Ambling aimlessley around Soho considering a pint and a hot meal. I decided on just a pint. Lunch starts at £6.50 in most pubs, which is just a bit too much to splash out on considering I still have supper to sort out as well as my daily two pints down The Swan following up on job leads.
It's been a rather fruitless day so far, no new leads on the job sites, so I spent the morning bugging people on the phone. Had a long chat with a recruitment agency guy, Anthony, who was away on Monday and Tuesday (moaned about this in the last blog) He sounds confident (don't they always) that he will find some freelance for me.
Last night I sent a "to the point" email to a company advertising for web designers directly with no agency involved, following it up this morning with another email and a phone call, they will decide over the next two days. Hope I didn't bungle my chances by being too eager (desperate ?)
If I fail to land a cushdey job, there's no shortage of shit jobs in London. Everywhere you go, there are job vacancy signs. Most of them are offering £5 an hour and below, which is really a last resort. If your lucky, you'll get a 40 hour week at £5 an hour, which amounts to a pathetic £200 before tax, probably around £170 in reality. That would mean shared accommodation at £70 a week, food for a week at around £40, transport for a week at £25, leaving a rather unappetising £35 for entertainment.
I will go that route if I have to, but £400 to £500 a week clear sounds a bit more appealing, which I should be able to get with some effort.
I have about 2 weeks left with my current financial situation before taking the plunge toward the lower reaches of the job and accommodation market.
I'm sitting in a totally non-descript pub, there being so many of them to choose from. I chose the wrong one from the aspect of wireless net access, this is a dead spot. The beer is reasonable - £2.60 for a pint of John Smiths which I'm savouring slowly. I think I shall lunch and dine on, hmmm, pita bread, humous, tomato and possibly cheese. That should set me back about £3 and will also see me through for breakfast tommorrow.
The method of my madness continues. A man cannot exist on bread alone, requiring beer to keep him sane. I have a can of cider at the B&B for later this evening and will probably have 2 pints of Youngs bitter at The Swan.
My daily expenditure will therefore be :-
2 x coffee = £3.60
1 x John Smiths = £2.60
Lunch & Dinner = £3.00
2 x Youngs Bitter = £4.42
TOTAL : £10.02
That is not bad going, however, some days have been worse. I'd say I've been averaging £15 a day on food and drink. If transport and accommodation are taken into account, we're talking around £40 a day. I've also made a number of purchases - an iron, a cheap CD walkman (mp3 capable), a lamp and of course the huge expenditure - the laptop I'm typing this on.
That alone set me back £700 but was absolutely essential.
If I really hit rock bottom and need to survive through till next year, the laptop will need to be sacrificed on the altar of need.
When I do get a good job, I intend to get completely legless in celebration and will most certainly splash out on a slap up feast, unless it's a bar job. If so, I'll "celebrate" with a sandwich and a pint.
Later I will post this for the sake of record keeping and will spend the evening searching for leads. I'm still working on a CV rewrite for data capture / help desk roles, but it is proving difficult to get right.
Tommorrow ?
Same routine, different day. Keep slogging on looking for work.
UPDATE
Just got a follow-up call while writing all this gibberish from Jason at CV screen about a potential position in West Sussex. The client had a few more questions about me, such as whether I've had eccommerce experience and if I'm willing to relocate - yes on both counts. They are offering £26000 PA - not bad. That would be around £1700 a month after tax.
Where-abouts in West Sussex I have no clue yet as the name and address of the employer has not been revealed. To be honest, right now, I'd relocate to Brixton or White City if it meant a solid job. Best get my interview Monkey Suit ironed, as I'm just so close now and hope to be smoking that cigar soon.
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Side notes.
I'm loving London. I'm alone most of the time, but that doesn't detract from the sheer enjoyment of this city. Even the lack of a job doesn't dampen the spirits that much. I walked here past Trafalgar Square again, witnessed a hilarious verbal battle between a bus driver and an incredibly rude passenger, ambled up into Soho and browsed some book shops getting lost in a maze of streets and people.
It amazes me how little it takes to raise my spirits. Just a simple call from a recruitment agency to update me on a job application and I'm smiling again. My sheer persistence is starting to bear fruit.
The only thing I miss about Joburg right now are family and friends. That's it. I don't miss anything else at all. I'd sooner have a crap bar job in London than a lucrative web job in Joburg. It's been a month and I have no real desire to leave.
Even in my deepest depressions of which there have been a few, I never touch on the idea of returning.
I think I really have had enough of the Joburg paranoia. The thought of worrying about being attacked just driving into my house, or hijacked on the road, or being involved in a shoot-out makes me realise that no matter what my situation here is, I'm better off from a mental point of view. For all of Londons mad rush and noise, I'm more at ease than I have been for years.
Yes, London is a dangerous place. I can be mugged here too, or be blown up in a terrorist attack, or beaten up late at night by drunken yobs. The difference is the frequency and rarity of crime not to mention the sheer diversity of life. The gap between the haves and have-nots is far more blurred. The racial overtones are also more diverse, there being so many races, cultures, languages, ideologies, creeds and points of view.
We will see what transpires. All I know at this moment in time, is that this is an adventure for me personally that will have a profound impact on the rest of my life.
Caution is with the winds and I need to pee...
