Keeping up appearances

From the middle of last week I have been full of cold complete with sore throat, runny nose and sneezing, but today it’s broken and I’m back to my normal grumpy self. The combination of my imperfect health and my failure to get a single job offer despite my persistent job hunting has lead me to find something else to focus some of my time and efforts on…

So, I’ve decided to spend more time doing some DIY around the house. I have started with stripping the wallpaper off the walls in the hall and filling the (few) holes that are the result of nearly 20 years wear and tear. I’ve found gaps round the external window and door frames and have started the task of filling them with expanding foam and silicon sealant. I’ve made a start to putting paint onto ceiling and walls (as a base coat) leaving the skirting, inner door frames and (eventually) the doors for later glossing.

I won’t claim to be a DIY expert or to enjoy doing it, but, it does occupy my mind hopefully I won’t need the help of the DIY SOS team to get it finished -- after all, I’ve plenty of time on my hands right now and it did/does need doing.

You may also have noticed that I’ve eventually got round to putting a photo of myself here on the blog. Additionally, you will find some changes to the references and links in the sidebar, and there are more to come over the next week or two.

Another interview

Still waiting to hear the result of an interview I had with at Welcome Finance last Friday. I phoned Gareth at the agency but he "was not at his desk" so I left a message but didn't get a return call -- which usually means No Job Offer.

That was offset by the news that one of the three jobs I applied for this week want to see me for the first of three interviews. Looking forward to this as it's the second time around for this role and I didn't get an interview last time round, AND I've heard that they are a VERY GOOD firm to work for. Monday 8th December can't come soon enough.

Dad is home

Had a call from mum early afternoon today to say that dad has been delivered back home. She's had a written report from the hospital which shows that they ended up treating him for pneumonia. Two very nice young ambulance men got him back home and in the house with no fuss at all.

News - good & not so good

The good news first -- Mum has just rung to say that the hospital is sending dad home tomorrow.

The not so good news -- despite scoring well, I was outscored by other candidates for both of the UAT roles at Citibank / Egg in Derby, so no job offer will be made. However, again (2nd time now) they have said that they will keep me in mind for future vacancies. Perhaps it will be 3rd time lucky...

On the mend

Andy took his grandmother to the hospital this evening and the news is good. Dad is mending, his chest is improving and responding to treatment and he should be back home before the weekend.

Mum & Dad

Today I took mother to the hospital to see dad. He was moved from Ward 309 to 401 earlier in the week, but when I went in today, he’d been moved again, within the ward to a different room. He was in good spirits, and reasonably well. Still wheezing in the chest, just about everything has been sorted out with various medications. He’s now on some super antibiotics which should clear his chest infection.

While we were there it came out that he keeps phoning “wrong numbers” because he’s so clumsy with his hands (part of his MS) so I spent some time sorting out the contacts on his phone, got it charged up, and put some credit on it with a top-up. That seemed to cheer him up some more.

Tonight Andy & his girlfriend are out at a friend's birthday party do. Suzie has gone to another birthday party session in the city, which is fancy dress so she's gone as Mini Mouse. All 3 will freeze as the temperature was 4 degrees celcius when they left house, and falling towards the forecasted -2°. Mark is doing course work for his degree and I'm sat writing these blog updates and (sort of) watching "Time Team" on the TV.

Mum is in good spirits and benefitting from this unexpected respite and will be joining us for Sunday lunch then Andy will be taking his grandmother to see his granddad after lunch.

JSA sign-on

Friday was sign-on day, so bike out for the trip down into town (sorry, city). First I had a TIS interview. TIS is short for Travel to Interview Scheme, which allows the unemployed to apply for funding to get to attend an interview. As far as I’m concerned it is a way of getting some meagre income from the UK government (some people call these funds “benefits” so why shouldn’t I benefit?). Up until now I’ve gone and got a claim form, producing evidence that I have been called for interview, then gone away, attended the interview, returned home, completed the form and submitted it for payment.

Only someone has changed the rules because too many people have been making false claims. Now I have to complete the form in advance AND have an interview to justify my claim BEFORE I attend the interview itself. So I do this, then see my usual contact and sign-on (she’s not allowed to do both). Having dutifully jumped through their hoops and ensured that I will be paid (the grand sum of £11.15 for TIS and £60.50 per week JSA for the next 2 weeks) I then I went shopping for a few bits and pieces at ASDA, before returning home to prepare for the interview.

Economic slow down

We hear the phrase but what does it mean to you and me. Well I can’t answer for you, but for me it means that since Monday I haven’t seen a new email alert for a Business Analyst. And if they aren’t advertised then to who should I apply? Fortunately, I had an interview set up on Monday for Friday afternoon so I focused on that all week, doing loads of research. While I was doing that the media was AGAIN talking up the recession that descended upon us while the politicians of the world slept or partied. So I went into this interview as well prepared as I have for any I’ve attended. How did it go? I think it went well, but, then so have a number before it and I’ve not managed to get a job offer yet, so will this time be any different? Who knows?

So when there are no new jobs advertised what can one do? Scan for other sites, the small local ones, possibly those attached to local newspapers and see if there is anything there. Visit the Local Authority web sites and scan them for job opportunities. Then when you run out of ideas, find something else to occupy your time, in my case I decided to shampoo the carpet in the main bathroom on Thursday, the only other thing that day was notable for was that since I was made unemployed it was the first day when I didn’t apply for a single job or talk to a job agency contact about a potential job.

All in a day

Monday started with me getting on top of the housework, then email job alerts including 3 that I instantly applied for. Then it was off to ferry Andy, mum and Chris up to see dad in the hospital for afternoon visiting time, back to cook dinner, then with Andy, pick up mum and Chris again for an hour at dad’s bedside until we then set off to drop Chris at the Hilton hotel next to Manchester Airport because she gets a company discount there and had an early morning flight back to the states. Andy and I get back home around 10:30pm and head for bed.

Somewhere in all that lot I got a phone call to say I’d got an interview for a job at 4pm this Friday near Nottingham.

So why did I get up this morning felling flat and de-motivated? I don’t know, but, it’s been a flat sort of day, all day, and I’ve no explanation as to why. Answers on a postcard please

Recycling

Last night there was an item on the news about recycling -- or should I say how this country doesn’t re-cycle. We, the public have been conditioned to sort waste for recycling, something I have taken to with avengance. Yet this article was highlighting that the price of all things being recycled (except glass) has dropped like a stone. Paper has fallen from £75 a ton to £15 a ton, and excepting glass, everything else has followed suit.

Why?

Simple, we don’t recycle, we gather it in, sort it out, bale it up and export it the Asia and China. That’s where it gets reprocessed. But now there’s a world recession and demand for their goods has dropped so they don’t need our waste to remanufacture.

So here’s my rant….

I believe with a passion that we should recycle wherever and whenever we can. So why the hell DO WE have to rely on OTHER COUNTRIES to recycle OUR WASTE? Those countries have 2 options:-
1. Buy in raw materials and manufacture the goods, or…
2. Buy in waste materials and remanufacture it into the goods….

Commercial logic says that if they choose to buy in waste and remanufacture then it is for one reason and one reason only, which is, that it is cheaper to do it that way! So why are we letting them make the profit?

The article last night stated that locals authorities would be loosing money because they would have to pay for storage of the baled up waste products until the market for them picks up. THAT SHOULD NOT BE THE CASE! We should be doing the recycling into base, useable material which can be used by manufacturers anywhere in the world. Instead we OFFLOAD our waste without taking any profit out of it. No wonder this country is in the state it is!

A quick catch-up

Thursday was a good day on the job hunting front, with 8 on-line applications submitted. I’m not happy that as things stand I don’t have any interviews lined up but all I can do now is play the numbers game. Feedback on my CV has been very positive of late so my constant refinement appears to be delivering.

Friday had been set aside to fetch my sister Christine from Manchester Airport as she flew in for a few days back here in the UK with mum & dad. Andy drove me up to meet her, arriving 10 minutes before her plane was due in, only to find it had already been on the ground for 10 minutes, so 8 minutes later the 3 of us were back on the road and out of the airport.

Saturday saw Angie & John drive up to Derby from Colchester, staying overnight at the bungalow, so it was a full house there Saturday night. Midday Sunday the three of them came to ours for a Sunday/Christmas dinner, leaving mum and dad for a couple of hours in peace and quiet. Angie & John returned home mid-afternoon as John has a job to go to through the week while Angie is in the same boat as I am – not having much joy job hunting.

Over the weekend dad’s condition had gradually deteriorated with a wheezing and rattling of his chest getting worse as the weekend progressed, so much so that Sunday afternoon mother called the emergency doctor service for a house visit. Dad was checked out, early stages of pneumonia was the possible diagnosis and an ambulance ordered to take him to hospital for tests and treatment. Christine went in the ambulance while mum & I followed in my car. For Christine this was all new, for mum & I it was the 5th or 6th time this year but she now knows how good the newly re-built Derby City hospital is and can now relate to it when we speak to her about it in future. As usual I was just added muscle to assist the ambulance crew of 2 rather dainty young ladies who at first tried to do without my assistance until they realised that they really did need it (getting a stretcher in and out of the bungalow isn’t easy). Dad was kept in overnight to do blood and breathing tests and to do a chest x-ray.

Today, in between bouts of job hunting, I’ll be fetching and carrying mum and Christine as Chris has a small shopping list she wants complete, plus another visit to see dad, before heading back to America tomorrow morning.

Sunny & Dry

Yesterday I remembered a generation that dies, and in doing so I became depressed thinking about both my current situation and the current state of the UK, which is at best dire.

In an attempt to lift my spirits (and partly to get away from the constant and incessant media focus on BAD news) I again accepted an invite to get out on the bike with Phil & Dave.

This time we went off into the Peak District of Derbyshire for a meander to sites both new and familiar, changing routes and destinations on a whim and making time for obligatory tea and photo breaks. Arrived back home with enough time to spare before cooking dinner to give the bike a quick wash down.

Next task (on the bike) is to do an oil and oil filter change as it’s just clocked up 20,000 miles and I like to change the oil every 4,000 miles, it’s a cheap insurance policy for engine performance. That will have to wait a day or two as tomorow morning Andy & I are picking Christine up at Manchester Airport for her flying visit to see Mum & Dad ( and the rest of us). I just hope she's strong enough to stomach how bad Dad now is.

We must never forget

Yesterday, the 11th November was Armistice Day – and at the 11th hour – 2 minutes silence was observed.

We must never forget the sacrifices made by a generation of young men that we may live today, free from the oppression that they faced. They gave their lives that others might live and we should honour their memory by making this country a better place than it currently is.

Rain stopped play

Saturday started fine and bright, but soon deteriorated into dull and wet, enough to dampen most Guy Fawkes night bonfires and sparklers. We dodge the rain enough to get the weekly shop done at the local ASDA on Saturday morning, but, the rest of the weekend was quiet and domesticated. Suzie did some baking (I will cook but I don’t bake). Both boys were variously in and out with and without respective girlfriends at various times.

With things the way they are -- me not having a job and no prospect of getting one -- we’ve decided to start selling off surplus stuff on eBay to raise a few quid. First up was Sue’s Samsung mobile phone and a pair of high heeled Italian leather designer shoes. Bought, they pinched her feet and she couldn’t be bothered to take them back. Anyway, both went onto eBay Sunday night, and blow me, the phone was bought for the Buy Now price within hours. So now I have to sort out some more stuff that we don’t want but that somebody else just might.

Friday’s dog

Sheba, Mum’s companion and confident now that dad’s spending most of his time asleep, wasn’t too good last week. From Wednesday onwards she hardly ate or drank, and was having trouble walking on her front legs. First I know about it is when mother phones Friday night asking if I was free to drive her to the vets. So I shoot down there and bundle mum & dog into mum’s van and off we go. Ten minutes, a thorough inspection, taking of temperature, 2 injections (antibiotic & pain killer) and payment of £40 later we are heading back home. Sheba showed no signs of improvement so Suzie got her a special bone shaped chew when we did the weekly shop on Saturday, which she readily devoured and it seemed to perk her up (Sheba, not Sue).

Went down to check the situation out today (Monday) afternoon -- dog is right and fine and up to her usual tricks. Spoke to mum tonight (she was out when I went down) and she confirms Sheba is fit and well. Something must have worked.

UK Banks

This week has shown that the fat cats that head up the retail banking and mortgage industry in the UK think that they are (i) above the reach of the law, (ii) beyond the influence of the public who they constantly rip off, and (iii) are intent on ONLY lining their pockets and increasing their own PERSONAL wealth.

I saw a street interview where the reporter was stopping people in the street and asking for their feelings on the banks failure (and total lack of intention) to pass on the 1.5% rate cut to their customers. Her response was that in her opinion “the banks of this country are morally bankrupt”. I have to commend that lady for her choice of words, and until the government pass appropriate legislation THAT IS THE WAY IT WILL STAY!

We – you and I, tax payers, have bailed the banks out of a situation of THEIR OWN making. How do they DARE think that we will sit back and simply accept that they can return to doing exactly what they did to get us into this situation in the first place. They (the banks) take our money every pay day, impose unreasonable charges on the slightest whim or fancy, lend at extortionate rates and spend enormous amounts of money on projects that involve placing more and more jobs offshore.

This time The Chancellor and Prime Minister stepped in and bluntly told the Banks that they HAD to pass on the savings. Hopefully next time that level of intervention won’t be necessary, but take my advice, don’t bet on it!

Not like last Friday

I was determined from the outset that this Friday was not going to be like last Friday -- I was not going to go into the weekend on a downer, a depressed grumpy old man. So it was up early, attack the email job alerts, and then go and sign on. What a surprise, there are 2 roles that really fit my strengths and past experience so I quickly knock of the on-line applications. Minutes later there’s a call from one of the agencies - - he’d picked up my CV in a search the previous evening and then first email of the day was my on-line application, there in his In Box. We quickly cover the formalities, and it’s agreed I’m going forward. Bouyed up I’m off on the bike to sign on.

Having done my bit and proved I qualify for the £60.50 a week they pay out I get on the bike, but I don’t head home, not today. The weather is the best it’s been all week and I’m of to The Limes Café on the A614 to meet up with Dave & Phil. These two fellow Deauville owners have invited me along on one of their regular ride-outs together and I’m more than happy to tag along. As they are used to riding together I take up the tail gunner, tail end Charlie position. To start we ride on roads I’m familiar with, then turn off onto roads new to me only for me to later find that I’m back on familiar roads again. This is repeated through the afternoon. Ollerton, Newark, Lincoln, RAF Waddington, Southall, Hucknall (bye Dave), Ilkeston and to Oakwood (bye Phil) and back home for 4pm. That’s what biking is all about. Impromptu adjustments to roughed out routes taking in forced diversions and changes to once familiar road layouts. Lincoln cathedral and Southall Minster are both impressive - - and that’s from the outside.


Dave & Phil at RAF Waddington (I'm behind the lens) and 3 Deauvilles - all the same and all 3 different

So did it work, did it have the desire result? Too damned right it did! Better than valium or large quantities of booze. I get home with a stupid great big grin on my face and I’m feeling good. Thanks to Dave & Phil for inviting me along. Ready for the weekend? Too right! Bring it on!

Long days alone

Job hunting means one thing these days, long days shut away in front of the computer making sure that your CV is “out there” , posted on job sites for potential employers and job agencies to find using their chosen search criteria. As a job seeker you have to make sure that you save at least one set of search criteria of your own and register for notifications by email. Then when the emails come flooding in you then have to look up the detailed job information and determine the all important essential criteria -- meet that and it’s then down to whether it pays enough and is in your location or within commuting distance.

The net result is spending a lot of hours chasing very few real opportunities because most jobs will show up on a number of email alerts but they will have small differences which is designed to make you contact them so that they can put you forward. What it actually does is waste a lot of time as I end up talking to several agencies about the same role and “the rules” are that only one agency represents you for an particular vacancy to save arguments on the subject of which agencies gets the commission payment for placing the successful applicant. They will tell you “To stop any duplicated application please note any companies you have either interviewed at or made direct applications for. (Please note if a company gets your CV twice they will think you are more interested in any job not their role).” What they are doing is getting more data on potential clients that they can approach with other prospective employees and for that reason I don’t reveal details of who I’ve applied to or been interviewed by until AFTER I’ve been told the result of the final step in the selection process. Why? Because I don’t NEED any more competition for the jobs I’m chasing.

What all this means is that whole days can and do disappear remarkably quickly. As soon as the family have left the house in the morning and I’m sat down with a cuppa tea and delving into the 20 of more email alerts that come in each day. Despite this I have whole days where I find no jobs at all worth my applying for. Now that may seem a strange statement to make but if you don’t meet the essential criteria then simply forget it! It isn’t worth the effort. Whoever gets your application will check the essential criteria first -- and if it isn’t met your application goes into the recycle bin. That’s if you are lucky. Some jobs have such high numbers of applicants chasing them that you could well get a read receipt that shows your emailed application was deleted without being read. To avoid that I’m now in the habit of phoning the nominated contact within 24 hours of applying -- it doesn’t always work as there are a lot of “on the phone” and “out to lunch” and “in a meeting” agency staff. That’s assuming that the phone number will actually take an incoming call -- many don’t, and when/if they phone you their number is always withheld.

So this week has disappeared in a blur of emails, phone calls and on-line job applications. Except that today I didn’t get a single phone call. The situation is getting worse out there, not better. The Bank of England rate cut of 1.5% had better work otherwise I could be stuck in this routine for a very long time, well, until the money runs out.

Just like buses

Typical -- Sunday was a good day for email alerts and I struck out with 8 on-line applications completed…. 3 for roles that I have applied for in the past and not heard anything and 5 for new roles (one is never sure). Then today….. nothing, not a single job that I could expect to progress to interview. So instead I did the laundry. And some shopping, which I did on the motorbike because I thought that would be a good idea, except I nearly couldn’t get it all home because I forgot to empty the panniers of all the clobber I carry around with me as a norm. Trouble was, I couldn’t squash the loaves of bread because they’d be no use if I did -- other than to feed to ducks in the park.

Figures of speech

Talking of ducks. Everybody calls everybody “Duck” in Derby. After nearly 20 years I still can’t get used to it. Nor do I particularly like it. But that’s Derby.

The other thing we have noticed of late, and it may apply to other cities, it how on a trip to the shops, or into the city, there’s always one family where the woman is screaming her ignorant head off at just about every opportunity. At the kids (usually 2 or 3 walking and 1 or 2 in a buggy). At bus and taxi drivers (who on seeing her heading their way try and make good their escape). At any opportunity. Pure ignorance! I’ve been on the channel tunnel and it’s both smaller and quieter than the mouths of these women. Cleaner too!

When Sue and I go out and hear these excuses for humanity spouting their obscenities we just look at each other, shrug our shoulders and steer a clear path away from them. Do they have any intelligence? They can’t care what other people think of them. Personally, I think that they do have a brain, the problem is that the only active brain cell in there is very, very lonely! Often I’m convinced that like to keep their brains in the family, so they share the one brain cell around and the problem is that we never know which of them has it. No wonder the UK has such a bad image abroad.

A quiet weekend

Friday evening saw Sue bring Anne (Nancy) home for dinner before the two of them went off to see Carol perform in her latest Amateur dramatic society production, followed by a swift drink before setting for home, dropping Anne off on the way. I stayed home and had a quiet night in as I wasn’t feeling very sociable.

Saturday we had a lay in, only Andy had to get up for work, and for a change he was rushed off his feet, partly due to the fact that he was the only qualified and competent technician in the workshop. Still, that in itself was enough to raise his spirits after his recent fears of redundancy -- they haven’t gone away, just his perspective has changed at little after his busy Saturday morning. Then he text me today from work, at lunchtime, to say that he’d traced the non-functioning of his front driving lights (on his Honda Civic Type-R) to a blown in-line fuse hidden away under the steering column.

Suzie and I did the weekly shopping, Somerfields for meat, Aldi for a few bits and then Asda for the rest. It adds less than 2 miles to the round trip doing all 3 instead of just Asda alone, and saves nearly £20 off the weekly bill -- well worth the extra effort and mileage.

We had a full house Saturday night with both the boys girlfriends staying over. Sunday was all about Lewis Hamilton and the FIA F1 drivers’ world championship. Nobody can accuse that race of being dull and boring, just a shame they aren’t all like that with plenty of overtaking and drama. Well done to Lewis, something to lift the spirits of the British at a time of gloom and doom.