Saturday 10 September 2011

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 20th.


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

December 23rd    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 26th   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 30th   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 2nd 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/

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