and everywhere to gather the information to take there. I met up with Ian, who I had worked with at Chesterfield over a year ago now (crikey, time flies) a little before three on Friday afternoon, and we had a coffee at the Gala cafe off the market place in Mansfield, before making our way for a 3.30 pm appointment (where upon we were seen at about 4pm). Information was handed over and, a long discussion continued with regard to the case that myself and Ian had against our previous employers. When we were told how much the solicitor would charge per day for a tribunal court case, we were taking by surprise somewhat. If I am being honest, I can't completely understand why anyone would be paid that sort of money? As someone who is working for minimum wage, I find it disgusting when people make such ridiculous amounts of money. Me and Ian will be discussing this more because I don't want to come out winning, but then having to pay the solicitor more than we actually make.Me and Louise watched two films on Thursday, which was great. Actually a little bit of time together (we'll have more of that this week that's for sure). The first film we watched was the Kate Hudson film Something Borrowed, which I thought was a decent chick flick romantic comedy type of thing. It also said "To be continued..." at the end as well so, after looking up the book on the internet and finding that it was part of a series, I have come to the conclusion that they must be starting a franchise much like the Bridget Jones stuff.
The second film we watched was The Lincoln Lawyer, which was a fantastic film. It starred Matthew McConaughey, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Well worth seeing. The cast was great, including Ryan Phillipe, William H Macy, and, well you get the picture. I really liked the idea and, unlike a lot of these sort of films, it always kept your interest because in some ways it was a bit like Star Trek and some other programmes like that, where they have an A story, and other stories as well. This film had the A story about Ryan Phillipe, but the lawyer (McConaughey) also had other cases that he was working on as well. The opening credit sequence was almost television like, and the pace carried on throughout. Well worth a look if you want a decent thriller type film.
We've got another two films to watch (Fast & Furious 5, and Water For Elephants), but we'll not be able to get those watched until Monday when I am on nights at that site previously mentioned. Who knows, if they still insist on placing me there without any cabin or facilities, then we may have more time on Monday to watch them before they have to be returned that evening at the latest.
As mentioned in passing earlier, I went to Mansfield on Friday. Because of the fact that a long time was spent in the Solicitor's, there wasn't really the time to look around Mansfield so much. More's the pity really, because I do miss it in some ways. I saw the outside of B&M, but didn't enter. It takes up the space where Tesco was a good few years ago now. I also saw that there was yet another new place where Co-op and then Westgate had been. The inside of the Four Seasons had altered slightly as well, and I was saddened to hear that they may be losing HMV there as well, which is a terrible thing in my opinion. I think that isn't such a good thing for the future of music, film, or media in general. That means that people will only be able to buy what is actually on chart at the time, and won't be able to find anything else unless they go online. The only thing is that I remember back when I was younger going into these record stores and they use to make a set of headphones available for me to listen to stuff, and they had people working in these places who would suggest stuff to you. Now though you can't really do that as such. The recommendation thing on Amazon is stupid to be honest because, in most cases, what it recommends bares very little relevance to what you are interested in. This way, there is no forward motion in the music industry, and we will continue to be stuck with everything staying exactly how it is.I know that people will probably read that and think I'm full of crap, but let me explain in greater detail so that it's understood. When all of these new styles of music came out, such as punk, they were able to grow from almost a word of mouth thing. Because back then the record companies could put out records and see how they fared that way. They would do it by cutting a small amount of copies of something, and then see what happened. If they sold, then the record companies would get the plants where the records were made to make more copies, and then see how that goes. That would then bring about a movement in music.
Now though that won't be possible, because yes they may be able to release material, but there is no way of anyone being able to find out about them except by a complete accident of "ooh, I happened upon this great band...", which is very rare. You could come across a band by accident that had been together for five years or so and got fed up waiting, living on little or no money, and getting sick of each other, and then two years after they split up you discover them and maybe the main songwriter has committed suicide or something, so there is no chance for them anyway.
As things were before though, you could be a frequent customer to a store and a worker could say, "ooh, you like to hear new stuff, check this out". Then bam, it all starts a good few years sooner, before any of that could have happened. Let's face it. Whatever they say is new in today's music isn't any more, and there are no risks taken as such. The big hoohah over Lady Gaga isn't really something to write home about as such. She was already a good selling songwriter for the company anyway, writing songs for the likes of Madonna, etc. She was relatively safe anyway. Even if she hadn't got anywhere as a solo artist the record company would still have not lost out, because she was more than made them money with the songwriting for other artists.
This blog is turning into something completely different to how I thought it would turn out.
Anyway, onto another subject (this is becoming another epic blog isn't it). The other day was the 45th anniversary of Star Trek first being shown on television. Now I don't hide the fact that I am very much a Star Trek fan, and I was so happy to hear that, especially with the fact that it is still going strong. I personally think that the J.J.Abrams vision for it is brilliant. I was a little bit hmm and aah about it being "an alternative timeline type of thing, but after seeing the film I thought "damn, this is awesome".I started watching Star Trek, like many, as a kid. It was repeated in the late 70's, and I really enjoyed it. Times were simpler then and, to be honest, the effects and everything were well cool. You have to remember that television was made cheaply, even back in the 70's. Just look at the classic series' The Six Million Dollar Man (repeats) and The Incredible Hulk. Now of course things are completely different, and of course advantage is taken of incredible budgets, greater technology, and the like. The creator of Star Trek Gene Roddenberry said that if they had the money back then, they would have paid for the make-up work that was on The Next Generation and I am sure that he would have utilised CGI had it been around back then. But anyway, to me as a kid back then it was amazing. There is a certain something to it that can't be explained and, in all honesty, I still enjoy getting lost in something because, to me, I like to be able to take 45 minutes or so out of the real world and get totally immersed into a world that makes me forget my life and the world around me for a little while.
So, with that in mind, thank you Star Trek for giving me that feeling and the enjoyment over all of these years in it's various incarnations. There have been other shows over the years that have grabbed my attention similarly, but that was the original and, controversial here maybe, the best because it was the first.
Thank you for reading, please take care.
10 September 2011 (40 years, 9 months, and 15 days old)
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