Huzzah!

Timing. It's a funny thing, isn't it.

Having been unemployed since mid-July, I'd put all my energy into finding something else but had no luck. A lot of companies seem to advertise jobs which aren't actually there (which they only tell you when you've PASSED the interview) so that they can put you on a shortlist to call when (if?) they need you.

This creates the tension and indescribable annoyance of having lots of people say 'yes, you're great, we'll definitely hire you' - and then nothing happens. As I didn't want to have to deal with the political faff and form filling of applying for JobSeeker's Allowance, I'd held off and held off until my financial reserves were absolutely at breaking point. I'd had a good interview on Friday for a job, which I'd also passed and been told that as soon as a start date could be agreed, I'd be in there. All well and good - again. But no firm date is a painful thing when you're wallowing in ever-deepening red ink...

So, nerves in tatters and more than a little down in the mouth, I bit my pride and went down to the JobCentre for my arranged meeting to start a JSA claim today, having been reassured by the person I'd spoken to on the phone (who wanted to know the far end of a fart, by the way) that I could easily backdate my claim from the first date that my last temporary post ended. 'That's good' I thought, 'that should give me a little breathing room for a short while'.

Turns out that she'd been talking bollocks. I was told that while I could, if I wanted to, put that earlier date, the odds of getting any payment for it beyond a simple National Insurance credit would be extremely small. I could claim from the 7th of September, which is when I first started the ball rolling to make a claim (I knew it'd take a few weeks) - oh, less the 3 day waiting period (!) which would make it from the 10th instead. She'd also asked tons of totally irrelevant questions on the phone, some extremely invasive to be frank, and I had to fill in another form from scratch when I arrived! Jolly good, you call centre numpty!

After glumly trudging through the paperwork, and accepting the signing on form & booklet with all the bitter reverence of a cyanide coated turd, I made my way home. Josie had been dropped at my Mam's house earlier on, as Sharon had to pop to the Doctor's at a similar time to my appointment.

After a bit of a cuddle from the little 'un, a bit of a moan and gripe about how shite the administration of the benefit system in this country is, and a good cup of tea, we all popped back home just round the corner. I then checked my phone, which had a missed call on it.

'Probably the JobCentre asking me to come back to measure my inside leg or something' I mused, checking my voicemail. However, it was Claire from Select recruitment (a very nice lady who had taken me through my interview and tests for the Friday interview I mentioned earlier). I called her back, and she told me that she had a start date for the admin job I'd been tested and accepted for.

Tomorrow!!!!!!!

The relief is incredible. It's like a 10 stone weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I can sign-off that horrid little claim form to show that my last day of claim is TODAY, post it off, and wait for the interim payment to enter my account. This should help tide me over until my first weekly pay goes in, which will be the friday after this coming one. Yes. Weekly pay, too. Awesomeness.

My sleep patterns are all to shit, so it would have been nice to have just a couple of days to pull them round, but I'm not really complaining. We don't live in an ideal world, but the timing of things that have happened today is about as ideal as it could get. I don't believe in an all powerful deity, or fate, or providence - but I'm just one lucky, lucky boy.....

Timing. It's a funny thing, isn't it. :)