In Which Britain Will Inevitably Grind To a Halt Under One Inch Of Snow
Hello to all of my new Dreamwidth friends, and of course to my LiveJournal friends who have put up with me over the years! I have some pictures for you...
(Click to embiggen)
LOOK GUYS, SNOW! Wales copped it first, then it headed North over us, and then East towards Yorkshire where, according to our family friends in Sheffield, the locals were treating it like an impending zombie apocalypse.
We're just not used to snow over here like we were years ago. In recent years we've had a succession of milder winters, and then a couple of years ago, the country ended up snowed in without warning. By snowed in, I mean, of course, that we had about eight inches of it and the whole country ground to a near-complete halt.
So... yep, don't believe any Christmas cards you may see in Britain that depict delightful, pastoral winter scenes complete with snow and robins. It's more like a bit of white stuff on the ground and everyone screaming in their doorways about getting to the shops before it gets to two inches and then it'll be too deep to get anything done.
Anyway, I'm finally back on to Job Seeker's. I'm not particularly happy about it, but it was that or nothing. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get another job soon considering I've got myself another two months' retail experience to put on my CV, maybe one that gives me even more hours. They've already sent me an application form for a retail position in BHS St Helens which says 20 hours a week - at National Minimum Wage, I'd be looking at just under £100 a week/£400 a month. Transport to St Helens would be about £80 a month (four weekly tickets that cost £20), then I tend to spend about £20 a week on food, so that's another £80 a month, and Dad's housekeeping is the same. So at the end of the month I'd have about £160 left to play with.
Now I'm really wanting this job. Imagine being able to pay off £160 as opposed to just £40 a month of that stupid overpaid grant! I'd be sorted in less than a year, and then I wouldn't have to worry about going back to university. And of course I miss having an actual wage. I was on decent money at Next, nearly £6 an hour, and after months of living frugally I had money just sitting around doing nothing for the first time in my life.
Plus it turns out that retail work can be rather fun. Of course there were some days where I didn't want to go in (down to depression and anxiety more than anything), but on the good days it was quite busy, engaging, physical stuff. A lot of moving about, carrying stuff, helping customers and the like. It's a pity I couldn't have stayed on at Next really... mind you, BHS is within walking distance of my fiance's place, and I'm more familiar with the local buses and stuff. They're more regular than in Warrington, definitely.
As for my creative endeavours, I'm once again fed up of saying I'm going to do stuff and then not actually doing them. I'm going to go and have a bath, lounge and read for a bit, and then I'm going to stick some music on and get some of this work done for Holly, and work on my novel as well. I'll update later with my progress!
(Click to embiggen)
LOOK GUYS, SNOW! Wales copped it first, then it headed North over us, and then East towards Yorkshire where, according to our family friends in Sheffield, the locals were treating it like an impending zombie apocalypse.
We're just not used to snow over here like we were years ago. In recent years we've had a succession of milder winters, and then a couple of years ago, the country ended up snowed in without warning. By snowed in, I mean, of course, that we had about eight inches of it and the whole country ground to a near-complete halt.
So... yep, don't believe any Christmas cards you may see in Britain that depict delightful, pastoral winter scenes complete with snow and robins. It's more like a bit of white stuff on the ground and everyone screaming in their doorways about getting to the shops before it gets to two inches and then it'll be too deep to get anything done.
Anyway, I'm finally back on to Job Seeker's. I'm not particularly happy about it, but it was that or nothing. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get another job soon considering I've got myself another two months' retail experience to put on my CV, maybe one that gives me even more hours. They've already sent me an application form for a retail position in BHS St Helens which says 20 hours a week - at National Minimum Wage, I'd be looking at just under £100 a week/£400 a month. Transport to St Helens would be about £80 a month (four weekly tickets that cost £20), then I tend to spend about £20 a week on food, so that's another £80 a month, and Dad's housekeeping is the same. So at the end of the month I'd have about £160 left to play with.
Now I'm really wanting this job. Imagine being able to pay off £160 as opposed to just £40 a month of that stupid overpaid grant! I'd be sorted in less than a year, and then I wouldn't have to worry about going back to university. And of course I miss having an actual wage. I was on decent money at Next, nearly £6 an hour, and after months of living frugally I had money just sitting around doing nothing for the first time in my life.
Plus it turns out that retail work can be rather fun. Of course there were some days where I didn't want to go in (down to depression and anxiety more than anything), but on the good days it was quite busy, engaging, physical stuff. A lot of moving about, carrying stuff, helping customers and the like. It's a pity I couldn't have stayed on at Next really... mind you, BHS is within walking distance of my fiance's place, and I'm more familiar with the local buses and stuff. They're more regular than in Warrington, definitely.
As for my creative endeavours, I'm once again fed up of saying I'm going to do stuff and then not actually doing them. I'm going to go and have a bath, lounge and read for a bit, and then I'm going to stick some music on and get some of this work done for Holly, and work on my novel as well. I'll update later with my progress!