at least this week is over (2004-12-08 - 1:56 p.m.)

Well, that was a bit of a nasty week, but it's over now... and I finally feel like I have the energy to deal with the fallout. Don't worry, nothing catastrophic happened, just a lot of little nasty things that on top of each other added up to a very rotten week.

So, let's see: I didn't get the job at the Scottish Judiciary. Not hugely surprising, as they asked me, "What do you know about the Scottish Court System?" and I was reduced to saying, "Uh... well, I could learn anything I needed to know!" I knew I should have done more research for that one. Oops.

Shannon and Jen left for PEI on Monday, and Keri leaves on Friday. I am now bereft of my Wednesday-night coffee company (and my guaranteed weekend entertainment). The flat's also really quiet with Pia away, since Craig hides in his room a lot. (On the plus side, he spontaneously replaced the manky shower curtain with a brand new one!)

I found out yesterday that my camera has been stopped dead in its tracks with the dreaded "E18 Error". I got Steve, my tech support, to do some research for me and apparently this is a common and nasty error on Canon cameras. He found out how to possibly fix it - basically take the whole thing apart and fiddle with it! (Translated from the German: "The E18 error message is the worst that can happen to an owner of the Canon IXUS. By manky mechanics the camera cannot drive their lens out any longer and displays the error "E18" in the lcd display. With a little fine motorical luck and some patience, following this guide can help you repair your camera.") Given my facility with mechanical stuff (zero) I am not willing to try this. But trying to invoke the warranty (which is up at the end of December anyway) will likely involve a zillion calls to Canada... I am not looking forward to this, but I NEED my camera!

My discman doesn't seem to be working either. No idea on that one.

I've also been stressing a bit about earning my keep. I finally decided to quit (more or less) at the golf course. It seems to me that staying there means not moving forward: at least if I'm temping I'm getting office experience and meeting people who may be useful in helping me find a better job. I actually found this a pretty hard decision to make, though - the golf course was guaranteed (if meagre) hours and temping is hit and miss as to whether you get work.

But I finally took the plunge, and immediately got an ongoing temp job - the trouble being that it's only 5 hours a day as well! So at the moment I've said I'll work weekends at the golf course, which unfortunately means working seven days a week to get the equivalent of full-time hours. I suppose it's all right for December, and maybe in January I can find something a bit better.

All this has lead to the muscle knot by my shoulder blade (which never really goes away) growing to the extent that it seems to be pinching nerves or something. I've had shooting pains down my right arm and up my neck all week. I think it's only stress, not anything more serious, so I've booked an appointment with a massage therapist tomorrow morning. Hopefully they can sort it out for me.

Anyway, the temping is going well so far. I did a one-off on Monday, and yesterday started the on-going one. It's working at a giant lawyer firm (50 partners!) on the switchboard. It's easy enough, though I have trouble understanding peoples' accents when they ask for the more complicated names. And I have internet access ALL DAY, which as far as I'm concerned makes it all worthwhile.

The location is great, too. The building is right underneath the Edinburgh Castle, which is pretty cool. And it's just over a 20-minute walk from my house, which is even better. I'm working in a little room with two other people, one of them an older lady who talks about the most personal gossip on the phone every day when the boss isn't around! Extremely entertaining. The main downside (besides the lack of hours) is having to dress up properly. I did a run to the charity shops along Dalry Road today to look for something to add to my meagre wardrobe - two decent shirts and one pair of trousers aren't going to cut it, I think...

Anyway, Christmas is coming up fast and life will be more fun then. Steph has promised a Christmas tree and paper snowflake-making, and already has confirmed the arrival of some packages for me!

backwards ~ onwards

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Missed anything?
moved! - 2008-05-12
Sunday = time to ramble on - 2008-05-11
apparently I'm doing monthly updates these days. Sorry. - 2008-05-04
watershed - 2008-04-06
end of trip - 2008-03-31

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