New Job!!!!

Ah, sweet success! I have been offered a new job that is a bit closer to the line of work that I want to do (although still not there yet!). I don't want to write too much online about it due to privacy issues, but I am pretty happy about it. It starts in a month's time and is 30 hrs a week, so I will still be keeping an 8hr shift a week at my current job. Looks like that whole thing about me only being able to get an 8hr/week contract really did turn out for the best. It's so funny how that is. I found out mid last week that I got the job, but didn't want to post until I had spoken to my current job about the situation. I interviewed at 9:30am and I found out I had the job by 12:45 - not too shabby, I don't think. Anyway, the post starts in about a month's time and I am really looking forward to it.

If anyone wants to find out more about my new job, chuck me an email and I'll tell you all about it!

For now, have a great day!

St. Bernard's Well

So a few weeks ago my friend Christina and I decided to visit St. Bernard's Well. The construction of the present structure was commissioned in the late 1700s (yep, it's older than Canada) although the well was supposedly originally found by St. Bernard in the 12th century. The well is located very close to Dean's Bridge in Edinburgh and I had often passed it on my walks along the Water of Leith Walkway. It is a very pretty site to behold as you walk along the path and suddenly a beautiful temple-like structure looms up before you. It seems a bit like it should be in the film Pride and Predjudice or something. Anyway, usually it is closed to the public and completely locked up, but the locals had decided to open it up one day and we went for a visit.

Statue on the top floor

The mosaic ceiling

There are two floors - the top being an open air one with a very nice statue in the centre. The bottom floor is where the well actually is. You can still pump water from the well (and of course Christina and I had to try that too) however, you are not advised to drink from it (Christina and I restrained ourselves). The real surprise though was the absoultely magnificent mosaic ceiling which we found in there.

All in all, it was pretty fun to do something a bit more unusual and to explore a new part of the city (and for free!).

President Bush and Climate Change

Here is further evidence that US President Bush just doesn't get the importance or severity of climate change.

His goodbye "joke" to leaders of the G8 summit was, "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter" . . . (click here for source)

I wonder if that got published in the States?

Edinburgh Week 4: Where's the leaky pipe?

I don't have much to report this week, really. Time has gone by rather quickly. I'm working full-time again and I am loving the flat. I love the flat despite the fact that the day after I moved in a water pipe burst in our kitchen and we haven't been able to use the kitchen sink or washing machine since. The plumber said the floor had to be torn up to get to the pipe, so we had to get a joiner (aka carpenter) to come in to look at it. A couple of days later the plumber and joiner duo arrived. They tore up the floor and looked at the pipes and decided that the problem was actually in the wall. So, once again we had to reschedule. They're coming this week sometime and they'll probably then decide that the problem is in the ceiling. Who knows? The point is, I still love my flat. That says something I think.

Other good news - I have 4 interviews in the next three weeks for jobs! No guarantees, but at least I am getting interviews! I think that deserves a little Woohoo.

woohoo!

Edinburgh, Week 3: Success! Well, moderate success anyway

Two good things happened this past week. One, I found a flat! It's a cosy 4 bedroom in a great location. My room is a great size and I think I will be able to make it really homey here, once I get some money saved up. The only thing that is not so good about the flat is that there is no living room or shared lounge. On the bright side, at least I don't have to worry about the living room being private! Plus, given the size of my room I should be able to create a "living room area" in one of the corners of my room.

Good thing number 2 is that I am now getting full time hours at my old job. It's probably just temporary over the summer season, but it makes me happy because I now know I will be able to make next month's rent . . . and the month after that . . . although I am not sure what will happen in month 3, but time will tell!

I am still looking for a more proper job and one that better reflects my interests, but nothing solid yet. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Til next time . . . x

Edinburgh, Week 2: Rollercoaster Rides

Week two started with the usual panic: I need a job and a flat ASAP. I tried temping agencies, and "real" job websites. The "real" job options were slim, mainly because it's just poor timing to be out looking for a job in my field. Also, some of the potential jobs that were on the go wouldn't be starting until the fall. So, in short, I still needed a job ASAP. I just don't have enough money saved up to wait around for a couple of months until a job in my field comes up.

So, I thought, why not get in touch with my last job in Edinburgh? It's practically festival time, surely they'll be looking for people! Actually, no. Turns out they've been through some rough times since I last worked there and weren't looking to hire any one. That was deflating, but there wasn't much I could do about it. I decided to stop in to see some of my friends that worked there though, which was lovely. We decided to arrange a night out and I headed back home .... later that day, I got a call from one of my ex-coworkers. Turns out that right after I left someone quit their job and they could hire me now! (This was a high point in the roller coaster week). The down point was that it was only going to be for 16hrs a week. Not much, but beggars can't be choosers, can they? So I decided to give my old manager a call the next day - and actually, they could only offer 8hrs a week, but I would likely get more (another low point). I'm not really enjoying the uncertainty of all that, but it's better than nothing. I suppose. For now. Maybe. At least I'll be making some money (a high point).

So, I'm back at my old job, but I can't guarantee how many hours I will be getting per week. I just hope it'll be enough to get by on!

In good job related news, I have an interview for a "real" job that would start in the fall (a high point). The interview is not until the end of the month, so I still have plenty of waiting and seeing to do (a low point).

...

Flats. Well, I did go to see a couple of places this week, but they were not my type (a low point). One of them, the kitchen smelled horrible. I cannot stay in a place like that. I like to keep things tidy. The other place, they kept changing things like how much it was going to cost, whether they'd require a deposit, etc. It's been a pretty frustrating week. I have never had so much trouble trying to find a place to live. I don't know how many places I've called and I either seem to just miss them or they have these crazy stipulations. One ad I saw said the "living room was private". Everything else sounded great, so I thought I would call and find out what that all meant. The girl I spoke to said that they basically didn't want to have any parties going on in the room. That was fair enough, I thought, but I still wanted to clarify - "So, whoever rented the room would still be able to use it though right?" No, apparently I was wrong. It wasn't for everyone to use. But, I still didn't get it, "But, if I paid money to live there, I would still get to use the living room, wouldn't I?" No. I wouldn't be allowed. I tried every angle I could think of, but the answer was still no. So my eventual response was "Riiiiiiiight. I don't think this flat is for me then."

And that pretty much sums up my lack of ability to find a place to live. Hopefully next week things will go smoother!


Til next time. x

Edinburgh, Week 1: Decisions, Decisions

After London, I took the train up to Edinburgh. I love taking the train so much! It's so relaxing . . . you just sit back and eventually, i.e. 4.5 hours later, you arrive. One of the best things about the King's Cross - Edinburgh trains is the view along the coast. You're not right on the coast the entire time, but when you are it's pretty spectacular. But, even that doesn't really compare to when you first catch a glimpse of Arthur's Seat in the distance as you draw nearer to Edinburgh. It really does feel like home here.

I was met at the train station and whisked away to "my" flat, where I have been lent a bed for the time being while I look for a flat. It's so nice to have a place to stay that is not a hostel!

Basically, this entire week was about making decisions. Namely, did I want to apply for jobs in England as well as Scotland? Afterall, some pretty amazing ones were currently being advertised and it's not that I don't like England . . . it's just that I really didn't like the lifestyle I was leading with my company there. Well, I thought about it all week and I think I am going to try to stay here in Scotland, at least for the next year or two. Every time I leave Scotland, I just seem to end up plotting ways to return, so now I really want to try and stay here . . . even though I currently have no job and no place to live (that's mine, that is)!

So, that was the main decision and took up most of my time. At the moment, there really isn't any jobs in my field on the go here, but I have faith that things will work out. I am hoping to do some volunteer work in my field and, at the very least, meet some contacts that way.

Til next time. x

Ospreys in Scotland

I thought I should stay in line with my environmental geekiness that I have portrayed rather well the past few weeks. So, here is a link to a live webcam feed from an Osprey nest in the highlands of Scotland. These birds are amazing birds of prey and they feed solely on fish and nest on the very tops of trees. Currently, they have two chicks who have grown quite a bit over the last two weeks. Warning: If you are anything like me you might just become addicted to this site!

Click HERE to watch the ospreys.

Canada Day in Edinburgh

Ah, I will never forget my first Canada Day in Edinburgh in 2003 (Gulp, that was five years ago!). My group of friends all went out to the Globe and it was so refreshing to see all those people dressed in red and white! Many of them weren't even from Canada!

My second Canada Day (2004) was also fantastic. Vanessa and I held a BBQ at our flat and had a bunch of people over. True to Scottish weather, the moment people started to arrive it began to pour! Luckily, Maureen was still brave enough to take care of the BBQing - we just pulled the BBQ right up to the door so that she could stand in the doorway. I think everyone still had a good time, even though we were crammed in the hallway of our building!

Needless to say, I expected this year (my third Canada Day in Edinburgh) to be pretty fantastic too. But, I was kind of disappointed. We went to a pub which was hosting a Canada Day celebration on the Royal Mile, but it wasn't really that exciting. They did go around though and see how many people were from each province/territory and (shocker!) I was the only one there to represent good old PEI. I did my part though when they asked "Is there anyone here from PEI?" and I shouted out "Yay! ... I'm the only one!" Everyone laughed at me and there were naturally one or two Anne of Green Gables comments thrown my way. Typical. :)

For anyone not aware, Canada Day is held July 1st and it is NOT the same as Independance Day (July 4th and American). Canada was "born" in 1867 so this year we are 141 years old.

Who knew Grey Herons were Comedians

I took this photo at Hdye Park, while in London and thought it was pretty funny! (If you can't see the words on the sign, click on the picture to view a larger image!)

London's Natural History Museum

So, I went to London . . . and spent most of my time there in the Natural History Museum. I don't know why I had never been there before - I love that kind of stuff!

Imagine a massive building that is one of the most beautiful buildings you have ever seen - it kind of looks like a large cathedral. The architecture was amazing - especially the detailing on the inside, covering the walls and framing the windows. Truely spectacular and accurately themed, as it all had to do with flora and fauna (aka plants and animals, in case you were wondering).

Anyway, they certainly know how to do first impressions. The first room I walked into had an escalator that went up to the third floor through a sculpture of the world. That's right, you actually travel through the work of art! I was pretty impressed . . . especially because this was one of the "side" entrances. At the main entrance they had a dinosaur. Meh! I say!

One of the cooler things I got to see while I was there was a stuffed dodo bird (see pic!). It is massive! The dodo is one of the birds that is now extinct in the whole entire world. That's right - there are no more dodos and there never will be. Except in museums.

In a related note, I also got to see a fossil of Archaeopteryx - which is essentially the evolutionary species link between birds and reptiles. It was amazing to see for me because I remember reading all about it in text books in school and seeing it's picture. But now, I got to see one in person.

Last but not least, I also saw an amazing bed of Myophorella shells - a type of bivalves very similar to clams. Ironically, these were found in the exact location that I had just left. It was like they were mocking me. We can find those on the beach by where I used to work . . . although this was a very impressive collection!

Perhaps the most impressive attraction was the robotic T-Rex. I've included a video I took of it on my blog - just click the play buttion. If you have sound, you should even be able to hear it roar!

Overall, I would give the Natural History Museum two thumbs up! Well worth the trip - plus you can see all these items for free!!!

A series of unfortunate people = Part II

Unfortunate Person #2: The Taxi Driver

Right, so the taxi driver showed up at our gate and I was ready and waiting. Unfortunately, the taxi booker lady didn't tell him he would actually need to drive into our gate (normally, they just reverse up to the gate so they can drive straight out without having to go through our centre), so he was in a bad mood to start off with because he had to turn the car around again. Then we showed up with my mountain of boxes to put in the boot (aka the trunk) of his car and again, he was not happy. Oh, well - he's getting paid, so why shouldn't he relax? Well, then I apparently "slammed" the door. This angered him and he yelled at me. Yep, we were not off to a good start - we hadn't even started up the taxi yet. Then, we stopped at the post office on the way and we also apparently took entirely too long. For our information, we were informed that we had been in there a whole quarter of an hour, and he would have to charge us extra for that. The length of our stay at the post office was not intentional (see later in this post) and I did feel bad about it, but I didn't appreciate the way he dealt with the situation. On the way to the restaurant, he also yelled at another driver because that driver didn't yield the right of way to him. Oh, dear. I was happy to get out of the cab. The conversation Tom and I were having quickly died when the taxi driver yelled at the other driver. It was replaced by awkward silence.

Unfortunate Person #3: The Post Office Lady

While we were sitting in the taxi, we saw that the Royal Mail truck was just about to pull away, essentially meaning we had just missed the mail for that day (Unfortunate Event #2) (I should point out that this was not a full time post office, but one that is operated out of a store). Anyway, so in I walk with my 3 boxes and I say that I would like to post these. Well, the lady looks a little flustered and says I just missed the truck for the day. I answered that I know and I even gave a little laugh and add that it was just my luck really. Then she says, "But that means they won't be able to go out until Monday." I explained to her that this was fine as I was in no hurry to send those boxes. She then said, "But that means we'll have to keep these boxes until Monday! I don't know where we'll put them." This was followed by an awkward silence at which point she finally said, "Well, I guess we'll find somewhere for them to go." At this point Tom walked in with the other three boxes. She was not a happy camper.

She then proceeded to be the slowest postal worker in history. She complained about the weight of the boxes and said that she would have to get someone else to lift them. None of my boxes weighed over 5kgs. Her co-worker stood there and watched the entire thing happen, not once offering to help out to speed matters up. Well, that's not entirely true - at one point she offered to move the weighed boxes off the counter and onto the floor. Yep, totally helpful. Thank you.

At this point, I pretty much decided that Weymouth had absolutely nothing left to offer me.

Unfortunate Person #4: The Lucky Train Man

I eventually got onto a train to London, after missing, not only my original train, but also the one that was sitting on the platform when I bought my ticket by about 30 seconds (Unfortunate Event #3). I was sitting on my own, minding my own business when a man and a woman got on the train at one of the many stops on the way to London. He seemed extremely excited by this train and said, "Oh, this is a lucky train! A lucky, lucky train!" He walked a bit more and then repeated, "Oh, this is a lucky train! A lucky, lucky train!" and this continued for a bit, until he finally sat down and stopped saying how lucky the train was.

I never did get to find out why the train was so damn lucky.

Unfortunate Person #5: The Toilet (aka bathroom) Lady

Once again, I am sitting there on the train, minding my own business, when all of a sudden I hear incredibly loud banging coming from the back of the car near the toilet. Then I hear a lady yelling at the top of her voice:

"Boys! BOYS! Help! I am locked in the toilet!"

Now these two boys being the ever helpful fine young gentlemen that they were didn't even bother to get up or even move their mobiles away from their ears. One of them eventually grunted, "Press the OPEN button."

There was a loud whoshing noise as the toiled door slid open. Then, the toilet lady was free once again. It was beautiful - it practically made me cry.

Kidding!

Unfortunate Person #6: The Duck Feeder Lady

Ok. It's now day two and I am in London. FINALLY. I decide to go and relax and eat breakfast in Hyde Park and watch the birds. This old lady - you know the type - comes down to the water and proceeds to throw great big chunks of bread to the geese. You know the size I mean - think about the Dead Duck Day scene in About a Boy. If you haven't seen this film, rent it - it's brilliant.

But, I digress....

Eventually the lady comes over and sits beside me on my bench. She has two dogs with her - one is able to walk properly and follows her over, the second is a dog named Oscar and he is obviously having trouble walking. I feel really bad for him because he is clearly trying to make it over to her but his legs just aren't working right. He really looks like he is in pain. Another elderly lady was walking on the path at the same time and noticed Oscar. She asks the duck feeding lady if this dog belongs to her.

Duck Feeding Lady: Yes, that is my dog.

Elderly Lady: What's wrong with it's legs? Or is it just old?

Duck Feeding Lady (dismissively): Well, you wouldn't walk to well either if you were a 17 year old dog!

Elderly Lady: Yes, well . . . I didn't mean to - [Writer's note: I think she was going to say bother you, but this is just speculating]

Duck Feeding Lady (incredibly rudely): Well, DON'T then!!!!

And, then the conversation ended swiftly.

THE END.