A significant day. June 1st 2009

Make no mistake, today, June 1st has been a special day –  and for a number of different reasons.

Reason 1.
This day our eldest son celebrated his 7th Birthday, and before school submerged himself into a pile of waiting Birthday gifts in search of treasure. Thankfully he found some, books and Dvd’s about Space, a Bionicle, a Hot Wheels set, a thing to throw around in wide open spaces and hope someone can catch it, a glow in the dark space book from his younger brother, and a hand crafted birthday card from his proud parents. Seven years ago today… Ah, how time has flown…

Reason 2.
One of footballs’ worst kept secrets was revealed today. After the success of steering Chelsea to FA Cup success on Saturday, Mr Hiddink has made way for a new manager, Carlo Ancelloti. He was unveiled to the media, holding the famous Blue shirt, ready to take the helm. I don’t know a great deal about this chap, other than he was an apparent success at AC Milan and tears were shed when he left. He doesn’t speak very good English, but has vowed to learn, and quickly. Chelsea fans wait with bated breath, hoping Roman got the appointment right. Meanwhile Carlo, all the best!

Reason 3.
My Bible reading notes for this day are spot on. Hebrews 12:1 encourages us to “Lay aside every weight, and … run with endurance…” I was reminded that we have one shot at this life and should run it not half heartedly, but with conviction, face forward, and not look back. We cant change the past of course, but we can learn from it. Neither should we be anxious about the next lap, instead concentrate on our next steps. The writer of Hebrews put it like this:
¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Many of us carry around weights, and anxieties and burdens of the past, rather than casting them off and being focused on the way ahead.

We’re to get rid of the old baggage old relationships, pointless fears, and false indebtedness to those who seek to manipulate us. There are enough painful trials in life; why endure the ones we can lay aside?

Once again the truth of this hit me. Past failures, and my decision to leave work 19 months ago does come back to haunt me occasionally, and it doesn’t really help! I need to throw off that sort of unhelpful thinking, as these things are a hindrance to me. Instead, I’m motivated, once again to press on with my job search with a dose of added enthusiasm! Only a couple of days ago did I pledge to review my CV and job search plan. But reading this scripture has helped galvanise me into more action.

Good Reasons.
A birthday which ushers in a new year, a new manager appointed at a football club is building up anticipation for all involved and the process of reviewing and adjusting my CV and Design Portfolio are significant, forward thinking and positive steps.

I hope June 2nd and beyond are significant too.

Gonna get through

Gonna get through,
What have I, what have I, what have I done to deserve this?
I’m gonna get through, right? (The Pet Shop Boys)

It was nearly midnight and I had just put down the book ‘God On Mute’ by Pete Greig. I’ll probably pick it up again soon, and read a chunk more. I know it’s about unanswered prayer, and it comes highly recommended, but I’m only a few pages into it. Maybe the book will give some insights into prayer, help give some understanding to these times of struggles and trials.

The book couldn’t come at a more appropriate time, it was hand delivered by John last night, and he has more than an inkling that the last few days have been some of the hardest for the WorkHope family for a long time. I think getting a rejection from the V&A Museum and hearing that another job i’d applied for is on hold were blows that sent me reeling. Needless to say, in time, I will bounce back, get looking again, but the jobs are few and far between at the moment, and there is incredible competition for roles.

Right now however, I feel I need some answers, Mrs W needs some answers too as we don’t seem to be getting anywhere with this job search lark. To be honest, it’s getting to us both now. seventeen months and counting.

Over the weekend my wife let out how she was doing, and summarised how both us us were faring by saying “I don’t like living like this anymore’ – which if nothing else was very honest of her. Not easy to hear, but honest nevertheless. I don’t have any answers other that to press on.

We pray regularly, and so do our boys, sometimes with real fervour, and others we know must be running our of words and ideas by now as to what to pray. Their prayers are heartfelt, genuine and we know many are standing with us in this and are waiting for some Good News of prayers answered…Some are giving to us in practical ways including financially, which is wonderful. Others are struggling too, and every week, more or less I am hearing of other friends facing redundancy or fearful of losing their income. No one it seems is immune.

God has something up his sleeve for me, job wise, but boy, he must have very long arms. From where I stand (er sit) I see nothing at the moment.

Sometimes I feel life is unfair, but there again who said it wouldn’t be? It didn’t stop me from having a bit of a rant yesterday not at anyone in particular, and not in earshot of anyone in particular either! No harm done. Him upstairs knows of my frustration, and the fact I’m not going to give up either. I am now a student, majoring in perseverance, patience and trusting God. Maybe he has gone temporarily mute, but one day when I graduate to another job, I’ll be able to look back on this time and –  well, laugh, I guess.

Meanwhile, maybe just a quick peek up that sleeve?

Greed Busters

Since the demise of Woolies and Adams (God bless all who worked with them etc etc) I understand that the likes of Debenhams and Wilkos’ have availed themselves of their market and customers.

Pocket busters, price busters, purse and belly busters, and a myriad of other cheap/ discount shops are hopefully deliriously happy at their increased sales and profits at this present time.

There is also a new shopper on the high street. (Assuming you still have a high street!) The ordinary shopper has transformed into the canny, frugal shopper, and regardless of work status, everyone’s out for a bargain, and thankfully there are plenty around to chose from in the ‘Sales’. There’s the famous ‘Blue Cross Sale’, and ‘The Harrods Sale’ but hopefully somewhere near you are those with more compelling names such as  ‘The Red Slash Sale’, ‘The Green’ or ‘Yellow Polka Dot Sale’, to complete alongside the ‘Stock Liquidation Sale’, ‘Never to be Repeated Ever Again Really Truly Sale’, ‘Catch Me If You Can Sale’ and the ever popular ‘Closing Down Sale’. Advertised discounts seem to range from 10% to an amazing 90% (in the case of Superdrug) although at the most popular offer appears to be 70%.

This is not rocket science, but my own suspicions are that the online shopping phenomenon will continue to thrive and conversely jobs in retail will further nosedive. We’ll see a rise in street markets, increased popularity and attendance at car boot sales, (Check out my stall) and more independent traders will be trotting out of Peckham and alike.

The media are understandably enjoying getting on the backs of those (allegedly) responsible for the UKs economic meltdown – that is after all, what they do best, get on peoples backs. Maybe, in due course we’ll get to hear reports of the (odd) irresponsible city trader and investment Banker called to account (excuse the pun!), truly repentant, rumbled and humbled, and queuing, like the rest of us, either at the Job Centre, or at the checkout of Dirty Daves Discount Emporium for their weekly shop.

That, indeed would be a real ‘Bonus’ wouldn’t it!?

The V&A and LLB

My visit to the V&A was long overdue, in fact I can’t remember the last time I graced it with my presence. Given that entrance to this great Museum was free, and my beloved Oyster card was in credit, it made good sense. I’ve always been interested in history and the arts, and as you might imagine, as a designer and visual genius, it was good to have my visual senses stimulated. Map in hand,  I took in the four available floors at snails pace, noting exhibits of interest as I wandered.

Early on a group of school children (or was it a whole school?) trooped by as I got to the cloakroom. For a moment I wondered if my visit was such a good idea after all, but as they moved out of sight, I relaxed.

The stained glass, sculptures, drawings, and in particular a sketch for the original Crystal Palace on blotting paper by Sir Joseph Paxton, The  Glass sculpture, A captive audience? by David Reekie, The Fireplace by Charles Renni Mackintosh and Red Fuji woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai were highlights on my tour.

Later on, I spotted a rather concerned and disconcerted looking Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen (The tv personality and interior designer?), in the cafe area. I don’t think he recognised me… Further excitement followed when I stopped off at Fulham Broadway Tube Station and paid a quick visit to the Chelsea FC Megastore, then with time on my side, retreated to the shopping centre and  treated myself to a Cornish pasty and a filter coffee.

Life is for living after all. If you’re reading this Laurence, got any jobs?

Car Trouble

With Christmas coming and money tight, the last thing we needed was car trouble. In mid December with our cars MOT and annual service due, I hesitated, then booked it in for the 17th with our local (1.5 miles or twenty five minutes walk away) friendly garage. By 3pm it was all sorted and there were no horrible surprises.  Amazingly, the bill for this was picked up by one of our chief benefactors. A perfect Christmas present.

After Christmas I was alerted by a glowing orange warning light on the dashboard, and after consulting the handbook realised that a fault had been identified within the Electronic Management System.

What I did know was that in the hands of an unscrupulous garage this was a licence to print money, I booked the car in again, and, on the morning of New Years Eve 2008, they set to diagnosing.

I feared the worst of course, they would need to remove the engine, strip out the electrics, remove the upholstery, my Chelsea air freshener and send in tracker ferrets to locate the fault. Delighted and relieved, the technician found the suspect part, and the heat sensor sprocket (well, it sounded like that!) was promptly replaced. The oil service indicator light was reset at the same time.

Within the week, I sensed more problems with the heat sensor sprocket. nothing was now making sense, and biting my lip contacted the garage who, thankfully replaced the faulty new part with one in good working condition. Free of charge of course. While the garage had the car I asked that they might reset the annual service indicator light. They did.

Next up was the windscreen washer. After a routine refilling of the windscreen washer bottle, a gallon or so of blueish windscreen wash mysteriously disappeared overnight. I suspected it was either a cracked bottle or hose due to the freezing weather. The garage took a look and sorted it. Well they sorted the front squirty thingy, but failed to notice that the back squirty thingy was out of order. They apologised and fixed it.

I’m pleased to report that the car is fine now. Well, sort of. There has been the small matter of replacing a headlight bulb and two side lights which blew at the end of January – which I naturally did myself.

All I need now is for the radio to be fixed, the drivers window switch to work properly and the door-press-o-matic key fob to be looked at. Thankfully I’m in no rush.

No regrets

I don’t have any regrets about leaving my last full-time job. Life is hard now, but thankfully I have faith, had it for years, not only in my own Creative abilities, but in God. This was a good time to show my faith in action. What I’d needed in a sense sometime before had been a kick up my pants to make a change – get another job, and this was it. Stepping out this way was a touch uncomfortable yet tinged with genuine excitement. Those close to us were supportive and prayerful. Mrs W my long suffering wife agreed, it was time for me to move on, to new opportunities offering new challenges.

Meanwhile while I continue to trust that God will provide, for us as a family. This however is not a time to sit passively and simply wait, I need to do my bit, look for work and apply for jobs.

Our two young sons at the time (aged 3 and 5) didn’t express opinions. One day, however, our youngest proudly announced to those in his nursery class that his daddy washed cars for a living! (He must have seen me wash ours once – this obviously made a real impression!). Our eldest, aged  5, after I explained to him that I needed another job, stunned me by saying that I already had one –  DIY.

I best get on with it then.

Life’s a breeze… (Sept 29 2007)

One week and one day after leaving work – what better than a family day out. With lunch packed and coins for the pier amusements in good supply, we took a trip down memory lane, or rather the M23 to Brighton, and, as we did, so we joined the merry throng that was primarily VW and VW enthusiasts. Our destination, The “Brighton Breeze” (organised by The Split Screen Van Club).

Our car is not (at all) blessed with great acceleration, so imagine the excitement when we overtook Camper Vans of every hue, year and condition en-route. As we did so, we rang out hearty cheers, and waved frantically as we overtook some at high speed. Well, 50mph was quite fast enough in most cases. The vehicles that had pulled onto the hard shoulder with engine problems I guess weren’t so impressed at our enthusiasm. It was raining too, which may have dampened some spirits, but not ours!

On arrival at Brighton, we drove past a few spluttering machines and took our place in a free car park before starting our stroll amongst the now resting, and sometimes worn out vehicles. My camera was poised, the boys got ready to pose beside their favourite “Splitties”… Ah Camper Van heaven.

Overall we were mightily impressed by the exhibits. The immaculately restored and the customised were parked in close proximity to some of the more, how shall we say, forlorn looking specimens, still being lovingly attended to by their owners. It truly was a sight to behold, and a great display. Fortunately we were able to mark our visit by purchasing some suitable event memorabilia. I decided against buying a spare door panel, steering wheel, headlights and tool kits in favour of two t-shirts for Daddy and one for each of the boys. Mummy had a button badge or two. You must understand the family passion for VW nostalgia is shared by the whole family. Once we were done, we visited the pier, to shoot to smithereens some Dinosaurs, race the Gran Tourismo and eat some overpriced and heavily battered fish and chips to conclude our grand day out.

The only disappointment (if there was one), was that we didn’t end our day driving home in a Camper Van of our very own. Neither, it later occurred to me, would some of the exhibitors…

See also
Brighton Breeze 2009

The importance of routine (Oct 2007)

I don’t do lay ins, as a rule, never have really. Certainly since having our two boys, these have been the stuff of dreams. Sometimes, if as parents we’ve have had a bad night on account of a crying or screeching toddler, we could now afford for one of us to go back to bed and catch up with those missing winks.

Getting the boys to and from school (on time) means the morning starts early enough anyway. The hope has been that when I’m working again I shouldn’t have to adjust my sleep patterns too much. I don’t do ‘nothing’ very well, I prefer to be active unless of course there’s something mightily appealing on the tv. Sadly apart from The Wright Stuff there’s only the wrong stuff on the box. Day time TV is pretty shocking. The exceptions to the rule include the likes of Ballamory, Brum. Miss Marple and Poirot which I will look out for!

One of the requirements of the Job Centre is that I keep a record of my job search, to prove, when asked I’m in the process of hunting down work –  yer right! Doh! Other parts of my new routine include a degree of shopping (we want to eat don’t we?) a smattering of housework, and some DIY of course.

Fortunately for me, on leaving work, it was easy to get into the job search groove, I was highly motivated, and still am. I registered with Recruitment Agents (oops sorry, ‘Consultants’), registered with online job boards, and kept an eye out (on a daily basis) for new opportunities. My routine now includes job searching, morning, afternoon and night… balanced with doing family type things and the smattering of DIY and socialising (where possible) in the daylight hours.

I want to make the most of my time off work, spending time with Mrs W and our two lovely boys, who of course, will grow up quickly – at the very least we can have some quality bonding time.

Time for a lie down now I think. Speak later…

He will provide, keep trusting…

It is my belief that God provides, and He has done this for us as a family whilst I have been out of work, in a variety of different ways.

Many will also want to see you succeed in getting the work you too desire – hopefully the job of your dreams. (Unless of course you’re after theirs!) If you are fortunate to have a good network of supportive friends, and family members – Brilliant!

As a family, (so far) we’ve been blessed in a variety of different ways. There are those who have given advice, time, financially and in other practical ways. Here are some examples – help with shopping and petrol money, payment of our car annual service , treats such as the occasional take away meal with friends, donated items to sell at Boot Sales, free drinks, and even holiday accommodation. Essentially, assistance has come from a real mix of people, from those who know us well, and those who don’t. Some gifts (cash in envelopes dropped through our front door) have come anonymously –  amazing…

Obviously the above have served as real encouragements, however that’s not the whole story. Prayer and emotional support have been vitally important to us, and I have been able to contact those praying for us with updates and requests on an adhoc basis.

As Christians we don’t believe we face life alone. Instead, we are confident that God has a plan, and a future for us – Frustratingly (!) as it stands, these plans have yet to be revealed… We don’t know where , what or when, but we do know we are not forgotten, and trust He will bring us through.

Life is hard, and not all days are particularly good, some are downright difficult with stresses and tensions of their own,  but generally I keep my chin up, continue in my job hunt, and try to make the most of this rather unique time.

To all who continue to stand with us as a family, we are very grateful. In due course I look forward to sharing some good news with you…

Navel-gazing

And I don’t mean watching the Ports. The daily schedule can allow for excessive introspection, should you wish too. Maybe that’s why I try to keep busy, there are after all so many cups of coffee to be drunk in one day.

A typical day could look a bit like this, not should, but could…
Get out of bed. Get clean, get dressed. Eat something, this is usually breakfast and the meal you’ve usually skipped in the past. You need to eat. (It’s hopefully still morning). If you have kids – maybe you could help get them to school, check emails, send emails, do job searching type things, to get you in the mood, take a break, allow yourself time to watch rubbish tv for an hour or so, then do something else, maybe diy? Around lunchtime grab a light lunch (not a burger!) do some more things, back to the diy or job searching, facebooking, reading etc. Gosh is it that time already? Neighbours on TV? Or Miss Marple? Go get the kids – best not forget them. Play with kids, clean their mess, watch them play,  get them to clear their own mess, Pilfer the cupboard for a biccy or a cake, yum this will go nicely with that coffee you yearn, (don’t forget to put that kettle on). Prepare evening meal for family, if partner is at work, surprise them with a list of what you’ve done in the day. It should impress them, Early evening, help get kids to bed after ensuring they’re washed (check behind those ears!) The rest of the evening is yours, however you could just take a bath, do some ironing or enroll in that evening class, doing job searching things for one more time before bedtime? Pray. Place head on pillow. Nighty noo.

Tomorrow, is another day, so when the new day comes, consider using yesterdays routine as a template, but for fun change things around a bit,.. or add go to Job Centre/ waste another hour (these two can be the same activity).

Other things you might add to your day include :-
Go to library, clean house, gardening, a bit more diy, more job searching,  prepare for interview, interview, shopping, ironing, visit family members and tell them how hard you’re trying to find work, email friends and tell them how had you’re trying to find work, lock yourself away from the world for an hour or two, read that book. (This could be done at home or in another establishment, often a public house). Walk, back from public house after one or two drinks (max). Visit Dentist – Ask how he is, Visit Doctor – Ask how he is, he will know you’re not feeling too good, why else did you make the appointment? Get prescription, go for a short drive, breathe in some lovely fresh air, drive home, bark unfairly at kids – they still are still playing with the entire contents of the toy cupboard and the understairs cupboard, wash walls, (the kids have been doing some craft today!) Look in mirror, do I really look that good? Go back to mirror, look again – Yes you do! Smile at yourself, not laugh – smiling is good practice for interviews! Check the car over, maybe clean it, put petrol in it – for that day out/ interview. Go shopping, buy hair clippers in Argos, cut hair, or if you need human contact – go to barbers or hairdressers, but don’t get involved in idle gossip. Surf the net, brew a cuppa, write a note to your other half (if you have one). Go get the milk you were asked to get first thing, but forgot to. Home again, relax, think, ponder, consider, plan, oops back to that navel again!

Bored? If so, do something different tomorrow.