Comments

Please feel free to comment on anything, but try to be nice. I have changed the settings on the blog to allow anybody to comment. It seems that when a blog is set up the default setting for comments it to allow only people with a blogger account to comment, but that is now changed as I said before so comment away!!!

University

Well, yesterday I headed into London to check out the school I want to attend this coming September. I am going to take a 2 year course at the London Metropolitan University called Music Technology, which in the end will leave me with the knowledge and qualifications to tune and repair pianos. I phoned the campus in the morning just to make sure the open day was still on, and having been assured that "of course it's still on", I bought my train ticket and made my way to the big city. The open day started at 2pm, and upon my arrival at 1.15pm I was informed that the open day had been cancelled. Fortunately the gentleman that I was speaking to was very kind and phoned the head of the department, and explained that I had travelled all the way from Southampton. The head guy agreed to speak with me and was very helpful, spending almost 2 hours with me answering all my strange questions.

In my heart I had hoped that the classes would be neatly arranged to fit into 2 full days, leaving 3 days to work and earn some money. We could stay in Southampton and I could do the commute into London for the 2 days of school. This year's schedule is: all day Monday, Tuesday afternoon, all day Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning. Doesn't leave much time for work. If I was to get any kind of a job I would only see Zulobia and the kids between terms. I did some preliminary investigation into student funding today and found that there are quite a few bursaries and grants that you can apply for, but most will only consider your application after you have taken the maximum student loan out. I don't want a student loan. With the exception of the mortgage on the house we used to own in Canada, Zulobia and I have managed to stay out of debt our entire marriage.

It wasn't all negative. The course looks great, the first thing I saw as I left the building was the gherkin (you know the bullet shaped building), and the instructors seemed very knowledgeable and helpful. I am really looking forward to taking this course and getting on with tuning pianos.

I really felt like the idea to tune pianos came from God. Not that it is a "great and noble" career that will make me rich or change the world. After praying unceasingly for 3 years, well probably mostly whining, this idea just dropped into my head. It appeals to me on several different levels. I could be self employed, it keeps me in a creative frame of mind, and it is a very portable skill that is needed everywhere people own pianos. Anyway, I am still going for it. I just don't know what it will look like come September. I guess that's where my faith comes in!!

Finally!!

Hey Happy Valentines Day!!! Well, today I signed a contract for an ongoing temporary post with a shipping line who has their offices here in Southampton. I will be dealing with customer queries and booking export containers on vessels leaving the UK through Southampton. They know that I'm only available until July/Aug and that I also have a week long holiday booked in June and they were ok so there you go-I'm officially employed again. I was supposed to start on the 19th, right at the beginning of half term, but Zulobia must have prayed (she wasn't looking forward to a week on her own with the kids) because as I was signing the contract at the agency the shipping line called and said that they didn't need me until the following Monday.

Tomorrow I go into London to the London Metropolitan University to find out more about the Musical Instrument Technology course I want to take this September. I can't wait to get the real scoop on the course. Coincidentally, the campus I am going to tomorrow is right next to the 4 storey building that collapsed yesterday. Probably a bit dusty down there I would imagine.

Plain Jane (or Plain Blaine?)

My faithful readers (all three of you) may have noticed that there aren't too many frills or gimmicks on my blog. I could say that it's because of my minimalistic attitude towards life, and that could be partly true. I could also say that I don't have time to do anything extra, but that definitely isn't true. Considering that I'm not working and haven't been for the past 18 months I have loads of time to spruce up the old blog. No, I can't use either of those excuses. The reason the blog is so plain is because I don't know how to do anything. I don't know how to link web pages to words in my text, I don't know how to add photo's, and I can barely update it. It's pure techno-ignorance. So I apologize to those of you who like bells and whistles because you won't find any here, but I can promise you riveting discussion on various mundane topics.

The Speed of Business

I remember an advertisment from when I was a teenager, I don't remember exactly what the product was but I think it was Xerox (I could be wrong here) which is a photocopier and other business machine supplier. Anyway, the tag for the advert was: "Moving at the speed of business!" The implication being that business was always fast moving and needed something that was able to keep up. I've been applying for lots of jobs lately, and it seems that nobody is in a hurry to hire anyone. An advert will be in a paper or on a website and will have a "closing date" for applications for about 2 or maybe 3 weeks away, and the advert will also usually tell you the date the interviews will be held which is probably 4 weeks after the "closing date". Obviously you can do the math, but that's sometimes 6 or maybe even 7 weeks after the CV gets put into the post, assuming you post it as soon as you see the advert. My point here, and I do have one, is that it seems to me that business moves very slow here in the UK. Maybe businesses in the UK are more organized than in Canada and can afford to take 2 months to decide on the right candidate for a position, I don't know. I am used to a turn around time of about 2 weeks maximum from the time I apply for a position to the time I find out whether I got the job or not. I have gotten some jobs, and I'm talking about management positions as well, withing 2 days of applying. I know it's just a different system here, and I'm not saying that what I'm used to is better, well, maybe I do think it's better. Anyway, I've been seriously applying for jobs for about a month now and still no joy. I am a little bit frustrated.