These time they are a changing

What to write about today?

I shall write about................................

The Weather

A typically British thing to talk about, but I shall talk about it nonetheless. Being 5'7"ish, 5'8" on a good day, large and covered in what can only be described as fur I do not like the hot weather. I like the sun, no in fact I LOVE the sun I just hate the heat. So waking up today to a super fresh morning but bright blue skies and the sun shining proudly was lovely. Ideally it should be about another 10 degrees cooler and just as bright for me to be in my perfect climate.

My Favourite seasons in order and why:

(these views are based on actual seasonal weather, not some unnaturally hot spring or so on)

1st Place = Winter
I love waking up to fresh weather, clear skies, thick frost, snow. I love that first sniff of winter morning air, so cold it burns your nose. Skies crystal clear, speech punctuated with your breath as it warms the air! Trees and building decorated with frost and icicles glinting with sunlight. Wearing sweaters and scarves. The dance of the slippery asphalt as everyone starts walking like newborn deer learning to find their balance. I like how the black and white of bare trees is accentuated by the bright blue sky. The nights are darker but the moon ever present shines so brightly like a night light, a constant reminder that its brother, the sun, will be back in the morning.

2nd Place = Spring:- 

Much the same as above however the colours this time year are amazing. new growth, bursts of colour as new life springs into the flowers and hedgerows, how the grass is greener and breaks up the black and white of the late frosts. The sounds of the animals as they wake up and return to their everyday business, getting ready for next winter, a slog that seemingly never ends.

3rd Place = Autumn:- 

Another season of colour. Before the trees lose their leaves, the gold and brown hues they adopt, the winds, the rain, the sense that this is the season of cleansing, washing itself of the dryness and dustiness of Summer. The smell and sound of heavy rain pounding the already weakened leaves, wetting the dry ground. Walking home on the increasingly darker evenings, sitting with family as the winds blows a hooey outside. Eating stew and drying off in front of the fire, readying ourselves for winter.

4th Place = Summer:- 

Although last Summer is not actually that bad. The increasingly longer warmer, brighter days, sitting outside awash a wide array of summer colours, cooking food on the barbecue, sitting in the garden with friends till late at night as the sky turns a purple blue, the sun refusing to go down until the very last moment. Giving everyone a couple hours of not so complete darkness, rising again with vigour.

That is all,

Nufan

HEY! Whatsa Matter You!

I am so proud of my kid sister, Rusty. I am 29 this year and Rusty is 27, not much difference in age, but quite different people.

She is totally awesome. I won't go in to the details of her job, but I can tell you I am incredibly proud of what she does and how she does it and certainly respect and admire when others don't.

I had a barbecue at home last Sunday, my little bear was running around the garden, I was cooking the food on the braai and every now and then Nix would take over cooking duties as I would get dragged away by the little bear shouting "Daddy ook, ook" I trusted that she wanted to show me something amazing, but no. I was tickled to the floor and beaten up by my 26 month old daughter. She then proceeded to run away, turn on a sixpence and come haring back and dive on me, knocking the wind right out of me. It reminded me of when my brother, sister and I fought my father in the kiddies dining room at home. My sister nonchalantly pulled out a chair, climbed up it and went to jump on my father from a great height. To screams of NOOOO!!!! she dismounted and joined in tickling him.

My sister went to Dave Keefes, James Stones and other friends house and asked me to pick her up late one night. She was over an hour late and so very very drunk. I threw her in the back of the car and heard some random drunk rambling coming from behind the drivers seat. 

Rusty: "I reeble ink olling free nick"
Me: "Huh!?"
Rusty: "I reeble ink olling free nick"
Me: "What!?"
Rusty: "I reeble ink olling free nick"
Me: "WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY!?"
Rusty: "I think I am going to be sick" 
Me: (angrily) " F**K SAKE, Can you hold it?!
Rusty: ".................yes"
*Silence*
Rusty: "...................I've been sick..................sorry"

I wiped up as much as I could and gave her some of my clothes to wear for the remainder of the journey, looking back it was really quite funny. I just cannot wait for her to start driving so I can return the favour.

I also remember working in Canterbury super early on morning and listening to the radio. I heard Stephen Gately of Boyzone fame had died. I stopped everything I was doing and called my parents and asked them to call Rusty and make sure she was ok and to look after her. I could not do it. I hate hearing my little sister cry. She is the strong one of the family.

My fathers uncle passed away and we all went to the funeral. Sitting on the pews somewhere near the back. The vicar invited everyone to the Spread Eagle pub to which my sister and I had to stifle a laugh and go back to looking all sad. 

My little sister is by far the emotionally strongest person I know, she is smart, kind and caring albeit we do sometimes fight like cat and dog. She is one of the only people I can actually trust and know what I say will be kept secret. 

Nufan

Hmmmmm......Feel worthless much?

Well now.

This is a story, all about how, my life got twist turned upside down.................

Some time ago I got approached, head-hunted if you will, by a company, not just any company, a GLOBAL consultancy company. For me mentally this was amazing, for my professional progression it could have been life changing. Here is what happened...........

I work for a building contractor in the UK. I started on site about 5 years ago as a broom sweeper, nothing flash. I hear about an office job coming up so thinking about the future and being the kind of person who wants to be the best they can be and constantly better than the next, I decided to go for it. 

I got the job and started work in the office as a Trainee Estimator/Surveyor. Time went by and I got better, more independent, yet still a Trainee and wanting a whole lot more. My job entailed phoning people, photocopying documents, filling out full Bills of Quantities, copying drawings, inputting data, donkey work. 

I was asked if I would like to Survey a small contract, of course I said yes, this was my chance to prove to everyone the desire and ability I had that was not being utilised. I snapped the opportunity up. I ran the whole contract through tender stage onto pre commencement, contract vetting, buying, surveying, contract and project management, final account settlement and even the snagging, which there was none; a few minor defects, but an overall success. 

Following this I was asked to carry on assisting in the estimating department but also assist in the surveying of three separate projects all of the same brief. The senior surveyor assigned to the contract change several times leaving me in charge for the most part. Eventually things settled down and again I was left on the sidelines. The contracts had a fair few hiccups and I, the Trainee Estimator/Surveyor, resolved them; I was calm when others were not, I was methodical when others were not, I was polite when others were not, but most importantly because of my attention to detail, methodical working and belief I was right when others were not. On handover, I was thanked,  the clients and their professionals remarked on how professional I was, how it was good to have worked with me and an asset I am to the company. During a conversation after practical completion someone referred to me as the Contracts Manager only to be told by others that I am only a Trainee Estimator/Surveyor. The silence held for what seemed like a long time broken by a "well you should be nothing less than a senior Contracts Manager and I am very impressed". Needless to say, I was a very happy man and hoped people would listen to this.........they did not.

I was approached around a year after completion by one of the professionals within the consultancy company. I met them with for a coffee, a proposal of a job offer was made, it was nothing firm but a provisional offer nonetheless. We chatted, I handed over my resume and waited to hear something. Something came, a firm intention from the company that they wanted ME to work for them. I could not believe it, it all seemed too good to be true. It was. I was asked what my salary expectations were. I worked out a figure and put it forward, I got a reply and was told that the figure was not what they were looking to pay. I lowered my pay expectation, but could not accept the offer that was made. If I had accepted I would have had to have driven from my place and across the county each morning working out at a negative figure. I tried to make the numbers work, but taking everything into consideration it just wouldn't. 

I emailed them again recently to discuss the situation and received a positive response, but still waiting for my dream job to appear if it ever will.

So I sit here, still copying documents, inputting data and everything else but I now have to cold call people and trawl the internet all the while an external labour agency has been brought in to do the same. What am I doing wrong?! 

In five years I have lost, my confidence, my desire, my goals. I am exactly where I was when I started only now know there is nothing to aim for in the company. I hate this, I live my life in 5 year goals. I was the kind of person who never wanted to settle for second best, who never had a 'that will do' attitude, who always wanted to be better themselves. 

Sorry this blog is a woe with me state of affairs and all about me. I just need to get it out as it is eating me inside. I'm not depressed, I am just downbeat about how someone like myself a optimistic goal driven person is now not even a 'has been', I seem to be a 'never was'

Nufan

I am not "No Use For a Name"

Dear everyone,


I just want to clarify that my Blog "The Blog of NUFAN" is in no way related to the band called No Use For a Name other than they are one of my all-time favourite bands! My sincerest apologies if you are looking at this Blog because of the name and are expecting to see something related to the band. This is not the case.


Origins of 'NUFAN Productions'  :-  I started college in September 2000 studying a Media Production course. Part of this course was to create a fictional production company under which my college show reel would be produced. I decided that I would call my company NUFAN Productions. Only after this did my older brother introduce to me No Use For a Name; I was hooked. Everything made under the banner of Nufan Productions made no profit as it was only college work. My nickname for everything is Nufan. At college and even within my sports teams I got called Nufan by my friends. I don't know why but I use nicknames for pretty much everyone. I call my kid sister 'Rusty', that is not her name. I call my papa, Bruv that is not his name. I call my mother, Muv that is not her name. I call my uncle 'Cuz' that is not his name and I call my brother 'Leeroy' that is not his name. I call my neighbour 'Bolts' that is not her name. See a pattern here?!


It is with a sad heart that I talk about the news of Tony Sly of No Use For a Name. Tony passed away at only 41 years old. He was amazing, his voice carried the immense songs he wrote. I remember my brother giving me NUFAN's album out of the Fat Wreck Chords 'Live In a Dive' series to listen to. What an album, what a sound, and what is more, it was LIVE!! They sounded so so good! The melodies, the guitar, the drums and the bass sounds complementing the vocals were just so good. Pure unadulterated So-Cal punk. That was it for me, hooked. To hear that Tony has passed away is horrible for music, so many leave us so young. My thoughts are with his family at such a sad time. Peace out and sleep well Tony!


Thanks to my brother I was introduced to some amazing music. My brother to me was THE punk rocker. I recall him spiking his 13" mohican hairdo with soap and toothpaste, coming home, falling asleep wherever he fell and waking up with his mohawk perfectly rigid albeit at a ninety degree angle to his head. He wet the bottom and put it back in its erect position. He wore safety pins in his ears, which he pierced himself whilst drunk. He worse a bicycle chain around his neck, padlocked, he wore tall Doc M's and skinny cut off jeans. I remember my brother like this for such a long time. I listened to his music through walls. Was introduced to The Sex Pistols, Rancid, Ramones, Dexys Midnight Runners :), Blink 182, Stiff Little Finger, Black Flag, Buzzcocks, Descendants, The Exploited, New York Dolls, Sham 69, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Social Distortion Suicidal Tendencies, Lagwagon, NOFX, The Offspring and so on and so on and so on.....


I never dressed like my brother, I wore shorts, longsleeved t-shirts under t-shirts, polo shirts, Adios, DC's. Although I could never really skateboard I was able to ollie and cause a nuisance around Maidstone, Kent. I was more of an inline skater, hockey player. I had short hair. Went to the gym. and sang in the church choir on Sundays. I love music. I listen to absolutely everything. However I have recently been listening exclusively to classical music. My dream is to have a study in my house where I can listen to classical music, smoke cigars, drink my whiskey but at the same time play my guitars, my Xbox and just chillax. Because of my exclusive playlist, Classic FM thank you. I decided to listen to some music off of my iMac. I set up shuffle, pressed play and some Tsunami Bomb came on, followed by Jimmy Eat World then Glassjaw then Alkaline Trio and it just kept going and going, a whole hour of music I had not listened to in months. It made my day.

Reading this back it reads like my brother has passed away. He hasn't he lives in New Zealand with his beautiful family and has done for the last 10 years. I just miss him, a lot. He was a bank manager, but now a head of telecommunications still with a mohwak albeit much much shorter and not dyed green, red, pink and orange; it is now just the old Smith-Family ash blonde. 


I say punk is not dead, it is just working for a telecommunications company in New Zealand!  Love you brother!


NUFAN

Flash! Ah Ha!

Welcome back one and all.


I have not been on here for a couple of days. I have been......................WORKING *shock horror*! I need a holiday.


So what to say?!


I built a gate at the weekend. I only have to build two more gates and concrete the car parking hard standing for my motor vehicle. But will put off doing that until we either .. 


a.) Buy the house 
b.) Get given a leave of stay and the landlord changes his mind and allows us to stay forever
or 
see.) Something happens.


As I write this i am staring at a bottle of water that I filled up from the water cooler last Friday. Do I drink it, do I not? I would rather not get legionnaires disease from drinking stagnant water. Hmm I am rather thirsty though. Here goes..................................................slurp, hiccup gulp.......................................


TADA! I am fine, so far anywho. Only time will tell.

Right, back to it. What has happened that noone would actually want to know about? Let me see. Last night, (07/31/2012), I was stroking my cat who was standing on top of the fence. I say stroking, I had my hand up on the fence attempting to stroke him and all the evil spawn of satan cat did was some kind of pole dance around my wrist. I was not impressed, especially when I looked up and caught him rubbing the what looked like the end of a sausage roll on my hand and purring. Not happy. I am certainly a dog person. The funniest thing is. He tried to turn around on the fence, then fell off and those who know me, no! I did not push him.

The cat also jumped up on to the window ledge and overshot his jump and face planted himself into the window.


I love beach volleyball and yes, the reason is EXACTLY why you think it is!


On a recent rip to my local Asda (Walmart for my US & Canada audience! Like I actually have a following?!hahaha) I was asked to look for some Cadbury chocolate covered pretzels. I must clarify, I did not walk in to the store, get stopped and then get asked to buy them from a random stranger and given a time limit a'la Crystal Maze. I was asked by my higher power to see if I could find them. To my surprise they were sold out and I know why!!!!. Not a happy bunny!!!


"Say, would you like a chocolate covered pretzel? They're a little melty but damn are they exquisite" HAHAHAHA


I have hurt my hamstring. How, I don't know.

Oh, by the way, I like turtles!