Bah!

So I continue the job search, full of zeal and enthusiasm.  Well as much as I can gather these days.  In one agency I used the word 'sedentary,' and was asked what this meant.  I can excuse the young lass as she may have been temping there herself, but she probably had several 'A' levels and some 'O' ones also I guess to get that job.  Yesterday another agency left a message on my ansafone questioning the CV I sent them.  This time the woman must earn around £25,000 a year and she also appeared to wonder what I meant by 'sedentary.'  I might have been the context but I wonder.  Today a different agency questioned my CV.  "I got your letter she said, but you did not attach the CV."  Yes I did dear, it followed after I signed the letter and said c.v enclosed.  It was all one long letter/c.v.  maybe it's just me.  However I do have a cunning plan that I may put into action soon.  Next week, after the long weekend is over and all the days off have passed, I will get the 'Work Programme' folk to actually do something.  I think there is a job but might need their help to worm my way in through a 'placement,' the trendy way to do things today.  I of course have had lot's of 'cunning plans' in the past wee while, and look where they got me......

And another thing, the tips of my fingers, both of them, are suffering from hammering away at this laptop!  I might soon have to wear gloves to type to prevent them becoming blistered and worn!  Bah!

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Camulodunum

Camulodunum was very cold today, in spite of the weather man claiming the cold snap was lessening.  Here we see the wall forming the first defensive barrier.  Behind the land slopes up to where I suspect another barrier once stood.  Well it would have had I anything to do with it!

Not exactly straight!  Age has indeed wearied this wall which has lasted many years.

 

The variety of stones includes many slim red tiles.  These are Roman bricks I believe but I am too busy to check it out and I wonder if this forms part of the wall created as part of the new defences after Boudicca's revolt. 

   

Can you make out the thin layer of ice that lies on top of the river?

I wondered what this was at first.  The design and brickwork was typical 1950's and must have appeared very modern at the time.  It forms part of the Fire Station and while I am unsure as to whether it is a chimney or part of the training routine I found it strangely atmospheric of its time!

I was amazed by the lamp standards in this area.  Very dated and very badly maintained.  Much more attractive than the concrete type that appeared in the 50's, or would be if painted once again.

My meeting there was once again with a different person.   Yet another has walked off to tour the world and I am now on my fourth worker, and I suspect this will change to another next time I trundle along there.  Still this lass has plenty of common sense and a great deal of the females normal attitudes, she nagged me, browbeat me and was totally unreasonable in her demands!  However I am much encouraged by the news that the employment situation will worsen and 'bosses are losing staff' claim the press.  It did not mention where they lose them however.

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The World Has Gone Mad!

Daily Mail

For one our PR PM has decided to have a Cabinet meeting in the middle of the new made 'Handball Court' at the Olympic Stadium!  Here the first Cabinet of the year ignored the dicey economy, the unemployed, the tax dodging by his friends and instead concentrated on advertising the white elephant that is the Olympics. You may have guessed that I am not too enamoured by the Olympics, I like some aspects, people throwing things, weightlifting and a few other events, but so much of it is boring and will take up more TV time than Wimbledon does.  I also think it would have been better to let the French have it, then they can pay at least £9 Billion for it!  Obviously the World Cup was more important but long ago, when Manchester attempted to get the Olympics, the powers that be decided they wanted it and it had to be in London, Manchester not being important enough to London based politicians and business types.  'Dave' has told his people to go out and advertise the Games, does he think we don't care?  The reason I suppose is that any benefits, if any, will go to London and the rest of the nation will be paying for this but getting nothing back.  Much effort has gone in to spread the events, less to bring benefits and more to ease the grumbling about paying for London's Games.  These Games will of course reverse the recession Dave' will they?  Clearly no real discussion of any relevance took place here, that will occur tomorrow when the real Cabinet meets, and far too many microphones desperate to listen in to the blubbering mistakes which sadly did not occur, but 'Dave' will be happy with the publicity stunt, he likes those.

What? Me cynical.....?

Daily Mirror

Another aspect of the world going mad is 'No Pants Day,' as you can imagine this is an American idea!  Who else would consider large numbers of people sitting on trains with no trousers on and revealing acres of peelly wally flesh as fun?  It certainly would not have begun life in Scotland! It ought of course to be 'No Trousers Day' but as you know our colonial brethren are illiterate and wrongly attribute names where they ought not.  Will they ever learn?  The 'Daily Mirror' site contains more pictures and a video, which I assure you I have decided to avoid, as I am not convinced that revelations of what is inside a trouser leg ought to be made this way, or indeed in any other. Such pranks, while containing an element of humour, can also reveal much, indeed a great deal, that ought to remain hidden!  More Man Flu (and women's minor chills) on the way I can tell.

My tired and weary body dragged itself into town again this morning, and I decided to go with it, grumbling that I wished to remain abed for another day.  However the trip was not too bad, in fact the numbers of passengers were low and entirely free from needless acres of flesh being pressed into my eyesight by 'No Pants Day' militants.  In fact traffic everywhere was quiet today, some folks still on holiday it appears.  All was refined on the train, in spite of yet another hike in the price of travel and apart from a 15 year old Chav who let us all hear his 'Rap' for two stops.  How I wish that nice man on the Falkirk train was aboard at that moment.  Funnily enough as the said 'ned'  left the train I began to feel sorry for him.  He left the train at a country station and gave an impression of a life of 'Bumpkin' ahead of him.  He looked 15, not very bright, and if he was older he does not have a future as a brain surgeon awaiting him. I wonder if he noticed the other passengers let alone the noise?  In fact I was kind of depressed at the future that lay before him.  I also thought he was a bit like me at 15, stupid!  Where would I be if Jesus had not interfered?  So I didn't shoot him after all.  No doubt a tractor or an angry pig will get him one day.  

My meeting begun early, lasted less than 15 minutes, gave me no sympathy (she was a young woman after all!) and I left for my return train wondering if this was really worth it?  These people are meant to help us unemployed find work, even though there are no jobs, and they do not have any more idea than I have.  Worse still the place was filling up as I left with men of my age beginning their time here, all long term unemployed, most capable, and only one or two shirkers.  What chance have we I ask if we congregate in such numbers?  The Tories wish to stop benefits for those who refuse job offers, what job offers?  They want unemployed to work for free, where?  In short, rather than create jobs they fill the 'Daily Mail' with pledges and attacks on benefit scroungers.  I can tell them some of us wish we were working and do not like our situation!  That of course will not please 'Middle England' and the Tory voters prejudice.  

However the good thing was the time waiting to enter and I espied a couple of pics which did not quite work but I quite like anyway.  The third one is on the Foto sight.  The struggling effort has been good for the virus as it appears to be weakened considerably today.  One day soon I will eat again properly.  

Is your name on here somewhere?

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Railway Day Out, Sort Off

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As part of my job search I was forced to journey into the big town today. This entailed finding a suitable train timetable, they all have variations these days and the prices cannot be trusted also, and this morning bright and early, the day not myself, I wandered down to our bit of line. There in the sunshine I joined the late commuters, the London train left an hour ago, and soon climbed aboard the exciting journey that is a trip by rail!  I admit I would prefer a steam engine chuffing along through the countryside but such things are not common today.  Instead we had the usual diesel and while comfortable enough to do the job it neither 'chuffs' nor has the same romance. The 'romance' of the journey began with the train announcement scrolled across the screen above the door informing us where the train had 'arrived at.'  I thought if you have come here pal you have certainly not 'arrived!' Still it could be worse I suppose, it could say 'Arrived at Scunthorpe,' and we wouldn't want that would we? 


People on trains are the main problem with public transport.  If I could share the coach with nice people instead of ones I disliked life would be easier.  Having traveled on the commuter train on occasion I suspect many there feel the same.  These trains have been fitted with windows that open and one chap came in, took of his jacket, it was indeed a warm day, and opened the window above him and sat down.  How I hate this!  He opens the window for air, yet the air has no effect on him!  Instead it blows over to the other side of the coach freezing the people over there.  The only answer, apart from shooting him New York Police style, is to open the window above you and hope he gets chilblains!  I noticed all the windows were shut today in spite of the warmth and stuffiness around.  Maybe a cop had got on earlier as the train made its way out here?  


A substantial lass also joined us.  She immediately got the mobile phone out!  Now while mobile phones are indeed one of the many blessings we take for granted they are not an advantage on quiet railway coaches!  On this occasion the lady made a quick call, now that is a miracle, and replaced the villain in the bottom of her bag.  Quite why women do this I know not, but when it rings she then spend several minutes hunting for the brute while it plays 'Land of my fathers' in an annoying digital manner!  Some women use the mobile in the manner that once cigarettes were made use off, as some sort of protection while in public.  It is as if being occupied this way there is a barrier between them and the dangers around them.  Many pass my door pushing a pram with one hand, a toddler several feet behind them, on a  main road, while they blether into their phone. Others, male and female, can be seen in the dark evenings like some sort of firefly creature moving around. The person is not seen, just a greening glow from their phone while they read important texts.


Changing trains I took several pictures of the line, secretly as possible to avoid being mistaken for an anorak! This enabled me to obtain not only the above picture but two at angles of 35 degrees and late at my destination, one of the platform itself!  There is something about railways, and something about the view as the line disappears into the distance.  When younger I watched a drama, worth watching in those days, that ended with a young couple on a rail platform as he made his move elsewhere. The story I forget but I recall an longing to move on down that line to find what was at the other end.  Now however, having been there, I find the longing less strong but an underlying desire to go and see does remain.  This time I no longer expect a pot of gold to be found there. 


For a couple of hours I was reminded of things I knew long ago, informed of the wonderful aid to help me 'back to work' that exists, but without being informed as to where the jobs themselves lay, and spent a jolly nice time with reasonable people, in the circumstances.  One thing I noticed was the spaces prepared for around a dozen participants, three turned up and one phoned in sick, he fell down the stairs on the bus or some such.  The rest?  I suspect several will not be interested, one or two will have seen it all before, and then there was us three.  Are these organisations really going to find 'placements' in firms?  If so will this be 'cheap labour?'  Who knows?  It is worth it just for the day out in the sun, the train journey and a few pictures. It makes a change from my usual humdrum routine, and nice to see some interesting, but grubby, Victorian buildings there.  I am back tomorrow for a more serious discussion and I will get a couple of shots of the buildings which intrigue me.  Clearly there was money here in Victorian days. "Who pays the fares?"  They did, good eh?

 


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Oh Joy!

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I was delighted to read that the local jobless numbers had decreased somewhat in the past few weeks. It may well be an opening for a useless plonker (unskilled is the proper term) may yet appear I thought.  A few objections have of course been raised to any encouragement by the revelation that these figures may well have been somewhat distorted. Gosh! Who would have thought that?  Those gaining 'work placements' I understand are removed from the numbers. Invalidity claimants (or whatever name it has now) are also omitted even while many do seek work. Other 'positive accounting' takes place in an effort to smooth the politicians (and the HEO's) progress. It still remains that five people apply for every job. Or to put it another way Five hundred apply for the appropriate (easy, unskilled, overpaid, sedentary, numpty) jobs I look for.  I stare into the future with my head held.........well in my hands actually......

Good old 'Dave!' Twice today he has shown us where his heart is. First he has announced he wants to encourage marriage to strengthen a 'stable society.' By that he probably means he will make folks live among the horses I suspect. He considers marriage to be the basis of a stable society and I agree with him. Will he therefore decide that benefits appropriate to this would arise? Tax benefits etc?  Would he therefore encourage job creation and 'positive discrimination for married persons perhaps? Hmmm. PR is all very well but policy is no use without money Mr C.

He has suddenly come off the fence regarding papers publishing 'Kiss & Tell' stories. Suddenly he is claiming that it is unfair that Social media can publish names while papers cannot. Well I wonder why he speaks out now? Has Mr Murdoch been on the phone perhaps? You know Murdoch, that nice man who owns the 'Sun.' That is the paper yon tart was attempting to sell a 'Kiss & Tell' story to regarding a Premiership footballer.  He had the courts stop revelation of his name, yet someone (surely not an employee of the 'Sun') placed his name on 'Twitter,' thereby breaking the injunction.  You would not ask me to believe that such a man as Murdoch would now be influencing the Prime Minister of England just because he wishes to make a fast buck would you? Just because he sneaked up the back stairs into No 10 the minute Cameron forced his way in does not mean Murdoch has an unholy hold over this PM does it? Well, does it....? I am sure 'Dave' is thinking for himself, not for Murdoch, nor indeed for personal advantage. I trust this PM as much as I trusted Tony Blair, and you cannot say fairer than that!  

cf with this excellent piece. Auld Reekie Rants





p.s.  I am thinking of taking a job as a contortionist, just to make ends meet.


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ISP's

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The German vessels were nine miles away when the Royal Navy began firing. As the chase progressed huge shells soared through the air between the fleets. HMS Invincible suddenly turned into a ball of flame and sank within 90 seconds. Only six men were to survive. The battle continued into the night with huge shells flying miles to land on or near their enemy. Ships sank and others were damaged, still the fight went on.  As the Grand fleet pursued the enemy the phone rang. I put aside the plastic warships and climbed out of the bath. Dripping wet I went to the phone. It had stopped ringing and the caller was murmuring unwillingly into the ansafone. It was my sister asking advice about ISP's as her daughter had dumped placed a PC in her house for her to use. I excused myself, dried off and returned still with my mind in the North Sea of 1916. She declared at one point that her use of the phone was limited, although she took fifty minutes to say this, and we eventually decided what her chosen option ought to be. 


It is very hard to pick an ISP. Even though I have used this wonderful device for years I do not easily follow the lies offers that are proffered. Her daughter had printed out several, some which sounded good, but from this distance it is not possible to easily explain all the ins and outs of these companies. It is at times like this I wish I was back north. Each ISP offers cheap prices but then you require careful reading of the downloads, the allowance if there is one, whether a contract is required, if the phone is free all day or only at certain times, and so on. With different rates for 'Business' and for 'Home' and several offers for each the new user requires a lawyer to understand what they are reading. However she will eventually get something working, and then complain about the 'pap' that I keep sending her. I have wanted her to get this for years and while both her and her man will grumble I know they will be on the thing all day! How did we live without the PC in times past I wonder?

I attended the JobCentre again as per usual. My regular man was off and I was attended to by a kind gentleman who carried a pot belly that made me appear thin! How glad I was to see him, so glad when I got home I stuffed my face! However I am on what is called 'New Deal, ' and after a poor job search with my chap I went to meet the 'New Deal' woman. Nice lass tries hard, looks bored. The 'New Deal' entails a trip  to the big town for a discussion with what I am assured is a wise lady I who will find me a work placement in the area. Several weeks on the trip has not appeared, the work placements are hard to find! I could have told them that! However as the majority on this system are young I guess they are getting priority. From today's short meeting it is apparent I may never see big town after all. In short this is a government idea, pushed through against the JobCentre's best advice, that doesn't work as there are NO JOBS!  I will be sixty in a few weeks, I wonder if I will ever work again sometimes. However I am not downhearted, I know who looks after me, in spite of all this, and something good will happen, eventually! In the meantime, back to Jutland!

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Flower Bush

For the last couple of years, at around this time, the air here is fragrant with the scent from this flowering bush. It hangs in the air in the cool of the day and covers a very wide area indeed. It is fabulous! It changes the whole atmosphere of the place, although I wonder if the brats chasing one another around the nearby skatepark appreciate this? I am instead surprised that it grew at all with their adolescent approach to the park. Possibly the drugs and dregs from the bottles of cheap lager have in fact aided its growth. It does look woosy in the wind right enough. I have of course no idea what this is called, although it might be a rhododendron bush (note the use of the spellchecker there folks!) but it could be almost anything. If it is not a 'Rose,' 'Tulip,' or 'Pansy,' will not be aware what any flower might be called. It's lovely however.

 

Today I spent some 40 minutes applying for a driving job with this company. To do so I had to apply online which meant registering with them and logging in to the application procedure. This meant answering 75 questions, most of which were irrelevant to the job (as usual) and then fill in the personal details. Why is it these organisations no longer depend on human beings? Are personnel staff (Sorry, Human Resources) to dumb to recognise someone is able to do the job or not? In fact many such staff I have met are very able to understand humanity although I have met quite a few who would be lost without a book to refer to. It appears that the bigger the company the more trendy the system is required. Certainly there is a need for companies receiving large numbers of applications to have a simple and quick system to ascertain the best applicants but I wonder about the efficiency of this type of system. I suspect this began in the USA and I know it has spread throughout the UK. In fact I have twice failed the B&Q questionnaire, possibly because I failed to lie, and failed to give the impression I would lie to sell goods! I noticed the last time I was in their store that some members of staff had managed to find employment while lying about the 'Having a cheery personality' question! Yes you miserable old bat, I mean you!

I finished the application just after eleven o'clock today. By two thirty they had responded and told me, very nicely, to 'Take a hike!' Typical, just typical!


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Joy!

Joy indeed. I had to attend an interview I did not want to go to and was quite down about this. Some things are forced upon us and I was going to go through with it as all options otherwise failed. Joy of joys! Someone had been stealing the copper wire used in railway signals and set fire to a station on the line! There was no way I could reach my destination! Hallelujah! Phoning the contact I discovered there was no other dates as this was the last! So, sadly, that job has gone and I am back to looking for something that I can actually do! Whatever that is?
Who says prayer does not get answered?


Today in1911 Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first man to reach the South Pole. Quite what made him do this in wintertime is beyond me. Why didn't he wait until summer when it would be warmer and the journey so much easier? I have never understood why anyone would wish to spend an enormous amount of time and energy crossing vast acres of ice in subzero temperatures. Just what is the joy in having your toes frozen off? Give me sunshine and warmth every time I say.
Anyway Roald made the journey with the usual Norwegian efficiency. He used dogs rather than the horse which I believe Scott used, and prepared solely for an attempt on the Pole, rather than a scientific exploration. He reached the pole a month before Scott, leading the British effort. Scott was of course regarded as a hero,but the more I hear of him the less I find this to be the case. Shackleton made an effort on the Pole also but turned back as he was unwilling to lose his men. Indeed at one time he left many men on the continents edge and bravely sallied forth on a desperate journey to South Georgia to find a ship with which to rescue his men. Scott's determination to get to the Pole first left him careless of both his life and his men's. Amundsen, on the other hand, was Norwegian, and as such better prepared I guess to make such a journey.
The Norwegians are an underestimated people.
Sad people with an ice fetish can find out more here on Cool Antarctica.
Though why these folk need to refer to it as 'cool' is beyond me, the place is freezing surely?

Autumn

This pitiful picture of a pitiful tree was intended to reflect the wonders of Autumn colours that I saw this morning when wandering about searching the litter bins for breakfast. I was struck by this tree, I should have watched that branch, and was intrigued by the colours glowing in the sunshine. All around the leaves on the trees are beginning to change from various shades of green to yellow and brown. There is something attractive in all this, except when you are the one who has to pick up all the fallen leaves of course. Autumn can be a delightful season, although I prefer Spring myself. Spring brings long days, and the promise, but never the fact, of warmer weather, Autumn heralds cold winter around the corner! I am not one for winter myself, I have seen enough of that and look forward to global warming I can tell you! In fact whenever I can I break into parked cars and turn the engines on and let them run for a while. I give cigarettes to kids and have spent a lot of time demanding the return of steam engines on all our railways - so far without success I might add! They could at least drop me off a bit of Welsh coal to keep me warm during the next few months!


One of the irksome things that er, irk me, is the driving licence in my pocket. I had rather hoped that when I achieved this level of competence, in spite of the examiners hesitation in actually giving it too me, I would be able to slip into a job driving around the countryside in a wee van dropping off some goodies now and again! It has not happened. Nothing has happened, again! In fact nothing happens quite often around here. There are times when nothing happens so often around here it becomes extremely tiring nothing happening. Anyway I am still waiting for that job, indeed any job, falling from the sky! I could do with one of these little Skoda cars to practice my driving. They would be helpful as I am forgetting how to do it already! However to be honest my forgetfulness is er, ...I forget.

Mindless and Distracted!

For over a week now I have been mindless and distracted. I have no concentration, little energy and no desire for anything but mindless loafing. No a cynic might not notice the difference from my situation when a postman, but they are avoiding the very real issue here of 'The Bug!'

Yes indeed 'The Bug' has returned and I am sick of it, and indeed with it, once again. Last Monday, the holiday you lot all enjoyed, saw me cycle around twelve miles, and not one of you cared! I was rejoicing at my near fitness and yet, within 24 hours I noticed the bug returning. The swift annoyance, lack of concentration and sharp tongue when provoked, especially by people saying nasty things like, "Hello." My insides were grumbling and food was not tempting, although this may have something to do with what I can do with a potato! And only now, after several early nights and daily cat napping, can I begin to see some health once again. This bug, er bugs me! It keeps returning and making life miserable. Doctors say, "Exercise and eat well, lose weight and it will vanish." Or, "It's a bug, sod off I'm busy." They are of course right!

I have met others who suffer these strange 'cold like' symptoms, some minor others quite severe, but nobody has a clue what to do, nothing helps. This continues for years and may be a sign of age, cold/flu virus adapting and changing and the body having some resistance but not enough. It could of course be that I am just a wimp who should, if I was speaking to myself in an encouraging manner, be told, "Just get on with it and stop whining!" The serious question regards how to keep a job if this goes on? Of course I have to find one first!

Answers in Genesis

Now there is a thing, Jobs hunting in a recession! I have attempted this before in the eighties after breaking my leg and being turned into a brain dead zombie working with brain dead zombies in Selfridges (better known as Selfishes!) so called accounts department. No woman with an IQ over four works in such a place, actually one did, a sweet little Indian lass who was far to good for them! I almost fell in love, and would have had her her husband not had a way with a hatchet that the Vikings would have been envious off. In those days Thatcher was closing down all training course for folk over 35, and I was 36! Now Labour are encouraging many attempts, some good some bad, at helping folk back to work. When they work they are great, but there are no jobs to apply for, and when they fail it is because the course offered are badly prepared, staff untrained and inappropriate for the district. Most suit folks who are under 50, and I am, er...over 21 now. On top of this there are no jobs out there! At one time the job shop was signing on 400 a week,and that is here in a backwater! So many were small companies who supplied goods to larger ones that have failed and left them high and dry. Sad for many men who are often skilled, but in the wrong thing.

Dumb people, like me, skilled in moving things, packing and other manual labour, and this is a skill in many instances, are too old or dumb for what is out there, office jobs mostly. When something suitable arises 300 men apply! The hospital porters job I went for, and should not have as I am supposed to be off my feet, not my head, gave the girls interviewing two, and I think, three days of work for one position. That of course discounts the applications ignored! What to do? The training was not there for me, so I began driving lessons, and I notice all those fences and lamp posts have been replaced now. This was a good idea in my little mind. Cars are really a necessity out here with such poor public transport, thanks Maggie! Many jobs are in outlying areas, on farms and the like, and impossible to reach otherwise. Naturally by the time I passed the test, and I did, the recession had brought out all those other drivers, and with a lot of experience, and the riving job I dreamt off, running around the country in a little van dropping of packets to pretty young farmers daughters, has so far come to nought. I have forgotten how to drive now.

Being limited by gormlessness and sloth a lack of suitable easy appropriate work I am left sending out CVs to any one who will recycle them, often tot he most inappropriate people who must be scratching their heads at the CVs landing on their desk. However you have to show willing and make an effort. It is a bit upsetting when the folk at the dole office ask if you will be at the Christmas party mind, one even gave me a form to discover how much of a pension I would receive! Not yet dearie! Still, this time has it's advantages. I can be sick if I want and lie abed all day. I can sit in the sunshine, when it arrives, and read books and do interesting things on the PC (no dear not that!). Had I money I could do a lot more and see interesting places and people, however I am limited to Tesco's for that at the time of writing. There is a growing list of what I could have been doing had I thought I would still be here, and been as rich as I once was. But it must be said I am also quite happy sometimes not working. In the eighties I was frantic to work. When I came here I despaired at not working at first, but today I am just tired of it. The 'office politics' of any job, the 'rat race' element, miserable people, bullies, meaningless jobs that mean a slog to finish them, and for a minimum wage. All these I can do without. It would be nice to do something worthwhile and even enjoyable, or work amongst decent folk, and the people at Royal Mail were for the most part decent enough to work with. Such work is found only in dreams, and when no-one replies to the begging letters I find an attraction in lying on the floor staring at the ceiling once again. Ah well, maybe I will risk £1:50 on the lottery of Friday. £37 million this time. Just enough to clear my Visa card. Oh must go, I have to hide, that bailiff is wandering around outside attempting to look in the window.....

Thursday Gum Bumping

The meeting with the pretty girl at the Job Centre went all right I suppose. I was a bit depressed when I woke this morning, nothing seems to be right, but the pretty lass took a hand and shook me out off it. She took two hands actually, both to shake me, and then the back of just one to encourage me to be more satisfied with life. She referred to this as the 'woman's touch,' although 'touch' is a somewhat genteel way to a slap that hard. I told her that next week I have the 'Theory test' and I discovered happily that this organisation will pay the £30 fee! I asked if they would pay for the two coffees I required and was told to "Sod Off!" This, remember, is a member of the 'weaker sex.' The idea of all this driving tuition being that this enables me to get work. Whether this will or not I do not know but it appears to be the only option open to me at the moment. Bad knees, age, and an aptitude for gormlessness do not a success make! Still I search on and something will come up somewhere. I wonder what? The credit crunch does not help. Hundreds are losing their jobs and for some this is a new experience. A wealthy society, and this has been one of the richest for many years, produces generations unused to doing without. What some believe to be necessities are in fact luxuries. yet doing without them will cause heartache and much pain for many. I feel bad about their pain, it may however be good in the long run. Our parents suffered the Great War, then the depression, huge social change and another war with even greater change social to follow. Many of them deserved to end with a happy home, warm, fed, with the mod cons they never heard of when young, and with a decent health service. This generation has never done without, except in extreme cases. Most will cope but for a great number the next few years, note I said 'years,' will be intolerable.

I had to return in the afternoon to sign on, not through the young lady, she had dismissed me as she was bored with my company, but I saw my friend the French woman. So I signed on, had a chat, and got thrown out as I was taking to much of her time. Her man is slightly older than me, canny find a job, and she understands the position well. While she is helpful she is well able to give back any lip that arises during the day. I once had to call the security guard to get her to stop handbagging me! She urged me to apply for the 14 vacancies in the dole office caused by the vast increase of workload. This I have already done and if the bosses are as daft as I suspect civil service managers to be, I may end up in work. It will not happen of course but it is worth a try!


On Monday the driving lesson was postponed because of the snow. On Tuesday because of the black ice, tomorrow we will try again. So tonight the smiling weather girl has promised between 2-5 centimetres of snow (whatever a centimetre is?). The other smiling (and well built) weather girl suggests it may reach 10 centimetres. I now discover 2.5 Cm's equals one inch, so it may be 2-4 inches of snow. Up north this would slow things down and cause problems. Down here the world will grind to a halt, questions will again be asked in Parliament ("Why do Russia and Sweden cope but we can't?") and newspaper headlines will scream blue murder and blame the government. In fact, it is 18 years since such snow landed here, and off course we are not ready for it, it rarely happens and will be gone by the weekend. Russia and other places have it for six months, temperatures descend to minus 40, and they are naturally prepared. Those who yell would yell louder if we bought the snowploughs they demand and end up garaged for years. Ah well, if we have nothing to complain about there would be no blogs! Not that I am one to complain of course.


My mother is 94 today! Just imagine that! Had my father lived he would have been 100 years old last March. Jings! She was born during the Great War before the mistake of Gallipolli had begun or the first real Push failed at Loos. Her mining family struggled through six months of the general strike in 1926, the depression which ravished them and the second war which broke out not long after her marriage. (Not our fault they claimed!). With two young children she saw him off to war in 1941 (still before the Yanks had decided to join in) and later brought up her four selfish children. She deserves better. She could reach 100 if we are not careful!

Fair Scunnered Ken?

I have been fair scunnered quiet a lot in recent days. Over eighteen months on the dole, having nothing to offer and few jobs available often leaves me this way. All I need is a Daily Mail reader to cry, 'Get these people to work and out of the pubs where they spend their days drinking my money,' and I can appreciate the motivation of the local axe murderer, (and there is a few of those around here I can tell you!). However after sending out letters and CV's, talking to anyone who might have an opening, e-mailing a wide variety of uninterested employers, and applying for totally unsuitable work just because it's available can be depressing. It is all the more depressing when you really believe you have a good chance of work and then get a letter, that is if you get a letter, turning you down.

“Dear Sir,

We regret to inform you that someone younger/fitter/more female/who

can actually do the job/and get on with us lot, has been given the work.

Please accept our regrets, we are doing OK, so sod off and die!

Thank you.

The failure becomes more noticeable when watching other folks make a right hash of their work while knowing you could do it yourself better than they. 'They' however have the face that fits, the right age, know the boss or wear tighter jeans than your £3 offering from Tesco! But it was ever thus! Life is not fair, and I have a bucket full of torn Lotto tickets to prove it! Just why do inane folk who will greedily consume (and waste) several million pounds on themselves and their chav progeny win the Lottery? Why does it not go to those who will use the cash for the benefit of mankind? Well, for some of them anyway.... But in truth this is how it has always been. Life is not fair, and you just have to get on with it!

(Short break while I burst into tears – again)

Now I should not be in this position. I know God loves me, and recently reminded me it was he was went looking for me, not me for him. I didn't care a whit about him but he came looking for me! Fantastic! But while this is good it does not mean life is smooth! After all, if Jesus went for a job and another, more needy, also applied, would he not step aside and let them have the work? For him the other would be more important than himself, and God would supply his needs anyway – even if they did not meet his wants! Our wants and desires do not fit in with our ability to obtain them or his to provide! When unemployed and in a state of poverty it is really amazing what we can live without. Now I am not starving, the days of the 'soup kitchen' are thankfully gone in the UK, but in many parts of the world there are riots caused by food shortages. Should I complain? Travel is limited, I have not been in Edinburgh since February last year, and will not be there soon unless someone falls ill. I know what you are saying, 'They have not missed you!' And you would be right! But it means I cannot buy for others what I wish to buy, and this is a blow at times.

Something will turn up. I suppose I must look for, and accept, anything that is offered, even if I do not like it. I am not unwilling to take the lowest place, in fact that may be a step upwards! And of course I am actually looking and not finding much available. So, with a clear conscience I look for work and enjoy the free time, and continue to lose weight slowly. I can enjoy the blogs, read my books, (Livy's 'History of Rome' at the moment) and exercise as I have just endured this morning. Those dumbbells are difficult to lift eh? The schedule says they must be increased to a full kilo altogether tomorrow and I am not looking forward to that! Phew!

Now, is it time for a coffee break yet......?