And I saw someone writing a real letter.
This really is about the extent of today's news.
Actually a reasonable day, for all that. Managed not to get snapped at or to ignore it if I did. And I was in a good mood until just now. Couldn't tell you why it changed. I'm not really used to living on my own again is part of it...I just feel lonely. Meh. I keep dreaming about possibly maybe maybe moving back to Cambridge. There are people (you: please read that properly - I'm not talking about that, I really mean everyone up there whom I go up to talk to; of course there's that person, but they aren't in any way the be all and end all...I could even see you, if we could ever cope with that.) I could see all the time, and I could live in a shared flat again, and frankly while I'm doing what I'm doing, i.e. filling time and writing job applications, why NOT do it in the town where all my friends live? Because of rent, is why, but I'm wondering if that's really a good enough reason. I COULD get better temping than this, even down here, and I could probably get enough up in Cambridge to make it nearly feasible. Would require more effort job hunting wise, but I COULD.
People keep pointing out that if I've left, I should leave, but the amount of time I'm up there, I clearly haven't left. I'm told not to become one of those people hanging on to their student days with all their effort. I don't feel I'm doing that, and frankly I've always liked being around the old Sods, so I'm a bit torn about that, really. I've ALWAYS hated moving house, with an absolute passion. And no matter how many times I've done it, and in the last 5 years alone that's been a hefty number, I don't get any better at dealing with it. I hate the displacement, and I hate the losing people and the not knowing the place and the sense of trying to break into a community that's already formed. I know I KNOW St Albans, but it doesn't know me any more. It's weird the way it's so the same but that absolutely everything in my world has changed.
There are many many reasons why it wouldn't be a clever idea, of which the most pragmatic is money. Currently, I'm going to try and stick this out for a few more weeks and see where I get to. It's only about 7 weeks to Christmas, which is scary in itself. Maybe I'll get that far.
In other news, Nationwide put a stop on my card because of a random fraudulent transaction. Which was good of them, in that I didn't lose any money, but distinctly awkward just the same. I currently have no cash card with any money I can use (I need to shovel some money into my other account or sort out an overdraft on it in case this ever happens again) on it, and this weekend needed to pay an overdue council tax bill (for the last month of residence in Victoria Road when I wasn't a student) and a SoD dinner cheque. Fish paid the latter, and I had to get Andy to pay the former, and I had to borrow some money to see me through until I got paid (in cash) yesterday. That money hasn't been paid in. I was going to go to the supermarket tonight - slightly glad I didn't now because I wouldn't have remembered to pick it up and thus could have had a very embarrassing moment at the till.
Other slight worry re wages: I got paid the full £200 for last week's work. Which is all very nice and all, but I really ought to be missing a fair amount for tax. I also didn't have a payslip. I mentioned this to the manager, Lawrence, today, who told me that we apparently never GET payslips, and to talk to the owner Götz about it. This worries me a little - surely I should get a payslip every time I get paid? It's like a receipt, and you'd always get a receipt for something when you spend that amount of money. Also, it makes me wonder if he's fiddling the tax a bit. If he pays everyone the full £200 every week, and paying the tax properly, we're actually being paid more like £7 an hour, which is nice, but distinctly lots for the work we do. I'd EXPECT us to be paid minimum wage, which is what £200, properly taxed, works out to. I can deal with cash in hand for once in a blue moon, and because it'll all come out in the wash, but I'm going to be slightly worried if it goes on. I haven't asked the other girls, because you don't do that kind of thing, but the envelopes I saw were lacking in coins, which would be necessary to make up random numbers. I haven't filled in the relevant forms yet, which might explain any perceived irregularities, and if I'm not being properly paid by next week I'm not going to have much choice beyond making a fuss. Meh. Might be my excuse to leave...shouldn't leave.
shifts: 6
rejection to interview ratio: 6:1 Gah.
...ditching school staff served. I get the impression it's all going to be the same ones until I happen to work an early Wednesday shift, when they're ALL in during house assembly.
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Lemon yogurt poppy seed muffins
13 hours ago
You're entitled by law to a payslip 'when or before' you get paid (in my place it's usually a month after though!)
ReplyDeleteYou're also entitled to a written statement of conditions (i.e. contract) which should say how much you're going to be paid and when. If you haven't filled in forms I'd have expected you to be on emergency (higher) tax until it's sorted, not nothing. If it's not fixed you might end up paying double or even triple at some point.
Yeah, someone told me that about the payslips - I thought I was supposed to. I talked to the boss about it today though, and it actually is fine...just a little convoluted. He pays us weekly, but does his payroll monthly, which means that we get monthly payslips. Which is fine, it just would have been nice to know! He also explained that the £200 is net of tax, which actually means I'm getting £7something an hour, which might actually mean I'm more tempted to stay in the job! He said to me when we talked about it that the contract was verbal, which is fine, he just didn't explain it properly. So from being loads worried about it and really disliking the job, I've actually got a bit more time for this guy. As for the tax forms, it means I've got a bit more space to fill them in - provided I've done it before he actually submits the payroll, it'll be fine. I'm expecting to be on basic rate and then have to reclaim most of it at the end of the tax year because I won't have earnt enough this year, but I've done that every year I think I've earnt anything, so it's not really an issue for me.
ReplyDeleteThanks though hun...hope stuff's ok. Sorry I've not commented for you very much recently - I do read, just sometimes haven't got the right thing to say!
Also, given I'm in St Albans and therefore not all THAT far from where your family lives, maybe we could meet up just for a chat sometime when you're down? Not sure how easy it would be to organise, but if we sorted a date out far enough in advance we ought to be ok, right?