This Post is Only Mildly About Buses
Updates from Planet Kelza! Hurrah!
As you all know, I took part in NaNoWriMo this year. NaNo '11 had been a complete disaster, with me dropping out after only 10k due to all the stress I was dealing with whilst over in Ireland. So this year I was determined - and not only was I determined to succeed at NaNoWriMo, I was determined to not let my main novel, 'The Great Couch Happening of '69', peter out and fail like the rest of them. So I had my goal. Write the next chunk of 'The Great Couch Happening' for NaNoWriMo - no, write 75k! Then my novel would be two thirds complete in first draft form!
And this year, because Job Seeker's Allowance FINALLY paid me around the start of November, I was able to attend one write-in every week, as well as the TGIO party, which was excellent. I met tons of lovely people, and surprised myself when I realised I could still chat and be social but get tons written. I'm pretty sure I managed 1700 words handwritten during that first write-in, certainly, and that was whilst gabbing to someone through the whole thing.
I never fell below the minimum target of an average of 1667 words a day, certainly. But when the middle of the month hit, I got a job. And progress from then on was a bit on and off. I hardly wrote anything during the week of my interview, employment, induction and first two shifts (it all happened in the course of a week), and while I put up a good fight and passed 50k a week to go before the end, it looked like I wouldn't meet my target of 75k.
So I had a genius idea. I decided to ignore my own compulsive 'when-started-handwritten-continued-handwritten' notions and, for the last two days, type ten bells out of my keyboard to boost myself to 75k, since I type much faster than I write. I would employ Dr Wicked's Write or Die to get stuff done even quicker. My plan was 600 words for every fifteen minutes - three of these stints in an hour (with time to rest and ponder my novel's direction) for about six hours each day after work. 3 x 600 = 1800 an hour. 1800 x 12 = 21,600 in two days.
Well, I managed the first day's writing fine, reaching 66k. I reckoned I could manage the last day of NaNoWriMo easily since my shift was rather early (9am - 12 noon) and I'd have plenty of time. I got home from work on November 30th, opened up my laptop...
... and nothing would load. My Internet took about forty five minutes to get going, and it was about the same for my word processor - only when that had 'loaded', all I needed to do was click on the page to start typing and it would freeze up again for absolutely ages. I must have reset my laptop about three times to get some joy out of it but it didn't start working properly and after a few restarts and no luck my motivation had just plummeted. It was then that I gave up on it. So I didn't reach 75k.
But I realised afterwards that, while I hadn't reached 75k, I had still succeeded. For starters, I had won NaNoWriMo. I hadn't just stopped at 50k either, I had written an extra 16k. And I knew that, had my laptop chosen to behave that last day, I could have totally made it to 75k. I was raring to go. I had attended loads of write-ins, had so much fun at them, and, best of all, found my way there without getting disastrously lost! And I had, after a year of being depressed and not really writing anything, rediscovered the sheer exhilaration that comes with writing a novel. I found so much satisfaction in the process of writing during NaNoWriMo. And I hope that once I've finished transcribing what I typed on that second to last day, I can continue and find that joy again.
Jason's been incredibly supportive through NaNoWriMo as well - he was totally cool with me staying up to write if he wanted to go to bed, or just writing while I was around him. He would listen to me rant, bring me cups of tea, would very rarely interrupt my writing process (not that I mind him chatting to me as I work!), would throw in random ideas - and he held me as I cried. There was one day during NaNoWriMo I felt really down for no reason and he was there for me. I can't believe sometimes how lucky I am to have someone who can put up with my stupid emotions and my time-consuming hobbies.
So, the job.
It's actually pretty good! My first few weeks' pay were a bit naff (i.e. on par with what I'd get with Job Seeker's), but I'm gradually getting more hours and now I'm getting more money. For example, this week, I spent £51 on something very awesome that I'll tell you all about in a bit, plus my lunch came to a tenner (never going to Costa when I'm starving and strapped for time again), plus I took twenty quid out for transport and Dad's housekeeping when I spent about a fiver on breakfast stuff... and I still have £14 quid left that I can save for an emergency. Next week's pay should be about the same since I've done a week of similar hours, and around Christmas time I should be getting even more as all staff are pretty much expected in between the 23rd and 28th, excepting Christmas day itself.
Aside from the pay, I'm rather enjoying the work. I'm a temporary shop assistant over the Christmas period, and the work is actually quite varied. I've done a whole manner of things already, but my favourite area is definitely Delivery. Sometimes dealing with customers whose requests you can't handle can be a bit trying - I hate not being able to help them because I'm new and have no idea what I'm doing - but being put on Delivery means there are no customers to deal with, unless you're putting stuff out on the shop floor and someone accosts you. Plus, on Delivery you can go early if your team can get all the work shifted which, on both of my delivery shifts, we have.
My colleagues are all really nice, friendly people. I always worry that I'm trying their patience by asking what I should do but nobody seems to be annoyed by it so far, and I do learn quite quick. I guess they just accept that I'm new and need to learn the workings of the shop first. Plus there are a whole heap of other Christmas temps who are in the same boat as me.
You know what's typical, though? After three months of being on Job Seeker's and getting nothing (not even pay because they're a bunch of idiots), I get my first Job Seeker's payment... and then I get a job... and then I get offered two more jobs. Le sigh. A phrase about buses comes to mind. I just hope that my temporary Christmas position becomes a permanent thing, because there are apparently three full-time vacancies up for grabs, and I love my job, and I don't want to go through the whole faff with Job Seeker's again. Seriously, those guys owe me about £500. I actually did send in a backdate form to get what I owed, but nothing yet. It's fucking ridiculous. If I got that backdated money paid, I could shift a huge chunk of my student debt here and now.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I'm paying Student Finance back for an overpayment of maintenance grant. I think it was the grant for my second semester, which, as you all know, I wasn't in university for. It's my own stupid fault for not formally dropping out immediately, to be honest. I'm just hoping that once it's all paid off I can get financial assistance again to go back to university and finally get myself a good degree.
Since starting my job, I've started to lose weight again! I was hovering around 13st 5lbs around October time and I was stuck there for a while, but once I started my job, the pounds began to come off again. Slowly, mind, as I'm only down to - wait a moment, I've just gone upstairs and weighed myself and I'm down to exactly thirteen stone. Huzzah! The best part is I'm eating tons and still losing weight - but I guess now that I'm a lot more physically active I need to eat more to make up for it. And I've suddenly gained muscles from nowhere, too. My calves are pretty much 80% muscle now, and I've got muscles in the back of my thighs. The most surprising thing was when I realised the other week that I now have tiny biceps and triceps, the former of which is actually visible when I flex my arm! And I can run for a lot longer now without getting exhausted. For instance, a couple of shifts ago I ran to catch the train after work - I managed to run the whole way there and I was only a bit out of breath, plus I got the train on time! Yay!
And what did that £51 from this week's pay go on, you ask? Well... guess who's going to see Caravan in January? :D I bought two tickets so I'm dragging Jason along, and I CAN'T WAIT ASHGAHJHDHJDGQJHG. This time I'm bringing my digital bridge camera with its kickass optical zoom along, and our seats are good (front row of the top tier) so PICTURES. LOTS AND LOTS OF AMAZING PICTURES. I need to get a new memory card and some more batteries...
Ooh, hey, three more days and Jason and I will have been engaged for a whole year c: Yay!
As you all know, I took part in NaNoWriMo this year. NaNo '11 had been a complete disaster, with me dropping out after only 10k due to all the stress I was dealing with whilst over in Ireland. So this year I was determined - and not only was I determined to succeed at NaNoWriMo, I was determined to not let my main novel, 'The Great Couch Happening of '69', peter out and fail like the rest of them. So I had my goal. Write the next chunk of 'The Great Couch Happening' for NaNoWriMo - no, write 75k! Then my novel would be two thirds complete in first draft form!
And this year, because Job Seeker's Allowance FINALLY paid me around the start of November, I was able to attend one write-in every week, as well as the TGIO party, which was excellent. I met tons of lovely people, and surprised myself when I realised I could still chat and be social but get tons written. I'm pretty sure I managed 1700 words handwritten during that first write-in, certainly, and that was whilst gabbing to someone through the whole thing.
I never fell below the minimum target of an average of 1667 words a day, certainly. But when the middle of the month hit, I got a job. And progress from then on was a bit on and off. I hardly wrote anything during the week of my interview, employment, induction and first two shifts (it all happened in the course of a week), and while I put up a good fight and passed 50k a week to go before the end, it looked like I wouldn't meet my target of 75k.
So I had a genius idea. I decided to ignore my own compulsive 'when-started-handwritten-continued-handwritten' notions and, for the last two days, type ten bells out of my keyboard to boost myself to 75k, since I type much faster than I write. I would employ Dr Wicked's Write or Die to get stuff done even quicker. My plan was 600 words for every fifteen minutes - three of these stints in an hour (with time to rest and ponder my novel's direction) for about six hours each day after work. 3 x 600 = 1800 an hour. 1800 x 12 = 21,600 in two days.
Well, I managed the first day's writing fine, reaching 66k. I reckoned I could manage the last day of NaNoWriMo easily since my shift was rather early (9am - 12 noon) and I'd have plenty of time. I got home from work on November 30th, opened up my laptop...
... and nothing would load. My Internet took about forty five minutes to get going, and it was about the same for my word processor - only when that had 'loaded', all I needed to do was click on the page to start typing and it would freeze up again for absolutely ages. I must have reset my laptop about three times to get some joy out of it but it didn't start working properly and after a few restarts and no luck my motivation had just plummeted. It was then that I gave up on it. So I didn't reach 75k.
But I realised afterwards that, while I hadn't reached 75k, I had still succeeded. For starters, I had won NaNoWriMo. I hadn't just stopped at 50k either, I had written an extra 16k. And I knew that, had my laptop chosen to behave that last day, I could have totally made it to 75k. I was raring to go. I had attended loads of write-ins, had so much fun at them, and, best of all, found my way there without getting disastrously lost! And I had, after a year of being depressed and not really writing anything, rediscovered the sheer exhilaration that comes with writing a novel. I found so much satisfaction in the process of writing during NaNoWriMo. And I hope that once I've finished transcribing what I typed on that second to last day, I can continue and find that joy again.
Jason's been incredibly supportive through NaNoWriMo as well - he was totally cool with me staying up to write if he wanted to go to bed, or just writing while I was around him. He would listen to me rant, bring me cups of tea, would very rarely interrupt my writing process (not that I mind him chatting to me as I work!), would throw in random ideas - and he held me as I cried. There was one day during NaNoWriMo I felt really down for no reason and he was there for me. I can't believe sometimes how lucky I am to have someone who can put up with my stupid emotions and my time-consuming hobbies.
So, the job.
It's actually pretty good! My first few weeks' pay were a bit naff (i.e. on par with what I'd get with Job Seeker's), but I'm gradually getting more hours and now I'm getting more money. For example, this week, I spent £51 on something very awesome that I'll tell you all about in a bit, plus my lunch came to a tenner (never going to Costa when I'm starving and strapped for time again), plus I took twenty quid out for transport and Dad's housekeeping when I spent about a fiver on breakfast stuff... and I still have £14 quid left that I can save for an emergency. Next week's pay should be about the same since I've done a week of similar hours, and around Christmas time I should be getting even more as all staff are pretty much expected in between the 23rd and 28th, excepting Christmas day itself.
Aside from the pay, I'm rather enjoying the work. I'm a temporary shop assistant over the Christmas period, and the work is actually quite varied. I've done a whole manner of things already, but my favourite area is definitely Delivery. Sometimes dealing with customers whose requests you can't handle can be a bit trying - I hate not being able to help them because I'm new and have no idea what I'm doing - but being put on Delivery means there are no customers to deal with, unless you're putting stuff out on the shop floor and someone accosts you. Plus, on Delivery you can go early if your team can get all the work shifted which, on both of my delivery shifts, we have.
My colleagues are all really nice, friendly people. I always worry that I'm trying their patience by asking what I should do but nobody seems to be annoyed by it so far, and I do learn quite quick. I guess they just accept that I'm new and need to learn the workings of the shop first. Plus there are a whole heap of other Christmas temps who are in the same boat as me.
You know what's typical, though? After three months of being on Job Seeker's and getting nothing (not even pay because they're a bunch of idiots), I get my first Job Seeker's payment... and then I get a job... and then I get offered two more jobs. Le sigh. A phrase about buses comes to mind. I just hope that my temporary Christmas position becomes a permanent thing, because there are apparently three full-time vacancies up for grabs, and I love my job, and I don't want to go through the whole faff with Job Seeker's again. Seriously, those guys owe me about £500. I actually did send in a backdate form to get what I owed, but nothing yet. It's fucking ridiculous. If I got that backdated money paid, I could shift a huge chunk of my student debt here and now.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I'm paying Student Finance back for an overpayment of maintenance grant. I think it was the grant for my second semester, which, as you all know, I wasn't in university for. It's my own stupid fault for not formally dropping out immediately, to be honest. I'm just hoping that once it's all paid off I can get financial assistance again to go back to university and finally get myself a good degree.
Since starting my job, I've started to lose weight again! I was hovering around 13st 5lbs around October time and I was stuck there for a while, but once I started my job, the pounds began to come off again. Slowly, mind, as I'm only down to - wait a moment, I've just gone upstairs and weighed myself and I'm down to exactly thirteen stone. Huzzah! The best part is I'm eating tons and still losing weight - but I guess now that I'm a lot more physically active I need to eat more to make up for it. And I've suddenly gained muscles from nowhere, too. My calves are pretty much 80% muscle now, and I've got muscles in the back of my thighs. The most surprising thing was when I realised the other week that I now have tiny biceps and triceps, the former of which is actually visible when I flex my arm! And I can run for a lot longer now without getting exhausted. For instance, a couple of shifts ago I ran to catch the train after work - I managed to run the whole way there and I was only a bit out of breath, plus I got the train on time! Yay!
And what did that £51 from this week's pay go on, you ask? Well... guess who's going to see Caravan in January? :D I bought two tickets so I'm dragging Jason along, and I CAN'T WAIT ASHGAHJHDHJDGQJHG. This time I'm bringing my digital bridge camera with its kickass optical zoom along, and our seats are good (front row of the top tier) so PICTURES. LOTS AND LOTS OF AMAZING PICTURES. I need to get a new memory card and some more batteries...
Ooh, hey, three more days and Jason and I will have been engaged for a whole year c: Yay!