Super-temp at Work

Super-temp at Work


I'm temping at Future Home Care which is a charitable agency caring for learning disabled adults, it helps them to gain a certain amount of independence and it's a bit of an insight into another industry I'd never worked in. Even though it has charitable roots the work is totally different to Leukaemia CARE; much more hands on, and it's a much bigger organisation.
From my perspective I sit at reception and do the switchboard, paperwork, write up incidence reports, meet and greet visitors, order stationary and generally try to keep the place shipshape. It's my 2nd day - yesterday was pretty busy but I'm into the swing of it now.
I wanted to show you my dead cool Janet Jackson headset which allows me to answer the phone without actually picking up the handset! I can even go and make a cup of tea in the kitchen and still answer the phone - not that I've dared do that much. Everyone is really nice here... I'm glad to be a receptionist for a week and a half and looking forward to starting at Ernst and Young in November. I may yet fit in another short term contract somewhere so who knows what I'll do next!!!
I don't miss Marketing at all and have really been having fun the last few weeks. Even the diy has picked up. I disassembled the wardrobe that was delivered at the weekend because it was too big to go through the door and reassembled it. What a palarva. I've just got to finish sanding and painting the staircase before the carpet is delivered and finish painting the dadorail (is that how you spell it?) in the living room. That plus job hunting and the rehearsals for the play have kept me very busy.

The job search and more news

I had 2 weeks being a housewife after we got back from holiday in the end. I couldn't sit still. Even though I managed to ignore any inbuilt panic buttons I still had to keep busy so I ended up doing a lot of diy. Much sanding was done. The bedroom walls are now ready to be painted and the fireplace in the living room is on its way. Yes I know I should finish one job before I start the next but... well there is no but, I just got stuck in! 

I applied for jobs too, don't want you thinking I just divved about with diy. I had an interview at Birmingham University Business School. The interview panel were really nice, we got on well, there was absolutely no doubt in my mind that I could do the job, I had a lot of experience that meant I was a good fit etc so I went home feeling cautiously optimistic. A couple of days later I got a very nice email saying they would like me to apply for similar jobs there but on this occasion I was unsuccessful. Gutted! Still though it gave me the opportunity to poke around the campus for the first time since 2002, when I graduated. I really loved being back. I would love to work there... Leon took out his lunch break to show me around, which was cool. There have been lots of changes like the new buildings by the train station, a new enormous and cheap fruit and veg stall on campus (v encouraging) but by far the most amazing change was Muirhead Tower. That tower, that blot on the landscape, was famously know to students as being the building the university allowed students to design to reduce wind velocity then it was erected inside out, exacerbating the wind velocity problem for generations. I don't know if that is an urban myth but it is a protected building that the uni wasn't allowed to just pull down and certainly during my time the 'temporary' scaffolding and "Caution in High Winds" signs were a permanent fixture. picture below. Well, do you know, they've gone and redeveloped it! The exterior is less ugly, more space age with fancy panels, v cool (see the link). Inside they've opened it up and built an extension so there are 4 lifts instead of 2, allowing students I imagine at least a cat in hell's chance of getting to their lectures in time without walking to the 12th floor! There is, wait for it, a lobby and a Starbucks!!! Yes a Starbucks people. I wasn't sure how I felt about that but there is now a fancy looking cafe thing in most of the buildings it seems, an attempt I imagine to keep students out of the Guild until at least after their lectures, and if that's their plan it would seem to be working. All the students I saw looked, well, studious!

Anyway, I joined the Unitemps online agency and last week I got a 2 week contract covering the enrolment at Birmingham City University (the old UCE) at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design. You should see the students, so cute! They're all fashion students, graphic design, creative, jewellery students and the like so they all have mad hair and dress to match. Bless em. Nothing like my lot who mainly rolled out of bed, pulled on flairs, and pretty much made as little effort with dressing for lectures as possible. Mind, during my week off I went to my old stomping ground, the University of Birmingham, and all the little students seemed quite trendy there too so there's obviously been a change. I mean they were wear make up and jeans that haven't been bought from a charity shop... weird.

I've enjoyed being at work again and the people at BCU BIAD are nice. I've mainly covered the office but for one day I sat in the tent helping to enrol the students, issuing ID cards, giving out free gifts etc. It was fun!

Yesterday I had an interview at the Shakespeare trust, the charity that looks after the various Stratford properties associated with Shakespeare and the archive, museum and educational events. I again felt confident, I'd obviously had experience of marketing the Restoration project at Kings Norton, now known as St Nicolas Place. Again we got on well, but I could feel I wasn't what they necessarily wanted. The lady kept on smiling sympathetically at me, and when the interview ended she hadn't even wanted to see my portfolio. It would have been a dream to not only market something I am so passionate about but work with people who are undoubtedly so professional. You could see she really knew her onions. More upsetting still I got the impression that if I hadn't spent the majority of the last 3 years in working environments where basically I was the most senior marketing person I might have learned more and have the kind of skills and confidence she thought I should have. She said she could see I had the nouse to learn quickly and the makings of a really good person for that role but they needed someone to start and be pretty much self sufficient and she felt I would be a risk. Fair enough. Back to the drawing board.

The diy work goes on

After 3 and a half weeks the troop of men finally left and we had our house back! We'd slep in every room in the house practically except our bedroom and so the night that we got back from work and the work men had left for good we got stuck into getting the house straightened out as much as possible. We had to vaccuum each room 3 times, wipe down every surface at least twice and then dust but that night as we settled back down to life in our proper bed, in our real bedroom life seemed great! The cat had been utterly bemused for three weeks straight, if not a little snippy, so her nose was practically more pink than I've ever seen it and she purred through the night. She even didn't bite either of us for at least 24 hours! We'd had the whole house rewired, new plug sockets, light fittings and switches put in, laminate floors pulled up and the bathroom done but now begins the work we don't get any help with; the wallpapering.Everything ended up everywhere

The chaos the house was in mid re-wire

The cat - pleased that the men have left!

And it's begun! The last 2 weekends we have sandpapered, painted, sealed, sized, pasted and hung and we have finished 2 panels. Out of 40 metres square we have probably completed 4.5 but hey it's a start! Here are the pics of the beautiful bathroom.

Paul from KABS did a very good job.

The finished bathroom

The week of luck

We decided to get the bathroom done and since Hez and Becky had just had theirs done and were recommending the guy who did it we hired him. Paul is quite young but very precise and seems keen to do a good job. In short we trust him. We'd spend months if not years discussing the bathroom and to be frank we were sick to death of looking at catalogues, so we decided to do things a la Hez and Becky - we sent Paul off with an idea of what we liked and he went and chose everything. The only things left for us to get was the furniture; towel rail, cabinet etc. So we headed off to Ikea in Coventry on the friday night. We did well and got everything on that evening, which was a stroke of luck, then I followed Al home as we'd come in separate cars. He has a country lane route which is a short cut. It was on one of those dark lanes that I was going round a parked car when a smart car (driving towards me on the other side with a faulty front light) and I clashed mirrors. Mine was utterly destroyed... bloody pain in the neck! In the morning I asked our neighbour Dave who, handily, is a car mechanic. He was able to fix it. Paul got cracking on the bathroom on the monday but a few days in it became apparent that there were several problems with our electrics. After an electrician, Carl, looked around the house it was determined we'd have to consider rewiring the whole house. Now, there were other alternatives but me and Al thought it was a bit of a Hobsons choice and decided to get the job booked in and done asap. The bathroom we were hoping could be finished as early as friday (yesterday) but it looks like it'll be tuesday since the walls all needed plastering. So today, with the house filled with tools and bits and bobs, we are heading off to pick new lights as the whole house will be done. Then yesterday, poor Al discovered a long crack in his windscreen out of nowhere! Please can this be the end of our run of bad luck, please?!
I'll show you pictures soon...

The quiet before the storm...

It was such a nice quiet weekend, we'd been waiting for one for ages! Next week Al's in Oldham, the week after I'm in Brighton, the one after that is Linda's bday celebrations on St Patrick's day followed by Mothers day and I think the one after that I'm in London. God I feel tired just thinking about it all!
Friday was Nathan's birthday. We all went to the Cotteridge Village Inn; me, Al, Phil B, Hez, Nath, Laura and sister LC. It was a lot of fun but I did feel slightly the worse for wear the next morning. Ironically it was this that set the tone for the next 2 days; gentle days of recovery!
We spring cleaned the house really well, like it hadn't been done in years. Like under the stairs which had been getting increasingly unruly is spacious for the first time in ages! We started to get excited about forthcoming GIY projects. And we actually managed to sit down and talk about the wedding...
Got a press release approved for Restoration, did the shopping and a MAMOTH recycling shift - I swear I spent half an hour dropping cans into the bin!!! I must add that barely a fifth of it was mine...
Then we got wind that a council van was going to come around to collect big rubbish, so we actually managed to clear the garage for the first time in TWO YEARS! Might even be able to get a car in...

A busy weekend!

On Saturday me and Al visited Homebase (the obligatory monthly visit!) and got prepared for the re-potting of the mamoth courgette plant. Can't find any tips on gardening courgette/zuchini, specifically F1 Storr's Green courgette, in either my encyclopedia or the website, so if anyone knows about gardening please let me know!

Anyway (...I'm just now watching Spain vrs Tunisia in the World cup on the telly so I'm a bit distracted!) I went to the nearby primary school to see Linda (new BioCare buddy) and her friend Sarah selling their wares at the school's fair. While there I purchased some goodies for Father's next day.

Then I headed off to the church to have a guided tour of the Old Grammar School and the Wool Merchant's House and Saracen's head. It was really interesting. I know bits of facts about the site but it's easier to piece it all together when you are standing on the site. What with it being my local church, where we're planning to get married, and also I'm working on the community project I'm slowly getting to know everyone and everything about the place!

The old wool merchants house was huge. Here's a picture and the line shows the old front of the existing tudor building:















Alo in the Old Grammar School there is 19th century graffiti on the old school desks, carved out with chisels:














And still attached to the underneath of the desk are beautifully copied out lines, maybe written under duress as punishment for some boyish misdemeanor, that reads 'Industry leads to independence' - a very Victorian sentiment!:















There are some very unusual details about the OGS too, (sorry I won't bore you for too long...) such as the fact that the lower part is 15th century while the upper part is older, from the 14th century! And the window at the far end of that part is taken from a church or chapel, and we have dated it to be from the 13th century! What a mish-mash!
The school had schoolboys being sent from across the country to Kings Norton from about the 13th century until the end of the 19th, and even in 1900 when the new school got overcrowded. At one point this small building, smaller than mine and Alex's house held an impressive library collection and up to 200 schoolboys! As for the wool merchants house (known by the name the Saracen's Head because that was the name of the pub part of it was refurbished and turned into in Georgian/Victorian times) it displays in turns craftiness, cowboyish construction and delicate craftmaship. The coyboys of the 16th century added on an extensio that makes the fiascos on the television programme DIY SOS look accomplished! I mean it's all wonky and off at angles - it makes me feel sea sick! Crafty because they put s sign over a window - it said "DAIRY" but it was to fool the taxman and avoid wondow tax! But beautiful all the same. I can't wait until the whole place is open to the public again... in time for our WEDDING!!! Yey!

Other bits and bobs

I have some other bits of non-birthday news.
Firstly I want to congratulate my cousin in Barcelona Gemma Pardo Cruxent on acquiring her first post degree job. Everyone knows it's a slow and painful journey going from graduate to employee, it usually goes in fits and starts, results in many let downs and disappointments, many lessons hard-learned... and no one warns you!!!!!!!!!!!! So anyway, well done Gemma!

Primero quiero congratular a mi prima Gemma en Barcelona por conseguir su primer empleo en psichologia despues de terminar su carrerra. Nadie te dice que sera tan dificil y frustrante conseguirlo, y una vez conseguido solo empieza la diversion! Pero muy bien hecha Gem por no perder tu fe y tu paciencia!!!!!!!

Secondly, after an interview with LANTRA, the sector skills agency for the landed industries I have been offered a 6 month contract which basically sees me through until Christmas. It is more money and in a qay quite prestigious so I am chuffed to bits. We'll see how it works out as it is a long drive away, it's in Stoneleigh.

Un compania me ha ofrecido un puesto de 6 meses trabajando en su departamento de marketing. Estoy muy feliz, claro, aun que sea un viaje mas larga, pero te lo ire contando...

Some very sad news reached me when Mum told me about Vicky Ball. Many of you won't know her but she is from Igualada and an absolutely smashing lady. Well she suffered with cancer for a few years and I found out that she died on Tuesday. This was just so sad, and I just wanted to remember her here, with you. In memory of her I'm going to try and laugh and enjoy life as much as I can because every time I think of Vicky I remember her smiling.
Oi una noticia de parte de mama que me sorprendo y me entristezo mucho. La preciosa Victoria Ball ha fallecido. Fue por cancer y es una gran lastima porque siempre la recuerdo sonriendo y viviendo la vida con ganas y felicidad. En honor a ella, pues, voy a tratar a sonreir al maximo que puedo.

Some obligatory gardening/diy news: Well it wouldn't be the same otherwise! We finished the pantry! The kitchen is officially complete - hallelujah! The floor is done the walls, everything. And the new shelving is very smart - Alex did a very good job. We're going to get a freezer for the space but meanwhile here it is - finally I'm not ashamed of picturing it on the blog! Ok this is not an exciting picture but you can't imagine how please this made me!

And some more diy news, here's a picture of the beautiful hall now that Alex has properly finished the floor we invested in some nice wall hangings to tie it all in together. God I sound like I'm in that TV programme "How not to decorate"!

Claro no seria blog sin noticia de la casa y veras que hemos terminado la despensa (palabra correcta?) y el vestibulo! Finalmente!

Finally, drum roll please... the shallots I planted have just poked tender green shoots out of the earth - they're growing folks! They and the herbs are doing particularly well, although the slugs have launched an attach on my precious courgette plant...

That's about it... xxx

Finalmente, rodillo del tambor por favor, los chalotes que planté acaban de empujar lanzamientos verdes blandos afuerra de la tierra! Estoy celebrando, aunquelos lingotes han lanzado una fijación en mi planta preciosa del calabacín...

Ya esta... terminao! xxx

another week going by

Well since going to see the film with my parents we've had more than a week, full of fun and frolics... On Friday me and Alex had dinner together and did what we haven't done for AGES - we watched a film together. We generally sit down to watch a dvd, but it tends to be comedys. We've got loads of films that we've never even seen once, even though we both love films. We watched 24 Hour Photo, with Robin Williams and it was very good even though the ending was a bit pants. It was a lovely evening, the cat decided she needed some personal space and left us to it!

Then on Saturday we both did some more diy. I painted the top half of the hallway, it still needs a second coat but it's getting there. It is a nice very pale lilac with a gentle sheen to it... very nice! My friend Jess from church came over for a cup of tea and a natter. Then Alex had an absolute victory - he finally managed to fix the light fitting in the upstairs living room! For six months the centre of the ceiling just had a hole - now it has a smart little light! Alex must have worked on it for a total of about 18 hours over the last 6 months! What a guy! Picture to follow!

He cooked a meal for Nathan to eat while they watched the football and I went over to Laura's where she had cooked a stew and me her and her best mate Emma watched a film and nattered. I also saw The Breakfast Club for the first time - actually quite good for the bratpack era. Finally I left her asleep on the sofa and walked home. It was a good night!

Then on Sunday Alex's football match was cancelled due to too much rain. We were both able to attend Leah's baptism - Nathan's niece. It was unlike most baptisms I'd been to as it was a catholic ceremony, yet all those catholic services with the brownies must have sunk in because I was able to join in with some prayers I hadn't voiced aloud since being a small child!

We had sunday lunch with Alex's parents, drove Dos home, and went home to rest and prepare for the next week!

Social life

You could be forgiven for thinking that we do nothing other than work and diy, so I thought I'd run through our recent social events...

One thing that stood out was my visit with Leon and Danielle to see a Madeleine Peyroux gig (I hate the word gig! but concert gives the impression that there were hundreds of screaming people or a stern-faced classical affair. It was neither, just a really great time) Madeleine is like a mix of Billie Holiday and Bob Dillon, if you can imagine it! Part smouldering blues, part hippy, but still very much of our time. She's also got a great mythology attributed to her, for instance it's said that she was meant to play a gig in paris and disappeared for a few months, then just turned up one day and started playing! I don't know if it's true, but I can imagine it to be!
Have a look/listen at http://www.madeleinepeyroux.com/

Another little thing I got up to was while Nathan and Laura's neice Leah was staying with them, she's learning to play cello and some years ago so too did I. We both got a lot out of one of her practice sessions, I think I helped her and she entertained me no end. She asked me questions that were very hard to answer, about why this and why that:
Q. why does it matter how many beats there are in a bar?
A. Erm, well it helps you stay in tune
Q. but how?
A. If you count regularly then you know how to split the music up.
Q. Well I don't need to, I just know.
A. Right.
Hard work!
But anyway Anna, the vicar's wife, offered to give her a lesson and it turns out she thinks that she's a very talented young lady; so you heard it here first folks, Leah Collins will be a virtuoso cellist.

Other than that, we have been to a few birthday nights out and had a few people over, the lovely Daniel Cawte came to visit from Ireland, and Milly and Rob came from Bristol, so it's not all been boring diy!
This last photos are lovely, I thought I'd post one of Al Nathan and Emma and one of the happy family playing with Pads in our hallway - aaah!

DIY resume

Well I've been recapping what this year has been all about, and three little letters sums it up quite neatly: DIY.

We have just finnished a major bit of work on the house, although we did need help from a carpenter and tiling man but we've done an awful lot of jobs ourselves. We walpapered the bedroom and Al put down the floor, built the furniture etc, painted virtually the whole house, walls dado rails etc, got a new aerial, got tree surgeons to fell our huge trees at the back, put pubbles down in the front and back gardens, built so much flat pack furniture, put up curtains and shelves etc, cut and finally did the kitchen.
Here's a before and after picture:
















This job seems to have taken over our lives for the last couple of months but we're into the final stretch, wallpapering, so that the dining room can be ready for christmas. We've invited Al's parents and nan and my parents over for christmas and I'm getting very christmassy!
The second picture was of Al cooking steak and Ale pie, he's a bit of a dab hand in the kitchen. He makes the best italian meat balls ever, yummy!