Holidays with kids......

I just filled in a job application form yesterday for an online tutoring agency, got interviewed nd had the references taken up. Hopefully will get a few hours a week tutoring online. £20 an hour - not brilliant but it's work and money so can't sniff at it. If I can get 15 hours a week that will put me on working tax credits which might help. Nothing from agencies but not really expecting anything as schools are off.

Have the kids full time at the moment for three weeks. Been on a long walk round Hest Bank which we all enjoyed including the three dogs, especially the lunch at the cafe afterwards.

Tara And me in Lancaster

Adam, thinking about eating pigeons?

The dogs at Hest Bank.

Wandered round Lancaster and did some shopping at ASDA / Walmart; such attractive - not! - people there. Mind you they probably think the same of us. I remember the first time we went to ASDA was when we lived in Croydon - late 80s - and my sister came to visit. They used to do a £1 breakfast available all day. We were totally amazed and talking about it in the cafeteria, saying it was a good deal for people when they needed somewhere to go to if they didn't have a job etc....... Think we embarrassed a couple of guys near us; they gave us dirty looks as they left!  Chilled at home a lot - too lazy / too broke to do much. Kids getting up t 1 pm doesn't actually help with going out. Got a lot of gardening done. The weeds have been decimated. We can see the beds..... lol.

Watched Chelsea play Hull at the pub - and tried hard not to fall asleep after 30 minutes. It was sooooo boring. God, I hope Mourinho does not bring his old style back, much as I like having him back. Not sure it's a particularly good idea him coming back a second time. Coming back does not seem to be a positive move for many managers. Keep wondering how long before Uncle Roman gets pissed off and fires him. Sorry, I obviously meant - before they part company through mutual agreement...... Kids had fun at the pub, just messing around with their phones and taking silly pictures. Talking about football to a Liverpool supporter.

Celebrated Hari's birthday at Pizza Hut with Robert. Kids had a mad time Talked a lot. Made rude jokes...... Adam tried to act mature. "Can we please stop telling Uranus jokes..../" Spoiled it  bit a few minutes later by asking Robert when he came back from the toilet> "Did you have fun with Uranus....?!"

Started packing for Leeds. Wish I hadn't left it till the last minute. Think I left half the gear at M's place. Oh well..... Just have to cope. Hope it doesn't rain. We are gonna try to cook one meal and eat out for one meal. Have an alcohol stove. Loads of snacky things and easy cook stuff. Not looking forward to the loos or the showers. Was almost tempted to get a ready set tent with hot showers and security etc but they charge £320..... :(

Would like to go somewhere after we get back... See what I can afford. Camping in Garstang?

Jill's getting old. Seemed very infirm the other day, perked up yesterday and was bouncing around. Still, she is very shaky, almost blind and a deaf. Can't be long..... :( Not looking forward to it. We have had her for 16 years almost. Hari, then 4, named her after his baby sitter and Tara was nearly one when she came. Kids want a replacement but .......

Update on Jobs and Agencies

Haverigg Job

I eventually got some feedback which said I was an excellent teacher but not a course manager. Oh well. Carry on going. I would like to ask them if they were so good at managing, how come the security gate did not have a badge ready for me, why did I get left standing for 20 minutes - the next candidate was waiting in the office, with a coffee - and why did they not know what I was supposed to have prepared.

Agencies

No change in my opinion of Reed, Capita and . Keystage turned out to be useless too. I left them my phone number twice. No ring back.

I have a date set for my Tribunal with Randstad. My opinion has got worse, if anything. I read their submission to the tribunal judge. It's full of inaccuracies and their defence is that it was someone inexperienced who contacted me. How is that  a defence? Apart from the fact that I heard him asking his colleagues what he should do, he passed me on to his manager and the Compliance Officer. They were pretty useless. 

Proofreading

Got one or two bits of proofreading work from a friend. Have contacted some people but no joy. Still it's a start. The A4E people gave me some useful advice. I will try to work on that and see what happens. Basically see if I can go through student services, keep advertising, send leaflets out through a school uniform supplier, have an information stand at open days in schools and unis. Could do with some funding though..... which, surprisingly, hasn't been forthcoming.

Not much to apply for...... Been told to dumb down my CV - again! Lmao.

Stuff stuff

Tara had a good time at the Prom. Lots of happy pix on her FB.

Tara - all dressed to kill!

Life's difficult at the moment. Lots of things need sorting.

I need a new job but there isn't much going now, especially in teaching. I suppose one good thing that happened was that I got an interview at Haverigg even tho I didn't get a job. They were so disorganised. They didn't seem to know what I should have brought with me. Left me at the gate for 20 minutes before fetching me. Not even a drink of water. As for feedback, I am still waiting.

The JobCentre have put me with this company called A4E who are supposed to help me get the skills required to get back to work. The woman looked at my CV and basically said there's not much I can do to help you and I don't know why you haven't got  job yet. Still, she offered to make an appointment for me with the enterprise manager who might get me funding for my proofreading website.

Think I will need to move out soon. Running out of money. Not sure there is anything much cheaper for a 3 bedroom house. Bit depressing.

The BBQ was great. Beautiful day. Everybody who came along had fun and ate lots. So relaxed. R said it was the most relaxed BBQ she had ever been to. C helped get the BBQ going and then Hari took over. Robert arrived an hour or two later and the two of them sat there nattering and cooking with their drinks and lots of food. Most of the food was cooked already and just needed a bit on the BBQ for the charred look - and taste! People brought along salads and I had lots of soft drinks. Two of Tara's friends turned up on bikes and another was brought by her mum. They just chilled on the blankets...... Adam had a couple of friends too. They played football, swingball and boules (!). They did disappear into the house to play computer games for a while (quelle surprise, as they say....) but mostly ran around having fun. Just a very pleasant afternoon.

Me......

Tara and friends......

Boys doing man stuff....

oh well, why not?

Time for a natter......

My neighbour, R and Farmer J

Landlord wrote asking to visit, but I said I was busy and suggested another couple of dates. However he turned up anyway and looked around the outside. Then he wrote a stinking letter through the letting agents, saying I had denied access and there was rubbish everywhere. Not sure how he made out that I denied access and the rubbish was recycling and all bagged up to be taken away so..... I was a little annoyed. Considering that they ignore my comments and suggestions about what needs to be done and the lack of action when things need to be done, I think he has a nerve.

Kids came to see me before setting of for three weeks with their mother. Adam was ill Wednesday night and Thursday - gastroenteritis the doctor said - but feeling happier today. They both looked as miserable as I felt. Hopefully we can keep in touch via phone and maybe they will have some internet access.

Hari and I will be looking after the dogs over the next 3 weeks. Get the garden tidy and maybe get rid of stuff to tip or charity. Make it easier to move. Hmm, August or September?

Looking forward to Leeds Music Festival but the dates clash a bit with Tara's results, though she may come with friends. Should try some sightseeing too. Any ideas?

Jobs - Part 2

I started at St Martin's / UoC in September 1995 and for the first few years, it was ok. I had my own course and my own students, so I could ignore the other science lecturers except Anne, who was always on my side anyway. There was one person in particular who made trouble - a lot. Like I would do everything by the book - book rooms, organise my timetable as well as I could etc. I would turn up at the room I was teaching in and he would have taken it over with his students. He could not be bothered to book rooms or check whether the room had been allocated = or so he said. I am not allowed to discuss what went on at UoC for 5 years. Anyway, just a couple of incidents which might give you an insight.

Some of you may remember there was a high profile case of football players attacking Asian students and causing serious injury to one of them. The cowards hit him after tripping him from behind and knocking him unconscious. This was a racist attack, not just a fight. Both footballers lied to the extent of their involvement and were basically cleared. This was a really disgusting miscarriage of justice. The student who was attacked basically became a recluse. Anyway, these two footballers were up and coming international players. Most people I spoke to were actually shocked by the attack and that the footballers had faced so little punishment.  I was sitting in our common room eating lunch and my "friend" was pontificating on how unfair it was that these footballers were not being allowed to play for England, they had been cleared, etc....... I couldn't believe this crap. I wonder if he even remembered the name of the Asian student who was attacked or what happened to him.

Those of you who believe Lee Bowyer is an innocent victim, read this conversation. There is a video (I assume it was from a security camera) showing him destroying a McDonald's Restaurant after he was served by a Bengali.  There is a comment that racists don't just attack people. I beg to differ. I wasn't even aware I was being attacked till I was knocked down by skinhead thugs. I was also attacked with a knife while I was walking down the street. Maybe I just provoked those attacks........

The second incident really is more of a series of incidents involving my room. It had a leak. Everytime it rained hard it leaked. I had 5 (?) major floods. the first one caused serious damage to my books. The second and third, I had all my books awauy from the area. The fourth one caused extensive damage as I had been assured after the third that there would be no more leaks. The Dean came into my room and said he would give me a £100 towards the books. What a laugh! The books cost hundreds  and the papers that were there - that was a lot of work, done over months. How about all that work? Anyway, they tried repaing it a fourth time. By that point, I was severely stressed. Work, my "friend", whiny students and the flooding...... So I complained - and was promptly put under disciplinary measures for not being able to cope! Anne had left by this point and the person who replaced her had her own difficulties. Anyway, I got through that, no thanks to my effing Union. I was trying to get the manager to give me another room because I knew they wouldn't sort it. I said to him "Please move me to another room. You can sort this one out when I have moved. You have spare rooms." his response was, "We are allocating those rooms. We cannot put anyone in your room till it's sorted."!!!!! I wrote back "So it's ok for me but nobody else?" I wanted to write "Everybody else is too white, are they?" Anyway, within a few weeks, there was a major storm and I ended up with an inch of water in my room. So I dragged the Dean in, in front of witnesses, and said "Do something now!" I got moved that week. They did work on my old room after I moved. It hadn't leaked 3 years later. I don't believe this was an organisation just being inefficient. Once or twice is ok but FIVE times? And that comment by the manager just says it all.

Jobs - Part One

I am finding it difficult to get a job. I don't know what's going on. I can make a good guess though>

I always seem to have had problems getting a job.No problems with studying really, all seemed to go smoothly. There were one or two things I wasn't sure about. Like one of the teachers at my first secondary school did not want me to do German because he thought I would have difficulty pronouncing German. Not quite sure what he based that on. There was another couple of minor incidents. I was at the top of my form in the school in London and transferred to Hastings and was put in the second set. Within a few weeks it was fairly obvious that I was in the wrong set; even the other kids knew it. Another boy who arrived after me, with a similar background, went straight into the top set. I am not sure why the difference. (He did worse than me at O Levels, in case you are wondering). Also, the high achieving pupils were always pushed to do Oxbridge. Again, I wasn't. Not that I necessarily wanted it, but......... Imperial was the best at Chemistry at the time, pretty close run thing with Cambridge then.

I applied probably for 12 - 15 jobs after my Ph D. No interviews except one. The only ones who did an aptitude test after the application - BT. They even offered me a job - as a stock controller! Lol. I wasn't interested. Might be a millionaire by now, if I had taken it.

When I was applying for jobs as a teacher, most of my friends got jobs after the 3 or 4 applications. Even a friend with a Ph. D got one after 6. I applied for 20+ jobs. I am not that bad at interviews or writing application forms. When I wanted to move on, I applied to 60+ jobs. I had 15 - 20 interviews. No job offers in school. A few were ok, because there was a better candidate. Some of the excuses were ridiculous. what do you say when someone says "You are too quiet" when you have been as chatty and extrovert as the other candidates. "Do you mean I am too Asian? Why the fuck did you invite me for an interview?" I did take one school to tribunal. They were forced to apologise and had to give an undertaking to change their system. One of the pupils in the school wrote something racist and had to apologise. At the end of the day, the school said I was the best candidate but they wanted to talk to my Head, who then said something non-committal. They didn't give me the job but said they were going to re-organise an interview and ask me to attend again. They didn't and said they had not given any such undertaking. I went to the Head's house and meet her with the Head of Science for feedback, a fortnight after the initial interview, when they said they would call me back so..........

I got the job at St Martin's  but Anne Riggs was the HoD. The other candidates were not good, a couple had a blow out. One of them was wanted by the PGCE Course Leader but didn't perform on the day and Anne was in my corner. :) I think I should smile, even after all that happened. I loved working with the students and the schools. Most of the staff were ok - I think! Especially the support staff.

Update on my life......

I thought I would do an update about life so far since my last bog about family related stuff.

Melissa and I are officially divorced. She married Charles, who was a family friend. He had had a stroke a few months earlier. He died a few weeks later, leaving her a house and money. His daughter Lauren set up a memorial thing for him. http://www.justgiving.com/remember/28179/Charles-Brocki ... if you feel like giving.

Hari is in his second year at Aberystwyth University, enjoying life - a bit too much, if his results are anything to go by... Seems to be heading for a lower second at best.

Tara has had a tough time but she is improving and coping better now. She is just about to finish her GCSEs, which should be a mixture from A* - C, nothing spectacular. That's fine. A levels next. She's off to Germany for a week or ten days, staying with friends. She seems to have a facility with languages. Wonder who she gets that from then?

Adam has had a good first year at QES. Got into a few scrapes but basically seems to have settled in well and is enjoying it. He played for Craven Wanderers' U-12 football team.

I haven't got a job yet. I have applied for 12 or 15 teaching jobs, 5 or 6 teaching agencies ( see post about them) but no luck. Nothing for proofreading or tutoring either. No response even for minor things. I am too old and well qualified.

I am doing voluntary work at the Looking Well. Thinking about doing stuff at the Library.

Might have some marking to do - MA assignments. Also, doing some work with my sister.

The JobCentre / Benefits people are giving me a hard time, claiming I have savings. Lol. Then in the next breath, they say I may have used them up for expenses. When I tried to reason, they told me, in varying tones and volumes (like that would make a difference) "We must be vigilant". I was accused of delaying sending in financial stuff, which I had already sent in twice and been visited by a Compliance Officer to check it out, cos I was hiding something... The Housing Benefit people don't want to hear I have more than one child I need to house. "You only get child benefit for one..."

Anyway, I need a job soon.

Met a really nice woman but she lives in the US... I like doing things the easy way obviously.

Sometimes I feel really angry about everything. Then I kind of think I love my kids and I should be grateful for that. I am still in a better place than a lot of other people.  It will get better. I will get a job soon. :)