warming up cold callers

i received a call t'other day from one of those numbers which looked like it might not be real. As i was just chilling at home I thought I would answer it.
as usual, i didn't say anything, but waited to see if a robot started talking. (I'm sure i've posted about the robots winning before but cannot find said post). a man then started talking, very unsure of himself due to my silence. 1-0 to me.
It was clearly a cold call. i then remembered the wise words of my friend who had one of these 'people' calling him where he just started asking them as many questions as possible about their life trying to get them to quit their job and doing something useful with their lives. That's a bit morbid for me so i decided to see if i could get the guy to hang up on me.
i just ignored everything he asked and started asking him questions. where did they get my number, what company gave it to them, do they have any other info other than a phone number, why won't he answer my questions, where is he based, why does he keep asking questions before i'm finished asking my questions, what's his name, how long has he been at work today, do any conversations last this long etc
after about 9 minutes i got so bored i asked him "i'm really bored now, aren't you?" to which he laughed out loud. happy with my days work, i said "so you're a human after all, capable of emotion. I don't really care what you have to say any more, and i'm sure vice versa is true, so we shall go our separate ways and i hope to never speak to you again".

i hung up. 1-1

introversion

lots of people describe introversion in different ways. a common one is 'giving energy to others' while being an extrovert is 'taking energy from others'. That description never made sense to me. what is this 'energy'??

A couple of weeks ago I read Quiet by Susan Cain and she defined it in a way i had never before heard. When you're sensitive/reactive to your environment, you notice more and have to process a lot more information. This is what introverts brains do. This finally makes sense to me.
This is why it's so tiring to be surrounded by other people. After reading this, I notice how much I notice. In a club, or at work, the constant noise from many sources, the many visual distractions, all add up and are tiring to deal with. As are new scenarios where my brain has to process loads of new information.

This is neither good nor bad. It is what it is. And what it is, is that I understand how i work, and I can make sure I get the best out of myself. It also makes me realise what I want in a lady. And why for the most part i am attracted to the crazies - in my (very limited) experience, women who are more sensitive to life *tend* to be more spiritual and unscientific. And I like people who are sensitive, kind thoughtful etc. Just not living on another planet thank you please. And I know they exist, I've met a couple of perfect ones. It is just a shame I am so imperfect.

I remember as a kid being constantly told that I was too sensitive. As usual, people confuse sensitivity, kindness, folding etc with weakness. Weakness is to be avoided imo, not the other traits.
While I may be sensitive, i'm not an idiot. Well, I am semi retarded, and a slow thinker, but i try to not be an idiot. And so if I think someone has taken the piss, I'll cut them off without a second thought. I have no time for dickheads and psychos.

toilets

channelling my inner Larry David I seem to have recently become more intimate with toilets. As described in my last post I got a new job. In my previous job, I would cycle to work and change in the disabled toilet as it was the only room large enough to be able to do so.
And how did I obtain a new job? Well, I left work early one day to go to an interview, carrying in my bad a suit. But not early enough to get changed in the spacious disabled toilet, instead running for a train. I got on the train only to find the toilet was bang out of order. There was a second toilet on the train, the size of a toy train, with a broken cupboard exposing the electrics, and urine all over the floor. I even started trying to get changed before giving up to avoid soaking my soaks in someone else's piss.

I arrived at Waterloo station looking for the station toilets. They charge 30p which I would have happily paid if I could be sure there were showers to change in. And if I had any change on my which I don't. They should really accept bank cards and/or oyster.

So I took the tube to my interview, exiting the station with a good 10 minutes to spare. And dressed super unsmartly. I found a local coffee shop and asked if I could use their toilet as i had a job interview. I think the lady took pity on my, even though I didn't really look like a homeless man, and let me use their excellent one room facility. And then I got the job.

I was told it was a one hour interview, which of course lasted two hours, preventing me from having the telephone job interview which I had set up for afterwards. Luckily they cancelled it about 20 minutes before it was due to start and never called back.

kyril bonfiglioli

i haven't even checked that the spelling is correct. I am almost sure it is.

As you can probably tell by his name Kyril (Russian, obv) Bonfiglioli (Italian, obv) was English (obvs). I have only read one of his books. I finished it in less time than it took for the Earth to spin once on it's axis. And that includes time i had to spend doing all the work I was choosing to do. The book, "don't point that thing at me" was a marvellous blend between The Hitchhikers Guide and James Bond. So good, I bought the trilogy. I can't believe no one told me about him, and no one I've spoken to has heard of him.

Another reason for happiness is leaving a stupid job and starting a much better paid, new, and hopefully less stupid, short term job. closer to home and more money = hashtag success.

8 weeks gone

the things people will do for money. not living on the street is good and that's for the most part why i still work a stupid job. 16 hour days of work are hard. that's still better than the alternative, and hopefully one day soon i'll be able to do a useful 16 hours. at the moment 13 are taken up by bullshit work for some average company (including commuting time). The worst part is the enforced 1 hour lunch break. why can't i just not stand outside in teh cold for an hour, and instead leave at 5pm?? with 3 hours as the maximum i get to do on any given weekday this is stunting time to be spent doing useful things. and even 3 hours has been tough to find recently...

i was supposed to leave but agreed to stay on a bit longer due to not having my own software take off yet. and the lack of finding another job.
the only part i like is the cycle to and from work. when driving every day in london you start to hate other drivers. their idiocy and lack of attention is frightening. when you cycle, you start to really hate drivers, for the same reasons, except now they are playing with your life.
my favourite cycling incident of the last month was where a road is currently closed, so i cycle on the pavement for about 6 metres. i can't be bothered to walk the bike as i'm already tired at that point and the streets are almost always empty at the time i'm there. on this day there were three people! i cycled at about walking pace because i don't want to scare any pedestrians, and only get off if there are kids or dogs around. today had three adults so figured they would be able to cope. the man on the right saw me and moved across to give me space. the lady on the left meanwhile, made a beeline towards me and shouted in my face "PLEASE DONT CYCLE ON THE PAVEMENT".
i replied "ok", and continued to cycle the remaining 2 metres where i rejoined the road. i know what i did was illegal. I think what i did involved maximising common sense. I also think what she did was annoying and idiotic. cycling at 3 mph is not dangerous or inconsiderate. walking over to someone and shouting in their face however...

i haven't been on here pretty much since i found a lady. ladies can be very time intensive. sadly, i think she is not the one for me and i will tell her in 3 weeks time. i don't want to quit too early in case i am wrong.
i never believed in soulmates until i met mine. i don't think i'll ever find another. but i guess i should at least try. i did meet one cool lady recently. although the drug fuelled hipster filled east london after party was not my scene, she was super cool and hot. alas she smoked which is really not good. maybe she'll at least help me move on with my life.

in less exciting news, i think i'll be talking all of july off work. i just need to find a better job to take me to july's end.