working at it slowly

Well - what a chaotic day - just taking 5 to actually eat something for the first time and have a drink........sadly non-alcoholic

Gentle Chugger wrote (see)

Podds,. I can hardly believe anyone could stress about where they're sitting for an exam!!! I've never met anyone who could remember half an hour after the exam where they were sitting! I give in, you'll have to tell me: why on earth does it matter WHERE they sit???

To my mind it doesn't but "anxiety" is the new "must have accessory" to being a teenage so we have several demands along the lines of:
- must be in a small room
- must be near a door
- must be at the back where nobody can look at me etc etc

.....and we are expected to kowtow as "every child matters" and we have to give them the best chance for the future blahdi blah.......... the fact that the more we mollycoddle them here the harder it is in the outside world is not something anybody considers and the kids are quite capable of refusing to sit their exams because it's "too traumatic" if they don't get their own way.........and their parents will back them...........
 

Yums wrote (see)

Pippi, your run sounds quite fun but the thought of what weirdo might be lurking would take the edge off the fun

Isn't that the only reason to go out running ???????? 

Right best get back to it........... 

 

Well done, Madame FarFar. Three miles is good, and being able to get out more regularly has to feel great. 

Sluggie, LOL at the picture of you giving a floor show, compelte with feathers, for Alfie's benefit  And with appointments morning, noon and night, for someone who's 'resting' you're quite the social butterfly--which is great!xxx

Yums, glad the family visit to the dentist wasn't too awful. They must be brushing secretly, when you can't see!  Have things at work settled down now? Last autumn there were changes in your line, and in your own work, and everything. Hope you're in quieter waters now. 

Eeeyew, Spence, DD's got you between a rock and a proverbial, hasn't she?? You don't dare ignore her (on your own floor be it!) but the middle of the night?!? Thank dog Rossie performs like clockwork morning and afternoon. Deffo worth trying a change of dinner time, methinks. 

If you managed to get out there and felt OK, that's got to be good news, XB  Hope you're back in full force quickly!

Daffs, a four day week is exceptionally good planning  Wotcher gonna do tomorrow with your free day???

It's official: the last 4 weeks have been the mildest and darkest since 1901! We haven't seen more than a few minutes' glimpse of the sun. Good news: we should get more sun next week. Bad news: it's going to be cold, effective temp down to - 11  Nice cheerful 14 km cycled doing errands today, now off to make more candied peel: C2 is totally addicted to it! 

 

What a nightmare day, and it always happens when I'm off the next bloody day.

Podds - we are opening one of those Studio Schools where pupils work 9-5, follow the usual school teaching plans, but then have a work placements from the age of 14.  They also have to stay until 5pm which includes homework time and extra activities.  The priciples of the school are quite exciting, they get GCSE education plus work experience and can go onto 6th form and BTECs etc.  I hope it does what its designed to do, because then we would be having people leaving school who know what "work life" is all about too.

I cant remember much else, apart from DL is on a train again, Spence is enrolling DL for a marafun and Daffs is busy working a 4 day week.  Normality resumes

Today I have spent the whole day working out a new 7 day rota, with a whole raft of issues to resolve with it.  Finally done, and one of the team comes to see me to hand in their resignation.   But think its sorted now

Border peeps are checking illegals, we're ok actually its just our "systems" need updating.  But you know what its like, you go through everything with a fine toothcome just to be sure there is no nasty surprises.

Am going home because my brain is mush, Stoke this weekend so wont be in much.  Play nice

I'm feeling a bit  and not sure whether to say anything or keep  

I think I mentioned a while back the boy saying he wanted to move English sets because the teacher can't control the class & he's finding the mucking about annoying, well he came home today saying for  the last 20 minutes of the lesson they played heads down, thumbs up!!??

Now I can quite understand a 'filler' in infants, although at our school any 'spare' time would be filled with a story or 'circle time' and perhaps at a push at juniors...but at seniors when they are just back from a holiday!!?? 

 

Evening gang

The day has run away with me so a quick pop in to say I'm off out for my tea and I'm back tomorrow ????????

Perhpas they were learning the imperative, Spence?

 

Learning the whatative!!!?

"Bossy Verbs"!

Oh right!!

Restoration Man!

A long and lovely day for me! Went to work pretty much planning to hand in my notice this morning Then had performance review which was SO lovely and full of exciting things that I'm plotting how I can stay there FOREVER 

Eating rice pudding now

Chuggs - 4 day week is indeed well planned - 4 days until October now (when my job runs out, but we'll worry about that nearer the time). Tomorrow I shall be meeting some people for tea, and doing some painting, and buying some fake moustaches for our not-christmas party next week

Oh, and maybe a run or summat

Daffs - I really don't know how you can be so laissez faire re jobs........if I didn't know where the next month's money was coming from to pay the mortgage and the bills I'd go nuts worrying about making the dogs homeless......oh and me and Mr P too !!

October's a long way off podds, and shortish term contracts are the norm in what i do at first. I've had three where i am now in less than three years, if it carries on they'll have to make me permanent anyway!

But also, i''ve never really worried about jobs. I've lived on very little money in the past and could do it again. I'm willing to do pretty much anything temporarily if i lost my job, and have often had several zero hour contracts at a time and done odd bits of office or factory or note taking work. I've only earned 'proper money' for two years and made damn sure i didn't start spending up to my income bcause i didn't want to find myself panicking and taking something i didn't like cos i was worried about money.

My outgoings aren't high and could easily be lower. We have one old car (owned outright). No pets or kids. No credit cards. No gym membership, sky tv, foreign holidays, very rarely eat out, never get takeaways. I'm 'lucky' that mr daffs is almost twenty years older than me and had the forsight to take out mortgage based on only one wage (rather than the two they had at the time) so mortgage is small and nearly paid off. (i say 'lucky' but suspect it'll come back to bite me when he dies several decades earlier!). I'd be renting in a shared house if i didn't know him - like i was, quite happily, when we met. Never had aspirations of home ownership!

All our clothes come from charity shops (through choice!), if something breaks we usually figure out how to fix it rather than getting someone in, if it dies we replace second hand or not at all. There's no such thing as 'new carpet' in this house! I've just been painting the bedroom for the first time in 23 years with some paint we dug out of the cellar...

Not necessarily a life many folk would want, i realise! But i reckon i'm happy, spend when i need to and certainly don't feel i'm missing out. And not being tied to, well, anything much, certainly makes it easier to not worry about jobs.

To be honest, i quite like temporary contracts for now, i'm far more afraid of feelibg stuck doing something i hate and feeling unable to leave because of money!

Oops, got me started on a pet subject there in a slightly sleepy mood and clearly couldn't shut up... Sorry!

I'd worry too if it was next month, but a few months away i certainly don't fret about, and try to stash some when i can so at least two or three frugal months without work could be handled, just in case. Only been in a position to do that in the last couple of years though.

Enough waffling for tonight from me!!

Oh, and a very happy birthday to the mouldy one!!

morning

I postes last night, but RW chewed it up and spat it out it seems 

Daffs, I love your philosophy on life, like Podds, I worry if I haven't enough to pay the bills and need to have what I feel is a safety net in the bank! Having said that, we have also lived on very little money, only just enough to get by on, but we are still here and none the worse for it!

Happy Birthday Meldy 

Happy birthday Meldy . It's also oh birthday today. No big plans tho.

Ran last night , still few little niggles. Achilles is a new one- what do I do with that ?
Just going to peer out if window and hope there's no white stuff on the ground

Morning

*Puts on party hat*

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOULDY

*Goes to put on clothes*

What a wonderful attitude to life, Daffs. Perfect proof that owning "things" isn't the only route to happiness.

My eyes ! My eyes!!!

Morning

Happy Birthday Meldy Mouldy!!

*Strips off and puts on XB's party hat!!*

Love it Daffs I was like that when I was young, free and single and only wanted to travel....but now it's children & kids!!

Tee hee at xb in just a party hat

Well run amanda, no idea about niggles i'm afraid!

Goodness i don't half waffle on! Should probably add that i'm certainly not ignoring the job situation! Work knows i want to stay, and will find me something if they can. I'm offon a grant writing course over several weeks soon and will be putting in my own application for research funding. If i don't hear about either of those by about june i'll look for a new job - but i refuse to panic about it and if i have to have a while off work til the right thing happens i will (and will enjoy it!). Despite how it may seem sometimes i take life planning very seriously (stop laughing!!) - very important to me to be doing work i love so happy to wait to hear for exciting things and be rather frugal in the meantime if necessary.

So it's not that i don't think about it, quite the contrary - maybe i think far too much!! I just won't be worrying any time soon. I do prefer it when there's spare in the bank in case the roof caves in - but that's why if i was on my own i'd be renting!