Katie's Kibitz

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

2012 Reading List: July

JULY

31. The Antelope Wife, by Louise Erdrich
30. The Unseen, by Katherine Webb
29. Mr. Monk on the Road, by Lee Goldberg (Mr. Monk Series #11) (these are original storylines, not novelizations of TV episodes)

28. Snuff, by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #39)

JUNE

27. Thanksgiving, by Janet Evanovich

26. Hero at Large, by Janet Evanovich

25. The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale, by Christine Bell (Stormy Gale #1)

24. Spying in High Heels, by Gemma Halliday (High Heels Mysteries #1)

MAY

23. *Alas, Babylon, by Pat Frank

22. Divorced, Desperate and Delicious, by Christie Craig (Divorced and Desperate Series?)

21. The Walking Dead Volume 4: The Heart's Desire, by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, and Cliff Rathburn (graphic novel)

20. The Walking Dead Volume 3: Safety Behind Bars, by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, and Cliff Rathburn (graphic novel)

19. Assassin's Quest, by Robin Hobb (The Farseer Trilogy Book #3)

18. The Walking Dead Volume 2: Miles Behind Us, by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, and Cliff Rathburn (graphic novel)

17. Futurama Adventures, by Matt Groening et. al. (compliation of five Futurama comic books)

APRIL

16. The Walking Dead Volume 1: Days Gone Bye, by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore (graphic novel)

15. Serenity: Better Days 1-3, by Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews, Will Conrad and Adam Hughes (comic book "mini series")

14. The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party, by Alexander McCall Smith (The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series #12)

13. Royal Assassin, by Robin Hobb (The Farseer Trilogy Book #2)

12. The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe

MARCH

11. Moon Over Soho, by Ben Aaronovitch (Peter Grant Series #2)

10. Assassin's Apprentice, by Robin Hobb (The Farseer Trilogy Book #1)

9. Obsidian Butterfly, by Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake #9)

FEBRUARY

8. Blue Moon, by Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake #8)

7. *Night Train to Memphis, by Elizabeth Peters (Vicky Bliss #5)

6. *Trojan Gold, by Elizabeth Peters (Vicky Bliss #4)

5. Burnt Offerings, by Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake #7)

JANUARY

4. The Crimson Petal and the White, by Michel Faber

3. Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter, by A. E. Moorat (pen name of Andrew Holmes, it appears)

2. *A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett

1. Heat Rises, by "Richard Castle" (Nikki Heat Series #3) (Best guess at ghostwriter: Tom Straw)

Monday, July 30, 2012

Living in the host country has its perks

If you know me--and let's face it, if you don't, I'm a little confused as to why you're here, but hey, whatever--you know that I live in England. You also know that I don't exactly love living here. Well, that's changed, at least for the duration of the Olympics (never mind the weather. The athletes probably won't drown. Probably.).

You also may or may not know about the weird institution in the UK known as the TV Licensing Agency. If you don't know about this archaic beast, so far as I can tell it's their job to send out letters demanding money that range from vaguely annoying to definite harassment to flat-out threatening. If you pay them, they stop for a year or so. The TV license fee is charged to households/private rooms,* and the revenue is used to fund the BBC, keeping it advert free.** The Boy and I don't pay a TV license, not because we're cheap or morally opposed to it or anything, but because we don't watch TV as it broadcasts.*** I finally got them to stop sending us letters by telling them we didn't need one. Been over a year and no one has come out to confirm this (surprise surprise) and no more letters. Go me.

But I digress. Since we moved and changed ISPs to non-sucky Virgin, our connection has improved immensely, although streaming is still dodgy, so I doubt live-streaming is possible. But that's ok. Because the BBC claims to be broadcasting the entirety of the Olympics. As in every event in every sport and every match, not just the semi/quarter/finals. They've put something like 20 additional stations on for the duration of the Olympics, and are broadcasting 15 hours a day. And though The Boy and I can't watch it here, we did download the BBC iPlayer Wii app. This means about 24 hours after broadcast we can watch events and coverage. Granted it's not live, but I don't care if I know who wins prior to seeing the event (which I will unless I stay completely off the internet). And it's also probably be broadcast before NBC decides to show it in the US--if they show it at all. If you've been following the Twitter hashtag #NBCfail (which is absolutely hilarious, by the way) you'll know that NBC is outdated and behind the times. They don't care about what their viewers want, and to make it even better, an exec in charge of their digital media posted this (she's since taken it down)

Classy. Real classy, and a great way to piss off your viewers even more. It's also interesting to note that someone who is supposed to be social media savvy marked it "+1" which is not a Twitter thing, but rather a Google+ approval. Not at all savvy.

The whole point of this post is simple. I don't love living in the UK most of the time, but at least we get our Olympics coverage properly. Yes, a lot of people think it's because we're the host country, but we also think that the success that the coverage is having will encourage the BBC to do this for all the future Olympics. I certainly hope so.

And for those people struggling in the US to get live coverage, or at least complete coverage, there are ways to access the BBC online (the proper BBC, not BBC America or BBC International) to get your fix, either live or at least complete events. Or events that NBC doesn't want to broadcast. If you wish to take that route, there are plenty of directions telling you how online (it's in a legal gray area, but not explicitly illegal), or you can drop me a message and I can try to help you. In the meantime, enjoy your shitty NBC coverage while I watch the (mostly ok****) BBC coverage, which includes commentators like John McEnroe, Michael Johnson, and Dame Kelly Holmes. You know, real athletes.

*For example, each dorm room would have to pay for a license because the individual rooms are separately keyed, but a house only needs one license to cover all the TVs in it.

**By advert free I mean free of advertising for car insurance and such. There's plenty of advertising for other BBC shows and channels. And I do mean plenty.

***Any live signal, regardless of how you watch it--live internet feed, mobile phone, cable/satellite/freeview box--makes you subject to needing a license. This isn't a problem for us because our phones suck, as does our internet connection. Besides, I don't know where to find live streams of most things on the web, for I've never bothered to refine that part of my web ninja-fu.

****During the early Beach Volleyball games on Saturday, the camera was showing player signs to the viewers. This would have been fine and interesting, except there are giant viewscreens in the Horseguards arena, so in effect the opposing team could "steal signs." Oops. At least they fixed that really fast.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Settlement Struggles

Perhaps a bit of a misleading title, but it's rare that I resist alliteration. I just received a phone call--literally just; I got off the phone less than 5 minutes ago--from someone (I missed her name; sorry, nice lady!) dealing with my application. Sorta. They're currently dealing with settlement applications from March, and mine is from April.

It's frustrating to me, I can't deny, that my application isn't done with and sorted, and my/our various documents aren't back in our possession. It has been nearly 3 months since I sent the application in. My previous application (marriage/civil partner visa) took exactly 3 weeks from when I posted it to the LA Consulate to when it was back in my hands. Both places have stated 6 month waiting times, so that there's a huge difference in turnaround time is annoying. But on the other hand, I have no idea what they're dealing with. It may be that there are 10 people in the whole of the UK who are dealing with all the applications. It may be that the applications are vetted extra-closely (you choose your reason for that, but settlement is just shy of citizenship and often leads to it, so choosing who stays permanently does have some real ramifications), so it takes longer. There are many different and valid reasons as to why the process takes so long, but it's frustrating nevertheless.*

But the woman was very nice in that she called me, because I didn't expect or need to be contacted, and in fact, I had told them not to worry about it, that I was just writing to inform them of my travel plans. So it was very nice of her (and possibly made for a nice break in her job, though I always hated calling people, so who knows what she thought about calling me), and I found out that a) she thought my application would be done before September and b) what to do if it's not (write/call 28 days before I need my crap back and something will be worked out**).

So we'll see. They have all my crap, since I went in a few weeks ago to have my biometrics taken (again). Now it's just a waiting game. Since waiting games are the kind of game I hate the most, this is not fun, but at least she was very friendly and polite. Not that I've met many nasty UKBA/Home Office people, though some of the passport/border patrol guards were a bit douchy in that they were either condescending or rather shirty about my entering the UK on a tourist visa, but when you're waiting and waiting and worried and waiting (and your last attempted contact with UKBA was an email that still hasn't been replied to 6 months on) any bit of friendliness feels hopeful and nice.

Getting married was supposed to solve most of Adam's and my problems, namely the problem of trying to physically be together, not 6000 miles and 8 timezones apart. How naive it was to believe that once we got married, this would be over and done with shortly thereafter. Even after all this is sorted, we'll eventually move back to the US, which means going through all this crap again to sort out a green card for Adam. Goody.

I really don't want to have to contact UKBA again. Crossed fingers they get to my application in the next month and it goes on and off the desk in less than a day, and back to me by the end of August.

*It's also stupidly expensive.

**I notice she didn't say if I would have to pay the fee for having my application expedited or not. I chose not to ask and am simply hoping for the best. The fee is outrageous, doubly so given the outrageousness of the base fee. If I thought the people who actually process the applications saw any of the money I wouldn't mind so much, but you know damn well the woman I talked to probably hasn't gotten a raise in the last 3 years, let alone a bonus.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Hoovering in high heels

Yup. Breaking in a new pair of shoes. They're reasonably comfortable, but since I'll have to wear them to walk up a hill to the train station, on the train (on which I'll probably be standing), and then for another mile or so to the interview site, I'd like to make sure that I won't get blisters, or if I do, that I'm prepared with plenty of bandaids.

I really want this job; I'd be good at it, and I'd really love it. But I'm incredibly nervous for the interview. I always am; yay for mild anxiety issues. But I'm particularly nervous because references were requested for prior to the interview. This might actually be a good thing; if one was bad, I can possibly talk about it in the interview. I'm not worried about one of my referees, but I have no idea what the other will say. And unfortunately, because the one I'm unsure about is my previous supervisor, I can't really leave her off the list.

And so I worry. The question I'm dreading is whatever varient of "why did you leave your last job?" the interviewer chooses to ask. I don't want to lie, but it's also really bad form and completely inappropriate to badmouth your former employer and boss. I certainly would think twice before hiring someone who slagged off on their boss. But I don't want to lie. I left that job because of my boss. I dreaded going into work because of her. I never knew what kind of mood she would be in, but I knew that her mood would directly affect how she acted toward me, and I couldn't cope with the inconsistancy of how she would respond to things. More than once I went into work and was told off for something that I didn't know I had done wrong (on the other hand, I didn't learn about one part of closing the shop up until I had been there for 10 months, because nobody was bothered enough to tell me that I was leaving out a rather major part of the job), or in one case, something that I hadn't done wrong, but was still blamed for.* I won't deny that I had, a few months after I started, made a terrible mistake--one that I could have been fired for, but she was nice and chose not to take that action--and I paid the price in losing her trust and the benefit of the doubt. I was unhappy about that, but that was the consequences of my actions.**

The final straw for me though, the reason I quit, was a very public telling-off, complete with personal attacks. I was coping with her inconsistancies. It was stressful, not knowing if I would suddenly be told off for something that I had been doing for months without a problem, but I was able to cope with her and the job, though it took a toll on my mental well-being during my off-hours (at work it would be dealt with immediately, but the stress of never knowing what the next shift would bring meant that I thought about work constantly at home, and I even dreamed about it regularly). But when I confused part of some phoned-in orders (which was a completely rookie, bone-headed moved that made me so angry for screwing up when I knew better) and the customer not only had a go at me for several minutes--rightfully so; I felt terrible and did what I could to rectify it--but came back the following day to have a go at my boss, my boss had a go at me on my next shift.

That was fair enough; it was, as I said, a completely bone-headed move and I should have known--and did know--better, but I made an assumption that I shouldn't have, and I didn't verify the order, which I should have. I deserved a telling-off for that, because it was a stupid mistake and made us look really bad. But what I don't feel I deserved was a public telling-off, in front of customers. Regular customers, who came in to the shop every day. I felt absolutely humiliated when people I had to see and serve every day came in to hear my boss yelling at me and threatening to fire me (she was bluffing). It was horrible, and even more so because when non-regular customers came in she stopped.

In addition, she brought up personal and hurtful things. One of the things she said to me was that I was the reason certain customers stopped coming in. The customers she cited were people I liked, enjoyed chatting with, and knew their orders. If she was telling the truth, I don't know why I would have been the reason the didn't come in. Regardless, it was inappropriate to the matter at hand, and the manner in which she told me that was incredibly hurtful.

So yes. How do I explain that I quit my job because my boss was hurtful, cruel, and petty? I told her I quit because of the customers, and because the food counter trade wasn't really my thing (it's not, but that wasn't the problem). Over a year after I left a job that haunted me in my off-hours I'm still being haunted by it because if my boss wanted to, she could effectively tank my getting this job that I want so badly.

The worst part is that she might not have tanked my chances for this position. I just don't know. I feel like I've been so poisoned, so tainted by her hurtful words and actions at the end that I forget how kind and compassionate and helpful she could be at other times. As a coworker, she was fantastic; she was hardworking and helpful and funny and nice. But as a supervisor, she was inconsistant, occasionally hypocritical, and a sometimes-martinet. I try to remember the good, but it's made harder when we've had to keep such a close eye and tight fist on our finances since I quit.

Some of her last words to me were "I just need one good reason you want to keep working here." I didn't have one, so I handed in my notice. And while every day I'm thankful I made that decision, there are still many days I worry that it will continue to haunt me for years to come.

*I was alone in the shop, closing up, when supposedly a woman called multiple times and let the phone ring and ring and ring, but no one answered. So she called my boss' mobile (no idea how she got that number) and complained to her about it. My boss had her daughter call the shop multiple times, and I didn't answer. To the best of my memory, the phone rang 3 times that afternoon: first, the main office wanted the order for the next day; second, I don't know, but a customer was in the shop at the time so I couldn't answer (except she didn't buy anything after taking up ten minutes of my time with her hemming and hawing, so I had no proof in the til that a customer was there); and third, after the shop was closed. None of us answered the phone after the shop was closed, because well, we were closed. Everyone swears that they called the correct number, but I swear that the phone didn't ring. I wasn't a huge fan of answering the phone, but I always did.
**Admittedly, I'm not entirely sure my co-worker lost any trust or benefit of the doubt, which I think is horribly unfair and inappropriate, but I don't know for sure, and I can only be responsible for my own actions. I didn't try to pass any blame because I made bad choices, though it felt like my boss tried to get me to blame my co-worker. I could have not made the choices I did, but I did make them, and it was no one's fault but mine.

Monday, July 2, 2012

2012 Reading List: June