Rantette: Temporary Employers

Dear Temporary Employer, perhaps we should get a few things straight.

I am not psychic in any major way. I may not know your organisation. I have only a vague idea of what you do or what my temporary role is to be; I most probably have never heard of you before. I may have heard of you but heard only bad things - all I can say after this past week in a particular division of my local council, is that all those bad things are confirmed. Now come the particular details.

You may have a particular set of tick boxes for new starts but I feel that more would be accomplished in telling me what to do than in taking ten minutes to adjust my desk chair ergonomically correctly.  I can do bugger all if you don't make sure that I can get into the computer system once I arrive. It might also be useful if you show me how to use the telephone system before you leave me alone to take calls during the lunch hour and please let me know who I might be expected to take calls for while their secretary is absent, rather than let that secretary tell me four days into the assignment. I can't do your filing instantly without you showing me the system and spending a little time telling me what the subjects of papers are if they are not immediately obvious; it's not my fault if I have to wait for stationery particularly when you are in charge of the budget and stationery cannot be ordered before the new financial year. Some people's habits and personality do give accountants a bad name. Don't bad-mouth me to my agency that I'm not taking enough initiative when you haven't given me enough information to do what I've actually been asked to do. It also helps to explain where and how to access documents and where typed documents should be saved to. Despite asking all other secretaries if there is work I can do for them, it is not always quicker and easier for them to hand over work to someone who will need to be shown everything about the system (because you haven't done it at the outset) and departmental standards. If I am interrupted for ten minutes in total during my lunch hour (which you will not pay me for), I am entitled to take that time at the end of the lunch hour; I don't work if you don't pay me.

Finally, when you decide to terminate an ongoing assignment after three and a half days with only quarter of an hour's notice, don't be surprised that the temporary employee is delighted to escape even though you haven't had the integrity to pay for the whole week - they won't get any more work that week. In addition, when the permanent secretaries tell the temporary employee that she hasn't been given a chance despite doing everything asked and just being plonked down and left to sink or swim, just know that your employees despise you for your lack of integrity, humanity and management skills. And no one is surprised that you are permanently advertising for professional staff when all those qualified professionals who live in your council area prefer to work for neighbouring councils.

Briefly - you stink as people and as employers. I have worked for many temporary employers and the majority of them have been professional, just and organised; it's a pity that some - like you - give the others a bad name.



Boinngg, Boinngg, it's Spring!

The Spring Equinox has been and passed, and the buds are sprouting like mad from tree and hedge all around the cottage. The daffodils are out and it will soon be time to attack the grass again. Last year, I let it lie fallow (posh term for doing naff all) as it was all covered in mud due to the river flood so I will have to sort out the strimmer and surf eBay for a ride-on lawnmover or resign myself to four hours cutting every weekend.

The weather is most un-Spring-like, scorching away like high summer though - this being Scotland - there are murmers of snow forecast for the weekend. Not that snow in April would be unheard of, however. My birthday is this coming Wednesday, 4th April, and my mother swore that she was glad to get into Aberdeen Maternity for the heating while the snow lay piled up where it had been cleared from the sides of the city streets in piles of over six foot. The following April, her cousin gave birth in England at the end of the month and had to thaw the radiator in the nursery with a hairdryer due to the hard freeze.

Be that as it may, it has been a glorious week. The dogs are suffering a bit though enjoying being out in the garden whenever possible, as well as throwing themselves into the river to cool off. Last Sunday I thought it was too hot to take them for a walk mid-afternoon so took the car up to the village for the papers. While I was there, I had the thought to walk them through Saline Glen in the shade of the trees and with the cool of the running burn. Like a fool, I hadn't brought my mobile so there are no pictures of Sunday but I do have some from last summer of a similar walk in the Glen.

It seemed odd to be out and about in the Glen with no leaves on the trees yet on such a hot day. There was a lot of damage from the winter storms (including Hurricane Bawbag) evident without new growth to soften the scars. The Glen was clearer and sharper to the eye without the covering of leaves, flowers and grass and small waterfalls could be seen as runoff from the surrounding fields to the north and gardens to the south poured down into the Saline Burn, which makes its way north from the Glen through the village to join the river just yards from the cottage.

Buddy was in his usual bouncy mood, playing King of the Castle and refusing to let his sister up from the burnside. Other dog owners had had the same idea for a good walk in the shade so there was quite a lot of sniffing and wagging going on all over the place. He's a very sociable character and happy to see anybody; Sheba is more reserved and fussy.

So, the next event is Easter and the shops are full of chocolate, candles, decorations and so on. I'm quite happy to make a pig of myself with chocolate and to stock up on decorations for next Spring Equinox. Lidl had some lovely candles in today in the form of beautifully-decorated eggs - six for £2.99 - and I would love to have had the money to buy a pack of each design.

Which brings me back to the subject of the Spring Equinox, particularly eggs. There's an urban myth/legend that eggs will stand on their pointy ends at the time of the equinoxes only, as this is the time when night and day, dark and light are in balance. Friends of mine always include this in their equinox ritual. Of course, you have to wait for the heavy yolk to drop to the pointy end but it's remarkable how the power of belief helps - eggs suddenly start to balance all over the place once someone is the first to balance theirs. Yet, the equinoxes are also the time when the tides change, when light becomes ascendent over dark and vice versa; the astral tides are changing and changing tides give rise to turbulence. This can certainly be seen in the weather - despite the sun and heat of this week, I have still had to scrape the car windscreen of frost in the morning and snow is predicted for some parts of Scotland this weekend. Turbulence can also be seen in the political sphere as politicians let the sun go to their head, open their mouths and put their huge feet in it (Tories, I'm thinking of you here, you bunch of evil shysters). Personally, the employment scene has also been rather turbulent this past week but I've tweeted enough about that.

I've been thinking a fair bit lately about the Equinox and Easter lately but I'll leave that for the next post.

Enjoy the sun while it lasts!

My Preciousssssssessss

I had some lovely squishy goodness in the mail this week, thanks to selling off some of my unloved yarn and therefore having some credit in my PayPal account. Both are laceweight and gorgeously soft and silky. 

First up is a skein of silk and baby alpaca in Berry Ripple from the wonderful Abstract Cat. This is intended for my Glasgow Rose shawl which I want to have done for October. I first saw the shawl in the competition run by The Yarn Cake for the first Glasgow School of Yarn weekend and fell in love with it there and then. I really want to have it done for the next GSY so, what with everything else planned, that will be interesting! And I really should knit up the yarn bought last year too, and spin the fibre...

The second skein of utter wondrousness is again silk and baby alpaca (but Royal baby alpaca this time - what's the difference?) from Ripples Crafts in the north of Scotland.

The colour isn't showing terribly well as the photographs were taken on a cloudy day. This next photo was taken the following, sunny day and, though a pretty lousy photo, shows the lustrous yarn and fabulous colour.

I've several laceweights lurking from Helen and they are all lovely. That includes several intended for shawls and two glorious wine-coloured ones for a lightweight cardigan bought at GSY last year (there seems to be a theme developing here). This one is intended for a lace shrug for the SWRI West Fife Show in June; well, not totally as it's a pattern that has been queued for a while but it's an opportunity to put a rocket under me and actually get it done. The local show in September is also hurrying me to actually do another long-queued item - a lace cowl this time - for that.

I joke about my yarn and fabric stash, saying that I'm building it up for when I'm living on a pension and can't afford to buy anymore. The way things are going with employment and pensions in the UK lately, that's looking less and less like a joke. I only hope that I can afford food and heating. At least I'm making my own clothes. I'd better get the garden sorted sometime to start growing my own vegetables then I really will be ready for the zombie apocalyse - or has it already arrived in the form of our current politicians?

Well, back to the socks - they're almost finished!

Welcome, Me!

Ooof, how to start this? I think I've described myself and my life fairly clearly in the profile to the right but I'm new to this game and I think it will be a bit of a learning curve for me. Perhaps I should treat it as Dear Diary/Blog?

And my interests are a bit of a mixture, some would think. This blog isn't going to fit nicely into one or other sections of interest. Yes, I knit, sew and embroider but I'm also opinionated on many subjects (including politics), studied language and literature at one of the ancient universities of Scotland, have worked in several sectors, love the countryside, and am a practising witch and Gardnerian Wiccan at that. Perhaps I'm being a little presumptive in thinking that anyone would want to read my musings so I'll stick to clarifying my thoughts?

Currently, I'm having difficulty in levering myself up from the sofa to leave my notebook and knitting behind and actually accomplish something that doesn't involve the web or yarn, like cleaning the house. Let's just say that I'm not a natural housewife. Still, I don't really want the cats to stick to the floor or be lost under a pile of newspapers. The dust bunnies of dog and cat hair are also threatening to take over the world.

I have a few things on the needles at the moment, Corinne cardigan from last spring's Knitty in a glorious colour (Jou Jou) of Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk that I got from The Black Sheep, a pair of Diagonal Lace Socks in Trekking and a very slow-going cardigan from the ill-starred Yarn Forward/Knit magazine in Sirdar Balmoral. All are for me as this year's resolution is to actually produce garments for myself and not others as before; however, I will make an exception for a good friend's first grandchild! Perhaps my first Baby Surprise Cardigan?

In other work, I need to send healing to a friend in Germany who is having serious problems with her back. The moon is currently waning so I need to think about how to word the work; I think I will use the old standby of candle magic as I always have the materials in the form of various colours of candles handy. So, today's work shall be the preparation of the workspace and altar before sending the healing. The trees and hedges are in bud here so winter and its harshness and cruelties are on the wane - I think that this is something I can use.

So, welcome, Me to this blog, and welcome too to any reader who may happen upon it.