Work, Flat, Busy, Busy Job

Rushed off my feet at the moment but will be back to blogging more regularly next week.


Here's what you need to know.

• The job hunt is sole destroying, places are taking too long to shortlist and there aren't many out there doing what I want to do.
• I've two interviews at the end of this week and am holding out for a few more next week.
• I still haven't found a place to live yet in my budget and to top it off I'm finding more jobs in different locations which I'm applying for but that means I'm screwed if I do find somewhere and I'm screwed if I don't.
• Ebay and Gumtree are my best friends - SELL SELL SELL!
• I've managed to get a 'mates rates' Renault garage to look at my car and fix it next week
• Red wine is becoming a much too frequent guest of an evening.
• I need to lose weight.
• Money is running short, all these viewings and running about is breaking my bank account.
• I have D&V - bleugh 

Car Calamity

So goodbye weekend and hello spending the next three days covered in oil, dirt, grease and freezing my ass off in the rain and cold.

My car is seriously playing up!

It couldn't have come at a worst time.  In less than a month I need to be out of this flat and into another place (that I've yet to find) where I may have to pay more rent than I can realistically afford at the moment.  Without a car a move out of the 'perfect postcode' is going to be a total nightmare not just for moving but for making my world function after the move also.  How am I going to get to/from work?  

Ok people, answers on a postcard... what do I do?  Do I spend money to fix the car that I will need to move, and get to work if I end up out of town (which is highly probable), but risk not having enough pennies in the bank for a deposit/advanced rent as of course I won't get my deposit back from this flat until after I need to pay the other.  Do I risk taking it to a garage with no idea what is wrong with it despite my best efforts in the knowledge that if it is an expensive job  A) I won't be able to afford it or B) It won't be worth doing as it will cost almost as much as the price of the car.  I think at this juncture my hopes for option C) It will be as small and easily rectifiable problem that will cost me the price of a night out.

Should I risk playing mechanic and spend a little on replacing a few more parts in the hope I stumble upon the problem?

The phrase 'it doesn't rain but it pours' seems so apt for my life at the moment it is unreal.  No flat, No post-university jobs (where are all the sodding jobs??), No overtime at work (serious budgeting issues), No new place to live, No working car, No savings (Uni took care of that), No light at the end of the tunnel and absolutely No fall-back plan.  I am in serious need of a knight in shining armour!

Flat Hunt Fabrications

I love this time of year, May always feels so full of possibilities.  The plants are starting to flower, the sun is beginning to appear and people in general seem to be more positive.  I need to find a flat so I can stop stressing and join the bandwagon.

I just can't seem to find anything in my budget in the area I want to live that doesn't look like it is falling apart or in need of a good paint.  I can see me having to break the bank for a a couple of months as I absolutely refuse to stay somewhere I don't love.  Having a spacious, funky apartment is #1 on my 'things that make me happy and stress free' list.

The problem is, it is a letters market at the moment.  With people selling second homes and small letting agencies going out of business the price of rentals has hiked and the use of buzz words to sell the average Joe into a not so great apartment is out of control.  So for those of you who are new to flat hunting let me introduce you to a few of the current flat rental spin doctor wordings:

• Close to Local Amenities:  The flat is on a main road where you will frequently be woken early in the morning by traffic and public transport and will also be kept awake at night by party animals and drunks.
• Central Location:  The same as above only with the added bonus that you will need to spend at least £400 buying blackout blinds/curtains for  your windows to prevent the street and neon lights from keeping you awake.
• Good Transport Links:  You will be living in the middle of nowhere
• Parking Nearby:  You will need a degree in parallel parking to ever get a space and there is a high probability that your pride and joy will be keyed/scratched at least twice a month.
• Modern Electric Heating:  Unless you are an Eskimo do not apply for this flat, you will either freeze through the months September to June or will have to take out a loan to cover the heating bill.
• Modern Build:  You will be able to do your dishes, watch tv and run a bath by simply stretching an arm.
• Newly Refurbished:  The last tenant trashed the place and was evicted.
• Converted Building:  The rent is waaaay over market value because the owner decided to play at interior design.
• Student Friendly:  Once handed over, you will never see your deposit again.

*sigh

In other news however, I've two dates lined up next week - I'll keep you posted.

-----------------------------

Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAliqAP6jts

Meetings & Media

Yowzer I have a full day today, but for once I don't feel that nervous so something must be amiss. 

I've an interview for a job I don't particularly want but will probably get (and it will keep the £££ rolling in while I find the right one) this afternoon.  Then I've a preliminary negotiation with job number two, a meeting with senior management for job number 1 and then later on this evening just to top things off I have to chair another meeting for job number 2.  I better be sure to opt for the power dress today :P  

Dating wise the CD I received from Radiohead made me chuckle when I started to play it and realised track one was 'Fake Plastic Trees'.  He is really making some beautiful music at the moment.  I might actually post something of his on the blog.  Mr X joined me on Linkedin this last week and saw a rather grouchy picture of me but something weird has happened since and this last few days he has been keen to skype.  It hasn't happened as I am no longer in a place where I tailor my life around his.  Internet dating wise I've been asked out a few times  but have decided to go on two dates probably on Friday and Sunday the first is with one of the guys I've already given you an overview of and the second is surprisingly with someone who emailed me a couple of times yesterday.  He was honest, interesting and for some reason I didn't feel my usual inclination to decline until I knew more as his emails had already told me a lot.  There is a slight irony in the situation however, after I had agreed I asked a little more about his job (he hadn't put a picture on his profile but had sent one in his first email) and it turns out he is pretty well known in the sporting world.  I can't deny I gave his position a quick google and found him, with almost 800K followers on his twitter account I had to chuckle at the fact I'd no idea who he was.

Other than that I met a girl who replied to my fitness ad on the net last night and we have a green light to start all things 'get thin' related this coming weekend.  I'm going to email the other people that replied today.  On that note however I think I am going to start jogging early in the morning (I would say running but even at a sprint I'm a slow-mo runner), can anyone recommend some decent trainers that I could also use for classes and the gym that look nice but won't break the bank?  Oh and I have teeny feet - size 3/4 so they need to come in micro-fit also.

--------------------------------------

The Ting Tings - Hang It Up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl6byDrsufc

Best You Ever Had

Internet Dating

64

Emails between creating my profile (10am) and logging in the next day (1pm)

33 

Deleted because the best they could come up with is 'hey' or 'hey how are you'

6

Deleted due to lack of photo - wtf you can't online date with no photo!

16

Deleted due to... well... unattractive photos

5

Deleted due to football chat on their profile

2

Deleted as they were dull!

2

Remaining

(1)  

Project manager, Drummer, 6ft 1, looks good in a hat, toned, great arms, well read, bit of an oxymoron.

(2)

Personal trainer, Own business, Lives between this city and Belfast, 6ft 3, tattoos, seriously hot body, witty

OTHER BOYS

1.  Mr X misses me, tells me I'm awesome and hot?

2.  El Dempasso giving me the chat despite having a gf - Shot down

3.  Pooch offering to take me out to sounding dinner again - Dismissed

4.  Radiohead sent me another CD of his current music writing and tells me out of the blue I was the best sex he has ever had!?

Pass Me The Wine! 

------------------------------

Buckcherry - Crazy B*tch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ6pLKlU-8Q

Horse On Back (rearrange)

I was talking to someone from work the other day that I speak to quite a bit, she is older than me so we don't really socialise in a bar/club/gig kinda way but we are super similar in that I can see myself in her and vice versa.  Let's call her... Mercury (because she seems to be able to cope and adapt to anything life throws at her).

Mercury is one of the few people I know that I actually open up to when they ask me how I am doing.  She knows most of the truths about my life and not because we have sat down to have all-meaningful conversations, but because there have never been any barriers and the whole truth always feels like the right thing to say.  I rely on Mercury not to give me advice as she rarely takes that bold move but she is one of my measures in life.  If I ever needed advice she would give it and while she has never been my support mechanism I am sure she would be if I asked.  She would never presume to offer.

Anyway, this week Mercury and I were exchanging the latest twists and turns in our life (of which at the moment she has many) and in passing she threw out a few things that really made me wonder why it is I feel the need to 'be in that place' to date or find barriers to stop people who want to know me getting in. So... tonight when I got home from work I decided to stop.

I'm not saying I'm going to look for someone to let into my life because I am happy with things as they are, but I'm going to stop fighting the people who want to get in and make myself easier to find.  I'm giving my life a spoonful of sugar <3

This weekend as you know I'm heading out to a 'Serendipity style place' with a friend for drinks and some shape busting dance floor moves but I think now I'll throw in some flirting for good measure and maybe even take/exchange a number or two if the night takes that turn.  I also threw on some decent music this evening and put myself back on the dating site we girlie's/guys were on last year.  I'm not going to search for anyone but I've put up a couple of photos, filled in the mandatory bits and threw some blurb in the daunting white boxes.  

In other news I've ditched the red and I'm back to brunette.  The question is... do I want to add some blue?


-------------------
Joseph Arthur - In The Sun
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=uNF2cbW37mo&list=PLB5D6C3A970EF6992&index=47&feature=plpp_video

Happiness Is All Around You

Do you think its really possible to stumble upon that one unexpected perfect truth in life?  

To walk the same streets every day for always and to suddenly bump into someone who in one short second sends your world in a totally different direction.  To make a snap decision that starts a roller-coaster of experiences somehow thrown together to change your world forever.  I truly hope so.

Sometimes its like you forget that life is right now, happening all around you, and its the moments in the here and now that make up the bigger picture, not the other way around.  Yet somehow we all seem to be so focussed on where we want to be and how to get there that we forget to open our eyes to the world around us.  

That's why I like heading to the beach where I spent my teenage years.  There are two places in the entire world that open me up inside.  One of them a place in a city I once lived, a place I found myself sitting for an entire day and night just trying to make sense of a world that had seemed to crumble at my feet and the second is that beach.  I think a thousand wrongs could be put right in a few hours on that beach.  To just stop and take in the moment, the fresh air, the sun on my face, the practically white sand and the sound of the ocean telling you that life is a privilege and nature could wipe you out in a breath.

----------

Goo Goo Dolls - Better Days

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOp4NAq6EHI

Crunkin' Drunk

G-Star is coming over tonight, we are going to talk flats one last time to see if we can make flat share work with us and other than that we are going to kick back, drink our worries away and do whatever we feel like.

I 100% need a no stress, lots of laughter night and to hell with working tomorrow with a hangover from hell. I'll grab an iced water on my way in and will count down the minutes until I can head home.

Next week I'm heading out to paaarrrr-tayyyy at one of the hottest places in town so tonight is the warm-up.

Just A Handful Of Silver

Well yesterday due to the flat situ and my need to rearrange things I had to swallow my pride and apply for a job in my heart of hearts I knew I would get but really didn't want.  

I sent the application at 4pm yesterday and at 2pm today I got a call to go in for an interview next week.  As I fit the criteria 'so fantastically' I will only have one interview.  I know I've got the job.  *sigh.

-----------------

The Calling - Stigmatized

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJhaiMrlm0A

Vote? I Think We Are Screwed Anyway

For those of you who read my blog often you will already know that I don't really follow politics, I know enough to get by and very little else.  I do think that politicians have a really difficult job as you can't make everyone happy all the time, especially when you are trying to keep a country successful.  What I do know for sure however, is that this last two years I've really started to notice things turning to crap.

I remember the chatter of 'credit crunch' when the banks screwed us and things started losing their sheen, but I also remember thinking (at the time) that as I live on a budget anyway juggling Uni and work with each other, I would probably not notice the difference.  I was wrong.

Where I live is supposed to be a rich city, lots of industry, lots of capitalism and lots of people with fat wallets and big stomachs ploughing money back into the country.  This image is so far from the reality I now see on a daily basis it is hard to imagine when/how it will return.  I know so many highly skilled people out of work as businesses have started to close, and not just small businesses but large corporations closing branches, or closing down all together.  Tax on everything is up, the cost of living is through the roof, houses everywhere are for sale and on a personal note my landlord (who owns his own property agency) is in such financial crisis that the bank has taken back several of his properties (mine included) giving notice to the tenants and putting the flats/houses/apartments on the market.  Things are turning to crap.

So today is voting day and although I know I am going to vote, I can't help but think that no matter what happens over the next few years it won't matter which party you have voted in locally or which party takes the reigns of the country... we are so far gone it will take a sodding miracle to get us back.

In years to come this will be a time that people focus on in history class in schools, looking at how royally we screwed up and how we had to drastically change our lives in order to try and piece the country back together again... If we piece it back together again.  I can't help but wonder if somewhere down the line we will end up being consumed by someone else.

-----------------------------

Eagle Eye Cherry - Save Tonight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYEd3_XaJ-4