A return to stability, an ideal for living, and a new resident
typed for your pleasure on 23 May 2014, at 7.07 pmSdtrk: ‘A A A A A A R’ by Two daughters
It may be too premature to tell at this juncture, but it seems that Deafening silence Plus is back to a state of DEFCON 5. What that means is that I’m employed again. *overenthusiastic thumbs up*
Frankly, the entire ordeal has been a fucking nightmare, and has probably taken about a year off my life with worry. I’ve never been keen on rollercoasters, and securing employment, let alone decent employment, was needlessly difficult. By the time things ended, I was working with six separate temp agencies, who couldn’t seem to get me anything in the field I really desired — data entry — and the best two or three of them could offer were positions in call centres, or in sales. As you’ll already know, I’d spent nearly twenty years in various call centres, and returning to one would be akin to taking a Vietnam veteran back through time to 1970, to spend some additional time ‘in the shit’; the best outcome for that person would more than likely be suicide.
Oftentimes either I wouldn’t be able to find something suitable, or there were instances where a place would want to set up an interview, which I’d attend, and whatever prospective employer would end up choosing someone else. One of my favourite bits was when I went to an interview and totally aced it, but ultimately, I was told I’d have to cut my ponytail off and not wear earrings in order to get the position. It’d be one thing if it was something I really wanted, but this was for a call centre that was paying $10 per hour. Even the temp agent who organised the interview was baffled at their Fifties-era dress code requirements, so what does that say?
No wait, I take that back: the best bit had to have been when a temp agent scheduled an interview; it went well, they told me I was hired and report to work in a week, but between then and the start date, the agent then informed me that the employer had a hiring freeze take place, and I wouldn’t be able to start when I was due to. That happened twice. With two different temp agencies, serving two different employers.
Thankfully, however, I’ve had a full-time job now since late April! I work for a place… wait for it… doing data entry! It’s Monday through Friday in the morning — actually, they have flex time, wherein I can come in as early as 7.30 or as late as 9am — and I’m in a room with eight other people, entering data and doing imaging for a national health-related company. It’s dead easy and stress-free, I can wear my headphones, and it’s five minutes away from a place that sells sushi. Plus, it’s the highest paying job I’ve ever had, so needless to say, it’s a pretty fantastic gig. The only downside to it is that it’s a 20-25min drive to work, and with insidious rush hour traffic, it’s nearly an hour home. Sure, I’m catching up on my podcasts, but ergh. I’m going to try my damnedest to start getting to work at 7.30am, so I can circumvent traffic both ways. That’s gonna take some training, as nearly seven months of being on the dole has eroded any concept of a ‘normal’ wake-up time. But it’s nice being at a stage of my life where I actually like what I do at work! The drive, however… not so much. It’s all for a good cause, though; i.e, me keeping a roof over my head.
Apart from freaking out due to lack of job prospects, what else have I been up to, you axe? Among other pursuits, I watched all of Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy, a passel of episodes of the fantastic QI on YouTube, put a sizeable dent in my ‘anime that needs to be watched’ list, as well as seeing ‘The Lego Movie‘, ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel‘, ‘The Raid 2: Berandal‘, and Gareth Edwards’ ‘Godzilla‘ in the theatres with the miscreants I normally hang out with, so there’s that. (Each one of those films is highly recommended, in case you were wondering).
Also I bought a copy of the reissue of Joy division’s debut EP ‘An ideal for living’ on Record Store Day! After all, I had my orders.
#RecordStoreDay is coming up! I told @Davecat that unless he found a copy of that Joy Division reissue, don't bother coming home 😐
— Sidore Kuroneko (@leahtype) April 13, 2014
Despite the fact that I have a modest vinyl collection, composed mostly of stereo demonstration records, we don’t really have space for a proper hi-fi here at Deafening silence Plus, so the EP is currently being displayed in our record frame in our flat’s ‘hallway’, as seen here.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
Upon reflection, I should’ve bought two extra copies, now that I see people on eBay flogging them from $40 – $60 apiece…
And the other major event was that my third Synthetik flatmate, Muriel Noonan, arrived home on 31 March! She’s from Coventry, used to work in a library, and is made by Textile Doll, the company from Latvia that I’ve mentioned a handful of times on ‘Shouting etc etc’. Expect a full review on her when I manage to get my post-work time sorted, but she likes it here, which is good, as we like having her here!
So that’s pretty much what’s been up with what’s goin’ down / In every city, in ev-er-y town. As I’m fond of saying, I have to get the barrels up to speed before I’m posting on what passes for a regular basis round here, but now that I’m no longer freaking out every other day for fear that I’ll have to move back in with my father for the second time, I should be posting again again! ‘Woo’, with an additional ‘Yay’
Random similar posts, for more timewasting:
Stuff / Nonsense on September 23rd, 2005
If your ears are bleeding, that means it's working on July 20th, 2006
May 23rd, 2014 at 10.54 pm
HUZZAH! Sounds like this job will certainly “do.” Sit back, breathe through your nose, and work on training yourself to awaken a bit earlier. Great photos of Shi-chan and Muriel, too!
May 25th, 2014 at 10.41 am
New Job ain’t bad, ain’t bad at all! The other day, I had a lengthy discussion with my trainer about UFOs and other Fortean-type subjects — that he initiated — so it’s not an uptight atmosphere at all. At times, it’s so laid-back that I feel like I’m getting away with something! Getting away with the best job I’ve ever had, more like.
And thanks for the photo-praise! With Mew-Mew’s arrival, it’s a good gauge of how it’ll be when additional Synthetik lasses move in with us. It’ll be a bit crowded, but the best kind of crowded. 🙂
May 26th, 2014 at 10.43 am
Congratulations on the new job! You’re the second person that I know who’s scored employment after a long drought. And best off, it is what you wanted!
About that drive, have you considered finding a place somewhat closer, possibly ground floor and a bit more conducive to smuggling dolls in and out for meets? Just throwing that out there.
Nice to hear that the folks you work with seem open minded. That’s never a bad thing. 😉
May 27th, 2014 at 2.17 am
I’m glad you’ve got a job that not only pays the bills, but doesn’t make you want to gouge your eyes out with a fork on an hourly basis. I hope Muriel is getting on with Sidore and Eleana!
May 28th, 2014 at 7.52 pm
Mahtek —
Jobs! They’re everywhere! Well, not really. You almost have to bribe someone to get one, and that would require having money, which requires having a job, etc etc. But yes! And I understand that your own economic prosperity continues apace as well! I need to get the details on that soon…
And being honest, I consider pulling up stakes and getting a place marginally closer to work, but then I realise how much I despise moving. You’ve seen all the crap I have! And you know the lasses won’t help out! ‘Oh, but we’ve got lazyitis!’ Ridiculous.
I’m reminded, though, of how Everhard had an arrangement where he had a place he’d stay at that was closer to work during the week, then return to his proper home (and his Dolls) during the week-end… but I’m not making that much money. 🙂
Laura —
I would almost say it’s fun! And I would almost use the term ‘chilled out’ to describe the atmosphere! Overall, the job is a keeper. 🙂
Both Shi-chan and Lenka think Mew-Mew is amazing! As a matter of fact, we just finished their first official photoshoot together this past week-end, so expect something pleasant to look at soon. 🙂
May 29th, 2014 at 4.05 pm
Congrats on the new job and the new doll of course. Being out of work sure is miserable. (My last such stint in 2009-10 was just over a year.) However, when my previous employer took me back on, the cost of weekday accommodation (mainly) caused me to lose money! Not much, but I was paying for the privilege of working. However, after six months, they let me work from home most days, and I am now in profit again. (Not renting any more, but doing a lot of driving on the days I visit the office.)
Here in Britain, if you are on state unemployment benefit and you are offered a job, you have to take it regardless of how much it pays and whether you are suited to it. I found that JobCentres don’t enforce that law to ridiculous extents, however. Although some years ago a court case resulted in a judge telling a woman whose religious beliefs prevented her from working in some kind of sex-oriented shop (not an actual ‘sex shop’ as such) she had to comply with the law and take the job.
May 29th, 2014 at 4.07 pm
And I meant to say, that photo of Sidore is terrific. She looks better every time I see her.
June 5th, 2014 at 3.06 pm
Happy #Yay Day !
We are sooo happy for you !
Many congrats for your new job and a very warm welcome to Muriel, the 4th member of the Cat Family.
We feel so very much connected to you.
It`s interesting, that she worked in a library – I did that for 21 years (it was more like a factory job).
I just apply for getting my “staying at home – don`t have to go to work” money and it worked.
I will receive it until 8/2030.
By the way, the 2nd season of “Real Humans” is running now on german TV. They said, it`s sold to fivty country`s – maybe there`s an english version too !
June 14th, 2014 at 4.34 pm
Muriel is such a beauty. Another fine addition to the family.
June 15th, 2014 at 10.57 pm
Everhard —
I remember the last time you were ont’ dole, but was it really over a year?? I didn’t think it was that long, but I suppose you’d know more than anyone.
I was chatting with one of my coworkers yesterday, and we were comparing longest time spent not working: I had seven months, whereas he’d had about two years. He was living with his parents at the time. But we were discussing how being out of work for that length of time, it’s very nearly like going feral. You have to get reaccustomed to working with people, being in bed/out of bed at a certain time… that sort of acclimatisation takes time. Or maybe I’m just lazy.
Having said that, working from home is the Holy Grail of jobs! When your commute entails going from your bed to your computer, that’s fantastic. ‘We’ve got a slowdown this morning… traffic is backed up by the fridge,’ that sort of thing.
I’m sure that ‘you have to take a job if you’re on state unemployment benefit, whether it’s good for you or not’ works well for the state, but not so much for people like that lass at the sex shop. More effort should be made to fit people to where their skills/talents/inclinations lie, but that reeks of effort…
And Sidore says ‘ta very much for the compliment, pet!’ Naturally, she’d have to agree with your assessment. 🙂
Herr Synthetik, Frau Synthetik —
Danke for your congratulations! Muriel is fitting in nicely round here, we think! We stil have to catch her up on many things, but it’s fun for us, and she always looks forward to it. 🙂
You worked at a library for over two decades? Lucky bastard. Although you make it sound like it wasn’t that good, though. And it sounds like your ‘don’t have to go to work’ payment should do you well! You can concentrate on making more music, and spending time with your Synthetik Liebchen. 🙂
With the success of ‘Real humans’ both in Sweden, Germany, France, and other countries, I’m sure the DVDs for the second season will be available in English as well. As they aired it in Australia, we just got our copy of the first season with English subs, so now we just have to wait for that recent series!
Quin —
You can’t see her from there, but Muriel did a little curtsey. 🙂