I would give credit where it’s due but sadly there’s no information to go on.  There’s really something that I like about this, I wouldn’t have the same words, nor the same font but I love the placement.  What I will say though is it looks brand new which also means that I wouldn’t be overly surprised if perhaps the lower parts of the tattoo have faded/worn away with time due to the fact it’s very close to the sole of the foot.

I thought about “Live Free” though it sounds rather cheesy and too much like “Live strong.”  For the moment I’ve settled on “Stay Free” which has randomly clicked with me and is also a nod towards The Clash which I like also.  Maybe I could use my own handwriting, it is a font in itself afterall…

What actually causes me to seethe even more though is the lack of social responsibility.  They just do not give a shit.  I’m not even just referring to myself, there are people that have had to move back home after having their own house/flat because they are just told sorry you’re not required.  This is not even the half of it and I could literally go on and on but the bottom line is they can’t act like they employ 10 people.  They employ in the region of 500 and 90% of people are on these you are lower than a piece of shit contracts.

I’ve tried to stir up revolution amongst my colleagues but they would rather piss and moan and do nothing about it.  This I tell them is partly the reason they are treated like shit.  The company rely on them just rolling over and accepting the abysmal status quo and they are not disappointed.  I’m not someone you pick up and put down and I won’t stand for it and every time I hear “I would apply for another job but there are none” another part of me dies.  There may not be lots of jobs but if you don’t even bother to apply for things then shame on you.

I really can’t wait to name and shame the people that I work for when I leave.  Not only do they masquerade as a UK manufacturer but their questionable interpretation of employment law is shocking.  If the rather large group of people that buy their products, that think they are buying UK made goods knew they were in fact made in India…  I can’t see them being happy.  At best, a moderate number of things are “assembled” in the UK, at worst well, nothing is really.  Let’s say for the time being that the ice berg is very prominant on the horizon but H***** S**** is ploughing ahead at full speed.

In other stress news my job offer that came as a result of my pre Christmas interview is still not 100% confirmed.  I’m waiting to hear if there will be any funding “issues” because I already have a degree.  At this moment in time they don’t think there will be (with their company) but I have to wait to hear for sure.  If it’s not good news I really don’t know what the initial next step is and also what the longer term next step would be.  All I can do is wait but for the time being my stress headaches are back with a vengeance.

My current job is not going brilliantly as due to constant mismanagement of pretty much all of the major aspects of the company there isn’t a lot of business and that equates to no work for me.  Basically I’m working a part time week.  This is obviously no good for saving money.  To be honest it all makes me quite angry, not that I’m the worst affected or even massively affected but as I work for a company that has grown rapidly they still behave like a small employer and take no social responsibility at all.  Well, apart from the fact that the managing directors daughter is starting work in the marketing department tomorrow.  I don’t feel it presumptuous to assume she probably has neither the skill nor the aptitude for the newly created post.

In good news though, after an almost 7 year wait come Friday I’ll finally have my own car and it’s all I can do not to go completely and utterly chav.

All I want to do is tint all of the windows, change the stereo, stick on a sun strip and install a lexus lights/ LED combination.  I’m probably going to get a set of black alloys but other than that I’m going to hold the rest of the chav-ness in.  After all I’m not 17 anymore.

Should be blogging more this week seeing as I have so much free time on my hands, hoping to wade through some of my travel photos and maybe post a few of the nicer ones from summer 2010 as I’ve never really got around to it.  Also check me out, finally back on Tumblr after a 2.5 year break.  I’d forgotten how much fun it is and how brilliant a lot of the photographs are that get reblogged there.

Making fantastic progress with my resolutions and we’re only on week one of 2012, not only have I been offered the job, I’ve also been out to the pub with old friends and didn’t moan (much) and have booked my weekends away to Dublin and to Barcelona. Winning. Though knowing me I’ll crash and burn by the end of week two. Hilariously I’m that busy and have that much to do I’ve bought an entire notebook to devote to my “to do” list. The period up until the beginning of May is going to be so busy that work is going to be secondary by far despite it taking a mind numbing 40 hours of my week.

At least I have little gems like this to keep me amused in the office:

I am still awaiting the outcome of my interview that was on the 22nd December.  The constant excited nervousness has now subsided and has been replaced by impatience and also to be perfectly honest annoyance.  In all I think I’m just basically despairing, that although tomorrow I should hear something as it’s the last day they quoted to me for an answer but I just feel that it will be the same story over again.  That is, still no reply and the goal posts are moved once again.  I think it’s getting to me as I’ve ended up really wanting to work for the company in question.  I desperately hope that this time tomorrow I’ll be here again, all relieved and posting good news but the “cup half empty” part of me says that this won’t be the case.  Now I just want an answer so I can really start my new year.

I don’t want to sound like such an Eeyore, life’s not that bad.  For one I’ll be booking trips to Dublin and also to Barcelona pretty soon and I’ll only be at work until the end of April.  It’s just that I feel that once I hear back from the interview (hopefully good news) I can throw myself into the new year, putting huge effort into all of my plans as I have something to work towards and aim for.  Not that I’m not enthusiastic now because I am but I just need that extra thing to spur me along to make the extra effort.

1.  Get sponsorship to train as a Deck Officer.

I want to train as a Deck Officer,  travel the world and hopefully not have to pay tax.  However to train you have to be sponsored by a shipping company and there’s no way around this.  As such achieving this resolution early on in 2012 is pretty essential.  As I type this I am currently awaiting a response from an interview that I had and I have a few other interviews on the horizon.

2.  Start College.

Blatantly this relates to the above but achieving resolution one doesn’t mean that number two will be achieved by default.  There’s a lot of paperwork, medicals and visa applications inbetween  being offered a position and starting College in September, so much to achieve and get through.  This time I know that I won’t be walking out on College before even starting.

3.  Be a good student.

Unsurprisingly this resolution also ties in with the one above it.  I have always been a successful student in the sense that I’ve always done well and achieved high grades but I’ve never been a good student.  I’ve never done things on time, made that extra effort or cared about retaining the information after I’d taken the exam, written the essay or got the grade I wanted.  With this in mind I want to be a good student and I’m hoping that being able to see the practical application of what I’m learning will aid this.

4.  Climb Machu Piccu. 

This is one of my physical challenges of the year.  I know that there’s an almost 100% chance that I will get to trek to Machu Piccu this summer but ideally I want to be able to enjoy the trek and not find it overly arduous.  For the first time ever I want to do something like that and not constantly be thinking about the horror of the physical exertion, I want this to be at most a secondary thought.

5.  Lose more weight.

I lost a decent amount of weight in 2011 and in 2012 I want to be a low-ish to mid weight for my height by the end of the year.  To be less abstract, I want to lose 3.5 to 4 stone and then I’ll never need to lose weight again.  Ever.  Provided I never put any back on which given the effort I’ve had to put in to shift it in the first place seems highly unlikely.  I think it’s doable anyway.

6.  Keep both of my blogs up to date.

I blog regularly and then I don’t blog at all for months and months and months.  I seem to have been like this since I was about 14 or 15 years old.  At the moment I have been blogging regularly on both of my blogs and actually really enjoy it so I aim to keep this up in 2012.  For the record I define regularly as at least one decent sized post per week but hopefully more and I would like to do some travel reviews of places that I’ve been to as well.

7.  Trek in a Rainforest.

This is another physical challenge really.  I had always wanted to see and experience a rainforest but had never had the chance nor the actual inclination.  However, with going to South America this sumer I will get the chance to and I want to make the most of it by being physically fit and not moaning my way through the 3 days of trekking.  Much like Machu Piccu I want to be able to enjoy the experience and not be thinking about the physical aspects of the experience.

8.  Improve my maths and physics.

Ok, so I’m not actually bad at either of these subjects but I haven’t studied them since taking my GCSEs in July 2004 and I’m going to need them.  I could have chosen to study them at A level but didn’t as that would have involved making an effort.  How lazy.  Anyway, I intend to study both maths and physics to AS level standard if not full A level.

9.  Find a boyfriend.

It would be nice if this happened though I’m quite happy to fail at this one if I don’t find the right person in 2012.  There’s nothing worse than being stuck with someone that’s a right pest.

10.  Don’t waste money.

I’m not a great waster of money but I do tend to fall for various odds and ends that do add up.  A book here a downloaded album there and there’s no way I need the vast amount of these things so I’m aiming to cut back and save the money for more important things.

11.  Be more social.

It’s not that I’m anti social it’s more that a lot of the time I just can’t be bothered.  Yes, I’ll agree to going out in the evening but then when I get in from work I can’t bear the thought of heading out again.  On the occasions that I do bite the bullet and going out I do always have a good time and my not being bothered is not a reflection on the company, the problem is with me.  So in 2012 I’m going to just go out and have a good time and not think of an excuse!

12.  Get away for a couple of weekends.

Weekends away to Dublin and also to Barcelona are in the pipeline and it would be lovely to have some sightseeing weekends away with good friends.  I’m sure these trips will come to pass but I’m looking forward to them so much that I want to make sure that they do.

13.  Stay in touch with people.

I’m terrible at staying in touch with all but a very small amount of people and again this is a failure on my part.  I don’t know why I don’t bother, it’s not malicious I just sort of let people fall by the wayside.  Maybe I think that I’m frightened of being the only person making an effort and looking like a fool.  Anyway, from now on in I’ll be making the effort.

14.  Read at least two books a month.

I made a bit of a hash of this resolution last year by not specifying what I intended to get through in order to qualify as having “read more” so this year I’m aiming to read at least two books a month.  I’m not saying that I have to read anything of intellectual merit just two decent sized books a month.

15.  Climb/walk Mount Snowdon.

My final resolution.    I’m not sure why I want to do this one, I think that I’ve seen someone else’s pictures from the same walk and quite fancy it.  That and it is a mountain, albeit a small one, and I like the idea that I’ve climbed a mountain.

That’s that then…

End of 2008:

End of 2011:

Hopefully Soktahu will visit again in the spring when the weather is nicer and we can go for a wander further afield, maybe to the beach or Manchester/Liverpool.  Here and there.  Anyway, pictures!

In other news, I am still waiting for the result of my interview though rather strangely they did call today to tell me that they’ll let me know on either Wednesday or Thursday of the coming week.  They did stress that there’s no reason to be concerned and is only due to one person not being able to make the decision (understandable) and that all the people that need to discuss the assessment day have been unavailable.  Fingers crossed for the end of next week, hoping for the best and not sure what I’ll do if it’s the worst.

New years resolutions tomorrow!

I have also had the excitement of my interview this week and still desperately await the outcome of but it has been a relief in some ways not knowing as it hasn’t affected Christmas.  Anyway, Friday brought with it works Christmas lunch at a local hotel and then the 24th brought with it our long awaited “Christmas” day.  We have always in recent years celebrated privately on the 24th due in part to family commitments on the 25th.  The tables have completely turned now and I find myself more excited at the thought of giving presents.

However, that said I did get some wonderful presents, including an ipod touch and not the 8gb one that I had asked for but a larger sized one so that was lovely, the quality of the screen is out of this world.  Amongst other odds and ends I also received a moleskine, swiss army knife, CDs, DVDs and clothes.  Spoiled!

After watching what I eat for most of the year it’s nice to partake in the many delights that Christmas brings with it.  I may be biased but in my opinion there is no better Christmas dinner than the one that we have created over the years through trial and error.  Can I just note that all of these pictures were not taken on the same day!

And finally, nothing like a good fire at Christmas, just a shame that it isn’t colder outside.

1.  Go to the gym.  (Tick)  (1/10)

I plucked up all of the courage that I could muster and went to get a gym, subsequently taking out a 12 month membership and attending an induction.  I’m not sure what I expected, a kind of Mecca that drew thin and athletic people towards it, fine examples of the human race gently perspiring about the place.  What I actually saw was a lot of fatties and old people chatting whilst “working out” aka doing enough to convince themselves they had achieved something when really they had done nothing even remotely arduous.  Anyway, I made myself a regular and have become a lot fitter over the course of the year.  In my personal trainer I have found someone who is very approachable, nice and extremely helpful.  Someone who I can be honest with about my goals and has a wealth of knowledge to advise me what to do to achieve these goals.  A resounding success.

2.  Pass my driving test.  (Tick)  (2/10)

Ask me to walk into a written exam, GCSEs, A levels even University finals and I don’t give it a second thought but even the idea of a practical assessment and my stomach just drops.  To the point, and I’ll be completely honest, that even the mention of a mock driving test with my instructor during a lesson would send me off on one.  But.  I did it.  In the end it was a little strategic, I booked the test for early-ish in the morning so I knew the route would mainly go around country lanes as opposed to sitting in traffic in the busy town centre.  This makes life a lot easier.  Not that I didn’t have any “oh shit” moments throughout the test but I passed and only got 3/16 minors so I was more than happy with life.  I will say the sheer joy of passing lasted for weeks.

3.  Have my own car.  (Cross)  (2/10)

In the build up to your test and the euphoria that follows it’s understandable to want a car NOW and of course I did too.  The problem is not buying the actual car, it’s all of the constant additional costs that come with owning one, namely fuel.  In the end my desire to travel and have a decent amount of disposable income won out.  I suppose in a way I do have the best of both worlds as I’m on my Mum’s insurance and have free reign over her car but it’s not the same as having your own.  Anyway, resolution failed.

4.  Trek to see the Mountain Gorillas.  (Tick)  (3/10)

This is linked in part to my decision to go to the gym as I knew that I needed to be pretty fit in order to survive the trek.  It was literally 2 hours of climbing up the side of a near vertical volcano and through dense forest type undergrowth.  I’m not ashamed to say that it was really quite a trek and the feeling of joy at completing it was immense.  I was actually quite proud of myself as I’ve never been a great trek-er or someone who did things that involved a fair amount of physical exertion.  I do feel though that had I not gone to the gym for the 6 months or so before the trek I wouldn’t have made it.

5.  Lose weight.  (Tick)  (4/10)

Again this links in with going to the gym and the gorilla trekking.  Really, I should have specified how much weight I wanted to lose throughout the year as without doing this it’s hard to prove whether or not you have succeeded as it’s a little subjective.  However, I have lost just over 3 stone in weight this year which seeing as I was away for 3-4 months in the summer (obviously not gym-ing or dieting during this time) I don’t think this is bad.  I have lost 9kg since I returned in September.  This is quite an on going project but finally the end is in sight and this time next year I hope to be saying that it’s all over.  So all in all I do feel that I can tick this resolution off though it will be rearing it’s head in my resolutions of 2012.

6.  Study post-graduate law.  (Cross)  (4/10)

I was offered a place on all three of the courses that I applied for so in this sense I was successful.  Obviously these were all unconditional offers as I have all of my grades.  However.  The big however.  I ended up not attending the course that I confirmed as my chosen one and had paid the deposit on.  Why?  Firstly my heart was never ever in it, I was doing what I felt I should be doing and the thing that everyone used to react to really positively when you told them about it.  Secondly, as time when on I realised that not only was I not looking forward to it, I was actually dreading it and just thought why am I doing something I really don’t want to?  It wasn’t the GDL that I just didn’t want to do, it was that AND everything that would follow on from it so I cut loose before I was £4000+ lighter.

7.  Read more.  (Half tick, half cross)  (4.5/10)

Again this is something that I should really have defined a biter, “read more” is far too broad.  My initial thought was to say that I hadn’t completed this one but when I sat and thought about the books I’d read I probably have read more than in 2010.  Amongst others I’ve read all of the Millennium trilogy, Peter Godwin’s new book on Mugabe “The Fear”, numerous other books on Zimbabwe and Africa, travel books, some Clive Cussler’s and a rather large number of detective/crime novels.   However my reason for only giving this a half tick is because in saying “read more” I probably meant that some of the books were to be a tad more intellectual than Clive Cussler adventures (no offense.)  So on that basis, only half a tick.

8.  Get out on my bike more.  (Half tick, half cross)  (5/10)

As above this is something that I should have defined far more and hence why it gets half a tick.  I did buy a new mountain bike this year, a rather nice second hand one and I have ridden it quite a lot.  I just feel as I didn’t define any goals in particular and also only really went out cycling in the spring and then autumn I can’t fully tick this one off.

9.  Find some direction.  (Tick)  (6/10)

It’s now that I realise how many laughably general resolutions I made this time last year and this one probably tops that list.  I am however pleased to say that this one, general as it is, can be ticked off of the list.  In 2011 (May) I finally had my eureka moment about what I would like to do with myself after all of the years of being told by everyone over 45 that “something will come along.”  I feel even more confident in ticking this one off of the list because not only have I had the eureka moment I have been applying for jobs and am in the process of waiting to hear back from an interview (damn you Christmas) and have further interviews on the horizon in the new year.  Exciting stuff.  Tick.

10.  Start jogging.  (Cross)  (6/10)

I’m not sure why I decided on this, I think maybe as I had somehow reached the conclusion that I can’t run or even jog.  Obviously this is a complete fallacy but one that I had decided was correct for some reason.  I haven’t made any real progress other than very recently overcoming my fear of jogging on a treadmill.  I would like to think that this resolution will carry over into 2012 but for now it has to be given a cross.

So that was the year that was, 6 out of 10, neither good nor bad really.  I think I completed all of the important things and one lesson learned for the creation of 2012s resolution that will appear here shortly is to be very specific and clearly define what I would like to achieve.