Joe: Yes.
Bob: Bob here. How’s things?[85]
Joe: Oh, hello, Bob. Fine. How are you?
Bob: О. K. Listen, I’ve decided to apply for that job I was telling you about. You remember?
Joe: Yes. I remember. Croydon[86], wasn’t it? What was it, a car factory?
Bob: No, light engineering. Rather like that place I was at in Leeds.
Joe: Oh yes, of course. Light engineering. I remember now. And it was for a manager, wasn’t it.
Bob: Yes. Personnel Manager.
Joe: Very nice too. Do you feel optimistic about it?
Bob: Well, I wouldn’t say I exactly feel optimistic, but at least my training and experience have put me in with a chance[87]. So perhaps I could say I feel reasonably optimistic about getting short-listed[88]. But the interview — that’s different.
Joe: Why, for goodness sake?[89] You’re not scared of interviews, are you?
Bob: No, I’m not scared of them, but I don’t feel at my best in interviews. Not when I’m on the receiving end[90], that is. I suppose I spend so much of my time interviewing other people that I feel off balance when I’m in the hot seat[91] myself.
Joe: Oh, I shoudn’t worry too much about it if I were you[92]. As you say, the job is absolutely made for you. I shoudn’t think they’ll get many applicants with your qualifications[93].
Bob: Well, we’ll see[94].
Joe: Yes. You’re bound to get an interview. What’s the pay like incidentally?
Bob: Oh, the pay’s good. Nearly twice what I’m getting now. Joe: Mm!
Bob: But then it is in London, and the rates tend to be a lot higher there, anyway.
Joe: Yes, but even so, it’ll make a big difference if you get it. You’ll be loaded[95]!
Bob: Well, I don’t know about[96] loaded. I should need a damned sight more than twice my present wages to be loaded.
outcome of something.
Joe: Was the money the main reason for applying?
Bob: One of the reasons. Probably, not the main reason.
Joe: What was that then?
Bob: Well, I don’t know, it’s just that I… well, I like working at Yorkshire Engineering, but I’d like more scope[97] for putting a few ideas into practice. You know, old Billings[98] is all right, he’s very understanding and pleasant to work for and all that.
Joe: Yes.
Bob: And he’d never do anyone a bad turn[99], but…
Joe: He’s a stick-in-the-mud[100].
Bob: Well no, not exactly, but he’s very slow to respond to new ideas. He will accept changes, but it takes him so long to come round to a new idea that by the time he’s trying it out it’s not new any longer.
Joe: And that doesn’t suit you.
Bob: Well it doesn’t really bother me, but, I mean, you’ve got to move with the times[101] these days or you’re soon left behind.
Joe: Too true[102].
Bob: So, anyway, I thought I’d have a bash[103].
Joe: Good for you[104]. I hope you fed[105] them all that guff[106] about your qualifications and experience in your application.
Bob: Oh yes, of course.
Joe: But you didn’t lay it on too thick[107], did you? They can go off[108] if you make yourself sound too good, you know.
Bob: Well, I don’t think I did. I just tried to be factual and emphasise the most important points.
Joe: I bet you’ll cake walk it[109]. I’ll keep my fingers crossed[110] for you, at any rate.
Bob: Thanks, I’ll need it.
Joe: But what about the prospect of going South? Does that bother you at all?
Bob: Well, I know it’s got its disadvantages. Housing’s very expensive and travelling in the rush hour can be a bit of a bind[111]. But no doubt it’s got its compensations, too, and if you want to get on you’ve got to be prepared to move around, haven’t you?
Joe: Well, that’s true. But you’ve always lived in Yorkshire and you’ll find things very different in London. No more Sunday mornings on the moors[112].
Bob: Hey, steady on[113]! I haven’t got the job yet.
Joe: No, but if you do get it you won’t be able to pop out[114] of the back door and run up a mountain.
Bob: True. That is something that I’d miss. That’s one thing about these parts — you’re never very far from some real country. Still, I suppose I could get used to country lanes in the Home Counties[115] if I had to.
Joe: Ugh! You don’t call that walking, do you?
Bob: Well, no, not really, but you can’t have everything, so I’d have to amuse myself in other ways. They do have a few more theatres and museums than we do, you know.
Joe: You’ll get fat, middle-aged and civilised. What a fate.
Bob: I’ll have to ring off now. I’ve got one or two things to do before I turn in[116].
Joe: О. K. But don’t forget to let me know if you get an interview.
Bob: I will. Cheerio.
Joe: Cheerio, Bob. Thanks for ringing.
EXERCISES
I. Define the meaning of these words and phrases. Make up sentences using them.
to organise oneself a suitable hotel, to do smth. the hard way, to be a great one for smth., with one’s lot, to put up smb., to put up with smb. (smth.), masses of adverts, to be a dead loss, to scrabble in the sand, to pop into the sea, to overlook the beach, to keep half an eye on smb., to manage a quiet snooze, facilities, to allow for a bit of exaggeration, over the road, to pop around, what with the children and the holiday traffic, to rattle on, to apply for a job, light engineering, to put smb. in with a chance, to get shortlisted, to feel at one’s best, to feel off balance, to be in the hot seat, an applicant, the pay, to be loaded, to have more scope for smth., a stick-in-the-mud, to move with the times, to be left behind, to have a bash, to go off smth., to keep one’s fingers crossed for smb., a bit of a bind, to amuse oneself, to turn in
