Its 6:58am. I am awake. This should not be. Sunday, particuarly this Sunday as it is Father's day, is usually the one day of the week that I manage to get that sacred extra couple of hours in bed. Callum however had different ideas this morning. I do not know what time he got up as I did not wake until there was one almighty bang coming from the kitchen at about 6:40am. I asked him nicley to go back to bed but you already know where that got me. He is now doing his impression of playing quietly. I think he just woke Sam up. Ohwell. I guess I'm used to getting up at this time now what with the new job and all.
Talking of the new job, it is going really well. The owner of the company keeps telling me well done as I am picking everything up really fast, he keeps telling me how his son and I are the hub of the company. A very large percentage of the money that the company makes does come through me and the guy I work with and once I am up to speed with everything it will be quite a high pressured job. Its alot similar to my Dad's job. If he doesn't quote then the company doesn't make any money. With my job I have to quote and process all the work which basically means that I will give the customer a price for whatever they want and if they say order it I then design what they want on the PC with all the accurate sizes. This then gets printed off and gets sent down to the factory ready to be made. There is more to the job than that. I have had to overcome my fear of telephones for starters. I also get to deal with pushy tradesman trying to save every penny that they can. I have to take reciept of all the money that comes in and do all the invoicing and ordering of materials needed to make the items. Designing conservatorys is really cool aswell. It took me half a day in my first week. I can now design all the windows and doors, the roof, and everything else that goes with it on the computer ,get a CAD drawing of it, and get a price for it in about 20 minutes now. I think that I have found the job that I will be in for a very long time, so long as they pay me what I think I'm worth. Who am I kidding no one will pay me what I think I'm worth. Maybe they will pay me their interpretation of what I think I'm worth. Sorry if I'm babbling on but my brain is yet to kick in.

Sorry bossman (martin). Jobs going great. I can see myself being there for a very long time and I'm getting married on August the 8th 2004. So if you and Sarah would like to come to the do in the evening your more than welcome. Woohoooooooo!!!!

This has to have been one of the most incredible weeks of my life, my divorce has been finalised, plus I have managed to get *the* best job of my life to date, but on top of that my Mum and Dad, the superstars that they are, were concerned about me travelling an hour to get to work only to have the first bus get me there half an hour late, so they phoned me up this morning and told me that they were going to buy me a car. Wow. How amazing is that. Dad came and got me half an hour later, found a car for me that is absolutley fantastic and bought it. We then went back to get Mum, after that they went and insured me on it and got 6 months tax for it from the post office. I only hope that I am able to be that generous and that helpful for my kids when they need help. Now I can get to work on time every morning which will please my new boss no end. 15 working days to go and then it is 7 glorious days lazing aroung on the river. Does life get much better than this?

Had a bit of a scare with the lottery tonight, I had numbers 2 and 9 for deffinite. I also had three numbers from the 20's. Two that were next to each other and 1 on its own. I can't remember for certain. I was sitting there quietly watching and getting a bit excited by what I was seeing. By the time the bonus ball had been drawn I was almost convinced that I had 5 numbers. Not being 100% sure I just went downstairs without saying anything and checked my ticket. Like I say I had 2 and 9 for sure. I think the other numbers I had were 23, 28, and 29. Had they have been 22, 26, and 27 I would be sitting pretty right now. Ohwell, I didn't win anything but the feeling of thinking you have won a major prize gives one hell of a buzz. Better luck next time.

I checked www.blogextra.com to see if there was a limit on backblog entries for the standard version but there is nothing on the site saying that is how it works. I read all the faqs and news but nothing was there either. I think Toby that you just got unlucky. My backblog is almost at the 100 mark so we will have to see what happens. The only other way round it is to register for a new one and delete the code for the one that is already on your site.

I am so pooing my pants about Monday. I know that there is nothing to be afraid of but there is always a bit of self doubt. I'm sure it will pass in time but for now I am extremley nervous. I'm trying to chill out today with a bit of decorating and some housework. Its kind of working. I'm off to town later to get some new clothes and a hair cut ready for work. They told me that it isn't really a shirt enviroment but I want to make the right impression. I went to both my interviews in jeans and a polo neck, they didn't seem to mind. Some good questions on Friday Five today so here goes.

1. What do you most want to be remembered for?
For being a good partner, a good dad and setting the world alight with my funky day glow yellow conservatories.

2. What quotation best fits your outlook on life?
"Dude!"
"Sweet!"

3. What single achievement are you most proud of in the past year?
Being able to support my family by landing what I consider to be the best job I have ever managed to get.

4. What about the past ten years?
My kids.

5. If you were asked to give a child a single piece of advice to guide them through life, what would you say?
Never, ever, pay for sex.

I got the job. I went in for a second interview with the owner of the company and he offered me the job after five miuntes. He wants me to learn *every* aspect of the double glazing trade. He also told me that the position that I will be taking on is the most important position there with regards to work coming in reguarly. I'm going to be fully trained with their CAD software and spend some time at the other factory learning how the items are actually made on the shop floor. I got offered a very attractive package which included a nice amount of money, 20 days holiday a year, sick pay and a review in three months with a chance that he will pay me more. I've still got my holiday in June which is great. I'm off down the library in a little while to see if I can get a book on AutoCAD so that when I go into work on Monday I will at least know what to expect. Roll on Monday.

I had a job interview today. It was a job fitting windows again. I had phoned this job last week and had left a message on their answer phone. I got a call back today from a guy called Roy. Nice guy, we chatted on the phone for a bit about what I had done before and what he was after. He then asked if I could make it over to the premises for a chat. Next thing I know I'm on a bus on my way to Wickford. The bus route I use is ok but it only runs two buses an hour. I had managed to miss the 10 to the hour bus by about two minutes. I wasn't aware at the time that it came at 10 to. Twenty five minutes later another bus arrives and I am on my way. I have the pleasure of an old ladies company on the journey to the town centre. She tells me that she is retired but all she seems to do these days is the ironing, shopping and picking up of children from school for her two daughters. I explain that my Mother is also retired and that maybe I should have a word with her about doing the same ;o) Luckily for me the bus I am on goes all the way to where I need to go so I don't have to change buses. The only problem being that because I missed the 10 to bus I arrive 15 minutes later than the time arranged with Roy. On arrival I apologise for being a bit late and explain that I had to catch a bus because I am currently between cars. We both have a chuckle and we go off to his office where he explains in great detail about the job that he wants to offer me. I tell him more about what I have and havn't done and then provide him with my C.V. that I brought along with me. He goes through it all and asks about the previous companies that I have worked for and why the work with them came to an end. I decide at that point that honesty is without a doubt the best policy and tell him exactly why things happened the way they did. I'm glad I did. He obviously appreciated it. He then takes another look at my C.V. and comments on the fact that I have computing in my interests and that I am about to start working towards a degree in computer sciences in the new year. This is the point where the interview took a complete U-turn and caught me totally off guard. He started to ask me about my interest in computers and what I do. So I told him all about how I taught myself the in's and out's of maintaining computers and how I'm profficient in using them. He then asked me if I had ever used any CAD software so I told him no not really. I have had a look at some programs that I have got free on magazine coverdiscs but I havn't really tinkered with that side of things at all. He then starts telling me about an office position they have been advertising for a CAD operator. The position was basically consulting with builders and the like who want to say add a conservatory onto a houes that they are building. The operator would then find out what windows and doors they want to incorporate withing the building and then using that information design it and finalise a quote for the builder. He told me that the three people who had applied for the job had a good knowledge of computers but knew "bollock all" about the double glazing industry. He then asked me if I was interested in the position, he believes that my knowledge of both computers and the double glazing industry would be a good basis for me to fill the position. He said that I would be fully trained in the use of the CAD software and then would work alongside the guy who does something similar. He told me he would have to clear this with his Managing Director and that he would phone me tomorrow. On my way home I decided that I would stop at my mum's to say hello as Tim was there aswell and I wanted my mini-disc player back. *sorry tim* Whilst I'm there Vicky phoned me and told me Roy had phoned and that I should contact him ASAP. I gave him a call and he said that his MD wanted to meet me and take me through the what the job entailed and show me the software that they used. So now I have to go back in again tomorrow at 11oc and see what happens. I'll catch the 10 to bus tomorrow. I hope this comes off as this is something that I have always wanted to learn from back in my Kearsley days. If it dosn't come off at least I have the fitters job to fall back on as it felt like I had convinced Roy that I would be useful in that dept aswell. I even told him that if I got the job with the computers that I could also be used on site work if it was ever needed. So who knows. Fingers crossed.

I got my reply back from the OU today. I have been accepted for my course which will start on the 7th Feb next year. I have qualified for a financial award. They will be picking up the tab for the total cost of the course which is cool. I also qualified for a student loan. I don't know how they worked it out to be £500 though. I think that is a little too much. The books that I need for the course come to about £40 but I had a look around on Amazon and I can pick up all 3 books second hand for about $9 which works out at about £6 plus shipping. Awesome. I guess that once I have bought a couple of each printer cartridge and some stationary I will have enough left to see me through next years study aswell. The course I am doing is completley online. Maybe thats to help with ISP costs aswell. I'm not going to complain about it though. If I have any money left at the end of the year I guess I could see about some alcohol and drugs which would technically be free as I don't think I will ever earn enough to have to pay the loan back.
Sitting around all day now waiting for the phone to ring. I had a job interview yesterday which went really well. He said he had a few more people to interview and that he would get back to me tomorrow if I got the job. I'm sure that he said that he was just staying down in Basildon overnight so I'm sure that he would have done this as early as possible. It's now 10:47 and the phone hasn't rung yet. Ohwell, If my memory serves me well I think that this is the first job that I have ever gone for and have not got. Maybe he wanted a lay in and a big breakfast before he rings me. I will remain hopefull all day. In the mean time I think I will kill some people. Unreal Tournament is a great release if your ever feeling pent up.