This afternoon I had a call with a potential client to discuss the work and found, to my surprise, it was actually a job interview complete with questions beginning ‘Could you describe a time when…’. Maybe I am more confident than I used to be, or I don’t need the work as much as I once did, or being unprepared and relying on my wits suits me, but it went quite well. Later they offered it to me, though at a lower rate than I like, so negotiations are underway.
In the afternoon we went to Gayretteppe to find the sister cafe of the excellent one we had frequented in Dalyan. This turned out to be a pleasant space in a nondescript neighbourhood of dilapidated high and medium rise apartment blocks, down a large and unpleasant road. So not the nicest stroll, at least to get there, though on the way back we found a better way. Our way back was via the Zorlu centre, a mall which is like an island of highish end green and black steel set amidst motorways. The walking route there was as unfriendly as one might expect, up and down pavements running along flyovers, past scaffolding, through smelly subway crossings, etc, but eventually we arrived and and quickly did what we had come for, which was for the GF to buy an iPad to replace his, which is over six years old and well past decrepit. Our Turkish cards – both the debit and the credit – would not accept the full transaction so some juggling was required, dividing the bill up into portions and distributing across the cards. Luckily the woman at the shop was clearly quite used to this.
I also benefited from this, as the GF received a pair of wireless earphones as a free gift and bequeathed his earphones to me. These replace the wired ones which came with my phone, which are fraying at the connections, frequently fall out of my ears, and are prone to telling me the time unprompted whilst I’m listening to a podcast or music.