Soooooo Tired and a Bit Frustrated

Well I had another job interview today. It's only part time and, worryingly, a zero hour contract to boot, but I really do want to get back to work and I'm willing to give anything a go just to get me back out there. It would do me good to get back out there.

It's been a long day though. Although the interview wasn't until 10:30 my alarm went off at five and I was out of the house by 6.15 am for the four mile walk to the bus stop! The first bus locally isn't until gone nine o clock so that wasn't much use to me. I finally got home some 12 hours later!!! It would have been sooner but I'd had to rearrange my signing on time at the job centre to accommodate the interview, so all in all it's been a very long day.

I have treated myself to a (very rare) bottle of wine. Surprisingly good too for £3.49! Very soft and a little too easy to drink! It's Three Mills Reserve Red. I know you can get it in B&M for a little more (£3.89 I think) but I picked it up in an off licence on the outskirts of Plymouth for the cheaper price.

An old friend and colleague posted on facebook tonight about how those on benefits should get their money on cards that can only be spent in certain places and can't be used for alcohol. While I understand her point of view... and yes, there are those who will buy booze instead of putting food on the table... frankly it annoyed me. I think it's very blinkered. The vast majority of those on benefits are decent people who really, REALLY, don't want to be there and are human too. We all have those days where we just need to relax and feel like anyone else. Sensible people, most people, know those days are few and far between but sometimes you have to give in to that urge for that glass of wine or unhealthy food because well, dammit, you deserve a treat. A little treat, whatever it is, can make you feel 'normal' again, whatever it is.

And a treat is all it is. I'll enjoy this glass and maybe, if I'm feeling really indulgent, another with the hotpot I have in the oven but then the top will go back on and that will be it. I do find it frustrating to be told as I'm not working I should just exist; have no fun, never let my hair down and relax. What many don't realise is that when you are signing on you have had to sign a contract dictating how much time you spend looking for work. Any deviation from this can result in being sanctioned and ending up with no money. If you haven't been out of work before, or not recently, you may not realise that looking for work can amount to a full time job in itself. It takes a lot of time and it can be so,so demoralising.

Yet we keep going because ultimately we want to get out of this hole we are in. No one in their right mind enjoys being unemployed. These T.V programmes you see and the newspaper articles you read about wasters sitting on their backsides doing nothing while spending good taxpayers money on drink, drugs and plasma T.V's? Cobblers!! I don't know how they do it because everyone I know who isn't working is having a tough time just putting food on the table and paying the bills.