Essential maintenance

Spring has seen me catch up on some essential maintenance on the Deauville. Front forks were removed and the old fork oil drained and fresh oil carefully measured and duly poured in, forks reassembled, given a quick rub down and sprayed with Hammerite Smooth Silver before refitting. That started the process off.

Then a Motad full stainless steel exhaust system was fitted. It is so much lighter than the standard Honda system and will probably last long past the rest of the bike. Deauvilles have a reputation of going on forever, but, outlasting stainless...? Anyway, here's a picture I took when I was still at FIS just after it had been fitted.


Newly fitted Motad exhaust on view.

With all the time I've had on my hands I've put some effort into cleaning the bike up so it looks even better now than in this picture and if you want to leanr more and see more pictures then visit My Family website.

Job Interviews

Well the best thing I can say is that I'm certainly getting some practice in. It's 2 weeks today since I last worked, so that means that I've now been jobless for 2 weeks - simples! The sequence has been...

Last week - Monday 1pm - a phone interview, details of which I've already recountered..... (see previous post).

Last week - Tuesday 1pm - a local 1st round interview with candidates to be short listed by the agency for 2nd round interview. I thought it went reasonably well, but, for one reason or another I'm still waiting. Yes, I keep getting updates but not that "You are in/out" call.

This week - Tuesday 1pm - a 20 questions type interview for a role at HSBC in Sheffield. Again I think it went well but I won't hear until after all interviews have been held tomorrow (so that means Monday).

Last week - Today 8:30am - a whole day assessment at an office in Coventry. This one was one I was dreading as on face value I'd not got an ideal fit for their advertised experience needs. However, not one to back down from a challenge I went for it and was right up for it on the day. I enjoyed it. I gave a good account of myself and I don't think I let down either myself or the agency that put me forward (many thanks to Mark at Elan). No, I didn't get to the final 2 but I was in 3rd spot and they have said that they will keep my details on file as they are constantly expanding and growing the business.

So thats 4 interviews, no job offers, but spirits are still up and today was a much needed confidence booster. And there's still another local interview for me to look forward to next Monday at 11am, and I've more in the pipeline that I've applied for and I'm waiting to hear from.

My first job interview

I had a phone interview lined up for 1pm yesterday. The guy (Paul Stewart) was late ringing me and he went straight for location and the fact that I'm Derby based while the client's work is in London and the south and he just ruled me straight out. I didn't get a chance to sell myself at all. The job was with i-Realise who (from their web site) appear to be very similar to ZEDA Ltd (a previous employer of mine, no longer in existence) and with roles to fill that I felt I could slot right into. But no, I’m in the wrong place as far as he was concerned, unless I was looking to relocate (which I'm not). I tried to put a positive spin on it because I've commuted to Milton Keynes and north London in the past, and serviced clients in Bristol, Crawley, Croydon, Canterbury and the Isle of White. Paul was adamant that it's not possible to commute from Derby to Milton Keynes on a daily basis even though I've done it for nearly 3 years. That I can't best service clients in Kent, Surrey Hampshire, Beds & Berks - even though I've supported clients in North Allerton (up near Middleborough), Bristol, Crawley and Canterbury in the past and all in the same week. Yes, it's a lot of driving but I've been there done that. And as for his claim of clients in Essex - that's where I grew up, and we return there to visit family and friends on an occasional basis. But for him it was a deal breaker and the call lasted all of 5 minutes (if that).

Overall, I'm disappointed mainly because I wasn't given a fair shot at presenting myself and what I have to offer. No discussion of skills or past experience, what I've done, where I've been. No, I don't want to work in central London, but outside the M25 to me is fair game.

So if you are unlucky enough to find yourself having a first time phone interview with Paul Stewart then based on my experience, you are up against somebody with preconceived ideas, misconceptions and a closed mind – not the attributes one normally associates with a recruiter working for an agency and that agencies clients.

Anyway, I've got another interview in Derby today, so I'm hoping that goes better... then another one next Tuesday. All different roles. And yesterday I found another BA role right here on my doorstep at Derby City Council (where my wife Sue works although she knew nothing about it) so I'll be applying for that.

Redundant (again)

Last day with FIS is 31st March. However, right now I'm actually feeling quite positive about the whole episode (which has been drawn out and filled with management lies and deceipt) as I only posted my CV on the usual web sites last weekend and appart from Thursday (which was quiet) the mobile hasn't stopped ringing and emails flying about, requesting more details and promising to submit my CV to all number of places, a couple of which are very interesting, three of which are in banking/finance and a further three in software development - all of which I have a past track record in.

FIS have thrown in a couple of 'outreach' sessions where I'll get advice and guidance on my CV and stuff connected with getting back into work. First session is Tuesday 29th so that will be interesting as I've never had any help of that sort.

And summer is on the way, so I can always just get on the bike and ride....

Spending cuts hit Helen Lay Centre

Mother has had some communications with the Helen Lay Centre, and it's bad news. Government spending cuts mean that the centre will close at the end of June, which is at the end of the second of Dad's proposed 3 week stay. What will happen after that? I don't know but it doesn't look good. Mum is at full stretch right now and if she doesn't get respite I fear it'll be the start of end of her. With everyone else out at work I'm at a loss as to what the solution is right now, but one thing is sure, it's no good asking social services to help.

Family

This last weekend John & Angie came up from Colchester to stay with Mum & Dad. John had his mind to demolish the shed ready for a replacement, and we'd organised a skip to be delivered on Friday so that when John arrived he and I got stuck in with Angie keeping the cups of tea coming and binning some of the smaller bits that had to go in the skip. John took the lead and I was his labourer (physical labour is something I'm not used to these days). The short of it was that the shed was demolished, site cleared and prepared ready for a concrete base. Loads of stuff went into the recycle bins but most went into the skip. It was hard work but an enjoyable change from computer key presses which passes as "work" in my world.

On top of that little lot (which took all the afternoon daylight hours) I managed my share of the household chores, washed Sue's car,and mine, and the motorbike, as well as a trip to Pinxton taking the in-laws to buy a replacement mobility scooter for father-in-law - that'll be delivered next Saturday.

Sunday for me was a ride-out with the guys to Brimington sheds. Iffy damp weather tried it's best to put a dampener on proceedings but it was still enjoyable and it turned out that those from "up north" had missed a nice dry day, while those of us from Derby and further south missed out on a serious dousing as the heavens opened and it lashed it down. So light drizzle and rain meant we got off lightly.

Catch-up

Oh dear, I've been neglecting the blog again. Too much to do and not enough time to do it. It's been a mad year so far, especially at work, where I'm spending most of my time as a "Test Analyst" which mainly involves getting thrown in at the deep end and having to work it out for myself. And then the management wonder why there is an increasing number of "incidents" in the production environment. An "employee survey" across the globe of FIS employees has informed the management that satisfaction scores in Leicester are the lowest for all FIS offices, at half the global average of 64%, while another of the offices is the UK topped the satisfaction sutvey with an 86% score. It sent out a powerful message and today our MD walked and the replacement took up the reigns.

Additionally, we've had the usual round of annual performance reviews. Except this year we had to use a new system and nobody had been trained on how to use it, including the reveiwing managers. The best bit is that it has absolutely no bearing on the annual pay review or individual rewards packages, so basically it's a waste of time. Aren't they all?

Anyway, we are seeing some changes supposedly to improve efficiency. Like replacing the kettles in the kitchen with a wall mounted urn. As the water is always hot it means less time spent waiting around in the kitchen. A small but significant measure because it points towards the way the new MD is thinking.

Well done Jack Straw

Headline White girls are 'easy meat' for Pakistani men: Jack Straw under fire for making 'offensive' remarks on sex abuse cases. Read more at The Mail

Now I'm not a racist (see my family website to understand) but I fully believe that Jack Straw should be commended for the accuracy of his comments and powers of observation. Instead, he gets lambasted by the press for his open, honest and professional remarks based on information which he is privy to and supported by recent court cases.

I live with my family in Derby and we see this type of sexual predatory stalking by the young Pakistani males of white females across the city and in local news articles all the time. And they use intimidation as their main tool, especially if the female at the focus of thier attentions is escorted or with anybody. The recent convictions are just the tip of the iceberg.

The press should get their facts right and stop jumping on the wrong side of the news bandwagon and support Jack Straw - more needs to be done and the police supported. Why? Because most of the time as soon as they make any arrests the young males scream the race card and get let off.

Mark collects his Mazda

Yes, Mark has upgraded from his first car, a 1.2 Fiat Punto to a 1.6 Mazda 3 TS. Age wise he has gone from a 1999 "banger" which was run on a shoe string to a 2004 car that is much more in keeping with both his job and the need to make regular trips to visit his girlfriend in Slough.


Mark collects his Mazda from Sunwin, Derby.

The Punto had 82,000+ recorded miles, this Mazda has covered less than 33,000 and has a full 12 months (Mazda backed) warranty, so here's hoping it does him good service over the next few years without costing a fortune along the way.

Parents become old people

Parents - usually nice to have and nice to know. But, they become old people and the same doesn't always apply. Like young kids they become demanding. And they don't just want it, they want it now!

Now I remember that all the way through my formative years we worked on the basis that there were 4 Sundays in a month. These were then allocated on the basis of one for a visit to Dad's mum, one at home, then one at mum's parents and one at home. If there were 5 sundays in the month then that was an extra at home Sunday.

But now our parents are old people, and yes, we still love them but even though we get to see them at least once a week, usually twice and often more frequently than that... it's never enough. They still want to "see more of us". They claim they don't get out. Now for my dad that is true, he does nothing because of his advanced MS, he can't, but mother walks the dog most days, gets into town and round the supermarkets to do her shopping. Likewise Sue's mum, while her dad is transported to an old folks "club" twice a week and every now and then his mate Tony takes him to The Legion for a night out. In the better weather he gets about on a mobility scooter but with sub zero temperatures currently bing the norm, then he's staying in more as we'd expect. Except he doesn't. He wants to be out.

So where does that leave us? Running around after the old folks. Doing the shopping that they forget because they won't write themselves a list but which we won't do unless it's on a list (see the irony there - they won't write a list for themselves but they will for us). Popping in and out, lots of short visits simply because if we just go for a few hours once a week then they say "we never see anything of you".

I love my parents but I'm not so keen on old people.

The banger is going!

Mark needs a reliable car and the Punto is past it's best. It has served him well and been really quite cheap to run but recent events have highlighted it's age. So while his car was off the road waiting on Andy's time to fix it and then the phased repair after the first fix failed to provide the permanent solution, "Dad's Taxi" gets hooked into conveying him around the dealers and car retailers in the local area. After several of weeks searching, initially without any idea as to what he really wanted and all the time mindful that he didn't want to blow all his savings, we finally found the solution.

Late on Sunday afternoon we dropped in on the local Mazda dealership, and after being advised that all the ones in the price bracket we were looking had been sold and leaving our details for then to "get back to us" we took a walk round a corner plot to see a lovely looking example of a 7 year old Mazda 3 TS at half the price we'd set as the upper limit of his budget. We persuade a salesman who obviously wants to be getting off home, to give Mark a test drive. The smile across his face when he returns tells me all I need to know. So, we agree that subject to an inspection by his bigger brother Andy, and the go ahead from him, we are seriously interested.

Andy has seen it, driven it, inspected it and on Tuesday after Christmas Mark will own a low mileage Mazda 3 1.6 TS in a rather nice metallic blue, complete with a 1 year Mazda backed warranty and home start, breakdown and recovery. What a nice way to end the year.

Exensive time of year

Yes, Christmas is upon us and it's traditionally an expensive time of year, but boy, this year takes the biscuit.

First the washing machine decides it wants to be a shopping trolley (i.e. have a mind of it's own) and not wash/dry what's put in it to the program selected on the dial.

Second breakdown was Mark's car. On the main, narrow and twisty road up through Castle Donington on his way to work it stops, having over heated. Due to the sub-zero temperatures it soon cools down without any coolant being added and he gets to work. And later, he drives it home. The water pump is leaking a pretty flow so that's the obvious culprit, and is duly replaced only for a second leak to then be found at the union of the block to the heater matrix part of the system - an elbow piece of plastic with a temperature sensor is having a hard time and leaking coolant at a rate of knots, so a new one is purchased and fitted. Job done, the banger lives again and at least he can get to work.

Next up, the boiler decides to follow suit so we get the local man in who diagnoses the fault and we then have to wait 10 days for the bit to come and for him to fit it, a ten minute job, an expensive ten minute job, but as always he sticks with his quote so we are just happy to get hot radiators when we turn up the thermostat.

Then yesterday Sue gets her car out to drive to work, only to find it's pulling to the left. that might be because the near side front tyre has a damned great big nail through it. That's one new tyre then.

So when I get home to insurance renewal notices for (i) my car insurance, and (ii) the home contents and building insurance I'm not well pleased. All due by the end of the year, they bring the tally for December to £1,600.

And I still have to find £300 from somewhere for a replacement exhaust for the motorbike - so that'll be on hold until February (at least).