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Congrats!!!!!!!!

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Congratulations on the new job. I think you must have set a new record for someone who arrived with no job or home. :lol::thumbsup:

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Oh I won't forget my BE family! :) I work 4 on and 4 off, so although I'll probably be shattered for my 4 days I'll definitely be popping in on my days off to catch you all up on what's been happening. :):thumbsup:

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Yes, done it all within 3 weeks..:rofl::rofl: Not bad going if I do say so myself.. :thumbsup: Because the job is in Heywood for the next 2 months before they transition over to the main centre just up the road, I've got to get a taxi every morning because there are no buses that run that early. I've got to be there for 6am ! So that's about £8.50 one way and then I can walk and catch the bus on the way back. That should be fun if it's pouring down..:rofl:

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Thank you! :thumbsup:

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I know...how exciting!:thumbsup::rofl:

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Hopefully it won't be long before I'm used to it. I did a temp job at the Amazon Warehouse in Phoenix, working nights and the nights seemed to go really fast because I was busy all the time, so I expect this is going to be much of the same. :thumbsup: But I can imagine the first day off each time I'll be exhausted and catching up on sleep...lol

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Thank you so much! Hopefully if others have been reading my posts they'll realise that anything is possible and you CAN make a dream a reality. All it takes is that first step! I have probably broken a record for someone who came over without a permanent home and no job..:rofl: That might put people off coming over and starting all over again, but I'm just lucky in that it's only taken me 3 weeks. Yay me! LOL

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Brilliant!!!! I am so pleased for you. To think, it was a just a few weeks ago that you were still waiting on your passport and here you are, new home, job and great landlords/friends. Not to mention your new furry friends. You are an inspiration!:)

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Thank you! :) All that stress of a few weeks ago seems like such a long time ago. To think I actually received my passport, booked my airline ticket the same day and flew out a few days later, and now this!! :)

I just love my housemates and my new furry friends. I just wish I could keep the little gate open and let them come upstairs at night, but there's also a resident cat and I'm sorry to say I'm not a cat person! So the one night I left the gate open and my bedroom door open, I had the cat coming in and making himself right at home - on my head and on my bed..lol. There's black cat fur all over everything and I have a white bedspread and a white sheepskin throw rug at the bottom, so you can imagine what they look like?? So unfortunately now I have to keep my door shut! :( Oh well - they definitely get lots of kisses and cuddles every time I see them to make up for it.:thumbsup:

I've had to book myself a taxi for tomorrow morning, to make sure I'm not late and I'll also have to book for the next 3 days after as well. No buses at that time in the morning. At least it's only for another 2 months and then they're transferring over to the Kingsway centre which is just a 10 minute walk from home. :) I've actually found a taxi company that will do me a deal with the fare and as I'll be a regular customer for at least the next couple of months they'll only charge me £8, as opposed to the £10 I've been quoted by other companies. So I made a quick dash to the shops up the road and I just when you go to the ATM and get cash that they dispense £50's, £20, £10's and even £5 notes. Try THAT in the US or Australia..:rofl:

Oh and the best part is I get a uniform, so no having to think about what to wear everyday! :rofl::rofl:

I'm such a happy camper right now! :thumbsup:

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After reading other posts of other experiences since back in the UK, I just wanted to agree that it's not all smooth sailing. Things do take slightly longer when it comes to certain things. I've just been lucky in that I've NOT been trying to buy a home or rent a home of my own, and therefore not having to get utilities in my name etc etc.

I too have fallen foul of the 0845 numbers, which it seems are EVERYWHERE and when you need to call someone specific it's an 0845 number. Just today I've been back and forth between the job centre and HM Revenue and Customs with regards to my NI number. It was originally going to be organised by the job centre, but now with getting a job and having my claim stopped I contacted HMRC to find out about getting an NI number. They said to contact the job centre again, because they couldn't get into my claim while the job centre still had it active. Not bad saying it was the job centre who told me to call HMRC. All of these calls are to 0845 numbers...lol, so I can just image what my first mobile bill is going to look like.:eek:

Luckily I can still start work and get paid while I'm waiting for the NI number.

But anyway...yes, things do take a while, not everything is NOW! Of course there are hiccups but I tend to ignore those and just tell everyone about the good things..lol, mainly because the end result is always what counts!:rofl: But I do understand that many might WANT to hear about every little thing so it gives others who might be in the same boat the chance to prepare themselves.

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Make sure you use www.saynoto0870.com - one of the best things I've found since moving back!!!! :)

Your mobile bill is gonna be HUGE :(

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Good link, I've book marked it for future use. :thumbup:

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Congrats on the new job, Whofan.
You really are inspiring. You just make me think, "Yeah, why not?"
I am starting to make some plans for a venture that would be a whole new departure for me, will talk about it when it's a bit more concrete, but lets just say the wind of change has started to blow through our household, not before time!

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I've noticed! I just checked my account online and with just calling a couple of 0845 numbers, possibly twice each, my additional charge this month is £7.16. It's probably charged at about 40p per minute, and we all know calling those darn numbers never takes a minute!:eek:

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What are 0845 and 0870 numbers?

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Congratulations, Linzi!!!!!!!!!!! :thumbsup: :drinkwine:

You deserve a medal for everything you have accomplished in under one month of being back in the UK!!!!!

And today you got a job!! You must be SO happy!!!!!! You deserve it! :D

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Windsong, you are next...if WhoFan can do it, so can you!!! (Might help if you move to her area - they seem to be awfully nice people there).

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I believe they are the numbers you are given to call when you need a service, like the job center or telephone number, they change a premium for it, and I think the company you call get a cut too. The website linked gives you info on how to get a regular number so you don't get charged a lot for making a call.

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Me too....thanks xx

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You have certainly been busy the past couple weeks and you have done SO WELL. So Good Luck with your job. I know the taxi is expensive but at least you got some kind of discount. I hope you job goes well and you like it ok. You are truly and inspiration.

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Congratulations, such good news and I am sure you will be very happy. I have enjoyed reading your posts on here of your journey to a new life!:thumbsup:

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They are premium rate phone numbers, often attached to government services but also to other services both public and private. They are excluded from the free minutes included with mobile phone plans and cost far more than calling a normal (geographic) number would anyway. There are often geographic alternatives (beginning with 01xxx or 02xxx) and increasingly services are offering an 03xxx number which also counts as a geographic number. All geographic numbers, as far as I know, are included in the free minutes a mobile phone plan has.

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Almo and Mummy, these numbers sound like US 800 numbers but in reverse ;) Why ever do companies in the UK use these because it sounds as if they would receive fewer callers because they cost more.

I need to read up on these geographic numbers, too. I wonder what they are all about.

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Ohhh, how I WISH it was possible!! However, I have pets to take with me and it will be take longer to find a decent rental that will take pets. I wish I could do what WhoFan did and just get on a plane, stay at a B&B and pray I hit gold like she did :D but in my case I don't think it would work because of the pets.

I also need to find a permanent job right here so I can begin to save. I am still doing temp work because the job market is SO bad here. They don't want highly qualified people any more; they want the cheapest! It's been like this for 8 months now.

I began a business in marketing/promotions but I have been so depressed about things here, I haven't put much into it recently :(

The areas I have on my list are Edinburgh area, Fife - both in Scotland - and Norfolk, Somerset, Lancashire and Yorkshire in England. I still need to do a detailed comparison of job availability, job earnings and cost of living in these areas, along with getting educated about the demographics of each area because I don't want to move to an area that is congested.

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Geographic numbers are just normal landline numbers with the area code of the town preceding the phone number.

It's all a bit of a racket really.
I have a payg mobile which I rarely use and rely on our BT landline for almost all of my calls. With BT the 0845 and 0870 numbers are free within the terms of the plan but many other numbers are not such as calls to mobiles and true premium numbers such as those beginning to 09.
I made a list which I have next to the phone so I can check whether or not I will be charged for a call before I pick up the phone.
What I have found though, is that it pays to take a look at the website for the company you are intending to call, as very often if you look hard enough there is a geographic number there somewhere. It may not be for the particular department that you are needing to speak with but they will usually transfer you.

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http://www.housingcare.org/service/s...are-eden-.aspx

Have a look at this example of a homeshare scheme - this is for Cumbria. Could be great for you at least for maybe the first year. Might be able to find a place that will welcome your pets and you could take your time looking for work.

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Anxiously awaiting news of your first day at work, Linzi :fingerscrossed::)

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:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: Congrats on all WhoFan!!! Amazing updates!

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Congratulations WhoFan! It's great to hear your good news.

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Telephone directory services are also premium priced.

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What if you use a BT phone to call these numbers? Is it still as expensive as a mobile?

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As another poster mentioned, you can get landline packages which gives free or reduced calls to premium rate numbers but outwith any special landline package then yes, premium rate numbers are still expensive to call from a landline. Possibly not quite as expensive as calling from a mobile, I'm not quite sure; we don't have a landline, our mobile phones work as, er, phones but also serve as wifi hotspots through which we get our internet.

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Just enough energy to say hello......hello! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz:rofl: Finished work at 6.15pm and walked in the door here at 8.00pm, so a very LONG trip home! By the time I walked to the bus stop after work the next bus was at 7.10pm, I didn't have the energy for a long walk home after catching that bus, so I went straight into Rochdale and was going to catch the 58 which would drop me off at the end of my street. But the last 58 bus was at 7.00pm. There was another bus leaving at 7.44pm which was the only one and if I had missed that I would need to get a taxi. So I caught in and had to pay £2 because it wasn't a 'First Manchester' bus. I didn't get to use my weekly pass after all :( Then to top it all off the taxi this morning cost me £10. So all totaled it's going to cost me nearly £50 in transportation for every 4 days I'm working.

Job is great...everyone I work with is lovely, but I'll tell you more about it when I have the energy to keep typing..:rofl: I've just had a lovely hot shower and am sitting down to something to eat - even though it's 9.43pm and then it's straight to bed because I have to get up at 4.30am tomorrow morning! So talk to you all again soon! Nite nite ! :)

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Welcome back! You made it! It should be easier tomorrow and after that.

I think I hear thunder.

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You must be totally exhausted!!!! The first day is always the worst.

Just remember . . . you have a job . . . and in two months you will be working 5 minutes from home :D

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:zzz: < that's your zzzz emoticon! Congratulations on making it through your first day :)

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I feel like I'm a cripple! I've had to do major first aid on my feet!:ohmy: I've been issued with what I call steel toe work boots and of course they gave them to me on my first day, so no chance to wear them in gradually. That's why after the first day I could barely walk, not because I'd been on my feet for 12 hours, but because they were new and rubbed the hell out of my feet. I came home last night with massive blisters everywhere.

So today wasn't any better, it was more rubbing on the blisters already there. I have 6 large blisters ranging from on the ball of my feet, between the toes (can't understand those ones..lol) and of course on the heals. I was almost in tears they hurt so bad. When i got home Mr G took a look and immediately went out to the chemist and came back with an assortment of things.lol. Awww bless! So now I have special blister packs on all my blisters, and also a gauze type covering over each to protect them even further from rubbing and then the gauze is held on with tape. So now my feet look like a mummy..lol.

I'd thought that by wearing two pairs of socks it would stop my feet from rubbing, but that theory went out the window. The work boots are rock solid with no give in them whatsoever. But I can go out on my day off and get a similar thing except they're trainers with steel caps. So they would probably be more comfortable. I'll see how I go over the next 2 days and hope I'm not totally crippled by the time Monday night comes around. That will definitely be an excuse for a glass of wine !:rofl: The fact I would have finished my first 4 day shift I meant, not the fact I'd be unable to walk..:rofl:

The other drawback to my poor feet is that it meant getting a taxi home tonight because there was no way I was in any condition to walk to the bus stop and then navigate two buses to get home. I feel like such a wuss!!!!

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OUCH, how painful. The tennis shoe steel toe capped shoes sound more comfy, hope they are when you get around to testing some out. You will be exhausted and the price of the travel to and from work STINKS but I think you mentioned in a couple more months you will be working much closer to home. Glad the people you work with are nice, that makes a huge difference. Once you get used to the work hopefully it will be easier on you. Try to rest when you can and I really hope your blisters get a chance to heal..

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Thanks love...I'm already used to the work, it's repetitive but still interesting because you get to see some lovely clothes and shoes.:thumbsup: Basically what I am doing is receiving consignments of things that have been sent back to us from the stores (probably because they didn't sell well or they had too much stock), so then I check each item to make sure there aren't any colour marks, discolorations, torn threads, torn bits - you get the idea. Then they are packaged up ready to sell on the web site. I'm constantly busy from the minute I get there, to the minute I leave and the only chance I get to rest is during my breaks and once I get home. We don't get the chance to sit down and work because we're constantly going back to the pallets for more. They all come in boxes so we grab a box and off we go. The boxes can hold anywhere from 2 items to 75 items, and the cages can hold anywhere from 150 plus pair of shoes..:rofl:

For the first couple of months they don't worry about us not hitting our quota, because everyone has a target they need to reach, which is currently being able to process 450 items, such as each item of clothing is counted as 1 and each pair of shoes is counted as 1. So far I'm averaging 300 per day, so I'm nearly there..lol It will come with time, and I think I'm spending more time on each item to make sure there are no marks etc, and then packaging everything neater. Once I've been there a while I'm sure that I will get quicker and not everyone gets the chance to reach their targets each day because things can slow down because of faults in a garment or a pair of shoes and there are procedures to follow so that prevents you from immediately getting onto the next item...lol.

But all in all I'm looking forward to my first 4 days off so i can rest my feet.:rofl: