as jonny right pointed out it has been awhile. this is mostly due to our packed social calendar. hmm actually its becuase my company is making me work every hour of daylight (and some that's a bit darker) and lisa has been swamped with her last few essays, which she is just in the process of handing in this minute. i however still have to work from 7am to 7pm tomorrow though and they want us to work saturday and sunday 72 hours last week. yes thank you all for the sympathy. and yes i'm still on that hill in the brecon beacons. now we are cleaning the whole mountian with just trowels and toothpicks.
on the other hand i am taking advantage of our new sick pay allowance by taking a paid sick day today. it was to help move our stuff to a new (non-shared) house in mumbles but i ended up actually feeling ill. i wonder if that is a guilt thing. so yeah we are moving again. a road or two away from the seafront but still close and with a great view of a big castle. we wern't sure about it at first but the place is growing on us now.
other things in no particular order or sense. been listening to a great new band our friend ruth recommended called i'm from barcelona ( i think they are on the T mobile). watched Pan's Labyrinth finally yesterday: brilliant. we're going to turkey next month on holiday and that's in asia.wooo. end.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Friday, March 02, 2007
Viva La Revolutione!
so the main event of the week was lisa's employment tribunal in cardiff on wednesday. I took the day off to go along with her and so will be the faithful witness to the events that took place as lisa is currently feeling crap after i passed on the horrible head cold that i have been suffering from the last few days. i tried not to pass it on but it was probably inevitable.
the tribunal was surprisingly formal. i think we both imagined some arbitration in a room with a desk . as it was we sat at our desks the claimant and the respondent and had to stand when the chairman came in and sat behind his big desk at the front. then lisa had to swear on the bible before she gave evidence. actually he seemed really nice and it was good to get down to the facts after all the hassle we have gone through to get this money.
lisa had her chance to say what happened and what pay she should have gotten then Mr burrows ( the boss) could cross examine her. then he spoke and lisa asked him question.
so cutting to the chase the judge summed up into a tape recorder and he basically agreed with everything lisa said. about the hourly rate (no it wasn't 'just a guideline'), about the hours worked and about the need to give notice. basically teh judge told this guy off and told him he should be thankful that lisa hadn't asked for more money as he would have probably given it. he also told him off for not giving out contracts to people.
anyway i was very proud to sit there with lisa as my wife. i don't think that cocky 'businessman' expected to be out in that sort of position where he was getting told off by a judge and lisa was the one who followed through on her promises and stood up for something when she saw that she hadn't been treated right. there wasn't a vast amount of money involved but hopefully he will think before he tries to screw over the rest of his staff now.
so yes an unequivocal victory for lisa and downtrodden worker everywhere. Viva La Revolutione!
less importantly on the side. 2 things people should get hold of this week:
firstly everyone should take a listen to the new Gruff Rhys album Candylion (gruff is the lead singer of the vastly underrated super furry animals. there's a song called 'the court of king arthur' where he details his love of archaeology. genius.
secondly, another peice of genius: Guinness Marmite.
the tribunal was surprisingly formal. i think we both imagined some arbitration in a room with a desk . as it was we sat at our desks the claimant and the respondent and had to stand when the chairman came in and sat behind his big desk at the front. then lisa had to swear on the bible before she gave evidence. actually he seemed really nice and it was good to get down to the facts after all the hassle we have gone through to get this money.
lisa had her chance to say what happened and what pay she should have gotten then Mr burrows ( the boss) could cross examine her. then he spoke and lisa asked him question.
so cutting to the chase the judge summed up into a tape recorder and he basically agreed with everything lisa said. about the hourly rate (no it wasn't 'just a guideline'), about the hours worked and about the need to give notice. basically teh judge told this guy off and told him he should be thankful that lisa hadn't asked for more money as he would have probably given it. he also told him off for not giving out contracts to people.
anyway i was very proud to sit there with lisa as my wife. i don't think that cocky 'businessman' expected to be out in that sort of position where he was getting told off by a judge and lisa was the one who followed through on her promises and stood up for something when she saw that she hadn't been treated right. there wasn't a vast amount of money involved but hopefully he will think before he tries to screw over the rest of his staff now.
so yes an unequivocal victory for lisa and downtrodden worker everywhere. Viva La Revolutione!
less importantly on the side. 2 things people should get hold of this week:
firstly everyone should take a listen to the new Gruff Rhys album Candylion (gruff is the lead singer of the vastly underrated super furry animals. there's a song called 'the court of king arthur' where he details his love of archaeology. genius.
secondly, another peice of genius: Guinness Marmite.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
so steve has finally managed to make it back up those brecon hills, and down again, and up again, and down again, all in accordance with the beautiful welsh weather. its real nice to see him wet, muddy, tired and happy again.
im working part time in the local wine shop and am refusing to call it an off licence. its really great. a laid back job, some nice laid back staff and its right on my door step. and part time is nice as it means i get to go and see steve for a night or two in the week which cant be bad.
yeah, its all a little slow, but right now i really wouldnt have it any other way, sometimes its nice just to be. work life, whilst enjoying it, is coming in second to living life, we're making enough money to cover rent and food, although not much else, and we get to do lots of things that make us happy. it crosses my mind that this may be a selfish way to live, but just for now i reckon its ok.
the one stress at the minute is my employment tribunal next week, really not looking forward to it and all for the sake of £210. i keep wanting to forget it but steve reminds me it's about the point and not the money. he's right. i really wouldnt have much room to talk about people standing up for their rights if i cant even be bothered to do it in a country that, for the most, allows me to do so (wow, im such a martyr i know), either way, id better walk away with a cheque on wednesday!
take it easy x
im working part time in the local wine shop and am refusing to call it an off licence. its really great. a laid back job, some nice laid back staff and its right on my door step. and part time is nice as it means i get to go and see steve for a night or two in the week which cant be bad.
yeah, its all a little slow, but right now i really wouldnt have it any other way, sometimes its nice just to be. work life, whilst enjoying it, is coming in second to living life, we're making enough money to cover rent and food, although not much else, and we get to do lots of things that make us happy. it crosses my mind that this may be a selfish way to live, but just for now i reckon its ok.
the one stress at the minute is my employment tribunal next week, really not looking forward to it and all for the sake of £210. i keep wanting to forget it but steve reminds me it's about the point and not the money. he's right. i really wouldnt have much room to talk about people standing up for their rights if i cant even be bothered to do it in a country that, for the most, allows me to do so (wow, im such a martyr i know), either way, id better walk away with a cheque on wednesday!
take it easy x
Saturday, February 03, 2007
pipeline / kill time
even though the bank finally came through with the money there always seems to be soo many things to pay (i've always thought that so should be spelt with 2 o's in this sort of context just like to- that makes sense doesn't it) . one treat i did surprise lisa with though were tickets to see bedouin soundclash next month in cardiff which is going to be amazing ( and it earned me some brownie points).
if you haven't heard bedouin soundclash yet you should seek them out. they have had a song on a phone advert for awhile but it doesn't seem to have broken them into mainstream consciousness yet.
as it happends they are also one of the those friend of a friends band. in this case the lead singer is a friend of one of lisa's friends in canada. (my friend of friend band is coldplay- obviously not as cool anymore.
as my location might suggest i'm still not doing any work. actually the last proper days work i did was october 19th. even though they spent £15,000 on mountain equipment (about £500 each) so we could work on the brecon beacons safely they still haven't actually let us go up there to dig our holes. I have been made a team leader so i'm not actually going to digwhich is going to be strange. i do however get to carry the leaders rucksack- fully equiped with mountain tent, first aid kit, GPS and a she-wee (i'll let you work that one out).
so lisa is back in manchester this weekend doing family stuff leaving me to endure my first ever filling today. not sure what that is going to entail but looking forward to being able to chew on both sides of my mouth.
Friday, January 19, 2007
bank charges
just another short update. got a letter from hsbc this week. they are offering me £1180 to settle my claim. i'll take that thank you. going to try to close it soon and move to a move ethical bank.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
updates
seems like that last picture didn't work. i'll have to try to sort that sometime.
it appears that our optimism over lisa's cheque before christmas was premature. we were chasing it wehen we got back and found out that he decided not to send her pay after all for some unknown reason. it's all going to an employment tribunal at the end of february now unless he sees sense beforehand.
as for my bank charges. they are currently dealing with it and hiring more people to cope with the amount of claims for refunds that are coming in. 7 weeks was the maximum length of time it could take. but it all seems quite routine so it looks like i should get it back at some point.
and finally it looks like i will be back digging my holes on the brecon beacons this week. we had a meeting on friday 'preparing' us for the mountain. and trying to avoid hitting the papers like last time. felt more like we are going on a polar expedition. they are supposedly buying us goretex jackets, trousers and boots this time. oh and a whistle.
it appears that our optimism over lisa's cheque before christmas was premature. we were chasing it wehen we got back and found out that he decided not to send her pay after all for some unknown reason. it's all going to an employment tribunal at the end of february now unless he sees sense beforehand.
as for my bank charges. they are currently dealing with it and hiring more people to cope with the amount of claims for refunds that are coming in. 7 weeks was the maximum length of time it could take. but it all seems quite routine so it looks like i should get it back at some point.
and finally it looks like i will be back digging my holes on the brecon beacons this week. we had a meeting on friday 'preparing' us for the mountain. and trying to avoid hitting the papers like last time. felt more like we are going on a polar expedition. they are supposedly buying us goretex jackets, trousers and boots this time. oh and a whistle.
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