Job Hunting

Last week I had three job interviews! After getting nothing for ages it was quie a relief. They all went pretty well, and I've been offered a casual post office job that starts in a couple of months. It will be dull but it's better than nothing! Still waiting to hear back from the others. I might end up with two jobs! :D

I had another rescue last week. It was a collared dove this time that had jumped the nest too young and couldn't fly. He seemed healthy otherwise so Tiggy's will look after him until he's old enough to look after himself and then he should be released :) Happy ending!

I've also been knitting this guy for the past week or so. The pattern was really cute and easy to follow. I think I will probably make some more at some point! I gave him a scarf to disguise the fact that I sewed his arms on a bit low giving him a reeeally long neck, lol. 

 

(Belated) Happy New Year!

The new year is going well so far! I have heard back from the Royal Vet College and I have an interview at the end of the month :D I’m pretty nervous (actually really super nervous) but I’m hoping I can at least do ok and not embarrass myself. An offer afterwards would be amazing but I don’t want to get my hopes up too much!

I had a call from St Tiggywinkles this morning to go on my first proper rescue for a goose that is caught in some fishing line. Unfortunately the goose flew off before I arrived; the people who called it in had been feeding it bread to make it stay nearby but it eventually decided it had had enough! If it returns I might go out in the morning to try again. Fingers crossed he will be caught safely and make it to the wildlife hospital. 

I have finished my job at Past Times which was sad but at least now I have time to concentrate on exam revision and interview preparation. On the closing day for the last half an hour or so everything was reduced to £1 :o so I got a few bargains including this book which has some amaaazing photos, and a few gifts for people which I won’t mention because I haven’t given them to them yet (and I probably shouldn’t have said that because now they will know they only cost £1!). 

In other news, Charlie the cat is in disgrace after the theft of a joint of beef bigger than his head that was intended for next day's dinner. It was stolen from the kitchen counter and chewed to a mushy pulp within seconds. He maintains his innocence...

The accused

Bye for now!

Lucy

Progress!

Since I last wrote, I have sent off my university application and managed to find a job, yay! 

I am working in the gift shop Past Times which sells some cool stuff (or I think so anyway). It has gone pretty well so far, but I don’t get paid until the end of November which is a pain :(

 

College is going ok, and it has been half term this week which is weird because it feels like we only just started! What is the point of half term, really? It has given me more time to work in the shop and earn monies anyway which is good.

I have done a few more training sessions at St Tiggywinkles and moved on to larger animals now. The foxes and badgers are fine (although the ones I have been practising on so far have been pretty flat) but I was having trouble with the deer. I have decided that the bigger deer are too heavy for me to lift on my own (about 30kg, and kicking) so I will just pin them to the floor and get someone else to help me lift them :D 

I went to see Contagion the other day which I thought looked pretty good. I went with my mum (cause I’m cool like that) cause plague/disease-y type films are our favourite. I quite liked it and it seemed really realistic compared to something like The Stand where everyone except a few particularly interesting characters die off. One thing that annoyed me though was the overuse of technical jargon one minute and the patronising explanation of simple concepts the next. People who work in disease research are not going to explain lock and key mechanisms to their equally knowledgeable colleagues! Anyway, I think it was worth seeing but maybe not at the cinema (although we went on a cheap night so that was ok :) ). 

I am annoyed at the lack of horror movies in cinemas now we are so close to Halloween. They are my favourite part of the holiday! Except maybe the sweets. 

I know I said in my last entry that I’d try to have something interesting to write about this time but that has failed :( Have a picture of a kitty instead.

(I’ll try again next time)

Lucy

A few things...

Been up to a few things since I wrote the last entry! I started at college where I’m retaking A level chemistry. I was a bit worried I was going to be the oldest in a class of 16/17 year olds but there are a few people doing the same as me so that’s good! It’s not as awful as I remember chemistry being so hopefully I can get a better grade this time.

I’m still looking for a job, which is a pain. The office temp job I mentioned last time lasted a week. I very nearly died of boredom. I’m definitely not made for office work.

The deadline for vet med UCAS applications is coming up fast so I’ve been busy with that. I think I may actually have finished my personal statement finally. It’s not perfect but I don’t think it’s too bad so hopefully it can get me at least an interview. I’ve also been revising for the BMAT exam which I need to take at the beginning of November. It’s so difficult! I just hope I do ok in the actual exam.

Other than that, I had my first training session at Tiggywinkle’s a couple of weeks ago. Had another little look around the shelter and got to stroke a fox called Casper. He’s really tame and behaves just like a dog. It was very strange! He is lovely, but not very white any more.

So far I’ve only had training in handling small mammals and birds. The birds were a bit of a challenge, they flap all over the place! Next time I’ll have training in catching large mammals like foxes, badgers and deer. The badgers sound quite scary; apparently they can bite and charge at you. Not as cuddly as they look!

Ooh, I made a purchase today. I tried to resist buying anything but failed miserably. I spotted a copy of the illustrated version of the Life of Pi for £3. £3!! So I bought it. The story is amazing and the pictures in the illustrated version are lovely. Apparently there’s a film coming out next year but I think I may avoid it. I don’t think it will come across that well on film. However, Jean-Pierre Jeunet was on board to direct a few years ago and I think maybe I would have given his version a watch.

That’s about it. Next time I will try to have something more exciting to write about. Maybe some pictures would make this more interesting... hmmm.

Bye for now!

Lucy

St Tiggywinkles Ambulance Driver

I had an interview the other day to be an 'ambulance driver' for St Tiggywinkles the wildlife hospital. It involved driving out to collect injured animals to take them to the hospital. I'll be getting training in handling all sorts of animals which sounds really exciting. They gave me a massive list of equipment I'll need to fit into my car as well. Deer crates and gauntlets and nets and all sorts.
I also had a quick tour of the hospital which was really interesting. I'd love to work somewhere like that but I imagine jobs are pretty scarce! I saw a badger coming round from surgery which I was pretty excited about. I've never seen a badger in real life before! I also had a look in the nursery where there are lots and lots of baby hedgehogs at the moment. There was also a species I hadn't encountered before called a Glis glis which is a type of dormouse. They were very cute!
I didn't realise before how busy the hospital was. Apparently in summer they can get over 1000 cases per day :| My work as an ambulance driver will be pretty sporadic because they will only call me out for cases in my area, but it should still be really interesting.

Other than that, I finished my kennel work experience last week and then on Thursday I started at a temporary office job. I'm covering for a PA and I pretty much have no idea what I'm doing. I mostly just have to answer the phone and emails and make calls. It's very very boring. Makes me work harder at all my animal-y stuff so I don't get stuck in an office job forever.

On the vet front, I finished a draft of my personal statement today. It's over the character limit so I'll have to cut it down but I don't know which bits to cut and which to leave! It also seems really really cliche... I just hope I can get it so it will do the job. Only a month and a half till the deadline now!

That's all for now,

Lucy