greent's mfw journey

greent

Suffolk_lass said:

Ah yes, the 36m lunch break - based on an out of London working week minimum, from the days when London workers did an hour a week less to compensate for their commute - that was back in the days pre working time directive maximums of 48 hours. Negotiated through the unions-civil service wide Whitley Committee Structure across all Departments. That working week is still used for leave and pension calculations, so worth her being aware of it

Thanks for that, S_L She works 37 hours but her salary is calculated/ paid on a 40hour/ week basis (apparently...)

Oh - and a picky thing from them - her pro-rata annual leave entitlement from start date to start of new holiday year is 1.95 days.... and that's what she gets - it's not rounded up to 2 whole days!!  

Debsnewbudget said:

Can I be cheeky ? 

When you have done the research on the solar lights can you share it with me please?  

I am being very lazy 😄 but would love some in my garden 

Hi Debs - I bought lots from Wilkos in the end - I've bought both expensive and cheap ones over the years and have found no discernible difference in the quality/ how long they last. So I've got a 9m length of 50 multicoloured butterflies to go on the fence by our decking, so colour changing crackle bulb posts to run around the decking at regular intervals (it's slightly raised up from the lawn) and a long run of multicoloured plain lights to go in a very bushy tree (white ones get lost in there) I've also got (already) coloured flowers on a string, some small posts in the ground, some jolly coloured balls, pretty pink and pale blue lightbulbs which clip into trees, crazy bugs with lights in their b*ms, some pastel butterflies on a string in a tree and another string of plain white bulbs  Tahlullah.H said:

Everything sounding fabulous GT.  DD's job through to the extra money made through little bits.  I hadn't though to to try and calculate how much I had made from all sources in February like you, but I may be tempted.  It may spur me on to continue if it's a worthwhile number.

I'm still having problems with workmen as well.  Seems madness tht you are sat wanting to pay money out and no-one wants to take it!  Anyway, it will sort at some point no doubt.

Why is the BTL still at SSTC?  Are they really still wanting to buy?  If so what is the delay?

Argh - workmen! The bane of my life right now!!! Grrr!

BTL - the purchasers' solicitors took 4 months to send enquiries to my solicitors (kept lying and saying they had...) - it was only when I threatened to pull out and gave a deadline that they sent them. Now they say my solicitor hasn't answered everything - my solicitor says they have..... grrrr

greent

killerpeaty said:

So exciting for DD! Not having time to shop is probably a good thing?

It does seem really odd that it's been 6 months, but my purchase took around 5 or so months. Fingers crossed for you.

Thanks, kp

Time not to shop *is* probably a good thing in general - although DD is rubbish at shopping - as am I - we are a huge disappointment to my mother, whose favourite past time is retail therapy of any kind!! What I'm sure she'd occasionally appreciate is time to pop into S*perdrug or wherever - but apparently you can take a longer lunch break occasionally if you make the time up, so she can do that occasionally The team are mostly working from home and that's likely to continue on a rota basis at the very least - her boss said that each desk costs his budget £1000 pa and he has 40 desks allocated to him, so he wants to reduce that number substantially going forward (I think their financial year runs to 31st March?) There is also plenty of OT available (a sad result of c0vid - think vulnerable members of society) when she is fully trained - so could be an option to do the odd extra hour when she is WFH - just meaning a 5pm finish as opposed to 4 - no real hardship when you're not travelling anywhere I've said to her to throw as much as poss into savings right now - thankfully as I've already said she doesn't spend much usually

greent

So DD survived her first week at work - she enjoyed it and met all the team throughout the week - they had them coming in on rotation to meet/ train her Next week someone else starts, so she already won't be the newbie! She *is* the 'baby' of the team, though - although not as much as they all thought - they were told she was 19 (she's 23) so were hugely impressed when she was saying about doing her Masters at uni! - they all thought she was some kind of super-brain until she corrected them!  

'Twas my bday at the weekend - saw a couple (literally 2, one in the morning, 1 in the afternoon) of relatives on the doorstep for a quick chat when they dropped off presents - thankfully it was a mild day! Had a gorgeous Patisserie-Valerie lemon gateau for my bday cake - was excellent! Had some lovely flowers, vouchers, garden ornaments, smellies, loads of local artisan chocolate and some alcohol. Have since spent some of the vouchers at the GC on compost and some bargain-corner plants All edible things have been consumed (not just by me!!) and have re-gifted the alcohol (I don't really drink) Oooh - also had some gorgeous purple resin/ wood coasters from here: Resin Coasters | NelmwoodResin . I'm going to order myself a clock as a statement piece in the dining room   Didn't manage to get a takeaway for dinner on the Sat - but had it on the Sunday instead  

Have a nice chunky flebay parcel being collected today of over 20 hardback books And I'm popping into school 2 for some cover work this afternoon - and again tomorrow. Will need to go in early and see IT first though - haven't logged in at school in almost a year and don't appear to know my password.... oops (it's saved on my phone and laptop) Also having problems looking at the systems remotely to see what I'm meant to be doing... sigh (I do like to ensure I'm thoroughly prepped!) 

killerpeaty

Oh happy birthday for the weekend! I'm happy you had a good day and the cake sounds amazing. The coasters are beautiful.

Well done to DD, I bet she was exhausted but it sounds like it was positive for her. There are always misunderstandings the first couple of week at work, I worked with a girl who didn't tell anyone that they were mispronouncing her name for a couple of months!

Debsnewbudget

Thank you for the information about solar lights.
I am definitely going to  get some this year, enough prevarication about which are best, just buy them Deb 😄

Karmacat

Happy weekend birthday, greent!  Sounds like you had a good one lovely to chat to people like that - my word, with the weather the way it is today, you'd have trouble!

debtfreeoneday

Happy belated birthday!

greent

Thank you for the birthday wishes!

This week appears to have flown by! DS2 went back to school on Monday, DS3 on Weds (after having popped in to school for a test on Tues) and I had some unexpected cover hours at works Weds and Thurs (declined the offer of 1 for Tues) DS1 has gone back to uni city today - I think he needs some time away from us to keep his own hours for a while (whilst I don't make him get up early, I do make him be quiet after a certain time on a night - his voice carries somewhat) and work on his dissertation (which is on c0vid) DD had a good second week at work - she comes home and spends around 30-60 minutes chatting to me each night - she always used to chat to me about stuff when she got in from school (it was one of the things I missed the most when she went to uni) but this is a mix now - she is full of excitement about her work/ colleagues - but also needs an element of decompression from the stuff she's dealing with (and she's only on low-level stuff right now - but some of it is still not very nice - not that she can tell us anything) 

I had my c0vid vaccination this afternoon - had a text on Thurs morning offering me an appointment. Was very efficient at the surgery I do now have a bit of a headache, though - and a sore arm if I raise it to/ above shoulder height. Still well worth it, though

Have done 3 loads of washing today and had them out on the line - around half is fully dry and the rest just needs airing off for a bit - I brought it in around 30 mins ago when we had a shower. Includes all of DS1's bedding and also his duvet (didn't wash that - just had it out to air and will do so again tomorrow if it is dry - I find cool air very effective at airing items - will wash it in Summer when we swap to thinner ones) His room really needs a major clean and tidy.... I've sent Robbie robovac around and picked up obvious rubbish (filled his bin!) already but it is a state!  

I sowed some seeds last Sunday - courgettes, 3 different sorts of tomatoes, a few very old basil seeds and cosmos and snapdragons for flowers. The cosmos are springing up loads already Next on my list is sunflowers - I have 3 packs and will look to start them by next weekend . I need some more seed trays which don't have drainage holes, though (so I can stand teh trays which have individual seed things in) - I gave several to my mum last year with seedlings in with instructions to return the trays to me.... that didn't happen I'll pick some more up - might go to A1d1 in the week for the next lot of shopping and see if they have some in there I only need the bottoms - I have lots of 'lids'

Debsnewbudget

 Have been saving my mushroom tubs for seeds and just put clingfilm on the top 

Karmacat

I'm *definitely* making time tomorrow to sow my seeds, I have a stack I really, really want to get going this year, including ones which will be perennials.  Good to hear that some of yours from last week are sprouting already.