Month: August 2014

I was looking for a job…

And then I found a job, and heaven knows I’m miserable now. I was expecting this job to be a bit of a handful, but it’s surprised me. I was expecting them to be all shouty and “Go over your driving hours!” like last time but they are totally not. Instead it’s shit in all new and exciting ways. For one thing I’ve not been paid. No notification wageslip email, no money. That was nice. They reckon they are chasing it up and will have it sorted by midnight Monday latest, but if we didn’t have a ridiculously large overdraft facility that could have been a problem. Then there’s the real bugbear, piss-taking hours. I wanted longer hours, and I’d be happy to do the long run down to Maidstone in the week. But two weeks I’ve been there and twice they’ve given it to me on a Friday. The M6 is always rammed on a Friday, don’t know why. My start time means that even with a clean run I’m going to be hitting the M25 (London village ring road) during rush hour. When the Dartford toll is massively rammed. Twice I’ve done it, first time I got back after a mere 14hrs 15 min (maximum working hours 15) having driven 9hrs 37 –ish (maximum 10 hours). So one more traffic jam and I would have had to pull over and stop. Yesterday they sent me down and the M6 was just fucked. I mean, 50 miles in 3 hours. I was screwed before I’d even got to Brum. It took me 9 hours to get down, I had 2 hrs 50 driving time left for the return (4hrs 25-ish, non-stop, no traffic). I had to pull over and stop for the night at Watford Gap services. 2 hours from base. And they wouldn’t rescue me. Which brings me to what is really bugging me, I’ve only had 3 long runs, 2 of them on a Friday, when it was supposed to be my day off the next day. This means even the one I scraped home buggered my day off. The rest of the week I’m getting done for between 22.00 and 01.00, have a good sleep, still got loads of day left. On my day off I didn’t get to bed until 05.30. And today I had to sleep in my cab, get up after 9 hours and drive back. Then, because the law says on a ‘reduced rest’ week I only need 24 hours rest, they’ve got me back in tomorrow at 15.30 hrs. So I’m going to be working 12 days straight. That is the law of the Working Time Directive but certainly not the spirit. You’re supposed to have a day off one week minimum, then 2 days off the next week. Bare minimum of rest. I’m going to to be having words if they try and stitch me up with Maidstone again this Friday. There is no way I’m taking my 45 hour […]

Continue reading

Change is the only constant.

Have you always thought that? (As the late, lamented Iain M. Banks said.) I’ve started my new job. They made a few claims, such as a fixed starting time that would remain more or less constant through the week. I did a bit of a ballache shift on Sunday (00.00hrs start!) but Monday was 13.30hrs, through till Thursday, then Friday was 14.00hrs. You can’t really knock that. It’s much better than never knowing what your shift is until 14-16.00, if you even have a shift. Then starting from 18.00 through till 23.45. First week I’ve done three shifts that battered my legal driving time, but there has been a sea change in attitude since I last worked there. Last time they were shouting at you if you refused to break the law and go over your driving hours, now they accept that you have to take a break and seem to be planning for it. This is good. A fundamental starting point for doing the job, really. So, first week, bearing in mind that the legal maximum driving time is 9 hours per day which can be extended to 10 hours twice a week; 9.57 and 9.35. Working day length; 13.15, 14.15, 12.15, 9.15, 9.15, and 8.30. A 65hr,45 min week. Now I have to wait to see how well it pays. What I actually come out with. Though I have to consider the 4 weeks holiday pay and the 4 weeks in January I won’t be losing with no work. And all the cancelled days. I’ll probably end up working all these hours for about the same as 5 short shifts at Walkers, take home. But I have to bear in mind all of the above. And keep my eyes open if anything better does come up.   A huge event of late has been Wendy coming down with a full-on ‘flu. I’ve never seen anyone so ill in all my life. I’ve had proper ‘flu once and it was horrible, but it was nothing like what Wendy just had. I was worried she was going to kiff it at some points. People do die from ‘flu, and the state she was in I thought it possible. She got sent home from work teeth chattering with cold. I put her in bed and jumped in to warm her. I was sweating like a pig before she eventually warmed up. Then she was burning a fever of 103.8 F. That’s hot. I thought I’d poisoned her with Solpadine, she couldn’t stand up unaided and was slurring like she’d had a stroke and was getting delusional. I rang the doctor but they said the drugs were not the problem, those were her underlying symptoms. She didn’t get out of bed for 4 days except for me to take her to the loo, slept day and night for most of it, and didn’t eat at all.  Work wanted me to start on Friday but I had to cancel on my first day […]

Continue reading

Twitter.

Right, I’m going to try and catch up. This could be quite a long entry. I’m going to omit the stuff on the Palestinian holocaust because it’s to awful. If you want to see pictures of babies blown in half, well, you need help. And straight away I’m going to post something. Just in case you thought the “war” was an isolated incident. The percentage of Palestine that Israel occupied from 1947 to now, as translated to the UK. And this, while it’s about the Israeli genocide of Palestinians, could be about anything and is my favourite banner of all time. "don’t be sad" ok im better now thank u Hangman is a game that teaches kids how to spell, that words can be fun, and that failure is punished with death. Confused, #RToday. #Putin ‘created conditions for #MH17 by giving arms to rebels’ but #Cameron‘ll take no blame for how Russia uses UK arms? I’m loving the birthday pics of Kate and Will and their lovely little boy George The accidentally killed are just as dead as the intentionally killed. HOT SINGLES IN YOUR AREA, MOUTHS AGAPE, LUMINESCENT TONGUES LOLLING, KEENING WELCOME TO THE VOID BORN, SUNKEN HYMNS OPENING FORGOTTEN WAYS Dog faints with ‘overwhelming joy’ when owner returns after two years away http://itv.co/1l1HK1n Just like Tony Blair and New Labour was Thatcher’s ‘greatest achievement’ I’m sure Hitler, if asked today, would say same about Netanyahu. When you complain about dropping your phone remember that there are people who are starving who’ll totally make you another one. Why is it, when a girl sleeps with a lot of guys, she’s a slut. But when a guy does it, he’s gay? MrsGod noted: It’s all very well having a son who can turn water into wine but that’s the third goldfish we’ve had to send to rehab . . After MH370 and MH17 Malaysian Airlines may change its name. #Israel is considering changing its name also. To Mordor. HOT SINGLES IN YOUR AREA,JOINING HANDS,WHISPERING THE FINAL WORDS AS ONE, RENDING THE VEIL,THEIR DEATHS GLEEFUL AS THE FLAYED MASTER EMERGES I apologise for using the asexual-exclusionary term LGBTQI two tweets ago. I meant to say QUILTBAG. "It’s never a good time to be hit by an asteroid." Dinosaur expert Richard Butler #r4today This dog was left in this car on the hottest day of the year with no water or ventilation. It has both now Barcodes that start 729  or 871 are Israeli. Tweeting to remind myself. #BoycottIsrael WEATHER: Storms and flash floods hit the south of England affecting, presumably, the whole country. That awkward moment when Satan is a perfectly acceptable option for your kids. Incredible! This Man did the unthinkable to rescue a 400-kb #BlackBear! http://onegr.pl/1qHtlQ2 My favourite thing about feminists is their boobs. FINANANCE: Lloyds bank guilty of defrauding taxpayer of ‘tens of billions of pounds.’ We ask, does YOUR neighbour have an empty bedroom? i like my women curvy. lots and lots of curves. all curves. circular. […]

Continue reading

New job.

Just a quick update. I went to the induction for my new job. 3 hours of signing off on papers you haven’t read and ticking all the H&S boxes. They have changed the pay structure, 50p per hour more, no overtime rate. Just done a quick calculation, say 52½ hour week, take off ½ hour per day for break, so 50 hours. Old rate, £520, new rate £515. And it used to be more for Saturday, plus time and a third for any overtime, that’s now flat rate as well. Sundays are £14, flat rate. They wouldn’t have changed it if it didn’t cost them less. Anyway, that’s a bit shitter. After the induction they were keen to get me started, Mon-Fri, every other Sunday. It’s the days aspect and the guaranteed work that appeals. So they said they’d text me with a time for a driving assessment by 19.00 hrs. They didn’t. The next day I got one asking could I make the assessment at 017.00. I turned up  and there was a Polish lad from the previous day’s induction there. Which meant two drivers for one assessor. An immediate fail. The security guard had no idea we were supposed to be there and couldn’t raise anyone on the ‘phone. We went and sat in the canteen. An hour late we were still waiting when two other drivers arrived for their 18.00hrs assessments. At 18.15 the assessor turned up. The company, desperate to recruit drivers, changed their M.O. to give a contract they are that keen to secure drivers, keen to give a good first impression, were that tight they wouldn’t even allocate the assessor a shift to assess, with at least 4 drivers booked in, they had him out doing runs as well! The guy said “I’m going out on another run lads, so I can’t assess you both. If one of you wants to come out with me I can assess you then.” He wanted one of us to go and drive with him while he did a full shift. Until at least 03.00hrs. Unpaid. He said “This is transport, lads. You can either come out with me or wait until we can fit you in for another assessment.” No mate, we all work in transport. This isn’t transport what this is, is a piss take. I walked out. I’m calm now. I was furious at the time. I said “I’ve been here over an hour already, I’ve got a sick mrs at home in bed…”  The main transport manager was hovering over his shoulder, presumably to see if we had a can-do attitude. I cared not a whit. Anyway, the texted me the next day and asked “Can you start on Friday?” No assessment. FFS! And she said it’s more likely to be dinner time starts, as opposed to mornings. The two start times I’ve got so far are Friday 18.00hrs (not dinner time) then Sunday 03.30hrs (way not dinner time) so Saturday, my day off, […]

Continue reading

Change and about.

I’ve had enough of nights and the uncertainty of agency work. I’ve applied for the full time, days, job at Hermes. I have my induction on Monday. I did the maths, it’s been exactly half a year and I took home £11,856. If you take off the two weeks I would have had as holidays if I’d been PAYE it’s an average of £420 p/w take home. Hermes are promising a minimum of 45 hours per week, with thing like time and a third for anything over 8 hours, overtime more or less written into the job, extra for working weekend shifts, etc. I reckon on a 50 hour week I’ll be taking home at least the same. Plus it’s days. And I can take holidays. If you lose a week’s pay you just end up working and working. I think I’ve had two weeks holiday in the two and a half years I’ve been self employed/ Limited Company. I’ve had months, in total, sat around unpaid waiting for work, but that isn’t a holiday. You can’t relax, you can’t do anything, plan anything, or afford anything. If I wanted serious big bucks they have the option of a pound an hour more for nights, plus another pound or so for Limited Company, so you earn more and get stopped less tax, but that’s the same shit I’m in now. I’m willing to trade pound per hour for day shift and secure hours per week. Plus, as my chum on Twitter asked, ‘why are they suddenly offering a real job?’ Is it because now you need to have a driver’s CPC card there are less qualified drivers? Are all the new warehouses being built around Burtonwood offering better jobs? Something has changed. My point being, if this doesn’t work out as my ideal job I can look for other, full time, days, jobs. It is a pity about Walkers, mind. If there had been any prospect of me getting on to days or being taken on full time I’d have hung in there. It’s great money and an easy, no stress job. But there are lads there who’ve been on the agency for years and not got full time out of it. And I’ve found out they jacked me out on that nights out gig. Apparently it is running, with agency lads, but they wouldn’t give me a sniff because they have trouble filling the night shift, so they only let the day lads play. That was a blow. Nights are killing me at the minute, I just can’t get the sleep. The neighbours noisy kids on school holidays, the heat and just generally not sleeping well in the day.   I forgot to mention in my last blog, what with the concussion and all, but since I have stopped trying to adjust my gait to avoid injury my injury has got a lot better. *sour face* I did a 20 mile run last Sunday. The first 10 miles were […]

Continue reading