I was looking for a job, and then I found a job

Jan23

No posts for a few days, I had something to say but wanted to wait until I got an official confirmation and things. Yes I'm back in the land of the permanently employed, just arranged some final details today and I start at Holiday Extras on Monday! This is a good thing, for lots of reasons.

I've enjoyed having days off, they're nice, this is partly why I've arranged to start next week instead of starting, say, today. The previous days I've had off, when not working, since leaving Channelfly / Popex I've not really been able to put by back into sitting and watching TV and that, as I've needed to be on the phone with agents and things and trying to find the next job. Now it's done, so I have a good couple of days of watching Lovejoy and things (though wouldn't you know, it was one I'd seen today). I'm really looking forward to getting back into working with other people though.

Another good thing about working is being able to spend more money. I've been a bit cautious over the past few months, making sure the freelance money stretched, and that the pay off didn't run out etc, now we can get back into the swing of lighting the fire with handfuls of notes and so on, and buying a new telly. Our existing telly still ROCKS, but it's about time we were a two TV family, we want [froogle=integrated lcd tv]a little wall mounted job for the kitchen[/froogle].

Another good thing about a permanent job instead of contract work is being able to borrow more money. We want to buy a house sometime soon, so now we can get another mortgage and things. I love just looking at properties in the paper, it's going to be GREAT to be shopping for one again.

Another good thing about this permanent job is the travel. No, there is almost none, it is in Folkestone! Well, just outside Folkestone, and with there being one train and hour and things it could still be quite a significant travel, but it will not mean getting home at half eight as I was before christmas.

Another good thing about this permanent job coming at this time, is that I incentivised my job seeking for the new year; I decided no more booze until I got a proper job. So this was three weeks of clean healthy living! This has not been done for a long while. It was OK, except trips to the pub were a little bit boring when everyone around you is getting tipsy and you're not. As soon as I got the call on Friday (and I'd talked it over with the wife) we cracked open a bottle of champagne that we'd been saving since our cross channel trip last year. And very nice it was too.

I will miss the opportunities to meet up with my London buddies, but that just means I have to put a little bit of effort into it. And with not actually having to go into London every day, I'll appreciate the chances to go in, and probably go out even more.

I'm feeling really quite zippy and positive abotut things today, so not only have I done cleaning and housework without being told to, I'm going to share a recipe with you, what I done made today. It's even better than my top secret garlic bread recipe, and it's arrabiata sauce:

Take two chillis, four or five garlic cloves, chop very finely, and fry gently until they go soft. Pour on a jar of passata, a couple of pinches of chilli powder, and some herbs, and simmer over the lowest heat for about two hours. For a special treat, fry a couple of sausages, chop them thinly, and add to the sauce. Serve with cooked pasta and salad.

We used to make this with tinned tomatoes, it makes it even cheaper, but passata is my new favourite ingredient for everything. I think obviously to be authentic you'd use fresh tomatoes and cook it lightly and quickly, but I really love long slow cooked food at the moment.

In other news, and other drinking, since Friday, we have found a new pub quiz. Every third Friday in my new favourite Folkestone bar, and it looks like there will usually be quite a turnout for it. We came third out of about fifteen or twenty teams, even though we were just a team of two. So, with a couple of ringers in for next time, that meal for four first prize in The Grand will be ours...

Saturday we did a quiz of our own, a night in round the in laws, each of us writing a round of questions, like we did at Christmas.

Weather has been very odd down here, beautiful and spring like on Sunday morning, then turning very cold, then absolutely sodding freezing, then a real flurry of snow today. Hope this sorts itself out, soon, I'm not ready for the end of the world just yet.

Been away for a few days so I have nothing topical to add on TV racism rows, scrumping for motorbikes, or him from b3ta winning loads of cash, but we might have an inside view of this weekends BA strike. My lovely lovely wife is due to be flying back from Barcelona with BA when it kicks in, so I hope either it gets called off, or I get some good blog content out of it.

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