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

Hello! It's about time I popped round for a proper chat, I think.

Yes, I'm now in Leeds, and still unemployed. Was it "Cook" you were from? Or "Crook"? I'm afraid I know nothing about Durham as I've never been there, but we've just got North Yorkshire between us now.

Do you know any other researchers in the area (apart from Amy the Ant)? We could form a Researcher Group and organise meet-ups.

So, what are you up to?

<BB<

Hi BB

I'm up to my neck in it at the moment (ironing that is). Well I should be but I'm sitting on my backside and playing instead. It's such a distraction having the 'puter in the kitchen...

It's Crook where we live (I have as little as possible to do with cook(ing)!) and it isn't far from Durham City, but is closer to Bishop Auckland...

I'd love to perhaps start a local group BB but am afraid that meet ups are difficult for me to get to due to poor finances and logistics (my son has autism and hubby John is ill).

You must in in culture shock having moved from the Isle of Wight to Leeds. What do you think of it so far and what on earth possessed you to leave the land of sun and sea for 'oop North'?

I've almost become used to living up here but still wish that I was living down South. My parents live in the New Forest and the kids and I spent a week with them at the end of July/beginning of August. I left John with the car so didn't have my own transport but Coely and Caerwynn very kindly drove all the way to Bransgore to meet me and then came back to my parents' for . I've uploaded some of the pictures to Fotango if you'd like to see them.

http://www.fotango.com/cgi-bin/vpi.cgi?S_ID=164339&P_W=73039

It is quite a culture shock moving to Leeds - there tends to be a distinct lack of beach, and no shop sells the Isle of Wight County Press. Also, when the papers mention something happening in somewhere, I've no idea where they mean.
I've also been accused of being a "Southerner". I'm not a Southerner - I'm an Islander! As far as I'm concerned, whether you're from London, Southampton, Leeds, Scotland or Wales, you're all Mainlanders. People keep talking about "The Great North-South Divide" a lot, and it's the first I've heard of it. The only great divide I know of is the Solent.
The bus drivers here are very rude and unpleasant, though that's no new change. The main reason I came here was for a job as the only jobs available on the Island are seasonal, but I don't plan to be here for too long. Only about 6 months give or take, and then go back to the Island.

<BB<

Hello Mr Islander person!

At least you're planning on going back BB and make sure you do otherwise you'll be marooned like John and I are.

John and I also only intended to be here for a short time but with John being ill and unable to work, we can't now afford to return to the South.

When we first here from a beach far, far away on the Hibiscus Coast in New Zealand, we rented a place in Peterlee for six months and I'm not exaggerating when I say that I regularly cried myself to sleep at night because it was so awful.

Sadly there is always a lower common denominator in any community and Crook has its fair share of them (along with the profusion of pubs and chip shops) but most locals are very friendly.

According to the EU, Crook is a deprived area although it is far better than Peterlee and on arrival I too was known as a "Southerner" and found the locals very 'cliquey'. Some people even think that I'm posh! Hah! Moi? Posh! It has taken a long time but having s and working in the local Red Cross shop as a volunteer has meant that many people know me and much to John's amazement, say hello to me when we're out shopping.

I've also been accused of being "posh" - just, it seems, as I have a slightly different accent. Oh well - how strange people are...
According to the EU, the Isle of Wight, because of its lack of permanent employment, is also a deprived area, so the EU have now classed along with the richer parts of Hampshire - which are among the wealthiest parts of the country - so that their figures no longer register the Island at all. The council is quite annoyed about that, and are currently trying to sue everyone who classes the Island and Hampshire as the same place, as they so certainly are not.

I don't own any s, but have thought about a hampster...

<BB<

I stupidly gave into requests from my kids that they wanted a hamster and for the 3½ years that we had the poor wee caged beastie, I felt miserably sorry for him. When he eventually died of old age, I gave the cage away to someone who only had a small cage for their pet hamster and told the kids that we would never keep a caged pet again.

I didn't realise that the populace of the Isle of Wight felt so strongly about not being part of Hants but that's probably because I've only been on the Isle of Wight once and that was with my old school on a trip to visit a ruined castle. Sadly I can't remember the name as it was many moons ago.

Prior to living in NZ, I lived in Hampshire, not far from Thruxton Race Circuit and worked in Winchester. I wish we'd moved back there instead of 'going North' as I'm sure that at least one of us would be working by now and John's health might even be better.

Islanders find it annoying that mainlanders don't recognise the differences that exist on the Island, but that's a long story. The castle you visited was probably Carisbrooke - I wrote an article all about it .
My fiance's the one who really wants a hampster - I've not really been into small furry animals that much. I had a cat for 13 years, and I loved him very much. But he was in no way caged and was happy to come and go as he pleased, and spent most of his time with us rather than outside, so we can't be more flattered.

I plan to move down to the Island again - but at the moment am unemployed, so am stuck looking for work...

<BB<

Carisbrooke! That's it! Thank you for jogging my senile old memory kind sir!

Don't be surprised if you get the feeling that you're being discriminated against in your search for employment because you're a southerner/islander...John had his suspicions and could have wallpapered one of our rooms with all the no thank you letters he had returned. I'm sure the stress of it all contributed to his becoming ill.

What sort of work are you looking for? It might be an idea to join a local volunteer bureau as you might find that doors of employment open that way and it'll help you to meet other people. The Red British Cross have offered me paid employment on a couple of occasions, but even the Benefits Advice Line recommended that I didn't take it because I'd have been worse off and lost my Carer's Allowance to boot.

Do you or your girlfriend have any friends/family in Leeds? If you don't mind mixing with a couple of old fogies, you're both welcome to pop round our place for .

I wrote an article about Carisbrooke here: A311112

I don't think that being from the Island has had much affect on getting jobs so far - there was an interviewer who, when I replied to a question, said, "Well, being a Southerner, I can see why you would think that was important", but that's the only instance I can think of. And I still have no idea why he said that as all I was saying was that I felt that history had a very important role in today's society and should be taught. But then, my opinion of interviewers is not very high.
At the moment I'm looking for any office work as I was stuck working in a fast food restaurant (the only job I could find that didn't need experience) for 18 months and definately want to do something better. I wrote an article about my experiences there, too: A593705
I'm doing Voluntary Work at the moment for Horsforth Village Museum. It's very enjoyable, historical work and good experience for getting a history-related job, but there's no chance of it paying, alas.

All of my family are on the Island, so no, I have none in Leeds. Sarah's parents and brother moved to Leeds 3 years ago - they're the only other people we know here. Thanks for the offer - but without our own car, and with no money coming in to pay for public transport, anywhere in Durham's a little out of our reach for a visit at the moment. But when we get jobs I'd be happy to visit.

<BB<

Thanks BB I really enjoyed reading your Guide entries!

As a vegan I shouldn't admit to this, but my omnivorous hubby and son love McDonald's thick milk shakes and so at every given opportunity use a drive through.

I always feel so sorry for the employees at these places and think that they must be in one of the worst jobs around. Even more so having read your account of the night shifts! (I used to work in a pub near Andover and that used to get pretty hair-raising at times!) At least my job in the Red Cross shop is voluntary and on occasions I've been able to speak my mind to the occasional punter when they've been out of order and have retorted to "Don't start on me, I'm just a volunteer and don't get paid to take this kind of abuse from the likes of you!" (Unlike the poor Manageress who has to be polite under all circumstances!)

I know what you mean about the cost of transport, even with having a car I tend to walk as much as physically possible because petrol is so expensive. Besides it's good for me and the environment!

Ah - I've got quite a lot of nightmares involving the McDonalds Milkshake and Ice-cream machine! They're both part of the same machine which is made by Taylor, and all fast food restaurants use the same model (including Burger King, Wimpy, KFC etc.), only the ingrediants they put in it is different. And they are made so that, when they overheat, they break down. So, on a warm day they are anyway quite likely to break down, as they are hot. And on a hot day more people want milkshakes and icecreams, so they are used more often, so they are more likely to overheat. And as where I worked was next-door to Burger King, what normally happened was their machine broke down so that all their customers came to us to get icecreams etc., so on a hot day with twice as many customers twice as likely to want milkshakes etc., the machine inevitably overheats and breaks down. The customers aren't impressed, and guess who gets blamed?
Is it Taylor, who make the dodgy machines in the first place who are first in the firing line? I think not.
Although it's very amusing when customers shout "Well, I'm going to get my milkshake from Burger King" when you know there's no chance their machine will work if yours isn't...
But you're right - it wasn't a nice, fun job.

At the moment I really wish I had a bike.

<BB<

Bike? A la Norman Tebbit get on and ride it type peddle power or an m/c BB?

At the moment I really wish I could afford my own little m/c and lessons on how to ride it!

Sadly I doubt that I'll ever have enough dosh unless I win some but as I don't do the "Lotto" on principle, that's highly unlikely. Almost as unlikely as my winning it in the first place!

Just a bicycle "I want to ride my Bicycle" type bike.

<BB<

Is there a dump near you BB?

John and I use our trailer to do the rubbish run for the Red Cross shop and there are regularly bicycles that are in quite good condition at our local dump. What a waste!

The guys at the dump would probably let you buy one for less than £5.00, which would leave you with lots of dosh to buy new bits for it.

We bought a fantastic 1930's glass-fronted book case from our dump for £5 a couple of months ago. It's unbelievable what people will throw out.

I don't know if there is a dump nearby or not - if there was, I'd have to work out how to get to it and back, as the bike would probably require maintenance etc. before being ridable...
But I'll keep it in mind.

<BB<

I suppose that transport would be a problem...Sorry 'bout that!

We did the rubbish run for the Red Cross shop today and there was one bike at the dump although it was only an exercise bike...The type for getting you no where very fast!

Did you hear the tale of the unfortunate American female tourist who left her newish and state of the art bike inside an Oxfam shop in Edinburgh whilst she tried on some clothes, only to find the staff had sold it for £10 to another customer when she emerged from the fitting room? Apparently she still had to pay for the clothes she bought although Oxfam eventually offered to give her another bike but it was an old standard one...

I hadn't heard about that - I can imagine it happening though!

It just shows that you can never be too careful.

<BB<

I first heard about the incident on Radio 4 and they even interviewed the poor woman...

Mind you, it is easily done and staff and volunteers from our shop have on occasion found that their belongings have been put out for sale on the shop floor. Fortunately it has never been nothing more serious than the occasional mug or jacket but the latter was replaced with a much better one!

During last winter Red Cross customers tried to buy my jacket on a regular basis (they had noticed it hanging in the office)! Fortunately (for my jacket's safety anyway) we now have to keep the office door locked after money stolen from it earlier this year.

I'm off to my local Learn Direct/College on Monday to sign up for a web site design course. Well it's either that or the level 3 Word/Spreadsheet/Database course and I fancy something a bit 'lighter' for now.

At the moment I'm miffed with the Sci-Fi Channel for dropping Farscape at the end of season 4 when they were supposed to be backing it for a 5th season...

No more ripping yarns or Ben Browder sporting black leather...

*Gives a middle-aged and hormonally-challenged wistful sigh*