h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi Cheerful Dragon

I came on your comments about poetry in one of the threads (initially posted in 2000!) Have you read any of mine? I do free verse and very strucutred stuff, and if you would like to read some I will put up a couple of links to my geocities pages.

If you are in a state of poetry-overload, (which happens to me - I am scared of most poems and have to Sit Up Straight before I can read them ) then no worries.

And much more importantly: how is life treating you, my dear?

B

Ben

I don't often read poetry these days as I have trouble finding any that I like. I have a book of the complete works of Tennyson, which I bought 'cos it was cheap and I wanted a copy of 'The Lady of Shallott'. I still haven't read it, but then it's not the sort of thing you can pick up and just whizz through. It will probably end up in the bathroom - at least that way I can read a poem or two when I get stuck in there for any length of time.

Other than that, I have been an unemployed software engineer for at least 18 months due to the difficulty of getting jobs locally. (I will not relocate and I do not want to spend 1 hour plus commuting. ) Even if the jobs market picks up, I probably won't go back to that area of work. Otherwise I'm physically OK, mentally - ask a psychiatrist!

Well, I am an out of work Business Analyst, and I *will* work just about anywhere but the market is dry, dry, dry right now - but I know exactly what you mean about quality of life.

What would you / will you do instead?

B

Right now I'm temping. The pay isn't that good and the work's sporadic, but it keeps me off the streets and helps to pay the bills. Long term, I don't know what to do. I'd like a change of direction but I don't know what direction to take, if you see what I mean. A few people have suggested I take up teaching, but I don't like children that much. It also strikes me as too stressful an occupation. I've tried aptitude tests to try to find ideas for alternative jobs. Unfortunately, one job that keeps cropping up near the top of the list is Software Engineer - or something similar.

A lot of the work I've been doing as a temp (mostly secretarial / admin jobs) has been laid-back and hasn't required much thought. This is fine up to a point, but gets boring after a while. It's OK at the companies where I can use the Internet in works time, but there have been some places where there hasn't been much work to do, and I've not had Internet access either. So I'm not sure about secretarial / PA work as an alternative. Can't do shorthand anyway, although I suppose I could learn if I really wanted to.

Hmmm. There are other things to teach than children. Dogs, adults, prisoners, but I agree none of them sound teribly exciting.

I temped for years in the 80s and am going to sign up with some agencies here either later this week or when I get back from a week away in a couple of weeks time. I know what you mean about low stress, but also low levels of interest and challenge. I regarded my time temping as a sabbatical, and to be honest still draw on some of the experiences I had doing it.

One book which I recommend time and again is "what colour is your parachute" - it is full of exercises and tools for working out not just what you have an aptitude for, but what you would actually enjoy doing. And as I said to my yoga teacher, "just because you are good at something, doesn't mean you have to do it". She then went off and sold software for a year, and has just qualified as a homeopath, (and a very good one she is too).

But I know what you mean, I don't want to work in IT for the next 20 years, I am too uninvolved to go into project management, and too uninterested to keep current. But I have yet to find a job which involves the things I do enjoy doing, though I am starting the search.

Do take a look at the book. It is very american, but I found it invaluable when I made a major shift in 99, and I am working my way through it again now, to help me crystalise my thoughts.

Take care

B

Just read your "intro" and it's nice to know that there's someone out there who has similar dilikes to me.(Moaners/badly behaved kids/self opinionated prats/loud noises/disco's and muzak.)
Another pet hate of mine are people who keep having to interject "You Know"/"I Mean"/"You Know What I Mean" every few words,sports people being the worst culprits.Have to turn the radio off at times when I hear someone on Radio 5 Live being interviewed using those expressions.Just a pity they don't have a decent grasp of the English language.

I'll get off my soapbox for now and hope i haven't come across as a "Moaning Minnie!!"

Hi, Compo.

Thanks for stopping by to say hello. I'm also irritated by people who display a poor grasp of the English language, be it spoken or written. I'm not talking about people for whom English is a second language, nor am I talking about dyslexics or people with learning difficulties. I'm talking about people with an average level of intelligence who really ought to know better. I don't know whether to blame the education system for not teaching them better, or the people for not wanting to learn what they were (or should have been) taught.

Just to add to your list of things people say that irritate me: 'Like', as in "And it was, like, 6ft long."; 'He/she said', as in "He said, 'It's not going to happen', he said." My father was 'guilty' on both counts and it drove me up the walls sometimes.

This soapbox ain't big enough for the both of us. We're going to have to take turns.

Sounds like a reasonable compromise about the soap box,Cheerful Dragon.Valid points you make about the people for whom English is a second language as well as those with learning difficulties or who are dyslexic.I make allowances for people in all three groups as I have first hand experience of all three groups either on a personal level or through my various health care related jobs in the past.

Hope to have a friendly exchange of views with you as time goes by.

Compo