overlap

I'm sure I've used this fine Aztec Camera song as a post title before, but it remains a great song and a reasonable description of where we are now. Looking out the window I can see rain and the coming of darkness, and the approach of autumn at least is banging right on the door. Meanwhile I've found a couple of vacancies that look like the right kind of promising, I've done several binbags worth of paper shredding, re-organised my kitchen and made a start on sorting out the clothes mountain. I've even got as far as buying something that counts as suitable interview clothes, which is something that really bugs me to waste money on when I have a ton of stuff I'd rather be wearing. But that's the nature of the game - and it is a game, trying to make the right impression to be more likeable than any other candidate while not being sufficiently honest to scare them off! And as long as I can keep that in mind, that it's a game I've done all right at in the past when circumstances have required, I'm hopeful it'll turn out ok in the end.

At a point where the details of the redundancy paperwork are still not settled, it will surprise nobody that I have nothing to say on that subject. And indeed, once it's all sealed, and more importantly paid, I'm still not likely to to be discussing it. But the fact this is where we are should be a good guide to why I'm still rather in limbo, albeit now the signing on kind. An awful lot has changed, both in my life and in the associated processes, since I last signed on. The forms are still sometimes an interesting exercise in logic, but the mechanism of making a new claim online definitely didn't exist all those years ago. So what now? Suitable vacancies are not exactly plentiful, but the local training industry appears to have a few options which will improve my certificated employability, so that's what I'm hoping to make the most of next. Of course, there are inevitable bureaucratic hurdles to be passed before I can actually make a start on the training, so in the meantime my house is gradually becoming rather tidier and less cluttered. If nothing else, it needs to be presentable for the stage when I get sufficiently desperate that taking in a lodger becomes less a theoretical possibility and more an urgent need. Last time I had this much time on my hands I was in rather a different position: I'm reliant on imposing a certain self-discipline to get on with doing various jobs around the house, not least because I'd rather not still have this amount of available time six months from now. Keeping some sort of routine is going to be useful, especially if nothing is going to be settled for another week or three, as I'm not expecting anyone to turn up on my doorstep offering me a gold plated job with a six figure salary! It's not as if I have nothing to do, and there's rather more stuff on my list than there was when I was signing on in my twenties, but I'm sure this isn't going to be forever. * Twenty One Again is track 6 on the Mega City Four album Tranzophobia