jobseek and you shall find

so I'm looking for a new job.. have been for a few months now.. my current part time contract runs out in October and I'm very ready for something and some place new!

thing is, as fabulous as I believe I am at the radio stuff I do for a living, turns out I am terrible at answering one-size-fits-all HR questions about my relevant experience.. which is becoming an increasing problem! I'm not even very good when they get more specific.. I'm just good at doing stuff - not talking about it afterwards (much afterwards in some cases)..

now you may think I'm complaining cos I ain't got the goods - but baby I got 'em! I just can't tell you about them haha part of my job is to live in the moment, dealing with the business of live radio under pressure, then moving on to the next thing.. being asked by a HR bod who works in a no-pressure role to give an example of how I deal with problems is an impossible question - I did it.. I moved on! if I remembered every situation at work my head would explode! The job is about living in the moment, which as it turns out is not great for getting a new job! haha

so I guess I'm looking at some hard unemployed sofa time if I don't figure out what these people want me to tell them about myself.. it's so sucky cos I would never apply for a job I didn't think I could do! why doesn't my experience speak for itself?!

I'm mid-application for a job at the very bottom of TV production and the questions they ask you'd think it was to run the entire team! *sighs* best put the kettle on and get back to it.. but cripes I'm looking fwd to a period of NOT filling in job application forms soon!

if you would like to employ me, (of course you would, I'm the Jodester!) do send me a note with my expected responsibilities and salary ;)

let me tell you about #chocswap

you'll know by now that i'm a keen advocate of micro blogging site Twitter.. tbf it's taken me away from this 'proper' blog as it's so instant and available on my iphone, i can't resist but tweet everyday! imagine that! my inane ramblings every day!! hehe my poor 'followers'*

so a few months back i got a mention from a girl in Cincinnati, Ohio.. she remarked how unlikely it was that there was an @producerjodie working in radio just like her friend @producerjodi which is fair enough an observation to make so i replied hello to both and new friends were found :)

more recently i remarked on Twitter that i had just eaten 5 hobnobs**... to which @producerjodi asked what's a hobnob?? so.. a hobnob for the uninitiated, is an oat cookie with plain and chocolate covered variations and quite moreish, that is to say eating 5 was not my plan but just kinda happened!!! i suggested i send jodi some english biscuits and she send me some yankee ones and so #chocswap was born!

once at the supermarket i opted for some cadbury's crunchie biscuits for the swap, this because cadbury's is sooo english plus they were my new favourites, and no less addictive than hobnobs... packaged up and sent to Ohio we waited for the postal service to deliver them to @producerjodi...

a week later she messaged me on Twitter - they're yummy she exclaimed!! i'm sending yours this week!

another week later i had a pack of Oreo Fudgees in my possession!!! it's safe to say #chocswap was a storming success!!!

i can't think of a better use of internet friends than swapping yummy treats! haha well y'know it made me smile anyway, two radio gals, an ocean apart, going to their local postal service to mail cookies... it's a beautiful thing that we did haha

i recommend this sort of silly behaviour to you reader, the world can be a jaded place, let's make it nice again by doing nice things for strangers!

* if you wish to join them find me @producerjodie

**i did warn you about the innane updates! haha

ukelele gal

i joined a uke club! i have wanted to join this club for months but just didn't get around to it... so glad i finally got there... i don't mind telling you that after 2 hours of uke strumming i had a very sore index finger but in fact i didn't mind ;)

can you believe such a thing exists? the world is a wonderful place after all...

supermarket karma

today i went to the supermarket for some milk, breakfast, lunch etc... nothing out of the ordinary... but as i walked home i had a smile on my face! let me tell you why...

i bought a whole bunch of stuff - including those things i shouldn't have like chocolate biscuits and white choc magnums* - and i got to the checkout to find it wasn't too busy, usually on a sunday supermarkets are queue-tastic! i waited behind this old lady as she and her carer got through their shopping and as i did i saw a guy with an onion and a baguette looking for a place to pay.. now to give you some context i was at the only 'manned' checkout, there were a couple of self-service machines in use as well as the kiosk area for cigarettes, lotto etc but also busy... so i saw this guy and he had a look on his face that i instantly empathized with, the 'oh i only wanted to pop in, buy this onion and baguette and be gone but now i have to wait to pay... ruined' face!

so i caught his eye and waved him over, i said come here, go before me mister! he was reluctant, no, no need.. but i wasn't about to have my good deed turned down! haha i persisted, come on, i said, you have 2 items, it's no big deal, it's your lucky day, go next! after reassuring him i was sure, and this wasn't a trick, or a tv stunt (!) and good for my karma bank haha, he accepted my offer, saying thanks, how he was just parked on double yellows outside and actually how he had to buy fags from the kiosk anyway.. at which point the checkout boy who had obviously overheard the goings on piped up - which ones do you want? he was waiting to serve the next person (me or the dude) but was waiting patiently for the very elderly lady in front to get going... the random guy was incredulous - asked for the brand he wanted and the kid popped across to the kiosk to grab them for him... he said wow this really is my lucky day to which i reminded him it was only 12 noon so plenty of time for some other great stuff to happen to him!

it's a shame that this was such a surprise to him, hopefully he will return the random act of kindness to another human being some time soon and the ripple effect will make the world a little nicer for everyone :)

jeez i'm SUCH a hippy these days! lol

but anyways, i can totally recommend doing a stranger a good turn**, it cheered me right up and i was smiling all the way home***

*omg it's a good job i go to the gym!

**in my experience the reaction isn't always as good as this one was but it's worth the punt people!

***and not just cos i now had choccie biccies ;)

my fridge magnet tour

i seem to have become addicted to fridge magnets... i think i can blame my mother, not just because that's what you do, but because she is addicted to fridge magnets and seems to have gotten me started with some gift fridge magnets.. which you then can't help but add to! argh!

recently i have been spring cleaning.. and surely one of the things i really don't 'need' in life is fridge magnets.. and yet they tell a great story about my life* do they not? let me explain for you this collection..

top line - no messing about let's get straight to David! haha the classical David from Italy shows off his manhood in this magnet.. my friend Kate bought it for me as a momento when we were in Rome together a few years ago.. he's pretty eye catching no? hehe next across is a silver Liver Bird - a gift from my fridge magnet loving mother!! the Liver Bird is the emblem for Liverpool my home town, two giant Liver Birds sit aloft the Liver Building on the water front and word is, if they ever fly away Liverpool will sink 'neath the river Mersey - ya gotta love these old sailor yarns, only from a port city baby ;)

next up you have a postcard of a Boston Terrier... this is my dream dog should i ever decide to be responsible enough to own one (ahem)

okay next line down L-R we have a Guinness Toucan magnet.. I think I bought this in Kinsale on a weekend away with my mum, and we all know Guinness is good for you ;) this sits next to a signed picture of Deal Or No Deal host with the most Noel Edmondson.. couple of years ago I went with a bunch of friends to sit in the audience to watch people open them boxes and absolutely LOVED it! haha next up my most recent acquisition, a sign post for Australia , it reads 'It's a bloody long way' and it's not wrong!!! moving swiftly on we have a Brazilian magnet brought back for me by my pal Lou, then a lovely eye from Malta i think from the bf's parents.. just under that the word drizzle from a foodie magnet poetry kit of my dads, a Brighton magnet - I used to live there and 'twas amazing... and a superlambanana - a new Liverpoolian emblem, again from my mother..

onto the bull and the Isle of Mull magnet from another weekend away with my mum, up to Oban this time in bonnie Scotland... followed by an Edward Monkton magnet entitled the Pants of Peace**

okay back to Noel's piccie and we have another Aussie magnet - this time from the gallery of NSW featuring the work of native artist Margaret Preston.. underneath that a Holland fridge magnet from my bf's latest trip to Amsterdam.. next to this is a monkey from Monkey Forest in Stoke-on-Trent, this is an awesome day out - if you haven't already.. DO IT! haha the monkeys are right there on the path, i would love to know what they thought of human beans wandering around their forest!

ok next along we have a jailhouse rock Elvis Presley, i have had this a long time and can't recall anyone giving it to me so perhaps i bought it.. next along, a postcard that exclaims 'omg! my mother was right about everything!' which pretty much sums up the last 5 years of my life haha

this is held in place by a wooden heart magnet, another gift from my mother (are you spotting a trend?! haha) next along is a NYC magnet from my 1st trip there, i think it was 2005? not sure, but it was february and it was freezing!

next up more monkeys - this time from Monkey World in Dorset.. i really like monkeys.. underneath - it's a bit bleached out by the sun but there is a tropical fish that denotes the Birmingham Sea Life Centre.. that was interesting.. smelled kinda.. fishy tho! haha

finally my 50s gal magnet has written next to her 'she could never remember was it better to be safe? or sorry?' i bought this for myself and it does make me smile...

please feel free to send me snaps of your own fridge ;)

*of course now i've photographed and blogged this photo i have a log of them so i don't really need to keep them... omg i really have issues, i can't even bear the idea of chucking them away! haha

**this magnet broke today! it's now an ex-magnet...

the royal wedding

since you asked, i went to the gym and then to the pub on the big day in question.. it was on tv at both! but other than a quick glimpse of frocks i wasn't really up for celebrating.. i'm no party pooper so i didn't get all vocal about it but, y'know as a peasant, i wasn't really up for cheering on the over-priviliged ;) this picture was taken in the bunting-fest that was the beer garden of the Prince of Wales pub in Moseley, Birmingham.. a fine establishment, frequented by all sorts of local characters.. including this guy who had this tres amusing Wills face mask!

jetlagged jodester

oh my.. i really didn't think a week on from being home i would be feeling the effects of going upside down (to australia) and back again.. i keep waking up at 4am or thereabouts.. and you know how i feel about waking up at that godforsaken hour! ha - it's plain unnatural!

thing is 4am here, in Sydney is like 12noon, so it makes no sense why i would be waking then.. no sense at all.. but there it is.. every morning, today in fact it was 3.30am! then i either can't get back to sleep at all or, like today, i tune in a random radio station and drift off after about an hour of worrying about why it is i'm awake at such a stupid time of day..

re: australia, had rather a great time thanks for asking.. can't wait to get back! if only the australian gvmnt didn't have such a plain unfriendly working visa system, they'd be lucky to get the jodester on board! who can i write to to right this wrong?!! hehe well i shall just have to go holiday there.. they do nice beaches.. tho one thing i noticed on the way over via Singapore was all the skin whitening products on sale.. it made me realise once and for all that pale with freckles is what i am and what i should accept! people would literally pay to be this pasty! haha now that is a reality check when flashing my reflective white flesh in a bikini surrounded by bronzed bods.. i made more than one joke about how never in their wildest dreams could they be this white haha, true north west tones i got..

the one thing i learned while away is, that according to our antipodean friends, you can't compare oranges to apples... or is it apples to oranges??

either way, it totally goes over my head too, but i think it has a certain charm... a lot like australia actually :)

simple pleasures 101

tis long been my belief that it is the simple pleasures, the free, the frequent, the idiosyncratic pleasures that make life bearable...

one of these such pleasures is shooting the breeze with a stranger... nothing warms my heart more than to have a pleasant random conversation with another human being who i happen to be sat next to, stood in a line behind, thrown together with by fate... i understand that not everyone likes to chat, that to some, the idea of a stranger chatting to them is horrifying and an unwelcome intrusion into their reality tunnel*... even if that stranger is lovely little ol' me! ;)

recently i have found myself having more chats that usual, i have had a little extra time on my hands so i guess i just had the time to chat i was missing before... on a train i chatted to a man who was meeting his son for a big day at the football... he told me about his dog (a chocolate lab - i even saw a pic thanks to mobile technology!) his business, his son, his partner, his hometown in Essex... what a lovely window into a stranger's life! later the same day i chatted to a cab driver who took my joke about him knowing how to negotiate the busy Birmingham city centre streets and turned it into a fantastical story about how he was waiting to get wings fitted to his car but the licence to fly in the city was pretty steep hehe, that was fun! another cabbie told me he'd only recenlty figured out he'd been driving his cab for 20yrs, he'd seen it all and after all that was still convinced that on the whole people were good at heart... what a lovely confirmation from a reputable source! another chap i sat next to a another train was from Australia and shared with me that his favourite chocolate bar was a Twix.. which now when i see it in the store reminds me of him! haha

i don't discount the argument that sometimes you don't want to chat to the stranger trying to make conversation... if they seem a little bonkers it's a worry! but you have to negotiate through without seeming rude & unfriendly... my mum says i'm too nice and attract bonkers people but i think there are worse things to be accused of! ;)

i believe a chat with a stranger, bijou and beautiful, gone in an instant, is like a vignette in your life... completely stand alone, of no consequence and yet such a human experience.. we are social animals after all.. i urge you reader to be more chatty and enjoy it!

*my boyf says everyone has this, he heard it via some old philosopher dude... i like the concept and think it rationalises strange behaviours i witness in the everyday!

things I've learned

stress is not great for keeping up with a personal blog.

that is all.

for now!