Change of plans

I am doing one days work tomorrow in Vauxhall, helping with a mailout. So yes, no rest for me then! Actually, I would rather be working. I still get a long weekend, regardless!

The interview

I had a date with the Queen on Monday. I thought I better clarify this point before you thing I am going crazy.

On Monday afternoon, I had an interview for the position of Warden, for when Buckingham Palace opens to the public when Her Majesty is away at Balmoral. It was a group interview, and I hope I did ok. It was really daunting, and I was so nervous. But I tried not to show it, when we had to stand up in front of 15 people and answer questions about who we were, why we wanted the job etc. Then we had to get measured for our uniforms, so if we got the job they would be waiting for us. And had an individual interview. So daunting. I just want to know the outcome though! A problem I have, is that they want to see my original university degree certificates. These are currently in frames on my bedroom wall.

So there you have it.

Last day of the working week

Well, seeing as though I am working only 4 days here, I have a four day weekend! It is a Bank Holiday, which is the UK equivalent of a public holiday. It is just a pity I am not getting paid for it!

Tonight Scott and I are going out to dinner to a Mexican restaurant with his work collegues. Someone is leaving apparently, so we have been invited. Lovely. I am glad that Scott brought the menu home last week though, as I had to pick something dairy free. I have decided it is not great for me to eat dairy. In normal quantities anyway. What I mean is, I won't be having cheese in sandwiches etc, but if I have something that might contain milk, it's ok. I think it's just the quantity that makes the difference to me. I feel better for it already. I have been doing it for a week now. :-)

Tomorow I am a free woman. What to do, what to do. Hmmm. I think I shall sleep in a little, and explore the area we moved to a little more. And some shopping maybe.

Saturday we are off to the Family History Fair, being run by the Society of Genealogists. Should be interesting!

Sunday - who knows!

Monday - who knows!

Excellent.

New house etc

Hello there!

I am currently sitting in a new desk in a new job. Admittedly it is only for four days, but it is a great change from doing the same thing every day for the last two months! I am working for a betting arbitration office. Basically people ring up if they have a complaint about a bookie or agency or whatever. I am answering the phones and sending out correspondence. And getting paid a little more than I did at CIPFA (I can say the company name now that I am not working there anymore!). It stands for the Chartered Insitute of Public Finance and Accountancy.

I have my date with the Queen this arvo. I am really nervous. My stomach has been churning since I woke up this morning, and is probably the reason I did not sleep all that well last night either.

We moved into our new place yesterday. We managed to squeeze all our stuff in one car, and made only one trip which was great. Trip took all of 12 minutes, which included the driver slowing down for every speed bump so that the bottom of the car would not scrape along the road!! But we arrived in one piece, with nothing broken, or fallen out the windows of the car! We had help getting everything up the two flights of stairs to the flat. We dumped our stuff, and found the place in mayhem with everyone there, including the landlord and her dog! We signed our lives away on the contract etc, handed over a cheque for a lot of money (deposit and one months rent) and breathed a sigh of relief. We did a little unpacking, and then at about 1.30pm we all went out for lunch. Landlady included! It was fun, sitting around chatting and laughing with people. We then did a little bit of a pub crawl, trying out two pubs. One, called The Green, has a great seating area out the front. A little expensive on the drinks side of things, but we could sit outside! Amazing. :-) Then it was off to the next pub, not as nice, but they had a pool table. Played a couple of games, once Laurie beat the guy already playing. So then the table was ours. Played a couple of games of doubles. Then it was home to new flat for dinner. Well, we got Chinese take away on the way home. We checked out the Down Under Centre too, which is an internet cafe and they sell Aussie food. Expensive, but nice to know if I really need a packet of Tim Tams I can get them (even though they cost the equivalent of about $6 Australian!!!).

I am happy in this house. We have a nice room (with a brand new bed), the people are easy to talk to, and we have a huge park as our back yard!! And there are more Aussies in the area too.

So there you go.

New house, new job

Hello!

So yes, as the title says, we are moving house - tomorrow morning! We have a cab booked, should cost about £18, so not too bad really. I can't remember what I have already written about the new place, but we will be sharing with another couple, and a single guy. I am looking forward to the move. The landlord's agent, the complete git, has managed to turn the process of us leaving, into a long drawn out process, with another one of our house mates involved. He has decided the seeing as though he is going on holidays tomorrow, and therefore cannot be there to sign the paperwork etc, he will get Nat to pick up the deposit cheque from him instead of him coming over. She apparently is not to give this to us until tomorrow when we leave. What are we going to do with the cheque? Cash it on a Saturday night? Hello? Grrrrrrrr......

Anyway, on a lighter note, I did a one day course today. Twas fab! It was called "The Archaeology of Islands". As the name suggests, it looked at islands in both the physical sense, as well as the ideological sense. There were 5 speakers, and they each outlined a case study froma different part of the world. There was Easter Island and the colonisation of the Pacific Ocean. Ireland and the artifical islands created in lakes and rivers, islands in Lake Victoria in Africa, And island off the coast of Scotland, and Cuba. I really enjoyed being back in a learning environment. I miss using my brain!! Sad but true. I will keep my eye out for more courses like these I think. Keep my brain active!

To the last bit of packing I think, then to bed! Toodles!

Friday!

Whoo hoo!!

We have a new place to live in. We are moving in on Sunday morning. It is a flat, and we will be charing with another Aussie couple and an English guy. A very large park is our backyard, and it is not too far from transport etc.

Another whoo hoo is for leaving this place. It is my last day at this particular assignment, and I am not sorry to be going. I have another job for next week, which is great. I will be breathing a large sigh of relief when I no longer have to hear these two girls talk to themselves etc.

And I have a date with the Queen on Monday afternoon.

:-)

Tuesday, nothing exciting

We are looking at a flat tonight. Hopefully it will be a good one. It is within our budget, just barely, so keep your fingers crossed it is ok!! It fits the other pre-requisites too.

Friday - Thank god!

So, I have endured yet another day in this hell hole of an office. Today, they eejits have been having email conversations about me. Like I really care? Are we back in high school? Honestly. Do I really give a hoot what two immature 24/25 year old things think about me? If they believe that, they are seriously deluded. I never wanted to make friends with them. Like I would want to people like that as my friends. They remind me a bit of two friends at high school (Lou - K & M). I went thru the stage they are at 10years ago. Grow up people!

On the up side, we have another house to look at tonight. So, we'll see!

:-) Have good weekends all!

Thurdsday

Hello again. I am still here in this office. I will be next week too. O well, at least I can focus on the househunting, and not have to worry about job hunting as well.

I find it hard to believe, still, that the other girl in this office keeps her job. She has done about 8 hours work in the last 2 months. She has called Jamaica (a mobile) on the company phone. She spends her days on MSN and playing games. I just cannot fathom what the heck her job actually is. She sure as hell ain't doing any work whatsoever, so why is she even here?

Another thing. I am the only one in this office doing much work. And they compain about the work not getting done to the deadline. Subtly of course, but it ain't my problem. I am not going to bust a valve in my brain straining to get the work done for 8 pounds per hour. No way. Not when the others in the office are not pulling their weight. Serves them right if they don't get it done really.

I apologise. I realise that the last few posts have been really boring, mopey and about me whining about stuff. Sorry people! Promise to talk about lighter stuff once we find new house!

Hump Day

That's another day for Wednesday to the uninitiated...

So, my day so far? Boring. As usual for the moment! I have been physically counting how many students are enrolled (or should be if the others in the office actually did any work) for each subject for each centre. This place runs exams all over the UK. What a waste of time. Surely the computer program I wrestle with every day could have done it?

I hope they don't need me next week. I could really do with a change. I know there is always the possibility of there actually being no work next week, here or elsewhere for me. But, I have been here since the beginning of Feb now. A change is in order.

Last night we had a look at a house in Northfields. Quite near to the tube, on the Piccadilly line. About 30mins away from the centre of London, zone three. The house was nice, I could see myself living there. But, it's now up to the others in the house, as they will decide. :-) An advantage of living further out, is that we would save money in rent. We are paying too much at the moment. We would pay about four pounds per week more for travel costs, but save at least 100 pounds per month on the rent. Big diffference!

Monday, again

Hello! Let me tell you about the last few days. I can't remember when I last updated, but I figured it was about time!

Wednesday night we caught up with Rob. Had a meal and a drink with him near a tube station called Angel. It was great to see him again. He's a funny guy, always has a story to tell.

Thusday night we met up with one of Scott's old work buddies, James, for a meal and a movie. We saw Sahara. It was quite good really. A little Hollywood, but good entertainment nonetheless.

Friday night we had a date with the internet cafe. We were looking for a place to live! No luck yet, but there are still a few weeks to go yet. We want to be moved by the end of the month. We also got our official paperwork for the end of the lease etc on Sunday afternoon. All fine and dandy really. The other housemates must know as the landlord/housemanager/git dropped the letter off to our room. But, they are yet to say anything to us. I don't think they really care, and quite frankly, I don't care if they know or not.

Saturday we headed off to the Family Records Centre. We both had research to do there. I was trying to track down a relative of mine, an ancestor, called Charles Stone. There are a few family stories about him that I wanted to confirm, but I couldn't confirm any of them. It is a shame that he has such a coomon name though. A pain actually! But I will find him....

Saturday night we had a date with Sarah and Jake for Hungarian food. Sarah is of Hungarian descent as well. The food was so yummy! As soon as I waled in, the smell of the place reminded me of my nana's house. And Sarah said exactly the same when she walked in! The food was not too heavy, which was great.

Sunday was a quiet day. We wandered to the library in Ealing Broadway. Had lunch in the sun in the park. Borrowed some books, came home, read and napped. Dinner, bed. Not exciting, but relaxing.

Today I am at work. Bored out of my brain. Oh well. Not long now I am sure, until I find something else.

:-)

Wish us luck with the househunting!!

End of the day

So, it is the end of the day. And apart from the fact that my pc has died no less than 6 times today, all has gone well. I have listened to classical music all day. Right now I have Autumn from The Four Seasons blasting in my ears. It's great! :-)

Biding my time

Hello!

So, I went to lunch early, as every day I have the same problem. I use a terrible database at work called Genesis. Anyway, everyday I get the same error in it at some point, so I ring up the IT department, they fix it, I reboot, and keep going. Only today, when I rang there was no one in the IT department who could fix it until 1pm. Slackers. So I went to lunch early. I am now back from lunch, and the problem still stands. So, I wait.

I have been listening to BBC's radio 3 today. Lovely classical music. I really miss classical music. It used to help me relax and unwind at the end of the day. I used to go to sleep listening to a cd sometimes too. Very helpful.

I am still bored with the job. I did ask if I could extend it, but I will talk to my agency and see if they can get me something else after the 15th. I hate being here, I hate being ignored. And above all, I am sick of listening to them talk.

:-)

So there you go!

Eejits!

I can't stand it any longer. They are driving me crazy with the way they talk to themselves all the time. I don't care what they are thinking, do they really need to share with the whole office? Honestly!

I am tempted to bring my headphones tomorrow to drown them out.

I don't understand how they can have a complete lack of consideration for others in the office. Please explain. Anyone with any ideas?

:-)

Tuesday, one day closer to the weekend!

Hello!

Well, after our decision was made, we now have to go about actually finding a place to live. But, we have a month, so we will have plenty of time. We told our house manager (who is a twit) that we were leaving, so he will come over on the weekend and arrange to get our deposit back etc. Would be nice if we got to keep that money, but at the same time, we can use that for the next place. And he said we can get a rental reference if necessary.

So, the ball is rolling. So to speak.

Not much else to report really. :-)

A decision

Scott and I talked talk night for a long time, and we have come to a conclusion. We need to move out of the house we are in now. We are not happy there, and we do not feel welcome anymore. We also want to move to an area that is more lively, and try living with other Aussies, who understand our senses of humour (sarcasm is wasted on the English) and understand where we are coming from.

So there you go. We will give our notice this week, so then we have a month to find a new place.

We are thinking of a totally new area too. Somewhere like Earl's Court, or Fulham, where lots of other Aussies congregate. So we can talk travel, and make new friends.

I will be ringing up today about us doing some short courses too. History, and I think I want to learn a language. Maybe Hebrew. Why not, right?

A grand weekend

Hello!

Scott and I have had a great weekend.

Friday night I cleaned the house, as it was my turn. Not that thrilling, but I got it out of the way. I had a phone date with my dad, which was great. I have not had a long chat to him in a while, so it was nice to "hang out" with him on the phone.

Saturday we got up early, and took the tube to London Bridge. We were off to the London Dungeon, a tourist attraction that has lots of horror and blood and guts. Apparently. It was fun, we learnt some new stuff, but I really was not grossed out or appalled by what I saw. There were fibre glass models of people with their throats cut and their intestines hanging out, but it was not real to me. Just like CSI, it doesn't make me feel ill, as I know the images are not real.

After that we tried to find the Operating Theatre Museum, just to top off the day with more gore. But, alas, it was closed for a seminar. Rude! So on our way back to the tube, we spotted a market. We wandered in, and as it turns out, it is a food market, with all sorts of yummy fruit, vegetables, meats, alcohols etc. We did get there quite late, but we know where it is next time!!

After the market we jumped on another tube, in the search of "The Prospect of Whitby", a pub in east London, on the Thames. We went there on our Jack the Ripper tour in October, and have not been back since. The pub is circa 1520, and in the back yard of the pub, ie on the wall overlooking the Thames, they used to hang people. There is still a noose there, original or not I am not sure. the story is, that they used to hang people, then leave them in the water until three tides had washed over them, just to make sure the hanging worked! The bodies were referred to as whoppers (spelling unknown to me), we were told on our tour because of the smelling that used to happen to them in the Thames. We have also heard they were called that because the bodies were taken to Wapping police station. Who knows. I love history! I love the stories, the gruesomeness (if that is a word), and I love the stories of the everyday folk.

From the pub, we walked back to Wapping tube station and caught the tube to the other side of London to Shepherds Bush. Scott slept all the way back, while I read my book. We went to the movies, to see Hitch. Very good, funny and not your average Hollywood movie. Well, to a point anyway! It was a good laught though. I do like Will Smith.

Today, we got up early again (well, for a Sunday anyway!!), and I had another phone date, this time with my friend in Melbourne, Mickaela. It was lovely to catch up on all her news, as she is getting married to someone I don't know yet in July. Maybe one day I will get to meet him! After the call, we were going to go to the Temple Church, but the Lonely Planet guide told us it was not open on Sundays. So, instead, we went to the British Library. It was fantastic, worth seeing. They have an amazing computer touch screen system where you can sit in front of the computer and actually "turn" the pages of 8 of the books in their collection. The animation is excellent, you really feel like the book is in front of you. I highly recommend it!

I hope everyone is well. :-)

An explanation

For those of you who read the comment on my last entry may be a little confused as to who Edwina is.

Edwina is my teddy bear I have had since I was 9 months old. She is looking rather worse for wear after 25 years, has no fur left and wears a blue check dress.

So there you go.