You remember my blog from the other day, about a day's work from my temp agency? Needless to say it didn't run quite as smoothly as I was expecting.
I arrived for my hour's training on Thursday afternoon only to find that they were expecting somebody who had been there before and had an idea of who was who there. It would probably be too stressful for someone to work that out whilst getting used to the brand new switchboard that was 'going live' on Friday. I wholeheartedly agreed, so it was decided that I would sit there for the hour and man the reception whilst the lady who was doing that, from the same agency, got the training AND the work for Friday. Ah well, you win some and you lose some. At least I got some money for my effort.
Anyway the following morning I staggered out of bed about 9am - I am such a lazy mare. I was munching on some toast and knocking back my first pint of tea of the day when my mobile rang. It was the agency. There was a day's envelope stuffing on offer as the original temp just hadn't turned up and hadn't called in. I was there and at my large table by 10am and, apart from making myself some tea and taking time out for lunch and potty breaks, I was there till 5.30pm. Still, £7 an hour to collate 4 bundles of paper, put them in an envelope, seal it and add the address label is not to be sneezed at. Rumour has it there may be another day there this coming week, doing something similar. Needless to say I'm interested, despite my shoulders having only just stopped aching.
Sunday 13 December 2009
Positive thoughts/vibes/prayers please
Whatever floats your boat.
For the past 4 weeks or so K has been suffering with eye pain, at first in the bone around the eye but lately also in the eye itself. It got steadily worse and on the day she had a doctor's appointment she was sent home early as she had a bad headache and felt sick. The doctor decided that she had a minor ear infection - they did look slightly pink down near the ear drum (yes I got a peek, without asking) - and a sinus infection (but K said he pressed so hard on the left maxiliary sinus it would have hurt anyway).
One week of antibiotics later and we were back at square one. So I made another appointment, this time with our own GP Dr D. Unfortunately I was working so A had to take her. K was also sent home again today, suffering from a bad headache. On the plus side K's confidence is blooming and she was able to handle all the history taking herself - that and she is up-to-here with the pain and discomfort. After much chat and testing Dr D said that he thought the most likely option would be migraine (A's mum and I have both been known to be floored by them), but he also wanted her to see our optician to check for visual defects and, particularly, glaucoma. Strictly speaking, K is too young for this disease but occasional cases have been know. She is also having increasing difficulty with blurring and focussing, though I'm not sure if that's all the time or just when the pains are playing up. So we are off to see our eye man on Tuesday. K has to take propranolol, a mild beta-blocker, for two weeks to see if that helps with the pain. So far the answer is no but we'll keep going for the course to see if it needs to accumulate in the body.
If the optician can't find anything and the propranolol doesn't work then she gets referred to the opthalmology department at the local hospital.
For the past 4 weeks or so K has been suffering with eye pain, at first in the bone around the eye but lately also in the eye itself. It got steadily worse and on the day she had a doctor's appointment she was sent home early as she had a bad headache and felt sick. The doctor decided that she had a minor ear infection - they did look slightly pink down near the ear drum (yes I got a peek, without asking) - and a sinus infection (but K said he pressed so hard on the left maxiliary sinus it would have hurt anyway).
One week of antibiotics later and we were back at square one. So I made another appointment, this time with our own GP Dr D. Unfortunately I was working so A had to take her. K was also sent home again today, suffering from a bad headache. On the plus side K's confidence is blooming and she was able to handle all the history taking herself - that and she is up-to-here with the pain and discomfort. After much chat and testing Dr D said that he thought the most likely option would be migraine (A's mum and I have both been known to be floored by them), but he also wanted her to see our optician to check for visual defects and, particularly, glaucoma. Strictly speaking, K is too young for this disease but occasional cases have been know. She is also having increasing difficulty with blurring and focussing, though I'm not sure if that's all the time or just when the pains are playing up. So we are off to see our eye man on Tuesday. K has to take propranolol, a mild beta-blocker, for two weeks to see if that helps with the pain. So far the answer is no but we'll keep going for the course to see if it needs to accumulate in the body.
If the optician can't find anything and the propranolol doesn't work then she gets referred to the opthalmology department at the local hospital.
Go figure
There was an interesting section in yesterday's Times (Weekend section) to do with alcohol and middle-class, middle-aged consumption, as in how we are all drinking too much too regularly - more than half a bottle a night apparently will lead to future health problems.
One particular article grabbed my attention. You can find it here. Those of you who know us will understand which bit grabbed me, those of you who don't will possibly find it interesting anyway. I told my husband this relevant bit of the article - and no, I'm not going to enlighten you - and those of you that know us will probably guess what he replied. The reason he is still breathing is that he said it with a smile on his face.
One particular article grabbed my attention. You can find it here. Those of you who know us will understand which bit grabbed me, those of you who don't will possibly find it interesting anyway. I told my husband this relevant bit of the article - and no, I'm not going to enlighten you - and those of you that know us will probably guess what he replied. The reason he is still breathing is that he said it with a smile on his face.
Wednesday 9 December 2009
The first of many, hopefully
I had a phone call at lunchtime today from a job agency. Was I interested in going for one hour's training tomorrow and a full day (8 - 4) on Friday to man a company's reception. Now normally I'd have said 'no way'. I have some very poor memories of reception work back from when I last 'properly' worked full-time. I wasn't allowed to take any of my real work with me to do, which was a shame because there was time to do some and it would have saved me the late hours/weekends I did to catch up. All I had to do was smile sweetly and answer the phones, oh and tannoy people to call people if they weren't at their desks.
However, the hourly rate of £8 made me consider that I could at least try it. After all, the equipment these days must be easier to use than that of 20 years ago. Plus this could be the little acorn that my mighty oak of full-time, paid reasonably, employment would spring from. So I said 'ok, yes'. This company would like to build up a bank of people to step in to cover holiday/maternity/illness for their regular reception team, so there's a chance of repeat work - the next 10 days before Christmas sound rather nice ;-).
Now all I have to do is find something suitable to wear - and work out how to pick up my dry cleaning from Fareham before the weekend. For those of you who don't know me, my Thursday mornings are ring-fenced in stone. My good friend Julie is likely to commit murder if I left, though she knows that is my intention in the long-term.
However, the hourly rate of £8 made me consider that I could at least try it. After all, the equipment these days must be easier to use than that of 20 years ago. Plus this could be the little acorn that my mighty oak of full-time, paid reasonably, employment would spring from. So I said 'ok, yes'. This company would like to build up a bank of people to step in to cover holiday/maternity/illness for their regular reception team, so there's a chance of repeat work - the next 10 days before Christmas sound rather nice ;-).
Now all I have to do is find something suitable to wear - and work out how to pick up my dry cleaning from Fareham before the weekend. For those of you who don't know me, my Thursday mornings are ring-fenced in stone. My good friend Julie is likely to commit murder if I left, though she knows that is my intention in the long-term.
Tuesday 8 December 2009
How lemon curd can seriously ruin your evening
This post WAS going to be titled "What is it about Christmas that makes me want to bake" (and I bet you can see where this post is going). Today I got the culinary urge to spoil my family with home-made offerings. However my pastry-making abilities are, well, pants! My MIL will attest to this. So I cheated and bought some Jus Rol frozen shortcrust pastry, 2 lots of jam and a jar of lemon curd.
After tea (home-made pizza) I set to with a vengeance (and my Pampered Chef Deluxe Mini Muffin Pan). All was reasonably well until the 2nd batch came out the oven, the lemon curd batch. As usual A, D & K were like bees round a honey pot waiting to sample the wares - I have a great quality control department. Unfortunately one of the tarts split apart and landed oven-hot lemon curd on mine and A's hand. He seems not too bad. My little finger has a bright red patch and is throbbing merrily. Fortunately this means the damage is superficial and not needing a mad dash to A & E. It also means that the 3rd batch - blackberry jam - will have to wait till tomorrow. A is watching the snooker and the kids have homework so there's no-one to take over.
This is after the cake I made yesterday decided to crumble apart instead of easing out of its tin like it was supposed to. Maybe I should hold off making the double chocolate pudding (chocolate, bread waffles, cream, eggs).
After tea (home-made pizza) I set to with a vengeance (and my Pampered Chef Deluxe Mini Muffin Pan). All was reasonably well until the 2nd batch came out the oven, the lemon curd batch. As usual A, D & K were like bees round a honey pot waiting to sample the wares - I have a great quality control department. Unfortunately one of the tarts split apart and landed oven-hot lemon curd on mine and A's hand. He seems not too bad. My little finger has a bright red patch and is throbbing merrily. Fortunately this means the damage is superficial and not needing a mad dash to A & E. It also means that the 3rd batch - blackberry jam - will have to wait till tomorrow. A is watching the snooker and the kids have homework so there's no-one to take over.
This is after the cake I made yesterday decided to crumble apart instead of easing out of its tin like it was supposed to. Maybe I should hold off making the double chocolate pudding (chocolate, bread waffles, cream, eggs).
Monday 7 December 2009
Making friends, or my reputation precedes me
Last Monday saw the first exam of my AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians) course. It was a 4 hour paper. I finished it in about 2, and that was including a quick tea break to give the brain a rest. Gemma (afternoon tutor) wondered why I was loitering outside the classroom at lunchtime - I was talking to a fellow student - and then asked if I'd finished. I gave her my best 'Roger Moore' eyebrow and said "You really have to ask that?"
Today was the second paper (Unit 4), a 3 or 4 hour paper. I cracked it (I think, I hope) in an hour flat. Jim (morning tutor) asked me what took me so long. The rest of the class raised eyebrows/smiled/said enjoy the rest of the day.
Before leaving Jim wanted to go through last week's paper. He said he got sick of writing the same comment next to each question (good job, sort of thing) so left them blank. I managed to get 2 answers wrong on the legal/technical questions in the back but that was about it. We haven't officially been taught that stuff yet so I'm not concerned. Hopefully I'll find out in the next few days if I've made any howlers today.
I've always been quick with exams, with one or two notable exceptions (like when I make a huge horlicks of it).
Today was the second paper (Unit 4), a 3 or 4 hour paper. I cracked it (I think, I hope) in an hour flat. Jim (morning tutor) asked me what took me so long. The rest of the class raised eyebrows/smiled/said enjoy the rest of the day.
Before leaving Jim wanted to go through last week's paper. He said he got sick of writing the same comment next to each question (good job, sort of thing) so left them blank. I managed to get 2 answers wrong on the legal/technical questions in the back but that was about it. We haven't officially been taught that stuff yet so I'm not concerned. Hopefully I'll find out in the next few days if I've made any howlers today.
I've always been quick with exams, with one or two notable exceptions (like when I make a huge horlicks of it).
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