OK...this is a blog and yet I never post in it. Useful, that. Joobs has been bugging me to post in here for ages, but I've always never got round to it.
Sleep is under-rated
Anyway, back to life.
Last time I posted properly in here was my birthday and I'd just got my job back. A job that I no longer have. Yeah, things have changed a lot up here in Chester. We've
had to invest in noise-cancelling headphones for the arrival of Laxie to UK borders actually got most of the planning done, scarily.
Dress, check.
Suit, check.
Vegas Venue, check.
Flights, check.
Hotels, check. Ish. We still haven't decided where to spend the last 2 days.
UK Venue, check.
UK Entertainment, check.
Travel Insurance, check.
Cattery, pretty much check. I'm leaving that one up to Joobs.
Arrangements to get to London before/after flights, check. Well, they will be when they release the train tickets, but I have that day marked on the calendar.
London hotel the night before. Not done yet, but am keeping my eye out for decent deals.
I'm probably missing a few things there, oh yeah.
RINGS. (of the wedding variety, you bunch of pervs.)
Bought. They've arrived as well so now all I have to do is make sure they fit (I have a weird ring size cos I have a really slim finger but massive knuckle, and to add to that I want a wedding ring that doesn't slip up and down my finger lol!) and then they can be put aside for the wedding. They should have cost over £400 but Joobs and I managed to get them for about £380 and also got something thrown in for her engagement ring, think its some sort of replating. I'm sure she'll chime in and explain in more detail.
I never really explained the flights properly...or the hotels, or my working status...fuck, I'm gonna be here all night. Here goes...
Flights:We're flying with BA direct from London Heathrow to Las Vegas. We're then flying back from Los Angeles to London Heathrow.
Er, what?
To cut a long boring story short, we unanimously (and I mean I decided and Joobs agreed after I explained) decided that after a lovely 10hr flight back from the West Coast of America in a metallic tube with recycled farts for air we want to chill, have a shower, and freshen up before the 2 and a half hr train journey back to Chester. To do this, we need to gain access to the Arrivals Lounge. That's easy, we are flying Club World (business class) so sorted.
Or at least we were until I noticed that the Arrivals Lounge closes at 2pm in Heathrow. It's more of a breakfast lounge, and the Vegas flight lands at about half 2. So we decided to fly back from LA as that plane lands at about 11am. Sorted. Now all we have to do is get to LA from Vegas, and that equals...ROAD TRIP.
The flights cost about £2400, I can't remember how much exactly cos I fail. As Joobs is pretty nervous, I also shelled out £160 to reserve 2 seats, 64A and 64B. On this plane:
http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/British_Airways/British_Airways_Boeing_747-400_B.php Yep, that's 2 seats in the private 20 seater deck upstairs. It's also accepted that 64A is one of, if not the best seat in that class of travel on that plane.
I let Joobs have that one.
Hotels:Start off at Bally's. Decided as all I need for a hotel is somewhere to do the 4 S's lol, I didn't want to shell out for a hotel AND resort fees. So that left me with a choice of CET (Harrah's etc) or...CET. Awesome. Bally's it is then, decent location, decent prices and hopefully a decent upgrade for $20. Originally I was gonna just choose 2 hotels and kill a week at each, but Joobs wanted a 5 star hotel for the wedding. I said ok as long as we could go off strip for a bit as well as I'm into "old Vegas" and the stuff that's not just the Strip. That and I was watching the budget!So we compromised. 3 nights in a 5 star hotel then 5 nights in the Gold Coast. Leaves 2 nights afterwards for wherever we decide to go. Then I place a cheeky bid of £45 plus tax for a 5 star hotel on the Strip on Priceline and get the Vdara. For less than the cost of a Holiday Inn per night.
Get. The. Fuck. In.
Job:I don't work for BT any more. Thank god for that.
I was happily plodding along in my office when a recruitment agency phoned and asked me if I was interested in a Legal Secretary role. Does a bear defecate in the woods? I've been looking to get into Legal work for years. Law is one of my first loves, whether it be the Courts, the Police, Conveyancing, anything. The one thing that has been stopping me get into it though is that...I don't have any experience. Typical. Legal Secretary roles are like Travel roles, an absolute nightmare to get into.
Anyway, the agency say to me that their client are looking for an immediate start. OK, not an issue, despite me having a job already. I'd told Hays when I returned that of something better came up, consider this my notice and Hays agreed. So I was working under notice pretty much from the start, but the speed here was ridiculous. I sent my CV to the agency to send to the client on Monday at 3.25pm. At 5.15pm that evening, the agency asked me to go for an interview the next day. I did, that interview was at 1.30pm Tuesday.
I started at 9am Wednesday morning on a temp-to-perm contract.
A temp-to-perm contract is basically what I would say an extended probation, but more beneficial to the employer. They don't have to give notice, all they have to do is tell the agency that they are terminating the assignment. They don't have to spend the man hours looking for the employee as that's what they pay the agency for etc.
So I now work as a Legal Secretary in Conveyancing for Redrow Homes at their
in Ewloe, Deeside.
It pays a bit less now, as I work for the agency still rather than Redrow and they only pay £7ph whereas I was on £7.94ph at BT, but if I get the job full-time (and I really hope I do) then it's a rise as I believe the role is £16,000 a year. So yeah, I've been working my ass off there for 2 and a half weeks now and I'm loving it. It's the first job I've had in a LONG time that I actually want to get out of bed for, and that I feel proud of doing which is more important to me than money, despite needing to find about £6k between now and November.
Got 5 months and 25 days to do it though...
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