My wishlist (For Future (funded) Reference)
As per, I’m still unemployed at present – but but but BUT.
Things are starting to (once again) look up. I have an interview at Jessops on Tuesday, and meeting someone else Tomorrow. (Plus all the other awesome people at likemind – check it out if you’re in the area). And along with a job comes money. And along with money comes STUFF. nom nom nom.
So I’ve got all these grand plans. All these fantastic ideas that I want to fulfill, expensive (and not so expensive) things I want to buy when I can afford it, and I thought that I’d make a checklist. Bearing in mind it’s my birthday soon, who knows? some may turn up sooner than expected. (hint hint)
My list o’goodies
-Nikon D300s -£1100
-Nikkor AF-S 50mm 1.4G – £299
-Bag for said camera - c.£10-40
-Macbook Pro Unibody (15″ or 17″) – c. £1400
-Pasta bowls – No idea, probably about £5-£15
-Rats – £8 each (getting two), plus c.£100 on cage/food etc.
-Call of Duty: Black Ops - c.£35 – Not out until November.
-New Clothes. Want to replace all my torn/worn out stuff. -£No idea.
-New shoes (Both trainers and smart) £c. 70-80 for both
That’s all I’m going to list for now, as per usual my mind has gone blank. I’ll add things as I remember them – and of course, this is all stuff for me, not for Katie. That list will be as long, if not longer. But I want to keep that kind of a surprise.
Posted on 19 August 2010 | 8:59 pm
Urban Coffee Company’s first birthday
So on Tuesday, Urban Coffee Co. were one year old. They hosted a little bash at their shop, with free drinks (!) for those who got there early. I was invited, so decided to take my camera as Katie would be too busy to talk/hang out. Turns out I took a lot of pictures, and along with Andy Yates, became a sort-of official photographer.
Check out the pictures here, other pictures from John Kirriemuir are here, and I’m still awaiting a link to Andy’s shots.
Let me know what you think!personally, I’m pretty happy with the panorama at the end, and the couples pictures. 
Posted on 12 August 2010 | 1:43 pm
Jobcentre plus, part two.
JobCentre Plus adventures, part two.
So some of you may have read my previous rant about the Jobcentre, and how they seemed to be putting every blockade they could in front of me. For those that haven’t, it’s available here.
So, this is the next chapter. The final part of the JobCentre thing, although the ongoing story of my unemployment is still (for the time being) ongoing. You may remember that two main issues that I had with them originally were their lack of communication within the system, and utter disdain for my job search. You’ll be pleased to know that these issues never left, instead becoming even more hilarious! (?)
You may have seen in the news recently that the whole system is looking to be changed by the new government – apparently there’s too much fraud, too many people on benefits, and too many people that just don’t give a shit when it comes to finding work. Now, the first point bugs me. The amount of hoops I had to jump through to even get them to register me and my situation would make a circus animal consider something was amiss – phone calls, letters, more calls, more letters (with wrong information – I’ll get to this later) and signing so many papers that I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s an attack on some mildly threatening country in my name in the near future. Yet they still got information wrong – information that I had given them with completely pure intentions. I hate to imagine what could be done with someone who actually wanted to defraud them.
Now you may remember that at the end of the last episode, my situation hadn’t changed. I had no job, I had no money. Well, one of those did – money. Sort of. Having almost given up due to the sheer number of things they wanted, I had almost decided to just ignore it, and see how we would get on with no cash. A few threatening phone calls and letters later, this showed no sign of changing – that was, until I received a letter in the post. Benefit money. This was followed up the next day with another letter, saying that I needed to give them more information before they could process my claim, but that went in the bin. They’d decided to help us, and that was that.
I guess I should have been thankful, and I was – don’t get me wrong – but this revelation meant that now I had to go in every other Friday on their terms. They had fulfilled their first half of the bargain, and I needed to fulfil mine. I did. I continued to look for work every day, sending out emails, applying through websites (Protip: Monster is shit. Nothing happened through them apart from my inbox getting cluttered with offers for cars and things), and attending interviews. All the while I was aware that they wanted me to fill out a little table on a sheet, telling them what I had done. I got about two lines in, and realised that it was a load of bullshit and stopped. They didn’t care.
This brings me on to my next point: the level of apathy with the ‘advisors’ and the actual Jobcentre building. Not once (after my initial consultation) was I offered any assistance with finding a job. I just came in, signed a form to say I’d come in (and confirmed my birthday, as the forms apparently weren’t enough), and then leave. I did attempt to ask for help with finding a job once, but the level of enthusiasm was on par with someone asked to clean out a cesspool whilst suffering a hangover. A few once syllable answers in, I decided that it wasn’t worth it, and left.
This is where everything changed. Katie decided to email a coffee shop (Urban Coffee Company – check ‘em out, they’re pretty awesome, this coming form a guy that doesn’t really like coffee) and suddenly the system piped up. I was told I had to attend a ‘Jobseekers meeting’ at another branch, where I sat in a room getting bored, wondering why they needed a security guard behind us. Katie was meant to come, but had her first shift – I told them this, and two days later received a letter saying that I had a job, and Katie was unemployed. There were more forms for me to fill out too. Upon entering the jobcentre once more, I asked about this – apparently it’s not their department (Broken record?) and to just not come in anymore. Hm.
So here I am, unemployed. At least I don’t have to deal with them anymore, and I sincerely hope that they do get sorted out in some way or other, because it’s absolutely ridiculous. Aside from the temporary financial help, I had no support at all, and I’m pretty sure that every time I entered the building my I.Q. dipped a little. Not a pleasant place to be. I’m now waiting on (hopefully) an offer of placement, which would help get me out and about and learning again.
Until then, I’m rapidly approaching second prestige in MW2. Cause I’m awesome.
Posted on 10 August 2010 | 11:57 am
Job hunting (or, why I think the jobcentre plus is retarded.)
Long time no blog! This has been for a few reasons, but that’s neither here nor there. I thought I’d update with my experiences so far with job hunting in Brum.
(well, pretty much just a rant at the jobcentre, but meh.)
So, let me begin by giving a little background.
-I’m 21,
-I’ve just finished university, where I studied Creative writing,
-I love photography/film and media, and
-I’m poor.
So, with that out of the way, let’s get into the actual processes, shall we?
I moved to Birmingham with my fiancée Katie on the 3rd of June. We had enough money for the deposit on a flat, we loved it, and even with no Internet or phone, we moved in. First week was for exploration. We walked to and from town most days, locating the Doctor’s, the Library and the main shopping streets. All the while, I was considering work, so was working on my CV and the like, but for the first week, pretty much nothing could be done.
Come the second week, I decided that job hunting really couldn’t wait, so printed off my CV at the library, photocopied it a few times, threw on my suit and tie, and wandered off into town – job searching the old fashioned way. Many rejections, a few handed in, but otherwise no luck. We were waiting for the Internet, convinced that it would help – (few places accept CVs in person these days, it seems), and, sure enough, It finally arrived.
Installed, I headed out onto the interwebs to search. Signed up to three or four separate sites, uploaded my CV, and got a few interviews. Unfortunately, the jobs were all commission based, and as I wanted a steady income to pay bills, I rejected them, eventually deciding to wait and see what turned up, whilst in the meantime, signing on for jobseekers allowance at the local jobcentre.
This, my friends, is where it all went horribly awry.
First things first, I called up. On hold for nearly 15 minutes, I was saved from impending, musak induced insanity by the very slimmest of margins. The advisor at the end of the phone was happy, sharp, and simply wanted ‘a few details’. I duly passed over my name, age, inside leg measurement, sexual history etc, thinking all was good – but alas, apparently the next stage of the process would take ‘approximately 45 minutes’, and that an advisor would ring me back tomorrow between 8 and 1. ‘Fine’, I thought, and went back to my newly connected Xbox.
The next day, sure enough, I was fumbling around naked, blinded by the morning sun, trying to find the phone when it rang at precisely 8.01am. While Katie tried to sleep, I tried to provide all the same information again, plus a hell of a lot more. They wanted forms and details that I hadn’t seen in years (if ever), but I eventually sorted it all out, and was given an appointment on Friday morning, 9am.
So the Friday morning came. I’d intended to attend Likemind – a monthly coffee morning get together nearby, so turned up bright and early at 8, knowing that I would need to leave in about half an hour to get to the job centre in time.
This was wrong. I arrived at 8:35, and, even better, the place apparently doesn’t open until 9am. Joy. So there I stood for half an hour, looking horrendously out of place in my suit and tie, watching people come and try the doors until a minion finally began the (apparently arduous) task of opening the front doors. I stood aside, letting everyone else participate in the frantic rush to get in, secure in the knowledge that my appointment was 9am, I would be out by 10, and on to another interview that I had at 12. Eventually getting to the desk, I stated my name and appointment time, where upon the assistant wrote down on a piece of paper (official, no?) my name, and a time – 9.20. erm…
I sat for twenty minutes more, watching people come and go, wishing that I could just get out of there. I don’t know if any of you have been to one of these places, but the atmosphere is odd. Very odd. You look around at your compatriots, and realise that many of these people really couldn’t care less. Surrounded by chavs, (some of which playing music on the terrible speakers of their phones), ex- druggies fidgeting about, throwing quick glances at everyone, and a fat security guard, who I’ve no doubt would be able to catch absolutely no one in a chase, hovering over us all like we were in a holding cell.
Glancing at my watch, I hear my name called – my full name, which sounds quite posh to me, let alone this lot – and waste no time in heading over to a desk. Here I go through the exact. Same. Forms. Again. Only this time, accompanied by tutting from the assistant when I hadn’t provided any of these mystical forms they desired. She told me that it was stupid, Katie and I having separate appointments, and I agreed, but apparently it wasn’t their fault. (Naturally).
After much tutting and gritted teeth, I was told to go back to the holding cell, and wait for my advisor. I did. Eventually heading over, she proceeded to go through, yet again, THE EXACT SAME DETAILS AS BEFORE. By this time, I was more than a little pissed off. It was here that I began to realise going to university is a big no-no if you want benefits, and began to wish I was illiterate, drunk, and had left school at 13. However, I stayed, and was soon joined by Katie, who, having had an extra hour in bed and not having had to go through the crap that I had, was in a much cheerier mood.
The woman proceeded to take more of the same details from me, making me agree to a contract, giving me a little pack etc, and eventually I was allowed to leave. (I was told subsequently that I was meant to fill out another form to prove I was literate, but she was correct to assume I would have most likely written it in her own blood if she had asked.)
Later that day, I had cooled off. Katie and I met up for lunch, where Katie shared with me a job that had been found – that of a photographer! Wayhey! She had the form, I was to call up and say that we couldn’t get through on Friday, which I did today (Monday). I was told that I could not apply to go to this interview without going through the job centre, as all the information has to go on their system and my record. I agreed that that made sense (sort of), and headed down to the centre once more.
Upon arrival, I stated my case to the assistant (who was actually very nice this time), and he took the details from me to arrange it. However.
Ah yes. However.
He returned in a few minutes. He asked me to not be angry. He proceeded to tell me that ‘this job is only available to people on level three, you’re level one. Sorry.’
Now, for those of you that don’t know, levels pertain to how long you’ve been on benefits. And level three is six months. So the gist of this was that this job (or, more correctly, an interview), in something I love, in a place that I loved the look of, was not available to me because I hadn’t been unemployed for long enough.
I had to laugh. The assistant did too – sort of a cautious laugh, I think he thought I was a little deranged. But I wasn’t. I was exasperated.
Now I sit here, still with no job, and pretty much loathing the job centre for many reasons (some of which I haven’t mentioned). I can’t wait to get a job, get as far away from, and never have anything ever to do with, the jobcentre.
Posted on 21 June 2010 | 11:24 am
Website almost there…
Well I’ve been working on getting all my old stuff back up into the new site – using my very rudimentary understanding of html, and the continued assistance of both Nick and Paul, I’m almost there. Photography now has a few pics up, and the writing page is almost completely back – films will take a bit longer though.
Cheers
Alex
Posted on 18 April 2010 | 4:27 pm
New stuff…
Hello. Welcome to my new website, designed by Nick Taylor – It was only finalized last night, (or this morning, should I say ), and as such, many of the links do not work. I’ll be working on that today or tomorrow. It’s worth it though, because this way I get away from Yola.
Hope you enjoy it, I’m off to start collecting up all the resources and shoving them in where I can. (This way, I also get away from linking to photos via flickr, which in itself is awesome.
Posted on 5 March 2009 | 1:14 pm