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06:04:00 o'clock BST
Reet and other news.
The good news is that Reet passed her tests that she took a week or s ago. The bad news is that she still didn’t make it through to the interview stage. We’re not sure why that is but what can you do? The job she applied for was within the Dept for Work and Pensions. It’s what used to be the DSS, I think. The good news about passing the tests is that if she applies for any other job within the council, she doesn’t have to resit them. Hopefully, that will help with future job offers.
In the meantime she’s still taking her computer classes. She’s now bringing it home with her and sits opposite me when I’m at my pc. Sounds very cosy doesn’t it? Well believe me, it’s not. I can’t get anything done on my own machine, whether it be catching up on my journal reading/writing or putting my family magazine together. Every minute, and I do mean EVERY minute, she’s asking me how to do this, or how to undo that..! Other times she switches on her computer just as I’m switching mine off for the night. Then it’s even worse as I’m having to keep climbing out of bed to come and help her. I wouldn’t mind so much but I know she can do this stuff. She’s been doing it at college for months now with hardly any help at all. I guess I’m just too available.
I do recall just how much I struggled with the basics when I first started though. It took me ages to master the art of copying or cutting and pasting. I simply couldn’t figure out how to find the object after I’d cut it. My brother Derry managed to drum home the fact that it wasn’t actually anywhere UNTIL you pasted it. But Derry is a much better teacher than me. I do try to be patient with Reet but I’m just not very good at it.
The stuff she’s learning is called CLAIT. I still can’t recall what that stands for but it involves Word files and formatting, spreadsheets and graphs etc. She knows more about headers, footers and indents than I’ll ever need. She’s also learning a lot of the keyboard shortcuts which is a good thing. I’m too lazy and rely on my mouse. Spreadsheets are a thing I’ve never really got to grips with in any depth so maybe she’ll be teaching me a thing or too in the very near future.
On Friday she had a tutorial which is like a mock exam which she coped well with and next Tuesday she takes the exam proper. She’ll do fine so long as her nerves don’t fry her brain first. I’m quietly confident. She’s already passed the first stage and has a certificate to prove it. And she’s passed her literacy tests too which will result in another certificate. See, she’s not anywhere as near as daft as she thinks she is and the only reason she bothers me so much with her pc lessons is because I’m there. If I wasn’t she’d figure it all out by herself, I’m sure. Still, the more she uses it the sooner it will all sink in and stay. Then, I hope to teach her about desktop publishing so she can help me sort out my family magazine (see, I’m not daft either).
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Things at work are bubbling away once more. We have a lot of building work going on all around our office and rumours are rife: early retirement is back on the cards; they're going to make the walks one and a half hours longer than they already are; the office will be closed and we’ll all me moved to our main office in Romford … and on, and on.
Actually, that last one is very possible. The rumour has raised its head regularly for the last twenty years but never came to fruition. This time though, there’s a great deal of building going on around us and it’s quite likely that Royal Mail could sell our site for a huge profit and move us all out. Where that leaves the public when it comes to collecting their mail and packages is anybody’s guess, but then, quality of service hasn’t been a priority of this company for many years now. Whether these rumours prove true or not, time will tell. It’s a sure fact that big changes are on the way though. Royal Mail have some new super duper machines that will not just sort the mail into walks (delivery areas), but will also sequence the walks too, making them ready for delivery. In effect that means the posties will just have to come in, load a bag and start delivering. Whereas, at present, they start at six and don’t leave the office before nine.
So, in theory: you post your letter, it gets collected and fed into a huge machine that sorts the mail into towns. From there it’s put into another machine that sorts it into walks and then into a third machine that gets it ready for delivery. The postman arrives, packs his bag and off he will go. Simple dimple. (Yeah, right!) Sounds like utopia doesn’t it? But how will the machine know if somebody has moved and had their mail redirected? How will it know if a customer has asked for his mail to be kept at the office for collection? And, of course, it won’t be able to handle anything that’s thicker or larger than A4 size so what happens to all the other stuff? The ebay items? Amazon parcels? The Braille literature? Hell, what happens to anything remotely out-sized?
As you might gather, I have less confidence in this new technology than I have in the management that are steam rolling them into action with little or no forethought to the men on the job and even less consideration to the public they are supposedly serving. Nevertheless, the technology is there and it WILL be in place very shortly whether it works or not. So, if you thought the postal system was bad at the moment, just watch what happens next.
From my own personal point of view, I’m not too concerned about the changes. It looks as though I’ll be working inside now for the rest of my time. I quite enjoy it actually, but it can be a thankless task working with the public. Just the other day a woman came in to collect her mail. As I handed it to her I said quite innocently “there you go.” Well, shave my beard and call me normal if this woman didn’t throw a hissy fit right then and there.
“Don’t you say that to me” she wailed, “I find that very offensive!”
I was a little taken aback but I recovered quickly. Adopting a clipped and official attitude I said “my apologies madam, thank you for your custom.” I wouldn’t always be so polite but, well, it was quite obvious the woman didn’t have both her oars in the water, if you know what I mean, so there was no point retaliating. The trouble is, when she came in again a couple of days later I remembered this, but no matter how much I told myself not to say ‘there you go’, I still managed to say it to her (what can I say, it was force of habit). Oh boy! She was off again, and this time there was a queue!
Ah yes, we sure have fun where I work.
Tata. x
Brekkie with the guys in a while. Yummy.
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hey well done Reet :o) Clait stands for Computer Literacy and Information Technology ~ I did it at colleage and passed with distinction ;) I reckon she will be fine but good luck to her anyway xx Sounds like fun at the office. I was thinking all sorts of things that machine wouldn't be able to do but I think you said them lol
Jenny
http://journals.aol.co.uk/Jmoqueen/MyLife -
Barry well done to Reet getting those certificates ~ that must have boasted her confidence ~ she will end up being able to teach us a thing or two on the computer :o) ~ sounds like you are going to have lots of changes at work ~ will this mean you have further to travel ? ~ Oh I use that "there you go" quite a lot havn't had anyone throw a hissy fit as yet :o) didn't think it could be offensive ~ Ally x
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Comforting that it took you a long time to master the cutting and pasting thing. I'm a bit stalled!
Good for Reet; I'm a bit hazy about what the DWP do........as long as our pensions keep coming, they are a `Good Thing'.
Bunny x -
Hi Barry, well done to Reet for passing the tests, however, it does make you wonder if these positions go to internal applicants, from past experience i have always found it difficult to get a job with the council, tho i was lucky to eventually get a job with them and this only goes to confirm my opinion now that i am amongst them!
So....... will Reet be keeping her own blogg in the near future do you think, hmmmm could be interesting ....LOL....
Your views on the Royal Mail were most interesting and rather typical of large organisations, as we often think it is jus the company we work for....hehee!
Hope brekkie was yummy, i had egg on toast :o)
Luv Jaynee X
22/06/08 23:03
My posty knows my mail is for me even with half an address.......I doubt the super duper machine does. Rache