Still working here...

[luckykaa]

I asked when they wanted me to finish.  They'll decide on Friday.  then they'll give me a week's notice if they don't want me any longer than that.  So, looks like I'm working next week at least. 

They might want to extend the contract.  If they do then I am still taking the first week in February off.  I am in a position to make this sort of demand now. 

Will have to consider staying in London over the week if they do want to extend further.  The 4 hours a day on a train is too tiring.  Anyone know anyone less than 45 minutes from London (including walking distance) who has a spare room for short term rent?

Also: Based on a conversation I had yesterday, it seems unlikely that I might ever work in the games industry again.  an agent called me up.  I mentioned my daily rate (which is actually pretty low for a C++ contractor), and he made a whistling noise.  OTOH, looking at job ads, there seems to be space for those with games experience in financial software, starting at £300 a day.  Which sounds potentially promising.

Comments

[hawkida.livejournal.com]

I'm 12 minutes walk from Abbey Wood station. Trains go to London Bridge in about 25 minutes. They go to Charing Cross in 35-40 minutes. I have spare rooms. It's zone 4. I did mention this before when you went for another London based job but you didn't follow up on it so I assumed you weren't interested.

[luckykaa.livejournal.com]

Yes you did. And no I wasn't interested because I was skint and this was meant to be short term, so I felt I could handle the daily commute for 2 months.

Will probably take you up on this if I do work in London again.

[penguin-worship.livejournal.com]

ljuser: steerpikelet is still looking for someone to take over her old room (its sharing with amongst others, George's b/f who you may have met?) I know she wants someone permanent, but hasn't got anyone, so might consider a short term let, to buy time for someone perm to turn up?

Mile End, E3

Good-sized double room available in a quiet, geek-friendly houseshare in Mile End/Bow, £460/month plus bills.
heres the details:

"The house is clean, bright and extremely close to the underground, bus stops and local amenities - a minute's walk from Mile End, which is in zone 2, 15 minutes from central london. The room has a large desk and built-in wardrobes on 2 out of 4 walls for plenty of storage space. Housemates are friendly young professionals and postgraduate students, clean and tidy but not too fussy; the internet is important to us. It's a great house, and I'm only moving out because I want to move in with my partner.

I'm looking to fill the room ASAP, but moving dates can be negotiated to suit the right person between next week and the end of February. Please contact me at laurie.penny@gmail.com, or pm me [lj=steerpikelet] for more details!"

[ingaborg.livejournal.com]

Yep, you've just named one of the reasons I'm not expecting to work in the games industry again - the pay. Add in the hours, the cancelled projects, and the annoying boy mentality of many colleagues, and you have a very unattractive picture!

Where I am working now is just as male-dominated as a games company, but the atmosphere is completely different.

[luckykaa.livejournal.com]

Well, I did rather enjoy that boy-culture in my 20's.

Kuju wasn't so bad in that respect... Having one or two women there and making less macho games probably affected things a little.

[glamwhorebunni.livejournal.com]

Hehe, I was about to say Laurie as well...

[luckykaa.livejournal.com]

No, contract hasn't been extended.

If I get another London based contract and the offer's still available then I'd like to take you up on the offer.

[ingaborg.livejournal.com]

< grin > I'm sure you were lovely.

There's boy culture and there's boy culture...for example, a friend of mine was expected to put up with a colleague playing anime gang rape scenes behind her desk every lunchtime. And I've certainly found the atmosphere can be hostile to women. Or as in one case, hostile if you expect to be treated as an equal and not as one of the secretaries - and also if you object to any degree of rampant sexism in a game (for example all but one of the children in Theme Park World were boys, and the only girl was made the butt of all jokes in the FMV - oh great, I really feel like playing this game now), they treat you like a mad feminist and ignore you completely.

Oops! Rant over. Suffice it to say, I don't mind there being a certain masculinity to a work environment, so long as it is good-natured and doesn't attack me and my gender.

[hawkida.livejournal.com]

No worries - room most likely to still be available if you need it. Good luck finding the right sort of work wherever it is!

[luckykaa.livejournal.com]

Still not quite sure how long this new contract will last (Probably 3 weeks though), so may be interested in your spare room if it's still available. If you're still interested, how much would you want?