Finally the weekend has rocked around again and we have nothing planned for once! Ahh! A quiet weekend - they're like rare gems found on quiet beaches... So I plan on doing as little as possible, life has been kind of hectic of late and once more I could be accused of being a bad blogger. Although I have set up another blog site where I am posting the short stories I write. You can check it out at - http://fablesandfantasies.blobspot.com I'm posting a story there so far on average of about once a week.

Since getting to Swindon I've been temping in various positions. Firstly with the Research Council as a P.A which was pretty good - they give grants for a variety of disciplines. They're really nice people and the work was easy but good. I was only filling in for someone on long term sick leave though so no permanent work eventuated from that.
From there I went to Swindon Borough Council, P.A again to the Chief Executive. OK work and the C.E is really nice but councils here are frustrating. No one wants to take responsibility for anything, however small it may be, so a lot of time is wasted chasing around different departments for answers to the simplest of questions. The money was fantastic though. Again I was filling in for someone who was on holiday, so no full time work eventuated from that either...
I bounced back to the Research Council for a week and a bit and then at the eleventh hour when I thought I'd be out of work for a few days and was worried where the next pound was coming from, my temp agency rang with an offer of an interview.
I headed out to South Marston Park - about 20 minutes on the bus from Swindon to a company that makes orthopaedic implants (knee, hip, elbow and shoulder joints, plus a variety of other stuff for severely broken bones and skin grafts) to meet and impress the Customer Services Manager. I did well and was offered the job after about 15 minutes. It's a temp to permanent position. Temp for the first month, which I'm half way through and then after that if they're happy with me and I like them I can negotiate a better wage for a full time and permanent position.

So far it's going well. The work is really interesting and there is a shit load to learn, but I'm enjoying the challenge. Again the people are really nice and the offices are comfortable with some pretty park surrounding them. I'm doing quotes for hospitals, taking orders for body parts and answering complaints. They seem to like me so far, so I just have to keep up the act for a few more weeks! Ha ha... The boss who interviewed me is on holiday at the moment and back next week so that's when I'll really have to shine... Still so far so good. If all goes well as part of my training I will have to gown up and go into surgery to watch a knee/hip/elbow or shoulder replacement. It sounds as though it'd be quite interesting if I manage to stay conscious and not pass out!

We've made a few friends through Mark's course and last week had some people around to celebrate Teresa's 22nd Birthday. Teresa is here to study from Portugal hence he birthday being at ours when we've only really just met. It was a good day though - Mark cooked a chicken roast and I did the birthday cake. We had balloons and presents - the whole shebang! Afterwards we headed out to a pub in the old town for a few pints. I was completely knackered after the weekend and Monday morning dawned way too soon for my liking!

Still I shouldn't complain - it wasn't really that long ago when I was unemployed, homeless and looking for a job. Now I have both and it still isn't good enough for me! Women hey - we're never happy!

Our new place is great - much bigger than the last with an upstairs and down stairs. We're yet to get a couch and a coffee table, but aside from that we're settled and it feels like home. It's light and airy and has a good feeling to it as soon as you walk in the door. In a few weeks we're getting a new bed - donated from Mark's Aunt and Uncle, some sort of wizz-bang orthopaedic sleep master. It will make a fine replacement from the one we have where the springs tend to find their way into your ribs whichever position you lie in. There I go complaining again...

The herbs I am growing on the windowsill are growing at a remarkable rate, and all of the different varieties have sprung to life. I've never before been able to grow basil, but both the Thai and plain variety are doing well and changing me from the woman who can't grow anything to the woman who has a remarkable way with herbs.

We now have a digital camera which Mark had to get for his Masters, so when I have figured out how to do it I will post some pictures of our new place, new friends and things we have been seeing and doing on this space. It shouldn't be too long in coming as I'm not so bad at working out how to use various forms of technology.