Vixen's Diary

Send Love Now

2009-09-01T15:01:14Z

Just dropping in quickly to ask for your prayers, good wishes and thoughts.

I just got a call from Graeme's sister to say that his mum has being taken into hospital. We're hoping that it's nothing serious, but we really don't know any details yet.

I'm working tonight, but one of my parents is going to take him to visit her this evening. His step-dad is with her and his sister is staying with her dad to be closer to them.

I'll let you know what happens, but please keep us in your thoughts tonight.

UPDATE: We now know that she has an infection in her pelvis, which is causing the pain. It's not serious and it's relatively common. She's on a 24-hour course of IV antibiotics which will last her until early tomorrow evening. Depending on how she is then, she'll either go home or stay in another night for observation. Thank you for thinking of us during this little scare.

The Shack

2009-09-01T02:51:43Z

Just finished a book today that really gave me something to think about. It probably won't interest some of you, but I think anyone with an interest in Christianity or religion and theology in general would find it a fascinating read, and since I know some of you on here are, I thought I would recommend it to you here.

It's called The Shack and it's by Wm. Paul Young (to be found on the interwebnets as www.theshackbook.com). It is a piece of fiction, but it is drawn from the real spiritual and emotional experiences of the author.

I first heard about it from my minister a few weeks ago when she used it as the basis of a sermon. She heard about it after hearing some minister friends debating it.

As a brief précis, a middle-aged family man experiences a horrible tragedy that brings on The Great Sadness and disrupts his relationship with God. A few years later, he recieves a letter, apparently from God, asking him for a meeting at the shack where the tragedy occurred.

The book isn't terribly long. Usually I'd have read it in a day or two, but the material gives you so much to think about that it took me a bit longer. I think I need some distance to properly describe the way the book made me feel, but I do know I can recommend it highly.

The website might give you a better description or idea of whether you want to read it or not. I think it even has a sample chapter. Go along and have a look. I think it's worth it.

scottish_vixen @ 2009-08-31T14:56:00

2009-08-31T14:02:45Z

I pinched this from namarie24 . Let's see what a TVphile I am.

Empire Magazine has revealed its list of the 50 Greatest TV Shows ever:

1. Bold the shows you watch.
2. Underline the shows you've seen at least one episode of.
3. Post your answers.

I think I'll take shows you watch as shows you've seen the majority of and would make the effort to see the rest of.

50. Quantum Leap
49. Prison Break
48. Veronica Mars
47. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
46. Sex & The City
45. Farscape
44. Cracker
43. Star Trek
44. Only Fools and Horses
41. Band of Brothers
40. Life on Mars
39. Monty Python's Flying Circus
38. Curb Your Enthusiasm
37. Star Trek: The Next Generation
36. Father Ted
35. Alias
34. Frasier
33. CSI : Las Vegas
32. Babylon 5
31. Deadwood
30. Dexter
29. ER
28. Fawlty Towers
27. Six Feet Under
26. Red Dwarf
25. Futurama
24. Twin Peaks (well, all of the first season, which is all that's available on DVD)
23. The Office
22. The Shield
21. Angel
20. Blackadder
19. Scrubs
18. Arrested Development
17. South Park
16. Doctor Who
15. Heroes
14. Firefly
13. Battlestar Galactica
12. Family Guy
11. Seinfeld
10. Spaced
09. The X-Files
08. The Wire
07. Friends
06. 24
05. LOST
04. The West Wing
03. The Sopranos
02. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
01 The Simpsons

Do you remember where you were three years ago?

2009-08-23T21:51:58Z

Some of you may recall this day three years ago. A recently bereaved, lonely girl was taken for coffee by a charming, clever young man with his own brigade of stalkers. That coffee meet-up turned into a 9 hour date and was the best thing to ever happen to them.

Today was our third anniversary. We're happier and stronger than ever. Just wanted to thank all of you who have always supported us.

Stitch Witch

2009-07-30T13:03:21Z

The delightful belsum has requested some photos of my recent stitching efforts. I therefore happily oblige.

I finished this last autumn and I'm hoping to get it framed in time to give it to a colleague for her wedding at the start of October.

I picked this one up because I had run out of things to stitch and it was done in about a month over Christmas. I'm still not sure whether to keep it or give it away.

The big project I've just finished. I'm going to get it framed when I've done the other two so they all look the same. This is one of those rare projects that I know I'm going to keep for myself. I just put too much into it and the trio just have to be kept together.

And Another One

2009-07-29T18:35:43Z

I'm on a meme roll!

"Leave me a comment and I will give you a letter.
Then, write 10 things that you love starting with that letter. Post the list in your journal. Give out letters to those who comment in return."

I was tagged kaffyr with the letter "S" and here are my answers.

Stitching - I love my cross stitch. I've just finished the most beautiful, but intricate and difficult portrait of Tutankhamun, one of a trilogy of him, Nefertiti and Cleopatra. I have the other two ready to do, but I'm taking a break to do a Popcorn and Friends calendar that my mum gave me for Christmas.
Singing - I love to sing and always have. I'm not the best, and I get a bit of stage fright singing in front of people that makes me sound like a hyperactive mouse, but I'm improving by singing along to Guitar Hero and Rock Band with my friends.
Summer - OK, I get hayfever and allergies, but I love the better weather, the chance of sunshine, the smell of washing that's dried outside.
S - the nurse I work with most often. She's funny, intelligent, talented, hard working and will defend us ACAs fiercely against students who get to uppity.She's kind compasionate and strong - everything you'd want in a friend.
Sisters - OK, she's a pain in the arse. She's loud, nosy and irritating. But she's my little sister. My earliest memory is of the day she was born. I love her to bits and anyone causing he trouble will have me to deal with. Same goes with Graeme's sister.
Sharon Penman books - I was recommended them by heatherbelles and loved them. I'm planning on doing a reread soon.
Sleep - with my shift pattern, a round 7 and a half hours sleep can be a luxury. I appreciate it when I get it.
Scott - a good friend of Graeme's and now one of mine. He's the sweetest guy you could ever meet and a very kind, gentle soul. He's generous, loyal and has been a great friend to us since we moved back here. Now we just need to find him a girlfriend.
Sweets - Graeme and I both have a very sweet tooth. There isn't a day that goes by where we don't have some sort of sweet treat. Probably should cut down. Doesn't mean we will.
Sweetheart - I had to get him in somewhere. My sweetheart. My lover. My best friend. The most wonderful man in the universe and the person I'd be most lost without. I love him. Graeme.

Meming on Holiday

2009-07-29T16:46:34Z

Tagged by belsum . Thanks for giving me something to do while Graeme's at work.

First: If you've been tagged, you must write your answers in your own LJ and replace any question that you dislike with a new, original question.
Second: Tag eight people. Don't refuse to do that. Don't tag who tagged you.

Lots of pillows or just one? Two. I could do with three though. They keep sliding away from me.

What kind of books do you read? All sorts. I have a very ecclectic taste. I read a lot of historical fiction, which is countered by the number of non-fiction historical biographies I read. Also a lot of crime fiction, politics, fantasy and classical literature.

What are your most awesome skills? Embroidery, cooking, persuading stubborn dogs to eat.

What's your occupation? I'm an Animal Care Assistant. Which my bosses and nurse thinks mean competent, qualified member of the nursing staff. Which students think means shit-shoveler.

What's really creepy? A dog with no nose. Seriously. Saw one at work that had it's whole upper jaw and nose removed because of tumors. The most bizzare combination of creepy and pathetic I've ever seen.

What's your current fandom/obsession/addiction? Addiction = Stitching. I've just finished the most enormous project and am more than 1/4 of the way through the next. Obsession = passing my driving test.

What flavour ice cream would you choose right now? Cookie Dough!

What websites do you always visit when you go online? Work and personal email, spymaster, Neil Gaiman's blog, Mitch Benn's blog, Knocked Up (belsum's blog), Waiter Rant, Organ Grinder, Cold Wet Nose (a dog blog)

What was the last thing you bought? Well, I'm about to order take-away. Before that... deserts for my dinner party last Friday. I've had a frugal holiday.

What was the cutest thing you've seen today? Graeme asleep. I got up before him.

Do you get cravings? If so, what do you crave? Chocolate, Chinese from the take away down the street, Graeme when I'm at work and tired

What do you do to change your mood? Sew, listen to music, talk to Graeme

What is your zodiac sign? Pisces. Explains my hyper-sensitivity.

Do you want to learn another language? Gaelic.

Five things you can't live without. Graeme, my iPhone, my stitching, my best friend Jenny, books

What's something you'd like to say to someone right now? G, you're crap at your job, you're physically incapable of doing some of it, you're on the verge of being fired, do us all a favour and jump before you're pushed.

What are you looking forward to? Passing my driving test and being able to drive to and from work.

Say something to the person who tagged you: I promise I'll send you a chatty email soon. Hug the kids for me.

I'm always the last person to do a meme so everyone on my f -list who would do it has been tagged already.

My Life in Brief

2009-07-29T08:22:26Z

A short review of my life over the last couple of weeks.

1. Loving the holiday. It is exactly what I needed, though seems to be flying by.

2. Went on a tour of the new hospital last week - it's gorgeous. Can't believe it's ours or that I'll be working there in about a month. Someone get me a map STAT.

3. Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince was great at the IMAX. I hadn't seen anything in 3D since the years when you had green & red plastic glasses. Technology's come on leaps & bounds.

4. Cooked dinner for 6 on Friday. Went very well, though I made far too much. Have been getting appreciative texts & emails ever since.

5. I've booked my driving test. September 3rd. I'm very nervous. The UK driving test is very strict. The pass rate is only 43%. Eeep!

6. My allergies are playing up. Stupid hayfever/rapid erratic weather changes.

7. Enjoying finding TWoPpers on Twitter. Any more of you out there?

scottish_vixen @ 2009-07-04T14:00:00

2009-07-04T13:07:27Z

Stolen from </a></b></a>azmatazz and namarie24

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth full sentence.
* Post that sentence along with these instructions.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

"'It's been the same for years, one thing after another, and they won't listen to - OH, NOT AGAIN!"

The closest book, by about 1/2cm was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. If you can't tell, that was Mrs Weasley talking about Fred and George. It was in a box of books and DVDs that we either have duplicates of, or don't want any more and are planning on selling or giving to charity.

WANTED: Thoughts, Prayers and Good Wishes

2009-06-30T11:17:21Z

You all know that other than She Who Shall Not Be Mentioned, I get on very well with all my colleagues. In nearly 4 months of working together we've become good friends. Well today, through the power of the interwebnets, I'm asking you to keep one of them in your thoughts.

On Sunday, Karen had some kind of fall from her horse. She's currently in hospital with a suspected broken back.

I don't know many details, but it's not as serious as it could be. She has been able to get up and walk around a little, so the damage isn't crippling, but she will be sore and will take a long time to heal. We don't know how long it will be until she returns to work. But she will be much thought of and missed until she does.

Heartbreakers

2009-06-25T18:19:20Z

The best aspect of my job is watching patients that you get fond of going home healthy and well. The worst (other than G) is losing a patient that you liked.

We've just lost 2 in 24 hours, both heartbreaking in their own way. And both with the same name.

The one lost this morning was sad, but at least it was expected. A beautiful Irish Setter (I have a soft spot for them), well behaved, patient, tolerant, beautiful and very obviously adored by his owners when they visited last night. But he had a number of masses through his kidneys and intestines. They chose to operate, but it was always a possibility that they would get in and find there was no hope. And that's what happened.

But last night's loss has devestated all who treated this dog. This Great Dane hadn't been given much of a chance when he came in with a basketball sized mass. Even if he survived the op, he wasn't expected to live through the recovery in ICU. They removed 5 ribs and put in a synthetic chest wall.

And he thrived. After one night with rollercoaster blood pressure he was brilliant. He came out of ICU earlier than expected and was brilliant on the wards. He was due to go home today.

Yesterday afternoon he developed a little temperature. Nothing much to worry about and when I came in at 6:30 it was back to normal. The vet saw him at 7:15 and was very happy with him. S stuck her head in the kennel at 7:30 and was happy he was settled and comfortable. The student nurses went in at 7:45 and he was stone cold. They tried to revive him, but he was long gone. There was no sign of trauma or seizure. He had simply closed his eyes and gone. He was 3 years old.

I love my job but sometimes it makes me cry.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Life's not always all it's cracked up to be

2009-05-20T03:34:35Z

So Graeme and I are now settled into our new flat. Sort of.

Three and a half weeks after we moved in, we're still waiting for a large chunk of our stuff to arrive from Graeme's dad's. Which I can live with. We've got the essentials, and it means we can both be paid again before we need to buy more bookcases from Ikea. We also still have a spare room/study that is still crowded with boxes. Mostly of random crap, but we've both been to tired/lazy to get through them.

We've also had a series of (apparent) mechanical faults. The first weekend we were here the boiler stopped working. We knew there had been a problem with it just before we moved in, so we didn't look too hard for a fault, just called the landlord. It turned out the fuse switch we thought was for the boiler wasn't (it belonged to the washing machine). The actual fuse switch had been knocked or turned off without us even noticing it was there.

Then the fridge stopped working. The landlord was on the way over by the time Graeme thought to pull the skirting board out and follow the wiring. He tracked it into a corner in the back of a floor level cupboard, where it was plugged into the wall. You wouldn't notice the plug unless you were looking for it. And the vegetable basket had knocked it when it was last put back in there. Now we know about that, we'll be careful, but we thought for a while that we were going to lose all the stuff in the fridge.

Then this weekend the shower stopped producing hot water. Right as Graeme was trying to shower before we went out for a friend's birthday. Fortunately, while the shower is electrically heated, the bath water is heated by the gas boiler so we can still wash, but washing your hair in the bath just isn't the same. We waited until Monday to get in touch with the landlord (to give him the weekend) but he didn't get in touch with us until 10 last night to say he could come over on Thursday afternoon. In the meantime, Graeme has taken the cover off the shower box and found that a switch inside has overheated and melted both itself and the surrounding wiring. Apparently it's a common problem in the model we've got. It's just annoying. We've bought a pipe attatchment for the bath taps so we can sort of shower, but the cable isn't long so we have to hunker down and it doesn't fit too well.

In spite of all this, we are loving being here. It feels like home already. We're both closer to work so we're spending less time commuting which, in turn, means that most mornings when I finish work I'll be home in time to have at least half an hour's cuddle time in bed with Graeme. I think it's just helped our relationship in general. We can be more huggy and kissy without having to consider my parents feelings (and the constant teasing). We don't feel like we're being constantly observed. We're behaving more like we did when we were back in Aberdeen. It's nice to just stretch out, across Graeme, on the couch and sew while he reads or paints models. And we have been able to settle into a domestic routine, which is nice

Work is also going well. All of us have settled in and formed a great team really quickly. I've definitely bonded closely with at least two of the others and we work really well together. At our first monthly meeting last week, our manager reported that the day staff have nothing but praise for the job that we're doing. I just hope that this isn't a honeymoon period and that things don't start deteriorating in a couple of months.

Whoah, Vixen

2009-04-29T14:05:09Z

When I set my mind to something, it gets done fast.

Graeme and I went to view a flat at 10:30 last Friday morning. I had just come off my first night shift and had managed 2 hours sleep before leaving the house again. By 11:00, I was signing the deposit check. Our move in date is this Friday.

The flat is perfect. Not large, but bright and roomy. It's east-west facing, so we'll have sun all day. The little kitchen is newly furnished. There isn't even room to swing a hamster in the bathroom, but the bath is lovely and deep, which is all I care about. There isn't a bed in the second bedroom, but there's a lovely big desk and the matress on our bed is brand new. We've even been told that, despite it being rented, we can hang things on the wall and repaint the place if we like.

On my birthday, kaffyr wished three things for me - a good job, a nice flat, and Graeme to share it with. I now have all three. I think she's my good luck charm.

Update and Working Madness

2009-04-23T12:23:03Z

First, my friend who had the transplant is doing well. She had her stitches out yesterday and though she's quite red and sore, she's healing well. She is still in hospital in Edinburgh, where the transplant was done, since it's taking some time for the new kidney to settle in, but she should be moved to her local hospital to continue her recovery tomorrow. Thank you again to everyone who offered their prayers and thoughts for her.

Now, I've started my new job. What the other new starts who had phoned had been told was a one day induction, was actually an 8 day training and induction session before we started nights. There are 4 of us ACAs and 2 nurses (the rota that's been carefully worked out is going to go to hell as soon as one of them gets sick, but I'm sure something will work itself out). I'm just glad I went prepared to work that day.

We have a four week rolling rota where we work one 12 hour shift and two 13 hour shifts. The rota started on Monday but the way it works out I don't do my first shift until today, and then I'm on tomorrow and Saturday night. Not bad, eh?

Having had the induction fortnight to get to know the other night shift workers. We're all new because they've never employed specific night staff before. It's a new thing to go with the new building we'll move to by the end of the summer. Everyone's lovely. We all get on great and the last two weeks have been a laugh. Unfortunately I only rarely get to work with one of the two nurses and not at all with one of the other ACAs, but people will swap shifts and so on, so it'll work out. It's going to be nice, because we'll be the only permanent night people. The vet interns take turns and the students only do short blocks of nights. We'll be away from the office politics of the day shift and will just be able to get on and do our jobs.

I'm going to be exhausted, but I can't wait.

Busy Time

2009-04-04T17:31:52Z

Thank you to everyone who replied to my last post. I haven't heard anything as of yet. I just got a quick text that she obviously sent to all her friends saying that she was going in and her dad will be in touch as and when. I'm sure he has more to think about at the moment than texting her friends. When I know more I'll let you know.

It is going to be a busy time, though. In the next 48 hours, my parents leave on a 2 week Kenyan safari that my dad booked as mum's 50th birthday present and I start my new job. I have everything prepared. My scrubs are washed and ironed. I have new shoes and a new fob watch. I have located and checked my essentials for the job:

2 biros (for writing up charts, space one in case the other goes walkies)
1 board pen (for keeping track of patients on the white boards)
2 loop leads (all patients must be taken for walkies on 2 leads in case of escape attempts)
1 pump bottle of hand cream (to soften my hands from the constant washing and alcohol scrubs)
1 pack special elastoplasts (since I'm allergic to the regular kind)
1 pair bandage scissors (used for everything from bandage cutting to removing staples from weekend paper supplements to paper kennels, keyring attached to prove ownership)

I think I'm ready. Maybe

Mixed Blessings

2009-04-03T17:15:51Z

While at university, I met a wonderful girl. She's caring, funny, very smart, thoughtful, sensitive and loving. She's also almost completely blind as a complication of severe diabetes, and her kidneys are almost completely useless. She's been on dialysis and needed a transplant for the whole time I've known her.

Today she got the call at last. She's having the transplant today.

It won't give her back her sight. It won't cure the diabetes. She'll be on anti-rejection drugs for the rest of her life. But she won't have to spend three nights a week on dialysis. She'll be able to travel without finding a local hospital that will find space for her to have her dialysis while she's away. It'll free her.

I'd just like all of you with any faith, to say a little prayer for her. And also for the family of the person who had to die to give her this chance. What they've done was brave and selfless at a terribly tragic time for them. I wish I could thank them.

Baby Boom!

2009-03-12T12:05:48Z

Congratulations to our wonderful friend belsum, who gave birth to her beautiful little girl on Saturday eveningI

More congratulations can be given on her other blog www.belsum.blogspot.com, where you'll also find an adorable pic of the little one.

Work and Meming

2009-03-10T11:33:54Z

Well, I did promise a post. I think I'm just about over the shock now. I wrote that post with tears streaming down my face and shaking so badly I had to hunt-and-peck for the correct keys.

I have been waiting for this job my whole life. It's not quite my dream job (I have the crazy dream of one day opening my own business. Might happen one day, but not just yet). It is night shift. But the work itself IS something I've loved doing in the past. It's a wonderful opportunity to do that work under less suppervision and with more responsibilities. It's wonderful that my first permanent job outside of Uni is going to use my degree, rather than a starting level office job or going back to retail (God forbid). It's also only 3 shifts a week. Okay, it's two 13 hour shifts and one 11 hour shift, but it means I'll still be able to have a social life and spend time with Graeme.

It also means we can finally look for our own place. We're going to start applying to housing associations and looking at advertised flats for let at the end of the week on Graeme's next day off (because he has horrible shifts this week). We are both so ready to be away from my parents and in our own place. Some privacy. Some space . . . heaven.

The BBC believes the majority of people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here.

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.

2) Tally your total at the bottom.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

2 The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien

3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (on my To Read list)

4 Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling

5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

6 The Bible

7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell

9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens (on my To Read list)

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott

12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy (on my To Read list)

13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

14 Complete Works of Shakespeare

15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

16 The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien

17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

18 Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

22 The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens

24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

33 Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis

34 Emma - Jane Austen

35 Persuasion - Jane Austen

36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell

42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

46 Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery

47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding

50 Atonement - Ian McEwan

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel

52 Dune - Frank Herbert

53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt

64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac

67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding

69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie

70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

72 Dracula - Bram Stoker

73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson

75 Ulysses - James Joyce

76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78 Germinal - Emile Zola

79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

80 Possession - A.S. Byatt

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchel

83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker

84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94 Watership Down - Richard Adams

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

TOTAL: 35

Not bad. Though I do take issue with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe being separate from The Chronicles of Narnia and Hamlet not being part of The Complete Works, but that’s just me.

I Can't Stop Shaking

2009-03-09T11:59:55Z

I GOT THE JOB!

More when I can see straight

Birthdays and Interviews

2009-03-04T15:30:37Z

So I had a wonderful birthday. All thanks to Graeme, of course. He thoroughly spoilt me.

I started the day with my parents bringing in presents from them and other family members. Graeme also gave me his presents and he COMPLETELY spoilt me. Then breakfast in bed (made by Graeme, and a substantial one at that), followed by a lovely relaxing morning. In the afternoon, he took me into Glasgow and our favourite Tea Shop. A lovely place called Brewhaha for afternoon tea and cakes. He also bought me some lovely stuff from Lush, where the sales assistants asked where I had found such a "caring and attentive" boyfriend. I managed to resist replying "over the internet". A lovely dinner and home-made birthday cake and then a quiet night watching State of Decay (E-Space trilogy part 2).

And today was the big interview. I think it went well. I was asked to give an example of when I had acted well as part of a team and independently at work. I gave one example for working alone, from when I had been working there previously of a situation I had dealt with while alone on a ward and they told me that that was an excellent example and I needn't give another. I should hear by the end of next week how I did. Fingers crossed.

Year of Books - The Secret Scripture

2009-03-03T18:09:36Z

Today I finished Sebastian Barry's The Secret Scripture. I had heard several good things about it and when it won the Costa Book Award it got very cheap and I decided to bought it.

It is the story of Roseanne McNulty, a 100 year woman living in a mental asylum in Ireland. As she tells the story of her life in papers she hides under the floorboards of her room, the head psychiatrist is writing about her in a notebook. The asylum is to be torn down it is his job to decide which patients can be released into the community and which should be moved to a new, smaller facility. Roseanne is a cypher to him as no one really knows anything about her or her committal and she isn't telling.

The story diverges as Dr. Grene follows the paper trail of Roseanne's life and she tells the story in from her own memory. Roseanne's memory, she admits, may be faulty and it seems that the men responsible for her commital may have had ulterior motives. The book leaves us to make up our own minds which version of the truth to believe.

I enjoyed trying to solve the mystery of Roseanne's life. The ending was signposted, though I didn't see it coming. There are a lot of long descriptive passages that , I tended to skim over and sometimes both Roseanne and Dr. Grene tend to wander in their writing, which had me wishing they would soon get back to the point, but overall the story was intreguing enough to continue.

A definite recommendation.

Is Anybody Still Out There?

2009-02-21T14:47:56Z

It's been such a long time since I posted (how the hell is it February already?), that I better do a catch-up post.

Stratford was awesome. David Tennant is incredibly talented and we had such a great time meeting grbggrl, denara and musichick .

When we got back, I had a message inviting me to call the Veterinary School on the other side of the city. They had some "temporary ACA (animal care assistant) jobs" available and would I like to come for an interview? I went for an interview on the Monday and started at 8:30am on the Tuesday. I worked there for 10 weeks and absolutely loved it. It wasn't long before I gave up my job at the Canine Care Centre because working 7 days a week was killing me. Unfortunately, they told me in the middle of December that they had no budget for temps and I wouldn't be needed after Christmas. However, by that time I had already applied for the permanent job that was going. I was told the weekend before Christmas that I had an interview on the 9th. I ended up being the reserve candidate. So damn close. I'm being philosophical about it. They've advertised for 4 night-shift ACAs, and the Head Nurse was really encouraging about my chances when I phoned up for feedback on the other interview, so I'm hopeful. I've got an interview on the 4th of March and I'm feeling really positive about it. I'm trying to think of the previous interview as a trial run..

Graeme's had more job difficulties than I have. First, his manager transferred to another store. Her sister is seriously ill and she wanted to be closer to her, so he had a period in limbo until a new manager was appointed from another store. Good thing he and Graeme get on well. Then Woolworths went out of business, which wouldn't seem relevant but they owned the company that supplied Zavvi. Zavvi owed this company (Entertainment UK) a lot of money because of EUKs trading practices. The administrators came down on Zavvi really hard to get that money. A combination of that and ever decreasing stock levels meant that Zavvi went into administration on Christmas Eve. Graeme was off that day and he got a phone call from his manager just as mum was hearing it on the news. The stores only found out when administration lawyers arrived in all stores simultaneously. It was a complete shock because Zavvi's owners had been saying consistently that they were working with EUKs administrators and everything was fine. So we had several weeks of staggered store closures and worrying news until Graeme got a call on the evening of Jan 15th when his manager phoned to say that their branch had been bought by another retailer and they would be merged into that company. They only bought 15 stores and his was one of only 3 in Scotland that have been saved, so we're very lucky. It's been difficult for Graeme, finding out that his job is safe when so many of his friends are loosing their jobs, including the manager who transferred and all our friends from the Aberdeen store, and getting to grips with working for another company and their trading practices when he's been with the same company for nearly 5 years. But the relief, when we'd been looking at redundancy law and trying to work out ways that we could persuade the government to give him more money than they'd given me (not hard, since that was nothing).

In spite of everything, we had a lovely Christmas. Graeme and I spent it with his mum, step-dad, sister, eldest step-sister and her two kids and his youngest (and favourite) step-brother. It was my first Christmas away from my family and they did everything they could to make it wonderful, especially under the circumstances with Graeme's work. And he spoiled me. Though my favourite present was really cheap - a cuddly Adipose. I love it!

And I haven't been sitting idle and moping since Xmas. I've finally started learning to drive. I had a lot of lessons when I was 17/18, but then I wasn't keen on my instructor and he didn't seem keen to get me past my test and not be paying for lessons anymore, and I moved away for Uni, and I couldn't afford it, and it fell by the wayside. But now there's no excuse. My sister put me in touch with the guy who taught her to drive and I get on much better with him, and the lessons seem more structured so I learn things at my own pace but with goals set for each lesson. Mum and dad are paying for my lessons as my graduation present (Kate's got a trip to NYC, but she knows how to drive already and negotiated that before she even went to Uni). If I'm working night-shift it'll be easier and safer for me to drive than get the bus. I've even got a car lined up for when I pass my test. Mum's just bought a car that'll be delivered when the new licence plates come out in March and she was only going to get £3,000 for her old car as a trade-in, so she offered to sell me the car at that price, but paying in £100 instalments.

I'm got a lot of reading done. I've not set myself a specific goal, but I want to see how much reading I actually do, and what I read over the course of a year. So far, I've read 12* books:

The Duchess by Amanda Foreman,which the film is based on. I haven't seen the film, but it's a very good historical biography.
Misery by Stephen King. I occasionally read a Stephen King when I don't want to think too hard about what I'm reading. I borrowed this one from a friend.
In Cold Blood by Trueman Capote, which I've been meaning to read since I saw Capote.
Dreams from my Father by Barak Obama, which I finished the day before the inauguration
The Stuff of Nightmares by Malorie Blackman. A teen horror/thriller which I thoroughly enjoyed
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and two Other Tales by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which I didn't actually enjoy much, and I just can't see how they could turn the book into an interesting film, unless they've just taken the name and the concept and completely reworked it.
Mansefield Park by Jane Austen. I could never get into Austen as a teen, but I've started reading her over the past couple of years and I'm really enjoying her books.
What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge. A blast from the past. I loved this book as a kid and when I found it on 100 Classic Books on the DS, I had to re-read it.
The Letters of Noel Coward, which is a biography of the great man told based round his letters to his family and the great and good of the 20th century.
The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory. The last of her "Tudor" novels that I hadn't read (except now she's brought out a new one). I love picking out the historical inaccuracies. I just wish she wouldn't insist that she knows better than everyone else.
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. Again, I'd read this as a kid, but I recently saw the new BBC dramatisation and it made me have to pick up the book again.

At the moment I'm reading Wildacre by Philippa Gregory. It,. is complete fiction, but it's an uncomfortable read because there is no way to like the heroine and I can see that it will end as a tragedy. I have actually piled up the books I'm waiting to read beside my bed and there's 19* of them! Not to mention the books on my DS. And that's the ones I actually own. I've maxed out wish list on waterstones.com and I'm waiting for 4 that I've ordered to arrive. It's a sickness.

I'm also really powering through my stitching projects. So far this year I've finished and a cute puppy and kitten project. Now I'm working on the biggest one I've ever done: a DMC Tutankhamun encircled by the Ancient Egyptian Gods (http://www.superstitcher.com/image_popup.aspx?id=BK225). There's also a Cleopatra and a Nefertiti in the series that Graeme bought me for Valentine's Day. In the evening while we watch TV or DVDs, Graeme paints model soliders and I stitch. Mum also gave me a sampler with a picture of a cute bear for each month of the year that I'll need to get into. And I want to do one of Henry VIII and his wives that Graeme's mum did a few years ago.

I'm doing a lot of cooking too. Mum leaves me the ingredients and the recipe for what she wants for dinner in the morning, and I make it in time for her, dad and (when he's on and early) Graeme coming home from work. Mum's enjoying coming home from a full day at work and not having to cook and I'm enjoying trying new things and cooking in a kitchen that's larger than a matchbox.

I've even managed to do some work! One of the nurses at the Vet school asked me if I would dog and house sit for her three labradors while she went back to the States to visit her parents for a fortnight at the beginning of January. The dogs are gorgeous and the house is right round the corner for the vet school so I said yes (before I knew I wouldn't be needed after Christmas). Graeme was there on and off the first week but the second week he had arranged a holiday and it was wonderful to have the time to ourselves, with our only obligation to walk the dogs 3 times a day in the beautiful park round the corner and feed them - not a hardship when they were so good natured, obedient and affectionate! We fell in love with them and it was hard to leave them when she came home.

So I'm plugging along. Working and hoping for something to come along. In the meantime, I have plenty to look forward to. My mum turns 50 next Friday, My birthday is the following week, as is Graeme's step-dad's 50th. There's a Doctor Who exhibition coming to Glasgow at the end of March and in April Graeme and I are going to see Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart in Waiting for Godot in Edinburgh. I have my job interview and I'm loving driving. Life, it turns out, is not so bad at all.

*13 now, I finished Wildacre this afternoon.
** 21 Graeme brought home William Shatner's latest autobiography and he's picking up another book he knows I want cheap tomorrow.
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Up Up and Away

2008-09-20T20:50:56Z

I have a job!

I will qualify that. I have a job that pays minimum wage, cash in hand, and is only employing me for 11 hours on weekends. I will not be earning enough for Graeme and I to get our own place. But it is, nevertheless, a job. One in my chosen field.

I'll be working in a Canine Care Centre (with an awesome name that I don't want to put on display on t'interwebs. If I get requests, I'll put it in a private post). It does doggy day care (like a creche for dog owners that work), self-service dog bathing, private grooming, group and individual training sessions and a shop (including it's own grooming range and dog food). Most of my job will consist of cleaning the self service wash booths after use and manning the shop.

I will still have to find a weekday job to get by. I will end up working 7 days a week (welcome to the world of azmatazz , I'm sure). I will be exahusted. But it's one step closer to my dream job.

And for the first time in a long time, I have my own money in my purse. Life is good.

Ups and Downs

2008-09-12T19:17:15Z

Well, it's been a while. There's a few little updates. Some good news, some bad news, and lots of hope.

Job Hunting

The job hunting, to be honest, is awful. The market seems to be very slow with the credit crunch just now. Unless you're an engineering grad, which I'm not. I'm pretty resigned to not getting a job in my field straight away, but at the moment, I'll take what I can get.

I mentioned casually to my mum's best friend's hubby that I was having trouble finding work. He spoke to someone else in the church who's daughter works in the Vet school in Glasgow. She checked things out and apparently they'll be looking for ward assistants soon. I got her bosses name and address and she says she'll put in a good word for me so fingers and toes crossed.

I've also got an interview in a fortnight for the nearby Sheriff Court. It's not my field, but it sounds like a really interesting job. And for once, I'm not overqualified - my extra education and extra-curricular activities will help, not hinder. They want someone educated, articulate and used to working in unusual situations. The money's not great, but it would be enough to get me and Graeme a flat so, again, fingers and toes crossed.

Graeme

Graeme's job seems to be going alright. There's the usual craziness of incompetent AMs, IT issues and, just for fun, they've had a little flood over the poster racks, but what do you expect working in retail. The staff are all absolutely lovely. They've been really nice to me when I've met them and he seems to be their favourite of the three managers. They've nicknamed him Oracle because he seems to know everything, though one guy refuses to call him anything but Jesus (see my graduation photos for the reason). And he's enjoying the delegating part of being a manager.

The travelling's tough, but it's manageable. It just hit harder because in Aberdeen he was only a 5 minute walk away from the flat. And we're looking for flats in areas that will be one bus ride away from his centre and Glasgow city.

There have been other problems. His assistant manager never came back from his fortnight's holiday because he ended up in hospital in one of the Orkney islands with suspected meningitis. It's not meningitis, but he was off for another fortnight. And his first actual contact with the shop was yesterday to say he would be back today.

Then things blew up with the SS's (the level under Graeme). The manager managed to put the wrong rate of pay on their contracts - a grand more than they're supposed to. It's been resolved by agreeing to pay the higher rate, since a contract's legally binding, but heads are going to roll. Not Graeme's, but he was the one who had to try and clear up because the manager went off on a fortnight's holiday. Despite her AM not being back, despite this pay dispute and having agreed to let another three people have leave at the same time. So the shop's short-staffed and now they've got a load of people pulling sickies. One girl's is genuine (a tooth infection spread to her jaw and now she's going to have to have part of it removed), but I have no idea if the others are. So Graeme's been managing a severely understaffed shop on his own. He nearly didn't even get Tuesday off for his step-gran's funeral, but some of the staff and people from other stores pulled together to do it for him.

My Family

I really cannot wait to move out of my parents. My dad is driving my demented with constantly questioning how much I'm trying to do and insisting on "constructively critisising my applications. I know he means well and he only wants what's best for me, but it's making me want to put my fist through a wall. I ended up leaving the dinner table in tears once this week, because he just wouldn't let up. He just doesn't get that by pushing and pushing, he's making things so much worse and motivating me less. After talking to him, I feel like a useless bum who'll never get a job.

Me
The bad news ratio is up at the moment, but I'm doing better with it. Less depressed, more positive.  I was going through a phase where I was just crying all the time. I felt completely worthless. My health started to suffer. I've been getting every bug going and my allergies flared up terribly. My skin felt red raw and to have anything touching my legs was agony. That's all completely cleared up, though I'm still on stronger antihistamines. Getting this interview has boosted my confidence and knowing there's the possibility of a ground level job in my field helps too.

I'm getting on well with my stitching. I've finished a cute project of two teddy bears standing together in the rain and another one that I'm really hating. It's one of those ones with the pattern printed on the fabric, but Graeme's step-mum promised his neice that I'd stich her whatever she wanted. She asked for Piglet and this was the only pattern I could find that wasn't going to cost a fortune, so whatever. Now I've started on Christmas and birthday cards. What I really want to do is sort of nest. Not for a baby or anything (PLEASE not yet, my dad would have a coronary), but I'd figured that by this point after graduation I'd have a flat I could decorate with my stitching and I don't. But I keep finding projects I want to do. And now I've found somewhere I can buy DMC threads and new patterns I'm itching to go. I'll get there eventually.

Fucked by the System

2008-08-23T10:44:24Z

Today I was going to write a really happy, upbeat post about how today Graeme and I are celebrating our second anniversary today. I was going to write about how we met and how we're going to recreate our first date today. I was even going to link to the TWop posts we made that day.

Last week I applied for Jobseekers Allowance. It's a small payment made to people who are unemployed, but actively seeking work and are willing to sign an agreement saying what they will do each week to find a job. You have to jump through a lot of hoops to apply. You have to make a long phone call to a centre in England and answer a lot of questions. Then you have to go to an appointment at the local jobcentre and answer a load more questions, fill in a pile of forms and sign a personalised aggreement. I did all that.

And today I found out I'm getting nothing.

I don't qualify for the Income Based Allowance. That's because of Graeme's earnings, a small amount I'm getting in dividends from shares I inherited from my Grandpa, and a nice bundle of savings accumulated for me by my grandparents and parents since I was a baby. I get that. It's not nice, but it's understandable.

I don't qualify for Contribution Based Allowance because I haven't paid enough National Insurance. WTF! I was at UNIVERSITY. NI is paid when you are earning a certain amount a week and goes towards funding the NHS so everyone gets "free" healthcare. I worked a Saturday job. I rarely earnt enough to pay it. When I did - while covering for someone who was sick or on holiday - I paid it automatically. I could have claimed it back, because students aren't supposed to pay taxes, but it was so little and so infrequently that I didn't bother.

If I had gone to college for a year, I would have qualified because then the government pays your contribution for you. Apparently the same doesn't apply to Uni students. And the governement will pay my contribution now because I applied for Jobseekers - even if I don't get any money.

To sum up, because I went to university and got a good qualification and an excellent education - just like the government keeps saying it wants everyone to do - the government will happily see me starve because I now can't find a job.