The alarm went off at four this morning. Rob had to go into work early to let the camera crew into the Chain tower as today was the la Rochelle Marathon. By eight this morning I’d already cleaned the oven door (no easy task), made the Christmas card list and cleaned the step in the shower. Since then I’ve been working and surfing. I’ve managed to prepare more postcards for online than I usually do. Perhaps I should set the alarm for 4 every morning. Perhaps not.
On Friday I had a chest x-ray. My lungs are fine but they did notice my spine is slightly arthritic (regular readers will know all about that problem) which I’ve already sorted.
After that I spent a few hours looking for something to wear for the wedding. Most shops are more interested in evening wear for Christmas and New Year at the moment, so it’s not easy. This is not going to be a formal wedding and I am not wearing a hat. I’ve managed to find one shop with clothes that I like and will go back again next Friday and try some things on.
I’ve also got to find out where to buy confetti from.
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
It never rains, but it pours
When Olivier left for Bordeaux, he knew that he would have to find a part time job in order to make ends meet. Like thousands of other students, he knew it wouldn’t be easy. He went after a Saturday job in a photocopy shop with the idea of doing English lessons here and there to earn more. The photocopy job didn’t come to anything. He went for an interview at a sushi shop over the weekend. He would be delivering sushis. He got the job and started work yesterday at 5 o’clock. The photocopy shop contacted him – could he come after all? He was also contacted by KFC near to here. They kept his CV from when he applied for a summer job, was he free to work?
He sent Rob a text yesterday evening after he finished work (he never contacts me for anything interesting – but then I don’t do Arsenal speak): He has decided to stick with the sushis. His boss is ex KFC too, seems like they bonded over that. I think that he made the right choice – more of a chance of tips delivering sushis.
He sent Rob a text yesterday evening after he finished work (he never contacts me for anything interesting – but then I don’t do Arsenal speak): He has decided to stick with the sushis. His boss is ex KFC too, seems like they bonded over that. I think that he made the right choice – more of a chance of tips delivering sushis.
Tuesday, October 09, 2012
Just time travelling around
Today, I’ve tip-toed through the reading room of a library in Frankfurt, admired an electoral candidate from 1911 and seen a stage coach arrive on a mountain path. Next I will be taking a tour around the steel works and factories where the first locomotive was made in France.
What have you been doing?
What have you been doing?
Monday, May 04, 2009
The bad news or the bad news
When it’s a case of the bad news or the bad news, I suppose the best thing to do is tell it in the order it came. Since 2000 I’ve been supervising exams at the school of commerce in town. Just over a week ago I received a letter telling me that I would now be employed by Manpower as regards my work there. Tomorrow I have an interview with them and they will tell me my hours. I’m just hoping that I can continue to work just mornings. If I stay longer I get migraines. I also have my business to run. Will I be paid less? Will I have to pay some kind of entrance fee? Watch this space.
The other bit of bad news is that my washing/dryer machine has broken down. I went to remove my washing and found lights flashing. When I checked out the problem pages in the booklet it just said “call the engineer”. So I had soggy washing and another load which I washed in the bath. I tried to turn the machine on to empty the water out – nothing. The engineer doesn’t’ work on Mondays. The good news it is that the weather is sunny at the moment so I can dry things out side and if I wash them early in the morning they will be almost dry by the evening. I don’t normally need the dryer except in emergencies or the wet days of winter, but it’s impossible to wring out washing and get it as dry as a spin dryer.
The other bit of bad news is that my washing/dryer machine has broken down. I went to remove my washing and found lights flashing. When I checked out the problem pages in the booklet it just said “call the engineer”. So I had soggy washing and another load which I washed in the bath. I tried to turn the machine on to empty the water out – nothing. The engineer doesn’t’ work on Mondays. The good news it is that the weather is sunny at the moment so I can dry things out side and if I wash them early in the morning they will be almost dry by the evening. I don’t normally need the dryer except in emergencies or the wet days of winter, but it’s impossible to wring out washing and get it as dry as a spin dryer.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
All grown up
The monuments in France are now open through the lunchtimes as of April 1st. This means that staff have to be covered while they take their lunch breaks. Now that Olivier is 18 he can work part time, so he is working weekends and throughout the Easter holidays. He’ll be working almost full time throughout the summer as well. It’s good all-round as far as our family are concerned, it gets him out of bed at a reasonable hour, he doesn’t have to keep asking for bus fair and he’ll be able to pay for his own clothes. (He’s got expensive tastes). He did appreciate working at the restaurant last summer for the same reason.
Today he is going to give blood for the first time. The blood doning centre have a mobile service which visits villages, businesses, factories and now I’ve discovered, lycées. Rob and I haven’t been for several years because of the BSE problem in the UK. (We weren’t allowed to give blood) Rob used to donate his plasma which was rich in tetanus antibodies too.
Like I said; all grown up.
Today he is going to give blood for the first time. The blood doning centre have a mobile service which visits villages, businesses, factories and now I’ve discovered, lycées. Rob and I haven’t been for several years because of the BSE problem in the UK. (We weren’t allowed to give blood) Rob used to donate his plasma which was rich in tetanus antibodies too.
Like I said; all grown up.
Monday, July 21, 2008
From inside the paper bag
I don’t seem capable of organising my way out of a paper bag at the moment. That’s why I haven’t posted much at all. The garden is overgrown and the pile of ironing is so large it keeps sliding onto the floor. I don’t seem to get anything completed. We’ve been very busy with the postcards as Rob has had a few days holiday (there will be outings later). Yesterday was one of our best days for sales ever. I must admit I feel sad when they go – I’d like to keep them all.
The harvest is well under way and the village was covered in chaff this afternoon as it was so windy and blowing the bits over from the fields. There is a lot of bird noise this evening, I’m wondering if there will be another brood of chicks before they leave in august.
Olivier has applied for a salad preparing and washing up job at the restaurant in the village. In France it is very difficult to work if you are under 18, lots of paperwork and responsibility for the employers. I wouldn’t want him to work anywhere like that illegally. I used to know a girl who worked in a posh tearooms in England, she was under age and when she burnt herself one afternoon, they couldn’t let her go to the emergency department. Fortunately it was alright in the end, but…
The harvest is well under way and the village was covered in chaff this afternoon as it was so windy and blowing the bits over from the fields. There is a lot of bird noise this evening, I’m wondering if there will be another brood of chicks before they leave in august.
Olivier has applied for a salad preparing and washing up job at the restaurant in the village. In France it is very difficult to work if you are under 18, lots of paperwork and responsibility for the employers. I wouldn’t want him to work anywhere like that illegally. I used to know a girl who worked in a posh tearooms in England, she was under age and when she burnt herself one afternoon, they couldn’t let her go to the emergency department. Fortunately it was alright in the end, but…
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
I am tired....
I don’t understand why I feel like I’m so busy I can’t get things done. I feel like I did before my thyroid disorder was diagnosed 12 years ago; life is one long row of chores spreading out into my future.
This week is the second of the holidays and Olivier has recovered from his flu. Rob and I both had a day when we felt really tired, so we wondered if our vaccination was losing effect. We’re all fine now.
Dom has been home since last weekend. We went shopping on Monday; looking for birthday presents for Olivier. Then on Tuesday I went shopping with Olivier for shoes. He needed a sweater and shirt so I feel like I know men’s wear shops inside out at the moment. We got one or two bargains as there are still left over sales items to be found.
It’s been a long time since I had English lessons with someone of school age but I feel as if I’ve got back into the swing of it. I have to collect a ticket at the end of every lesson – the hardest part has been remembering to do that; if I don’t collect the tickets to send in, I won’t get paid.
This week is the second of the holidays and Olivier has recovered from his flu. Rob and I both had a day when we felt really tired, so we wondered if our vaccination was losing effect. We’re all fine now.
Dom has been home since last weekend. We went shopping on Monday; looking for birthday presents for Olivier. Then on Tuesday I went shopping with Olivier for shoes. He needed a sweater and shirt so I feel like I know men’s wear shops inside out at the moment. We got one or two bargains as there are still left over sales items to be found.
It’s been a long time since I had English lessons with someone of school age but I feel as if I’ve got back into the swing of it. I have to collect a ticket at the end of every lesson – the hardest part has been remembering to do that; if I don’t collect the tickets to send in, I won’t get paid.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Workin' girl
Dom is now a working girl. For two months she’ll be working in the towers. I don’t think that her and Rob’s timetables coincide much. She'll be giving guided tours in English and French. So if you are passing and have an excellent tour in English, don’t forget to tip the struggling psychology student.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Voices
I was really interested to find an article about voiceovers as a few years ago I was paid to be the voiceover on promotional CDroms for the Xter train here in France and the storage silos at la Pallice. Not very glam I admit, but I got paid well. With the voiceover for the train I was told afterwards that I had carried my work out more professionally that the French actress they used for the French voiceover.
A lot of singers can use their talents successfully in a voiceover They have the benefits of special training in voice control and can really use their speaking voice better than they might think. If they have experience of recording techniques they are at an advantage.
I was really interested to find an article about voiceovers as a few years ago I was paid to be the voiceover on promotional CDroms for the Xter train here in France and the storage silos at la Pallice. Not very glam I admit, but I got paid well. With the voiceover for the train I was told afterwards that I had carried my work out more professionally that the French actress they used for the French voiceover.
A lot of singers can use their talents successfully in a voiceover They have the benefits of special training in voice control and can really use their speaking voice better than they might think. If they have experience of recording techniques they are at an advantage.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
I admit
that I was close to tears when I took Dom back to the station on Sunday afternoon. When we found her carriage we bumped into a family I hadn’t seen in years. Christian used to be best friends with their son. They were putting their daughter into the train too, as the seats were numbered I don’t know if they got together during the journey back to Poitiers. Dom will be back next weekend to celebrate her birthday with her friends.
I don’t know what to make of Olivier, for the past three nights he’s been asleep by 9.30. His appetite has diminished a little too. He didn’t want to go to school this morning, even though he’s only got 1 hour of physics and 2 hours of sport (Wednesday is half day in French schools), apparently they are playing basketball at the moment and he hates it, pity they can’t put ice hockey on to the timetable!
I had a phone call yesterday from one of the many companies that I sent my CV to. They might need me to teach 34 hours at the ‘Hotel Lycée’ (A school where they train chefs, waiters, catering and hotel management). It will be 2 hours early on Wednesday mornings. They are phoning me back: I wonder…….
that I was close to tears when I took Dom back to the station on Sunday afternoon. When we found her carriage we bumped into a family I hadn’t seen in years. Christian used to be best friends with their son. They were putting their daughter into the train too, as the seats were numbered I don’t know if they got together during the journey back to Poitiers. Dom will be back next weekend to celebrate her birthday with her friends.
I don’t know what to make of Olivier, for the past three nights he’s been asleep by 9.30. His appetite has diminished a little too. He didn’t want to go to school this morning, even though he’s only got 1 hour of physics and 2 hours of sport (Wednesday is half day in French schools), apparently they are playing basketball at the moment and he hates it, pity they can’t put ice hockey on to the timetable!
I had a phone call yesterday from one of the many companies that I sent my CV to. They might need me to teach 34 hours at the ‘Hotel Lycée’ (A school where they train chefs, waiters, catering and hotel management). It will be 2 hours early on Wednesday mornings. They are phoning me back: I wonder…….
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