Friday, 18 September 2009

Hours baby, thats all!

So In about 10 hours I will be heading to University :D

Paid for, check.
Packed... mostly :P

Im quite excited if I am being honest, but I also need to put it on grand scale stuff so I dont freak out lol.

"Im less than 2 hours from home."
"I'll be coming home every so often, wont be away for months and months without seeing family. Probably."

etc etc.

Yea, will be good to spread my wings and plant my seed....
well, hmm, bad choice of phrase :P

Sunday, 16 August 2009

Money Money Money

So I got my pay check....

:D

Lets just say, Im not that worried about the few pence here and there anymore :P

Now all I need is my P45 so I can fill out a P50 and get my tax back :D

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I want to buy an iPod touch (when the new one comes out in a month), and a new bike - some road bike thing... not too expensive, nor too fancy, but lighter than my MTB with slimmer wheels, etc... For st andys.


I picked my Uni modules (Chem, Phys and some Introductory Maths).... though im reconsidering them.
Chem I have to do - and I want to do, so no biggie.
Maths... meh, but I havent done maths since S5, which I finished in May 2007, meaning I wont have done maths for over 2 years by the time I start Uni - which for a 5 year Science degree isnt good.
Physics... Physics I picked because I figured itd be interesting as well as timetable-able. And I should be able to pass it.

Though im thinking I should change my physics modules - perhaps do a philosophy module or something else... I dunno. I wont worry about it to much till Freshers Week and then ask my Adviser of Studies about it. Yes, thats what I will do.


So much else to add? Nope.

Oh yes actually....

Going to St Tropez next week for 2 weeks - will tweet, and hopefully dailybooth, but not much else online. And gonna take lots of pretty photos of the french riveria...

Wednesday, 12 August 2009

So, where were we?

Well, since I last blogged.... in the middle of april, some 4 months ago, I have been employed!

I applied, again, for a job at the co-op, and got the job within a week or so. Initially 20hrs/week, by week 2 I was 34 hrs, and from week 4 I was on 39 hours, full time. A good way to earn money (if you have no real expenditures...).
Of course, they didnt contract me any of these extra hours, which meant for a hoot in terms of pay ("extra hours" are paid on a 2 week delay.... silly co-op.)
Also, I only earnt holiday pay on a 20hr/week equivalent.
I worked there for 13 and a half weeks in the end, giving a weeks notice and then working one more beyond that.
Final payslip tomorrow, excellent.

Oh, funny story. Not.
They said I would be paid £5.85/hr. It said this in black and white in my contract, as well as on every paynotification slip, and I was told this orally by the store manager and his XO.
Alas, I was being paid marginally less, in the region of.... £5.8479857483............ And so on.

I asked the guy in charge of pay at the store about this, a few times, and got mocked and no answers. So I phoned up HR, known as "People Services."
After a while, I get through, and this charming but retarded girl on the phone doesnt understand.
I explain, I explain that doing 156 hours at £5.85/hr means my pay should be £912.60, and I was being paid but £911.99.
As was EVERYONE ELSE.
This missing 61pence is nothing, really, to one person over the course of a month. But apply it to every employee, over months, years.... it begins to add up.

So I ask her, her on the phone, and I get, "Its the system."
I explain, my pay is meant to be £5.85, why am I getting ripped off?
"Its the system."
Eventually she elaborates - my pay ISNT £5.85 - but indeed it is just "rounded up to £5.85" for the box on the payslip which says "rate".
I ask Why?
"Its the system."
I explain that my contract clearly says I will work 20 hours, at £5.85 and hour, equivalent to £117 a week, and that I'm not being paid as my contract says I am.
She asks if I have my contract in front of me - I do, afterall, I am prepared for this one.
I quote to her, "Remuneration. Your remuneration shall be....."
She mumbles something about not knowing what that word means, but claims it does NOT mean your rate of pay. I explain that it does, but she isnt having any of it.
"Its the system."

Bah.

She goes on to claim that my contract doesnt, at any point, detail my hourly rate, but only mentions my annual salary. Oh, contrare. My contract doesnt, at any point, mention an annual salary, but ONLY mentions an hourly rate, and what this is equal to per week.
It would appear that HR and the employee are given different versions of their employment contracts - certainly not a good practice.

I realise I am not getting anywhere with this, and explain I will have to consult more people and get back to her. I wanted to say Lawyers, but sometimes, I physically cant lie. Im not bringing lawyers into this. Hitmen, maybe... Nah, I kid.

I was thinking union, so I speak to the Union Rep in training at the store - she is outraged, a bit. (FYI, no one at the store, from manager to shelf stacker, had noticed this discrepancy before).
I ask for the phone number for the union, to see if they know anything about this - afterall, it no doubt affects all of their members.
Im not in the union, and therefore, I cant speak to the union, even if it is about their own members rights.
Clearly, the union is a pile of horseshit too.
Afterall, this union advertises itself as more a form of legal aid in case you fall off a ladder and lose a kidney than any sort of genuine representation for matters of employment.
Unions should ensure workers dont get injured. Prevention better than cure, and all that.
So yes, I abandon that idea.

It is suggested I write to the money section of The Times. I consider this, but ultimately im disheartend by the apathy of my co-workers, employers, the union and so on.

Still, if my final payslip isnt right to the penny, I shall be phoning them up, and demanding better answers.
Though, since I quit, they'll probably hang up on me...
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So yes, I left the co-op. Why? because I could, because I was tired of working 39 hours a week when I didnt have to? Because in 13.5 weeks the longest I had had off was 2 days, and that was but once. Let me tell you something - 1 day weekends are not to be envied. No sir.


Anyway, with my bank balance looking significantly more healthy, I set off on my way home. Well, yes. And for the last week and a half or so, I have had the easy life. Spending money here, a bit there. But ultimately not doing an awful lot.

Isnt that the life?

Wednesday, 15 April 2009

Release Me, Because You Live....

So I wish I had more to say, but alas I dont. Or cant ;)


Doesnt matter either way.

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Theres a risk I may be getting a job as a KP at the Boat. I dont think so though, well, I hope not. KP'ing isnt my goal. Heck, I'd rather go on holiday. To.... Southampton. Yea. Why not? Sounds like an excellent idea! I shall have to work it out :)


Anyway, what else? got into a few new songs... Some Ella Fitzgerald, some Jesse McCartney, and this evening? "Agnes" Carlsson... Sweden knows how to produce pop music I like! :P
From all of Scandinavia, ABBA, Alphabeat, Darin, Agnes.... More, probably, too... Yes.



I suck at this blogging thing. Anything else?
Nothing I want to be in the public domain.
Been thinking about stuff and the like, need to make some life changes soon.
Also had some.... uncomfortable MSN convos recently.... Nevermind though, for the best, probably.




Sunday, 5 April 2009

Barcelona

So, as a spur-of-the-moment kinda thing, I went on holiday to barcelona.

I dont want to say too much about it (as this is an oh-so-public blog), but just want to make note of how great the trip was :)


Hola Guapo! ;)

Monday, 23 March 2009

I hath decided!

My 60th blog post on this one... quite something. Normally after 3 posts I quit the blog, and start a new one 6 months later.

So yes, last week or so there has been a multitude of things I could have blogged about - at length and reasonably well. But for whatever reasons, I havent.

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First things first, I picked a uni.
St Andrews.

Perhaps for posterity I should write out, explaining why I chose it... so that if I ever doubt my decision in the future, I will be able to look back and see I had solid, sound reasoning.

However, I cant be sacked.

So yea, 5 years at st andrews (potentially).

Should be banter.

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I was thinking about death, afterlife... that sorta stuff. Its difficult, considering myself to be a scientist, happy in my own atheism, and pretty content that there is no afterlife. Yet, when someone who you knew for years, respected, liked, and admired to a degree, dies... it leaves you unsure, and unhappy, with your own beliefs.
Its difficult.


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Much else?


Oh, I decided, with some prompting, (credit where credit is due, of course), to actually go and do something, so Im going to barcelona for a few days in a week or so.
Will take lots of piccies, and upload them.


And thats about that....

Sunday, 15 March 2009

St Andrews and time to start deciding...

So another short blog, cos Im not in the writing mood really, but thought Id best get this out whilst the thoughts are as fresh in my head as the tictac mints in my mouth.....


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Went down to St Andrews uni today, their UCAS open day. Nice town, as always. Windy, cold, but sunny and clear sky. So a good mix (for scotland...).

I hadnt been to their science faculty at all before, so it was interesting to see - but all these departmnts are essentially the same.... As are halls, though New Hall is very nice....

Yea, had some fun with some liquid nitrogen, and was chatting to this Chinese guy from Belfast (unusual mix?).

But yea, I like St Andrews.

I just need to work out if its distance from home (only 80 miles), its size (16k residents, 7k students), and cold weather are reasons enough NOT to choose it.

Does Sussex still have a chance? Is Soton out of the running?

I just dont know...
I cant decide that for a day or two, when the thoughts of st andrews can settle, and get balanced with the others.


I dont think I will be going to Strathclydes open day though... they arsed about with it for ages, then finally offer one further date up at the end of the month, but I want to get on with this before then.


Time to think, I guess....