A new chapter, An empty nest, Drama school & Last year of Uni

Spendless

Thanks all. Well survived the 2nd day which is more than new starter did as she never came. It was a bit vague as to why, so I didn't pry too much. I can also sense some office politics going off  but I'm old enough and experienced enough to keep my mouth shut.  Would you believe I also received a text message from another agency asking me if I was interested in 4 weeks work, similar pay and area. I'm not as this current one is for longer and replied to that effect, but I also read it out to my line manager so they're aware that I am being asked elsewhere. This is pretty unheard of, usually it takes me around 6 months to find something. The job market is definitely buoyant at the minute. 

I also went out at lunchtime and picked up some bits on DD's behalf as she's making a stocking for her flatmate (he says he's never had one before. His parents are from a different country so I'm guessing it's never been part of their tradition). She's paying me back on her payday. Not sure currently if I'm sending the items on or going to make an overnight journey to see her 1 weekend around her shifts. She is working 12pm-9pm tomorrow in her fashion retail job for Black Friday - I don't envy her


@Honeysucklelou2 - Glad to see you about again. I thought about you and how you manage with your jobs and family situation when I was a bit daunted by the long hours of this one. Unfortunately DD still has a cough! I don't think she takes the best care of herself in getting rid of it though. I said to DH that if she was home, I'd like to put her in bed, with steam baths and plenty of fluids and taking cough mixture regularly but his reply my fantasy of what it would be like even if we were both home would be different to the reality which is true enough. 

savingholmes

Well done on persevering with the job. The money will come in very handy I'm sure and as you said - help set you up for your next role which is fab.

Coxy11

Well done on surviving day 2 and great news that you are being offered other jobs too. Keep your options open. I can't be doing with office politics either. I just keep my head down and get on with my job, makes life so much easier! 
Hope day 3 is good and bet you're looking forward to the weekend  

Spendless

Thanks day 3 started with me only waking up at 7.15! My alarm hadn't gone off, on closer inspection it had been knocked off the set to ring on my phone. No idea how it's been in my possession the whole time and I'd not changed anything. Brush of hair and teeth, clothes on and dive out the door, Was about 5-6 mins late and not noticed by my line manager till I pointed it out! Did mean I had to buy my lunch out for the 2nd day, really need some grocery shopping in to stop this but am out most of the day. Am watching Anything Goes at the cinema with a friend. The stage show tickets cost a fortune, this is a recording of the stage show. 

DD's job has already not worked out unfortunately. Tbh them having her in to train her on BF weekend wasn't the brightest of ideas but if she's sorted finding her ID out she'd have started earlier. She said the management were bullies, she was in trouble for not knowing things they hadn't trained her on, reprimanded for going to the toilet, a customer was abusive towards her and she couldn't take it. When she told the manager she was struggling the response was 'so do you want to resign with immediate effect' to which DD answered yes please and I don't think that was the response they expected. Don't get me wrong, I'm disappointed, DD needs to learn that jobs can be tough at first. However when you're stuck 100s of miles away there's not a lot of support you can give. I've told her she needs to look for somewhere smaller/quieter (similar to what she had before) but also so she isn't having to juggle a job round Xmas and NY to look in Jan instead and make whether she gets one the basis of if she comes back home after her college course ends in March or if she stays there until summer and for the next few weeks she uses the time to heal both emotionally and physically and shift that cough.

It does give me slightly more flexibility about visiting her next weekend. Trying to juggle between my new job and her work hours were proving difficult. Going to have a look at booking later today. 

savingholmes

Ouch to the job loss for DD. They live and learn. I once took a job on a higher rate within the same organisation - stayed 2 hours - then went and asked for my old job back as the manager was a micro manager and a bully and I knew I couldn't take it. Was a good call and I was welcome back.

EssexHebridean

Good for her for being brave enough to speak up and then resign though - sounds like others have just backed off in the past so she may have done someone a favour there. 

Coxy11

Hi Spendless,
Shame about DDs job but good for her for standing up for herself. Dealing with Joe Public in any job is a challenge. Hopefully there's something else out there for her and she'll be working again soon.
OMG to waking up late on day 3! Hope this week is going okay. How was the show at the cinema? We have limitless with Ode0n and they do live shows but we've never been. Not likely to be going anywhere anytime soon as DH tested positive for Covid last night so he's now isolating in DDs room and I'm his slave, fetching provisions. She has a piano in her room and he has spent his lunch hour playing and singing along to Pink Floyd oh my days.....
My test was negative but expect it's only a matter of time......
Coxy

EssexHebridean

Oh Coxy what a pain that is - so difficult when you're in that situation with one of you positive and the other not, too - fingers being crossed here that you stay "clean"! Hope he also stays as healthy as it sounds as though he is currently, too. 

Spendless

Sorry to hear Mr Coxy has the virus. Hope he gets a mild dose and you escape it. Envious of the piano in the room. DD took to performing arts at the relatively  late age of 10 and discovered a flair for acting. I wish I'd thought of encouraging both kids with more aspects of this at an earlier stage, as it benefits them in so many ways, not just if they want to persue it professionally.


I loved Anything Goes. It's never going to be as good as watching the live experience but it comes a good second when you watch the live recording of it and the prices are so reasonable in comparison. My only frustration was I wanted a program to look up all the actors and see where they trained. DD second guesses it to see if she's right - lol, dare I even say I almost miss her telling me at the interval who in her opinion is the best in it, who messed up and who is playing the part in a different way to her way of thinking. She did the last one when we once went to see Waitress and said that one of the female characters was playing it too like one of the main girls in the big bang theory and needed to be more like a Big Bang co-star. I spent the second half seeing just what she meant!I

This morning if it hadn't been that I was already awake and could hear Mr S pottering about, I might have also overslept today too! On closer inspection that's because when I set numerous alarms for yesterday morning, I hadn't realised I'd set them all to ring once not subsequent days!


Thanks for the positive responses re DD and the job. As she's now got a flair up of blepharitis that she gets from time to time plus she's realised she's in college all 5 days next week, not just her usual 4, it's probably just as well she's not trying to juggle work as well.

I have some news though. At lunchtime I was asked by my line manager if I was job hunting or intended staying with agency jobs. I told him I had just been looking for a job and explained the financial situation with us supporting DD and DD. He said he had recommended that the company offer me a position, said he had told described me as 'pro-active' but he couldn't promise anything as it wasn't down to him. I have to say I'm flattered. This has happened before to me but never within a week! I might be wrong but I *think* if a company takes you from an agency they have to pay a fee unless you have been with the agency so long - 13 weeks?? So, I will wait and see what happens. What I'm not prepared to do is stay long term agency. I've done that before and every time it was been to my detriment when things start to slide at a place. 

DH's payday today - yay. It's been a long month! I have tickets booked to go and see DD this weekend overnight. The hotels were sooo expensive though so I'm bunking in with her instead. Luckily it's a large room and bed she has!


 

EssexHebridean

That's great news on the job thing, and absolutely you're right to be flattered! It used to be that it was 13 weeks for it to be "free" for a company to hire you when you'd gone to them from an Agency - that will exclude time over christmas I suspect. I imagine the balance they will try to find is whether it's cheaper for them to pay you direct, and suck up the agency fee, or whether the better bet will be to let the agency contract run out and do it them. Also if they do the latter be wary of the agency finding another assignment you "have to go to" for a week when you reach the 12 week point, which will then restart the clock - at the first inkling of that be ready to get the company you are with currently to call them and make a noise. they're not meant to do that, I believe, but it may not stop them trying!