On the Horns of a Dilemma

What is the plural of dilemma? Dillemmae? Dillemmi, Dilemmas? If there isn't anyone around try saying them out loud, none sound right. However whatever the plural is I have two borne from what is good news.

Today I had a second interview for a part time job in Hucclecote and they offered me the job. I have accepted. It seems a good way to get off the rock 'n' roll and leave behind the fortnightly adventure of the dole office whilst still giving me enough time to train to be a driving instructor. Everyone's a winner so far you might think.

So to dilemma number 1. You will recall that some weeks ago I was accepted for the temporary Christmas cover job with Royal Mail. Not being the union type, I was fully prepared to take this on; now, however, I have another job so the question is can I handle both for a period of four weeks? Doing the sums, a twenty hour week is four hours per day, add that to a ten hour night shift for Royal Mail and that's a fourteen hour day. Five days a week for four weeks. Reasonable money but will it be too much work? Remember, I served my apprenticeship as a civil servant so was used to a fourteen hour week if we were busy; I'm sure you have heard the joke - Why doesn't a civil servant look out of the window in the morning? - Because then they would have nothing to do in the afternoon.

Dilemma 2, and far more important. If you have been following my blog for some time, I think we can consider ourselves friends and what are friends for if not to share burdens of this importance? If you read the title of my blog and the first entry, you will know that it was born to share my experiences as a doley with anyone who might want to read it. So what to do now? I'm quite hooked on blogging and quite attached to this blog. I would be far too sad to abandon it now. It would be like losing a limb. Well, not quite like losing a limb, that's obviously much more severe but you get the drift. So, please feel free to comment, I'm thinking of re-titling to cover new job, training as a driving instructor or just about anything that comes to mind.

On Tuesday next week I shall be making my emotional visit to Jobcentre Plus for my last sign on and to sign off. Tears, I'm sure, will be shed.

Interview update

I know you have all been waiting with bated breath to hear how the interviews from my previous blog went. So the results have now been received on the teleprinter (Dickie Davies, Grandstand for those who remember the football results clicking through Saturday tea time) and it is 1-1.

First chronologically, Royal Mail. Not so much an interview this, I passed the on line tests some days before, they wanted to meet the candidates simply to make sure that we were real, willing, able and legally allowed to work in the country. Not being Albanian and having a full compliment of limbs, I was accepted. I have put my name down for night shift, reckon that should fit in nicely with other stuff that's going on now. It's only a month through December but at least that's a month of not having to go into the dole office, sorry, Jobcentre Plus; I may miss the soap opera that plays out on a fortnightly basis but that's the price you pay.

Second interview was for the NHS, or rather 2gether trust in Occupational therapy and, dear reader, you will remember that I didn't (and don't) know what the job was really for. In fact, I didn't even know it was for 2gether not NHS. Rather enjoyed the interview even so, kind of degenerated into a chat amongst three people that could have been friends for years. The killer question though was "What can you bring to the job". Tricky that one when you don't really know what the job is. Despite that, and despite (no surprise) not being offered the job, the interview feedback was good, so quite encouraging. The irony of it all is that the rejection call came whilst I was whiling my day away waiting for Anthony to have his hand put in plaster following a rugby related injury.

It is a bit of a dilemma though, plan still is to be a driving instructor so a permanent job wouldn't fit in too well, on the other hand, the pay would be good, I could save some of the redundancy that way. Possibly the best result would be a bit of a part time contract. Trouble is I might have to be a bit clever to do that.

And so to the weekend. The near annual Caravan show at the Three Counties show ground. I say we went to the caravan show, that does over egg the pudding somewhat. It's actually a good way of getting a couple of nights cheap pitch for the caravan right at the end of the season and taking the kids to let off some steam in Malvern. Vic and Anthony also joined me on a bimble over British Camp which, if you've never seen it, is a stunning Iron age hill fort to the south of the Malvern ridge.

This year, we have bought a new second hand camera from CEX, which, obviously, is pronounced the sex shop. It's a Nikon, not quite a compact and not quite a DSLR and has become my new toy. I am seeing far too much of life through a lens so I shall bore you rigid with a couple of my pictures from the weekend. I shall now turn into a photographic bore and wobble on about F stops, shutter speeds and ISO numbers. Except that would mean nothing to me either. Heck, I might even go out and buy a tripod.

And, the pride, the very pinnacle of my photographic and post editing software abilities, a panorama of the Malvern ridge.

I shall be taking commissions for these new found, genius, photographic skills.