Jobbin'

Done up all pretty, I set off today so as to secure employment. Nearing Barbican station, I had a bit of an encounter with a woman who had an arse like a bumper car and a voice that could be likened to being stabbed in the kidneys while trying to enjoy watching your child take it's first steps.

That is to say, she was unpleasant...

...with me over my seeming to abandon a free paper on the subway seat which (she assumed) I had brought with me. I gave her a saucy wink and then exited, no time for temper tantrums today. Early for being early, I took a stroll around the neighborhood and was pleased to see that it had a small park and a large selection of pubs and restaurants which I might choose from if I need to buy a lunch. There was also one of those betting shops which are so popular here, adorned with several smiling Vinnie Jones posters letting me know that he would "do well by me, my son". This parlor was named "Ladbrokes" and though I understand they are betting brokers, it just doesn't strike me as wise to have that word in the name of a place which is trying to entice you with visions of cash. Kind of like naming a casino "Cash Strapped" or "Shitouttaluck".

The interview went fairly well, I feel. There were some last-minute skill bits, but nothing as bothersome as that Microsoft Word test. There was typing (la dee dah) and a sort of general "Are you stupid?" test. The latter is something I had to do at Greythorn recruitment as well and I have to wonder if there isn't some sort of sub-class of clever idiots who wank up a good CV, sound fair enough in the interview but then cannot do simple addition, multiply fractions, spell "indenture" or know the proper meaning of "effect".

Then again, maybe I shouldn't be so hard. I find that frequent use of spellchecker has brutally assaulted my own abilities and for the past few months I've been trying to avoid using it as anything but a last resort. The maddening thing about having an English degree (Honours too, you special boy you) is that you are often expected to be bloody infallible and a simple mistake will topple you off your high perch and place you straight into a large pile of what Ralph Steadman might refer to as gigoloshit. I don't know precisely what that last word means, but I'd marry it if the laws of man and nature would allow.

The pay turned out to be a grand above average for graduate jobs, so that's nice. There is a well-developed training program, 25 vacation days in a year and a semi-casual workplace (sweaters, but not novelty t-shirts or condoms). The job itself apparently is "Production Assistant" and would involve a lot of style editing over general proofreading, but whatever. It's something I can do for 40 hours a week and not just feel like I'm turning off my brain for eight hours a day while accruing nothing but a shit wage and more free radicals in my cells. Heck, some aspects which were described to me even sounded appealing to my taste for organizing things and changing them so as to remove the verbal chaff from the wheat.

They claim that I will know by Friday as to the result, one way or the other. I'm going to keep applying to other jobs, but I must say that I really do I hope I get this one. If all went well I could be living and working in London before the end of the month.

Switching from the micro to the macro, a decision was made today to dramatically raise traffic congestion charges in London by 2009 (giving folk time to adust their lifestyle to cleaner transport). The brilliance of this particular bill is that it changes things from a flat five pound fee to a gradiated fee based on the model of vehicle. Zero emission vehicles don't have to pay any fee at all...

I caught some BBC debate on the matter and it was hilarious listening to how rational the Green side were. Not only did they stress how this would benefit everyone and quote facts from reputable sources, but they made a point of explaining how families and small business could adapt without breaking the bank - usually while saving money in the long run. Meanwhile, the other side of the arguement just whined about the inconvenience of having to change business methods or tuning the family car to emission standards. There was no effort to expand upon the basic premise of "It will be a pain in the arse and I don't wanna and it will rape everyone's wallets" nor any attempt to meet environmental needs halfway.

It's just pathetic listening to this substanceless babyshit, but it is the defense of inconvenience which strikes me as one of the greatest obstacles for that understated job of....you know, saving the world. It's funny how hyperbolic that sounds, when it isn't.

Ok, I'm sorry - to apologize for soapboxing I will give you this. Some of you may have already seen it though, such is the internet.

Addendum
I actually found the company description of the job.