Boredom

Yesterday I started a text message conversation with Alison about the noises that distressed, British, wild animals make. This is how bored I am of sitting at home day after day. I applied for a receptionists job yesterday - I think I'd look good in one of those little headsets but I'm not sure how often I could bring myself to read Heat magazine.

Having written that the whole Britney meltdown was fascinating, celebrity fodder. I could watch her shaving her head as often as I could watch the car crash that is Amy Winehouse's life.
Fat, thin, eating disorder, surgery, Jordan, Beckham, Lohan, Hilton blah blah blah but give me Britney losing her children and wearing an ill fitting wig and no knickers and I'm hooked.
So anyway I'm quite bored and do not make a good unemployed person.

Job

It's almost two months since I left my job in Manchester and moved to Preston.
It's beginning to get miserable now without a job. I reckon on average I apply for five jobs and speak to two agencies every day and still nothing.

I have applied for jobs in retail, at the hospital, as an air traffic controller, as a mystery shopper, at the university, at Blackpool Zoo, in call centres, for the police, as a fucking Betterware catalogue distributor, at sports centres and at a garden centre. I'm not fussy you know - as long as it pays and I can get there in under two hours on public transport then I'll go for it. I've looked at temporary & permanent and both full & part time - nothing.

I was watching a spot of television this morning whilst checking my emails for job opportunities and there was a phone in section that I tried to get though to. They were suggesting that people are being snobbish about what kind of job they take and that people thought certain types of work beneath them - this frustrated me somewhat. I am finding that employers are unwilling to look outside their own industry for employees and I am being ignored or refused even an interview because I haven't done exactly that job before. Does this mean that because I took a shop job five years ago as a temporary measure and ended up sticking to retail that I must now work in retail for the next thirty five years of my life? I hope not.

Granted - I don't have a degree but really at the age of thirty three with all the work experience that I have can it really be true that I am that unemployable? I am intelligent, hard working & honest and am willing to start at the bottom - again - in order to work my way through a new career.
Anyhoo - I suppose I'll just have to hope that retail doesn't dry up completely and that I'll find something there eventually....

Orange and Black

Today I went for a job interview in Preston. I knew from two phone calls last week with Louise that there was something odd about it before I even left the house today but I was further convinced when I walked up to the building and the company sign was a print out sellotaped to the window.

I went in and asked for the person that I was supposed to be meeting only to be told that they had the day off. They didn't know who I was supposed to see and neither did I. A rough looking old bird handed me a clip board and said "'ere you are love, fill this out." I sat down in the waiting room on a cheap sofa (not that I'm a snob when it comes to furniture...) and filled out the form. There were three other people in the room with me, the guy next to me (black suit / white socks) had his head in his hands and rocked backwards and forwards.
The waiting room had woodchip wallpaper painted bright orange and all the woodwork was painted black. Radio one blared from the desk in the corner and I was treated to a live rendition of blinded by the lights (without the swearing) which cheered me up no end.

The other three people were invited to go upstairs and I was - er - ignored completely. Ten minutes later I was still alone in the waiting room. Twenty minutes later - still there. Eventually someone came into the room and when I asked how much longer it would be - five minutes maximum. Ten minutes later I was finally invited to go upstairs. I clambered over the office chairs and sat down in front of what appeared to be a teenager.

She asked me a handful of pointless questions before she finally asked - "So what can you bring to this company?" I began replying by talking about maturity and experience and then came to a sudden standstill. It was at this point that I said that I couldn't actually answer her question because I still had no idea what their company did - and to be honest I still don't know! I started getting a bit pissy to be honest but despite this ten minutes or so later she decided that I should come back for the second of four interviews. I don't think I'll go...

Towns

We're about to move house again. This time from Chapel en le Frith to Preston. In the past eight years we have lived in Sale in south Manchester, Tottenham in north London, Enfield in Middlesex, two different places in Chester, Colchester, Chelmsford and Chapel en le Frith. It's got to the point now where I don't even think about it. We move in three weeks and I've not started packing yet.

I feel like I have learnt about very different things in each place. I learnt about Music in Manchester, art in Chester, politics in London, friends in Derbyshire, careers in Essex and I suspect that Preston will be about family.

Buckley & I don't share the same tastes in many things - and that includes where we live. I could happily settle in London and he loves Derbyshire. I find Derbyshire dull and nosey and he thinks London is dirty, impersonal and cold.

We've not found a happy medium yet so instead we go to work in different directions and do our own thing.

I would like to live by the sea. Fleetwood would be a lovely place to have a weekend flat. I would also love to live in another country for a couple of years - perhaps Spain or Holland - maybe France or New York. It's highly unlikely though.

All the moving around has left us with a scattering of friends across the country and it's very easy to distinguish the ones you care about and the ones that care about you just by who you keep in touch with. Strangely one of my oldest friends lives in Preston and I'm looking forward to getting to know her again.

Despite being used to moving I still find it quite unsettling. Every time you have to start again - finding a job, making friends, making a home and feeling comfortable again. The only constant is Chris. Everything else changes.

Shopping

When did shopping become such a chore? Surely going out to choose a new sofa or buy a lamp should be fun? Why did that woman call me a jumped up shop boy before hanging up on me and how much do I enjoy throwing middle aged women out of my shop for being rude?

Shopping has become a battle.

I blame the Americans. They have perpetuated the myth that good customer service is giving the customer whatever they demand - without limitation - and because of this a happy compromise is very difficult to agree on. Granted, if the planters you buy for your garden go rusty and mark your patio it's not great but to demand - and expect - a full refund, payment for the cleaning products, payment for a gardener to replant new pots and compensation for distress is, in my opinion, a little over the top.

A friend of mine was once required to turn the hands of a clock to various positions so that the customer could decide whether he liked the aesthetics of said clock at different times of the day.

I myself had to deal with a tantrum from a woman when I couldn't tell her whether the dinner candles she had asked me about dripped or flowed as the wax was melting.

These days I won't tolerate that kind of behaviour. The rude and demanding get nowhere and as the boss I can get away with it. They still annoy me but I won't pander to it now.
Thus far I have thrown two people out of the shop, been smug to numerous and instructed three not to be so rude to me. Rudeness should not be accepted.

Police

Our security guard was assaulted today. Two thieves were in the building and he chased one of them after he walked out with two products under his coat.
When the guard couldn't lock him in the car park he decided to grab him instead and in return received a smack in the face.
The thieves left with nothing.
The police were called at 1.30 and still hadn't arrived at 5 when we left.

The crack house across the road seems to be going strong these days despite the recent raid. The guests of the establishment have recently become more inventive. Instead of pretending to be shopping they now ask for application forms and question if we're recruiting. We also have one delightful woman who sits in a wheel chair and is pushed about by another crackee whilst she tries to swipe the expensive stuff.

I don't think I want to be there any more. You shouldn't be frightened for your safety when you go to work.