February 2005

February 2005 seems to have passed in the blink of an eye, so fast in fact that I really don't remember where it went.  I've been searching for a job all month.  There is the remote possibility that I may be put forward for a job in Redditch at the moment but that has been the only light in the very dark tunnel for a long time, you never know but I'm not betting the farm on getting it.  I will have a new job this time next month however, but more than likely it will be at Legal and General whom I am filling in all kinds of forms for and moving desks and being treated more like a temp for than I was when I had just started.  Ah well, it's a job, it'll keep me going until something comes along whenever that may be.

I can't remember if my job interview was in February or earlier.  It was for a Network Administrator / Perl developer.  The former is my kind of job, the latter, well lets just say it isn't.  They rejected me, but I would have rejected them should they have called me in for a second interview.  Shame as the Network Administrator job was just what I was after.

On a happier front Valentines Day was a good one, we celebrated the day on the weekend rather than the Monday which was the official day.  We swapped cards and I took us out for a Chinese.  Kat bought me a selection of Dilbert books which I am working my way through and enjoying immensely.  My main present for Kat however was a day trip to Paris which we took on the last Saturday of the month.

Kats cousin gave birth prematurely on 17th February after suffering eclampsia (I presume that is how you spell that) and being half an hour away from death.  I can report that both mother and baby are doing well at the moment.  Little Ryan is gaining weight from his two pounds thirteen birth weight.  More about his progress next month.

Got home from the centre of Birmingham in twenty minutes one day as some scaffolding fell off the Beetham Tower which is currently under construction.  The centre of Birmingham ground to a halt as a large number of roads were closed for safety reasons, but I managed to get on a bus and get out on an empty road.

There has been plenty of snow towards the end of February into March.  It hasn't stayed settled but has managed to look quite nice in the few moments before it melted.  Thankfully it hasn't caused me any problems getting anywhere.

And then there was Paris.  We took a Friday off and travelled to my parents and had a nice Chinese before getting to bed relatively early in preparation for the early start on Saturday.  We got to Waterloo and checked in for the Eurostar.  The taxman had given me some money and I spent it taking us first class to Paris for the day.  The food on the train was gorgeous and I enjoyed the trip through the channel tunnel, but we were an hour late into Paris cutting our time there somewhat.  We headed straight to the Hard Rock Cafe via the Metro which we managed to navigate expertly.  Our next stop was the Eiffel Tower which we went all the way up.  There are some great views to be seen at the top of the Tower, I would love to see the view on a clear day rather than a cold, snowy February day, but we had fun none the less.  We then headed over to the Arc Du Triomphe but just looked rather than scaled.  We walked down the Champs Elysees to the most French of places, McDonalds and then headed back to the Gare Du Nord where the biggest vending machine I have ever seen resides.  We got back to my parents late, but not too late.  We rested on Sunday and went to the pub quiz in the evening before heading back home on Monday morning.  It was a lovely weekend.

I completed Rollercoaster Tycoon Added Attractions pack during the month and have started Loopy Landscapes now which is proving to be more of a challenge and less fun.  However this last week I have been distracted by the Airport and Sim City games.

March is shaping up to be an interesting month.