Life is what you make it .......

Horace

Excuse typos in my posts please, I am really tired and am off to bed.

Nite all xx

startagain_2

What a lovely surprise for me this morning to log on and read all you lovely replies.

I have been dwelling on the events at work (probably wrong, I know) and have been swinging from taking on a "Work to Rule" stance to being "All accomodating, super flexible person" - but I don't know which one I will settle for...

I will see how it goes today and tomorrow - Yes, I am doing an extra day this week - don't want to, but agreed a couple of weeks ago.... swings and roundabouts, I thought at the time - Look where it got me.

My probation meeting is next week and my young colleague has his at the end of this week, which accounts for his dramatic change in behaviour - he is actually communicating! I do see that there has been a quiet period as I had given up trying to engage him in conversation - he doesn't seem to want to and it has be hard work, to say the least.

Work is work though, and I will plug away at it. I can't see myself as self employed to be honest, I am not good enough. I have got plenty of chat and savvy but little in the way of IT skills like some of the younger people nowadays. Thanks for the boost though, folks.

What do you do Horace, I am intrigued? I know you post regularly on the self-employed thread but haven't really read too much of it, I am afraid It sounds very exciting - all that networking.
That sounds like me - seeing a lovely piece of furniture and settling for a dustpan and brush! I have actually managed to get a couple of things this year through scrimping and saving to get there but I can't see anything more on the horizon. It is all a bit tight at the moment.

Anyone else got any thoughts about numerous collections in the workplace for birthdays, leaving, illness etc,etc? I just can't afford it and there literally isn't a week that goes by without some sort of collection going on. It is crazy.... what do I do or say? In the current climate it will only seem like I am trying to estrange myself - Help?

Off now to get ready for work. I mustn't make it worse than it really is but I must admit that my confidence has taken a real battering since my redundancy last year. I feel like I am tumbling down the side of a mountain and can't get a grip on anything to halt the fall.

Friend has emailed asking if she can visit next week when she is over from my old home abroad. Crikey, I am going to have to let her down lightly when I tell her that I don't think we should meet.

Please move this black cloud from above my head, someone.....

SA

Wordsmith

Hi, SA. Sorry to hear about the black cloud. It is a very unsettling time for you, not knowing what the company is thinking and trying to decide what is best for you.

About the collections at work, I don't know what to suggest, except to say it straight - you just can't afford it. Or offer to do the bargain hunting of gifts, so that you all need to put in less.

Re you thinking you are not good enough to be self-employed – YOU ARE. It is not all about computer skills (if we are talking only of admin) – that is a tiny part. Think about the paperwork – keeping on top of invoicing/filing/diary keeping and so on; phone calls, customer relations, research, advertising meeting reps, and the many, many parts to an admin role, dependent on who you are working for (and your sales pitch can slant towards what you are good at – aim for companies that could do with your particular skills, WHICH ARE MANY). Lots of companies need gobby, no-nonsense, efficient help. And you fit the bill! Think what you do and what you could do for choc company – you could do the same for little businesses that don’t need full-time workers.

And we are all here, holding out our hands to stop you tumbling down that hill and to give you a lift back up.

startagain_2

I went into work this morning, dreading it as you know, and the HR manager was there at our site. I continued packing in the warehouse to finish off the big job that we started yesterday and then she asked me for a quiet word......

After speaking to the MD it has been agreed that I can apply for the full time positions and leave my department :j and........

the closing date for the vacancies is going to be deferred to allow me to discuss the roles and decide which I would be most suited for!!!! I am meeting her for an informal chat at the end of the week and then I will be applying. I am over the moon, as you can imagine.

I will try so hard to flourish in the new role and it will mean that I can come off HB and be independent (except for a little bit of Working Tax Credit) and away from the stigma. Oh, joy of joys!

I am off to walk MrT but wanted to share the news with you.

Speak soon,

SA

savingwannabe

I didn't get a chance to post anything. Wordsmith wrote a lovely message and now.... this.


OMG. Yay things are turning for the better. I am soo pleased for you.

Well done SA thank goodness they have seen sense.

Things are on the up. :j:D:money::money:

NB I am a very generous person. I used to give a fortune to collections and i used to buy rounds and rounds of tea (at 70p a cup) that was a lot each day and each week. When i was ill i realised how little people thought of me. I didn't get a card, or a present, most did not even verbally welcome me back on my first day after i returned - it is not a nice place to work - now i only give to nice people and there aren't many of those! Look after yourself first. Now i plan to as well. Not a nice lesson to learn for me but I am glad i know now.

RosaBernicia

startagain wrote: »

After speaking to the MD it has been agreed that I can apply for the full time positions and leave my department :j and........

the closing date for the vacancies is going to be deferred to allow me to discuss the roles and decide which I would be most suited for!!!! I am meeting her for an informal chat at the end of the week and then I will be applying. I am over the moon, as you can imagine.

I will try so hard to flourish in the new role and it will mean that I can come off HB and be independent (except for a little bit of Working Tax Credit) and away from the stigma. Oh, joy of joys!

:j :j Oh SA that's marvellous - am so pleased.

I did think yesterday that your HR sounded like they'd been good and I wondered if they were plotting to be able to move you rather than lose you. No sense in the company losing good motivated staff due to manager silliness. Didn't want to say 'out loud' in case I was wrong!

It's fab - you get a full time job with a company who can obviously see your value, and they get to keep a happy hard working you :T

Rosa xx

dojoman

Great news SA, well done, really hope it works out well for you :T:T:T

startagain_2

Thanks sw, you are right in that it isn't genuine at all and I detest any form of "falseness". It is ironic that as a family we stopped giving gifts at Christmas for the adults for economic reasons and now I am in a workplace that collects for and gives presents to people who hardly know each other. I secretly think that there are a few people who would rather not give but it is organised by my very forthright, soon to be ex, manager and people just do it for a quiet life.

Printed off the job descriptions and going to study them now, so signing off - speak tomorrow.

Thank you all so much for you kind words and support - back in the day this gloom and doom would have gone on for ages, not now, just a brief respite.

Hugs

SA

startagain_2

Crossing over of posts - thanks Rosa, sensible, knowledgeable and honest as always, and dojo, always lurking and ready with a few supportive words when neccessary - thanks, thanks, thanks

SA

RosaBernicia

startagain wrote: »

Anyone else got any thoughts about numerous collections in the workplace for birthdays, leaving, illness etc,etc? I just can't afford it and there literally isn't a week that goes by without some sort of collection going on. It is crazy.... what do I do or say? In the current climate it will only seem like I am trying to estrange myself - Help?

I don't know of an easy answer here - where I work now is sensitive to the problem. We circulate a card for birthdays, but no collection, and leaving collections are a plain envelope so you can drop in a bit of copper or small silver without anyone knowing it only added up to 30p

I do wish people would think about these things as it can cause such issues - people feel pressured into donating to strangers when they are already stretched, and that's before you even get into the 'popularity contest' nonsense... the drama we had at the last place when boy who fancied girl nagged workmates into buying her a pressie that was bigger than other girls in dept had received... :eek:

Rosa xx