Busy B

Things have been a little crazy since the last post. On the job front, I got a phone call the other week from one of the local councils. I'd applied for a job with them way back in April and hadn't heard a thing. It said on the application form that if you don't hear anything within 2 weeks then you've been unsuccessful so I'd put it out of my mind. Anywho, they rang the other week to see if I was still interested and, of course, I said yes please! My interview is next Friday so fingers crossed please. Later that week I had another out of the blue phone call about another job that I'd applied to ages ago and thought I'd lost out on. This time it was a shoe company who wanted to see me on Monday about a management position. This call caught me a little off guard so I stupidly said I couldn't make it (my family were coming to visit and we had plans for that day). I got into work and the first thing my boss said to me was 'What's wrong?'. I sheepishly told her I'd turned down an interview for a decent job and she swiftly kicked my ass for doing that when we have only 7(!) weeks of employment left. She sent me upstairs to ring the company back and tell them I'd changed my plans and grovel for the interview. Thank god she's there to keep me right! The interview went well although I've not heard anything back. At least if I don't get the council job I won't be kicking myself for not going to that one and wondering about what could have been. I've got some more applications to put in tomorrow so I'll keep you posted on what happens but please please please keep those fingers crossed next Friday because I really really really want that job!

As I mentioned above my family came to visit last week and even that turned into a bit of a fiasco. It was supposed to be my mum, dad and sister all coming but at the last minute their pet rabbit Minnie was ill. They had to book him in for an operation so one of them had to stay behind to look after him. My sister chose to stay and booked some train tickets so she could join us on Tuesday. When she arrived at the vets on Monday morning it turned out that they couldn't operate because Minnie wasn't pooing. Can't think of a nice way to put that so there you have it. He was given some injections and medicine to take and told to come back Tuesday. So Charlotte wasn't on her train on Tuesday and by the time Minnie got himself going it turned out he didn't need an operation after all but it was too late to make it worthwhile for her to come visit. Mum and Dad had a great time though so it wasn't all bad.

Finally my faithful old car Mog went in for her MOT last week. The news was not good. It was going to cost roughly twice what she's worth to get her through it so we decided to take advantage of the government scrappage scheme (thankfully I got the MOT a little early so the old one still covers her) and buy a new one. Ben flies to Singapore today and of course the family were staying last week so its been a hectic few days - visiting dealerships, entertaining the parents, packing suitcases, going to work and finally committing to a 'finance package'. Eek! I go pick up my brand shiny new Hyundai i30 next Tuesday though. Very exciting!!

Time to go to work for a rest now I think!

Abattoir adventures

Until about a month or so ago I was a vegetarian. Not a very dedicated one (I still ate seafood and I bought leather shoes and handbags) but a vegetarian all the same and I had been for about 10 years. Boredom at work led me to decide that my decision to not eat meat did not prevent any animals from being killed and also made life difficult for people who had to cook for me (many many apologies to my mum, the boy and also his mum who always pulled out the stops to make me yummy veggie options). To be honest I was also pretty curious about what certain different meats tasted like. I'd never had things like duck and I can't even remember eating much pork or lamb as a kid either. My meat eating education is coming on a treat but last week I took it a step too far I think.

You will recall that I'm currently job hunting as my lovely shoe shop is closing at the beginning of August? Well I answered an advert last week for a trainee secretary in what I thought was a food factory. I got an email back to say they wanted to see me and at the bottom of the email I noted, with horror, that the company was actually an abattoir. I decided that if I was going to eat meat, I should be able to deal with this and so I decided to go for the interview, much to the bemusement of everyone around me.

As I entered the building, the gentleman I was supposed to be being interviewed by came running down the stairs, pulling on a white coat streaked with blood and told me 'You've arrived in the middle of a disaster. Would you mind waiting? Watch the blood on the stairs'. I did as I was told, all the while wondering what on earth I was doing there.

The interview actually went ok and I was called back to meet the head of the company for a second interview but between them they talked me out of the job telling me I would be bored and it was a very junior position. I turned the job down much to the relief of friends and family who thought I was mad for even turning up in the first place. So far the job hunt is not going so well!

Bye Bye Siany

That leaving do I mentioned I was at the other week was for my good friend Sian who's leaving lovely North Wales for a stint in Scotland. We've only been friends for a year or so but she's been there for me since I moved here, while I was finishing off the dreaded thesis and she's been a really good friend. I'm going to miss her lots :( Good luck Sian!! Don't be a stranger!