Horace's Biting the Bullet Diary

Horace

Well I have siezed the bull by the horns today - I have ditched the option to pay via paypal for my breakfast meets that way I don't have paypal fees eating into my profits. Need to chase one guy too because he didnt pay me for breakfast last week and I thought he had submitted a standing order yet it appears that he hasn't:mad:

I have spoken to CCCS today as well and they are phoning me back at 8am on Thursday morning and I will be trying to get a GP appointment too because of the dark thoughts I have been having:( I know that I need to up my income because I cannot survive on what I have now:o

I had friends tweeting and retweeting my request for work over Twitter yesterday so hopefully something may come from that.

Good job I looked in my diary this morning otherwise I would have been going for an interview tomorrow night when in fact it is on Wednesday night and I have the interview for the other job a week on Wednesday. Money needs to be coming in so that I can eat and keep afloat.

I am supposed to be going to St Davids on Friday - I paid for the room ages ago, however, I cannot afford the petrol so I am hoping that I can offer a lift and that way people can share the petrol costs otherwise that is £36 down the drain:mad:

Applied for another job over the weekend - I found it on Gumtree - organising motorsport events, it would be right up my street because I adore motorsports having marshalled at a few in my time and participated in others...call me a speed freak, pedal to the metal and all that:D Gumtree is certainly more productive on the jobs front than the agencies.

Just need to put on a positive hat so that I can land these jobs instead of feeling cack because once again I am starting to doubt myself and am starting to lose my confidence. Horace..you can do it, you are a smart and successful woman! (wags finger at self).

startagain_2

"Just need to put on a positive hat so that I can land these jobs instead of feeling cack because once again I am starting to doubt myself and am starting to lose my confidence. Horace..you can do it, you are a smart and successful woman! (wags finger at self)."


Absolutely right.... You are creating and taking the oppurtunities, now you just need to give the impression that you are the person they need. Simples As someone who identifies with just about everything you say, I can totally understand where you are coming from.

Out of all this, you will emerge a stronger person eventually. I think we need challenges and setbacks in life if we are to move forward and better ourselves. I really do feel that and speaking as someone who has had SO MANY troughs and not enough peaks I know what it is to be up against it.

But fight you are, and fight you will, and you will get there, I know it.

Don't cram in too much and treat each interview as if it was the first and most important - even if it is a little, cruddy vacancy that you normally wouldn't look twice at.

I feel for you, but I know that good fortunes are just around the corner.

Thinking of you

Hugs

SA

Horace

Horace is picking herself and dusting herself off..I had a chat with someone I have known for ages as a person on a forum and a friend on Twitter and Facebook today. He and I once networked with the same company but never actually met. He shared wise words with me and gave me a bit of a lift.

Today, was a better day, I had new people at the networking breakfast and they have both taken out associate membership which means they pay me £20 a month and it covers their breakfasts and they can only attend for 2 days in a month. I know it isnt much but it is a start. One thing that was noticed was that I had forgotten to put my bank details on the Standing Order Mandates - that has now been changed and all my Mandates have the bank account details and a request to the bank for them to include the name of the person and a little code that I have created so that I know which group they belong to.

I was supposed to be going out tonight to a networking event but was told that as I wasn't a member and it wasnt exactly a networking event then I wouldn't be welcome..cool it saves on petrol:cool:

Not made up my mind about Friday although I have said to the organisers that I may not go - so I will forfeit £36 but if I don't have the £50 to fill up my car and buy food then I can't justify going and getting myself into more debt.

Managed to get a GP appointment for Friday morning at 7.15am:eek: - seems that my local surgery has started offering early morning appointments - this means another 5.30am get up for me...sigh. Oh botheration, I meant to go to the chemist to pick up the rest of my prescription...oh well, I will have to go tomorrow morning and then I can go to the post office to put some money into my business account.

Need to print off form at Co-op because I want to change the business name on my account - they cannot do it over the phone and it cannot be done online..ridiculous really especially as I have a secure flipping log in. #hatespeoplewhomakelifedifficult

I shall approach each job with relish, I know exactly what I am wearing too - it has all been meticulously planned:cool: I know I should sail through these. Got turned out for a job too which I would have loved but it seems that I have too much experience...oh well it's their loss.

Had some good news today too - the hospital have discovered what is wrong with my mum after years of her feeling rubbish..it isnt her heart at all, a trip to a private clinic sorted her out - she has something called Hypo Pylori Bacteria and is now on antibiotics and some other stuff and apparently is feeling tons better and has lost some weight. I told her about my venture into Benecol yoghurt drinks (which are vile) and she told me that she had read up on the internet about cholesterol and that stuff like the drinks were pure hocus pocus. There is no change with Dad's health - nor will there be...basically it is a waiting game although he has been with us for a long time and we were told in 2003 that he could die at any time. She told me today that she was also waiting for the rat man to visit - it seems that the rats have broken through the sewer pipe again and are scrabbling about in the roofspace of the extension and they have been spotted skipping along the wall. I hates rats:eek:

Wordsmith

Hi, Horace. Good luck with interviewing your prospective employers!

Isn't it great when someone comes alolng and says things you want/need to hear at just the right time? And very good news that your mum is now getting the treatment she needs - but, my goodness, to think that it could have been sorted out years ago!

From a distance, I'd say forego Friday's trip - yes, you've lost money, but it was spent long enough ago not to notice, but spending more when you don't have enough to eat properly doesn't seem wise. I know you'll do what you feel is right, though.

Keep strong.

Horace

I have made a decision about Friday, I am not going. I had to go to the chemist to pick up the rest of my prescription and nipped into the Co-op. I only went to the Co-op to look at their out of date shelf - I came away with a bag of bagels and a loaf of bread, I managed to get 2ltrs of Cravendale milk and a pack of tomatoes. Now I have pence left in my purse. My food situation is not too bad because I can make do and mend - I have nearly run out of spuds but shall subsitute pasta instead - could just murder a lamb shank but the oven doesnt work so I they will have to stay in the freezer (bought ages ago for £5 from local butcher). I needed sugar but remembered that I had some golden granulated in the cupboard from when I baked a cake 2 years ago (yes, you did read that right), the sugar has been kept in an airtight container and is now used in my coffee.

Had to go to post office to pay in money (walked there and back), whilst in post office took a call about the interview tonight at 8.15pm yes, I was going etc. Had another call at lunchtime and the interview has been brought forward to 6.45pm - which means that someone has dropped out:j

Managed to buy a pack of 2 loo rolls in the post office too for £1.19 - why on earth is loo paper so expensive? Still haven't broken into my luncheon vouchers yet, refuse to go to Waitrose because getting to waitrose costs petrol money and I would have to pay to park.

The riots in Brum have been bad yet I have been exchanging tweets with the local police who are very good at reporting what is going on and where. They have made hundreds of arrests and have sais they are averaging one arrest per minute:cool: I wanted to go out with the #riotwombles today but decided that I couldnt spare the money for the bus fare and there was no way that I was going to walk 6 miles into the city centre.

Feeling v.positive today despite my financial situation.

beanielou

Glad that you feel positive & hope all goes well tonight.

Wordsmith

Good luck with your interview, Horace.

If it's any consolation, I think you have made the right decision about not going away on Friday. Make sure you do something nice at the weekend, though, so that you don't feel you are missing out.

What is a riotwomble?

Horace

Feeling loads more positive today, I have just come off the phone to the CCCS who have told me that I am £436 short each month - I knew that already and they know what I am doing to get out of the hole but have given me advice about token payments of £1 and setting up a basic bank account too - although I can see that it would be a good idea it is the bother of having to move all my Direct Debits which is a pain.

The interview went really well last night - I met their present festival administrator and admit that I taught him a few things about twitter and facebook and blogging. I would have to use excel which I havent used for yonks but as the template is already there then it won't be that difficult to amend.

I think I really impressed them with my internet knowledge and the links that I have with all the hotels and venues in Birmingham to the point where I get discounted rooms etc - it is great for them because they need rooms for their international artistes. They asked me about my time at the University and my last job there so I did explain about the difficult boss and how he had managed to get through 7 secretaries in 3 years - I touched briefly on it not wanting to bad mouth my previous employer in any way.

I was offered a drink too - and thought it odd having an interview in someone's front room, I think they were disappointed that I wouldnt have a glass of wine but then I was driving. They told me that I was the first person they had interviewed because no-one else wanted to risk travelling around Birmingham because of the riots - I used the back lanes to get to Harborne and explained that I wasn't about to let a bunch of rioters stop me from doing what I wanted to do. They did say they had more people to interview and that they would let me know on 17 August. I got some quite positive vibes from them.

Although I am not going to South Wales on Friday, I shall go to North Wales for August Bank Holiday that has been paid for and it includes food, I am giving a lift to someone and she is very good as she goes halves on the petrol. In the meantime, I shall endeavour to get more money coming in.

@Wordsmith - a riotwomble is a member of the community who attends armed with a bucket, bin bag, broom and marigolds to help with the clear up...there have been riotwombles everywhere. This started on Twitter as an effort to get communities to clear up after the riots and basically make a stand..@riotcleanup is doing quite well and people are helping to make their communities a cleaner place. What better name to give them than riotwomble. Also via Twitter there is action being taken to replace items that people have lost when they have been burned out of their homes in London, at the moment this is only on a local level but they are hoping to be able to accept online donations.

Thankfully our streets were quiet last night and Birmingham City Centre was on lock down everything was stopped at the inner ring road - even Digbeth Coach Station was closed so they set up a stop on the Hagley Road to deal with passengers. I think it was quiet because it was chucking it down with rain.

startagain_2

Hi Horace,

Just catching up with your diary, I am a bit pushed for time this week and don't like to read the forum at work in case anyone puts 2 and 2 together.
My fingers are firmly crossed for your interview/s. Good luck mate!
I used CCCS "back in the day" and found them very good, even though I did most of the work myself (with the help of the good guys on here) but they were the ones who told me to file for BR. It was what I needed - someone else to back up my thoughts. I haven't really looked back to be honest, it has been slow progress but I am getting there.
I changed to the Co-op (cashminder account) and have been with them for four years. They handled everything to do with switching DD's and were very efficient.
Even if I could, I don't think I would change to another bank now.
Well done on braving the streets - I love that British stiff upper lip attitude. Little upstarts - I hope they all get caught and dealt with as strongly as possible. I hope that the Government will now allow the Police to treat offenders with enough clout to start deterring crime rather than !!!!!footing around. It must be very difficult.
Anyway, back to you. Good Luck for this weekend and let's hope that some good news comes winging your way very soon.
Hugs
SA

startagain_2

I can't say !!!!!! I will have to say "felinefooting" around from now on