New job, new beginnings.

patman99

The week got off to a flyer, as on Saturday, I sold a gizmo I got for free but doesn't do what I wanted, on Amazon. So, Monday, trotted-off down to the Post Office and posted it.
Monday also involved a trip over to my agency in Sudbury to complete a few forms ready for next week.
Got back in, checked my emails and whilst I'd been out, I'd sold another book (again, via Amazon). So had to walk round to parents to pick it up.
Tuesday, posted book. Received, filled-in and returned a form that DWP twice failed to previously send me, so since 26th March have had no benefits.
Wednesday was a really nice warm day. Met up with my former colleague for a final Wednesday coffee (I start back at work on Monday), and picked-up 1 pair of jeans and 2 pairs of casual trousers for £5.40.
Thursday arrives and yet another book sold. Picked it up from parents then got it ready for posting.

Friday, signing-on day today. Went in early as had a meeting with back-to-work adviser. Got a ticking-off for not 'job hunting' even though I have a start date.
Went to post the book then realised I could deliver it myself cheaper than I could post it, so took a trip to Fingringhoe.

patman99

The new job is not what I expected. I thought my new employers would be a state-of-art operation, Their products are cutting-edge, however the systems used to track customer complaints, log goods in, log goods inspection details and release the parts to production are straight out of the stoneage.
I really cannot believe just how much effort is required just to pull-up a part, check it, then release it to production. It involves the use of at least three different programs.
I have never come across such a disjointed mill-stone of a system before. No wonder they have so many IQA's.
If they sat-down and re-designed their systems from the ground-up, then the IQA team would get through at least twice as much work.
I will stick this job as long as I can, but am actively seeking alternative employment elsewhere.

patman99

Didn't bother going into work on Thursday as I felt really low. Told them I had eye-strain.
Felt better today.
This week so far, I have found a good template for calculating my weekly earnings, received an Owl CM119 energy monitor that cost me £12.50 from Ebay, and listed it at £29 on Amazon. These sell really well, so expect to shift it within a week.

patman99

The week has got off to a good start with yet another book sold on Amazon.
Work was better today. Got to play with some seriously expensive imaging kit. Also did my first bit of IQA inspecting. I was not enjoying the job last week, now I know it is because I am not looking forward to my cataract op. I know it will go smoothly, but I have decided not to renew my car insurance until after the op as it will give me something to do whilst waiting for my eye to settle down enough to actually go for a drive.

patman99

Got my first wage slip from my new job yesterday and discovered I am on a higher salary than I was told. This will help clear my debts even more quickly.

Been given another book to put on Amazon, so instead of reducing my inventory, I will be increasing it.

Only two days work this week due to cataract op on Thurs. I will now take the opportunity to thank Katie & Willy for getting hitched the day after, thus as it is a bank holiday, I will only loose 1 days pay instead of 2.

April has been a funny month all told. I've had only one 5-day working week in it.

Jobs for the week -

1. Re-new car insurance before 28 April.
2. Re-calculate budget.
3. Send letter to PPI company detailing my return to work (to get PPI payment for March).
4. Try not to worry about my op (I hate hospitals, so will adopt the 'just hand me the forms to sign, then get on with it' principle)
5. Finally get round to canceling my T-Mobile contract.

Let's see how many I get done.

patman99

patman99 wrote: »

Jobs for the week -

[STRIKE]1. Re-new car insurance before 28 April[/STRIKE].
2. Re-calculate budget.
[STRIKE]3. Send letter to PPI company detailing my return to work (to get PPI payment for March).[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]4. Try not to worry about my op (I hate hospitals, so will adopt the 'just hand me the forms to sign, then get on with it' principle)[/STRIKE]
5. Finally get round to canceling my T-Mobile contract.

Let's see how many I get done.

Op went well. Eye is now in the 3-week settling-down period (before I can 'officially' get some reading glasses).
Must admit that as I lay on the operating table, the first thought to go through my mind was 'Just tell them you are quite happy to live with your cataracts', thanks to the 'Building self-esteem' course I attended earlier this year, I was able to cancel this out with several positive thoughts. Am glad I did.

When I took the patch off Friday morning, the one thing that really struck me was just how much more vibrant colours were. I had been told that cataracts can dull colours, but just did not believe by how much.
The picture on my TV I bought last year looks absolutely stunning rather than just 'wishy-washy'. I am now looking forward to when they switch-off analogue TV in my area and turning-on Freeview HD.

Having had a go on my laptop, I decided to try working on my desktop (as this is closer to what I will be doing in work), quite surprised to discover that the last time I had used it was 28th August 2010. Loads of updates to do + Kaspersky license has expired.

Costs this week -
£9.99 for a pair of 'over the counter' reading glasses (till I can have an eye test in three weeks).
£2.99 for a neck-strap for above glasses.

Jobs for this week -

1. Cancel T-Mobile contract.
2. Take a short drive in the car just to make sure I will be OK to drive to work next week.
3. Get new kaspersky license from Barclays bank.

patman99

Returned to work Thursday afternoon and found that I should not get paid for B/H's. As these are part of my contract, I am not happy. Still, I do still have a job.
Just had a call from a good friend who had a call from another mutual friend (who I also know) about a potential job in IT for a major retail chain. If it pays better than where I currently am, then I would be stupid not to go for it.

patman99

Since last posting, I have completed a full weeks work, so next week I will at last know how much I will get paid for a weeks work.
Things are looking-up.

patman99

Well, haven't updated for a while, so here goes.
My first full wage slip revealed my true earnings for the week. It was much more than I had anticipated, so now I can start to plan which debts to clear first.

This month was quite a big-spending month. Had my 3-week eye test and need 2 pairs of glasses, one for distance and one for reading. This is due to my right eye adding 'blur' to the sharp image from my now-done left eye. There is a +10.5 difference in the vision across the two. The new specs will balance-out the vision until my right eye is done.
My other big spend is for the Trevor Bayliss Foundation to whom I have submitted an invention. They will do all the Patent Office searches, then let me know if my Idea is worth pursuing.

Started rounding-down my every day account into my savings account. By transferring everything over the nearest £10, I am starting to build a decent fund.
Next step is to clear one more credit card. This will reduce my C/C count down to 3 cards (actually, as one of them has only a few pence owing, I might clear 2 off). This will leave me with one card with 0% for another 15 months, and a second with life-of-balance interest rates on the 2 b/t's of 4.9% and 5.9% respectively.

Ooops, forgot, I also have an old Egg account I'm still paying-off.

This will leave me with just a loan with 3 years left and my mortgage.

patman99

Been busy this month. Work is hectic (they gave me an 'assistant' this week and next). Not much in the way of big spends this month other than £150 for 2 tyres and wheel alignment.

My big idea got nowhere. Must think of something else.

Looked at an Android 3 tablet the other week, so far managing to resist the urge to buy.

Financially well-off thanks to HMRC deciding that I am entitled to WTC. So plenty of cash coming in.