Last Minute Preparations

I managed to get my accounts done but have an anomaly in them - again - I need to spend a bit of time sorting that out as they need to be audited on Friday..... Mind you it is so far out that there should be an obvious explanation.

I've got all my stuff ready - I need a note to remind me to pack my sandwiches and bits to take tomorrow. I will go off early which will allow me to stroll down there and have a breakfast just opposite. I can then roll in early and see what happens. It is quite exciting really and I am looking forward to getting started and to some of the work I'll be able to do.

There is a fair amount of "wordsmithing" to do and the opportunity to get stuck into some real "make the difference" work already makes me feel good. Once I have made my mind up to do something I'm pretty good at getting going and doing it. I need a couple of neat attention grabbers to start the ball rolling and then I can build the role from there.

Last Day Sat Here

I hope for a while anyway. Mind you I need to get some work done and the PC decided to fall over on me I thought I had saved all my work - I was backing up regularly but it appears that none of the figures I entered into the accounts have been saved. I now have to do another hour to get them all in there properly! Nightmare.

I'm feeling relatively fit at the moment but still awaiting the letter from the Hospital for my Operation and assessment day. Once I have those I can plan things out. It is always the problem with these things that you cannot actually commit to anything which makes you look a bit of a numpty but it is the way of things that you have to work around them not vice versa.

I can only imagine how tired I am going to feel after this week is up but I don't mind. At least I'll be doing something useful and with a bit of luck these guys will actually pay me this time!

Blimey that was close

We had a light aircraft crash just - I guess - a mile away at most. We heard it go over us low and screaming but it felt that it was just low but it was making a hell of a racket.

A few minutes later there was a loud boom and a mushroom cloud of smoke across the main road and the small plane had come down - it killed all 5 on board but luckily no one on the ground was killed. The planes fly over here regularly and the plane is one of the small jets that regularly fly out - we used to get the F1 Jets too at one time. The trouble is that it isn't far from the school or the Hospital and they are on the flight path and have been for years.

It isn't the first accident we have had around here - we had a few when we lived nearer the airport including a very nasty one that actually crashed on our road.

It just goes to show, you never know. It was very busy around here today with all the sirens, helicopters and road closures.

Forgetting

It is good occasionally to forget that I started this blog off about bladder cancer as some days it doesn't enter my head at all. Other days I think about it a number of times. It is a strange thing - I can have quite vivid recollections and also "fears" flash in and out of my mind. I flashed into a brief playback of a treatment day earlier and realised that I didn't fancy it but then looked at the upside that I may just have another 12 of those to go and I may be able to be pronounced in remission or whatever they call it these days.

The weekend

I'm out an about tomorrow and have a full day - the office is looking tidier and I've dumped so much stuff. Where does it all come from/ I still have plenty to do before I start on Tuesday but at least I ave made a significant dent in the workload.

I now need to get some rest as I am off out to a meeting first thing. When I get home late afternoon I have to get changed and then go out again in the evening. I hope I don't fall asleep around at our friends!

procrastination again

Life should be simple. I wanted to upgrade my mobile phone - it is 2 years old now and showing signs of battery weakness and it is getting a bit slow. So I got an e-mail offering a free upgrade. I spent an hour looking at all the new handsets, decided what one I'd like and a second choice, got together my account number went to the call centre and found that they started offering me a cheap account where I could go and buy my own phone? Umm, I wanted to upgrade - ah but this way you can - by then my brain had turned to mush and so I now have a second proposition I have to find out about when all I wanted to do was upgrade my phone. That has just wasted about 2 hours of time in total and I'm still none the wiser.

Now I've done that I am sitting in front of a pile of paper and wondering which one to attack first and I'm back to square one on lots of them. Instead of clearing the decks I'm just moving bits of paper from one pile to another. I suppose I could be ruthless here and just dump loads of it but I do need to read it through first to make sure I can.

Life is never that easy is it. Anyway, I now have another e-mail request requiring my attention - it will be good to get back to working for a living and getting a rest from all of this!

Blimey

My office is beginning to look a bit different now that I have started to throw out all my old junk and archive the other stuff. I've turned the drawing board through 90 degrees and can finally get to the bookshelves in the corner. I'll have another little rearrange tomorrow and then get on with my outstanding bits.

As you can imagine my demeanour has gone up a lot knowing that I have this job. I actually need to slow down a bit as they wont be used to the sort of pace and energy that I'm used to working in.

On a bit of a strange note - I saw my neighbour the other day not looking too perky out and about with a stick and slowly walking around. I thought he had gotten his bad back problems he had a good few years ago back again (so to speak). C bumped into him today and asked what the problem was? Lung Cancer and he had a lung removed just before Christmas - we really hadn't seen him and it appears he is all clear which is good. I must try and bump into him and say hello and welcome someone else to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Got it!

Well that is a relief. I got the job this morning definitely and I start next Tuesday. I'm now going through the shock and relief bit. It wasn't quite what I was planning to do but it is a relief to get out of the Rat Race and to be able to move on. We agreed to give it a year and to review it after that time. That should give us enough time to see if we like each other and then we can decide whether to take that forward on a more permanent basis. I'm actually quite pleased about that now. I have a load of work to do to change all my online details but happy to do that too.

There are some loose strings that need sorting out and I need to sort out myself and get ready to become a disciplined worker again. I haven't worn a suit for work for years either. The one yesterday didn't fit particularly well.

Right - I need to catch up with all my work now and finish off all these outstanding bits of work too.

Mixed Day

Seems to be great news on the job front and a boost really - I have something to aim at and something honourable to do with my skills.

The mixed stuff - I just met up with a friend who's Dad died last week just before Easter. Not nice. My - possibly - closest friend just dropped me a line to say his Mum will probably not last the night out and another friend's dad has just had a Stroke and been admitted to Hospital. I suppose that I have now got to an age when that is the real deal - that our parents are in the waiting room.

Tomorrow is an important day as I can finalise my new contract and hopefully start working for this charity next Tuesday. the relief is immense and I will bring a lot to the role - I am really looking forward to it.

Great stuff

Well it looks as if the deal is on. More discussions tomorrow but in general terms - the job is mine. Thank goodness for that.

I came home and went to the pub and did my usual post meeting analysis and thought to myself, as you do, wouldn't it be great to go and work there. Well - subject to negotiations tomorrow - I could be starting on the 1st April (subject to the usual April Fool's rituals of course) - BRILLIANT!!!!!

More when I calm down and sleep off the couple of beers :-)

There you go

Just published the last post and have been asked to go in and see the Chief Executive and the President who is turning up late this morning.

Must dash! Off to London.

Yesterday was a bit flat

When I think about what I achieved and the news I got and not getting through on the phone. No worries, today should be better. I know about the Operation now and I know what the response is and I know that that wont be the only thing on their mind next week as they owe lots of people loads of money on Monday!

I need to concentrate on turning my life and my luck around and that needs to start today I suggest. I've made some serious changes in the background. I am losing a lot of my industry ties and not renewing Institution and Association renewals. It will be a shame to watch the letters drop off my last name but there you go, got to move on. I've cancelled a number of subscriptions that I have held for years and I am dropping renewing my magazines and newsletters too. Breaking with the past is an important thing - it is actually quite hard work as you sort of yearn for these things, they are part of your past but life really does need to move on and these things are the symbolic signs of that change.

The next things to do are breaking habits, perhaps adopting new ones, changing rituals, burning bridges and boats and just getting on and doing whatever I've decided to do.

It is still like turning an Oil Tanker though and so change is very gradual but then increases towards the end of the manoeuvre.

So there we go. Gradually things from my past are getting thrown out, a few things are getting archived and if I don't need them in a year (my insurance) then they can go to a new home too. My library is looking particularly bare as I remove anything to do with technology and contracting and leave my history and fiction books there.

Operation

Well it looks set for early May - a tiny bit later than I thought but I chased up today as I hadn't heard anything. So I imagine that I will be assessed at the end of April - probably 28th or 29th and then "done" about the 6th or 7th May or thereabouts. The letter should arrive a little later this week to confirm.

I should be out on the 6th May doing some official business but I think I had better not as that also would involve going out drinking and I probably don't want to be doing that the day before the operation and we don't normally get home until very late. It looks like that is going to be knocked on the head then.

I spent a little time re-reading the stuff from my ex-employers and feel much more confident than I did earlier that their heightened level of general ignorance of employment law will play its part. I am guessing that next week will see activity as their Brief gets back off of holiday and reads the statement and works out the case and the chances. It is funny how much this damn thing plays on my mind but then reading their words they were happy to have people (not just me) work for them for long periods of time and because their investment is in jeopardy they don't think that they should pay for the work others have undertaken on their behalf. That is stealing and fraudulent use of our time and of course, they don't own any of the IP we produced for them either.

Not there

Oh well - message sent for him to ring back. At least I've rung back when I said I would.

It will be interesting to hear what they have to say anyway. If it is a yes I'll be happy if it is a no then I have the other stuff to get on with and it will give me some impetus to go at it.

As usual, waiting around is always a problem but it isn't the be all and end all of things either way and - to complicate matters further another job landed in my inbox about 30 minutes ago.

So decision day

I have to ring up the chap from the charity late this afternoon to see if they want me and let him know if I want to work there.

Given the utter nonsense I am going through at the moment, this may at least be a place to settle down or a while and just forget all the other nonsense. Moving from high octane work to something slower paced may be difficult to start with though. At the back of my mind is the thought that I may be jumping at this opportunity but I think that I'd probably be reasonably happy there. It will pay the bills and that is important of course. It appears to be flexible and would allow me to do some work from home during the 44 days off.

Oh well - - I used to be indecisive - now I'm not so sure etc........

Let's see what the phone call brings.

Phew

Well it made me quite angry reading the witness statements but now I've read them through a couple of times I can see that they don't add up to anything other than what they added up to last time.

They missed one or two key points which they won't know about until their brief comes back from holiday next week. At no point have they worked out that their own words and actions as recorded will determine their case. I like the arguments in the statements can each be shot down by their own paperwork. Nice.

I feel a little upset about the lies but not for long. I will spend a little time next week just adding the correct level of cross references to their statements. I like the fact that mine is entirely based on documents and theirs isn't.

The sooner this gets settled the better.

Easter out of the way

Onto new things now. I can have a look at the stuff from the other party tomorrow and have a laugh at that and then get on with some important stuff. I feel a re-arranged room might be good. A change of scene and switching stuff around and making space.

A spring clean of the office is what is required and then some work on a potential holiday for us all. The US is now off - NZ looks to have potential problems with everyone's availability anyway. I now find that I would have been on my own in Chicago as everyone wanted to be back for exam results! Not sure why but not my call.

So Europe is a possible. I fancy a Danube cruise - no one fancies a boat after last year! So perhaps Switzerland or Austria, Germany or Denmark, maybe Italy.

Job day tomorrow - I need to ring in the late afternoon to see if they are interested and whether I am. I still need to sleep on it.

Decisions

I can't say that the last set of decisions were either in my hands or exactly the best ones I've ever made. However there you go, they are history and the future lays in front of me now.

I have a nagging reluctance to return to the workplace. Deep inside, something is wanting me to hold back. I'm not sure whether that is because of the complete change in direction, the low money and conformity of the role, regret that I'll go back to work after having almost started the researcher business or something else. If the job doesn't suit then, I am guessing that it will be easy enough to leave that - we did discuss how and if I would fit in.

It is some great wave of worry just a deep down thing, almost a doubt or uncertainty. I have these quite a bit and so I shouldn't be surprised I'm having these now.

I need to spend today thinking about whether it is the right move. The family are, as ever, fully supportive of it. I just want to make sure that it isn't jumping in the wrong direction.

Tired

Amazing how tired I am - perhaps weary and fed up still waiting for things to settle down. I have to say I have been good I haven't even looked at their witness statements - that can wait until office hours on Tuesday.

The Egg Hunt yesterday was good and I got up early this morning to watch the F1 Grand Prix. I've hardly done anything and fallen asleep a number of times in my comfortable armchair.

I have been doing some serious thinking about whether to take on this job if I get offered it or whether I go do my own thing. In a way I am ever so slightly disappointed that the complication has set in but it will prove to be a decision for tomorrow now. I have had to write down all he pros and cons and I think I have a decision made. It probably comes out as a compromise and yet that isn't too bad either.

At least tomorrow is a Bank Holiday and I can spend a little time sorting my room out and preparing for the next couple of weeks which are going to be busy.

It would be nice to be fit again or have half my stamina back.

Long old day

we did the annual Easter Egg Hunt - well I suppose you couldn't hold it any more often than that anyway!

It was a horrible day and we ended up for only the second time in about 12 years or so actually running it inside. A good number of people turned out which was great and all the youngsters enjoyed themselves which was also great.

The witness statements arrived from the other side, I saw the first few words and noted how slim they were and so will read them sometime down the week. I hardly think that there is anything in there that will alter my opinion or the outcome.

Finally I am wrestling with the idea of the new job. I'd quite fancy it and yet know that it means the researcher role would be real back burner stuff. Perhaps I can just sub contract the work out or something. It seems a shame that it is just after I'd gotten the business plan into good shape and also how I was going to market it.