I’m off to start my new job in Rotherham – I’ve been appointed, finished the grad scheme with M&S, and now I’ve got a proper accountability rather than being extra support as I have been through my training. It’s been pretty tough to get to this point, with some difficulties that started almost a year ago, and there have been several times where I’ve just wanted to pack it in – personally, getting here is a big achievement, and so is doing it with the jobs market the way it has been. Jennie, Mum and Dad, my Grandparents and friends have all helped me do it, one way or another at different times in the year, and I can’t tell you all how grateful I am… thanks!

This time last year (specifically, about 22 hours ago last year) I was in Birmingham’s jewellers quarter, having just bought a diamond ring for Jennie, with Kieran’s expert advice. It took me almost a month to get the courage up and figure out how to ask her the question of our lifetime, which I finally did on the 1st of February, up Arthur’s Seat, in Edinburgh (and yeah, I got good marks for the location ).

This year we’ll be getting married (after much deliberation over the date) in mid-August up here in the North East. I really can’t wait, and I’m hoping that our time apart, while I’m in Rotherham and Jennie finishes her NQT year up here in Darlington, will fly by and not drag on too much. She’s very worth waiting for, though, even if it does!

Winding back slightly to January, I went over to Dubai with Dad, Mum and Felix, just as they were starting out on the strange experience of living out there with Dad’s work. The setting that time wasn’t too glamourous, in some of the oldest accommodation in Dubai, some serviced apartments near the World Trade Centre, but there was a nice pool and it was good and central. I think all the rain of the year, more or less, fell while I was there, but my next visit had better weather.

In July, Jennie finished her PGCE, having done very well in it, and she promptly (though after a bit of head and heartache) got herself a job with a 1 year contract in a Darlington primary school, to start in September. She did really well – it’s no mean feat given the small number of primary vacancies up here and low turnover, and she’s setting herself up well for 2010 with the experience.

The graduation of the year was Dominie’s, another gorgeous sunny affair on Palace Green, with copious amounts of Pimm’s and the usual dose of academic pageantry. This January will see Jennie’s second of (a probable) 3 Durham graduations, but I think it might be a bit colder than the other two I’ve been to!

August brought another (for me, Jennie’s first) great week in France with the gang – Brittany this time. There were quite a few more trips out in the local area this year, which was good, and the weather held pretty well, which was a worry with not being as far south as in other years… though Ben might not agree, who got the very worst of what was our worst journey there yet… and it wasn’t entirely his own fault, either . We’ll not be going on another France trip this year, for obvious reasons, but I’m looking forward to the holidays resuming maybe next year (Italy 2011, anyone?)

September was the inevitable end of summer and start of term for Jennie – she got a little flat, nice and close to her school, to try and make the notoriously difficult first year of teaching that little bit easier without the commuting. After a false start in Darlington before the France holiday, I started working over in the Middlesbrough store, with what was to be my last placement before getting appointed at the end of the year. Things were pretty quiet with us for a few months, with Jennie outrageously busy at work and me gearing up for the big Chrimbo push, but I managed to slide in starting to sail at a sailing club in Northumberland – I’ll have to find a new one in Rotherham, which is a shame, but it was a lot of fun and something I’ll be keeping up with this year.

In late September, Beckie died, obviously completely without warning. I didn’t know what to write about it then, and I still don’t now. I’ll miss her badly, as will each of us. I don’t often have a day when I don’t think of her now, which I feel quite sad about, because I didn’t always make the effort to stay in touch before it happened.

In November I took a second trip to Dubai, and saw Mum, Dad, Felix and Dom all settled in to their lovely (and enormous) house out there. I basically had 10 days of escaping the British winter, swimming and sunbathing, catching up with family, and big time being on relax. When I came back, Jennie had planned a mini-break to York for the following weekend, where we did the usual mini-break activities like painting china and stuff like that… why, what do you do on mini breaks?

December’s always a busy month, and I just about found time to fit in Christmas shopping around work, and preparing for the (very welcome) familial invasion at Christmas, which has just finished, and was full of food, presents and fun. And then, it was Now.

The end of a busy year, and this one’s starting just as busily, with moving to Rotherham, househunting, wedding planning, and all sorts of other things to do, I don’t think we’ll be at a loose end much…

Things have been ticking on nicely – I’ve moved in to my house and have gradually been making is housey… it’s been an expensive month. I’ve just got a sofa left to buy, which I’m going to try to do at the start of next week. I got a futon sofa-bed thing from Ikea yesterday, which is fine for the time being, but is more of a spare room sofa, and works better as a bed than a sofa. The thrills.

Work’s going well – they’re very keen to throw responsibility at me early, which suits me just fine – not getting it quickly was one of the frustrations I had before I moved. Christmas looks like it’ll be mental, but that’s a good thing really.

Delilah’s been in the wars this month – burst a tyre yesterday, she’s in getting mended as I type… just what I needed on an expensive month like this one

So, very speedy entry, hope you’re all well, and please please come to my housewarming – I miss all of you! It’s on the 15th of November at my house, all the details are on Facebook.

I bought a car (her name’s Delilah) and drove her to the Dordoigne for an amazing weeks holiday with lots and lots of my friends. I got back, and found a house in Guildford (mid July.) I’m sharing with 4 randoms, who are all perfectly harmless and the house is nice enough, it’s got a big garden which has been a good venue for a couple of BBQs, including my birthday party last week! I’ve started going out with Jennie (again, mid July) which is ace and we’ve had several fantastic weekends, but the 300 miles between us has been a bit of a pain in the arse. So, I asked Zoë (my Store Manager) whether there was any chance of a transfer up north, which has just recently been confirmed – I’m starting at the Metrocentre store in Gateshead (near Newcastle) on the 13th of October!

OK! On to the present… I’ve been on holiday for the past week, which was fabulous – started well with a party in Guildford, and a day in London with Jennie, and then we drove up North on Tuesday. Since then, she’s been working in preparation for the start of her PGCE on Monday, and I’ve been looking for houses in the sunny North East.

I saw 9 places in total, all over the area between Durham and Gateshead. Some were nice shiny new developments, both houses and apartments; they were all a bit fake and small and expensive, though nice enough. Some of the houses I saw were just a bit old and sorry for themselves, though there were 2 or 3 good ones, but when I saw this one in Langley Park (a nice big village about 10 mins drive west of Durham) I was pretty certain about it. Jen came with me for a second look on Friday, and we both thought that it was just right – modern inside, but not too big and not too small, a nice terrace in a a pretty lively looking village. I went and signed the papers that afternoon, and I’m moving in on the 11th of October!

The house is unfurnished, so I’m on the hunt for an entire house worth of furniture now… if you know anyone with sofas, chairs, shelves, fridges/freezers, etc going spare, please let me know! Apart from that I’m just working freecycle and ebay as hard as I can…

I’m on my way back to Guildford now, to round things off at the store there and get ready for the transfer oop North. I stopped at K&L’s in Uttoxeter last night, which was good fun, and I’ll do the rest of the journey today. Was also proud of myself for doing the 180 miles from the metrocentre to here with 12.5l of fuel, a good solid 65mpg, which is ace! That’s the best I’ve managed so far, 12.5l is a quarter of my tank: I normally get ~110-130 miles for that (40-47mpg), so it’s a huge saving driving at 60 rather than 70. I wasn’t really slipstreaming lorries much, so that’s the next test! (Such a geek…)

I’ll try to do better next time, and actually update, ooh, more than once a month, even!

I’ve been quite busy recently – for good reasons, like having got a job! At last! I know, my unemployed time wasn’t too long, but it’s the indefinite nature of jobhunting that makes it seem so bad at the time. Anyway, I started working at King’s College London on Thursday 6th, as an Admissions Officer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery; lovely people, varied work, and a great organisation to work for, so I’m very happy. (I won’t be blogging about work much from here on, to be honest, because I don’t think it’s a good idea, generally speaking, for a variety of reasons.)

I also took my first driving test today. 9 minors, and sadly, 1 major fault, which I picked up in the last five minutes of test for forgetting to cancel a left indicator before pulling away from parked on the road. Very, very annoying, and my next test isn’t until the 4th of January, unless I manage to pick up a last minute cancellation over Christmas – I’ll be keeping my eyes firmly on the DSA website over the next few weeks.

Yeah, that’s about all to be honest… If anyone’s planning a new years party that I can come to, it would be good to know what’s happening

J

I’ve been learning to drive more – had my theory test (passed, 49/50 on questions, 49/74 on hazard perception) and I booked a practical test for the 3rd of January. I also found a driving instructor, who thinks I should move it to early December, so I’m going to do that. All very exciting, and through birthday money and selling some camera gear I don’t use much (still have my main gear, of course) I’ve almost saved enough money to buy a car already , though not insure it yet. In time. I’m looking at 1996-99 Polos and Puntos, which seem pretty affordable, and small but not too tiny to take 4 people to France and back (much as I love the Lupo, it wouldn’t really work with more than 3 + luggage….)

Went to Leicester last weekend for a bit of a last hurrah, going for a night out at Retribution (Totally. Amazing.), seeing friends, and having a little trip to Bradgate Park to see the deer and upside-down-tankard folly. Fun times! I would be going up to Durham this weekend to see people, but no cheap fares. Alas!

Also, a couple of hints for you all, cunningly stolen from the MoneySavingExpert weekly email: £5 train fares on the GNER east coast line (you have to use the link), and a free £10 for Natwest, RBS, HSBC, First Direct and Ulster Bank customers, grab and go.

So, I’m all done, and now fully unemployed and job hunting (and signing on next week…). There is some good news though; I have an interview at UCL on Tuesday, and a possible other interview with a smaller company before too long. It’s just getting to that time when a load of my applications are shortlisting (the UCL one was one of the first I applied to in this slew), so with any luck I’ll get a few more emails soon.

So, wish me luck, and I hope you’re all OK.

Oh-eight-forty-one Southwest trains service to Bournemouth. Was delayed by 20 minutes, then somehow on time again. Arrived at ten-forty-five, as scheduled.

£3.30 Taxi to actually very respectable Ramada Encore hotel where I’m staying, courtesy of the party. They didn’t know I was staying there, but apparently they do now, so I should have somewhere to sleep: win!

Arrived at late accreditation (my pass application got lost first time around) to collect my pass. This should have been very simple, but apparently mine wasn’t working properly so I had to wait. For two and a half hours. Met several interesting people, and wandered off to get some food. Heaven knows why reprinting a pass takes that long, but never mind.

Wandered up to the Highcliff Hotel, in the secure zone, where I’m working. A little surreal bumping into secretaries of state left right and centre (given how few of them there are, it’s surprising how much this happens.) I saw Alistair Darling at the station, Ruth Kelly held the door for me on the way in to the hotel, and walked down to the conference centre with Jacqui Smith. All very odd.

I spent most of the day running up and down the hill chasing after video questions for ministers, and running random errands. I missed our interview of Alistair D, which was a shame, but there’ll be plenty more to do through the week.

Anyway, I’m in the office now for a while, doing bits and bobs with videos and the website. I’ll be off in search of a lucky fringe event to feed me soon, and then it’ll be time for all the free lash. It’s all about getting in to that conference groove!

Apparently there isn’t usually much to do at this time of year, because it’s very politician-driven work, but that does beg the question of why they would take me at this time of year. I didn’t raise that, and I didn’t raise my concerns about over-cautiousness with letting me correspond with people. They currently check everything I write to outside organisations and internal people, which is a little demoralising – I’ve plenty of experience dealing with that kind of thing, I’m sure I could be trusted to email non-political support organisations without too many problems.

There is of course the dilemma that I’m sure all Labourites in my place have to come to terms with: that the party they believe in, for policies like the minimum wage, doesn’t live up to their own preachings, and that so few political internships are paid minimum wage, or even all expenses (I’m spending £1.50 of my own money on travel each day, and £2-2.50 on lunch, which isn’t much, but that’s living close to London on no wages, so it’s pretty difficult – another reason why I’m so annoyed about recent boredom.)

Money isn’t actually a motivator to me: it helps when I’m doing something boring, but all it really does is help me get up and go to it again, with dread, each day. I’m motivated by interesting work, achievement (whether it’s recognised or not doesn’t matter too much) and personal development of a meaningful kind. Money is a necessity,  and it’s nice to have a bit more than I need, but money in itself doesn’t particularly motivate me to work harder, longer, or better.

The other thing that motivates me is working for something I believe in. That obviously takes a hit when the Labour party won’t pay the minimum wage they so rightly introduced. I mean, I know the parties are all broke, but would budgeting for a few interns (well under £50k a year, given how few there are in head office right now) really break the bank?

Anyway, with any luck I should start feeling like I’m doing something useful, and feeling a little less underused and undervalued over the next few weeks: watch this space