no money, no job, no problem.... problem

SKINT. it sucks, we have all been there one time or another, unless you are jane. Jane is never skint. i think. Anyway, janes ineffable cashflow aside, I must find a job. The only problem is, is that i have (just about) secured some unpaid work experience in biological research.. assisting the research in the lab and the field, which has far more long term value when it comes to the cv than a job in a shitty call centre or working for debenhams holding a sign up the street saying "70% off all stuff, thataway! ---->"...and that's the problem, it's UNPAID so that means that i need to earn elsewhere with what time i have left.... I'm honestly at a wits end of what to do.. nowhere wants a guy who just needs sporadic work here and there so he can eat. If anyone out there is reading this then please suggest to me something. That said, i must remain positive. Labour Ready (i would link you but it's really not worth it, honestly) may just pull through for me, but we will see. they offer daily work, call in the morning and hope for vacancies type of thing. and to quote Norman Vincent Peale

"Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that..."

And that, my friends, is exactly the way i shall confront this situation. Even if i have to sell a finger on ebay... or a little toe, a little less valuable, but nonetheless a potential revenue.

In other news i have watch three films recently, all very good in their own right.. here is a short break down:

VERY GOOD VIEWING FOR THE MOST PART

here is a slightly more comprehensive breakdown:

The Kite Runner - very good, tugs on the heart strings but leaves lots out from the book. Lara and Alex cried at least twice. comfortable 8/10
Smokin' Aces - Balls to the wall action. I liked it, not a bad story too.. easy 7/10
Half-Nelson - Very good indeed. a thinker. comes highly recommended. a solid 8/10

Better? I thought so, never judge me again.

FINALLY, a cooking tip. if you want to make a decent curry but the sauce is from a jar, then use a reputable brand and then add a jar of value curry sauce (Tesco Value, Sainbury's Basics etc.) if you need extra.. we used Sharwoods and Morrisons super ultra cheap stuff.. very nice indeed. tried and tested. good old morro's value, is there anything they cant do?

KAY, im off, i have a beer on the go and a guitar that's crying out for a play.

foreign post...

Ok, not that foreign, i'm just in Bristol again. I'm due back on Sunday so dont worry. I'm sat in the Geography Department computer room of Bristol Uni, with a baguette and some humous fraudulently being on a computer.. what a badass. I'm like when Mistique (X-Men) gets into the Whitehouse files, or when Hugh Jackman in 'Swordfish' is hacking into the Penatgon in a club, getting a blowy and with a gun to his head...This week has been a bit weird, the week before weirder still.. I'd say i have been pretty busy:

I worked the Isle of Wight festival in which the pinacle shifts was a crushing 17 hours long with a 20 min break to catch a couple of songs by The Police and have an argument with my girlfriend, then make up. I was a tough slog that festival, but hey, you gotta help family out from time to time and earn some money so you can eat and other things that being alive requires.

Second, i came home in the middle of the night on monday (from IOW), only to have to get a train to my parents on tuesday morning, needless to say i was pretty pooped. This was also the first time my gf was meeting my parents so nerves were high and hours on the train were higher. A few landslide 'Top-Trumps' victories later and the visit actually went well, i managed to get a bag for 7 quid and my pops cooking is always a treat. beers and food and laughs were afoot and then more beer and the laughs were at more and more risque jokes. The way an old school night in should be. Everyone seemed to get along and my dad and i drank whiskey until the early(ish) hours. still, no sleep for ben for a week and a half so far... and they seemed to like her.

Now i'm sat here having had 2 consecutive full nights sleep, feeling chipper and i have a ball to go to later to test out the new suit (see previous blog).

Righto i had better split, the security guard is eyeing me up and i dont think holding my thumb over 'UNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH' on my ID card will blag this bristol based, computer room security cop a third time round..

adios.

the dreaded..

There i was, standing in an unfamiliar city, gun in hand, a man on his knees, back facing me. was i going to do this?.. nope.

I was in Bristol this weekend as i was meant to meet the better half's parents for the first time (properly). There had been a breif encounter of about 5 minutes some weeks earlier but that doesnt count on the account that i barely said hello. So you should know that they live in Wales. a solid 3 hours or more from mine, so it's not likely that i see much of them. But yeah.. we went for a 'meal'. i dont know why i put it in inverted commas.. we went for a meal.

To add to the pressure of this meeting it was also the birthday of said half..

'oh hello ben, what crummy present did you get for my daughter whos knickers you have undoubtedly wormed your way into?' i thought may be the initiating question. i was wrong. we were taken to a backstreet italian restaurant.. not unlike ones where a mafia boss might do a person, capiche... then ended up enjoying a delicious meal and drinking plenty of wine and having a lovely laugh. I have to say, they are a very nice bunch that family. So what did i decide to do? oh right yeah.. tell a story about how i accidently drank from a pint of an unknown donors luke warm vomit. GOOD ONE BENNY BOY. you know when you are saying something and everything in your body is shouting 'shut-the-shit-up-you-massive-bastard!!' ?.. that's exactly what happened. But my mouth and tongue kept formulating the story words.

Still, this story actually sat quite well, unbelievable.

I have since been informed that i had done well and i seem like a really nice lad according to a reliable source... what a winner.


in other news... i bought a new suit, i have applied for a job as a caretaker, a debt recovery person, and an exam invigilator. versatile eh?