New job, new beginnings.

patman99

Good day today. Got 3 YouGov surveys done. Also set some parsley & mint seeds (starting a herb garden) & finished fixing the oil filled radiator (unstuck the thermostat & gave it a good blast with WD40 earlier in the week then allowed to air-dry).

Today's bargain, 1x Webber kettle BBQ for the sum of £1.84. Just needs cleaning and repainting ( I have some spare Hammerite left over from a job I did a few years back).

patman99

BBQ collected. Gave the guy £2 & told him to keep the change.
Went to a bike rally on the way home & now I WANT a motorbike. Just need to pass my test first.

Am on holiday for this week & on Tues. I have a trial day at another company. As it is a permanent job rather than temp., I will seriously look at excepting it if offered. Just need to make sure I can survive with a 90p/hr pay drop. Luckily, all the minimum CC payments have dropped over the last few months, so only need to find another £10 in savings to get the safety of a permanent contract.


Jobs for the week -

1. Get some Hammerite Heat resistant paint to respray the 'new' BBQ.
2. Sort stuff for bootsale.
3. Have another go at a PPI reclaim.
4. Edit & upload photos to Alamy.

patman99

Spent the morning sanding down & varnishing the handles of the BBQ & sanding-off the rust from the bottom shelf. Have been online to look for a new grill as the old one is very rusty & have found out that the BBQ is still available at £110, so even spending £10 on a new grill still makes it a real bargain.

patman99

Just updated my debts (exc. o/draft) in my sig & am closing-in on the £40k owed hurdle.

Trial day went well & they want me to go back for another on Thursday. Taking the job would mean taking a 92p/hr pay cut, but for not having the stress and hassle that goes with the current Agency assignment it will be worth it. The firm who gave me the trial day do have plenty of o/t so making-up the shortfall will be no problem.

BBQ handles are now varnished & back on. Just leaves the purchase of some heat resistant paint to finish-off the top & all is good to go.

patman99

Well, up at 6:00 this morning for a bootsale. Arrived at site and set up by 6:30, back home by 8:40. Started raining at 8:00 & just got heavier & heavier. I sold £8 worth of stuff & the o/h made her pitch fee back.
Typically, 5 minutes after we finished unpacking back at home it stopped raining & now the sun is trying to force its way through.

Scanned 150 books into 'Zapper' & only 3 were accepted. It appears they have tons of every book in existence & can't shift them. This is due to people switching to e-readers from printed matter.

patman99

2nd trial day went not so well as 1st. Was honest with them with how I felt & they agreed. No new job to look forward to, but at least I get 2 paid days work (on top of the holiday pay I'm already getting).

Checked MCOL & the Court issued my claim last Tuesday so the scumbag motor trader should have had it by now. Just waiting for his response.

patman99

Just got my statement for one of my loans today. Have calculated that I have 14 more payments then I will be free of one debt.

patman99

Is it me, or do the program planners at C4 have a warped sense of humour ?.
First, they paired 'Superscrimpers' (a program about 'mend & make do') with 'The Hoarder Next Door' ( a program about helping people to throw-out all the junk they have been hoarding). Now, 'Hoarder' has finished, so what do C4 replace it with ?. 'Skint'. A program about people on the dole.

patman99

After all the hassle of having to register with an Umbrella company in order to get my hands on my earnings from the 2nd Agency job I did whilst on holiday, I got to thinking whether it would be worth me putting my 1st Agency work through the u/c as well.

Worked-out I could submit expenses claims for mileage (186 miles @ 45pp/m), food ( 5 days @ £5 p/day) & workware ( £2.12 p/w).

Is it worth it?.

First the 'pros' -
Save £900 p/a on Tax/NI

Now the 'cons' -
Extra paperwork each week.
NO paid holidays, so these need funding from the savings.

Conclusion. I would lose nearly £600 of this just to cover bank holidays. As I am entitled to paid holidays at the moment, I will continue to use the U/C only for Agency no. 2 as that is the only way they will pay me.

patman99

Had a good day. Pulled a 16oGb HD out of an old PC case I was given & went to hunt-out my external caddy to test it in & found the caddy had a 200Gb installed in it that I had pulled out of another PC a long while back. Tried the 160Gb, but I think it is dead.

Got outside & have sown some more onion seeds. A weekly sowing should keep a good supply going.

Jobs for the week -

1. Prep another tub for lettuce
2. get some netting to protect my strawberries from the thieving pigeons
3. Keep on popping-in job applications.
4. Weed the 'veg' patch.