I post Victorious!

The phone call I've been waiting all week for has come.
I will have to drag my sorry butt out of bed before 8:30am on Wednesday, June 6th, because I GET TO WORK!
Whoo! Hoo!
Actually, the timing has worked out alright because Dad arrives today for a last-minute visit. He's in England for a week, and we might go together up to Glasgow, depending on what we're all up for. He's on his way out to The Farm as we speak, so I must go. A phone call from the Council, and then 5 minutes later Dad. It's been a good day.
XOXOXOXO for everyone!

9 hours to travel 368.54 kilometers.....Each way.

Well, the letter from HR still has not come as of today, so I'm still home. Mike is at work, which means that I have loads of time to do Blog postings. This is good for everyone, right? Hahaha.

On an Edmonton news note, I saw a picture online of the sinkhole that is now Lessard Road. I knew potholes were getting excessive before we left, but jeez... On an English news note, the Physicians Association or whatever it's called here said last week that they're considering tentatively recommending that pregnant women abstain 100% from the consumption of alcohol during pregnancy. They haven't made the formal recommendation yet, but they're considering it. And yes, there are Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder associations and organizations here. But doctors still have not decided on best practice recommendations on how to avoid it...

So, train and ferry travel sounds exciting, doesn't it? I get kind of caught up in the quasi-romance and unfamiliarity of it all. You would think that my opinion would have changed after my most recent journey, but it hasn't. My mind is still tricking me into thinking that train travel is somehow exotic. Whatever--clearly I'm going crazy from lack of intellectual stimulation during the week.

To clarify, though, ferries are still undeniably cool. It only took 99 minutes to cross the Irish Sea, which is wicked fast. The Stena Ferry, which I took, is a high speed ferry and very cool. There are various eateries and amusements on board, including a small casino which is blearily pictured below. The one crap thing about my cool cell phone camera is that it doesn't have a flash function. Well, maybe it does, but the manual is so freakin' complicated that I can't figure it out.

I was in Dublin from Saturday to Monday--it was a long weekend in England. I had spent an entire 4 days, home alone all day with nothing really to do. I felt like I might lose my mind a little if I didn't do SOMETHING, so I went to Dublin to see Erika and Lester and Erika's mom, Phyllis, who was visiting from Edmonton. Now, I shall tell the story of my journey in pictures. With some of them, you will get a larger picture if you click on them. Their layout is kind of confused because Blogger is smarter than me. Guh.

cllyrddlly ("Hello" in Welsh)...

...Okay, it doesn't mean 'hello' in Welsh. I made it up, but I'm willing to bet that 'cllyrddly' means SOMETHING in Welsh. Basically, this was just a shameless segueway into the fact that I went to Cardiff today. Meredith is visiting Erika and Lester and Claire in Ireland this weekend (I opted out as we're going back in a couple of weeks), so I decided to take a little trip today. Cardiff is the capital of Wales, and it's only about 1 1/2 hours from Hereford by train. Very cool city. I took some pictures of the castle on my phone, but I don't think I can upload them onto here...stay tuned. It's funny how you see certain things in certain places and wonder 'why them?' Case in point, I mostly walked all over the downtown core of Cardiff today and what did I see everywhere? Burger King! (in Welsh, it's 'bwyrgyr cyyngll'....no it isn't). Now, no worries because I happen to love Burger King and most definitely had a Whopper meal for lunch, but I saw like 5 of them in a 10 block radius. Strange. I also saw the Millennium Stadium in town. It's a huge soccer/rugby stadium where they have big league finals every year. It's a pretty cool piece of architecture, and absolutely massive, but unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it. My phone died when I was at the castle. Here's the wiki link to it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Stadium


So, some good and bad things happened this week. The bad first; my Aunty Alice passed away on Wednesday. She was 93. I'm still kind of numb about it to be honest. While of course I realize that she has lived a really long and eventful life, it's still hard to believe she is gone forever. I'm going to miss her a lot. But, as is the case with everyone in my family, I have a lot of wonderful memories to remember her by, so I suppose she will live on that way.

As for good news, I finally found a job. Well, it's a temp job but it's a start. I got set up with a recruitment firm in town which sets up temporary assignments in your field. So, I'm doing data entry for a gardening centre. I know, you're thinking "data entry? You mean, you just sit at a computer and punch numbers into a database all day?" I know you're all thinking that's all I'm doing there, but the truth is......well, it actually is all I'm doing there. Whatever, it's something to do for the time being, and it's a few bucks in our pockets until Meredith starts (they STILL haven't sent her letter from human resources...I swear, these people make Telus look speedy and efficient). I have a couple of phone interviews from a couple of English schools tomorrow. So, if I get on there, it'll take care of my summer work. Beyond that, we'll see.

Weather today is cold, windy, and rainy. Nothing to write home about, so I won't.

So, I should make some dinner. Meredith is back tomorrow evening and I'm looking forward to seeing her. Anyway, that's all for now. Talk to y'all soon.

Little Edmonton

So, while hanging out in Bristol with Erika, Lester, and Claire, I just had to laugh. It was Little Edmonton!

Claire ended up visiting us in an impromptu way because she had some flight problems. Air Canada [NEVER fly with them, people] overbooked the flight she had, so when she went to check in in Edmonton, she was turned away because the earlier passengers got dibs on seats. SO, she arrived in England 24 hours later than anticipated, missed her connecting flight to Dublin and subsequent flight to Scotland, and couldn't actually get to Dublin in the first place for 4 days.

Which made me happy, actually. Selfish, I know, but it meant that Claire was here for a visit. And that was fun.






So, off to Heathrow airport to pick her up on Friday morning. I had to leave super early (7:35, which for the Unemployed! is like dawn or something) to catch the cheap train to Reading to transfer to Heathrow airport. I took a picture of the airport approach. That's the HUGE radio tower that controls all the flights in and out of the airport. My cell phone camera really doesn't do it justice.

Upon our return to Hereford at like 7pm, we were reminded of just how incredibly tiny our apartment is. Also, that we didn't really have any spare blankets or anything. Which was really kinda ridiculous...So Claire had to sleep on camping mats in the corner using a duvet cover as a sheet and a travel blanket as a quilt. Hahahaha! It was funny because we left the radiators on the first night she was here, so I was comfortably toasty warm on the other side of the room, but Claire was sleeping beside it... Let's just say, it wasn't pretty, and I'm not allowed to control the temperature gauge anymore....


During Claire's stay in sleepy Hereford, we did some stuff. Uh huh, you heard it, stuff. We went to the Kenchester Water Gardens, which is just up the road. They have groomed water and plant gardens, as well as loads of various fish and other aquatic mammals in tanks. It's a nice little place with a cafe and a free walk through the gardens. I also took some pictures there. The tank full of snails was kind of gross, actually, and the fish is this mean thing from the Amazon that tries to bite through the glass. It's all snaggle-toothed and aggressive, and kind of reminds me of Gunther. *sigh* We're both really missing the cats. The turtles were really cool, with some old huge ones [with crap lighting of course], and there was even a tank of Seahorses but those were hiding.

On Saturday we took the bus up Dinmore Hill and went to Queenswood Country Park, which is just a few miles outside of Hereford and a 10 minute bus ride from home. We walked among trees and flowers and such for a couple hours, and it was a really nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Here's Mike and Claire and the view from the viewpoint and the Redwood Grove. It's a beautiful park, and was full of people. The scooters can't make it up the 2 mile hill that the park sits on, but if they could, we would be there all the time. Sadly 50ccs is no match for that grade.

On Sunday we went to Bristol to go and meet up with Erika and Lester for some dinner, as they were in a faraway part of England this weekend for a music festival. Saw the main Cathedral there, and Erika *almost* got creamed by a bus. Like, inches from her face. It was kinda frightening, actually. But, we had fish and chips and a beer down by the harbor and it was a really nice way to spend a Monday. Upon return to Hereford, we went in search of a grocery store, only to discover the streets ghostly quiet--the only thing open was Tesco, which was a hike away from the train station and of course is the expensive store. Guh. It was like 8pm! There are some days when I really wish we were living in a bigger city.

This morning, Claire headed off to catch the 9:50 train to Reading/Heathrow to board her plane to Dublin, which made me kind of sad. It was really nice to see her, really, really nice to have someone else to talk to, and we didn't get a chance to take her to see the sheep.

On the work front, things are slowly moving forward. Mike has been applying all around for jobs. My situation is slowly getting sorted as well. My initial application to the General Social Care Council (GSCC) which is my professional registration body here in England was rejected. They cited many reasons, and an appeal has been sent in. We shall see what happens there, as there were some pieces of information that I failed to include in my initial Registration application, so hopefully this will all be resolved with a supervised 80-day training period and subsequent registration. I should know in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, the Herefordshire Council has offered me a 6-month temporary contract as a Domiciliary Care Assistant / Reviewing Officer. In the event that my registration doesn't go through, I still have secure work until the 16th of November, and at that point can either reinterview for the position or find another job. So, that's some security at least. I'm just waiting for a letter from Human Resources confirming the appointment and giving me a start date and salary. HOPEFULLY that will come this week. Lots of Kudos to the Herefordshire Council here--they really went all the way for me, found me a place within their organization, and worked to get it sorted out as fast as possible. If they weren't such wonderful people, I would have been really in trouble.

Speaking of trouble, Julian Ellis of Raven Social Work turned out to be a bundle of it. He was supposed to meet us at the airport and didn't show. I had been repeatedly assured that I would be starting the Monday after our arrival, and that clearly hasn't happened. He was supposed to work with the Council to confirm my references and get letters sorted out, and didn't do that. He was supposed to help us secure housing, and did not do that. Upon our arrival to Hereford, he dodged my calls and e-mails for a week. He was supposed to show up for a meeting with the Herefordshire Council and myself, and didn't show or call or e-mail or anything. I have been reluctantly working with him again on this appeal letter, but he doesn't do what he says he will do and he makes up really, really convenient excuses to reason away why he is acting in such an unprofessional manner. In short, this has been a significant learning experience about the total and complete lack of regulation of this industry in England. And about trusting other people to do work on my behalf that is of critical importance.

I still haven't decided what to do about this situation. The outcome of my appeal to the GSCC will determine my decision, to a large extent. If I am unable to register as a Social Worker in England, we are out the $5,000 in moving expenses we have spent already and that I was repeatedly assured would be covered. I'm also trying to get to a place of calm detachment about this, and I am so far away from that right now it's not even funny. I'm still trying to resolve in my head how he could do this! And I'm so very, very angry at him. For now, I will wait for my letter confirming my start date and for information from the GSCC regarding my appeal. When both of those have occurred and come to resolution, I will make some decisions about my next course of action.

On a happier note [the reason I don't write a lot about my work situation is because I find it upsetting to even think about], we have made some Summertime travel plans.

From June 8th to the 10th, we will be in Dublin visiting Erika and Lester. We were going to go this weekend, as it's a Bank Holiday and we wanted to see Claire, but since she came to us we don't feel the need to take the 7-hour train and ferry trek. The cheapo traveler in me is kind of disappointed to not be able to take advantage of The Deal. It's 48.50gbp each including taxes and stuff to go from Hereford to Dublin using the Sail and Rail deal. Another time.

From June 29th to July 1st, we will be in Barcelona. For your amusement, we only booked the trip to Barcelona because that's the only place the discount air carrier Ryanair flies to from Bristol, which is the closest international airport. And, also, for some reason I thought it was in Italy. Hahahaha. My geography TOTALLY sucks.

And then Daniel has a confirmed trip to come and visit--he arrives on the 14th of September and departs on the 22nd. With him, we have plans to hit both Rome and Paris, although Paris is a bit up in the air. We'll see what he wants to do a little closer to the date.

Well, that's my update on the week that was. Thanks to everyone for the e-mails and texts and phone calls of support. It's nice to hear from everyone, and it makes all the difference in the world to feel that there are people looking out for us. If/when I get my letter, I will post Victorious!

I hope everyone else is happy and healthy. And I would like point out that Mike is the only one getting comments on his posts. You should hear my tears--they're making big, loud splats.

Want some sour grapes with that?

Okay, so I didn't get that job at Hereford Library. They called me on Monday afternoon and gave me the news. Apparently my answers 'didn't provide enough examples', so they went with another person. Fair enough, it wasn't my greatest interview but here's the kicker: the person they hired had NO library experience and NO training. I'm not really sure why they told me that, but hey thanks for making me feel even worse. Anyway, after a few hours of self indulgent wallowing I thought about it with a clearer head and it occurred to me that I didn't have a chance at getting that job anyway. I certainly don't think I'm the greatest manbrarian in the world, but I am strongly suspecting that they had this other person in mind before I even walked in the building. Meredith said it was probably someone's nephew or friend who they picked. Anyway, forget them.

But, onward. I have applied for lots of different jobs in the past couple of days. There were some ESL jobs in this general region that I've applied for. Also, Central Trains is sending me a package in the post. Also, I applied for some office work at a council office in town, and I sent my resume to a couple of recruiters who may be able to find me some temp work in the meantime. In a way, this has been a good reminder that there are lots of jobs that I'd like to do, and I need to not just focus on libraries. In fact, I think the ESL tutoring jobs look pretty sweet: Big money, flexible hours, and it's a chance to help out the Polish immigrants in the community (who frankly are treated by the locals as a combination of pigeons and that crud on the side of a ketchup bottle).

Meredith should be getting her start date in a day or so, which will make us both feel more at ease. We have determined that we can live on one income if need be. One advantage to living on the farm is that our expenses are not that big. So, I don't necessarily have to live and die by my job searches. Having said that, I am definitely itching to do something.

Well, today is another day. I just need to keep at it. Meredith was bang on when she said it would be difficult for me to get something quickly.

So, that's all for now. Next up will be....you heard it here first....an ode to Quorn!

The most ridiculous part is that it's just gas and oil!

OK, so I know I'm in a foreign country and there are some social rules and conventions that are different--I also know that I just need to suck it up. One thing, though, that totally baffles me about this country that's completely hooked on its own efficiency is how they manage to JUST NOT DO THINGS! And I don't mean like insipid or stupid things that don't matter in the long run. I mean important, critical things that I've asked for clarification about. Guh.

So, tonight we went out to this nice little Thai restaurant in town on Widemarsh street, which is just outside of downtown Hereford. Excellent restaurant, great food, and a lovely way to spend our [belated] wedding anniversary. On the way home, we decided to stop in at the gas station to get some candy to go with our Star Trek Voyager Season 3, that we're about to start watching. While at the gas station, Mike insists on checking the oil in his scooter because he thinks it's low. I insist that 'No, the people at the motorcycle centre promised us time and time again that it's topped up and good.' Now, I should know better because when we bought the scooters, we were also told they were full of gas so that we'd get a week before having to refill. We had to refill on our own to get home, because we would have run out of gas on the highway!

So, sure enough Mike's scooter is actually OUT of oil, and mine has just a little bit left in it. So, we've only had the things for just over a freakin' week, and I KNOW that since we're not trailed by huge plumes of black smoke that there's no way they go through a litre of oil in 5 trips to town. So, yet again we realize that in fact, the scooters were not topped up with gas or oil. To make it just that much better, when I asked the attendant for an oil funnel, she looked at me like I was a crazy, crazy person. So, nothing like a little key-cut empty Orange Drink bottle to make the oil go in the hole...!?!?!?

AAAARGH! Why would they say it had been done if it wasn't?!?!?! This is just one example of many situations we've both encountered in the last couple of weeks where, for whatever reason, the absolute opposite of what we've been told has been the case. It makes me nuts.

I am indeed the crazy, crazy person at the gas station.

Ahh, rain. How utterly predictable.

Hiya!
Well, firstly, it's been raining here. Lots. Every day. And last night Mike really wanted some stuff for dinner, so I rode the scooter into town in the rain. It was very cold and wet, but I made it.
Speaking of scooters....Here they are. Old school no? And yes, they do make it up hills, if just barely. Yay! Also, we have big 'L is for Learner' plates on the back of our bikes because of the whole other side of the road thing. And yes, I have accidentally ended up driving on the right side of the road. Last night, actually. When I was coming back from Tesco, I kinda spaced and my mind was elsewhere, as sometimes happens when driving. And, well, I went to the right side of the road, which was across 2 lanes of what would be oncoming traffic if anyone else was driving in them. Thank goodness it was after 6, when the town clears out. The person behind me kindly honked to remind me that I'm a bloody Colonial, and that was that. So, no death. Almost, but not quite.



On another note, some interesting things have been happening in the town square recently. One of these interesting things included 'Red Indians' doing a tribal dance. Oh, yes. Grass skirts and regalia and all. And the best part about this was their BRITISH ACCENTS! I've taken some pics, but they're not great. There was no way I was going to get past that crowd to the front of the line...


So, when the square isn't full if 'Red Indians' it seems that a Fair (we would call it a Carnival and be OK with all those creepy connotations...) has come to town. It lasted a few days and all the locals did was complain about what it did to traffic. And, to be fair, it does seem that the rides were sadly underused. Mind you, it was raining.

This is right downtown, to compare with where the Red Indians were:









Oh, and also, we walked over to Morton - on - Lugg the other night, to see what we could see. No beer, sadly, but there were SHEEP!

And the highlight of last week was, of course, when Erika and Lester came for a visit. It was loads of fun, and just what was needed considering the sorry state of our affairs over the last few weeks.


Mike has an interview to attend on Monday, and I'm going alone to the city of Gloucester to attempt to get a National Insurance Number. I was hoping to start work this coming week, but of course paperwork is still holding up the process. Guh. So, looks like I probably won't be starting until the week of the 21st, which is almost exactly a month since we've arrived. Wow.

We're still working to sort out the GSCC registration mishmash as well. My appeal of their 'not suitable' ruling is due postmarked no later than the 30th of May, which is only a couple weeks away. But, I'm feeling allover better about life, which is all that really matters. On the 21st we're supposed to be going down to Bristol to have dinner with Erika and Lester, as they're going to be in Minehead (a few hours away) for a music festival. And, also, Claire will be making her way to Dublin on the 19th, so we will likely hook up with her if just for a day some time soon.

Worse comes to worse, Facebook is a good way to spend WAAAAYYY too much time online. It's like every day is a High School Reunion!

On that warm and fuzzy not, I bid you adieu. Also, I would like to add, that I love it when people post comments....hint, hint.