Scents of Direction

	Scents of Direction


	This is what I think...


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	Thursday, August 31, 2006 I signed on at an agency this afternoon in the hope that I can pick up some work at the weekends. That's the trouble with my job; it's nice to have a salary and a car and stuff, but there is no opportunity to earn a bit extra when you need it. I used to work overtime and get paid for it, now I'm a "manager" I work overtime and don't get paid for it! So, rather than moaning about not having any spare cash, I'm doing something about it! The agency specialises in driving work and I think I might well end up doing some multi-drop work in a van or 7.5 ton truck. They say they get lots of work for weekends, I told them that I don't mind early starts and I'm not afraid to drive in London... Weekend shifts normally start between 3am and 6am!! This could be interesting... If I wasn't trying to loose weight I'd buy myself a Yorkie in preparation! - Steve, 5:34 PM, Wednesday, August 30, 2006 I've got this urge to load my bike on (or in) the car and head to London for a look around. I figure that if I went on a Sunday there would be no congestion charge and you can (normally) park for free on the streets if you're lucky. I could take lunch and a flask of coffee and have a good cycle around the streets followed by lunch in one of the parks and maybe a quick look at the dinosaurs in the museum (also free). A decent day out which should only cost the value of diesel to get there and back* with the added bonus of shedding some excess lard. Anyone else fancy coming along? * Actually that might add up to a significant amount. I think I made a mistake with this car, it's all good apart from the dire fuel consumption; I have to work hard to get 35mpg which is pretty shocking for a diesel engine! - Steve, 3:09 PM, Monday, August 21, 2006 So, just after I published that last post a cheque arrived from the Inland Revenue with that tax rebate (just under £500). Now that is really handy and it would have put an end to the current money hassle... were it not for the fact that our bank has extended it's cheque clearing cycle to 6 working days because of "large amounts of cheque fraud". The funds will clear next Wednesday, one day before Mrs T was due to be paid anyway. It's still good news, just really frustrating at the same time... especially as it occurred to me after paying it in that we could have put it in a old (empty) savings account at a different bank and it would probably have cleared on Wednesday this week. - Steve, 4:10 PM, I'm feeling a bit better now. Things are still tough but there is light at the end of the tunnel; we have no spare cash at all and childcare is proving to be a nightmare but paydays are coming, school starts in a couple of weeks and Mrs T is due a tax rebate which, while not huge, will help a bit. The trick is to try to stay positive (and busy). So, in other news, I'm thinking about learning French. I did French at school but I was never really into it and didn't do very well (got a D at GCSE I think) but I think I could have a good crack at it now. I'll try out a couple of the "learn French" Podcasts and see how it goes. I would love to go back to school now, at the time I did OK but school never really held my attention, now though I look back on those days and just wish I could go back to it. There are stacks of subjects that I'm really interested in now but didn't give a second thought to when I had the chance to learn them, they really are the best days of your life. - Steve, 2:35 PM, Friday, August 18, 2006 It's Big Brother final night and Mrs T is a big fan... I think I'll get myself upstairs until the morning because I think they are all a bunch of tossers and it's just painful to watch. - Steve, 8:15 PM, Thursday, August 17, 2006 You know what? I'm completely miserable at the moment. I remember the last time I had a "proper" holiday (which was 7 years ago) I felt pretty low for a good couple of weeks after returning home, same thing is happening now. Part of the problem now is that, in order to ensure a good time while away, we used some money normally spent on bills and changed it to dollars... now we are totally skint and it's still weeks until pay-day. Another problem is the school holidays; we both work and it's hard finding somewhere Georgia can go in the day times especially if you don't have the cash to pay for the organised activities. Work is another problem, I've just moved projects and it's fine but I just feel unsettled at the moment. Lastly, jet-lag is a pain. I'm tired at the wrong times and awake when I should be asleep. Like I said, I feel miserable. - Steve, 11:34 AM, Monday, August 14, 2006 We're back from our holiday, it was really good despite the mental heat. Traveling home was as much of a nightmare as expected after "that plot", over 5 hours delay on our flight and then some cock up with the bags at Gatwick added another hour and a bit. We got home at some point this afternoon (I've totally lost track of time so I can't be more specific) I've made the mistake of sleeping a bit already and now I don't feel tired. Gotta get up for work in the morning though. More when I can get my head straight. - Steve, 12:05 AM,


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