There you have it, the title of this blog was the last thing said to me at an interview on Friday afternoon...mmm, I know others have their opinions about my use of words on here, but even they cannot misread that as something other than negative. Still in a way I am happy to have had that response for it was with a ministry I have already been exposed to, and it was arranged via an agency for me - hence my slight stumble when their opening question was "Why did you choose to come to this ministry?", I guess my instant retort of "Well, to tell the truth, my agent suggested it" was not great. Anyway, I know I should not have this luxury at this late stage in the immigration game, but when that particular ministry call to say "Sorry you did not get the post", I really want to reply, "Thank god for that!" and hang up...but Wellington is a small place, so maybe I won't!
Ah, don't you worry though, as I still have a number of positions to apply for this coming week, and I am waiting to hear from two others, one of which I had a really good interview for on Thursday. The even better thing about that interview was the suggested salary (in the mid 70k's) so it got me all excited about house hunting...I say house...more than likely a 'New York style apartment' in the city, but it will mean selling my UK place though.
Charlotte is in a similar situation to me at the moment, i.e. actively job hunting, and the last few days have been a mixture of CV updating and cover letter writing. I guess the good news is the number of suitable jobs which are coming up for both of us - she is a web content manager/communications type person, or to be more correct, Charlotte enjoys that sort of thing - and I have reproduced my CV to be BA (Business Analyst) as well as IT support focused, but I have left out 'glorified typist' as I do not want to overshoot myself!
I know something will come up for Charlotte and me before it is too late - but I guess now is a good point to mention that Caroline has been successful in becoming a Kiwi! Yes, just last night she heard from London that her residency visa has been granted, so once she gets a stamp in her passport, she can stay here indefinitely! In the morning I will get some thoughts from her for the 'bit on the side' thing, but I think The Feeling's latest single of 'I thought it was over' is a suitable soundtrack to her experiences of immigration...I wonder how smooth Charlottes and mine will be?
OK, changing the subject slightly I must just tell you about some Telford Terrace news - mmm, not sure if I mentioned before, but this is a fairly exclusive area, or at least the entry conditions of NZ$1 million plus property and real estate descriptions like 'Dress circle' tend to suggest that. Well one of the things I found in my apartment when I moved in was a letter from a neighbour asking permission to create a small garden water feature, as they had a ground floor flat and wanted to improve what was just pebbles and concrete. It was dated 2006, and I have found out since that it was rejected by at least one neighbour on the grounds of 'water noise' - i.e. they did not want to hear trickling water for some reason - and thus it became a small rose bush garden instead.
All well and good you may say? Funny thing is, yesterday a new couple moved into the other ground floor flat, and a few hours ago a large lorry arrived to crane a huge hot tub onto the pebbles in front of their patio! I know I shouldn’t, but I do enjoy thinking how livid the people who actually own these apartments must now feel. It is hard to explain without pictures, but basically this hot tub will be visible from everyone’s balcony and will create more than just water noise I suspect!
I think I will befriend them, that way I can possibly spend the last few weeks living here by soaking in a disputed pool of bubbles!
Oh, and a quick note for Penny - I just wanted to mention a little shop in Seatoun which I know you would love - The faraway fairy tree - A shop founded by Dorothy Darling who is a huge fan of Enid Blyton's books about the Faraway tree and has recreated a little fairy dell in her shop which sells everything fairy related you can think of! I found it all a little overpowering, if fairies can do that sort of thing, but I did think it was unique and well done, especially the display of various versions of the Blyton books which rekindled some childhood memories for Charlotte and me.
Ah, it is early on Sunday morning now, i.e. 2 am, so I will finish off without having time to mention the comedy night we all went to (with Mark and his wife Jo), the film 'Talk to Me' I just saw and how it was sort of 'meh', and the Wellington Sevens rugby festival which just finished tonight - check out BBC2 on Saturday afternoon (erm in a bit) for some highlights from this, if only to see the weather and fancy dresses!
Bye for now then - and apologies for the lack of photo's in this blog, but I did replace the top one with a nice shot of the two red tugs easing a container ship into berth earlier today.