Wed. Feb 13th - Fri. 15th
We walked in to Dunblane & I took my resume in to the only likely place: an accountant's office specializing in Sage (Simply Accounting). But the place was so miniscule that even the one receptionist lady took up too much room! Off to plan B which is to use an agency to try and get a job. I got thoroughly lost driving around Stirling trying to find a business park where there were a couple of agencies.....got a little upset but suddenly found myself at the parkade to the Thistle Mall and I knew what to do there! Parked and eventually found the "OfficeAngels" which sounded like my kind of agency!!!! It was insane walking around Stirling trying to find an address - the streets aren't marked and there are no numbers on the store fronts. If you don't ask it is hopeless. In the end I have applied at the agency and they have since phoned and offered my an interview for a job on Mon. or Tuesday. The job sounds great, but it is 1-5 everyday (Mon-Fri) which wasn't really our plan. I will go and be upfront that I have times/dates that I will not be available due to visitors coming, and see what happens. I don't want to mess up our supposed long weekends for travelling around too much. Steve thinks it's not a problem, that the weekends will be enough. Think he just fancies the money for more meat pies!
While in town, I checked out a couple more Charity Shops and got two excellent purchases: a very nice, cotton blue & white throw blanket for the couch (or car) - £3.99. Nice when up in the night and want to keep cosy while typing blogs! Also, a brand new cotton apron (£0.99) with "dogs" on it....just perfect as I can't manage without an apron (& rubber gloves!) Makes life a little better at the flat.
14th -
[Funny aside: my husband can remember all the Kings & Queens and dates of reign for the last 300 years BUT he can't remember whether the green or the purple toothbrush is his! ]
We had to stay at home until 1:30 waiting for the router to arrive by courier, which was a drag, but very glad to get it. Steve hooked everything up OK in the end. Can not get PC Anywhere yet thought so that is disturbing.
For Valentine's dinner we bought a couple of nice lamb chops, some mint sauce, and a very fancy chocolate mousse from Marks & Sparks, and ate at home. Always a LOT cheaper on Valentine's Day.
Lucky for me on my birthday we did a few loads of laundry and got the machine figured out as not to pour soap & water all over the kitchen. Put in way fewer clothes, put in a soap tablet instead of liquid, and cut amount in half. All worked great and the front loading Bosch spins at Mach 3......just about takes off in to space. The clothes come out so dry though, an amazing way to save energy.
We also had a couple of hours drive in the country exploring - see attached photos. Had a delightful long walk all around the Doune Castle (doon) which is close by and quite impressive. The movie Ivanhoe was filmed partly at this local castle and you can see why...just what you think a typical castle should look like. (We will have to go back to see inside as closed at this time). It was freezing cold on the walk around the castle along the river Teith, but lots of wild life and lovely birdsong plus beautiful scenery.
Feb. 15th
Very cold and grey today but went on our first train trip in to Stirling from Dunblane station. We walked the "long way" couldn't figure out the ticket machine in time and the train left without us! Caught the next one half an hour later, so not too bad. Then we were on the train and just getting our tickets out for inspection when I noticed we didn't have the Visa receipt, jumped back off the train to the machine and found 3 more tickets had printed after we left...including our return tickets! Yikes that was nearly a mistake. It cost £2.70 return pp and the whole trip took 6 minutes to downtown, which is just amazing. Everyone here takes the train in to Stirling and now we know why.
We walked around the Old Town and all the way up to the Castle. Fantastic views even on a cloudy day, and you get a good bearing on where you are. Again, will actually go in the castle another day, maybe with Karen & Paul when they visit first week in April.
We also popped in to the Bank in Stirling to deposit our HSBC bank draft, which went quite well! We got our new bank cards today which are called Visa debit (!). Tried to apply for credit cards, but she said we would get declined at this point because we don't have enough "action" on our accounts. So, we will have to spend, spend, spend on debit cards to get some serious action and therefore a credit rating.
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