Journal Entries
Change of scenery?
Posted Oct 10, 2005
So, last week, one of my mates sent a mail saying that he was looking for new staff at the call centre he's working at. Well he's not as much working at the call centre as being the Service Manager for the call centre.
Anywho, he sent this mail saying that he'd have an opening for a team leader position in the near future, and he wanted to know if I (and his old girl friend, who's now my neighbour) knew of anyone that could be interested in the job.
The thing is, though, that the call centre is nowhere near here. IN fact, it's nowhere near anything at all. It's located on the island of Madeira, in the middle of the Atlantic (well, almost anyways) and that would mean that if I applied and got the job I'd need to move out of my flat here, probably just subletting it, and pack up and leave my life here in Scotland behind, much as I left my life in Sweden behind when I moved to Scotland. Only difference is that here I've settled in and I like it here, something I can't say I did when I lived in Sweden.
I'd have to leave (American) football behind, I'd have to leave all the mates I've got because of football, and I'd definitely miss the SRG and all their meet-ups/p*ss-ups.
On the other hand, it'd be a great opportunity to get that change of scenery that I've been looking for, and it looks as if there'll be some pretty good benefits that come with that job as well.
I sent him a mail back saying I'd be interested, and we'll see what he comes back with.
Discuss this Journal entry [15]
Latest reply: Oct 10, 2005
Sodding management..
Posted Sep 13, 2005
After having worked at my current job for six year in total, with the past 4 years doing the same thing, I've been toying back and forth with the idea of maybe applying for a Team Leader (or as I'm a contractor, they'll call it a Senior Associate) position.
I've pretty much been doing the job of a Team Leader as it is for the past year or so, going through analysis files and the like because our current TLs for the Nordic team has of course been a Scotsman and a Spaniard. Makes sense, right?
I had a talk with my then manager a while back telling her that I'd be interested in pursuing a TL role within the company, and she agreed that it might be a good idea. She had even commented on it in my yearly review that I would do a good job of it.
When talking to HR about it, I told them that I hadn't applied for it when they sent information out for people to apply for their "Senior Associate Program" because in the information pack it said you needed to have gone through a management course, and I hadn't. HR didn't think that would be a big problem, and that I should apply anyways.
So I did. Sent in my CV with a pretty good cover letter (I even had a political speech writer in the US that I know go through it and give me some touch ups on it) and of course it was shot down because I didn't have any management course listed in my CV and basically "the infopack said that you needed to have that".
That was back during the summer, like June or something.
Fast forward to about a month ago.
The Spanish TL of our team decided that she would move on, and left the company, so all of a sudden there's a vacancy for her job.
Good opportunity to see if I could apply for it since they seemingly interviewed any bugger who applied for it.
One small hiccup in the vacancy form, however was that it stated that you needed to have successfully copleted a Team Leader or Senior Acssociate interview beforehand, but figuring they'd had people in for it that apparently had no knowledge of the job itself, I decided to apply for it. (I've been doing a TL job for the team for forever, remember?).
The only reply I got back was that even if I had stated that I had been with the company for 6 years, I needed to provide a hard copy of my CV that verified that I hd been with the company for more than a year (I thought the fact that the soft copy of my CV that I sent said that my start date was June 1999 should take care of that, but maybe not.). I also needed to produce my "Objectives and results" from the past 6 months (I didn't even know I had any specific objectives more than "Do your job!"). And finally, I would also need a Certificate in Management or Supervising or have applied for a management course, and if I didn't have these things, I couldn't apply for the job.
So, basically the same thing as I got as a reply when I applied to the SA program in the summer.
Now, since that application during the summer, they did send out information that they'd start up a Management Modern Apprenticeship thing, and I applied for that. Never heard back from them.
The thing is, it seems as if you don't really have to have the management certificate at all before you apply for the job. You just need to be on the course for it. So if I then apply for the course, use that in my application, then decide I don't want to go through with the course once I get the job I applied for, what are they going to do?
I dunno.. I'm just getting really tired of this. I need a new job.
Discuss this Journal entry [3]
Latest reply: Sep 13, 2005
So, my exhaust decided to pack it in.. Pt 2
Posted Jun 24, 2005
So anyways, at 4:30PM I was at the garage left the car and went for a bite to eat and for a roam around the shops, bascially wasting time.
An hour later when I came back, I saw the car just being lowered down on the lift and seeing the car from behind I saw a brand spanking new looking sound muffler on the car. This struck me as a bit of a surprise as the muffler is on the back part of the exhaust system and I jst wanted the front bit replaced.
Turned out that the guy that had ordered the part and spoken to me the day before had the day off and had failed to leave instructions to the other guys that it was only the front bit that needed replaing and they'd gone ahead and replaced both bits. That would bring the total price up from £230 to a whopping £340 and those extra £110 I simply did not have. Much confusion ensued and they actually contemplated hoisting the car back up and putting the old exhaust back on the car again, however that would have been silly as the old bit would probably fall to pieces while they tried that anyways, so they gave me a deal with a £61 discount as a "Oops, sorry!" kind of thing.
Of course halfway home after having paid £275 for the new exhaust system, I remembered that I'd paid a £30 deposit when they ordered the parts the day before, so the actual discount was only £30.
Then again, I should probably be glad that they game me any discount at all.
Still, I'm skint, I've got my mortgagae payment coming up on Tuesday and I'm getting paid on Wednesday. Happy days.. 
Or something...
Discuss this Journal entry [5]
Latest reply: Jun 24, 2005
SO my exhaust pipe decided to pack it in... Pt 1
Posted Jun 24, 2005
Went to work on Wednesday morning as usual. On the way in, I kind of noticed that the car was a bit noisier than usual, but it was early in the morning and I hadn't woken up properly yet, so I just raised the volume on the radio and didn't think about it.
Then, when I had finished work and was going to head to my football practice, like I always doon Wednesday afternoons, I decided that the car was kind of hot after having stood in the sun shine al day, so I rolled down the window only to hear the distinct sound of a broken exhaust pipe.
Since I was heading towards Greenock anyways, I decided to stop at a garage to see if there was anything that was easily fixed and if it would cost a shed-load of money. It seemed to me as if the sound came from the back of the car, so I hoped it was just the back bit of the exhaust that needed to be changed. How wrong was I?
Turned out thatthe pipe had broken just in front of the catalytic converterand that the front bit that needed replacing would be $230 to fit a new one. They also said (and actually showed me) that the rest of the exhaust system was pretty knackered as well and probbaly would need replacing withing the next month or two as well.
Since I'm a bit short on money I decided to go for the change of just the front bit and leave the back bit for when I needed it (when it fel off by itself). Parts were ordered and they patched the broken pipe up with a temporary patch weld to keep the car from sounding like a rally car. They called me yesterday (Thursday) to say that the part had arrived and that I could come and get the car fixed straight after work.
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Jun 24, 2005
Tigers are 1-1-1
Posted May 16, 2005
After three games of the 2005 season, the Glasgow Tigers are now sitting at second place in the Scottish division with a 1-1-1 record. One win, one loss and one draw.
First game of the season was a draw against the Edinburgh Wolves, second game was a crushing defeat against the West Coast Trojans and yesterday (15/5) the Tigers travelled back to Edinburgh and defeated them 27-7.
Scottish division standings as of 16/5-05:
West Coast Trojans: 3-0
Glasgow Tigers: 1-1-1
Edinburgh Wolves: 1-1-1
Dundee Hurricanes: 0-3
Discuss this Journal entry [3]
Latest reply: May 16, 2005
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