Geoff & Chris in the UK Letters & Photos: Previous Next
UK News 6 July 2003
Biggest news of the week is definitely Geoff getting a job! Ten minutes into his 2nd interview one of the interviewers said "you really ARE passionate about training aren't you". I think they got the message! The bottle of champagne we have been saving in preparation for this day, was opened last night, with great celebration. Geoff will no longer be a 'kept man'. Thank you for all the messages of congratulations!
I start on Tuesday 22 July at Shoosmiths Solicitors www.shoosmiths.com,
providing business systems support and IT coaching. This involves walking around
their office of up to 65 staff, helping them with IT problems, teaching them new
tricks, running training courses, installing & fixing computers, all sorts
of things.
They appear to be a very good place to work for, with lots of staff benefits.
Their offices are only three weeks old, in a stunning new glass tower building
(photo is of the reception area),
one minutes walk from the city centre. It is going to be a 5 minute walk to the
Olton train station, 18 minutes train ride (time to read the paper), then 5
minutes walk from Snow Hill station to the office.
The salary is slightly higher than he had been aiming for, and there's a Xmas bonus payment.
After three months probation Geoff will be eligible for an pension scheme, medical insurance, life insurance, and cheap legal fees if we buy a place (which we are thinking of). Hours of work are 9 to 5:30 and I get 23 days annual leave, in addition to 6 bank holidays. Additional days leave can be 'bought' (effectively leave without pay).
I tried a very different trick when applying for this job... I trimmed my CV down to two pages, removed references to my job titles being 'manager', and included a page of snippets from my written references. I figured that might be a good way that they could get a sense of what others think of my work, not just my hard facts & figures. Well it worked, they read the references, and commented on how favorable they were.
The other job I was going for, as e-Commerce Analyst at SCH didn't come through, they decided to promote an internal applicant. Surprising to me, as in the interview they said they had several internal applicants who were not suitable and were reluctant to have to interview them.
Here's some photos of the Lloyds TSB building with Shoosmiths on the 7th floor of http://www.cusp.org.uk/ltsb2.htm
Perhaps I will get time on the train trip, to write more issues of this newsletter, as there certainly will be less spare time than I am used to...
Who spotted the typo last week?! " The sun is setting even later at night, 9:33pm tonight, but the duck goes on for quite a while longer". Quack Quack! It is the dusk that is longer. Ducks in the UK are the same length as in NZ, except those ones that John Turner has assaulted with his rifle...
This week, a new edition of the Collins Dictionary has been published. Some clown commented "I looked up 'Paranoia' the other day, and it said 'Why do you want to know?". Ha!
While NZ shivers with snow (on one tree hill?!?!) we're enjoying the warmest June in the UK for 30 years. We're trying to make the most of it before the grim winter strikes...
On Friday night, Birmingham had a 'critical mass' event, where cyclists converge on the city centre and dominate the roads for a while. We saw one in San Francisco, and it was a wonderfully anarchic sight of about 5000 bikes and dozens of police hopelessly unable to control the event.
While Chris was at
work, (someone has to keep him in the way he has become accustomed !!) - I went to 'The Royal Show' at
Stoneleigh Abbey (near Coventry) last week - false advertising I think, as I didn't see any of
the royal family there. But I did see clay pigeon shooting, clay rabbit
shooting, dexter cattle, zespri kiwifruit, NZ hostas, horse and carriage
displays, equestrian competitions, the biggest pigs I have ever seen in my life,
army tanks (went inside one), cattle with amazingly long round horns, almost
forming a circle around it's face, shaggy fleece cattle (from the Scottish
Highlands), straw being mixed with liquid feed supplements in a huge type of
cake mixer, roof thatching, rattan weaving of chairs, floral arrangements, owls,
ferrets, falcons, a few Camilla Parker Bowles types strutting around in jewels
and jodhpurs, all sorts of things that make me realise (yet again) how this place is
surprisingly different to NZ.
I didn't see any electric fences for sale, nor where people walking around with those silly cattle prods that typify the Mystery Creek crowd. No possum fur nipple warmers, possum traps, swandi shirts or herbicides for killing gorse. The owls really fascinated me, they were much bigger than I had imagined. Had a long chat with someone who organises hunts (on horseback) for deer near Exeter. I'm trying to convince Chris to take to the saddle again... Geoff also brought home string for my dad, and thousands more brochures - some on Dexter Cattle for Richard and Beverley who are breeding a family of the same and the first baby is due soon) - I did enjoy a few treats like pheasant pie for lunch, bought some Buderim sweet ginger sauce (VERY nice with vanilla ice cream), chocolate truffle cake, hot roasted peanuts, roasted seeds (for putting in salads), yum! British strawberries are in season at the moment, they are so very red and juicy and yummy...
News
this week that several female UK members of parliament are taking male
testosterone supplements, to give them more stamina for being in parliament. I
suppose they all want to be like Maggie Thatcher - though we shouldn't be unkind
to her, her husband Dennis died last week & I was interested to hear that
his father was a Kiwi. Note that testosterone also makes you grow a hairy
chin, muscles and a deep voice - before any of our female friends want to perk
up in the workplace!
Chris would like it known that the streets here are paved with gold. Well, we keep on finding pennies on the footpath, and if we save them, we'll be able to buy her some jewellery (I am thrilled that my husband has such expensive tastes in mind for me!!!........)
It's been interesting to hear of the changes to the labour laws in NZ, important to know the difference between solicitors and soliciting I suppose. A court case in UK has recently agreed that the Ann Summers lingerie and sex toy shops should be allowed to advertise for staff at the 'job centres'. I wonder what would happen in NZ if an unemployed person turned down a job placement in a massage parlour - would they lose their dole?!
A new play being performed here: The Regina Monologues, music & words to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the death of Queen Elizabeth.
Driving around the English countryside continues to delight us. We have seen a couple of buildings that were obviously old windmills converted to houses. Chris's favourite was the poster that invited us to go to the 'funeral home fun day', and I still chuckle at the roadsign 'Pink Green'. Attended a 'summer fayre' at the local church, where the verger was very friendly and keen that we spend more time in their lovely 100 year old church. They had an old fashioned 'tombola' machine and a barrel organ that had a little man dancing on top - I looked for the monkey but he wasn't there!
Driving in the UK will change for the better soon, when using cellphones in cars will be illegal. Presumably using a handsfree earpiece or speaker will be allowable, stopping idiots balancing phones on their shoulder while driving.
It's now been four
months that we've lived at Loxley Square (pictured here - we're on the top
floor), and we have to decide if we are to extend our lease (6 months) or move.
We have look at a few houses for sale, but the cheapest house in our street here
is about $1,000,000 - far too much to consider. So we've been looking at flats,
but shocked at how small they are. A new one we saw yesterday at Dickens Heath
was only 500 square feet for a 2 bedroom apartment, for £165,000 = NZ$450,000.
We hate the prospect of paying rent £650 = NZ$2000/month rent, but to take out
a mortgage would have us paying more than that in interest.
So one option is for us to move to the ground floor flat here - it is quite a lot larger, and has two bedrooms. It would be nice to have a spare room so that George could sometimes stay, and we'd have room for friends from New Zealand to stay! and on those frequent nights when Geoff snores............
I am thrilled to see on the news that there are paddocks of delphiniums being grown in Worcestershire - set out in stripes of pink, purple, mauve cream and white. Some innovative person has decided to make biodegradable wedding confetti - great idea eh? - the churches no longer allow the paper kind.
I also loved to read of a new syndrome that is now rife in the British workplace according to a columnist in the Sunday Times. Its CSD - 'Competitive Stress Disorder'. Its popular to outdo the levels of stress you are under to prove your greater worth in the office. So if someone says ' I am so stressed I worked till 8 last night' - you say 'Gosh you are so lucky to go home so early - I was here till midnight last night'... etc etc.
All the best, from Geoff & Chris
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