A lot of the problems I see in workplaces are with managers who've never had to experience being under anybody (working in a shop, this was commonplace - fresh graduates would often be selected for managerial positions) - although it works both ways; you can also get problematic underlings who have no idea how hard it can be to manage a company!

I have two bosses who are a little like 'good cop, bad cop'. One is really sweet and lovely and always apologises and reminds me of my grandfather. The other is brusque and rude and turns everything into your fault - instead of 'I've made a mistake on this letter, please can you correct it?' it's an impersonal 'this letter has a mistake on it! Correct it!'

You know, as much as I like to learn from others, that is one thing that drives me crazy..... when other people have made a mistake.... then act like you're the one who did it. No wait! I think there's two things that drive me crazy! When you're the one who makes a recommendation and it falls on deaf ears. And then, sometime later, either your boss (male) or another male who was in that same meeting makes the same recommendation and they're pronounced brilliant and it's implemented. No wait! I think there's three things! People who take credit for your work.

Ah heck. I'm so thankful for the break from that dog-eat-dog world. Thanks for the reality check. I was beginning to regret leaving.

As if life wasn't already sweet what with my new driver's license, I have this, even more stunning piece of happiness:

I woke up at 7am and noticed there was a missed call on my UK mobile. I called back -- it was Bruce calling from Dundee. And...

HE WAS AWARDED HIS PhD!!!!

Oh my god, I think I have the vapours, this has been such a great 24 hours. He said they grilled him during the defence, and he wasn't sure that he would get it at all, but he fought back good and hard and stuck to his guns. At the end, he was told that they all enjoyed reading it, it was a very mature and original piece of work, and he was being heartily recommended to receive his doctorate. They invited him out to lunch to discuss what sort of book he wants to write out of it...

WAAAAAA-HOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Freak out on the smilies!

wow. Give bruce my congrats. You truely have been blessed these last 24hrs. Want to pass some of that luck this way!?!?

That's really great news!

Hurrah! That's fantastic news!

Fantastic!! I'll have some of what you've been taking please!!

That is AWESOME!!!!! Congratulations Bruce!!!!!

BTW.... you do know that "the vapours" actually refers to passing wind, don't you?

So she's so excited she farts? It's all good

by the way if anyone interested Jeraly and I have hijacked the july K1 thread in "moving here forum" for a night of drinking, eating and trying to cheer each other up. All welcome, you don't have to be a july K1 filer.

Congrats to Bruce!!! I'm starting on my Masters soon and I know I'm going to be working my butt off...I can't even imagine what the workload is with a Doctorate!!!

An amazing accomplishment!!!

It's not unheard of! Why my dear own sister, Antoinnette, would fart whenever she laughed. And my friend, Cathi, would fart whenever we would run. So I would end up running and laughing and peeing my pants. Think I'd rather fart.


Oh good! I'll come and join you! I love a good night of drinking and eating!!!

KRIKIT -- FOR SHAME!!!



In my family, the vapours were always a synonym for going into a faint. I have since recuperated and my bottom was never involved, thank you.

Oh, and to make things even more awesome, my mom and I just booked a girls' holiday in the Bahamas for the first week in March. Now I'm back on the diet biggie style and starting to look for some beachwear...

Sending my good mojo out to you all... this has been a fantastic 24 hours!

Whooooo hooooooo!!! What a way to start the weekend.... Three fabulous highs!! Well, maybe except for needing to shop for beachwear. I usually get pretty depressed when mirrors and barely-there clothes are involved. lol

Congrats to you both!! What a great success! I bet you are so proud!

Congratulations !!!
Bet you can't wait til he gets home so you can both celebrate properly

Thanks so much! And thanks to everyone for the warm wishes. Just checked him in online for his flights back home tomorrow; what with the long ride from JFK he won't be back until midnight. Then Monday night I have to go to New York and spend the night for an event on Tuesday -- Tuesday night will be the big night for celebrating.

Sounds grand!! Always fancied getting a PhD but don't think I would be clever enough - BAhons was hard enough for me thank you very much!!

I only got as far as national diploma, got 3 distinctions at that, highest you can get. (Equivalent to 3 'A' levels at grade A+.) But my ex at that time was against me going to uni so i never went further, something I regret so much. Do they do the equivalent of open university courses in the USA? Maybe that will be an option. I love studying and doing assignments, I really miss doing them.

I would like to do something more vocational - I would love to learn silversmithing or something to tie in with my grand business plan... I have so many aspirations for when I move

That is something different!!!
My National diploma is in Animal Management, which basically qualifies me to work in anything to do with animals, I'm also a qualified advanced dog groomer (my chosen profession). I want to start my own business dog grooming over there, already had a successful business in the UK.
Other qualifications - I am a registered nurse plus have done courses in massage and aromatherapy.
Hoping I won't have problems finding employment

I think that is what I want though - something different - something that I can do and enjoy - I don't want to be one of those people who moans about their job, gets up, goes to work, comes home and whines about having to go back after the weekend... I don't want to feel that the weekends are too short, rather too long!! I want to look forward to getting up and doing a job I love...

Ok... some people may think this totally unrealistic (there are plenty of skeptics out there, believe me!) but I believe a life profession is like falling in love - you have a few dodgy jobs to find your feet, bring in a bit of money while you figure out what you really want, then some day, maybe when you least expect it, you find something just perfect for you Might not be to everyone else's taste but that is what makes it more special

I want to learn and develop and I want to further myself. I want to dream and aspire and I feel that I can do that in my new life

Exactly !!!
I spent 20 years nursing and got very disheartened, too much paperwork, too much bureaucracy. Not what I went into nursing for!!!!
I had the choice, go to uni and further my nursing qualifications or choose something different. I chose to do animal care and havent looked back, best choice I ever made. I am so happy working with animals, only regret is that I didn't decide to do this years ago.
Go with your dreams, you won't regret it

Yay! I did a four year teaching degree then went into an office job because as much as I love the kids, there is so much paperwork and crap involved it detracts from the actual teaching - it isn't about the children anymore and the government keep trying to put band-aids on broken bones...

Ah well - new country, fresh start!!

Ha ha
They offered me a teaching job at the college after I passed my diploma.
The thought of teaching a bunch of 16 year old delinquents with raging hormones just didn't appeal though
I turned it down

mustang-sally, of course we have courses you can take here! some people go part-time taking a class or 2 here and there...some people work around their work schedules and take night courses, etc. some places of employment even offer scholarships or assistance with tuition if the coursework will help you advance in your position/career...good luck!!! i've seen tons of mothers of older children (teens and older) go back to school and get their degree...it may have taken them a little longer, but they got the whole shebang...the kids and the career...also, jeraly, i know what you mean about the teaching thing...i went to college for that here and i taught for a little while...it tends to be hard in my area to find a job because this area is kinda rural and loads of people want to teach here...if you get in an area where it's growing still IE virginia is an area that i know is developing the last 15 or so years and building tons of schools, it's alot easier to find a job if that's what you want...i ended up working in a supermarket, doing the hiring and orientations for the new employees..i also do alot of human resources stuff..i know what you mean about finding something you love to do...but right now i need to keep my job so that i can support us and show proof of it... having worked for the same place in the past 11 years will hopefully look good and being able to provide medical benefits is a plus too.

Thanks j4k, thats good to know. I don't necessarily want to attend college, thinking more of home studies and maybe the odd college day now and again.
I will definately look into it once I get there, I absolutely love studying and learning. Really miss that at the moment.
I want to start my own business once I get there so a night or part time course in American business and employment laws would be good. I already have qualifications in business studies here and although I can run a business (and did succesfully for 3 years) no problem, I do need to learn the laws over there. Randy has already spoken to some business start up places and they are willing to help me out.
The 3 months or so I have to wait for my EAD will give me chance to learn and make out a business plan and find somewhere to work from.

Haha Maggie - I have a business plan in my head but having extra info on it would be good - maybe you can remotely tutor me I know where I want to start with my business though - it is something I started here and we are marginally in profit so at least we can justify spending a little money on a few things to get things off the ground I just want to have the chance to really make a go of it and here I just haven't got the motivation right now because I know I will have to move it all anyway!

we have online courses here you can take too...i think phoenix online is a fairly reputable one...my place of business has a contract with them to pay so much of a percentage based on the grade you get in the course...they advertise quite a bit too....just wondering if the ad at the top of the page will change based on me typing it in here...

I have no idea what I'd like to do for a career. I did architecture on university but was burnt out on that by the time I graduated and did temping for a while before landing my current job (I'm an administrator/secretary/office help). I really like admin work but I'm not busy enough right now and administration has a bit of a stigma attached to it - the type of work I do is usually covered by the 16 year old school leavers who, quite frankly, don't really give a toss and just need some pocket money. It's rare that any of them have any real computer knowledge or a decent command of the English language. The local secretarial college used to send letters riddled with grammatical errors and it was so frustrating to see!

My current thoughts are to give architecture another chance - it's what I'm qualified to do (although I'd need a diploma and a couple of years in the industry to become an actual architect) - and find some work as an architectural technician when I move to California. Failing that I'd maybe try and find admin work with a larger company or look into becoming a PA. I can't afford to do further study - I'll need a decent job so that I can support Alex in his own study.

Anyway - it's great to hear that other people have a better idea of what they'd like to do! I've known some very enterprising people who've had great success and I hope that you all do, too.

Good good , will have a look see what courses and subjects they cover once I get over there. Business and animal related courses will work.
It's difficult while I'm still in the UK, all searches seem to be UK based. Will look further once I move.

I'm a teacher (high school American History), and I love my job...but you're right, there is a mountain of paperwork sometimes...

All of you who are teachers have my utmost respect...I wouldn't want to teach one child, let alone a whole class-full, and the amount of paperwork sounds horrendous! I have one friend who's a teacher and she's never home before 6 pm at the earliest.

Yeah - a lot of people don't see the work that goes on behind the scenes in teaching! I maintain that teaching secondary would be better though in terms of teaching one subject (Would love to be an art teacher!) but I couldn't cope with bunches of hormonal teens!!! Primary you have to be qualified to teach all ages and all subjects - it is really hard work!!!

But the great thing about teaching art, is that the students in your class actually signed up for it...they want to be there...takes care of the discipline angle; if they act up, you can kick them out!!! I, on the other hand, teach a required course for graduation...

Well, art is required at secondary school level here, but certainly it's a lot more fun and the students are a lot more relaxed than in other classes.

Hmmm - maybe I should look into teaching art in high school... any ideas how I would get into that with a UK primary teaching degree?!?!?!

Not off-hand myself, but my friend teaches D&T at high school so I could certainly ask her for you.

In my state (Florida), you would have to take a test for Professional Education (everyone who is teaching takes it) and a subject area exam. If you pass both and hold an education degree you're good to go...

Cool - will defo be worth looking into Might be nice to do some volunteer work in schools while I wait for EAD so I can get a feel for the US education system

Every state has different rules and regulations about teacher certification, but FL seems to be stricter than most...check with the DOE (department of education) for your state for specifics...

I think the voluteering idea is great...and, by the way, art is a resource class in elementary school (ages 5-11), so you wouldn't be teaching all the other subjects!!!

WOW! You mean I could just teach the little ones art?!!? Oh that would be so awesome!!! And what is a resource class?

Well, back from an excellent visit to the UK!! Pleased to report I only briefly needed the umbrella the first night I was there! We were so lucky with the weather! Just grey and a bit chilly, though much better than what I came home to last night - a foot of snow on the ground! We all had a great time and we enjoyed some good sighseeing and yummy food!!!! The cottage we stayed in was lovely too! And not such a bad goodbye as I know Griff will be here Thursday night!!! Still no wedding dress!!!!

Thursday! So soon! I can hardly believe it! Hey you should check out the July spreadsheet - it has got really full - I updated it all

Glad that you had a great trip!!!

A resource class is a subject that all students in an elementary school take (physical education, art, music, foreign language)...they are "pulled out" of their regular grade level class to take these classes a few times a week.

Oooh - well maybe I should look into that - it would be awesome to be an art teacher in an elementary school!!

Awesome. Great to end the visa journey on such a positive note!

And...good morning all!

Haha - a positive note being no wedding dress?!?!?

Julez - I am sure you will find something gorgeous - did you check out that cherlone guy on ebay? BEAUTIFUL dresses - bought my grad ball gown from him and both my bridesmaid dresses

Haha, the positive note being a good week in the UK, of course!

I'm thinking a summer dress/short dress in a shade of red (dark) for a wedding dress for me...

Oooh - that is the colour of my bridesmaids Lemme see if I can find a pic on eBay...

Oh - I can't save the image location but you can see the dress here - mine are more of a deep red than a dark burgundy though

Dress