New Shoes!!!

Aren't they gorgeous?! Grandma got them for me for my birthday! I love them!

Nice day...

I thought I had today all planned - up early to take my car down to a garage in Newton Abbot to have the brake discs & pads replaced while I had a wander around N'Abbot before I picked my car back up again then back to Exeter to go into town for a browse & an opticians appointment.

Well the day started as planned; I got up and got the car to the garage then set off to have a look around the shops. Then the day went a little askew! I got a phone call from the garage-man saying that the brakes needed more work than he had thought & could I get Dad to ring him to confirm stuff. So I had to get more credit to ring Dad so he could ring the garage before ringing me back to tell me that the calipers were FOS and better still, the parts wouldn't be in til Monday...Hmm so I am now stranded in Newton-bloody-Abbot with no car until Monday night at the earliest! I then had to walk out of N'Abbot to Matalan at Kingsteignton so that Mum & Dad could come collect me.

Once I got home I showered & changed & set off to the Park & Ride with Grandma to go into Exeter. We had to wait half an hour for a bus (ever 8-12 minutes my arse!) We had a quick look around the shops were a bit pressed for time with me needing to be back at Specsavers at 4.15 for my eye test. We went to Marks & Spencers for a coffee - very nice. I had my eye test & yes I needed a different perscription for my glasses so I choose two frames which were 2-4-1 due to me paying direct debit for my contact lens'. My glasses will be ready for me on Wednesday but I won't be able to pick them up til Saturday. Oh, and Grandma bought me my birthday present - yay!

When we got home from town, timed perfectly as it started to rain just as we got on the bus, I found the house empty since Mum & Dad were still down at Dawlish so I took the dogs up the field to get in three of the horses. Megan & Sputnik came in good as gold but Tally is a bolshy little shit! He pushes & pulls & just wants to get in NOW with no care that he's walking over you! Hmph, needs some manners me thinks!

And now, well I have spent the evening watching trash TV (X Factor!!!) and messing about on the Net. Ah, its a hard life!!

Unveiled Movie

Another Orange Wednesday, another movie! John and I went, once again to the Picture House, this time to see a foreign film called Unveiled. I don't think it was really John's cup of tea, more his glass of wine (and if you knew how John felt about wine you'd realise how he felt about this film!) I thought it was quite good, a bit slow but I think that was down to the subtitles really.
Pop over to 'John & TA - Doing Stuff!' to read my full thoughts...

So busy but not with work!

I can't get over how much I've been doing and the fact that what I am doing is NOT working 24/7! Since starting at EDF and thus finishing at Shell I have been keeping myself busy. Sure, I've had a fair few lazy evenings crashed out watching TV but do you know just how great that feels when for nearly 2 years I have been working nearly every weekend & most evenings?!

On Sunday 22nd Dad & I were up early to head out to a field near Sidmouth for South Hams Motor Club's AutoX day. We had agreed to be marshals for the day. We were considered seasoned AutoX marshals which was worrying given that we have only ever marshaled at ONE other autoX...ever! So with that we were put in charge of the finish line...hmm, all a bit responsible we felt but we rose to the challenge and set off across the field armed with two folding chairs, waterproof coats and most importantly - snacks!! We got into an easy routine with Dad in charge of the 'Last Lap' board & me armed with the Checkered Flag. We were a bit concerned that counting laps might get a bit confusing given that they were starting 2 cars off the start line...shortly followed by two more 30 odd seconds later! So we had four cars on the track, often not very evenly matched so there was a couple of comedy moments when we were both stood there waiting for two cars to come round the final corner to flag wave at one & Final Lap the other!!

It seemed a long day but really they hammered through them with a 3 lap practice followed by the first round of 4 lap timed runs then lunch (where we as marshals got free grub from the Burger Van!) then after lunch there was another three rounds of 4 lap timed runs. Once all the cars had completed their four timed runs the organisers sorted out the placings and the results were announced. We then headed home and I don't know abot Dad but I was surprised to see it was only about 3.30pm. We were really lucky with the weather; there had been dodgy looking rain clouds hovering around the whole time threatening to ruin the day but other than it being a bit windy and cold the rain stayed away.

I was shattered when I got home (early start teamed with more fresh air then I've had in ages!) I spent the evening crashed out and happily fell asleep infront of a DVD - ideal evening!

The Black Dahlia Movie

On Wednesday night John & I utilised my Orange Wednesdays 2-4-1 cinema ticket & went to see The Black Dahlia at the Picture House.

Read our thoughts on it on our joint blog - John & TA - Doing Stuff!!

McFly!!! Brilliant!!!

On Tuesday night me & Courtenay went up to Birmingham to see McFly in concert (again!)

They did a really good set with a good mix of stuff from the first, second & new albums. They didn't sing their Queen cover but I'll get over it! They had a beach theme to the stage layout - their new album is called "Motion In The Ocean" They had surf boards, a beach bar (where they had a load of fans come & sit while they did a medley of first album songs - me & Courts weren't among them...GRRR!)

Danny had a new 'hairstyle'...hmm! He basically looked like he had had a shower then suddenly realised he was meant to be on stage & didn't have time to drench it in gel & make it straight & flat. He looked decidedly like Richard Fleeshman (Craig from Corination Street) He also looked a bit like a wet spanial but never mind!

Dougie was on fine form, talking random crap & jumping around like an idiot looking like he was having a great time. He brought up Poo once again (it seems to be a favourite subject of his - he was going on about 'Poop' last year!)

Last year Harry's drum kit raised up & spun (slowly) round. This year it came up & out over the audience on a big hydraulic ram whist he banged away and strobe lights flashed at him. All quite impressive I was slightly concerned for him as it was leaning forwards at a rather dodgy angle! Courts reckoned I'd have been lying flat on the floor hanging onto the ram since I hate hights! Harry is definately my favourite of the McFly guys...I know he's a bit young but seriously, I wouldn't say no!!

Tom reminds me more & more of a guy I know every time I see him. He had a rather snazzy blue piano that was wheeled out a couple times for...well,piano-y type moments! No offence to Tom but he's probably my least favourite of the four boys. I'm not sure why, he's quite sweet really but nope, just doesn't so it for me!

I really am a 13 year old trapped in a (nearly!) 23 year olds body!! The place was filled with little kids & teenagers with the only adults being parents of the aforementioned...and Me! I really do like them though, they're so cheesey and its good sing-a-long stuff.

And the absolutely classic moment of the concert - they sang the Ghostbuster theme tune! Brilliant!!

Now into Week Three

So I am now in my third week at EDF Energy. Its going...well. I suppose! Its still early days and if I'm brutally honest EDF do not excell at well organised injuctions. In all the pre-employment gumph I got from the company, along with what we were told at the assessment evening, all new starters would go straight into a training programme lasting between 2 and 6 weeks depending on which post you had been hired for. That has not been even close to what has happened.

On day one myself & another new lad called Shayne were met from reception by Sue & Lisa. They took us up to our 'team' where we were given a brief introduction to everyone and then we sat down to go through the New Starter Form which is intended to be completed by the Team Managers. Steve, our Team Manager however was on holiday & Sue had never been through the form before so didn't really understand it (I have to say it really wasn't clear what was being described in each section) We were given a tour of the building which was lacking in a few obvious things (Where are the fire extinguishers/break-glass alarms? How do we top-up our swipe card for lunch?)

Then the final blow, just while we are wondering what the deal is with when we will be joiningthe training group (maybe tomorrow?!) we were told that actually we wouldn't be getting the full training programme, only one week, and we won't be getting that until 25th September!

Hmm...well, I can't knock Sue for the way she has helped us & we have had a few good chances to get onto the company computer systems which can only work in our favour. Most of the people have been fine although there is one bitchy girl (theres always one, right?!) She's only 17 and thinks she's the big 'I-Am' but actually she just gets on everyones nerves! Being there has made me realise (once again) what a small world it is - there are alot of familar faces including a couple from school.

Right I've had my bitch about work but lets look at the bigger picture - its bound to be hard to get into it at first since its dealing with a totally new business & things ARE clicking into place. The company might get it wrong at the beginning but if you are big enough to get through that then the benefits offered to the staff are really good - they offer great training grants, discount trips & treats, good bonus scheme & pay structure. And they are really into 'Work-Life Balance' with the opportunity to be quite flexible on hours so long as they fit in with company requirements & the team. And believe me - working 40 hours a week with no weekends or late nights = BLISS!!!

Well, there you have it - my update on EDF so far. It can only get better & I am in it for the long haul.

Tomorrow I am off to Birmingham with Courtenay to see McFly (yay!) so will let you know how that goes.

Till then...

Baby Cruise-Holmes

Well months of speculation have been brought to a close by Vanity Fair. They have published the first pictures of Baby Suri. The cover pic shows them all looking happy and...well, family like. I have to say I used to really like Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes but Tom appears to have just gone weird in the last couple years & it seems a shame that Katie has been dragged into that. Having said that so long as she is happy then "Good Luck" to them all.

Sold my McFly Tickets

Yay! Sold my McFly Tickets. Didn't make a fortune but better than having two redundant tickets lying around...except now there's a problem with my paypal account. I cant log in namely to get my payment! Having hassled Paypal I have been told I have to re-register and that as long as I use the same email address I'll still get the payment. So fingers crossed!