Job update

Well, today's the day that I do something more than theory.

I've sent in the form for the police check (and police cheque, they don't do Visa) last week, made an appointment for the medical check, paid for the five day training course, and today will be my first day of "jockeying".

I'm to ring up in an hour and a half and they'll send a cab for me. I've got to do 21 hours of jockeying before the course starts next Monday, so that's going to be three or four hours a day from now on.

Not sure when I start work for real. 5 September is the day for the medical, but it looks like the police check (where a response takes 4-6 weeks) is the key factor. Once I get that I have to appear at various places with the relevant documents and get certifications and more documents. I need to do this all in a certain order, so it might take a day or two to get all that done. I've also got to buy a uniform and do a couple of other things.

And complete 13 more hours of jockeying, but I can do that any time after the training course.

My biggest worry at the moment isn't that I'll have difficulty with the technology, or interacting with people. It's the risk of assault and robbery that bothers me.

I'll learn more about that today, I guess. I suppose I can always avoid the night shifts. I'm looking to earn money so that I can go have fun overseas; it's not as if I need the dough to feed my family or anything, so it's optional, really.

Anyway, I'll report back when I return home. That will probably be mid-afternoon.

On the Job

My jockeying began - and ended - today. All in all, I enjoyed it and learnt a lot.

I drove DS to college and hurried back to shave, shower, get dressed and prepared for my first stint as a jockey.

Rang the boss spot on ten and within ten minutes a cab was at the front door to pick me up.

My teacher was Mike. Mike from Glasgow, and I was able to tell him that I'd spent some time there last month. "Err, ten minutes," I confessed, "it's a nice airport, though."

Anyway, Glasgow was a long time back for Mike, but he retains the accent. He's happy in his job, and he reckons he enjoys getting up at four in the morning. This is the only job he can say that for, so that's an encouraging sign. He says you get to be your own boss and meet some interesting people.

There's a lot more freedom than I'd imagined, and I could see as he worked through the day that I could indeed make a thousand dollars a week quite easily. More if I worked hard at it.

Shifts change at three in the morning and three in the afternoon, and within that twelve hours you can work pretty much as you see fit.

I can see how skilful use of the computer could be a big help in making money. There's a lot of scope for tactics.

This is a job where attention to detail pays off. I learnt a few of the tips and traps - stuff that would otherwise take me a lot of time or stress to discover on my own.

I'm looking forward to the course. There's a fair bit of memory work involved, and I can make a start on that now.

I went through until about two and then the boss rang up and said I'd done my jockeying. I'd do more after the course was over, but somehow four hours has turned into twenty-one and I've got the rest of the week off.

Monday morning at 0900. I'm looking for good scores on tests.