Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Just two more days at that place to go. Today wasn't too bad, just deadly boring. I was taking card payments, a fiddly process.
Come Monday I go back to the NMM, and I can get my rosta and then plan a time to go ride Sunny Pony for the first time :)
Yay!
I got some good schooling books to give me some ideas about what to do with him, although I think to begin with I shall take it easy, do some inhand walks (he's never hacked out alone before), a little schooling and some bomb-proofing maybe. Let him get to know me, and get confidence in me.
I'm planning to arrange a lesson with the lady who broke him (isn't that a horrid word?) in next week. She rides at Advanced Medium Dressage and is a BSJA so higher than any instructor I've had. I'm hoping to learn loads off of her.
I can't wait for this week to be over. I'm a bit confused as I applied for a receptionists job but this week I've just done admin.
Ho. Hum.
Still I can put this into a CV and big it up for further job applications I guess. Welshy is home on Saturday from his adventure in remote Austria. It sounds quite nice from what he says. Only 2,000 people. It makes San Adrian seem a thriving bustling city.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Oh God. I really can't face the idea of going back tomorrow. Can you have a fake sicky from a work trial?

Let me talk you through today. I had to finish off my task from yesterday. Only my 164 pages bred overnight to become 214. I had to place a plain white sticker on all of these, and match the form up with the correct students registration form.
So I got stuck in, adding the stickers as I went. My potential boss didn't like that method.
"No you have to put the stickers on before."
"Why?"
"That's the way I want it done."
So I shrugged, silently fumed and stuck all the stickers together and then started to match them up. I was left with about 100 stickered forms.
"what shall I do with these?" Expecting a place to store them.
"Oh shred them all."
Wow. So that irritated me. Not only is it a huge waste of my time but its a waste of resources. Poor trees!

So my next task was to open the mail and organise it, so I did, my office handles all the post for four different centres. Again doesn't seem the most efficient way of running things but ho hum.

There was a Polish girl working next to me, taking payments. She had a massive stack of paperwork and seemed to be one of only two people in an office of 6 that could answer the phone. So I asked her what to do with them. She said to start by checking all the information was there, payment, passport photos etc.
So while I was doing that Potential Boss asked me to answer the phone if anyone was calling and the two girls were busy.
Which, you know, I don't mind, although I was a bit put out, that no one else seemed to answer the phone and that she hadn't given me any information about what to say on the phone to people.
So I asked Polish girl when we went to lunch.
After Lunch she asked me to make sure all these people from the mail were in the register for the right centres. So I did that, changing the paperwork from pencil to pen and adding in if I needed.
So I did that, that occupied me for most of the rest of the day, I felt good. I felt useful, I was helping her by answering the phone. I was getting work done. Proper work.
Then Polish girl had to take the banking away so Potential Boss decided to show me how to take payments. All going well, exactly the same as in Bookings at the NMM. Then after she'd taken the payment, she said about recording reciepts at the end of the day. Which seemed bad to me. I'd get confused. I'd put the wrong receipt with things. So I said why can't I do it as I go? Again seemed more logical to me.
"Oh no, that's not the way we do it."
Fixing me with a steely look.
She then looked at the pile that looked like it was threatening to engulf the table. Taking one piece and holding it between her fingers.

Turns out I'd been doing it wrong, had to record what course they were doing, any medical needs and write more stuff on. Also I'd stapled them together wrong. So I had to take it all apart, rebuild her pile.
She didn't believe me when I said I hadn't been told all this, that some of the mistakes weren't mine.

Oh and because of this, the whole office left work 10 minutes late. People were angry with me

Monday, May 21, 2012

New job.

So I knew it'd be a bad day when I smashed a button against my finger getting dressed. It stung like shit.
Trying to get things sorted to go to work, and mums decided that suddenly its drastically important that she goes and orders a moonpig card for her friend's birthday. Despite already having got her a card.
So she bitches that I was rushing her and making her flustered but I was in a hurry! I only needed to print a damn form but it made me late. 
I got the bus full of schoolkids. One decided to drip his ice pole all down my leg. From 11.30 - 4pm I shredded 23 bin bags of paper. Then Then I looked through 164 sheets of paper to find 6. I then had to go through the stack again and put stickers on.Then my bus drove past me on the way home.  
Tomorrow my task is to match all 164 pieces of paper with the students register details. 
Helpfully both sets of papers are not in alphabetical order.

Still Roast dinner for tea and then a nice bath. 

Oh Welshy is in Austria teaching supply English classes. So not fair.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Sunny.

So I went to see Pony today. He was adorable. A newly turned 5-year old Liver chestnut with white socks and a stripe.
His owners are complete novices but very sweet seeming. They seem to think that I'd be able to give them all sorts of advice - like an expert! - and be able to ride him through his problems.
I didn't ride him then, he was a bit footy. He def needs his hooves trimmed and being a native is at risk of laminitis, they also suspect he has a bit of sweet itch too.
They kept telling me all his bad habits - which really are nothing considering his age. He just seems a typical cheeky pony who's getting away with a few naughty habits despite their attempts to be strict.
Anyway, hopefully I'm going to visit him again in a few days and then we'll ride. He apparently has a bit of a buck on him! I've ordered some good schooling books online and am looking forward to pottering about the countryside on him. Maybe we'll even get some jumps sorted, once all his flatwork is established.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Job Hunting.

So we've been job hunting both of us. We went to Reed recruitment and they offended Welshy greatly by telling him he was unemployable.
We've had mixed success, the usual amount of more rejections than invites for interviews. But Welshy had two for a data mining job, that he found out today he didn't get and a phone interview to another place.
He signed up for a job teaching TEFL as a supply and has been offered a chance to go to Austria next week for the week. He's mulling it over.
Also he's been offered an internship at another language school starting on the 1st of next month. Not what he wants but its a start.
And me? Well I had an interview for a receptionist's job in a school in Lee Green, going on a week's trial for that next week. Its not filling me with joy tbh. Mainly cos the moneys not great and I don't like the idea of places telling me when I can and can't go.
The NMM has finally sorted out when I can restart there, I only did it a month ago! Moving quickly for them! Lol. I only want to do three days a week there to get money coming in and to stop myself falling into the trap there.
What else? Oh yes, I applied for a job for TfL working as a receptionist in the taxi section. This was a month ago and THEY'RE still considering their options as to who to interview. But I consider it good that they emailed me today to ask me if I'd like to also be considered for a job working admin three days a week in another section. This'd be good as they pay masses better than the NMM and three days a week there means no weekends. Whoop Whooop!
So next week I go on trial at this school, the week after that I return to the NMM and I wait for TfL to get back to me - oh and I applied for a job at the Houses of Parliament, deadline for that is on the 25th. If I don't get an interview I will be outraged. I have everything they require for that job.
H2 and her kids came to visit at the weekend, we spent the day at the Transport Museum. Honestly I never realised it would amuse the kids for FOUR hours straight. Longer if she hadn't gotten bored!

Other news!

I answered an advert for someone looking to share their very green chestnut NF pony. Just 5 years old. I go to meet his owners at the weekend. I've done a bit of facebook stalking and that along with some of their photos and comments make me suspect that they are also novice owners. They seem very nice though. I'm looking forward to meeting him and meeting what I already consider my pony!

Sunday, May 06, 2012

So life as an unemployed bum continues.
However I do have an interview on Wednesday, to do a Tues-Fri job as a receptionist at a language school in Lee Green. I can't tell you any more about it than that because I know nothing else. Can't even remember what the wage is. I saw it on the jobseekers website so can't be much pennies.
I applied for it during my resignation rage and that was over a month ago. Meh. We'll see what happens.
Two jobs that I have applied for, that I want though. One is for Transport for London, its ok money, local and best of all I get two free oystercards for free London travel. That would make me happy. I can't believe since starting this blog, fares on the bus have gone from 80p to a whopping 2.30-ish.
The other is to do gallery and tour guide work at the Houses of Parliament. I know I left the NMM vowing never to get back into that work again, but for 19k (3k a year more than what I left with, wage wise) starting salary (rising to 24k) no Sunday work and alternate Saturdays would suit me ok. Hopefully would work ok so I can go to football anyway :)

Speaking of football, my beloved Charlton gained promotion back to the Championship. I was very happy, but also sad as I have no money to afford to renew for next year.

Welshy also has an interview for "data mining" whatever that means. He's been trying to teach himself HTML with thanks from H2's husband. I hope he gets it. We went to a recruitment agency last week and the man told him he was unemployable and couldn't help him and he's been a bit depressed and mopey ever since.

Oh yes. Bored last week I did a bit of advert reading and responded to a woman who wanted someone to school her horse for her as she didn't have time. Free Horse Fun! Who could resist! So I replied telling her what I could and couldn't do, height/weight etc and where I was based and now I'm waiting a reply. I say waiting. Obsessively checking my email is more realistic!
I'm starting to fret that because I didn't give any details (other than my email address that I had to fill in when I applied) that she won't/can't get back to me.
More realistically, its because I'm not good enough for her pony.
I REALLY need a job so I can ride again. Spending my days reading Horse and Hound Forums and looking at ponies I can't afford to keep as of yet is not a suitable substitute for Pony Fun

And. Final good thing (for now) H2 + children are coming to visit next Saturday! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!