Where have you been?
As winter approaches more and more things are in short supply. The sun is falling behind the skyline earlier, the frost is forming and the countdown to Christmas is getting closer and closer. It also seems that Blog posts are following suit since there hasn’t been one for a while. Sorry about that. Here then is a quick catch up on all the stuff that has been going on with me and the people in my life.
There are lots of reasons why I haven’t posted in a while but the biggest one is due to the fact that we are into the Christmas games release schedule which has seen me busy getting sniped in the head from across the map on Battlefield 3 or proclaiming “I am Batman” as I swing through the rooftops of Arkham City. To be honest I have never really understood why so many developers decide to release their games at the same time of year. Especially when we have a huge drought of games over the Summer period only to be swamped with one a week come the winter.
When I haven’t been forming a terrible kill/death ratio I have been continuing to fight the good fight with the UK economy and lose. The situation here is terrible. As part of the European Union our fate is linked to that of the rest of the countries in Europe. It is looking more and more like a second recession is on the horizon and you know it is bad when the official economic outlook is described as “bleak”.
One of the ways the government here has decided to deal with the situation is to outsource job seekers like myself to third party employment agencies to find work. Basically it is a numbers fiddle to wipe a large number of us off the official figures of UK unemployment. Therefore I now find myself visiting a local “employment expert” in addition to the job centre. This would be fine if this new system worked but as Tom and I found out when we visited it last week the experts in questions are struggling to cope as they have seen thousands of us palmed off onto their books a month rather than the few hundred they were told to expect. At the end of the day I welcome all the help I can get but the more time I spend unemployed the more sceptical I become of the system and my faith in this new idea is not exactly high. Particularly because there are four people working in this new office expected to deal with over three thousand of us and counting.
When I haven’t been forming a terrible kill/death ratio I have been continuing to fight the good fight with the UK economy and lose. The situation here is terrible. As part of the European Union our fate is linked to that of the rest of the countries in Europe. It is looking more and more like a second recession is on the horizon and you know it is bad when the official economic outlook is described as “bleak”.
One of the ways the government here has decided to deal with the situation is to outsource job seekers like myself to third party employment agencies to find work. Basically it is a numbers fiddle to wipe a large number of us off the official figures of UK unemployment. Therefore I now find myself visiting a local “employment expert” in addition to the job centre. This would be fine if this new system worked but as Tom and I found out when we visited it last week the experts in questions are struggling to cope as they have seen thousands of us palmed off onto their books a month rather than the few hundred they were told to expect. At the end of the day I welcome all the help I can get but the more time I spend unemployed the more sceptical I become of the system and my faith in this new idea is not exactly high. Particularly because there are four people working in this new office expected to deal with over three thousand of us and counting.
Talking about the economy I have decided to take the fight to my bank. For ages now we have been locked in battle over repayments on my various accounts which despite my best efforts have fallen into debt. The bank’s response is to hand my account out to various collection agencies in the hope that I will somehow magic up the default sum when they apply pressure. One of the joys of having lots of free time is that you can do your research and unlike a lot of people who just rollover and end up in more debt I have decided to take the fight to them after the limits of my patience have been repeatedly tested with an endless barrage of phone calls and letters. Expect to hear more about this when the bank finally gets back to me with a answer to my letter.
Finally Maz has been in the wars and is currently limping around on crutches. About two weeks ago she decided to throw herself down the last two steps of her stairs and land flat on her bum. I know it is the oldest excuse in the book that she fell down the stairs but really she did. Anyway her ankle swelled up to the size of pool ball and after a delightful trip to our local A&E department on a Saturday night it turns out she has sprained it and pulled some ligaments. For the past few weeks then she has been hopping around and trying to rest it while I run around and fetch her drinks, cook dinner and generally play nursemaid. I even bought her a little bell to ring when she needs something. Add to this the fact she has some sort of throat infection which means she snores like Darth Vader raping a pig of a night and it has been a rather trying time. I don’t mind though, I am just glade to see she is getting better. I guess that is love for you.
There you go then. That is what has been happening with us over the last month. Sorry it is not more exciting but that is life for you. If you have been up to something a bit more exciting then why not drop us a comment below and let us know.
Right I am off to change a tyre on Maz’s car since it looks like she has a flat. No rest for the wicked as they say.
Finally Maz has been in the wars and is currently limping around on crutches. About two weeks ago she decided to throw herself down the last two steps of her stairs and land flat on her bum. I know it is the oldest excuse in the book that she fell down the stairs but really she did. Anyway her ankle swelled up to the size of pool ball and after a delightful trip to our local A&E department on a Saturday night it turns out she has sprained it and pulled some ligaments. For the past few weeks then she has been hopping around and trying to rest it while I run around and fetch her drinks, cook dinner and generally play nursemaid. I even bought her a little bell to ring when she needs something. Add to this the fact she has some sort of throat infection which means she snores like Darth Vader raping a pig of a night and it has been a rather trying time. I don’t mind though, I am just glade to see she is getting better. I guess that is love for you.
There you go then. That is what has been happening with us over the last month. Sorry it is not more exciting but that is life for you. If you have been up to something a bit more exciting then why not drop us a comment below and let us know.
Right I am off to change a tyre on Maz’s car since it looks like she has a flat. No rest for the wicked as they say.
