A bed of roses

So, HR have finally (only took FOUR months) assessed my new JD and have agreed it's a grade 7.  Now I just need to gather the evidence that I'm working towards it and, therefore, worthy of being regraded.  I was just reflecting on when I started this process (TWO line managers ago) - it's taken about 7 years to get to this point.  I'd be nearly at the top of the grade if I'd been able to get people to take some notice at the start.  I was reflecting with the rector on how I've very rarely encountered explicit sexism and she pointed out that getting the regrade probably wouldn't have taken so long if I was a man.  But who knows?

Otherwise, a pretty unremarkable week.  Oh, I added two stories to 70x700 - only 9 to go!  Plus two 'bonuses' - Starting and Finishing.  Starting will answer the question I get all the time - where do you get your ideas from?  (The answer is, I don't - they get me!)  Finishing will be a reflection on the process of putting the whole thing together.

My new net curtains have arrived but I'm not putting them up until I've cleaned the windows, which I will do on the bank holiday.

Oh, and I've finally managed to book my vaccinations.  I thought I'd booked just one but, of course, you can't book just one - doh!  The real problem was booking the second one because it always wanted to send me to somewhere miles and miles away that would probably take all day to get to.  Then I hit a wall with being able to find any appointments for the first one!  But somehow, yesterday morning, I hit some kind of sweet spot where I managed to get both appointments at the same location that is within a reasonable distance.  First one is next Wednesday.

Right, time to get on with this day.  Bye for now, DW

 The interview on Thursday went OK.  I'd prepared before hand but they didn't ask any of the questions I'd prepared for, which threw me a bit.  I gave good answers to the questions, but I kept reusing the same examples.  I know I have more to say than the same 3 things!  When it came to me asking questions, I didn't ask about the job at all, which I hope puts them off.  I really think I've undersold myself by going for a 'sideways' move on my current salary - I need to start thinking of my regraded salary as my 'real' salary and move sideways or upwards against that.  Anyway, they said they'd let me know early next week.

The regrade is now gaining traction - it really feels like it's Going To Happen this time!

We're having a Christmas Tree Festival at church and the Taste of God team have a tree.  Decorating it is going to involve some Logistics...

I got another story up on 70x700 that actually gave me tingles down the spine.  It's here.  Please read and review - I love feedback.

My New & Improved contemplative prayer practice seems to be bearing fruit - I actually gave my stepfather credit for something the other day!  My feelings about him are Complicated but generally negative, so to acknowledge something good in him feels like Love In Action - or something...

And really, that's all that's going on at the moment.

Two days off work have done the trick.  I'm totally chilled.

Made a really good Scouse (basically lamb stew but given the formal title of Scouse because it was made by a Liverpool Mother :D) on Thursday, which went down well with the boys.  And I'm pondering copying the husband's croquette recipe either today or tomorrow - just not sure what to make them with.

I checked my work emails yesterday (yes, whilst on 'hols') but only to get rid of the junk that accumulates and found an invitation to a job interview on Thursday!  So, I have that to prepare for over the next few days.  It would be more of a sideways move salary wise - in fact, I'd have to negotiate for the upper end of the pay scale (assuming I'm offered the post, of course!) - but it would be a foothold somewhere new.  It's just a boost to have an interview after so many applications - and at the very least it's interview practice.

I'm hoping to get into the garden today to prune the Scrambling Rose (it might be officially a climber, but it's so untidy I prefer the term scrambler) and to plant some daffodil bulbs.  It's just a bit windy outside at the moment, which is putting me off.  At the very least, I want to fill up the bird feeders, since I went to the trouble of buying the food!

I've written a new story for 70x700 featuring my occasionally recurring character DS Tom Harding.  It's a multi-parter because you can't fit a whole murder investigation into 700 words but I'm going to spread out the other parts.

Um...  Yeah...  Life is really full at the moment, huh?  And somehow it is.  I don't have time to be bored but I get to the end of the day and really don't have much to reflect on.  But I am getting stuff done - writing, job applications, gaming, cooking.  Oh, and time with the husband and son, of course!  So, another week slips by and we're 7 days nearer to Christmas!

Bye for now, DW.

September goals included writing two stories for 70 x 700 and a job application.  And I did those things!  It also included daily meditation (well, contemplative prayer, but meditation is snappier) writing and exercise - I did not do so well with those.

Goals for October - rinse and repeat.  I'm already doing badly with the contemplative prayer - sigh.  But I have three potential job applications - I will review them on Monday and decide which to go for.

The menopause continues to be fun - not.  This year, I'd sort of settled into a very heavy period every 3 months.  I can cope with that.  It isn't what I'd choose, but I can cope with a week's heavy bleeding four times a year.  This month, however, we went for TWO heavy bleeds - one overlapping the end of August/start of September and the other the end of September/start of October.  This is much less manageable for someone who is always slightly anaemic to begin with.  So the start of the week (it hit on Monday) was a haze of just do the thing in front of you and don't worry about the other stuff.  It would have been a LOT easier if I hadn't had some important meetings on Monday and Tuesday.  The rest of the week, thankfully, was much more desk based.  AND I didn't have walking to work to cope with as well, which I think would have wiped me out completely.

I have picked up some menopause tablets - I was looking for iron tablets but couldn't find any.  You're supposed to take them with your main meal.  Of course, I keep forgetting!  But that's usual memory problems, not age :D

I did my town shopping in the middle of the week because I needed the bank, so at least I have an at-home Saturday.  And I got my washing done yesterday (hurray for working from home!), AND the husband has just hoovered the living room, so it's just cleaning the kitchen and bathroom on the agenda, today.  I will also work in time for a bath and some gaming, of course.

I'm coming to the end of Sense and Sensibility - we've just had the final scene between Elinor and Willoughby. 

...SPOILER ALERT...   ....SPOILER ALERT...   ...SPOILER ALERT...

I still have zero patience with him, or with Elinor for feeling sympathy for him.  Everything's all about him - his feelings, his needs, his amusement, his want of money.  Marianne's illness is a punishment to HIM FFS!!!  Anyway, good riddance to bad rubbish, I say.

And now, let's get this day started properly!

 The last week has literally blinked past.  But it was productive in a number of ways.  I attended the MSTeams 'training' and found out how to request a new Teams to be set up.  But I found out about the training by accident and without the training I wouldn't have known how to make the request - given that both are provided by IT and I work in that department, it appears there's something of a breakdown in communication, here!  Anyway, I am exploring MSPlanner as a) an action tracker and b) a project tracker.  I love playing with new software!

I've put in another job application - more of an analyst role, which isn't my first love but is something I can definitely do.  I can now get back to doing some REAL creative writing!

There's a meeting of the Taste of God team on Monday.  We've been 'taking over' the Tuesday 9.15am livestreaming slot that the Parish run on fb, but that means only 2 of us are actually leading ToG sessions, and some of our regulars aren't attending.  For very good reasons.  One of our members is pushing for us to go back to 12.15pm and to use Zoom, which I'm resisting for some good and some not so good reasons!

Firstly, getting my 'holy' stuff out of the way before work suits me.  It sets me up for the day ahead and means I can spend time with the husband at dinner time.  Moving to 12.15 would give me less time with him - although it would only be one day.  However, for people who need help getting ready in the morning, lunchtime is a much more convenient time of day.

Secondly, I'm averse to Zoom and am definitely resistant to setting up my own account.  I'll join someone else's session, and just because I was leading, I wouldn't have to run the meeting.  In fact, there is an advantage to having someone else 'modding'.  Work prefer us to use MSTeams, but that does limit how many people you can see on-screen.

Thirdly, fb is open to everyone, whereas Zoom (and MSTeams) requires an invitation.  There are ways of letting people know about it, but it requires an extra step.  However, the problem with fb is that people cannot speak to each other - everything relies on text - and when someone is mostly silent all day, being able to talk to people is a relief.

So, I understand the reasons for wanting Zoom at 12.15pm, and I suspect my resistance is more about the person who wants that than logic!  I shall stay quiet in the meeting and let the others have the discussion, and see where we get to...

Oh, and I finished watching theradbrad play through FF7R. 

POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT...  POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT...  POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT...



I'm pretty much OK with how the game turned out, although I'm really glad I watched it and made the necessary adjustments that way - I don't think I'd have been so happy if I'd spent money on it.  Now, I'm more likely to buy the 'complete game' version than I was before.  Whenever that makes an appearance...

And it makes me want an FF8 remake even more, even if it got the same treatment as an alternate way of telling the story.  I think it really opens up the potential for how the story can develop.  And what if they made it a 'true' RPG?  Where Squall could decide not to save Rinoa?  Or they could never learn the truth about the orphanage?  But that really isn't happening any time soon.

In the meantime, there's a game called Skully that is being released later in the year that looks like it could be fun!  And I still have BWM to finish and Candle to even start.  Oh, and Dreams!  Don't know when I'll get round to that...

I made the tweaks to Mannerley and ordered ANOTHER proof copy.  But that should be it, now.  Next week, I tackle the e-book version!  Then I can start pushing it.

I'm toying, very gently, with the idea of joining the ranks of YouTubers.  I think my age and status as a grandmother will give me a niche.

A colleague of mine has just got a new job (I'm not jealous at all!) and when I had a chat with her she mentioned that there's an enhanced redundancy package available at the moment of up to a year's salary.  For about 5 seconds, I thought about applying.  Imagine spending a year really pushing the writing AND playing around on YouTube!  What could go wrong?!  Then sanity kicked in.  Until I'm earning money from either (or both) of these things, I really need my job.  And with the regrade definitely a Thing (although a very slow Thing that is still being over-taken by other people's promotions...), now doesn't feel like the time to jump ship.

Although I am looking seriously at jobs in the Civil Service.  They recruit based on what your potential is rather than 'are you already doing this job' AND have a great programme for developing staff to enable them to move on.  I mean, what a concept!

And I had a little look at the revised JD my line manager and I developed last year but that got kicked into the long grass when shit happened at the top of the organisation.  I had put some notes against each of the lines to help me with putting evidence against them for the actual regrade application - and I was able to add further evidence based on the work I've done in the last year, which was very encouraging.  I mean, I felt I'd 'grown' but it was nice to be able to prove it to myself.  And my objectives for next year are very stretching, which is also good.

I just hope the University can keep itself on an even keel long enough for the thing to go through, this time!

Anyway, the plan at the moment is to get the regrade, get myself a proper phone, and get myself on YouTube.  Who knows where it might lead?