Casa Rosales

Casa Rosales

Sunday 11 May 2014

My name is NOT Earl....

Blog post disclaimer:  I do know that bad things happen to good people. I don't think life is always fair. I wish there were a formula.
That said, please read this slightly tongue-in-cheek post....and allow me to enjoy what I see as my good luck and good fortune.

Karma....very simply is the idea that if you do good things, good things will happen?

And vice versa.

Well,  I'm not sure I am a 'believer' as such but it seems to be a reasonable premise by which to live your life.
I have a standing joke with FR about Karma when we set off to go into town.


If HE is driving, we will meet a tractor, be almost forced off the road by an incompetent aged citizen coming in the opposite direction, be stopped by a policeman, be sent on a detour, have to stop at every traffic light and zebra crossing and have every car in front of us travelling at an almost negative speed or taking an age to carry out a simple manoeuvre....Whereas, if I am driving, traffic lights automatically turn green as I approach, I'm waved on by policemen, cars wait for me to pull out.....get the picture?

I call this KARMA...I enjoy telling him that I don't believe everyone else on the road is an idiot with murderous intent or enjoy getting something over on another driver - as he does - and I am treated with due respect and consideration as a result.

I exaggerate, of course. A bit.

The Earl that I am not, in the title of this post, is a reference to a TV programme called 'My name is Earl'. A man who felt the bad things he'd done in his past had caught up with him and were causing him lots of bad luck in the present. So he makes a list of all the people he had been bad to with the intention of putting things right with them and so negate his bad Karma. It was a very funny series and I loved it!

I said I'd tell you some big news a little while ago. And I will - it's big for me though not so big for anyone else, of course. But it struck me that it was also a little bit of Karma too.

When I first met Sam I was working at the Interlengua Academy and had just had my hours extended and my contract improved. I was very happy with this. At the same time, I was offered some work with one of the main companies in town - Derprosa - to hold English conversation classes with some of the managers and key staff who needed to use English on the phone and for business purposes. It was very well-paid work and required little in the way of preparation...a very tempting offer. And around this time I met Sam for the first time. She was urgently seeking work and I admit to feeling immensely 'good' when I passed her the contact details for the job at Derprosa...my halo very nearly choked me. But it wasn't a totally selfless act. I had been told that the work would be evenings and as such, clashed with the contract with Interlengua...I felt I couldn't turn that work down after I'd been given such a good offer.

However, I almost choked again when Sam eventually started working there as it turned out she was asked to work mornings not afternoons!! Aaargh....

In the intervening couple of years -  when we moved to Villalobos and I resigned from Interlengua - I confess to thinking more than once that those hours of morning work that Sam had 'could' have been mine and would have been so wonderfully convenient. And of course, Sam had passed on lots of teaching hours to me too - she didn't enjoy teaching children; I did. She taught the adults and we were both happy.

Well, Sam has also paid me back in spades when she left to return to Scotland recently, by making it a straight-forward task for me to take up where she left off at Derprosa. My only concern was that I would have to become 'autonoma' or self-employed to take on the work and that is a big commitment as a fixed payment has to be made every month, regardless of what you earn. However, the company want more hours now as they have recently been taken over by a big multi-national company and English is the common language. I will be doing not 'part' time work, but 'half' time work....

I started on Thursday and think I may enjoy this new venture very much. I will be able to continue with my children's classes too for the most part as only a small part of the work is in the afternoon. I am very happy indeed and unutterably grateful to anyone or anything that played a part in making this situation possible - I will call it Karma.

I will also make sure I try to be very good to people I meet every day. You never know!

Axxx


16 comments:

  1. Oh, that's such good news, Annie. I'm so pleased for you and I'm sure you'll do it brilliantly. It's your just reward for being so unselfish first time around. :-)

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    1. Thank you Perpetua. I am very pleased and hope it goes well. I did say it wasn't totally selfless first time round but I am so glad that Sam left things so well sorted for me. Axxx

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  2. This is wonderful Annie....I am so pleased for you. I did wonder whether Sam's departure may provide an opening, remembering what you had selflessly done in the past. Good luck with it. Lots and lots of love Jx

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    1. Thank you Janice! Sam did have to do a bit of convincing with me - she never doubted I would love the work and had to take it on when she went but I thought it was a big commitment. I shall, of course, save up to go and see her in Scotland with the extra dosh! Axxx

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  3. Hello Annie,
    This is a wonderful opportunity for you. Congratulations we are sure that you will be a great success. Perhaps it is a just reward for the good turn you did all that time ago.

    Life does take its twists and turns. But, people are, in the main, overwhelmingly kind we find and if one gives a positive outlook then one's faith in others is generally repaid. This has definitely been the case here. How wonderful!

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    1. Jane and Lance, firstly thank you for your kind words...and apologies that I have missed your recent posts! I shall put that right forthwith.

      Life, as you say, can be difficult to predict but I agree that people are generally very kind when they can be. I enjoy positive interactions with people and feel sure this can only be a good thing. Axxx

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  4. Karma aside, isn't it funny that blokes see life the way they do, while women tend to smile, have patience, be grateful for small mercies etc. etc. Maybe the male way worked in the Stone Age!
    I had a crush on Earl, did you?

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    1. Glad it's not just me and mine, Nilly, I didn't like to generalise too much but obviously there's a lot in what you say!
      Yes, I did rather like him... Axxx

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  5. Virtue might be its own reward...but isn't it great when there is icing on the virtuous cake!
    I'm sure you'll make a great success of it.

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    1. Yes....I'm a bit ashamed to admit my smugness...The only thing that would really, really make me happy would be to know Sam was loving it back in Scotland. However, at the moment, I think she'd rather be back here.

      Axxx

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  6. will meet a tractor - forced off the road - be stopped by a policeman -be sent on a detour - have to stop at every traffic light.... all these sounds very familiar. Hope wifey doesn't see this blog post, or it will be "see I told you"

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    1. Ha, ha! Well it's definitely something to think about....! Thanks for dropping by and commenting. Axxx

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  7. Replies
    1. Thank you Penny - so far so good! Axxx

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