Talking too much, AGAIN!!!

A backdated post

2009-03-02T21:10:00.003Z

Written on Saturday 28th February
I’m trying to write this having a mischievous cat poking around on the desk, wearing one of those plastic collars the vets make them wear. They went in to be spayed on Tuesday and of course you should see them grumble and complain about these bulky things around their necks! Oh dear.

Yesterday I had to attend the local passport office for the short interview you have to do as a first time applicant. All that way across London, just for 15 minutes ‘verifying’ who I was… But I should get the passport within 5-10 working days. Hehehehehe!

A month late, but I finally was told this week that I’ve completed my probation period – the review concluded that my performance had been ‘good’ – so that was the last hurdle to be cleared. As a consequence of that, and with Ally getting her new job sorted and the girls doing well at school and college, we’re all going out for lunch this afternoon, but Rob has to pay… Good job I was paid yesterday!

Another day driving a desk...

2009-02-16T21:06:00.002Z

09:05
It dawned on me, laid in the bath last night, that I hadn't updated ye olde blog and yet I don't know what I want to say. This one might take all day to write so it might look disjointed and bitty...

09:48
Well that's me on top of things at this moment it time so I'll just take a minute to add a bit more. I've just been having a look at what my employee's handbook says and it requests that nothing be written in any blogs that may identify the company, criticise the company's employees or in any way bring the company's name into disrepute. Fair enough, given what has happened in the past with other companies and bloggers. Just means that, in effect I can't say much more than it's an independent fostering provider based in London. So you'll have to miss out on all those neat things that happen and the gossip, worries and concerns we have in the office...

Speaking personally, its not been a bad time recently at the homestead. Ally is starting her new job, on a part-time basis, on better money and more realistic hours as well. I should be confirmed son as having completed my probation at work satisfactorily and the cats (they're no longer kittens, see pic!) are now full of it.

Midnight, in the pink collar, loves a breakfast cuddle. As soon as I sit down with my porridge, she vaults onto my lap and stays there until I have to move to get ready to go out. She's not scared of spending longer either. Last night I sat down watching football on the TV, she jumped up onto my lap, and wriggled upwards until she was laid on my chest where she stayed for the whole of the first half (about 45 minutes), she knows how to claim her place! Lightning however, isn't so much of a cuddle-n-fuss cat but she'll come and ask for attention in her own way. She's the noisiest of the two and believe me she can really sound off if she really wants to! Her worst habit is attacking my toes through the duvet, when she can get into our bedroom. It tickles!

back I am...

2009-02-02T09:04:00.002Z

After the snarg that was last month, I've managed to get back on line and this time I have a new picture to share with you all.

Doesn't it look pretty, the pristine snow on the delightful wheely bins....

Apparently this is the worst snow in London for 18 years or so. Means I can't get into work today. Hey-ho, its a poor day that doesn't give some joy in it. I'm not even sure about tomorrow either, so we shall just have to wait and see.

The worst day I have ever known.

2009-01-06T09:08:00.000Z

I do not want to see the 5th January 2009 ever again. In between Ally going to work and my arriving home, the house was broken into. Items were taken to the sum of about £400 or so, including the laptop with all of last years photo's that Ally has taken. The perpetrators broke a back window and got in that way, then dropped the latch on the Yale lock on the front door so that no one could disturb them - although thanks goodness the mortice lock was on the door as well. We shall just have to wait and see what the insurance company say now.

No happy Rob for a while...

Happy New Year!!

2009-01-03T14:19:00.004Z

Ahhh. Well I suppose at this point I should look back on 2009, and I won't disappoint...

Its been a good year, finally got moved into the house in West London in February, settled down and picked up a nice job in July, which pays well. Its been cold, just right for Christmas and the New Year.

You didn't expect a vast amount of detail did you??? :)

Its nearly Christmas...

2008-12-08T20:36:00.002Z

Well where does the time go? Not long ago it was summer, or what passed for it this year, now there's only 17 days before the holiday arrives, and hasn't it flown by. Doesn't seem like less than 5 months ago I was starting a new job and now I'm the hub from which a lot radiates from in the office, just a month or so left of my probation and I'm still working to make sure its a formality. However, I'm not geting my hopes up until after the review takes place mid way through January....

Believe it or not I actually have most of the presents bought for Christmas, which isn't bad for being organised, haven't sent any cards out yet so I'm not that organised!! During the coming week perhaps. :)

For once, winter is turning out nice and cold, ok not all the time, but its still what you want in December. Frosty mornings, crisp sunny skies and the hopes of the possibility of a few snowflakes, which around here is someting to remember! We may get some, we may not... but the anticipation is something to be enjoyed. Mind you there's always a few people moaning about the cold, and wishing it was warmer. HELLLOOO! IS THERE ANYONE IN THERE? Its December, its supposed to be cold this time of year...

Its gone quiet, I'd better go and see that the two tiny terrible tyrants are up to, it usually something for which they can turn that innocent expression to what I catch them!

Cuteness alert!

2008-11-20T20:44:00.005Z

Now I ask you, who would not describe these two little ones as cute....? Now 4 months old, they've got to the stage of growing out of their kitten features and now looking like small cats. Boisterous, confident and loving their food as well as ours... This is their look that says "We run this place and you will do as we say. Your bed? Is ours now! So we'll sleep here, and you can't argue about it!"

Looking back at the last month, not a lot has happened so there's not much to talk about, so I won't waste your time with boring crap.... Work is going well, the football is enjoyable and Christmas is coming. 'Nuff said!

What therapy....

2008-10-15T20:24:00.002Z

You know, at the end of a stressful day, when the phone's been ringing non-stop, and people have been wanting this, that and the other, sometime we all need to 'smell the roses'.

I get that by going home watching my kittens run around and do the manic things two 3 month old little black scraps get up to, occasionally I join in and its that which makes me laugh the most, when they jump on each other, fight each other, play around with any old thing that is now their toy. The latest fun item is an old train ticket crumpled up. Watching them skating around, chasing this scrap of card across a laminated floor is a tonic in itself...

Ever such a lot!

2008-10-02T08:16:00.002Z

Well there's a lot to mention this time, so grab a cuppa and get comfortable.

After my last entry I went to see my sister as you know, and had a really good time. It was good to spend time with little sis (and I know that will bug her!). We did nothing but talk and watch TV, talk a bit more and have a coffee, watch TV and eat dinner, that kind of day. Was really good.

Also during that time I spent time with some of the astronomy bunch that I used to hang around with before and it was good as well, even though the weather didn't always understand the necessity of clear skies that weekend!

To top it off, I harassed the girls at the old coffee shop, but in a nice way. All I had to pay for was my coffee, cos I kept getting food placed in front of me. I think they liked having me back.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend and I enjoyed it all, every part. Plus it has a bearing on a later entry! :)

Last weekend, well it wasn't a weekend as you would know it... Saturday was spend work training, attending a first aid course for the whole of the day. And being the responsible person as well. ARRGGHH! It was tempered by an amazing evening, where this happened. Smashing, amazing, mind-bogglingly astonishing times for Hull City!

Sunday saw me having a trip to Newcastle, to see how the company office there works, as its been established for 10 years, and had an 'outstanding' rating at the last official inspection, it was thought it would be good for me to pick up systems and routines there. Well if I couldn't there, then I couldn't anywhere. But I was glad to get home.

At this point I'd like to introduce our two additions to the house, two tiny tyrants. Meet Midnight and Lightning.... Its not the best of pictures, cos it was taken in a hurry last night on my mobile. We came to get two little bundles of fun cos A felt lonely when I was up in Hull visiting my sister, apparently the house was too empty when she was home. Aren't they just cute?

Lightning (on the right) is the more outgoing, she's always looking for something to chase, attack or eat, depending on her mood. Her little sister, Midnight looks like the runt of the litter and so is a bit smaller and more reserved, but she's catching up and eating all she can get. At just 10 weeks old, they're just right for a new home, and after just one week, they think they own the place, plus they know who's the soft touch, and it isn't A!

Expect more cute pix over the next few weeks, months and so on, of our little adorable bundles...

Another weekend...

2008-09-12T15:05:00.004Z

Doesn't seem like 7 days since the start of the last one, but yep, here it comes again.

And it's back to the football, toodling off to watch Hampton & Richmond in the Conference South. I enjoy last week's match so much, I'm becoming a bit of a fan. Of course, that's not to say I'm giving up on the mighty Tigers, I just can't get to their games, whereas I can for H&R. It's worth the £10 admittance fee against 3 or 4 times that for their professional cousins...

Today has seen another in the series of bus drivers strikes . Thankfully it's not all of the buses, just a couple of companies, so I could still get to work, although I had to take the train for the last part. I still managed to observe poor uninformed souls wondering where their regular bus had got to! I mean, it's been all over the local tv, radio, some sections of the newspapers and on the news websites as well. How do people go around not taking any notice of what's happening around them??

Next weekend, I'm off on a jaunt by myself, as I'm going to see my sister before she's disappears off elsewhere for about 18 months, work you know. As well as spending much of the weekend with her, I shall be revisiting a few old haunts, so if you're reading this in Hull, be careful! The weekend after that will see me travelling to Newcastle on the Sunday, to spend the Monday observing one of the company's more established branches, what they do and so on. I think I'm enjoying all this...

Me... final part.

2008-09-05T14:56:00.004Z

Moving on, and moving away...

Moving to live in Bridlington was not my most enlightened of ideas. The cost of the rent on the room I rented etc., quickly ate into my finances. and my student overdraft expanded alarmingly. So after one term, I moved back home as it worked out cheaper to commute in on the 3 or 4 days a week I needed to be in college. If I needed to contact my fellow students - 6 of them by this time, and all of maturer years - then I could email or phone them. Problem solved.

Business & IT turned out to be right up my street and this time I wasn't going to mess it up and I didn't. 2 years of hard work got me a very good pass and thus I was awarded my diploma (one step down from a degree). I had to then consider if I was going to do a 3rd year for the degree, but having weighed up the options, I chose not to. So back out I went looking for work.

I decided to call in a few long term favours and spent 3 weeks in London during the October of 2001. Although I didn't find any work, it was one of the most important times in my life.

One weekend while in London, I was bored out of my tiny mind so I texted, on the off-chance, an old college friend of my sister's, Alicia, to see if she fancied showing me around the city. She agreed, and so I first spent time with my now-fiancee... I'll spare you the details of that day, but we agreed to keep in touch after I moved back home.

But I couldn't go back home, the rest of the family decided it was best if I moved out, and so I settled in Hull, in a rented room found for me by my sister. Reasonable enough, and I had a better chance of finding work. Registering with employment agencies found me sporadic work, but I didn't mind. I had my own space to do what I liked with. However I was getting back into the comfortable rut though, and that wasn't good. It's funny for all the government crackdowns, the Jobcentre staff still believed everything you told them, providing it was plausible, and that what I did for a number of years, happy to have the rent paid for me and enough to survive on.

In my copious spare time, I was busy with the Hull Astronomy Society, really busy. In fact after just a short period of time co-opted onto the committee, in charge of the website, the members decided to have a complete change and thus elected me as Society President for a 3 year term. This shocked and amazed me, I had no experience, and neither had my secretary, whom I liked as a person and I was pleased to have as part of the team. So we had to make it all up as we went along, and I think we did a good job. the membership rose steadily throughout that 3 year term and the finances improved as we settled into a new venue, the University of Hull. After I completed my term, the secretary took over for 2 years and now its in the capable hand of Paul, my long time observing buddy, mentioned earlier in the blog.

By 2005, A was coming to Hull on a semi regular basis, 5 or 6 times a year, and I was starting to think about the future. Or should I say, I was being forced to think about the future. Here was I, in my mid 30's with nothing to show for that time. Troubling stuff, and I used to get quite anxious about that.

One night, I'd had A on the phone, after she'd broken up with the man she was seeing, I decided to make my feelings known, and we decided we should think about being a bit more serious. In October 2005 (I can never remember the exact date) we became engaged, in front of my parents. My sister, who'd had a disagreement with A some years previously, found it hard to take at first but slowly she's come to accept it.

At this point we made plans to move me to London, as it wasn't possible for A to go to Hull, with the girls (see pic at the bottom left) meaning she had to stay close to home. The plans were to move us into a house in Ealing (I'm not going to be any more specific, my choice), that was owned by A's parents and at that time was let out. All that began in 2006, and that's after the blog started, if I remember correctly... So there you have it, the rest you can check in the Archive.

That's my life up to now, and for the first time in a long while, its all on the way up. I've got the chance of a good life, with a decently paid job, living a good house - which I'm thankful for - and with someone who loves me for who I am. I'm a very lucky person now and and I going to jeopardise all this?? Not for your life!

One thing I do miss is all my old friends in the Societies, my old footballing mates and the people in Sammy's cafe, my regular Sunday morning haunt. But life moves on.

I realise that I have missed things out that are not directly relevant to the story, but the main bits are there! So now you know who I am and what I'm like and so on...

Me... part 2

2008-08-29T10:11:00.003Z

PS Hi to all my readers... Finding it interesting?

After finally getting my head around the fact of where I was going and what I was doing, I had to get some travel plans in order and some accommodation. The travel plans were easy, the accommodation wasn't. Thankfully the Methodist Church, who we as family attended, came to the rescue. They found a local minister in Dagenham who could give me a place for a week or so, until I could arrange something for myself. The day before term started my mother and I travelled down (she'd never been to London either), and we made our way to Dagenham. That was OK, and the following morning, I went to to the Poly, while she travelled home.

I spent the next 9 months studying all aspects of the Estate Agents business, the trade and so on, getting to know people and making friends, exploring London and falling in love with the Underground. That time planted a seed which in the present day is starting to grow substantially. I joined my first astronomical society at this time, the East London Society, based in Wanstead. Its still going now, but I doubt it would remember me nearly 20 years on.

The course was interesting in its way, but I was either subconsciously realising this wasn't for me or I thought I could pass it all without doing as much study as I should. Of course, with there being a much less discipline factor, you being on your own, I had no one to chase me. If the work wasn't done, that was your lookout, and in my confidence of youth, I think I thought I could do it easy.

The first year exams were my biggest hurdle, I needed to pass 6 of the 8 modules from the year to be accepted into the second year of the course. I passed 5. That was a shock to the system, and after I got back home in the June, I was effectively given the silent treatment for failing for a few days. I deserved it and it hurt. So what now? Effectively I was isolated at the cottage, not being able to drive and in the local area, jobs were at a premium outside of working on the farms, which I had no intention of doing.

So I had to go down the JobCentre and register myself. This turned out to be the main event in my daily life for quite a while. During the next few years, I had summer jobs in hotels, assisted at a riding stables - I got to be able to ride quite nicely by the end - and doing some voluntary work in Shropshire, but these were few and far between, in fact I spent more time doing training like getting Admin qualifications, than I did working.

When I returned home in 1990, one of the first things I did was to get in touch with the Scarborough Astronomy Society, and joined. This was the start of an unlikely friendship with the people there, and even more so with the person who would run me home after each meeting, Deirdre. This arrangement was still going in the end of 2007, and I was glad of it.

In late 1997, I started a part-time job, at a weather consultancy business, back in Shropshire, about 7 days a month, expenses paid. I really enjoyed this, but there was no way it would last forever, as there was clearly not enough money in it - my entitlement had dropped because of the work. So in 1999, I had to make a decision. Stay at home, enjoy my life, playing bowls (which I had took up in 1996) 3 or 4 nights a week and spending days messing on the computer or finally make a move towards getting out of that pleasurable rut.

In the May of that year, I applied to East Yorkshire College in Bridlington to do a Higher National Diploma in Business and IT, in July I was accepted. I decided to move out into the town, to be nearer the college. So I was moving out again, this time hopefully wiser and more mature, to try and improve myself, spot the recurring theme....??

More in a week or so.

Me...

2008-08-18T14:57:00.003Z

Well this blog has been going for a long time now, close on three years, and most of you have shared the trials, the worries, the happy times that I've experienced in that time. You know much about now, so I thought I'd pursue an idea I've been considering for a while, namely, a post or two about me in my younger days. Ready? Sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin..

Early years
I was born in December 1970 in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Apparently I couldn't wait, being born a month premature, impatient as ever! Early in January I was finally taken home to my home for the next 10 years, a small farm cottage high on the Yorkshire Wolds. If you were looking for a safe place to bring up children, well you couldn't do much better than that. It had it's downsides though, in that there were no other children to play with, when you've wide open spaces to play in, you soon develop a good imagination. One of the ways I used to do this was to take a tennis ball, and a piece of wood, and play my own cricket matches against the house wall.

In 1973, my sister was born, and things changed a lot. She was completely different to me, in that she was more like my mother in temperament, where I was more like my father. This meant all kinds of escapades, usually for which it was my fault, although I can't believe or remember if that's true. In 1975, I started school in the nearest village, problem was that the previous year, the county boundaries had changed and we were just inside North Yorkshire, when the address was East Yorkshire. Neither authority could make up its mind where I should go, but in the end it was decreed I should go into North Yorkshire. Sometimes over the years I wish it had been different.

Being the outsider in everything didn't help, in a school or place I had never been to before. At least going the other way into East Yorkshire, at least I would have known where I was as the village was the one my father had grown up in. However, trying to fit in wasn't easy, but I did my best, at least I think I did.

Over the next few years, I did well academically, problem was that by 1980, I knew it as well. The following year we moved into the village to be nearer the school and to provide some interaction with kids our age. By this time I was ready to start senior school, while my sister was still in the junior school. I was sent into North Yorkshire and the nearest one was in the small town of Norton. being used to a small village school, being in a bigger one with about 900 people was a bit of a culture shock. I made a few friends and managed to settle in quite well. I almost lived for the games lessons, which for me fed my love of sports. I was never the most able of players but I loved it anyway.

I think it was in the first couple of years I reached my peak, getting good reports and exam results, but they all had an underlying comment, 'has the ability, but could try harder'. I suppose I felt that as I had the ability, I could coast along on that and not work as hard as I might. My mother was sure that I wasn't working as hard as I might because I was always thinking of sport, well that wasn't the case, not that I remember anyhow. Its something that in the present day I regret a lot. The crowning glory of my school years was when taking the old 'O' levels and CSE's (exams before the current GCSE's were brought in). I managed to turn up on the wrong day and the wrong syllabus for my Maths exam, thus ensuring no result or grade. I got into some serious trouble over that one...

Thankfully I managed to get good enough grades in the rest of the exams to be able to go to further education in the neighbouring town of Malton. Because it was only a small college, some of the subjects I wanted to take clashed and I had to change to do only Chemistry and Geography, plus the ubiquitous General Studies (which have been better described with 'Current affairs and Life Skills' I suppose). For whatever reason it was, I can't remember now, I bombed on Chemistry, which was strange cos I'd done fairly well in that subject at a lower level. I think I was OK in practical terms, but the understanding of what I was supposed to be studying never seemed to make sense. geography I was OK with and enjoyed especially when it came to the physical aspect of the subject, meteorology, seismology and vulcanology all fascinated me even then as they do now.

In the end I passed Geography and General Studies (it took real failure to mess the latter up!), so what now? In the end I was accepted into the old Polytechnic of East London, based in Stratford, to study Land Management. First time in London, indeed the furthest I had been from home - barring a two week camping holiday in the Highlands of Scotland - and I was still a typical naive country boy in many respects. How would I take to the change in lifestyle and culture? More later...

Days off and so on

2008-08-14T08:32:00.002Z

It seems strange now to be at home during the week, Monday was my day of in lieu of working on the 2nd and to still be in the house at 9am, not in my working gear, well it didn't feel right. Thats not to say I don't appreciate the fact, just that its weird. At least I went back refreshed and ready for action and so on. The tasks I had won't be that onerous, at least not for a while. not until the processes as regards fostering gets underway properly. But it was a good weekend. That is always a good thing, isn't it? Saturday was quiet, I suppose you could call that a complete wind-down kind of day. Sunday was busy but fun, as we spent much of the afternoon at the London Mela which is a great day out. The rain didn't help at all, a couple of bad showers meant that we got soaked but apart from that it was good. Admittedly I felt rather conspicuous, as one of small number of non-asians at the event but once that's got over, its just a case of enjoying whats around you, the sights, the music, the food and so on. If you never been to an event like a Mela, then go sample it, you might even like it!

In the evening, both Ally and I were taken out to the local Bollywood movie theatre. Admittedly A had been before, but I hadn't and I wasn't entirely sure of what to expect, but afterwards, I could honestly say that I had enjoyed it quite a lot. Thank goodness for the subtitles or I would have been all at sea. Actually the moral behind the story was one that could be applied the world over, in that money is only good for what it can do for others, and that you should always consider the wider implications of your actions. Its a shame more people don't take these thoughts on board, I'm sure things would be a whole lot different in the world if they did.

Things that bug me (part 1): I spend a lot of time travelling on the buses and I always try to make sure that I don't take up a seat unnecessarily, by standing mostly, if there's just a few spare. What gets up my nose are those people that choose to sit on the inside seat, furthest from the window, and leave the outside seat empty. I mean, why?? It means then if anyone wants that seat, they have to push past, or the other person has to get up. ok perhaps they are just going a few stops, but why not take the window seat?? Makes no sense to me at all.

A leaf in a bunch of roses...

2008-07-26T08:12:00.000Z

End of first week's work and its all looking like the finest garden imaginable. There's much to be done every day, and given my surroundings, it's not a toil at all. The entire office - from first floor to the top of the building - is staffed entirely by women, and I love every minute of it, being the only one of the male gender in the place! Its wonderful, but then I always did prefer being around women. I'm not going to name the company, such is my way, neither am I going to name the staff around me, as they wouldn't like that, but it's all good.

I'm working for an independent fostering agency in Ealing, still quite small and finding its feet - although it is part of a wider, national organisation - so there's still a lot of new systems to devise and set up, plus adapting other ones to suit my style of working. Throw into this the task of organising fostering panel meetings, chasing paperwork from local authorities, arranging forms for applicants and so on, there's plenty to do. In what spare time I have, I've been making contacts within the other regional offices, to make life a little easier in the long term. As I have no experience of the fostering sector, I also have to try and pick up the terms and expressions, their meanings, their implications and so on. Its not something I would have seen myself doing, but its now a position I feel capable of fulfilling. 5 years ago, I would have not thought that, but being more mature and somewhat more organised, I feel like I can do this and do it well. Of course the surroundings make a difference as well...!

Onwards and upwards!

2008-07-10T09:28:00.002Z

In the three weeks since I last travelled this way, and left my last chronicle of ordinariness, things have actually happened, and to my benefit too. Although the weather today has been foul, or fowl, or possibly duck, its not a problem as there’s luck about too.

Just after my last entry, I was accepted onto a training course, beginning 14th July, studying Sage Accounting for 13 weeks. Something I always wanted to do. At about the same time, I’d passed over my CV, through a friend of Ally’s for an admin post in a different part of the same building where she worked. Two weeks ago, a letter appeared in my letterbox, inviting me for interview at Portland Place, central London, which was the head office of the company. Well, that was nice, considering I wasn’t entirely sure what the job description was, not having seen it! I didn’t even know what the salary was likely to be!

Thursday 3rd arrived and just my luck, on a day when the tube went haywire - which I could have done without - I finally made the interview, 20 minutes late. That could have had an adverse effect but having called ahead in sufficient time to warn them, it worked in my favour. The interview went well I felt, and all I had to do was wait for the decision, which could be the next day, but more likely to be Monday, I was told.

As Ally had a day off the following day, we decided to take her eldest (who had finished exams and was getting bored) into town to play tourist, and we ended up going around St Paul’s Cathedral, which I had never done. My being somewhat of a spiritual nature, it had a sobering effect on me, and given how I was wondering about the decision that would be made after the previous day’s interview, it was welcome. The three of us decided to climb the tower into the dome of the building, which filled me with a little unease, as heights are not really my thing, given as I feel uncomfortable 10 feet up a ladder!

The first stop was the whispering gallery, and that was very difficult for me, as it’s quite a narrow passageway. But I managed to pass that and go up a level to the exterior gallery, and the view, as you would expect, was amazing (see picture right).This didn’t bother me as much as I couldn’t see directly downwards. I elected to stay there while the others went right to the top of the dome. As it turned out it was a wise choice as the ladder and passageways were that industrial style of equipment, full of gaps etc.! If I’d have done that one, I’d have needed help to get down, that or some clean items of certain pieces of clothing...

When we got back to terra firma, we then crossed the river, via the Millennium Bridge, and went looking for a pub. We had to take a bus ride past Borough Market and London Bridge station to find a Wetherspoon’s. Eventually we did, and after lunch, we went home. Quite a fulfilling day, all in all.

Move ahead now to Monday morning. I’d wandered off to the library to check emails and so on, when the company rang to let me know what their decision had been. Unfortunately, it was in the negative, but the impression I’d got was that I was pretty close and might even have been in the final two. Well this wasn’t the disappointment it might have been as I still had the training course to fall back on.

I dropped back into the routine of nipping into the library computer area on Tuesday morning and as I was leaving, my mobile rang and the number looked familiar...

It was the company again. I knew then what was going to happen, and I can’t explain how I knew. I just had that gut instinct that there was only one reason they would ring back 24 hours after letting me know I hadn’t been chosen, and I was right!

They wanted to offer me the post, and would I be interested?? Silly question! Having accepted, I then had to gather together all the documentation I would need, proof of address, proof of identity and so on, towards the CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) I would need, as the company are foster care providers, and I would be dealing with sensitive information and so on, as the admin support for the London branch.

I just have to wait for the formal, written offer, and down the JobCentre I go, to tell them the course will not be required. Hah, I might even consider doing it as an evening class, if I so decide.

Life’s good, for once.

PS No I am not going to mention the remuneration package, that’s for me to be very happy with and for you to wonder about...!

Thinking time...

2008-06-18T08:32:00.002Z

Although I'm back to the previous occupation of finding one, it does give me much time to think. Time to think about things, and when I look at it I'm quite lucky really. I have a decent life with a wonderful partner, I have a nice (or soon to be nice home) in a good part of west London (within the borough of Ealing) and everything is fine.

Yet sometimes I mourn for the things I left behind in Hull. Like going down to the observatory with Paul, Allan and George late on a warm summer evening (and in the winter too), the Society meetings, Sammy and her coffee shop, watching the football, all the friends across the City and all the old familiar places. All these I miss, yet I know this chance of a proper life that I have now is great, and what I should have had a long time ago. Hull would never have got me moving forward, stuck in a comfort zone as I was. Its all worth it now....

Hmm, the brown stuff might be flying soon...

2008-06-09T13:25:00.002Z

Just got back from chat with the agency that placed me in the job I recently had, and from what they are saying it might mean that the ordure is about to start whizzing through the air for the company that employed me. Seriously. I might not be in it up to my neck but I sure might well be the cause of it for other people. Heh. And you know something, I don't care too much, apparently the company owes me a days holiday pay, plus I was never paid for either of the Bank Holidays that happened while I was employed there. That's just the tip of the iceberg, more later on when I get to hear about it. However the agency have offered to have a word with other local companies that they know who deal in the same products as the original company, which help I was happy to accept.

I'd like to welcome the newest subscribers to the Yahoo site, good to see you all, some of you know me well, or just know me. Especially young Gillian, I haven't forgotten the buckets of water or the cooking oil in the coffee, she knows what I mean, I have a long memory! If you want to read posts from the past I believe the link is on the bottom of the Yahoo message this came in...

Life's a B*tch...

2008-06-07T08:19:00.001Z

Ok I know its been such a long time since I updated here, but a lot has happened since then.
Ok, in the middle of April, I managed to get work, at a company that produces windows and double glazing, and after a tricky settling in period, everything was going swimmingly. I was starting to enjoy my time there, the work wasn't TOO arduous and I was making friends with the other people in the office. That was interesting in itself as I was the only european in that office. Many times conversations were flying over my head, being in punjabi. Now some people would have taken offence at that but I figured, well if its something I need to know they will tell me! However yesterday (Friday 6th), I got called to see the personnel office, to say that due to a problem with my New Deal financing (i.e. the Employment Services were not forthcoming with any), they couldn't afford to keep me on. At least it wasn't for the quality of my work or my timekeeping, which I was assured was very good on both counts. I had noticed though, that the orders were not really coming in, in sufficient numbers, to keep two people busy putting those orders on to production system. Some days the total orders reached about 30-35 windows, which is about a couple of hours work for two people. Last year it was quite normal to get orders totalling about 100 a day, which would have been a challenge for me. So its back to scanning the papers and harrassing the jobcentre. So many plans ruined, ah well.

The one good thing that came out in the time since I posted last is that my football team, Hull City, have finally reached their dream in being promoted to the Premiership, the ultimate league in the world. After finishing 3rd in the Championship, they earned the right to enter the playoff series and after two devastating displays against Watford, whom they thrashed 6-1 over two games, they faced Bristol City at Wembley. Just getting this far was enough to make all City fans proud, but Wembley! We'd never been there before! On a warm Saturday afternoon, the teams fought an absorbing game, which was never a thriller, and an amazing 20 yard volley from the old campaigner, 39 years young, Dean Windass, sent Hull City in the Promised land. There were tears of joy as the final whistle went at the end of the game, even from me, and I was sat in a pub cos I couldn't get a ticket. Oh yes, two milestones reached in just 3 weeks, the first visit to football's most famous arena, AND a season in the most lucrative league in the world. Of course some pundits are saying we won't survive but let's just wait and see...

One month on...

2008-03-06T09:26:00.002Z

Well, a quick few minutes down the library has given me time to make a quick post! So hello again everyone.

I thought it would be instructive for everyone for me to set out my blog rules, just so you know where I come from.

No names without their permission; nothing that might identify any member of my extended family and nothing that might identify the street in which I live. If I choose not to mention an event or happening, then that's MY choice as a blogger. OK? So now you all know. Apart from that, anything goes, I guess.

Its been a shock, the way things have been in the new house. After the tenant left, there's been much to sort out, both in the house (by ourselves) and out of the house (very capably dealt with by Alicia's family (and if they read this, I'm so very grateful for all you've done)).

I've forgotten what a carpet is, and the place can be a bit of a building site at times, but there's a three year plan in Alicia's mind to get it into the kind of house we want. At the moment, the bathroom is 80% finished with the walls now replastered, the suite just has to be installed, and the place retiled last of all. Then the place has to rewired before we can get the main bedroom replastered and decorated, once that's done, then that's it for the coming year. Next year, the rest of the house will get sorted, and the following year it's the garden! So its all go.

All I need to do is now find work, and the world is fine and dandy, but its not at the moment cos of that. Its not as easy to find that job as I thought so I'd better go and do that now. So I'll catch you soon. But here's a little thought from our Chinese friends, "Walk through life, don't run."

See you around, folks...

2008-02-08T08:49:00.000Z

Well, today is that last full day in Hull, and this time tomorrow will see the last loading of boxes into the van. The day that I've been looking forwards to for so long is almost here, and you've no idea how that feels. Well perhaps you do, anyhow, after today, I don't know when I'll next be able to update this little feeble blog. But I will do, when the internet connection rises up the "To do" list, probably when I've gained some meaningful employment and not before.

I'd like to thank all my readers over the last couple of years for stopping by and reading the entries, as I thank those who read it via email. Your interest means a lot.

I would like to thank everyone else in Hull, to those who I've worked with, to those who I spend time under the stars with, to those who I've shared a drink with and to those who I've shared football with (have I left anyone out?)

AT LAST!

2008-01-30T12:47:00.000Z

Well, the news I've been itching to give you all is out. On 9th Feb my long awaited move to London will take place after a delay. Its been kept under wraps as I didn't want to tempt Fate by announcing it and it falling through. However it will mean that for a while I shall be offline until we get either a phone line sorted or cable connected. When that happens I will let you all know via a note on here...

I'm all excited now......

Important days...

2008-01-29T09:58:00.000Z

If today, or at the latest tomorrow, goes to plan then I should have some news that I've been hoping to bring for at least a year and possibly longer, so come back here before the weekend (for those that visit here) or watch your inboxes, for those who receive the email and I will be able to reveal all (well, not completely, that would be shocking!).

If you look a bit lower to the posts below, you'll see a picture from a presentation that was made to me last year. Well, I managed to acquire a copy of the original digital image, and that's now the one you see - the other was a scan of a print, which didn't look great. Another image has come to light and I share it with you now. Not a great picture, but then I suppose they can't all be! But at least it has me, in focus and not trying to get out of frame either.

Another one...

2008-01-10T11:21:00.000Z

Now that events are moving, and the move looks 95% certain for the end of the month, everyone is now wanting to tell me what a great person I am and so on. The latest one was before the holidays when the people at the Observatory decided to thank me for the help and work I'd done over the last year or two (don't understand, I never did any work!) I would just have been happy with a handshake and a few words of thanks and so on.

However, I was presented with a nice print of a favourite comet, a print which I helped to produce on the night it was taken. I shall remember it everytime I look at the print in the future, as much as I shall remember the people involved. Its been a bonus year, that I wasn't expecting to get, and I think I made the most of it down there at the observatory. I shall miss my nights down there with Paul, Allan and the rest of them, and it'll seem dull without them.

5 things I don't understand...

2007-12-28T15:13:00.000Z

The Boxing Day sales madness - I really don't get this one. You've just spent a silly amount of money in the run-up to Christmas, buying all those presents for the family and friends. As soon as the stores re-open, offering obscene discounts on things you don't really need, you HAVE to go out and spend even more!! Madness.

TV soaps - I really cannot see how the fictional mundane crises of a place that doesn't exist, where troubles appear to be never ending and people seem to be on the verge of a breakdown, can be riveting viewing. Surely life is bad enough without the vicarious pleasure of watching fictional characters suffer? I don't get it.

Friday nights - I never have understood the thinking that says its been a good night out if you get absolutely hammered, and wake up next morning with a stinking, splitting headache and no memory of what you've done. What is the point of that?? If you can't remember it, how do you know it was a good night?

Cars and the seduction of driving - As a SNDB (smug non driving b'stard), I never understood that mad, almost mindless dash to learn how to drive when turning 17. I still don't. We have been seduced into thinking that if you don't drive or own a car, you are in some way to be looked down on. Cars are expensive to maintain, run and protect. Why does everyone do it?

Sport: football referees and the players - Very often, within football matches, the decisions of the referee will go against one team or another. More often than not, the referee will be crowded by protesting players, screaming abuse about his abilities, honesty or parentage. Why? He isn't going to change his mind, and to my mind it shows a lack of respect and a lack of self-control in the players. You will hear managers saying "heat of the moment" or "pressure of the situation" or similar. What a load of tosh that is.