I haven't really been writing much on here recently as I just joined Tumblr which is a little bit more interesting, you can do stuff like upload pics/audio a lot better than on here. It seems appropriate to run through how the year has gone and see what (if anything) I can remember of it....
January/February: Also freezing bloody cold, since we had lots of snow and ice that took ages to thaw out. I remember getting docked a day's pay at Coral even though I was ready to go to work (but got snowed in, no trains, buses etc.) which pissed me off.
March/April: Nothing eventful. A new guy called Will Kendall joined the staff in our shop at Coral. Caffe Nero opened up 2 doors down from our shop, which resulted in everyone suddenly buying paninis and coffee for lunch. Even Grand National seemed tame this year.
May: Went to Leeds, overspent on a night out and had several simultaneous interesting situations to resolve, like (1) Ben comparing himself to a hairy vagina, (2) getting suspended at work for failing a Mystery Bettor underage test, (3) learning that on my last shift, the till was £260 down, (4) chatted up a Chinese bird called Anna-Lisa at the gig Ben had got us tickets for, only for Sean to lunge in there at Reform bar and piss all over the last 3 hours work I had done; (5) getting hung, drawn and quartered for gambling again. Can't complain, bloody stupid thing to do. Resigned at Coral's. Had hypnotherapy to stop the gambling bug. Started working with my dad & Catherine at the family-run estate agency in South Norwood.
June/July: Possibly the most low-key birthday of my life on Jul 7th.
August: "Holiday" in Chania, Crete and get put up for free at Casa Ginger Pubes. (aka my mum's main residence when not touring around the UK) Everyone seems to have had a fun-ectomy out there. Nothing interesting at all for anyone under 35 to participate in. If you fancy a holiday in which the main highlight is staring at goat's arses, Chania is where you would choose to go. Even for a "free" holiday, by the time I've ordered a new pair of prescription sunglasses, collected some spending money and invested in an iPod touch, I have no change out of £600.
September: Don't remember much about this month at all, except that Nic, Jeremey and I went out to Pizza Express in Caterham for my mum's birthday, who had come back to the UK specially. The night went dismally; she mostly asked how the job-searching was going, so I duly informed her of the progress I had made at Penta's open day (IT consultancy based in Wallington) - at which point she randomly burst into this self-righteous tirade of "don't go around thinking you can just earn £50k a year like that, darling, it doesn't just happen" - is this some kind of clever read-between-the-lines thing or is my own mother actually requesting me to not have any aspirations??
October/November: Badminton season resumed in September but really got going in these couple of months...played a couple of games for Hybrid and Mens 2 but nothing special ....still yet to win a rubber. In the Hybrid, I got dropped for the season-opening game away to Sutton Adults (strong side) but the team still lost 3-6. Then I was in Leeds for Halloween, so couldn't play the 2nd game anyway. The 3rd game was away to Dorking (new team to the division) who played with ridiculously slow shuttles in a multi-purpose gym based at a high school, we ended up losing 2-7. In Mens 2, I played the season-opening game at home to New Malden but we still lost 2-7. I got dropped for the 2nd game at home to Woodcote and we managed to lose 4-5, which had club captain Martin incensed with the team captain Paul - mostly because Paul had dropped me and Anushka whilst pairing up Chris H and Ron (slow, old, neither having upper body strength). Game 3 was a third consecutive home match to South London Harriers, but got snowed off due to the shit weather. Game 4 was away to Bookham a fortnight later on 18/12/10. Paul really excelled himself this time. He didn't pick his team until the night before. I volunteered my services, and he said there was a good chance I could play, because another player, Scott, had not responded to his communications. On Monday, he confirmed I would be playing, so I deliberately moved my plans away from the following night. By Tuesday morning, I got a text at 11am saying Scott had finally responded to him, so I was dropped. Was very mad at Paul. Poetic justice though, they lost 3-6. This leaves Hybrid with 1/3 wins and Mens 2 with 0/3 wins - but I've only managed to play one match for either team so cannot be blamed entirely! Leeds at Halloween was excellent - really good to catch up with several friends who hadn't been seen for a long, long time. Ben and Naylor in particular had gone to painstaking lengths to prepare their Halloween costumes, which turned out to be Venkman and Spengler from Ghostbusters respectively. They should blatantly have won 1st prize at the fancy dress contest at Fab Cafe but the idiot DJ decided to award the coveted prize to Lego Man.... I mean.... how is that even Halloween themed for fuck's sake? Ben & Becca booked a room at a hotel for 2 nights but I preferred to save nearly £120 and spent the entire weekend sofa surfing at Dave & Steph's, just like in the good old student days. Wasn't at all smug I'd saved a little bit of money either :)
December: Bleh....cold temperatures, long commutes to work because of dickheaded drivers not knowing how to drive in the snow/ice, and buying Xmas presents for family. Not much else to say really.
I will try and get some New Year resolutions out the way now:
1. Eat healthier, particularly at work as South Norwood is chock full of fucking burger, kebab, chip type places. There isn't an M&S, Waitrose, or any half-decent supermarket around for ages. There's a Co-Op but the food looks poo. May end up making my own sandwiches and bringing in Cup a Soups!
2. Win more points/rubbers in badminton matches I do get picked for.
3. Try and enjoy life more... we're not gonna be around forever so it seems dumb to spend my time being a little pessimistic and cynical about the future.
4. Find a bird. Hahahaha, I do crack myself up. If I don't look for someone, I'll never find anyone anyway. And if I do look, people always tell me to stop. I can't win. Will be big kudos if I can pull off this resolution.
Thursday, 23 December 2010
Sunday, 26 September 2010
suitably introspective 500th post milestone
It's been a while, hasn't it? I try and avoid cluttering up my blog with mundane shit, because it doesn't really seem fair to me to waste either my time writing it or your time reading it. Lately things have been going okay. I'm still a sales negotiator at my dad's estate agency, but this was always a short-term solution after quitting Dep Manager at the bookies in June. It's not fair to anyone to bail me out like this forever.
So, after a long period of inaction, I've pulled my finger out and moved into top gear RE job hunting. This is made more than slightly difficult by the fact that... well, there's a recession on, and hardly anyone is hiring for new positions. On top of that, at the big corporates, they're more likely to fill vacancies internally first and then move on to externals such as the agencies like Reed, Adecco, etc. - and to make things even worse, these people are extremely likely to be qualified or near qualified to fill the vacant role in the first place. Mind you, I'm no stranger to competition for jobs. I've applied for a job at Sony in central London as a junior marketing manager, and they told me 1100 people had gone for it. Whew. I'm still not exactly sure how you're supposed to mark yourself out from 1099 other people... maybe if I casually strolled in butt naked, that might be a good start! The important thing is to remain optimistic and keep your head up, because job hunting is probably the most soul destroying thing a lot of us will do in our lifetimes.
I always wonder if this is how my life is supposed to pan out. We're all in control of our own separate destinies, (another great reason why I'm so dubious as to the existence of a god or gods - if we were all meant to follow a chosen path, why give us brains and the power to think for ourselves?) and this time around something has got to happen. It's just got to. That guy in Titanic said 'real men make their own luck' - but you still kind of have to be in the right place at the right time for it to happen. I've kept my end of the bargain so far. 11 years of high school and university combined, 2 degrees to show for it, 6th best in my year of nearly 100.
So what?
Where's the glittering career? Nonexistent.
Where's the nice girlfriend? Nonexistent.
Where's the first step on the property ladder? You're joking, right? I'm still living with my dad and stepmum.
Where's the nice car? Does my 13 year old VW Polo count?
It would not be stretching the truth to say that, financially, emotionally and mentally I'm probably right now in the bottom 10% of my high school class. A lot of other guys I still keep in touch with have at least one of these four tenets of happiness. Most have two or three, admittedly few will have all four. Fewer still like me have none. This has got to change and soon. I am nobody's chump - you're going to see a very different Jamie the rest of this year.
So, after a long period of inaction, I've pulled my finger out and moved into top gear RE job hunting. This is made more than slightly difficult by the fact that... well, there's a recession on, and hardly anyone is hiring for new positions. On top of that, at the big corporates, they're more likely to fill vacancies internally first and then move on to externals such as the agencies like Reed, Adecco, etc. - and to make things even worse, these people are extremely likely to be qualified or near qualified to fill the vacant role in the first place. Mind you, I'm no stranger to competition for jobs. I've applied for a job at Sony in central London as a junior marketing manager, and they told me 1100 people had gone for it. Whew. I'm still not exactly sure how you're supposed to mark yourself out from 1099 other people... maybe if I casually strolled in butt naked, that might be a good start! The important thing is to remain optimistic and keep your head up, because job hunting is probably the most soul destroying thing a lot of us will do in our lifetimes.
I always wonder if this is how my life is supposed to pan out. We're all in control of our own separate destinies, (another great reason why I'm so dubious as to the existence of a god or gods - if we were all meant to follow a chosen path, why give us brains and the power to think for ourselves?) and this time around something has got to happen. It's just got to. That guy in Titanic said 'real men make their own luck' - but you still kind of have to be in the right place at the right time for it to happen. I've kept my end of the bargain so far. 11 years of high school and university combined, 2 degrees to show for it, 6th best in my year of nearly 100.
So what?
Where's the glittering career? Nonexistent.
Where's the nice girlfriend? Nonexistent.
Where's the first step on the property ladder? You're joking, right? I'm still living with my dad and stepmum.
Where's the nice car? Does my 13 year old VW Polo count?
It would not be stretching the truth to say that, financially, emotionally and mentally I'm probably right now in the bottom 10% of my high school class. A lot of other guys I still keep in touch with have at least one of these four tenets of happiness. Most have two or three, admittedly few will have all four. Fewer still like me have none. This has got to change and soon. I am nobody's chump - you're going to see a very different Jamie the rest of this year.
Saturday, 31 July 2010
a short history of Royal Mail and Jamie
Apr 2009: Moved out of Avon Close, posted keys back to landlady via recorded delivery, Royal Mail "is sorry, but we appear to have misplaced your post". Takes 5 months to get my deposit back.
Jul 2010: Buy an iPod on eBay, seller posts it using guaranteed special delivery by Saturday 1pm, which is super important because I'm flying to Crete the next day. It doesn't turn up.
Two out of two, cunts.
Jul 2010: Buy an iPod on eBay, seller posts it using guaranteed special delivery by Saturday 1pm, which is super important because I'm flying to Crete the next day. It doesn't turn up.
Two out of two, cunts.
Sunday, 20 June 2010
the district sleeps alone tonight
Smeared black ink.
Your palms are sweaty,
and I'm barely listening
to last demands.
I'm staring at the asphalt wondering
"What's buried underneath where I am?"
(Where I am)
I'll wear my badge:
a vinyl sticker with big block letters
adhered to my chest
tells your new friends
"I am a visitor here... I am not permanent."
And the only thing keeping me dry is...
(Where I am)
You seem so out of context,
in this gaudy apartment complex.
A stranger with your door key,
explaining that I'm just visiting.
And I am finally seeing
why I was the one worth leaving.
Why I was the one worth leaving.
D.C. sleeps alone tonight.
(Where I am)
You seem so out of context
in this gaudy apartment complex.
(Where I am)
A stranger with your door key
explaining that I'm just visiting.
(Where I am)
And I am finally seeing
why I was the one worth leaving.
Why I was the one worth leaving.
(Where I am)
The District sleeps alone tonight
after the bars turn out their lights
(Where I am)
and send the autos swerving
into the loneliest evening.
(Where I am)
And I am finally seeing
why I was the one worth leaving.
why I was the one worth leaving.
why I was the one worth leaving.
why I was the one worth leaving.
Your palms are sweaty,
and I'm barely listening
to last demands.
I'm staring at the asphalt wondering
"What's buried underneath where I am?"
(Where I am)
I'll wear my badge:
a vinyl sticker with big block letters
adhered to my chest
tells your new friends
"I am a visitor here... I am not permanent."
And the only thing keeping me dry is...
(Where I am)
You seem so out of context,
in this gaudy apartment complex.
A stranger with your door key,
explaining that I'm just visiting.
And I am finally seeing
why I was the one worth leaving.
Why I was the one worth leaving.
D.C. sleeps alone tonight.
(Where I am)
You seem so out of context
in this gaudy apartment complex.
(Where I am)
A stranger with your door key
explaining that I'm just visiting.
(Where I am)
And I am finally seeing
why I was the one worth leaving.
Why I was the one worth leaving.
(Where I am)
The District sleeps alone tonight
after the bars turn out their lights
(Where I am)
and send the autos swerving
into the loneliest evening.
(Where I am)
And I am finally seeing
why I was the one worth leaving.
why I was the one worth leaving.
why I was the one worth leaving.
why I was the one worth leaving.
Monday, 17 May 2010
Wedding musician comes to the fore
Making the most of my time off work today to put my music on the map. I've recently placed an advertisement in 'Perfect Asian magazine', a new issue that was released last month. The magazine focuses mainly on weddings, fashion and lifestyle for UK Asians. Click here for the website.
So its official. I'm now a professional wedding musician. Here's a preview of my ad. The link only works if you're logged in to Facebook. So if you know anyone in the UK getting married soon, comment here. It would be much appreciated!
Sunday, 16 May 2010
spam - food for thought
Would appreciate some help from my readership on this one. This blog is currently seeing quite a high level of spam which results in me having to wade in and manually kill off the offending posts. I've changed passwords numerous times and deleted guest contributors so I'm tightening up security, so what else could it be? Any (sensible) ideas at this stage are welcome.
Monday, 10 May 2010
information digest
So much has happened over this weekend that it's taken a while just to sit down and think about it all. It's been surreal and very strange, and rather than give a large wafting account of what actually happened, it might just be best to write little headers and a bit on each thing. Here goes nothing.
Getting Locked Out My Own Car.
The battery on my keyfob was running down. Previously, the car used to beep twice when locking and once when unlocking. On Thursday, the lights were just flashing without any visual indication. So I got the battery changed. This was going swimmingly until Thursday night when I got out of work, zapped the car and found that I couldn't actually get into it. Score.
Being £110 short at the till.
Also on Thursday night, I was running around like a headless chicken trying to find out why the hell I was so down at the till. Turns out that one of our big customers had given me a £100 tip, not a £210 one, and in return for 5 Scottish £20 notes, he had wanted two fifties. Except I gave him the fifties and kept the £210 in my pocket rather than return it to the safe.
Disciplinary imminent.
Somehow, also on Thursday, Serve Legal paid a visit to our shop in Banstead. Their usual process is to send an 18 year old into a betting shop in the hope that the staff will ID him/her and enforce the Think 21 programme. However, I apparently failed to do this, and so I have a disciplinary hearing in the coming week. Why they have pinpointed me when I was working with another girl and the policy applies equally to all staff is anyone's guess.
Ben taking pictures of old people on the M1 services.
Apparently this is to demonstrate his inherent fear of being caught in a room full of old men and women without an exit.
Losing my wallet.
Some dickhead robbed me of my wallet in Reform Bar.
Chris pulling Sarah.
Ex-housemates and a lot of history between them. Might not have been such a good idea.
Chris pulling Lucy.
If Sarah was a bad idea, Lucy was catastrophic. She was trashed on gin and had no idea what she was doing!
Sean pulling Anna.
Having spent 90 minutes and virtually the entire Band of Skulls gig talking to Ben's friend Anna, and setting myself up for what I presumed was a decent chance at pulling later on, Sean finished what I had started and ended up playing tonsil hockey with her in Reform.
Mike's renewed alcoholism.
I'm going straight to hell for this one. After learning that Mike (Sean's flatmate) had been cutting down on the wine and beers for quite some time now, I offered him and his new girlfriend a glass of wine at the house party on Saturday night. By the time I'd finished my glass, he was asking for a third.
The Bog of Eternal Stench.
Chris and Sarah threw a house party on Saturday night. They share the ground floor flat in the same building where Ben used to live, and Sean and Mike still do. Except that there's been a severe problem with the drains, to the extent that there's human excrement and washing machine dregs surrounding the area outside the front door!
Fellow Bansteadonian.
It took a 430-mile round trip but I'm astonished and pleased to say that I actually met someone who used to live in Banstead over the course of this excellent, hilarious weekend - Mike's new squeeze, Anna. (Not to be confused with Ben's friend Anna.)
Red wine, the tipple of choice.
Once again, I lead the way in refinement and class as a load of the others end up buying multipack beers and get bloated before the real party's even begun. You can get much more pissed for cheaper on wine, guys!
Locked outside Hazy Dave's at 3:30 in the morning.
Because we'd left Reform at 2:30 and Dave wasn't going to be finished DJing at the main uni until 3:30, we had little choice but to wait outside his house in the freezing cold.
Ben comparing himself to a hairy vagina.
In his own words, hairy on the outside and moist on the inside. There's no real reason to go into greater detail than this.
Sean's victory dance after beating me at pool in the Drydock.
The dance can only be described as Mr Blobby meets Barney the Dinosaur. Words fail me.
Gambling.
My past torment reared its ugly head and resurfaced. An agonising meeting awaits when I return home to Sutton.
Getting Locked Out My Own Car.
The battery on my keyfob was running down. Previously, the car used to beep twice when locking and once when unlocking. On Thursday, the lights were just flashing without any visual indication. So I got the battery changed. This was going swimmingly until Thursday night when I got out of work, zapped the car and found that I couldn't actually get into it. Score.
Being £110 short at the till.
Also on Thursday night, I was running around like a headless chicken trying to find out why the hell I was so down at the till. Turns out that one of our big customers had given me a £100 tip, not a £210 one, and in return for 5 Scottish £20 notes, he had wanted two fifties. Except I gave him the fifties and kept the £210 in my pocket rather than return it to the safe.
Disciplinary imminent.
Somehow, also on Thursday, Serve Legal paid a visit to our shop in Banstead. Their usual process is to send an 18 year old into a betting shop in the hope that the staff will ID him/her and enforce the Think 21 programme. However, I apparently failed to do this, and so I have a disciplinary hearing in the coming week. Why they have pinpointed me when I was working with another girl and the policy applies equally to all staff is anyone's guess.
Ben taking pictures of old people on the M1 services.
Apparently this is to demonstrate his inherent fear of being caught in a room full of old men and women without an exit.
Losing my wallet.
Some dickhead robbed me of my wallet in Reform Bar.
Chris pulling Sarah.
Ex-housemates and a lot of history between them. Might not have been such a good idea.
Chris pulling Lucy.
If Sarah was a bad idea, Lucy was catastrophic. She was trashed on gin and had no idea what she was doing!
Sean pulling Anna.
Having spent 90 minutes and virtually the entire Band of Skulls gig talking to Ben's friend Anna, and setting myself up for what I presumed was a decent chance at pulling later on, Sean finished what I had started and ended up playing tonsil hockey with her in Reform.
Mike's renewed alcoholism.
I'm going straight to hell for this one. After learning that Mike (Sean's flatmate) had been cutting down on the wine and beers for quite some time now, I offered him and his new girlfriend a glass of wine at the house party on Saturday night. By the time I'd finished my glass, he was asking for a third.
The Bog of Eternal Stench.
Chris and Sarah threw a house party on Saturday night. They share the ground floor flat in the same building where Ben used to live, and Sean and Mike still do. Except that there's been a severe problem with the drains, to the extent that there's human excrement and washing machine dregs surrounding the area outside the front door!
Fellow Bansteadonian.
It took a 430-mile round trip but I'm astonished and pleased to say that I actually met someone who used to live in Banstead over the course of this excellent, hilarious weekend - Mike's new squeeze, Anna. (Not to be confused with Ben's friend Anna.)
Red wine, the tipple of choice.
Once again, I lead the way in refinement and class as a load of the others end up buying multipack beers and get bloated before the real party's even begun. You can get much more pissed for cheaper on wine, guys!
Locked outside Hazy Dave's at 3:30 in the morning.
Because we'd left Reform at 2:30 and Dave wasn't going to be finished DJing at the main uni until 3:30, we had little choice but to wait outside his house in the freezing cold.
Ben comparing himself to a hairy vagina.
In his own words, hairy on the outside and moist on the inside. There's no real reason to go into greater detail than this.
Sean's victory dance after beating me at pool in the Drydock.
The dance can only be described as Mr Blobby meets Barney the Dinosaur. Words fail me.
Gambling.
My past torment reared its ugly head and resurfaced. An agonising meeting awaits when I return home to Sutton.
Monday, 3 May 2010
gayness
Didn't get the Your Move sales consultancy job. The only positive thing to take away from it is that Ian, the interviewer, promised to keep my application on file for 6 months, but then again they always say that, and it's little more than formally closing an unsuccessful interview. Grrrrr.
Friday, 23 April 2010
progress
The interview went unnervingly well actually, which is good. Now all I have to do is find something to keep me entertained tonight. I did have plans to see Ocean Colour Scene in London with Ben, but the gig has sold out and not even Ebay has tickets. Lame. The rest of them got their tickets at least a week before me, but I didn't even know I had today off until four days ago.
Sunday, 18 April 2010
A job at last!!!
Finally! After 6 months of jobhunting, I've got one!! Woohoo! Shiipiiiit!!! Its a French speaking market research role in Holborn. Pay rate is £8.85/hour. A little downside, I gota be at work for 8am. So I gota be up at 6.30. A little early, but I'll take it.
The funny thing is, I found the job ad in the Metro. So don't just do the online way. Look in the classified section of your local papers. You never know. Your dream job may be there......
The funny thing is, I found the job ad in the Metro. So don't just do the online way. Look in the classified section of your local papers. You never know. Your dream job may be there......
a life less ordinary?
Currently trying to get an interview with Your Move, a local estate agency, in order to opt out of the tedious dead-end job that we all know as Coral. At least there might be more career opportunities there, not to say commission too.
Monday, 5 April 2010
Jobhunting strategy/ Barcelona v Arsenal
Good evening my fellow people. Hope you've all enjoyed a wonderful 4 day Easter weekend. A much needed break from the stress of work, university and school. Me? A nice chill from the rigours of jobhunting. My interview schedule seems to be getting busier by the week. A good sign that my applications are not going unnoticed. Recruitment agencies are tough to get through to, so a tip for all jobseekers like myself. When you do manage to get contacted by one, make sure you keep in touch with them and keep chasing up any leads.
The main websites I use for jobhunting are totaljobs, reed, gumtree and a little bit of jobsite. There are several others, for example monster, fish4jobs and jobsearch. But alas, I don't have time to search on all of these sites, so I choose my favourites. There's no right/wrong site to use. They're all pretty much in the same mould. I recommend using a site that is user-friendly. One that displays sufficient information that you need to know about a job.
Most of the sites contain a list of job sectors, (e.g. if you go to reed or totaljobs). You'll find a broad spectrum to choose from. Accountancy, administration, banking, customer service, engineering, finance, IT, retail, sales......the list goes on. Click on a sector that you feel suits your strengths or background.
For example, in my case, I've had a history of working in telesales, customer service and office roles including data entry and administration work. So I look at similar roles in those areas. It would help if you have some work experience to put on your CV. If you don't have any experience, don't worry. Qualifications can help. e.g.GCSE's/A levels/BTEC/NVQ's. My highest qualifications are A levels, (attended university to no avail).
Once you've found an appropriate sector, you can now search for the jobs in that area. Most sites usually have an advanced job search where you can specify the area (e.g.London), the salary and the job type (e.g. temporary, permanent, contract, part time). This is a very useful tool as it narrows down the jobs to your requirement. Once you've found your job, apply, put in your CV and a covering letter.
Another useful aspect of most jobsites is that you can register with them and display your CV so it can be viewed by prospective employers. Furthermore, you can set up an e-mail service where the site will e-mail you the jobs that are most suited to you.
Enough of jobhunting. Who likes football? I'm an Arsenal fan, eagerly anticipating the crunch game against the European champions and favourites, Barcelona. The latest team news is not good. Bad news: Our 4 most important players are injured. Van Persie (long term), Arshavin, Fabregas and Song. The good news? Barcelona's 1st choice central defence (Pique and Puyol) are both suspended.
The team I would pick is 4-3-3: Almunia; Clichy, Vermaelen, Campbell, Sagna; Denilson, Nasri, Diaby; Rosicky, Eduardo, Bendtner.
The bench will definitely have our supersub Walcott. Possibly accompanied by Fabianksi, Silvestre, Eboue, Eastmond, Merida and Vela.
COME ON THE ARSENAL!!!
The main websites I use for jobhunting are totaljobs, reed, gumtree and a little bit of jobsite. There are several others, for example monster, fish4jobs and jobsearch. But alas, I don't have time to search on all of these sites, so I choose my favourites. There's no right/wrong site to use. They're all pretty much in the same mould. I recommend using a site that is user-friendly. One that displays sufficient information that you need to know about a job.
Most of the sites contain a list of job sectors, (e.g. if you go to reed or totaljobs). You'll find a broad spectrum to choose from. Accountancy, administration, banking, customer service, engineering, finance, IT, retail, sales......the list goes on. Click on a sector that you feel suits your strengths or background.
For example, in my case, I've had a history of working in telesales, customer service and office roles including data entry and administration work. So I look at similar roles in those areas. It would help if you have some work experience to put on your CV. If you don't have any experience, don't worry. Qualifications can help. e.g.GCSE's/A levels/BTEC/NVQ's. My highest qualifications are A levels, (attended university to no avail).
Once you've found an appropriate sector, you can now search for the jobs in that area. Most sites usually have an advanced job search where you can specify the area (e.g.London), the salary and the job type (e.g. temporary, permanent, contract, part time). This is a very useful tool as it narrows down the jobs to your requirement. Once you've found your job, apply, put in your CV and a covering letter.
Another useful aspect of most jobsites is that you can register with them and display your CV so it can be viewed by prospective employers. Furthermore, you can set up an e-mail service where the site will e-mail you the jobs that are most suited to you.
Enough of jobhunting. Who likes football? I'm an Arsenal fan, eagerly anticipating the crunch game against the European champions and favourites, Barcelona. The latest team news is not good. Bad news: Our 4 most important players are injured. Van Persie (long term), Arshavin, Fabregas and Song. The good news? Barcelona's 1st choice central defence (Pique and Puyol) are both suspended.
The team I would pick is 4-3-3: Almunia; Clichy, Vermaelen, Campbell, Sagna; Denilson, Nasri, Diaby; Rosicky, Eduardo, Bendtner.
The bench will definitely have our supersub Walcott. Possibly accompanied by Fabianksi, Silvestre, Eboue, Eastmond, Merida and Vela.
COME ON THE ARSENAL!!!
Friday, 26 March 2010
Badminton, Ramani's birthday, Sal's birthday, good times
So the last week has been pretty eventful. Thursday was as usual for the last few weeks. 'Working it out' course in the morning. Then badminton with the lads (Tony, Jo and Sal) in the evening at Moberley Sports Centre. After badminton we usually go for a cheeky pint to pile on the calories we just lost after a gruelling session.
Saturday was my sister Ramani's 34th birthday. Her chosen venue was 'Kanaloa' near St Paul's, central London. It's a relatively new bar, launched by the same team who created reknowned celebrity VIP hangouts Mahiki, Whiskey Mist and The Punch Bowl. The official website is http://www.kanaloaclub.com/. My opinion of the place? Its a fresh, new look for a bar. The drinks are quite expensive. I bought a Tiger beer for £6 (!!!). A sambuca shot is £8. (!!!??!!?!) The cocktail prices are not bad though. Most of them were in the £8 -£10 range. The night reminded me that I haven't grown tired of clubbing. I love it!
Roll on Monday for another club night, this time it was Sal's 27th birthday at Oceana(Watford). My best mate, Tony, went to Wolverhampton university and Sal happened to be one of his housemates. Thats how I know Sal. The evening started with a poker/drinks session at Tony's. At the time, I was contemplating drinking for the whole night, and not driving. And thats what I did. We picked up Raj, my cousin, and after a few games of PS3 Street Fighter and FIFA, we drove off to Oceana.
If you haven't been to Oceana, go there! Its brilliant!! Formerly known as Destiny's, its essentially a club complex, similar to Evolution in Leeds. It was the 1st time I went there on a Monday night and the 4th overall. Each night I've been there has been a good night. We got free entry into Milan bar, went to the upstairs section and were chatting to some girls, as you do. I was a little tipsy at this point, after downing half a bottle of Glen's vodka mixed with good old Dr Pepper.
It turned out to be another great night. And this time I was a little more confident when dancing with girls. A bit of bump n grind lol. Thanks go to Sal for advising me which girl to go for, and also for driving my car. Sal's cool. Sal's the man! SAL MAN!
The morning after the night before. Today. I woke up, feeling okay. No hangover, as per usual. My water drinkage and chicken munchage went down a treat, lining up my stomach nicely to soak up all the ethanol.
I managed to get to my interview in time. The job? A telesales executive at a fashion makeover studio: Sapphire Studios. Essentially, the main task of the executive is to book appointments for people who want a makeover. I did a similar role at 'Coverlook' near Oxford Circus but that ended in tears as the pay was purely commissioned based and I sucked. However, this job has a basic pay structure.
The interview went pretty smoothly; but I didn't get a call.Its not the end of the world. I don't mind an experience on the dole; obtaining Job Seeker's Allowance. £50 a week for showing that I'm looking for a job. Not bad eh? I've only recently put in an application for it, so the bankroll will be coming in the next few weeks. Anyhoo, that's that for now. Peace.
Saturday was my sister Ramani's 34th birthday. Her chosen venue was 'Kanaloa' near St Paul's, central London. It's a relatively new bar, launched by the same team who created reknowned celebrity VIP hangouts Mahiki, Whiskey Mist and The Punch Bowl. The official website is http://www.kanaloaclub.com/. My opinion of the place? Its a fresh, new look for a bar. The drinks are quite expensive. I bought a Tiger beer for £6 (!!!). A sambuca shot is £8. (!!!??!!?!) The cocktail prices are not bad though. Most of them were in the £8 -£10 range. The night reminded me that I haven't grown tired of clubbing. I love it!
Roll on Monday for another club night, this time it was Sal's 27th birthday at Oceana(Watford). My best mate, Tony, went to Wolverhampton university and Sal happened to be one of his housemates. Thats how I know Sal. The evening started with a poker/drinks session at Tony's. At the time, I was contemplating drinking for the whole night, and not driving. And thats what I did. We picked up Raj, my cousin, and after a few games of PS3 Street Fighter and FIFA, we drove off to Oceana.
If you haven't been to Oceana, go there! Its brilliant!! Formerly known as Destiny's, its essentially a club complex, similar to Evolution in Leeds. It was the 1st time I went there on a Monday night and the 4th overall. Each night I've been there has been a good night. We got free entry into Milan bar, went to the upstairs section and were chatting to some girls, as you do. I was a little tipsy at this point, after downing half a bottle of Glen's vodka mixed with good old Dr Pepper.
It turned out to be another great night. And this time I was a little more confident when dancing with girls. A bit of bump n grind lol. Thanks go to Sal for advising me which girl to go for, and also for driving my car. Sal's cool. Sal's the man! SAL MAN!
The morning after the night before. Today. I woke up, feeling okay. No hangover, as per usual. My water drinkage and chicken munchage went down a treat, lining up my stomach nicely to soak up all the ethanol.
I managed to get to my interview in time. The job? A telesales executive at a fashion makeover studio: Sapphire Studios. Essentially, the main task of the executive is to book appointments for people who want a makeover. I did a similar role at 'Coverlook' near Oxford Circus but that ended in tears as the pay was purely commissioned based and I sucked. However, this job has a basic pay structure.
The interview went pretty smoothly; but I didn't get a call.Its not the end of the world. I don't mind an experience on the dole; obtaining Job Seeker's Allowance. £50 a week for showing that I'm looking for a job. Not bad eh? I've only recently put in an application for it, so the bankroll will be coming in the next few weeks. Anyhoo, that's that for now. Peace.
Thursday, 11 March 2010
Arsenal 5 Porto 0
Come on you gunners!! What a result. A brilliant team performance. Our defence was superb. Campbell played well alongside Vermaelen. Song was efficient as ever in the holding midfield role. Our outstanding players were Nasri, Arshavin and hat trick hero Bendtner. Nasri scored the goal of the game, drifting in from just outside the box, surrounded by 3 Porto defenders, managed to trick his way through and blast a shot just inside the far post. BOOOOOM Shakalaka bampaaclaaat!!
We've shown that we can turn in a match winning performance without our star players Fabregas and Van Persie. Especially Fabregas. He has been the brains of the team, the fulcrum around which our attack revolves. And our top scorer. But with quality players like Nasri, Arshavin and Rosicky, we have a fine attacking force.
Next up is Hull City away. Should be an easy win....
We've shown that we can turn in a match winning performance without our star players Fabregas and Van Persie. Especially Fabregas. He has been the brains of the team, the fulcrum around which our attack revolves. And our top scorer. But with quality players like Nasri, Arshavin and Rosicky, we have a fine attacking force.
Next up is Hull City away. Should be an easy win....
Monday, 1 March 2010
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Hybrid badminton match 8/10: one of the three
Wow, I haven't posted on here for a long time, have I? Mostly due to several loose ends in various sections of my life needing tying up - band, badminton, etc. I've decided to be an uber-nerd today and compile a list of various statistics for the Hybrid team that played this game against Howard, a team from Leatherhead:
L1: Sarah
L2: Helen
M1: Nick
M2: Krish
M3: Chris
M4: Jamie
ORDER:
Nick & Sarah M1 L1 Lost
Krish & Helen M2 L2 Won
Nick & Krish M1 M2 Lost
Nick & Chris M1 M3 Won
Sarah & Chris M3 L1 Lost
Sarah & Helen L1 L2 Won
Helen & Jamie L2 M4 Won
Krish & Jamie M2 M4 Lost
Chris & Jamie M3 M4 Lost
RUBBER STATISTICS:
Sarah W1 L2 T3
Helen W3 L0 T3
Nick W1 L2 T3
Krish W1 L2 T3
Chris W1 L2 T3
Jamie W1 L2 T3
TOTALS W8 L10 T18
CUMULATIVE RUBBER STATISTICS:
Sarah W5 L19 T24 P8
Helen W8 L1 T9 P3
Nick W8 L4 T12 P4
Krish W1 L2 T3 P1
Chris W5 L10 T15 P5
Jamie W1 L8 T9 P3
GAME OUTCOME:
Lost 4-5
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Hybrid badminton match 7/10: slowly, slowly
We put up a good fight against the strongest team in our division - the currently unbeaten Sutton Adults. As we had lost the home leg 0-9, we were itching to exact some kind of retribution, although we knew that the odds were probably against us. Luckily, the team captain Sarah saw fit to field an extremely strong team herself. We were lucky to be able to call on Neil, from our Mens 1 team; Nick, the Mens 2 captain; Anushka, a Mens 2 reserve player; and, last but certainly not least, Helen, a Ladies and Mixed 1 team player.
In Hybrid matches, as with other league matches, there is a sequence of play. The captains are supposed to rank their players in order of strength and ability, with the highest being '1' and the lowest being '4'. Thus M1, or Man 1, would theoretically be the strongest man. Sometimes, there is an issue of gamesmanship, and of 'sacrificing' a weaker man to a stronger opposing pair, but keeping your strongest pairs to try and eke out some rubbers further on in a game. St Andrews is a very fair club in that they normally declare players in strength order and don't play too many mind games. Thus we played Neil as M1, Nick as M2, Anushka as M3, and myself as M4.
My rubbers were with Nick, (lost 14-21, 15-21) Helen (lost 14-21, 15-21) and Anushka. (lost 11-21, 17-21) However, overall I was quite pleased with the way that I played, particularly in the opening game of the rubber with Nick. A few points from the end of this game, I had cleared the shuttle but unfortunately set up a smash for one of their players. The opponent predictably smashed it, and on pure reflex I stuck my racket out and the return actually went over the net - but Sutton Adults being as lightning quick as they are, the other player was ready at the net and waiting for my shallow return, so he tried to kill the point, but only succeeded in burying it in the net. There was a nice round of applause from the rest of my team sitting on the sidelines! Overall we lost this game 4-5. Thankfully, after this performance, Sarah has confirmed me as playing in two of the final games of the season: against Howard (match 8, home) and Ebbisham. (match 10, away)
Back to the training ground, then!
In Hybrid matches, as with other league matches, there is a sequence of play. The captains are supposed to rank their players in order of strength and ability, with the highest being '1' and the lowest being '4'. Thus M1, or Man 1, would theoretically be the strongest man. Sometimes, there is an issue of gamesmanship, and of 'sacrificing' a weaker man to a stronger opposing pair, but keeping your strongest pairs to try and eke out some rubbers further on in a game. St Andrews is a very fair club in that they normally declare players in strength order and don't play too many mind games. Thus we played Neil as M1, Nick as M2, Anushka as M3, and myself as M4.
My rubbers were with Nick, (lost 14-21, 15-21) Helen (lost 14-21, 15-21) and Anushka. (lost 11-21, 17-21) However, overall I was quite pleased with the way that I played, particularly in the opening game of the rubber with Nick. A few points from the end of this game, I had cleared the shuttle but unfortunately set up a smash for one of their players. The opponent predictably smashed it, and on pure reflex I stuck my racket out and the return actually went over the net - but Sutton Adults being as lightning quick as they are, the other player was ready at the net and waiting for my shallow return, so he tried to kill the point, but only succeeded in burying it in the net. There was a nice round of applause from the rest of my team sitting on the sidelines! Overall we lost this game 4-5. Thankfully, after this performance, Sarah has confirmed me as playing in two of the final games of the season: against Howard (match 8, home) and Ebbisham. (match 10, away)
Back to the training ground, then!
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