Had a “little chat” with the senior members of staff at the Centre. The usual meeting to find out how you did during the season, how you’ve found work, etc.

The most interesting part was being offered work again next season, and also the opportunity to live on-site over Winter. I’ll still get charged rent to stay, but it means I can now stay here instead of moving around the country like last year. So on my next day off I need to go into Keswick and try to find a job over Winter. Something not too taxing that gives me time off to go and play in the hills or make 3D objects fly around my computer’s screen - depending on weather and motivation.

I’ll have to go and visit Angus in Scotland at some point too. Hope we get a lot of snow this year, I want to log some more winter mountain days. Actually, logging any kind of mountain days would be good since in the whole of this year I’ve gone out about five times. I have done a lot of climbing though.

On Friday at vaguely around 9am I grabbed the remainder of my bags, hopped into Angus’ car and went into Glasgow for the last time.

After wandering around Glasgow for an hour, parting with fifteen quid for a copy of GTA2 on the GBC (which is actually not that good… I suspect the GBA’s emulation of it isn’t quite right) I hopped onto a train.

Bye Scotland

The train dumped me in Carlisle. I had about three minutes to locate the platform and train that I would be catching to Penrith. I ran around the entire station looking for the mysterious “Platform 4″. The signs didn’t help, but eventually I found it… it being the very same platform I got off the train from Glasgow at

The next train was late, but eventually turned up. A fifteen minute whizzo along the tracks took me to Penrith, just in time to catch the 3pm bus to Keswick.

Why Keswick? Because I was going for a job interview.

A two day interview…

The first evening was just to collect all the interviewees together, the proper interview beginning the two days after.

I figured I might have a chance when only two other people turned up to the interview.

We spent half of Saturday morning being shown around the site, looking at the off-site places they use and having a random chatter. For the rest of the morning we got to play on the teambuilding stuff.

Now, teambuilding is usually a fairly boring affair involving circles of people and a couple of tennis balls. Not so at this place. No, they have interesting stuff like a pole to climb and a big swing that shoots you over the river and back.

In the afternoon we did the Ghyll Scramble. The only difference to the Burn Run that I’d done in the previous Centre was that you go down the river, not up it. New experience and a lot more fun - until you slide over a pointy stone which spears your arse!

There then followed a short private interview where they said they’d like me to start working in March

Straight out of one job and into the next

Now just need to find something to do for two and a half months. Preferably something that gets me money, I really need a new laptop.

It’s nice knowing I have work next year. Makes the time I’m going to spend at home much more nice and relaxing

Got another interview at a place in Southampton. Not a place known for its mountains and hills, or places to go climbing. It is known for its sailing though, and the weather which is usually warm and dry. Interview’s on the 9th and 10th of December. The week after that I might have another interview at a place in Gloucester. Being unemployed is a full-time job

This job thing is full of conflicting choices - do I take a job in the Lakes, where there’s loads of climbing and walking, but not a lot of sailing… or do I go down South and do lots of sailing and not a lot else? The job down South is full time, the job in the Lakes isn’t. So many decisions to make. Still, it’s nice to have a choice of places to go

Using the Parental Travel Agency (a commission free travel agency that does interest-free credit) I have booked a journey from Glasgow to Keswick. I get the regular bus to Glasgow, which takes longer than any other single part of this journey. Once in Glasgow I meander to the station and get on a train to Carlisle, then one to Penrith. From here a bus run by Virgin takes me to Keswick.

The journey home at the end of the weekend is easier, the Parental Travel Agency provides a personal taxi service to my house It also provides a removals service the weekend before to take all my junk home.

All I need to do now is wait three weeks, wow them at the interview and go home with a job (and wouldn’t it be nice if things were that easy!).

At last! Someone’s decided I am interesting enough to interview. I’m leaving this place on the 5th of December, and the interview is on the 3rd-5th of Dec. I’ll have to catch a train to the Lake District where the interview is, then on Sunday get a lift back up here with my dad, collect all my stuff, and go back down again. Quite bonkers and typical of how these things go

Need to arrange trains and collections from places.

Had a job interview at Diggle School on Wednesday for an ICT Technician. Didn’t get it though, they wanted a techie that had worked with little kids, which seems to be an impossible combination - they didn’t hire anyone and have since withdrawn the post! Well at least I didn’t fail it because of my technical ability

Got one for a programming job in Marple tomorrow. This sounds way more interesting (if a little difficult to get to), so I’ll try my best to wow them and convince them they want me back for another interview (this is a “first interview”), then get them to employ me. All the other jobs I’ve failed to get have been tech support, which is alright, but I really like programming and after speaking to me for 10 minutes, they should realise this

I received one job offer from Monster.com… Click the link below. For obvious reasons I won’t be replying