Olivia celebrates again, in Tibet

Thursday 21st August, 2008 - £8,078.83 in debt…

If you’re a reader of my blog (and, let’s face it, you are), I know that you’ll have followed my progress studiously and will remember every single post with dewy-eyed fondness. So you’ll recall that, at the end of June, I featured a text service that I’d applied for a home-based job with. No - not that one. This one.

My focus was on Texperts - a service that promises to answer any question, using home-based researchers who search a dedicated database and the internet to find the answers. It seemed like a great way to make extra money in the evenings and weekends when I’m not busy with other stuff.

The application process was online - I completed it, passed it (eventually) and now I await my call-up. What I didn’t tell you, my esteemed reader, was that I also applied for a job with AQA a few days later.

AQA (Any Question Answered) is the same kind of service, run by IssueBits. The application consists of an emailed set of ten questions you must answer within a given timeframe. Some are fairly easy, some are a bit more creative, and some are rock hard (my worst was a quandary of probability and logic that took me 22 hours to answer. Don’t tell AQA).

Four days after I sent the application form back, I received a rejection email telling me to try again in six months’ time. “Ah well - better luck next time” I thought, while choking back bitter tears of disappointment and grief.

But what should ping into my inbox yesterday? An email from AQA: “I hope that you received the AQA offer email, FAQ document and contract. As I have not heard back from you yet, I can only assume that you are no longer interested in the position. However, if this is not the case then please get in touch.”

Quick as a gazelle, I emailed back to say that I thought I’d been rejected. I’ve had no explanation of what happened, but AQA has sent me a new acceptance email and a contract! I’ve signed and posted it back, and should receive a welcome pack and some training over the next couple of weeks!

So, I’ve started planning a holiday, got a £25 refund I didn’t know I was entitled to, and lined up a third job. I think this is what they call a good week.

 Bathroom Storage - Cool 

Wednesday 2nd July, 2008 - £8,850.98 in debt…

Things I learnt in June:

1.  Temping agencies must be treated with caution until you actually start the job.

2.  Fortunately, unlike my previous agency, Office Angels gives me sick pay, bank holiday pay, petrol allowance and the baffling “subsistence”, which I think must be sandwich money or compensation for my house sliding down a cliff.

3.  Filling out forms on Consumer Pulse is a fine and noble pastime but, as it turns out, they only pay you for 20 items per month! Fair enough – I was running out of imagination anyway.

4.  Budgeting is fun and fascinating, but only if you do it properly and be reasonable with yourself.

5.  I don’t really need a bathroom storage unit.

6.  Ice cream bad; mystery shopping good. My favourite mystery shopping company so far is GfK.

7.  The Barclays personal reserve may be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

8.  If I keep an eye on petrol prices and drive like an OAP looking for a parking space, I might save some money.

9.  Texperts and AQA could offer the answer to everything, including my prayers.

10.  If all else fails, I can always talk to lonely old men about bottoms.

 ”What am i doing in the desert?”

Thursday 26th June, 2008 - £8,920.19 in debt…

What was the first CD ever pressed in the US?

What is the national sport of Japan?

How do oscillators work?

Why iz tht cow ignorin me is it coz I waz chattin to her boyf coz thats rly paffetik like!?!!11 Lolz.

Just a few of the questions you’re likely to be asked if you sign up to be a Texpert.

Texperts is a service that offers an answer to any question. As the name suggests, it’s a text-based service: the customer texts their question, and an operator at the other end researches an answer and sends it back.

It’s a simple enough idea (also exercised by AQA - Any Question Answered), so I thought I’d apply.

The job is home-based: you can log into the system whenever you like, answer some questions on your computer (you don’t have to text from your phone), and hey presto – a bit of extra cash comes rolling in. It will take a while to build up some speed and get used to researching quickly, but some people do this as a full-time job so I guess it’s what you make of it.

The application process is on the website, in the form of a deceptively idiotic-looking “quiz” called The Tex-Factor. In truth, it was harder than my Maths A-level and took twice as long.

You can go back to the beginning and re-take the test as many times as you like, so there’s a good chance you’ll get through eventually even if you’re Wayne Rooney and all four members of Westlife are trying to “help”.

Unfortunately, after I passed the test, I was told via email that Texperts don’t currently have vacancies. I might have to wait months for my chance - which, I can only assume, will happen when a current Texpert suffers a heart attack and dies after receiving a particularly explicit text. Or when demand soars unexpectedly.

Never mind though – I now await my dramatic call-up notification, perched firmly on the edge of my seat. Now, how can I make demand for Texperts soar? £1 per text, you say…?

And the answers are:

1) Bruce Springsteen: Born in the USA

2) Sumo wrestling

3) Look here

4) If I understand your question correctly, the answer is Angela Rippon.