The Missing Link

EDIT: A year ago today was my most viewed and most favourited entry on Blip - my '500' Blipspotting masterpiece. :P

I'm a bit of a cufflink fan. I've got a wee box with about 8 or 9 pairs - one of these went missing in the wash (due to an occasional misrememberance to remove them from the cuffs which they adorn) but thankfully showed up on a link-hunt by Mel. And these are my blinged-up faves from the kings of kitsch, Butler & Wilson. I've got a couple of pairs of nice vintage 30s links as well, and on a wander at lunchtime today paused at an 'antiques and curios' window displaying many more that tempted my fancy.

All very poncey I think you'll agree. And while I was poncing I bumped into Monochrome also indulging in a bit of a ponce. We ponced together for a while, before Monochrome ponced south-easterly while my poncing took me north-westerly (until this post my statistics inform me that I mention 'ponce' 100% less than other blippers - hah, take that statistics!).

Work continues to settle, in that today I actually had proper work to do, and have already had a piece of work responded to not only in the positive, but so positive that it's been handed to me entirely to take up with another division in the company... Still not seen any of the three blippers I know also work there, but in an building of something like 2000 people it's not too much of a surprise.

But that brings me to the point I was thinking of yesterday when I said I would expand on my experiences thus far. My team is quite small, and that's great, and really was one of the reasons I had for looking forward to the job. With good reason, because so much of it is faceless - getting in the lift to whisk me to the 7th floor (I've since stopped taking the lift, though not because of this occurrence, more because circumstances are conspiring against me taking the bike at the moment (a long and boring tale of waits for a permanent pass meaning a daily obtaining of a temporary pass) and a five floor (our ground floor is our second floor...) staircase amble might go some way to halting the damage being wrought by not cycling every day).

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, in the lift. I got in the other day and was resting against the back of the tin box when another chap got in. I smiled as he walked in (I'm a friendly chap like that). He pressed '4' without even a glance, and turned his back to me and stared at the doors for the entire ascension. I'll likely never see the guy again, never know what he does, where he sits, let alone know his name. And after working in an organisation with a maximum of 30 people, everyone of whom you knew to stop and chat to (and I often would - I'm a friendly chap like that), it's a bit of a culture shock.

But that is countered by realising my own wee team is more sociable than the last place ever was - an away day at the end of next month is a very work-orientated thing, but includes dinner out at the end; and before that there will be a night out at the Dominion in a separate private wee screen, showing a movie of our choice with nibbles and champers, with again dinner afterwards. Stark contrasts....

Now, the fun thing for today? A video of our Taiko drumming performance is now online! I'm the fairly obviously too large chap for the front row. Put there because I knew the piece well, but I don't half stick out like a sore thumb... But meeting a few of the 'team' last night, and seeing this video that one of them has got online, has made me even more keen to do it all again.

EDIT: Hahahahaha! I now mention 'ponce' 1684% more than other blippers...