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Yes, to quote from somewhere on the web, "Since 2012, Ukraine has been the world's leading exporter of sunflower oil with a 47% share of global sunflower oil exports in 2021."Some of our cooking oil is rape (canola) but because of a ban on the use of various pesticides, (arguments as to whether they're bee friendly, the science and the lobby groups are not in agreement), oil seed rape area is about what it was twenty years ago so cannot fill the gap
Everything else is imported and more expensive
Evening, another day at work where we ploughed through work, but didn't seem to make a dent in anything, not helped by a 2 hour meeting, though we had doughnuts, which was nice. And had to sit on a desk with dodgy monitors, so a bit harder. Weather stayed dry though, so have done my step count, though mainly by shopping - realised last night some wet food I wanted was a web only offer at PAH, so ordered that and the litter to collect next Mon. I have signed up for a walking challenge at work, runs till end Oct, so might have to keep getting wet, it's all for charity though.
Doughnuts would make it worse for me - I don't allow myself to eat that much sugar at once, because I lose days afterward!So I'd be craving one, and taking tiny bites...
There will come better days. I guarantee it. :)
I actually don't like doughnuts, but I hadn't had chance to eat breakfast before the meeting
Evening, was rather wet this morning and is now very windy, but I managed to get out, though there wasn't much wildlife. The new ducks were closer to the car park, so fed them on their own, they were acting starving and very grabby, both white ones took food from my hand, one more delicate than the other! Good day at work, we were fully staffed for the first time in a while, managed to get through quite a bit. Had a nice chat with my line manager, she appreciated me saying how friendly and welcoming every one has been, and she's been asked how much she can spare me to sit with the other team and learn things, she said only Mon and Tue when we are normally fully staffed, and it will depend how well I enjoy it, if I don't, I can say so and it won't go against me, though part of the reason they are seeing if I do like it is so that if nothing comes up where I am, I can apply for that and still stay within the team. Apparently one of the things that has gone down well is me questioning some of the procedures, and pointing out things, think they are interested to see if I will do the same for the other team. The organiser of the walking challenge has been encouraging us to eat healthier too, we've had a very fun evening of messages, so I really do hope that I get to stay permanently.
Fresh eyes! And the ability to question politely. Valuable new team member.Our youngest daughter is doing the same in her job - she's been there a year now - and is logically minded. She works for the court system in the State of New York.
I think it only works if you have an open manager/colleagues. I've seen it work the opposite, we had a lot of people come from a competitor at the last place, and rather than fit in with the processes, they just insisted their version was used, one of the forms was practically identical, just theirs had one extra question, but I wasn't allowed to add it to ours, I had to use theirs. Really put people's backs up. Ooh, working for the court system sounds interesting.
Sounds like you're in a place that has better managers - hope it continues being good for you.Our daughter likes her job, but they're severely understaffed due to the pandemic and a slow hiring system, so her managers are way overloaded. She seems to be using her various skills, gets along with people well. From the little we hear - I don't push; I don't know what they're supposed to keep confidential.
Evening, less hectic at work, partly due to being fully staffed, and also a lack of urgent issues. Went for a walk after work, noticed it was getting quite dull and while I was wondering how much longer I can walk through the woods after work on my own, it started raining. On the way back, bumped into my cleaner, had a chat with her, she's not well this week and had to go to the docs today, so I told her that if she isn't feeling up to it in the morning, not to worry about coming, I'll manage. Then I gave her a hug. Yes, it does seem like that, and a place that wants to encourage people to be in the position they want to be in.
A place can either encourage and appreciate kindness and competence, or rigidly enforce a hierarchy of who is allowed to know what. Funny how that works.
Nice bright day today. As suspected, cleaner couldn't make it today, I'm torn now as I've tidied the house, so tempting to clean it, but she's hopefully coming next Fri instead, so don't want to do too much and not make it worth paying someone next week. Went for a walk with G at lunch, we didn't get to feed the new ducks, but I did buy some more food for them. Remembered mid afternoon that when my line manager was chatting to me about feeling bad for going off sick unexpectedly, that I meant to tell her I took it as a compliment, messaged her and she replied with 'it definitely is, I can't say I've fully trusted anyone else this soon. You're an absolute star'. Then the afternoon went crazy and we had a really bizarre situation that I knew nothing about, but I'd rang the engineer covering this morning about something else, so he thought he'd ring me and see if I could solve it, did eventually get to the bottom of it, but had to work late to do all the paperwork and finish what I was in the middle of! Went to see if the ducks were around to be fed after work, a family were feeding them all bread, so just had a chat with them about how friendly they are, so they started hand feeding them too! Yes, definitely Alicia.
Evening, quite a dull day and rain was forecast, so I went for a walk up to the bird hide quite early to be on the safe side - it started raining part way home, and hasn't stopped since. One of the photographers commented the other day that the mandarin ducks seen last year hadn't been seen this year, when I was walking through the nature reserve, I saw movement on the stream in a section you don't normally see ducks, and saw two mallards and what looked to be a mandarin duck! Couldn't get a decent pic, between the distance and the dull weather, but showed what I got to the different photographer in the bird hide and he said it did seem like it! Also saw more cormorants than I've ever seen in one go, think there were 10, apparently last Sun there were 17, and fighting over the posts to dry their wings! Just as I was about to leave, a heron appeared and a kingfisher did a lovely fly by, so an amazing nature walk. Not done much since I got back, which I think I needed actually.
Real wildlife! In person (In animal?)! Nice. Good to hear - there are so many ecological disasters going on.
I'm really not sure where all the cormorants have come from, but despite the storm this week, the water levels at the lake are low enough for these kind of birds, when it was really high, nothing was there, and the past week cormorants, heron, egrets and kingfisher have been spotted, it's amazing there are fish left in that part of the lake! Oh, and just remembered we saw a grebe too, not seen one since the summer.
Evening, weather was very hit and miss today, went to the makers market/craft fair, didn't buy anything, but had a nice chat with a couple of stallholders. Didn't go for that long a walk fortunately as it started raining when I was part way home and got heavier after I got back, so timed it well. Not much wildlife, but got to stroke a few dogs.
Evening, that was a full on day at work. Got shown new things this morning, some of them are quite similar so hoping I won't get confused with them! Then we had a 2 hour staff conference, most of which went over my head, especially as a lot of them used abbreviations that made sense to them, but not to me. They under estimated the timings, so we have to have a follow up session on one of the subjects in the next couple of weeks. Then my brain just couldn't get back on track with the new stuff, so didn't do much after that. As we were packing up, the woman organising the charity walk came over to introduce herself, and thanked me for getting on board with it, and sharing pics when she asks, I said I was really glad, as I was a bit conscious that I'm new, and some of the wider team (including her!), don't know me and might have wondered about me posting, but she said it's good to have that personal connection as well as it just being a work thing and she thinks it is good for our mental health, which I do agree with
Jargon IS hard - are you keeping a list of the acronyms and project names so you can find out later what they are?She's right about the mental health - some workplaces have a helpful one, but others make you afraid to open your mouth.
I did ask about a couple after the meeting. My line manager did tell me last week never to feel afraid to say I just need a day to get my head together, which was nice, it does feel a lot more supportive, I've noticed since leaving that while the last place said some of the right things, they weren't necessarily backed up, and there was an unhealthy culture around working hours, with directors commenting if you just did your contracted hours, I'm much happier with true flexible working, and don't mind doing an extra 10 mins knowing I can get it back when I want/need.
You've been very discreet, and never mentioned things at the previous job that made you unhappy, but this job does seem to be much less pressured, and you sound a lot happier. Hope it works out long-term the way you need it to.
Yes, it is much less pressure, which is really nice. Another odd thing is I get asked if I want to do a certain task, and can say no, I never do, as that is a very alien concept to me! Thanks, me too.
Evening, horrendous weather today, so very impressed at doing 7.1k steps, even though it was that miserable this morning I was tempted to drive closer to the office and pay £3 parking. One of my colleagues was off sick today, so they couldn't spare me to help the other team, it was hard getting my head back in gear though, and we had some fiddly things crop up too. Had initially sat closer to the woman who organised the walking challenge (and is setting us regular mini challenges to help with mental health too), she introduced me to another colleague who lives in my village, she asked if I was on Facebook, so admitted it was in Lucy's name, and she chuckled and said I'd fit in well! Had asked a colleague yesterday if they could spare the time to show me what words I needed to get job alerts to stay in my team, as he's recently applied for a promotion, turns out he also lives in my village, had a nice chat with him too. Got home and had 2k steps left, and it was dry, so went to do a quick walk along the canal and bumped into someone who lives a couple of streets away (and works on the same floor as me) going for a walk round the park with her dogs, so offered to go with her - not sure if I've mentioned her before, have known her about 16 years, since I catnapped her cat for a night, but worked out well as he had a thyroid condition she didn't know about, so she actually thanked me after his diagnosis, so we chat every time we see each other, I know her dogs and children's names, but not hers! She might not know mine either, I'm not sure. They only do a short loop, so I still needed to do some steps, so went to see what bargains were in the shops, and went to see the ducks, there have only been two for a few days now, the white one was on its own, but realised I had food so came for some, eventually the male flew over, I said to him that if he jumped out, I'd hand feed him, he jumped out, I put some on the ground and he just looked at me, so I held my hand out and he took it from my hand. Then in Sainsbury's I bumped into a bloke who looked vaguely familiar, who came and said 'Hi, I met you the other week when I was walking my tortoise'! So had a little chat with him too.
George - was that the TORTOISE'S name?Sounds like some great walk-and-talks.
Either George or Geoff, there is definitely a Geoff the dog I've met at a craft fair.
Evening, colleague was off sick again, but nothing much urgent came in, just a few trick things again. I did feel like I was really slow, with my brain trying to remember my normal job and not what I was shown on Mon, plus we swapped tasks today and I had to do things I haven't done for a few weeks. Was supposed to be nice today, so did some washing, and pegged it out - was working a bit late and had to dash out as it started raining! Still went for my walk, and glad I did, saw 2 deer in a field I've never seen them in before, and not used to seeing 2 in that stretch. The walking chat has been very funny this evening, a mix of chatting about wildlife after I posted my pic, and now a debate about chocolate bars! G did say I should treat this as just a job and not get too friendly with people, but I'm glad I ignored her, they seem to accept me even when I drop random weird things in.
Fingers crossed, but you seem to be fitting in very nicely.Hope they can keep you if you want to stay.
I do, it's lovely, there isn't a single person I don't like/get on with, which I find unusual. I'd definitely like to stay, and even when I've chatted to people other than my line manager, they've all been positive, saying there are always opportunities coming up, and contracts can be extended if not, so I'm hopeful.
Evening, very frustrating day, colleague was back in, so at least I wasn't on my own but everything I did, regardless of how simple it looked, ended up being tricky/more work, even had to get my line manager's approval on two things. We had a nice chat though, and have booked time off for my birthday. Had a rheumatology check up that barely lasted long enough to put a message on saying they'd rang early! She was pleased with all my bloodwork and not bothered that I had to increase one of my medications, but said I should have a covid booster, which is disappointing, I was hoping it would be yearly and I'd be fine as I had one in Feb! Forgot to say yesterday, I'd ordered something from PAH to be collected last Sun, yesterday I ended up trying to sort it out through live chat as it still hadn't arrived, she said she'd send it again to my house today, delivery notice came through saying between 4 and 5, I gave up at 5.30, did a chore I'd been holding off as I wouldn't have heard the door, then went for a walk at 5.40, delivery man rang at 6 saying that he was on my doorstep but no answer, told him I'd had to go out and could he leave it on my doorstep which he did, was beginning to think I was destined not to get that bag of litter! On a nice note, A messaged with a new mould and wanted to know if I was happy with it, and she was going to order the next batch of scents but was waiting till Sun to make sure we are both happy with them, I really appreciate that she involves me, it is her product at the end of the day (though I know she appreciates that I enjoy writing as my handwriting is neater than hers).
FWIW: I got my flu shot two days ago, and am scheduled to get my Covid and RSV shots next Monday.The flu shot was the extra-strong one for seniors; it isn't giving me much trouble.
Oh, didn't know they did an extra strong flu jab. I don't mind having my flu jab, but I'm normally off for about a week after my Covid jab, will have to try and book it for after work on a Tue, so at least I'm WFH for 3 days after.
Evening, wet and miserable most of the day. Cleaner managed to come today, and she brought me a pasty, which was nice as she was cleaning the kitchen in my lunch break! Downside is that I'm getting her some wax melts on Sun, which were a little treat as she's not been well, now it will seem slightly different! Had another day where straight forward things led to tricky things, I'm not sure if it's because I'm new so I'm looking at things differently to colleagues, or just bad luck, though it's nice to deal with different things early, rather than things be easy for few months and then I'd be really thrown. I did have to ring someone this pm who decided to give me a lot of detail about her husband's passing and funeral, which made me cry and had to try and sound professional, can live without more of those! Had an early finish and went out with ex colleague M, we were supposed to go for a walk and tea, but the weather was so bad I couldn't convince her to do the walk, so we just had a drink and meal and looked at the lake! It was dry when we were done, so I made her leave me there and walk home, though it wasn't enough, so had to be a bit creative, walked past the canal and saw a heron stood in the water, didn't think they'd have been catching fish that late. It was really nice catching up with her, and she said I sound and look very happy,
You have a job: find bugs AND report them AND get them fixed that no one else has tackled before you (they should have). That is a gift to any organization that is paying attention.As long as you're nice (you are) about it, they should be thanking you - and don't worry about it because obviously it's needed.
At the moment it's not actually raining and we've got the first day of the Pumpkin patch
It's absolutely peeing down here, advice is to travel only if absolutely necessary and the trains to Glasgow have been cancelled anyway - I was supposed to be going to a fancy prize giving exhibition opening at the Glasgow Art Club tonight. I was looking forward to a very rare night out but I have been thwarted yet again :(
Oh and is this thread misbehaving for anyone else? It's repeatedly saying 17,000 new posts to me. Perhaps time for a new one!
Rosemary (grooving with the Picts) wrote: "Oh and is this thread misbehaving for anyone else? It's repeatedly saying 17,000 new posts to me. Perhaps time for a new one!"Ah! That explains it. Patti used to start a new thread periodically.
Yes, I think ti may be time for Pop in for chat v 2.0
OK that's a new thread started, could everyone migrate over there now please :)I'll close this thread to new comments in a few days time
Rosemary (grooving with the Picts) wrote: "It's absolutely peeing down here, advice is to travel only if absolutely necessary and the trains to Glasgow have been cancelled anyway - I was supposed to be going to a fancy prize giving exhibiti..."Sorry to hear that, Daughter in Dalkeith commented about the rain
There's a photo on the BBC of a train tunnel somewhere in Scotland that is flooded, the water would be up to the train windows.
Which when you remember how high up train windows are when you're not standing on a platform shows how high it is
Evening, didn't sleep well, did manage to do more housework than planned, then had a full family meal, nice for us all to be together and the kids had a blast. Went to a carvery I've been to recently, food wasn't as good, but we had a good time. Was planning on a walk, but it was raining. We struggled to park so had had a bit of a walk! Then took sis to the new discount store, she went a bit mad! Wondering if i can face mince pies and yogurt. Very tired
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Ah, I never knew that Jim.