During the morning I went for a job interview at a CD distribution warehouse. The place was far bigger than I had imagined. Although in some respects my guess had been right. It was only recently that the company has expanded and moved in to far bigger, and plusher premises. The job itself is a real low skilled, low paid job picking CD's from the warehouse and passing them to the packing department. For some reason I thought the pay was a miserly £5.69 ph, but it turns out to be worse - just £5.30 ph, but after 3 months it would rise to an amazing (!) £5.80 ph. I have no idea at all whether I will be offered the job, but if I am I will take it as a stop gap. Being an expanding company there could be some hope of advancement. I was told that the manager there does like to draw on the talemts of those already there before considering outside help. It was suggested that knowing what was on my CV I could get roped into doing I.T. type stuff. A nice idea, but I find it rather far fetched.

 While I was among the industrial estates that stretch along the road I thought I would have a look around and see if anyone else could make use of my talents. There was one company whose job advert I had already responded to by e-mail, and I had previously decided  to drop them in a paper application as well. Then there was a company who I had earlier noticed in Yellow Pages as having something to do with electronics. I meant to visit them, but found they had moved out. So I wandered around untiol I came across Hantarex who used to manufacture monitors. They were very friendly when I called on them, but sadly they have the receivers in and are in the process of winding up the company. I eventually found two companies to leave a copy of my CV with. One of these had "Electro" in the name, but I don't think they actually have anything to do with electronics.

 During all that walking around the sun had really come out and it was actually getting hot. I was feeling quite hot when I got on the train home. The train seemed to have its heating on full blast and I was dripping when I got off the train and walked back home. I had only been out for a couple of hours but I felt very tired when I got back home. I think it is a legacy of the cold I had. I am not fully over it yet even though it started well over a week ago. Even this morning my nose needs a good clear out every 20 - 30 minutes, and my chest is still fairly congested. It is a vast improvement over this time last week, but I will be a lot happier when it is finally all over.

 Yesterday afternoon was a classic case of time slipping by unnoticed. I had intended to do some stuff, but I thought I would have some breakfast first. So some time passed as I got some food together. A little more time passed as I ate it. Then I rested while the food settled down. That rest turned into a snooze and more time slipped by. I'll not describe the rest of the afternoon, or early evening. All I need to say is that I did a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, and none of what I was supposed to be doing ! As the afternoon passed into evening the clouds gathered and it became gloomier and gloomier. and eventually it was raining.

 Today I really will get into my workshop and do what I should have done yesterday. Perhaps one temptation to skive is that it looks as if the sun may be out again this morning. I haven't really got anywhere to go, but it would be nice to be out in it at sometime.

 The first thing on the agenda was to go into college, and do a four hour stint there. Maybe three hours of that was spent reading New Scientist. It was a long way to go and do what I would otherwise done at home, but it did help to pass the time nicely. One of the good things about New Scientist is that the wording across the top of the cover includes the words "The best jobs in science". These are ideal words if challenged about the validity of reading a magazine while you are supposed to be searching for jobs. In fact I wasn't challenged this time, but it did happen while I was at Focus Vision some months back.

 While I was quietly reading away I received a phone call from a potential employer, and I have been offered an interview next Wednesday. Now this is all rather strange. The letter I sent out was only posted on Wednesday night, and probably did not enter the postal system until Thursday morning.  So I seem to have been invited to the interview with very little consideration. Many employers seem to sit on applications for ages before (very rarely) responding.  The other strange  thing is that is the only application I have posted off which is totally outside the specialities that I have previously gone for. In fact it is an essentially unskilled job picking CD's in a warehouse. The one plus point is that it is only in Lower Sydenham so travelling would be cheap and easy. The pay, as you might expect, is pretty poor, but still rather better than dole money. If I do get offered the job I will do it, but unless there seems any way of boosting that pay I will continue to keep a look out for a job that can use some of my skills, and pays maybe double the paltry £5.69 p/h that this one does. The one final strange thing about this was the way I worded my covering letter with the CV. I was very blunt and said most of my CV would be irrelevant, that it was a radical change in career, and that I was applying because I was fed up with being on the dole. I think my interview tactics will be pretty blunt as well.

 At the same time I applied for the warehouse job I also applied to a great sounding job at the Science Museum. It would mean working in fascinating surroundings, and working on some fascinating stuff. The pay is obviously much better as well, although perhaps not as much as I might have expected. As wonderful as it sounds there are some serious downsides to it. I am still not happy dealing with the public, I am naturally not of smart appearance, but worst of all would be the terrible commute up to town every day. Given the choice I might still opt to work locally in a warehouse for less money.

 After I had clocked up my 12 hours for the week at college, and collected my fares claim, I headed home to grab some lunch and put my feet up for 30  minutes. Then it was off to the internet cafe to do the late shift. At around 17.00 the keys were handed over to me and I was on my own. It was not very busy in there for a Friday night, but surprisingly the time did not drag until it was about half an hour before I was due to lock up. I then had the difficulty of reminding people that I was closing down at 20.00. The last man did hold out right to the end. Locking up was very quick and I was out of there by 10 or 15 minutes after 20.00. On the way home I felt sufficiently rich to buy some fish and chips. Luckily it was still piping hot by the time I got home. That was the first time I have had fish and chips in ages and it was delicious. I don't know whether it was a knock on effect of my fading illness (which I haven't moaned about yet), but I could not finish all the chips - I must be very ill !!!

 I felt tired all day yesterday, and I went up to bed at 22.00, or less than 2 hours after getting home for the internet cafe. Some of that tiredness is probably a direct result of fighting the illness, but a lot of it is an indirect result of the illness. I have had trouble getting a good nights sleep as I keep waking up to cough a bit more lung up. Last night was an improvement with only one episode, but it did take some time to get to sleep initially. I hope that tonight I may be able to sleep through the night without waking up once. My cough is improving, but it will be a long time before it is totally gone. Meanwhile my nose is just about cured, although I can suffer from some mild hay fever at this time of year (I think it may be some sort of tree pollen).

 Today I am back to the internet cafe. I will be opening it up at about 10.00 and running it all day, by myself, until closing it down again at 20.00. I can't really say I am looking forward to it, but I can say I will be glad when it is over. Sunday will truly be a day of rest for me !

 Ah Friday ! It should be cause for celebration, but this time it is almost the opposite. I have an ardeous time coming up, and I am not looking forward to it.

 Yesterday I did something I should have done at least once much earlier in the week. I had a day off sick. After the poor nights sleep, the hangover, and various aches and pains, I spent the day staying warm and doing very little. I even managed an hour or two of very poor disturbed sleep. I had been quite keen to go to college, but I just could not face it. At 21.00 I headed off for bed. After 30 minutes of reading I turned the light out and was soon asleep. For several hours I slept solidly, but at 01.30, or thereabouts, I woke up needing a pee and coughing my lungs out. After anothers hours sleep I was awake again and coughing another lung up. It took quite some time to get back to sleep again, but I managed it. I was woken up again by Nelly yeowling for her breakfast just a few minutes before 06.00.

 So this morning I am still suffering the legacy of my cold. Principly this is a bad cough.It is not a dry tickly cough, but is the irritation caused by mucus congregating near the top of my windpipe.  As soon as I hear it gurgle, or feel it move I become racked with deep coughing to try and dislodge it. This would almost be of little consequence if it did not hurt my chest and stomach muscles. They are constantly sore now. Very , very slowly my chest is improving. As I sit here typing I notice that I am coughing less than I did last night. The same is true of my previously running nose. The latter is mostly dry now, although still needing a clear out from time to time.

 I think that by next Monday I will be almost back to normal. This is really not soon enough as I have a difficult couple of days ahead of me.  As I didn't get into college yesterday I still have to do 4 hours there today to make up my 12 hour total for the week.  I really didn't want that today as I have to go to the internet cafe late this afternoon to take over the running of it for tonight, and all day Saturday so the boss can have a weekend away with his missus. It is a huge challenge, and one that I do not particularly relish. On the other hand it is a bit of a boost to the ego that I am trusted with the keys to the shop and judged capable of running the place by myself.

 So the plan for today is to go into college as soon as it opens at 09.30. I will hopefully be picking up a copy of New Scientist on my way there so I can have something decent to read after skimming the rest of the papers there for new jobs.  I'll leave there at 13.30 once I have completed my 12 hours for the week.  Then I'll have a few hours at home to eat and rest before heading to the internet cafe at about 16.30.  I'll be stuck there until 20.00, or perhaps a little later depending on just how soon I can shut down and lock the place up.  By the time I get home I will probably be exhausted and do little except  have some food and get to bed.  Tomorrow will be worse. I'll be opening up at around 10.00 and not finishing until 20.00 (although depending on how busy the place is I might try and finish earlier).  All that inconvenience and I am not even sure what I'll be getting in return for it !

 When I went to bed last night I decided that I ought to add an extra duvet to make sure I kept nice and warm. It certainly worked.I almost cooked myself during the night. As a rule I do not like to be too hot in bed as it usually feels uncomfortable and sweaty. Last night it was a very dry heat and I was able to tolerate it without having to resort to poking my arms and legs out from under the duvet.

 All that heat produced some vivid dreams. I had a very realistic dream that I was awake at 06.00. It was only when I really woke up at 02.30 that I realised the first time had been a dream. While I was really awake I had to go to the toilet. That was quite difficult when racked with shivering convulsions. It felt so cold when I got out of bed, and the shivers travelled from the tip of my toes to the top of my head. I was a huge relief to get back into a nice warm bed. I had a less severe repeat of this at 04.30.

 This morning it is hard to pin down any one major symptom. I seem to have a variety of minor annoyances that together make me feel fairly bad. I am expecting some of the stiffness to ease once I start moving around a little more. My nose has stopped running, although it is still very stuffy. It feels as if it will take a long time to finally empty my sinuses. My throat is no longer dry and tickly, but I am coughing up the odd bit of lung. Finally, my brain no longer feels vague and floating, but I do have a very low level headache which can be a bit distracting. I have taken some Ibruprofen which might help any, or all of these symptoms.

 So today I have to sign on at 09.00. That is absolutely essential. After that I think I will have to get along to the internet cafe to finish some work there. I'd rather not have to do that. I'd prefer to stay in the warm quietly restoring some old vinyl records, but it is to my advantage to finish the work there. Maybe I'll do some vinyl restoration later this afternoon.