Deja Vu

Tuesday 31 May 2011

Well, quick update on that potential job I mentioned last week.  Apparently, interviews are being held this Friday.  I work Fridays, and it's difficult for me to get the day off at short notice.

I've asked if I could be seen on Thursday instead, but this all feels horribly familar to the last interview offer I had!

So I shall be phoning up again tomorrow to find out if they can see me another day.  Here's hoping.
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Letting things go

Friday 27 May 2011

I'm having a clear out.  Well, more specifically, I'm continuing a clear out that I started when I began reading The Everyday Minimalist.

I find her blog both interesting and insightful. :)   I'm not an overly tidy person and I'm attempting to break my habit of hoarding things I no longer need or use.

Over the past few months I've recycled so much paper, donated lots of things to charity and I'm gradually improving my living space whilst being more restrained in my spending. (Not that I was ever a big spender, but I give things more consideration before purchasing them now.)

I'm cleaning out one drawer today and I've found my penny whistle (you might know it as a tin whistle) plus the tutorial Cd's and books.  The receipt for the whistle is also here.  I purchased it in November 2004.  I really wanted to learn an instrument and this one held great appeal.  Over 6 years later, have I made any progress in learning it?  Can I play anything with a degree of accuracy and tunefulness??

Nope!

It's been sat on a shelf, then shoved in a drawer only to surface on the odd occasion over the years with me thinking 'I must get back to learning this!'   For all my good intentions, it's never happened.  So this time I've pulled it out of the drawer it's going straight into a bag to go to the nearest charity shop.



There's no point in hoarding a lovely instrument and books when someone else could be getting some use out of them.

Also going is a pair of denim-looking sandals I bought at least a few years ago but have never worn, ("The weather will get better then I can wear them!) , a pink frilly top I bought in a sale about four years ago ("I'll find something to wear with it one day!") and a book on massage ("Maybe I'll train up to be a masseuse!")

All of these I've hung onto for ages; they're simply taking up space and not being used.  Begone with thee!

I always feel better after clearing things out. :)
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Again with the Rules

Thursday 26 May 2011

Continuing on from my last past - I greatly dislike my boss Nora for what boils down to two simple reasons.

The first one, is that she contradicts herself a lot.  When you start a new job, you expect to get a run down of the general rules (smoking area is over there, breaks are at these times, no eating at your desk etc).

Here are just a few of The Rules that Nora impressed upon me as being all but Law at the Shop.

1)  You must not sit down whilst on the shop floor.  You must be standing ready for the customers as they enter the shop.

Funny how Nora often parks her backside on a chair whilst on the shop floor, either perusing the Internet or doing something with the till.  Meanwhile, I have to stay on my feet all day.

2)  You must not have drinks on the shop floor.

Again, strange how a cup of coffee mysteriously migrates onto the shop floor whenever Nora has a drink.  I have to keep my bottle of water in the staff area.

3)  At the end of the day, the till must be set to zero, otherwise the takings from yesterday get added to the next days takings.  This makes cashing up a pain.

Both Nora and Billy are guilty of doing this.  When Nora did it, she looked at the till the next day and proclaimed sternly "The till wasn't set to zero yesterday!"  Well, that was your fault since you cashed up yesterday - so kindly don't use a tone that somehow implies that you are not at fault; just accept you made a mistake.   What annoyed me most was that she swanned off home an hour early, sickly smile on her face, "You'll be alright cashing up won't you, WG??" as she sped out the door.  Gee, thanks, I'll sort out the mess you created then, shall I?

4)  You must greet each customer promptly with a warm smile and engage them in conversation to determine their needs.

OK, nothing wrong with good customer service in those terms. But Nora constantly changes her mind as to what is acceptable - if a customer wants to be left alone to browse, she respects their wishes and leaves them be.  If a customer I speak to wants to be left alone, she'll be questioning me as to what they want, implying that I ought to get back over there and talk to them.  They want to be left alone for goodness sake!  Regardless of whether I approach a customer promptly or leave them be for a few moments while they look around, Nora implies that it's wrong, whilst doing the exact same thing herself.

5)  You must be here a minimum of 15 minutes prior to the Shop opening time.

Anyone who had at least a skim through of my previous post will know that that rule doesn't appear to apply to her own son.  And even on days that Nora and I are to work together, she is never here when I arrive, quite often she doesn't appear until nearly 11am.  As mentioned above, she'll leave when it suits her as well.  I seem to be the only member of staff that consistently arrives 'on time' and stays after the Shop closes to clean and cash up. 


The other thing that makes Nora an unpleasant person to work for is the way she speaks to me.  We all want to be spoken to with a bit of respect.  It's not asking much, is it?   Yet Nora doesn't talk to me in a way that isn't condescending or patronising.   I don't lack for intelligence, but the way I learn best is to make notes and to practice things over and over to commit knowledge to memory.   I bring a notepad to take notes on how to do things but Nora is utterly perplexed as to why I can't remember absolutely everything she tells me - and only ever tells me once.  If I ask a question to clarify something, her expression is one of mild confusion and disdain that again I don't have the brilliant memory she does.

I'm impressed by her memory; she appears to have the entire stock committed to memory along with each individual product code.   However, her expectation that I'm going to memorise everything as easily as she does is unrealistic.  I just don't pick things up that fast.  I'm being made to feel stupid and I hate her for it.

The job itself would be perfectly fine were it not for her attitude.  It is purely because of her that I'm continuing to search for another job with such urgency.

No one deserves to be made to feel inferior or stupid for not learning things 'quickly enough'.  Nor be made to feel that whatever you do is wrong or not good enough.

However, the icing on the cake is this - unless it's directed at a customer who has made a purchase, Nora does make use of the words 'thank you'.

I have an appointment tomorrow with an agency that may have something available in an office for me.  Keep your fingers crossed for me because I want to get out of this place!
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One rule for one ...

Tuesday 24 May 2011

Ever find yourself thinking that your boss or someone above you in the work place pecking order is taking advantage?   Perhaps they're taking advantage of their position, bending the rules, or simply leaving you to clear up their messes?

I'm finding that this kind of crap is a regular occurrence at the Shop.

I should know from previous experience that working in a place where there are family members is usually a no-no.  Nora is of course in charge, and she employs her son, Billy, for a few days a week.

Now, I like Billy. He's a nice enough young lad - however, I don't appreciate that whenever he and I are to work together I always get to work on time (minimum of 15 minutes before the Shop opens, usually I'm there earlier to dodge the traffic) whilst he turns up at around 10am or later.  (Always smelling of cigarettes, so I suspect he's taking his time over a fag before he arrives as well.)  Just what time does he get here on days when he is working on his own?  Does he mysteriously get here earlier to open up on time, or is it OK with Nora if the Shop opens late?  And if he can get here on time, why doesn't he do that all the time?

Then at the end of the day, he always asks if it's OK for him to go early to catch a train home - otherwise he'll have to wait maybe 20 minutes for the next one.

Part of me wants to tell him 'tough' - 20 minutes is not that long, and I don't like being left to clean and cash up while you make a run for it!   I'd like to leave on time too you know!   He certainly won't be allowed to do that in most other jobs - you stay until the end of the working day, not nip off early all the time.

Besides, if he were to stay and help me clean up, then cash up properly, then we could both leave at a reasonable time - he walks to the train station and will be there in good time for the next train instead of hanging around.

Instead, I'm left trying to do everything in a rush because hey, I'd like to go home too!

Is it selfish of me to want him to stay behind?   He arrives late and leaves early.  And the past two days that he has worked alone, I've come in the next day to find that the cashing up has not been properly and I have to re-do it before I can do anything else.

Does Nora say anything about it?  Does she support me when I inform her that Billy isn't cashing up correctly?   Of course not. 

There's definitely a case of nepotism going on here - she allowed him to close the Shop over half an hour early one day because of a music gig he was attending that evening.  And yet she won't allow me to leave on a Friday evening even a few minutes after closing when I have a class to teach back in my home town - I'll admit it's not a big deal, I can still get there in good time most days but why is Billy given such leeway and I'm not?

To be frank though, Billy is not that bad in the grand scheme of things.

Nora, however, is much worse ...
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All the Pretty Things

Monday 23 May 2011

For those of you who are wondering - this is the sort of thing I sell at the Shop.


I sell jewellery.  Not at a large well-known jewellers, it's more of an independant shop.  I previously worked at a well known company selling the same kind of thing, but I left partly because there was little opportunity to progress in the company and primarily because of the endless targets we had to meet.

I remember as I left that job thinking to myself - "I'm never working in a shop again!"

Alas, needs must.  I need an income whilst I continue my search for a full time job, so I'm back to putting up with rude and uppity customers, and a boss who keeps on about targets as if the recession never happened!

It's not ideal but I have to keep telling myself it won't be forever.
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Disappointing

I think it's safe to say that any hope of getting an interview arranged has long since gone.

Despite phoning and emailing to try and arrange a date, I have either been brushed off with 'I'll find out and call you back' or else simply getting no reply to my email.

I find that extremely rude and frustrating.   Obviously, the interviews will have taken place by now so there's no point in continuing trying to get an answer.  It's such a shame the timing coincided with my covering Nora's sick leave but that couldn't be helped.

What annoys me most is no one got back to me to say, sorry we can't do any other days, if you can't make this date then unfortunately there's nothing we can do.  Would it seriously have taken more than a few minutes to call / email me back to say so?   You invite me to interview, then ignore me.  I can understand (to some extent) not replying to every single person who applied - but what about the people you've shortlisted??   I doubt you shortlist more than a handful, so is it honestly such a hassle for you to get back in touch with me?

Perhaps I should be glad not to be working for them after all, if they're that rude.
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Last Minute

Friday 20 May 2011

It's 5pm.  I'm just tidying up a bit before I go and lock the door.  Just as I grab the keys, a man walks in.

"When do you close?"

I'll assume he didn't notice the large clear signage that gives our opening and closing times which is right by the door.

"We're actually closed now; we close at 5." I politely inform him.

"Am I keeping you?  Do you not want customers?" he basically glares at me.

Erm, what?  You ask if we're closed, and we are.  Of course you'll be keeping me if you want to look around and buy something now.  And as far as wanting customers goes - yes, we want customers, but I'd rather they don't waltz in just after we close.

Let's face it:

1)  We've been open for 8 hours.  Could you not have come by just a little earlier instead of beyond the last minute?

2) I've been on my feet pretty much all day.  I maybe got to sit down for 10 minutes over the course of the day.   I ate my lunch on the go and only about half of it because I've been so busy.   Pardon me if I'm not that impressed with someone holding me up when I'm tired and want to go home on time.

He then wants some assistance in purchasing a gift for a young woman that he knows very little about - no idea what sort of thing she might like, no idea of favoured colours nor style.  Not the faintest idea.  Yet he looks at me as if I'm going to immediately present him with the perfect thing.

After running through the general questions to determine sod all about what he wants, I suggest he have a look around to see if anything jumps out at him.  He sort of grunts and does just that whilst I try to finish clearing up and getting ready to cash up. (Which I obviously can't do until he leaves.)

Thankfully he doesn't take too long, picking something fairly plain but stylish - put it through the till, boxed it up, wrapped it up nicely and handed it over with a smile.

There's barely a grunt of thanks and he stalks out.

Charming.

Is it wrong to tell a customer to leave because you're closed?  Is it rude for the public to insist on being served when a shop is closed?   From a business point of view I can understand staying open for them, but surely from a common sense point of view shouldn't customers make sure they come to the shop in plenty of time?
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The Little Things #4

Tuesday 17 May 2011

When your order arrives earlier than you expected.

My manga boxset of Death Note arrived a lot eariler than I expected - I love Amazon!  :D

But I've been in before!

Monday 16 May 2011

Why do customers think that every sales person they meet is going to remember everything about them?

I had a man come in today who seemed rather put out that I didn't remember him ... said he'd come in 'a few weeks ago'.  Sorry, I've had a few hundred other customers come through the door, all looking at different things - why the hell do you think I'm going to remember one man who had a quick look around then left without buying anything?

It just starts getting stupid when they start telling you things like 'I was wearing a t-shirt' or 'It was a Thursday!'   Yeah, so what!?  I still don't remember you!  Tell me what the smeg it is that you want and I'll find it for you, but I'm not a flipping mind-reader so no, I can not recall 'that thing I was looking at before, it was right here!' - I need more of a hint than that.

I don't have a brilliant memory at the best of times, but the idea that all shop staff (or anyone else for that matter) are going to remember you weeks down the line when you were only a passing face on a busy day - get over it, we're not going to remember you!!
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Disconcerting

Friday 13 May 2011

Well, I have no idea what's going on with this interview.

When I got the call, I was invited to an interview for today (Friday) but I explained that I was working that day - I'm covering Nora's sick leave, there's no one else to cover so there is no way for me to take the day off - so I ask whether next Thursday would be at all convenient for them, since that is the soonest I'll be able to take a day off work to attend.

The girl who phoned explained she wasn't able to say yes or no as she'd only been asked to phone the candidates (I fully understand that, no problem) and she promised to find out and give me a call back tomorrow.

Tomorrow as in yesterday, Thursday.

No phone call.   Since the original call came quite late in the day I reasoned they may not call back until late in the day again.  But no.

So I attempted to phone them back this morning to find out what was happening.  The phone rings and rings, then cuts out.  No one is answering and there's no answerphone to leave a message.

Please bear in mind that I'm at work whilst making this phone call so I shouldn't even be doing that, and I certainly can't keep trying to call them with customers coming into the Shop.

So I take a chance and send an email instead, explaining the situation again and that I had been expecting a phone call blah blah blah, could someone please give me a call back as soon as is convenient for them so we can arrange the interview.

I've still had no response.

Which has left me rather disconcerted that I've missed out on an interview purely for being unable to attend on the date they first suggested.  I was offered next Tuesday too, but again, I'm covering for Nora.

If there were any reasonable way I could get out of work to attend, I would do it.  However, there is only Nora, myself and her son who does the odd Thursday or Saturday (he's attending college so he can't just pop in on any day).

Whilst I may be premature in this gripe, I do feel that if you're going to invite someone to an interview then you obviously think they're good enough for the job, so why not get back to them and work together to arrange an interview date to suit both?   It's unfortunate that they should want to see me this week, but I can't help it if Nora is off.

Are employers now so fickle that if you can't attend the first date they offer then that's it, you've missed out?  Not everyone who applies for a job is out of work and can attend whenever, some of us still have work commitments to honour!

I'm going to be very cross if no one gets back to me and I don't get an interview.  Especially since this is one of the good jobs I applied to recently - good location, good wage and everything.  :(
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Oooo!

Wednesday 11 May 2011

I'm quite excited!  I've just had a call to invite me to an interview!

But I'm having to wait and see if they can schedule an interview for next Thursday.  I can't do this Friday as I'm covering the Shop on my own.

Fingers crossed!!

People assume it's easy

I've nattered on in a few posts about Job No.2 in the Shop, so I thought I'd cover a little of Job No.1

In case you missed the earlier post, my first job is that of a leaflet distributor.  I deliver leaflets for a supermarket to around 700 houses in my area, once per week.  Doesn't sound difficult does it?  A nice easy job.

You'd be forgiven for thinking that.

When I first signed up, I too assumed it wouldn't be hard.  Then comes my first consignment of leaflets.  They are not small, they are about A3-sized, several pages worth and folded over.  It's more of a thin booklet than a 'leaflet' which may conjure the image of a single piece of paper.   One on it's own, is not heavy.  But you try lifting several hundred of them.

For my first delivery, I was provided with a shoulder bag.  Allow me to point out the following;
  • A single shoulder bag is not big enough to carry 700 large leaflets
  • I can not lift 700 leaflets even if I could fit them into one bag
  • Shoulder bags put pressure on one shoulder with all the weight hanging on your other side. That is extremely sore and uncomfortable.
Similar to what I had and just as brightly coloured!
Thus I split my delivery into three.  I was given a map and I plotted my route as efficiently as possible.  I then loaded up my bag with the first set and off I went.

It takes about 10 minutes to reach the delivery route.  A 10 minute walk feels a lot longer when you're lugging something heavy.   At least it gets gradually lighter as you go round, but the pain in your shoulder is already there, plus your back will very quickly start complaining of your lopsidedness.

So I empty the bag, turn around, and trek back home.  I have a short break, get something to eat, load up the bag with the second set of leaflets, and off I go again.

Obviously, I now have further to go to reach the houses I didn't reach last time.  It takes longer to get there, my shoulder is burning and I'm cursing the dead weight.   I also start cursing people who have letterboxes right at the base of their door.  I all but have to get on my knees to reach those and when you're hoisting an extremely heavy bag with you, you've got to think which is worse - trying to hold it steady whilst you crouch down, or put it down only to have to hoist it back onto your shoulder again in a few moments time.  Let me tell you, neither is very good on an already aching shoulder and sore back.

So, I complete the second round and trudge home.  I'm exhausted so opt to do the remaining leaflets the next day.  There's a residual ache in my back and shoulder in the morning, but I head out once more, again hiking further than before, lugging just as many leaflets.

Overall, it takes me a day and a half to complete the delivery.  What am I paid for this work?

£20.  

Yep, just £20 for a hell of a lot of walking and lugging heavy stuff that causes me pain.

If anyone cares to do the maths, you'll realise that that doesn't even cover the minimum wage for the amount of time it took.  It makes no difference how long it takes me, I get a flat rate for the number of leaflets, that's it.

After that, I requested a trolley.  There wasn't one available so I had to wait nearly two weeks before I got it.

But what a difference it made when I got it!   No need to make three separate trips, I could pile all 700 leaflets into the trolley and wheel them around town.   Not to say it wasn't heavy or that it still didn't cause some pain in my arm / shoulder to pull them around, but compared to that shoulder bag, it was bliss!
I had a larger bag secured to it that could take all the leaflets
Now, things were improving.  From a day and a half, I got my delivery time down to three hours.  That alone makes the money worth the time.

Gradually, over the past few months, I've been able to refine my route to the point where I'm able to complete it in just under 2 and a half hours.  Technically, that means I'm earning about £8 per hour.   Having the trolley also means I can bring along bottles of water to drink, or a hat or jacket if it gets cold or wet.   If I've got the energy, I can jog some of the way, saving more time.

It's not a glamorous job.  You certainly need to be of a certain level of fitness to keep up a good pace to make the money worth your while.  But at the end of day, it is money.  It helps to pay for my parking for my second job so that everything I earn in that job goes straight into my pocket.   Delivering means I can get outside and exercise - I'm not stuck indoors going stir-crazy.

There are various aspects to this job that I will cover in posts to come, but maybe this will provide you with a little insight into the fact that leaflet delivery is perhaps not as simple nor as easy as many people might think.

Shop Music

Tuesday 10 May 2011

How do you feel about shops that play music?

The Shop plays music, as approved by Nora.  Her opinion is that by having the Shop door open and the music playing, people will be more likely to come in, drawn by the music.  I can see how that can work - no arguments that good music will get people's attention and might get them to at least stick their head through the door.

The music that gets played is a mixture of things - there's the Beatles, a bit of Bowie, some Jacob Marley, folk music, a few Spanish numbers.  For the most part, it's fine.  Rather repetitive having to listen to same play list every day, but it's not too bad.

With the exception of Joanna Newsom.

If you've never heard of her, count yourself lucky.  I would have been perfectly happy to go through life without ever hearing her sing.  In fact, I'd give almost anything to erase the audio memories I have of her childish, nasally wailing.  She's an indie folk singer, but I swear when I first heard her singing, I was left with the mental image of an elderly lady with the voice of a nasally young boy whose voice was no where near breaking, as the notes wobble up and down.

Reading her Wikipedia entry, there's a mention that The Wire described her voice as 'untrainable'.  I could not agree more.  In addition, she knows her voice has been described as 'childlike' so it's obviously not just me that gets that impression.

[Incidentally, this relates to her debut album - apparently her manner of singing has changed (improved?) on her latest one - but that doesn't change my opinion that her first one is appalling.]

My apologies to any of her fans who may be reading this, but she is not my cup of tea at all!  I'm sure you all have singers you can't bear to listen to - Newsom just happens to be mine.  And I have to suffer every day that Nora is working with me, otherwise I press skip when the opening notes play.

Even the Beatles are wearing a little thin - you can have too much of a good thing, right?  The play list is so limited that on days that Nora isn't working, I bring in a few of my own Cd's to break the monotony.  However, in keeping with the atmosphere of the Shop, I only bring in classical music, Enya or something New Age.   I have a rather eclectic taste in music.  It's a pity I couldn't get away with playing something like Rammstein, Hayseed Dixie or Emilie Autumn - work would be much more fun!  The only downside would be my compulsion to sing along ...

Hmm, I wonder if something darker or more lively would encourage more people to come in?

What sort of music would draw you into a shop?

What day is it!?

Monday 9 May 2011

I'm starting to dislike working odd days.  I don't have a set pattern as such. Normally I would be doing 2 or 3 days per week, but the past few weeks and the next two have some seriously random days set for me.

It's already got to the point whereby I'm waking up in the morning with no clue whatsoever as to which day it is and whether I ought to scrambling out of bed or if I can lie back and relax.  That's no fun.

So it feels like each week is passing rather strangely for me.  I'm so used to a five-day working week and a weekend that I can't handle the randomness of my new routine.  If routine is even the word!

Having an odd day here and an odd day there, it doesn't make me feel like I get a proper rest inbetween.  I'm easily losing track of what I've done the day before and how long it's been since I've spoken to people or done somthing.

My poor little brain can't cope!  I need a stable routine of Mon-Fri again - I miss it something terrible.

The Little Things #3

Saturday 7 May 2011

Soaking your sore feet after spending the entire day on them at work.

Sheer heaven to be able to sit down and take the weight off your throbbing feet.  Soak them in warm water then a little massage with some sweet-smelling lotion. Bliss!

Placated

Friday 6 May 2011

Well, a little less to grumble about - I've applied to another three jobs this evening. :)

Two are in an ideal location, hours and wages not bad either.  The other one is a bit further away (maybe a 45 minute drive?  Although who knows with early morning traffic!) but I'm sure I could manage it.

Would be nice to at least to get an interview.

Grumble

Nothing like an unappreciative boss and a cruddy day at work to get you in the mood for job hunting!

Filters

Wednesday 4 May 2011

Job advert websites are an absolute boon.  People are no longer limited to scouring a local newspaper where there are a limited number of jobs listed. (I do still check my local paper, but I'm lucky if there's one or two jobs I could even apply for!) There are now so many different websites, some devoted to a certain field of expertise, allowing you access to thousands of adverts. 

Even in spite of the recession, there are plenty of jobs available (although I'll admit still not enough for everyone yet!) so these sites are generally very helpful in giving you the options of filtering out the jobs you're not interested in.  Location, full time or part time, permanent or temporary, area of work - you can really narrow them down if you want to.

Well, that's assuming the filters work.

Take Directgov for example.  I found Job No.2 on this site so I'm a regular visitor here.  It's a pretty good site, easy to navigate, good filter options.  However, I'm not 100% convinced that they are working the way they should.

As per my needs, I set the hours and perm/temp filters to '30 +' and 'permenant'.  I specifically desire this exact combination for good reasons.  So why am I currently viewing an advert for a temporary receptionist?  The hours are 37 per week, but the job is no use to me if the duration is 'unknown' as stated within the advert.   Another advert, this time for an admin assistant; permanent (excellent) but it's only 16 hours per week (not so excellent - I need more not less!).

Neither of these jobs are what I need.  You'd think the filters would pick out the jobs that match both criteria, rather than one or the other.  If I wasn't fussed about either I would have selected 'any hours' and 'both' for the perm/temp option!

It's an annoyance to be sure.  We shouldn't have to double-check the descriptions each time.

Still, I guess it's not as bad as a local job site that when you ask to see jobs in my home town, it'll ignore you and show you stuff from just about anywhere in the country.  Or the Job Centre terminals, they're just as handy!  Select the area you want to search for jobs - nope, have a gander at these jobs from the other end of the country instead!

It's not exactly conducive to getting people back into work if we can't find the advertisements we want is it?

A New Look

How do you like the new look?  :)

I went looking for a new template last night and could easily have been seduced by endless fabulous designs.  I was very taken with several anime/manga themes, flowers and all kinds.  But I did have to be firm with myself - it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to use a hip hop/dance theme when my blog is more about my working life, no matter how fantastic the design!

At first, I thought an office desk look would be more appropriate but to be frank they all seemed a bit dull.  This one caught my eye as it's a nice shade of blue (not a million miles from what I picked in the first place).  It was either this or a purple one but I've got a better feeling about this one.

I hope it brightens up the place somewhat.

The Little Things #2

Tuesday 3 May 2011

That Unexpected Bargain

For the Shop job, I have to be very smart and presentable.  There isn't a uniform as such but obviously jeans and trainers don't make the cut.  I was slightly lacking in suitable tops when I accepted the job, so I embarked on some clothes shopping to try and find a few smart shirts to wear.

Given that my funds are limited, I don't want to spend a fortune (so I don't even look at Next!) and head for a cheaper shop.  My luck is in.  I find a nice dark green shirt that would suit my job.  Priced at £7.99 I feel I've found a good one.

However, when the shirt goes through the till, there's something of a difference in price.

It's £2!

Unexpected but enormously appreciated, I leave with money in my wallet and a big smile on my face. :D

Anyone else ever found an unexpected bargain?
 

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