creamed-coconut.org

• Right, that's another weekend over. #
• Sitting on the bus, I heard a girl say "what number is this?" Pity she didn't check before getting on! #
• Here's a riddle: If it is zero degrees C today and it will be twice as cold tomorrow, what will the temperature be tomorrow? #
• Currently trying out the Flock browser. Then I'd better start revising for my horrible maths test (it's part of 1 of my job applications). #
• I just realised it's only 3 weeks 2 days until I finish work for the Christmas holidays! And 1 month until Christmas Day! #
• RT @Kayla: HOW-TO: Create a short URL service on your own domain name: http://selans.com/short #
• Yesterday was such a nice day I went for a walk at lunchtime near the river. It was quite mild and sunny for a late November day. #
• Then in the evening I had a meal at Old Orleans with the social club. #
• Apparently, if I could only eat one type of food for the rest of my life, it would be beef. That's according to Friends Exposed, anyway! :-O #
• @BillyGottaJob Thanks for the Follow Friday mention. in reply to BillyGottaJob #
• Hopefullly this will be a nice relaxed weekend. At least I won't have to get up at the crack of dawn to go to the hairdressers tomorrow! #
• I've got several jobs to apply for tonight. #
• I was thinking of upgrading to Windows 7 on my existing PC, but it would be an absolute nightmare as I'm currently on XP and not Vista. #
• …so I think I'll wait until it's time for me to buy a new PC. #
• We are now going to the cinema to see 2012. I am looking forward to it. #
• I hate travelling past offices where I've failed an interview. It makes me think: "There's another company that doesn't want me!" #
• I thought the film 2012 was really good. It was far-fetched in parts, but at least it had plenty of action. #

• We should be going to the Townhouse for a carvery later this afternoon, once Mum finishes her work there. #
• You can read my tweetbook at http://tweetbook.in/v/22573754 . #
• I had a lovely meal at the Townhouse, even though we had to wait 25 minutes for the turkey to be cooked. Nice ice cream for dessert too! #
• Worried because I have another interview tomorrow morning and I'll only have 4 hours to prepare. Wish I could go on garden leave. #
• I hate it when I get some weirdo sit next to me on the bus. Thankfully it rarely happens, but this man was almost trying to chat me up! #
• …That's the reason why I refused to travel alone (ie without a friend or relative) on public transport until I was 16! #
• Every year, we have this stupid TV series about Z-list celebrities being sent to the jungle. It wouldn't bother me if they were left there! #
• That's another application form sent off! I'm still hoping I'll be offered the job for which I attended the interview on Friday! #
• That's another interview done and dusted. It sounds like a nice company to work for. Now going home for lunch then back to work. #
• They have a big emphasis on training which is good. I think it went well even though I felt tired and a bit tense. #
• Everyone is saying this is not a nice morning, but it has a sense of beauty: the contrast of the golden leaves against the silver sky. #
• Hopefully sometime today I will get a phone call offering me a brand new job. #
• Today's turning out to be a horrid day. I missed the bus as it came early, was supposed to have a meeting but the co-worker didn't turn up. #
• …but worst of all I got a voice mail saying I didn't get the job for which I interviewed on Friday. #
• To add to the doom and gloom, it is rumoured that the company I work for has no money for staff Christmas parties this year. #
• So, I called the recruitment consultant to get feedback on my interview. The interviewers thought I was too nervous in the interview… #
• …that's the only reason. The interviewers said my technical skills are very strong and I would be able to do the job, but that I might… #
• …not be able to cope as it's a very "cut and thrust" environment. That's the weirdest feedback I've ever had from a job interview. o_O #
• @davidtreynolds I know, it sounds ridiculous. I felt fairly confident at that interview and they seemed very enthusiastic about me. in reply to davidtreynolds #
• …so it seems weird that they have suddenly changed their tune like that. #
• For my interview tomorrow, I have to deliver a 10-15 min presentation about the Flickr API. The Flickr API is so detailed I don't see… #
• …how I can possibly cover it in 15 minutes! I'm struggling to decide what to include and what to leave out. #
• I've been sitting here, almost feeling like I'm going to have a panic attack because I'm so nervous and stressed. I'll continue tomorrow. #
• At least I've got the Christmas lights switch-on to look forward to tomorrow, even though fireworks have been cancelled due to high winds. #
• So here I am again, preparing for my interview this afternoon. This is my only interview for now. I'll be so glad when it's all over. #
• It's so annoying that TweetStats only updates once every 24 hours! #
• @antonvowl I'm of the opinion that the decade started in 2000 and will end this year. It seems to have gone fairly quickly though! in reply to antonvowl #
• I've been working on my interview and presentation prep for over 2 hours now. I'm going to take a break and chill out for a few minutes. #
• I'm so relieved all my interviews are over, for the time being. My Flickr API presentation went well after all and so did the Java test. #
• However, I got a voicemail from agency for Tuesday's interview, saying I hadn't got that job. Feedback said I interviewed well, but they… #
• …were looking for someone with a bit more general insurance experience than me. So overall, I don't think that feedback is too bad. #
• We are now going out for a meal at Frankie and Benny's and to watch the Christmas lights switch-on. #
• RT @leepowell: RT @craigbutcher: An Early Look At IE9 for Developers – http://bit.ly/xUyIX #
• Colored my twitter profile with themeleon by @COLOURlovers http://colourlovers.com/themeleon/twitter Isn't it lovely? #
• RT @bcs: Email will be 'dead in ten years': 20/11/2009 http://bit.ly/3HH95d #
• I've just had my hair cut. Now I have the rest of Saturday to do whatever I want. #
• I hate it when people try to put words into my mouth by saying things like: "We all feel…" Well no, actually I don't! #

As I haven’t updated this blog for over a month and it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to write a proper update for several days as yet, I thought it was about time that I provided an explanation and put up a “on hiatus” message.

Why the long break? Basically, most of my free time is currently being taken up looking for a new job, as my current contract comes to an end next April and I’d like to find a permanent job as soon as possible because I don’t like too much uncertainty.

During the day, I am working in my current job as normal, and in the evening I spend most of my time filling in application forms, writing cover letters, researching potential employers, preparing for interviews and revising for tests. This means that during the week I have very little free time. I started looking for a new job 3 weeks ago today. So far I’ve had one interview (I should hear the result this week) and I have two more interviews this week. Preparing for these is my main priority at the moment.

I hope that this hiatus won’t last too long and my blog will be back to normal again soon. In the meantime, I am still updating my Twitter statuses so you can still find out what I’m up to. The next time I update this blog, I will hopefully have been offered a job!

• Life is exciting at the moment. So exciting that I hardly have time to blog any more! #
• On Saturday night I had a really good time at the fireworks display. Last night I went on a local ghost walk which was fun. #
• Today is my niece Emily's 11th birthday so we are going for a meal at Pedro's. Plus my meeting with the recruiter went well yesterday. #
• Today has been one of my best days for ages! I've got 2 job interviews set up, one on Friday and one next Tuesday! : D #
• I also had a really good time at Pedro's restaurant, celebrating my niece Emily's birthday. I had a nice chicken pimiento meal. #
• I'm so excited and buzzed about everything that's going on that I hardly slept last night! #
• I'm waiting for my Indian takeaway to be delivered and I'm getting hungry! #
• So, I had my 1st interview today since I started looking for jobs 2 weeks ago. This is the job I want most of all, so I hope I'll get it. #
• It would be a varied job doing reporting, application support, database admin and software testing. I'm fairly confident about how I did. #
• I've also got 2 other interviews in the pipeline for next week. One is a Systems Developer job and the other is Software Implementation. #
• @BillyNoJob Thanks! I'll let my Twitter followers know what happens as soon as I find out! in reply to BillyNoJob #
• So far, only 4 members of the social club have said they're coming to the Chinese meal I'm organising tomorrow. Is everyone on a diet?! #
• My mind must be getting really frazzled! I just invited one of my friends to a Christmas party on the 12th of September! o_O #
• …I only realised my mistake when she said "It's gone!" #
• In the last couple of hours, a bad mood has come over me. I think I'm going to go to bed soon, even though it's the weekend. #
• I'm looking forward to my meal at the Lucky Star tonight. I should have 6 people coming now. #
• That's one more application form done, now onto the next one. #
• I've just realised that I forgot to record the X Factor before I came out. I hope it will be repeated. #
• RT @calvinharris: Was just thrown out of x factor for jumping onstage during Jedward with a pineapple on my head. #
• My meal at the Lucky Star went well after all. I'm full up now. There were 6 people so only 1 didn't turn up. #

• Today has been really hectic as I attended a 2 hour Oracle training session this morning. Lots to do this evening too. #
• My new modem arrived this morning, but I can't use it as it has no USB port. So I'll have to buy an Ethernet cable instead. #
• I've just bought an ethernet cable, so all being well I should be able to install my new super-fast cable modem tonight! #
• This evening I set up my new cable modem. It seems much faster than my old one ever was! #
• This is what a false economy looks like: http://bit.ly/2ox6bM I hope @NorfolkCC will listen to people's concerns about this. #
• Education cuts -> Lower skills base -> An even higher unemployment rate! Our leaders are fiddling [their expenses] while Rome burns! #
• RT @smashingmag: October 2009 browser stats: Firefox finally passes IE6 – http://bit.ly/1KkR75 <- Hooray! #
• Another busy day for me. I've got a meeting with a recruitment consultant tomorrow, so I've been filling in their application form. #
• I've just got to quickly update a website before I can go to sleep! #
• I'm already feeling a bit nervous about tomorrow! Oh well, at least it will soon be the weekend so I'll have time to chill out afterwards. #
• The recruitment consultant has postponed my appointment until Monday. At least that gives me extra time to prepare. #
• I'm looking forward to the Earlham Park fireworks display tonight. Let's hope the weather will stay dry. #

• I've applied for 11 jobs this evening! #
• I've already had 2 responses from my job applications, so I'm pleased about that. So far, this week is turning out better than last week. #
• I'm now trying to work out how to set up MMS on my phone. I can never receive picture messages even though I can use WAP. #
• I've now had 4 responses from agencies for the 11 jobs I applied for on Monday evening, so I'm pleased about that. #
• 3 of them have passed my CV to the employers so now I just have to wait to see if I will get any interviews. #
• RT @antonvowl: Ever been stuck looking for a job? Then read on… http://billynojob.wordpress.com/ #
• I'm thinking of entering a cookery competition at work. Mum said not to bother, as I probably wouldn't win anyway. #
• …I'm not really bothered about winning though, I'm doing it mainly for fun. Plus if you don't enter, you can't win! #
• I'll be going out for a meal at Malaysian Delights with the rest of the family tonight. I've been looking forward to it all morning! #
• I'm terrible at remembering people's birthdays! #
• @virginmedia I'm on the 10mb plan, but over the last 2 days my internet has slowed down to average 200kbps. I think the modem may be faulty. #
• @virginmedia Just called tech support. It's still slow, but they said they'd send me a new modem. I just hope it's not via Royal Mail! in reply to virginmedia #