Hello,
It's a while since I last blogged but I've been experiencing a period of rapid change. I was made redundant last week and started my new job this week.
I hate to get too excited too soon but it appears to be going rather well,in that I have been given a free rein to organise my job as I see fit. In my last job I was micro-managed according to a secret and ever changing set of rules. In this one I could set fire to the office and they'd understand. It's like self-employment with the security of employment. In other words -a dream.
The gist of my role is ensuring folk who've returned to work or taken their first job after six months plus on benefits are getting in work benefits and are managing their finances. The aim of which is to help them stay in work. In other words helping folk make the best of themselves rather than claiming their way into a stupor.
As ever I'm baffled by the benefit system's hostility to independance. You'd think a government that wanted people off benefits and into work might do something to make the transition much easier. To be fair there is help available but as far as I can gather if people go and find work themselves and decline to take up the time of DWP staff looking for work they've had it.
I met a very pleasant lady this week who'd been a heroin addict for twenty years and in receipt of Incapacity Benefit who took a job she'd found herself eighteen months ago. Naturally she was verbally refused a benefit run on and job grant because she didn't tell Jobcentre staff she was looking for work. This has left her with rent arrears, council tax arrears and a fair bit of debt. The situation was made worse by her ostrich like refusal to deal with the situation until it got critical. It isn't helped by the government taxing her meagre income either. Still I'm hopeful I can do something for her. Plan A involves negotiation and begging. Plan B involves bankruptcy.
I don't deny her situation is self-inflicted but kicking a woman when she's down is bad enough, kicking her while she's trying to get back on her feet is wicked. This government is fond of slogans so here's one for them how about Tough to Claim, Easy to Work. Then again that bunch of congenital liars would only fail to live up to it.
Finally I must inform you all of a culinary treat lurking in the Govanhill area. For the love of God get yourself along to Delicious Corner (232 Allison Street, Glasgow,G42 8RT). It's Greggs for Muslims in that it offers a small selection of pastry delights filled with halal meat. Happily for the vegetarians their are vegetable samosas which are the food of the Gods. Delicious moist but not greasy flaky pastry, huge in size and plesantly spiced they slip down like a dream and may well be as addictive as crack cocaine. Only 50p a pop. I'm not often tempted by meat but they do spicy chicken balls the size of a man's fist for about 70p a go and I must admit to contemplating chicken murder as I gazed upon them. They do all the usual fare like sausage rolls, pasties and the like as well which my accomplice assures me are very tasty. All I can tell you is that they are unusually large.
All lovers of Asian food must tell everyone they know -the last thing we want is Delicious Corner going the way of the wonderous and much missed Pakistani Cafe.
Cheerio
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
12/04/2008
11/07/2008
The Great Escape
Hello,
After weeks of worry I've finally been offered not one job but two. One is a permanent job and one is providing emergency cover on a casual basis. I'll be accepting both. Now that I've got all that tiresome job searching out the road I can get back to starting my business proper -with a small redundancy payment under my belt I'll finally have a bit of spare cash to help with promotion and the like.
I've got less than a month to go with my current employers and I cannot bloody wait to get out the door. Best of all the person taking over my refugee duties is competent, imaginative and clever, so my clients are being left in good hands. As for the rest of my duties they're being split up between the other staff. Call me vindictive but the idea of those neurotic fuckpigs struggling under yet more work makes me grin from ear to ear.
At present mass civil war has broken out in the office over the use of the word 'submit' in a staff notice. Whist my sympathies lie with the 'no submission' camp I must admit to finding this latest riot in bedlam funny rather than depressing. There was the most wonderful door slamming stooshie about it during the week which left one of the 'submitters' in tears. At present the hysterical 'submitter' is on some short notice annual leave. Normally I find this sort of thing irritating but being on the way out I've been laughing myself silly at the whole thing.
Cheerio
After weeks of worry I've finally been offered not one job but two. One is a permanent job and one is providing emergency cover on a casual basis. I'll be accepting both. Now that I've got all that tiresome job searching out the road I can get back to starting my business proper -with a small redundancy payment under my belt I'll finally have a bit of spare cash to help with promotion and the like.
I've got less than a month to go with my current employers and I cannot bloody wait to get out the door. Best of all the person taking over my refugee duties is competent, imaginative and clever, so my clients are being left in good hands. As for the rest of my duties they're being split up between the other staff. Call me vindictive but the idea of those neurotic fuckpigs struggling under yet more work makes me grin from ear to ear.
At present mass civil war has broken out in the office over the use of the word 'submit' in a staff notice. Whist my sympathies lie with the 'no submission' camp I must admit to finding this latest riot in bedlam funny rather than depressing. There was the most wonderful door slamming stooshie about it during the week which left one of the 'submitters' in tears. At present the hysterical 'submitter' is on some short notice annual leave. Normally I find this sort of thing irritating but being on the way out I've been laughing myself silly at the whole thing.
Cheerio
8/25/2008
Racialism At Work
Hello,
As I type a rotund bluenose is whistling Rule Britannia outside my window. Lord knows what he has his tail in the air about but there he is ruling the waves. He shall never, ever, ever be a slave to anything - but his appetite.
I've spent most of last week, in between episodes of gardening, wrestling with a moral dilemma. An appalling racist in my work, who despite her repellent attitudes is a likable sort has been deliberately allowing her beliefs to affect her work, or rather my work, in that my refugee clients were being treated unfavourably on the basis of their race. I did suspect her of it for a while but felt guilty for doing so until she proudly announced to everyone except me that she was in fact discriminating. In the interests of privacy and to protect the guilty I shall not mention what exactly it was she was doing other than to say it involved denying my very existence and some very mean spirited acts against my clients.
Very reluctantly and with a heavy heart I have shopped her -running to bosses being something I'm opposed to but given how aggressive and abusive she is when challenged I didn't see any alternative. In truth I should have spoken up sooner -like when perfectly pleasant Asian volunteers who may or may not have been Muslim were being called suicide bombers or when a very definitely Muslim volunteer was also called a suicide bomber because he went to London with his girlfriend for a holiday or when there was a 'darkie' at the door for me, I could go on but you get the picture. I should add that I'm not alone in this, our black member of staff being somewhat fed up hearing 'but I don't mean you' after every darkie joke.
I take a fairly liberal view of racism. My mother is an appalling racist but she has the wit to keep it to herself in the workplace and so in my view should be left to her own devices. Even idiots have the right to an opinion. I would prefer it if folk weren't racist but all I ask of those who are is that they do it behind closed doors and do not inflict it on the rest of us. Why are they always so keen to tell the rest of us about it and make up blatant lies that do not stand up to scrutiny? Did you know that every 'paki' who arrives in the UK gets £30,000 cash, did you know that Incapacity Benefit is being cut to give more money to 'pakis'. I expect you didn't, not least because it's made up. Nevertheless I work beside folk that sincerely believe it despite being repeatedly shown evidence to the contrary.
It may surprise some of you to learn that the benefit rules are the same whatever your colour. I like to think that's part of what makes us civilised but that's me. I also question why those who base their racist beliefs on made up crap feel the need to do so. Are they really such cowards that they can't just stand up and say 'I hate everyone who is different from me', why the need to justify themselves? If the awfulness of folk with different skins is real then we'll all discover it in our own time without pretending to believe bizarre falsehoods.
For anyone about to trot out this notion that has sprung up that everyone opposed to racism is a toff living in an all white area, out of the six flats in my tenement, four are occupied by immigrants, I live a ten minute walk from one asylum dispersal zone and fifteen minutes from another, I work with refugees, grew up in a district of Glasgow that is 40% Asian and went to a school that was 60% Asian. I think that might give me some experience of the consequences of immigration.
I hate the notion of 'thoughtcrime'. I do not wish to see racists put out of a job based on what they think but without going in to detail I felt I had no choice to do anything other than what I've done -given that the individual concerned, like the rest of us signed a contract agreeing to be non-discriminatory. I just wonder if racism or indeed sexism, anti gay feeling, ageism and the rest were dealt with more sensibly in the workplace more folk might might report active discrimination. After all it should be possible to avoid mass hysteria and deal with the situation. I don't want to see anyone sacked or disciplined over the this. A quiet word in the ear about the standards expected should be sufficient.
Still grassing goes against the grain.
Cheers
As I type a rotund bluenose is whistling Rule Britannia outside my window. Lord knows what he has his tail in the air about but there he is ruling the waves. He shall never, ever, ever be a slave to anything - but his appetite.
I've spent most of last week, in between episodes of gardening, wrestling with a moral dilemma. An appalling racist in my work, who despite her repellent attitudes is a likable sort has been deliberately allowing her beliefs to affect her work, or rather my work, in that my refugee clients were being treated unfavourably on the basis of their race. I did suspect her of it for a while but felt guilty for doing so until she proudly announced to everyone except me that she was in fact discriminating. In the interests of privacy and to protect the guilty I shall not mention what exactly it was she was doing other than to say it involved denying my very existence and some very mean spirited acts against my clients.
Very reluctantly and with a heavy heart I have shopped her -running to bosses being something I'm opposed to but given how aggressive and abusive she is when challenged I didn't see any alternative. In truth I should have spoken up sooner -like when perfectly pleasant Asian volunteers who may or may not have been Muslim were being called suicide bombers or when a very definitely Muslim volunteer was also called a suicide bomber because he went to London with his girlfriend for a holiday or when there was a 'darkie' at the door for me, I could go on but you get the picture. I should add that I'm not alone in this, our black member of staff being somewhat fed up hearing 'but I don't mean you' after every darkie joke.
I take a fairly liberal view of racism. My mother is an appalling racist but she has the wit to keep it to herself in the workplace and so in my view should be left to her own devices. Even idiots have the right to an opinion. I would prefer it if folk weren't racist but all I ask of those who are is that they do it behind closed doors and do not inflict it on the rest of us. Why are they always so keen to tell the rest of us about it and make up blatant lies that do not stand up to scrutiny? Did you know that every 'paki' who arrives in the UK gets £30,000 cash, did you know that Incapacity Benefit is being cut to give more money to 'pakis'. I expect you didn't, not least because it's made up. Nevertheless I work beside folk that sincerely believe it despite being repeatedly shown evidence to the contrary.
It may surprise some of you to learn that the benefit rules are the same whatever your colour. I like to think that's part of what makes us civilised but that's me. I also question why those who base their racist beliefs on made up crap feel the need to do so. Are they really such cowards that they can't just stand up and say 'I hate everyone who is different from me', why the need to justify themselves? If the awfulness of folk with different skins is real then we'll all discover it in our own time without pretending to believe bizarre falsehoods.
For anyone about to trot out this notion that has sprung up that everyone opposed to racism is a toff living in an all white area, out of the six flats in my tenement, four are occupied by immigrants, I live a ten minute walk from one asylum dispersal zone and fifteen minutes from another, I work with refugees, grew up in a district of Glasgow that is 40% Asian and went to a school that was 60% Asian. I think that might give me some experience of the consequences of immigration.
I hate the notion of 'thoughtcrime'. I do not wish to see racists put out of a job based on what they think but without going in to detail I felt I had no choice to do anything other than what I've done -given that the individual concerned, like the rest of us signed a contract agreeing to be non-discriminatory. I just wonder if racism or indeed sexism, anti gay feeling, ageism and the rest were dealt with more sensibly in the workplace more folk might might report active discrimination. After all it should be possible to avoid mass hysteria and deal with the situation. I don't want to see anyone sacked or disciplined over the this. A quiet word in the ear about the standards expected should be sufficient.
Still grassing goes against the grain.
Cheers
6/24/2008
Yes It Is My Tree!
Hello,
Glasgow being a city populated by people that cannot mind their own business is not a difficult city to stand out in. Today having popped into the garden centre and purchased a few plants I then had the task of getting them down the road.
The way the folk on the bus were carrying on you'd have thought I was wearing fancy dress. The drunks were shouting about trees, the neds thought it was a hash plant and the gawpers gawped. Honestly it was pandemonium.
Speaking of pandemonium does anyone know what the mysterious event that caused traffic to be diverted from the top of Renfield Street earlier today? The police were being very tight lipped -bloody spoilsports. I can't say work were very impressed when I told them I was late as a result of a 'mysterious event'.
Then again they did drop the bombshell that some charity or another has stumped up some money to extend my contract by two months.
Glasgow being a city populated by people that cannot mind their own business is not a difficult city to stand out in. Today having popped into the garden centre and purchased a few plants I then had the task of getting them down the road.
The way the folk on the bus were carrying on you'd have thought I was wearing fancy dress. The drunks were shouting about trees, the neds thought it was a hash plant and the gawpers gawped. Honestly it was pandemonium.
Speaking of pandemonium does anyone know what the mysterious event that caused traffic to be diverted from the top of Renfield Street earlier today? The police were being very tight lipped -bloody spoilsports. I can't say work were very impressed when I told them I was late as a result of a 'mysterious event'.
Then again they did drop the bombshell that some charity or another has stumped up some money to extend my contract by two months.
4/17/2008
Praised and Damned
Hello,
It's been an odd sort of day. This morning I was being brought gifts by clients and hailed as the 'Queen of Scotland' by one particularly excitable fellow -mind you after what happened to the last one I'm not sure that was as complimentary as it first seemed. The only sad note of the morning was it being the last shift worked by my glamorous, clever, reliable and bloody fantastic assistant. Actually it's an insult to refer to her as that she was the nearest I've had to a mentor and role model in my working life.
Before anyone says it I didn't drive her out a job. In fact it was her personal loyalty and kindness to me that did for her. When I had all that awful bother with my health she refused to participate in the bullying campaign my boss orchestrated when even people who like me did out of cowardice half heartedly stuck the boot in. In fact she is the only person in my career who has ever stuck their own neck on the line purely to defend my interests. To put this in context one can have a very good life in my office if you sneak in with the boss. In return for your loyalty you can get work for any tradesmen you happen to be married/living with or related to. Not only that but there are the extra holidays, 'extra' expenses and use of the taxi account. Still my heroic assistant turned her nose up at all that and paid the price by having her work excessively, unreasonably and unfairly monitored, by being unfairly selected for redundancy and sent to coventry on and off for the last few years. So accustomed was our esteemed boss to finding fault with her she got a tongue lashing for handing in her notice.
I must confess there was a tear or two when she left today and a fair bit of repressed rage on my part when she left. So when the assistant manager had a go at me in a most aggressive and confrontational manner for leaving at five and not doing any unpaid overtime last week she got it one barrel- both barrels involves complete honesty. I had no idea I was so ferocious. When I paused for breath she announced she was going to fetch her boss to speak to me. When I started laughing she started shaking and ran out the room, then came back alone still shaking. I merely continued where I left off and tears sprang to her eyes and she said she had nothing further to say and released me from the office. At one point she unfairly accused me of showing her disrespect which I have made every reasonable human effort to conceal. The cheek of her -if I was completely honest about what I thought of her she'd kill herself. She has a backbone like her belly -useless and flabby and the management skills of a dung beetle. No wonder her ex tried to strangle her. His only crime was amateurishness. Why couldn't she have married the Yorkshire Ripper instead?
Mind you I'll be in for it when her boss decides to collar me. As she didn't capture me today I presume she's picking her moment. I really wish they'd just sack me, they know they want to.
Cheerio
It's been an odd sort of day. This morning I was being brought gifts by clients and hailed as the 'Queen of Scotland' by one particularly excitable fellow -mind you after what happened to the last one I'm not sure that was as complimentary as it first seemed. The only sad note of the morning was it being the last shift worked by my glamorous, clever, reliable and bloody fantastic assistant. Actually it's an insult to refer to her as that she was the nearest I've had to a mentor and role model in my working life.
Before anyone says it I didn't drive her out a job. In fact it was her personal loyalty and kindness to me that did for her. When I had all that awful bother with my health she refused to participate in the bullying campaign my boss orchestrated when even people who like me did out of cowardice half heartedly stuck the boot in. In fact she is the only person in my career who has ever stuck their own neck on the line purely to defend my interests. To put this in context one can have a very good life in my office if you sneak in with the boss. In return for your loyalty you can get work for any tradesmen you happen to be married/living with or related to. Not only that but there are the extra holidays, 'extra' expenses and use of the taxi account. Still my heroic assistant turned her nose up at all that and paid the price by having her work excessively, unreasonably and unfairly monitored, by being unfairly selected for redundancy and sent to coventry on and off for the last few years. So accustomed was our esteemed boss to finding fault with her she got a tongue lashing for handing in her notice.
I must confess there was a tear or two when she left today and a fair bit of repressed rage on my part when she left. So when the assistant manager had a go at me in a most aggressive and confrontational manner for leaving at five and not doing any unpaid overtime last week she got it one barrel- both barrels involves complete honesty. I had no idea I was so ferocious. When I paused for breath she announced she was going to fetch her boss to speak to me. When I started laughing she started shaking and ran out the room, then came back alone still shaking. I merely continued where I left off and tears sprang to her eyes and she said she had nothing further to say and released me from the office. At one point she unfairly accused me of showing her disrespect which I have made every reasonable human effort to conceal. The cheek of her -if I was completely honest about what I thought of her she'd kill herself. She has a backbone like her belly -useless and flabby and the management skills of a dung beetle. No wonder her ex tried to strangle her. His only crime was amateurishness. Why couldn't she have married the Yorkshire Ripper instead?
Mind you I'll be in for it when her boss decides to collar me. As she didn't capture me today I presume she's picking her moment. I really wish they'd just sack me, they know they want to.
Cheerio
2/10/2008
All Work and No Blog
Hello,
For those that are worried about this rather uncharacteristic period of silence. Don't be! I decided to have a week without any distractions to get my head straight. The world was starting to spin alarmingly fast and I thought I'd hop off of a while to think.
That isn't as grandiose as it sounds. I have no doubt that when Stephen Hawking says he's off to think a hushed silence descends whereas a similar comment from me raises giggles in the back row. Not that I've let that put me off, as Adam Ant correctly teaches us 'ridicule is nothing to be scared of'. I've taken some largish steps towards my new career and hope to be completely in charge of myself shortly. I'm remaining tight-lipped at this stage because I don't want to jinx my plans. That's not as intriguing as it sounds. In the meantime I need a cheap professional web designer , so if any of you can help do let me know.
I trust you're all well and I'll be back properly next week.
Cheerio
For those that are worried about this rather uncharacteristic period of silence. Don't be! I decided to have a week without any distractions to get my head straight. The world was starting to spin alarmingly fast and I thought I'd hop off of a while to think.
That isn't as grandiose as it sounds. I have no doubt that when Stephen Hawking says he's off to think a hushed silence descends whereas a similar comment from me raises giggles in the back row. Not that I've let that put me off, as Adam Ant correctly teaches us 'ridicule is nothing to be scared of'. I've taken some largish steps towards my new career and hope to be completely in charge of myself shortly. I'm remaining tight-lipped at this stage because I don't want to jinx my plans. That's not as intriguing as it sounds. In the meantime I need a cheap professional web designer , so if any of you can help do let me know.
I trust you're all well and I'll be back properly next week.
Cheerio
1/26/2008
Work Is A Four Letter Word
Hello,
I'm still having a few bastard health health problems this week. Nothing serious but sufficient to cause me a fair bit of inconvenience and get me into trouble at work for being quiet. I'm of the head down-grit your teeth and get through it mindset whereas my boss would prefer me to deal with it by being helpless so that she can offer me wise advice and feel important and compassionate. She like many folk in the voluntary sector like their victims grateful, helpless and robbed of all self-respect and self -reliance. All the better to feel superior to someone.
I should point out that I got into trouble three times for laughing and once for talking the previous week. This week I have also been in trouble for taking a lunch break at the usual time because it's good manners to ask if you can go first, yawning at a meeting, taking prescribed medication as per the recommended dose ("excessive"), having more than one stapler at my desk and causing animosity by taking a lunch break at all. I am however pleased to announce that boss wasn't in today so I didn't get into trouble even once, though I have been driving her stunt double mental by working to rule and not doing anything without asking first.
My boss will get sick of it before I do. I'm having one of my periodic bouts of what I believe is termed 'depersonalisation' so the whole thing is like water off a ducks back to me. They on the other hand go hysterical at the slightest thing.
Cheers
The
10/10/2007
Oh Christ!
Hello,
Those of you who have been reading my blog for a few years may remember me mentioning 'The Pervert' - a work colleague who I was convinced was involved in an incestuous relationship with his own daughter. Mercifully for my poor nerves he left.
Imagine my shock and distress as I sauntered into the office this morning to see 'The Pervert' sitting in my chair drinking a cup of tea. I can hardly credit it but he's back.
Large as life ten times as ugly and still cannot pronounce any word starting with r. He's also made himself known to a young lady who works in the place 'wepeatedly'. He talked to her about the filing system before quizzing her about her 'boyfwiends' as if she's the gang bang queen of Carntyne or something!
Why do these curses continue to plague me?
Those of you who have been reading my blog for a few years may remember me mentioning 'The Pervert' - a work colleague who I was convinced was involved in an incestuous relationship with his own daughter. Mercifully for my poor nerves he left.
Imagine my shock and distress as I sauntered into the office this morning to see 'The Pervert' sitting in my chair drinking a cup of tea. I can hardly credit it but he's back.
Large as life ten times as ugly and still cannot pronounce any word starting with r. He's also made himself known to a young lady who works in the place 'wepeatedly'. He talked to her about the filing system before quizzing her about her 'boyfwiends' as if she's the gang bang queen of Carntyne or something!
Why do these curses continue to plague me?
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