10 reasons why not to get married...

1. The quirks your partner had turns to being exceptionally annoying
2. All the courtship goes out the window - the romance actually did die
3. Forget fashion, those trousers and tee you got 5 years ago is perfectly fine
4. Personal hygiene is what...?  Hello natural hair.
5. Your partner gets annoyed that you haven't read their mind and you should know what they want
6. You forget why you fell in love with the person to begin with and turn your bitterness to new couples on the street
7. Go out? You only go out to get the weekly food shop/work/to put the lottery on
8. Your partner is more interested in what's on the box than why so and so ruined your day/why you've just got fired
9. The wedding promises were nothing but a short contract...you really do mind that you are poor
10. The thing that sucks the most...you were infatuated with your partner for so long you forgot who your friends are - they're no longer there...

This ladies and gentlemen, is not by my own experience but years of observation...
You can call it pessimism but show me a happy marriage...

Need help with your New Years Resolutions?

Thanks to Channel 4 you can get motivation and help with trying to accomplish some new years resolutions in their 'New Year Revolution'.  So over the next 31 days I'm going to stick to their tips and see how it goes!

Maybe this will help me with my resolution to cut down my weight and size!

Having passed my driving test does this mean I've already learnt a new skill?  I might broaden this to something else though...and not cheat my way out of it...

2012 Might just be my year..

Just two weeks into this year I found out that I've got an unconditional offer for the PGCE course and that finally, on the second attempt, passed my driving test with three minors and on the unlucky 'Friday 13th'!

Whilst I am overjoyed that finally something good seems to be happening, I now have to scrape all the pennies together to pay the £9000 payment requirement.  Alternatively, I could get a student loan, but hello more debt!  But at the very least this has now set me on course for an actual job (yes, someone finally chose for me!).

And the driving thing, I am more than sure that the examiner decides the minute he meets you whether to pass or fail you. After the first tests perfect drive with the exception of a tricky situation with a bus, I was pretty sure that the guy plucked excuses from the air about things he couldn't prove.  The second test led me to be incredibly nervous and susceptible to several mistakes that I know would count for some sort of marking on the sheet but I was amazed that I had passed and passed with only 3 minors for gears (an area of driving that I wish would disappear).  But alas here I'm sat waiting for my driving licence to be delivered to my house and my name to be added to the insurance.  Only with tuition fees coming up, can I actually afford to pay insurance and driving costs..?

This year might be shaping up as being productive but it's going to be a massive financial struggle...

Well Happy New Year, let's get to it Part III

2012 New Years Resolutions

1. To establish a 10 year plan

2. To cut down to a healthier size

3. To pass my driving test and have my own wheels

4. To start travelling

5. To learn a new skill

Well it's a New Year, let's get to it Part II

The Festivities of Christmas


Most people usually fall in the category of having a lousy Christmas or a good Christmas.  For once, as far as things go, this was a good Christmas.  Regardless of the typical solemn and depressing Christmas Eve (for some reason it's the time for Christmas arguments in my family!) I dragged myself out of bed the next day at midday dreading the falsely cheerful meeting of the extended family and getting presents that just scream 'I got this at my local garage station', but it turned out to be a good day!  I was surprised to find that my family were genuinely civil and I actually got on with my Uncle without having to hang my head in pure embarrassment.  Dinner was goood and so was the Christmas TV!

New Years was similarly good.  To prevent the warlock having a mental breakdown that none of the family are there fore New Years, I stayed in and was pleasantly surprised that we joined as a family to play a game of Cluedo.  Even more so was spectating my brother finally tasting alcohol for the first time in his 25 years and he didn't just stop at a taste.  Before I knew it I was clawing for some ear plugs and regaled in him accusing everyone else to be drunk.  Of course him winning two games in a row went straight to his head and buoyed his enjoyment in alcohol.  I can tell he'll be hitting the Barcardi Breezer's more frequently.

So this Christmas, for once, has been a good one.  I think the only criticism I have is that with so much free time I've stepped back into my teens and started playing computer games - well who can resist the allure of Steams fantastic sales!  They're pretty much a giveaway!  Looks like I will be kept occupied for a long time then...

My proud collection of Steam Games.

Well Happy New Year, let's get to it then...

It's four days into the New Year and I thought it's about time for an update.

WORK 

So what happened into the lead up to Christmas?

Well it was all systems are go as I finally got my foot into a new job.  Miraculously a job that I applied to at the end of October suddenly emailed me requesting me for an interview 3 days later.  Of course I was overjoyed and turned up early, desperate to make a good impression.  The worsening weather ruined my straightened hair and made my make up run and if that wasn't all they were less than impressed at my earliness.  I also thought, as usual, my mouth ran away with itself and I was speaking incoherently, with no plan and no structure.

However, fast forward 18 hours and I was rudely awakened by a phone call.  Half asleep I answered it and mumbled my words, only to find out that YES I HAVE A NEW JOB!  Success!

This means that for 9hours a week I am a Shelving Assistant in the University Library.

For 4 hours of a week I am a note taker for the university.

That's 13 hours work...slowly getting to the normal 35 hours week.

On the odd occasion I may be asked to cover work shifts at the World Heritage Site, so that's maybe another 2 hours a month.

And so you can see a pattern developing...I am everywhere and nowhere!  Especially as I had the cheek to write on my Personal Statement on my application form that this year I was attempting to secure a voluntary work placement in my local primary school, without bothering to do so.  To prevent me breaking the trust of GTTR that everything on the personal statement is completely honest (and it really is) I had to go to the school and beg for placement. Turns out it doesn't take much begging to get a voluntary position in a school.  They are desperate for more hands.  And voila, I am now in the motion of getting my CRB to spend an afternoon in my local primary school.  Another afternoon gone.

The PGCE Primary Education application itself has yet to get in touch with me regarding my place.  So my plans for the next year are still very much in the air.  I shall digress slightly about my interview for the PGCE.  Again the weather would have it's wicked way, and hence the pour down and incredible wind speeds was very much in it's full power for me getting there in the morning.  And again I was there very very early.  Only my idiotic mind suggested that I ought not to turn up half an hour early - the staff themselves might not even be there right?  So I stood outside in it, for 20mins.  I must have looked a state.  But I got in and started to relax, chatting away to other applicants and the people running the thing, even asking questions during the presentation.  The woman even didn't recognise me as the girl that turned up with obscenities written on my face and still half-cut at a lecture in first year, in which I almost failed my elective module in the subject I'm considering doing a post-grad in!  So all seemed good and like a dream.  In fact I even got the guy I wanted for an interview - a wizened but very friendly fellow.

And so the group task begun and I used the incredible line of 'I think there's a quote in the Main Library here, that there is no other place you could be in one place but in all four corners of the world, and I think that's what teaching does...it makes the world accessible to you.'.  Unfortunately I think that sent ripples around the group and caused a comment of 'we were corny during that' which I'm sure was aimed at me.  But I ignored it.  In fact I felt like I'd take the Elixr of Luck and thought 'this is what I have to do, it makes sense'.  So when I was sat in the independent interviews I was full on confident, including joking and straying from the subject.  Overall it seemed like it was a meeting over a cup of coffee in Starbucks (other coffee shops are available) rather than a meeting which may affect the rest of my life.  I even shocked myself by listening to myself and in the process persuading me that I DID want to do this.  But due to my relaxed nature I found myself mentioning taboo concepts such as 'the naughty table' and things that even child protection would flinch at.  But overall I thought I did well.  Naturally this could be my high mind frame of feeling invincible.  We shall see...

I never expected it to be a sprint...but this..

...this is a bloody marathon.

I haven’t posted in here since August.  And why? I’m not so sure.  Probably plain laziness. 

I did work in College until the start of the new academic year which is a plain enough excuse until October.  So I never did get to meet the hundred or so people I have dealt with, handled, and contacted.  Which I suppose, being in the epicentre of a job which follows so many people through such an important part of their life, it’s kinda not rewarding to see how happy they are.  In fact the best I saw of it was one student recognised me from a tour and said he was incredibly happy with his choice which made me very happy indeed.  And so I left that job with my head held high choosing to ignore the pulling my hair out times or holding my head in my hands while repeatedly saying out loud “Why, just why?!”.  All in all, sucking up to (or rather trying to be amiable with) the boss for so long paid off as she finally saw fit to sit down and write me a reference.

And so that’s the stage I’m at now.  Yes, since October I’ve managed to rekindle my note-taking job, gain another job working on a World Heritage Site (it’s less glamourous than you’d think) and try applying for all sorts of jobs from NHS, retail, jobs within the university and jobs in an office.  And guess what? The success rate is an overwhelming – 0.  Well that was until I got an interview for a Primary PGCE.  It’s still in early stages but I’m going to clutch at that and run with it, I’m going to run with it and make something with it, cos if I don’t…well where will I be next year? Probably about a stone heavier and sat where I am right now.

So here’s to prepping for my interview, and here’s perhaps to a more eventful time in the next few days.  However, the more I’m being stagnant the more likely I’ll visit this blog.