Kirstie's job log: 23
Kirstie Nicols has just started a new sales job, but a Masters in journalism beckons. First moves As all women know, shopping for the perfect outfit is impossible; there’s always something wrong with what you find. As it turns out, you encounter exactly the same problems when it’s a new flatmate you’re shopping for…
We decided to start looking early as it’s going to be quite a challenge to find someone good enough to replace me. You’d think by saying that I was being sarcastic; but in this case, I promise you I’m really not. I’ve always thought it was a bit of a comedy routine when people talked about the oddbods they’d met while searching for someone new to live with, unfortunately I now know there was no exaggeration involved – it was all true. Where to start – with the many men who applied just because they fancied the idea of living in a houseful of women, and had various ideas on what a houseful of women got up to? Or with the vegan so nature-conscious she refused to sit on our leather sofas and spent the whole time lecturing us? Although I can sit back and laugh as I won’t be around to have to live with any of the applicants we’ve encountered so far, the way things are going, it will take the next three months to find someone vaguely suitable to take over my room and rent. You can take the fact that my flatmates are looking for someone else as confirmation that I have now accepted the offer of a place on the MA in journalism course – and in fact I am now looking for accommodation myself. It turns out that I live just too close to the university to be offered student accommodation, and will have to find somewhere else myself. I am one mile inside the 25-mile boundary; however this boundary is 25 miles ‘as the crow flies’. I have already pointed out to them that I don’t own a helicopter and am unsure as to how they would like me to travel the 25 miles everyday. I am yet to receive a reply. LimboI tried to speak to my boss today, as I decided it would be courteous to let them know what I was planning early on. Unfortunately he was busy most of the day, he looked really serious, he was in and out of meetings with people and in the end he left the office before I had a chance to get hold of him; so I decided to wait until he was next around. Or in other words, every time I planned to get up and speak to him, I chickened out until he’d left for the day and I had no choice but to wait. The problem with quitting is that although it’s elating, it makes me feel guilty! So at the moment I feel stuck in a kind of limbo. There is no point trying to advance my prospects where I’m working at the moment, as I won’t be there for much longer. Yet the course doesn’t start for another three months so there is no point leaving the job now, as I’d then spend the next few months (I imagine) not doing an awful lot. I’ve spent the past two years since graduating running around, worrying about life and trying to get to myself to a place where I was happy; now I’m on the way and there’s no worrying or running to be done, I feel a bit lost! I’ve started looking for a part-time job so that I have something to do, and also so that I can earn some extra money to pay for the course. It’s very hard going from being able to spend my wages however I want, to not being able to splash out on anything much at all, and it’s making the evenings and weekends quite boring! So that’s my goal for the next time I write; to have found some type of part-time work and to be earning a little extra pocket money. Wish me luck! Read Kirstie's previous blogs
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