Another week of random travelling…starting out in Gargrave as usual, then 24 hours in the south of France…or, that was the plan…luckily managed to escape the main strike, however train cancellations and flight delays didn’t surprise anyone. And Marseilles wasn’t exactly at its cleanest. Also amusing, seems bumming people for cigarettes is a national past-time in France…I did enjoy the sunshine though

The Vertilon has a lot of charm for a hotel bar, so Bunny and neighbours had a pleasant evening checking out the terrace overlooking the Thames, however at £10 per glass of Pinot Grigio (and they included service charge even if you get the drink yourself at the bar) it will probably not become a regular hang-out spot for anyone but hotel residents…

And what’s this trend of models with a gap between their front teeth about…a retro Brigitte Bardot look?

Except from recognising some of our hang out spots during my latest visit to LA I found it less than thrilling. Maybe I am getting jaded too. I do however still snigger slightly thinking about an ex-boyfriend who dutifully called me from a party in Easton Ellis’ showroom flat in NYC…he had been instructed to check out the bathroom for any incriminating evidence. And found a wrench under the sink. Hardly very exciting

Then there’s the Boutique 25…Bunny stayed in room 4; apparently “a contemporary French boudoir” Yes, the jacuzzi was nice and staff was very helpful….but the shower didn’t work and it felt sort of….moldy….

Anyway, Bunny will be back in Skipton and will keep reviewing the accommodation, plan is to test yet another hotel this time. And the restaurants have been brilliant so far

1. Please read through my CV/profile/the brief I have given you properly before getting in touch; it makes me doubt how professional you are when you keep contacting me about irrelevant roles or don’t know about my past experience/current role/salary level.

2.It’s fine to ask me about candidate tips for roles that are not relevant for me, but why not send me an email instead – seeing as most of the contact details you are asking for will be saved on the mobile you are calling me on, so I cannot look them up while talking to you

3.Please don’t call from an undisclosed number – the chance of me answering the call is a lot higher if I know who’s calling, and it is a lot easier to return the phonecall if I have already got the number on my mobile

4.Please do not leave me along and warbled answer phone message

No, I don’t enjoy having to replay the message several time to try and suss out your name and phone number

Top tip: Get yourself an email SMS system, where you can easily send me a message with all the relevant information and a telephone number…increases the chance of me getting back to you promptly.

5.As much as I would like to meet up with everyone to increase my chances of finding the perfect role; please do realise that I am NOT just working with you…and the chances of me meeting you at daytime while in a job are pretty slim unless you have a relevant role right now…

I would also like to add that I have had the opportunity to work with some really good, enthusiastic and professional recruiters – and they mostly never display any of the above behaviours…I take my hat off to all of you!

Just an update on a previous story…

So, Bunny had been an Orange customer for more than 5 years, and had used their mobile broadband service for almost a year. It has been fast and with good coverage, when all of a sudden I for some mysterious reason had either no or very patchy connection to my mobile broadband account from my home – but it worked well elsewhere.

So, calling up customer services I experienced a strong lack of interest (“tough luck”) – except from one technical advisor in the Bristol call centre who was very helpful, but unfortunately unable to solve my problem. The only advise I  had was to check if I’d fare better with a different network provider!

So, the weekend I decided to do so and cancelled my Orange account to say the least I was very disappointed with the response from customer services:

• I had to pay for another month of broadband – so I was paying for a service I cannot use
• I will have to pay at least £20 to unlock my dongle, for which I paid £50….and that is now rendered useless for me

Bunny is so happy that she decided to move all her mobile services to another provider indeed…

Bunny is still puzzled as to why anyone would think this was a good idea…

Stupid black cabs

Bunny does however recommend everyone to save the cabwise number to their mobile phone….

So, Bunny was thinking of leaving London earlier this year. Now very glad I didn’t, but just came across my pro and con list…and here is my list of things that I said I would NOT miss in the beginning of 2009 – and some comments…

10 things I will NOT miss

1. Crap housing, especially heating and plumbing

2. Horrendous decorations and furniture

- both sorted by moving into my great new flat

3. My landlords and landladies

- well, been better so far, but…

4. The M25 and London traffic

- luckily mostly using public transportation and walking these days…not without issues either, but…

5. The food in general

6. Chips with everything – including pasta

- so eating more at home…healthier and saves money

7. Dating English men

- well…

8. English high street fashion

9. English shoes

- have found some good stores for shoes and lingerie tho….

10. The weather

- well, can’t be helped, but at least I’ve got my balcony heater…

Then again, I guess it would not make much difference to my mail not being delivered due to the annoying strike…the only more annoying action was the tube strike earlier this year. Still waiting for my birthday presents and cards to be delivered. Bastards!

(Life is too short to dance with ugly men)

So we didn’t…and you are not short of choice of places to go dancing when near Piccadilly Circus and Soho…including the Norwegian girls’ favourite haunt, O’Neill’s in Wardour Street…cheesy music and cheap beer

We still thought this was quite charming entertainment tho…even if tempted to pay him to stop playing

Also, claiming back the jobs of a couple of co-workers who have been fired for gross misconduct doesn’t really sound very reasonable?

So to add insult to injury, trying to use Transport for London’s alternative route guide, I still keep getting tube schedules…but with the warning that the line may be closed due to strike. Not very well prepared, are we…?

 Anyway, then decided to spend my freed up time getting my hair done at my favourite hairdresser’s…luckily he was in and had an available appointment too… Just disappointed that the salon uses a brand of hair colours that I am allergic too, otherwise I would have come there more often.

Coming out of the salon, hair nicely chopped, I found myself having the second rant of the day, at rude recruiters, twice! Firstly, my interview booked for today was postponed without even agreeing a new date, which I am sure they will request with very short notice. Do they think it is dead easy to set aside a day for an interview? Fair enough that it is sellers market at the moment, but you would think a tiny bit of reason and politeness is in order?

Secondly, another one calling from undisclosed number, leaving some rambling message, which I have to replay at least 3 times to write down the phone number, and spend my hard earned cash trying to reach them again…only they are always busy interviewing someone, on the other line or not at their desk…and NO, I don’t want them to call me back, I may be busy. What is wrong with sending and SMS or email? Is that kind of technology too advanced for most agents? My favourite recruiter always sends me an SMS (from his email system), to ask me to call him – including the number – or that he has sent me an email that he hopes I can reply to. Now THAT’S service…and probably the reason why he has earned a good fee placing me twice…