My Grand Designs

The new Shard Building as at Feb 1, 2013.

So, first apologies and updates since 2011!!



So after, my last blog complaining about not having a job, i got a job in financial services and now again i have no job, but due to good reasons.


After getting engaged to my (now 6 and a bit year-long) partner and her being offered a brilliant opportunity in Essex we moved to Westcliff-on-sea (Southend). So have yet again had to start applying for more jobs of which I have had one interview so far (in an advertising company in London). 

So I have had ample time recently (since December 2012) thinking about what i want from life. We've seen some impressive areas in Essex which would be nice to live but maybe out of commuting distance and price range and would mean were even further away from family and friends. Also from sitting in and watching TV i now have ideas of what i would like to do given the money I just don't have at the moment.

My issue is that i watch programmes such as Grand Designs, Amazing Spaces, Homes Under the Hammer and I just wish i could build my own home, not necessarily anything amazing just something that would be right for us.

I also met up with an old friend in London last week and as I always find its always great meeting up with old friends and seeing where the world takes you if you put the right energies in, to which he has and i feel sometimes (as like the moment) i give up and perhaps which is why i don't get somethings i wish i did.

So how to improve my lot....keep applying, look for more exciting opportunities, stop looking gift horses in the mouth because at the time the opportunity didn't look great. But hey ho back to more Grand Designs!!

Giving up on Giving Up

After my non-event of a blog yesterday, i feel it right to restore the balance. Unfortunately my 'giving up' routine of yesterday got to me slightly and i even gave up on blogging properly after watching Monty Python's Flying Circus- ending in a bit of a strange post. I feel i must admit to the blogosphere that the job market has gotten to me a bit to must and to stop myself getting even more depressed i felt watching a bit of ol' Monty would cheer me up- alas that was not the case......

However 3 phone calls from job agencies/jobs today has perked my optimistic self up again (still not bouncing-of-the-walls as per normal but meh cant complain :o)....) especially that they are all jobs i could more than competently do and are all in Folkestone (or near by) and so rises my hopes of moving in with my girlfriend sooner rather than later (as she is looking to move to Folkestone after securing her first job that utilises her skills in the town). Just hope its not another long line of "sorry but you were not succesful on this occasion.....'s" or otherwise i may feel like an ex-parrot!!

Ian A

How to recognise different types of trees from quite a long way away

On this morning (13th November, 2011), shortly after 11 o'clock, photography struck this collection of trees in Bedgebury. Sudden, violent photography.....I saw the advertisment for the pinetum in the bolour suppliment in the paper. "You mean the colour suppliment", yes im sorry i cant say the letter B..."C"...Yes, well.

The day started with me feeling a little peckish so i thought to myself, "A little fermented curd will do the trick", so my girlfriend curtailed her propolsion-of-the-motor-vehicle activities, so i sallied forth, and infiltrated the road-side place of perveyance to negotiate the vending of some cheesy comestibles (i went to buy some cheese, i definately was not complaining about the drum-and-base player as i am one who delights in all manifestations of the terpsichorean muse).

When we finally got to the pinetum we found our first tree....No.1: The Larch (i think that may be the end of the monty-python-related references.....) and photographed and then we found another 9,999 other trees and kept getting lost so we kept seeing No.1: The Larch....

....after the pinetum we then headed to our favourite pub-in-the-middle-of-nowhere (The swan, Wittersham) where i par-took of some double-vision cider (really gets the old man hammered rather quickly) and a duck-in-pancakes inspired pizza (of which neither of us finished).

...we then took part in our bi-weekly quiz at the kings head pub (deal, kent) and didnt win again but we were "...and now for something completely different" and we found that Jimmy Carter (ex-U.S. president) farmed peanuts and that Karoake was invented in Japan...I dont think there's a punch-line scheduled is there?

Ian A

True Pheonixes

 

"Our passions are the true pheonixes; when the old one is burnt out, a new one rises from its ashes" (Goethe). 

This quote hopefully will symbalise my life in the near future, having depressive rejection after depressive rejection from job applications to various companies and even having my own jobs HQ ring me to tell me they werent letting me out of my current situation, im trying to turn back into my infamously positive outlook-in-life self. Its not easy to do this after 150+ rejections and spending 5 years at university (for what it seems is now a fruitless exercise) i just need that one bit of luck, that one person too see that i have potential and ill be on my way.

And anyway without my current job situation i would have an amazing life: amazing friends, good times, amazing things to do and last but not least an amazing girlfriend who is there when i need her most....life doesnt seem so bad afterall :o)

Ian A

God's Plan

"Gods got a plan for me, well i gotta tell you one thing i dont got the patience or the time....." (Sum 41, 2011) These lyrics from the song 'screaming bloody murder' probably encapsulate exactly my frame of mind and also the frame of mind of many thousands of people in either part-time jobs or no jobs at all (espcially those looking for full-time employment. Its jus seems rediculous that someone who has a degree and masters degree keeps being told after his applications for jobs that he doesnt have high enough qualifications- it really is a joke. What am i meant to do????!!!

Well theres the rant part over.....Alton Towers/Nottingham was a good laugh except for when we wanted to get on 'Rita' and it broke down but managed to get on all the big rides at least once and went to splash landings so cant complain really.

Things undertaken in the past week: Re-decorating the dining room....and thats about it (a bit of a slow week really) but atleast myself and the girlfriend went to the Grand Hotel in Folkestone (amazing venue) and now she wants to get married there!! Still talking about moving out to Folkestone, maybe once someone feels that im capable of doing a better paid job then my life wont feel like its been put on hold still.......

Ian A

This Welsh Dragon is About to Roar

After researching my family tree and finding out that im mostly Welsh (a slight shock as didnt realise Merrick was a Welsh name but then its not a common name anywhere) and the name comes from the latin Mauritus meaning 'Dark' i feel i should act more like my ancestors and start to more like the dragon. (http://www.houseofnames.com/merrick-family-crest)

Tired of being pushed around now by jobs saying im not qualified enough (even though i have a degree and MSc in business and Management) ive decided to write a letter to my manager to see if i can get training for a promotion (lets see how that goes!). Atleast i have this weekend @ Alton Towers Scarefest to look forward to :o)

Ian A

In Retrospect

A weekend of highs and lows (one captured in this photograph!). Went on a run with the mrs on saturday morning from Sandwich to Deal to see how far we had to come still for marathon training (seems quite a bit still! but its only early doors) and then spent the rest of the afternoon mulling through the shops in Deal. Sunday started off badly for me as we went to a 'retrofair' in Folkestone which in retrospect was really only ever going to be a few indoor stalls full of old records and womens clothing. Then by random chance (as we did not know they were there) we came accross the beach huts at Folkestone beach (below leas cliff hall) and spent a few hours photographing).



Then our bi-monthly (twice a month not once every two months (typical english grammar being unclear)) quiz at the Kings Head Pub (in Deal)  where i make random suggestions to answers which sound funny but that are right (such as Holland inventing speed skating and the Titanic being the first boat to give an S.O.S call). The quiz is always interesting but we never get a chance to win and always get annoyed with each other when its only a bit of fun!!

In Retrospect, in retrospect!!

Ian A