WhoFan63

So glad you're having an awesome time being home Miss Betty... I've just spent the last hour catching up on all your posts and you definitely have been busy haven't you? I'd love to see a photo of your Mini I can totally see you tootling around the countryside in it.. lol

I'm still waiting for the book you know?? Best seller written all over it.

lf1

Another brilliant update! You lucky dog, being able to pass DCI Foyle's house every day. If you ever encounter him can you give him my contact details. Good luck with the job situation

MissBetty

Thank you! Age is just a number, really it is, its how you feel inside that matters and its never too late to be happy - trust me!

Thanks CT, I'm trying not to be too irritatingly chirpy but I'm so happy to be home lol!!! I just love waking up in my sunny seaside flat every morning thinking everything is in its place and I can do as I please!!! Yesterday my parents came round and we put up new curtains (bargain in the sale from Dunelm!) and I finally hung up all my pictures (photos I'd taken and framed) from my travels that had been wrapped in paper and gathering dust for the past 5 years! I'd forgotten about all the pics from my travels - Cambodia, Tibet, Nepal, Vietnam, Cuba, Guatemala, Jordan, China, Brazil, Costa Rica, India etc etc and it bought back some very happy memories. After moving 7 times in the past 5 years I don't ever want to move again!!!!!

Lol! Couldn't resist it hee hee! Yes its funny isn't it when you stop seeing your Mum as just your Mum and get to know her as a person? If my Mum wasn't my Mum she'd still be one of my best friends!

Ha ha!!! I might get a few more adventures in before I write that book but I'm definitely still keen I just don't seem to have any spare time these days - God only knows what it will be like when I go back to work!!!! Yes I love my Mini and I love that the majority of people are soooo polite on the roads here! Glad things are still going well for you too love


Ha ha! Thanks, I do actually have 2 interviews for next week now for temp work (one private company, one NHS) so fingers crossed all the forms filling and driving will pay off - sure it will soon! I'm not rushing though as the weather is so good and I just realised I'd forgotten to claim my Aussie tax rebate for this year! The paperwork is on it way and I can do it online so that will come in handy

moonsurfer

Wow, Betty, that is a really encouraging story. I haven't been on this forum for a few years and am the same age as you. I am also on my own and have been dithering for a long while what to do. My Dad moved back 2 years ago after about 30 years in Aus. When I went to see him and catch up with all his family last year and the year before it was a revelation. Everyone was so friendly and the culture and landscape, pubs, history everything else were just wonderful. I felt as if I had woken up out of a long dream! Now I have to face a couple of fears and make a decision, but your story has inspired me. With best wishes to you for a great future in the UK.

Lestergirl

My claim to Fame.. I went out with Mick Kitchen when I was 20... he is from Leicester...lived in a modest terrace house... he told me when I met him he went to RADA (I had no idea who or what that was back then).. He winked at me on one of his first TV shows hahaha
Betty so happy for you and your new life!

MissBetty

Thanks Moonsurfer and LesterGirl, I am trying to be realistic as possible in postings as I know I read others with great interest when I was deciding to make the leap or not!

I had a job interview yesterday it seemed to go ok but there was an exam which was harder than I expected so I'm just waiting now to see what will happen! I'm ready to go back to work now as it would be nice to be able to go out with my friends more and plan a holiday with the girls but right now I'm being very careful with the money I have left.

Funny thing is that yesterday I saw two people who are good friends of mine that I worked with in Australia. One guy came over from Oz for the interview (he's a Brit desperate to move back) and the other left 4 years ago and is now quite a senior manager with the service I was interviewing for! Was so good to catch up with them both and we had such a giggle plus loads of (whispered!!!) conversations about the truly awful service we had all worked for in Oz.

Afterwards my friend and I went for some coffee and a debrief, he flies back on Thurs and he was telling me he really just doesn't want to go but he and his wife have agreed that until he has a job and they have a bit of money behind them they are going to wait. He then said to me "You seem so much happier, I can't believe it, you're like a different person!" I laughed and started to say how funny it was that I had originally planned a two month holiday here to find a job first and then was supposed to be flying back on July 30th to go back to work on August 1st then it happened..................

Just as I said it I started to cry and cry and cry and I just couldn't stop myself. I literally broke down in the motorway services sobbing at the mere thought of going back to all that crap/bullying/unhappiness and then I couldn't bloomin stop! Luckily my mate is a very sensitive man so he just hugged me and mopped up my tears as I cried my eyes out, first time I have cried since I've been back and, to be honest, it was such a relief to finally break in front of someone who is a close friend, won't judge me and knows exactly what I went through.

God only knows what everyone else thought - probably though the poor bloke was my hubby who'd just dumped me or something ha ha ha!!!! Anyways I'm all good today and will let you all know when I am, once again, gainfully employed!

MissBetty

Well folks went for another job interview today and got hired on the spot - exactly 8 weeks after arriving home!!!

Its with a private ambulance company but as a self employed contractor which is exactly what I wanted. I'll be doing mainly frontline work in London but also some patient transfer work, and medical repatriation both here and in Europe as required. They were also keen for me to get involved in staff training (once I've found my feet a bit!) and completed an adult teaching qualification which I was planning to do anyway as soon as I had a bit of spare dosh! I'm also now registered with Frontier Medex for remote work so all set up and good to go there as well!

I got a call from the NHS today re the full time permanent post I went for (and didn't really want) on Monday to say although I'd done very well at the practical and interview I'd failed the written exam by 3% (one question) so could I please come back in and resit......... the whole lot. Hmmmmm, spend another £30 on petrol, do a 260 mile round trip that takes 2 and 1/2 hours in heavy traffic?? I politely declined and informed them I'd been offered another job which I'd decided to take lol! It kinda helped in my decision too that at my interview they told me I was not allowed to request ANY leave between Dec 23rd - Jan 2nd ( I just wanted Xmas Day with my family this year) and they would be able to change any of my shifts or my working location up to 24 hours beforehand. Then they wonder why they can't keep staff, good to see some things never change eh?!!!

Back to work in just over a week's time, I'm so glad I decided to be brave hold out for what I really wanted! A very big THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me, cheered me on and advised me on BE for the past 18 months - and now? I feel my journey is complete - phew!!!

curleytops

Congratulations on the new dream job Miss B, so happy you got what you really wanted

aries

Congratulations . . . will driving in London be a challenge after Queensland?

TheEmperorIsNaked

God how that resonates! I broke down in the travel agents, and in front of one of the shipping quoters, and I suddenly cry for no apparent reason atm!

I suspect it's the stress of all this planning, but I'm fairly certain that until I finally settle down in Blighty, there'll be a lot more of it.

You have remained bright and focused in this whole process-something had to give. It was a good thing I reckon!

Well done on the job front!!

MissBetty

Thanks very much! I'm very happy I don't have to go back to the NHS full time, that was definitely the worst option lol!!!

Thanks Aries! I find driving here is a bit of a challenge most days! I've covered about 4000 miles since I've been back mainly going to courses and driving all over the place for interviews. Most people are polite,which is lovely, but parking is a nightmare and being stuck (constantly) on the M25 in traffic/roadworks I do find stressful. I don't mind driving in London in an ambulance, you're nice and high up, people have to get out of your way if you're on blues and twos and, if all else fails, you get your crew mate to drive if you don't feel like it that day lol!

MissBetty

I was the weepiest girl on the block in the 6 months before I left. I was just so tired, frustrated and over it, at times I thought I'd never get there. As people on here know from reading my 'troppo' thread, the women I worked with decided to start a bullying campaign against me just before I left which was horrendous. They actually tried to get me sacked for a Facebook post even though I'd already resigned just to try and stuff me up for future jobs - evil evil witches

Thanks for the congrats and the best of luck to you, just keeping going, you will get there even though sometimes you feel like you are wading through treacle. Its a unique thing to go through and yes you are right, it was a good thing, like all that pent up stress and misery just got washed away - and gave a nice afternoon's entertainment to people in an otherwise boring motorway services ha ha!!!

treasuredr

Well done Miss Betty! Congratulations on the new job and for getting through the trials and tribulations of the past few years. Wishing you all the best for the future, which I'm sure will be very rosy

lf1

OMG!!!!! Brilliant!!

lf1

Congratulations Miss B!!! I am so happy for you, but I didn't doubt for a minute that you wouldn't get the job you wanted. Well deserved, I say.