That could be the message about work at the moment as we are in the middle of a recruitment programme for a new Centre Manager and to date, despite a wicked job description, fab salary and a rotten boss there have been no takers. Still if anyone out there fancies taking the risk then leave me a comment and I will send you an application (how about it little mouse?)
Work is tough at the moment as we are losing staff faster than I can recruit them and the trustees have called a secret meeting without me. Do I smell the whiff of conspiracy?
There have been good things too. We went to our local RSPB reserve during the week with lots of exciting sightings although sadly not the avocets the recent newsletter promised. The solitary egret has now become three or four egrets and a wonderful display from two herons. Then up the motorway for 100 miles to Snape and Aldburgh for a look at the sea and a concert of solo cello music. Great soloist who I think must have had a nip of something at half time as the later session was far more animated than the first. Interesting cello with no stand but supported between the musician's legs. Very odd posturebut I was assured by the verbose lady sitting behind us that it gives a much more authentic sound.
I am fighting the photocopier wars at the moment. My predecessor stitched us up with a 5 year contract at £2,700 a quarter but with 100% discount in the first two years. Just that he didn't tell anyone about the remaining three years which will now cost me a fortune so I went shopping elsewhere and looked to have got a much better deal with some other nice people from Japan. Then the bombshell from supplier number 1, no way to terminat the contract without paying off the remaining 12 quarters plus vat in advance. the odd £40k I do not surprisingly have lying around in the office so back to my nice new Japanese friends who tell me they will see what they can do - they are that desperate for my business- so we will see what kind of goodies next week brings. Those nice people from the Bank of Cyprus want to give me (well the charity actually) a cheque for £900 as well just for being their friend, oh and dumping a great big fixed term deposit in their laps.
Went to a seminar on the Mental Capacity Act - very worrying consequences, usually you find out you should have done something about the legalities the day someone else officially declares that your marbles are out to lunch. So off to your friendly local solicitor and get powers of attorney, forged signatures and anything else you can think of all sorted now. Go on you know it makes sense! When your kids have spent every penny you ever had and then some you will really appreciate from the depths of your leaky hovel at the bottom of the garden, the legal advice you received at the time.
Then there was the trip to Bethnal Green for a seminar imaginatively called "planning for the future" which obviously received such overwhelming support that it was cancelled but no one built into the planning mechanism a means of telling the people who had booked. With due respect to its residents, who I am sure are really nice people, it is not one of the places I would put at in my top ten tourist destinations. As you know from previous posts we like to travel. For Mrs Claus I suppose her top destination would have to be Portugal and for me, maybe Kenya although it is very far removed from the country we visited in the late 70s and early 80s.
For those of you who follow such things avidly I can report that despite repairs to the roof the pigeon is still sliding off the bird table much to the pleasure of the other birds that hang around in the grass underneath to pick up the debris.
No real excitement to report then, it's almost as good as a day in Ambridge isn't it?
Friday, 27 June 2008
Thursday, 5 June 2008
Anyone seen my llama?
No not the one from Tibet. There is a farm in Sewardstone where for a small fee you can take a llama for a walk whilst looking across the King George reserviors taking in the vista of the Gherkin, Canary Wharf and Nat West Tower. On a sunny day as you crest the rise (like this morning at 7.30 just before I arrived at work) it was quite ethereal with the mist lifting off the water and the llama looking over the fence. Less prosaic are the signs offering "well rotted manure £1.20 a bag)
Enough sight seeing for one morning. My honeymoon at work has come to a fairly abrupt end with my senior manager and one project manager having resigned in the last couple of weeks. They will leave a big hole in the organisation and their skills will be difficult to replace.
Would you believe we are still eating part leftovers. Each meal is a trip into the unknown (well the freezer actually). Because all the bags are iced up we don't know what we have pulled out of the drawer until we cook it. All I know is that they still taste great although you do have to be careful with the chilli. Mrs Claus is still enjoying all the wine that is open.
Jetski boy is taking a break from college at the moment as his is a "vocational" course with no AS levels to take this year. If however there were AS levels in Grand Theft Auto 4 or Halo or similar I am sure he would be at university standard by the end of the week. He went to see Indiana Jones last week but wouldn't take his old Dad so I either have to find an excuse to take someone else or wait for the DVD. If my experience with No Country for Old Men is anything to go by, by the time the DVD comes out I will have lost interest. That said the new Narnia film is due out later this month and I really would like to see that. I saw the first one with little mouse (any offers to let me take you?).
Weight lifter on water is still in hospital and feeling very sorry for himself after all this time and gets very frustrated at so little happenng.
The birds in the garden have increased quite significantly in number over the last couple of months, partly due to all the new bird feeders I had for Christmas. We have two resident wood pigeons who patrol the lawn and have even been known to stand their ground against Hugh. One of them has learned how to get under the roof of the small birdtable which looks very comical. However they are not my favourite residents at the moment as they appear to have eaten all the runner bean seedlings I planted out whilst the slugs have gleefully done for the tomatoes. If there was a simple and palatable recipe for slugs I could eat for a week (only kidding - I don't want to know even if there is one)
Last week was more expensive than I could possibly have imagined. My car has been a bit noisy when slowing down so I took it to the garage to have the brakes checked - they worked alright, just a bit noisy. Well the reason for the noise was that the discs and pads were just about disintegrating - so lots of money to replace them. The next day weightlifter's car goes in for service and MOT. An even bigger bill and it is not even my car. There is an upside to having three cars in the family at the moment but the downside definitely appears to be that I get to pay all the bills.
So the Americans have decided they are not yet ready for a woman president, or maybe they decided they will never be ready for another Clinton. I wonder what Monica thinks - maybe she was expecting to get her old job back. So now we have a race between a man who looks as if he wants to drive an F1 car and someone who sells microwave chips - is that right?
I am sure the hidden bigot in me is just dying to find other things to be cryptic about but my monthly bath awaits. So enjoy my ramblings and I will return clean in body if not in mind
Enough sight seeing for one morning. My honeymoon at work has come to a fairly abrupt end with my senior manager and one project manager having resigned in the last couple of weeks. They will leave a big hole in the organisation and their skills will be difficult to replace.
Would you believe we are still eating part leftovers. Each meal is a trip into the unknown (well the freezer actually). Because all the bags are iced up we don't know what we have pulled out of the drawer until we cook it. All I know is that they still taste great although you do have to be careful with the chilli. Mrs Claus is still enjoying all the wine that is open.
Jetski boy is taking a break from college at the moment as his is a "vocational" course with no AS levels to take this year. If however there were AS levels in Grand Theft Auto 4 or Halo or similar I am sure he would be at university standard by the end of the week. He went to see Indiana Jones last week but wouldn't take his old Dad so I either have to find an excuse to take someone else or wait for the DVD. If my experience with No Country for Old Men is anything to go by, by the time the DVD comes out I will have lost interest. That said the new Narnia film is due out later this month and I really would like to see that. I saw the first one with little mouse (any offers to let me take you?).
Weight lifter on water is still in hospital and feeling very sorry for himself after all this time and gets very frustrated at so little happenng.
The birds in the garden have increased quite significantly in number over the last couple of months, partly due to all the new bird feeders I had for Christmas. We have two resident wood pigeons who patrol the lawn and have even been known to stand their ground against Hugh. One of them has learned how to get under the roof of the small birdtable which looks very comical. However they are not my favourite residents at the moment as they appear to have eaten all the runner bean seedlings I planted out whilst the slugs have gleefully done for the tomatoes. If there was a simple and palatable recipe for slugs I could eat for a week (only kidding - I don't want to know even if there is one)
Last week was more expensive than I could possibly have imagined. My car has been a bit noisy when slowing down so I took it to the garage to have the brakes checked - they worked alright, just a bit noisy. Well the reason for the noise was that the discs and pads were just about disintegrating - so lots of money to replace them. The next day weightlifter's car goes in for service and MOT. An even bigger bill and it is not even my car. There is an upside to having three cars in the family at the moment but the downside definitely appears to be that I get to pay all the bills.
So the Americans have decided they are not yet ready for a woman president, or maybe they decided they will never be ready for another Clinton. I wonder what Monica thinks - maybe she was expecting to get her old job back. So now we have a race between a man who looks as if he wants to drive an F1 car and someone who sells microwave chips - is that right?
I am sure the hidden bigot in me is just dying to find other things to be cryptic about but my monthly bath awaits. So enjoy my ramblings and I will return clean in body if not in mind
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