The Secret Weapon of the English

Hi Everyone,

I must appologise for the last blog post. it was written when I had a cold and was grumpy and tired. I just whipped out something because we hadn't written anything for two weeks. ...and yes, I know, it's been almost two weeks again, but we've been very busy. I hope this one makes up for it. Unfortunately we don't have any photos to show, but I'm sure our literary prowess will more than make up for it.

Things of interest recently:

I've started a new Job. It.... how shall I put it.... it has potential..... at the moment I'm going batty reading documentation. my first task is also to document a system that's been in place for 6 months. now for you non-computer programmers out there, this is our pet peeve. to be hired as a programmer and then told to document existing systems is like hiring a gardener to wash your windows. sure, they can do it but it's certainly not what they like doing or where their primary skill lies. I was hired because of my ability to solve problems and design solutions, not for my ability to write about how everything works.... anyway, I'm bearing with it for a while because there's a definate light at the end of the tunnel. I'm assured that within two weeks I'll be up to my neck in problems to solve and solutions to design and develop. :D I've already been scheduled in for two training courses which will be extremely valuable for my career.

[warning - slightly technical section ahead, feel free to skip ahead if for you, database theory induces narcolepsy]

When I first got to London, a lot of the Jobs that appeared in my search results required experience with data warehouses and or ETL tools. a lot of these jobs were also paying very lucrative salaries.

Up until now, I have had no hands on experience with data warehouses. although I'm aware of the theory and the concepts involved in building them, I can't really put "experienced in data warehouse applications" on my CV.

Also up until now I have had no experience with ETL (Extract/Transform/Load) tools as such. now, without getting sidetracked too much, I find this really annoying. all these tools essentially do is provide a graphical interface that enables a database developer to create regularly scheduled events that extract data from a source (a database or file) , mash it about and spit it out into another destination database or file. This is basically the core of what I've been doing for the last however many years except I've been coding it all by hand, and yet they require experience with the tools. this is similar to advertising a job for someone to drive an automatic car and refusing to hire someone who's only ever driven a manual.

now I guess I'm slightly exaggerating a bit, the ETL tools, when used properly, do save time and require less technical skill to use, thus directing the brain power to developing a good design, rather than spending it all on cutting code. anyway, I'm rambling....

The two main reasons that I took my current job are these: 1. they were willing to hire me even without data warehouse or ETL tool experience. and 2. they are giving me formal training in two ETL tools and use about 3 different data warehouses.

[End technical section]

We've bought a 3-seater futon! this means we actually can sit and watch TV without squishing eachother! I have unofficially dubbed the room that it's in "Futopia" but debbie hasn't yet warmed to the idea.

Saturday we went out to the Covent garden markets and had lunch at a very nice french resturant on the second floor above the markets. It was a really great view.

On the sunday we slept in and eventually got out of the house a bit before midday. we tried out a resturant that we hadn't been to before near Bond street. I had my first taste of the Secret Weapon of the British: Hot English Mustard.

... so I ordered a steak and chips. when the waitress came out she asked if I'd like some mustard or some sauce on my steak. having only tasted american, french and grainy mustards, I said "ooo, mustard would be nice, thank you". and out comes this benign looking yellow stuff in a small white bowl. I layered it on.... I like mustard.....

So... it's..... different...... it's not like intense pepermint, pepermint clears the nose..... it's not like chillies - they make your nose run and burn your throat... it's not like wasabi.... that makes your eyes water and causes you gasp for air..... it's like.... imagine the brain freeze that you get when you gulp ice.... now imagine that it's chilli flavoured wasabi ice with an intense nose-clearing pepermint topping that whacks your funny bone for good measure, and you'll get an idea of what it was like.... I'm certain that it's somehow derived from surplus WWII chemical weapons.

It could be that bad, or perhaps I just put too much on.... but it hurt my brain and literally made my eyes water....

anyway - so I thought I'd sample some different beer to usual to wash it down. I've been hesitant to try different beers as they usually have weird european names and I don't really know if I'll like them. I thought I'd branch out this time, and so I tried half a pint of Hoegaarden (german I assume). It may have been that the mustard had destroyed the flavor-recognising centre of my brain, but it tasted like rotting fruit. I only drank it when the mustard-induced burning sensation in my head became too much.

Anyway so in-between mouthfulls of pain and the occasional bit of compost liquid, Debbie and I remanissed over the past few months and started compiling a list of Loves and hates about London/UK.

but this post is getting long, Debbie hasn't decided on her top 10 yet, it's getting late in the evening and I have to go to work tomorrow.

so I'll leave it there and we'll get back to you this weekend with some more :D

Love you all!