It’s signing on day today, which means that I have to set aside my search for employment in order to spend the morning documenting what I’ve been doing to find work. This will then be followed by a bus journey of 30-40 minutes each way, a queue in the job centre of maybe another 15-20 minutes, in order to wave some paper in front of the adviser, sign and date a form and leave. This means effectively:

  • Preparation time: 1:00
  • Journey time: 1:20
  • Waiting to sign: 0:20
  • Interview time: <0:05
  • Waiting for bus home: 0:15

A total of about 3:00 hours, for an interview that lasts less than 5 minutes, often less than 2. This is the efficiency of the system. I suppose I should be glad I don’t need to follow it up with a visit to Reed this week, as that would add another 2:00-2:30 to the time, just to repeat the exact same thing at a different location. That happened last time.

On the other hand, I have also to do some shopping today. I need drain un-blocker for the shower, I need bread (or flour to make bread) and I need coffee. And to be fair, the lack of the last is probably making me unreasonably grumpy this morning. I should probably do laundry too. Sheesh, it’s going to be a busy day today.