Another strange experience...!

I'm not at all sure what or how to describe my day! I found a job that I thought I could apply for, by email, on one of the university's job sites and sent off an application - back came an email inviting me to an interview, so along I went today. I knew from the description it was some sort of interviewing, which it is, for a study being conduction by a professor from the University of Sheffield. I'm not sure exactly how much I can tell you about it really, because I have no idea how confidential it is, so I think for the sake of safety we'll just say it's interviewing people about their financial situations. The prof was extremely nice, and certainly the work would be interesting. But the downside of this is that yep, it's paid - but at present you couldn't say exactly how many hour it would take to do. I have a list of people I have to contact, and the questionnaire, but I have to shell out my own money to call these people, initially by letter is best we think, then by phone. The interview is conducted over the phone if possible, but there's a possibility for those we can't contact by phone that we may have to go visit some - in pairs I hasten to add. We keep a list of everything that we do, and how much time we spend on this, and then at the end of August, hand all of this to the professor, and we get paid at the end of September. And there lies the rub - I'm going to have phone bills come in between then and now. Still I'm going to give it a go - it is interesting, and we'll see what happens.

Adventures in Greenock.

Yes, I'm jobless again. Disaster! Managed the training ok, no problem, because basically the hours of the training were odd - one day I started at 3, another day started at 5 - I thought, ha, to judge by the bus timetables, I'd be able to get too and from the city centre where the work bus departed for the standard shifts without any problem. Fat chance. Yesterday was the first day that I actually had to put this in to practise - and no one had mentioned that this bus took about one and three quarter hours to get to Greenock in the first place. It's only 20 odd miles away, and if you went there directly, you could do it in about an hour, perhaps less if there's no work going on on the motorway. But of course, there never is a time without some kind of work going on on a motorway, nor without an accident , or torrential rain to slow everything down, so it never does take the time that it's supposed to.

Anyhow yesterday, I needed to be in George Square for twenty to seven. To manage this, I'd looked at the bus timetable and found there were two buses - one at 5.48, and the next at 6.19. Its not a long journey, and I figured that the 6.19 would get me there in plenty of time, particularly as it was that early and there's not much traffic around at that time. So I got up at 5.30, which was pretty earth shattering - I'll get into that later! - and eventually staggered off to the bus stop, and made it there for about ten past 6. That seems to me to be early enough to catch a bus that's shot through because there's no one getting on (there's a nasty tendency of bus drivers to speed up along their routes because of this!), and having got there, I settled in to wait. And wait, and yes, bloody wait. 6.19 came and went as a distant memory, and by 25 past, I was getting frightened. I had 15, possibly 20 minutes to make it into town, assuming the work bus hung around for 10 minutes or so for people to turn up. I can't speak for others, but I get a real fear when things don't run according to my plans, it's not that I'm inflexible, but I actually get panicky when things start to come apart. Once something has actually come apart at the seams I can calm down, and pick up the pieces etc, but whilst it's in the process of happening, I get this old feeling of cold terror, of people rushing around and saying "Where is she? I Knew this would happen, she's unreliable, she's useless" and all that kind of thing. Rationally I know it's not likely to happen, but nevertheless, that's the feeling that I get when it's all going pear shaped. So when I saw a taxi, I grabbed it, and needless to say I was there on time to get on the work bus. But I was feeling uneasy, and thinking to myself, just how often is this going to happen, and given that when I arrive back from a late shift at midnight plus I have no option to be taking a taxi, just how many days am I going to have to take one, and shell out vast sums of money to get from a relatively simple A to B. There's not a lot of point in working if 3/4 of the money you earn goes on getting to the job.

On top of this are the treks around Glasgow. Yes it's nice, it's very interesting, to see places I haven't seen before - for example on one day we went past Bellahouston Park, which was very interesting. There's a big athletics club there, and something I simply have to go and investigate properly, the "Palace of Art". I've never seen an art gallery set in a park before, and I'm curious about it. On a couple of occasions we made it as far as the Rangers Stadium - I've been there before, but there's been a lot of redevelopment in the area, and it's changed a lot. In fact I'm sure that at one point a decade or so ago, I went to look at a flat in the area. But whilst I love the beautiful game, I've never been too sure of living next door to one of the biggest stadiums in the country. The key point here though is that whilst it's interesting to see these places, it's not something I want to do on a daily basis, adding quarter hours to my trips to and from work. For every one of these pick up points, it means coming off the motorway, and this adds just so much time to the journey that at the end of the day, an eight hour working day has turned into a twelve and a half hour working day. I've worked odd and long hours for a long time now, but I'm getting on, and I'm just not as up to it as I used to be, even ten years ago. It's a crying shame, because I met some great people, really nice, and the work was brilliant. I could do it blindfolded - well perhaps not quite, but I could do it backwards, and if it had only been based in Glasgow, or they had been more flexible. I asked them if they were prepared to let me do it part time, but no dice, I asked if there was any other way I could get there. There's a train, but it takes about as long as the bus, and you're then a ways away from the centre where we were working.

So in the end, I decided I just couldn't do this. I was absolutely exhausted, not by the work, but by the endless travelling. I did take some great photo's along the journey - check them out, Scottish landscape is fabulous, but I'm back to square one jobwise. Oh hell.

Not exactly an interview...

Well not really. Oh, let's go back and start from the very beginning - I was up in plenty of time, and as I'd done all of the necessary ironing (white shirt, black skirt) the night before I was all ready to go - but wouldn't you know, two minutes out of the house, and the rain pours down! I got to the bus stop, and had to wait what seemed an age for the bus, to the extent that when I made it into town I grabbed a taxi for what's a relatively easy stroll (0k, it's uphill all the way!) to Blytheswood Square. Needless to say that got me there so early, I had to go for a walk about the square so as not to be indecently early.
Anyhow I found the place easily, took a seat in the waiting area, but rather astonishingly, it wasn't any sort of one to one interview thing, but a group of perhaps 12 of us taken off to fill out forms - Just the standard sort of form, but additionally a confidentiality agreement, which makes me wonder if I'm even breaking it by blogging this! But since I haven't said exactly or indeed, at all, what this job is, I guess not. Having filled out the forms, they will call us back tomorrow once they've gathered in the references etc, and book us onto the training course. If I get in, I think I'm likely to be doing the course in the evening - there are two standard shift patterns, 8 - 4, and 4 - 11. Compared to what hours I was working I don't see this as being any sort of a problem. Although it'll be interesting coming home at midnight in the middle of Glasgow! I don't know where the free bus picks up/deposits us as yet, and I'm hoping it's not in Blytheswood, which is a bit close to the red light district. Or at least, where I recall the red light district as being.
Dress is office casual, no denim. Rats. On my way home, I decided to nip into Evans and buy myself a couple of pairs of plain black cotton trousers - indispensable I feel. I don't think I'd get through a week in clean clothes if I didn't do this - I've lived in jeans for the past five years! Popped into M&S on the way home - yum. Had to have a bit of extra for the fridge, because I missed Tesco's this week. Luckily they had some of their wonderful Irish pancakes in stock, which I particularly adore. Not to mention a packet of sausages, some of which I'm having for supper - I missed lunch so I'm really quite peckish!
So we'll wait to hear what happens from all this.

At long last...

Yep, I've got an interview, for a genuine job. Whoever would have thought it? Well ok, maybe not so unbelievable!
Anyhow this arrived via a jobsite alert, for a helpline that's just being set up - I don't really want to say what it is over the internet, but let's say it's medical. It's only call handling, basically people phone in, you follow a script and ask them questions, and give them whatever advice the screen tells you. It's not too badly paid, and they want to set this up in a hurry - hence the interview tomorrow - a Sunday of all days, with a possible start on Monday. Full time until September, which suits me just fine. It is a bit of a way out - Greenock, but they provide a free bus to get there from town.
So, no trip to Tesco for me tomorrow, but then heck, I can stop off in town to do the shopping. I think it's a realistic chance of work, and I'm up for it - I've been idle for way too long! Not to mention that I've got bills building up. So you can expect to hear more after tomorrow!

Bored now...

Yep. Says it all really, doesn't it?
So what have I been doing with myself since I found myself jobless in Glasgow? Well a great deal of time is taken up searching the various jobsites, and applying for various jobs - for the most part it's click and apply, but you still have to write the small email application bit. However I will admit it's very disheartening to be clicking and sending these things off, and you just know for the most part, you're never going to hear anything further of them.
I've been doing a bit of cooking - since I now have a deep freeze, it's only good sense to make the best possible use of it. On Tuesday I made goulash, and I now have four portions of that tucked away, and I've also made and frozen spag bol sauce - at some point over the next few days I may well make a plain tomato sauce, always useful.
I've cleaned until I'm sick of the smell of the cleaning fluids!
I've read more over the past couple of weeks than is really good for my eyes. I don't want to get plunged into the "eye test/new lenses" regime until I really need to. Although frustratingly, I've not been able to get a reading ticket for the university library on the grounds that I don't want to spend the money until it's likely I can recoup it!
I've been staying home mostly, on the grounds that here is where my email is, and I'd rather be here in the vain hope someone responds to one of my applications than not.
But boredom is pretty well where it's at right now. Very, very frustrating. It's a good job that I have good friends and family who prevent this from sinking into depression!!!!

Work part whatever!

Well I decided not to do this work. I tossed and turned all night, and frankly, well earlier in the evening than that, perhaps even as soon as I was walking out of that building, I was trying to convince myself that it was right to do this. But it doesn't matter how much you try to convince yourself, you intrinsically know when some thing's wrong don't you? Hence the tossing and turning!
As soon as I'd made my decision I knew it was right. And consequently felt better! When I told John about this, he said well, I didn't want to say yesterday but I thought there was something altogether dodgy about these people - so it was the right thing to do.
So come Monday I start all over again. More news from the jobs battlefront in due course!
And I also decided to re-vamp the blog. Make it easier to read, and well, new look for a new start.

Interviews!!!!

Ok, so if you read the post below you'll know that I had an interview today. I'm blogging this because I've got so much to say about it - and not very much of it good. Oh nothing way bad either, I've been offered work. I just refuse to call it a job!


Firstly, John & I went to the uni today, and it was lovely weather and not too many people around so I took some pics - here we go. This is the library on the left, as much as I could get into a single phone pic!

This is behind me as I took the other photo, this is the reading room. It's a round building with the most popular books in it for the undergraduate courses - at least that's the theory as I understood it first time round!



This is the entrance to the Medieval History Dept!


And that's your lot photo wise. Anyhow after we'd been here (and I did pick up some useful email addresses, some hints and tips, and the email address of the woman I have to contact about getting a reading ticket for the summer!) I set off for this interview. I got a taxi over there, and it's a bloody good job that I did, because what I thought would be a simple look around to find the building nearly turned into some sort of strange intellligence test - find us and you get the job, fail and you're toast. I found Partick Thistle Football ground, and according to what I was told yesterday, it was supposed to be opposite, but all I could see where houses. Big flash new office a bit further down, so I thought aha! But no, that was number 99. I was looking for 55. At least I was on the right side of the road. But it didn't matter where I went or even who I asked no one knew where it was - and this girl I'd spoken to hadn't thought to give me anything useful like the name of the company running this place. Finally I went to the big Housing Association office at the bottom of the road and asked, and they did know where it was - if only I'd've thought to ask there first! Turned out, of course, that I walked straight past it at least twice.
So in I go, it's a double storey business unit, very basic. Ah, says the girl fulfilling the tasks of receptionist, up the stairs, turn right. Up I go, and yes I did find the right place. It remains a matter of question as to whether I'd've been better off turning round and going home.

Turns out they sell kitchens and windows. What I'd have to do is to phone people up, and masquerade as some sort of researcher for a non-existent magazine - actually I say that, but I bet they've got some kind of leaflet that is the 'magazine' , and ask them questions about if they were to get a free kitchen what sort of kitchen would that be? Once I've got them talking, I then have to get them agree to be called back by another group of callers, who book appointments for representatives to go round. I can just about square this with my conscience, because it's just another phone call, and I can square it all the better because I got home to find another three bills on the doorstep. Believe it or not, I have done this sort of thing before, under slightly more respectable circumstances, but to my way of thinking it's easier to get a job if you're actually working. You don't necessarily have to tell people what it is you're working at. Well ok you do, but I can give this a go and see how I get on. I'm going to go tomorrow, yep they work weekends of course, and see how I get on. If I find it beyond the pale, I shall simply say so and leave. They pay a basic salary, it's 3 hours a day, for 4 days a week. It's on a direct bus route. It is an appalling salary but hey you never know, I might be good at this sort of thing. Not. Beggars can't be choosers people. Let's gird the loins, and actually say it, life's been pretty good for the past few years, and maybe I should have done a bit more appreciating what I had. Now I get a chance to broaden my outlook and do what it takes to stock the freezer!

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs.

Well those of you who've been following my Glasgow progress will have seen my complaining on Facebook about jobs. Basically having waffled about for the last two weeks, this week I got down to business and went looking for work.
It's incredibly dispiriting. My first couple of trips into town to try and get registered for work at some temp agencies almost had me slitting my wrists! Firstly, of course, this was because the economy is in such a state that the agencies can't deal with all of the people that are coming through their doors - although having said that, I can't say I found myself in any queues. In fact, to be honest, half of the time I felt as if I was interrupting them! You know that awful feeling as you go through the door into an office full of people busy doing stuff, and you stand there like a prawn for thirty seconds until someone deigns to notice you.
And that brings me to point two. The way some of these women look at you. Those of you who know me know my attitude towards make-up, well, believe it or not, I was wearing it. Yep, I did 'dress' up - that is, I looked smart. I do feel uncomfortable when I do this, the stuff makes my face itch - luckily I don't go red as a tomato, but it does make me itch. So I'm surreptitiously rubbing at some part of my face - or rather trying not too. Then there's the clothes - I don't do suits, and it's been years since I wore anything other than jeans to work. My preparations for 'work' in Glasgow which might involve something more formal have so far stretched as far as some new t-shirts and a pair of black cotton trousers. So to do this agency thing, I dug out my black cords - well, they aren't jeans, and a new t-shirt, which I topped off with my rain jacket, which is reasonably new, reasonably smart, and always a wise precaution north of the border. For me this constitutes a bit of an effort - quite a bit of effort actually 'cos I had to figure out what was going to look smart, and yet not overdressed. You tell me, what do people wear to walk into a temp agency?
Anyhow, I got what might be described as a mixed reaction. Probably the fault was mine for not judging the agency correctly and going in to the places where they want a size 8 supermodel with talons to match. You'd think I'd know better by now. Anyhow frankly, I've almost had enough of this. A couple of good things did come out of it however.
Firstly, abandon the entire walk round, present with CV deal. This might have been how things were done as recently as say 18 months ago, now it's all "have you registered online?" Now I've got a cv dressed up into a pdf, I've distributed it electronically and it's saved me a sore foot or two. However, and this is a bit of a problem, neither have I had any response to these - as my friend John said "Oh that's how they're doing it these days is it." He's right of course, they'll do anything to get you to walk out of the office.
On the other hand, job sites are good news. Gumtree is my tip, I logged onto to this, and found an ad where some one's looking for call centre staff, where you had to text your name and telephone number. I did, and didn't really expect to hear any more from it, but lo and behold this afternoon, I got a call, and I'm off for an interview tomorrow. I've ironed my white shirt and black cotton trousers (if it rains, the cords which are just about dry from washing on Weds!) and we'll see how it goes. Fingers crossed eh?

Friday 3rd July

Gosh you've no idea how I've missed my internet connection! Even though I bought that wretched dongle, which was supposed to connect my little notebook thingy, I get here and what do I find? Of course it doesn't work. Turns out I'm in some kind of dip or something, a contactless hell, so bad that whilst I could receive text messages I couldn't even send them until Orange sorted out my server connection!!!

Anyhow, this is in the past, the hub thingy arrived this morning - early, points to BT, and was relatively easy to set up, and barring one or two little mishaps - cables in the wrong holes etc, here I am back with my online family!
Well the move - went suprisingly well. They turned up and were lovely, whipping all of my boxes into the back of this capacious van, drove off - so I basically followed I guess, only on the train of course, lugging this huge suitcase with me.
Here are the boxes going in to the van! What this doesn't show is the police at the bottom of the bus stop, pulling over everyone driving in the bus lane. I thought this was going to cause problems at first, but we were within the loading hours on the road signs, so it was fine.




I had to clean after I left, so I basically had the hoover and brush & dustpan, not to mention enough bottles of cleaning fluids to set up in business with me - my overnight clothes in one backpack, and of course my old leather handbag backpack on the other shoulder - it was a miricle that I got here without either loosing some of this, or breaking down under the weight of it all.



This is a blurry shot out of the train window of the lovely countryside around the lake district. And it's not a UFO, it's a reflection of the light in the carriage in the glass of the window - and there was me thinking I'd got the most marvellous sunset!

Rushed off to the agency to sign the lease the next morning, and now it's hard to think that all this was actually two weeks ago. The best thing of all was that on the day that I arrived, John & Patrick swept me off to theirs for supper, and I got given the most fabulous meal! And I really, really needed it as well.
So, what's been happening? Well, I've got myself unpacked, and not one single thing has been broken in the move. Really brilliant. The flat is huge, with these fabulous cupboards. Years ago when it was built these tennement flats housed quite large families, and they had beds tucked into cupboard niches in the walls, and now that these are no longer needed, the niches have been turned into cupboards - so I now have a walk in wardrobe, and in the one in the lounge I've been able to stash all of my book boxes. This is excellent, because alas, I'm having trouble with the bookcases. As I think I told some people there's very strange 'wall paper' in the living room - I got the impression it was that artex stuff, but turns out it's actually a decorative plaster effect. I don't really fancy drilling into this and bringing the whole lot down, so we tried to fix the bookcases in the bedroom - which my little drill didn't like one bit, as it has stone walls. Patrick bought his grown-ups drill, and we've got one up, but the other of my big bookcases has either warped, or the wall is curved. I can't make up my mind as to which of these has happened, and strongly suspect it's a combination of both.

Haven't got to go to the temp agencies yet - I did set off to do this on Tuesday, but needless to say I managed to leave my cv at home, so that was pretty pointless. Still I did get a bus pass, so it wasn't an entirely wasted trip. Then BT said that the broadband could either come on the Weds or Thurs, and a letter turned up on Weds which said Friday, so I've been trapped in the house waiting for this. Which has actually given me a chance to rest my knee - I bruised it really badly falling on Sunday when I was taking the rubbish out to the bin shed. It was very dark in the corridor leading outside and I didn't see a step, and went down hard on my knees. Luckily no serious damage was done, but I now have a spectacularly purple and yellow left knee!


This is a photo of the view from my flat bay windown at dusk - you can see the pitch between me and the road opposite. This turns out not to be attached to the school, but to be a public football pitch, so we get lots of kids playing, and people throwing sticks and balls for their dogs, and occasionally running those remote control cars. Now I'm up and running, I'll take more photo's and you can see all of the area around me! Oh I'm so happy to be online again!!!