Wednesday 2 May 2012: Pleasantly surprised

After yesterday's house sorting humiliation I was feeling a bit rubbish yesterday when I went to bed and was not overly looking forward to today, as this morning I had an appointment at THE JOB CENTRE. I thought I would check the situation of what I am entitled to in relation to benefits, since I have been working for more than 25 years paying tax and insurance, I thought the point of that was to have a safety net if you found yourself without a job.

I am also curious. We all live in our little circles that are actually quite limited and the world of unemployment and low income is actually something I only hear about and see at a distance. I would like to know what it is actually like.

The last time I signed on was in 1986 when I finished at university, and it was a pretty grim system. I thought I was in for the same kind of soul destroying environment, but as per title I was pleasantly surprised. I did my initial giving of information on the phone on Monday and today I was in and out in about 20 minutes having confirmed that the information printed was correct, proved I am who I said I am and had a few things explained. The lady dealing with me was very pleasant and clear and the people directing you as you came through the door also were. I am very much looking forward to seeing my own personal advisor who is going to help me every other week to find work that is just right for me (within a 90 minutes travel radius - had to agree to that).

The Job Centre was in a very odd place on a kind of industrial estate with no parking anywhere near. This interesting vehicle was where I eventually parked after circling the block a few times.

It is also a marvellously sunny day here and I now have washing drying on the line (is there a more pleasing thing?) and birds are singing and I think I will be doing a spot of gardening before lunch.

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