Mum & Big Sis are coming to visit!

On the house front, we have been pricing up a Yurt, and here is what it might look like. This would be installed above the house site on the ridge which is fairly flat. These sort of structures often don't need a planning permit, so we are looking into the cost. We are thinking in terms of getting a structure built, so that we have somewhere while we are building the main house. I am quite exited about this idea, as I loved living in a tent during our reenactments in the UK. Once the main house is built, we may then connect it to the mains and septic to use as a guest house. Initially we plan to have it as green as possible, with a composting toilet, and a propane fridge. We are waiting for brochures, and pricing for insulation and snow and wind kits, which are necessary where we are located here.

And to the crux of this post, my Mum is coming over to Toronto from Wales, and staying there for a week. Then my sister Brenda is bringing Mum down here via Montreal to visit for two weeks. In May when we went back to Wales, I had not thought the three of us would be together again so soon. I am now working on a tricky bit, as in getting the time off. Officially I am not allowed time off in the first three months, but in the circumstances have applied for days off when they are here, which would be unpaid. They have been pretty fast with their decisions for colleagues, so hoping I will not have to wait long for their decision.

I am still a bit shell shocked over this, but really excited about their visit.

We are planning some drives out, and take a picnic, and lots of relaxing with some nice vino.

I went to to see my doctor two days ago, and went to have a full set of blood tests done yesterday. However the Dr is away next week, so unable to see him until the 27th to see what is going on. I felt with my Mum coming that I really needed to knock this on the head, but they arrive on 27th, so all I can do is relax and eat well in the mean time.

I have already warned them that there will be no nervous breakdown going on here over cleaning the house. Any problems they will be shown where the duster is... of course I say that now, but whether I do that in reality is another matter.

Actually the other news is that another job as a Trainer has been advertised for our site here in Port Hawkesbury. Since I lectured for two years while at University, thought it was worth considering. I liked the way our training class was run, and feel I would be more than capable.
I took the opportunity to email the recruiter about the Quality position that is still not signed off, for which I have effectively been interviewed three times, and been told I would be perfect, but no guarantees. My reasoning for following up is that I didn't want to miss out on other opportunities I am qualified for, while waiting for this other position to be signed off. So we will see what is going to happen now about that.

Proud of my Baby!

My baby Oliver has finally got the hang of swimming, and he now adores the water. I take him down to the beach for an hour every day before going to work, so he has plenty of time to chase the little birds, and get some swimming in.

I am settling into my new job fine. The shifts are gradually going to get better. I do not have weekends off this week, but from next week I will. The hours are not great, but from September the site is going 24/7 which should mean much better shift times. This week I have 1:30 till 10pm with Tuesday and Wednesday off, and after that, 12:30 till 9pm for two weeks, with weekends off. Going from not having weekends off to having them off, means that on two weekends I actually only have one of the days off.

I am still waiting to hear the status of the ISO for this site, as the job I was put forward for will not be signed off until that happens.

The annoying part of working the weekends is not seeing Jerry from one week to the next. I saw him last Sunday, and then didn't talk to him until yesterday morning, which is why not having weekend off does not work for me. Also the Granville Green season is coming to an end, and the band that is on tonight is originally from Creignish which is near where we have our lot, and I will have to miss it, which is a shame. Next weekend is the last concert of the season, and it is Blue Grass music, and I will be able to go see that which is nice. This is a two month season of free music on the Green, sponsored by local companies, during the summer, and they invite a lot of bands that have their roots in either Nova Scotia or Cape Breton.

Jerry finishes his summer job on August 24th, so he will have time to get ready to go back to school in September.

Last Saturday I went back to the hospital, and it was confirmed that my sinus was still leaking, hence why my chest was still tight, and one quarter of a lung was still gurgling. So was on a nasal spray with steroids for five days. I am still exhausted, and am likely going to have to go see my own doctor this week, to see what is the next plan of action.

Job News!

Wednesday of last week I as called out of class to meet with the Quality boss lady down from Toronto, as two people had interviewed me recently, and felt I was the right person for a Quality person they would be looking for at our site. So although I had to wait 45 minutes to see her, because it turned out she was still on Eastern time, the meeting went well, and she now also feels I am the right person for the position. But she has now passed the ball back to the guys, so nothing cast in stone, so may well have to be interviewed again when the position is actually signed off. Since this will initially be a small site, they will need a Quality Coordinator, rather than a Quality Specialist, but then she said I would easily move into that role as the site grows. So lots of positive things said, but nothing cast in stone yet.

My current situation is that my training finished last Thursday, and on Friday we had a mock call with a Quality person listening in on the call , to certify us as good enough to start the job on Monday. Well I got through that fine.

But this past week I have been tired, and had a sore throat, and coughing, and someone said 'be careful remember the pneumonia', so on Saturday Jerry took me up to the hospital, as my own Doctor is away on holiday.. and I have a sinus that has been dripping, which has caused the sore throat, and the constant dripping means the infection went down to my lungs. He did not x-ray for confirmation, but the medication with clear the sinus infection, and deal with the pneumonia infection if it has in fact happened. The Doctor said that being in a the training room, which was cool, and then going out to the heat in breaks would have been the likely reason for the sinus infection. My chest is tight, and coughing well, so lots of rest this weekend, as I can't have time off when I am due to go on the phones on Monday.

Now that we have decided to wait to build the house until next year when Jerry finishes school, the phone is ringing off the hook, when we are out, with people wanting to give us quotes finally. So it has been phone tag, and not connecting up with anyone. But next week I can at least call them in the morning to let them know of the situation. In my book it would be nice to have the quote anyway, so that we can decide next year, who we get to re quote for us.

Update!

Well this next week is the last week of training, and on Friday we have to pass a certification - which will be a test on taking a call, to see whether you handle a call the way they would like you to. I have been allocated a 3:30 to midnight shift for the first two weeks, and then we bid for our next shift. The bidding is done using the last four digits of your Social Insurance Number, and the only fair way, so I can't grumble truly. The first shift only starts at midday, so not a huge difference. As we take more calls away from the organisation that are doing them now, we will go 24/7, so there will be earlier shifts. Then I can get back to having some life. I will only see Jerry at the weekends for these first two weeks, which will not be fun.

We have discussed the house build again, and quotes are slow coming in, which has given us more time to truly talk about the when, and how of it all. And have come to the conclusion that this will have to wait until Jerry finished at school. If we start now, we will be back down to one lot of money coming in, and we don't want to end up struggling the payments for the build. We had the issue of needing a second vehicle for getting back and forth to the lot, and realized that it would also put pressure on the pocket. Sadly that will have to wait.

We have treated ourselves to a metal gazebo that has a mesh screen around it, which we can put up at the lot, to keep the bugs away from us. It is so lovely up there, very peaceful, but the bugs are very friendly, so we needed to protect ourselves. We had looked at Screen Houses which were more like a tent, and then saw this, and decided it was a much better idea.

What I am going to need to do for this current house, is to make some insulated blinds for the windows, that can be put up just in the winter. We may well have to look at getting the windows replaced before the winter, but again we have to look at that cost, but we need to reduce the fuel cost from what it was last winter.

On a slightly amusing note, I have been dreaming the job, the training has been quite intense, very thorough, which we can only be pleased about, but I wake up every day on a call - it is a comfort knowing this is normal, and not the only one it is happening to.

Life goes on!

I have just completed my third week of training at the new call center. We have 10 days left, then we are on the phones.

Yesterday I had an interview for another job, which would have been listening to calls and marking them for quality. The interview went really well, but I answered so well that they asked me would I be interested in this other position that will be coming along. They told me about it, the same job I was told about at the original interview, and I said yes, that is the ultimate goal. Told them also that I had been advised to take this particular opportunity first, but he said that he needs the people he chooses to stay in that role. He said that he would put my name forward, and tell the person responsible that he had found the right person. So it was a catch-22 situation, and I shot myself in the foot. However I now have one more person saying I am the right person for this other job.

On the house front we received some quotes for the foundation, one with digging the foundation out ready for the footings and frost wall, and one without. The one without is using a better method of insulation, so we are now waiting for a quote on the digging out, to finalise who we choose.

About two weeks ago we went up to the lot and have marked out the Saltbox plan, so we know where we want it to be positioned. The only thing we did not mark was the Bay Window, which we may do tomorrow. This has given us a much better idea of the floor size, to get a feel for how much room we will have.

Jerry has been working on a new house build about the same footprint size as ours will be, so hope to go take a look so we have a better idea.

New Job!

I start work on Monday, back at the old call centre. Minacs has come in to take over the building, and want to be up and running by the beginning of August. It is going to be supporting escalations from an American Credit Card.

My interview went very well, and the fact I had trained as a Quality Auditor was spotted, and it was suggested that I could be the Quality Specialist, which would be a salaried position. Well then I got a call yesterday to say that the building has to be ISO Certified before that position will be filled, and that could be a month or two down the line. What they have said is that I will be top of the list for the position once they are ready. So I start there as an agent taking calls initially, but then everyone has to do this training on the floor whatever job they do afterwards.

So although I am pleased to be back at work, I do feel I missed the carrot, but trying to feel confident that I will be taken on for the other job in due course.

Job News!

Received an email yesterday from the Chamber of Commerce. The background to that is that they were involved in trying to recruit a company to come in and take over the building. Some time back they requested everyone who might be interested to send in their resume, so they had a database of people to put to any company that might need some proof of the level of interest. There is to be an announcement tomorrow at the Call Center, and the Premier will be there, to the effect that a new company is coming in to the building shortly. There is to be a Career Open House on Friday and Saturday for people to go in with their resume and speak to the human resources there. Hopefully we will find out more what company or companies they hope to be supporting here.

They plan to have 350 working there, and hope to be up and running by the end of June. I think this is very fast track in any body's book, so we will see what happens.