Description
Our Journey to Edmonton, Alberta
« May 2012 »
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
My Links
free invisible web counter
|
Not the Best Two Weeks
These past two weeks have been hard, I knew it was going to be when I decided enough was enough at the Spa job. It's a tough decision to make, but if you are really unhappy in a job I don't think you should stay there.
The ideal situation would have been to have a job before I left that company but things just got way too bad there. Last night I was even starting to wonder if they had me going through the books properly, the reason I'm saying this is when you start a new employment you have to sign two personal tax credit forms when you start work. With the spa job I didn't do that. The reason that I realised this is because yesterday I went into the big City of Edmonton for an interview. I'm going back into Temporary Office work (at last), part of the paperwork was to sign this tax form and I remembered having to do it when I first started my other job as well. Alarm bells are ringing here, is/was there something funny going on!
So moving on, the interview lasted about 2 hours, she sat and had a chat with me then I was tested on Word, Excel, and did three typing tests. One numeric, one numeric with text and the final one was text. Well i'll be honest my typing speed isn't the best but I got a 96% accuracy rating. The one down side of the interview was that she has to phone the Spa to confirm my employment, Ahhhhhhh! I could have let the ground open up and drop me down the 12 floors of that building there and then.
I got so upset, I told her the whole story, afterall I had nothing to hide and still to this day I can say that I didn't do anything wrong. It was horrible, I didn't want to slag off my old employer even if she was horrible to me that just isn't my style. I explained to the girl that the boss made me very uncomfortable during my time working there and it was made even worse when I handed in my notice. One of the nice questions she asked which said a thousand words was. "Does she have a high staff turnover?" to which I replied "yes" The girl then proceeded to tell me of an employer that made her life miserable when she wanted to quit a job. She made me feel so much better.
I don't know why I got so upset, I just hate not knowing what people think about me and when you are trying to make a good impression it really matters. If I get onto this temping agency I can kiss the whole of retail goodbye and at last be back in my admin role again working normal hours and getting a half decent pay!
They want to get in touch with all my past employers in Canada, which is fine. I phoned my old boss this morning and he is more than happy to give a reference. I also called my assistant manager to the other store I worked at yesterday and she was happy to do the same. She even gave me her home number to use, as she was due to go on holiday today for the next two weeks, so that was really nice of her.
Lets hope that at last, after nearly two years of "interesting" jobs in Alberta I am finally going to be in something I truely enjoy.
I'm still owed some money from the Spa job, i'm not sure if she is going to try and keep it but i'm so very willing to fight her for it, afterall I have earned it!. There's about two weeks pay, she paid us monthly which is odd here. The norm is generally every two weeks so I'm waiting till the end of the month then probally give another three days for the post and if I don't see it i'll be sending her a letter.
This is one of the problems living in another country, you are vunerable and open for people to mess you about. I've started reading up on employment law now, I think it's a wise and smart thing for everyone to know what their rights are. |
Posted: 04:34, Friday 20 August 2010 |
Comments (1) | Link |
|
Our Weekend trip to Fort McMurray
Yes we did it, we decided to go to Fort McMurray. Both Neil and I wanted and needed to see what all the fuss is about! One things for sure it's a long boring drive of over 400 kms.
I was quite amazed when we finally got there I thought it was going to be this grey horrible looking place but it was actually very pretty! Yes Fort McMurray and pretty in the same sentence.
We went to their Heritage Park and I'll be honest with you now we have done a fair few of this Heritage parks and have now decided to call it quits with them. Once you have seen one you have basically seen them all!
So after we had spent all of about 15 mins in there we were moving on!
I thought is would be a great idea to drive to the Atherbasca Sand Dunes, we set off past the Oil Sands which are situated 35 kms outside the town of Fort McMurray and kept driving North. After 70 kms we were faced with a gate and a warning sign! We needed to be well equipped to drive any further. The road was made out of sand and knowing us if we proceeded down it we were going to get stuck! It will have all just ended in tears. We should have both learnt our lessons by now, this is Canada and some of these roads are bad.
We had to turn the car back around and head back to Fort McMurray. It's a very isolated town the nearest place is Edmonton you only drive past a handful of communities on the way. It is the truth that house prices are ridiculously high the same house you could buy for $350,00 in Edmonton is around $700,00 in Fort McMurray!
Of course we went to the Oil Fields, we paid $35 each and to be honest it did seem like a waste of money. I was expecting to see the Oil Sands but they didn't show it us which was very disappointing and had I have known this I probally would have not done the trip! We were allowed to take photos but we are not allowed to e-mail the pictures or upload them on blogs or social etworking sites so that annoyed me even more. You have to ask for permission but it's a long process and to be honest the snaps I've got are not even worth it.
The above picture used to be an old oil sands patch and they have reclaimed the land back to how it was, I was quite impressed
One thing we did find funny was the fact that they offered the Playboy channel for free in the hotel room, I must admit I have never been in a hotel with free porn before.
All in all the place wasn't too bad, there were lots of families there and I didn't feel bothered walking around the streets. It was just like any other town, i'm sure it does have its problems but so does everywhere else, like Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver! The people in general were very friendly, and liked the fact that we came up to see what it was all about. Would I go back there, no I probally wouldn't been there, done that now. I'm glad we did it though, it did dispell some of the rumors for me.
|
Posted: 07:53, Wednesday 11 August 2010 |
Comments (0) | Link |
|
Good News
So plan A might have pulled off.
Yesterday I got Neil to send my resume to the lady he deals with in HR then I decided today to follow that up with a quick e-mail from myself. Within say half hour of me sending that message she phones me on my cell phone. Her words were she was very excited that she recieved the resume from Neil yesterday and when it was followed up with an e-mail from me she was even happier.
She told me to go on line and do the approprate things on their website and in the mean time she was going to have a word with her boss, which is also Neil's boss. She said she wants someone asap and I would be perfect.
I am so giddly right now as hopefully my wage will go up and the hours will be so much better for us as a couple. The position was stated as temporary but she said it would lead to permanant I said I would be as permenant as they were to keep us in Canada. (they issue us the work permits remember)
I am happy to get back to my routes in office work as like I have said in previous posts i'm bored at the spa, I need to keep busy or time just seems to drag. So what am I going to say to my current employer? I don't think I'm going to make a big deal out of it probally just say a better offer has come my way and I would be stupid to turn it down. At the end of the day there is no personal ties there, I don't see how I would become a spa manager or have any other more responsible duties there. It has taken her a whole month to give me more hours and have me work on Saturday!
Hopefully I'll get some good holiday allowances and benifits that come along with working in a big company. I shouldn't speak too soon as I haven't been offered the job so far or even been asked for an interview but it all sounds very very promissing indeed.
I've had some odd experiences with regards to working in Canada so far, working in retail has been in my opinion one of the worst jobs. Customers can be quite nasty but you do have a good laugh with your work mates. At the spa it's more fingers on lips, pushing people to buy stuff and really working hard to get bookings for appointments, deep down is that really me? I'm happy to go back to office work, more than happy believe me and if I get this job i'll try not to complain about any aspect of office work ever again!!!!! |
Posted: 05:56, Tuesday 29 June 2010 |
Comments (1) | Link |
|
Searching for a New Job, Again.
I was sat at work today for four hours, twiddling my thumbs almost. I will admit it's bloody boring, it's not really very busy and when a customer comes in you virtually have to jump on them to get them to buy some sort of cream or book a treatment.
It's hard work at times because people like to know how much things cost and when they hear the price they generally seem to back off and walk out the door. I don't think people can afford to spend money on themselves anymore
I remember my old assistant manager at the other place I worked, her comment to me about me working in a spa was "Cassie, I think you will be bored!" Maybe people know me better than me? When I said this to Neil tonight he said he thought the same thing. He also asked if I would like him to give me advice for the next job.
My pay check was enough to push me into a sence of dispair, Crap it was $951.04 for the month! I went pale. I used to get around $700 for bi-weekly!
I've had to watch what i've been spending this last month and now i'm going to have to do the same thing this month. This is one of the reasons I need another job, I just don't have enough spending money. It's depressing to be honest, $100 or even $200 goes no where.
I started with asking the husband if there are any jobs at his company, there are four different offices around here. So my name has been put forward to the HR lady there. Remember it's not what you know it's who you know here. His company do have a couple of admin jobs available I checked there website.
Plan B is to fire off my resume left right and centre, i'm also considering going back to temping work. I loved my time as a temp in the uk, I could do that all over again.
So wish me luck and hopefully I'll be working 8 - 5 Monday to Friday pretty soon. Oh how's the diet going well it's pretty damn fantastic, i've lost 5lbs so far and i'm on my period at the moment. I've not touched 1 oz of chocolate I'm really pleased with how well i'm managing this. I haven't had a drop of wine near me since at least a month so i'm not an alcoholic, lol. I am still on the liver detox tables after this I'm going to not pop any more herbal tablets for a good month to give my body a break.
Overall I feel so much more healthy and the belly is getting flatter, some of my pants are loose which is a great sign i'm doing very well. Self Control and real determination has got me throught this.
I still go to BBQ parties we've been invited to, I just don't eat or drink at them, I explain before I go. Just because I can't eat doesn't mean I can't have a good time. I get a little teased but I have to do this for me and my nice new flatter belly that I want before it gets too hot this summer.
Anyone thinking of losing some weight, there is never a good time to start JUST DO IT!!!!!!! |
Posted: 04:38, Tuesday 29 June 2010 |
Comments (1) | Link |
|
|
