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.
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