Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Laziness

Well I've been pretty lazy about updating my blog, I have to admit. But I haven't really been doing very much either. I went to Hereford last weekend, I will post about it later as I have pictures, but I haven't sorted through them yet.

I've had quite a few days off work as I wasn't getting enough rest between shifts. Long and relatively boring story which involves boringness and me getting woken up an awful lot. But essentially I got a bunch of time off and I've done very gloriously little. I've been to the library and borrowed a pile of books, and already finished one (on top of the other two I've finished recently), and that's about all. I made soup, it was okay. I think I'll stick with chicken soup in future though. Ummm what else. I found some trousers to buy. You can basically buy anything here in short version, so I didn't get the ones in the shop, but she gave me the code so I could buy them online, but the ones made for short people :-) I am quite pleased with this system whereby I don't have to get trousers hemmed every time I buy them! Also, I would like it noted how easily I have switched from 'pants' to 'trousers'. Just by the way. It's hard to remember they aren't synonymous here!

I had an entertaining day yesterday, I went shopping in Worcester, then met my workmate at the train station, so went to her place and had some dinner and fabulous home-made elderflower wine. And then went to a film, which was strange. We thought it might be a bit of a chick-flick but it was... well interesting. Which is more than I can generally say for movies involving romance and comedy. It had some interesting comments on society to make, and particularly celebrity culture and modern families. It was called Tamara Drewe by the way, and it was absolutely nothing like the blurb said, but I think better.

I think that's all for now really. No news on the London front yet. I think that will just happen all of a sudden, when it starts. Which is fine with me really.

I shall try and make a post soon with some pictures, I do have most of my waking nights to fill with nothing to do.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Definitely going back to London!

Confirmed it this morning :D

Excited now!!! Not sure exactly *when* I will be going down, but I am looking forward to it. Quite soon as I understand it, maybe in the next month or so.

Heeeeeee!!!!

Busy busy busy!

Well it's all been rather busy for me recently, but I do love it really...

Well okay I wasn't loving it on Friday when I had only had about five hours sleep when I was called to cover someone for a couple of hours, and then when I got back to the office I *had* been in (after being told off for leaving it looking like a bedroom, which was due to having to go and cover someone) I had a shower in the office en-suite... which flooded downstairs... then I remembered I had promised to wait for the IT guy, who was an hour late, then I quickly ran next door to get my lunch and be able to start work an hour early... ahh what a day!!! It was never-ending I tell you! You had better believe I felt like having a temper-tantrum, and that was *before* I realised the shower was flooding!

It's not like that every day I swear! Just that day will be etched in my memory for a long time to come...

But I'm home now for a blissful two nights and one day! I'm going to go shopping (for food), cook my own dinner... maybe... maybe I will have people to go to the pub with. We will see. Oh and washing. Loads of washing :( I think I better do shopping first though, my white clothes have all gone really grey really quickly once I got here. But I've seen products in the supermarket which promise to whiten my clothes, so I may give them a try.

Ummm thats about all for now.

Oh yeah, the banking system in this country is totally archaic. It is just beyond amazing really. Just thought you needed to know. I've got an American workmate, we both spend time marvelling that anything is *ever* achieved through banks here... it actually takes two working days to process an electronic payment. Seriously. Money was sent to my account by work on a Friday morning. It showed up on the TUESDAY!!! Seriously, five days?! Apparently that is basically normal and what you should expect here. That would either be instant in New Zealand, or overnight. Not five days, even including a weekend.

Ahem. So I did get paid eventually. I even managed to send money back to my account in New Zealand (no thanks to my bank here I might add). Which was good, I now have all of the obscure details necessary to send money overseas. Oh and precisely $15 less than the amount I sent. I think I will have to chase up my bank in NZ about that though. My bank here said they would take out their fee from my account as an entirely separate transaction, which I can see on my statement, and even if they hadn't taken it out separately I seriously doubt an amount deducted in £s would come out as a nice round figure in $s. Soooo I think I'll do that tomorrow night. It is almost 1am, and I would like to sleep tonight.

Speaking of sleep...
Goodnight!!!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

English weather really lived up to it's reputation...

I went for a walk in the hills today as I have been advised to do at least once a week since I got here... it was hill. England has actually got some hills, it isn't just rolling countryside. Sadly I forgot to take my camera, so I've got no photographic evidence to back up these wild claims about hills in England. But they were actually a decent walk. It reminded me of walking on the hills above Makara, near Wellington, for the approximately two people who may read this and actually know where that is. Kinda grassy and steep and very windy. Also a tad cold, possibly due to said wind.

Otherwise lovely. Oh and rain. Less lovely. But it didn't really start until we got back to the village, so realistically I could've avoided getting wet by hiding in the pub, as I wasn't yet saturated when I walked past, but I was quite keen on the idea of cooking my own dinner for a change, so I came home, and got well saturated in the process.

Well battery is about to die, but that was basically my weekend.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Hi all!!!

No pictures yet, but maybe some tonight, I'm planning on going for a walk this afternoon.

I am contemplating moving back to London... I've been asked if I would like to join the London project (same employers, they're just starting up in another area). I may go I think. Not sure yet, I will miss my little English village for time off! But there is more to do with your time off in London, when you've just got little snatches of time off, like an unexpected evening off. It isn't enough time to get back to my little English village and back in time for the night shift, so I end up with dead time essentially; I'm neither working nor got anywhere else to be, so I just end up hanging around at work anyway. So London would solve that problem, just get on the tube and go anywhere really! I think I will go... London is still new and exciting. Birmingham, well it's okay but it's a bit like..... Hamilton or somewhere. It's just kinda there... one of the bigger cities, but not really much special about it. Oh and the local accent is going to get me in trouble one of these days, I just can't understand it. Black country I think they said the accent was, and I just *cannot* follow it. Honestly it is *really* hard- look at the wikipedia page! I'm not the only one, I swear!

Well that's about all for now folks... I shall try and take some pictures this afternoon when I go for a walk, but I promised the dog I would take her again, so they might not be great quality!


Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Grrr cranky Sam

Managed to swing myself two days off in a row, but it was really one and a half because I didn't manage to ditch one shift until an hour or two before it started so my morning was spent in pre-work mode anyway.

I got my hair cut yesterday. Was well overdue and they guy mostly did a good job, he just cut the edges... well it was a bit straight which just didn't work at all. And my fringe was too long. So I went back in this morning and asked if he could just soften it up a bit, basically put a bit of shape in it around my face, which he said was fine. Next thing I know he is making it shorter all over... Now it is too short! It sounds incredibly fussy when I write it out but it's irritating me so much! I just don't like it.

In other news I haven't been paid yet. My fault, I think I gave them the wrong bank account number. Which would be because my bank opened me no less than three accounts when all I really wanted was a normal current account... So when I went hunting for my account number in the piles of paperwork they gave me I assumed when I could only find one number that it was for the account that I actually cared about. But no. It would appear that I have given them the number for the second savings account... i.e. the one I didn't realise I had until they asked me to put some money in it and I told them I didn't want it, so they closed it. And that is the woeful story of why I *still* haven't been paid. I do now know the numbers for all of my accounts. And I've only got two. Neither of them have any money as yet :( I will have to talk to work this afternoon though and make sure that I don't have to wait until next pay day to get paid... That would be so many kinds of ridiculous waiting a whole month longer. Stupid British, how is monthly a reasonable period to get paid, seriously?!

Mmmmm yeah that's about it really for the moment.
I have a hat, it makes me less grumpy about my haircut.
And sparkly scarf because you can't really wear a hat without a scarf, that would be silly.