furrtiv

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:38:58 GMT

I have a stinking head cold. Someone crept up on me in the night, stuffed my head with cotton wool, installed a dripping tap in my nose, and laid my tongue with carpet. I've only just managed to shift a hacking cough, and now I'm sneezing like one of the seven dwarves, and it ain't Happy! I've had to have today, and half of yesterday, off work, and what's worse is, because I felt so rubbish, I dodn't get anything done today with my free time and I have to go back to work tomorrow. And I can't go to the gym, either, because I'm in no fit state to work out and I don't want to pass my germs around.
On a completely different matter, I found another place to try and flog my saucy pics - it's called the Chesterfield Conclave, and is a smallish gathering for members of the fetish scene that is basically a "munch" - a little get-together with food, demos and stalls. Stall space is free, too, so that's a bonus. The Birmingham Bizarre Bazaar hasn't been particularly fruitful, and is too expensive so I may call it a day on going to that one after the December one. Anyway, with Christmas coming up, I'm hoping that I'll sell a few more bits and pieces. I looked into getting mugs and t-shirts printed too, but they're too expensive, I'd have to set my prices very high to cover the costs, so I've gone for keyrings instead. I've got some diddy padlock keyrings, a bunch of plastic traffic cone keyrings with logos on them, and a load of blank ones that I can put my own pics into. With any luck they'll sell better than the prints and I might claw some money back. I really can't afford to go further afield to London, or anywhere else, to hold a stall as it might mean an overnight stay.
Other than that, things are okay - but I'm starting to wish Christmas would go away!

Ho hum :(

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 20:09:07 GMT

Ah well, I sold next to nothing at the Bizarre Bazaar. I think I made thirty-three quid. However, more than one experienced stallholder informed me that it takes two or three appearances to start generating any kind of reasonable profit, so all's not lost. I guess I should expect to make a loss on the first event. And a lot of people picked up business cards - I'm so glad I had plenty printed! - and at least one person was very enthusiastic about getting a commission done, so hopefully I'll have some work to do at home. I really would like to go back to the next one in November. Now that I have plenty of stack ready to go, and know how to set the stall up, I'll be better prepared, too.
Only one thing has really been bugging me. Ever since I first announced that I was going to be running a stall there, a number of people have been asking if I would share with them, or sell things for them. The first person to ask this is a good friend and I seriously considered it, simply on the basis that I know her and trust her and wouldn't mind, but it was just a little too late as I'd already filled in my booking form and sent it off. But, and I'm going to state this now so that no-one is in any doubt for the future - the Birmingham Bizarre Bazaar DOES NOT allow sharing or subletting of any kind. The organisers will BAN people from trading if they suspect that they have been doing this. I don't want that to happen to me or anyone else, so I have decided, from this point on, that I will not shre my stall, not even surreptitiously. Not even if someone offers to put money towards the cost of renting the stall space.
Besides which, the organisers now know that I sell art prints, so anything that differs muchly from that will instantly be suspicious to them. This isn't just for my self-interests, it's for other people's, too. I also put a lot of effort into the stall - not just paying for it, but driving for an hour and a half to get there, early on a Sunday morning, setting up the stall and also all the prep work, like going to the printer's, cutting up my small prints, buying frames and endless pavement-pounding to seek out various services that would be beneficial to me.
I'm sorry to have to do this, as sharing would indeed cut the stall costs, but I want to get known for my art first and foremost and for that I really think that I need a dedicated stall. besides, the size of table I could afford to rent wouldn't leave any room for sharing. My stock completely filled the surface area.
So, next month is a target again, to get a stall ready and set up. I hope tio see some friends there, if they can make it, and I'd like to thank all those people who turned up today and chatted with me and looked through my stuff. I especially want to thank my partner, Cat, and my friend, Vulps, for joining me there at a time on a Sunday morning when any sane person is in bed, and setting up, watching over, and breaking down the stall with me. Much appreciated, guys. :)

The Bizarre Bazaar

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:05:51 GMT

Okay, for all those who may care, I will be trading at this Sunday's Bizarre Bazaar. I'll be selling my naughty pics to a (hopefully) paying public! Everything's ready; the stock, the stall dressings, the business cards, the money (getting a float tomorrow), and I can't wait! I really hope I make a little bit of profit, I've put a lot of effort into this and any extra cash would be nice.
If anyone wants to go, all the information on the Bazaar is here; www.brumbazaar.co.uk
If anyone specifically wants to see me and/or my work, then look out for a stall called Furrtiv; Furry, Fetish, Fantasy. I got labelled Judy's Art on the Bazaar vendors' list, but I think that was a mistake on the part of the organisers.

In other news . . . . . . the cat still hasn't come back. :(

AAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:26:36 GMT

Bloody lettings agents!
I'm so angry; we've had Spider back five days, then he disappears again Thursday, thanks to our stupid lettings agents giving the keys I got cut for them to the joiner without telling us. So, joiner comes to house, thinking everything is okay, opens front door to do work, and there you go, the cat has gone AWOL again. The agents are really going to get the sharp side of my tongue tomorrow! Just because I gave them a set of keys, does not give them carte blanche to let workmen come and go as they please without at least having the common courtesy to inform us first. I'm now mega stressed out again because Spider has done another disappearing act - he didn't come back for breakfast today or for dinner either today or yesterday. I'm hoping he'll be fine, but I can't be doing with another two months - or more? - of worry over this. We were hoping to let him out in a contolled way tomorrow, I can only hope that the scent of the other two, who have been coming and going regularly, gives him a trail home to follow.
On a lighter note, I have managed to book and pay for a stall at the next Bizarre Bazaar in Brum, 19th October. If anyone's interested, please come along and say hello and look at my naughty furry artwork! The BBB is at the Nightingale Club in the city centre and is open from 11am until 5pm, and costs a fiver to get in. A Google search should find anyone more details very easily. If anyone's driving in, try getting a train from the park and ride at Coleshill Parkway, parking was two quid and the train was under a fiver return to New Street. But I don't know what the train times are like on Sundays.
Right, off to watch Little Britain USA now, hopefully that will cheer me up and make me forget my kitty woes for half an hour.

The Cat Came Back!

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 18:10:29 GMT

Wow. I mean, wow. After two months of zero sightings, no information, and lots of worry, we have regained the prodigal cat, Spider.
Last night I came home from work to a message on my answering machine from our last vet in Leicestershire, saying that he had info about Spider. Upon calling him back, I discovered that a vet in Clay Cross, a town near Chesterfield, had hold of him. Apparently, what had happened was this; Spider had turned up at a lady's door in Clay Cross on Thursday night, hungry and meiaowing for food, so she got him into her house, fed him, and took him to the vet's the next day. Luckily, he still had his collar on and is microchipped anyway, but the details on the microchip haven't been updated so this vet called our old vet in Leicester, whom we un-registered with because at the time, we wanted to take them to a vet closer to our erstwhile home. The old vet, King Richard's, rang our new vet in Oadby, where we've moved away from, who had our new address details. So Borrajo's, the "new" vet in Oadby, then called us. So, in a roundabout way, we eventually got our cat back, thanks to some very diligent work involving three seperate veterinary practices, and a kind lady who love cats and was concerned about a stray.
The rover is now sleeping on a comfy chair in the spare bedroom, blissfully unaware and uncaring of the stress and bother he's caused. But then again, he is a cat! Everyone here is very happy to see him back, possibly apart from Marble who was ruling the roost during his prolonged absence.
I want to finish with a message to a friend, as I've sent a text but don't know if it's been received as I've had no reply. To Triz; I'm very sorry, but we can't take on another cat, especially with Spider's return. I really do hope Charlie finds a good, loving home.
I'm now off to explore the possibilities of digital TV, and watch the final Lord of the Rings film tonight. Then it's off to LRP tomorrow to see how quickly my brand new character can die in the woods.

Looooooong time no see!

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:23:07 GMT

    Oh boy, where to begin!
    Firstly, I guess I must apologise for not posting on here in the longest absence ever. There have been reasons, but really no excuses, so sorry for anybody who's been trying to keep up with my life. Although I don't think this gets read by more than two people!
    Okay, to cut a long story short, here are the bullet points;

    Rob and I had to move house to cut down on fuel and rent costs. The move was a nightmare, and was completed in one weekend with a hired van and the help of some very good friends.

    We lost our oldest cat, Spider. No, he didn't die, he has simply run away (over a month ago) and hasn't returned. I put leaflets out, contacted every vet and animal rescue organisation in the area, but have had no success whatsoever. It's like he's vanished from the face of the earth. I can only hope he's found some little old lady in a quiet area who loves cats and feeds him. Although he's streetwise and can also kill prey very efficiently (he used to treat himself to wood pigeon at our old place), I can't help but worry. But there's nothing more I can do. The youngest cat, Arnie, seems a bit lost without him and his personality's changed; he's a lot more timid and a lot less outgoing than he was when he Spider to follow around. Marble, the middle cat and the only girl, is fine.

    Our ex-landlords and letting agnecy insisted the old house was a filthy mess, despite the fact that it wasn't, when we left and decided to use GBP150 of our deposit for professional cleaners, AFTER the landlords had decided to rip out the old kitchen and wallpaper. So I'm trying to decide if it's worth going to a small claims court to get the money back. This needs investigating further. They're insisting that absolutely nothing falls under their contract's clause of "reasonable wear and tear" but are being very unspecific about exactly what was wrong, so they're going to get a snotty letter soon, once I've decided how to word it. We also have photographic evidence of the condition of the house both before we moved in and after we moved out. Plus, Rob's parents may act as witnesses as they helped us scrub the place from top to bottom before we handed the keys in. We also paid to have the hall carpet professionally cleaned, so hopefully any judge would decide in our favour, but these things are never cut and dried. Both the lettings agent and the landlords turned nasty on us once the keys were handed back. In all, we went back three times to clean that damned place, and I'm sick of being pushed around and spoken down to by snooty know-it-alls. Luckily, I can get free legal advice and according to the source, I may have a strong case as they've basically ignored the fair wear and tear clause in their own contract.

    The new house is a bit of a hovel, and in the back end of nowhere, but it's dirt cheap. I've just had to get onto my new lettings agents about a few things though. Hopefully they'll be sorted soon.

    Rob lost his job. Anyone who knows him will have heard about it, so I'll not post details here. 'Nuff said. Luckily, he's now found a new job with a temping agency, and he starts tomorrow (Monday). Only minimum wage, but it's another reference for his CV, and sometimes these things can lead to permanent jobs. I've suggested he save his pennies and try to get forklift training, as that what everybody wants, even if it's only counterbalance. It's expensive, but I don't think you need a normal driving licence to have a forklift one as it's not on-road driving (Rob can't drive - big obstacle to getting a decent job). It's something worth checking out.

    Phew, that's it up to now!

    Oh, yes, one last thing; I am looking to start trading at the Bizarre Bazaar in Birmingham from October. I have a booking form, and am gathering supplies. Basically, I'll be selling my adult furry art, plus some fantasy and a very small selection of human fetish art. It's all lighthearted and fun and comicky in style, and for those that know the BBB, it should fit in but still be unique. Not many self-representing artists there. I'll try and get some prints made, but it could be odd going into a print shop and asking for a run on these images - I'm going to get some very odd looks from the staff! It could also be expensive to set up, and I'll probably make a loss on the first event as the stall space is also not cheap, but fingers crossed, people will buy stuff because it's different, pretty, and reasonably priced. I'm thinking of doing A4 prints for fifteen pounds, and postcard-sized prints for a couple of quid each. I won't be selling original artwork. I also might be open to commissions, although I'll have to think about that. I really hope I can do it!
    I've figured out that, if printing costs are going to be around two hundred pounds (total random guess, that), and the stall costs sixty quid, I'll need to sell around twenty to thirty A4 prints (GBP15 each) to break even. This doesn't include petrol and parking costs, but as we go on weekend outings anyway and I work during the week, I think I can discount that for now. The BBB provides a table if required, and set dressing I can provide for myself out of the countless boxes of props and fabrics I've got at home. I'll just need some signs, which again I can make myself from materials already available, and a money-box, but they're quite cheap. The float will just go straight back into my bank account after the day, so that will only be a temporary expense.
    Wish me luck!:)

Cars . . . . .

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:22:51 GMT

    It's been a sad couple of weeks for me. I finally came to the conclusion that I had to trade in 'Ector, the Morris Traveller who's been my faithful servant for the last five years. I miss him every day, he was so much a part of my identity that a friend of my partner once said that he didn't recognise me without my car. That's how much the little Moggie was an intrinsic part of my life. :( However, I do have a new job, which is the reason for parting with 'Ector, as it's nearly fifty miles from where I live. That sort of distance, every dau on the M1, would have killed the old boy off for sure and it was kinder to let him go.
    So, I traded my beloved Traveller in to the mechanic who's done most of the work on him, with the express instructions not to break him for parts, or scrap him. Truly, all the car needs is a little cosmetic restoration and a good cleanup in the engine bay to make him nearly perfect, but I didn't have the time, knowledge or money to either pay for it or to do it myself. Hence, I now own a 1997 Honda Civic, which, although relatively bland to drive, is easygoing and can cope with the epic yearly mileage I'll be putting on the clock.
    As for the new job - well, it's the same as I was doing in Leicestershire, just at a different factory under different people. Yes, I'm back to painting bouncy castles! I love doing this job so much, I'm willing to travel quite a long way to do it! Plus, it has the added bonus of paying me a bit more than I was getting elsewhere, and it's a small place with friendly people, and I managed to get my partner, who was also unemployed for a short time, a job as a sewing machinist there. I'll be painting them, he'll be helping to put them together. And we get paid in cash - it's all legal, we pay tax and everything's above board, but for their own reasons, the bosses decided to use cash instead of bank transfer so now I have to shoot to the bank every Saturday (payday is every Friday; weekly pay is a boon) to pay in my money otherwise I'll spend it. But it works out a lot better, as at least I get to see my money.
    So it's been an emotional time for me lately, and I'm still struggling with a large overdraft, but so far all is going reasonably well and the new job is great, if somewhat cold as the factory has no heating and we're running out of bottled gas. Plus, the weather's been crazy; today we've had bright sunshine, snow and hail all in the space of a few hours!
    And everybody in the UK should visit www.moneysavingexpert.co.uk to find ways to save money - I've changed my electricity supplier, so hopefully this will lead to smaller bills. You can do comparisons for everything there, plus search for cheaper car insurance, find out about savings and loans and other stuff that is definitely need-to-know.
    I guess I'd better sign off and run a nice hot bath - but there's also a beer in the fridge with my name on it, hmm, beer first or bath first? The beer is winning . . . . . .

Jeesh, some people!

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:14:47 GMT

    Here I go again . . . . .
    Anyone who knows me well will know how passionate I am about the things I love. As we all are, I guess. Well, one of those things is tattooing. I love tattoos, and respect them as an art form, and also have a great respect for those who make them. What I don't have great respect for are those idiots who buy a kit from somewhere including machines, needles and some cheap and nasty inks and decide to have a go themselves. They infuriate me. Yes, I'm quite aware that many artists are self-taught, but times have changed and it's not the best route to success, getting an apprenticeship with a respected, reputable mentor is the way to go. After all, it's a minor surgical procedure, you're breaking the skin and injecting a dye, so this is stuff you shouldn't be trying at home.
    Not only that, but you need to be aware of blood-borne pathogens and exactly how they're transmitted, the dangers present, and how to eliminate those dangers. Very few scratchers (people who tattoo from home) know these things, they just want the rock 'n' roll lifestyle that tattooists supposedly have - which they don't, it's bloody hard graft according to every tattooist out there. And no tattooist worth their salt, self-taught or otherwise, would recommend you go teach yourself. Hell, if I wanted to be a dentist, I would go medical school, not buy a load of dentistry stuff and start practicing on my nearest and dearest! Why people think tattooing should be any different is beyond me.
    So here I am, after having an argument with some little idiot on FurAffinity forums, who thinks it's okay to go and do all this. So I rip into her because I really do think that anyone who does this deserves a pile of brown stuff thrown at them, and she's getting back at me, saying I'm making assumptions and that she's getting her machines and everything from a reputable dealer . . . . well, I don't know what the deal is in the States where this twit's from, but no good dealer here in the UK should be selling tattooing equipment to anyone who isn't registered with their Environmental Health Officer. And she never mentioned anything about that most essential piece of kit, an autoclave. But then again, most scratchers and wannabes don't think anything that costs a couple of grand or more is going to be essential - how's she going to clean her machines, run them under the hot tap?!
    FFS, the tattooing craft does not need idiots like this bringing it down, it's only recently been gaining a better public image through the hard work of advocates and tattooists alike. Ah well, if she gives someone Hep C, at least I'll be able to say "I told you so", small satisfaction though that is.

Another long break between posts.

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 19:17:40 GMT

    It seems to have been forever since I made a post in here! Sorry for that, I've just had so much happen to me recently that putting entries into my Livejournal has been the last thing on my mind. Well, where do I begin . . . ?
    First things first. I was made redundant just before Christmas. Yes, my firm decided to drop me like a three-week-old dead herring on December 14th. I was incredibly shocked and upset, but resolved to find work again soon and so set out on the tedious process of applying for Job Seeker's Allowance (JSA). Little did I know that, when someone applies for this "benefit", the people in charge of handing the Government's money out to the unemployed only ever look at the past two tax years' worth of National Insurance contributions. Yup, that's right folks, if you've been working for ten, twenty or thirty years, it means naff all if you haven't made NI contributions in the last two years (if, for instance, you went back to adult education for a couple of years and didn't pay NI because you didn't think you had to). It's an utter joke and the system is royally screwed. And I couldn't claim Income-Based, rather than Contributions-Based, JSA because my partner works, even though he is on a rate barely above the minimum wage.
    Anyway, after that fiasco, I have finally found a job. I am now working, on an ongoing temporary basis, as a meter reader, taking readings of people's gas and electric meters. It's a fairly low hourly rate, but there's an uncapped bonus depending on number of meters read a week (and it's more than achievable, I looked into this and rigorously questioned my interviewer about this aspect), and it's working on youn, so no more being annoyed by other work colleagues, yay! Of course, you have to report to a superior every so often, and be organised, but hell, that's easy stuff, and as for being outside - well, as long as I've got waterproofs and decent shoes, I'll get by, and summer will be wonderful. And the exercise will do me good! :D
    I've had a couple of days' training on the job with a lovely lady named Val, and for tomorrow and Thursday I'll be in Birmingham for office-based training, which I assume means health and safety issues, any legal stuff, other gumf like that. So I'll be taking notes.
    Another good thing about this job is that it pays weekly to begin with, and that there may be the opportunity to go permanent if a perm position arises, and even though it's temporary, it's all ongoing, so unless I royally cock up, it's unlikely I'll be sacked any time soon.
    Life is starting to look a little better.:)

Oh Boy!

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 19:24:52 GMT

    My gods, what a manic few weeks!

    Well, where to begin . . . ?

    My car conked out completely just two weeks ago - turns out a piston got damaged in the engine and it needed a whole new engine, so that's finally going to be replaced and finished early next week. I've had to rely on a friend for lifts to work, and been lugging an army rucksack to and from the supermarket each week too, for the shopping.
    On top of that, my boss is looking to make poeple redundant at work, and guess who's first in the firing line? Yep, yours truly! Great, looks like I might be jobless come the new year. I'm very angry about that. I am looking for another job, and have been for a while. I even told my boss about it, because, to be fair, I didn't want to sneak around behind his back and thought that he deserved the respect to know about this up front. He's now thrown that back in my face, saying that he thought I was definitely leaving when in reality I had told him that I would only leave if I was offered a new job elsewhere. I'm not happy about this situation. On top of that, his daughter, who works in the same company as her dad's PA, seems to have developed an utter loathing of me - this isn't recent, she seemed to ahte my guts the second she set eyes on me, but it's now got to the point where she's ignoring me (even when handing out important documents like the production sheet), and giving me evil glares if I so much as look in her direction. Add to that the fact that she's more than ten years younger than me and doesn't have the workplace experience I do, and it kind of rubs me up the wrong way. Bah, I hate people!

    On the plus side, I went to an awesome convention the=is weekend just gone - SG;12, a Sartgate con at the Thistle Hotel, Heathrow, organised by Wolf Events. It was great, I met a lot of actors including the charming Beau Bridges, and partied long and hard! Great times!

    And I should get 'Ector back early next week!

Money, money, money . . . . .

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 16:53:52 GMT

    Or lack thereof. Ah well, at least I have managed to put some more cash back into my savings, after having to take some out to pay for the car's MOT. So the current savings balance is now GBP840-ish. I'm aiming for a thousand pounds by the end of this year, and I was going to try and get three thousand by the end of next year, but I think a more realistic target would be two-and-a-half. It'll be tough, but I'll try my hardest.
    I'm also looking for another job, as I was told I won't be getting a pay rise this year, and there's the possibility that none of us will get one in January as the company isn't doing too well. Great. So I'm stuck on six quid an hour, and my other half, who also works there, is going to be on crappy minimum wage for the forseeable future. I think it's awful, but the jobs market is rough these days, if you're not already highly qualified and highly experienced, nobody wants you, it's like they're scared of inexperienced people and not prepared to give us hard workers a chance, and anything with on-the-job training is only going to be offered to teenagers so that they can - yes, you guessed it - pay them the lower rate of minimum wage. The job market sucks, quite frankly.
    On a happier note, I recently attended the Midlands Regional Rally for the Morris Minors Owners Club - well, I simply had to, as it was held in Leicester, so I didn't really have an excuse not to. And I'm glad I did! Loads of very friendly people, lots of lovely Morris Minors, and cake all round. Despite the windy weather, it didn't rain and it was a good turnout - reckon there were over fifty cars present, all packed into Abbey Pumping Station (a museum of steam, based in a former sewage pumping station - trust me, it's not as bad as it sounds, lots of gorgeous steam-driven engines and stuff).
    I've also applied for a few jobs - no success yet, but I'll keep trying. At the moment, anything that I think I can do, that pays better than what I'm currently earning, is a bonus. I've applied to be a museum assistant at Leicester's New Walk Museum, a generic museum/arts gallery near the city centre, a good place but quite small when compared to the London ones. Still, it's got fine art, dinosaurs, mummies and stuffed animals all under one roof, so it's a nice place if you're into that sort of stuff (which I am). It's more of a front-of-house type position than a curating role, which would be nicer because I love the idea of getting my hands on all those displays! But, it would be a foot in the door - I didn't realise you needed a string of qualifications to be a curator these days! And it was a nice, easy online application, so they'll get it tomorrow (Monday). As we have a postal strike in the offing, I definitely prefer this method. And the position pays GBP14,000 (approx) - not a huge amount more than I'm currently earning, but it would be a nice boost, and they're not looking for hugely qualified people either, just those with experience in retail, cleaning, stuff like that that I've done in the past. And hopefully my fine art degree and HND in costume design will help swing it for me (lots of historical study in both courses).
    As for today - well, I should have been doing some stuff, but recently, every weekend I've just been feeling wiped out from my week at work. I barely recover enough energy for Monday mornings, and so today I spent all day sitting around, surfing the internet, watching the racing and reading a book. I know that's what Sundays are supposed to be for, relaxing and all, but I really need to get these drawings finished. It's sad when I don't have the energy to even sit at a desk and colour stuff in. Maybe I need to start drinking coffee again. I would, if I could stand the taste, the headaches, the heart palpitations . . . . . . nah, I don't need that sh*t! I just need a job that doesn't pay me rubbish and string me out every week. Or at least pays me enough to make the stress worthwhile.
    On another note; I went to see a film at our local arthouse cinema Friday night. If ever a film called "Black Sheep" opens near you, do go and see it. However, if the thought of seeing a film inviolving evil zombie genetically engineered were-sheep doesn't appeal, you might want to give it a miss - but my ribs ached when I walked out of the cinema!

Good Grief!

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 18:57:37 GMT

    I really must try to post here more often!

    Anyhoo, updates, updates . . . . okay, in condensed form;

    I hate work and want a new job

    I had to raid my savings of two hundred pounds to get my overdraft down

    I have a new kitten (who is now nearly four months old)

    I may have some tattoo flash going on sale soon, courtesy of a tattooist friend

    Think that just about covers it. Oh yes, I had to go see a therapist because work was getting me down so much, the situation with the radios is getting ridiculous. For some reason, we had two different stations on today and it was really frustrating because they were both so loud that I could hear them through my earplugs! How anyone concentrates on doing detailed work in that envronment is beyond me. The pay also sucks big time, so I need more money and hence I'm looking into the local job centre and small ads for anything that I feel able to do . . . . bah, I hate being unqualified for just about everything! And being 32 years old, most poeple don't want trainees that age, they want kids so they can abuse them by not paying them much and treating them like rubbish.

    I would tell myself I'm only doing it for the money, ut there's precious little of that involved!

    Ah well, at least it's nearly the weekend.

FFS!!!!!!!

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 18:45:08 GMT

    What the hell is up with people?! Crikey, feel like giving up on forums altogether - sometimes it seems you cannot have an opinion that is different to the majority of a forum's users without being labelled as either an idiot, a pr**k or worse!
    If it weren't for the very nice people I've met online and then gone on to meet in real life, I really wouldn't bother anymore. The internet seems full of vitriol and I've had enough of it. I'm keeping out of forums for a while, they seem to just have all turned into places where everyone can whine, moan, and generally be nasty to anyone that they don't agree with. I guess it doesn't help that I'm not too good at debating using either the written or the spoken word, and I get frustrated when I can't articulate what I'm trying to say, but I resent being treated like a child, or like I'm thick, and I also resent the implication of lying that was levelled at me yesterday. As it was merely implied, I can't really do anything about it, but it really annoys me!
    Some of these people really need to lighten up. (That's also why I'm getting out of forums for a while; they're turning me into something I don't like and winding me up, so I'm quitting until I feel capable of returning.)

    And breathe . . .

Sadness . . .

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 16:08:04 GMT

. . . and frustration, really. Today I took the decision to stop visiting a forum I've been part of for about a year or so. Not naming any names, but this is a car forum and it has a general chat section for non-car related chitchat. When I joined up first, it was a robust discussion forum, with a fair bit of sharp but lighthearted banter generally bemoaning the state of the country, kids, women, etc, but not in a nasty or visious way.
    Recently this has changed. There is now a very uncomfortable feel to this board, as people have taken it upon themselves to be judge and juror of the rest of humanity - I've never seen such racism, misogyny, and general hatred for anything different in my life! Crikey, I honestly thought that this sort of viewpoint was in a minority - obviously, there is still a hard core of middle-aged, middle-class, anti-everything (read; goth, furry, women drivers, etc) who will not even attempt to understand anything unusual.
    The last straw for me was an attack in a thread upon Harry Potter fans. Now, I don't particularly like the books myself, although the films have been fun to watch, and if other people want to read them then that's fine - but when adults who read HP books are denounced as thick and intellectually challenged, that's where I draw the line. Just because someone likes reading kids' books doesn't make them stupid! Grrrr!
    The thread then digressed into a heated discussion on just why furrie were disgusting perverts - like they'd know any! - and, when I tried to redress the balance by placing a link to a tame, totally non-sexual furry site that I'm part of, just to show them that we don't all go around bonking each other in mascot costumes, the other posters attempted to shoot me down in flames! Abd then accused me of making snap judgements about the members of this board - well, excuse me, but after being a member of a forum for a year, I think I can make certain judgement calls about the general membership.
    Ah well, I shouldn't waste my time getting so het up about it all, it's just words on a screen and the world's full of keyboard heroes. I'll just avoid the place from now on and let these guys believe that they know everything when they clearly couldn't even be bothered to research something before denouncing it as wrong.
    Sadly the world is indeed full of these morons, people who want everything to be their way and don't want to be surrounded by those pesky gays/goths/furries/LRPers, etc.
    Rant over. Normal service will resume shortly. :)

News . . . . .

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 22:19:31 GMT

    I really must post in here more often! I think I'm going to have to go for one post a week, as I'm very bad at keeping a diary.
    Okay, so what's been going on in my life then? *Watches the tumbleweed roll past*

    Well, I've still heard nothing back from the car insurers about my further claim for time off work and the true value of the car, so I will have to chase that up next week.

    I managed to upset a friend because I had to pull out of a planned trip. I discovered that, with all the other pre-booked, costly things I'm doing this year, I simply can't afford it (plus, I didn't want to be the only driver out of four people for what would have been a long trip). I also didn't have any spare holiday left over from work, so couldn't get the time off either, which was a pain. I also can't make it to this friend's wedding as my partner and I had booked, last year, for an event in November which was all paid up, and only recently discovered that this clashes with the wedding date. I feel truly awful about that, I hope she forgives us. I'll have to think of something nice to do in return.

    Other than that, nothing much has been going on. I still have a little bit of my Egg loan to pay off, and I'm still struggling with the savings, but as time goes by the loan goes down and the savings go up. And I'm about to start work on my Morris - nothing major, just decided to have a go as getting the rust off the wheels and painting them so that the car doesn't look so scruffy. I'm also after a new pair of front doors as mine have rusted through at the bottom and repairing them would require welding and spraying, neither of which I can do and neither of which I'm prepared to pay to do, either! So, replacement doors it is.

    I'm also going to have my delayed birthday present this weekend - I'm going to see Aerosmith play live at Hyde Park - so excited, can't wait for Sunday! The weather looks like it might be foul, though, so I'll have to take a decent pair of boots and something warm to wear, and as it's an all-day affair, we're going to have to take food too (I'm not paying London prices!) and some water. Still, no matter what the weather, it's going to be good!

    Oh, and there's a mystery parcel waiting to be picked up from the local PO, it came from the States and could be something I've been waiting nearly two months for . . .

    Signing off, that's all folks!

Good Grief!

Sat, 02 Jun 2007 22:19:11 GMT

    What on earth's been going on around here? I go away for a few days and the place is a mess!

    Ah well, back to the saga that is my life, I'm just glad my account hasn't been deleted.

    I finally got my insurance company to get an assessor out to the car last week. it's been assessed for damage, was deemed irrepairable and was taken away to that big scrapyard in the sky. But the little Pug still lives on in the donor parts that will be prolonging the working life of some other cars as it was in a write-off category that meant it could be used for parts.
   What really annoyed me was that the insurance people were trying to give me less than what I thought the car was worth, as their engineer viewed it as being of very low value. Okay, so the difference between his opinion and mine was a matter of fifty quid, but to some of us that can mean a fair bit of money. And after a conversation with the engineer's firm over the telephone, they finally agreed that a car with three months' tax and MOT still left on it was worth what I said it was. Think they did that just to get me off the phone! But they said that they'd inform the insurers for me, which is good.
    Another annoying thing is that the insurers also said that they didn't get my proof of loss of earnings, which was sent by recorded delivery and was stated by Royal Mail as having been delivered, so I'm down by another fifty quid through having had eleven hours total off word immediately following the accident. Sooooo, another copy of the letter on headed notepaper signed by the lovely lady in the office who deals with all this is winging its way to them, along with my stern letter asking that they reconsider the value of the car in light of my changing the engineer's mind, via Special Delivery. Hopefully this will make it to them and I'll get the rest of the money!
    Still, a couple of good things did come out of this; I wasn't injured, and nor was anyone else, and I had a day and a bit off work (albeit spent most of it on the telephone to various people), and also, I got to drive around a very nice modern Mazda 3 hatchback as a courtesy car. That has to be returned to the hirers next Thursday, so at least I get to give the Moggy a further rest for a few days.
    I also got two new front seats for the Morris, and in a matching colour to the rest of my car's interior. Some chap in Lancashire was selling them and I had to go that way anyway to take my other half and his son to see one of the only fully operational Huey helicopters in the UK, so it wasn't much of a diversion to go and retrieve them. I even gave the gentleman a tip for having kept them aside for me and also for taking a reverse charge call when I got lost and the only public phone wasn't accepting change (forgot my mobile)!
    Now I've just got to work out how to fit the blooming things . . .
    And I'm overdrawn again, so no more money into the savings for the moment. But it'a only by one hundred and fifty quid, and I get paid next Thursday. And I got the first cheque for two hundred quid from my insurers (here's hoping that they cough up for my lost earnings and the rest of the car's value) so that's gone into the joint account. And I've still got some Games Workshop figures to put on eBay, the last lot seemed to sell really well.
    Ah well, nothing exciting this time, just frustration and hopefully some closure to this whole car episode. I think I'm going to wait for a bit before getting another olf banger, insurance is a killer. So damned expensive! Still, Canada funds are still going and untouched, still putting that fiver away a week so the drip feed of cash will tide me over until I've sorted this overdraft out. Must be more careful with my cash . . .

Saving More Money . . .

Sun, 13 May 2007 18:59:55 GMT

    Well, just popped another two hundred into my savings and it seems that I'm doing well - GBP842 equals CAD1853! Woohoo! Now we're getting somewhere! So, I have raised my target again for this year, I'm going to try and get at least two thousand pounds into my savings account by the end of the year.
    Also, my partner, after three weeks of being jobless, finally got a new job - at my place! He's being trained on the sewing machines at work, and is doing quite well as he easily picks things up. In a few weeks, I'm sure he'll be making whole sections of units (bouncy castles). And it's regular, if minimum-wage, pay. Longer hours tthan he was doing, but he's worked out that he's still better off than he was in his last job, as it was a better hourly rate but far less hours actually worked. he's on a twelve-week trial period, but I'm pretty sure he'll be okay and after that, he may even get a pay rise.
    On another note, I'm getting bitten by the classic car bug again - I was thinking of buying something silly and fun just for the weekends, like a Bond Bug or something similar, and got smitten by the most gorgeous Singer Vogue on eBay . . . sadly, she was snapped up before I could bid. Probably a good thing, as she had no MOT and would have had to be stored on the road. Still, insurance would have only been ninety pounds fully comprehensive, and the car was just under five hundred - ah well, I guess it was never meant to be . . .
    I'm keeping my eyes open, though. When I get the insurance payout for the Peugeot, I'll get something boring and sensible, but once you've owned a classic car, you can never get them out of your system!
    The hire car arrived yesterday, a Mazda 3 (whatever that means) - a five-door hatchback, very modern, lots of bizarre little buttons and lights telling me when I'm not wearing my seatbelt. Hmm. It drives okay, but I feel isolated from the road as if I'm in a cocoon, and I'm not sure that I like that at all. And the gearstick hardly moves between the gears, making it difficult to distinguish between first and third, hence I've stalled it a few times when parking. But at least it means 'Ector can have a rest for a while.

Been a while . . .

Fri, 11 May 2007 22:33:58 GMT

    Sorry for the delay in posting, been busy.
    Well, things have certainly moved on around here! I now have GBP642 in my savings, and I'm planning on adding another two hundred tomorrow. I managed this by finally getting a consolidation loan to clear off my seperate debts (credit card, loan and overdraft), so now I only have one monthly repayment to make. My credit card is going to have its limit drastically reduced, and the old loan is half paid off, just got to gradually pay it off completely over the next few months, then I'll just be paying for the new loan. And as my overdraft is now paid off, I have a little money to spare, so some is going into my savings, some is staying in my bank account to help keep me in the black, and some is being spent on a fursuit I've just commissioned and a couple of tattoos later on in the year.
    Things are finally getting sorted with the crashed car now; the insurers have arranged an inspection, I'm getting a courtesy hire car tomorrow morning so that the Morris can rest up, and now all I have to do is provide proof of my uninsured losses and then hopefully I'll get paid! The only uninsured loss I had was a day off work to make all the necessary telephone calls, and just to rest and visit the doc's. My friends keep telling me I should claim for whiplash as it's a two grand automatic payout, but I'm fine and I don't like fibbing. Besides which, if I lie, I jus know it'll come back and bite me in the backside sometime later in life - it's a karma thing!
    Anyway, to keep you all amused, here are a couple of pics of what I walked away from . . .

Blimey!

Fri, 20 Apr 2007 18:51:18 GMT

    Well, what can I say? It's been one of those weeks!
    All was going well until yesterday, when my Peugeot was rear-ended by a car carrier. That's right; my small hatchback was ploughed into by an HGV! Luckily I'm fine, I walked away from the crash, but the car's dead for sure. Let's see, damage was something like the following; rear end caved in, petrol tank split, both rear doors buckled, roof rippled, glass in rear windscreen and one rear door smashed, one rear light cluster practically vapourised, one rear corner of the body dug into the tyre, and the driver's seat ripped from its moorings and twisted. It's quite astonishing that I have no discernable injuries, really.
    And at least it wasn't the Morris that bought it, which is a huge relief. I'd have been mightily upset if my pride and joy had been concertinaed into a matchbox!
    Still, insurance companies have been informed, and luckily it wasn't me that was at fault, so I should get reparation. The Peugeot has been left at work in their secure fenced car park, covered by a tarpaulin, until the other driver's assessor can arrange to come and take a look at it. the car is a total loss, it will probably be removed and crushed. Shame, really, it was handy having an old banger to run around in and give the Morris a well-deserved rest. Ah well, hopefully I'll get the money back in a couple of weeks, then I can start to look for another car to replace it. I might even leave it for a couple of months and just use Ector to tootle about in. The exercise will do him good. The folks at work found it hard to believe that I was still walking after seeing the state of the car!
    Right, time for some ice cream, I think! Off to the doc's on Monday to check that I've not received any injuries for certain, then more telephone calls are probably in the offing. Ah well, at least it's the weekend now!

Hmmm . . . . .

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 18:55:14 GMT

    Well, I've been doing a lot of thinking recently. That's why I've not been around here in the last few days.
    I'm not really sure anymore what I want to do with my life. (Sorry for this, it might be a bit of an EMO-style moan!) I've always loved the thought of acting, but I've never really done any and so I don't think I'll be suited to it. All I really know is that I want to be doing something creative and earning enough money to get by. I don't want to be working in a shop or a factory, or doing something mind-numbing and uncreative. Guess that narrows down my options!
    The other reason I've had a bit of a re-think is that I don't really know if I'll be able to afford to go to acting school; I'll be at a distinct disadvantage because of my age and rather unglamorous appearance, and if I want to emigrate, then I'll be needing every penny and it could be that the money I want to save will come in useful for something else out there (like insuring my car under B.C.'s ridiculously expensive insurance laws!).
    Anyway, for now I'm just going to save up some cash and clear my credit card, then life will be a little bit easier. As for the savings, I'm on target for getting five hundred pounds in time for my birthday, but I may have to lower my sights alittle for this year and go for fifteen hudred quid rather than two thousand five hundred. Ah well, it's still money in the bank, isn't it?

Creativity and obstacles to it . . . . .

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 20:51:37 GMT

    Okay, I have decided that I need to earn more money to realise my dreams. And to get a better hard drive. Because the damn thing went kaput a few days ago and it's only with the help of my other half and the spare computer that I'm back online.
    So, I had an idea that would involve using a specialist material (the same sort of stuff that bouncy castles are made out of) to make cute little fashion accessories. I can get the paint I need, I can get the thread (because you need special paint and thread to sew and decorate this incredibly durable material) but I can't seem to get hold of the material! It seems that suppliers won't take you seriously unless you want to order tons and tons of something, and I'll only need a few metres. Pooh. It is at the stage of posting a "Want It Now" message on eBay and hoping someone responds favourably. If not, I suppose I could always use pleather, but it was the novelty of using bouncy castle material that struck me as the great idea.
    I've also decided to try and get myself an LGV (Large Goods Vehicle) licence. This will involve expensive training, a medical exam and a fair bit of time, but it will be worth it if I can get a job that pays eight to ten pounds an hour. So I have a medical booked for the 29th, and I've never had one before . . . I wonder what they'll do?

Bloody Work!

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 20:33:39 GMT

    Hmph! I got asked to stay an extra half-hour at work today, despite having already arrived and started work half an hour early anyway - and I got asked to stay fifteen minutes before I was due to knock off! Cheeky bar stewards! I need another job, preferably one that pays better than six quid an hour.
    Still, got lots of stuff to sell on ebay, so I might make a small amount of extra money doing that. When I can be bothered. I'm in a real no-brainer, can't-be-bothered kind of mood tonight. And I'm very angry at Virgin Media and Sky because their failure to reach a deal has now left me without Sky One, so no more Stargate or Atlantis. And only four episodes to go in each seiries - this is madness! Luckily, a friend said she'd download the remaining episodes for me and transfer them to VHS so that I can watch them, but I may have to wait, which is okay. She also sent me tapes of a Canadian comedy titled "Alice, I Think", starring one of my favourite actors, Dan Payne. It was rather good, a few genuine laugh-out-loud moments, and less raucous than similar sitcoms such as Malcom in the Middle. But still, nothing beats the early seasons of Red Dwarf!
    Ho hum, no more money put away into savings just yet, still waiting for payday. Then it's fifty pounds more into the pot, and a hundred towards the credit card bill. I've decided that I can live with the credit card, if I can just get the balance down to a reasonable level, like, say seven or eight hundred pounds. It's about twice that now, but I always try to make the repayments bigger than the minimum because I don't still want to be patying it off in seventeen years' time!
    Right, I guess it's time to go and photograph stuff for eBay . . . if only I could be bothered . . . . .

More money saved . . .

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 21:19:49 GMT

    Yes, I added another fifty quid to the pot today, so the running total at the moment is £385, or CAD$884. So far, so good.
    I've also decided that it's high time I lost some weight. I managed to lose loads a few years ago with WeightWatchers, but stopped going and yes, you've guessed it, the weight piled back on. I'm not quite as bad as I was at my heaviest, but I'm still eleven stones (that's around seventy kilos) which, for someone who's five feet three inches tall, is quite badly overweight. So it will be back on the exercise bike and the healthier foods. Nice oaty cereals with natural yoghurt for breakfast, soup for lunch, then stir-fried vegetables or something similar for dinner. I reckon I must be the only fat vegetarian I know! How the hell all the other veggies manage to keep skinny is beyond me - then again, I do like my cheese!
    This is a short entry as I'm working hard, tired and want to go to bed, but I'm still looking for another job. I found this website called Artshub, sorry can't remember the full address but a Google search should bring it up. It's like a jobsearch website for the creative industries. You have to subscribe, but before that you get a 14 day free trial which I'm currently on, and I've applied for a job already. It has lists of jobs for actors, artists, singers, dancers and other creative types. How very useful! Maybe if I subscribe (it's not cheap at £45 per year) I might be able to post a CV.
    Right, time for bed.

Telephone conversations . . . . .

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 20:50:22 GMT

    I've jst had a lovely conversation with a lady from the VFS. Her name was Kristina, and she is an admissions officer, er, person, er . . .
    Anyway, I was still quite surprised that they called me here in England, after all, it must cost a lot to make an hour-long long distance phone call! We talked a lot about not just the course, but the standard of living, costs of things like apartment rental, etc, and my main worry - car insurance. British Columbia has mandatory insurance that you must purchase from it, which seems very strange indeed to someone who has the freedom to shop around for a quote from any number of private companies. Although I did find out that I could possibly get a collector's insurance if I had my Morris, but only if I had another insured car. If I didn't have another car, I could still insure my vehicle for pleasure use only; as it sounds like the public transport system is pretty good and cheap too, it might be worth just insuring my vehicle for limited mileage as a pleasure-use only car. The other idea I had was that I could give the car to someone here in the UK that I trust implicitly (like my in-laws, for example) on an extended loan; it could be used and looked after, or simply even stored, up until the point where I could afford to import it. The importation fees don't worry me, as they'd be a one-off payment - it's the insurance that does! And I've heard that petrol prices are quite high, though I wonder if they're really anywhere near as high as ours?
    Still, all this is way off in the future, saving the money is where it's at! The course fees are quite high, and I'd need to do a four-month introductory course to gain a place on the full-time, year-long acting course. Total cost runs to $40,000 (that's £17,500)! And that wouldn't include immigration and living costs. But I think it's do-able, I'm in no doubt that I can scrape that much cash together given enough incentive. And I might be able to take time between the introductory course and the main one to get a job and earn a little money, say like six months' break?
    Looks like I'll need around £20,000. Still think I need to rob a bank . . .

VFS called . . .

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 21:35:32 GMT

    I was really chuffed last night as a lady from the VFS (Vancouver Film School) called me up regarding my email enquiry. I was quite surprised that anyone would have telephoned as it's a long-distance call. Still, we talked briefly and she made an appointment for an admissions officer to call me tomorrow night at 5.30pm (UK time). I shall have to write down all the questions I want to ask so that I don't forget anything.
    As regards other things, well . . .
    Taking the car to Canada's going to cost an absolute fortune! :( I may not be able to do it, at least not straight off. Apparently, you have to buy your car insurance from the government and have millions of dollars worth of liability cover. No competition in the insurance market means that prices can go as high as they like. And there's a premium for immigrants, AND I'd have to take a Canadian driving test! Crikey, talk about tough! What I'll probably do is keep the car in storage here in the UK for a year or so (in-laws or friends may be able to help) then take a driving test out there and check out insurance. After that time, I might be able to afford to bring the car over and even run it. I'll have to see. The thought did cross my mind that I may have to sell it, but it's my pride and joy and I love it so much I'd hate to give it up. It's called 'Ector, and here is a picture;

    So you can see, not just any old car, but an adorable Morris Traveller. Also, I may be able to hire him (yes, it's a "he", not a "she") out as an extra! There might be a demand for unusual cars on TV/film sets, you never know.
    It just looks like I might have to save that little bit harder for my dream.
    On another note, I went to a comedy night last Sunday. Myself and the Other Half got in for free as we were friends of one of the performers' girlfriends; it was quite a fun night out, I'd happily do it again soon. And the funny thing was, I'd just said to the Other Half the previous night about how I'd never been to a stand-up night and how much I'd like to go! My mate's boyfriend's set was okay, quite fun but it was really just for the practice. I think that if he polishes his performance a little and overcomes his nerves it will be a really good routine. The comedians who followed him were also really good, except maybe for the last guy who managed to dig himself a bit of a hole regarding racial issues. Oh dear.
    Work is annoying and boring at the moment, but we're ahead of schedule on the production line in Bouncy Castle Land (yes, I work in a bouncy castle factory - that gave the comedians a few digs!) so I might just see a bonus this quarter - alright, maybe it will just be fifty quid, but anything wrung out of the tightfisted guy who owns that place would be good!
    Time for be, methinks. Catch up with you all later.