Quick Update

OK so what's new? Not much. No new job yet, but I've joined a recruitment agent which seems like a pretty good move. So far they have gotten me one interview and given me advice about my CV. My Publishing Diploma finishes in one week and I have two assignments to get through, so that is my number one priority this week. I should probably stop watching movies and reading books so much. Then with the course over, it will pretty much be time to go down south for a visit, then Christmas. Can't wait to get a Christmas tree and make lots of yummy food. Being rather poor right now isn't really ideal but most people agree that there won't be much chance of finding a job earlier than January now. However, tomorrow I'm going to make enquiries about some of the school holiday programmes, perhaps I can manage to get myself hired by the zoo or wildlife sanctuary for a couple of weeks.

So that's pretty much it from me for the last few weeks. Except Cher has begun having a bit of an incontinence issue the last week or so. It's just happened a few times, when she's sleeping, I think it's when she gets too warm because she likes to sleep under blankets, on top of me. So yes, that means she peed on me. Twice. And on her blankets and in the car. I've had a lot of washing to do this last week. There is more to do too, we were going for a drive yesterday, doing some early Christmas shopping, and when I was done I gave Cher a treat for having to wait in the car while I was busy. It was a treat that is supposed to be for cleaning their teeth so it's very hard an chewy, only they were small dog treats, not big dog ones. Since it was small enough for her to not bother chewing I think she swallowed it whole. Next thing I know, I'm driving along, stop at the traffic lights, look over my shoulder to check on her in the back seat and see a pile of puke sitting there beside her. I don't think I'll give her the rest of those treats. My car was overdue for cleaning anyway, as soon as I finish my assignments that should be my first task.

Still in limbo...

Not to mention halfway up the financial shit-creek. After a very intense week of interviewing and psychometric testing, I did not get the job from the other week. But it was not all bad news; it wasn't that I did not qualify for the position, it was that they decided to take on another senior staff member at the expense of one of the entry-level positions. So that was my job opportunity gone. However, they might recruit again early next year so I will stay in touch of the recruitment agent.

Luckily, I have another job interview this week. This time it is for a part time position as an editorial assistant with Te Papa Press, which is the publishing arm of the museum and creates really beautiful books. The interview is on Tuesday, so I should do some homework and find some tidy clothes. This could be a very good job to have for the summer (it's only a three month contract) so I hope that the interview goes well and that I finally get a job. I would really like to take a break from being a host at Te Papa for a few months too. I might not be able to, but it would be nice.

Of course, if everything else doesn't work out perhaps I will become a Tupperware selling wonder. I have my first few parties lined up and at the least I will earn my kit. But perhaps I can make it earn me some money too, maybe even enough to pay for more than just the necessities. New shoes and clothes would be nice.

At least not having go that full time job just yet means that I should have plenty of free time to enjoy the summer. I have a few other things to keep me busy though. I am nearly finished my publishing diploma but I really need to get on to the last couple of assignments. I got another research article published but I have one more still to write and submit. I have a stack of fabric that I hope to sew up into nice new things and a whole other blog that I have not touched in a year. So, plenty to do.

Today, walking Cher, we came across a little mouse snuffling around the gutter. I pointed it out to here and then she went nuts over trying to get it. Luckily she was on the leash but she still nearly managed to eat it. It was funny to point it out to her but I didn't really want her to maim a mouse in front of me so I dragged her away. Anyway, here is a picture of her sleeping hilariously upside down on the couch and another after she got into a muddy ditch.

And here are a couple of cakes I baked lately. On Monday I am entering a bake off and I really want to win.

Opportunities

Today I had a job interview for an entry level research role at the offices of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. It is probably the most perfect sort of job for me and I didn't even apply for it. What happened is that I applied for another role, one that was clearly not an entry-level job, but the applications are being sorted by a recruitment agency. So the recruitment agent emailed me last week to ask if I would be interested in this other role, which is the same thing in the same team but at entry level. I went in for an interview with just the agent, and the great thing about recruitment agents (or at least this one because I have never worked with one before) is that you are kept so informed about the process. He immediately told me that I would go through to the next stage, which was an interview with the panel from the PCE. And that if it went well I would have to go through psychometric testing. He even told me what to expect in the interview. Today, he chatted to me before the interview, then called this afternoon to say that I am going through to the next stage! There were five people in the running and now there are three of us, and there are two positions going. So now I have to do well in the psychometric testing. which is scary. It will involve the usual personality test type thing, which will probably be multi-choice or true/false questions. Then there is numerical critical thinking and I think he said another type of critical thinking, perhaps it was verbal or something? Plus a face-to-face with a psychologist. It's all done through a specialised consultancy company and will happen over the next few days, with the psychologist interview on Monday. So big day!

So in terms of other opportunities, funnily enough after my tupperware party the ladies in charge have talked me into having a go at it myself. I let myself be talked into it because I really do need more than what I have now. Whether it ends up being my backup for if this new job doesn't end up being the opportunity for me, or whether I have a go at it on the weekends to bring in some extra fun money. Truth be told, I am quite greedy and they do make it sound good, with all the extra income and prizes and freebies. And if it doesn't pan out or is too much trouble, well I'll take my pile of virtually free tupperware and call it a day. Whatever happens, I am very ready to leave the museum. Speaking of the museum, the new exhibit is pretty good (it's about tyrannosaurs), but it's really loud, with lots of sound effects. We have some new managers, which is nice. But it's mostly the same old. In other news, I am still down a flatmate (another reason that I need to be earning more) but it is nice with just the two of us here for awhile. Plus the dog of course. She has had a red tummy recently, and the skin under her arm got all puffy. It's better now but I think I will have to take her to the vet when I can to make sure she's OK and not allergic to anything. Right now she's tired because we went on two long walks and it's a warm sunny day today, so she's sleeping under a blanket at my feet.

Still jobless

Well the past few weeks have been more of the same. In a nutshell, my job-hunting has still come to no fruition, I am on a WINZ benefit, thought I still get some work at the museum, and I am once again struggling to find a new flatmate (the last one that moved in was the most loud, obnoxious person I've ever met, with some sort of personality disorder added into the mix, and we had to ask him to leave). I did manage to get one interview, which is good, but I need more of them because you certainly can't expect to get the perfect job from a single interview. However, it's not like there are a lot of jobs that are suitable going right now, so that was pretty much it. I am waiting to hear about the graduate development programme that the Ministry of Primary Industries runs. If I get into that, I will just need to find something to keep me busy and the bills paid till February. Plus I actually really want to work in that Ministry so hopefully I get in.

So to take my mind off work, or more accurately, my lack of work, I have spent the last weekend throwing a tupperware party. It gave me an excuse to bake yummy food, have people over (not that many in the end, everyone was sick) and I managed to find enough people to buy stuff that I will get a nice little pile of free stuff. This coming weekend, I guess I should make an effort to search for  job and catch up on my coursework. And my distraction for the next weekend? I am going to be an election day worker. It will be a long day, at least 12 hours, most of which will be spent giving people their voting papers, with some counting thrown in at the end.

I don't think Cher will be happy about me getting a full-time job again. Today I had a full day of work, and despite a long walk in the morning and a long walk after work, she is still full of energy. She needs a treadmill. Yesterday I took her to the beach, where she went for a swim, got knocked over by a wave, and half-attempted to bury stuff.

I went to a Tupperware party

So being unemployed is pretty boring most of the time. I am applying for jobs as often as they come up and trying to find things to keep myself busy and off the couch. However, it is tempting to lie around and watch movies all day. One answer is to try to have a social life, which I am already doing quite well with this week. I went to visit a friend in Paraparaumu (turns out to be a pretty long drive away!), there is a pub quiz I go to almost every week with friends from my last job, and yesterday I went to my first ever tupperware party. If you have never been before you get a present, but they are just little things. I got a melon baller. If I ever get into the habit of eating melon, I will be able to serve it as pretty little balls. Then there was another opportunity for some small freebies - a game of bingo. Only this was really brutal bingo, where you get to choose from a box of prizes to begin with, but then when they are all take, if your number is called you choose someone else's prize. So people take your winnings! I managed to grab a cute mini spatula and it got take from me!

Anyway, now I'm all but convinced to throw my own tupperware party. As the host I would hopefully get free stuff, and with nothing else to do, surely I can spend some time convincing people to come along, or at least to order stuff? And it would be an excuse to have the type of party that I like, full of girls with good food and maybe some drinks, lots of talking, hopefully everything that will make the incredibly obnoxious male flatmate stay well away and go somewhere else to get his super loud heavy metal fix for the day. Perhaps I'll just put invites in all the neighbours' mailboxes and maybe get to know them finally after a whole year of living here... On the other hand, I don't really know that many people and the ones I know are mostly like me and have no money. And tupperware is really expensive! It might be really good quality but still, I dunno.

Well that's all that's been happening in my life lately. I bought an overlocker with my credit card, so I guess I should start sewing. I have actually done some useful things around the place, liking gardening and making Cher a new bed and finally getting through my mending pile. The weather's been shocking so that was my excuse to stay on the couch or in bed. It's better now though so no excuses. Perhaps when my movie is over I'll get up and do something.

Being an unemployed bum

So it's a weekday, nearly lunchtime, and I'm at home, in my pyjamas, in bed. I have been up and out, I have to walk the dog after all. But it's awful outside, it's cold and rainy. I took her to the park, put on my gumboots and kicked the ball around till Cher was tired - the park was more like a swamp so she got very wet and muddy. We managed to avoid getting rained on at least. I came home and went straight back to bed, because it's cheaper to be in bed than to put on the heater. While I am not actually completely unemployed, as I have a job at the museum still, that job doesn't give me much work - maybe no more than one day a week. So I am all but unemployed and I am applying for the dole to see me through till I get a job. There is plenty out there for me to apply for but after about 2 months or so of sending in applications I have had no interviews. Clearly my applications are not good enough. I have re-made my CV and am trying to put more effort into my cover letters. Mostly I am looking at government jobs, as a researcher or policy analyst. The fact that I have recently been working in the public sector might help, but probably not so much as to overcome my almost complete lack of work experience. So the vicious cycle continues.

There does not seem to be much other news going on right now. I had a visitor from Australia, that was fun. I went and did Wellington tourist stuff that I hadn't done before, like going to Weta Workshop and the Zealandia wildlife park. Both pretty cool, at Zealandia you can see birds that people thought were extinct until not so long ago, and at Weta Workshop you get to see them making stuff and touch all the costumes and prosthetics. You can't take photos in there though, which was a shame. Luckily the weather was nice for the few days that my friend was here, but now it's shit. It's OK though, because it's been a pretty mild winter so far and we were probably due for some cold. Oh, also, just last week I took my car in to the garage and it got a new WoF without needing anything fixed! That was pretty exciting. Another friend might be coming to visit soon all the way from Wales, I really hope that happens, because it will be such a long time before I can afford to travel all that way again. It's rough leaving your good friends so far behind.

The only other news might be that I have finally got my house full of flatmates again. The new guy is rather loud, has a big personality, and is on the dole, but hopefully it will work out OK. Hopefully at least one of us will get a job real soon, because hanging around the house all day is bad enough, to have to share it with someone else? Not my ideal situation, if I'm going to be an unemployed bum I want to spread out through the living room, watching animated movies and crappy tv shows all day. At least, while it's cold and rainy. If it wasn't so bad outside I really would go find something to do...until I get really lazy that is, and bored, and then I will probably just fall into that trap of doing nothing at all. So fingers crossed that I get a job soon!

Stories

First story. The other week we had a little rat problem. I went outside and heard something rustling. Next thing I know a big shiny brown rat jumped out from behind the rubbish bag and ran off towards the garden. Probably because my horrible flatmates put food in the rubbish bad without wrapping it properly. So I put the rubbish bag into the recycling bin thinking that way the rat wouldn't be able to rip into it. A few nights later, I opened the door and Cher started getting all excited. I crept down the steps and gave the recycling bin a nudge with my foot, then jumped back quick as that big brown rat jumped out of the bin and raced off into the garden again. Cher chased it, which did no good because it had disappeared, and she simply trampled my garden for awhile. I didn't want to put poison out because there are so many cats and dogs around, and I didn't think I could handle getting a trap and then having to deal with a dead rat. On one more occasion I saw the rat - it was one of the first nights that my new flatmate was here (more about that soon) and we heard a noise outside. Again I crept down the steps and gave the recycling bin a nudge. Nothing happened, so I gave the other bin a nudge and out ran the rat - with Cher right after it again. I jumped and screamed a little. And decided that enough was enough. That night I put out rat poison, and I reckon the rat ate some of it because it looked disturbed. I haven't seen it since. But just to be sure we got a proper bin to put the rubbish bag in.

So a second story? OK, Cher and I were at the park because it was horrible and rainy and I didn't feel like going for a proper walk and coming home with wet feet. The park gets sort of muddy and swampy so I stayed on the pavement under the shelter of the veranda (there is a clubhouse/bathrooms sort of building) and I kicked the ball for Cher from there. Which was fun, except just the one time she wouldn't bring it all the way back to me, she stopped about a metre off. So I thought, that's OK, I'll just step onto the grass, my shoes will still stay dry. I stepped onto the grass and kicked the ball, and in the same movement my non-kicking foot slid in the mud and next thing you know I have landed on my butt in the mud, leaving a big muddy patch all over my butt, up my back and down my arms where I tried to catch myself. So that's what I get for trying to be nice to the stupid dog. From now on she can just bring it all the way to me instead.

In other news, I have one new and much better flatmate (have I mentioned that already?) and we have finally found another one to move in next week. Hopefully it will all work out OK. My job at the ministry has pretty much finished and I have not even had any interviews for other jobs yet, let alone an offer. There is always the museum to fall back on, but it is low season and there are no special exhibits on so there will probably not be much work to be had. I have to finish of my course work for the publishing diploma in the next week and I'm way behind because my computer died on me. Plus my PhD publications are up in the air - one is meant to be submitted on Monday but I have no idea if I'm supposed to be submitting it or my supervisor is. Serious lack of communication. And writing some good job applications is way higher on my priority list than that is. They can just make do without me if they must. So now today has been lovely and sunny and I have been very busy because there is so much to get done of the weekend. Yet despite being busy all day I've done no work on my job applications or course work so I best get started on that now.