Sorry what day / week / month is it?
Hello to anyone still left who can be bothered to drop by to see whether I've fallen completely off the face of the earth or not. Sorry it has been a little ... er .... manic.
It is all the new job. I joined on 7th Feb, spent a week in the head office learning about the company, processes, policies etc. On the Thursday of that week I was introduced to a client as a potential for a new assignment and new role they needed. I was accepted for that and so the next week I had two days out and about meeting a few others in the company and finding out about them and what they were doing then on the Wednesday I was straight into the new assignment on a three "bootcamp". I then started the role with the client team on the following Monday. All following so far? You're doing better than me then! That was three weeks ago... only three weeks! The role is officially based in one team at one location but I'm "deployed" to work with another team who are largely based at another office about 20 miles away. So I'm back and forth between the two locations.
Now I thought I'd try to commute. However both are not easy from my location combinations of either minimum three train journey's into and out of London or Train, tube, train, bus. I was commuting for 5 hours a day. That wasn't working so last week I decided I'd travel up at least for some of the week. I did that this week driving up at 5am on Tuesday and getting back Friday evening. It was a lot better - the day isn't punctuated with the awful commute and I can work later and get more done.
Initially the assignment is until the end of the year and might well go into next year. So this arrangement will have to be in place for some time. I know many people have this weekend start/end commute but it is new to us as a permanent thing, I've done plenty of weeks away in jobs before but never as long term as this.
So it is all a bit new for us. I don't like not being home during the week but I really don't see an option the daily commute would kill me eventually. I have thought about trying to get agreement for one day a week at home, a Monday would be good from my point of view but this month is especially busy on the programme I'm involved with so the earliest I can think of that is probably going to be around Easter I think.
So... other stuff. I never put up about the Lamb and Flag gig I played on the 19th Feb. It went well I think. Nice venue, packed with punters which was really nice to see. I got a reasonable level of applause / interest. Thanks to my ever suffering wife, daughter, brother, sister-in-law and neice who once again gave up a Saturday night to come along to watch. Also to Toby Burton of Rock-Til-You-Drop for coming along to support me and Pat Begley. Pat followed me on and was frankly superb that night! He is a man of great talent, excellent player and writer and a cutting wit! Check him out. I have a facebook page now with my music on and photos, occasions posts etc. please come along to there and "like" me, or be my friend if you are that bold!
I had a couple of hits of sad news in the past three weeks as well. A friend who has struggled with her alcoholism for the last few years, she first came to AA about the time I first sobered up sadly succumbed to the disease and passed away the other day. Sadly I because of the new job I couldn't get to her funeral, a reminder of how dangerous my condition is. Also I tracked an old work colleague done, he know lives in California and I'd not spoken to him in nearly 20 years. I wondered if he had contact details for another colleague of ours who I really wanted to get back in touch with as well - sadly he had to tell me that he had passed on last year when an undiagnosed heart condition meant he suffered a fatal heart attack. He was some years younger than I as well. I was very upset by that. These events have made me thing a lot. I'm very grateful to have the job but we'll have to see if the new lifestyle is a happy one, if not you know what there are much much more important things in life than a wage packet.
So apologies for not being about but as you can see it has been a bit of a busy time.
Here is a photo from the Lamb and Flag gig from my official photographer of the night... my daughter
It is all the new job. I joined on 7th Feb, spent a week in the head office learning about the company, processes, policies etc. On the Thursday of that week I was introduced to a client as a potential for a new assignment and new role they needed. I was accepted for that and so the next week I had two days out and about meeting a few others in the company and finding out about them and what they were doing then on the Wednesday I was straight into the new assignment on a three "bootcamp". I then started the role with the client team on the following Monday. All following so far? You're doing better than me then! That was three weeks ago... only three weeks! The role is officially based in one team at one location but I'm "deployed" to work with another team who are largely based at another office about 20 miles away. So I'm back and forth between the two locations.
Now I thought I'd try to commute. However both are not easy from my location combinations of either minimum three train journey's into and out of London or Train, tube, train, bus. I was commuting for 5 hours a day. That wasn't working so last week I decided I'd travel up at least for some of the week. I did that this week driving up at 5am on Tuesday and getting back Friday evening. It was a lot better - the day isn't punctuated with the awful commute and I can work later and get more done.
Initially the assignment is until the end of the year and might well go into next year. So this arrangement will have to be in place for some time. I know many people have this weekend start/end commute but it is new to us as a permanent thing, I've done plenty of weeks away in jobs before but never as long term as this.
So it is all a bit new for us. I don't like not being home during the week but I really don't see an option the daily commute would kill me eventually. I have thought about trying to get agreement for one day a week at home, a Monday would be good from my point of view but this month is especially busy on the programme I'm involved with so the earliest I can think of that is probably going to be around Easter I think.
So... other stuff. I never put up about the Lamb and Flag gig I played on the 19th Feb. It went well I think. Nice venue, packed with punters which was really nice to see. I got a reasonable level of applause / interest. Thanks to my ever suffering wife, daughter, brother, sister-in-law and neice who once again gave up a Saturday night to come along to watch. Also to Toby Burton of Rock-Til-You-Drop for coming along to support me and Pat Begley. Pat followed me on and was frankly superb that night! He is a man of great talent, excellent player and writer and a cutting wit! Check him out. I have a facebook page now with my music on and photos, occasions posts etc. please come along to there and "like" me, or be my friend if you are that bold!
I had a couple of hits of sad news in the past three weeks as well. A friend who has struggled with her alcoholism for the last few years, she first came to AA about the time I first sobered up sadly succumbed to the disease and passed away the other day. Sadly I because of the new job I couldn't get to her funeral, a reminder of how dangerous my condition is. Also I tracked an old work colleague done, he know lives in California and I'd not spoken to him in nearly 20 years. I wondered if he had contact details for another colleague of ours who I really wanted to get back in touch with as well - sadly he had to tell me that he had passed on last year when an undiagnosed heart condition meant he suffered a fatal heart attack. He was some years younger than I as well. I was very upset by that. These events have made me thing a lot. I'm very grateful to have the job but we'll have to see if the new lifestyle is a happy one, if not you know what there are much much more important things in life than a wage packet.
So apologies for not being about but as you can see it has been a bit of a busy time.
Here is a photo from the Lamb and Flag gig from my official photographer of the night... my daughter
You've hit the n on the h: there are much more important things in life than a wage packet. We all find this out at different times in our life, don't we?
ReplyDeleteKnowing that you had started a new job, I kind of expected to see you mia for a while. I hope you like it well enough to make the travel worth it, if not, you are quite right, there are things worth more than money! We didn't notice any change at all while we looked for the tsunami, we went out with our cameras and never even took them out of their cases. ( that is a good thing tho, right?)
ReplyDeleteI guess that time will tell if this job is right for you. If your daughter was still small it would be REALLY hard and , it still might prove to be too difficult. I wouldn't blame you if you packed it in. Being away from home sucks. :(
ReplyDeleteI do hope that it works out though and you have my full support. :)
I'm so sorry about your friends that passed on. It's weird, isn't it when someone your age or younger dies. I was actually looking in my high school year book the other night. As I went through the pictures, I was shocked at how many of those "kids" are no longer with us. Cancer, accidents, suicides etc-all were taken far too soon. It hurt my heart to think that while I enjoy my life and all that I have with my family, the lives of those kids are over, some of them long ago. The fact that I've carried on and "lived" while they are nothing but a memory now freaks me out a bit.
I'm glad that your performance went well! As you probably already know, I "liked" you on Facebook. Tee hee....
((Hugs))
Laura
Rollercoaster times for you of late, but yes...family/people matter more than any lifestyle and unfortunately it often takes something really crap to happen to jolt us into remembering that.
ReplyDeleteI hope you manage to find a reasonable way of combining work and home life together.