Tuesday 3 January 2012

Diary of the unemployed #day 1

Today is officially my first day being unemployed, Happy New Year Louise! Although my last day at work was the Wednesday before Christmas that was followed by a 500 mile round trip to the end of the Earth (ok well Hythe in Kent, but after 6 hours in a Punto it starts to feel like the end of the Earth) for a magical Christmas wedding at the Castle (not my wedding I hasten to add). And although I’ve been practising the art of being unemployed over the Christmas holidays by only doing one thing a day (as advised by Joey in Friends) the reality is setting in
today as I am filling in my application to claim job seekers allowance and housing benefit, and its time to tighten the purse strings. Even though my impending 30th birthday makes me feel positively geriatric, this great age is not recognised as being entitled to any independence, space or privacy, as a single adult under 35 you can only claim housing benefit to cover the cost of a room with shared facilities. The thought of having to share a bathroom with strangers…eugh, a reminder of student houses where no one wants to take responsibility for the soap or the hand towel, and shudder the pile of crusty plates in the kitchen sink and having to write your name on your bottle of milk. No thank you, am too old for that ball game, I like my peace and quiet and my own sofa (even if its threadbare orange monstrosity from the local charity shop, its mine) and anyway there’s no way I’d fit the contents of my 3 bedroom semi into one room. So I’m not making any grand new year’s resolutions, last year I set my self the goals of getting a new job, new house, new car, new man, and in the words of Meatloaf 3 out of 4 aint bad, I’m just missing the man. So this year I am going to focus my energies on getting a job (well and maybe continue the hunt for a man!).