Horace's Biting the Bullet Diary

Horace

I went to view the house that I spotted this morning, it is nice but the kitchen is way too small. The floor in the kitchen is about 12" wide at most and there is no room to swing a cat. The house was nicely decorated and well cared for but the rooms were small and I could not imagine my furniture in there at all. Another thing that kind of put me off was a little dog who kept jumping up and when I was invited to sit down he kept climbing over me and trying to lick me all the time - yes, he was a cute dog but I wouldnt ask my parents to view the house because of the dog. I think the house is overpriced too but that is bye the bye as I am not going to live in it.

I got some petrol, initially I went to the BP garage but drove through it when I spotted that unleaded was 141.1p a litre, I drove to Morrisons and paid 139.9p instead as their petrol is the cheapest around these parts. I spent £20.01 (I hate it when the petrol rolls over that extra penny) but I don't need to fill my car up for quite a while as it is now three quarters full.:D

Since I arrived home, I have been cutting up the 4 baguettes that I picked up in Tatco this morning. I cut them in half across the middle and then cut them down the middle and bunged most of them in the freezer. These will make great french bread pizzas now that I have some cheese (Vintage cheese was 2 blocks for a fiver in the Co-op this morning). I got some other bits from the Co-op whoopsie shelf and in Tatco got 4 baguettes for £1 and a bag of sugar for 98p (will only have silver spoon as it supports our farmers and it is grown in the UK).

Horace

Spent the day at my parents yesterday, Mum commented on the fact that I had put on weight so I showed her the waistband of my size 14 skirt which is really loose, so loose I had to go up a notch on the belt in an attempt to keep the skirt on:D

Mum loved the curtains which will do until I have enough money to buy new more stylish ones. She showed me the correspondence from the solicitor containing stuff from the vendor. So we wait until tomorrow to see what is said by the vendor. Mum asked me again about the house and I said that I would be very happy there as there is a lot I could do with it.

Dad spent most of the time on the sofa in front of the telly - when he has his headphones on he cannot hear me try and talk to him so I tend to give up:(

Came home with another food parcel - 2 cooked chicken legs, a slab of homemade apple & sultana cake and a small Goblin meat pudding that I can cook in the microwave (I think that I am the guinea pig where that is concerned:eek:).

Horace

Today I am grumpy. I have just had a letter from Scottish Power saying that I am in arrears and need to be paying them £43 a month - it appears that I should have received a letter last year but didnt.:mad: How can I be in arrears when my last bill said that I was £84 in credit? Anyway they are sending someone to read the meter and then they can sort it out - in the meantime I do not need to do anything.

In other news I got a knockback letter from a job so rang them up and asked for feedback and it appears that the person who can give feedback is on holiday and won't be back until next week. I got the blether that they had received over 100 applications for the post so I asked how I slipped through the net because I met all their criteria and had all the essentials and the desirables on their person spec. One cannot help thinking that discrimination is at work both age and disability wise.:mad:

I went to the bank this morning and paid in my HB cheque and nipped to Aldi for milk - it seems that hhey have gotten rid of their handbaskets because people nick them - it seems that the village is rife with thieves and vagabonds:mad:

I am getting really depressed at the lack of any work on the horizon - I am doing everything right yet interviews are not coming through..what is wrong with me? Is it my age, my disability or what?

Horace

Not hurrah for a job but a hurrah nevertheless.

I am over my overdraft limit at the bank now:mad: overdraft being £500 and now £520 overdrawn which means more ruddy charges from the bank:mad:

However, I rang the auctioneers today because I haven't heard anything about the lots I put in the auction and I have nearly fallen off my chair with shock.

The light fitting that my aunt gave me went for £80 and the chinese gaming counters that cost me nothing (given to me by London twerp as they were left over after a jumble sale and he rescued them from the bin) made a whopping £280:eek: This money will have to go into my bank account and not into my credit union account (although I may see if I can divert some of it).

Horace

I have just made an appointment to visit Randstad again and will be attending next week - this is with a view to temp work. I need something, must try and get some money out of the bank for bus fare but will wait until I receive my dole money this week. What got me was I was asked what I wanted to earn as a temp - I have no idea what rates of pay are like these days, I last temped in 1995 and I was getting £10 an hour then:eek:

I hate this not having money and not being able to save - I am barely surviving and am worried sick about bills especially as in June I have to have my car serviced and MOTd and the tax is due as well - too much expense and I haven't been able to save for any of it:(

I need to change banks too but at the moment I am stuck between a rock and a hard place where that is concerned. As soon as I can jump ship, I will and will then reclaim the bank charges because I am fearful that if I start claiming now that FD will close my account for me.

Piquant_2

Delurking...

Horace I have read your diary for ages. I am always filled with admiration at your tenacity and good humour. You have always struck me as the sort of person I most admire.

You deserve a job, your whole attitude towards getting job says that you'd be a fantastic person to have on a team. I wish I could help in some way.

It's easier said than done I know, but try and keep positive. I have now officially delurked and I'd like to subscribe to your diary please.

Piq

Horace

Piq - thanks for your thoughts and you are welcome to subscribe to my ramblings.

I am having a "feeling sorry for myself day" today, I will get over it. Mum suggested that I change tack and maybe get a job with M&S as my uncle did that when he was made redundant and he went into their warehouse. Now he is retired he still gets 20% discount vouchers sent to him which he then passes on to other family members. I am fearful of using a till - I was forced to use a till at the sailing club when I had my volunteer stint with them, as soon as I was able I changed to do the outside maintenance work instead which was much more fun. I think this is why I haven't looked at shop work before.

I spent £1.69 in Aldi today - I bought 6 pints of milk. I spent 40p on a local carpark as I figured the Aldi one would be full, I did pass the ticket onto someone else though as it had time left on it so that was my good deed for the day.

beanielou

Great news on the £££'s from the auctioneers.
Bah to rest.

chevalier

Hi Horace, sorry you are having such an up and down time of it.

The house sounds like it is not to be. It is only perfect if it is buyable. Obviously the executors don't know their backside from their ear-hole. Otherwise they would be biting your arm off to sell to you, in the bad market there is over there at the moment. Move on and tell them to stuff off..!

Yeah to the auctioneers money, but bah to it having to go to the overdraft rather than the credit union.

As for the work thing. Sadly discrimination is VERY hard to prove. Not that that helps any, must be very annoying to be able to do a job standing on your head, and still not get it. Oh wait that is what is happening to me too:mad:.

Ref the till thing is it because you can't see the numbers very well that you are worried about shop work? If you were doing shelf stacking then that wouldn't be till work. Also seems to me most shops now you just scan a bar code and press total, so less reliance on the buttons....
chev

Horace

Woke up feeling quite feisty this morning. I am going to write to the employer who rejected me and will be asking how many folks were shortlisted aged 50 or over and how many were disabled. I know that I can ask these questions under the Equality Act 2010 and certainly under the DDA 1995. They are the only reasons that I can think as to why I was rejected because I totally matched the person spec:mad:

Mum & Dad were going to view a house yesterday but cancelled because although they had done a drive by, I had done one and sat outside the house to have a good look - the house next door had broken windows in the door and neither house had kerb appeal. The agents are still waiting to hear from the vendors - the agents cannot understand the vendors either but we do know that they have to sell the house because they won't get any money from probate. They cannot rent it in the condition that it is in either.

I discovered £3 in my Paypal which has been moved to my FD account (every little helps) and I have made a decision about the auction monies too - I shall open another account elsewhere, this is likely to be an instant access savings account. If i can get something with a bank then with my now dreadful credit rating (I am amazed how after 30 odd years of remaining in credit tnat my rating has been ruined after 9 months of being in financial difficulty), then I will have more opportunity to prove myself and open a current account. I will probably use some of the money for my overdraft but not all of it.

Hopefully the court will award me some money because I cannot live like this and after all I did contribute to the household by buying all the food and paying for all our trips.