Ooh, It's Been a While!

Hello!

I'm not going to apologise for the (predictable) lack of updates; because there is nothing to update you on really...

Here's what's happened recently:

• I've become a hermit.
• Today I finally hit the 200 job applications milestone!!
• I've had four job interviews now (all of which have been unsuccessful...)
• I've still got no money coming in.
• My next door neighbour recently got a slapped wrist from the police for assaulting my Dad (who's disabled...) More on that in a future post... if you're really that interested...
• I swear I'm on my way to developing a vitamin D deficiency (because of said hermit-ness... Or maybe I'm just becoming a hypochondriac because of all the spare time on my hands...)
• I keep on getting bombarded with spam emails from a company called 'Meaningful Help'... And in actual fact; I'm quite close to going to their headquarters in Texas and... well, after that, I'm not exactly sure what I'd do...
• I've discovered that it's not just me who's feeling isolated since leaving University. My friends are feeling exactly the same way. (Even though they've got jobs or are doing Postgrad stuff...)
• This whole unemployment lark has induced a new lax attitude; my 'pendantic-ness' is disappearing. It's really making me a lot less uptight (at times...)
• Friends/Peers/People I went to school with and didn't really warm to are all announcing pregnancies and engagements. In fact, some are now having their second kids. I'm still unsure as to whether this makes me feel: ridiculously old, incredibly young or a massive failure... (even though I'm only 21, I swear my Mum's tapping her watch impatiently; waiting, just waiting to get grandkids. No pressure...)

I'm also so sad well-organised that since I first started applying for jobs, back in May, I've been keeping a log of all applications that I've made. It's official: I'm ridiculously sad...

That's from the first page... From May/June.

And this is the last... From Today.

It's eleven pages long now, which makes me feel ever so slightly useless. I've been rejected or ignored for an insurmountable number of jobs. I've been rejected for: Temp Christmas jobs, Cleaning jobs, Healthcare Assistant Jobs, Receptionist jobs, Admin jobs, Waitressing jobs, Factory jobs, Marketing/Communications Jobs (which are actually related to my degree!), Sales jobs, Retail jobs etc. I could go on, but I wouldn't want to bore you into oblivion. 

Still, at least it's a beautiful evening:

I don't know if you've noticed, but I've become slightly addicted to Instagram...

Moaning and Goats...

I'm gearing towards a rant:

• I've been silly and spent my last £50 on a new coat and handbag... Neither of which I really needed.
• I've also been silly because I read a few stories on the Daily Mail's website and the views of some of the ignorant commenters always wind me up.
• I've had to endure two consecutive weekends of Barry Scott having drunken one night stands (complete with two different women...)
• I've got to go to my beautiful cousin's wedding at the weekend, where I will ultimately end up looking like a frump with a dodgy hairdo, who's also spectacularly bad at getting a job. (I was supposed to spend my last £50 on a dress, however, I couldn't find one I liked... So the odds are that I'm stuck wearing a black dress, that's too big for me, to a wedding... I've also got misbehaving hair at the moment, but can't afford to tame it.)
• I've applied for just under 70 jobs. I'm still unemployed.
• I've had three interviews. They were all unsuccessful. Because I'm rubbish...
• I'm not eligible for Jobseekers' Allowance. So I'm using my savings to live off. Savings which were there to help me through Medical School, if I ever get there...
• When I was at Uni, I was busy concentrating on my degree, but now I've finished, it feels so hard to be self-disciplined and just do some work.
• My dreams also seemed much closer when I was at Uni, and now, strangely, they feel further away than they ever have done before.
• Every time I log onto Facebook, I'm bombarded by good news from others. Fantastic job offers, new boyfriends/girlfriends, new houses, new cars, new pets, new phones, new courses at Uni... I'm happy for them, don't get me wrong, but it feels like everyone else is moving on and I'm stood still. My life genuinely feels stagnant.
• I think I just need to 'man up' a bit and get stuck in to GAMSAT stuff.
• A day doesn't go by now where I'm not ignored by potential employers, or rejected by them on the basis of having no experience. I'm trying my best, but it really isn't good enough for anyone. I'm frustrated, but no-one cares enough to listen. I'm drowning in a sea of rejection, and no-one'll bother to throw me a couple of armbands...
• I feel that after finishing Uni, I should feel on top of the world. I did well. I did better than I expected, in all honesty. I thought I was going to end up scraping a third, when in reality, I got a 2:1. I should be moving on to new and exciting things, but I'm not. It feels like my peers are constantly rubbing my nose in it by moving on themselves.
• I don't know what to do for the best now. I'm torn. Do I forget about jobs and money and just concentrate on getting into Medical School? Or do I forget (temporarily) about Medical School and earn some money (if anyone'll give me a chance)? It's difficult to decide what to do, but I know I can't carry on like this.

Although, on a lighter note, this has cheered me up no end:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KNB5684Ab4

Revenge

I haven't slept yet... Thanks to my next door neighbour having yet another noisy one night stand.

My revenge?

Ordering a free chlamydia testing kit for him...

I'm feeling quite smug now... Probably even more smug than the time when I ordered a Tena Man sample for him.

To be fair, he probably needs it anyway.

News!!

Just a brief post with a little bit of good news...

I've somehow managed to bag myself a couple of job interviews!

I'm not holding my breath, but this time next month I could be a Phlebotomist or a Healthcare Assistant.

Fingers crossed!

I Did It! I Finally Did It!

Sorry, must apologise in advance, this is not really a Medical-type post.

But... I finally did it! 

Yes, that's right, I rang the police about the atrocious excuse of a human being that lives next door to me and his terrible penchant for drink driving.

I have reported him via Crimestoppers online before, but nothing ever came of that.

He came back at around one this morning. He was literally so drunk that he stalled at the top of his drive. He took a good few seconds to realise why he wasn't going anywhere and then re-started the engine of his increasingly battered pick-up truck. After this, he proceeded to scrape all of the bushes on the side of his drive, before his trademark-drink-drive-move of forgetting to apply the handbrake. Cue lots of rolling down the drive and him displaying his panic-stricken face as he frantically tried to stop himself from crashing into his stationary trailer and garage door. 

That was the final straw for me. I grabbed my phone and after a few deep breaths (I don't know why, but I always get really nervous about phone calls, even to people I know really well...) I dialled the non-emergency number. I got through to a lady and politely asked if I was able to report someone for drink-driving. She said yes, and asked me lots of questions about that numpty from next door. 

Now I knew that there was no chance of him being caught tonight, after all, he was already home. But the lady assured me that they'd got his details and she was sending them to all police stations and officers in the local area so they can keep an eye out for him. She also advised me to ring them again next time he goes out drinking, to help them catch him in the act. 

It won't be long before he's at it again. The last time he did it was at 5am yesterday when he was also evidently 'utterly gazeboed'. 

I really hope they catch him. He's a menace. I know if they do catch him and prosecute him for drink driving, he'll be at risk of losing his licence and therefore his business as a gardener. I feel a little guilty about that, but at the end of the day, I'm not the one breaking the law and putting other road users' lives at risk by being an idiot.

I don't understand why he does it, in all honesty. He never used to. He always got taxis to and from pubs, clubs and women's houses. Recently though, he's just decided he'll chance it. That he'll never get caught I suppose, because at that time in the morning, all of the police officers have their hands full with anti-social behaviour on the streets. He needs to be taught a lesson, that's for sure, and I'll go above and beyond to ensure that he gets it.

Oh, and when he got in, he was talking really loudly, not sure if he was on his phone, but I genuinely had to peer through his front door at about 2am, because he was making groaning noises. (Don't laugh!) I thought he'd drunkenly injured himself, so I went round there with a torch and tried to see if he was on the floor. All I could see was darkness, but he's been quiet ever since. 

Call me what you want, but I couldn't bear it if he ended up killing an innocent person because of this and I'd had this information and never acted upon it. I'd feel guilty. Probably more-so than an irresponsible ignoramus like him.

Sometimes I think life would be a lot easier if people knew their limits.

And obeyed the law.

Another Day, Another Job Rejection...

Depressing news! Today I received an email to say I won't be a Family Support Worker. I won't be a Junior Doctor Co-Ordinator either. Or a Healthcare Assistant. Or an Auxiliary Nurse. Or a Medical Receptionist. Or a Radiography Assistant. Or a Medical Staffing Administrator. Or a Dental Nurse. I could go on... There are far more.


I've only been formally rejected from three jobs so far though! I just have to assume that the other 20-odd have rejected me because they've ignored me completely. A bit cruel...


Today I've applied for yet another Healthcare Assistant job. I'm getting to the point where I'm beginning to struggle to feel enthusiastic about any jobs. It's hard to fill out application forms when you know from the start that you won't even get an interview. Why won't someone give me a chance?! Am I really that bad?
I don't smell. I do wash. I'm nice to everyone. I've got a 2:1 degree!


The main problem that I seem to have is a big lack of 'experience'.
To employers, voluntary work isn't important enough to count as experience.


The only actual paid work experience I have is as a Sales Assistant. I'm only going back to working in a supermarket if I really have to. That's my contingency plan for when I get incredibly desperate for money.


In other news, I started my new voluntary work post today. Everyone looked after me and they seemed nice. So that's good. It was tiring though. I must have walked miles and miles around the hospital delivering patient notes and patients themselves! The definite low point was when I kind of lost control of a wheelchair and nearly let a patient go into the road! (Don't worry, it's a side road on the hospital site, and there were no cars around, thankfully!) I'm only little, so wheelchairs with people in them, downhill slopes and my pitiful strength don't go well together... But they didn't get run over, so it's fine. Then I failed miserably at working the special outdoor lift. Two members of staff embarrassingly had to come out and help me.
I've got a degree and yet I struggle to work lifts...
In my defence, I only had three hours sleep last night, so I'm not really 'with it'. Still, I don't think I managed to kill anyone, so that's a bonus...


I'm such a glutton for punishment that I'm going back tomorrow... I enjoy it really!
Different ward though. Different role. Different staff. Different patients. Different speciality. Pretty much everything about it's different. But, it's more experience isn't it? Not that employers will care...
I'm only going in for an hour in the morning so it shouldn't be too bad. I got told by my boss that if the staff on the ward aren't nice and don't look after me then I'm to walk straight out!


We'll see how it goes...


Oh, and in other news, my best friend and I have decided to write a book. Quite exciting really. It's not medical or anything. It's a story. In fact it's one I wrote at Uni and dug out. She liked it, so she's going to illustrate it and then we're going to try and get it published. Ha! The chance'd be a fine thing!! 


Although I've got no plans to abandon my Med school dream and be a famous author!


Until next time!
xx

I Made a Bobo...

Silly me! I thought I had an appointment at the Job Centre Plus today, where I would get to tell one of the advisors to 'stick it up their bum', as it were.


However, I don't have to go until next Monday! In fact I'm not sure I'll bother at all, as previously mentioned.


Here are a simple list of reasons why I'm not bothering with them anymore:

1. They didn't realise I had a degree even though they looked at my CV (twice!!),
2. They said that I would have to give up my Voluntary work if I got a full-time job,
3. They wanted to send me on a course (although they didn't specify what it was or why it'd be good for me),
4. They're sending me to a group meeting on Thursday about CVs and Apprenticeships,
5. The Job Centre Plus feels like the most depressing place on the Earth,
6. The advisors talk right down to you (although admittedly, some are nice too),
7. The computer machine things are really awkward to use,
8. I've witnessed fellow Jobseekers losing their rag through frustration and I'm quite scared of accidentally getting in the way of a fist sandwich,
9. They're not giving me any money (which I'd probably feel cheeky for taking anyway), so they can't threaten me with 'non-payment' if I don't go,
10. Call me a snob, but the jobs that they wanted to send me to are menial, underpaid and too far away. (They expected me to drive up to 90mins away from home to work in a shop or as a receptionist...)
11. They treat you like you're milking the system even if you show to them that you're eager to work,
12. I tried to show them my amazing list of job applications on both appointments and they completely and utterly dismissed it.

I've gone through my list of Job Applications and it looks like I've been rejected for every single one. I've been looking frequently for jobs today, and there really aren't any that I can apply for... 

Still, I start a new voluntary work placement at the hospital on a different ward tomorrow. An acute one this time, so a completely different pace and feel. I'm quite excited! I might not get paid for it, but I'm sure I enjoy my voluntary work more than I would a menial paid job!

Just watch it all fall apart tomorrow, and I'll come crawling back moaning about how much I hate it...

Oh, and on the 'Barry Scott' front:

He went out at half 8 this morning. To do a day's work! Unusual. I wish I'd been really loud all night and kept him awake, just so he'd know exactly what it was like trying to function the next day ridiculously sleep deprived. Except I didn't. 

Until next time!

xx