Sunday 29 July 2012

I Did It! I Finally Did It!

Sorry, must apologise in advance, this is not really a Medical-type post.

But... I finally did it! 

Yes, that's right, I rang the police about the atrocious excuse of a human being that lives next door to me and his terrible penchant for drink driving.

I have reported him via Crimestoppers online before, but nothing ever came of that.

He came back at around one this morning. He was literally so drunk that he stalled at the top of his drive. He took a good few seconds to realise why he wasn't going anywhere and then re-started the engine of his increasingly battered pick-up truck. After this, he proceeded to scrape all of the bushes on the side of his drive, before his trademark-drink-drive-move of forgetting to apply the handbrake. Cue lots of rolling down the drive and him displaying his panic-stricken face as he frantically tried to stop himself from crashing into his stationary trailer and garage door. 

That was the final straw for me. I grabbed my phone and after a few deep breaths (I don't know why, but I always get really nervous about phone calls, even to people I know really well...) I dialled the non-emergency number. I got through to a lady and politely asked if I was able to report someone for drink-driving. She said yes, and asked me lots of questions about that numpty from next door. 

Now I knew that there was no chance of him being caught tonight, after all, he was already home. But the lady assured me that they'd got his details and she was sending them to all police stations and officers in the local area so they can keep an eye out for him. She also advised me to ring them again next time he goes out drinking, to help them catch him in the act. 

It won't be long before he's at it again. The last time he did it was at 5am yesterday when he was also evidently 'utterly gazeboed'. 

I really hope they catch him. He's a menace. I know if they do catch him and prosecute him for drink driving, he'll be at risk of losing his licence and therefore his business as a gardener. I feel a little guilty about that, but at the end of the day, I'm not the one breaking the law and putting other road users' lives at risk by being an idiot.

I don't understand why he does it, in all honesty. He never used to. He always got taxis to and from pubs, clubs and women's houses. Recently though, he's just decided he'll chance it. That he'll never get caught I suppose, because at that time in the morning, all of the police officers have their hands full with anti-social behaviour on the streets. He needs to be taught a lesson, that's for sure, and I'll go above and beyond to ensure that he gets it.

Oh, and when he got in, he was talking really loudly, not sure if he was on his phone, but I genuinely had to peer through his front door at about 2am, because he was making groaning noises. (Don't laugh!) I thought he'd drunkenly injured himself, so I went round there with a torch and tried to see if he was on the floor. All I could see was darkness, but he's been quiet ever since. 

Call me what you want, but I couldn't bear it if he ended up killing an innocent person because of this and I'd had this information and never acted upon it. I'd feel guilty. Probably more-so than an irresponsible ignoramus like him.

Sometimes I think life would be a lot easier if people knew their limits.
And obeyed the law.

Tuesday 17 July 2012

Another Day, Another Job Rejection...

Depressing news! Today I received an email to say I won't be a Family Support Worker. I won't be a Junior Doctor Co-Ordinator either. Or a Healthcare Assistant. Or an Auxiliary Nurse. Or a Medical Receptionist. Or a Radiography Assistant. Or a Medical Staffing Administrator. Or a Dental Nurse. I could go on... There are far more.


I've only been formally rejected from three jobs so far though! I just have to assume that the other 20-odd have rejected me because they've ignored me completely. A bit cruel...


Today I've applied for yet another Healthcare Assistant job. I'm getting to the point where I'm beginning to struggle to feel enthusiastic about any jobs. It's hard to fill out application forms when you know from the start that you won't even get an interview. Why won't someone give me a chance?! Am I really that bad?
I don't smell. I do wash. I'm nice to everyone. I've got a 2:1 degree!


The main problem that I seem to have is a big lack of 'experience'.
To employers, voluntary work isn't important enough to count as experience.


The only actual paid work experience I have is as a Sales Assistant. I'm only going back to working in a supermarket if I really have to. That's my contingency plan for when I get incredibly desperate for money.


In other news, I started my new voluntary work post today. Everyone looked after me and they seemed nice. So that's good. It was tiring though. I must have walked miles and miles around the hospital delivering patient notes and patients themselves! The definite low point was when I kind of lost control of a wheelchair and nearly let a patient go into the road! (Don't worry, it's a side road on the hospital site, and there were no cars around, thankfully!) I'm only little, so wheelchairs with people in them, downhill slopes and my pitiful strength don't go well together... But they didn't get run over, so it's fine. Then I failed miserably at working the special outdoor lift. Two members of staff embarrassingly had to come out and help me.
I've got a degree and yet I struggle to work lifts...
In my defence, I only had three hours sleep last night, so I'm not really 'with it'. Still, I don't think I managed to kill anyone, so that's a bonus...


I'm such a glutton for punishment that I'm going back tomorrow... I enjoy it really!
Different ward though. Different role. Different staff. Different patients. Different speciality. Pretty much everything about it's different. But, it's more experience isn't it? Not that employers will care...
I'm only going in for an hour in the morning so it shouldn't be too bad. I got told by my boss that if the staff on the ward aren't nice and don't look after me then I'm to walk straight out!


We'll see how it goes...


Oh, and in other news, my best friend and I have decided to write a book. Quite exciting really. It's not medical or anything. It's a story. In fact it's one I wrote at Uni and dug out. She liked it, so she's going to illustrate it and then we're going to try and get it published. Ha! The chance'd be a fine thing!! 


Although I've got no plans to abandon my Med school dream and be a famous author!


Until next time!
xx

Monday 16 July 2012

I Made a Bobo...

Silly me! I thought I had an appointment at the Job Centre Plus today, where I would get to tell one of the advisors to 'stick it up their bum', as it were.


However, I don't have to go until next Monday! In fact I'm not sure I'll bother at all, as previously mentioned.


Here are a simple list of reasons why I'm not bothering with them anymore:

  1. They didn't realise I had a degree even though they looked at my CV (twice!!),
  2. They said that I would have to give up my Voluntary work if I got a full-time job,
  3. They wanted to send me on a course (although they didn't specify what it was or why it'd be good for me),
  4. They're sending me to a group meeting on Thursday about CVs and Apprenticeships,
  5. The Job Centre Plus feels like the most depressing place on the Earth,
  6. The advisors talk right down to you (although admittedly, some are nice too),
  7. The computer machine things are really awkward to use,
  8. I've witnessed fellow Jobseekers losing their rag through frustration and I'm quite scared of accidentally getting in the way of a fist sandwich,
  9. They're not giving me any money (which I'd probably feel cheeky for taking anyway), so they can't threaten me with 'non-payment' if I don't go,
  10. Call me a snob, but the jobs that they wanted to send me to are menial, underpaid and too far away. (They expected me to drive up to 90mins away from home to work in a shop or as a receptionist...)
  11. They treat you like you're milking the system even if you show to them that you're eager to work,
  12. I tried to show them my amazing list of job applications on both appointments and they completely and utterly dismissed it.
I've gone through my list of Job Applications and it looks like I've been rejected for every single one. I've been looking frequently for jobs today, and there really aren't any that I can apply for... 

Still, I start a new voluntary work placement at the hospital on a different ward tomorrow. An acute one this time, so a completely different pace and feel. I'm quite excited! I might not get paid for it, but I'm sure I enjoy my voluntary work more than I would a menial paid job!

Just watch it all fall apart tomorrow, and I'll come crawling back moaning about how much I hate it...

Oh, and on the 'Barry Scott' front:
He went out at half 8 this morning. To do a day's work! Unusual. I wish I'd been really loud all night and kept him awake, just so he'd know exactly what it was like trying to function the next day ridiculously sleep deprived. Except I didn't. 

Until next time!
xx

My Weekend...

What a weekend I've had!

For starters, I received a letter from DWP to say that my application for Jobseeker's Allowance has been turned down. My first reaction? "Good!" I am actually relieved and genuinely over the moon that they've rejected me, because now I don't have to go to the depressing Job Centre Plus again in a hurry... (Except for later today, and perhaps Thursday too...)

I've got to go tomorrow to 'Sign on'. Sign on to what?! Apparently if I keep on attending the soul destroying and morally degrading interviews that I've already been subjected to twice, I might get some National Insurance Contributions. I don't think I'll bother somehow...
I'd rather spend that time doing something constructive, like actually looking and applying for jobs.

I'm not good enough for the dole though. That's a depressing thought...

And to top that off, I've not had all that much sleep at the hands of my lovely horrid neighbour 'Barry Scott'. He had a lovely dirty, foul-mouthed 'woman' come over on Friday evening. Just before midnight, he decided to put his TV on full volume, start shouting and drinking heavily and then the pair of them decided to 'get jiggy with it' repeatedly throughout the night...

After getting quite angry I went round but ended up bottling out before I knocked on his door (because I'm only little and he's a proper, grown up, drunken man and his 'lady' friend was wearing pretty hefty high heels).

This continued all night long, and at 5am I mustered the courage to go round there and well, let's just say they weren't downstairs, but their clothes were. Needless to say, I thought I deserved to get a little revenge on them both. I rang his landline at 6am, thinking "haha, that'll wake them up and then they'll know exactly what it's like..." My plan failed... My plan did work... In a way. I did manage to wake them up. Except they just started having sex loudly again. So in a sense, the joke's on me really.

He took her out on Saturday afternoon. We thought she was going home. She wasn't. They came back. Then they got ready with loud music that made me very angry again. I've found that sleep deprivation only exacerbates anger... Then they went out on Saturday evening before coming back at quarter past one. He drunk drove (as he frequently does. Because he's an IDIOT). He was even so drunk that he couldn't get the key in the door (as he frequently fails to do in his drunken state).
Cue lots of conversation from his drunken 'lady' friend. She said and I quote, except I'll censor the profanities because I'm a little more lady-like:

"Did you see that F**king Motherf**king C**t? He tried to 'go' for me. I'll have him next time."

To which the lovely Barry replied:

"Yeah, I'll go for him n-n-n-next time I-I-I-I see him..."

And then they proceeded to talk loudly and have lots of noisy sex throughout the night again.

I couldn't sleep, so I shut myself in the kitchen with the radio on and had a little night-time-baking-party and baked a cake.

To top it all off, on Sunday morning, they kept the window wide open and managed to pee his other neighbour off by having sex while she and her young son were playing in their garden. (She held a bit of a torch for him as well, so if she wasn't mad about little ears hearing such awful noises - like a warthog humping a squeaky bin - she was mad because she was having her nose rubbed in it.) My advice? He's not worth it love. You can do a LOT better.

I think most women can do better than 'Two Night Stand Barry, the Whore from Next Door'.

Oh, and I got two job rejections! Not really the best of weekends.

The Diary of a Job Seeker - Part One

Hello! Again, long time no blog! Let me tell you all about my jobseeking adventures:

Last week, I signed up for Jobseekers' Allowance (Yes, I know I don't think I can get it, still I applied anyway...)

This Monday I had a meeting to go over things. Then on Tuesday an advisor called me asking me to come in.

So on Thursday, I went for a meeting with one of the 18-24 advisors. She seemed nice, but it's quite clear very early on that all they're concerned about is getting you off your bum and into a not very nice job. So far, my 10 steps (10 weekly proactive measures to attempt to find a job) are aimed at finding me a job in Retail, Administration/Reception work or in Care.
I've even applied to be a Junior Doctor Co-Ordinator... That would be quite cool I'll admit. ;)

So far, I've applied for 25 jobs... Now on my 26th application. All to no avail... I've not received ANYTHING. Not an interview. Not a rejection letter. Not even a rejection email.

I've got a 2:1, so why does nobody want me?!

I've got to 'Sign on' for the first time on Monday. It's all very new to me, but I think that's where they check I've been looking for jobs and basically authenticate a payment. Well, I've done that already, so there's no problem there.

I'm also being sent to a group meeting on how to do CVs (even though the lady said I had a "great CV" twice!!) She also said before I left: "Do you have any qualifications?"

YES! A DEGREE! IT'S ON THE CV THAT YOU'VE LOOKED AT TWICE!!

If I could throw myself straight into GAMSAT stuff, I would. But I can't live without money... It's near on impossible. And my savings are there to go towards Med School living costs.

Oh the joys of being a jobseeker...