oh, the people you meet

Work started at 8.30am today. We're due an audit and a secret shopper so everyone is stressed and desperate to do everything extra-specially well. I find it a bit farcical to be honest; I work to the same (good!) standard whether we're being observed or not, and therefore recognise the fact that I should be stressed to the same standard whether we're being observed or not. Hence, as work doesn't usually stress me out, today was no different.

We usually get a few would-be customers before we open each day, asking what time we open then never coming back, and so I paid no extra attention to the plump, middle aged Asian lady who approached at ~9.30am. She perused the menu for a couple of minutes, before asking when we open - the usual script. Though what happened next was not the usual:

Without any kind of transition from opening hours, she launched into a deranged tirade about her life. I kid you not, she claimed to have ten degrees, all from Cambridge University, as well as ten O Levels from the same. She (apparently) teaches Psychology to students all over the world, and (apparently) plans to move into publishing next. Recently she took a trip to CroyDON (pronounced thus), whereupon she was offered money for sex. I find the latter most unlikely considering her less-than-desirable age/figure/mental-state.

Nevertheless, she continued on for a few minutes, advising my colleague to "be rough if you have kids, not like these English!". He then aborted the conversation and she finally left, at which point I uttered the witty retort "looks like you pulled there, mate!". To which he replied: "fuck off, you c**t".

Lol.

The rest of the shift was fairly usual, until a lady ordered and paid for a cappuccino, then walked off before I gave her the drink. This made me laugh loudly for some reason, but I made the drink anyway and she came back around 10 minutes later when she realised something was missing from our previous interaction.

I worked some more during the day, then got some buses and sat down for a while. Nothing hugely interesting happened apart from getting free Ben & Jerry's ice cream! I've put pictures below; as I'd eaten the ice cream when I took the photograph, I included a realistic representation of what my free Cherry Garcia cone looked like.

Om nom nom.

what a load of crepe

NB I wrote this yesterday

I'd like to write about work. Recently I've been praising my job, and for the most part I enjoy it, but today I would like to post a small rant:

At 8 o'clock we begin to prepare for the 9 o'clock close, and so implement a "take away only" policy. You'd think, considering the fact that we put tables across the exits, turn the stools upside down, and, here's the kicker, tell customers we're implementing a "take away only" policy, that this would be fairly obvious?

It isn't.

Last time I closed, I began preparing at the usual time. I cleared the tables, cleaned them, emptied the bins, moved the tables and the stools, and went back to start cleaning the kiosk. Then some customers arrived, and move aside one of the tables to sit down at the 'bar' area (this area has high chairs that stay upright, but even so they are all pushed to one end and the rest of the customer area is clearly closed). The gentleman then comes to the till to place his order, whereupon I told my coworker to tell him we're take away only after 8 (it was 8:17).

He didn't.

So now we have two customers in the closed eating area. Another couple arrive, decide they want in as well, and request that we move one of the tables back and take two stools down. I told them that no, we can't do that because we're take away only after 8. They look smugly at the two already sitting down, and I explain that they aren't supposed to be there, slightly louder than usual in the hope that they'll hear me and clear off, but no such luck. Instead I am obliged to fulfil the new couple's wish and undo yet more of my work.

I shrugged it off as "one of those days" and got on with making their food, figuring that I could get tidying behind the counter until they finished, then quickly go out and tidy up after them as to catch up with the schedule as quickly as possible. I prepared the food as usual, according to the guidelines, and took it out to them as a quasi-peace-offering, only to be told shortly afterwards that "the food [was] horrible" and to "make it again".

At this point I was very unamused. Two customers in the seating area who had already been told the seating area was closed were complaining that my correctly timed, correctly filled, and well presented food was "horrible" (not "unsatisfactory", "average" or even "not nice", but "horrible").

I then told them to fuck off, whilst constructing an impromptu missile from leftover food (mainly old egg), and launched it at them as hard as I could as they left. (Not really of course). I sure felt like doing it though; what I actually did was put the "horrible" food in the bin, made a new one, took it to them, cleaned the kiosk diligently while they ate, cleaned the customer seating area for a second time when they left, then finished and closed the kiosk as normal, all whilst maintaining a steady sense of rage.

Only when I was given 4 smoothies, 4 waffles and 2 croissants did aforementioned rage subside.

dizzy rascals

- a point to whoever can identify the pun in the title.

Yesterday was rather pleasant; it was my first 'day off' from the deranged rota I've been working lately, and I believe my intentions to make the most of it were justified. The first point of action was to catch up on sleep; I turned my alarm off and didn't get out of bed until 12.15.

Mum and bro were milling around downstairs when I woke, and I was invited to accompany them on the day's escapades. After a quick mental rearrangement of my plans for the day I agreed to go, and made myself presentable before we left. Mum is feeling a bit under the weather at the moment, so we took bro to a semi-local play area to exhaust himself; it's one of the big foamy contraptions with ballpits, slides and similar distractions. I was slightly jealous of him really, I miss being able to run around like a maniac in those places...

While he was charging about and jumping around, me and Mum spoke about stuff, ranging from family affairs, my living arrangements later in the year, and my financial situation. I felt very sophisticated, but still envied bro in the playpen; Mum picked up on this and called him out, instructing him to show me the slide. I had to accept of course, he needed "adult supervision" in there; it wasn't an excuse for me to have fun at all *shifty eyes*.

I felt a bit old going on the slide though, it made me feel dizzy...

Anyway, next on the agenda was to have a 'cuppa' at Mama's house. We drove there, then waited for a while for Mama and co to arrive, then went in. I had Green Tea infused with Ginseng and Raspberry for aforementioned cuppa. The kids were playing in the garden while the grown ups (me included) sat in the living room chatting. It was nice.

On the way home we went to Lidl to pick up some salad, a snack, and unexpectedly, a watch. I've been looking for one for a while but haven't been able to find one I like (black 'leather' strap, analogue, no roman numerals on the face, face a sensible size) until now. It cost me all of £6, and I'm very pleased with it:

The rest of the evening was spent catching up on a backlog of note-taking work, playing Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, eating dinner and watching House.

hiatus

Hello, all.

I'd like to do several things in this post; explain my recent lapse in blogging, provide a brief update of what I've been up to, and briefly outline my plans for the near future. Not the most thrilling subject matter unfortunately, but oh well.

Firstly: I haven't been blogging much recently because my laptop decided it would be better for everyone if it broke itself. Obviously this is frustrating at the best of times, but the fact that it was caused by the installation of a "vital" Windows update is what annoys me most. I am currently trying to fix it without the loss of my files, but this is looking less and less likely.

Secondly: The last couple of weeks have been taken up mainly by working and looking for work. I've been averaging ~20 hours a week at the food kiosk where I work, which is nice, but I think I need more hours/money to be able to survive upon my return to university. However an interesting revelation today; it seems there is the possibility of a promotion soon, which would provide more of both hours and money! I'll probably keep you posted.

Thirdly: In the near future I plan to get around to sorting this blog out. I still need to copy over posts from Sugiharagami, as well as catching up on several posts (Japan and Canada mainly). This is feasible but sadly blogging is one of my less important priorities at the moment. The fact that no one seems to be reading at the moment does relieve the pressure, however :)

l8rz

it came from a land Down Under

Received a parcel filled with goodies from my Australian cousin last week! I meant to put pictures up sooner but I've only just located my camera cable (tidied my room today...).

Me and Lauren (aforementioned cousin) used to be pen pals, but it's been at least 10 years since we last wrote I think... We recently became friends on Facebook, and a reminiscence of mine about my time in Australia (more specifically my fond memories of their delicious strawberry centered Freddo bars) prompted the idea to exchange parcels.

There were 5 assorted Freddos (although the caramel one has a koala on it who is NOT Freddo), 2 Creme Eggs which I ate before the picture was taken, a roll of bubblegum, a tube of Vegemite, a "stubby" holder, and an awesome mix CD.

Thanks Lauren :D

cycling in the city

Had my trial shift for a certain sandwich delivery company today, following the interview I detailed in the last post. I intended to get up at 6.30, leave by 7 and cycle to the DLR station but instead I got up at 7, left by 7.15 and got the bus to the DLR station. Figured I may as well use my weekly bus pass, although the buses took longer than I allowed for and I ended up being half an hour late for the trial. I did manage to get the DLR for free though (entirely by accident!).

Introduced myself to the office team, explained why I was late and apologised, then had a complimentary coffee while I waited for my shadowee to arrive. Introduced myself to him (René) when he arrived, then selected a spare bike, watched him set up the trailer, and we set off into the streets. Literally.

It's been a while since I've cycled in the road, so it took a bit of getting used to. Especially in Central London with buses, taxis, trucks and cars all over the place! Was slightly daunting at first but became easier with time. First stop was a car repair place, then we went to a Citroen garage and made a delivery at an office.

There were 11 stops overall, and most were offices. It was interesting seeing the range of places available to work in, although for the most part it just made me glad not to be working there! People were generally friendly, and sympathised with René about a competitor stealing his business (sympathy doesn't cost anything; they still bought food from the competitor because it was cheaper).

The four hours went surprisingly quickly, and the cycling was really fun. After the last stop René gave me the bike with the trailer to cycle back to the depot, and it handled quite differently to the one I'd been riding thus far! Luckily though I took into account the wider turning circle and avoided tipping the entire thing over. Upon returning to depot I spoke to the office team again and told them I'd really enjoyed it, then thanked René for showing me the ropes, received five sandwiches in 'payment', wished him luck for the future, and headed home.

DLR journey was relaxing, and it was free for the second time today. I genuinely tried to pay, but there was no information booth at the station and the community support officers there had no suggestions. To be honest though, if TFL can't put the facilities in place to assist passengers who have a problem paying their fare, they probably don't deserve the fare.

Prolonged my journey home by experimenting with buses, then chilled for a while before heading to the Post Office to post something I'd sold on Amazon. Unfortunately I got stung by lack of research, and it cost me more to post it than the buyer paid for it. Annoying but educational I guess.

short paragraphs #1

Thursday:

Had an interview in London in the morning; bought a travelcard despite already being over budget for the week as I figured that one week over budget and a job is better than one week under budget and no job. Arrived in London earlier than planned so grabbed a £2 King Deal in BK and sat on a bench in Waterloo to eat it. Then walked to and along the river until I reached the bridge nearest the job; walked the rest of the way along back streets.

Several others were waiting for the interview, so I took a seat in the waiting area read the company literature. Eccentric lady called us all into a back room and began conducting a group interview - something I've not experienced before. Think it went well though, I was sitting in the middle and answered everything well because I had an opportunity to think of a response and listen to the others each time. Felt bad for the guy to my right because he had to go first from each time and his answers were weaker because of it.

Got called for an individual interview afterwards, asked a couple of questions, then was told that "a decision was being made about me now". This statement was accompanied by a frown, so I assumed I had been unsuccessful, but wasn't the case: trial shift was arranged for tomorrow. Unfortunately though, Friday was now triple-booked, meaning I had to decide how to go about resolving the situation. Pondered on the train home and sent a text and an email when I arrived; seems to have done the trick.

Friday:

Had a miniature lay in today, then got up and got ready for my first shift at my weekend job (despite the fact it wasn't the weekend). Arrived early again, so sat on a bench with a Boots meal deal and a book. Received tour of the kiosk and the upstairs storeroom, as well as my uniform (apron and camp hat), a run down of the company policy and procedures and a heap of forms to fill in. Also received complementary coffee which was nice.

Shift went well, it was 5 hours which seems to be fairly typical, and as with my trial I had a go at everything. Learned how the machines worked, the difference between Espresso and Cappucino, how to make sweet and savoury food simultaneously, and had a chat with each of my co-workers. Good start, I felt. Met Mum and Bro after work for dinner in Nandos which was nice, then got some sweets and headed to the flat via local supermarket. Had some cider when we arrived, then watched TV for a while before bed.

Saturday:

Had bacon and egg scramble for breakfast, then went for a quick walk on the beach with the remote controlled quad bike. Bro had the control but hasn't yet grasped the concept of steering, so he chased the quad bike around 'til the battery died. Got in the car when this happened and drove into town. Brief shopping trip followed, we had 38 minutes on the parking meter which proved long enough to get a few things, then headed back to the car and to the next item on the day's agenda.

Arrived at the zoo around noon. Got in for £0 with annual passes which is always a touch, then walked "the usual" route. Passed tigers, monkeys, baboons and boars, stopped for pizza, then saw elephants and small cats before stopping at the swing park for a coffee and looping back up to the gift shop via the gorillas. Was fun as always, but especially so with Mum and Bro. Headed home via supermarket to grab ingredients for tonight's dinner party; sat in the car park for 20 minutes listening to Classic FM while Bro slept, then did an extremely brisk shop.

Had a bath when we got back to the flat, then started cooking. First time I've cooked for more than 4 (that I can recall) so it was a bit intense, but the meal turned out well. I made mild beef burritos with poutine, salad, and an optional chilli mix. Sharon and co arrived in the final stages of preperation, and Connie and Dan gave me a hand with the last bits.

Ate together, then Bro went to bed and the rest of us started a game of Blackjack. A Lindt Rabbit was the prize at stake and after a long game it went to Sharon. Blackjack was fun, as was the whole evening, but personally I prefer Poker! Sat at the table talking afterwards, then went to bed shortly after Sharon and co left.

Sunday:

Miniature lay in again, then started getting our stuff ready and locked up the flat before heading to Grandma's. Drive there took around an hour, during which time me and Mum spoke and listened to music. Bro was watching a DVD.

First time I'd seen Grandma's new house, and I liked it. Smaller than their old one but in a good way; more cosy and homely. Had usual lunch (salad, chips and other bits) and apple pie, then went for a walk on the beach. Threw stones at the water for a while then turned back when we started getting cold. Saw the garage and garden when we got back and discussed how they could be improved, then had a coffee and a chat before leaving to go home. Michael gave me a couple of pairs of shoes which he doesn't wear any more, which was nice!

Drive home fairly uneventful. Got in and had bath, then got ready for curry at Uncle's. Mum and Bro dropped me off and stayed briefly, then played Wii with Uncle and cousin before eating Uncle's home made curry (with real panir cheese!). Cousin went to bed shortly after, then me and Uncle spent the evening talking, drinking and playing various video games. Ended up staying the night.

It was a good end to a good weekend.