~Ordinary world~

[flyboy_fox]

My new job is basically a sales role. I have to get used to that. However, I take some comfort in the fact that it's not a home cold-calling thing where I'd be interrupting families during their dinner time to try to coerce them into signing up for things they neither need nor can afford. Basically my job will be business-to-business sales. I find that much more ethically sound, as that is how businesses get new contracts after all. I would be calling up businesses on behalf of large companies such as Cisco, T-Mobile, BT etc and attempting to generate a lead - getting a decision-maker or manager to agree to a visit or follow-up sales call to discuss the blue-chip technology that the company could offer them. I can tell it could get monotonous and even frustrating - the goal is, after all, just one 'lead' per day or five per week. So success is a relative thing, really, and a result of solid perseverance. We're expected to make an average of 100 - 150 calls per day, so if one 'lead' in a day is hitting target... yeah. It's gonna be what my mum calls 'a hard slog', but I think it will be worth it. £15,000 base p/a with incentives on top (bringing up to a max of £18,000) is not to be sneezed at. Ironically I'm actually having one of my sneezing fits right now XD;; Wah...

Miles managed to wrangle quite an interesting and personal confession out of Scourge last night to do with Scourge's past. However I'm not gonna repeat it here for fear of consequences XD Suffice to say that Jei and I were kinda 'wtffff Scourge O_o;' and Miles kinda just... didn't really bat an eyelid but thought it was kind of hot x.o Eww. I don't even-- yeah, wtf Scourge.

Aaanyway, no luck still on the chess front. Seriously, why does NOWHERE have them? I've tried every department store and supermarket in town plus bookshops and online catalogues. Nowhere has a freaking ordinary plain chess set. Only PC versions, electronic handheld ones or 'special edition' ones. For real, one online outlet has a Super Mario special edition set but not a regular one, wtf?! No one on Freecycle seems to have one either. I guess maybe eBay is my next best shot. I might be able to find something interesting and nice there. I do miss my dad's old chess set that was lost during the move. It was a really big glass and marble board with ivory pieces. It was probably worth a small fortune as well as being such a beautiful and elegant conversation piece. I'll settle for a nice wooden set, but I really did love the smoothness and colours of that marble and glass set.

Comments

[carriepika.livejournal.com]

Do you mean something like this?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wooden-Games-Set-Folding-Chess/dp/B000UOEQ10/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys&qid=1284733527&sr=8-1

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

Gah, I hadn't thought about trying Amazon! I'm actually looking for something a bit bigger (me plus small fiddly things = disaster. I'm kinda dyspraxic and so liable to send pieces flying or lose/drop them if they're travel-sized/small ^^;), but there are some others on Amazon that are bigger and might be affordable so I'll keep looking there. Thanks! ♥

[carriepika.livejournal.com]

I wasn't sure what size you wanted but I always check Amazon just cause sometimes they surprise you! XD

Hopefully they'll have something you're after. I mean... they even had one of those huge garden sets where the pieces are waist high! o_o

[carriepika.livejournal.com]

http://www.chessbaron.co.uk/economy-staunton-chess-sets.php

They seem to have some nice ones there, too. They're saying the king is 3" high. That's a pretty decent size, since it leaves the Pawns at probably an inch and a half. Weighted with felted bottoms, too. =3b

Oh hey, I just noticed that they have size comparison pics with a pound coin! If you click on the little pic of the Knight pieces there's a whole bunch of pics of the pieces to look at! =D

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

Oh, niiiice~! ♥ Kinda on the pricier side, but I do want a good quality set. Maybe after my first wages come in I might go for one of those. They don't come with a board unless you specify, and that adds a lot to the price ;_; But they ARE really nice sets... ^^

[carriepika.livejournal.com]

Well, something you could do, too, is buy a nice piece set and, for now, just buy a cheap set of checkers/draughts to use the board with them. That way you could save up for a nice board next! =Oa

You can drop a LOT on a chess set, looking through these sites. o_o;; Some of the tournament quality wooden sets are £300! D8

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know! The chess set my dad used to have, which was probably a gift given to him by one of the wealthy international ambassadors who he was a business middle-man for, was probably worth several hundred pounds ^^; It WAS a gorgeous board and set, though.

[inkedfeathers.livejournal.com]

My dad had a gorgeous marble chess set. Too bad most of the pieces got smashed and/or went missing.

Old toys thrive here, so ancient stuff still gets sold on a regular basis.

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

Aww, your dad had one too? ;_; I wish I could pick up a chess set over there (:

[inkedfeathers.livejournal.com]

Yep! It was beautiful.

Fff, he also had fancy furniture and other odd decorative pieces in the guest room. There's a wooden horse that was part of the furniture that, amazingly enough, stands to this day.

It's not THAT big, but when I was about five (?) I could climb onto it and pretend to ride it around (it was stationary). x3;;

/remniscing

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

I wish I could see! That sounds awesome... I've always liked well-crafted and interesting antique objects. I would love to have a beautiful and elegant antique chess set with hand-carved pieces and a marble/glass board... but for now I'll probably have to settle for a cheaply manufactured wooden one. I won't go as low as plastic, though XD I HAS STANDARDS. Maybe.

[inkedfeathers.livejournal.com]

They are lovely! We have bunches of Moroccan traditional clay pottery in the guest room now too. ^^

xDDD We have one we bought for Raed. Platic pieces and wooden board which is so very cheaaaaap.

It hurts my skin. >>;;

Raed, of course, made short work of it, which we kind of expected anyway, hence the cheapness. ^^;;

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

Did he om-nom-nom on it? XD ♥

[inkedfeathers.livejournal.com]

Fff, he mainly threw them. "Throooow! Throoow! Throoow? Throw!" xD;;;

And play with them individually, running around, and losing them in different places. ^o^;

[romik-g.livejournal.com]

Hope you'll have some fun on your job =) My congratulations )

15000-18000 GBP p/a = per year?

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

Yeah, p/a = per annum (: And thanks~!

[romik-g.livejournal.com]

In Russia salary is usually measured on per-month basis and always paid at leas twice in a month. 15000 - 18000 GBP is 727000 - 872000 roubles in a year, this is a _really_ good salary for qualified professional in my city. 3964 GBP in a year (16000 RUB monthly) is the average salary in my region ))) I'm happy I earn more :)

Do I have your new home address? Send me a PM, please. I wanted to send you a magnet for refrigerator/cooler :)

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

Ah, cool~ (:

Okay! That would be awesome ♥ I'll PM you now!

Edit: PM sent ^^

[kalium-kx.livejournal.com]

Too bad you can't afford the sonic chess set!