it's very pink around here isn't it?

Perhaps it's time for a change, but I quite like pink.

The job situation has changed yet again. I got offered a job I'd alreay been turned down for. So I accepted it. It feels like going back to my roots a bit, being physics related, although with a scary side order of computing which I don't really know much about. I can bluff my way through most of the things you find in the average office but anything that involves programming tends to throw me. I don't think I need to know much so since my job's organising conferences and public engagement stuff. I don't start for a couple of weeks, so I'll find out then.

In the meantime I ought to tidy up around here.

coffee!

I'm obviously out of the habit of getting up in the morning and two days of work has exhausted me. Pathetic really. I'm enjoying the job though. And reading on the tube. Ah, Victoria Line tubes, how I've missed you. The smell, the jostle, the way you turn my bogies black. There's a computer fault this morning meaning the oyster card readers aren't working. Hoorah for Ken Livingstone and London Transport.

Woohooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

I've just been offered a job. This is slightly insane, since until I got a phonecall from the company this morning, I'd never heard of them. Let me explain.

Last Wednesday afternoon I answered an email ad asking for voluntary help to launch an award scheme. On Thursday, I had an interview with someone at the award organisers who was very helpful and enthusiastic about me using a work placement with them as a way to find a permanent job with one of their contacts. She obviously liked me and passed my CV on to one of agencies organising the launch party, who called me this morning to come in and have a chat. I went along, not knowing quite what to expect and lo and behold, they want to offer me a permanent job!

So the upshot is I'm going to do the voluntary thing for two weeks and if I like what I'm doing, I can stay on permanently. Hoorah!

God is brilliant!

ooooooooooh!

I'm getting rather over-excited by the impending arrival of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy film. I knew it was in the offing, but since various versions have been in development hell for years, I wasn't holding my breath. But apparently it's going to be out this year, around the end of April. From the look of the trailer, there are rather a lot of US actors in the main parts, but there's a Brit, Martin Freeman, playing Arthur and according to the IMDd, lots of quirky cameos and Alan Rickman as the voice of Marvin.
Could be terrible, could be wonderful, but definitely a must-see.

what do I do all day?

I've just got back from cell group, where we've been talking about priorities and what we do with our time, which has got me thinking about what I've actually achieved in the 10 days since my last post. I have;

painted the downstairs loo

made loads of meals

had a job interview (went OK I thought at the time, but they still haven't got back to me and it's been a week now, not feeling very hopeful)

planned and run a sunday school session (a bit manic, but not quite as terrible as I thought it might have been)

I think that might be it in terms of actual achievements.

I haven't even read any good books. (I'm rather stuck in a rut with reading, perhaps I need some new authors to try, any recommendations?) It's silly how quickly time slips by when you're not working. I ought to have loads of time to spend on stuff like spending time with God, doing my OU course and working out what my pefect job would be, but actually if feels like life's on hold while I play spider, plan blogs in my head which I then fail to post and sleep.

So what's the solution? Plan better probably. If only resolutions in blogs were that easy. 'Look, here is the solution to my problem and the world's all right again, so now I'll go away and be happy.' If only.

I'll let you know how it goes.

conversation starter

Since May last year, I have been the proud owner of a 1971 VW Beetle 1302s. This has taught me several things. Firstly, the price of a new engine. Secondly, exactly how long it takes to run in said new engine. In fact, every time it breaks down, I learn something new about the engine. Unfortunately, every time it breaks down something new has gone wrong (usually with the engine) so what I learned last time doesn't help.

But more interestingly, I've learnt that everyone has a Beetle story. Mention the bug and out they come; learning to drive in one, the one my Grandad had that started every time and climbed snowy hills when nothing else could, the one where the handbrake broke off, the troublesome one that kept breaking down, the noise, the smell, how many people you can squash in the back, the helpfulness of other Beetle drivers. Some are told affectionately, others with annoyance, amusement or scorn, but everyone seems to have one.

Most seem to come from the age group who learnt to drive in the 60s and 70s, but not all. Perhaps it's a generational marker that will fade with time, but bugs are resiliant creatures and I think as long as there are bugs on the road and people like me to keep them going (i.e. pay the garage lots of money to fix them again), there'll be more Beetle stories.

What have I done today?

I have learned how to do single crochet, fallen over my feet while trying to photograph pigeons in flight, washed my car and er, that's it really. The car looks good, the crochet will take forever to finish and the pigeons will probably be out of focus, I'll have to wait and see. I did send an email that might turn into a job offer though.

I should explain. I'm job-hunting. Again. I've been here before, when I finished my degree and didn't know what to do, when I finished my Masters and didn't know what to do and now, since my last contract for the job I had ran out and I...don't know what to do. I ought to know how to cope by now. I am attempting to be useful. Hence the DIY and the crochet (edging for a cardigan I'd never have started without some time on my hands). But mostly I'm just waiting for something to happen, trying to make things happen by applying for jobs I like the sound of and trusting God.

Looking back, both of my last periods of job-hunting ended with jobs I didn't even apply for being offered to me out of nowhere. The first one started me off on a whole new career idea and the second one was in an organisation I loved. So I ought to have learned that God does have something planned, even if I can't see it yet. Always easier with hindsight though.

So watch this space and we'll see what turns up.
And in the meantime, there are plenty of pigeons to chase.

urban foxes

I've just seen a blue van labelled 'ambulance' with 'National Fox Welfare Society' on the side, turning round in the end of our road. Not quite what you expect in a London street, but then there are plenty of urban foxes around. I've never seen one in my own backyard, but I've seen them in other people's or by the allotments. There was once a very mangy looking one that stole the ball from the church youth group when we were playing outside by the graveyard. So it's not that surprising really. But why do foxes need their own designated Welfare Society? Are they particularly hard to look after?

it's oh so quiet

There's not much happening here at the moment, so in the meantime you could go and have a look at my lomohome. Assuming I've got the link to work. Oh good it does.

The beginning

Here it is. My first post on my new blog. Hmm, what am I going to write? Big blank space, the possibilities are endless. Actually I should go and stick tiles on the bathroom floor because the glue will be ready now.
So that'll have to be it.