Wednesday 18 August 2010

Peru and Fund-raising

I am saving like mad. Every month I put away an unrealistically large amount and then lo and behold...my phone bill is immense..then my storage bill finally catches up with me...so its 2 steps forward and 1 step back! Between savings and fund-raising I have managed to squirrel away £500. I have money I'm still collecting from a few events and a number of projects I'm working on, so I'm confident that I can do it..its just that this is the biggest project I've ever embarked on. I'm on track despite everything but the thought of reaching £3000 in time is quite daunting!

I recall back in 2007, I wanted to find 1000 people to sponsor me at £2 a month. I thought it was the most amazingly simple and effective fund-raise ever! Sadly, I wasnt able to get that going when I had the network which was a huge shame but now I'm thinking that I should revisit the idea and adapt it to fit my current situation.

I'm looking at a new blog site which I understand is accessible via email and Face-book...I've almost got my Paypal account sorted and I've got a whole new, if considerably smaller, network to experiment with.

Fingers crossed!

I am rubbish at blogging!

Maybe it was just that I didnt have the internet access, or maybe I just wasnt inspired to blog about the crap that was occurring....anyway...in a nutshell... after finishing at Spring Grove in Oct 2008, I went to Shrewsbury for 2 weeks - hellish and ended up broke with nowhere to go - lucky for me my brother was on hand with a room etc. which I took most gratefully. Aylesbury provided me with a job in a tiny call centre run by mad people. It wasnt nice and it should have been cos I discovered something I excelled in..Sales! Yes..me...the "I Dont Sell" girl!! I sold and exceeded targets like you wouldn't believe and became the victim of my own success...sabotaged by an ancient team leader who couldnt stand that I walked in and did good. S0 I moved on after about 3 months of insanity. Ever heard that phrase, "Out of the frying pan, into the fire"? Yeah? Well that was what happened next!

Next to High Wycombe...a UK wide bed manufacturer... nightmare...there's a clue there...run by the most callous, heartless, selfish fools I have yet suffered! Couldnt do it. I'd found a houseshare, the money was amazing but day in day out I had to listen to the worst customer service ever delivered combined with the most superficial drivel imaginable. I swear I will never go into a call centre again....probably...

So, 3 months in I realised the extent to which I had sold out and boy, was I paying for it. I wasnt even saving money for Peru...just spending it to make myself feel good. I did see London though and got my beautiful bracelet from Harrods/Tiffany....and I went to Kew...

Suddenly then, I was offered the chance to go back to Somerset to a WWOOF...of course I jumped at it...anything to get back to my values and life-path...goodbye house/£18,500 - hello £50 a week!! Caravan/meadow...should have been an answer to a prayer? Well, it would have been but 6 weeks in, my host picked a row over a dog walking hour that she claims she didn't ask for and wouldn't pay for...then she decided that our arrangement didnt benefit her sufficiently (3 days @ £2 an hour on top of my WWOOF wage!!) in return for the caravan. No! She wanted the caravan to yield her 6 days for £50!! So there I was, I was facing another broken dream/eviction/no work - again! Well, lucky me ( I do believe in luck, I also believe in magic) I found another part time job really quickly and a room to rent - so I moved ...again! I de-friended the host from Facebook (never been so angry!!) and eventually stopped yattering about her!!

Happy? All work out? Of course not! The Farm Shop should have been amazing...but the staff hated each other and were always at war (mostly behind each others backs) and the boss was the worst offender. I lasted 7 months but it was hard going... I hate negativity and I'm designed to "improve" my world...I couldnt and it wore me down horribly. One of the guys was really horrid to me too, I think it was that age old "posh bird" thing... and nothing I did worked... then I tried a bit of Karma...I was SOOOO nice to him, sohad worked, he actually wasnt worthy of my good karma, bottom line is that there just are some really horrible people out there! Eventually I broke myself out of my rut and started to look for my next move.


The next move was short-lived - 3 weeks at Costa Coffee on the M5 services just outside Wellington. Shifts were fine...the people were OK...I was washing up in the kitchen...it wasnt fun but it sufficed...and then my lucky break.... I have a very good friend, my oldest and most treasured friend...he works for a children's outdoor activity centre at their Head Office, they wanted a receptionist at their new Swindon site...suffice to say that its perfect! Amazingly, wonderfully up beat people ... 150 acres of woodsy/lakey/green-ness. Our season is Feb-Nov..so I get 3 months "off" - and best of all, I'm allowed to fundraise!!!!! I AM GOING TO PERU THIS YEAR!!!!!