There was me worried about embarrassing myself...

We have a couple of vacancies on the programming team at work, all the applicants have been given a PHP test to do, and some of the scores had been a bit weak, so the bosses wondered if the test was too hard, so they gave it to all the existing staff to see how we'd do. I was too busy to do it last week but said I'd have a go this week, but was really hoping they'd forget because I didn't want to risk showing myself up against our student placement guy who got 16/20, which was the highest... Today my time came, and luckily I got 19/20, so I'm pleased, and I avoided looking bad...

...until the way home. My neighbour who works at our place has a company car, and as she was going off on a work jolly overnight she gave me the car, and I'll give it back to her at work tomorrow. It's a new BMW, and I'm not used to such high faluting ways, it's quite high tech, doesn't even have an ignition key or anything. You think I crashed it or scraped it or something don't you? Worse than that, I couldn't figure out how to get into reverse, so had to phone her for instructions. This will be all around work tomorrow, I'm wishing I'd just left it in the car park overnight and said nothing.

Back to the test, I was helped out a bit by recognising the trick question in it from things people had said last week, but anyway, GO ME, I am the best. I would have got 20/20 but I dropped half a mark just by forgetting to complete a question before handing it in, and half a mark for not writing a full enough answer... they're lucky I wrote anything at all, I have nearly forgotten how, my hand was cramping up and all sorts, I don't use a pen for anything more than signing my name any more, and I hardly even do that since Clare bought me a rubber stamp and ink pad. My signature for birthday cards now (at least one a day at work) is now a stamped red skull and cross bones.

I was tempted to go on a road trip overnight, maybe a booze run to France or something, but after the palaver with getting started I've just left the car in a parking space that's easy to get out of and called it a day.

2007 :: Comment / reply

History in my day

Another bright and breezy morning, just cool enough to stop me walking down town in just a t-shirt, but warm enough not to stop me walking down town at all. I headed the usual route past the courts and the DSS (all the nice scenic points), to what I’m starting to think is my favourite residential part of town, Millfield / Victoria Grove / Copthal Gardens. There’s nothing special about these roads (apologies if you live there), but they do seem to have enormous potential – the houses are huge, lots of them are tired and sad looking, and not all of it's yet been gentrified. Actually as I’ve been thinking more while writing, the further down the road you head, the nicer it gets, Copthal Gardens does seem quite fab. They’re all [em]just[/em] on the not-town side of town, in a ghetto of Folkestone that's separated from all the action by the smash and grab of the "new road"¹. Past all the houses and the first point of interest is the nursery school that looks like a pub... Yes, it was a pub, it was The Bouverie Arms opened in 1855, was run by the wife’s grandparents in the 1960's, and finally closed in 1977. See, dates and everything, now we’re getting on to the history...

Next I’m down onto Grace Hill, look down the road to the left, there’s legendary Folkestone venue Toft's on your left and the Foord viaduct in the distance. This was completed in 1844 and means there was no need for a big ramp to jump trains over Folkestone to the harbour. This section of track is mostly closed now I think, though the Orient Express does come somewhere down this way once a week, so who knows…

I’ve turned back into town now, passing by Wetherspoons (see my restraint), a converted Baptist church, though I notice it now has a real name all of it’s own; The Samuel Peto. Samuel Morton Peto was a Victorian entrepreneur, who built clubs, theatres, railways, and Nelson's Column of all things, not sure of any connection to Folkestone though…

On into the centre of town, after a book, Ottakers can’t help me, though Waterstones has it... This is very impressive, the becolumned town hall built 1860, from this date on the clock tower, it has a real Back to the Future feel to it. The building also housed a police station, with six jail cells, which I understand are used by Waterstones as some kind of national data store.

Three more stops on the way home, a cup of coffee in Cooks, which I'd not previously have bothered with, but they’ve recently put some effort in. It was a regular bakery type shop until recently I'm sure, but since the threat of a Costa moving to town, they've seriously upped their game. It now has a huge lounge area, decorated in modern coffee shop style, with free internet access and bonus terrace style garden. Really very nice indeed, the original customers seem a bit out of place there now. Then two stops of historical note. One is St Eanswthe's church yard, which I mentioned yesterday. There’s been something religious or other on this site since 630, that's far too early in the morning for me. I was not afeared of nutters today, as I saw a friend there, we call him Terry. Finally, out the other side of the church and past this house where Charles Dickens once lived. As everyone points out, Dickens lived in a lot of houses; most towns have seem to have some blue plaque or other relating to him. This one is (now) called "Copperfield’s", and we do get a mention in that book

Peggotty's answer soon arrived, and was, as usual, full of affectionate devotion. She enclosed the half guinea (I was afraid she must have had a world of trouble to get it out of Mr. Barkis's box), and told me that Miss Betsey lived near Dover, but whether at Dover itself, at Hythe, Sandgate, or Folkestone, she could not say.

2006 :: Comment / reply

I nearly shivered

I nearly shivered just as I got to work, a brace of fire engines raced down Farringdon Road, all sirens blazing. It was too hot for a real shiver, but obviously thoughts all day are with the events of last year... Just looking back to what I wrote on the day

Carnage on the underground

Well hopefully no actual bloodshed, but there's been chaos on the way in this morning...

English Heritage is asking for permission to allow up to 10,000 fans to attend the gigs over the two nights. But residents fear they will bring chaos to the normally quiet neighbourhood.
Dr Peter Barr-Taylor, president of the Portchester Society, lives on Castle Street – the only access road to the site. The retired GP, 83, said: 'The village is up in arms about it. When 5,000 youngsters who are slightly the worse for drink have got to get out of there through a narrow street, it's going to be chaos.

2006 :: Comment / reply