Ahoy there! free pasties for lunch!

The shape of my morning after waking up on my sisters sofa and my leftover pizza breakfast, was collecting my new uniform which has printed on the back "pirate booty", realising that the only black shoes I own are knee high patent, metal heel S'n'M jobs (not suitable for new job) and the only black trousers (don't own any and need for new job) I really wanted to buy were called "disco leggings". Then I miss-read the word "ejection" at the car park ticket machine as "ejaculation", came home and had a cuddle with my talking rook... can't decide if I just need to wear my glasses more, am having a dry spell or some kind of mid-life crisis.... Now please excuse me while I phone the tax man, sort out my accounts, change my bedsheets and hoover the floor in attempt to be more adult and glued together.

The following day after this facebook status was delivered saw my first day in my new job in the pasty shop, and I think I did OK. Lots of new stuff to learn, but everyone was nice. Looking good so far...

Good Gracious! I'm getting into it!

I had a fantastic time performing with my carpet python Misha at Step Forward in Soham last weekend. Was nervous as hell at first but the extra training paid off and I'm starting to feel a lot more relaxed on the stage now, had a really good response, and it's given me a lot more confidence and I can't wait for the next time!

The Gym

I find gyms very intimidating places. I've never been brave enough to venture into the actual gym part of any gym before, and definitely don't have enough motivation to work out on my own- having someone shouting at me to keep going is essential. Thus, for a year and a half I have been a dedicated attendee of circuit training classes at the gym in Chipping Norton, where I was living before, and loved it. naturally now I am no longer a full time zoo keeper I am anxious about changing shape and losing fitness, so set about locating the closest gym to my new home, and diligently went down there to start working my way through the classes to see what I liked (as none of them have names that are in any way descriptive of what they entail, for example "20/20/20" or "core blimey" or "fit and functional".

My first experience wasn't the best, as the PT didn't say hi, introduce himself, ask about my fitness and past injuries etc, nothing, even though I approached him to let him know I was new. Everyone else was pretty snooty- why are so many gyms like this?? The PT was sarcastic and obviously thought he was really funny but I didn't like his style at all and found him very unattentive. the other two classes I've done since then were also lead by him!! :(

By chance I discovered a circuit training class in my village, excellent as no spending on petrol! Went down there to try it out last night. When I met the PT I couldn't believe it was actually him! The total opposite of the guy at the gym, not so attractive, not so buff, thick glasses, very camp/limp-wristed, basically the last guy you'd expect to be a personal trainer! But very nice, said hi, asked the right questions, and the other people in the class were all really friendly too, ordinary people of all shapes and sizes- none of those cliquey, full face of makeup, yummy mummy or super fit, not even breaking a sweat student types, hooray! So there I was thinking oh this probably won't be very hardcore, but boy did we get worked!! So much cardio!!! Which I hate, by the way, but badly need. To be honest the circuits didn't contain as many strength and core building exercises as I'd prefer, but the cardio stuff is what I really need to do and I will definitely be back to the class again, and supplement it with some of the weights classes at the snooty gym... Mostly I wanted to blog about the unexpectedness of it, and the contrast aspect, and how I felt about it all. So I guess my parting statement can only be this: #freakshow4life ;)

Recruitment

Why is it that people get so uptight about interviews? Okay on one hand if it's a good job that you really want of course some butterflies are to be expected, but the way I see it, it's your chance to interview your prospective employer too, find out about the company and if you think they will be right for you, not just the vice versa. I went to a recruitment session yesterday, for a fairly basic job, but one that I think would be good fun, keep me on my feet all day and in a nice environment. I thought I'd be in there about an hour- I knew it was a group session and these days these things often include games or interactive tasks so as the employer can see how you get along with people etc, but we were in there for 2 and a half hours nearly!

One thing that struck me was how shy everyone was. Now I'm not an aggressive type in these situations, far from it,  but I felt like my team members almost forced me into a position of leadership and delegation when it came to the problem solving and brainstorming tasks... obviously this allowed me to showcase my personality the best, but after what I think might have been a little backhanded comment from one of the guys at the end I worried they felt I have manipulated the situation as such so I could get all the limelight? I hope not. Perhaps I'm not so shy because I'm more experienced, and pragmatic about these situations? To be fair, I must have had at least 10 years on everyone else, who were mostly foreign students or college goers, it seemed. I try not to stress over these things because the way I see it, if I don't get a job it's because the employer didn't think I was suitable for it, for whatever reason, which as far as I'm concerned is a service to me, as who wants to be stuck miserable in a job they're not qualified for?

Bottom line, my team made a kickass bridge out of newspaper and sellotape that held the weight of a (full) water bottle indefinitely while still being a sexy looking construction, and if I don't get the job, well I made a new friend, of a girl who only lives in the next village from me and goes to the same gym. SCORE!