Winter is here

There’s one advantage to being out of work -- with the onset of winter I don’t have to leave the house unless I want to. As a result I spend hours trawling the internet and banging out applications, responding to email alerts, replying to agency enquiries for more information. And it is paying off. Thursday I hear that I didn’t get a job out of Monday’s interview. Friday I get an invite to another interview, not until 6th January 2009, but at least I have another interview to look forward to and I’m finding that to be very important. Having that glimmer of hope that there is another interview and that it could be the one that turns into a job offer.

Just as important is having ride-outs on the bike. Wednesday I take the bike down into Derby. I have to visit the Job Seeker Office at the Wardwick because I’m still waiting on payment of some of the TIS claims I’ve made and as I can’t get through on the phone I decide to get down there on the bike. It was chilly but it made me smile. And I think we got to the bottom of the issues with my claims, so hopefully that’ll be a few quid into the bank account (not a lot but it all counts at the moment).

Friday should have been a day of riding out on the bike with a new found mate Phil who lives nearby on Oakwood and is also a Deauville rider. However, Friday starts cold and damp. Last night had started with a frost and then light rain had blown in, resulting in treacherous roads and the local radio is reporting loads of accidents due to car drivers not realising just how slippery it is out there. Phil phones and we agree to call off our ride out, which turns out to be the right decision. The day turns into a day of phone calls with agencies and ends with me getting an interview in Leicester (see above). Realistically, that’s better that I had a right to expect because it’s the wrong time of year for most firms to recruit, many are already thinking of the Christmas shut down and their staff parties and the UK (and world) economy isn’t helping my cause right now.