Time flies, an’ all that
Current mood: breezy
Category: Life
There are some bugs going around at present, and I think I caught a touch of one. Definitely dodgy on Friday - got up feeling rubbish, but had to go in to do the First Aid course for the Museum. I dosed myself up with vitamin C and zinc. The course started at 9.30, so I went into town early to stock up on Strepsils. Wondered if it might get worse during the day, but I finished the course without too much of a struggle.
Then it was into a museum free weekend, so I could flop at leisure, sort of ... Four days working next week - three days library, 1 day museum. This aint getting the archaeology backlog done, by any means.
But at least I am now broadly qualified to deal with first aid emergencies. Good luck to the world, I say I've always wanted to do the First Aid course, ever since I started work back in the Dark Ages.
I'd virtually given up hope, and then out of the blue, the Museum decides they need lots of first aiders. Finally, after working since 1979(!) my luck was in. It only took nearly 30 years. But currently, I seem to be going through a golden phase where work is concerned.
Work is finally paying off, in that I'm getting what I want, rather than what I've been grudgingly given. Funny it's happened after I turned my back on hoping to be employed properly in archaeology ... I am pretty sure the two things are related:
Equation:
Alex + archaeology x 21 years = nil or arguably into a minus situation on some fronts (short contracts, low pay)
Alex + library + museum x 8 years = pay off (monetary and many other things)
I do wish I'd worked out the better equation earlier. I might have even ended up with a decent pension, for starters
The only casualty I've had to treat at the Museum was a visitor who had her toe stubbed by another visitor. The only way of avoiding that happening again would be to only allow one visitor at a time into the Museum ... Long may that level of casualty be the only thing I have to treat!
The Job Share Partner From Hell’s Fiendish Revenge
Current mood: contemplative
Category: Jobs, Work, Careers
Finally the verdict is in. After being dragged into Personnel in January, I've been told what the JSPFH thinks. And she will hear what I think when she's back from one of the many holidays she takes.
She says I criticised her by asking her opinion. And that I annoy her by expressing my opinion. OK, that means I can't ask her anything, or discuss anything. Fine by me. She also tried to ambush me by complaining that my team take teabreaks. Hah. Since our line managers doesn't mind us having teabreaks, that's a non-starter. Yes, we have teabreaks, but it's me as line manager who declares we're having one, and we always discuss some matter of pertaining to work.
So, she's shown her hand (via the Boss and Personnel) and it was pretty poor one. Basically, her complaints tell me more about her than it does about me. I wonder what will be made of my complaints, namely she's a bad team member, doesn't take reponsibility and does not provide leadership? I think my concerns are somewhat more fundamental to the job.
However, the feedback was useful. It has given away a few things about her. I'm now more certain than ever that there is a mental health problem going on for her, but unfortunately it's of the shade which makes everyone else the problem, and not her. Where of course she is the problem, but doesn't, or won't realise it. If she acknowledged it, she would be out of her comfort zone instantly.
I have to say I've lived with one of those 'Every bugger else is to blame, not me' types. As a child of that person, I came out with a mental health problem and it was, predictably 'It's all my fault' having been blamed and criticised right into the dark realms of abuse by the 'Every bugger else ...' parent.
Despite an extraordinarily suportive partner, by the early 1990s I was banging my head against a brick wall as I was very unhappy, and at times suicidal constantly during my 20s and into my 30s. I finally handed myself in to the NHS, and after being on a waiting list for ages was enrolled in full time therapy for six months.
Briefly, because I wanted to change, I did. I worked very hard, as did my therapists. I still wobble (and did so massively before going into the Feedback meeting yesterday), but I am generally much more resliant and I can work out how to draw the boundaries - who is to blame and who isn't, and sometimes it's just humans muddling through. The therapists had the devil's own job to get me to admit that my parent was at fault for her behaviour. I was a child, and it was my parent who had the responsibility. However, by the 90s, I was grown up, and adult and I wasn't always to blame if something went wrong. I had to take responsibilty for my actions, but not be too hard on myself if I made a mistake.
Both the 'I'm to blame' and 'The Every Bugger Else ..' parties need to change their behaviour, for themselves, if not for those around them. And in the case of the 'Every Bugger Elsers' they are creating a lot of unpleasantness around them; everybody knows when they're unhappy. The 'I'm to blamers' have more internal effects, than external, although their immediate relatives will suffer.
So, the JSPFH won't be changing anytime soon. She's in her comfort zone and there's no reason for her to change. Since I know the territory all to well, I will continue communicating only as far as my jobshare dictates, and I cannot show any opinion, or ask her a question. So she gets her way, as these Every Bugger Elsers tend to do, as it's too difficult to make them step out of their cosy little world where they can't be hurt. It's all rather rather cowardly.
I haven't a clue what the cause of her mental health problems are. She's so unpleasant, I find it difficult to care. She cuts herself off, so that she doesn't make friends - that would be too risky. But she can see herself as the victim, so she is the star of her own drama. How nice for her. How horrible for everyone around her.
What I learnt from it all is that I do have the courage to stand up to these people, even to the point that mediation was sought as I wouldn't back down. It did dawn on me that I was in the old scenario, but this time I was an adult. And as an adult, I did fine - certainly about as good as I was going to get, anyway.
I don't deny, as it became increasingly clear she wasn't playing ball, that I became frustrated. Some of my own behaviour wasn't as good as it could've been, but I am not perfect. I didn't know where she was coming from at all. Though of course, I never would, as she doesn't want to put her personality into anything. She is protecting herself, deflecting any responsibility onto someone else.
I seem to have forged an interesting relationship with my Boss. Well, we shouted at each other at one point around December! I shouted at someone? Cripes! However, we gave each other a comparatively easy ride in this last meeting. We may have drawn our boundaries to a mutal, if unspoken agreement. Again, it was import that it worked, and it did. It's possible he respects me for standing my ground. And, he could have got rid of me in April and tried to find a better partner for the current incumbent of part of the job.
If my team is being stressed out by something she's failed to do, I will be telling the Boss (and putting it in writing), as she's not going to get away with being a totally useless team member. What my Boss does with the information will be altogether in his hands, but as a line manager I will have discharged my duties and can inform my team of what I have done.
I do hope that's the end of the story. I have a feeling it won't be
I was away last Saturday, so had to watch the final of 'I'd Do Anything' as a recording. We got back late on Saturday night, but I insisted on watching then, otherwise it was likely I'd find out who had won on the Sunday morning via the news.
Jodie
I've been watching the series since the beginning and no later than week two I picked out the two girls I would support. They were Jessie and Jodie. And these two girls did me proud as they were down to the final two! I think I chose them because of their voices. Jodie, one of the oldest at 28, has a warm voice, which she had the experience to use it very well.
Jessie
Jessie, 18, was very much the beginner, but again her voice is warmer and very distinctive. She came to the auditions having just been rejected from two acting schools; their loss! I believe she was rejected by those schools as she didn't conform to what they were looking for - and there were a fair few girls in 'I'd Do ... ' who would be snapped up by acting schools, or indeed, had already been. All the same, Andrew Lloyd-Webber commented 'World Class Performance' when choosing the final 12 girls for the tv shows. There were 5 girls in the room at that point, one of them was Jessie, and patently, in hindsight, it was her he was commenting on.
So my safe hands bet (Jodie) and my wildcard (Jessie) fought their way to the final. It was just as well I wasn't around to phone in my votes, as I would've been useless! I couldn't separate them at all. I like them both, for different reasons, so wanted both to win, which was not possible. But I was going to happy either way.
It was Jodie who won in the end! Her voice and sheer force of personality carried the votes, I believe. Nearly always bubbly, and often hilarious, she sailed through the competition. Jessie on the other hand, had a rocky ride. Being young, the criticism easily got to her, but in the end, her talent still shone through. Like Jodie, she was never in the sing-off, which also must've helped her believe in herself - the pubic voted for her all along.
I seem to be quite good at picking out the winners of these 'search for a leading lady' shows. Despite not seeing 'How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria' from the beginning a couple of years ago, as soon as I saw Connie Fisher, I picked her to support. I wasn't so good with the Josephs though! Again I went with the richest voice (he was very young, and ultimately came 2nd)
Jobs and hobbies
Current mood: chipper
Category: Life
Aargh! Between the Museum, the Library and the History events, I've hardly had time to think for the past month or more. So finally I've had some time off. Should total four consecutive days, and my brain is starting recovering from the constant social battery. I definitely need 'down' time f rom going out of the home.
Even if I'm doing something I enjoy, if it involves communicating and being remotely sociable, I get totally drained. I am an introvert at heart, though I do a good impression of being extrovert. Eventually, I have to start saying No to gallivanting about in the end, which I'm sure makes me look standoffish. But if I don't have time, I have very little in the way of a quality inner dialogue.
When I'm out and about, the old interior tends to obsess about things I might have done wrong whilst I'm out, or that I should've done and the like. With time to think properly, I let go of all that after a couple of days (I did say I tend to obsess ...), and start to get more creative.
Today, I'm still tidying up after going on two history events in two weekends! Yeah, I'm bonkers, I know. But the second one entailed going to meet some old friends I hadn't seen in a while. We just went out for the day, and it was gloriously sunny, no running around, just sitting, chatting to friends and any public who wandered by. So it was worth it, but meant more running around initially as we had to organise ourselves to get out there and so forth.
The majority of the stuff I'm still tidying if from the work before last, which was a major expedition. Fortunately, it didn't rain, so we didn't have to unpack in a rush and lay stuff out to dry before it rotted. We were both knackered for days afterward, a sign that the days of us going on these intensive shows (where we camp and then run around doing displays all weekend) are soon to end. Instead, we'll do what we did last weekend, turning out to low impact shows, just sitting doing our crafts instead. Hopefully, in the sun, as well ... ;-)
My pay rate at the Museum is sorted. More than minimum wage, but less than the advertised rate! But I am content with it, and was pleasantly surprised that this rise was reflected on my wageslip starting from the beginning of April. I was sort of hoping to be able to go off in a huff about not being told how much I was being paid and not do the holiday cover Had a slightly better time with cashing up the till today, so hopefully things will improve on that front when I get to do it for 5 days in a row!
Meanwhile, on the Library job front, I heard news that my jobshare partner didn't turn up to work today. We're supposed to call in sick by 10am, but they got no news. Eventually she was contacted, but it's all getting a bit odd. Even when I was taken into hospital in the middle of the night, Batman was able to call the Library before 10 and say what was happening ... I have my suspicions about what's at the root of the JSPFH's problems. And it's nothing to do with the Library and its staff.
This weekend we're out and about with a car - so a visit to dump is in the offing. Oh, the romance of it all. Then we'll do a big shop to get in stores of stuff that we can't carry around easily on foot. And finally, there'll be a trip to Beningborough Hall - our favourite hang out. They also have a nice cafe as well ... All v. civilised
After being convinced I'd end up non-employed in both my jobs, I still have some sort of revenue stream (oh management speak - must be catching it from my Library Manager)
I am now permanent at the Library. Hah, I bet the Jobshare- Partner-From-Hell is loving that. She certainly hasn't said congratulations in her handover emails ... My so-called friends are now calling me her spiritual twin. Thanks guys Not sure whether to cheer or cry regarding that aspect of the job.
Finally armed with the knowledge I had the Library job, I was able to go into a very informal interview regarding the Museum job. Basically anything on offer was going to be weekend working. The other chap was happy to do that, whereas I said I'd do 'as and when' which suits me just fine.
However, before getting the Library job, I had to commit myself to working at the Museum to cover someone's holidays. Not looking forward to it, as the job is much complicated by a new, outsized, cashing-up system. I still haven't got my head around it, but have insisted on some (paid) training sessions. However, the pay rate is not yet settled. Since I'm on basic wage (£5.52 ph), but those covering the job at other times are on somewhat higher, this needs to be sorted out - let battle commence I've got little to lose, so am on steady ground, especially as I can wave a recent job advert at the Boss showing that front of house staff (who probably don't cash up, and aren't overall responsible) are being employed at £6 ph. In addition, the Relief Duty Manager post was advertised at £7. Yet in the interview, they couldn't confirm what the rate would be ...
Once the holiday cover is over, I can settle down to finishing some archaeology. Hurrah
Decided to give up the blog for a month or so whilst the little drama finally played itself out. Now have a permanent job with the Library (gawd bless ’em). Didn’t even have an interview, presumably as I was the only one who applied, I’d previously worked for them, and I’d been doing the job for the last year! Right to the wire though (current contract finishes Sunday, new permanent one starts on the Monday), and I had to take on some extra work at the Museum in case the Library job didn’t work out. Haven’t told them about the latter yet; it will involve taking two days out of Library work to do it.
Was off work last week (using my annual leave up) and did things Archaeology. But then caught a bug, so was off work at the Library this week. Am just feeling well enough to move around now, but have got a renewed cough Nowt changes ...
I didn't realise it had been released, but finally caught on, so rushed to Amazon and ordered Murray Gold's music for Season 3 of Dr Who. Some of his music is very strong, other bits I can shrug at. But favourite tracks are:
1. All the strange, strange creatures (used as trailer music) 15. Doctor forever 16. Blink 20. Yana 21. The Master vainglorious 22. Martha's Quest 23. This is Gallifrey: our childhood, our home 24. Martha triumphant 27. The Master tape
Hmm, a pattern there. For me, the strongest episodes came late on in the series. The three Master episodes being my out and out favourites (got the DVD for Crimbo); everything worked including the music.
I also liked the song My Angel Put the Devil in Me which was in the Daleks in 1930s New York episode. Gold's choice was to use another, probably better singer, on the CD. However the singing in the actual programme had an entirely appropriate raw theatre sound to it, i.e. it was performed in theatre at a microphone.
Gold's choice is like composer Leonard Bernstein deciding to do his own recording of West Side Story and he brought in opera singers to sing the songs. It sounded too perfect, not matching the roughness so congruent for its setting (1950s New York gangs). Same with the Gold case, so as an antidote, here is the original version:
Meanwhile, it's Thursday today, which means it's Ashes to Ashestonight. Fire up the Quattro The DVD will be ready as well ...
Domestic emergency
Current mood: amused
Category: Life
Thought is was bit draughty in the Sitting Room last night. Earlier, there had been a bang on the window. I was sitting on the floor, looked up but couldn't see anything awry on window pane I thought it came from. Well, you know what's coming ...
Batman was having his breakfast this morning, looking straight out to the garden and he suddenly said Look at that! I thought he was talking about the squirrel's antics on the bird table. But no. There's a small hole in the window pane next to the one I glanced at yesterday. We have bay windows, and there are five panes, btw.
Oh heck! Since we were eating our boiled eggs we kept noshing and speculated as to how this might have happened. It was very windy yesterday, so things were skittering around outside. But mostly things like plastic plant pots. This hole had been made by a projectile. So it was puzzling. The Batman wondered if it might be a metal tent peg. The neighbours have spread out large sheets of plastic on their wasteland garden. Batman thinks it something to do with trying to kill off weeds. Anyhow, he thought they'd used tent pegs to secure the plastic sheets, along with bricks and lengths of wood. But the plastic was still lifting, and yesterday it was blown about to great effect.
Batman was right. When I went outside, there under the window was a metal tent peg. We're not charging the neighbours this time, but if it happens again, they will be getting the bill. However, they did apologise, they will be giving up with the plastic sheets which aren't doing the job at this blustery time of year.
Meanwhile, on cleaning up after the mess, I realised how messy my windows were on the inside, so gave them a clean. Just as well, as a glazier will be coming out to fix the pane next week.
Ah, domestic drama Better than work drama, any day.
Keep seeing the trailers on the goggle-box, but have known this was coming for ages. The sequel to Life on Mars is on next week, Thursday, and is called Ashes to Ashes.
From YouTube, there is the BBC trailer, complete with heavenly choir as Gene Hunt dawns on the screen:
Totally priceless, as is Alex fainting at the sight
And a clip, from the first episode:
And a clip of one of my favorite Gene Hunt-isms from Life on Mars:
"You're surrounded by armed bastards" Northern accent essential to make it sound really hard
breezy
I've always wanted to do the First Aid course, ever since I started work back in the 
contemplative
pleased
chipper
happy
Had a slightly better time with cashing up the till today, so hopefully things will improve on that front when I get to do it for 5 days in a row!
animated
Not sure whether to cheer or cry regarding that aspect of the job. 
thankful
amused
Better than work drama, any day.