back to the drawing board – first published 6 November 2013

The first week of November 2013 seemed to be nothing but rain.  It meant I was not getting much in the way of exercise and I was really missing my walk to work but it seemed slightly silly to get soaked, especially as it would mean sitting in wet clothes all day. There was frustration too, waiting for a call about the job I’d interviewed for twice. Apparently a watched phone never rings.

6 November 2013

This morning I ate my morning granola looking out at a very wet, very green world. The decking rails were hung with rain bejewelled cobwebs though so I thought perhaps the rain wasn’t such a bad thing after all. When I left the house I saw the decking was positively festooned with gem encrusted webs, we have some busy spiders here obviously. I wasted a fair bit of time trying to capture the look on my phone with varying degrees of success. When I was a child Mother used to call these fairy cobwebs and I have never lost the wonder and joy in seeing them. They put me in mind of frosty mornings walking to school although this year Jack Frost seems to be a little delayed.

As I made my way along the gravel path I saw there was one final dancing lady on the fuchsia thanks to Jack’s absence but her overskirts were pretty wet. The Buddha on the corner had his very own cobweb overlaid with diamonds and I was sorry when I had to break one to get out of the front gate. It seems every season has its beauty and, much as I love spring and summer, fairy cobwebs, swirling morning mist and the autumn leaves do brighten the grey autumn days.

An ambulance was forcing its way through the rush hour traffic as I made my way to the bus stop. This was quickly followed by another and, later another still. The traffic was moving at such a slow crawl I was convinced there must be an accident on the bridge. The cyclist with the too big bike came past again, still on the pavement, still making us all jump out of the way with a grumpy glare when there should have been a thank you. Just after that a man with a pushchair came the other way, politely saying ‘excuse me, ‘thank you’ and, ‘good morning’ to everyone trying to stay dry under the shelter. I wondered if he’d had to dodge the cyclist too.

It was a long time before a bus appeared and, when it did it was packed to the gills. There were so many people standing, crushed together like sardines, even if the windows hadn’t been steamed up and rain spattered it would have been impossible to see out. I never did see what the cause of the hold up and all the ambulances was. When I got off the bus I did spot a fallen Liriodendron tulipifera leaf and the fiery tree it fell from though.

As I still haven’t heard anything from the cruise company I was in jumping whenever the phone rings mode today, not quite sure whether I wanted it to ring or not. After all, until they call me I can imagine I might have the job, afterwards…who knows? I was saved from sitting staring at my phone by Arabella who needed me to go through the 2014 costings with her for a meeting. I purposly left my phone on my desk and dashed up to the mezzanine with a printout of all the figures and, for a while, I forgot to even think about the phone or the job as we worked our way through the year. When we got to the Christmas Cruise something didn’t seem to quite add up, probably because we’ve made a few changes since I created the costings spreadsheet, so I went down to grab a copy of the most up to date planner to check it out.

When I got back to my desk I checked my phone again. There was a missed call. Typical, I sit and watch it all day and the second I take my eyes off it, it rings. Whoever had called had left a voicemail so I called out to Arabella. “I won’t be a second, I just have to listen to this voicemail.” There I was fumbling with my phone trying to dial the voicemail at the same time as scrabbling around on the mess that is my desk for a pen and a piece of paper to write on just in case. Part of me was hoping against hope for good news, the other part was convinced it would be a thank you but no thank you kind of call.

The voicemail turned out to be one of those blasted PPI things! You know the ones, “if you’ve taken out a loan or a mortgage in the last five years we could get you shed loads of money.” I put the phone down, feeling all grumpy at having my hopes raised. When I looked up the whole office was watching me. “Come on then,” Anika shouted out, “don’t keep us all in suspense.” Grrr, where do these people get my number from?

Surprisingly I was actually at my desk looking at my phone when it next rang. Part of me didn’t want to answer because I knew from the Southampton prefix it was the agency, which must mean it was news about the job. Of course I did answer. It was them.
“I’ve rung with some feedback for you from your interview,” Jennifer said. Well, straight away I knew that couldn’t be good, if I’d got the job, surely she’d tell me that straight off. “Kathryn said you did brilliantly, there really was no feedback she could give you, you did everything right and she’d love to be able to employ you…but…the job went to an internal applicant. The only reason they were more qualified than you was that they know the product and the systems.”
Bah! All that for nothing then! I thanked Jennifer.

“There is something else with them you might be interested in though, but it’s a short term contract.” She went on to tell me about the job, it sounded ok until she told me it was just a five week contract starting in two weeks. No good, I have work here for longer than that. Even if it would have been a foot in the door I can’t afford to lose what I’ve got to take it. I put the phone down feeling disappointed but not broken.

Arabella was, if anything, more disappointed than I was. She looked devastated. “So, if the job went to the internal applicant,” she said after a moment or two digesting the news, “what is happening with their job? Doesn’t that mean there is another vacant position and can’t you go for that?” Good point! Why didn’t I think of that?

Straight away I rang Jennifer back and asked her. She hadn’t thought of it either. Arabella is sharper than a tack, she doesn’t miss a thing. Jennifer is going to find out for me and let me know but she did say it is probably a promotion for the person who got the job so any vacant position is likely to be a lower one, less money. “I just want a job right now,” I said, “so I’ll consider anything.” Good job I applied for those University jobs then!

The had rain more or less stopped by lunch time so I went out for a walk. When I left the office I was feeling a touch on the despondent side, as you would after not getting a job. The blustery walk did me good though, even if it was just a short one. Recently I read a blog by James Corner all about doors and windows he’d seen on his holiday in Portugal and his beautiful photographs inspired me. Obviously there is no way I can hope to produce anything anywhere near as lovely as his shots but it did make me look differently at the doors and windows around me so I thought I might share the odd few with you now and again.

Given the wind and the threat of more rain I didn’t want to wander too far from the office today, getting soaked on top of not getting the job may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back, so I thought I’d make a start with some interesting doors and windows I’d seen close to the office. The first was one of my favourite doors even before I started to look at them properly, mostly because it’s the door to the coffee shop on the corner. Looking at it in terms of style and beauty though, I could see it had a lot to offer besides the coffee behind it.

The coffee shop is in Central Hall, a rather grand building designed by Arthur Brocklehurst and opened in 1925. Most major British towns have a Central Hall, they sprang up between 1886 and 1945, mostly built by the Wesleyan Methodist Church as churches and meeting rooms. Ours has a beautiful copper dome and seems more like a rather grand library or cinema than a church and it was, in fact, used as a meeting hall and a cinema, with films being shown after services. Mostly these were religious and educational films but, on Tuesday evenings, local children could pay 2d (tuppence) to watch silent films like Felix the Cat and Charlie Chaplain. The projector room is still intact.

During World War II the building was bombed but, thankfully, survived and was actually used as a mortuary. Over the years many famous names, such as Billy Graham and Harold Wilson have given talks here but, in the mid 1960’s, the building was sold to Hampshire County Council and used as an annex for the nearby City College. This is how it remained until 1989 when the Community Church took it over and restored it as a church and meeting hall. The little coffee shop belongs to the church.

Anyhow, back to the doors and windows. Although the doors themselves are nothing much to write home about and were closed this lunch time to keep the bitter, drizzly wind out, the pale stone arch surrounding them is attractive and the circular window above, inlaid with green stained glass, is beautiful. When I passed again tonight on my way home the window was stunning with the lights inside illuminating it like a beacon in the dark, drizzly evening. Around the corner, at the side of the building, this shape is echoed in an arched window that I didn’t even notice at lunch time. In the evening, with the light shining through it though, stood out. What a pity it didn’t have the same stained glass.

I wonder if they have any jobs going in there. I’m pretty sure I’d do well as a barista… Then again, I might drink all the profits.

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