Money, work and walking.
I am so tempted to buy a paid account. I haven't had one in years, and for good reasons too. I don't update that often, can think of better things to spend the money on, have little desire to make voice posts etc... but... I wants the iconss, preciousss...
Speaking of money, I am being quite financially prudent so far this year and am feeling pretty good about it. Last year I paid off my student overdraft (which was quite big) and saved for my holiday. Now I am making regular deposits in my savings account and padding out my current account a bit more. I finally sorted out online banking at the end of last year which helps a lot. Haven't been shopping in months so haven't been tempted to buy lots of clothes and most of my regular activities are fairly cheap so I feel quite smug about it.
HOWEVER, I realised that there is a huge blindspot in my prudence, which is my mobile phone bill. I'm not making loads of expensive calls or texting people 65 times a day; in fact I have a very reasonable contract deal. The problem is that Orange, the cheeky beggars, keep adding extra "deals" on to my existing contract that I don't need. Free evening and weekend calls for "only" £5 a month. Er, I get 600 free minutes a month and barely use half of them, what do I need free evening and weekend calls for?? I'm also getting some kind of data bundle, presumably for accessing the internet on my phone. My phone isn't even capable of setting up the internet! I recently checked my phone bill for the first time in months (can we say "ostrich" and "sand"?) and was horrified by the ludicrous amount I am spending. I blame Orange for making these deals opt-out instead of opt-in, and I blame myself for not clamping down on them.
So, I'm determined to cancel my contract altogether and go back to pay-as-you-go. I think I'll save a fortune. The only person I ring regularly is my mother and now we have a land-line I can use that instead. Even Orange know they're playing me like a fool because occasionally they send their customers messages to let them know if they are on the best plan for them, and they actually admitted that I could be on a cheaper plan based on my usage. If they can see that, I really should open my eyes.
Am rather unhappy with Orange but will probably stay with them because I like getting Orange Wednesday codes for half price cinema tickets. As a regular cinema-goer, it's worth putting up with their shenanigans for that.
In other news, this week our new colleague started. I was looking forward to this because she's doing my old job and is the first permanent person we've had in the role since I did it, and she's the first person I've helped to hire on an interview panel. So far I think we made a great choice as she's settling in well and picking up everything quickly. My only concern is that as our manager hasn't been around much this week she's looking to me as her supervisor, which I am definitely not. I've been spending the most time with her because I know what she needs to do, but I think she's having an experience similar to birds who assume the first thing they see after leaving their shells is their mother - because I've been showing her what to do since the moment she started, I am therefore in charge. I'm worried that her actual manager will find this presumptuous on my part, I'm worried she'll find it strange when he does eventually exert his authority... but I'm also kindof enjoying the power. It's quite good experience in staff management really. Finding tactful ways of saying 'this is your job, not mine', especially to someone several years older, can only be good for my long-term development.
Oh, and while we're talking about work - last week I sent a fairly straightforward email around our team, and got a reply back from my line manager saying 'Great job, H!' and it really made me smile.
Job satisfaction: I has it.
****
Today I saw a lunchtime concert by Northern Harmony, a choral group who visited us on their last UK tour in late 2008. I loved their last concert and kicked myself for months afterward for not buying one of their cds, so after today's show I made up for it and bought two cds. They sing a variety of songs from all over the world - Corsica, Georgia, South Africa, and American gospel and shape note music. I'd love to sing in a choir like that because their songs seems like so much fun. Am happy with my new cds too.
Tomorrow is Friday, hurrah, and after work I am heading off to my first line dancing committee meeting which is being held at the house belonging to a lovely couple from the group, Gary and John. I went to one of their parties at the end of last summer and I know they are great hosts so am looking forward to it. Am also excited about my first committee activity as have never been on a committee for anything. Am taking wine with me because it will surely sharpen my decision-making skills and aid articulation.
Then it's the weekend and I'm hoping to walk on saturday. The walk offered by my walking group isn't that appealing, frankly, because it's very long but completely flat and I'd prefer some hills because they are more interesting and you get better views from the top. Plus it's being advertised as an encouragement for new walkers, which is very fine and good, but means that the group will probably make very slow progress which will frustrate me because I like to walk as quickly as possible.
So I'm thinking of heading off on my own for a walk, maybe with friends if I can find any willing to walk with me. I'm thinking of going out to Glossop because there are some good hills around there and access to the Pennine Way which is nice and easy to follow. But we'll see how good I am at route-finding on my map and how keen I feel on saturday morning after the night before.
Ooh, and if I get my act together and cancel my phone contract, maybe I'll treat myself to a paid account as a reward.
Speaking of money, I am being quite financially prudent so far this year and am feeling pretty good about it. Last year I paid off my student overdraft (which was quite big) and saved for my holiday. Now I am making regular deposits in my savings account and padding out my current account a bit more. I finally sorted out online banking at the end of last year which helps a lot. Haven't been shopping in months so haven't been tempted to buy lots of clothes and most of my regular activities are fairly cheap so I feel quite smug about it.
HOWEVER, I realised that there is a huge blindspot in my prudence, which is my mobile phone bill. I'm not making loads of expensive calls or texting people 65 times a day; in fact I have a very reasonable contract deal. The problem is that Orange, the cheeky beggars, keep adding extra "deals" on to my existing contract that I don't need. Free evening and weekend calls for "only" £5 a month. Er, I get 600 free minutes a month and barely use half of them, what do I need free evening and weekend calls for?? I'm also getting some kind of data bundle, presumably for accessing the internet on my phone. My phone isn't even capable of setting up the internet! I recently checked my phone bill for the first time in months (can we say "ostrich" and "sand"?) and was horrified by the ludicrous amount I am spending. I blame Orange for making these deals opt-out instead of opt-in, and I blame myself for not clamping down on them.
So, I'm determined to cancel my contract altogether and go back to pay-as-you-go. I think I'll save a fortune. The only person I ring regularly is my mother and now we have a land-line I can use that instead. Even Orange know they're playing me like a fool because occasionally they send their customers messages to let them know if they are on the best plan for them, and they actually admitted that I could be on a cheaper plan based on my usage. If they can see that, I really should open my eyes.
Am rather unhappy with Orange but will probably stay with them because I like getting Orange Wednesday codes for half price cinema tickets. As a regular cinema-goer, it's worth putting up with their shenanigans for that.
In other news, this week our new colleague started. I was looking forward to this because she's doing my old job and is the first permanent person we've had in the role since I did it, and she's the first person I've helped to hire on an interview panel. So far I think we made a great choice as she's settling in well and picking up everything quickly. My only concern is that as our manager hasn't been around much this week she's looking to me as her supervisor, which I am definitely not. I've been spending the most time with her because I know what she needs to do, but I think she's having an experience similar to birds who assume the first thing they see after leaving their shells is their mother - because I've been showing her what to do since the moment she started, I am therefore in charge. I'm worried that her actual manager will find this presumptuous on my part, I'm worried she'll find it strange when he does eventually exert his authority... but I'm also kindof enjoying the power. It's quite good experience in staff management really. Finding tactful ways of saying 'this is your job, not mine', especially to someone several years older, can only be good for my long-term development.
Oh, and while we're talking about work - last week I sent a fairly straightforward email around our team, and got a reply back from my line manager saying 'Great job, H!' and it really made me smile.
Job satisfaction: I has it.
****
Today I saw a lunchtime concert by Northern Harmony, a choral group who visited us on their last UK tour in late 2008. I loved their last concert and kicked myself for months afterward for not buying one of their cds, so after today's show I made up for it and bought two cds. They sing a variety of songs from all over the world - Corsica, Georgia, South Africa, and American gospel and shape note music. I'd love to sing in a choir like that because their songs seems like so much fun. Am happy with my new cds too.
Tomorrow is Friday, hurrah, and after work I am heading off to my first line dancing committee meeting which is being held at the house belonging to a lovely couple from the group, Gary and John. I went to one of their parties at the end of last summer and I know they are great hosts so am looking forward to it. Am also excited about my first committee activity as have never been on a committee for anything. Am taking wine with me because it will surely sharpen my decision-making skills and aid articulation.
Then it's the weekend and I'm hoping to walk on saturday. The walk offered by my walking group isn't that appealing, frankly, because it's very long but completely flat and I'd prefer some hills because they are more interesting and you get better views from the top. Plus it's being advertised as an encouragement for new walkers, which is very fine and good, but means that the group will probably make very slow progress which will frustrate me because I like to walk as quickly as possible.
So I'm thinking of heading off on my own for a walk, maybe with friends if I can find any willing to walk with me. I'm thinking of going out to Glossop because there are some good hills around there and access to the Pennine Way which is nice and easy to follow. But we'll see how good I am at route-finding on my map and how keen I feel on saturday morning after the night before.
Ooh, and if I get my act together and cancel my phone contract, maybe I'll treat myself to a paid account as a reward.