She stole my karma oh no

By 'she' I of course mean Mother Nature. Wasn't it obvious?
By that entire statement I in fact mean that I have an awful, awful cold. Again. This must be something like my fifth this year. One of these days, immune system, one of these days...

The upshot of this is that I spent all of today at work outside. Wait, that's not an upshot, it's a, wait let me think...oh yes, a terrible stupid idea, and I really should have requested a move indoors. Nevertheless, it's given me something to blog about.

I spent the majority of today shouting, or at least wheezing, "gum ob da grazz plead" at various tourists, a strategy which was never going to work. I ended up waving at said tourists' families and helplessly making up sign language designed to tell them that the "Please stay off the grass" signs did not in fact say "Please come and take a closer look at this tree". At this point I remembered that I was wearing a cape due to Breezes and they could not actually see my hands. My final technique was to unravel my hands from the cape and flap at people. This seemed to work, although I suspect it was merely that by that time they had taken photographs of everything this side of Maidenhead and wanted to find an ER embossed drain-cover of which to take a snap-shot(I have witnessed this happening. We may as well begin a Drain Photography competition so many people do it).

My apologies if this seems like a whole post of me venting, but this cold has taken all of the minorly irritating events of today and catalysed them into an infuriating blob of anger.

Having now warned you, there was an absurd amount of activity happening in the Mews today, some of which apparently required a huge lorry to drive to and fro between somewhere and somewhere else. As my job title today may as well have been Glorified Car Park Attendent I had to move the heavy, metal (not Heavy Metal) posts - normally used for stringing up ropes so we can treat the tourists like sheep and herd them towards the interesting parts of the castle, otherwise you know they would start taking pictures of the staff car park - around at least 3 times today so the impatient lorry driver could fit through.
Thankfully I have the next 2 days off to recover, and on Friday I go back to the security machines, a job which requires you to sit down for half of your day. It's not a bad job, all things considered.
Also today I got to meet one of the many cats which head up to the Castle for some attention, which was nice and calmed me down somewhat.

To end this post I must recount to you an incident which happened on Sunday. I held the post I shall refer to as Gatekeeper, because it sounds much cooler than the actual title. This was before the Cold and it wasn't raining, so I was quite happy, and the following event served to make Sunday an even better day than today.
I was standing, doing my job, when I was approached by woman wearing an extravagant looking dress, which makes sense now that I know how this story ends, and two men. One of the men started the conversation, his opening line going something like "We from Brazil. No speak good English", an opener you know is going to lead to an amusing anecdote. He tried in vain to explain his request to me, but the only words of English I could make out, and apparently the only ones he knew, were "music", "no professional", "photograph", "video" and "parking". Well, what was I supposed to make of that? So I did my best to look concerned yet confused. His solution, a rather ingenius solution I must say, was to ring "my friend" who turned out in fact to be the pastor of his church, a man who spoke much better English than the man in front of me, albeit with a strong accent.
As it turned out, the woman was something of a professional singer/dancer in Brazil, and they were wondering if they would be allowed to film part of a music video inside the Castle grounds. Blow me down, I'd met a foreign celebrity! Of course, I don't have the superiority (yet. Mwahahaha) to give that sort of permission, so I said to the 'friend' down the phone "Tell him I'm getting a manager" and thrust the phone back at the man.
I managed to track down C who didn't have that kind of permission either, but at least knew that they would need to go through the same kind of bureaucracy as if they'd wanted to film a wedding video here, and given how little English they all knew it was hardly worth it, so just tell them no, which I did. Appeased but a little disappointed, they left.
Not ten minutes later I began to hear music and singing come from round the corner of the Gate. Having mostly consigned my Brazilian encounter to the "Remember later for amusement" file I assumed some yobbo had parked up with his window open. I was more than a little surprised, then, when I rounded the corner and saw that the small group had propped up a large video camera, previously hidden in a bag beneath some very glittery shoes and what may have been a frock, on a wall and were filming the music video right there in the street. The lady singer was actually in the road, singing and dancing. About half way through their recital the bells of the church next to them started tolling loudly and they had to pack up. I chuckled quietly and went back to work.
This whole event either serves to warn me against Brazilians, singers, or both. I'll try to track her down on Google and will let you know if I find her.

Blogged to the sound of: A Brief History of Love, The Big Pinks.

Things That Have Happened, or How The Dog Got His Wings

Dogs don't have wings. That's the joke.

There are some Things That Have Happened that I won't tell you about because they happened a while ago now and besides, you should just go over to Vicki's blog, helpfully linked here for you, because she was there for all the bits I was and some extra bits too. I am mostly talking, of course, about Momentum 2009 and Sarah's Bowling Party. Look them both up, Vicki writes more better than what I do so it'll be a fun experience.

A Spooky Thing happened this week, but was also a Pretty Cool Thing if you think about it. I was waiting for the train (at the train station) so I could go to work and earn money, when I thought about a friend of mine who shall remain nameless here, although it would be more accurate to say their face flashed in my brain. I then had the thought that I ought to text them. I should note here that, to my shame, this is not a person I regularly contact and this wasn't a guilty "Sorry it's been so long!" text, it was a real feeling that I ought to text them. So I did, although it wasn't until I had reached work and was slogging up the hill to the changing rooms that I received the reply. When I did, my mind kind of froze with 80% shock and surprise, 20% embarassment. Here is the relavent part of the reply (spelling improved for my discerning audience):

"Things aren't great right now. Don't know if you saw in the news about three Brits killed in a car crash in New Zealand? That was some very close friends of my family and mine. So not having the best time of it, but we're getting there."

Here is the relavent story on the BBC News website.
Now, some of you are probably sitting there going "Awful, awful. But Tom! It was coincidence!" Some of you might be going "Awful, awful. It must have been the Earth spirit, Gaia!" But I know there a number of you out there who probably feel as I do, that God prompted me into finding out about my friend's situation and He wanted me to know about it. After finding out I searched for the story in newspapers and waited for it to appear on the TV news, but I didn't find it. I don't exactly make a point of checking any news websites, so there was no way for me to find out about this incident except from someone who was involved in some way. So the one person I know who was connected just happens to be the person whose faces flashes into my mind less than a week after the event occured, and without me knowing about the event at all? I'm not buying it, this has God written all over it.
I'm praying for my friend and their family, and the families of those 3 who died, that they would be comforted and be able to grieve adequately. I'd encourage you to do the same.

And Al Gordon's album Future Sound started playing while I was typing this :) That probably was coincidence, but it's still cool.

In other news, I'm pretty much good to go regarding a permanent contract at Windsor Castle. It's kind of my fall-back option, but it's not like it doesn't have its benefits - over winter I'll only have to work about 5-6 hours a day, and if I make it up to Christmas without moving to a job somewhere else I get to receive a pressie from the Queen. Well, technically from her personal maid or whatever the job title is, but I'll get to shake Liz and Phil's hands which is 40% super exciting, 60% trouser-wettingly nerve-wracking.
Many people are abandoning the Castle and returning to uni, but many people are all done with uni and have started at the Castle, so it all balances out.

My next blog will probably be when I realise I've properly left education. I'll get to mid-October annd think "Hang on a second...I should be learning something about now." I'll have to start buying Dorling Kindersley.

Blogged to the sound of: Fur and Gold, Bat for Lashes; Future Sound, Al Gordon; Greatest Hits, Guns 'n' Roses.
What? It took a while to type up.

We Apologise For The Delay

Sorry this is so late guys. I'll try to make blogging more of a priority from now on.

Wow, many things have happened since I last came here. Probably the most important is my graduation, so I'll start with that.

My actual ceremony was the last in the day so I had plenty of time to get ready before we set off. Nevertheless, because this is me there was any amount of running around at the last minute making sure I had all the paperwork (most of which it would transpire I wouldn't need anyway). I also wanted to get to Southampton early enough to wish History people luck before their ceremony, but as it turned out I only had enough time to grab my wizard's cloak and silly hat (Academic Dress) before the History ceremony began, which I watched on a screen in the Family Tent or whatever it was called. I had to wait until afterwards to chat with Vicki and my other History buddies.
There were a number of Archaeology people floating about who I had some quick chats with, but mostly they were all about as irrationally nervous as I was - I say irrationally because we could hardly fail a ceremony, could we? All we had to do was shake hands with a man in a different silly hat to us and collect a certificate, and I have no problem with being in front of a crowd. Yet despite this there was a quivering in my stomach which lasted until I had done my part and sat down again.
For the moment I am very glad that I won't have to do another graduation ceremony, but in the years to come I think I'm fairly likely to attempt a Masters and so will have to go through the whole rigamarole again. I'll be prepared next time though.

Now that university life is over what else is there left for me to accomplish? Off the top of my head I would say Learn To Drive and Get A Car come as a pair, as do Find A Partner and Have A Family, although I'm quite willing to put those last two off until I've accomplished everything else, them being something achievable mostly only through luck, except in the cases of websites like eHarmony, and I'm far too proud to ever use one of them. No, partners and families will take care of themselves, I am sure. Other than those two pairs there is also Find A Job, although as I have now done that perhaps it should be upgraded to Find A Career, of which I have a vague idea in mind but only minimal opportunities to fulfill it. There is also Move Out Of My Parent's House which will happen some time after I Find A Career, I expect.

Speaking of Jobs and Careers, this is what is going on so far. I'm currently working as a warden at Windsor Castle, just like last year. It's a pretty good job for someone just out of uni, the hardest part being a little rushed trying to find audio guides for 103 Chinese students (we actually had c.300 Chinese school children come into the Castle within minutes of each other the other week. I felt so sorry for whoever was in Group Hall that day), while the easiest is standing around chatting to tourists about the Castle and occasionally nipping downstairs for a sandwich or a flapjack. Considering how little I normally spend I am fulling expecting to have paid off my overdraft by the end of the summer and have a nice little hoard in the bank to buy winter clothes, or possibly train far to my next job. After all, I am only at Windsor for the summer, unless of course all my other plans go pear-shaped and I have to stay there.
My Other Plans, at the moment, consist of applying for as many appealing jobs as possible. It may seem quite silly but I really don't want to get stuck in some office as someone's PA or end up back in a shop. I know many people go for these options because their chosen field wasn't very receptive to newcomers at that point, but who then get stuck in a job they hate for years and years. I don't want to become one of those people so I'm fully relying on Windsor to keep me on if none of my other plans come to fruition. Appealing Jobs so far consist of an Assistant Archaeologist job back in Hants, Winchester to be precise, and whatever Family History contacts Colin's dad can provide me with. Working at the National Archives seems like the sort of thing I would really enjoy but given they are currently in the process of trimming down staff members there's unlikely to be a vacancy there for quite a while, so I'm looking for the next best option. I do enjoy researching my family tree, although until I have the time and money to launch into the old, old records before the Censuses I'd be happy to research someone else's tree. For money, of course ;D

I will tell you briefly about my evening at the Science Museum on Weds 29th, as this post has gone on quite long enough.
I arrived at the Museum after a great day with Sarah in which we played Upwords (I won by a single point), walked Archie round Richmond Park and generally caught up about everything. She's so much better now she's out of the hospital, it's really good to see.
I was supposed to be meeting a number of other 'young' wardens from Windsor, but as I had come via a different route to them (i.e. not through a Gourmet Burger Bar) I was both alone and hungry. I decided that the hunger was the first thing to sort out, and so once inside I bought a not too expensive Thai Green Curry from the café and proceeded to eat it with relish, noticing about half way through the rest of my group walk past the café without noticing me. After finishing my meal I scoured the Museum for them, eventually bumping into them on, I think, the first floor. Following that much fun was had, namely up in Launchpad where the toys are and in the Silent Disco, which wasn't really all that silent - headphones were provided and there were only two available stations to tune them to, so everyone was able to sing along with at least half of the rest of the dancers.
Once the evening was over Ollie made a concerted but ultimately doomed attempt to get the rest of the group to go to a pub. Personally I was indifferent, but as the plan fell apart around Ollie's ears I decided to go home and get some sleep.

I think I'm now totally caught up on events since my last post. I promise I won't let stuff back up like that again. For now I am going to head into Staines for Millets (part of looking forward to Momentum), HMV (part of looking forward to new music) and Argos (part of getting Vicki off my back about the new catalogue :P).

The next main blogable event is going to be Momentum, but if anything else happens I'll be sure to report it. I may even do a review of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince if you're lucky.
See you all soon, my lovelies.

Blogging to the sound of: Lust Lust Lust, The Raveonettes.

Welcome to my new pad

I wouldn't say it's roomy, but it's certainly comfy.

Things that have happened recently:

- I completed a three year Archaeology degree at Southampton University. It has gone both too fast and very, very slowly.
- I finished updating my CV literally two minutes ago and trust me, it needed it.
- I completed Guitar Hero III Career on Easy.
- I started reading Deathly Hallows again.
- I cut my hair back in Easter. I'm currently weighing up the con of it now being long enough to make my forehead sweat versus the pro of me liking having enough hair to tousle and play with. All opinions must be written on the back of a Jaffa Cake box (which is full of Jaffa Cakes).

Things I'm doing right now:

- Waiting to start work at Windsor Castle as a Warden for a second summer. It's going to be good!
- I'm going to apply for two library jobs once this is posted. One's in Ewell, one's in Islington. Apparently libraries close to home are afraid of the internet.
- Wondering how I can get more involved in my home church. It should probably start with actually getting baptised. I've put it off for far too long anyway.
- Getting quite excited about the boat party I'm going on tomorrow. I think I'll get a pool going on how many people I hear doing pirate impressions during the evening.
Ah who am I kidding? I'm gonna be one of them.

Sorry for the list layout, I can't be bothered to do anything more elaborate at the moment.

I'm blogging to the sound of - The Police: The Police (2007)