Welcome to the News Building...

...(or "Return to Southwark!")...tried to get my head around a better journey into town today (now having absolutely no onward journey to worry about from London Bridge), discovered that my later train is an express train (and thus was full and standing - *groan*)...so that is still a work in progress...anyway, had a nice cup of tea in St Thomas Street waiting for my free breakfast time to arrive - as I was quite early -

- when I got there we were already being asked to gather our things ready for our induction(!), so I grabbed a slightly warm (but very tasty) bacon sandwich (and a glug of water), and then we were on our way to reception...

- and up in the lifts after we had been pass upgraded (there are 6 lifts serving the core of the building, all with no buttons inside, so you choose your destination before you get in and the lifts tell you which letter you want to join - same as the last office, actually) -

- as you can see, there isn't a huge amount of choice at the moment, most of the office is still a building site, after all...

Anyway, up on the 13th floor (which is almost finished) - we have lots and lots of hot desks -

- collaborative spaces -

- (of all sorts of shapes and sizes) -

- and beautiful new kitchens (intermittently topped up with fresh fruit and pastries) -

- and a (somehow rather familiar) lighting decoration above one of the newspaper carousels (thank goodness it isn't right in front of any of the desks, or they might be a bit unpopular with migraine sufferers)...!

All in all - Amazing so far!  Guess I'll post some of the views from the windows later on (when the sun comes out)...but the office itself is very swish and everything smells, well, new! ;)

I'm the Yum Yum criminal!

Never thought I would say such a thing, but I was a little bit naughty, I must admit - I didn't have enough money for a proper lunch, so I ate 4 soft iced Yum Yums in desperation, which has deprived some (obviously equally hungry) team-mates of their afternoon snack...I must pay back this mistake tomorrow (thankfully it's payday)... ;)

Not sure if it's cooler to be the Yum Yum Criminal or the Yum Yum Gangster...still thinking it over... ;)

Ahem - "I am the hip-hop-a-potamus, my lyrics are bottomless... ;0" :)

Watching the Shard being built...

...and then moving there (well into the baby version anyway)! Wow - the Shard was *small* back then!!  Anyway, tomorrow, assuming I can get a train into London from Earlswood early enough for the start of the session at 0745 (just a clue - that's a no - going to have to get a cab into Redhill to catch a different train if I want to make it) -

- I can participate in one of our office's "Shard Event"s (there are so many people involved I think they are going on all week long) but my place is booked for tomorrow morning -

- we assemble for breakfast on the 22nd floor (so same sort of height I used to work at in Canary Wharf) and then get a load of presentations regarding our relocation later in the year (progress/strategy/integration and a background/orientation session from the property group responsible for the London Bridge Quarter structures) -

- and then last but not least a trip up to the viewing platform (hope it's clear weather like today)!

Really looking forward to it, will need to make sure I charge the Canon ready for the morning! ;)

Yay!

Yum yum Chilli Dogs!

Oh and BBQ spatchcocked chilli chicken on the side... ;)

Ooo! Free drink bottle!

...thanks office! ;)

Reynholm Industries...??

Yeah...okay...so I just noticed that I appear to work in the Reynholm Industries building (from the IT Crowd)...bit of a wonder if took me so long to spot that!  I'm sure the guys that work in IT here find that absolutely **hilarious** whenever anyone points it out...I must make sure to pop round there and mention it...

Ho ho ho...! ;)

Just enjoying my totally free lunch...

...from the staff canteen...it's free today *because* - power cut yesterday - of course...! Yeah, not sure I quite get it either...not that I am complaining (nor is it expensive normally either, this sort of gourmet affair would break the bank at about £2.50)... ;) So, today's free lunch is "Spiced beef and bean meatballs served with boiled rice in a tortilla basket with chilli cabbage salad and sour cream"..topped off with a medley of chopped olives and garlic and a banana chilli and tomato relish...might go back for another one later... ;)

East End Power Cut...

...and two of our buildings have been evacuated due to reports of loud banging noises (probably the people stuck in lifts whacking the walls) and a smell of smoke (probably from the diesel generator kicking in for essential kit)...from the sounds of things most of the East End of London is power-free at the moment due to an underground cable being accidentally cut...the current estimated time for fix is half past four according to UK Power networks twitter feed...it's getting rather hot in here now...sure could use some of that free ice cream now... ;)

Volunteering with @GroundworkLON - Clara Grant School

Had a very hard (32 degrees!), but extremely rewarding time yesterday, volunteering to help out clearing a site at the Clara Grant School in Tower Hamlets and helping some of the kids to build Insect Hotels as the first stage of turning an old playground into a wildlife garden...I now have (aches in muscles I didn't know I owned and blisters on top of blisters, but) a big smile on my face from having done something so tangible to help out the local community...enjoy just a few pics that I took during the day (I will definitely be volunteering again!) -

Office Lights update...

Well...isn't this nice?

They have multiplied (and by multiplied I mean more than tripled in number)...I'm starting to get a serious headache now...and I thought it was bad beforehand! People walk sadly and aimlessly round and around the office pleading (to anyone that will listen) for alternative places to sit and have their meetings rather than brave the neon nightmare... >;P

Still, it will be *perfect* at Christmas time... ;)

Urm...really office?

I go away for a few days and *this* happens *right* in front of my desk?

So now I don't work in Little Chef, I seem to now work in a fair ground...or maybe anti-grav Lightsaber storage...or how about 2001 Odyssey...?

I even went and asked the guys who (so far) have taken 6 hours installing the 8 lights if there was going to be a bit of frosted glass or anything put up to moderate the display, the answer - shrugs and apologies... :S

Hurray... :(

Very Important Milk update...

Well, it looks like the 22nd floor isn't full of milk robbers! Although it could be something to do with the fact that the fridge up here (yes, just one fridge, rather than two in our last little kitchen) instead of being filled with a higgledy-piggledy avalanche of half empty milk bottles and hundreds of ready meals/floppy sandwiches, just contains about five half-drunk bottles of wine, several interesting looking pork pies and a packet of Tesco finest nectarines...So I know what the existing residents of this floor drink (the important bit being -not my milk-), I wonder what they eat? ;)

Anyway, for now at least, it seems my hot beverages are safe from plunder... ;)

Office Golf...?

...yep, believe it or not someone just calmly "played through" past my desk with their putter...this is a *very* different floor... :0

Hello 22nd Floor!

Well here we are! Some higher resolution pictures as promised (of *course* it had to be the foggiest day of the year today, didn't it), anyway, this is a quick peek across the Editorial floor towards the "Big Screen" (more on that, perhaps, another day)...

...and a glimpse straight down at the roof of the Canary Wharf DLR station...

...and finally a "portrait" look at Cabot Square (and the whole of London behind)...

...and a "landscape" look...I'll try again on a lovely sunny day, but it gives you an idea anyway...only two bad things so far, the new desks are about a third smaller than our old ones (even the pedestals are about half the size), but thanks to my huge spring clean on Friday I've just about squeezed everything in...second bad thing is that we now have two more stops in the way trying to get in and out of the building (before the express zone), but I guess the way the lifts work around here is really a post in it's own right for another day... ;)

Bye bye 20th Floor...

That's it, all packed up, threw away about 40000000 bits of paper (things like holiday booking sheets dating back to 2008), and now only my PC (pretty much) is left sat on my desk -

- next stop, floor 22 (well, after the weekend anyway)! Things I won't miss? The stupid sun blinding me reflecting off the Bank of America in the morning, my super wobbly chair and the noisy binding machine that sits right behind my head...

Who wants to bet I hit the wrong button in the lift on Monday...? ;)

Going up in the World...

Well, it's come around a bit quicker than I thought, over this weekend my little team is moving up to the Editorial floor (two floors even higher up than I already am)! Just popped up to have a little peep at our new domain (and take a shot out the window), my new view is West, back towards London Bridge, in the distance you can just about pick out the "Shard" and that thing that looks a bit like the Rebel base on Hoth is the roof of the DLR station...although the stickers the IT guys have put on my VDUs ready for the move do make me look like a bit of a retard... ;)

Still, looking forward to the change... :) I'll try and bring in my proper camera next week and get a better pic...

Surrey Street Light Improvements

We had this letter posted through the front door the other day (a little bit out of the blue) letting us know that all of Surrey's streetlights are being replaced with environmentally friendly "smart lamps"...interestingly, not only is our little part of Surrey the first part of the county to get them (the rest being rolled out gradually over the next five years), but it turns out that Surrey is the first part of Great Britain to do this...(the words "Guinea" and "Pig" can't help but plop uncomfortably into the worry-centre of my mind)...meh...

There are (admittedly) a lot of positives - All the lights will be (individually) linked to a central giant "dimmer switch" in Guildford, so rather than each light just switching itself off and on in good time for dusk (based on a mechanical timer), when sunset approaches (which obviously varies day-to-day throughout the year) Guildford control center can just issue the on/off command to the relevant area, then, at the sort of time when everyone is usually in bed (2300hrs) they dim the lights to a soothing level (saving lots of energy) until the first early risers might need to be setting off to work (about 0530hrs)...or, and I speculate here, if Police/Fire Brigade/Ambulance service suddenly need to flood an area with light (e.g. to catch an escaping criminal, or deal with an accident) this can be achieved just as easily. So all good (in theory) thus far, but lets take a look at the (predicted) socio/environmental impact-

• The new lights are spotlights, pointing directly at the floor - so much less ambient light pollution should occur
• Lights can be kept bright in areas of need (underpasses/trouble hotspots) and dimmed elsewhere
• Lower electricity bills mean a collective saving of around £12 million in tax (over the next 25 years)
• We also stop 60,000 tons of carbon flooding the atmosphere (same period), which is actually quite a mind-bogglingly large amount when you stop to think about it

Nothing to complain about there then, but there are actually just a couple of things that do worry me - The lights are *white* and are (and I quote) "much brighter" than the existing (yellow/orange) sodium lights we have all grown up with. We'll have to see how this one pans out, but actually I quite like it being dark at night (for no particular reason other than that it is supposed to be dark at night)...I guess I'm just not sure I want the whole of Surrey to resemble the inside of a football stadium...secondly (and lastly) especially as all this is *extremely* new (and Murphy's law states that there is *always* at least one bug) I'm sure there will be "issues" to iron out...how long until the system at Guildford mucks up and plunges the whole of Redhill into complete blackness at 7pm, or we are awoken at 3am by blazing lights shining through the curtains (making us think we are being abducted by aliens à la Close Encounters)...

I'll keep you posted with developments as they occur, but it looks like we'll be all converted (to the most modern street lighting system in the UK) within the next two weeks...oo-er! ;)

Back to work...

...ah well, it was good while it lasted, bit of a shock when the alarm went off at ten past six this morning - suffice it to say it got snoozed a number of times before I finally gave in and got up, especially as Thomas has taken to waking up at 0830hrs over the break (oddly and pleasantly)...ended up having to go to Redhill as the railway has decided to run some sort of hybrid Saturday service today, meaning almost nothing is going from Earlswood (unless I backtrack all the way to Gatwick, which would feel a bit wrong)...

Fingers and toes are crossed that they let us go a bit early today, but as yet there is no official word on the matter (just muttered rumours), so for now it's business as usual...but wish me a bit of seasonal luck that it isn't too long until I'm on my way back home... ;)

Titanium Spork!

Thank you Flyingpops (albeit slightly belatedly)! After moaning (probably a little too much) in the evenings, as a lovely surprise - I'm now saved from having to struggle eating my chicken lunches with the tiny children's sized, wobbly plastic Tesco sporks (which they have often run out of - but only because people like me grab a handful when they *are* available, I would imagine)...

Now I have a beautiful, super light and super strong stainless titanium camping spork, complete with full spoon and spork sporting a neat bevelled cutting blade on the other end! Woot... ;)