morayeel

oh my gosh.. overtime is good for the money but not for the poor feet!! Hope you blisters have healed. Maybe you could find a clothes horse? I know when I was back I had one, found it at a thrift store and really helped with drying the clothes. I was wondering if you could put in a request for being off when the Edinburgh Tattoo is going on and that way you know you will be able to go? Glad things are going well. I know you must be tired. Thanks for all your great updates.

WhoFan63

I created a spreadsheet yesterday with all my work days and my days off, but I only did it up to the end of July...I'll carry through with it until the end of August and see if my days off correspond to the Tattoo.

The blisters have healed already to a degree anyway...and I bought some inserts for my boots to help a little bit with the aching and arch support, so I'll see how I go. I was going to go and look at the trainers tomorrow, but that idea is out the window thanks to the overtime...lol. So hope I don't have trouble with my feet because it is 6 days before I get another day off.

To top it all off I have an appointment next Wednesday for my NI interview. It all happens at once.... So I'm busy on my first day off and I have an appointment for bloodwork at the dr's on Thursday so am busy on my 2nd day off too. Nice to be busy!

Perth

Beats sitting around in AZ watching the dishes pile up in the sink, am I right?

WhoFan63

You're not kidding! I walk into the kitchen here, and everything is immaculate..not a dish to be seen!

Perth

cheers

If you send your washin' over here I'll have it dry in 10 minutes because it is so dry here.

That £10 an hour, is that on top of the regular rate per hour? So time and a half?
Don't spend the money before you get it because you have to share it with the Inland Revenue.

Is it in some Yorkshire cities or Lancashire where the Asians (Pakistanis) have taken over? It is strange to me that whole communities can be taken over by immigrants in England. Not so in America.

I have just read some information that tells me that whole communities have not been taken over. Misinformation. Significant maybe?

WhoFan63

I wish it were on top..but that £10 IS the time and a half rate. I only get paid £6.19 per hour. But it's a wage right?? I'm not giving the IRS a damn penny...lol, or where you talking about the UK tax office??

There are a lot of Pakistani's around here in Rochdale, but I wouldn't call it 'taking over'..lol. I've never really paid much attention to be totally honest.. It's really no different in the US with the hispanic communities around.

morayeel

yes, sounds like you are really busy but making money so that's good but I know you'll be glad of your days off when you finally get them. At least you don't have to worry about health insurance to see the doctor, that must be a relief. Good idea in making a spreadsheet and so you have to go to the job center to get your NI number? Just wondered how that worked. You were probably not issued one if you moved to the US before you were 16? My daughter who is nearly 28 , well we moved over here when she was 2, and so she would probably have to go to an interview to get her NI number. well best of luck this week, hope your body doesn't get sore and you get good test results from the doctor. Are there many charity shops were you live? There were quite a few in Elgin, Scotland. I loved looking around them. There was the British Heart Foundation, Oxfam, Barnardos and a few others. That is what I like to do on my day off, look around the thrift shops!! Maybe when the weather turns better you could get a bicycle. That's if it safe to cycle where you live..

WhoFan63

Yes the appointment next Wednesday is an 'interview', so I have to take my passport, drivers license, proof of job and proof of address. Unfortunately it's not at my local job centre, because they apparently only do the interviews at one particular office. I'm going to have to take a trip into Manchester. At least I can make a day of it and go to the Manchester Science Museum, because apparently they film Coronation Street at the back of the museum and you can watch them filming through the windows..lol They can't really turn me down because I've got a job and am paying into the system.. It was a bit of a pain getting the appointment because firstly when I applied for JSA they told me they'd send the request through for an NI number. So after a couple of weeks when I cancelled my claim and having never received a penny which was good, because I was now employed they also cancelled the request. So I called them up today and received the appointment over the phone. I too left the UK before I was 16, but they tried to look me up on the system anyway under my maiden name, just in case it was issued but never received. I wasn't on there!

I don't know how long it takes from when you go to the interview to when you receive the NI number, but hope it doesn't take too long because I don't know how 'not' having a number will affect my pay. Would I pay more tax because I haven't supplied the number???

There are plenty of charity shops and every other kind of shop you can imagine around Rochdale! I'm not really into shopping, but I do like to have a wander. I'm more of a walker...going up hill and down dale and checking out the scenery, camera in hand.

Well I checked out my spreadsheet and the dates for the Edinburgh Tattoo and it looks like August 10th is the date for me. The 10th is the first day of my 4 days off work so that would be perfect as the trip I'm looking at is a 2 day getaway to Edinburgh, the coach journey there and back, accommodation, breakfast and dinner included, plus it includes a ticket into the Edinburgh Tattoo. All for the lovely price of £139. So I won't need to book any time off because I will already be off work...lol.

morayeel

wow, fantastic you have a trip to look forward to. I love Edinburgh and I went one year when I was pregnant and thought I had gone into labor during it!! Turns out it was "Braxton hicks" contractions LOL I just love that city. Yes, I love to wander around and take lots of pictures. Here, in MS, unfortunately no historic buildings to be captured on film LOL. Mostly snakes and the likes HA HA. When I go back to the UK I certainly appreciate all the lovely old buildings and scenery that's for sure. Hope not having your NI number does not affect your pay. TTFN xx

Perth

Fabulous...a trip already!!! Girl, you are living the life Of course, we expect lots and lots of pics!!

Not to steal your thunder or anything, but DD just got offered a free return trip to....SOUTH KOREA!!! Her best friend just went to join her husband who is a US Army officer stationed over there. Uncle works for United and gets free vouchers. How cool is that?!

WhoFan63

Wow South Korea huh? That's definitely cool . Too bad Uncle couldn't get you vouchers for the UK lol.

Perth

Now that would have been nice

Almo

Some large cities have areas with a strong presence of one nationality or another; it has been that way in the UK for decades now although as groups assimilate a new nationality comes into the limelight. It is also the case that as you get second/third etc generations individuals may identify as British AND Asian, for example, while certain groups would label them only as Asian, due to their ethnicity.

I guess it depends a little on how you define community but I infer it to be a whole city/town/village from your post, in which case I'd say it's not the case that whole communities have been taken over. If you are talking about a suburb of a city it might be said that certain suburbs have been 'taken over' , in that the majority ethnicity becomes something other than 'white' and/or the majority nationality becomes something other than 'British', but I'd have thought that would be very much the same in America.

sallysimmons

It is.