Be2Awards

As you may recall from my previous blog post called ‘Be2awards‘ I am fortunate to have been nominated for an award for Best AEC Marketing Campaign.

Lots and lots of you have voted already, and I am truly grateful.

BUT – the voting finishes midnight 7th February 2011, and the winners are announced on the 9th February2011.

Vote Weston

I would dearly love to win this award, and ask that if you haven’t voted, would you mind doing so?

If you have been kind enough to vote, can you ask the person sitting next to you to vote too please? Cheeky I know, but if you don’t ask….

Here’s how.

Ok to vote, you can click here and follow the instructions. Its the award for Best AEC Marketing Campaign.

And remember, if you do happen to vote for me, please drop me a tweet @PaulWeston33 or @EssexSocial to let me know so I can say ‘thank you’.

Have a great day, and thanks again!

A Pleasant Surprise.

On the 18th January I received a tweet from Paul Wilkinson stating that he had nominated me for a Be2award for Best AEC Marketing Campaign.

I was very surprised. Very surprised indeed. The nomination was for my plight back in February 2010 to get my self a job when I found myself unemployed.

With the help of some good friends and a vast online network of people with whom I interact with, I was successful in finding a job.

Chin Up Old boy.

It started with a simple honest blog post called ‘Chin up old boy’, which described my emotions and told of the affect unemloyment was having on my home life, and ended somewhere around ‘And the winner is’ where I chose which company I was going to work for, I had after all, managed to get 2 job offers on the table…wth the help of Social Media.

And if you read those two blog posts, and the ones inbetween, then you will be able to follow what happened, and read as the story unfolds…it was quite mad at times!!

‘X’ to vote!

So, to vote then. Right, well if you click here, and then scroll down to the link to Best AEC Marketing Campaign, and follow from there to vote. Please note, the voting opens today at 9am. Voting closes midnight on the 7th February. The winner is announced on the 9th February.

To be honest, it would be nice if you did vote for me, cos I would love to win. Although there maybe another person, with a better campaign out there, I would still like to win.

You see, the winner gets a nice badge to put on their website….and as much as it would look great on the home page of this website….it would look so much nicer on this one!

If you do happen to cast a vote, then I would like to take this opportunity to say a big ‘Thank you’.

A Resolution?

So here we are then, 2011. The start of a new decade. A new Decade!! Sounds wierd in itself doesn’t it? 

The last one ended quite badly for us. The past year was not that great.

A few ups and downs, mainly downs. These have caused emotional turmoil, stress and strain on marriage, and I am closer to looking like a cross between George Clooney and Philip Schofield than ever before….although grey hair is so ‘In’ this season.

So, New Year’s Resolutions then? What’s yours? Stop smoking? Diet? Go to the gym? Save money? (good luck with that one….).

I have a few. One is to get a job, one is to regain financial security for my family, one is to maximise my hobby.

Here’s how!

Determination.

As I have said to you before, I remain determined to acheive my goal and then some.

I was obviously out of work, the market was dire leading to Christmas, I was fortunate enough to get some temp work upto Christmas Eve. They have offered me a couple of weeks in January, which is handy. My contract with them now ends on January 14th.

What will happen after that? I wont go permanent with them, as they have someone starting with them tomorrow. I am merely a stop gap solution. Which is fine. Really it is. I have earned some much needed money to cover our bills, albeit only until the end of January 2011.

What will happen is this; I am going to remain positive. Positive that I shall get a job. Hopefully with a company that I like.

But I will succeed in obtaining work, by hook or by crook.

And once I have done that, I can start expanding on my hobby! And earn some proper money!!

Unemployment.

I guess some of you can remember way back in February 2010 when I was out of work…does ‘Chin Up Old Boy’ ring a bell??! Well you’re not going to believe what happened to me recently….!

Yep, as of 12th November I have been out of work. There are reasons for me being in such a position, and I would love to be able to tell you, but until I work out how to word THAT blog post in the right way, it remains ‘off limits’. But let me just remind you that I worked hard to get that job, I worked hard when I got the job….and now I have got to work hard again!

Recruitment

This time it’s a little different. For a start I knew what to expect in a way. I had also learnt a lesson how to deal with recruiters, and this time I have chosen which recruitment companies I want to represent me carefully.

One of the companies I have known for a while. The other 2 approached me. I checked them out onLinkedIn (my profile), and researched into the company and the person wishing to represent me. It pays to do this.

One guy approached me stating that he had been “placing people at top companies within the industry for years”. Silly, silly boy….turns out he had worked at his previous recruitment company for 6 months, and been with this one for 3 months…..that’s 9 months in recruitment!  So recruitment folk, it’s cocks like that which give you guys a bad name!

Remaining Focussed.

One thing I know I have to do is remain focussed and positive. It ain’t easy, remember ‘Dusted myself down….let’s crack on’ .

I still have a family to support, I still have a mortgage and bills to pay. Same as everyone else.

I have had a few interviews, but been beaten to the post on each occasion, it’s tougher out there this time around, plus we are nearing Christmas, a proper sh*te time to be looking for work. But each time I get knocked back, or rejected, I know that I have to get a job, so remaining positive is a must.

Working my way forward…

On a positive note, I do currently have some temporary work, doing estimating for a small interior fit-out company in Farringdon. It’s a great little company and I wish it was a permanent position…BUT..it’s not, it’s only up until Christmas Eve. At least it’s some cash, which is much needed.  I do kind of need a permanent job though.

On the plus side, I have been able to set up some other little bits and pieces doing consultancy work, both with estimating and Social Media. Which is very exciting in itself, and something that I have wanted to do for a while now.

BBC Radio Essex

Just a quick one, those lovely folk at BBC Radio Essex have invited me to talk on the Dave Monk Show on Monday 13th December at 9:10am. Shana the producer rang me Friday, asking if they could help in anyway….and if I would like to go on the show to explain how I remain so positive when the chips are down!

And of course I said yes… I have missed being on BBC Radio Essex so much this past few months!! ha ha ha. So, why not listen in!

BBC Radio Essex 103.5fm or 95.3fm.

Budapest.

So then, Wifey and I are just back from a long weekend in Budapest. Just the 2 of us!

There’s a really long story on how we ended up in Budapest, and I won’t bore you with it, but it was the silver lining to a bit of a grey cloud.

Let me just say this; it was fantastic! Fact. And if you haven’t been then Wifey and I can thoroughly recommend it as a great city break.

Where were we?

We stayed in Pest, in a new build apartment about 15 minute drive from the airport. We were a 5 minute walk from the Danube in 1 direction, a 10 minute walk from Raday Utca (this is known as Restaurant Street – not a true translation), and is pretty much where the hustle and bustle starts, and a 10 minute walk to the nearest Metro Line Station called Klinikak.

Although, the area where the station is located was pretty much a shocking reflection of Eastern Block life, grey dismal derelict buildings, in much disarray, with a spanking new College plonked in the middle of it all! Very odd.

What to do.

We didn’t really have a plan of what to do, although we knew a few places where we wanted to visit, but we pretty much played it by ear.  Here are a few things to do/ see that we found and can recommend;

Budapest Christmas Market.

WOW. What an amazing place the Budapest Christmas Market is. It has beatiful, unique little stalls adorned with many local gifts and treats from christmas tree decortions, clothes and pottery, to local foods, hot wine (very much recommended) and much much more.

It starts around the 29th November and ends around 29th December…if you go to Budapest during that period, then you will regret not paying this place a visit.

Szechenyi Spa.

The Szechenyi Spa is the largest thermal spring bath complex not only in Budapest, but in Europe. Built in 1913 in neo-baroque style. It is breath-taking in more ways than one! Wifey and I had planned to go there and had packed our swimming cozzies.

It was a 10 minute ride on Metroline 1 from Deak F. ter to Szechenyi Furdo, which is literally bang in the center of the main city park area, which hosts a large funfair and Budapest Zoo.

Bear in mind that it had been snowing, we paid our entrance fee, got changed in some very cleverly worked out changing rooms, and waded through some cold water, past a load of indoor spas full of people chilling out, then we went through a pair of doors that opened out onto a breath taking view of 3 external spas. 

Remnants of the previous evening’s snow lay on the ground, wifey and I were in our cozzies and we walked the 50ft to the nearest spa bath, and stepped pensively into the warm (37 degrees) water.

The thick steam billowing across the bath mixed with the warm water slowly defrosting our cold bits was heavenly, and extremely theraputic. It was surreal sitting in warm water with snow laying around us.

Getting out and getting back to the changing room was erm bloody cold! ha ha ha, but worth it. It costs about £10 each for 2 hours…we could of stayed in there longer…the train ride was about £1.50 each return. Great value for money.

Great Market Hall.

A massive indoor market, the Great Market Hall offers 3 floors of market stalls and locals selling their wares and trading to everyone from the rich to the poor to the tourists. The majority of them are multi-lingual and very fluent in English. The building is stunning from the outside and inside alike, internally pictures adorn the walls telling the story of over 100 years of trading history. It has hardly changed in all it’s years.

Ground floor is mainly butchered meat (we came across a stall with skinned goat’s head on the main counter, complete with eyes in tact – erm…yummy!), sausages, vegetables (proper vegetables straight from the local farms, no EU regulations on size and colour), alcohol stalls, and thankfully stalls that sell sweets and cakes.

Lower floor we guessed sold fresh fish. We didn’t visit this floor as the smell was some what over powering. We could smell fish. And neither of us wanted to buy a fish. We gave it a miss.

Top floor was mainly tourist type gifts, plenty of traditional hand made clothing, which was stunning and it was obvious the Hungarians take great pride in both what they produce and their history too. There were also the local eating / drinking stalls, where most of the traders themselves would come to eat their breakfast, lunch and dinner, often necking a glass of hot wine or Tokaji (the local white wine), or even some Unicum.

We sampled a local delicassy (?) called Langosok, with was basically a pizza like base made from bread, deep fried and covered with a choice of topping. I went for the cheese and bacon option and did not regret it at all. It may have been high in calories, but I never saw 1 fat Hungarian, so figured it couldn’t be that bad! It was yummy. I had two. It set us back about £1.50 each. A true bargain.

Rustico Restaurant

We had walked past this place several times, it had a life size bright green cow statue outside it, and when we looked inside it was always full. We decided we would eat there on out last evening.

We walked the 2.5 miles to Rustico in the hammering snow, when we opened the door, the dozen or so customers and handful of staff looked in amazment at the two snow folk standing there dripping all over the entrance steps that led down to the wonderfully decorated restaurant.

Our apology filled, typically Weston, entrance over, we we shown to our seats and after we had spread our coats, scarves, hats and idiot mittens on the many hooks around the place to dry out, we sat and marvelled at this cracking little place.

The walls were festooned in history, and the staff were always on hand to advise us on what certain parts of ornaments (mainly old farm tools including bloody great scythes and ploughing instruments) were. They spoke perfect English, and were well mannered and equally amusing.

The menu is split between traditional Hungarian and Italian. Don’t let the thought of pizzas and lasagne put you off, from what we saw every dish was made from fresh produce and made from scratch. And if you didn’t know what something was, they explained it to you in simple terms.

Our meal, a starter for me, a main each and a desert between us, with a couple of beers included came to just under £40…another bargain!

Budapest in one paragraph.

Not easy, we worked out that we walked over 30 miles in 4 days. We marvelled at how beautifully lit the buildings on the Buda river side were of a night time as we walked along the river on the Pest side, we took funicular railway ride to Alexader Palace in Buda, we ate in a small cafe and had a 3 course meal based on traditional meal for under £7 each, we drank in a bar called For Sale which had 1000′s of business cards all over the ceilings and walls (we added ours) served great beer and food, and each table had a basket of monkey nuts on whichyou ate and threw the shell on the straw covered floor! We travelled on the underground, we trawled in and out of local shops, we spoke with Germans (in English), we were snowed on, we laughed, we cried and most of all we enjoyed it.

And would we go back? Damn right we would, but in summer and with the boys next time as there is so much for them to experience and enjoy too!

Dude, where’s my finger?

“November the 5th has come and gone,

but thoughts of it still linger.

I held a banger in my hand,

has anyone seen my finger?”

5th November.

Ok, so you all know the ryhme above, there are a few, there’s a particular rude one, that I shall not print, but you get the idea.

It’s that time of year again when most of us go nuts and spend an absolute fortune on fireworks. We all go to firework parties and we all go “oooh” and “aaaahh” at the pretty displays and rockets etc.

Safety.

With all the red tape, and those in power trying to turn us into a “mummy state”, when trying to do anything, in particular enjoying yourself…let’s use a litte common sense shall we.

There are a few simple things to remember;

1. If you build a bonfire the day or days before you light it, please give it a poke at ground level just in case any animals have crawled into it, namely hedgehogs.
2. Only light the fire from one side.
3. Only light one fire work at a time.
4. Never go back to lit firework that has not gone off.
5. Light fireworks at arms length.
6. Put used sparklers in a bucket of sand or dirt.
7. Don’t let children play with them on their own.
8. ENJOY YOURSELF!

If you follow the above, then you should have a cracking time!

Guy Fawkes.

Just a final note, is it me or does the thought of celebrating a failed arsonist / terrorist seem a little odd!?

I know it was the building and people that Mr. Fawkes wanted to blow up that ensures it was going into the history books, whether he failed or not. But let’s face it, he did bloody fail! And this was in 1605, some 400 years ago, and we are celebrating it still. What Mr. Fawkes and his assailants were trying to do was part of a Catholic effort to bring down the Protestant monarchy in England at that time.

I can’t ever imagine that type of thing happening in this day and age…..obviously there are lots if wars / arguements / fights where religion is involved, but trying to blow up the Houses of Parliament? Not ruddy likely! Not with the plod standing around out-side. They even use those special mirrors on sticks to see under your car (white van) when you drive through the gates, to check for explosives or other seemingly “terrorist-esq” devices. No way any terrorist could get past that!!!!!

Imagine what would of happened if he had succeeded?

Remember, Remember 5th November.

“Remember, Remember 5th November,

Gun-powder, Treason and Plot.

I see no reason why gun-powder, treason,

Should ever be forgot”

ENJOY AND BE SAFE PLEASE!!!

Work

I am guessing that the majority of you either work for a company, or have worked for a company at some stage? And I am guessing that most of you (unless you are one of the ‘get in at 5 to 8, go home at 5:01pm and take a whole hour for lunch’ – types), have worked a little extra here or there.

You know, get in a little bit early….work through lunch…or maybe even stay half hour later, just to get something finished off.

I know that if I had my own company, and the folk who worked for me did that every now and then, I would be most appreciative, and feel quite pleased that I have staff who are conscientious, and happy enough to do that. Pleased also that they respect me enough to want to do that too.

3 little Words.

I think to ensure you are enjoy your job, there are 3 main points;

1. Happiness

2. Respect

3. Appreciation

Lets look at these;

1. Happiness – you need to be happy in your position, happy with your working environment, and happy to haul your arse out of bed on a cold winter’s morning to traipse to work.

2. Respect – Working for someone is easier to do if you respect them. Respect their values. Respect their work ethics. and respect them for who they are.

3.  Appreciation – it helps if you feel appreciated for your efforts at work, for every bit of work you do, and for you to know that you are a valued employee.

Work to Live

‘Work to Live’ not ‘Live to Work’, that’s what they say isn’t it? Well I have been guilty of the ‘Live to Work’ ethic, but at the time I was single, lived at home, and getting up at silly o’clock, or getting in late from work wasn’t really an issue.

These days I have a family. My ethics have changed. I want to finish work on time and go home and spend time with my wife and 2 young boys. I certainly do not want to miss out on them growing up, I don’t want to miss any sports days, plays, parents evenings etc. I want to be there. I want to have memories of them growing up,  not just be told what happened whilst I was at work.

Outside of the BOX!

Think about your current employment. Take a step outside the box for one moment.

Is it a happy environment? Are you happy? Does your boss appreciate you? Does he respect you? Heck, does he even know the name of your wife and kids….does he even know your name….does he even give a toss??

Unfortunately there are some bosses out there who are working 100 hours per week, telling you how great they are, and how shit you are, not repsecting their staff, not appreciating the hours and the effort that is being put in…..and those people are arseholes! DO not ever be like that!

So then, when I get my company up and running, I am going to appreciate those around me and respect them for what they can offer to me and my company and ensure they are happy at work.

Anyone want to come and work for me then??

A Little Update.

It’s been a while since my last blog post, my little rant about that bloody warden….ha ha ha….(case still ongoing by the way).

This is a little update on what I have been upto, a few of you know, the vast majority of you don’t….so I thought I would write it down and fill you in.

Work.

As you may recall, some 6 months ago I was out of a job, and was fortunate enough to get 2 offers on the table, I took one (obviously) and have been there ever since (not quite literally, but it feels like it!).

For those of you who are interested, I kind of made the right choice, seeing as the other company will apparently not be trading by Christmas…..

Well, at the time of taking that job, we were in a recession…and ….hang on, lets skip back a little bit further….

In the Money.

I had spent most of my working life working up the ladder, working for bigger and better companies, companies that gave me the oppportunity to improve myself. Anyway, with these companies and the positions I had, I earnt a decent wage.

Not millions. Not by a long shot. But Wifey and I were comfortable. We didn’t really need to watch the pennies.  We were very lucky in that respect. That was all up until 6 months ago….that was then….

Back Down to Earth.

And this is now! I took a dramatic drop in wages 6 months ago.  My salary went down by a quarter. I would be  telling porkies if I said it hadn’t taken it’s toll on us as a family. We have struggled some what.

I know what some of you are thinking. “Welcome to reality”. “I don’t give a shit” “Everyone has got it tough”etc….yeah yeah I know, but let me carry on.

When I was out of a job, we had 1 months worth of money behind us, with a little bit of spare “back up funds”…this diminished about 4 months ago, and since then I have looked for ways of bringing extra cash in. We only had one source of income when I found myself out of work.

I needed a Plan!

I needed to bring some more money in. I needed to ensure we had another revenue of money, a continuous flow of money, that we could put away. Money we could save.

We had already made numerous cutbacks, and my perception of money had been flipped inside out. My main aim now is to save money, not spend it, spunk it, piss it up the wall, waste it etc….

I am positive that I can do this. I have to be. There’s no point feeling low and dejected, you have to show a bit of British fighting spirit when the cards are against you.

Twisted Air.

I happened upon something on line, that triggered one of those ‘lightbulb’ moments. One of those ‘aha!!’ moments….we’ve all had them right?

After a quick chat with a few people I set up the website called Twisted Air.

On here I sell novelty balloon animals, balloon flowers, presents for newborn boys, presents for newborn girls, balloon characters, and some romantic gifts (nothing too cheesey though).

The products are unique and funky, which is what made me want to sell them in the first place. The balloons are so artistically well Twisted, and look fantastic. And as for the baby gifts, they to are very cleverly done, and ever so cute!

I took a bunch of the balloon flowers to give to my Aunty Mary (who is still in hospital), and they sit pride of place on her bedside cabinet, not only are they a major talking point for her and the other patients, staff and visitors in her ward, but they also brighten the place up and put a smile on her face.

Don’t get me wrong, this will not make me a millionaire, but I do not care, as long as it generates a few extra quid, then I will be a happy bunny! 

I don’t want to find myself out of work again and not have any source of income.

Additionally.

My next step; well, I intend to set up a few more websites….

Doing this, enabled me to get my head into setting up my own website….which is loads of fun! Head bangingly frustrating…..but lots of fun! OK, so I had a few pointers along the way (you know who you are – thank you!), but the bulk of it was done by me.

So much to learn and not enough time.

So, anyway, if you get a chance to check the Twisted Air website out, please do. If you feel you’d like to buy something…then please do…!

Warden!

Since yesterday when my blog post entitled “Warden Control” went live, I have received many messages and comments, with a very mixed bag.

Many of you have wished Aunty Mary well, and lots of you have similar tales to tell of elderly relatives experiencing similar falls and accidents….

BUT I have been very surprised at how much of a nerve I seem to have hit with regards to the actions of the Warden!!

I would like to make one thing crystal clear here; I am not taring all wardens with the same brush!! I know people that are Care Home Wardens, and they do a marvellous job, as they have been doing for many years.

I am not saying that you shouldn’t put your granny into a care home, or sheltered accommodation…far from it. All I am doing here is highlighting the inept attitude and lack of professionalism my Great Aunt is unfortunate enought to have been experiencing with her Warden.

Housing Association.

I have been advised to contact the Housing Association Authorities, and if nothing comes from them, then it’s onto the HA Ombusdmen.

I shall also be keeping Eleanor Laing MP for Epping in the loop, so that she can see just how serious I am about removing this woman from her role. And ensuring that she is replaced with some one who actually cares about her residents and has time to spend with them.

Maureen…..she’s shite!!

As I go through this I will be updating you all on what is happening, and if anyone has any advice etc, then by all means contact me via twitter or email paul@weston007.co.uk.

I have also set up a group on FACEBOOK called ‘Let’s get this horrible, useless, liar of a Care Home Warden sacked’ - Please feel free to join and support this cause!

I would like to try and get as much Media awareness with this as possible, so the more people that know about this the better…..right???

Accident!!

On Saturday afternoon, we were heading to a family get together, and popped into see my Great Aunty Mary on the way. 

Aunty Mary is a widower, and lives alone in a little bungalow in a quiet little estate, that is Warden controlled. She’s just had her 99th birthday and is very agile, cooks for herself, and always gets down on her hands and knees and chases our 2 boys around the front room when we visit…

When we arrived I went to knock on the door and found it ajar, alarm bells ringing, I pushed the door open and found Aunty Mary slumped up against the bathroom doorframe, blood smeared across the door from a gash on the back of her head, and obviously in distress.

I signalled to Wifey to come (she’s a nurse) and got straight onto dialling 999, no sooner had I been put through to the ambulance department, than a paramedic response vehicle pulled up!

Aunty Mary had managed to press the button around her neck that alerts the Care Response (this was after she had fell over in the kitchen, cracked her head on the table and broke her hip! And then crawled, yep CRAWLED 30ft to the front door to leave it open for the paramedics to get in).

Then a policman turned up, then an ambulance…to be brutally honest the paramadic staff and the policeman were fantastic, but that’s for another blog…

The Warden!!

Aunty Mary has had an unfortunate spell, and she’s had 2 mild heart attackes in the past 4 months and now this…it comes in 3′s right!?

In the bungalow next door lives the Warden. Who is supposed to pay regular visits to the residents etc, all she does with Aunty Mary is go in once a week sign a sheet of paper to say everything is dandy and leave! All of 5 minutes….if that!

This Warden, lets call her Maureen, is employed by the Housing Association, she has her bungalow paid for, is paid a wage, does sweet FA for the residents, only works Monday to Friday. A lot of the residents in Robert Daniels Court where she resides over, can’t stand her, they very rarely see her. Most would like to see the back of her!

There have been numerous complaints against her, from my Mum and her Sister, and a good friend of Aunty Mary’s as well as others. But all have fallen on deaf ears!

Not this time though!!

Maureen and I!

After I had been up to the hospital to ensure Aunty Mary was ok, I went back to her little bungalow, just to check windows were shut, and put the bins out etc….and noticed that the Warden’s car was there (she was out earlier, it was a Saturday remember! She doesn’t work weekends!!).

So I knocked on her door, she answered and I questioned her about the elderly lady next door, and how often she had been in hospital, how her health was etc, and her answers were semi correct, she was obnoxious and arrogant…as she was self indulging I walked away to the car….she called to me “Do you have a problem?” I retorted, “yes I do, with you! You are rubbish at your job, no-one likes you and I will be filing a complaint about you!”

She gave me the “What-ever” look/answer and attitude and walked indoors. I was livid, and had she been a bloke I am sure I would of punched her! Twice!!

What got me the most was, Maureen did not even ask me who I was. I could of been a burgular casing the place next door, I could of been anyone, and this woman did not once stop from giving me health info, name, age etc of the elderly lady she lived next door to. For me this is very unproffessional!

Eleanor Laing

I am going to write a letter of complaint to Eleanor Laing MP. Mrs Laing is Conservative MP for Epping, which covers the parish of Theydon Bois where Aunty Mary lives. I shall be, in no uncertain terms, logging an official complaint.

I shall also be writing to Epping Forest Council, the Theydon Bois Parish Council and to Home South. Home South are the company who run the warden control facilities.

This Maureen woman will not like me!

I do not care! She is a horrible selfish woman, who is conning her bosses and mistreating her residents.

This is only the beginning!