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Friday 15 May 2015

And . . . relax

Another busy week.  I had two days of Cloud education Monday and Tuesday, which was excellent for the content, and also excellent coz I was able to speak to my potential new boss (PNB).  His dilemma is that Europe (are you imagining a slightly faceless set of droids who run on spreadsheets?  So am I) have dictated the number or roles he can have, and if that were to come to pass, then I am stuffed.  His local (sensible) boss has said ignore it, since his part of the business has its own P&L, so can and should be free to do whatever it thinks it needs to do to meet its targets, including hiring amazing people like me (one has to park one's modesty at moments like this).

So, I remain in a holding pattern, desperate to move to a new role, for an organisation that would like to take me, but with just a tiny weeny problem to resolve before it can happen.

One of the most distressing elements of the two days was that three of the people presenting a pitch WERE KIDS.  Not actually under-twelves, but two graduates and one placement student.  So, I am being taught things by people who have been in Starfleet for less than a year.  To quote Humphrey Lyttelton on I'm Sorry I haven't a Clue, when he was explaining the rules to a very silly and puerile game, "I'm seventy-seven for f##ks sake".  I guess the positive, if one were hunting for it, is that within a year of living and breathing Cloud, I too should be able to lecture on a subject, but also with XX years of experience behind it*.

Anyway, my actual work, the work from which I am trying to escape, continues at a fairly relentless speed.  Another round or redundancies are in flight at the moment, this time just voluntary, which added to the offer from management for us to take up to "three months secondment", effectively nearly-unpaid leave to "pursue a project or experience", and rumours of a further round of redundancy to come later in the year, things can only get worse I fear.

On the home front, my lawn is starting to reach the level of greenness where people no longer gasp at its tatty state, so phase one successfully completed. 

I have ditched my master plan to create a brick edge to the lawn, to tidy the edges, make it easy to mow the edges and generally bring a little architectural structure to the garden.  I still kind of think it would work, but it will cost money and take time, and I am not, if I am honest, one-hundred percent sure how it will look.  So, I have bought a strimmer instead.  While it does not create perfection, it does make the edges look a lot better, and I think will do for what we want from the garden.

Our next steps are to get the patio sorted.  LO has a vision of a pot or bench or table or wooden box, something structural, in which to put some herbs.  We also want so larger plants and pots, something to create drama, and finally we want some seats.  We are starting to think in terms of sofa and coffee table rather than table and chairs, simply because we think we will want to be using it for breakfasts and evening drinks, rather than meals.  Whichever we choose, it does of course cost money, so we are pondering whether to go strategic, or cheapish.

LO is up in London for the day on Saturday, so it is us lads to fend for ourselves.  Maggot 2 has a football match at 11am, Maggot 1 tennis at 12pm, and we have a half plan to play golf at the par three course up the road in the afternoon.
Sunday is another match for Maggot 2, and then what we do for the rest of the day is Maggot 1's choice.

Have a great weekend, and speak next week.

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* bit of positive thinking

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