Time to move on...

People keep telling that smoking is bad and mostly I agree with them. But there are some aspects in smoking that are good and useful.

Half a year ago or so I worked in a transportation company that attended in our biggest tourism exhibition. In the first evening there was organized afterparty in some pub with food and drinks and everything. Of course I grabbed that chance, because finding new contacts was one of my main tasks at work.

Evening started slowly as do all Estonian parties. People from different companies sat in separate tables, sharing their thoughts only among the people they new. Even for me it seemed to be a bit strange just to stand up and start conversation with people from the next table.

But when I was in the smoking room, that was different - beside the tourism we had already second common topic - smoking - and from that base it was much easier to start conversation with people I never met before. And I also met one woman there who was not a smoker, but she told us there that she always hangs in parties with smokers, because smoking rooms or places are usually the spots, where most interesting stories are told.

Not that I am trying to promote smoking now, but just couple of minutes ago, when I went outside to do my damned last Estonian cigarette here, I saw that there was a lad sitting on "The Town Mouse" balcony, drinking beer. After I lit the cigarette, I noticed a familiar logo on his back - logo of the same company where I am doing my first steps in the warehouse. And so I started conversation with him.

 If I had been sitting in the room by the computer, I couldn't had that contact, but now Chris told me a bit of the company's background etc. And he also mentioned that there maybe a vacancy for my profession in the town, where he is from - in Accrington. We changed contacts. Probably in the evening I will already get more detailed information about the possible future.

And - lets be realistic! - even if it doesn't work out well, I still have a new contact around here, so that cigarette and my smoking habbit earned their existence once again.

Though I am trying to quit smoking now - cigarette prices here are way above my head here, in UK - I have to say, that all my contacts here except one (Stuart) I have made while smoking. Here, in The town Mouse, in General Havelock's pub and also in the street.

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But now - why that blog entry title about moving on? Well- tonight is probably my last day in The Town Mouse's B&B and tomorrow I will get another accommodation finally - my one room I've been waiting for so long :)

Bad part of the news is that I will get Internet there only after week or so, but still - I can do some writin and cme here to upload it. Town Mouse's Internet is actually better and more stable than Subway one, that I used in my first days.

So - until then! 

Not back, but first time in the UK

Though this blog was not meant to be the blog about my daily life, at the moment it seems the best spot for my daily thoughts while I am in the UK.

So - another immigrant has come to UK to take away salaries from local people. I wouldn't say so...

First of all - I did not come here for good. If everything works out well, I'd be here year or two max. I would really like to pack my things right now and go back to my family with the next plane, but unfortunately that option is out of the table right now. Leaving now would put me to even toughest position than I was before, so sticking to my previous plan is the best way for me.

But why I wrote about immigration so soon, already in my first post? Simple.

On my fourth day here I was sitting in a little pub at the town edge of Burnley and I just got in the middle of the conversation, where one of the topics was immigration. The people talking about immigration had the view that the immigrants come here and take the jobs from the locals, offering the employers cheaper workforce.

I couldn't agree with that point more, especially as I have come to UK from Estonia, which workers have done the same in Finland and Sweden for years now. Yes, they are even here, in UK, and to be honest - I have come here the same way.

I will start my career here as warehouse operator for the minimum salary, because I need some fast and certain income for living here. But I really do not want to become stuck with that one job. I do want to do something better, as I have skills and knowledge that may become useful for local communities, also.

As I came here, I was promised that my apartment will be ready for moving in at the end of the last week, but it wasn't. And today is already Tuesday in next week, and it isn't ready still.

So I had to find myself a place to sleep until I finally can move in. So I found the little, cozy pub with B&B called "The Town Mouse". It's a really nice place with very friendly manager and I suggest everyone visiting Burnley to look out for "The Town Mouse", too. It's situated only five minutes walk from the town centre and also has a decent kitchen for the hungry visitors. But what is most important - the accommodation prices compared to the places you may find in TripAdvisor or anywhere else in Internet - well, prices here are better.

I do not do just an advertising here in my blog, but I needed to write it all down to describe better my previous text. And the point is that if I had found that kind of information about The Town Mouse before I got to Burnley, I could have save myself lot of money and nerves. But as this pub has no website of its own and it is hard to find some information from the Internet about it for the outcomer, so I did lose some money and nerves. For finding the Town Mouse I have to thank all the friendly locals in the pub called "General Havelock".

So now - as I have lost both money and nerves - I can explain the usefulness what I could and would like to bring to local community.

I come from Estonia, that is a quite high-end state in everything concerns IT and Internet. I am surely not saying that I am the best from Estonia or that I am widely licenced specialist, but I know my way around the Internet. I have built some websites before, I also have done some marketing - both in web and real life - and I have worked in and with advertisement companies, too, so I can put all that knowledge and experiences to work for the community I am living in at the moment.

For example - I am able to create a decent website for the same Town Mouse pub and B&B, do some marketing for it (that is actually not so expensive than people are used to think - you just have to discover or know the best channels and methods) and to get some living for myself for that. And in return - I believe - my work make the Town Mouse more visible for people outside the Burnley, which causes the simple following result - the B&B will have a wider market, will get more people staying here and also will have more clients sitting, eating and having fun in the pub. That creates more income for the people who work not only here, in the pubs, but also those around it. People who will come to Burnley because of the Town Mouse, will take a look around, too, and usually they spend their money in other places, too.

So that kind of projects I am looking for, are one-time incomes for me, but they will have a long-term positive effect on the local community.

And that is what I am here for... I didn't came to UK to steal local people's work. I came here to find myself chances that would benefit both me and the locals.

So if you have any ideas, how can we make it work, you may let me know either by email: lordofmagi@gmail.com or find me through the Town Mouse :)