The Cons of An Unplanned Year Out

• No friends to hang with
• Friends post all their crazy freshers and ‘nights out’ photos on Facebook
• Job hunting is tough when nobody wants you
• You run out of stuff to do fast if you’re not working
• You have all these crazy plans of stuff you plan to do in your year out but the reality is that a lot of that stuff won’t actually happen
• You think of how things might have been different if you got a place at university instead
• …

The one thing that I’ve come to realise with a year out is that things can get pretty lonely at times. You really do have to be one for self motivation. But it has given me a lot of time to think about my future, the things that I want and what I want to become.

For some people, a year out is exactly what they need and want. For me however, I think that I was very ready to go to university this year, to move on with my life and to take that step into the land of self-responsibility.

I think I need to go for a bike ride in an attempt to find some more inspiration and motivation.

Praise the job god!

Alas!

 

My life is now officially back on track – the job hunt is over. Admittedly it’s only part time (16 hour contract) but there will be extra shifts when the shop opens and at Christmas, so basically until the end of the year. And who knows, maybe they’ll offer me more hours if I perform well? Either way, I have a feeling that I’ll still want to look for a bit more work, maybe some more volunteering or something.

And it was the Cookshop of all places that gave me the job, aha! The shop is set to open 7th of November but I have 2 weeks of training beforehand. Training starts next week and I’ve got to travel all the way down to Buckinghamshire for a week of training. Should be good to meet all the other new staff. Then the following week I will be back in my current town to do some additional training. Then I’ll be unleashed on the world, give me strength.

Now to talk about some other bits and bobs, it’s been a while since I gave a general life update. Cambridge SAQ (supplementary applicant questionnaire) is officially off so that’s all the paperwork done for my university applications, now I just need to get some more interview practise, yipee! I have also been learning a little bit, but it’s hard to find focus when you’re jobless and lack the motivation. I’ve started a MOOC (massively open online course?) in Medicinal Chemistry and that’s given me the opportunity to revise a little chemistry, biology and hopefully some maths later on in the course. I’m also due to start another MOOC next week in immunology (study of the immune system), although I’m not sure how that is going to happen all the way in Buckinghamshire. Furthermore, I’ve also started my basketball coaching again, first session was the Sunday just gone. Had to lead a session all by myself but I felt more ready to do that, having acquired my basketball level 2 coaching award over the summer. But it was good fun, the kids loved it, and next time I’ll plan my session so I know what I’m doing and don’t end up floundering during the session, thinking of drills to put into practise.

So that’s my life so far, hectic or not? Oh, forgot to mention that I’m building my own computer tomorrow, the level of chaos is about to turn up to 100.

PEACE.

Do we have a winner?

I think we might have our film of the year.

 

May I introduce you to Sicario, one of the grimiest, grittiest thrillers ever released.

The synopsis: “After rising through the ranks of her male-dominated profession, idealistic FBI agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) receives a top assignment. Recruited by mysterious government official Matt Graver (Josh Brolin), Kate joins a task force for the escalating war against drugs. Led by the intense and shadowy Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro), the team travels back-and-forth across the U.S.-Mexican border, using one cartel boss (Bernardo Saracino) to flush out a bigger one (Julio Cesar Cedillo).”

There are so many things in this film that won me over. For starters, Emily Blunt’s performance was outstanding, perhaps one of her best yet. Then there was the cinematography, every shot was beautifully composed and the colour palette was perfect for the gritty feel of the film. The music was also superb, it ensured for an intense viewing experience. There were definitely a few good ‘jumps’ in the film and the music really helped to provide tension in those quiet, oh no, what the hell is going to happen moments. The scenery and locations made the film feel very real and left nothing to the imagination. To really understand this film and get the most out of it, you really need to pay attention to the details. My family were not that impressed with the film, arguing that the story was rubbish because it was too short-minded, but I think that they were missing the bigger picture (plus it was also too dark for them).

This film is definitely not for everyone, with its frequent violence, cut up naked bodies and depressing vibe. But if you watched True Detective or are in the mood for something that completely breaks the norm, I suggest that you go and see this film.

Interview Skill Level 5

Job interview 5 now down and out of the way.

The past week has been pretty busy in terms of job interviews. This week started with a few interviews for a new cookshop that will be opening soon in my local town. The first interview was a personal interview, probably just to see what I was like as a person and what made me suitable for the job. It was reasonably relaxed and I was actually surprised at how comfortable I was. I think all these interviews are actually making me better at talking about myself – shock horror. The second interview was a bit more quirky though. It was a group interview (there were 4 of us) and we first started by selecting a product of their’s from the table that we were sitting at. We then had 5-10 minutes to make some notes on the product features and questions that you would ask a customer if you were helping them to select a similar item. I chose a grater, yup, one of those things that people use to grate cheese. No, it really wasn’t too hard to talk about the item, it was a pretty fancy grater tbf. But it was the next exercise that threw me; we had to design a menu for a ‘Come Dine With Me’ style dinner party. FFS. Decided to throw a curve ball and chose to go for an Indian Cuisine, I have no idea how well that bit went. All in all, I guess that that series of interviews could have been worse. Should know by the beginning of next week whether or not I’ve got the job. 😀

Now to today’s interview. It was at a place called CeX (I think it might also be called ‘The Exchange’) and they essentially sell all second stuff e.g. games, movies, phones, gaming consoles etc. This was definitely the interview that I have had most fun partaking in, so far. It was a group interview, very informal and there were 5 of us in total. First question was just a getting to you know you question. Then we had to talk about a personal item that we had brought to the interview and I had brought my drumsticks (of course I had to, I mean what else?!). That was fine. We then had to work in groups to prioritise a list of tasks – this was also fine I think, I imagine that they were looking for personality conflicts between interviewees? And then it became at bit more interesting. We were asked, “If you had a super power, what would it be?”. Stuck for answers, I picked the force (you know, the whole Star Wars thing, telekinesis and that whole chabang) but turns out ‘the force’ was wrong and it should have been ‘manipulation of the force’ but I don’t think that it mattered haha. Now comes the best bit. The guy behind the counter pulled out 6 games and DVDs at random, and yes they were for different consoles. We then had 60 seconds to memorise the items and then we had to go and find them all in store. I think that I got them all right but I definitely wasn’t 100% sure. BUT, fingers crossed it went well. We shall see early next week.

That’s all from me for the time being, in the meantime, PEACE.

Now You See

Finally found a decent recording of the gig last Thursday night. #noautotune

 

Midnight Selfie

Forgot to attach the cheesy end of the night selfie with the one and only Michael League. Is that someone photobombing in the background?

Are you a Snarky Puppy?

Last night was a musical journey to remember. The one and only Snarky Puppy came to Birmingham last night and boy did they rock. If you don’t know who they are, they’re a kind of jazz band if you could call them that? It’s very hard to attribute a genre to them because there are gosbel, progressive and a plethora of other influences in the music that they produce.

Once again I was there early (a whole hour this time, it got really did get cold before the doors opened) but this time I was able to get a place right at the front, like literally standing on the barrier! This made for a fantastic night being so close to the 13 or so musicians that are Snarky Puppy. Being so close, you do make occasional eye contact with some of the band members but it was great because we would just laugh, the musicians were having such a good time, they were loving it; pulling faces, having a bit of banter, it was fab. The crowd was also fantastic, perhaps even the best bit about the whole event. There was a real mix of people there, young and old, and a real diverse mix of races. The crowd really made the night towards the event of the event when the band went offstage after performing their “last song” and as you might have guessed, the crowd and I wanted more so there was an encore! Then they finished that and went off stage but the crowd started singing one of their more well known songs and the band then came back on stage, and then they spontaneously jumped in, singing with us, and then proceeded to play the song, it was pretty amazeballs. Then, they went off stage again, probably thinking that they had definitely finished this time. BUT NO. We all started shouting ‘Lingus’ (the name of another one of their songs) and then they came back on again!! It’s tough to put into words how special the night was. I even managed to score a selfie with the one and only Michael League (the guy who essentially composes all the music). 😀

With that being said, they recorded it all with cameras so it should be online soon and I’ll post a link as soon as it’s up!

In the mean time, enjoy some Snarky Puppy.

The Boat That Rocked

Last night was pretty immense, I have to say. For those of you who don’t know, I (spur of the moment style) bought a ticket to go see Gabrielle Aplin live in Bristol and yes, before you ask, I did go by myself – how uncool, you stupid blah blah blah, heard it all before. But no, it was definitely one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made and I would do it again (in fact I already sort of have, but we’ll get back to that in a minute).

It was very strange at first, lining up outside a nightclub that’s on a boat and having no one to talk to. But sure enough, once I got in, I got to work socialising. I managed to get right to the front of the stage because I arrived at the venue early and because the venue was so small, there were no barriers between the stage and the crowd so I was 1 metre away from Gabrielle and was right in between the sides of the stage, the perfect posistion. 😀

I met some cool people and became very friendly with them and by the end of the night, we were friendly enough that we all caught the train together. So now the plan is to go see Gabrielle again, but in Cardiff, and meet these guys before the gig starts. You’re probably wondering why I’m going alone and the reason is that most of my friends are at university so everybody is busy on the day of the gig #foreveralone. I would definitely recommend going to see her live.

Photo taken by someone behind me.