Michael's Meanderings

Two Wednesdays back BOTH K and J were at the dance lesson. Fortunately the teacher needed a partner so J stepped in. Last Wednesday only K appeared so no issue. Last Saturday was the last Saturday in November so the social dance was on in the evening. K and i both made it and we danced all the dances we knew (even the recently learnt quickstep. Next social dance is on New Years Eve party (all night!). K gave me a lift to Three Bridges station as it was on her way home, and it meant I got home 45 minutes earlier than otherwise. I've also ordered some new dance shoes (my current pair I got 33 years ago!)

"Learn to program: The Fundamentals" at http://www.coursera.org finished last week. the final exam took 3 hours! and I managed to get 85%, this meant my total mark for the course was 83.5% (the pass was 70%) this despite only getting 35% on my last assignment. So I'm pretty happy. I also bought a discounted ebook copy of the tutors "Practical Programming" and intend to take the next course in the subject.

I've also started to listen to audio books from audible.co.uk, starting with "Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold" I've already read the book, but the audio edition bring it more alive (at least with a good narrator).

Last weekend I got a warrant from NS&I, as I've won £25 on the Premium Bonds. I can't remember if I've ever done so before but since I only have £26 worth that 104% over 50 years! I must remember to pay it in to my account.

My TV License was due this month so I have reluctantly subsidised the BBC, while they do produce some cool stuff (Dr Who, Sherlock, Strictly) £12 per month is a bit much.

I've managed to continue working on my ECDL Advanced (Excel 2007) module each week and am over a third the way through. Signed on at the Job Centre and am still looking for work.

As a result of being unemployed I have re-contacted Sussex Oakleaf and I'm volunteering with them again. Today was my first day back and it went less than perfectly. Due to issues with the IT equipment. First I had to get an account set up (I used a temp account all last year!) Then I had to use a VPN to connect to the central services on an ASUS Eee PC desktop. Finally got everything working and started creating an address database in excel.

After regular visits to CDG (usually every two weeks after signing on) I went for a mock interview. This allowed me to experience an interview without the pressure of wanting to get the job. I wasn't able to prepare however as I didn't know what the job was for until I arrived!

Book Club this week was King of the Badgers by Philip Hensher, this wasn't very popular either and once again I was unable to finish. Even though I haven't been particularly good at completing the books I have enjoyed the discussion and have been able to contribute something.

Completed the second Business Administration module and passed the on-line test

Got my annual flu shot, and blood test at the doctors.

Completed the excel forms for the Sussex Oakleaf Finance Team and then started helping at The Yews with admin.

During Half Term completed last week of Job search & Interview skills and handed in course work.

The Renovation Worldcon Program book arrived in the post.

After working at The Yews, I went to Rewards office and collected my ITQ certificate.

Started volunteering at Sussex Oakleaf a small charity based in Haywards Heath. I was involved in designing Excel spreadsheet version of paper forms.

The following Monday I finished the first module of Principles of Business & Administration, the test for which was computer based and I passed. This meant the end of term so the next module started in mid September.

The next day a Sky engineer came to replace my Sky+HD box, as this model was faulty and had to be recalled. So I now have a shiny new box which is smaller and likely to last longer.

Given that I wasn't going to get to London for a Book Club meeting, I decided to see if there was any thing locally, and discovered there was a group that met on the first Wednesday of the month, in the library at 2pm in the after noon. The first book I tried to read was "Birth of Venus, Love and Death in Florence by Sarah Dunant.

I discovered that the Jay Miller's Circus was visiting Burgess Hill in the middle of the month and went to see the matinee, which was a good plan as it was a very small circus.

This month's major movie was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 in 3D which was a very bad idea as the film was dark enough as it was, wearing sunglasses only made it darker. This was followed the following week by Cars 2 which had a wonderfully character voiced by Michael Caine. At the end of the month I also saw Captain America, not being invested in the character I approached it as just another movie and found it surprisingly good.

Next haircut was due at the end of the month, it's quite odd going to the hairdressers (even if I have managed to get a student discount occasionally) since I hadn't had a haircut in months if not years previously.

Out of the house at least twice a week on Wednesday for ITQ training (as I don't have Office 2007 at home) and on Fridays at Sussex Oakleaf.

At the beginning of the month I saw X-Men: First Class which was actually pretty good
The following day I walked around Bedelands, I haven't been doing as much walking as I should, but better some than none. Later that week I saw Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D. Why is it that the only movies that really look better in 3D are animated ones?

As part of the Reach Program I was eligible to join a Business Administration course run at Central Sussex College in Crawley, at no cost to me. So I was attending class every Monday morning during term time. This got me out of the house and using my brain again.

I also got a replacement "New Deal" ticket (the previous one expired) which let me travel on the trains at half price - one of the better things about unemployment (this is no longer being run, as a cost saving measure|).

On the 13th, after going to college I went up to London for what had to be my last book club meeting, where we discussed Slaughterhouse 5. It's a shame I didn't discover this group earlier (though it started only month before I became unemployed).

The following Wednesday I saw Green Lantern at the local cinema.
Discovered LearnDirect.co.uk had an affiliate in Haywards Heath and I started an ITQ in IT User Skills, which provided training Office 2007 - which looks different to Office 2003 which was what I had used before.

On the last Tuesday of June I had an interview at Sussex Oakleaf regarding volunteering. Due to start on Friday!