I can finally work in the UK

This morning my wife picked up a letter lying in front of the door. "It's your NI number".

Yeah! I can now finally work in the UK.

Non European Economic Area (EEA) students like us, are allowed to work part-time during term time, but cannot work for more than 20 hours per week (unless the work is a necessary part of the studies) except during vacation. On the other hand, the spouse and children of a student are allowed to work full time (if the study period is more than 12 months).

However in order to work legally here, you need an NI number. NI is short for National Insurance and the NI number is allocated to a person for life. Of course you can find jobs where you don't have to give your NI number but I won't recommend it. Some employers will apply for you (if they really really want you) but most of the time, they won't employ you unless you have the number.

Like most people I knew I had to have an NI number but didn't know what to do to get one. So how did I get the number?

Step 1:
I turned to the www and did a check on Google. It led me to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs website here. It tells you almost everything you need to know about the NI number.

I then followed a link from there to the Department for Work and Pensions site here, which finally led me to the Jobcentre Plus site. I found the nearest local office in Coventry and took down the number.

Step 2:
I called up the number and fixed an appointment for an interview. Yes! Before they give you the NI number, you have attend an interview.

Next day, I received a letter from the office confirming my interview date, the location and a list of documents I have to bring along.

One thing I noted is that unlike in Malaysia, the Civil servants here are extremely efficient. I wish I could say the same thing about the service quality of some of the private sector companies here.

Step 3:
I went on the appointed date and was there quite early at the Jobcentreplus office:

Coventry Cofa Court Jobcentre Plus
Cofa Court, Cheylesmore
Coventry
CV1 2HJ
Tel: 024 7623 2200.

A Punjabi lady interviewed me. She asked me a few questions. I showed her the documents which I had brought along:
i) Passport
ii) International driving permit
iii) Proof of residence in the UK. I took along some letters addressed to my name as I didn't have any bills.
iv) Proof that I have been actively seeking a job. This is kind of funny - like a chicken and egg thing. We need an NI number to get a job but in order to get an NI number, you must have proof that you have applied for jobs. So I brought along a couple of rejection letters (past 2 months). That was good enough.
I filled up the forms and that was it.

The money I get from a part time job should be enough for us to live comfortably but not luxuriously. If I save every penny, I might be able to pay for my PhD but iI very much doubt it. For example, the University of Warwick tuition fees for this academic year is £9150 and is expected to increase. That is almost double what the students from UK and other EU countries pay (£4975). No wonder they want to attract more non-EU students to come and study here in the UK.

Tags: Employment Jobcentreplus National Insurance University of Warwick

Mongoloid Jews of India

Found this really interesting article on Wikipedia about the Bnei Menashe.

a group of more than 8,000 people from India's remote North-Eastern border states of Manipur and Mizoram who claim descent from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel.

Even though it sounds too fantastic to be true, Israel has recognized them as Jews and the Indians are automatically eligible to become Israeli citizens under their Law of Return.

Initially the Israeli Govt. refused to entertain such claims.

Israel does not consider this community [in Mizoram] as Jewish..."

- Ms Michal Buch, an Israeli embassy spokesperson in Delhi, told BBC News Online.

In 2005, Shlomo Amar, Chief Rabbi of the Sephardic Jews informed of his decision to recognise them as the lost descendants of ancient Israelites. However, before they could migrate, they had to convert to the Judaism and learn Hebrew. This gave rise to a crisis in Indian-Israeli relations. The Indian Govt. officials were not happy with the conversions and Israel put a stop to the conversions - at least for a while.

Since then, hundreds have migrated to the country and thousands are in the waiting list. Most of these people have been settled in the West Bank and other hot spots areas in Israel, which the Palestinians call the "Occupied Territories", finding themselves in the middle of one of the longest middleast conflicts. Some of them were also involved in the recent skirmish in Lebanon.

Is this what they had hoped for when they left India for the promised land? I wonder.

Related Posts: Lebanon - Scary scenario and some facts

Related Links:
- 49 Members of the Bnei Menashe Community Arrive in Israel
- Bneimenashe.com

Tags: Bnei Menashe Israel Lebanon West Bank

I am really awesome

I was intrigued after reading Lilian's (better known as 5Xmom) post "5xmom is really awesome!" and followed the link given. It lead me to Awesomemillion.com.

This is a fun website and allows you to have your own page certifying that you are "Really Awesome" and one in a million. Fun aside, it is actually a good online marketing tool. By paying Only $5 you can upload a picture - it may be your photograph, logo or whatever. The image will immediately appear on the home page of awesomemillion.com and linked to your site (of course you have to provide a link).

I have no idea how far it's true but according to the site, it pushed the blog traffic of a member to the grand total of over 25000 impressions. That's pretty amazing. Don't you think so?

Here's my own certificate, which proves that I am TRULY AWESOME and one in a million.


My God! I really sound like an egoistic £$%^&*d.

As 5Xmom mentions in her post, you don't have to pay $5 to get listed. Go over to the site now to find out more. I got there through Creamaid (via 5Xmom). You can actually blog about the website and earn a royalty. Just click the blue button below.



Related Link: Adam is really awesome

Tags: Awesomemillion.com Creamaid Certificate

Hotmail accounts upgraded

I have been a loyal Hotmail user for a long long time that I can't even remember when I signed up. It was my first email account and at that time, it wasn't even part of Uncle Bill's empire as yet. Microsoft only announced that it was acquiring Hotmail in early 1998. I was doing my MBA in University of Malaya then. At that time, it was pretty amazing because it was the first web based free e-mail (if I am not mistaken).

We have since moved on and hardly anyone I know, uses Hotmail anymore. I still take great pains to keep the account alive because you never know when a long lost friend might contact you. I had to re-sign up a couple of times because my account had become inactive.
Under Hotmail help, (Your account policies):

Account activity
* Your account becomes inactive if you do not sign in for 30 days, or within the first 10 days after signing up for an account. After an account becomes inactive, all messages, folders, and contacts are deleted, but the account name is still reserved.

* However, for loyal Hotmail users (like yours truly) who have been with them for 2 years or more, in order to maintain our account the log-in grace period is extended to 60 days. (added this later)

Today, I just signed in to see if there were any messages from my old friends. No such luck. Mostly spam and newsletters. However there was one from 'Hotmail Member Services' with the subject heading: Good news! You now have more storage.

I found out that my Hotmail inbox capacity has been upgraded from 250 MB to 1 GB. Not just mine but all Hotmail accounts, "regardless of the market and account age".

It's a welcome move but I can't just help but wonder whether they have missed out on the boat. Most of my friends have since, moved onto Yahoo! and Gmail.

p.s. Seems like they haven't updated everything as yet. If you look at the same help page mentioned above, the Storage limits are still given as:

..... 2 to 250 megabytes (MB) of storage space.

Related Posts:
- Now Yahoo
- Gigantic E-Mail

Related Link: It is Here: Hotmail to go 1GB (1,000 MB) of Storage

Tags: e-mail Hotmail Microsoft

What happened to my T-shirt?

Was going through my old G-mail messages when I came across one particular e-mail.

A long time ago (11, March 2005 to be precise), I was really excited when I received an e-mail from Asa Dotzler. In case you did not know, Dotzler is the co-founder and community coordinator for the Spread Firefox project.


Well here's what he wrote:

Asa Dotzler to me, Marcia

show details 3/11/05

Hello, Adam.

It sounds like you're doing some great work spreading the word about
Firefox through emails and lectures. I'd like to send you a Firefox
t-shirt as thanks for your efforts. If you would reply to this email
with your mailing address and your t-shirt size, we will sent it along.

Thanks again for doing such a great job spreading Firefox.

--Asa

Was really looking forward to the t-shirt but it never arrived. I had totally forgotten about it until I read the mail today. Maybe they sent me the t-shirt but somehow didn't reach me.

On an unrelated note, check out the Firefox crop circle in Oregon.

This 5,000 sq. foot crop circle is now available on Google maps.

Related post: Firefox fan

Tags: Asa Dotzler Crop circle Firefox Google maps

The queer hobbit

In Chapter 1 of the Hobbit:
Tolkien's description of Bilbo Baggins:

...got something a bit queer in his make-up from the Took side,...

And Gandalf has this to say:

'Gets funny queer fits, but he is one of the best...

Today, people would give me a strange look if I were to say "I am feeling queer".

I blame it on a certain TV series where five guys with a particular lifestyle, gives normal people (or are they) a total make over.

Trying to write politically correct, is tough and that's queer.

Related posts: Cheapest books ever

Tags: Hobbit Queer Queer Eye Tolkien

Cheapest books ever

I am slowly but steadily building up a small collection of books again. Yesterday I just put down Tolkien's The Hobbit.

For those who are not aware, this exciting story is the prequel to the Lord of the Rings and also tells us how Bilbo Baggins (the main character) found the One Ring. There are some rumours that Oscar winning director Peter Jackson is going to shoot the movie adaptation of this book soon.

I bought this book along with Frank Herbert's Chapter House Dune, the final book in his series of six Dune novels for a mere 50p (approx. RM3.48). I also bought a limited edition Official Annual 1981 issue of Superman (hard cover) and Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows (hard cover) for 50p each. Where did I get this amazing deal?

Well! I bought all of them last Sunday at the car boot sale in Stoneleigh. The best part is that all of the books, apart from The Hobbit, are in pristine condition. Looking forward to next Sunday and some more great deals.

p.s. I just realised that my daughter has a bigger collection than mine.

Related posts:
- Car Booty in Coventry
- Led Zeppelin and the evil one

Related links:
- theonering.net
- theonering.com

Tags: Car boot sale CJ's Car Boot Dune Hobbit Tolkien