Ice Rink Rant

I'm currently in the habit of saving. I try not to spend money most of the time, unless I really need something. Spending money of stuff I just want leads to little feelings of guilt because I was brought up pretty anti-consumerist. Anyway, to get the money I have, I work. I work Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and sometimes Sundays. Saturdays are the worst days to work.

A little thing about working at an ice rink is that people believe you are being paid to skate. Therefore it's an easy job. Ha! You see very little of what we have to do! Now, this post isn't going to be complaining about the tasks I ahev to do at work. I like my work. I enjoy it. Even when it's a bit difficult and you're pushed for time, because then the feeling of elation at having managed something is just that little bit stronger. No, I'm complaining (sorry) about the customers. Here goes.

Dear customers,

The ice rink opens at ten on a Saturday morning. However, the site is open and up and running all the time. Please check our opening times. Please don't get angry at having dragged your kids down to get here at nine thirty. We're not letting you in. You can't browse and so we see no reason why you should be allowed on the premises before we open.

Secondly, no hats on the ice. This means you shouldn't have one on your head. By all means, bring one, but as soon as you're skating (or trying to) please take it off. Now, you ALWAYS ask me why. Always. Have you ever seen someone trip over a hat on the ice? No? Think of it as if you were running and you put your foot in something sticky. What happens? You pitch over straight onto your face. The other thing is, because one foot is stuck in this figurative sticky thing, your head is on the end of a pivot. The bad end. The fast end. In short, your hat, when it accidentally comes off your head while you're skating (or trying to), is a dangerous weapon. Have you ever seen how much a head wound bleeds?No? We have. We have also seen how nasty it is when we, the stewards, have to go out onto the ice and scrape off the frozen blood with our skates. N'ice. As in, not nice.
Don't give me your bullshit about your hat protecting your head. All a hat will do when you fall is soak up the blood. Have fun cleaning it out. It's a hat, not a helmet.

Thirdly, the reason we ask you not to wear long coats and scarves is so you can't take out a small child (or an adult). Or get strangled. Or strangle someone else. Your clothing should be warm but not pose a danger to other customers.

Fourthly, don't treat us as if we're stupid because we appear to work somewhere where qualifications aren't needed. I assure you, we can (and most likely will) argue back, but we choose not to because we like our jobs. Sunday morning a guy told me I get paid to piss people off because I told him to take his hat off. Then he fell on his ass really, really hard. The look of pain on his face made my self-control worth it. Don't be dicks. We're all pretty damn well educated, thanks.

Fifthly (it's a damn word), on a  Saturday, there are about 600 of you using our facility. When we ask you to do something for your own safety, please do it. You outnumber us about 60-1. We can't help you unless you listen.

There are bins every seven metres on average. They are not for display. They are for you to put your unwanted stuff in. Especially socks. I loathe picking up socks. I also loathe picking up tissues off the ice. If you must vlow your nose, do it off ice. Stood next to a bin. And then, get in the bin.

Finally, in the cafe there is a bin right next to the sugar, milk and stirrers. DON'T LEAVE YOUR DAMNED STUFF ON THE SIDE SO WE HAVE TO WIPE IT EVERY FIVE MINUTES. Don't leave all your stuff on the tables either. It means we have twice as much cleaning to do as is really necessary.

Many thanks, workers at the ice rink.

Business mentality

When you walk past a hospital, do you look up and see its windows? Is it a new building? Are there colours? Do you imagine to yourself what the doctors and nurses are doing inside- caring for the sick, saving lives... It's the same with a court. There are likely to be people inside, looking to improve our society by applying their knowledge and evaluating situations.

When you apply for a medical degree, it helps to want to help people. But what you mainly need is a great, maybe even morbid interest, in one area of medicine. Radiology, Paediatrics, Neurology. Why? Because it's a difficult profession in which it is likely that you will be relied upon to contribute to the health of others and to help solve medical anomalies. But what you must keep in mind is that a hospital or a general practitioner's office is not just a place for helping or condemning people. It is a business.

When you apply for a legal degree, it helps to want to help people. But what you mainly need is a driven, maybe even obsessive interest, in one area of law. Family, Criminal, Media. Why? Because it's a difficult profession in which it is likely that you will be relied upon to contribute to the predicament of others and to help solve legal anomalies. But what you must keep in mind is that a court house or a legal office is not just a place for helping or condemning people. It is a business.

While these two admittedly unrepresentative professions do happen to inflict a large amount of power over certain realms of society, we must always remember that somebody who has trained for years must have money coming from somewhere. Either these people are working for their money (and if you feel they are overpaid try being them for a couple of days), or they are already rich and simply working because they are interested in their area. These are very tricky jobs to have. A simple mistake can cost a life, whether that is literally physically true, or because you have just allowed your client to be imprisoned for life for an offence he did not commit.

My point is, there's no argument in doing something lots of people find invaluable if you're not going to have a pricetag to go with it. These professions are businesses. These businesses, however, are not governed solely by profit. They are also governed by ethics. Research and hard work goes into being a doctor or a lawyer. You are dealing with other people's lives, their liberty, their happiness, their health. If you wish to obtain a job such as one of these, then certain qualities have to be either acquired or brought to light.

- Ability to work under pressure.
- Ability to work long hours.
- Enjoyment of puzzles.
- Enjoyment of hostile and confused clients who need you to use non-technical language so they don't walk out feeling lost and confused.
- Organisation beyond compare.
- Teamwork.
- Communication skills.
- A long fuse.

In short, business mentality. If you don't know how to run a business and how to operate efficiently, then you find out how, you change things, and you carry on. Research and development. Of yourself. Of your profession. Of your goals.

Be good at something. This year, learn one new thing that will help others. Make it a goal. Find out how to achieve it. Stick to the goal. Improve. The point is, high-flyers wanted to be up there. And they got what they wanted, by managing themselves and creating opportunities. Create opportunities.

Happy reading, folks!

Essay day

Lots of English schools are closed today because our teachers are off striking in order to somehow raise their own pension packets. Two things: because they're not working, they don't get paid for today (clever...) and they're also not going to change much. Petitions and pressure groups, people! Those are the only things that will work at this point! That or replacing David Cameron (our Prime Minister, and an idiot) with someone who can do the job better.

I'm not looking to start a political debate here, I'm just saying. I'm not saying I'd do a better job, just that he's doing a bad one.

In other news... As we have a day off I've been watching The Godfather (I say been watching because it's almost three hours long so there are breaks every now and then), cooking lunch (took half an hour; SO worth it. I hate fast food. Just because it takes less time does not mean it's good for you. In fact, the rule is kind of an inverted thing. What you really want is either raw food all the time (salads and stuff, but I like meat and fish and hot food in general so that's not really possible) or food that takes long enough to cook that you actually RESPECT it. And take the time to ENJOY it. I get up half an hour earlier than I need to, because I want TIME to enjoy my food and appreciate where it's come from. The fact it's usually coming from the toaster is something to be ignored. I don't like to wolf stuff down. Among other things, it makes me feel sick. It also means I feel hungry more quickly afterwards.

Today has also been an essay day. That means I've done essays all day (probably quite self-explanatory but for those who didn't somehow work it out, there you go). Today is German essay day. I'm doing topics like wine-growing in the region of Rhineland-Pfalz and the commersialisation of Hallowe'en. We have to be pretty specific this year with what we choose to write about. It is difficult but enjoyable.

Right, I'd better finish this next essay ("Watching television on your Laptop saves electricity and money").

Happy reading, folks!

Jobbing tendencies

I've recently found that, no matter how much you love your job, if it's on a Sunday, it can be hard to get up. How many people want to work on a Sunday? The pope and pretty much all ordained ministers aside, I can't think of many people who jump with joy at the prospect of effectively cutting their weekend short, even if it is for money.

On the subject of jobs, I've been offered another one (I really hope I get it. Though it doesn't pay incredibly well, it will actually save me money, which is excellent). I'm hoping to start turoring at school soon as well. It should be fun; I'm having to do a lot of lesson plans, as I did in the summer holidays in France, so it would be nice to put them to use instead of merely having them sitting around in a drawer.

Secondly! I'm into training season now, which means going to the gym and skating more than ever. I need a new pair of wheel for my rollerblades, as during the summer I used them all the time, and it wears the wheels out. They're not particularly safe anymore. So yes, gym training and no white bread or pasta from now on. Brown pasta and bread has a lot more fibre in it, which is great for your digestive system. The easiest way to put it is "it makes your tummy happy" (I should advertise more).

Thirdly, Christmas is on its way (I know it's about two months away but you can stick it until you've got that festive feeling!), which means I start looking for silly things to wear to entertain my friends. At the moment my favourite candidate for this purpose can be seen here. I think those things are bloody expensive for what they are, though. But fun, oho, so fun. If I were to wear them and stretch I'd not get a cold stomach! Always a good thing.

Fourthly, it's half term soon, and I'm relieved because there's a lot I want to do, like finish painting my room (it's been half purple, half white for a while now, and I'm trying to paint over all the purple and then cover it in a very light blue so it looks a bit better). Hopefully I'll be doing that next weekend. Next week is our last week in school before the week-long holiday. I plan to do a lot of work in that holiday, as I use holidays to revise a lot. I find it easy to memorise books and subject matter if I just sit and read it so holidays are fun (also ice skating and gym time, whoop!)

Hopefully some of you will click this link (below). Go to the site, at the top it says "authors", click on Nathan DeGraaf; the guy's a genius. Cheers!

http://www.pointsincase.com/

Have fun, and happy reading, folks!