I had an interview today over at Chessington World of Adventures. They have had a small zoo (and not a great one) for a long time, I remember going there as a kid anyway and seeing it.
In the last ten years or so they've been rebuilding and rethinking their zoo and now its pretty good, small still but a lot more forward thinking in their animal care and have successfully bred Sumatran tigers (one of the worlds most endangered tiger species) My intervew was for the sea life centre, again very small but on the process of being developed.
I think the interview went well, Its-a-small-world-syndrome struck when I found that the guy interviewing me used to work alongside me at the Aquarium! And now if I got the job he'd be my boss!
I dunno, I think it went well, but I didnt like the place itself. It was nothing to do with the people who were lovely and like I say, nowadays you cant critise their approach to the animals in their cares welfare. But I just left with a horrible atmosphere and I dont think I want to work there. Of course if I got the job I'd have to say yes, after trying for so long I'd be daft to reject them, but still....

I'm off to Scarborough tomorrow to play with the Lizard on our Marine Mammal Medic Course, which promises to be very cold and wet but hopefully great fun!
Perhaps after that its time I hung out at home and had a quiet weekend or two to sort my finances back out.

Talking of finances, my wonderful Welshy scored us 100 off our next BA flight! When we flew back from Newark, the lady faffed about with everyone else around her and then claimed that she couldnt get us seats to sit together.
Although once we took off it was apparent that there was two seats spare and free, so unless some one just never turned up I dunno what she was on about.
Anyway he wrote a letter of complaint about it,
He put in some rubbish about how I was a nervous flier (which I am, although he exagerated it heavily) and got a grovelling letter in reply and they sent us both 100 quid off our next flight vouchers! Blatantly means we need to go away again soon!

So hi! I'm back from NYC! And sweet fucking Jesus is it cold! I blame the city builders, its all very well having straight lines everywhere, but did you not stop to think about the wind tunnel effect?!


I was homeless too! Well effectively homeless! I booked my hotel here, going on the nice pictures of a 4 poster bed and a nice shiney white bathroom, but the reality was awful. I swear it gets used as a crackden when its not being a hotel room, the "bed" consisted of a mattress on the floor, the room had weird stains and half finished plasterwork, and a noisy pipe and the bathroom was brown, full of broken tiles and a drippy tap and there was a BRIDGE across the window into another apartment, just strong enough to carry the weight of a serial killer.



They'd made a vague attempt at making it nicer by putting a portrait of a man/woman/girl from The Ring up. We lay on the bed, exhausted after our flight, trying to convince ourselves for half an hour that it wasnt so bad, we could cope and then I snapped. I can handle grotty, but not a crackden.
So we went to the hostel that we'd past on our way and enquired about a room, yes there was one available and they thought we'd be legally entitled to our money back.

But of course the Crackden leader was unwilling to give it back, trying to swap us to another room, which was unopenable! and then throwing a hissy fit when We demanded our money back. I can throw a hissy fit with the best of them too. And Threatened them with all sorts, threatened to sue and then threw myself into a chair and refused to move until I got my money back.


He reluctantly phoned his boss
"He's not a nice guy, he wont give it back."
Strangely the man on the phone gave it back right away and we were out of there less than an hour after moving in!

So we went up to the hostel only to find that they actually only had dorm beds and in a seperate room. So that was out.
And there we were, Me and Welshy, lost, homeless, tired, hungry and slowly freezing to death. It was kinda fun for the first half hour, convinced as we were that we'd get somewhere easily. I mean in London you cant WALK without falling over a hotel.

Three hours later and somehow we found ourselves in Times Square. It was something close to 4am our time, and I was near to breaking down in tears.
When we stumbled across the Hotel Mela, it was dead posh and that always equals dead expensive.
But like Welshy said. "We can manage tonight and then start again in the morning"
So I went up to them and explained that we were refugees from a crackden and probably a huge herd of cockroaches. and the lovely lady behind the reception went to speak to her manager, and then got us a huge $100 discount, it still made the room $50 dollars a night more expensive than what we'd originally paid for but still a beds a bed and homeless people cant be beggars.
(I think my trembling lower lip and quivering voice helped move her towards our plight.)

So we crashed into bed and prepared ourselves for a fresh attack on the city the next day. We planned to look for other cheap hotels, as this was SLIGHTLY out of my budget and as I was funding Welshy's holiday I didnt see how I could afford both of us to stay in such luxury, but in the end we caved and the nice people let us stay at the cheaper rate.

So we explored the city, Broadway, 5th Avenue, Time Square, and all the little offshoot streets. We went up the Rockefeller building towards sunset and played in the mad room at the top with coloured lights and music and watched the sun go down and all the pretty lights came on.
It was so MOTHERFUCKINGLY cold though! We were prepared for the cold, Christ knows we've been coping with -6's lately but this was awful, nothing could prepare us for that coldness, all day!
The next day we took a trip on subway again down to the Statue of Liberty and spent the day climbing the monument and exploring round there.


It was a fun, like London on acid as Welshy said, but as always when I visit the city I just wanna get out of it after a while, so I got my fix of the big city and then we flew home again!














Stairs to Nowhere - What the fuck is that about?!



















Named after you Hyde-y?

So yo! Did you miss me? I thought not!

I've just got back from Dublin and I've decided that now, whenever possible, I shall fly hand luggage only, fucking hell it makes such a difference, sailing past baggage and all those poor suckers waiting for it.

It was ok, more a holiday for mum more than owt else as she got to catch up with a few friends of hers that live out there. WE visited the Guinness factory and the Jamesons Whiskey Museum and the jail out at Kilmainham and the Post Office, home of the Easter Uprisings. I like that kind of history. I suppose its the whole romance part of it, struggling for independence and all that bollocks. (Despite nearly getting blown up myself in the whole IRA bombing bit, and my Uncle M twice narrowly missed out on being blown up, by little quirks of fate like leaving the office early or forgetting a paper and going back for it, only to return to a bombed office.) Interestingly theres still bulletholes and damage to the pillar structures of the GPO.

So yeah all that was interesting and then we went out drinking in the evenings in the Temple Bar area, although as Mother Dearest was there, I was very restrained and good!

We also met, "The trollop with the scollops"!

So despite making it up to Worksop on Evil Wednesday, the day of snow and ice, despite "Impressing them with my commitment, my knowledge and the way I conducted myself" They decided in the end to award the job to someone with more experience.
FUCKING HELL. Why is it always that catch-22? I cant get any work cos no one wants anyone without experience, but no one wants to give you that experience in the first place.
I have another application being processed with Dudley Zoo, (who have already turnt me down in the past) and at least thats a trainee role, so we'll see!!
Anyway I went out last night to see my good friend TDR and had a bit of a catch up and he brought me chips on the way home, hurrah! And I'm off to Dublin this afternoon! and then New York in 5 days! Wheeeeee!

WE had the most snow ever on monday! 4 inches! Its the deepest I've ever seen snow, and it pretty much destroyed London, no buses, no trains, hardly any tubes. Strangely the DLR was running normally.
We were warned not to travel unless we had too.
So. With schools, and buisnesses closed around us, the sensible thing to do would be to close the museum right?
Wrong.
I trudged through that snow, that came up half way to my knee to find that only 16 of us had made it in, half the galleries were closed but we stayed open until the Director finally admitted defeat and closed us for 3pm.
On Wednesday was my Worksop interview and I felt like a polar explorer trekking up there. I think the interview went really well, I got to cuddle all sorts of new animals, a barn owl, a skunk, some rather creepy but kinda cute giant milipedes...
I also got to inform them of a fact about one of their parrots that they didnt already know, which has - if nothing else - at least show that I do know what I'm talking about.
I should find out in a week or so how I did, so at least I'll be on holidays when the rejection comes which'll make it easier to bear!
I've been running about like a nutter trying to get this sorted, I needed a place to stay in NY and Dub, holiday moneys and insurance all of which I've now managed to get sorted in a week.
Welshy is rather excited too, he's never been on a long haul flight before, bless him!

its SNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGG