Scuba Shifts North and Debt.

scubaangel

Two more mystery shopping jobs done and written up.

Also hit my threshold on swagbucks so have requested another £25 (took a little longer than usual because of the holiday), am hoping to earn another £25 by the end of the month.

ZTD

scubaangel wrote: »

Just signed up to do the Great Manchester Swim in July, this means I have to now buy a swimming wetsuit as my diving ones I know from experience aren't flexible enough - will probably visit Decathlon to try some on then buy on amazon with my vouchers.

This bloke is also looking for a wetsuit... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrV-vdTB3t8

Though given he does his own needlework...he could probably repair that as well...

scubaangel wrote: »

The amazon shampoo and conditioner order arrived this morning, very impressed as I only got the dispatch emails last night.

As it was delivered while I was out it was left at Mum's house, leading to a slightly weird conversation where she claimed not to be able to visualise what just short of a litre of shampoo or conditioner would look like.

"It's a bottle. Like a litre bottle but slightly smaller. With the word 'shampoo' on it..." :rotfl:

scubaangel wrote: »

Applied for a couple more mystery shopping jobs, so hopefully will result in more pennies heading in to my bank account.

How's the job hunting going? Any leads?

scubaangel

Those holes would be easy to patch, bit of neoprene glue and a patch to keep the edges neat inside and out - sewing neoprene is a tricky business tends to make more of a mess than anything else.

Yeah that's pretty much how the conversation went. It's about the same quantity as that bottle of gin in your hand, but round and not alcoholic....

A few more jobs around so applications going in but not hearing anything back, my JSA idiot reckons my cover letters, CV's and general application packs are fine for the things I'm applying for so just need to hope someone'll give me a chance in interview at some point soon. If not I've raised the question of going back to full time study with them, they said they'd check in to what sort of finance I might be able to apply for given I have student loans for the first two years of a degree already and that always used to mean self funding the 'repeat' years then being able to get student loans for the third year, but with the change in the system I'm not sure how it would work now.

ZTD

scubaangel wrote: »

Yeah that's pretty much how the conversation went. It's about the same quantity as that bottle of gin in your hand, but round and not alcoholic....

"Nope, not seen it. By the way, that gin I bought is terrible. Very soapy tasting. Made by 'Tresemme' - I'm not buying from them again..."

scubaangel wrote: »

A few more jobs around so applications going in but not hearing anything back, my JSA idiot reckons my cover letters, CV's and general application packs are fine for the things I'm applying for so just need to hope someone'll give me a chance in interview at some point soon. If not I've raised the question of going back to full time study with them, they said they'd check in to what sort of finance I might be able to apply for given I have student loans for the first two years of a degree already and that always used to mean self funding the 'repeat' years then being able to get student loans for the third year, but with the change in the system I'm not sure how it would work now.

I know that when they were grants, then they were time limited - you got 3-4 years and that was it. However, last time I was in that system (albeit a long time ago), they seemed to want to keep lending provided you were on a recognised course.

What would you study? You should get some credit towards your modules depending on what you've done already - but check. I got no credit for what I'd done, yet they claimed surprise when I got 100% in the programming assignments.

"See that log...the one I've just fallen off..."

scubaangel

Assuming I go back to Marine Biology/Ecology/Conservation type courses the first year tends to be very broad general biological sciences modules similar to those I've been doing with the OU, but it would depend on the uni if they'd take credit transfer or not, but if I go for it I'd be tempted to apply for a Foundation year course first anyway, then look for acceptance in to the full degree course - from what I remember from my last full time study on my course people who'd done the foundation year only had to study for 50% of the credit in first year and 75% in second but that might have been uni and course specific, but with good enough marks on that plus current credit it'd be a way to ease back in to full time study and get a handle on how the uni likes to structure things since they all do things slightly differently and no doubt habits from OU study will need reforming in the same way some of my habits from previous study needed reforming to get the best marks from the OU tutors.

ZTD

scubaangel wrote: »

Assuming I go back to Marine Biology/Ecology/Conservation type courses the first year tends to be very broad general biological sciences modules similar to those I've been doing with the OU, but it would depend on the uni if they'd take credit transfer or not, but if I go for it I'd be tempted to apply for a Foundation year course first anyway, then look for acceptance in to the full degree course - from what I remember from my last full time study on my course people who'd done the foundation year only had to study for 50% of the credit in first year and 75% in second but that might have been uni and course specific,

It would be wise to check - the quicker your can make the course, the cheaper it will be.

scubaangel wrote: »

but with good enough marks on that plus current credit it'd be a way to ease back in to full time study and get a handle on how the uni likes to structure things since they all do things slightly differently and no doubt habits from OU study will need reforming in the same way some of my habits from previous study needed reforming to get the best marks from the OU tutors.

What job would you get after this? Is there a lot of them?

I actually know somebody who has a Marine Biology degree - he's a computer programmer, which is a bit of a waste of that degree. Though at least you like water - he doesn't.

Yes...we know...

scubaangel

Job availablity depends on the field and changes so quickly - when I originally applied for uni oil companies were the big employer, by the time I left uni two years before I was expected to graduate they'd pretty much stopped recruiting. Its one of the reasons I'm looking at topic specific foundation courses so I can work out exactly which areas interest me most and then apply for a full degree course which is more tailored to that interest - but of course it would be all about the costs, either way am looking at three years full time study.

ZTD

scubaangel wrote: »

Job availablity depends on the field and changes so quickly - when I originally applied for uni oil companies were the big employer,

Were they? Why? I'd have thought oil companies would have lost interest in marine animals since the start of the whaling ban.

scubaangel

ZTD wrote: »

Were they? Why? I'd have thought oil companies would have lost interest in marine animals since the start of the whaling ban.

I know was rather perlexing but does rather explain the reduction in oil companies seeking Marine Biologists.

Had my friend here since last Sunday, she went home on Friday and I feel like I've done nothing but sleep ever since.

The upside to that was getting out for a run first thing this morning before I went to sleep for a few hours, and then a second short run after I woke up again - and it wasn't raining while I was out either time. There was even that blue stuff in the sky thats normally covered by the grey wet things.

scubaangel

Grumble, my old faithful Sony ear buds are in need of replacement, after over 4 years of abuse one of them is stopped making any noise, thought earlier I was imagining it while I was out running but just checked and its definitely not working. So thats another few £s from my amazon stash used up.

Need to talk to my sister about the waterproof MP3 player she has see if she recommends it, as I think I'm going to need something to help me focus once I start swimming for more than 30 mins at a time - I find thats when my attention and interest in the swim starts to wander to the point its hopeless me staying in the water.