Eventful Week

I can't say that this week has been boring. It started off with a bang (of sorts) with two interviews for jobs on Monday. I actually never showed up for the interview I went down there for in the first place because I went to an appointment at an agency and ended up freaking them out. In a good way, of course.

It's a recruitment agency who has contracts with some of the top law firms in that city.* The woman I spoke to on the phone when I was making the appointment sounded like she was interested in seeing me, but didn't seem all that enthusiastic. That seemed to change once I got there. The first thing they had me do was take a typing test. I took it, the results printed off, and one of the girls in reception looked at me funny. She said that I would have to take an audio typing test because of my typing test results. I took it, the results printed off, and one of the girls in reception looked at me funny. Sense a pattern here?

Turns out that my typing speed was 84 words per minute with a 1% error rate. My audio typing speed was 62 words per minute with no errors. That's what freaked them out. The average typing speed for the people on their books is - get this - 35 words per minute.
Suddenly people from various parts of the agency were coming in, giving me their business cards, and showing me jobs they'd like to put me forward for. I have one interview next week for a law firm who has said that they're keen to speak to me about two jobs, so much so that if I have any offers before I go in, I'm to let them know immediately so they can push my interview forward.

I had another interview with a different recruitment agency that afternoon, and they've got me an interview for the same day next week. Things are looking good, and the company where I work now is very supportive of me because they realise I'm not going because I want more money or am dissatisfied with the company but because I'm following David down there. Well, that's one of the reasons but I'm happy for them to latch onto that one.

I almost didn't make it back to Chesterfield Monday night. When we got to the train station so I could catch my 20.00 train, we found out that nothing was running north of Derby. David brought me home, then he got stuck in Chesterfield because the town was flooded. Badly. The whole area has been flooding. He did make it to work on time the next morning but he had to set off at 6.30 just to get out of Chesterfield.

Chesterfield didn't fare very well yesterday when one of the grocery stores in the town centre caught fire. It's smack in the middle of a busy shopping precinct as well. The smoke was so bad we could see it from our office, and when I got home I discovered that my house was in the smoke path. Yuck.

As for work ... Let's not go there. My desk has enough paper on it from the week I was away that I'm sure it's an entire tree!

*I'm still not revealing where I'm moving to in public though will be happy to tell my true friends where I'm heading. Obviously it's south of Chesterfield but that's all I'm saying for now.

Hi Honey! I'm Home!

Oh my goodness, what a fabulous week I've just had! David and I took off for a week in Tenerife - a week of absolutely grueling work laying by the roof-top pool with views of mountains on one side and the ocean on the other while drinking beer, reading and working on our tans. Of course I added to that by jumping in the pool occasionally. In the evenings we kept on working by walking along the beach, eating fabulous meals and drinking in Spanish bars.

I didn't even take time off last weekend. I sat in the Sports Cafe in Las Americas drinking amaretto and Coke while watching the US Grand Prix. That is unbelievably hard work! We played pool in there another night, only the third time I've ever really played. Of course I lost to the shark (bastard!) but he had to admit that I'm better than he thought I would be so I just need to practice. He claims I'll never beat him though. Yeah, we'll see about that ...

The only day we didn't spend by the pool was on Wednesday when we jumped on a boat in search of dolphins and/or whales. We were told we were guaranteed to at least see whales but we were really lucky and saw a large school of dolphins. They have never been hunted in that area so they came right up to the boat!

I had tried to hide a secret from David but in the airport on the way out my secret was out. We were in the departure lounge when it was announced "Could passenger Knowles travelling to Tenerife please go to the Special Assistance desk?" Well that was it. For the rest of the trip David told me I couldn't help it if I have special needs and that it's good to be special! (Don't you laugh, Lindsey! He's decided you have special needs too which is why you and I get on so well!) Obviously it wasn't me they were calling to the desk but a different passenger who was on crutches, but I've been branded for life now!

I have to highly recommend the hotel where we stayed, the Costa Adeje Gran. It was beautiful! Okay, the entertainment in the evenings was more amusing than spectacular, but it gave us a laugh. One of the lounge entertainers sang "It's a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong in a voice that sounded more Yoda or Fozzie Bear than Louis Armstrong, so David and I decided that they were playing our song, but it only counts if Fozzie Bear sings it!

We do have a few photos that I will post as soon as I can get the cable to David's camera (he left me the camera but my cable doesn't fit it). I will edit one of the photos so I can post it. The first full day we were there I forgot to top up my sunblock on the backs of my thighs after I'd been sitting down for a while, so when I flipped over I got a bit of a burn which was hysterical after I took my bikini off. My ass was bright white and my legs bright red!

So we had seven days of hard work but we must be a pair of workaholics because we've decided to go to Portugal later this year and do it all over again! Since I hope to be doing LOTS of traveling over, well, the rest of my life really, I've started a travel blog with a map and all that on it:

My Travel Blog on RealTravel