ThunderDragon Blog

This morning I killed my keyboard by spilling a cup of tea over it whilst reading through my RSS reader. Very annoying it was too. And the third one I have killed in a similar manner - though the previous two were killed by beer rather than tea!

The most annoying thing about it all is that the new keyboard feels weird and I am constantly making typos!

More [and hopefully more interesting] blogging coming soon!

I am a temp, and it seems that the EU plans to put my job at risk by insisting that temps get the same working rights as permanent staff after just six weeks. This would put the jobs of 250,000 people in positions such as mine at risk.

I currently temp at a large, well-known company which will remain unnamed on this blog. I have been there for more than two months now, and recently moved to a new role within the company - with a pay rise. This job was the first ‘real’ job I have had. Before I got it, I had been unemployed [though not claiming benefits] for nearly a month, and getting quite depressed over my apparent inability to get a job. But then I signed up to a new agency [some are seriously crap], had an interview the next day, and then started work the following Monday.

But if this new EU law had gone through, I doubt that I - or many of the other new graduates who temp - would be in their current jobs, earning money and gaining skills. It is impossible to suggest that companies would take these sorts of risks and hire completely inexperienced people such as I was and most new graduates are if this law went through. It’s not like I’m anti me getting paid more, but I can’t see how this will really help anyone. Instead of hiring temps, companies would just expect their permanent staff to do more. And everyone would suffer.

Of course, temping is not all great. You have a lack of permanence, and your job is not always secure, and you usually lack some of the benefits. But you have a far greater freedom of work. You can move as you like, with far fewer strings attached, and on a whim. Some prefer temping, some don’t.

But this EU plan will just cost temps their jobs, and cost new graduates the chance to gain experience.

UPDATE: It’s been delayed - but for how long?

Sources: The Times, ePolitix

… running around Wembley Stadium, the scene of England’s defeat two days ago.

So there’ll most likely be no blogging today.

Is it now “official” that first-borns are smarter?

To a certain extent that is true. But considering that IQ tests actually reveal little more than the ability to take IQ tests, and that three points is a really minimal amount, I think that it can be put down primarily to issues with the IQ test itself. And the way in which each individual’s brain is wired to deal with the problems. My older brother is far more mathematical and scientific than me, but lacks any real creativity or imagination, almost a diametric switch to me. We have different interests and specialities. I wouldn’t say he’s more intelligent than me, but his brain works in a different way.

But being the second of three boys, this is the bit that interested me most:

This is something which I have very much noticed all through my life. But is it really being “shortchanged”? Maybe in purely financial or resource-specific ways, but in the long term as a human being, I disagree - it has made me be far more able to deal with a greater range of situations than my brothers. I don’t have to lead like my older brother does but I can, and I don’t have the greed and feel the need to differentiate myself from others like my younger brother. I can adapt to fit the situation. I can lead and follow, teach and be taught. This bit, however, it utter bollocks:

When it comes to birth order, it really makes very little difference in the long run. They give different advantages and disadvantages. The gap in the IQ test is minimal and within the accuracy of IQ tests. The social differences allow people to fit into different niches. Birth order itself doesn’t give benefits without disadvantages, or vice versa.

Source: TIME

Well, I will be from tomorrow, since I start my new job! My first “real” job. So the quantity, but hopefully not quality, of my blogging is likely to decrease as I will not be able to blog for at least eight hours of the day!

I have been tagged by Norfolk Blogger to do this latest meme on political influences. It must be in retaliation for me tagging him with the first political memory meme I started! [I'm going to follow the meme round and post a summary of the replies soon - if you haven't done it and are reading this, consider yourself tagged!]

This is a hard one to do. Political influences are wide and varied, and many have an impact, but only in certain areas. A lot of my political ideology is developed from lots of bits and pieces, mixed together and developed in my own unique way. So, in no particular order:

John Stuart Mill - democratic, liberal thinker.

Benjamin Disraeli - former Prime Minister, creator of the modern Conservative Party

Enoch Powell - I wrote my undergraduate dissertation on him

Ann Widdecombe - feisty, common-sense politician

Edmund Burke - a philosophical founder of conservatism

For this one, I will tag: Bel, Ruthie, Monkey with a blue rosette, Ian Appleby, and Fabian Tassano.

Whilst writing a post [to be published later] I wondered what my first political memory was. Thinking back, I can remember something about Margaret Thatcher - but considering I was 5 when she was deposed, I think it’s more likely that that is a memory I have inserted rather than actually remember.

The first thing I can clearly remember is when John Major resigned in 1995 and stood in the subsequent leadership election [annoyingly I can't find a video of this]. This was when I first became interested in politics, though my interest soon died away after the end of the leadership contest as I soon found something else more interesting, being just ten years old at the time. The next solid political memory I have is of the 1997 general election and Tony Blair walking to 10 Downing Street with that annoying song “Things Can Only Get Better” blaring out in the background.

Since this is could actually be interesting to read what other blogger’s first political memory is, I think I’ll make it into a meme. So I’m going to tag Graachi, Matt Wardman, Garbo, Shane Greer, Arleen Ouzounian, Norfolk Blogger, Ordovicius, DuSanne, and anyone else who wants to, to blog about their first political memory.

No, I didn’t actually step on them. I just bent them to make them sit right and they broke. Which is very, very annoying. The picture above is of the temporary repair job attempted by my brother - with a few cocktail sticks and some tape. For a while I was either wearing them or my prescription sunglasses. But I found my spare pair, which I had presumed lost - unfortunately they’re the spare pair for a reason.

Since it has been not far off two years since my last eye test, then instead of just paying to get a new frame, I’m going to have a test as well. Hopefully I won’t be one of the millions being prescribed the wrong glasses…

And, just because it’s great song and gave me the post title:

I am now no longer a student. I had to quit writing my Masters dissertation because I was severely stressed, behind, and not enjoying it. Which is a great pity. I have moved away from University and am now back living with my parents, and looking for work.

It is a strange feeling no longer being able to refer to myself as a student. For four years I have lived at uni, and it became where I referred to as “home”. But not for any longer. Now I am an ex-student, and join the burgeoning ranks of those searching for work. No longer being a student is going to require a shift in thinking.

I didn’t want to move back in with my parents, back lacking a job and in the crippling financial situation created by being a postgraduate student for the last year - since it lacks any Student Loan support - has financially destroyed me and left me with no choice.

Applying to jobs has been pretty soul-destroying so far. Every application is almost absurdly long, and asks inane questions such as “tell us about a time when you have done customer services” and the like. Completely and utterly inane. However, there is no choice.

Image: Ian Parker