I got the job

I'm currently feeling stunned. I got a phone call today to say that I was being offered the job as Deputy Leader at the local after-school club. I'm having trouble taking it in.

Thanks to everyone who sent me your good wishes for the interview, both before and after.

For some reason, I feel like I need chocolate.

Job interview

Tomorrow I have an interview at my local primary school for a post working in their After School Club. I have to carry out a 20 minute group activity with some children, and have a twenty minute interview. I'm nervous.

It's a big step forward after being at home ill for so long. I really want to do it - I love working with children and families and this is even better than a teaching assistant's job. I hope I'm up to it. Wish me luck!

Church is as good as jail

Offenders in Alabama can be sentenced to attend church as an alternative to jail, according to this article.

Whatever happened to the separation of church and state? And how can they suggest that belief in God makes you more moral?

Or have I missed something, and did this originate in The Onion?

Computer woes

I've just had phone call about "my computer" telling me that it's infected. OK, right.

Me: Which computer?
Foreign-sounding Guy On Phone: Do you have a computer?
Me: If you don't know if I have a computer, how can you tell me it's infected?

That elicited a load of gobbledegook about viruses from my address - both my IP address and apparently my street address. OK again.

Eventually I said I don't own a Windows computer (I'm a naughty little liar, I am) and he hung up.

It hits hardest because my poor little laptop is off at the manufacturers after completely reinstalling Windows didn't work. It kept freezing even as it was updating Windows. I miss it.

Edited to Add:
Thanks to Richard for this link about the scam: http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2011/09/21/microsoft-dumps-partner-telephone-support-scam/

Odd Sheep

Sheeped Away from Junaid Chundrigar on Vimeo.

This has to be the strangest thing I've seen in a while.

Just for me!

The very talented jjdebenedictis has drawn a picture all for me! It's got a cat and a robot in it and it's really cute. You'll have to pop over there to see it; it's at the end of this post.

Thank you, jj! You're the best!

I did a silly thing

I didn't know it was a silly thing; I thought that setting my laptop to "hibernate" would save power. Only there's a "known issue" that Windows Vista can't cope with hibernating and hangs. The trouble is, the issue wasn't known to me. So I hibernated, then I tried to restart the laptop and it hung. And kept on hanging. By the time I'd done a number of power resets (ie pressing the power button until it turned off) I had buggered the disk and the computer was working like a slug on Prozac, only not so fast or so reliable.

I've now spent two or three days reinstalling all the Windoze updates, after resetting the laptop to factory settings. I've got all my data. I'm reinstalling my blog reader and my Twitter program and all the other bits that I need. I've nearly sorted out the font size issue. What I haven't got is my bookmarks or any idea of what I've been missing for the last few days.

So if I've missed something scintillating that you've said, feel free to let me know. Otherwise, have a good August Bank Holiday weekend and whatever you do, don't hibernate.

Fiction reading makes you more sociable

Reading fiction increases your social and empathy skills according to an article in the Yorkshire Post.

I can't find any mention of a control group, or of a before and after test, or anything that would establish cause and effect. But hey! Why waste a good headline just because there are no facts to substantiate it! And don't we all want to believe that having our nose in a book is actually good for us? (Well, I know I do!)

I've levelled up!

I have brand new hearing aids free on the NHS! And they have volume controls! Yay!

As a truly bionic person I have now offically levelled up!*

Apparently not everyone is in love with their hearing aids. I can't understand it - I haven't got good hearing in one ear now, even with them, but it's a bloody sight better than it would be without them. So yay for being a cyborg!

You can see my previous aids here.

*Thanks to Lily-Razz for that phrase.

Confessions of an animal junkie

If you've been following this blog then you probably like animals (well, cats anyway!) and you may well have met Phoenix in the comments. So then you're sure to love her new blog where you can read about all kinds of animals and even get her to post pictures of your own beloved pets! And then we can all enjoy them!

Confessions of An Animal Junkie is here. Why not give it a look?