Will be starting a new course in January.

   Over the last year, I have made more applications for jobs, internships, college courses and Fas courses, than I could ever imagine doing in a lifetime. I have even applied for internships as a cabinetmaker or I have applied for placements that were looking for improvers or third year apprentice’s, (I’m a fully qualified cabinetmaker for Krypes sake) just so I could get back to cabinetmaking. I’ve applied to get into Art College (although I do have to admit my portfolio was very weak as I didn’t put enough work into it) I have even applied for an internship as an archaeological draughtsman. Every morning I get up and check the job sites and my emails, in case there is something out there for me. For every few applications I make, I will either get an email or letter stating that they are considering my application or they are sorry as my application is unsuccessful. How I don’t feel down in the dumps is beyond me at this stage.

   Well I have a bit of good news for a change. I received an email the other day that started “Congratulations - Your application has been accepted”. Now my first thoughts were a new Viagra campaign, Russian brides or maybe the Spanish lottery again (although they normally send you a letter by post.). No none of these. Wasn’t even a spam or spoof email. It seems I have been accepted into a course in DIT (Dublin Institute of Technology). So as you can imagine, I was over the moon with this good news. I ended up texting everyone that I know, telling them all my good news. For once, I thought, things are starting to go my way. Mind you, if I had put the work into my portfolio, I would have had a chance. So in fairness, it is only my fault that I didn’t get to do animation or illustration. ANYWAY, as I was saying, things seem to be going my way again to a degree.

   The course in DIT is only a very short one that will last only four weeks. But hopefully in them four weeks I will learn or at least begin to learn Photoshop and illustrator. These are the programs I have wanted to learn, but as they are so expensive, I just didn’t have access to them at all. In fact, these are the programs I wanted to learn with Fas earlier on in the year and I even went for an assessment to get into the class, but did not get I as it seems, you need to know how to use the programs before you can learn to use the programs. I wrote about this in May under the title “Sorry for not posting a blog” and I wasn’t very happy about it. But now I will get the chance to learn how to use these programs. Now if I could only afford them as they are very expensive to buy.  

   So once I do the course in mid-January, I will be back making job applications once again. I just hope that things will be better next year.

Christmas in Donegal

Well it’s nearly two weeks till Christmas. The time of year that you would look forward to when we were kids. Christmas decorations, lights and music all over the place. You go into any shop and you just can’t escape the fact that Christmas is round the corner.

In fairness to the shops, the Christmas season represents almost two thirds of the yearly turnover, depending on what type of products that they sell of course. The other shopping seasons are Easter which comes third and believe it or not Halloween which is the second biggest shopping season for of the year. I know most of us tend to think of the shops being greedy and all they want is profit. Well this is true to a degree although when you find out how much rent and rates they pay, it is easy to understand why. I just wonder how profits will go this Christmas season as most people just don’t have the disposable income and like me, they may not even have a job. To say things are bad I Ireland at the moment is putting it lightly.

It’s strange as we normally get really mild winters in Ireland, and it has only snowed a few times over that last 20 years or so. That’s not to say we don’t get snow as we may have it for a day or so. But it is rare that we get snow for any longer than a three or four days. Mind you I do remember not being able to go to school for a few weeks back in the 1980’s. This was more to do with the school bus not risking driving down our road due to the frost and snow. I always remember it was brilliant as we didn’t have to go to school and there was a real sense of freedom about that. Funny as you get older, snow and ice is nothing but a pain and all I want is for it to go away. Last year was the same, we had snow that lasted a few weeks and the country more or less came to a standstill. I hope it doesn’t snow this Christmas although I’m sure we will have a wee fall. Here is a photo that I took of Ramelton Co.Donegal in the year 2000. I took it with a digital camera and it looks ok as it was taken in auto as there were very little controls with the camera. It would make a good Christmas card, although it is a bit boring. I can’t believe I only took one photo as I would not have had the same limits as if I had a film camera.

In some ways I am lucky that I am still single and don’t have any kids or a partner to worry about. But then again I really envy my friends that have a family or even if they don’t they have a partner to share Christmas with. My nearest chance of a partner was going out with Slingback girl this year and in fairness, in a way I think it would be better than being single. But then again, maybe not.

I will be going home to Donegal this year for Christmas as I normally do except for last year as I was snowed in and could not get up to Donegal. It was my first Christmas away from home which kind of means I have finally grown up, which is about time as I am over 40.

My mum always goes out of her way to make it a good Christmas, with turkey and ham and all the trimmings. She really does make a brilliant Christmas dinner despite me telling you all in a past post, that she wasn’t a very good cook. She always buys a big turkey despite the fact she doesn’t like turkey or chicken for that matter.

Not sure how Christmas will go this year as my poor mum was sick with shingles and it will take her a few month to get over this horrible sickness. If you haven’t heard of shingles, well it is caused by the same virus as chicken pox. So if you have ever had chicken pox, what happens is the virus hibernates and maybe 50 or 60 years later will reactivate into shingles. My poor mother was sick for a few weeks and she was unable to sleep. It was only after she didn’t sleep for over a week that the doctor gave her sleeping tablets and even with these, she can only sleep a few hours. It must be pure torture. I only found out she was so sick when my dad rang me and it takes a lot for my dad to use a phone. I hadn’t been home for months and was planning to drive home that week when my dad rang me to say mum was so sick. I’m glad I found out as it would have been unfair of me to go up as all my mum needed was peace and quiet. If I had of gone home, I would have been an unnecessary bother to them.  I just hope she is well enough for Christmas as it could take anything up to six months for her to recover fully. Just have to make sure she gets a hassle free Christmas as much as possible.

Anyway, to everyone out there, I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a prosperous and happy new year. Hopefully we will have a better year in 2012 and maybe I will be able to find a job and a girlfriend as well. Girls with slingbacks need not apply.

To my good friend Jimmy, I hope you will not have to weight to long for your new hip replacement. I’m sure once you get this done you will be like a spring chicken and I expect you to be running the Dublin city marathon next year. Hope you and Monica as well as the rest of your family, have a brilliant Christmas and an even better new year. God bless to everyone out there and that means you as well “Sound Auld head”  

I will take my camera up with me and take loads of photos. Who knows, we may even have a wee bit of snow in them.

Apple iPods? Don’t think so.

My brother John bought a new MP3 player and I have to say it is fantastic. He bought an Archos MP3 player and it only cost him €30-€40. John actually said it cost him €29.99 but I don’t believe him. The sound quality of his MP3 player is way better than my Apple iPod, and it also has a built in radio. I asked him if I could get a lend of it as I wanted to see if it was as good as I heard. I also wanted to see how much video it would take. I told john that more than likely I would delete all his music, but it would be easy to put back on again.

          So I deleted all his music files (not before backing them up on my p.c.) and started loading on all the videos from my laptop. There was about 10 or 12 videos, which included an hour long documentary from the BBC about 6 degrees of separation. There were a few short animations from BCFE student work and also three Daves School videos. Six episodes of Tom Arnold’s Overkill and 6 or 7 episodes of robot Chicken and I’m sure there was others videos as well. OMG that way more than 10 or 12 videos. Think I need to learn to count.  ANYWAY After adding all these videos on to the MP3 player, I then added back all his music and then about 10 albums of my own. OMG it took all that data, no bother and there was space left over as well. Absolutely fantastic wee MP3 player and way better than my Apple iPod classic that I bought a few years ago. Mind you my iPod is over 4 years old. €29.99 for the Archos MP3 player is absolutely brilliant, even the headphone would cost around €20, if not more. It also doubles up as a camera, how fab is that. 

 

Sorry this is a bit of a review, but I’m really pissed of about a job I have been trying to apply for, and I’m not ready to blog about it yet as it is peeing me off big time. Will post about it next time.

Weekend dinner

One thing I really miss is the Sunday roast beef with lashings of gravy and Yorkshire puddings, Yum Yum! I know I have blogged about this subject before, but I haven’t been home to Donegal in a while, so I haven’t had my mums Sunday roast. I can’t go home for a few weeks as my parents are away in the UK visiting relations, so I will just have to write about the Sunday dinner. Yes I know I can go down to the butcher and buy a roast for tomorrow, or even go out to one of them gastro pubs for Sunday lunch. But to be honest, it’s just not the same as mums cooking.

 I can’t believe I’m talking about my mums cooking as she is legendary for NOT BEING A VERY GOOD COOK. I know what you are all thinking, but I have to be honest and say that it is true. In case you are reading this mum, I’m talking about another Mum that one of my friends heard about (I think I will get away with it) ANYWAY as I was saying, My mum, or I mean, a mum that one of my friends heard of, isn’t a very good cook. I know this sounds unfair and in a way it is, as the food she cooks is quite good with her Sunday dinner and maybe the odd homemade apple pie. Her food, although not bad, seems to taste the same. One example of this is when she was staying with me for a week. I was still working and I came home and there was a dinner ready for me. Ok this is a good thing, but I didn’t expect her to make dinner at all. I was going straight home to make a nice dinner for the both of us, but she beat me to it. Know I don’t remember what she made, but I do remember how amazed I was (although I did not say to her) that the food somehow had a uniform taste that I, to this day, cannot figure out how she managed. When I make a dinner, normally every component has its own taste. For example, peas will taste of peas and potatoes will taste of potatoes. It’s a simple as that. Another time was when we caught some fresh marcel in Lough Swilly, and mum cooked them for dinner. I did not say, but they had little or no taste to them, which I could not believe. Normally fresh marcel is one of the tastiest fish you can eat, but not in my mum’s kitchen.

 Now it’s not just the uniform taste, or even the lack of taste that is so different in my mums cooking, it’s also the strange combinations that she will serve. My sister in-law has said this before as well, and she has talked about the food combinations such as frozen pizza served with lasagne and baked beans for tea and salad with tinned salmon served with oven chips and waffles. Also her home made custard that is made from sugar, corn flour and milk and nothing else. I mean, even if there was something in the custard that would make it look the traditional yellow it would be some improvement. My brother Arren (sounds like Arren but starts with a D) loves my mums cooking even though his wife is a great cook. I kind of think his pallet would be more educated seeing as he hasn’t lived back home in Donegal for 15 years or so. Don’t know how my sister in-law puts up with the competition as she herself is a brilliant cook.

Another odd thing is (my uncle Joe told me about this one) when mum and dad go to a restaurant, they always seem to pick the same thing each and every time. If they get a steak for example, they will both ask for it to be well done with onions. My aunty Angela went on holiday with them for two weeks last year, and she was saying, she never came across two people that will eat the same dishes each and every time and it never seems to be a conscious decision either, as they may be sitting at different ends of the table. So much for freedom of choice.

Anyway, I’m going off now to make a dinner. It won’t be roast beef with all the trimmings, but if I can make everything with a uniform taste, I can just shut my eyes and pretend that I am eating my mums Sunday roast dinner. 

 

Re written poem 3

So after forgetting the poem that I had written yesterday, due to not saving my work, DOH!

I have tried, as much as I can, to recreate the said poem. Now I know it’s not brilliant and also it’s only half the size of the original. But I think this is the best I can do. Think it’s one of those things that you can only do on the spur of the moment or when the iron is hot as we would say back home. It seems very unfinished to me, but I may get back to it again, but to be honest, I think that moment in time that formed the poem, is gone for ever. I’m kind of happy with the lines, but I can’t help feeling that it is missing something. Ok so here it is, my new poem (from some one that is not a poet) I hope you all like it and can see some depth in the writing.

Condensation by A.M.Donaghey

As a boy I’d often watch, roles of condensation drops.

Watered surface of the glass, on winter morning’s coldness past.

Furrow down the window pain, and merge into a single lane.

Gathering upon the sill, and pooling till the tension spill.

Once the moisture of my youth, now just memories of past truth.

Just added this video file with my new poem so you can hear what I think it should read like.

 

Music and poetry

I was just looking over a few diaries from when I was still a cabinetmaker and I am astonished how creative I used to be. I would invent and designed things on a regular basses, or at least come up with original ideas in some form or another. The other thing that I could do with ease is to write a song. However, if I didn’t record it somehow, it would be lost forever. So I really only have a memory of having written good songs as I cannot play a musical instrument (even though I have a guitar)

 Although I am, no way as creative as I used to be, I still seem to get the odd song, with lyrics, form in my head. But again, if I don’t record it, they are lost forever. How mental is that? I wonder do other people have the same issues.

 I will try and learn the guitar that I have had for a number of years (Not saying what number it is) and you just never know what could happen. I won’t be able to sing though, as I damaged my voice a few years back and can no longer hold a note. I once did have a nice voice, although to be honest, I only have the memory of having a nice singing voice.

ANYWAY Today I was reading about the poet Patrick Kavanagh, who is from Inniskeen in Co.Monaghan, Ireland. Now I know Inniskeen very well as my mother is from near there and we used to go to Mass there on a Sunday if we were down staying with granny. My Granny and my Grandfather would have known Patrick Kavanagh fairly well as rural areas of Ireland are very tight knit communities.

ANYWAY after reading some of Patrick Kavanaghs work, a new poem started to form in my head. Almost like the songs with lyrics that I used to get. This time I was on the PC and I was able to write this new poem down and was very happy with it or be it for a short time only. So after writing the poem and reading and re reading it, I went out to the kitchen and started making dinner (no courgetts this time)  After eating my dinner, feeding and playing with the dog, I came back to my PC and found all my work GONE!  I just don’t know what happened? The PC was still on but all my work was missing. Silly idiot as I didn’t save anything. Now as with any songs I have written, if its not recorded its gone forever. Good job I’m not an actor as I would never be able to remember my lines.

I have been trying to peace back my poem and all I can get is four small lines.  

So here it is, my new, very short poem.

Condensation by A.M.Donaghey

As a boy I’d often watch, roles of condensation drops.

Furrow down the window pain, and merge into a single lane.

Watered surface of the glass, on winter morning’s coldness past.

Once the moisture of my youth, now just memories of past truth.

A bit peed off as I know my original poem was ten lines long and better. Although I only have the memory that it was better. Catch22 I think.

 

Looking for a job is no fun. Another application for an internship.

As you know I have been looking for a job for what seems FOREVER. I have applied for so many jobs, courses and internships, that it is just not funny anymore. I do admit I didn’t apply for many customer service jobs because I feel this is far too unhealthy (sitting in front of a phone and PC all day) although I still would not rule it out as a job is a job. The only thing about doing customer service or even sales jobs, is I feel they are just not `stimulating enough. I need to do something that is creative and productive. Something I can get stuck into and put energy and imagination into.

        Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against customer service jobs and have worked in that environment for a number of years and got on brilliant with the customers. It’s just, I feel that they sap all your energy in a way a physical or creative work just doesn’t. When I was cabinetmaking I used to cycle 10 miles, do a full day’s work (with only one break) and then cycle 10 miles home in all weather. I can honestly say I was never as excused as when I worked in customer service. After coming off the phone and PC, it just felt like all your energy was sucked from your body and by the time I got home (driving a car) all I felt like doing was, flopping down and vegetating for the rest of the evening. But at the end of the day, if there is a customer service job out there, I would not turn it down.

However, today I have applied for another internship (one of many) and it seems to be one of my ideal jobs again. This internship is for Archaeological Draughtsperson and I think this would tick all the boxes for me. I know that this job may seem a bit boring for a lot of people, but to me it would be so stimulating, I just can’t tell you. When I was about 12 or 13, there were two jobs that I wanted to do, Cabinetmaking or Archaeology.  Well I was lucky enough to become a cabinetmaker and amazingly this crossed over with archaeology as I did work for most of the museums in the country. However the company that I worked for had a management style that, well let’s just say, I would not work in that environment again and heartbreakingly, I have not worked as a cabinetmaker since.

ANYWAY as I was saying, this Archaeological Draughtsperson internship would tick all my boxes and in fact, when I tried to get that college course for Graphic Design, my thinking was that I would be able to do the artwork and sketching for archaeological digs. Now I know that this internship will not be the same, but it will open up the opportunity for me a bit more. However I must not get my hope up as there will be hundreds of people applying for this internship that does not pay anything.

All I can do is hope.

I applied for another internship

I normally check the job sites each and every morning as I have been looking for employment or even an internship for the last 4 or 5 months. I would love to do any type of active work as I have worked in the customer service and office environment for far too long and found that sitting on my backside all day is not very good for my health or waste line for that matter. It would be fantastic to do something creative like the internship for a stone cutter that I didn’t get a few weeks ago or something like that. WELL after checking all the job sites religiously for the last few weeks and applying for whatever jobs that I could do, I overlooked one of my ideal jobs. THE JOB, or to be more accurate THE INTERNSHIP was for a furniture restorer in the Dublin area. This would be brilliant as it would be a way back into cabinetmaking once again. The company is looking for someone that they can mentor to do furniture restoration, French polishing and upholstery. This is something that I can do if I get a chance. When I started as a cabinetmaker apprentice many years ago (I sound old) furniture restoration is one thing I really wanted to do but did not get the chance and by the time I was a qualified cabinetmaker, I could not afford to give up my job as I had started saving to buy a house. I had also become institutionalised and myself belief and creativeness had become stifled and undermined by a very egotistical employer and a management regime. This is the main reason I never went back to cabinetmaking even though I so craved it.

ANYWAY as I was saying, I missed this internship that was posted on the FAS website last Friday. How I missed it I will never know and I am really peed off with myself about it. This morning applied for the said internship by emailing my C.V. with a cover letter. The only thing is, I am sure they have received hundreds of applications for this job and all I can do is hope. I cannot give them a call as it was made clear on the application, that they will only take emails. All I can do is live in hope. I just wonder when this unemployed hell will end as I am really starting to feel down in the dumps. As I said before, it is not the lack of money that gets to you. It’s the feeling of worthlessness. I just hope that this company will at least look at my CV and give me a call or even just email me. Wish me luck.

Slingback girl

A few weeks ago, I told you all about my date with, let’s just call her the SLINGBACK GIRL.  As you know, it wasn’t the most successful date I have been on, but in fairness, it wasn’t the worst either. Well anyway I was doing some shopping (I know, a good catholic boy like me shopping on a Sunday when I should be in mass) and who did I bump into again, but the SLINGBACK GIRL. I was surprised that I wasn’t as embarrassed as I thought I would have been, but it was a bit awkward to be honest. I know it would have been the easiest thing in the world to ask her out on another date (in the hope that she doesn’t drink too much and start moaning about people again) but somehow I managed to avoid this. In fairness, it was really nice to see her again and we had a nice yap and even a laugh. I know she does not know, or at least I don’t think she knows why I do not want to go out with her again. I did kind of get the feeling that she was a wee bit, I was going to say hurt that I did not phone or contact her after our night out, but I think hurt may be too strong a word. Maybe she bitches and moans about people because she is hurt? That would make sense wouldn’t it? But then again, she could just be one of those people that are really judgemental.  No, I think I made the correct decision not to go out with her again as she made really personal negative remarks about our past work mates, and I just don’t think it was called for and also the fact that it was over five years ago that we all worked together shows that these are deep rooted opinions.  I’m just wondering what she really thinks of me now?   Ah well.   Oh just to let you know, she wasn’t wearing slingbacks today lol. In saying all this, I really do wish her the best and hope she will be happier with herself and others.  It’s odd in a way because yesterday I blogged that I was finding it hard to find a girlfriend and today I turned down the chance. I wouldn’t mind, but Slingback Girl is really good looking as well. The truth is, it’s what’s inside that really counts. If only I could find a girl that was into arts and crafts and the simple things. If I could find myself hippy girl that doesn’t mind fat, unemployed guys that have boxer dogs and drives a granny car (2006 Renault Modus).  I will tell you about my Renault Modus another time.

Lifes ups and downs?

So it is over a week ago since I went for the job interview for an internship as a stone cutter. Well needless to say I did not hear anything back about the job, even though I was really happy with how the interview went. That’s how the job market is in dear old Ireland at the moment. In many ways I was lucky to get the interview in the first place as there were literally hundreds of applicants out of which only 40 CV’s (résumé) were picked. 

Looks like I will be sending a lot more CV’s out before anyone will give me a job. I don’t know why I am still happy as the list of things that have gone wrong this year for me, would drive most people loopy. But then again, that’s life and it’s the ups and downs that make life interesting. I know it just sounds like I am trying to put the bright side to things to the front, but judge for you. Here is a list of things that have gone wrong since December 20^th.

December 20^th    Gas central heating boiler stops working and I can't get it to stay lit.   No money to get it fixed.

December 23^rd    Starts to snow so I can’t drive home to Donegal for Christmas as the roads are really bad and I’m not used to driving in snow.  First Christmas away from home EVER.   All Christmas there was no heat in house and it turned out to be the coldest winter for 50 years or so. 

 December 26^th   Due to cold weather, the pipes that brings water to attic tank freeze, which feeds the toilet, washing machine and washbasin. But at least the water is coming into kitchen sink so we can use buckets to flush toilet and make a cup of tea and cook. Although I can’t wash cloths or have a shower, at least we do have water, even if it is cold.

December 30^th   wake up about 3am with the sound of rain and think, fantastic, it has started to thaw and there will be no more ice or snow. Go back to sleep feeling happy, only to wake up as I realise the sound of rain is coming from inside the house.  I go out to the landing and see water flooding through attic hatch and down the walls and stairs. I run down to kitchen and shut off the water from the main valve and run all the taps so it will empty the attic tank before it all empty’s through the house. Mop as much water up as I can. Also water is running from the boiler under the stairs. As I can do no more I go back to bed and leave it for the morning. It turned out the boiler is a total wright of and it will cost €1600 or so to replace.

January 2^nd I was going to drive to Loughlinstown (12km away) were I was doing a computer course at the time and I find there is a big split in the tyre which I only spot because of a reflection from ice on my driveway. Otherwise the split in the tyre was almost invisible as it just looked like part of the tyres construction.  In some ways this was brilliant because if I were to have driven home for Christmas, the split could have resulted in a serious accident.

Went up to get a new tyre which I was going to be charged €110, as it was an odd size. Was at the tyre company for almost an hour as they could not find the correct size even though it was in stock .I had to used spare wheel as the tyre I was looking for would not be in for at least a week, however I drove down the road to another company and they changed my tyre for €40 less as it was a different make from the original.

You know what? the negative of Christmas is really a big positive as I could have had an accident due to the split in the front tyre which was almost impossible to see. Also If I had gone home to Donegal for Christmas, I know the water damage to the house would have been worse as it would have flooded the house until I came back which could have been 3 or 4 days. How lucky am I?

DO YOU KNOW WHAT    There aren’t really any negatives or things that have gone wrong. They were just hic ups that could have led to disasters.   You know, thinking about it, I am pretty lucky.

All I need to do with my life is to

Get healthy again ( I used to cycle and loved it)

 

Lose weight  (at least 6 stone)

Get a job  (would love to work in an arts and crafts type job. Mabe get back to cabinetmaking?)

Get motavation back (Keeping up the motivation is the hardest thing. This is a real struggle that I have battled for years with. I wonder if hypnosis works?)

Get a girlfriend  (not easy when you don’t have money and are overweight and to be honest, suffer low self-esteem, slight depression and just can’t get motivation) ( on the positive though, I have my own teeth, full head of hair and car  OH! and I also have a new bottle of aftershave  WOoo WhOOo!  How can I go wrong    LOL) ( mind you, it could be like the last date I went out with a few weeks ago. Am I better off single?)

I was going to do a big list of things that went wrong this year, but, life is not that bad.

The real negative is that I have abandoned art and have stopped drawing and painting. Now this is one thing I can control.  I am going to start putting a new portfolio together and I will try and get motivated so I can apply to NCAD, which I should have done last year. The only real hard thing is that I work well with other like thinking people and find it a struggle to do my art on my own.

NCAD is The National College of Art and Design of Ireland   

Please have a look at their website http://www.ncad.ie/

Sunday Dinner = Courgettes?

Sunday dinner is normally one of the best dinners of the week. I always look forward to going up home to Donegal for the Sunday roast with Yorkshire puds and gravy. Oh, how my mouth is watering wright now!

It’s a wee bit different when you are living on your own (well except for Rocky the boxer dog). It would not really be worth buying a Sunday roast beef as it would be a glut for only one and anyway, Sunday roast is a meal that people should eat together. Anyone out there want to invite me for a Sunday roast? LOL

I decided that I would continue experimenting with my courgettes and make another dinner, and I have to say it turned out really well.

First I got all my ingredients and prepared and chopped them. I used a really cheap mandolin type cutter to slice the courgette so it is just like spaghetti.

I then lightly fried my onion (red onion as the other one was bad) and in with the garlic and chicken. Because I was unsure about how courgettes cook, I added half a mug of instant vegetable stock. To be honest, I could have left this out as the dish started to get to wet.

I then added the courgette and then the peas. Because of the stock made it seem too wet, I added some instant noodle to soak it up. The instant noodle did a great job, but it didn’t really go together with the dish so I would be inclined to leave it out if I ever make this again. After a few minutes, I added a few spoonful’s of low fat cream cheese, or at least I think it was cream cheese as it was in German as I bought it in Aldi.

And here is the finished dish. I have to say it was really good and if I left out the noodle and maybe used smoke salmon instead of chicken, it would be fantastic and every bit as good as you would get in a restaurant. Add a few shavings of Parmesan cheese and maybe a bit of cream or creme fresh, and it would be perfect. All in all it cost about €1.30 to make.   Who said you need money to eat well?

Courgettes for dinner

Today I took a look at my flower bed in front of my house and decided that some of my courgettes were big enough to start cooking with.  Now to be honest, I don’t think I have ever had a courgette before, although I am sure I have in some form or another. I am going to use what I have in the house and NOT go to the shop for anything. I know I have some chicken, onion, garlic and I’m sure there are other things I can use. So off I go now to get my ingredients prepared and I will see what happens.

20 minutes or so later.

This is all the ingredients that I will use. As you can see I have prepared the veg and chicken so it is ready to cook.

First I browned the chicken and added the onion and garlic. After a few minutes I added the courgette and then some spices and a touch of pepper. I added the yellow pepper, tomatoe and peas last. 

I then added some vegetable stock (OXO stock cube) and last but not least I added the noodles and a wee touch of soy.

This is the finished dish that took about 20 or so to make. It tasted really good and far better than a Chinese take away.

The only thing is, after making this dish; I still can’t say I tasted courgettes as the dish was so flavourful with all its spices and mix of ingredients. 

I guess I will have to try again tomorrow.

Job Interview for stone cutter

I had good news regarding the stone cutter internship that my last post was about. I got a call from the owner of the company and he asked me if I could come in and see if I was suited to the job?

So on Wednesday I came in for an interview and was shown around the workshop and studio. I think the interview went really well although I was told that hundreds of people had applied for the job. Out of the few hundred applicants they picked 40 CVs so in a way I am really lucky. Not really sure if I will get the job as it may come down to something as simple as how near someone lives to the company or even a toss of a coin.

The manager said he was amazed at how meany people had applied to work for nothing.

When you are unemployed, the worst thing is the feeling that you are not doing or contributing anything and I can tell you that you start feeling worthless. If you are working, even for no money, at least you feel like you are worth something. Every day seems to be the same as well. You can’t go out and socialise as you don’t have enough money and it sometimes feels like there is a big black cloud hanging over you. It’s odd really as I know if I had a full time job, I would be looking forward to having time off.

WELL ANYWAY   I should hear by Monday if I get the job that does not pay anything.

If I don’t get the job I will still be happy as I know I gave a good interview and also that they picked my CV which is a big plus. I kind of wonder if I didn’t give them a call, would they have called me in the first place? Better stop now as some doubts are starting to pop into my head.

Stone cutter

The Job race is on again

Over the past few months I have been getting up early and checking all the job sites to see if there may be something there. Well this morning I checked the FAS (Foras Áiseanna Saothair, Training & Employment Authority) and there is an internship for a General Operative (Stone Cutting). This is in a small company that makes marble products for sale to the tourist trade and overseas. Sounds like it is my kind of job as I would love to get back into the arts and craft industry again as I am a qualified cabinetmaker and an art student. I have sent in my CV ( CV stands for Curriculum Vitae which is the same thing as a Résumé) with cover letter and I will also phone them in the hope they will at least give me an interview. I know it is early days, but I kind of feel good about this one. 

Ten minutes later

I called the company that is advertising this internship and they say that FAS has not approved anything yet (even though it is advertised on the FAS website) and as soon as they get the go ahead they will review all the CV’s. I got the impression that they have received loads of CV’s. I just hope that they will at least look at mine.

It’s the highs and lows of being unemployed as I don’t feel as good about this one after all.  Well that’s an hour out of my life and it feels like I was on the roller coaster of the jobs market. I just want to feel like I am employable again.  I want to do something that is creative and constructive and artistic if a job like that exists. 

 The company that I applyed for the internship makes jewellery and gifts from Connemara marble.